Stories and Folklore from Skagway, Alaska
Beautiful Lake Bennett took its toll on the Stampeders. According to the NWMP Annual Report of 1898, two men drowned in the west arm on October 9, 1897. They were Joe McManus and Peter Vavellof. But what became of their bodies?
There was alot of boat building on Lake Bennett. Some professional boat builders stayed and made their fortune here instead of heading up to Dawson.
On October 8, 1897 four RCMP officers arrived in Skagway on the S.S. Quadra. They were sent here to open an office and report on conditions. They were Inspector Zachary Taylor Wood, Captain Norwood, Major James Walsh (who had met with Sitting Bull), and Hurdman.
Inspector Wood stayed in Skagway off and on and then in May moved his office to Lake Bennett. He reported hearing gunfire on the street of Skagway one day and hitting the deck until the shots stopped. He also described a frightening time moving gold from the Yukon to Victoria, eluding the Soapy gang in Skagway by small boat.
He is a distant cousin of my husband’s family and it is inspiring to know a family member was here in the goldrush. Captain Wood died in 1915 in North Carolina while traveling, but he is buried in Caturaquil Cemetery Kingston Ontario where his family was from.
This photo shows Mrs. Z.T. Wood driving the “last spike” on the WP&YR on June 8, 1900. It says that J.T. is standing next to M.J. Heney. It also says it is in Whitehorse. Another ceremony was in Carcross on July 29, 1900 that was the last spike driven for the entire line, and was re-enacted in 2000.
On October 6, 1961, Albert Roy Hillery died in Juneau. He was a White Pass brakeman and conductor for many years. His descendents still live in Skagway.
In the photo above:
Part of a ten-man Rotary Fleet crew in 1946, waiting at Glacier Station for the southbound train to go by.
Standing, Mickey Mulvihill, Occie Selmer, J.L.McVey, Tad Hillary.
Seated, Howard Ballinger, Charlie Rapuzzi, Cy Richter, Howard Johnson.
Lillian was the daughter of Angus Carlson. She died on October 6, 1897 and in doing so became the first white child to die in Skagway. She was born August 19, 1894 in Everett Washington and moved here with her family in 1897. She was only three years old and although we do not know the cause of death, spinal meningitis was very common at that time, as well as other diseases.
Her sad little grave is in the Gold Rush cemetery.
Happy Birthday to “Klondike Kate” born on October 4, 1876 in Junction City, Kansas. She came to Skagway about 1899 and worked here and in Bennett before going to Dawson.
When Kate first came to Alaska she was not well known. She was just another actress. What made Kate famous was her flame dance. For this dance she would come on stage wearing an elaborate dress covered in red sequins and an enormous cape. She took off the cape revealing a cane that was attached to more than 200 yards of red chiffon. She began leaping and twirling with the chiffon until she looked like fire dancing around. At the end she would dramatically drop to the floor. The miners loved it. She was a hit and was named “The Flame of the Yukon.”
Klondike Kate traveled all over, doing her dancing routines. She boasted later of wearing $1500 Paris gowns and bracelets of purest gold. It was said she mesmerized the men she entertained.
Many books have been written about her including Klondike Kate The Queen of the Yukon and the Last and Mightiest Frontier Gold Rush by Ellis Lucia.
She died in her sleep in 1957 in Sweet Home Oregon.
“Stroller” White was perhaps the most famous of the reporters that Skagway has had. He was here in the goldrush and was called the “Mark Twain of the North”.
He was born in 1859 in Cambridge Ohio and died in Juneau on October 3, 1930. Mr. DeArmond wrote a book about Stroller some years ago called “Klondike Newsman: Stroller White”.
Capt. Bogardus Eldridge came to Skagway in December of 1897 with the 14th Infantry. He was commanded then to find a route from the Yukon to the Tanana River in 1898. When he left Alaska, he went to the Phillipines where he died in battle on this day, October 2, 1899.
He is buried in Arlington Cemetery.
Happy Birthday to Mr. Spurr, a famous geologist who came to Alaska and the Yukon to explore in 1896 and his geology papers and books were used by many in the goldrush to help find gold.
Mount Spurr volcano in Alaska, the mineral spurrite, and the lunar crater Spurr are all named after him. In this old photo Mr Spurr is in the center.