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Gold Rush! and Mining the Miners

By: Graham Iddon


August 30, 2016


Gold Rush! Involves not just one but a number of gold rushes in BC and internationally (but not the Klondike).



Mining the Miners deals with a small facet of only one gold rush, the Klondike. But it’s a pretty interesting facet!


When we sat down to discuss the subject of our next exhibition to be hosted by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH), there were two topics tabled: money in the Red River Settlement of Manitoba and the Klondike gold rush. As the CMH would be hosting Gold Rush! El Dorado in British Columbia (a Royal BC Museum exhibition) this summer, it was a short discussion. Mining the Miners is our third temporary exhibition at the CMH (we reopen in 2017) and it is indeed about the Klondike gold rush. It’s always nice to be able to dovetail our exhibits with those of our host.


The real thing. A near-pure gold ingot from the Royal Canadian Mint. At a rough estimate: 30 cm long and 20 kilograms.



All the basic tools for a 19th century gold miner: spade, picks, pan and a rocker box to separate gold from gravel and sand.


Gold Rush! has the practical aspects of frontier prospecting and mining covered, providing background material for the stuff that really tickles our fancy: banking and the economy! The Dawson economy? That sounds like a real snore, but it’s actually an extraordinary story full of the same sort of crazy anecdotes and outrageous statistics that sprout like mushrooms out of any gold rush. We called our new exhibition Mining the Miners. But let’s get back to Gold Rush!

Interpreting the harsh experiences and primitive technologies of the gold rush prospectors would be enough for any big exhibition. Fortunately, the Royal BC Museum also chose to look at the collateral effects of a gold rush—for better and for worse. At the core of this exhibition is the powerful notion that the various BC gold rushes were as responsible for shaping the Canadian West as the railway was, perhaps more. Also central to the exhibition is the ancient and powerful effect that gold has on the human mind, an effect that builds economies and nations while devastating cultures and landscapes. There isn’t a lot of happy history associated with gold—it tends not to bring out the best in people­—but it’s fascinating history.


Stage coach used on the Cariboo Road through the Fraser River Valley.



Surveying equipment (c.1855) used by British Royal Engineers to help build the Cariboo Road from Yale to Barkerville, BC.


As the prospectors stampeded for the gold fields, close on their heels was a whole host of frontier opportunists. Roads needed to be surveyed, transport provided, supplies delivered, infrastructure built, political frameworks put in place and eventually, every aspect of a functioning community conjured up out of the woods and creeks—at least temporarily. Vice, virtue and taxes all quickly appeared in unequal measures.

In the gold pans in front of the case are the buttons to open the building facades.

And this is where Mining the Miners picks up the story. We expanded our initial storyline from a tale of the frontier banks to the crazy economics of a remote boomtown; of trying to live and prosper in a place where the most modest of needs had to be hauled in over hundreds of kilometres of trails and lakes and down the Yukon River into a punishingly harsh environment. It was an economy driven by greed and opportunism where the middleman triumphed and the vast majority of miners lost.


The Opera House on the right still stands today in Dawson and is now named the Grand Palace Theatre.



The Bank of British North America was later bought out by the Bank of Montreal.


For this exhibition, we wanted a fun visual catch and our exhibition designer had a great idea: build a diorama of Klondike building facades that open up to reveal our text panels. And we did. Four facades, all modeled after real Dawson buildings, were built to house our panels. Arranged as if on a street, the buildings open at the touch of a button. Detailed right down to the wood grain, signage and roof shingles, they are very compelling.


At the touch of a button, motors concealed beneath the “street” open the facades, revealing the text.


What fun the model makers must have had building details like the balcony and window frames for the Opera House.



Yes, the Dawson branch of this bank really was in a log building.


In the front of the display case is a selection of artifacts that are unique to the Klondike gold rush. Bank notes stamped with “Yukon” share the case with tokens for dance halls, saloons and cigar stores—currency from a place where small change didn’t exist and a broom could cost you an ounce of gold. And yes, we do have gold. Drop by for a look after (or before) seeing Gold Rush! El Dorado in British Columbia. You’ll find Mining the Miners on the lower level, next to the Canadian Stamp Collection.


Bank notes shipped to the Klondike gold rush were stamped with “Yukon” or “Dawson” to identify them.



Small change was scarce in the Klondike so businesses made their own.


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Content type(s): Blog posts

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The Museum Blog

February 2, 2023

Teaching art with currency

By: Adam Young


From design to final product, bank notes and coins can be used to explore and teach art, media and process.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Arts, Education Grade level(s): Grade 05, Grade 06, Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
January 20, 2023

New Acquisitions—2022 Edition

By: David Bergeron, Krista Broeckx


It’s a new year—the perfect time to look back at some notable artifacts the Museum added to the National Currency collection from 2022. Each object has a unique story to tell about Canada’s monetary and economic history.
Content type(s): Blog posts
December 6, 2022

Money: it’s a question of trust

By: Graham Iddon


Photo collage, parking meter, old bank notes and an early bank card.
The dollars and cents we use wouldn’t be worth anything to anybody if we didn’t have confidence in it. No matter if it’s gold or digits on a hard drive, public trust is the secret ingredient in a successful currency.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy
November 14, 2022

The day Winnipeg was invaded

By: David Bergeron


People on the street were randomly stopped and searched, and some were even arrested and imprisoned in an internment camp. Even German marks replaced Canadian currency in circulation—in the form of If Day propaganda notes.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): History Grade level(s): Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
October 18, 2022

Positive notes

By: Krista Broeckx


The imagery on the Bank of Canada’s 1935 note series depicts the country’s rich industrial history.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): History
June 16, 2022

Army bills: Funding the War of 1812

By: David Bergeron, Graham Iddon


In 1812, British North America had no banks and little currency. With the prospect of war drying up supplies of coins, the government of Lower Canada decided to issue legal tender notes called “army bills” to pay for troops and supplies.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, History
May 5, 2022

Between tradition and technology

By: Graham Iddon


Collage, man at an easel, paintings of birds and a goose illustration with comments written on it.
What was proposed was a complete about-face from the philosophy behind recent security printing. If photocopiers could easily deal with the colours and designs of the current series, then the next series should be bold and simple.
Content type(s): Blog posts
April 21, 2022

Teaching the green economy

By: Adam Young


From windmills and solar panels to electric cars, signs of the green economy are all around us. Check out our resources for how to teach about the green economy.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Business and careers, Economy, Geography, Science, Social studies Grade level(s): Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
April 4, 2022

Talk to your kids about money

By: Heather Montgomery


Collage, ceramic pig on background of a bank book and a stamp folder with kids on it.
Introduce important financial skills to your children, and help them plan for their futures with free resources from the Bank of Canada Museum and others.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Financial literacy Grade level(s): Early childhood / Kindergarten, Grade 01, Grade 02, Grade 03, Grade 04, Grade 05, Grade 06, Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP

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