# Beatson Mine, LaTouche Island



## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

I am gearing up to do a short historic post on the Beatson & Girdwood Mines on La Touche Island. 
Any of you ever hear of it or know where La Touche Island is located ? 









A circa 1910 image of the loading dock at La Touche Island: What is its significance (if any) and what remains of this mining operation today, if anything?


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

And, by the way, does the above picture _not_ look like a fun and challenging structure to model ?


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Not sure if you seen this auction on ebay, but thought you might be interested 

Randy 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aristo-O-Craft-...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:4|65:10|39:1|240:1318


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By rlvette on 04/17/2009 6:03 PM
Not sure if you seen this auction on ebay, but thought you might be interested 

Randy 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aristo-O-Craft-...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:4|65:10|39:1|240:1318




Regrettably, this one is LOCAL PICK-UP ONLY at Watertown, Connecticut, United States. That's just a little out of my way. Sure is a nice set, though.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

So back to the question: Have any of you ever heard of the Beatson (aka Bonanza-Beatson and Girdwood) Mine ? OR have you _up until now_ ever heard of _La Touche Island _?


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Afraid I had never heard of either. Being an old coal miner, this does interest me. The structure is great.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By rlvette on 04/17/2009 7:16 PM
Afraid I had never heard of either. Being an old coal miner, this does interest me. The structure is great.

That covered walkway would be either for rail or conveyor transport. My guess is the latter. It moved the ore from the bunkers to the wharf. 

As you can see from THIS pix, it is impressively large, as is the company town behind it:


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By blackburn49 on 04/17/2009 7:13 PM
So back to the question: Have any of you ever heard of the Beatson (aka Bonanza-Beatson and Girdwood) Mine ? OR have you _up until now_ ever heard of _La Touche Island _? 
Well my answer is no, had no idea that it existed until you posted this topic. However, did you get the other 4 photographs from Washington University Libraries - Digital Collection. Which has a copy of the photograph that you included in your reply. If not the following is a link to the photographs.

*WU-Libraries Digital Collection - LaTouche Island*


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Here are some other links.

*http://photolab.elmer.uaf.edu/gallery/panoramas/panolatouche.html*

*http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?ID=ID.%20Grant,%20U.S.%20%2025*

*http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?ID=ID.%20Grant,%20U.S.%20%2027* 

*Book: Alaska The Great Country* 
*Steamship 'Edith' off La Touche Island - 01*

*Steaamship 'Edith' off La Touche Island - 02*

*Steamship 'Edith' off La Touche Island - 03* 


THE NAUTILUS 
A MONTHLY JOURNAL 
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF CONCHOLOGISTS 
VOL. XXI. MAY, 1007, to APRIL, 1OO8

AMONG THE CEPHALOPODS.
BY R. E. C. 9TEARNS.

According to the papers, the big steamship Northwestern that went ashore last March on La Touche Island, outheastern Alaska, has been floated and is now at Valdez. 

Divers making the survey of the bottom of the sea where the steamer rested, were driven away repeatedly by " great cuttlefish, which swarmed in the vicinity of the wreck." It was feared that these " sea monsters " would prevent the saving of the vessel, but the divers proved game, made the necessary survey, drilled the holes for the dynamite, and laid the charge which blew to atoms the rock that had trapped the steamer, without damaging the vessel. 

May 3, 1907.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, I will get to some of those photos as I explain the significance of Beatson. I have most of them already on queue. Two of the panoramas hang in my bar and have for many years now. But even here, almost no one has heard of it. But you all are about to . . . 

I might add that although I always knew vaguely where it was, I only found out recently _exactly _where it was. Regrettably there is no more Beatson and no more town, either. But what a place it once was. 


So what, you might ask, is still there? This was a kind of boom town right here in Alaska that was once well known--a major center of activity, a regularly scheduled stop for the only major shipping line which plied the waters in those days--the Alaska Steamship Company. What do you suppose is there now?


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

For such an apparently sizable company town, La Touche was hard to find. 







I use Google-Earth extensively for historic forensic research of abandoned mines, railroads and towns. It is a great tool. Once you get used to it, it is amazing what you can find. Here is a map where I have pinpointed relevant locations of the time, including the 50-mile stretch of railroad from Cordova to the Million Dollar Bridge. All the locations shown here existed in1930, the year that Beatson Mine shut down. 
Click the map for a far-larger image.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

As I had previously indicated, the Beatson Mine was on a regular shipping route in the early part of the 20th Century, which I have traced here. 
Click for larger image. 

