Skagway, Alaska -The White Pass & Yukon Route was built to take miners and supplies to the newly discovered Klondike gold fields. That was over a century ago, but now the gold rush of Alaska cruise ships is bringing far more business to this narrow gauge railroad than the original gold rush ever did.

Gold was discovered in 1896 along the Klondike River of the Yukon Territory, but, due to the extreme remoteness, it took quite a while for news to reach civilization: it wasn’t until July of 1897 that the first successful prospectors arrived in Seattle telling their stories of great riches waiting to be scooped up.

These were depression times, especially in the mining industry. The United States Government had committed to purchase large quantities of silver at a fixed, 16 to 1 ratio compared to gold. Silver mining boomed, but eventually the US treasury gold supply was nearly depleted. In 1893 the law was repealed. Mines closed - most never to reopen. Suppliers failed, railroads failed, the steel industry was in serious trouble. Soon the US sank into the worst depression it had ever known.