He lived a very lonely life in his cabin, with his squaw wife and his
half-Indian children, and made his living by hunting and fishing.
In the spring of 1896 he went up the Klondike River to fish. At the
point where this stream meets the Yukon, very large salmon are often
caught. It was for this profitable spot that McCormick set out.
He had poor luck, however. The salmon didn't run as usual, and his
fishing expedition was a failure.
He didn't want to go home empty-handed, and cast about for some fresh
game. In his uncertainty he bethought him that the Indians had often
told him that gold was very abundant in this region, and could be washed
out of the sand in any little pan or vessel that hunters happened to
carry.
Failing to catch salmon, he determined to seek for gold, and, starting
off in the direction the Indians had pointed out, he soon found that
their stories were absolutely true.
Filling his pockets with all the nuggets he could carry, he started back
with the news.
As soon as word was spread abroad, the miners began to rush into the new
district.
After McCormick's fishing-trip several men went prospecting, and,
finding that he had not exaggerated the greatness of his discovery, men
began to hurry to the Klondike region to take up their claims and secure
their share of the great prize.
The work of mining this gold is very lengthy and somewhat curious.
The Yukon region, in which the Klondike lies, is very cold.
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