Archives West Finding Aid

During the Klondike Gold Rush, from 1897 to 1899, prospectors reached the Klondike and Upper Yukon Valley by way of trails starting in either Skagway or Dyea, Alaska. The Chilkoot Trail head left Dyea, reaching the gold fields via the Chilkoot Pass. William Gustavus Augustus Miller (1866-1956) was one of over 30,000 men and women who traveled to the gold fields during those early years.

There were two routes to the Canadian gold fields which passed through the boomtowns of Skagway or Dyea. The Chilkoot Trail began in Dyea and crossed the Chilkoot Pass into Canada. This route was shorter than the trail through Skagway but the steepness of the pass excluded the use of pack animals and all goods had to be packed by the prospectors. As many stampeders were insufficiently prepared for the rigors of the trail, Canada's North-West Mounted Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) declared prospectors could only enter Canada if they had at least one ton of gear, enough to supply a prospector for one year. Prospectors hauled their own gear or paid porters (often First Nations people or other prospectors needing to earn money). By 1898, several tramways were established and hauled gear and supplies over the pass for a fee.

Upon reaching Lake Lindeman on the other side of the Chilkoot pass, most stampeders needed to build their own boats in order to reach Dawson City, the last town before the gold fields. By steering their boats along the rapids of the Yukon River, they would arrive at at Dawson, located at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike Rivers.

The cyanotype images in this collection were created using a non-silver photographic process based on iron salts. The principle of the process was discovered by Sir John Herschel who presented it in 1842 to the Royal Photographic Society of London. Most cyanotypes date largely from 1880's to 1920's. They were most often used by amateur photographers. For many years the cyanotype process was used for technical drawings and illustrations ("blueprints"), and examples can be found illustrating tables and graphs. Cyanotypes were also extensively used for industrial and technical applications.