Shaw-Vallance Family Holidays: Alaska: Day 7

We arrived in Haines in time for a quick breakfast, then an outing ashore, A quiet little town, it was first settled by missionaries in 1879, and was later home to a US Army post, Fort William H. Seward.

I was a bit puzzled at first why the Ryndam chose this place to visit, but, later, it became apparent that a much more interesting town was practically taken over by three cruise ships docked there that day.

Hilary and I were anxious to get out of the gym and do a real walk this morning. So, we picked a guided tour that left at 9:00 AM and set off for the Battery Point trailhead in Chilkat State Park, about a mile and a half from town.

<--Obviously this is NOT going to be a strenuous hike!!

Jedediah, one of two guides who walked with us, was very knowledgeable in natural history, pointing out various plants such as - Amanita muscaria, a poisonous, psychoactive mushroom with white knobs covering the mushroom surface, were growing in several places along the forest walk. Something that very closely resembles them appears frequently in super Mario games, bestowing super-human powers to Luigi and Mario.... or at least they think they do.

note: consult an expert and proper references before trying to identify any mushroom. Don't rely on this photo. It could be wrong. -->

...

<--We saw Devil's Club, a broad leafy plant favored by Tlingit natives in the area for its ginseng medicinal qualities inside its thorn-encrusted stems.

Fireweed, growing by the side of the beach on the way to Battery Point-->

We enjoyed a short snack local smoked salmon and cream cheese on crackers near Battery Point, where gun emplacements were set up off the beach during the second world war, then made our way back to town to complete a very enjoyable walk.

Warm sunshine broke out in the afternoon. Summer has finally arrived! We took a 45 minute ferry rude from Haines to Skagway,

past Bridal Veil Falls, a spectacular sight with an vertical drop of approx. 1500 feet.

As we approached Skagway, it was apparent that our cruise ship was not the only one in these waters. Four more ships were moored in Skagway. Each of these ships have over two thousand passengers (twice as many as the ship we're on, the Ryndam). I can only imagine what this little town of approx 720 registered voters must be like with thousands of passengers arriving literally overnight. We'll soon find out!

We soon found ourselves in the midst of a bustling town, with historic buildings built in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Lots and LOTS of cruise ship tourists. By complete chance, we stumbled upon a free walking tour, conducted by Linda, a talented national parks ranger. The introduction she gave to Skagway was terrific.

We learned that Skagway was settled by white men just as the Klondike gold rush was getting underway. Captain William Moore first settled there, homesteading 160 acres in 1887.

Moore's original homestead-->

This fellow was quite an entrepreneur. He had built a reputation for being in the center of business activity in gold rushes throughout British Columbia and the Yukon. He provided transportation, worked claims, bought and sold goods, delivered mail, anything to make money during this wild time.

Moore was also pretty shrewd. He predicted, based on similarities in hill formations in other places where it had been discovered, that gold would be found somewhere in the Yukon as well. In preparation for the expected onslaught of men seeking their fortune, he built a wharf and a trail with a toll booth in Skagway to capitalize on what was about to take place. Sure enough, gold was discovered in the Yukon in August 1896. Moore opened his toll booth trail on July 14th 1897, just before steamships arrived in San Francisco and Seattle, carrying the famed "Ton of Gold" that set off the Klondike Gold rush. The first steamers arrived in Skagway that month. Overnight, Skagway became a boomtown as steamer after steamer arrived with miners setting out for Dawson City over the White Pass trail. The new residents and gold rush stampeders pushed Moore aside and took ownership of his land, leaving him five acres, the wharf and a sawmill.

Ever the entrepreneur, Moore turned around and sold lumber to the same people who stole his property. And so, the stores, saloons and homes were built that we see to this day. Over 100,000 men made their way through this instant town, taking literally a ton of provisions for each man, enough to last a year (this was mandated by law) up the White Pass trail to the Klondike. Less than 10% actually made it. The rest turned back, broken by terrible living conditions, rampant crime that swept the little town, and by the trail itself. The trail was so bad that soon became known as "Dead Horse Trail" due to the corpses of thousands of horses that died after breaking their legs on its slopes.

