The discovery of gold in the Klondike brought a massive influx of people to the continent's northwest.

Not only were there prospectors hungry for gold; there were government geologists from both Canada and the United States, eager to inventory all the riches of the region, and firm up each country's claim to their territory.

In 1898 Walter Mendenhall came north for the U.S. Geological Survey. Mendenhall, known today as one of the first modern ground water hydrologists, did four seasons of geologic reconnaissance in Alaska.

Passengers, gathered outside the White Pass & Yukon Railroad Station at White Pass. The photographer on one of the expeditions, Sidney Paige, is in the centre wearing a white hat. Circa 1900.

Mendenhall seems to have travelled the Gold Rush trail on his first journey, as photos dated 1898 show pictures of Skagway, the port of entrance for the Gold Rush, the upper Yukon, Whitehorse, and Dawson. The crew made the trek in the late winter, as some photos show them struggling on the ice during spring breakup on Lake LaBerge, north of Whitehorse. While records are sketchy, archivists say the photos were taken by Sidney Paige, L.M. Prindle, and Mendenhall himself.

The USGS has recently released tens of thousands of its historical photographs to the public domain, including ones from Mendenhall's journey through what is today known as the Yukon.

Many of these photos have not been seen in decades, if ever; they offer up rare, unseen images of Whitehorse, Dawson City, the ghost town of Grand Forks in the Klondike, and life along the trail just after the peak of the Klondike Gold Rush.

The photos are all courtesy of the US Geological Survey. To see more of the rich treasure trove of photos, visit USGS Earth Science Photographic Archive.