A Streetcar Named Skagway

As you know by now, Skagway is filled with history. In 1898, one of Skagway's most prominent characters, Martin Itjen came to town and became the local undertaker, Ford dealer, coal deliveryman, and the town's most beloved storyteller.
He created a one-of-a-kind trolley car and began giving tours. In 1923, he gave the first motorized tour in Alaska to President Warren G. Harding and continued giving tours to visitors for years to come.
Now, the Skagway Street Car Tour is a staple in the town, though the trolley cars have been updated just a bit. One original trolley car is still around today and is in great condition.
To celebrate the town's history, the National Park Service decided to drive the original streetcar through the street's of Skagway for all of the town to see.
Doug Smith portrayed Martin Itjen and tons of townspeople and tourists alike posed with the car, preserving a bit of the town's history for many more years to come.

Skagway: A History

Skagway smells of cheap perfume.
But it's the kind of cheap perfume you want to buy.
It's a sweet smell with warm undertones, and it hits you every time the wind is in your favor.
My friend Katie says it's a mixture of the cottonwood trees and pollution from cruise ships that dock daily.
You wonder if it's the trees at all, or if it's the lingering remnants of perfume from saloon girls long gone.
But whether it's the trees or ghosts of the past, Skagway's history has a way of pulling you in, with its mystique, its charm and its sweet-smelling aroma.

Skagway wasn't always a place of discount jewelry and melting ice cream.
Before the days of tourists and cruise ships, Skagway was a gateway city to the Klondike Gold Rush.
Founded by William Moore in 1887, Skagway would quickly become overrun by "stampeders" on a mission to find gold.
Journalists would gather in Liarsville, AK and tell tall tales of Skagway, saying the streets were lined with gold.
But not one piece of gold was ever found in the "windy place with white caps on the water."
Instead, men and women dreaming of the golden nuggets, would have to hike 600 miles through the mountains of Alaska to the gold fields of Dawson City, Canada.
They would first have to hike the Chilkoot Pass and climb the Golden Staircase, which made many stampeders turn around.
The government feared that people would would perish on their journey due to lack of food, so the gold rushers were required to bring with them a year's supply of food.
To get their supplies over the mountain, they had to hike the Golden Staircase 30-40 times, carrying everything on their backs.

Both men and women perished due to avalanches, starvation and freezing temperatures.  

Upon reaching the summit, they arrived at the frozen Lake Bennett.

While waiting for the thaw, they built an estimated 1,200 boats to get to Dawson City. 

Once the lake had thawed, gold seekers raced to the city of gold and found it established and thriving, with an estimated 40,000 people by 1898. 

But the stampeders had come for gold. 

And they found none. 

Dawson City had been picked clean. 

They had traveled, emptied their pockets, suffered and even died, without gaining a cent.

The Klondike Gold Rush only lasted two years. 

During that time, Skagway flourished. 

It was home to brothels, madams, gun-slinging gang members and the notorious Soapy Smith. 

Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II came to Skagway in 1898, bringing his band of conmen with him. 

Smith was a charming man and won over the hearts of Skagway easily. 

He formed his own "law and order society", claiming 317 members. 

During the Spanish-American War in 1898, Soapy formed a volunteer army known as the "Skaguay Military Company" and had it officially recognized by President William McKinley. His strength in the town grew quickly. 

Though it appeared Soapy was doing good for the town, he was a conman through and through. 

He set up a phony telegraph line and charged customers $5 per message, assuring them the message would reach their friends and families. 

But telegraph lines did not reach or leave Skagway until 1901. 

Townspeople had had enough when a man returning from the gold rush, was robbed of his gold by two members of Soapy's gang.

The people were in an outrage and demanded that the man be reimbursed. 

The outburst resulted in the death of Soapy Smith. 

On July 8, 1898, Smith was shot in the heart by Frank Reid in a shoot out, known as the Shootout on Juneau Wharf, and died instantly. He was 38 years old.

The town's hero, Frank Reid, was shot in the crotch, and died after 10 days of suffering. 

Smith and Reid weren't the only deaths in Skagway. 

Shots and screams could be heard nightly. 

Death's were not a rare occurrence. 

Prostitutes carried mattresses on their backs so that when a customer came calling, they could get the job done then and there. 

It was a time of sex, money, alcohol and the wild, wild west. 

The railroad was eventually built and Skagway flourished into the town it is today.

It continues to commemorate its history, keeping the false facades on buildings and giving tours relaying the town's history and tall tales. 

The town even has a show dubbed "The Days of '98", depicting the life of Soapy Smith and the town of Skagway in general. 

Cruise ships dock daily and the town sees approximately 900,000 visitors every year.

It has a year round population of around 900, but it doubles in the summer when seasonal workers come to stay. 

It is filled with jewelry stores, fur shops, tourist traps and even a store dedicated entirely to Sarah Palin. 

