Among the first Klondike farmers was John Acklin, who planted five gardens in 1898. Vegetables fetched extremely high prices that summer, but gold was still more desirable. Acklin's best plot, on the side hill opposite Bonanza Creek, was later pushed aside by gold mining.
A few years later, a headline in the Klondike-Nugget read: "What is Being Done in the Way of Supplying Local Market With Choice Eatables -- Past Delusions Shattered by Actual Demonstration." The reporter, who toured Dawson-area gardens, wrote, "To say the result of this personal investigation is astounding will but feebly express it."
