sentences:  An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people braved numerous hardships to reach the Klondike gold fields in the winter and spring of 1897-1898 after the discovery became known in 1897.With the influx of American stampeders, the Canadian government decided to create a separate territory to better control the situation.In 1901, after many had gone back, the Census put the population of the territory at 27,219, a figure that was not reached again until 1991.