Gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory not in 1897 when Jason’s Gold opens but the previous year, in August 1896. Initially, word traveled only as far as Circle City, Alaska; gold miners in that area quickly headed for the tributaries of the Klondike River. Over the next 11 months, these lucky individuals, among the first on the scene, staked claims and made millions. From this point forward, the timeline of the Klondike gold rush represents one of history’s great ironies.

At the time, the United States was experiencing an economic depression that began with the Panic of 1893, which was caused by falling gold reserves and slow economic activity. Unemployment rose drastically during this time and wages decreased. When news of gold strikes in the distant North eventually reached the US, many saw an answer to their financial woes and pinned their hopes on finding gold themselves.

That news, however, did not arrive until July 1897—almost a year after the first discovery—with miners bearing gold in Seattle and San Francisco. This proof triggered a massive response: Within days, tens of thousands of people left their homes and families, many not even knowing where “the Klondike” was; they initially assumed that Alaska was their destination, not Canada’s Yukon Territory.