Stricken with gold fever, Jack London made his way to the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897 at the age of 20. For $25.00 he and his brother-in-law, "Captain Sheppard," took the S.S. Utmatilla from San Francisco to Alaska.

Arriving in Dyea, Alaska on August 8, 1897, Jack London, Captain Sheppard and several others who they met en route began the arduous trek over the Chilkoot Pass. After two days, Sheppard turned back while London carried on -- hiking 19 miles for every mile gained -- packing his 1,000 lbs. of supplies to Lindeman Lake in 30 days.

After building two boats, the Yukon Belle and the Belle of the Yukon, London's party braved September blizzards, gale force winds, treacherous rapids and box canyons as they raced against winter freeze-up.

Arriving in the Klondike in the autumn of 1897, and finally staking Claim 54 on the left fork ascending Henderson Creek, London soon discovered that what he had found was in fact mica -- not Klondike gold. London met up with Marshall and Louis Bond, two brothers whose dog "Jack" was immortalized as "Buck" in Jack London's great American classic Call of the Wild.

After suffering a three-month bout of scurvy, Jack London returned to Oakland in July of 1898. In the history of American literature, no other writer has come close to the worldwide popularity and recognition attained by Jack London whose classics include The Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf and White Fang. After the Klondike Gold Rush, London's adventures included covering the Russo-Japanese war and the Mexican Revolution for Hearst papers and sailing around the world in the 50-foot "Snark."

London died of unknown causes in 1916 at the age of 40.

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