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.
