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There were two popular routes to reach the town of Dawson, near where gold was found.
All Water Route
Rushers took an ocean steamer to St. Michael, a distance of 2725 miles from Seattle. Once arrived, they transferred to small river steamers to sail up the Yukon river, through Alaska, to Dawson. This was another 1600 miles. This journey could only be made in the period from June to September. During the other months, the river would freeze.
Taking the All Water Route meant rushers had to cross the Canadian border. Border patrol had a list of all the supplies the rushers had to have with them. The total weight of all the supplies on the list was 2,000 pounds. Rushers had to have a complete list of items to cross the border. Since it’s impossible for one man to carry this much at once, people who couldn’t afford a horse would sometimes have to make the trip 30 times.
All Canada Route
The All Canada Route ran through the Canadian Prairies and into the Yukon Territory. It started with a 540-mile hike from Ashcroft, crossing swamps, river gorges and mountain passes. Once in Glenora, rushers had time to stock up on supplies and formed groups to continue their journey. It was another 1,533 miles to Dawson City. When you took this route you didn’t cross the border, meaning you didn’t need the list of supplies.