The best bang for the buck was found at the National Park Service. They offered a free walking tour of the city, which lasted about 45 minutes. Bruce Dansby was our guide and he had a way of describing the rowdy and often dangerous lifestyle in such a way that his story left me on the edge of my chair, or boardwalk in this case each time he moved to a new location. His narration centered around two characters. Jefferson Randoph "Soapy" Smith, a flimflam man turned gangster and racketeer who consolidated all crime in the city under his control, and a far sighted entrepreneur named William Moore who saw the potential for Skagway long before the gold rush. Moore built a sawmill and a good size dock where he figured the city would be built. He then purchased several hundred acres of land on the path leading to White Pass. His intention was to charge a crossing fee to the stampeders. William had no idea of the number of people who would be coming. He was quickly overrun, and his land seized by merchants who built stores and bars without his permission. He never got a chance to charge a crossing fee as those who would head up the Pass just ignored his demands, and he was too smart to shoot it out with each of them. The wharf and the sawmill kept him in business and he began a long and tiresome legal action against those on his land. He was rewarded in court in 1900 and did get the now booming town to pay a whopping 60 thousand dollars for the land and the dock. Although he married an Indian girl who he remained with for the rest of his life, something frowned on by most whites at the time, he was heralded as the father of Skagway and one of its most prestigious citizens.
Finally it was time for the train. Unfortunately a light rain had set in and the view was obstructed at the upper elevations. The old wooden cars creaked and crackled as they were pulled along at about 20 MPH. A continuous commentary of each thing that we passed kept us informed of all that was important. Interspersed with these important facts, was a running dialogue on the general history of the town and the railroad. The high point came near the crest of White Pass. The track made a gradual left turn as it ran out onto a wooden trestle standing a hundred feet or so above a craggy canyon river, which raced underneath. The tracks at this point were uneven and it caused the car we were in to pitch slightly, right at a point over the middle of the canyon. I found myself solidly affixed to the seat in front of me, waiting for the slow topple onto the rocks below. Of course no such thing occurred and we passed into a tunnel on the far side. The tunnels, for which there are 2, are not lit and dark can take on a new blackness for those who have never had the lights cut off while at the bottom of a cave. There is a large lake at the top of White Pass where we stopped. As we had entered Canada along the way, we were not allowed off the train. We watched from inside the cars, as the engine was disconnected and driven down a side track until it was hooked up at the other end of the cars. We then flipped our seats over and prepared for the ride back. Seeing the sights for the second time was nice but it had lost that special interest. We settled back and engaged in conversation with those around us. It was fun to find out where everybody else was from and which way they had come to Alaska. The fast ferry was scheduled to leave about an hour after we returned so we left immediately for the dock. Once there we gathered with a small group of 20 or so people to wait. There was no waiting room, just a 6 ft. wide pier. Within seconds the local bloodsuckers (mosquitoes) identified the group and the cloud descended. Laura finally had to zip her coat over her head to keep them from eating her alive. The ferry was late. I would later kid with the captain that the mosquitoes had given the ferry a "kickback" if he would leave us on the pier for an extra pint or so. On the way back, I was invited onto the bridge, which was occupied only by the Captain. We talked about fishing, boating and Alaska for the 30 minutes until we arrived. It had been a long and tiring day but one I would not have wanted to miss.

***THE END ***

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