White Pass

This article deals with the pass between Canada and Alaska, in the US state of Washington the White Pass (Washington) is a pass in the Cascade Range about 40 km southeast of Mount Rainier

White Pass
Compass direction	south	North
Pass height	873  m
region	U.S. state Alaska ( USA )	British Columbia Province ( Canada )
Watershed	Skagway River
Valley locations	Skagway
expansion	Klondike Highway , White Pass and Yukon Railway
Built	February 1899
Mountains	Boundary ranges
map
Coordinates	59 ° 37 '43 "  N , 135 ° 9' 26"  W Coordinates: 59 ° 37 '43 "  N , 135 ° 9' 26"  W

The White Pass is a 873  m high mountain pass in the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border between Alaska and British Columbia, Canada, and is part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park .

It connects the port town of Skagway on the Inside Passage with Lake Bennett .

history

During the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 19th century, the route over the pass, along with the Chilkoot Pass, was one of two ways to get from the Pacific coast to the inland gold fields. The route over the White Pass was longer but less steep and high than the one over the Chilkoot Pass. However, it was considered more dangerous because of the higher crime rate attributed to bandit Soapy Smith .

The Klondike Highway at White Pass

Due to the relatively low incline, a path for horse-drawn carriages was built over the pass in the course of the gold rush. The harsh conditions in winter and the heavy loads, however, cost many horses their lives, which earned the path the nickname "Dead Horse Trail" ( engl .: "Path of the dead horses").

The White Pass was named in 1887 by the surveyor William Ogilvie after the then Canadian Interior Minister Thomas White .

traffic

The narrow-gauge railway of the White Pass and Yukon Railway , commissioned in 1898 , was built over the White Pass. The Klondike Highway from Skagway to Dawson in the Canadian Yukon Territory also uses this route and runs parallel to the tracks at the pass.

literature

• Roy Minter: White Pass. Gateway to the Klondike. University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks AK 1987, ISBN 0-912006-26-9 .

Web links

Commons : White Pass  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• White Pass . In: BC Geographical Names (English)
• Crowsnest Pass on Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia (Engl.)
• Official website of the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad (Engl.)
• The White Pass to the gold rush (on the side of the University of Washington ) (Engl.)
• Unofficial website about the White Pass & Yukon Route (Engl.)