Tag Archives: Chilkoot Trail

Train to Skagway

Title: Train to Skagway

General Information about Item:

Tradition, Customary Lore
Language: English
Country of Origin: United States/Canada
Trail of Origin: Chilkoot
Informant: Ian Andrews, Sam D
Date Collected: 10-29-19, 11-10-19

Informant Data:

Ian Andrews is currently a graduate student at MIT. He grew up in Juneau, Alaska and hiked the Chilkoot Trail after finishing his undergraduate studies. Ian hikes recreationally, from trails in his hometown, to spending a week hiking in the Olympic Mountains in Washington State.
Sam is a 40-year-old man from Juneau, Alaska. Sam grew up in Southeast Alaska, and currently works for the state government. Sam hiked the Chilkoot trail in 2015.

Contextual Data:

Historical Context: First used by the Tlingit people of Alaska as a trade route, the Chilkoot became an important trail for miners and prospectors coming to Alaska during the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 1800s. The trail was mostly abandoned after the end of the gold rush in 1898, until the trail was restored for recreational hikers in the 1960s. (Source)
Cultural Context: Many Chilkoot hikers start their journeys in Skagway, Alaska. Once they have completed their hike, they arrive in Bennett, British Colombia. Hikers usually return to Skagway to make their way back home. Skagway is a popular destination for tourists visiting Alaska.
Social Context: Ian brought up the train when talking about his father’s experience hiking the Chilkoot. Ian’s dad lived in Skagway in the 90’s and hiked the trail then. Sam mentioned the train when talking about the transition between Canada and the US.

Item:

Once hikers have completed the trail, they ride a train that runs between Bennett and Skagway. In the 90’s the train was primarily a cargo train. When the cargo trains stopped running, they were replaced by passenger trains used for tourism. As hikers usually take multiple days to complete the hike, and do not shower during their trip, the passenger train reserves a section for hikers, so the other passengers are not subject to the smell of the hikers. The train is usually the last stop for hikers, and signifies their return to society.

Transcript:

Ian: “Nowadays the train we took isn’t a working train, it’s a passenger train. Twenty or thirty years ago it was still a freight train, so you could hike the Chilkoot during the day, then catch the night freight back to Skagway. Nowadays you have to plan it out a little more to get the passenger train back.”
Sam: “When you get up to Bennett for your train ride home, they have a special cart for the hikers, because the hikers are typically pretty sweaty and stinky.”

Collector’s Name: Soren Thompson

Tags/Keywords:

Train
Chilkoot Trail
Thru Hiking

Sailing Across Lake Bennett

Title: Sailing Across Lake Bennett

General Information about Item:

Language: English
Country of Origin: United States/Canada
Trail of Origin: Chilkoot
Informant: Ian Andrews, Sam D
Date Collected: 10-29-19, 11-10-19

Informant Data:

Ian Andrews is currently a graduate student at MIT. He grew up in Juneau, Alaska and hiked the Chilkoot Trail after finishing his undergraduate studies. Ian hikes recreationally, from trails in his hometown, to spending a week hiking in the Olympic Mountains in Washington State.
Sam is a 40-year-old man from Juneau, Alaska. Sam grew up in Southeast Alaska, and currently works for the state government. Sam hiked the Chilkoot trail in 2015.

Contextual Data:

Historical Context: First used by the Tlingit people of Alaska as a trade route, the Chilkoot became an important trail for miners and prospectors coming to Alaska during the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 1800s. The trail was mostly abandoned after the end of the gold rush in 1898, until the trail was restored for recreational hikers in the 1960s. (Source)
Cultural Context: Lake Bennett is one of the significant landmarks along the Chilkoot trail, which hikers come to just after completing the hike to the Chilkoot Summit, the most difficult and dangerous section of the trail. Whitehorse is a city in British Colombia, and one of the major destinations for gold rushers after completing the Chilkoot portion of their journey.
Social Context: Sam and Ian individually brought up the boats at Lake Bennett when asked about interesting artifacts from the gold rush they saw while hiking.

Item:

When gold rushers arrived at Lake Bennett, they would need a boat to cross the large lake with their gear. As it was not feasible to transport an entire boat to the lake, they would bring some materials with them, but only construct the boat once they arrived at the lake. One of the informants mentioned that some of these boats would sink while crossing the lake, so the passengers would have to abandon ship and swim back to shore.

Transcript:

Ian: “At lake Bennet, [the gold rushers] would get to the lake and have to build a ship out of the nearby trees. Some people would go halfway across and start to sink, so they would have to swim back.”
Sam: “There’s one point when you are heading down through the rocks in the Lake Bennett area where there’s a metal framework of a boat sitting on the rocks… People couldn’t build very big boats because they had to navigate little passes while they were working their way to Whitehorse. They hauled quite a bit of the construction material with them, like canvas or whatever they using for the hull.”

Collector’s Name: Soren Thompson

Tags/Keywords:

Sinking Ship
Chilkoot Trail
Thru Hiking

Chilkoot Trail Certificate

Title: Chilkoot Trail Certificate

General Information about Item:

Material Lore
Language: English, French, Tagish, Tlingit
Country of Origin: United States, Canada
Trail of Origin: Chilkoot
Informant: Ian Andrews
Date Collected: 10-29-19

Informant Data:

Ian Andrews is currently a graduate student at MIT. He grew up in Juneau, Alaska and hiked the Chilkoot Trail after finishing his undergraduate studies. Ian hikes recreationally, from trails in his hometown, to spending a week hiking in the Olympic Mountains in Washington State.

Contextual Data:

Historical Context: First used by the Tlingit people of Alaska as a trade route, the Chilkoot became an important trail for miners and prospectors coming to Alaska during the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 1800s. The trail was mostly abandoned after the end of the gold rush in 1898, until the trail was restored for recreational hikers in the 1960s. (Source)

Item:

A certificate given to hikers on the Chilkoot trail who reach the Lake Lindemann Museum.

Texture:

At the top of the certificate, there is a depiction of four birds. This is done in the Form Line art style, traditional to the Native Tlingit people of the area. This design is credited to Ross Atlin at the bottom of the certificate.

On the certificate, there is a message of congratulations to the receiving hiker:

Congratulations for hiking the Chilkoot Trail

The Chilkoot Trail is important because of the role it played in the mass movement of people to Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. The Trail is part of the Klondike Gold Rush International Historic Park.

The certificate contains the same message in French, as the Chilkoot trail stretches between Alaska and Canada.

Felicitations pour avoir parcouru la piste Chilkoot

La piste Chilkoot revet und grande importance en raison du role qu’elle a joue dans l’arrivee massive des gens en Alaska et au Yukon durant la ruee vers l’or du Klondike. Cette piste fait partie du parc historique international de la ruee vers l’or du Klondike.

There is also a photograph of gold rushers hiking to the Chilkoot Pass summit, taken between 1897 and 1898. Next to this photograph are the Tagish and Tlingit names for the summit, Kwatese and A Shaki, respectively.

At the bottom of the certificate, there is an endorsement from both Parks Canada, and the United States National Parks Service.

Transcript:

“They have a museum there with different pieces of history of the trail. They have a log book and a sticker or decal you could take. I think it was actually like a certificate you could take. Some of the camps were more built up than others.”
The informant later followed up, confirming a certificate was rewarded to anyone who reaches the Lake Lindemann Museum.

Collectors Comment:

Neither the informant or I spoke French well enough to provide a phonetic translation of the French section of the certificate. However, it appears to be an equivalent translation of the message of congratulations written in English.

Collector’s Name: Soren Thompson

Tags/Keywords:

Chilkoot Trail
Certificate
Thru Hiking