F it1! 241-1-050 \J~OU f v L~0j ,&5l, \/ M T? no^ ORT ^GBERl H A Remnant of the past f i m m n fr Preserved tkrougfk tke cooperative efforts of & tke Bureau of Land Management and tke Eagfle Historical Society Museums A BLM Alaska 'Adventures in the Past' Series, No. 5 Produced by the Bureau of Land Management Want to Know More? Please contact us for more information: Bureau of Land Management Northern Field Office 1150 University Avenue Fairbanks, AK 99709-3899 (907) 474-2200 Internet address: http://aurora.ak.blm.gov Alaska Public Lands Information Center 250 Cushman Street, Suite 1A Fairbanks, AK 99701 (907) 456-0527 TTY (907) 456-0532 Front Cover Internet address: http://www.nps.gov/aplic/center Photo from the Anchorage Museum of History & Art Fortymile Field Station P. O. Box 309 Tok Alaska 99780 (located behind the Alaska Public Lands Information Center) (907) 883-5121 Eagle Historical Society & Museums P. O. Box 23 Eagle, Alaska 99738 BLM-AK-GI-99-007+8100+020 Rev 1999 P reserved much as it was in 1899, the small, isolated commu¬ nity of Eagle offers visitors a rare glimpse into Alaska's past. Francois Mercier established Belle Isle as one of the first trading posts on the Yukon River in Alaska’s interior in 1880. Eagle City was later built adjacent to it. Gold was discovered on the Fortymile River and at Circle in 1886, and on the Klondike near Dawson in 1896. Eagle’s strategic location made it the center of transportation, trade and commu¬ nications for Interior Alaska and Canada’s Yukon Territory. Eagle was formally organized by min¬ ers in 1897. By 1898, a population of 1,700 was housed in more than 500 cabins and tents. That same year, the Secretary of War set aside a military reservation that included Eagle City “until such time as some form of civil government may be established.” Construction began on a military camp, later named for Brigadier General Harry C. Egbert, who had been killed in Manila. Soon the infant city boasted four major trading companies, a post office, a newspaper and a federal court, pre¬ sided over by Judge James Wickersham. Eagle seemed destined to become the mining center for the upper Yukon River in Alaska, but some of the min¬ Steamboat “Susie” at Eagle in 1904. ers drifted westward to Nome by 1901, (Photo from the Stout Collection, courtesy of the Anchorage Museum of History & Art) then to Fairbanks in 1904. Judge Wickersham’s court moved to Fairbanks. In 1911, Fort Egbert was abandoned except for an Army Signal Corps contingent, which operated the telegraph and wireless station until about 1925. Eagle retains the charm of its early days. Evidence of the early military and gold rush eras is still present and visitors are reminded to “take nothing but pictures-leave nothing but foot¬ prints.” © I H n Eagle, the lives of whites and Indians, soldiers and civilians, and traders and miners were interwoven. Three distinct but dependent communities evolved side by side: Eagle Village, Eagle City and Fort Egbert. Each group learned to live with the other in the severe and isolated environment. At the time of white contact the Native people in the area were Han Indians, a branch of the Athabascans. The Han were subsistence hunters and fishermen and became ag¬ gressive traders when the Hudson Bay Company estab¬ lished Fort Yukon in 1847 and Fort Reliance in 1874. The Belle Isle Trading Post, built around 1880 near what is now the city of Eagle, was used intermittently for the next 18 years. The Han later established Johnny’s Village by what is now the site of the village cemetary, two miles upriver of the trading post. Disgusted with restrictive Canadian mining laws, miners crossed the Yukon River to the Alaska Territory. Downriver from the Belle Isle Trading Post, 28 miners organized a community in 1897. They named the town Eagle for the majestic birds that nested on a nearby bluff. Early cabins were primitive. Built of unpeeled logs, they measured no more than 15 by 18 feet. White cheesecloth was used for windows. Sod roofs often sagged under the weight of winter snows. (Photo from the Stout Collection, courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks) KUNDRY LOATHS Tke waterfront was tke keart of activity in Eagle. Businesses on B Street inclu ded tke Ck amker of Commerce in tke saloon on tke left and tke Nortk ern Commercial Company on tke ri ght. (Photo from the Stout Collection, courtesy of the Anchorage Museum of History & Art) Commerce B y the early 1900s, the Alaska Commercial Company, the North American Trading and Transportation Company, the Alaska Exploration Company and the Seattle Transportation Company, plus several smaller, locally owned businesses, had flourishing trades. U.S. Customs records show that scores of riverboats vied for trade along the North’s most populated riverbanks. Serving Yukon towns from Saint Michael to Whitehorse, the Mississippi-style sternwheel- ers operated an international trade route unique in United States history by serving towns in the United States and Canada. Eagle was a major landing for these boats. Eagle was and is a port of entry for crossing the Alaska-Canada border. The old Customs House, a twin to the noncommissioned officers quarters still standing at Fort Egbert, was moved to its present site about 1915. Today it is one of the Eagle Historical Society & Museums’ five museum buildings that contain exhibits preserving remnants of the past. The merchandising of supplies was a vital part of Eagle’s economy. The Paulson and Ott Independent Store, established in 1898, later became Ott and Scheele General Merchandise. The building also housed a tin shop and a carpenter's shop and served other purposes throughout the years. Some of the wood stoves still in use in Eagle today were constructed by