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Historic Sites in Alaska
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Independence Mine State Historical Park
GOLD! A magic word that time cannot tarnish; a soft metal with
the strength to forge history. Gold was the magnet that drew
thousands of adventurers to the last frontier. Though most
Alaskans recognize that gold played an important part in
Alaska's history, they normally think first of Nome, Fairbanks,
or the Iditarod country. But even before a quarter-of-a-million
gold seekers began their stampede into those famous areas, gold
was discovered just southeast of Anchorage in 1886. From there
prospectors spread into the Susitna and Matanuska river basins,
testing the creeks in the nearby mountains. They found hard rock
(lode) gold scattered in quartz veins throughout the granite in
the Talkeetna Mountains. These veins were created by
hydrothermal action that filled fractures in the rock. Erosion
loosened flakes of gold, and flowing water eventually washed the
gold-bearing gravel into a stream. Throughout the history of
gold mining, placer mining has preceded lode mining, and this
area was no exception. The rough-textured gold found in the
bottom of pans and sluice boxes hinted at something more: a
nearby source, or mother lode. Robert Lee Hatcher discovered and
staked the first lode gold claim in the Willow Creek Valley in
September 1906, and others soon followed. But lode mining was
expensive for an individual operator; it required elaborate
tunnels and heavy equipment, so companies merged to pool
resources and reduce expenses. What is now called Independence
Mine was once two mines: The Alaska Free Gold (Martin) Mine on
Skyscraper Mountain, and Independence Mine on Granite Mountain.
In 1938 the two were bought together under one company, the
Alaska-Pacific Consolidated Mining Company (APC). With a block
of 83 mining claims, APC became the largest producer in the
Willow Creek Mining District. The claims covered more than 1,350
acres and included 27 structures. In its peak year, 1941, APC
employed 204 men, blasted nearly a dozen miles of tunnels, and
produced 34,416 ounces of gold worth $1,204,560; today
$17,208,000. Twenty-two families lived in nearby Boomtown, with
eight children attending the Territorial School in the new
bunkhouse. By 1942, the United States had entered World War II,
and the War Production Board designated gold mining as
nonessential to the war effort. Gold mining throughout the
United States came to a halt, but Independence Mine continued to
operate because of the presence of sheelite. Sheelite occurs in
some of the quartz veins along with gold, and was a source of
tungsten, a strategic metal. But because Independence Mine's
sheelite production was low, the exemption was short-lived. In
1943, Independence Mine was ordered to close. The wartime ban
was lifted in 1946, but gold mining was slow to recover. After
the war, gold could be sold only to the U.S. government at a
fixed rate of $35 per ounce. Postwar inflation raged, and gold
mining became an unprofitable venture. Finally, in January of
1951, after mining nearly 6 million dollars' worth of gold,
Independence Mine was closed by APC, and a chapter of Alaska's
gold mining history came to an end. In 1974, Independence Mine
was entered into the National Register of Historic Places, a
list of cultural resources significant to American history. In
the late 1970's, 271 acres of land were donated to the Alaska
Division of Parks & Outdoor Recreation for establishment of
Independence Mine State Historical Park. On January 16, 1980,
title to the acreage was transferred to the State of Alaska. For
information call: (907)269-8400
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
News of the gold strike in Canada's Yukon Territory spread from
Seattle across the country, and from here most prospector's left
for the gold fields. Today the park has a visitor center in the
Pioneer Square Historic District, the center of Gold Rush
activity. The discovery of gold in Canada's Yukon brought
thousands of gold hungry stampeders to Skagway and Dyea, Alaska.
The White Pass Trail from Skagway, and the Chilkoot Trail from
Dyea were the most popular overland routes to the gold fields.
Today the park has a visitor center in Skagway, and administers
the Chilkoot Trail and White Pass Trail units. For information
call: (206)553-7220 or (907)983-2921
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is a remnant of the land
bridge that connected Asia with North America more than 13,000
years ago. The land bridge itself is now overlain by the Chukchi
Sea and the Bering Sea. During the glacial epoch this was part
of a migration route for people, animals, and plants whenever
ocean levels fell enough to expose the land bridge.
Archeologists agree that it was across this Bering Land Bridge,
also called Beringia, that humans first passed from Asia to
populate the Americas. For information call: (907)443-2522
Sitka National Historical Park
Alaska's oldest federally designated park was established in
1910 to commemorate the Battle of Sitka, which took place in
1804. All that remains of this last major conflict between
Europeans and natives of the Northwest Coast is the site of a
Kiksadi Fort, located within the confines of this scenic 107
acre park in a temperate rain forest. The park's story continues
at the Russian Bishop's House, one of four surviving examples of
Russian colonial architecture in North America. This original
1843 log structure conveys the legacy of Russian America through
exhibits, refurbished living quarters and the Chapel of the
Annunciation. A classic combination of Northwest Coast totem
poles and temperate rain forest are combined on the scenic
coastal trail within Sitka National Historical Park. For
information call: (907)747-6281
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