Overview
The Chilkoot Trail was a major trail during the Alaskan Gold Rush that stretched for 32 miles from Dyea, Alaska to British Columbia, Canada. The path is mentionable because of the Golden Staircase within it and also how it was where the site of the Palm Sunday Avalanche took place. Even so, the main reason that that it is important is because it allowed access to important parts of Alaska. This particular path helped the prospectors reach areas suspected of harboring gold. Another key advantage that it gave was it made it easier for the prospectors to navigate through the harsh wilderness of Alaska. However, even though it led to the gold that would make some lucky few rich, it also held many dangers.
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Golden Staircase
Of the 32 miles of the Chilkoot Trail, 22 miles were called The Golden Staircase. The Golden Staircase consisted of 1,500 steps carved in the ice that stampeders had to climb up with the only way of keeping their balance being a rope acting as a rail. Many prospectors would give up on trying to find gold because of this obstacle. The ones who stayed had to face harsh weather conditions and injuries sustained from avalanches. Scaling the mountains proved to be even harder when the pack animals could not scale the mountains, leaving only the humans to carry what they could. Some stampeders hired natives or other stampeders who were low on cash to help them carry what they had with them.
Palm Sunday Avalanche
The Palm Sunday Avalanche was a tragically defining moment in the history of the Klondike Gold Rush. On April 3rd, 1898, a series of snow slides killed about 65 stampeders between Sheep Camp and the Scales on the Chilkoot Trail. The higher parts of the Chilkoot Trail were considered dangerous because of the avalanches that occurred every year, especially during the springtime. Though stampeders were warned by natives and veterans of the the trail, and the natives chose never to go packing up the most Avalanche-prone areas. Despite this, a few prospectors looking for gold took the risk, which ultimately led to their deaths. News quickly spread by newspaper all throughout Alaska, from both near and far away from the incident.