Rose Inlet is a sheltered embayment, and the site of a historical salmon cannery, which extends southwest for 2.5 miles (4 km) from Kaigani Strait on the east coast of Dall Island, about 116 miles (187 km) northwest of Prince Rupert and 60 miles (97 km) southwest of Ketchikan, Alaska. The inlet was named in 1882 by William H. Dall and first appeared in the 1883 Pacific Coast Pilot. Kaigani Strait, a passage between Dall and Long Islands, stretches southwest for 22 miles (35 km) from Tlevak Strait to Dixon Entrance. Dall Island was originally named Quadra, after Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, but was renamed in 1879 to honor William H. Dall. Dall, a naturalist, was appointed Acting Assistant to the US Coast Survey in 1870 and tasked with surveying the Alaska coast. The coast of Southeast Alaska is characterized by the Pacific Cordillera and divided into two major categories: inner terranes, accreted to the North American margin by the Late Jurassic period, and outer terranes, which were accreted to the inner terranes by the Late Cretaceous period. These include the Alexander, Wrangellia, and Peninsular terranes. Much of southeastern Alaska is underlain by the Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic rocks of the Alexander terrane, considered by geologists to be an exotic fragment to the North American margin. The southern part of Dall Island, including the area around Rose Inlet, consists of the Wales Group, a complex assemblage of basalt, graywacke, mudstone, and shale with locally interlayered marble. The marble, associated with greenschist metavolcanic rocks, is generally thin but can be up to 1,000 feet (300m) thick. 

Gold Harbor lies about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Rose Inlet on the outer coast of Dall Island. The deeply indented bay is sheltered from the heavy storms and surf that routinely batter the exposed coastline. In 1992, the US Forest Service discovered an archaeological site within a complex cave system formed in marble or metamorphosed limestone. The cave has multiple entrances, levels, and passages. Archaeological remains have been found in various areas of the cave and in an adjacent rock shelter. Test excavations and radiocarbon dating indicate that the rock shelter was occupied 5,700-2,400 years ago, the north cave was used 5,540-5,280 years ago, and the main chamber was occupied 2,600-1,500 years ago. The differing occupation times likely result from the cave’s geomorphological evolution and habitability, affected by relative sea levels, which were higher 5,000 years ago during the mid-Holocene. The Kaigani Haida people migrated north from Haida Gwaii, into what is now Southeast Alaska, sometime during the protohistoric period, certainly by the end of the 18th century. The southern half of the Prince of Wales Archipelago, particularly Dall, Sukkwan, and Long Islands, served as a settlement area. The outer coast from the north end of Dall Island to Noyes Island may have acted as a buffer zone between the Haida and Tlingit peoples. The territorial relationships in southern Southeast Alaska are not well understood due to limited knowledge of prehistoric tribal movements. However, it is clear that the Tlingit and Haida engaged in long-term contact through migration, intermarriage, trade, and conflict. The only recorded Haida settlement on Dall Island is the historical village of Kaigani, located at the southern tip of the island at Cape Muzon. By the late 1790s, the maritime fur trade had shifted to Southeast Alaska. In 1794, Lieutenant Joseph Whidbey described the area as highly profitable for procuring sea otter pelts, noting the immense number of animals and abundance of skins possessed by the Natives. Kaigani became a favored rendezvous point for American and British traders due to its protected harbor and wealth of furs offered by the Haida.

The Weise Packing Company built the Rose Inlet Cannery at an unknown date and operated it until 1918, when it was sold to the Southern Alaska Canning Company. By 1919, the US Bureau of Fisheries reported that the salmon fishery in Southeast Alaska was in serious condition. The fishery had intensified each season due to increased use of purse seines and fish traps. A reduced catch, along with inadequate escapement of salmon to spawning grounds, presented a dilemma for both the government and packers. Despite this, little action was taken. At the time, there were 134 salmon canneries operating across Alaska, with 76 in Southeast Alaska. The Southern Alaska Canning Company operated three canneries: at Big Port Walter, Boca de Quadra Bay, and Rose Inlet. In 1922, the company name was changed to Alaska Consolidated Canneries. In 1929, Alaska Consolidated was acquired by the Alaska Pacific Salmon Company, becoming the second-largest processor operating in Alaska. The Rose Inlet Cannery reported packing 60,841 cases of salmon in 1929, 35,084 cases in 1930, 47,876 cases in 1931, 41,344 cases in 1933, 70,585 cases in 1935, and 65,812 cases in 1937. Each case contained 48 one-pound (0.45 kg) cans. In 1940, the company sold its holdings to P.E. Harris & Company, which did not operate the Rose Inlet facility but maintained the cannery until about 1949. Read more here and here. Explore more of Rose Inlet and Dall Island here: