Side note : Jack London, the prospector

This post is more of a side note than an actual post. I just wanted to write down some observation about Jack London's work which I tried to keep in mind during my studies and the comparition with the adaption.

Jack London in the Klondike,

 around 1897

AKG Photo, Paris.

Jack London, who wrote The Call of the Wild in 1903, and White Fang in 1906, both stories which takes place during the Klondike Gold Rush and both focus on the point of view of a animal (a sledge dog and a wolf) also participated in the journey in the North. Jack London was indeed part of the migration to the Yukon, he was, like many, a budding prospector that looked for gold. If he didn't find the gold he was looking for, he found a environment that inspired him. In the two novels I quoted, the period of the Canadian Gold Rush are not the main focus of his stories, however, it serves as background. The geographical location mentioned in his stories are historicaly correct, every cities existed, and was well-known at the time. (Dawson City, Skagway, the White Pass, the Chilkoot Pass...)

Since this two novels had been written closely after the historical period I study, it can not be considered as historical novels. But when I compared the novel and the movie, it is hard to find clear differences or big inconsistencies. The main action, the main subject are treated in both the novel and the film. However, the feelings conveyed by the novels is different from the movies.
I've focus my research on the novel and movie The Call of the Wild. The novel is linked to the wild life and the relation between the animals and the wild. The human character are present, but are almost treated as another part of the background. The movie, even if it follows the adventure of Buck, gives more importance to the human character. It can be easily explained by the importance of the narrator in the novel. It is obviously easier to show the intentions and feelings of human character than animals in a movie. But because of that focus, London's intentions cannot be fully transcribed in the movie.

Therefore, we can see a shift in the general atmosphere. The historical context, used only as a background in the novel, became more central in the movie. It seems that the movie is more interested in showing the historical context of the Klondike Gold Rush, and pictures more the journey of a stampeder from Seattle to Dawson City, passing through the emblematic Chilkoot Pass, than the internal journey of Buck.

According to my research, the representation of the movie are mostly correct.

Route and Staring point : "The Rich Man's Route and the Poor Man's Route"

In this post, we will see the two major routes taken by the stampeders to reach the Klondike and the quick but relevent appearance of Seattle in The Call of the Wild.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

As the article says, "the quest for gold was no quick trip", and most of the stampeders did not reach the gold fields of Alaska.

The "Rich Man's Route" appears as the simplest route to the Klondike, for it is said to be only one long ship trip : "three thousand miles from Seattle to St. Michael, and seventneen more upstream to Dawson City". It was an expansive voyage, and very few actually took it - around 180 prospectors - but only 43 reached the Klondike; the others had to turn back. There is not much to say about it, and therefore not much had been written about it or represented in movies. We can still noted that even if it is the easiest route to the Klondike, the Rich Man was still subject to the cold climate, and had to cope with the ice while sailing along the Yukon River. (2)

However, the "Poor Man's Route" is, roughly, at the center of the movie The Call of the Wild. If the plot is mostly centered around Buck and the two postal workers, their journey represented a good parts of this route.

Masses of prospective Stampeders board ships for the Klondike,
San Fransisco

The "Poor Man's Route" was shorter than the other, but also much more difficult and dangerous. The stampeders that took that had first to sail by steamship from Seattle or San Fransisco to Dyea or Skagway. (I couldn't find any indication about the length of the trip, however, I've found that it was recommended to have a year of supply, but I can't tell if this year of supply applies for the duration of the sailing trip.)
The rest of the route was done on foot, up to the Klondike region. Gold prospectors had two main choices, going through the White Pass, or up the Chilkoot Pass. In the adaptations of Jack London's works, the Chilkoot Pass had been depicted, even if it was only mentioned in the novels. It is most likely due to the fact that Chilkoot Pass had became an emblematic point in the route for the Klondike. (A post would be dedicated to each of the passage.)
Many others trails had been taken during the Klondike Gold Rush, some prospectors decided to skip the route on water by passing through British Columbia or Alberta. However, they were a minority. The great majority prefered to stop at Seattle before going on on their adventure.

Indeed, the fact that the movie The Call of the Wild choose to show Seattle's port - according to the novel - is not a coincidence. It matched with historical facts and prooves how important was the city at the time : it was the starting point of the stampeders's journey.

The scene correspond to the beginning of the movie and opens with a close up on the sign "Seattle Steamship Company", which obviously sets the scene in the city of Seattle. We can see that a lot of supply are loaded on the ship,as well as dogs. The city was extremely important at the time because of its location and the steamship company greatly profited from the migration. The economy of the city had been significantly boosted during the Gold Rush, many shops had opened to sell basic prospectors supply, clothes, tools, food and even pack animals. The city of Alaska have also benefited from the migration, they have know a significant growth rate.
An other type of economy is mentioned in this extract. The two characters, John and Pete, talked about the mail service, which had developped in this part of Alaska because of the number of people that arrived in the region.
We can also notice that  stated how dangerous was the journey to the Klondike for unexperienced people. We can think that the people he is talking about are the well-dressed one, who are clearly not dressed properly for the weather and condition of Alaska. He also brings up the low chance of actually becoming rich out of gold prosepecting. John appears to be the character that enlighten the specator about the life condition of the Gold Rush, but he is also enlighten them about the historical fact of the time.

Source :

1. Map : Seattle Post-Intellengencer, National Park Service website
2. Pierre Berton, Klondike, The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899 (1958),  Canada, Anchor Canada , p. 158
3. Photo : NPS - National Park Service