It is the highest point along the Chilkoot Trail that leads from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett Lake, British Columbia.

During the gold rush, three aerial tramways and several surface hoists were constructed and operated briefly over the pass.

[2] The Chilkoot Trail is reported to have spanned between 28 and 33 miles (45 and 53 km) from sea level at Dyea, Alaska to Lake Bennett, British Columbia, elevation 2602 ft. (642 m.).

To be allowed to enter the Klondike and take part in the gold rush, Canadian officials required that stampeders take one ton of goods with them, to try to ensure they were prepared to survive on the frontier.

[7] The clothing items included: a waterproof blanket, 6 pairs of wool socks, 2 flannel over shirts, and a medicine chest.

[7] No traveller could take his supplies across the pass at once, so several trips had to be made in order to transport all needed goods to the destination.

Quite often the supplies had to be carried by hand in 50-60 pound packs, as the passes proved to be too narrow for wagons or draft animals.

[8] The professional packers of the time mainly consisted of Alaska Natives and First Nations people (Indians), who charged 1 cent per pound they carried.

This was a rough rock-strewn area and was named because it was the last place where travelers could have their packs reweighed, and adjustments could be made to their payments.

The Scales was also used as a place where travelers could store their provisions and supplies while going to lower levels to get the remainder, before continuing on their journey up the Pass.

The trail was covered with giant, sharp slabs of rock, which made the footing treacherous and often induced crawling during the summer months.

The steps were too narrow for more than one person to climb up at a time, so the trek was limited to a single-file line up the mountain, as shown in the photo for this article.

The crest through the mountain and the path down it were often filled with snow all year round, making the trek more difficult.

Travelers became soaked from rain and sweat from their physical exertion; the sun's reflection against the snow could burn their skin and almost blind them.

Canada also used its militia, called the Yukon Field Force, to help the NWMP with guarding prisoners and protecting gold shipments.

As the snow melted, the interior became wet, creating mould; living conditions were so poor that blankets and bedding would not dry.

[13] With rumors of some successes, both men and women viewed the Gold Rush as a chance to make a fortune and break out of poverty.

[4] Based on steam ship passenger lists, historians estimate that approximately 1500 women made the trek through the Chilkoot and White trails.

[4] Some of these women were wives of the stampeders, while others had traveled in order to gain employment as clerks, teachers, cooks, nurses, and prostitutes.

The long, full skirts were ill-suited for any physical labour, and were often made with five yards (or more) of material, making them very heavy and cumbersome.

The rigors of the trail meant that many women abandoned conventional clothing and began to wear bloomers or knickers.

Soapy Smith and his gang centered in the port makeshift town of Skagway below the Pass were conniving and murderous thieves—if they couldn't cheat someone out of their belongings or money, they would steal valuables, and killing those that got in their way was common.

Dynamite from a site above the trail caused a massive block to fall on the Dunns [their first names may have been Elizabeth and Michael], a married pair traveling with their horses.

[8] Most of the horses that died on the White Pass trail gave out or were killed within a two-mile (three-kilometer) stretch of slope.

[15] Sometimes people suffering from malnutrition ate the bodies of the dead horses left on the White Pass Trail, and became violently ill as a result.

And so I swear once more, by the mill-tails of hell and the head of John the Baptist, I'll never hit for the Outside till I make my pile.

"The pass is depicted in the 1925 Charlie Chaplin movie The Gold Rush, the 1929 silent The Trail of '98, and the 1991 film White Fang.