The gold rush era in the United States began in California in 1848 and ended around 1900. (Yukon) Although miners sought the precious metal until the 20th century, the Klondike Gold Rush, which took place between 1897 and 1900, was the last of the world's great rushes. People had flocked to the upper Yukon River in hopes of striking it rich. Many people had traveled from the Canadian and American regions to the center of the Klondike Gold Rush to fulfill their dreams of one day being rich in gold. (Place 48) The Yukon River Valley of Canada and Alaska was once peaceful and isolated, with wild animals and a few trappers and white humans. The miners had headed north after California's fields were exhausted and made their dreams come true with a few dollars' worth of gold they managed to extract from their mines. This loss of gold in California had transformed peaceful Alaska into a rampage of greed and envy that would never make Alaska the same. The United States acquired Alaska in 1867, but it was basically unknown and unstable until the late 1890s, when large numbers of people from Canada and America gathered there to search for gold. (Alaska's Gold) Juneau, Alaska, was established in 1880 after the discovery of gold, but the major discovery occurred in August 1896, when the son of a 49-niner from California, John Muir, found gold while panning for gold at Rabbit Creek, which soon became Bonanza Creek. Several men during this early period benefited from gold coins that earned them over a million dollars. News of this particular gold discovery did not reach California and the rest of the West Coast until the summer of 1897. This gold rush had followed the pattern of the California Gold Rush of 1849. (Poynter 79) In 1880, one of the largest gold discoveries began. John Muir was one of the few men who started the series of Alaskan gold rushes and made Alaska what it is known for, the Last Frontier. John Muir was on a canoe trip through the Inside Passage in 1879 and predicted that there would be large quantities of gold in Juneau, the capital of Alaska in present-day America. In 1886, John Muir and two other men stopped for lunch near Rabbit Creek and saw a sight that would ignite the world with gold fever..