Thomas Edison's Stunning Footage of the Klondike Gold Rush

In 1896, Thomas Edison set off to a remote Canadian district near the Alaska border, with cameras in tow. He succeeded in capturing fascinating images of the prospectors brought in by the Gold Rush.
From the Series: America in Color: Alaska bit.ly/2r4VJDe

[@mbuhplus7800]

Watching the clip is amazing, but there is something more amazing, the coloring feels so natural.

[@MagneticDonut]

The sound probably is a recreation too. A really good one

[@TheMercilessEye]

Plus whoever matched the speed to real time was PERFECT.

[@louf7178]

*looks

[@brettb9194]

I've spent many hours now watching old footage that has been cleaned up and smoothed out - it really takes ya back as they say, there is something emotional about seeing these people's expressions and knowing they are long dead - especially the scenes pre WWI there are a precious few made in the late 1800s as well

[@lisaluvscats6375]

Yeah, natural

[@frozengoose]

Just clarifying since it seems it didn’t come across in the video but the Klondike Gold Rush occurred in Yukon Territory (not Alaska) which is in Canada. The steam ships from Seattle went to Skagway, Alaska which borders the south of the Yukon where prospectors then hiked 33 miles over the Chilkoot Pass to Lake Bennett, Canada. They than travelled by boat through Lake Bennett and the 350 mile Yukon River to Dawson City, Canada. Dawson City is a great visit if you’re ever this far north. Rich history and still has the Klondike flair going for it.

[@junbondoc9910]

They are wearing the original Levis...

[@abubakrhaffejee8073]

@DMoney Industry yes I do

[@sickfoo5506]

I got 6 pairs of 501s lol always lookin clean

[@antel704]

@DMoney Industry And I do

[@junbondoc9910]

@DMoney Industry ...we all care...

[@plstne48]

@DMoney Industry What an ignorant statement to make. Seeing as this is a channel dedicated to history and nature, I would say the majority of us do care.

[@tdunph4250]

Outstanding footage! Absolutely phenomenal

[@adrienneglenn1745]

I'm born and raised in Alaska. I love finding videos that talk about my amazing state.

[@sonnyk4840]

I'm glad sweetie

[@willong1000]

Traces of "frontier vigor" still survive there. Fare well!

[@xtr3m3fLx]

LOL Klondike gold rush mainly took place in the Canadian Yukon Territories.

[@msmith6713]

Edison pioneered so much I see he pioneered video journalism. I notice there was a so called “rough rider” with a rifle in Edison’s last video clip (in this vignette) covering the mining. Interesting stuff thanks for sharing Smithsonian.

[@LeatherneckJoe133]

My father when he was a kid met Thomas Edison in new Jersey near his lab in a park he said he was a frendley old man who like to talk to kids, I guess it tells you how old I am....huh...

[@LeatherneckJoe133]

@Stephanie Logan 32 in my heart but.....in my body 70 going on 90....

[@LeatherneckJoe133]

@H Cliff you know it frend I'm older than dirt...

[@brettb9194]

still big business today, the Chinese "success" is at least one third stolen IP but there is another way to look at it in a world first with the printing press, now of course the net, and that's that several people and laboratories are working on the same thing at the same time - since the 19th century it's often been the case that there's a race to publish or patent - Tesla himself flew into a rage when he realized he had missed X rays

[@jb-hj9kw]

What do you think of twerking now days?

[@willong1000]

"...near his lab in a park..." or at Menlo Park?

[@evancortez2]

America is a great country today because of brilliant visionaries like Thomas Edison. Thank you Thomas Edison!

[@mchlbk]

Well, it's been going downhill since the 1980s. Today you have to go to Scandinavia to find 'the American Dream'.

[@rjayalmedora7890]

@@mchlbk HAHAHA

[@art03167]

Amazing footage!

[@danjones9082]

Visit the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park to learn more! It's the only National Park with two superintendents, one for each unit: Seattle and Skagway. That's right, there are two parks to visit!! If you come to Seattle say Dan says hi. That's me. I work there.

[@1998babybear]

I appreciate the muted color added to the film.

[@louf7178]

"Muted" color?

