THE TRAIL OF '98, thirty six years ago, portrayed in rare and original photographs direct from life by Lloyd V. Winter and E. P. Pond, is still a path of wild charm singularly beautiful in its historical appeal. These striking pictures take you back at the almost forgotten beginning of a drama to which the future of Alaska. is intimately linked. THE TRAIL OF '98 belongs to the prologue. Following the sensational discovery of placer gold in Klondike Territory, and culminating in one of the most picturesque gold rushes of modern times over that arduous trail, it holds the opening note. Physically and spiritually it remains today where the stampede started, of all trails apparently the least altered by the inevitable changes it set in motion. Winter and Pond photographs of that dimming period afford an easy means to recapture the lost mood of thirty six years ago, a delightful way to reconstruct the first episode THE TRAIL OF '98 which in the retrospect of 1931 appears more pregnant than at any time since those intrepid pioneers, nourished on the yeasty word "gold," trekked into an untouched, primeval wilderness in quest of "pay streaks" that were still dreams. THE TRAIL OF '98 was a meeting place of the incongruous and more excitingly beautiful in its incongruity than the most harmonized ensemble. The photographs of that feverish stampede to the new bonanza are a perfect exhibit of man's courage and perseverance reduced to its crudest terms. No search of detail here. Each picture is crammed. with reality which reinforces every turn of the photographic record itself. History chose this setting for the prologue to the northern trend of empire because all the elements of national expansion were here the same paradoxical elements that are lying around in larger quantities in more important places. That is why Winter and Pond photographs of the real TRAIL OF '98 are so poignantly suggestive.

WINTER and POND COMPANY, Juneau, Alaska

Lloyd Valentine Winter (1866-1945) and Edwin Percy Pond (1872-1943), of the firm Winter and Pond, were prominent Alaskan photographers. In 1893, Winter came to Juneau from San Francisco and entered a partnership with George M. Landerkin, known as Landerkin and Winter. In 1894, his long time friend E.P. Pond bought out Landerkin. Winter and Pond operated their Juneau-based curio and photography studio for over 50 years and provided local residents and visitors with a rich perspective of Alaska that is now considered a unique reflection of the state in the early 20th century. This partnership continued until Pond's death at age 71 in 1943. In 1945, two years after the death of E.P. Pond, Lloyd Winter turned the business over to Francis Harrison, who maintained the Winter and Pond Co. until it closed in 1956. [Portions from PCA 87.] Other Winter and Pond collections include PCA 87, PCA 117, PCA 287.