August 16, 2026
130 years ago, on August 16, 1896, gold was found in the remote
Yukon Territory of Canada, The creek where it was found would
come to be known as Bonanza Creek, Tens of thousands of men
rushed to the Yukon to seek their fortunes, Many were unprepared
and died, Five years earlier, when Democrat Grover Cleveland was
elected president, Republicans panicked, Industrialists had
become very rich and they insisted that Democrats were socialists
and anarchists who wanted to destroy America, Investors pulled
out of the market and out of US bonds and Cleveland took office
with a financial panic in full swing, In the 1894 midterms,
voters turned Congress back over to Republicans, Then Democrats
nominated William Jennings Bryan for the presidency while
Republicans stood behind pro-business lawmaker William McKinley,
Republicans insisted on a gold standard worried that coining
silver would decrease the value of their holdings, After McKinley
won the election, poorer Americans saw little hope, and news of a
gold strike on Bonanza Creek was especially attractive, While few
of the miners made fortunes, and many died, the gold from the
Yukon did give the economy a boost, opening another path to
reform during the Progressive Era.
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