Klondike Ship Slips Into Seattle Cruise Marking 100th Anniversary Of Gold Rush Doesn’t Spark Stampede

Yukon gold arrived once more in Seattle on Saturday, but this time the trolleys kept running and the mayor didn’t quit.

To a welcome of band music, balloons and banners, the cruise ship Spirit of ‘98 pulled up to Pier 57 on the downtown waterfront to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Klondike gold rush.

On July 17, 1897, the rusting steamer S.S. Portland landed at Schwabacher’s Dock carrying 68 newly rich miners and more than a ton of gold from the Klondike. That ship was met by 5,000 of Seattle’s 60,000 residents, many of whom joined the stampede north to search for overnight wealth.

The excitement a century ago was so great that streetcar drivers left their posts and Mayor W.D. Wood resigned to chase the bonanza.

Historians estimate that only 300 of the 100,000 stampeders who set out for the gold fields actually became rich. But equipping, transporting and sometimes fleecing the gold seekers made fortunes for Seattle businesses and turned the remote and struggling city into a metropolis.

Schwabacher’s Dock is long gone, marked only by a plaque at Waterfront Park, which adjoins Pier 57. Also missing was the astonishment that greeted the Portland a century ago.

This time, the Spirit of ‘98’s arrival hardly slowed the streetcars on nearby Alaskan Way, and Mayor Norm Rice sent a welcoming proclamation, not his resignation. About 500 people, many of them tourists enjoying a sunny day on the waterfront, turned out to greet the small luxury cruise ship and see the “ton of gold” it carried.

The Spirit of ‘98 left Skagway, Alaska, a week ago for the journey to Seattle, with many descendants of the original stampeders coming along for the ride.

A series of events were scheduled this weekend to mark the centennial, including a “Sourdough Ball” and gold-panning demonstrations.