Mr. James,

Just because Will Woodin did not encounter Soapy Smith or his gang during his few days in Skagway does not mean Skagway contained "a well-behaved crowd of men." If that were so, why during the early days of 1898 did Alaska Governor John Brady write of "the terrible lawlessness at Skagway" [February 20, 1898 Salt Lake Herald]. Superintendent Samuel Steele of the Northwest Mounted Police also weighed in on the situation in Skagway, calling the city in February 1898 "little better than hell on earth." Numerous letters written by stampeders from Skagway in early 1898 describe "murders and robberies on the trail" and the depredations of the Soap Gang. These were not pulp-fiction writers making stuff up, but real men being fleeced, held-up, and genuinely fearing for their lives.

Woodin was fortunate to get out of Skagway unscathed, but his experience doesn't mean crime in early Skagway was a myth - it just means he was lucky.