The discovery of gold in the Klondike in 1896 ushered in a wave of "stampeeders" seeking riches from the north. Boarding steamships chock full of supplies and naive city folks from Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California, waves landed in the town of Moorseville, as it was then called. With any frontier town comes the saloons, brothels and general lawlessness. Outlaw characters like "Soapy" Smith ran the town through corruption and favors, preying on the influx of would-be miners. In the end, most returned empty handed and the town quickly faded from prominence and slowly evolved into a proper small port town and access to Whitehorse, YT via the White Pass & Yukon Route RR. To this day, large ships still breathe life into town. The street is lined with gift shops, jewelry stores and all the other "port" style places to drop money when disembarking from a cruise. If one looks around after 7PM, the "real" town comes out and you meet the nicest local bus drivers, bar tenders and unique folk that live in this 7-900 person town.
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Mike SaundersIn May 2014 I quit my job to ride a Honda Ruckus over 69'000 mi and counting. Wild camping most nights and cooking most of my own meals, I keep the costs low and the landscape changing. Archives
April 2018
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