Skagway is a gorgeous little town in a stunning setting. The population is about 900, but on busy cruise ship days it can be inundated by up to 10 times that many people! Thankfully we were the only ship in town this day. In fact, as our cruise was right at the start of the Alaska cruise season (which runs from May to September), we were only the second ship to arrive in Skagway this year!
 |
| Panorama of the mountains near Skagway |
 |
| View from the ship while docked in Skagway |
As one of the two main gateway towns during the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s, Skagway has a fascinating and colourful history. In 1896, gold was discovered in a river in Canada's Yukon territory, 600 miles inland from Skagway. Once news of the gold reached the nation in 1897, the town's population boomed almost overnight. It is estimated that around 100 000 people attempted to reach the Klondike over the next 2 years.
"The majority of prospectors landed at the ports of Dyea and Skagway in South-east Alaska. They could then take either the Chilkoot or the White Pass trails to the Yukon River and, from there, sail down-stream to the Klondike in self-made boats. Each prospector was required to bring a year's supply of food with them by the Canadian authorities and many had to carry this ton of supplies in stages over the passes. The advent of winter and thereby freezing of rivers meant that most prospectors did not arrive in the goldfields until summer 1898. Only between 30,000 and 40,000 of the stampeders successfully arrived in the Klondike."
--Wikipedia
Previously a two-man town, by 1898 Skagway had around 10 000 residents - gold seekers, businesspeople, outfitters, writers, photographers, etc - and with this rapid population increase came brothels, swindlers, gangs and crime. The area's most famous conman and gangster was named Soapy Smith. One of his scams involved setting up a telegraph office where lonely gold seekers could send telegrams to the families they had left behind. The wires went only as far as the wall, as telegraph lines did not reach or leave Skagway until 1901! Soapy was killed by vigilantes in a shootout in 1898. These days, on the anniversary of his death there are wakes held in his honour throughout the United States.
Upon leaving the cruise ship the morning we docked in Skagway, we walked the short distance into town along a road that turned into the main street. Although rather touristy, the store fronts were bright and character-filled, and we thought it was a very pretty town. The most noteworthy building was the Arctic Brotherhood Hall, which has nearly 9 000 pieces of driftwood attached to its façade. The driftwood was attached in 1899 and extensively renovated, piece-by-piece, in 2005.
 |
| Skagway's main street |
 |
| Arctic Brotherhood Hall |
The most popular shore excursion in Skagway is the train trip over the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. Originally labelled an impossible task, the railroad was completed in 1898 after only 26 months, and is hailed today as a incredible feat of engineering. We had considered doing the train trip, but as it was rather pricey we decided to just wander around the town instead.
Here I am standing in front of the 129-ton "Snow Plow No. 1", whose 65 years of service saw her "ten double-edged cutting blades slice into the cement-like drifts, hurling ice and snow hundreds of feet from the railroad tracks" (as stated on the sign pictured below). Impressive!
 |
| Snow Plow No. 1 |
We spent our morning using the free WiFi outside the closed public library, and wandering in and out of shops. I bought a t-shirt and Ben bought some sunnies. Then we headed back to the ship for lunch and to write postcards to our parents. Later, we headed back into town to wander some more, send the postcards, and watch an interesting half hour video at the National Park Service office about the history of Skagway and the Klondike Gold Rush.
 |
| An out-of-the-way shop I enjoyed browsing through |
 |
| A sweet little bird outside the above shop |
 |
| Sending postcards! |
And that was our day in Skagway!
To be continued...
1 comment:
That's a pretty impressive snow plow - love the quaint town of Skagway.
Post a Comment