legal-authority to build the road or charge tolls on it. He faced fierce competition from White Pass horse packers and from promoters of the Chilkoot Trail. Nevertheless he persevered, paying wages out of his own pocket, making quick trips south to cajole money out of unenthusiastic investors, and lobbying for legal status.
By the end of March 1898 the wagon road was complete to White Pass City, four miles short of the summit, and Brackett was charging tolls, still without legal authority. Despite confrontations with packers unwilling to pay, he was grossing between $1200 and $2000 a day by mid-April.
