These were highly significant to their respective colonies political and economic development as they brought many immigrants, and promoted massive government spending on infrastructure to support the new arrivals who came looking for gold. While some found their fortune, those who did not often remained in the colonies and took advantage of extremely liberal land laws to take up farming. One of the last “great gold rushes” was the Klondike gold rush in the Yukon Territory in 1896 – 1899. This gold rush is featured in the novels of Jack London, and in Charlie Chaplin’s film “The Gold Rush”. The main goldfield was along the south flank of the Klondike River near its confluence with the Yukon River, close to what was to become Dawson city in the Yukon Territory. It also helped to open up the relatively new US possession of Alaska to exploration and settlement, and promoted the discovery of other gold finds.
