"At that time the city of Seattle was a maelstrom of raving humanity driven half insane by the desire for gold. Between 1800 and 2000 people from all over the world were there clamoring for transportation to Alaska when there was none. Money was plentiful and fabulous prices were asked for everything. Every scheme, legal and illegal, mostly illegal, ever devised by mortal to separate a man from his money was run "wide open." Unspeakable dives, houses of ill-fame existed on every block in the business section and women under the protection of the police solicited business every where. Gambling houses, saloons and disorderly houses were run in notorious defiance of the law and under the same roof. Many pick pockets, professional gamblers and gunmen collected about these places like flies about a cider jug and would stop at murder to say nothing of lesser crimes.

Everything imaginable for use in gold mining and arctic expeditions was offered for sale. Fakers filled the streets and hawked their wares which consisted of compasses, mercury, worthless contraptions for locating and testing gold and a thousand and one things which were found to be absolutely worthless.

Agents solicited business everywhere. They sold anything from a portable house to a condensed form of vegetable. Evaporated foods seemed to be a favorite with confidence men; evaporated potatoes, beans, fruits and even evaporated eggs- I remember distinctly how we were deceived into buying 100 pounds of the eggs. The agent poured some of the yellow powder out and cooked it. It tasted like scrambled eggs which indeed it was, but it was all sleight of hand trick for the stuff we paid for was yellow corn meal. Although we were very careful many of the supplies we bought were worthless.

A United States Government store was opened in Seattle at that time where old army equipment, consisting of tents, blankets, Knapp sacks, etc, were sold. Much of this stuff was worn out and useless but it was eagerly bought by the gold blinded crowds. The men who came from the east were not so easily deceived, but many parties spent all their money for worthless trash. and some never got further than Seattle. One party from Texas, which later took passage with us had been so badly fleeced by the confidence men, and had bought so much worthless stuff that much of it had to be left behind. I think sometimes that almost as much money was left in Seattle by the gold seekers as was ever recovered those two years. The real gold mine was in Seattle."

- from Mad Rush for Gold in Frozen North, by Arthur Dietz, 1914

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