On the area about this building was the company town. Adjoining was "Our Town" where the cribs and honkies thrived.
I first visited it with Shorty Harris, holding my breath most of the way on the steep, narrow, and winding road. We appropriated the company building for our temporary home. Shorty had owned claims there and had helped build the road.
Montgomery paid $60,000 for the claims and took out $9,000,000 before production costs exceeded his profits, when work was abandoned.
During World War I, Montgomery sold the pipe, which had brought the water to Skidoo, to Standard Oil Company at a price far in excess of its cost. That was the end of Skidoo.
More interesting to me than the fate of Skidoo was that of Blonde Betty and the traveling preacher, of which Shorty was reminded when we strolled by the crib in which Betty had lived.
"Skagway Thompson, as fine a chap as ever drew a cork, died right over there in that shack and we decided he deserved a nice planting. Everybody liked Skagway. Only women around at that time were crib girls and they banked his grave with wild flowers and I got this sky pilot to say a few words.
"He was a young fellow, good looking and agreeable. I told him Skagway's friends thought it would be nice if one of the women in town would sing Skagway's favorite song. 'It's called "When the Wedding Bells Are Ringing"' I said, 'and I hope you don't mind if it's not in the hymn books.' I didn't tell him the girl who was going to sing it was Blonde Betty--a chippy--figuring he'd be on his way before he found out. That gal could sing like a flock of larks and after the service the preacher barged up to me and said he wanted to meet Betty and would I introduce him.
"There was no way out and besides, I figured what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. He told her what a wonderful voice she had, how the song had touched him and hoped she would sing at one of his meetings.
"Blonde Betty was pretty as curly ribbon and I was afraid every minute he was going to ask if he could call on her, so I horned in and said, 'Parson, excuse me, but I promised I would bring Miss Betty home right away.'
"'You big-mouthed bum,' Betty says when we were out of hearing. 'Why don't you attend to your own business? I know how to act.'"