More Skagway Fun

We went downtown for breakfast this morning then did some shopping. At 11:00 a.m. we joined the National Park Ranger for a walking tour of the town. He did an excellent job narrating the history of Skagway which included the notorious con-man “Soapy” Smith and the Moore family who homesteaded here well before the Klondike gold-rush. Using the displays of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, he further increased our understanding of the challenges stampeders faced in reaching the gold fields near Dawson City. Most of the approximate 100,000 who started out for the Klondike, did so from either Skagway (taking the White Pass) or the adjacent town of Dyea (taking the Chilkoot Pass). The NWMP would not permit anyone to enter Canada without one ton of supplies – enough to last a year – and held them back at the Canadian border at the top of the pass until they had transported up the required amount. This normally took a few months travelling up and down the pass! Can you imagine!!! This picture shows a stampeder with the required ton of supplies.

In these crazy years, the town of Skagway hosted tens of thousands of fortune-seeking prospectors. Skagway was a wild and lawless place with 80 saloons, brothels, gamblers and thieves. Soapy Smith was one of the worst. His story is told in the broadway-style musical production “The Days of ‘98”. We had planned to see the show tomorrow, but heard that they were giving complimentary tickets to today’s show because there was a film crew from the Outdoor Network in town to film it as part of an Alaska series. So, we went today and wouldn’t you know it, Fran was dragged up out of the audience to be part of the show. It was hilarious and I regretted not having my camera along!!! However, a very nice lady in the audience named Ruth, took some pictures and emailed them to me. In the first shot, the two floozies are fighting over him. They took him ‘upstairs???’ and brought him down in this colourful nightwear and he had to stay on stage while they sang and fought over him some more. He came home with lipstick on both cheeks from the painted ladies and a certificate of appreciation. We’ll have to watch for the show to come out in January.

Besides some dog-walking and bike riding, that pretty much sums up today. We did go for a Halibut fish and chips supper at the Fish Factory restaurant down the street but it was a bit of a disappointment.

Tomorrow is our last full day here, so we’ve got a few things we want to be sure to do before we leave.