Gold Rush Cemetery

Gold Rush Cemetery

On our way out of Skagway, we stopped at the Gold Rush Cemetery.   It is probably one of the most genuine cemeteries in a tourist place that I have ever seen.  The graves are on a hillside, and over time, trees, grasses, etc have overtaken them.  Some of the grave markers are intact, and many are not.

Soapy Smith, a con man and gangster is one of the favorite gravesites to visit.  He had worked in Denver and other towns prior to coming to Skagway, He had a team of shills and thieves who took what new arrivals had, whether it was in a card game, via robbery, real estate investment, etc.  They would meet people when they arrived and figure out how to get their money.     They were particularly good at getting gold from returning miners. In a short time, they controlled the town of Skagway.

He got the nickname Soapy because of a con he used, wrapping bars of soap in money, then in plain paper and selling them to people who took a chance they would unwrap a $100 bill.  His shills would buy the ones wrapped in money, and others would get the plain soap!

When the townspeople of Skagway got tired of him (there was no law to speak of) they formed a vigilante group, and were meeting on the wharf when Soapy arrived with a Winchester rifle.  He got into an argument with one of the guards at the wharf, Frank Reid, and they ended up in a gunfight.  Both died – Soapy immediately, Reid 12 days later.  Smith had been in Skagway for not quite two years and was 38 years old.

Smith is buried outside the “official” cemetery, and Frank Reid has the prominent place in the middle of the cemetery.

The sign reads , "He gave his life for the honor of Skagway."

Up the hill from the cemetery is beautiful water falls named Reid’s Falls.

We waved to the people on the White Pass and Yukon narrow gauge railroad as they went by.  Most people wave back!