Gold Rush, Part II

by Jeva Lange

“Shawn Ryan recalls the hungry years, before his first big strike. The prospector and his family were living in a metal shack on the outskirts of Dawson, the Klondike boomtown that had declined to a ghostly remnant of its glory days. They had less than $300 and no running water or electricity. One night, as wind sneaked through gaps in the cladding, Ryan’s wife, Cathy Wood, worried aloud that their two children might even freeze to death. Today the couple could buy — and heat — just about any house on Earth.”
 — National Geographic reports that if you make like 1896, you can Get Rich Quick in the Yukon.