[@1998babybear]

@cosmicVox13 TY🌹

[@AbirHasnat95]

1:49 "most return home, empty handed" that line made me inspirational, they travel to Alaska, risked everything and returned with nothing

[@4toes1nose]

Abir Hasnat Kind of feels like a six day work week

[@klondikechris]

And no wonder - the gold was actually in the Klondike - in Canada! Going to Alaska would not help (except as an "on the way") thing!

[@Inzar-Animations]

Most return empty handed 🙌🙀

[@RailPreserver2K]

He also shot some early footage of the White Pass and Yukon route just after it was completed

[@naomiperreira1809]

How cool to see a moving picture from 1896 by Thomas Edison of all people. I didn't know that he went to Alaska.

[@Simonjose7258]

Wow! This restored footage is AMAZING! 🤯 When we were young, if we had seen this, it would have been all grainy and blurry and in black and white. Very difficult to make anything out and not much fun to watch. But THIS is WOW! ✌❤🙏🦋🌈🍄🐛🔥😱

[@paulryan2128]

🎼 What would you do 🎵 (would you do), 🎶 for a Klondike bar!?

[@usmale4915]

LOL...that's a good one!

[@billrobbins5874]

Ha ha, yeah, good one!

[@jennifersmith6331]

Hello! I am curious where the source of the footage can be found? I am looking to license a few seconds of it for non-broadcast needs, or if it is free archival footage to use within branded content. Thank you in advance!

[@soulchorea]

I imagine all these men returning home empty-handed after years searching for gold, trying to explain that “THIS ROOTIN-TOOTIN VARMIT DOUBLE CROSSED ME IN THEM THERE HILLS!!” and their families looking at them like ?????? bro why do you sound like that

[@demetriusmiddleton1246]

@Justin Marion *yawn

[@louf7178]

Did they aks them that?

[@TrulyJefferson]

Okay. That really made me laugh. 🤣

[@xvenomx8089]

Power to the original dwellers of these lands ✊🏽E’O

[@radwulfeboraci7504]

1:45 none of these people are claim owners ... note the guy with the rifle.

[@loganmalough2379]

This is the actual video?! This was filmed in 1896?! WHOA!!!!

[@bobmorgan1762]

Skagway is a bit further north than the red dot.

[@susie154]

Fascinating!!

[@thedwightguy]

who writes this??? sophomores?? "America in color, Alaska" ACTUALLY is "Canad in COLOUR, the Yukon"!!!!!!!!

[@grishmakhanna1806]

I was looking for something like this....to understanden my chapter easily

[@karinkissinger5106]

In the late 40s early 50s my father used to pan for gold in Sonora California.

[@nysockexchange2204]

Well did he find any gold?

[@karinkissinger5106]

@@nysockexchange2204 of course he did! He had a small bottle full of gold several gold nuggets one of them he had mounted on a gold band for my mom and he had a lot of gold flakes that he placed between two pieces of glass that were earrings. They were living in Jamestown at the time he was working on a road crew when the job's finished he moved back to Kansas with my mom and three older brothers. I have a few photos of him panning for gold.

[@nysockexchange2204]

@@karinkissinger5106 very interesting, l hope they get passed down to you! Family mementos are so meaningful.

[@twonumber22]

that's cool. my papi panned for coal 😆

[@karinkissinger5106]

@@nysockexchange2204 unfortunately when you're the youngest child nothing gets left to you! 😏

[@stuckinfoned79]

For a brief moment I feel like I held a window into time.

[@philiphaigh5102]

Beautiful thanks 🥃

[@derekosborne3340]

I would love to travel back in time

[@aidenml5291]

Everytime that i hear "Thomas Edinson" i just think about him stealing the idea of electricity from Nicolas Tesla.

[@alevine1951]

Edison did it the American way. Tesla had what he wanted, so he stole it.

[@jeffaller6190]

@Big Wheel It's really hard to tell about history, unless you were there.

[@tulsaguy9963]

Puppet 598 many inventions were taken by wealthy people and patented! The inventor did not have the money to fight them! Look up the delayed windshield wiper! Millions lost in the fight!

[@tulsaguy9963]

Big Wheel Tesla gave them AC current and took the potential wealth from Edison who promoted DC current!

[@yt.personal.identification]

The irony of Musk using the name 'Tesla' to put his name on patents of the inventions of his engineers. ...and hailed for it.

[@ptinvite7942]

Starts at 1:06

[@momoney00can]

Where can I get the full video

[@HungryH1951]

That's wild!

