In 1898, Sheep Camp grew into a gold-rush town of 6,000 to 8,000 people; by July 1899, only 18 remained, while most buildings still stood in 1906

There is something quietly compelling about a ghost town. Not the haunted variety found in movies, but the quiet variety, the kind that was once full of bustling energy and simply exhaled and quietened down. The ghost town deep in Alaska's wilderness along the Chilkoot Trail fits that description exactly. History documented by the National Park Service reveals that Sheep Camp existed long before the gold rush, serving as a final stopping point before treeline and as a place used for years by Alaska Natives before any prospector arrived.

From peaceful hideaway to bustling town

By the summer of 1897, there was already a properly constructed wooden structure that served as both a hotel and a store, and the news was out in no time. The winter came, and, naturally, things calmed down for some time; however, by early 1898, the town started growing once again. Log cabins replaced tents, a post office opened, and local businessmen delivered letters before the official post office did.


By April 1898, Sheep Camp was at the height of its gold-rush boom. The National Park Service estimates that the camp reached its peak between February and April, with 6,000 to 8,000 people there at its busiest and an estimated average of about 7,000 for two months. A Dyea newspaper reported that tents were packed so tightly together that people could barely pass between them, while the main street was about sixteen feet wide. Historical estimates put the settlement's length at between one and two miles. There were two drug stores, a hospital, fifteen hotels and restaurants, two laundries, and a bath house, impressive infrastructure for a town that had existed for barely a year. All those people were packed into tents and rough log buildings in a narrow Alaskan valley, drawn there by the gold rush.

But that crowding had an even more serious side to it as well. Thefts occurred frequently enough that miners held meetings before the rush got underway, and one thief received a well-publicized whipping as punishment. In mid-May of 1898, there was a murder, highlighting how fine the line between law and order really was at that time. A Northwest Mounted Police sergeant stationed along the Chilkoot route described the area as having little law and order, saying dishonest people thrived because there was little to stop them. The residents did form a citizens' committee to try to keep some sort of order in the settlement, which helped identify and bury the bodies of those who perished as a result of an avalanche on the trail later that spring. Even the animals suffered in the harsh conditions. Packers often treated their horses badly, and starving animals roamed the area until some had to be put down because they could no longer continue.

From a gold-rush boom to a quiet trail stop

This is where the story turns. Everyone in Sheep Camp realised that the boom was temporary, and one stampeder predicted in his journal that the camp would eventually die out. By the summer of 1898, the population had begun to thin, and by July 1899, just over a year after the peak, only eighteen people remained. The tramway company operating in the region ceased operations in that very summer, and the post office was closed down the following October.

The physical town disappeared slowly, even after the people were gone. A survey conducted as part of the Leland Boundary Survey passed through the area in September 1906 and found that most of the original buildings were still standing, far better preserved than one might expect in an abandoned settlement. It was not until decades later, through river flooding, weather, and the slow creep of nature, that Sheep Camp's structures began to decay. A longtime Skagway resident who visited in the 1920s recalled that much of the site was still intact.

Sheep Camp, however, does continue to serve a purpose today, albeit in a completely different way. It acts as the last campground before hikers have to climb the Long Hill and cross Chilkoot Pass. Sheep Camp remains one of the busiest stops on the trail in summer. Today, hikers pitch their tents where thousands once tried to build a town during the gold rush. Rises and falls are quick, but the earth does not forget. Sheep Camp shows how a once-busy place can later become a historic site worth visiting.