Skagway, May 30, 2002

Skagway was a staging point for prospectors during the gold rush. Very few of them struck it rich, but selling them provisions for the journey over the mountains was a good business while it lasted.

We didn't do any of the tours or excursions through the cruise line. One fairly expensive option from Skagway was to take the train ride. There were plenty of vendors on the street who were booking excursions, so Mike and I signed up for a van tour that followed much of the route of the train from across the river. During the wait for that trip, we had time to visit the gift shops. I bought a small totem pole for Sarah Haywood, a parishioner who had asked me to bring her back one from a particular store. The pictures from the van tour are on a separate page. When we got back to Skagway, the van took us to an overlook and to the cemetery where are buried Soapy Smith and Frank Reid, participants in a duel who were both fatally wounded. Smith was a con artist and political boss who moved his operations to Alaska to bilk and rob folks in the gold rush.

Shortly after the excursion, it was time to start back to the ship.

 

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