We had one more part of our day’s excursion in Skagway to do but after our visit to Liarsville there was time for us to make a quick stop at a scenic viewpoint overlooking the city. From here we could see how generally flat and low-lying Skagway was, nestled among the more mountainous landscape either side of it at the northern end of Alaska’s Inside Passage. It was also good to see the cruise ships in port. We love seeing cruise ships. If you’ve arrived somewhere by one then you’ll love seeing them too because it means you’ve not been left behind.
The final organised tour portion took us the Red Onion Saloon.
Built in the last few years of the nineteenth century the saloon didn’t just provide a place for miners to have a drink at the end of a day’s hard work. The saloon also operated as a brothel with the women based in the upstairs rooms selected by the miners picking a doll from behind the bar. It would be laid down to indicate the woman was busy, and raised back up when she was free again. The women were paid well for their services and many soon became far wealthier than most of the miners; they bought property and influence to improve their lives in Skagway, and many only needed to work for a short time.
Our quick tour of the museum began with a glass of champagne and some of this history recounted by a “madam” who was very entertaining. We were then led through the various rooms where many original artifacts remained on show and it was interesting to see the layers of wallpaper still visible. The women of the brothel were allowed to decorate their own rooms.
A silver dress was one of the most prized exhibits in the Red Onion Saloon Brothel Museum.
The museum was small and the tour a short one, requiring us to mostly file through the rooms in single file, but it was extremely interesting and helped wonderfully by the guide with her risqué commentary. I even received a compliment on the size of my equipment. Camera, of course.
In the next post in this Alaska cruise travelogue series we’ll have some time to explore Skagway on our own and we might just get to try out a few of its breweries too.