1905. Rex Beach was well on his way to becoming a lawyer when he was hit by Gold Rush Fever and left for the Klondike to strike it rich. His novel The Spoilers was quite successful at capturing the excitement of the Gold Rush, complete with claim-jumping, corruption, deception, villains, and heroes. It made the 1906 best sellers list and was made into a movie in 1914 featuring many of the popular actors and actresses of the day.