Joseph Travel Blog: Skagway-From Soapy Smith to Sarah Palin Discovering This City’s Rich History

Don’t be fooled by the looks of this quaint little Alaskan town. It may look tame and quiet now but according to our tour guide, this city is rich in scandalous history.

Our excursion for the day was the Skagway Street Car Tour. We choose this tour for a couple of reasons. First, it was at the right price point for us. Second, it was short, only an hour long. We did not have many expectations as to how this tour would be since we could not find that many reviews on it. How pleasantly surprised we were. Our tour guide did an outstanding job of making the history come alive for us. Dressed in the gold rush period times she entertained us with stories of “Soapy Smith” the infamous town scoundrel who embezzled from the citizens. The “Hero” who gave his life to take him down in a bloody duel only to be found out he, himself was wanted for murder back East. In addition, she shared the story of how the original Street Car Tour was a spur of the moment decision when President Warren G. Harding visited the town in 1923 and the local coal deliveryman brightly painted his coal truck and took the President on a tour of the town in it calling it his “Street Car.” Our tour would not have been complete without a drive by the childhood home of former Governor, of Alaska, Sarah Palin, where “On a clear day” according to our tour guide “You can see Russia.”

This was our first stop in Alaska and the picturesque town looks very turn of the century. From the wooden plank sidewalks to the western themed storefronts it looks like a place where you could walk back in time and join the gold seekers who came here in the late 1800’s to search for gold. Today the population is around 800 full time residents but, during Cruising season it can be upwards if 8000. Squeezing 8000 people into this tiny seaport town that is only 4 blocks wide and 1 mile long can make one think of what this place may have looked like during the Klondike gold rush. During its heyday, the city’s population was over 10,000. Skagway was the final stop before the miners would make the infamous hike over the White Pass trail to get to the gold fields in the Yukon. The pass was so strenuous and difficult, that many animals perished and, it became known as Dead Horse trail. Just a couple of years later a rail line was built to take the miners over the pass making things much easier on those that could afford the passage

fee.

After our tour, we enjoyed shopping along the main street named “Broadway” and grabbing some lunch at “Bites on Broadway” a small eatery where my son discovered German Chocolate Cake. When he tells people about Skagway, he only mentions the cake. It was that good I guess. One thing I noticed was all of the flowers. The city is also known as the “Garden City of Alaska” and my pictures reflect that. Finally did I mention that our ship was the tallest building in the town “That day.”