Skagway, Alaska: History
=== Etymology and the Mythical Stone Woman ===
Skagway is the English adaptation of sha-ka-ԍéi, a Tlingit idiom which figuratively refers to rough seas in the Taiya Inlet, that are caused by strong north winds. Literally, sha-ka-ԍéi is a verbal noun which means pretty woman. The verbal noun was derived from the Tlingit finite verb theme -sha-ka-li-ԍéi, which means, in the case of a woman, to be pretty.
The story behind the name is that Sha-ka-ԍéi or Skagway ["Pretty Woman"] was the nickname of Kanagoo, a mythical woman who transformed herself into stone at Skagway Bay and who (according to the story) now causes the strong, channeled winds which blow toward Haines, Alaska. The rough seas caused by these winds have therefore been referred to figuratively by using Kanagoo's nickname, Sha-ka-ԍéi or Skagway.
The Kanagoo stone formation is now known as Face Mountain, which is seen from Skagway Bay. The Tlingit name for Face Mountain is Kanagoo Yahaayí [Kanagoo's Image/Soul].
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One prominent resident of early Skagway was William "Billy" Moore, a steamboat captain and veteran of the Stikine and Cassiar gold rushes. As part of an 1887 Canadian boundary survey expedition, he investigated the Coast Mountains pass—later known as White Pass—and identified the route for the future White Pass & Yukon Route railroad. In 1887, Moore and his son claimed a 160-acre homestead at the Skagway River mouth, and his vessel, the Gertrude, faced delays during U.S. customs blockades.
Vaguely defined boundaries along the Alaska Panhandle created overlapping territorial claims. While Canada proposed a joint survey in 1871, the U.S. rejected it as "too costly" given the region's remoteness and limited perceived value. This rejection was disingenuous, as politicians and southern newspapers simultaneously touted the area's strategic timber, fisheries, and mineral potential, framing the purchase as a step toward annexing British Columbia. Because the head of the inlet remained unsurveyed in 1887, Captain William Moore and his son considered the Skagway River mouth British territory, formally registering a 160-acre pre-emption claim in Victoria through the British Columbia Lands Office and registry under the Land Act. Frustrated by American delay, Canada dispatched surveyor Joseph Hunter in 1877 to establish a provisional boundary on the Stikine River, compelling the U.S. to recognize the territorial limits.
This lack of diplomatic consensus had already caused localized friction. In 1874, during the nearby Cassiar Gold Rush, despite treaty guarantees of free navigation by British vessels to access the transmontane interior via the Taku and Stikine rivers, the U.S. Army reinforced and reoccupied Fort Wrangell and began to impose restrictive customs blockades on the Stikine River where it transitioned out of American-claimed coastal waters, a campaign that heavily targeted and disrupted Moore's riverboat operations, the first vessel to be seized being his Gertrude. This blockade resulted in a flurry of cables between Whitehall, Ottawa, and Washington, which ultimately ordered the commander at Fort Wrangell to stand down and allow British vessels access to the river, although exorbitant duties and fees witnessed a continued imposition. …