Second Letter to Mother

This letter is being written several years after the first letter. You have now been a Northwest Mountie for twenty years. You have helped build Fort Walsh, Fort Macleod and Fort Saskatchewan. The railroad has now been built all across Canada. Thousands of people have moved to the west. Treaties have been signed with the aboriginal peoples to provide them with designated land and safety. Everyone is talking about the possibility of the territory being split into separate provinces. It is a very good time to be in the Northwest Mounted Police. Your mother still misses you, but enjoys your wonderful letters you write for her each week.

Out of the blue, gold has been discovered in the far north. The discovery is along the border with Canada and the United States. Americans are crossing the border to seek their fortune in the Yukon area of the territories. Thousands of people from all over the world are travelling to the Yukon to find some gold and strike it rich. The Gold Rush has begun!

Second Letter

The friendly to your mother will include the quality indicators including:

• date
• greeting
• body of letter (paragraphs)
• ending
• signature

Explain to your mother:

1. Why you must leave the settlement in the south to travel to the Yukon.
2. The characteristics of the Mounties being chosen to set up the new fort in the Yukon.
3. The challenges of living in the Yukon during the Gold Rush.

Click on the links below and watch the videos to learn a little bit more about the Gold Rush:

·         http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10187

·         http://youtu.be/oAriOdmczlA