Skagway in 1897
Skagway is a borough in Alaska located in the north of the state's southern panhandle. Shgagei is a Tlingit word meaning "beautiful woman", referring to the Tlingit myth that a beautiful woman named Kanagoo transformed herself into stone at Skagway bay and caused the strong, channeled winds there. Skagway was founded in 1897 amid the Klondike Gold Rush, and it soon came to have 30,000 residents, the vast majority of whom were American prospectors. From 1897 to 1898, Skagway was a lawless town run by con-men such as Soapy Smith, and it was considered "little better than a hell on earth" by Canadian police, as local residents swindled newcomers such as prospectors with exorbitant prices and capitalized off Skagway's location near the start of the Yukon Trail. On 8 July 1898, Smith was killed in a shootout on Juneau Wharf, ending his reign of terror. By June 1898, Skagway had a population of 10,000, making it the largest city in Alaska. However, the Gold Rush petered out in the ensuing years, and, by the time that the railroad arrived in 1900, the rush was nearly over. In 1900, Skagway was incorporated as the first city in the Alaska Territory, and, in July 1923, President Warren G. Harding stopped at Skagway during the first presidential visit to Alaska. By 2019, Skagway had a population of 1,183; in 2000, 92.34% were white, 3.02% Native American, 2.09% Hispanic, and 3.02% multiracial.
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