Alaska Cruise, Page 9

Cruise to Alaska
June 30 to July 10, 2000
Page 9, Skagway

Skagway

Skagway, at the northernmost point of Alaska's Inside Passage, was the gateway
to the Klondike during the gold rush of the 1890s, and our first port of call.
On the morning of July 6, the Sun Princess (left) tied up to the White Pass & Yukon Railroad Dock.

Right now in Skagway:

The population of Skagway in the 1990 census was 692.
The population of our cruise ship was about 3,000. The day we were there, there were five cruise ships in port--YOU do the math.

Note the drop-down platform near the bow. That's where the guy stands who tells the captain how close he is to the dock.

Disembarking from the our cruise ship, we boarded a mini-bus for a tour of the White Pass route to the Klondike. Others took a similar tour, but aboard the now-restored narrow guage White Pass & Yukon Railroad.
I know I can...I know I can...I know I can!

I know I can...I know I can...I know I can!

The coal powered White Pass & Yukon steam locomotive leaving the dock.
(Photo by Marianne)

Also, parked on the dock, were cars of the Skagway Street Car Company. They are a re-creation of the first tour company in Alaska, founded in 1923. This company gave its very first tour for U.S. President Warren G. Harding when he came to Alaska to drive the "golden spike" to mark the completion of the Alaska Railroad. Today, restored vintage 1936-1937 motorcars, with costumed conductors, again give tours of the area.
(Photo by Sonny)

Our first stop before leaving Skagway, was the

GOLD RUSH CEMETERY

(Photo by Sonny)

(Here's your history lesson, sorry.)

This cemetery was in use only from 1898 until 1907 and contains a little over 100 burials. Among them are Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith and Frank Reid. Soapy was an infamous swindler and con man who had been run out of Colorado and came here in 1897 specifically to prey on the would-be miners passing through to the gold fields of the Klondike. He and his gang of over one hundred men ruled Skagway for about seven months.

Soapy met his end in July 1898, when he and his thugs fleeced a miner of $2,800 in gold. The miner fired up the citizens of Skagway who formed a vigilante committee headed by Frank Reid, a civil engineer. Reid stood up to Soapy and shot him in the heart, but was himself fatally wounded in the shootout and died twelve days later.

The gang soon dispersed. Soapy was buried six feet outside the cemetery, while Reid has a granite shaft inscribed, "He gave his life for the Honor of Skagway." Not far away is the grave of one of the ladies of "negotiable affection," whose epitaph is,
"She gave her Honor for the life of Skagway."

Frank Reid. Hey, how come HE'S got all the flowers? Grave of Soapy Smith
Reid and Smith
(Reid photo by Dottie, Smith photo from the Internet)

Another stop was by the beautiful Bridal Veil Falls where Lydia and Dottie stopped to have their picture taken by Sonny.

Hurry up and take the picture. My pants are wet and I think (I HOPE!) it's from the falls!

A short distance further, we passed over the Moore Bridge and then were able to stop and look back to see the Skagway River gorge which we had traversed.

The Capt. Billy Moore Bridge, specially designed to withstand the harsh winters.

Captain Billy Moore Bridge on the Klondike Highway

The Captain William (Billy) Moore Bridge spans a 110-foot deep gorge. It was Moore who discovered the White Pass route to the Klondike. White Pass, in the St. Elias Range, follows the "Gold Rush Trail of '98," made famous by thousands of Klondike prospectors rushing to find their fortunes. The route has been used by dog teams, horses, wagons, a narrow-gauge railway, and finally this new highway, which was blasted through to the Yukon in 1978.

(Photo by Marianne)

Denise, Jan, Dottie, Sonny, Camille, Joe, Lydia, and Werner. 'Hurry up and take the picture, it's cold and there's no BAR!'
The tour took us a short way into Canada and we posed by the
"welcome" sign near the border.

We also stopped to view the 3,000-foot Pitchfork Falls
as they cascaded from the mountain tops.

(Photo by Jan)

Many of Skagway's original buildings were built during the city's heyday in the late 1890s and are now on the National Register of Historic Places.
(In 1898, Skagway was the largest city in Alaska!)

Oh boy, another boat!
Hi Honey, you say you wanna party? How much?

The Gold Pan Theatre
Help me look for my contact!

A melodramatic play at the Gold Pan Theatre recreated the story of the
infamous con man, Jefferson "Soapy" Smith, in the Days of '98 show.
The play was replete with guns, dancing girls and honky-tonk, barroom piano music.

Click the pictures for music (and more)!

(Click on either menu page to see a larger image.)
The Red Onion Saloon was Skagway's most exclusive bordello when it was built in 1898. You can read the story of this brothel on the back page of their menu (click above).
Some of us wandered about the streets, aimlessly, after the "Soapy" show,
wondering where we could go now.
Got it! How about the BAR???
Red Onion Saloon. (Photo by Marianne)
(I know that someone out there has pictures of the inside. LET'S HAVE 'EM!
After all, this is a JOINT effort, and we need pictures of all the JOINTS!)