Home to Skallywags

The infamous Soapy Smith's gravesite.

The ferry dropped us off at 11 pm, so our first order of business was to find the campground where we were to spend the night.  Remember, it’s not really dark outside this time of year, more like a deep blue-gray.  We located a spot, put up our tents and that was it.
I was looking forward to finally seeing Skagway.  All the other times I’d taken the ferry, I’d always gotten off in Haines because it’s almost 100 miles closer to Anchorage.  I was intrigued with the history and the characters of the place. Who isn’t interested in the gold rush and ___ characters like Soapy Smith?
We headed downtown and were dismayed to see that this sleepy little town was overrun with tourists.  There were no fewer than four cruise ships in port, and they had vomited thousands of people covering the downtown area.  It made it seem like we were on Main St. Disneyland, and we were not pleased. 

The visitor’s center and some of the interpretive buildings told the story of the Dawson gold rush and explained the rules and regulations imposed upon the treasure seekers by the Canadian Mounties.   It was fascinating seeing the wagons loaded with 2,000 pounds of provisions that they were required to lug over the pass.

However, after about an hour of tourist dodging, we decided to head out of town, stopping at the old cemetery.  No, we didn’t leave all the tourists behind, because one of the tours made this a regular stop, with guides dressed as period narrators to get your imagination flowing.  We marveled at the hero’s statue (Frank ___) who happened to be the man who killed Soapy Smith, to put an end to his terror.  He was lauded as a hero even though he, too was a conman and thief.  Then we made note of the other, lesser known graves, visited the waterfalls, and headed out of town
Skagway, for me, was a tad disappointing because I had expected the wooden facades, the interpretive centers, sure, some tourist shops, but not 4,000 plastic bag carrying cruisers.