The White Pass Trail was 10 miles longer but its summit less steep and 600 feet lower than the Chilkoot Trail. Some prospectors chose the shorter White Pass Trail believing that pack animals could be used and would be easier. The White Pass Trail earned it the name Dead Horse Trail. In the winter of 1897-1898, 3,000 horses died on the trail because of the tortures of the trail and due to the inexperience of the stampeders overloading them and mistreating them.