People/prospector, miner

Dawson Charlie (Kaa Goox)

Dawson Charlie (Kaa Goox) (1860–1908), prospector, miner, from Canada. Linked to gold.

The lucky break

Nephew of Skookum Jim. Was with him and Carmack when gold was found on Rabbit (Bonanza) Creek in 1896 and staked a claim alongside.1

The downfall

Wealth brought a lifestyle that strained his marriage and he and his wife separated. He drowned in 1908 after falling from a railway bridge near Carcross.1

Legacy

Bought the Caribou Hotel in Carcross. Born to a Tagish mother and Tlingit father, he is one of the Indigenous discoverers often left out of Klondike stories.1

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 16 to 17 August 1896Gold found on Rabbit (Bonanza) Creek2
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Where next

People

Partner ofGeorge CarmackThey staked together on Rabbit Creek in 1896. Charlie shared about a million dollars of gold.1FamilySkookum Jim Mason (Keish)Nephew of Skookum Jim, an Indigenous discoverer often left out of Klondike stories.1

Events

DiscoveredGold found on Rabbit (Bonanza) CreekHe was with Skookum Jim and Carmack when gold was found on Bonanza Creek.1

Sources

  1. KAA GOOX (Charlie, Dawson Charlie) Dictionary of Canadian Biography
  2. Discovery Claim National Historic Site Parks Canada

Pictures on this page: George Carmack - 01.jpg, H.J. Woodside (1858–1929) (Public domain).

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0).