MP-0000.2024.19 | Yukon detachment, N. W. M. P. at the summit of White Pass, YT, 1899
Yukon detachment, N. W. M. P. at the summit of White Pass, YT, 1899
H. C. Barley
1899, 19th century
Silver salts on glass - Gelatin dry plate process
20 x 25 cm
MP-0000.2024.19
© McCord Museum
Description
Keywords: male (26812) , Photograph (77678) , portrait (53878)
Keys to History
The North-West Mounted Police established detachments at the summits of the White Pass and the Chilkoot Pass, and because of this, the summits were later accepted as the Canada-U.S. boundary. (This was an important part of the Alaska Boundary Dispute of 1903). The camera is sitting right on the boundary line, with the Union Jack (Canada's flag then) on the left and the Stars and Stripes on the right. The reason so many police were needed at a remote border post was that thousands of people came through it between 1897 and 1899. The police had to collect customs duties, record the names of each traveller and search miners leaving Canada to make sure they had paid the gold royalty.
Source : Off to the Klondike! The Search for Gold [Web tour], by William R. Morrison, University of Northern British Columbia (see Links)
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What
The international border between Canada and the U.S.A. runs through the summit of the White Pass.
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Where
The camera is straddling the border between Alaska and British Columbia.
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When
The police arrived in 1895, the year before gold was discovered.
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Who
A visiting clergyman poses with 17 members of the North-West Mounted Police who ran the border post.
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