Exposing The World

Alaska: Skagway

Gateway to the Klondike

In 1897, Alaska had been a US possession for only thirty years when alluvial gold was discovered in the adjacent Canadian Yukon. Skagway, located in a narrow canyon at the foot of the White Pass into Canadian territory, was the most natural landing place for gold miners sailing up the Pacific coast.

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Skagway

Today there are only 1,000 permanent residents.

We sail up the narrow Taiya Inlet
In town. Though the businesses are touristy, Skagway is a historical district, where architecture is preserved as it was.
A log building. Trees were severely depleted after all the initial construction, so creative uses were found for small logs.
Some of the architecture still shows a Russian influence
Today’s ship crews leave these mementoes of their stays on the rock wall above the narrow dock

Over the White Pass

During the gold rush, miners had to hike the White Pass over the boundary ridge above town to the Canadian side. It took the average miner from ten to twenty trips to pack in the required 1500 lbs of. supplies to last a year in the Yukon.
Plans were immediately made to build a railroad over the pass, but construction was completed only after the rush was over.

Crossing the Skagway River. Bears are a common sight here, but none apparent today
This was a slogan of the time, referring to a local developer, not the President
Some miners could afford the exorbitantly-priced worked-out old horses that some entrepreneurs brought in, which they worked to death on the pass, shooting them when they collapsed, and then walking back to buy another one at the dock
The White Pass Railway. Each car is named after a local geographic feature.
Passing another train. This is a narrow-gauge dedicated line, not connected to any other.
We cross an old wooden trestle
The Harding Glacier, named after the only President to visit Skagway
Crossing the trestle, and into a short tunnel
At the summit, we pass into the Canadian Yukon. This is the place where the miners would have to leave their packed-in supplies until all 1500 pounds had been carried up. They could then legally enter the Yukon.
Arived at the Yukon station of Carncross. At this point, the gold miners had to build boats to cross Lake Bennett and float down the Yukon to Dawson City.

Soapy Smith

Jefferson “Soapy” Smith was a scam artist, coming to Skagway to run the town’s rackets until he died in an 1898 gunfight. This is his grave.

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