Travel Routes - Land and Water
The complexity, expense, and challenge in the methods of travel - whether by land, by water, or, most often, a combination of both - contributed to the failure of the Alaskan Gold Rush.
The Trails - Travel by Land
The poor condition of the trails contributed to the failure of the Alaskan Gold Rush by making travel challenging, which slowed down the rate at which travelers could reach the gold fields. The two most common trails were the Skagway Trail and the the Dyea Trail, which began near the shore and led prospectors inland to the Yukon River and the Klondike. Every season presented different challenges that slowed hikers down. In winter it was the thick snow and treacherous ice, in spring and fall it was the unending mud, and during the summer it was the sharp jagged rocks littered along the side of the trail.
The slow travel resulted in an overcrowding of the trails. "Imagine a narrow trail over the snow, then crowd on it men with sleds, men with packs on their backs, dogs in trains of two to eight horses, mules and oxen..." This is what Alfred G. McMichael said in a letter while describing the trails to a friend. Every trail to the Klondike had to cross over the mountains, and not every climber had the endurance required to hike the seven - to eight - thousand foot peaks.
The Chilkoot Pass, part of the Skagway Trail, was, simply described, a treacherous iced over hill and acquired the nickname the "meanest 32 miles in the world." The most difficult part of the journey was a two and a half mile stretch between Sheep Camp and Scales. Immediately after leaving Scales, the stampeders came upon the "Golden Stairs" where a person must carry their packs one by one up the 1,500 steps carved out of the mountain ice. A single trip up the mountain could take 6 hours.
The White Pass, part of the Dyea Trail, originally begins wide enough for wagons to be used in transportation. However as the trail rises, the wide path becomes two-feet wide and sharply twists and turns up the mountain with a steep peak on one side and a drop hundreds of feet down on the other. The trail was nicknamed "The Dead Horse Trail" due to the alrmingly large number of horses and other animals that died either from being beaten by the owner, the difficulty of the trail, or from lack of food and rest. Over two thousand dead horses lined the trail only a few weeks after the rush began.
Movement of Supplies
The process of carrying supplies along the trails was extremely slow and
fatiguing. The Northwest Mounted Police required each group to carry one ton of
goods for each person in the group. When possible, "stampeders" moved goods
along the trail with the use of sleds and animals. However, since the trails were often narrow and rocky, it was not possible to use large wagons to carry supplies. Thus long portions of steep trails required the goods to be transported in 50 to 60-pound packs strapped to the stampeders’ backs.
This was a very slow process and the goods were moved about five miles at a time, meaning once they moved one pack 5 miles they had to put it down and return the five miles back to the rest of their provisions and make the trip again and again. For every single mile they moved their total provisions, they ended up traveling 80 miles. Tappen Adney wrote in a diary about the trails saying that, "It is impossible to give one an idea of the slowness with which things are moving. It takes a day to go four or five miles and back." Overall, this was an extremely long and tiring process, making travel very difficult.
The poor condition of the trails contributed to the failure of the Alaskan Gold Rush by making travel challenging, which slowed down the rate at which travelers could reach the gold fields. The two most common trails were the Skagway Trail and the the Dyea Trail, which began near the shore and led prospectors inland to the Yukon River and the Klondike. Every season presented different challenges that slowed hikers down. In winter it was the thick snow and treacherous ice, in spring and fall it was the unending mud, and during the summer it was the sharp jagged rocks littered along the side of the trail.
The slow travel resulted in an overcrowding of the trails. "Imagine a narrow trail over the snow, then crowd on it men with sleds, men with packs on their backs, dogs in trains of two to eight horses, mules and oxen..." This is what Alfred G. McMichael said in a letter while describing the trails to a friend. Every trail to the Klondike had to cross over the mountains, and not every climber had the endurance required to hike the seven - to eight - thousand foot peaks.
The Chilkoot Pass, part of the Skagway Trail, was, simply described, a treacherous iced over hill and acquired the nickname the "meanest 32 miles in the world." The most difficult part of the journey was a two and a half mile stretch between Sheep Camp and Scales. Immediately after leaving Scales, the stampeders came upon the "Golden Stairs" where a person must carry their packs one by one up the 1,500 steps carved out of the mountain ice. A single trip up the mountain could take 6 hours.
The White Pass, part of the Dyea Trail, originally begins wide enough for wagons to be used in transportation. However as the trail rises, the wide path becomes two-feet wide and sharply twists and turns up the mountain with a steep peak on one side and a drop hundreds of feet down on the other. The trail was nicknamed "The Dead Horse Trail" due to the alrmingly large number of horses and other animals that died either from being beaten by the owner, the difficulty of the trail, or from lack of food and rest. Over two thousand dead horses lined the trail only a few weeks after the rush began.
Movement of Supplies
The process of carrying supplies along the trails was extremely slow and
fatiguing. The Northwest Mounted Police required each group to carry one ton of
goods for each person in the group. When possible, "stampeders" moved goods
along the trail with the use of sleds and animals. However, since the trails were often narrow and rocky, it was not possible to use large wagons to carry supplies. Thus long portions of steep trails required the goods to be transported in 50 to 60-pound packs strapped to the stampeders’ backs.
This was a very slow process and the goods were moved about five miles at a time, meaning once they moved one pack 5 miles they had to put it down and return the five miles back to the rest of their provisions and make the trip again and again. For every single mile they moved their total provisions, they ended up traveling 80 miles. Tappen Adney wrote in a diary about the trails saying that, "It is impossible to give one an idea of the slowness with which things are moving. It takes a day to go four or five miles and back." Overall, this was an extremely long and tiring process, making travel very difficult.
Traveling By Boat
Some routes to Alaska were made entirely by water, and involved less effort and risk. However, this boat travel was extremely expensive compared to the "traditional" walking route, and was rarely taken.
The most common method of travel was a combination of hiking and boating, where prospectors hiked the Dyea and Skagway trails as described above. The Dyea Trail ended at Lake Bennet and the Skagway Trail ended at Lake Lindeman. These two lakes are the headwaters of the Yukon River, one of North America's longest rivers. The easiest way to reach Dawson, many stampeder's destination, was to travel by water down the Yukon.
In May 1898, the river began to thaw and the river became crowded with hundreds of newly made boats. Two days later, several thousand other boats followed. The journey down the river to Dawson took two weeks to complete. The journey as a whole was fairly mild except for at one point - Miles Canyon. At Miles Canyon, powerful whirlpools were created as water rushed between the high rock walls. In this canyon, ten men drowned and a hundred and fifty boats were destroyed. Then the North West Mounted Police took measures to prevent any more accidents and required each boat to be instpected before entering the canyon.
The most common method of travel was a combination of hiking and boating, where prospectors hiked the Dyea and Skagway trails as described above. The Dyea Trail ended at Lake Bennet and the Skagway Trail ended at Lake Lindeman. These two lakes are the headwaters of the Yukon River, one of North America's longest rivers. The easiest way to reach Dawson, many stampeder's destination, was to travel by water down the Yukon.
In May 1898, the river began to thaw and the river became crowded with hundreds of newly made boats. Two days later, several thousand other boats followed. The journey down the river to Dawson took two weeks to complete. The journey as a whole was fairly mild except for at one point - Miles Canyon. At Miles Canyon, powerful whirlpools were created as water rushed between the high rock walls. In this canyon, ten men drowned and a hundred and fifty boats were destroyed. Then the North West Mounted Police took measures to prevent any more accidents and required each boat to be instpected before entering the canyon.