Chilkoot Trail tramways

The Chilkoot Trail tramways were aerial tramways that played a significant role in the Klondike Gold Rush and the Chilkoot Trail as a transportation system to move prospectors and equipment towards the Dawson City/Klondike gold fields.

Four tramways and one hoist operated on the trail, although all eventually closed before 1900 when the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad became the transportation method of choice for remaining prospectors.

The Peterson Hoist, set up in 1896, was one of the first of semi-permanent gear-hauling infrastructures to be built on the trail. Little is known about P.H. Peterson’s hoist, including its location. He may have in fact operated on the adjacent, eponymous Peterson Pass instead of the Chilkoot Pass. Peterson’s hoist simply consisted of, according to an observer, a pulley at the top of the pass with a rope running through it. Attached to one end of the rope was a sled with runners and the other a box. Gear would be loaded into the sled while the box would be filled with snow and gravity would work its magic with the snow-filled box pulling the sled up as it went down. Everything would be emptied and the operation repeated. The hoist’s simplicity leads to part of the befuddlement over the location, as this hoist left a minimal number of artifacts.

On February 17, 1898 Peterson leased the hoist to J.F. Hielscher for the subsequent five months, which were the peak months of the rush.

Archie Burns, in the spring of 1897, instituted the first tramway on the trail running from the Scales to the false summit on the Chilkoot Pass. The tramway was horse-powered but also combined its services with manual hauling services from Dyea to The Scales.

In the winter of 1897-1898 the tram was purchased by Juneau merchant C.W. Young and the tram and associated hauling services became C.W. Young Freighting and Trading Company with Burns remaining as manager. As early as December 1897 or as late as February 1898 (the precise date is unknown), the newly coined C.W. Young Tramway upgraded from horse power to steam power. With the less-developed Peterson Hoist as its only competition, the C.W. Tramway was heavily used and profits rolled in. By late February 1898, the tram was hauling over five tons of freight daily with its rates changing upon demand. Later, for unknown reasons, Burns decided to supplement the steam-powered tram with a gasoline powered hoist operating in a similar manner to the Peterson Hoist except using gasoline power instead of a gravity counterweight. In January 1899 Burns purchased the tram and hauling infrastructure back from C.W. Young for $5,000 as the number of prospectors taking the Chilkoot dwindled. Either the end of that winter or the beginning of that spring, Burns closed his tram for the last time leaving Southeast Alaska for Nome, Alaska. He came back in 1900, however, only to reclaim the valuable portions of machinery although many artifacts from his operation remain as artifacts on the trail today.

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