Fred Carlyon photographs, circa 1899

The photographs were made during the period of the Klondike Gold Rush (roughly 1896-1900) and the ensuing boundary dispute between the United States and Canada. After the United States had purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, the boundary line between British Columbia and the Alaska Panhandle was established, at least from the US perspective, in accordance with Russian maps of the time. However, these maps were not entirely accurate, and because no official survey had been conducted, the issue was ignored until gold was discovered in the Klondike and the hordes of prospectors pouring into the region highlighted the need for a resolution to the problem. For instance, one point of contention was that prospectors were establishing settlements on land the Canadians considered to be within Canada. In 1903, the matter was settled by a tribunal of three Americans, two Canadians, and one British jurist, Lord Alverstone, who voted in favor of the Americans, thereby resolving the dispute.