SKAGWAY, ALASKA
This is where we spent the most time of all the ports during the cruise. I already told you about my time at the Red Onion Saloon there, but I visited a lot of smaller museums and sites as well.
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| Display showing a gold rusher moving his supplies |
*Please note, the day I typed this up (October 3, 2013) the US Government was shut down, so the website may not open. Hopefully this will be just a temporary thing!
This National Park is actually a collection of buildings, trails, and historic sites between Washington and Alaska that preserves the story of the gold rush of the late 1890s.
Taken straight from Wikipedia:
The Skagway unit protects much of downtown Skagway including 15 restored historic buildings. The visitor center in Skagway is located in the historic White Pass and Yukon Route railroad depot building at 2nd and Broadway.
From the visitor center, visitors to the park can experience the history of Skagway and the gold rush by participating in ranger led walking tours or by watching the park movie.
The park also preserves portions of the White Pass Trail and the Chilkoot Trail, which leaves from the historic townsite of Dyea, Alaska and runs to Bennett Lake, from which prospectors could raft to Dawson City, Yukon.
The historic townsite of Dyea is also part of the historical park. The trail center in Skagway is operated by both the National Park Service and Parks Canada and has information regarding current traveling conditions along the Chilkoot Trail. A permit is required to hike the 33-mile historic trail.
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| How the gold would have been stored at the local bank/post office- I lost my notes so I'm going off of memory. |
I entered several of these buildings in Skagway, including the main Visitor Center where I watched a 20 or so minute video documentary about the gold rush and how it affected everyone- the rushers, their families, the Native Americans that were already there, and those who struck it rich (or became bankrupt). Not a very impressive gift store, but the information was helpful. Certainly I was NOT going to go hiking, but for my more adventurous readers, I've been told it is a trail that hikers love because of its difficulty.
In one of the buildings I started chatting with one of the Park Rangers about my old job (at the Smithsonian) and why I was so into museums, and he excitedly went and grabbed an "office person" for me to talk to. Mr. Karl Gurcke is a historian for the KGRNHP, and we chatted for about 15 minutes about not only the history of the city and how it has managed to stay a float a century after the gold rush ended, but how everyday people live their lives currently. We exchanged business cards, though shamefully, I have not yet emailed him to thank him for speaking with me- but I DID mail one of my postcards!
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| Mask on display in the museum portion of the shop |
Not a whole lot to say about this place, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I learned a lot of Alaskan history within two and a half small rooms- a lot of it information I didn't get anywhere else. There were displays about Native myths, and details about how they carved and weaved many of their cultural items (most of which you can purchase in the much-larger store portion of the building). One neat thing was a talking mannequin that was supposed to be Captain James Waddell. He told the story of how the final shots of the Civil War were actually fired in what we now know as Alaska. THAT is an interesting fact I didn't know about and even though he looked a little worn and dumpy, I was impressed they even had that level of display to begin with.
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| Captain James Waddell- he may look bummy but he talks and moves at the touch of a button! |
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| There were also lots of baskets made out of whale baleen This claims to be the largest. |
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| City of Skagway Museum |
I happened upon this museum by chance. Off the main hubs of the city (which is saying a lot since Skagway is about the size of a neighborhood in larger American cities), I thought this museum was a church at first. It was certainly the newest looking building I saw the entire time I was there. I paid two bucks to enter, and walked around the tiny exhibits that essentially told the story of the citizens of Skagway. Everyone from police and firemen, teachers, business men (and women!), and all social statuses were represented through their personal artifacts and belongings. There was more information about the now defunct fraternal society called the Arctic Brotherhood (whose lodge is still standing and is an information center for the city). I enjoyed that there was a lot of information about how women were able to make their own way in a town that was so overrun with men- not all the successful women in Skagway had to work at a Saloon, and I was glad to see more information about the entrepreneurs of the time. My favorite non-artifact portion of the museum? The SUPER clean bathrooms. That's always a big plus for me, and the entire place was spotless and sanitary looking!
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| Table from the old Arctic Brotherhood lodge |
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| Dress from one of the women entrepreneurs- Whose name I can't remember because I can't find my notes :( |
Here are some more pics of what I saw in Skagway
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| The old Arctic Brotherhood lodge- the most photographed building in Alaska Apparently architecture students really dig this place |
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| A looksie at my combat boots. More importantly, all the sidewalks in Skagway were wooden, something I found interesting |
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| Recreation of a Saloon in one of the Klondike Park's buildings |
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| Actual miner's tools excavated near Skagway and Dyea |
Well, I think I have one or two more entries before I am (officially) finished with Alaska and Washington. I'm on a travel hiatus for the rest of the year, but have strong plans to visit Nevada, Louisiana, and Georgia all before Memorial Day next year! In the meantime, you can check out all of my Facebook photos (and hit that "Like" button while you're at it!) from the rest of Alaska and all of the other states I've covered thus far.
Thank you so much for joining me on my adventure!
