At the top of the Inside Passage, as Alaska's fjords are known, in the closest accessible place to Canada, lies Skagway, gold-mining thoroughfare, but now a quaint little town. Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park surrounds the area, and includes treasures such as the Chilkoot Trail, the White Pass Trail Corridor, and the nearby ghost town of Dyea. These all commemorate the approximately 40,000 miners that headed into the Yukon Territory to mine gold, stampeding the city and bringing a colorful time period to Alaskan history. Infamous and lawless 'Soapy' Smith controlled the town, contractor Michael J Heney built the White Pass and Yukon Railroad over steep mountains (a superhuman feat) which helped make this place what it is, and the town couldn't survive without the railroad now as a tourist attraction. Despite being an important cruise ship destination, it is wild west town with character.
The famous White Pass and Yukon Railroad linked the gold-mining interior to the sea transportation.
Source: Lonely Planet Alaska 9th Edition
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