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Posted in one of the cooking shelters at Sheep Camp, we found a sheet of paper with historic packing list suggestions for men and women planning to hike the Chilkoot Trail through Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon.
What an eye-opener!
Read the lists below and – after you research to learn that oakum is tarred fibre used to plug cracks, that mackinaw is a water-repellent woolen cloth and you stop laughing at the fact that women were advised to bring both house and knitted slippers – you will appreciate why the Chilkoot Trail became the world’s longest museum of discarded gear!
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Gear for Men (as listed by Pierre Berton in his book, Klondike, p. 245)
- Three suits of heavy underwear
- A mackinaw suit
- Two pairs of mackinaw trousers
- A heavy rubber-lined coat
- A dozen pairs of wool socks
- Half a dozen pairs of mittens
- Two over shirts
- Two pairs of snag-proof rubber boots
- Two pairs of shoes
- Two pairs of blankets
- Four towels
- Two pairs of overall
- A suit of oilskin clothing
- Five yards of mosquito netting
Groceries:
- 400 lbs flour
- 50 lbs cornmeal
- 50 lbs oatmeal
- 35 lbs rice
- 100 lbs beans
- 40 lbs candles
- 100 lbs granulated sugar
- 8 lbs baking powder
- 200 lbs bacon
- 2 lbs soda
- 36 yeast cakes
- 15 lbs salt
- 1 lb pepper
- ½ lb mustard
- ¼ lb ginger
- 25 lbs evaporated apples
- 25 lbs evaporated peaches
- 25 lbs evaporated apricots
- 25 lbs fish
- 10 lbs pitted plums
- 50 lbs evaporated onions
- 50 lbs evaporated potatoes
- 24 lbs coffee
- 5 lbs tea
- 4 dozen tins condensed milk
- 5 bars laundry soap
- 60 boxes matches
- 15 lbs soup vegetables
- 25 cans butter
In addition, one must bring these items: steel stove, gold pan, three nest of granite buckets, a cup, plate, knife, fork, two spoons, two frying pans, coffeepot, pick, hand saw, whipsaw, whetstone, hatchet, two shovels, three files, draw-knife, axe, three chisels, twenty pounds of nails, butcher knife, hammer, compass, jackplane, square, Yukon sled, two hundred feet of rope, fifteen pounds of pitch, ten pounds of oakum, and a canvas tent.
Gear for Women (as suggested by Annie Hall Strong in The Skagway News on December 31, 1897)
- 1 pair house slippers
- 1 pair knitted slippers
- 1 pair heavy-soled walking shoes
- 1 pair arctics
- 1 pair felt boots
- 1 pair German socks
- 1 pair heavy gum boots
- 3 heavy all-wool stockings
- 3 pair summer stockings
- 2 pair summer stockings
- Moccasins can be purchased here of the Indians. The tall bicycle shoe with extra sole would make an excellent walking shoe. In the way of wearing apparel, a woman can comfortably get along with:
- 1 good dress
- 1 suit heavy Mackinaw, waist and bloomers
- 1 summer suit
- 3 short skirts of heavy duck or denim, to wear over bloomers
- 3 suits winter underwear
- 3 suits summer underwear
- 1 chamois undervest
- 1 long sack nightdress, make of eiderdown or flannel
- 1 cotton nightdress
- 2 pair arctic mittens
- 1 pair heavy wool gloves
- 1 cap
- 1 arctic hood
- 1 hat with brim broad enough to hold the mosquito-netting away from the face
- 1 summer dress
- 3 aprons
- 2 wrappers
- 2 shirtwaists
- some sort of gloves for summer wear; to protect hands from mosquitoes
Bedding:
- 1 piece of canvas, 5 ft x 14 ft
- 1 rubber blanket
- 2 pair, better 4 pair, all wool blankets
- 1 feather pillow
- A ready-sewed tick will be very nice to have, for it can be filled with dried moss and makes a good pioneer mattress.
“An old miner would no doubt laugh me to scorn for suggesting a little satchel or handbag, but the comfort derived from the hundred and one little extras a woman can deftly stow away in it will doubly repay the bother of carrying it.” – Annie Hall Strong
Yup, I always take a little handbag… of course mine is called a backpack.
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