Skagway, Alaska

A beautiful, quaint town that has a population of about 700 during winter and triples during the tourist season. It survives primarily on the tourist season and has a 23 jewellery shops selling opals, gems they called Aurora Borealis and many others.

Skagway has a historical district of about 100 buildings from the gold rush era. It receives about a million tourists annually, most of whom (about three quarters) come on cruise ships.

The White Pass and Yukon Route still operates its narrow-gauge train around Skagway during the summer months, primarily for tourists.

It has a very colourful history and some incidents are certainly worth re-telling – thoughts go back to Australia’s early years with con men and bush rangers.

Between 1897-1898, Skagway was a lawless town, described by one member of the Northwest Mounted Police as "little better than a hell on earth." Fights, prostitutes and liquor were ever-present on Skagway's streets.

The most colorful resident of this period was bad man Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith. He was a sophisticated swindler who liked to think of himself as a kind and generous benefactor to the needy. He had gracious manners and he gave money to widows and stopped lynchings, while at the same time operating a ring of thieves who swindled prospectors with cards, dice, and the shell game.

His telegraph office charged five dollars to send a message anywhere in the world. Prospectors sent news to their folks back home without realising there was no telegraph service to or from Skagway until 1901.

Smith also controlled a comprehensive spy network, a private militia called the Skaguay Military Company, the newspaper, the Deputy U.S. Marshall and an array of thieves and con-men who roamed about the town.

Smith was shot and killed by Frank Reid and Jesse Murphy on July 8, 1898 in the famed Shootout on Juneau Wharf.
Smith managed to return fire—some accounts claim the two men fired their weapons simultaneously—and Frank Reid died from his wounds twelve days later. Jesse Murphy was actually the one who killed Smith.

Skagway still has remnants of busy times during the gold rush days and grand names such as Broadway, the main street running through the centre of town. Unfortunately, we had little time to explore as Davidson Glacier awaits.