[@dodge2322]

Does anyone know where I can find the smithsonian channel video about aloha airlines flight 243 because I can't find it on KZbin and on their website I can't watch it because I'm outside of the US

[@jaykidd5789]

very short clip indeed....

[@wigsy99]

The Klondike is in Canada the Yukon not Alaska

[@dolphinpaintingllc6292]

Cool man

[@johnbrown9092]

Superb.

[@protyusgames4741]

The buildings in Seattle looked ancient. I thought they were recently built at that date.

[@chinzonemasti5591]

Kya baat hai

[@jayski9410]

Impressive early footage. But I always wondered why Canada allowed foreigners to just waltz in and help themselves to the gold. I can imagine any country today allowing anyone to just take their mineral wealth.

[@ElementofKindness]

@cosmicVox13 While they disembarked and began their trek in Alaska, (Skagway) the prospectors went to roughly Dawson City to do their prospecting in the Klondike district, which is in Canada.

[@klondikechris]

There was (and, still is) a 37.5 cents per ounce royalty payment for every ounce brought out of the Yukon. When gold was $16 an ounce, that was a fair bit of money.

[@nikosuarilla5562]

Are we sure it was REALLY Edison who took this?

[@tdunph4250]

Why wouldn't it have been? Why the skepticism?

[@cmhughes8057]

Best place to set up a general store, with a doctor’s office attached.

[@zd6Gtoz6sUyZ]

Please stabilize, correct the frame rate, motion interpolate, and AI upscale the footage.

[@kellypeissner7066]

So does this mean Thomas Edison was in Alaska, or just his cameras?

[@sunnyray7819]

If its Edison, It was probably taken from someone else.... Why don't you tell us about Tesla... Much more interesting.... Edison prayed on people like him and took credit for their ideas.....

[@louf7178]

Learn how to spell.

[@ralphturner3798]

I would enjoy the film more if it was not recently colorized.

[@4toes1nose]

The added color to the video So the media could color the regular rocks gold, the gold rush was a hoax, daddy Trump said it and I believe it

[@louf7178]

Would there have been sound?

[@louf7178]

@@jona4919 One, I'm not a Zoomer; two, the period is 1896; three, how the f should I know if movies were in 1920 and this is 1896.

[@louf7178]

@@jona4919 Do you realize your previous comment said 1836?

[@ralphturner3798]

@@jona4919 You mean there was color photography in the 1800s?

[@scottouellette9411]

I was buying gold in the 1970's when It was illegel to own it for 36-42 dollars an ounce. I bought over 600 south african krugerrands while in the military. I paid roughly 25000 dollars for them over 7yrs today they have a value of over 1.5 million dollars. I still have them all.

[@paulryan2128]

OK.... but, where exactly do you live, Scott ?

[@cyberdemon1702]

Can I have like six of them krugerthingers

[@4toes1nose]

Do you keep them in your mothers basement where you live along with your delusions, I don’t think millionaires watch odd movies on KZbin as they sit on their pile of gold.

[@philipvernejules9926]

@@4toes1nose ........I kept my hoard of stuff for forty years..all gone now in a fire but gold would have survived .

[@selec21]

Smart man!

[@radwulfeboraci7504]

1:17 trudging through the snow ... not one with a pair of gloves or mitts on. Like anti-maskers, we know how this ends.

[@4toes1nose]

Radwulf Eboraci the anti-maskers Are doing the rest of us a favor, you just protect yourself and let Darwin take care of the rest

[@cyberdemon1702]

Was it really Edison footage, or stolen from someone else and his name slapped on it like so much else

[@lancefisher8358]

Honestly wouldn't be surprised

[@cyberdemon1702]

Big Wheel do your own research it’s not that hard, and I asked a question, this could very well be his work, but the fact remains he got credit for ALOT of other people’s work, not all, but a lot, and through questionable means. 🤷‍♂️

[@cyberdemon1702]

Big Wheel brilliant

[@louf7178]

You mean like what any corporation does?

[@Youtubeexist]

Why 4k?

[@Youtubeexist]

Why 4k res

[@philipvernejules9926]

......for that movie " Way up north " I've always wondered which hotel they're staying in ,, Stewart Grainger and the French wife to be .I think it's a hotel in Juneau.

[@sebastianalegre7148]

Smithsonian, you have the technology to 4k 60fps all these beautiful images! Please do soo!! I beg you!!!! In the name of all the Incan artifacts you keep in dark cabinets!

