Murals in Skagway 1899-1910

Susannah Dowds, Assistant Historian, reviewed by Karl Gurcke, Historian Klondike National Historical Park Photo Essay submitted June 13, 2017 For more information or to view original prints contact [email protected]

Some of the photographs in this report are not in the public domain. Permission must be obtained from the owning institutions in advance before using these images for any use other than viewing this document. In the glossary of the Skagway Historic District Commission Handbook, a mural is defined “as a sign with more picture or artwork than lettering.” Between 1899 and 19101 photographs show at least three Skagway businesses that featured murals. The earliest was the White Navy. Established before June of 1898, the liquor store was decorated with a painting of the Battleship Iowa. The next mural appeared on another White Navy, Corner of Broadway and Bond (4th) June 1898. Museum saloon, the Manila, after the 4th of July parade in of History & Industry , Seattle, WA, 11811, KLGO-B4-24-745. 1898. Finally, between 1907 and 1913, the Dortero and Son store featured an ornate advertisement for cigars mounted on the north-facing wall of the 2nd floor of the Case and Draper building on Broadway between 4th and 5th avenues.

The Manila, Southwest Corner of 6th and State. National Historical Park, Draper & Company, Photographers, 1907-1913, Dortero and Son Furnishings, west George and Edna Rapuzzi Collection, KLGO side of Broadway between 4th & 5th Avenues Alaska State Library, William Norton 55808, Gift of the Rasmuson Foundation Collection, PCA 226-107, KLGO-B4-110-6716.

1 Skagway municipal code defines Skagway’s period of significance 1899-1910 1

The majority of the source material for this research was compiled from photographs in the library at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Supplementary information came from the 1900 and 1910 U.S. Census, online newspaper archives from the Juneau Public Library and Robert Spude’s 1983 Skagway, District of Alaska. The combination of this information offers a comprehensive picture of the Skagway business district during the period of significance (1899-1910). It is always possible however, that other murals may have existed in Skagway, but do not appear in available source material.

The White Navy, c. 1898, northeast corner of Broadway and Bond (4th Avenue) The White Navy, a saloon, had become part of the business district in the boomtown era of Skagway by 1898. Photographs dated June 1898, showed the store on the northeast corner of Broadway and Bond (4th Avenue).

View of Broadway early June, 1898. Yukon Archives, E.J. Hamacher Collection, 2002/118 #1131, KLGO-B4-149-10928 The mural on the side of the building depicted the USS Iowa, a battleship commissioned in June of 1897 that served in the Spanish-American War in 1898.2 The White Navy store was first mentioned in the Skaguay News on June 17, 1898 when a representative from the saloon, (probably proprietor Thomas Myrick), commented on the swift construction of the rails for

2 “USS Iowa (BB 4),” Naval History and Heritage Command, Accessed May 26, 2017, https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-navy-ships/battleships/iowa-bb-4.html 2

White Pass and Yukon Route railroad down Broadway. The railroad on Broadway was a surprise for many business owners, who were expecting an alternate route and a later construction date. The Skaguay News reported:

“As a result of the mass meeting held Tuesday night, the Skaguay & Railroad Co. was, by the city council, granted a right of way over the throroughfare known as Broadway, and at seven o’clock, Wednesday morning, upwards of 500 men were working like beavers, excavating, grading and leveling a road bed in the middle of the highway. By ten o’clock in the forenoon the grade had been completed and ties were being laid. Two hours later these ties were being bound together by steel rails, and when the sun set Wednesday evening, upwards of a mile of railroad had been graded, tied and railed, and was ready for the locomotives, the work having all been Close-up: View of Broadway early June, 1898. Yukon Archives, E.J. Hamacher Collection, 2002/118 #1131, KLGO-B4-149-10928 done in the short space of thirteen hours.”3

Several Broadway entrepreneurs expressed concerns about safety, noise and fire hazard. The White Navy representative was one of few supporters of the route. “Should have preferred the road be built along the bluff, as originally intended. But as the road is now built, I am satisfied it adds 25 per cent. [sic] to the value of our property, if it was for sale; which it is not.”4 Photographs from mid-June of 1898 show the White Navy amidst the railroad construction.

3 “Their Opinions Residents and Property Owners on Broadway Interviewed,” Skaguay News, June 17, 1898. 4 Ibid. 3

Construction of the WPYR Railroad mid-June 1898. Brackett Family Collection, KLGO-B4-103-6212

The business continued to grow and the mural remained on the side of the building. On July 1, 1898 the Skaguay News announced, “To the White Navy on Broadway, is due the credit of erecting and maintaining the first public watering trough in the city. The water comes from a driven well, and is pure as though it came from the base of Mount Dewey.”5 The S.S.

Advertisement, Skaguay News, Iowa also became part of the logo in newspaper advertisements. July 1, 1898. In September of 1898, a gracious article announced that the business was changing hands from “Commodore Myrick” to “Commodore Manning:” “By order of the Secretary of the Navy,--Commodore Myrick has been superseded by Commodore Manning in command of the White Navy. We understand that the new commander will introduce several novel features that will both surprise and please the general public. The White Navy is located on the corner of Bond and Broadway, and is one of the neatest resorts in the city.”6 Manning’s ownership however, was short-lived. He did not appear in the 1900 Skagway census, and by April of 1899, the building was converted into H. C. Barley’s photography studio.

