Ketchikan, Alaska

 

We flew into Seattle on June 7^th and upon arrival had dinner with Dick and Char who live there and Carol, who is joining us on the cruise. We left the next afternoon from the port in sight of the Space Needle.

Richard, Char, Carol, John and Mary

Our lecture series on Alaska started with a history of gold in the territory. There were eight gold rushes from 1862 to 1887 in the Alaska/Yukon area. The Klondike gold strike of August, 1896, was the biggest strike. 24 million of gold was shipped to Seatle in 1897 causing people to rush to Alaska by sea to hike into Canada. Most had no experience with wilderness. To control the situation, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police required a year’s worth of supplies (1500 pounds worth) to enter Canada. This meant that people had to walk up Chilkoot pass 30 to 40 times. In the Spring of 1898, 7000 homemade boats attempted to leave Lake Bennet down the Yukon. Of course, all the good claims were already taken. In 1899, there was a similar boom in Nome. Even today, many people try to make a living by finding gold.

The Routes to Dawson City

After two days of sailing through the inner passage along the British Columbian coast, we reached Ketchikan. I walked the short distance to Creek Street, the red-light district. During prohibition they made more money from liquor than prostitution. The town closed the houses in 1953 and today they are shops and restaurants.

Creek Street

In the afternoon, we went to the Lumber Jack show, a contest between Canada and the US. It was both fun and funny. It was amazing how quickly they could chop through the logs. Then we went out to Saxman Village to see the dancing in the Beaver Lodge and the totem poles outside the lodge.