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Album: Seattle, Washington 2007
Image: 476 / 545
Date: 2007-09-03 11:10:20
Tags: Seattle

Step by Weary Step

Crossing the rugged Coast Mountains from Skagway or Dyea with a ton of goods was a formidable task. Thousands of people and a wide variety of pack animals crowded the crude trails. All along the way were men and women - entrepreneurs or charlatans - anxious to make money off those trudging their way across the passes toward the Klondike.

A Tale of Two Towns

Dyea and Skagway, both reached by ship, were less than ten miles apart and provided access to the two most popular trails to the gold fields - Chilkoot Trail and White Pass. The two towns actively competed for stampeder dollars.

Chilkoot Pass, out of Dyea, was the more popular route. Dyea's harbor was not as deep as Skagway's so most ships landed their cargos at Skagway. Stampeders, including those who had purchased tickets to Dyea were often left to make their own way from Skagway to Dyea and the Chilkoot Trail.

In 1898, a series of avalanches struck Chilkoot Pass, killing dozens of stampeders. Skagway civic leaders used the tragedy to promote White Pass as the safer trail. Conversely, Dyea promoters used stories about Soapy Smith and his gang - a group of con men operating in Skagway - to encourage stampeders to bypass Skagway in favor of Dyea.

Those There Before

In 1880, the Tlingits, who had been carrying their own trade goods over Chilkoot Pass for many years, began packing equipment and supplies for the small numbers of miners, explorers, and survey parties beginning to enter the region. After 1893, persistent rumors of gold in the Yukon increased the flow of gold-seekers over the pass. The hordes of stampeders that arrived in 1897 and 1898 soon overwhelmed the traditional lifestyle of the Tlingit and other Native peoples in the region.

Infamous Chilkoot Pass

The trail from Dyea to Lake Bennett was a rugged thirty-three miles. Those carrying their own loads hiked each section of the trail multiple times in order to move their "ton of goods" along. Those who could afford to, hired commercial packers or, later in the gold rush, used tramways to transport their gear.

At the base of the final climb over Chilkoot Pass was an area called "the Scales." Many arriving at the Scales saw the steep slope and long lines ahead and, out of sheer exhaustion and discouragement, gave up. They sold their goods or left them behind and returned down the trail.

Those who pushed on trudged up 1,500 steep steps carved into an icy mountain face. After this grueling climb to the summit, bent under a backbreaking load, a stampeder had a few seconds of fun - sliding down an icy chute - only to start the climb over with another load.

Photos of endless lines of stampeders making their way up the "Golden Stairs" have created a lasting image that symbolizes the toil and hardships of all who made the Klondike journey.