Go to Skagway, Alaska!

During the five-month “season” of May 1 to September 25, the southeastern Alaskan town of Skagway literally blooms after emerging from its own form of hibernation. In fact, the 100-year-old municipality has earned the title “Garden City of Alaska” by dint of its exceptional flora and foliage. Entering its “Land of the Midnight Sun” phase after a long winter of midday nights, its picturesque boardwalk streets throng with visitors from virtually every country in the world. Most of them walk ashore from the luxury cruise ships that tie-up in the Taiya Inlet where a modern wharf was built specifically to accommodate the leviathans plying the famed Inland Passage. In fact, any one of the new generation of mega-cruisers dwarfing the town itself usually carries at least three times as many people as call themselves residents of Skagway. During the “sunny months,” the town boasts 811 souls as of last count, that number dwindling to something around 300 during the rest of the year.

Visitors come to Skagway by car, camper and motorcycle, and by air, as the historic town has got quite a nice airport that sends aircraft zooming off in the direction of the wharf and the mountainous liners gleaming white as the snow-capped peaks ringing the shore. Adjacent to the wharf a heliport whisks passengers from the gangplanks of their ships up into the crystalline blue sky and over to the nearby glaciers for a literally breathtaking “flightseeing” that can include a landing on the millennia old ice itself.

But beyond the allure of slowly creeping ice sheets and the jagged Coast Mountains, the town of Skagway, despite its less than romantic sounding name, captures all with its well… charm.

For starters, you can explore the area aboard a bright yellow 1927 Skagway Tour Car while onboard you’re regaled with the lusty history of Skagway, including the origin of the tour bus company itself. It seems a German immigrant by the name of Martin Itjen who in 1923 happened to operate a fleet of coal trucks as well as a mortuary learned that President Warren G. Harding would be paying a visit. Being a consummate entrepreneur Mr. Itjen painted one of his coal trucks yellow and had it waiting at the dock when the President disembarked. So taken with the appearance of the “tour bus” the President and his entire entourage climbed aboard and set off with Itjen at the wheel, but not before he collected a quarter from everyone, including the President. The tour included a visit to a huge boulder painted gold and tethered to the ground by a chain, and billed as the largest gold nugget on earth by Itjen who happened to be an unbridled practical joker. Itjen then offered to drive the presidential party back to their ship, but added it would cost them another twenty-five cents. About this he wasn’t kidding, and the President paid up.

Skagway was founded in 1888 by Captain William Moore, a perceptive and hardy adventurer who, at age 65, took one look at the nearby White Pass and knew that it was destined to be fast the lane through the mountains to the gold fields beyond. His vision held true, Skagway became known as the “Gateway to the Klondike” and attracted a number of enterprising characters like Moore and Itjen. It prospered as the springboard for treasure seekers who flocked there during the 1897-98 Klondike Gold Rush, at one time swelling the city census to 20,000. Rather quickly the gold petered out and so did the population, but a few hearty souls remained. The next gold rush came in the form of tourist dollars in a poetic reversal of fortunes.

The historic portion of the town, that is the restored Victorian buildings that evoke life a hundred years ago, is comprised of seven blocks with Broadway serving as the main thoroughfare. It’s definitely an easy walk although human powered pedi-cabs and horse-drawn carriages are available. In addition to the plethora of souvenir shops well-stocked with native artwork, t-shirts, gold jewelry, and Russian imports, you’ll still find hardware and outfitter emporiums. For example, Packer Expeditions and Mountain Shop located on 4th Avenue is one such store that offers everything you need to venture out into the bush to prospect for gold, camp in style or hike into innumerable picture-perfect moments. For some especially interesting Alaskan curios, take a peek inside Keller’s Trading Co. at 300 Broadway where you’ll find artifacts, fossils, vintage native art, scrimshaw, and even gold nuggets. For a tasty break, there’s catfish and a butterscotch milkshake at The Sweet Tooth Cafe at Broadway and Fourth Avenue.

Traditional stopping off points in Skagway include the original Arctic Brotherhood Hall located on Broadway, the building decorated with over 10,000 pieces of driftwood. A photograph is almost mandatory. The ABC was the first of many that burgeoned around Alaska dedicated to bringing culture in the form of theater and music to the isolated communities. That tradition is carried on at a newer Arctic Brotherhood Hall located just down the street where you can hear history and song delivered by talented cast members who also swear you in as official, card-carrying members of the Arctic Brotherhood. Make sure you stop in and say hello to Linda Plock at the National Parks Service Visitors Center. A trained archeologist, and a plucky veteran of five seasons in Skagway, she knows all the nitty-gritty and can point you in all the right directions.

Taking the vintage car tour will also take you to Skagway’s “Gold Rush Cemetery” and there lies the tale of the notorious Soapy Smith. Soapy was a particularly slippery fellow who through various scams bilked miners out of their hard-earned gold dust. One day, it all caught up with him in a blazing gun battle between the con man and one of Skagway’s reputable citizens, Frank Reid, the town’s engineer. Firing their guns almost simultaneously, Soapy was dead before he hit the ground, poor Frank taking several days to pass. A handful saw Soapy off at his funeral while 2,000 paid their respects to Reid who had rid the town of the scourge. Some time later, the story took a twist as it was learned that Reid had apparently originally fled to Alaska to avoid his own arrest. Meanwhile Soapy was more or less “rehabilitated” thanks to the “Days of ’98 Show with Soapy Smith,” a musical review that has been in production for more than 70 years. Complete with can-can girls, it’s regularly staged at the Eagle’s Hall at Broadway and 6th Avenue.

To see some of the Skagway countryside, the best way is the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad that takes you on a three-hour, 40-mile roundtrip chug through both scenery and history. It’s truly mind-boggling that men, with the most basic tools circa 1898, carved and hacked their way through solid rock and precipitous mountains to make it all possible. Even the kids will like it as the trip’s narrators keep up a spirited storytelling.

For those so-called off the beaten track Skagway attractions, ask one of the locals to point out the house where you’ll find the “Discarded Lawnmower Museum” or the front yard of a local residence that sports a ceramic duck dressed daily in different clothes. Don’t forget to ask about the notorious “duck bikini bathing suit” escapade. Well, things do get a bit dull during the darker months and people find different ways of expressing themselves in Skagway. To learn the facts behind these stories and to really see how the locals express themselves, buy a copy of the “Best of the Skagway, Alaska Police Blotter” compiled by Jeff Brady and Mike Sica and available at the Skagway News Depot and Books located on Broadway. While there get a replica copy of their vintage newspaper as well as the current Skagway News that’s printed every two weeks. News stays fresh longer in Skagway.

To get the latest scoop on Skagway, call the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Oh, about the name Skagway. Its origins are traced to the native Tlingit name Skagua, meaning “home of the north wind,” because it can get pretty blustery. But others say more accurately it stems from Sch-kawai meaning “end of salt water.” In any case, the 1890’s goldrushers called it Skaugway, but the U.S. post office had the last word. They wanted something less “foreign” looking and changed the spelling to Skagway. Go figure.

For Further Information:

Skagway, Alaska Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
Telephone: (907) 983-2854
Website: www.skagway.com