Chilkoot Pass, ca 1898 (MOHAI 5461)

Some of the people rushing to the Klondike gold fields went by ship to Dyea, Alaska, and continued into Canada on foot by way of Chilkoot Pass. The Canadian government required each person to bring enough food and equipment to last a year. This generally weighed a thousand pounds or more, and it took several trips to carry it over the pass. Some people hired members of local native tribes to help.
This photo, taken in 1897 or 1898, shows a long line of people climbing up the steep slopes of Chilkoot Pass. A crowd of people clusters around the scales (center). A railroad built over White Pass in 1899 took away most of the traffic through Chilkoot Pass.
Negative marked: "J.M.B."Original photograph: 1897 or 1898. Copied or acquired after 1902 by Webster & Stevens
Subjects (LCTGM): Passes (Landforms); Gold rushes