Jim Mason

In August 1896, Mason — better known among fellow members of the Tagish tribe as "Keish" — was traveling with his family along a small tributary of the Yukon River when he found several gold nuggets (Given the racism of the time, though, credit for the discovery went to Mason's white brother-in-law George Tarmack). Misleading attribution aside, when the news reached the United States, thousands of hopeful prospectors flocked to the region, including Jack London, whose experience there inspired him to write The Call of the Wild and White Fang.

• 
• Click to Print

• Find this article at:
• https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1869388_1869390_1869408,00.html