Building The Approaches And Foundation 15 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     little streams and mills. A mill site is shown clearly near the farm now 
     
     owned by William Cairns, Freetown and downstream the mill that was later 
     
     to become “Clark’s Mill” and somewhere in between a tiny brook can be 
     
     seen on Wright’s Map, 1852 (with corrections and additions to 1874). 
     
     Although the place name is missing from all maps, old and new, yet the 
     
     legend of the Klondike is one that merits recording. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The story is told that on a hot day in summer during a severe electrical 
     
     storm, a bolt of lightning struck this wooded area and in the ensuing forest 
     
     fire a section was burned out. This speeded up the clearing of the land and 
     
     the ash from the fire helped fertilize the soil. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The place bears little resemblance to the Klondike of “the Gold Rush 
     
     days” but there is a common denominator and it is found in the word 
     
     “gold”. In 1897 when the great stampede of almost 18,000 prospectors 
     
     were making a mad rush to pan for gold in the Yukon Territory, it caused 
     
     quite a stir in this community and many a local lad had visions of heading 
     
     north and “striking it rich”.