earendel's "North to Alaska" trip - Day 10

[earendel]

Whatever it was that laid me low in Dawson was gone by the next morning, for which I was suitably grateful. We had to be out of the hotel by 6AM so that we could take a two-block bus trip to the dock, where we boarded the Yukon Queen II, a riverboat that took us from Dawson to Eagle, Alaska. The trip, which took several hours, included several videos shown on monitors, talking about the gold rush (naturally) and the Yukon River, which is the 4th longest river in -- well, some said "the world", others said, "North America". The water was a gray color, the result of "glacial silt" suspended in the water. The headwaters of the Yukon (actually a glacier) is very close to the Pacific but because of the coastal mountains the river takes a tortuous 1500 mile course to the Bering Sea. Lunch was served aboard the boat, and they had a snack bar at which you could buy an "unlimited" beverage cup, whether soft drink or hot chocolate. There was the ubiquitous souvenir shop also. We traveled downriver slowly enough to look for wildlife along the banks but aside from some bald eagles we didn't see anything.

We reached Eagle, AK - the oldest incorporated town in Alaska - named because of the eagle nests on a nearby bluff. As a center for supplies for the gold miners heading for the Yukon Eagle grew to almost 2000 people, large enough for a federal judicial post. President McKinley appointed James Wickersham to that position in 1900. Wickersham's role in the settlement of the Alaskan interior was significant; he was the first to attempt to climb Mt. McKinley, but the route he took was too difficult (it wasn't successfully scaled iuntil 1963).

In Eagle we had a choice of "excursions", one of which was a historical re-enactment of a trial held in the courthouse built by Wickersham. The local guides for the various excursions were teenagers, and one of them noted that there were only 24 people for all 12 grades in their local school. The trial involved the theft of gold; people from our tour were selected to serve as prosecutor, defendent, and witnesses, while the tour guide played the role of Wickersham. It wasn't a faithful recreation, as there were no transcripts, but during the trial we did learn a bit more about "frontier justice" and the history of the area.

From Eagle we traveled by bus along the Taylor Highway, a mostly packed-gravel surface road that is quite narrow and provides interesting views into the valleys on either side (if one has the stomach for looking). It is a sinuous road and can be a bit slippery when wet. Fortunately we had excellent weather - it had rained a bit two days before we arrived, which kept the dust down but the road itself was dry. The Taylor Highway connects with the Alaska Highway and that was the route we took to reach Chicken, Alaska. According to Brad, our tour guide, the name "Chicken" came about because the locals originally wanted to name the town "Ptarmigan", but couldn't agree on how to spell it. Rather than risk looking stupid to outsiders, they decided on "Chicken". In Chicken we had a break for a meal and bathrooms, then it was on to Tok, Alaska.

Brad, our tour guide, said that there were several different theories as to how Tok got its name and challenged us to find out as many as we could, either by asking around (the best method) or other types of research. elwing and I decided to play along and we divided her efforts. She spoke with several people while I delved into written materials. Between us we came up with three different possible answers:

1. When the Alaska Highway was being built, it intersected with another road in a T intersection. That T was marked on a map, after which a surveyor wrote "OK" to indicate that this was right. Thus "Tok".

2. A second possibility is that "Tok" used to be "Tokyo" but after the Japanese attack in the Aleutians it was shortened.

3. It was named for a local man's favorite sled dog.

Brad said that no one claimed to know the origin of the name, which sounded dubious to me and certainly made #2 less of a possibility. He never did tell us which one was right (or if there is a right answer). Tok was the end of the day's journey and most of the tour was glad to see it. Even on the luxury coaches, 8 hours on a bus is a long time.

[MarleysGh0st]

Brad said that no one claimed to know the origin of the name

Sounds more like everyone claims to know a different origin of the name!

[silverscreenselect]

The trial involved the theft of gold; people from our tour were selected to serve as prosecutor, defendent, and witnesses, while the tour guide played the role of Wickersham. It wasn't a faithful recreation, as there were no transcripts, but during the trial we did learn a bit more about "frontier justice" and the history of the area.

Did you get a chance to examine the evidence?

[earendel]

The trial involved the theft of gold; people from our tour were selected to serve as prosecutor, defendent, and witnesses, while the tour guide played the role of Wickersham. It wasn't a faithful recreation, as there were no transcripts, but during the trial we did learn a bit more about "frontier justice" and the history of the area.

Did you get a chance to examine the evidence?

Such as it was - there was a "poke" that was supposed to hold the stolen gold. Mostly it was one person's word against another's.