25 Skagway Alaska
Not unlike the bad guys of old, we snuck out of Haines in the middle of the night on the ferry that departed at 4:30 am for Skagway. Something like a 30 mile trip which would have taken a few hundred miles had we gone by road. Skagway is a very interesting town, although our Alaska friends Jack and Rita see it as a depiction of what our Federal Government wanted it to be like, not what it really was. To say it is a tourist trap, with up to 6 large cruise liners in port any day, would be a gross understatement. Still, it was a great place to visit and we spent 11 days, from August 18 to 29. The National Park Service owns a good part of this historic city and has done a lot of restoration. Skagway and its long gone historic sister city of Dyea were the entry points for stampeders heading for the gold fields of the Yukon and elsewhere. Enough of the history, let’s see what it’s all about.
The Canadian Government was concerned about too many people arriving in the gold fields without supplies to support them thru the winter. Each person entering Canada was required to have 2,000 pounds of supplies to sustain them thru the winter.
The Chilkoot Trail was a 33 mile trail which rose over 3,000 feet as it passed from sealevel into the mountains. The “Golden Staircase” was the steepest and hardest part of the trail with slopes exceeding 45 degrees. Pretty steep climb with 2,000 pounds of stuff. Many roundtrips to get it all. That is a steady line of people, if someone were to pull off to the side to rest, it could take a half day before someone would let them back in line.
While the cruise ships are in port, the streets look like this and even more full of people. As soon as the ships sound their horn, everyone heads to their ship, the streets empty, and all the shops close.
The Red Onion was supposedly the most notorious of the brothels in Skagway. These people are awaiting their turn to “go upstairs”, as did I. Carole was so anxious to go shopping that she gave me permission to go visit the brothel. Actually I told her she could shop while to partook of some historical culture.
The Gold Rush Cemetary is where many of the old timers are buried.
Frank Reid was a good guy, a local hero. Soapy Smith was a bad guy, the local villain. Smith was a swindler, con man, and basically not a nice guy. Reid killed Smith but not without being mortally woulded himself. Reid got a nice headstone, Smith a wooden headstone and buried on the outside edge of the cemetary.
A show we attended. Dealt with Soapy Smith and his doings.
Pink salmon were running in a stream through Skagway on their way to spawn. They were pretty well beat up by being eaten by other fish, by the rocks in the stream, and by self-deterioration.
As previoiusly mentioned, Dyea was a sister city of Skagway. Thousands of people lived in this major city. Today there is basically nothing remaining.
The Slide Cemetary is where some 49 people are buried. They were on the Chilkoot Trail and a landslide or avalanche buried them. Their rescue was a major task.
One of the few remaining structures is this storefront (it has had help staying around). Apparently most or all of the buildings in Dyea were shacks with fancy storefronts to give the appearance of prosperity.
We took several trips to the tidal flats adjoining Dyea to watch the grizzlies catch and eat fish.
We decided to try out the Chilkoot Trail, altho there was no snow nor ice. Also, we only hiked a couple miles of it and without supplies etc.
We did more things out of Skagway and will address them next. They are a trip to Juneau and a ride on the Yukon & White Pass Railroad.
Hope you enjoyed this!!