This building, ornately decorated with driftwood, was built in 1899-->

Our park ranger guide, Linda, then told us about another man who came to town seeking his fortune. He, too, was shrewd, but in a much different way. Starting out as a gambler and con artist in Colorado, he left Denver after being run out of town when he was caught rigging elections. When he heard about Skagway, Jefferson Smith, aka "Soapy Smith", brought his wealth of experience as a con man to the Yukon.

Within months, Soapy Smith took control of the town, setting up a sophisticated system of 'marking' hapless and naive miners, then relieving them of their money by a variety of ingenious methods.

Some were mugged in shops and saloons owned by him. Some were sold fake transportation tickets to move their heavy provisions up the White Pass Trail, resulting in goods that never arrived. "Soapy" Smith even set up a telegraph shop in Skagway where miners could send telegraphed messages to their loved ones. A few days later, they would get a reply. Everyone was happy with this service, despite the fact there were no telegraph lines linking Skagway with the outside world.

Linda then said that when the hapless gold seekers found out they had been swindled, they would be pretty mad about it. Once they found their goods never arrived in Dawson Creek, they would stumble down the White Pass trail looking for trouble. But the town sheriff was on Soapy's payroll, as was most of the town itself. The minor didn't have a chance. Down on his luck and penniless, Soapy Smith would deliver the coupe de grace personally. He would find the minor, and befriend him, buying him dinner, perhaps, and a ticket to leave for home. The miner never knew his friend and benefactor was, in fact, the person who stole his goods in the first place. This act of generosity proved to be very helpful from a business point of view. By giving him a ticket out of town, Soapy Smith had one less enemy in town he had to worry about.

In the end, residents of Skagway became fed up. They held a meeting with Smith, words were exchanged, and gunshots rang out, and "Soapy Smith" was dead at the age of 38.

After Soapy Smith's demise, the town became much quieter. However, much damage had been already done. Many miners on the way to the Klondike were starting the go to Nome, a competing destination for steamships arriving in Alaska, in part due Stagway's unsavory reputation. It didn't help matters that the town itself was a mess. Poorly planned, businesses were spread out across the shanty town. And so excitement over Yukon gold was quickly fading in Skagway as interest moved elsewhere. In a desperate act to gain an aura of respectability, city fathers decided it would bve best that the town be consolidated along Broadway, the main street. The terminus would be at the railway tracks and, beyond, the wharf, making it easy for minors to come ashore and get the provisions they need in a 'modern', progressive town. Rather than build new buildings, they did what folks affectionately call "the Skagway Shuffle". And so, beginning around 1907, entire buildings were picked up and moved to new locations along Broadway. The Golden North Hotel was moved and a third floor added.

And so, the stores and businesses that were once on Fourth, Fifth and Sixth avenues, were shifted 90 degrees to face the railway tracks down Broadway.

And the Trail Inn/Pack Train bar complex that had once housed two army brigades, was moved to where it is now, the Red Onion saloon.-->

The Red Onion Saloon, is a 'must see' for anyone who really wants to get a feeling for what entertainment was like in the late 1800's.

Whoa, what do we have here?

"$5 for 15 minutes???" -->

Actually, the tour was great fun, with actors in period costumes giving a slightly risque but quite harmless account of what life and entertainment was like in Skagway at the turn of the century. The young actress in the photo had a terrific sense of humor.

Coming to Skagway was quite an experience. We could easily imagine what it must have been like here in the middle of the Klondike gold rush.

Skagway has now been reborn, with a whole new set of travelers coming off the boat, Like the miners before them, no doubt many of these new visitors will return to their ship with lighter wallets than when they first arrived. I think, however, that in this case, most will be returning with smiles.