 A town, first known as Cabbage Tree Creek, then Clulee, and finally Burkes Pass, sprang up around the hotel.For more than half a century a colourful cavalcade passed through the town, Burkes Pass becoming the social, business, and sporting centre for the Mackenzie Country pioneers.Its heyday was 1890 to 1910 when there was a population of 143 and a three-teacher school.