5 Skaguay News, July 1, 1898. 6 Skaguay News, September 16, 1898. 4

H.C. Barley’s photograph studio before April 1899 renovations. Yukon Archives, H. C. Barley fonds, 5068. KLGO-B4-45-1215

Harrie C. Barley was a daredevil photographer hired to document the construction of the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad in 1898. Barley would scale cliffs to capture construction views and came as close to dynamite blasts as possible. Barley urged terrified assistants and frustrated railroad officials to, “put me close enough to the blast and I’ll stuff the echo.”7 Barley’s first studio was located on Fourth Avenue, between Broadway and Spring, but in April of 1899, he relocated to the White Navy building on Fourth and Broadway. Barley, like many other business owners in 1899 and 1900, worked to give Skagway buildings a facelift.

7 Roy Minter, The White Pass, (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1987), 223. 5

In the aftermath of the rush, the combination of Skagway’s deep water port and the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad transformed Skagway into a transportation hub to the Interior. Improved transportation brought heavy construction equipment, an expanded selection of building materials and skilled craftsmen from ports of the Pacific Northwest. 8 Hastily-built, narrow structures that served the businesses of Skagway’s boomtown era were either modified or replaced by new buildings that featured ornamentation and a more sophisticated appearance. In April of 1899, the Daily Alaskan announced that “H.C. Barley is to have a new plate glass front put in his office in the White Navy corner. He and Lance Burgen, his assistant, were busy yesterday arranging the new corners.”9 In addition to plate glass windows, Barley added shiplap siding, a false front decorated with a cornice, brackets, an eve return and a rear addition. With this transformation the Battleship Iowa disappeared from the side of the building.

H.C. Barley’s photograph studio after April 1899 renovations. National Archives of Canada, C-63098. KLGO-B4-67-2107.

8 Robert Spude, Skagway District of Alaska 1884-1912: Building the Gateway to the Klondike, (Fairbanks: Anthropology and Historic Preservation, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, Occasional Paper No. 36, 1983), 60. 9 Daily Alaskan, April 15, 1899. 6

The Manila, July 1898, 6th Avenue and State Street At about the same time that the White Navy advertised liquor and wine, another saloon, the Manila, commemorated Skagway’s progress on the face of a false front. Located on the southwest corner of 6th Avenue and State Street, the small, one story, gold rush era building gained a mural after the 1898 4th of July parade. In the parade, one of the floats depicted Skagway in 1897 and 1898, showing the

Parade Float, July 4, 1898. National Park Service, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Mary Montgomery Brackett Album (1897-1899), KLGO-SM-15-5244

transformation of the tent city to a bustling town. The images, taken

The Manila, Southwest Corner of 6th and State. Photo depicts the men who participated in the from issues of the Skaguay News, “Soapy Smith Roundup,” J.M. Tanner is at the far right. Taken after July 8, 1898. Klondike showed tents and the Moore Dock Gold Rush National Historical Park, George and Edna Rapuzzi Collection, KLGO 55808, Gift of the Rasmuson Foundation looking south towards the Lynn Canal, followed by a view of Broadway with two story buildings and the railroad leading north, out of town. Little is known about the Manila, the saloon does not appear in business directories or many newspaper articles. An article in the Skaguay News noted that “E.W. Morris of the Manila,” had embroidered the story of his arrival in Skagway, claiming that he was in the area “forty years before Skaguay became a settlement,”10 when in fact he arrived in August of 1897. The Manila appears in a list of saloons from 1898, 11 but by 1899, high licensing fees put many saloons, likely including the Manila, out of business.12

10 “Skaguay One Year Ago,” Skaguay News, November 25, 1898. 11 Catherine Holder Spude, The Mascot Saloon: Archaeological Investigations in Skagway, Alaska, vol. 10 (Anchorage: Government Printing Office, National Park Service, 2005), 20. 12 Ibid, 23. 7

Dortero and Son 1907-1913, Broadway between 4th and 5th Avenues The third mural in Skagway dates from the post-gold rush period. A framed advertisement for El Arabe Cigars was mounted above the roof of Dortero’s store, on the north wall of the neighboring two-story Case and Draper building. The photograph below shows Dortero and Son store between 1907 and 1913. The Dortero family was first listed in the 1910 Skagway Census, but Tony Dortero was in Skagway at least a decade earlier. Dortero’s shop was listed in the 1899 Skagway Business Dortero and Son Store, c. 1907-1913. Alaska State Library, William Norton, collector, PCA 226-107. KLGO-B4-110-6716 Directory.13 Business remained strong after the boom of the rush. On January 2, 1901, the Daily Alaskan announced the results of a promotional contest for participants to guess Dortero’s weight. The five winners who correctly estimated 202 pounds were granted chances in a lottery, three women drew for a prize of candy and two men drew for a new pipe.14 Dortero also promoted El Arabe cigars through a youth baseball team (pictured below). Throughout the 1900s Dortero and Sons advertised a number of products including fruit, tobacco and furnishings. Dortero remained in business in Skagway until 1914 when he sold his store.15

Dortero and Son Store, c. 1907-1913. Alaska State Library, William Norton, collector, PCA 226-107. KLGO-B4-110-6716

13 Directory and Guide Skagway, (Skagway: J. Chester Clinton, 1899), 133. 14 “Weigh’s [sic] 202 Pounds,” Daily Morning Alaskan, January 2, 1901. 15 Daily Alaskan, September 12, 1914. 8

Photo of Skagway Baseball Team with ‘El Arabe Cigar” jerseys, taken between 1900-1914. The two adults are likely Tony Dortero on the right and his eldest son John on the left. National Park Service, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Stinebaugh Collection, KLGO 0004.009.001.002.001.0024

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