New rumors began circulating in 1899: Gold had been found on Seward Peninsula, on the other side of Alaska from Yukon.
The rumors were true. That spring, more than 8,000 miners left the Klondike goldfields and headed westward. It became the first placer gold discovery in Alaska itself.
Credit for the discovery was given to three men—two Swedes, John Brynteson and Erik Lindblom, and one Norwegian, Jafet Lindeberg. The men had formed a partnership and had decided to search for gold on the western coast of Alaska. With the aid of two local Native Alaskan boys, Constantine Uparazuck and Gabriel Adams, they found gold in Anvil Creek and in the Snake River on September 20, 1898.
The Three Lucky Swedes, as the men became known, staked their claims. When those…