The Chilkoot Pass had been used as a Indigenous trade route for generations before the Klondike stampede. When the 1897 gold rush started, the Chilkat, Tlingit, and other Native people hired themselves out as packers for the incoming gold seekers, charging $1.00 a pound to carry goods over Chilkoot Pass. The following year, a tramway put many of the Native packers out of work. Not everyone could afford the packers or the tramway.

This 1898 photo shows people packing supplies up the steep slope of Chilkoot Pass. The cables of the tramway can be seen above the line. To the right of the line, several people are sliding back down through the snow for another load.