Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. It was
formerly a city first incorporated in 1900 that was re-incorporated as a
borough on June 25, 2007. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city
was 862. However, the population doubles in the summer tourist season in
order to deal with more than 900,000 visitors.
The port of Skagway is a popular stop for cruise ships, and the tourist
trade is a big part of the business of Skagway. The White Pass and Yukon
Route narrow gauge railroad, part of the area's mining past, is now in
operation purely for the tourist trade and runs throughout the summer months
Skagway is also part of the setting for Jack London's book The Call of the
Wild.
Skagway (originally spelled Skaguay) is from the Tlingit name for the area,
Skagua" or "Shgagwèi" meaning "a windy place with 'white caps on the water."
History
The area around present-day Skagway was inhabited by Tlingit people from
prehistoric times. They fished and hunted in the waters and forests of the
area and had become prosperous by trading with other groups of people on the
coast and in the interior.
One prominent resident of early Skagway was William "Billy" Moore, a former
steamboat captain. As a member of an 1887 boundary survey expedition, he had
made the first recorded investigation of the pass over the Coast Mountains,
which later became known as White Pass. He believed that gold lay in the
Klondike because it had been found in similar mountain ranges in South
America, Mexico, California, and British Columbia. In 1887, he and his son
Ben claimed a 160-acre (650,000 m²) homestead at the mouth of the Skagway
River in Alaska. Moore settled in this area because he believed it provided
the most direct route to the potential goldfields. They built a log cabin, a
sawmill, and a wharf in anticipation of future gold prospectors passing
through.
The Klondike gold rush changed everything. In 1896, gold was found in the
Klondike region of Canada's Yukon Territory. On July 29, 1897 the steamer
Queen docked at Moore's wharf with the first boat load of prospectors. More
ships brought thousands of hopeful miners into the new town and prepared for
the 500-mile journey to the gold fields in Canada. Moore was overrun by lot
jumping prospectors and had his land stolen from him and sold to others.
The population of the general area increased enormously and reached 30,000,
composed largely of American prospectors. Some realized how difficult the
trek ahead would be on route to the gold fields, and chose to stay behind to
supply goods and services to miners. Within weeks, stores, saloons, and
offices lined the muddy streets of Skagway. The population was estimated at
8,000 residents during the spring of 1898 with approximately 1,000
prospective miners passing through town each week. By June 1898, with a
population between 8,000 and 10,000, Skagway was the largest city in Alaska.
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
realizing 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 on July 8, 1898. 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. However, there are also accounts
that another man, Jesse Murphy, was also involved in the shoot-out and was
actually the one who killed Smith.
Geography
Skagway is located at 59°28′7″N 135°18′21″
Skagway is located in a narrow glaciated valley at the head of the Taiya
Inlet, the north end of the Lynn Canal, which is the most northern fjord on
the Inside Passage on the south coast of Alaska. It is in the Alaska
panhandle 90 miles northwest of Juneau, Alaska's capital city.
Skagway is one of three Southeast Alaskan communities that is connected to the road system; Skagway's connection is via the Klondike Highway, completed in 1978. This allows access to the lower 48, Whitehorse, the Yukon, northern British Columbia, and the Alaska Highway. This also makes Skagway an important port-of-call for the Alaska Marine Highway — Alaska's ferry system — and serves as the northern terminus of the important and heavily-used Lynn Canal corridor. (The other Southeast Alaskan communities with road access are Haines and Hyder.)
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