By 1898 shots of ordinary people leaving work or eating food were no longer going to attract audiences so early production companies like Edison and Lumiere began sending their agents further afield in order to capture images of regions and countries rarely seen by city dwellers. Here, an Edison cameraman sets his camera on the Chilkoot Pass, a favourite route of gold prospectors on their way to the Klondike. He chose a pretty good position, too, from which it’s possible to watch the train of horses winding its way along the pass. From a small rise to the left of the pass a lone figure emerges to observe the pack on its way. Sadly, the existing print of this film is in rather poor condition. Given the location and scenery the picture probably looked quite charming when first released.

(Reviewed 17th August 2014)