Ott and Scheele. Mrs. Sckeele, ker girls and Mr. Ott. (Photo from the Stout Collection, courtesy of the Anchorage Museum of History & Art) C ongress passed criminal and civil codes for Alaska in 1900 that provided for taxation, licensing, incorporation and three judicial districts. On July 23,1900, the War Department decided that civilian government could protect life and property in Eagle, and martial law ended. Eagle's first judge, James Wickersham, arrived a few weeks after passage of the civil codes. The third judicial district stretched from the Arctic Ocean to the Aleutian Chain, covering half of the state or about 300,000 square miles. Renting a furnished cabin, the judge began to establish a court system. Wickersham built a courthouse and jail in 1901. The charter making Eagle the first incorporated city in Interior Alaska was federally approved the same year. Eagle residents recognize the uniqueness of their community and continue efforts to preserve it. A restoration project on Wickersham’s courthouse began in 1975. The Eagle Historical Society & Museums displays exhibits and maintains local museums in the courthouse and other historic buildings, and residents conduct museum tours during the summer months. Eagle Courthouse (Photo from the Farnsworth Collection, courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks) o ocial Life D espite their isolation, Eagle residents began to replace material goods left behind when they came to the gold fields. The Presby¬ terian minister, James Wollaston Kirk, freighted in a piano, baby organ, church bell, sewing machine, feather bed, linen, china, silver, carpets, books and dried food. The Reverend Kirk held his first church service in a saloon, but he and his wife later shared one room of their two-room house for community gatherings. Eagle had many social clubs. The Improved Order of Redmen Lodge was established in 1904 as a service organization. Its members sponsored social events, Friday night dances, holiday parties and memorial services. They also provided sick and burial benefits for lodge members. Improved Order of Redmen in the Redmen Lodge. (Photo from the Stout Collection, courtesy of the Anchorage Museum of History & Art) A s trading and mining flourished in Alaska, the Army expanded its role on the frontier. The 1897 gold rush to the Klondike and the mushrooming trade on the Yukon River created a need for more knowledge about the state. Captain P. H. Ray, a veteran explorer of Alaska, was sent to investigate conditions on the Yukon that fall. The Army established military posts in Alaska to provide law and order, protect commerce, care for impoverished miners, build roads and trails, and especially to develop communication facilities. Lieutenant W. P. Richardson and his men began construction of Fort Egbert in 1899. Major Ray, Captain Wright, 99 enlisted men and a detachment of the Hospital Corps arrived at Fort Egbert in July. Barracks and officer quarters were hastily erected before winter. Both soldiers and civilians faced adjustments to frontier living: limited and expensive supplies, cold, isolation and loneliness. Mu¬ tual aid became the key to survival. Fort Egbert’s mission decreased when the Army’s jurisdiction over Eagle ended in 1900. Disharmony between enlisted men and towns¬ people ensued. Captain Charles E. Farnsworth assumed command in August 1900, and morale and interaction with the citizens of Eagle improved. Muster of Company L, 7tk Infantry, Marck 1900. (Photo from the Eagle Historical Society & Museums, Anchorage Museum of History & Art) 0 Harness skop at Fort Egkert in 1905. (Photo courtesy of the Anchorage Museum of History & Art) •r t Gardening in tke far nortk. (Photo from the Stout Collection, courtesy of the Anchorage Museum of History & Art) Tke Fort Egkert S awmill was kuilt in 1900. Tke military allowed tke Department of Justice to use tke sawmill to make lumker for tke town's courtkouse and jail. (Photo courtesy of the Eagle H istorical Society & Q Museums) A New Mission A new mission was given to Fort Egbert in 1900: construct the first telegraph line in Alaska. The War Department realized the Army needed good communications to be effective in Alaska. It recom¬ mended construction of an “all-American” road and telegraph line from Valdez to Fort Egbert. After exploring the possibilities for a telegraph line in Alaska, General A. W. Greeley, chief of the Signal Office, appealed to Congress for construction funds. On May 26, 1900, $450,000 was appropriated for the construction and operation of a Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System, known as WAMCATS. The line was to extend from Nome in the west to Fairbanks in the Interior and on to Fort Egbert in the east, with another line extending from Fort Egbert to Fort Liscum, near Valdez. Underwater cable lines were to be laid from Valdez to southeast Alaska and on to Seattle. Captain Farnsworth and his men completed the first leg of the 1,506- mile WAMCATS line in October 1900. Extending from Fort Egbert into Canada, it met the Canadian line from Dawson City. Messages could now be telegraphed from Fort Egbert to Dawson and Whitehorse, carried overland to Skagway, sent by mail ship to Seattle, then telegraphed to any part of the contiguous United States. Fort Egbert could receive messages from the United States in five days at 56 cents per word. Telegraph construction from Saint Michael and Nome eastward pro¬ gressed well, but great difficulties were encountered in the Eagle- Valdez line. Lieutenant William “Billy” Mitchell arrived in the summer of 1901 to expedite construction. Soldier witk a surveying tool called a measurinj wkee 1, akout 1900. $ (Photo from the Stout Collection, courtesy of the Anchorage Museum of History & Art)