[@Shadowcat107]

💜

[@puffdaddyfpv7046]

If 100k ppl depart to Alaska, and only 30k ppl arrive...may I ask where the other 70k went and why?

[@reveivl]

Turned around and went home. It was a very difficult journey. Depending on which route was taken you might have to build a boat and run it down the river. If you climbed the Chilkoot pass you were required by the RCMP to have sufficient supplies for a year or you weren't allowed Into Canada.

[@puffdaddyfpv7046]

@@reveivl thanks for the clarification

[@TheChilKat]

I first went to Skagway in 1979 for a summer job, then again in 80. I came back in 2007 and stayed. I love it here but it's a very harsh place to live. I'm in Haines now, 15 miles south of Skagway. No cruise ships or tourists this year...our main source of income.

[@carboncomplex]

No - 100,000 arrive in Alaska and only 30,000 are able to make it to the Yukon in Canada where the gold was

[@louf7178]

It is a secrecy conspiracy ¡

[@masterofpureawesome]

Different Edison?

[@masterofpureawesome]

Im dumb dumb sorry

[@paulryan2128]

@@masterofpureawesome Y'know, if you touch the 3 little buttons on the right here ↗ beside your comments, you can "Delete" them; and then no one will ever know.

[@loganm.2529]

Go North, to Alaska, they're going North, the rush is on...

[@RyderMcClurg]

im watching this for school smh

[@neetknight9954]

I could not do with fake sound effects

[@louf7178]

Disappointing.

[@Thelby1]

QUOTE: "Most return home empty handed". Nope: "Most return home DEAD Handed"!

[@emmaLEE2667]

🤯👌

[@frankbyrd9345]

Where there is gold there is a way

[@santhoshpjohn]

Why Edison there?

[@louf7178]

Big event.

[@alevine1951]

I spotted what may be a time-traveler with a cell phone.

[@jeffaller6190]

Can you hear me now?

[@curtisunit]

Back when there was coke in Coke. They moved fast back then.

[@Harold710]

Keep original footage as it was filmed. The colorization is awful.

[@obadaodeh1625]

It was a better world back then with way less contamination than we have today.

[@Jive33]

100% due to the internet.

[@victrnnnn331]

didn’t the goldrush literally upheaved the environment when it happened??

[@obadaodeh1625]

@@victrnnnn331 Well, they didn't have any type of super effective technology that can destroy nature on a massive levels, they even didn't have any kind of heavy machinery back then.

[@toshley6192]

@@victrnnnn331 Yeah it was pretty devastating. This was also the era where Galapagos tortoise, Tasmanian tigers, and a lot of other species that are now making a comeback with careful conservation efforts fueled by modern technology - were driven to the point of extinction by reckless overhunting.

[@zabrak999]

LOL what

[@PenzancePete]

Given Edison's record of theft and plagiasm I bet Edison was nowhere near when this was filmed.

[@rich-qk7dc]

You mean it was just Tesla he stole from?

[@cyberdemon1702]

These dudes ever heard of gloves

[@4toes1nose]

CYBER DEMON Obama hid them away in Kenya where he was born

[@239zion]

Gold! Hehehehe!

[@paulryan2128]

I said gold! Gold! *GOLD*!!!

[@RedBloxStudios]

What would you do for a klondike bar

[@blondemommyvomit]

And to think, black people built all of this.

[@ColeSpike-g1t]

i hate my life

[@zabrak999]

Baby boomers. Next time simply upload the clips without the narration

[@Freefolkcreate]

Seems like it was a scam for the most part. How gullible people are to short cuts to success.

[@DifferentSaturner]

Amazing! BTW, Edison wan't a good person & lots of people were either died or killed there, mostly by their own greedy people, we shouldn't forget it. Thanks for sharing... (Great Britain, Thu 16 July 2020 2203)

[@frank9712]

fraud edison .tesla he is the genius

[@alevine1951]

Edison did it the American way. Tesla had what he wanted, so he stole it.

[@louf7178]

@@alevine1951 Worked for him.

[@erdnati]

Were black people apart of this? Uhm... No wonder they're poorer

[@garypowell4565]

Why not just get a real job?

[@MR-pv3mx]

GREED!

[@edeliteedelite1961]

Natural and right. Men should strive for the top and be ambitious