| Glacier Surfing Alaska |
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World champion big wave surfers, Garrett
McNamara and Kealii Mamala rode into surfing
history last week when they towed into a
monster tsunami created by Child's Glacier in
South-Central Alaska.
The creator/producer, Ryan Casey, "disovered"
the wave in 1995, while on location shooting
in Alaska. Then after finishing his last
film, Quest, a documentary on big wave
surfing, he showed Garrett the wave... that
was six months ago. So after a short scout
in June, we went up in August to film this...
For more information contact:
info@deepwaterfilms
or Ryan @ ryanmayrcasey@hotmail.com
Tags : Tsunami Surf big wave Garrett McNamara Kealii Mamala Deepwater Films Ryan Casey |
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Affichage : 841517
Durée : 97 s |
| North To Alaska ~ Johnny Horton |
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North To Alaska ~ Johnny Horton
The Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush was a frenzy of gold
rush immigration to and gold prospecting in
the Klondike near Dawson City in the Yukon
Territory, Canada, after gold was discovered
in the late 19th century.
In August 1896, three people led by Skookum
Jim Mason (a member of the Tagish nation
whose birth name was Keish) headed up the
Yukon River from the Carcross area looking
for his sister Kate and her husband George
Carmack. The party included Skookum Jim,
Skookum Jim's cousin known as Dawson Charlie
(or sometimes Tagish Charlie) and his nephew
Patsy Henderson. After meeting up with George
and Kate who were fishing for salmon at the
mouth of the Klondike River, they ran into
Nova Scotian Robert Henderson who had been
mining gold on the Indian River, just south
of the Klondike. Henderson told George
Carmack about where he was mining and that he
did not want any "damn Siwashes" (meaning
Indians) near him. The group then headed a
few miles up the Klondike River to Rabbit
Creek, now Bonanza Creek to hunt moose.
On August 16, 1896, the party discovered rich
placer gold deposits in Bonanza (Rabbit)
Creek. It is now generally accepted that
Skookum Jim made the actual discovery, but
some accounts say that it was Kate Carmack.
George Carmack was officially credited for
the discovery because the "discovery" claim
was staked in his name. The group agreed to
this because they felt that other miners
would be reluctant to recognise a claim made
by an Indian, given the strong racist
attitudes of the time. Further evidence of
Skookum Jim's discovery is that he was
eagerly followed by other miners and caused a
mini rush when he later staked some claims in
the Kluane Lake area in 1905.
The news spread to other mining camps in the
Yukon River valley, and the Bonanza, Eldorado
and Hunker Creeks were rapidly staked by
miners who had been previously working creeks
and sandbars on the Fortymile and Stewart
Rivers. In a fate that many believe to be
poetic justice, Henderson, who was mining
only a few miles away over the hill, only
found out about the discovery after the rich
creeks had been all staked.
News reached the United States on July 17,
1897 when the first successful prospectors
arrived in Seattle, and within a month the
Klondike stampede had begun. The population
in the Klondike in 1898 may have reached
40,000, threatening to cause a famine.
Most prospectors landed at Skagway at the
head of Lynn Canal and crossed by the
Chilkoot Trail or White Pass to Bennett Lake.
Here, prospectors built boats that would take
them the final 500 miles (800 km) down the
Yukon River to the gold fields. Stampeders
had to carry one ton of goods over the pass
to be allowed to enter Canada. At the top of
the passes, the stampeders encountered a
Mountie post that enforced that regulation.
It was put in place to avert shortages like
those that had occurred in the previous two
winters in Dawson City.
The Chilkoot Pass was steep and hazardous,
rising a thousand feet in the last half mile
(300 m in 800 m). It was too steep for pack
animals and prospectors had to pack their
equipment and supplies to the top. Some 1,500
steps were carved into the ice to aid travel
up the pass.
Even though it was not as high, conditions on
White Pass were even worse. It was known as
the Dead Horse Trail with about 3,000 animals
dying along the route.
Others took the Copper River Trail or the
Teslin Trail by Stikine River and Teslin
Lake, and some used the all-Canadian Ashcroft
and Edmonton trails. The other main route was
by steamer about 2600 kilometers (1600 miles)
up the Yukon River. Many using this route
late in 1897 were caught by winter ice below
Fort Yukon, Alaska and had to be rescued.
An estimated 100,000 people participated in
the gold rush and about 30,000 made it to
Dawson City in 1898. By 1901, when the first
census was taken, the population had declined
to 9,000.
Throughout this period, the North West
Mounted Police, under the command of Sam
Steele maintained a firm grip on the
activities of the prospectors to ensure the
safety of the population as well as enforcing
the laws and sovereignty of Canada. As a
result, this gold rush has been described as
the most peaceful and orderly of its type in
history. The effectiveness of the Mounties in
this period made the police force famous
around the world, and ensured the survival of
the organization at a time when its continued
operation was being debated in the Canadian
Parliament.
The gold rush remains an important event in
the history of the city of Edmonton, which to
this day celebrates Klondike Days, an annual
summer fair with a Klondike gold rush theme.
Among the many to take part in the gold rush
was writer Jack London, whose books White
Fang and The Call of the Wild were influenced
by his northern experiences, and adventurer
"Swiftwater" Bill Gates.
Tags : North To Alaska Johnny Horton OneTrueMedia |
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Affichage : 180949
Durée : 185 s |
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