Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-08-20
ALASKA

August D, lAl'
c Our next stop was at ShagWaY'
from whence / mailed my last let
2 ter.
I Skagwav is but a g'ost OF its rio'
near days Of 1875 This place was
q in those days one Of the principal
entrances to the Yukon thru which
flowed that mighty army OF gold seek
ers. The place is so dead mat II
might be accepted as typical OF Gold
; smiths Deserted Village. III its
MANIFEST DAYS il was simply the entry
nos, Ia White Pass trail one Of the
three trails across the mountains 10
Lake Bennett. which is the headwat-
ers of the Yukon. ChilkoOt Pass Is
only a few miles away but the TWO
rails meet on the opposite SIDE al
Lake Bennett. This city is said 70
be more historic than any Of the
other routes to klodyke. Here III"
steamers that came up The coast from
below discharged their cargoes Of
men. horses and freight, and here De-
tween these mountains the tower or
Skagway grew from one tent 70 nun
dreds in a day, from hundreds to
thousands in a week. Here Sodpy"
Smith, the famous outlaw. and his
gang of thieves and murdererS oper-
ated along the White Pass trail, even
extending their operations from the
} -. %
scattered all along the trail 10 Daw-
son. They knew what men We're go
/ ing in and who We're coming out
with gold These We're robbed either
on the way or after they got to Skag.
way Under the reign OF this band
Of organized ruftians, Skagway had
/ the reputation which it still retains,
Of being the most lawlesS place ever
known. There is nothing in the
/ place now 10 suggest to the visitor
the conditions Of the gold rush OF
those days. It is now simply a collec-
ton OF houses, the most Of which are
vacant We're it not that il is the
terminus of the White Pass railroad,
over which passes all traffic for the
upper Yukon as far "a Dawson il is
doubtful if there would be any in,
habitants left
The building Of the White Pass 4
Nuk IN railroad from Skagway to
White Horse. at the head of naviaa.
ton on the Yukon. stands as one OF
the great engineering feats of the
time. The railway is a narrow gauge
The famous ride is all that has been
claimed for it The road is ll0 miles
long, but the ascent 10 the top Of the
range is within the first twenty miles,
in which the rise is POO feet IN
many places the roadhei is blasted
ont Of the granite rock sheer preci-
pieces above and below In several
places the wOrkmen were suspended
with ropes from above 30 enable them
To blast out the place for the road
bed II is difficult to decide which
to admire the most. the daring of
the men who built the road or the
courage OF the men who financed it
The railroad follows the famous
+, White Pass trail, and in many places
can still be seen from the train some
I OF the crude bridges and paths over
I which the thousands Of men and won.
en- footed it in the winters of 1878
in that strange mad world rush To
IN" fabulous gold fields of the Klon.
dyke. How they LOT up and through
1t all is a marvel am told that
men, pack laden, footsore. dctermin,
T. ed, We're 80 closely massed along the
lrall mat II was one continuous line
! OF men, women ana animals from
S SkagWay 10 the summit and beyond
e Tor months at a time. one man who
J Went over the trail at that inc said
j there are ~ least 5000 horses sacri
, llc"1 in the mad scramble. and thcy
u were strown 50 thickiy that you
D could go for a considerable distanc,
by stepping from one dead horse Il
another The tales of individual hard
Shlps ana disasters one hears from
the old timers and which have be
come part of the history of thil
country is more thrilling than an,
romance The various views from
our train were magnificent and ever
appalling. Sometimes we seemed {,
hang in midair as we crawled slowl,
upward. | have had some thrillnl
rides over some Of the most famon,
mountain railroads. but none to quite
. equal the one over White Pass. TIL.
hrN twenty miles Of this road COS
S2,o0O,o0O Al one point cliff -
feet high, so feet Geep and twcnt,
. feet IN width was blasted ont Of tn
, race OF precipitous mountain o
granite. The road was built IN eigl
teen months and is said to have bee
80 profitable that 1t paid for itself 4