SKAGWAY, AK

August 3, 2011

There was coffee and breakfast goodies at the Tail Gunner's site this morning, right outside our bedroom window as we slept.  Doh!

We took a ride on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad train ride. The narrow gauge train was built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush era. We were provided a unique opportunity to experience the history of the area and see mountains and gorges, waterfalls and glaciers, and trestles and tunnels from restored parlor cars.

The White Pass and Yukon Route came about due to the Gold Rush of 1898.  The White Pass provided an alternative and  aeasier route, although longer, for the stampeders who were using the shorter but steeper Chilkoot Pass.  Each prospector was required to carry a year's worth of supplies.  Prspectors used pack animals to make the many trips necessary to haul all of these supplies up the pass before beginning their 550 mile journey to the gold fields.  Both the Chilkoot Trail and White Pass Trails had hazards making the climb difficult.  If a propector went off the trail it would tae hours for him to regain a place on the trail due to the number of stampeders.  It is sad to think that 3,000 horses died on the White Pass Trail due to the inexperience of the stampeders and hazardous conditions along the trail.  We passed over the place called Dead Horse Gulch where these dead animals were left in piles creating quite a stench.

At the Eagles Club we were handed $1,000 (funny money, of course) to bet with at the tables set up for us at Monte Carlo Night before the stage show.


"The Days of 98 Show" with Soapy Smith claims to be the longest running show in the North. It is a story about Soapy Smith, the most notorious outlaw in the North. Got soap? The show had dancing girls that yipped and hollered while they can can'ed. It was how I always imagined a dance hall would have looked and sounded in the "old days" of Kitty and Marshall Matt Dillon.