No public access on the U.S. side of the Chilkoot Trail past mile 4.0. Permitted overnight camping is only for the Canadian side of the Trail – Reservations will open in May for the 2025 hiking season. More
National Park Service, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Stinebaugh Collection, KLGO 0028.
Courageous women from all walks of life joined the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98. Some were poor, some were professional; some wives joined their husbands and other women left their husbands at home. When the San Francisco newspaper of 1897 reported - "Sacks of gold from mines of the Klondike," gold fever swept the land. Many stories told of how men and women had worked on their own for less than a year to bring out great riches. Many people were faced with the economic depression of the time, and the idea of finding treasure and sacks of gold filled up everyone's imagination.
A few women came from desperation to support themselves and families; others sought out adventure and excitement from their boring routine life. Among the mix were miners, business women, journalists, shopkeepers, cooks, nuns, entertainers, teachers, physicians and hotel proprietors. Some came to see what the Klondike Fever was all about. Everyone was hoping to improve their fortunes if they could. These women faced no ordinary circumstances. Most stampeders, male or female, were not physically conditioned to the strenuous life that was required. Some died along the way, and others turned back. As dreams gave way to harsh realities, some women found themselves in situations they never imagined. One of the few options they had was employment in the sex industry.
Locations:Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
After arriving in Skagway, Annie Hall Strong wrote "Advice for women" in the local newspaper helping female stampeders plan for their trip to the gold fields.
Locations:Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Klondike Gold Rush - Seattle Unit National Historical Park
The life of Annie Hall Strong, a white woman who spent decades in Seattle before pursuing wealth in Alaska with her husband, highlights the connection between those two places during the Klondike Gold Rush.
Locations:Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Of all the professions in Skagway during the gold rush, prostitution was by far the most dangerous. Learn more about one of Skagway's working women and the mystery surrounding her untimely death.
Locations:Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
In the fall of 1897 Emma Kelly made her way north to report on the events of the Klondike Gold Rush for various Midwest newspapers. Despite being told she was too late to head north she pushed on, facing blizzard like conditions on the trail and the Yukon River freezing over while she was on it. She was one for adventure.
Locations:Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Arriving in Skagway with almost no money, Harriet Pullen baked pies, cooked for stampeders, and ran a horse team. Eventually she owned a dairy farm and the fanciest hotel in town, the Pullen House.
Locations:Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Daughter-in-law of George Brackett who built the Brackett Toll Road up the White Pass Trail, Mollie Brackett took many photos of everyday life in Skagway from 1898 to 1900. Her non-professional but informative photos were labeled and included many well-known aspects of the Klondike Gold Rush, e.g., the internment of Soapy Smith's gang, the building of the Brackett Road, gold mining in Atlin, Alaska Natives, traversing the White Pass Trail in the snow, etc.
Locations:Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
While working in Skagway during the Klondike Gold Rush, Mollie Walsh attracted the fancy of lonely stampeders. After her tragic death, one suitor commemorated her legacy with a statue still in town today.
Locations:Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
In 1896 Shaaw Tláa, also known as Kate Carmack, was traveling in remote parts of Canada when her group discovered gold at Rabbit Creek. This discovery kicked off the Klondike Gold Rush and made Shaaw Tláa the first woman involved in this epic part of history.
Outdoor exhibits next to the Goldberg Cigar Store and adjacent cribs explore the role of sex workers in gold rush era Skagway. Visitors have opportunity to understand more about the hardships and successes of gold rush women and see some of the conditions of the "working girls" of Skagway and the Klondike.
Votes for Women! Learn about Alaska's role in the suffrage movement
On March 30, 1867 the United States purchased Alaska from what was then the Russian Empire. Forty-five years later, in 1912, the US Congress voted to create the Territory of Alaska and establish the Alaska Territorial Legislature. The first session of the legislature met from March 3 to May 1, 1913 in the Juneau Elks Lodge. Their first act of the all-male Territorial Legislature was to grant Alaska women the right to vote.
As Alaska did not become a state until 1959, it was unable to vote for or against the 19th Amendment. But the Alaska territory granted women full voting rights in 1913 – seven years before the 19th Amendment was ratified.
Sites:Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument, Women's Rights National Historical Park
After years of petitions, protest, and activism, votes for women is recognized with the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This crash course introduces the pivotal moments and people who worked to secure women's voting rights.
