Having worked on Cruise Ships, Skagway is a pretty familiar place to me, and with that of course comes the White Pass Express. The White Pass Express today, is nothing more than a tourist route, from Skagway Alaska to Carcross Yukon, but this route was once the lifeblood of Alaska and one of the main routes to the Goldfields in the Yukon. Prior to the completion of the White Pass and Yukon Railway, the only way to access the goldfields from Skagway and Dyea, was to hike the traitorous Chikoot Trail. Arriving in Skagway, miners would have to purchase all the supplies they would need to survive the trip into the goldfiends, and carry them trip after trip after trip, until finally reaching Lake Bennett and ultimately the Yukon river. Many men could not complete the necessary trips, and some could not even survive them. The unfortunate reality to many, in search of their fortune in the Klondike, was nothing more than a complete loss before ever even striking a claim.
The completion of the railway, meant that for the price of a train ticket, travellers could now make the trip to Lake Bennett without having to suffer the deadly Chilkoot Pass. This of course lead to the abandonment of the neighbouring city of Dyae, which due to its short chapter in our history book, has been practically forgotten today. What has not been forgotten though, is Skagway and the White Pass Express.
The city of Skagway looks very similar now to what it did in 1898, with the exception of a harbour full of cruise ships, but that is precisely what keeps this bust town still booming. Passengers from all around the world come to Skagway, to learn all about the Gold Rush, see what life was like, and ride the famous White Pass Express. As much as I don't enjoy heavily tourist focussed activities, I must admit, this train trip is an absolute delight. The train cars are beautifully restored and the scenery is exceptional. After such a long and difficult voyage it was to reach Skagway in the late 1800's, I am not sure the passengers took the time to properly enjoy the views of this glorious trip, but with the comforts of todays travel, it is more of a challenge to look away.
I have been fortunate to take this train trip once before, and the drive several times since, but stumbling across a piece of history that one has personally admired for years, is an experience that trumps any view from aboard. I did not discover this section of railway by any means, but it is a part of this history that is not discussed, and it is in remarkably good condition. I only had half of a day to explore here, and I can only imagine how much more there is to see and find, because in one short trip, I seemed to be stumbling over one discover after the next. The greatest in my opinion was the cabin. For all I know, it has been a century since this cabin has seen its last visitor, and some of the items inside are perfectly preserved. I think most of us fantasize of the idea of finding treasure, but for me, finding that old Salad Oil box, still with writing, a name and a location on it, was like finding a piece of treasure. Our history in North America is so young, pieces like this help connect the dots of our history book, and to me, however small a discovery it may be, it is still treasure.
This is definitely a location I will be exploring again, but next time much deeper.
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