The founder of Skagway was not a gold-hungry Klondike stampeder but the savvy Captain William Moore, who arrived in the area on a hunch in 1887 and built himself a small cabin in the then uninhabited woods. The log cabin (the oldest structure in town) still stands alongside Moore's newer homestead built on the eve of the gold rush in 1897. The NPS has turned them into small museums.

　　Moore's land was effectively over-run in 1897 when thousands of Klondike-bound gold-seekers stampeded in and set about building their own city. They even had the audacity to change place's name from 'Mooresville' to 'Skaguay'. Moore wasn't happy, but he had the last laugh staying in town and ultimately setting up a profitable sawmill when everyone else hedged their bets with Klondike.