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When gold was discovered in the Canadian Yukon
in 1896, the rush soon began.
Prospectors and those who made their living off of prospectors rushed
to the Yukon. (Question: Is there any modern-day
phenomenon that compares to a gold rush – a get-rich-quick lure that draws
thousands in a high-risk endeavour?
High salaries in remote or dangerous oil-producing regions, such as Alaska or the Middle East,
draw a lot of people, but not with the same fervor, it seems to me. Maybe we’re so comfortable, or sedated, or
well-off, now, that it couldn’t happen, at least here and other developed
countries. I guess the immigration
situation – especially people from Mexico
and Central America “rushing” into the U. S. - is the nearest analog,
but it’s not nearly so focused on an objective like a gold strike.)
At any
rate, Skagway, became a jumping off point for
the Yukon. Canada wouldn’t let just anyone
in. You had to prove you were serious
and capable by bringing almost a ton of gear.
To get to Canada
from Skagway,
you had to haul your gear 16.5 miles up the Chilkoot Trail to the border (at
3246 ft.) where a guard would weigh it.
If you couldn’t afford to have your gear shipped by horse or mule, you
carried it on your back, making multiple trips as you relayed your gear to
the border. Can you imagine trudging
up and down that trail, heavily-loaded, in all sorts of weather! See next picture. Then, once you got to the border it was
still 500 miles(!) to the Yukon
and gold-prospects. Not surprisingly,
people discarded a lot of stuff after they got into Canada and
they say you can still find discarded frying pans, etc. in the area.
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This picture (from Chilkoot Trail website) shows
the prospectors hiking up the upper portion of the Chilkoot Trail, called the
“golden staircase,” essentially each stepping in the preceding’s
footsteps. A story told is that if a
person stepped out of line for whatever reason, he might not get back in for
days! Sounds a little harsh, but
desperate times … . For those who
could afford it, pack animals were used and abused hauling supplies up this
trail, so that at one time it was tragically known as Dead Horse Trail.
On the excursion I described earlier, we hiked
the first two miles of the Chilkoot Trail, up over a pretty steep ridge, then
back down to river level, from where we floated down to our starting point.
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Below is a picture of downtown Skagway.
On my early morning walk I came across this collection of old cars, second
picture. An industrious entrepreneur
used these for guided tours of the area.
One thing I resolved was that on a future cruise
I would do more homework ahead of time and look at excursions and activities
that might not be on the cruise line’s menu.
Might find an unexpected delight that way, such as vintage-car
tours. Reminds me of when Susie and I
were on one of the islands in the Auckland
harbor and had some time to kill. We
asked a resident if they knew anyone who could give us a tour of the
island. Turned out to be Max, a
psychologist/teacher/cabbie, who was a real hoot. He had inside stories about everyone on the
island. We ended up running for the
ferry and caught it just before it left.
One of our fondest memories.
Ah, spontaneity!
Third picture is at the top of the pass, where
our afternoon train ride, which, incidentally, was set up directly by one of
our Abilene
compatriots, not through the cruise line, turned around. The reason this particular excursion wasn’t
on the cruise line’s menu, probably, was tight timing such that we almost had to run back to the ship
before it left. Déjà vu all over
again.
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