Kelly Phillips Erb , FORBES STAFF

"Gold! Gold! In the Klondike!" On this day in 1896, a group of prospectors discovered gold nuggets in the Klondike River, kicking off a search for riches.

Those early prospectors who would immediately become wealthy from the findings were Keish (called Skookum Jim Mason), George Carmack, Kate Carmack, and Dawson (Tagish) Charlie. George Carmack, however, is typically credited for finding the gold because he filed the first claim for property in the area, though many believe that his brother-in-law, Skookum Jim, actually made the discovery.

When news of the group's good fortune spread, tens of thousands of miners hoping to strike it rich headed to the Klondike. By summer of the next year, "Klondike Fever" was in full swing. And with good reason: those who were lucky enough to strike gold could become extremely rich. Carmack reportedly left the Yukon with $1 million in gold. That translates to $29,245,184 in today's dollars - not bad for a year or two's worth of work. Large-scale gold mining in the area would produce about $250 million in gold over the next 70 years.

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