The streets are said to be filled not only with shops and history, but with ghosts of the past as well. 

Stories of haunted hotels and street corners run rampant through the town, with facts changing with every story teller.  

But whether spirits continue to walk the streets of Skagway or not, the town most certainly has a way of pulling you in and giving you the feeling that you've been here forever. 

It's a different world and a different time.  

You forget that life happens outside of Skagway. 

And just like that, you're a part of the little gold rush town and perhaps you will go down in history with it. 

An Introduction

Exactly one year ago today, I found myself hiking toward what would become a 500 mile journey.

I was huffing and puffing and asking what I had gotten myself into.

It turned out, I had gotten myself into what would be the experience of a lifetime.

It changed me for the better.

I didn't plan on writing my account of Skagway on May 15th,  one year from the day I started hiking the Appalachian Trail.

It just so happened that today I sat down and decided to write.

And it seems pretty fitting.

For those who don't know, I am a photojournalism major at the University of Florida.

I have worked as a staff photographer for the Independent Florida Alligator, the nation's largest student-run newspaper, a staff photographer for the University of Florida's Levin College of Law, and I am also a wedding photographer. It's safe to say, I keep myself pretty busy.

But when summer started approaching and my fellow students began applying for internships, I decided I couldn't sit around Gainesville for another summer.

I needed to get my hands dirty.

I could have walked the trail again - pick up where I'd left off.

And originally, I'd planned on it.

But as the school year dragged on, I realized I wanted to continue telling stories, but not necessarily in your average, run-of-the-mill internship.

I wanted to be surrounded by beauty.

And that's when I discovered The Skagway News. 

Freshman year of college, I had the pleasure of meeting Katie Emmets, a friend of a friend.

We met at a dance club in Gainesville and exchanged a few hellos and how-are-yous.

And that was that.

A few nights later I added her on Facebook. Because that's what you do with people you've met just once. Right?

Fast forward to what should have been my senior year. (I'm going to be a fifth-year senior. Holla if you feel me!)

I was enrolled in Advanced Photo I, with professor Daron Dean, a staff photographer for the St. Augustine Record. The class quickly became friends with Daron, and we learned of his summers spent in Alaska.

This got my mind wandering.

A summer in Alaska. Sounded right up my alley.

So I started inquiring.

Daron told me the Anchorage Daily News wasn't hiring interns anymore.

There weren't too many big time papers apart from that.

My mind went back to Katie Emmets. The friend of a friend I'd met in a bar and creepily added on Facebook days later.

She worked at a newspaper in Alaska.

So I messaged her, asking her how she'd arrived in this little town and found a position at its paper.

And before you know it, I was applying to a summer internship in the little town of Skagway, as a reporter and photographer.

I didn't have much writing experience, other than the few stories I had written for the Alligator.

And this internship was based heavily in reporting. I doubted whether or not I would get it.

It came down to me and eight other applicants.

This was later narrowed down to three.

Me, an Alaskan (who had already graduated college) and a guy who had previously interned in South Africa.

Just a little discouraging.

So I waited.

Spring Break rolled around, and I boarded the Carnival Imagination with my best friends.

The day the ship docked back in Miami, I checked my voicemail.

I had one.

And just like that, my dreams of an Alaskan summer were crushed.

They'd picked the Alaskan native.

But I was told not to give up hope just yet. She hadn't said yes or no.

But I had given up hope.

I called my dad crying. I was devastated.

I didn't talk about it, not wanting to jinx any chances I may still have.

I emailed the editor, wondering if there had been any news.

Four days seemed like weeks.

I thought they had forgotten about me.

And then the call came.

They had chosen me as their summer intern. The Alaskan native had been too unsure and I scooped up the opportunity.

The rest is history.

Spring semester flew by.

And before I knew it, I found myself saying goodbye to friends, some for the last time, closing up my apartment for the summer and packing my bags.

My dad drove me to Orlando, and I boarded a plane to Denver. I found myself sitting next to a classmate. Small world.

From there I traveled to Seattle and later found myself in Juneau, in which I saw 5 bald eagles. That's more than I had seen in my entire life. 

I visited the Mendenall Glacier and was told to be on the lookout for bear. 

The next day I would board a small Cessna plane, sit in the front seat next to the pilot, and fly through the rugged, snow covered mountains of Alaska I had dreamed about, landing in Skagway. 

And now here I sit.

Not at a log on the side of the trail, sweating and panting.

But at a desk, wearing a chevron dress with tights, typing away at my computer.

I'm surrounded by photos and old newspapers.

I look out onto the small borough of Skagway and see all of the tourists walking in and out of shops.

And I'm more positive than ever, that this little town will bring just as much adventure and life-changing experiences as did 500 miles in the wilderness.

But this time I'll go home to a futon, electricity and running water.

And I can't say that I'm mad about that.

From Gainesville to Skagway from Elise Giordano on Vimeo.