The 1898 Klondike gold rush brought about 40,000 people to the Yukon, with the traditional territory of the Tagish and Inland Tlingit being the first to experience the impact of this huge influx of newcomers.

In areas such as Bennett Lake, prospectors forever upset the natural environment by cutting down all the trees to build boats and rafts and for firewood. Game, especially the southern lakes caribou herd, was depleted by the sudden need
to feed thousands of new people.

Looking south over the boom town of Bennett, 1900, with the White Pass railway running through the town. (Yukon Archives, Vogee Coll., 45)

Clara Schinkel from the Daklaweidi Clan was a key player in negotiations for the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, serving on the caucus team. (Marilyn Jensen, Moosehide, Yukon, 2004)

The aboriginal people of the area accommodated and adjusted to the changes, even negotiating a pact with the newly built railroad, White Pass & Yukon Route, to ensure that the original peoples would have jobs. This agreement is still acknowledged today.

"They negotiated with White Pass so that there would always be jobs for the Indian people. That was my Grandpa Tagish Johns who negotiated that, early, way back in 1899 they did this."

"My dad worked on the railroad from one end of it to the other end. He drove horse team, mail team I think they call it, between Whitehorse and Dawson City."