Okay, let’s just put it out there.
There was very little that was charming or quaint about Skagway, Alaska.
There was very little that was charming or quaint about Skagway, Alaska.
Violet was a most unusual and beguiling hood ornament for her Skagway Streetcar.
Well, there was Violet. I’ll get back to her in a minute.
Vast rugged wilderness and natural beauty is what Alaska is all about, although for a brief period, just before the turn of the 20th century, Alaska was all about GOLD!
Tens of thousands of dreamers and schemers passed through the virtually uninhabited Glacial Valley the native Tlingit called Skgagwei; all contributed to the raw and raucous two-year period from 1898 to 1900 at the core of much of Skagway’s history; at least the bulk of history Violet shared during our one hour tour of Alaska’s first incorporated city.
Vast rugged wilderness and natural beauty is what Alaska is all about, although for a brief period, just before the turn of the 20th century, Alaska was all about GOLD!
Tens of thousands of dreamers and schemers passed through the virtually uninhabited Glacial Valley the native Tlingit called Skgagwei; all contributed to the raw and raucous two-year period from 1898 to 1900 at the core of much of Skagway’s history; at least the bulk of history Violet shared during our one hour tour of Alaska’s first incorporated city.
Skagway’s naturally deep harbor gave her an edge over the nearby settlement called Dyea when it came to bringing ashore the stampede of fortune hunters then and now. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
Dressed in bloomers and balderdash, Violet added some much needed sparkle to this small, flat patch of windblown land nestled between two jagged-peaked mountains along Alaska's Inside Passage.
 Ship, ahoy! |  Skayway, home to 900 residents, 10,000 tourists monthly from May to September. |
There was a familiar feel to this stretch of real estate, a sense that minus the cruise ships at the west end of State Street, this could be any one of a hundred Old West towns still hanging on in the lower 48.
Skagway, circa 1898. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Folks were certainly hanging on back in the day when mud, mayhem and makeshift housing was as plentiful as the dreamers and the schemers (1 in 10 of those dreamers and schemers was a woman) itching to get in on the action.
“The Golden Stairs.” Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
The action included 33 grueling miles on foot up Chilkoot Trail from nearby Dyea or 40 miles through Skagway’s White Mountain Pass on mule or horseback; then 500 more miles of wilderness via the Yukon River before reaching the gold fields of the Klondike.
Most prospectors were looking at 30 trips (it took about 6 hours to hike the 1,500 steps) up the "Golden Stairs" to haul all the equipment needed to travel the remaining 500 miles to Klondike.
Most prospectors were looking at 30 trips (it took about 6 hours to hike the 1,500 steps) up the "Golden Stairs" to haul all the equipment needed to travel the remaining 500 miles to Klondike.
Photo courtesy of Special Collections Division, University of Washington Libraries, Curtis 46112
A ton of food and supplies (take that description literally) were required to cross into Canada’s Yukon Territory just over the pass, as per Canadian authorities, after hundreds of early prospectors had starved battling harsh winter conditions. So many horses died navigating the narrow and rocky terrain through White Pass that the route became known as Dead Horse Trail.
"Men shot them, worked them to death and when they were gone, went back to the beach and bought more. . . . Their hearts turned to stone - those which did not break - and they became beasts, the men on the Dead Horse Trail."
writer Jack London
"Men shot them, worked them to death and when they were gone, went back to the beach and bought more. . . . Their hearts turned to stone - those which did not break - and they became beasts, the men on the Dead Horse Trail."
writer Jack London
See the headline "GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! GOLD!"? Photo courtesy of the University of Washington Libraries
Holy hysteria!
Perhaps if those iconic images I pilfered from the Internet had been part of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s July 17, 1897 newspaper article credited with creating the ensuing gold rush, maybe the foolhardy prospectors who’d invested approximately $1000 ($27,000 in today’s dollars) to make the trip (that’s not counting the loss of life or limb) might have reconsidered.
Then again, many Americans (80% of the prospectors were from the U.S.) had lost all hope during the depression that had followed the Panic of 1893 when news of this ‘golden’ opportunity hit the streets.
Perhaps if those iconic images I pilfered from the Internet had been part of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s July 17, 1897 newspaper article credited with creating the ensuing gold rush, maybe the foolhardy prospectors who’d invested approximately $1000 ($27,000 in today’s dollars) to make the trip (that’s not counting the loss of life or limb) might have reconsidered.
Then again, many Americans (80% of the prospectors were from the U.S.) had lost all hope during the depression that had followed the Panic of 1893 when news of this ‘golden’ opportunity hit the streets.
Jimmy and I cheated and went the route of the White Pass & Yukon Railroad to make it to Canada.
The facts and figures were just as iconic. Of the 100,000 who made it to Alaska, 40,000 succeeded in reaching the Klondike; of those who survived the ordeal – the climb, the cold, the crime, the chaos – approximately 4,000 (4%) came away with something to show for their ordeal.
Holy heartbreak!
History is sooooo humbling; and so fascinating, especially via field trips involving one charming tour guide and driver with a penchant for non-stop storytelling. Did I mention that history included one of the most notorious con men of the 19th century?
That's right! Not all the prospectors to arrive in Alaska were up for the grueling hike to the Klondike. Many made their fortunes fleecing their fellow man, the best of them a man I've dubbed the poster child for Skagway.
Stay tuned.
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Holy heartbreak!
History is sooooo humbling; and so fascinating, especially via field trips involving one charming tour guide and driver with a penchant for non-stop storytelling. Did I mention that history included one of the most notorious con men of the 19th century?
That's right! Not all the prospectors to arrive in Alaska were up for the grueling hike to the Klondike. Many made their fortunes fleecing their fellow man, the best of them a man I've dubbed the poster child for Skagway.
Stay tuned.
----------------------------
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