Chilkat Pass
Encyclopedia
The Chilkat Pass is a mountain pass
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

 on the border of Alaska, United States, and the province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, at the divide between the Klehini
Klehini River
The Klehini River is a large, glacially fed stream in the vicinity of Haines in the U.S. state of Alaska.The Klehini River is approximately 36 miles long from its source in British Columbia to its mouth at the Chilkat River, of which it is the largest tributary...

 (S) and Kelsall River
Kelsall River
The Kelsall River is a river in the U.S. State of Alaska, the Canadian province of British Columbia, and Yukon Territory. It is a tributary of the Chilkat River, flowing into it in the Haines Borough of Alaska.-See also:*List of rivers of Alaska...

s just northwest of Haines, Alaska
Haines, Alaska
Haines is a census-designated place in Haines Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the area was 1,811. Haines was formerly a city but no longer has a municipal government...

. It is used by the Haines Highway
Haines Highway
The Haines Highway or Haines Cut-Off is a highway that connects Haines, Alaska, in the United States, with Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada, passing through the province of British Columbia. It follows the route of the old Dalton Trail from the port of Haines inland for about to Klukshu, Yukon, and...

 and was the route used by the Dalton Trail
Dalton Trail
The Dalton Trail is a trail that runs between Pyramid Harbor, west of Haines, Alaska in the United States, and Fort Selkirk, in the Yukon Territory of Canada, using the Chilkat Pass. It is 396 km long....

 during the days of the Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...

. It also marks the boundary between the Coast Mountains
Coast Mountains
The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often...

 and Saint Elias Mountains
Saint Elias Mountains
The Saint Elias Mountains are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in the USA and Kluane...

.

The pass is named for the Chilkat subgroup of the Tlingit people, who reside in the Haines area and until the gold rush controlled use of the route.
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