  







View of La Touche from nearby Chicken Island


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## Joe Bartolini (Jan 2, 2008)

Back in 1995 I had the pleasure of working in Prince William Sound and spent some time on Chicken Island among other places in the sound. Cruised by LaTouche Island where I recall seeing some ruins of the mine and settlement plus a few modern dwellings. It was said that Chicken Island received its name due to an occupant who raised chickens for sale to the miners. A wooden tub with a copper coil inside also suggests they were brewing some shine for sale in addition to chickens and eggs.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

My initial contact with the Beatson Mine at La Touche (simply known as "La Touche") came about as a result of my historic study of Kennecott which began in 1989. 
  There is even something of a physical resemblance between the two as you can see with this comparison with Kennecott above and La Touche below. You may click either for a larger image. 
  When I finally found the location of La Touche using Google-Earth, I found an unpopulated island which is three miles wide and twelve miles long. 
It took some time to fine the Beatson Mine site. Here you see with with the route I traced based on the based information I have of Alaska Steamship Company. Click for larger image.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Two images of the docks at La Touche







As I continued to zero in on La Touche Island it was really discouraging. It became increasingly apparent that my fears were true: There was no Beatson Mine remaining--only footprints of what was once a magnificent mining, milling and docking operation combined with a townsite. Click on either of the Google-Earth images below for a larger one. 
  
  Above you see that I had placed the Beatson Mine marker on what was once a large open pit operation--the beginnings of the Beatson that eventually ran underground, producing miles of tunnels at one time. People who would view this site firsthand would have little indication of what once operated on this very spot.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Joe Bartolini on 04/18/2009 5:46 PM
Back in 1995 I had the pleasure of working in Prince William Sound and spent some time on Chicken Island among other places in the sound. Cruised by LaTouche Island where I recall seeing some ruins of the mine and settlement plus a few modern dwellings. It was said that Chicken Island received its name due to an occupant who raised chickens for sale to the miners. A wooden tub with a copper coil inside also suggests they were brewing some shine for sale in addition to chickens and eggs. 

Cool. Now I have an explanation for the name of the island. Any remains of structures over there?


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## SlateCreek (Jan 2, 2008)

Fantastic photos, and history (as always) Ron! 

It's always been this sort of island on which I've envisioned the "history" of the Slate Creek taking place. 

Matthew (OV)


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By SlateCreek on 04/19/2009 12:07 PM
Fantastic photos, and history (as always) Ron! 

It's always been this sort of island on which I've envisioned the "history" of the Slate Creek taking place. 

Matthew (OV)

I have some amazing information on this site but will have to get to it as I can. I have been busy the last few days at the Depot. Making these kind of historic posts takes a lot of my time. When I am doing one of these threads I am usually sitting here with a stack of documents and photos, crossing-checking the relevant information and making sure I have the right images uploaded. It all takes a commitment of time. I have more to follow on this story. La Touche is one of the great unwritten mining tales of our time. There is NO public information on it at all. Yet the Beatson and Girdwood Mines (the two were a combined operation) were one of the great historic mines of Alaska that arenow all but completely forgotten. It took me quite some time just to track down and verify the location. No one goes there anymore.


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## Joe Bartolini (Jan 2, 2008)

Blackburn
Give me a few days to contact a former co-worker (he still working on the same project, now program) about any remains on Chicken Island. There must have been enough to suggest a dwelling of some sort. I don't remember if we found any chicken coop remains. 

Joe


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

When I first started my historic research on Kennecott I was focusing on the old pictures. I was an amazing town for its day, especially considering its relative isolation. Then I began examining contemporary photographs. We are fortunate in that so much of this site has survived as a modern-day ghost town. Some of the buildings are in remarkably good shape. The two you see here in the foreground are the West Barrack and the Company Store. The latter has been recently restored. The huge structure needed a new roof and foundation. The entire building was jacked up and a new base installed. Considerable work was done on the inside to restore it while making it usable as a visitor contact point. The West Barrack has not been touched, but walking through it is quite an experience. It is like stepping into a building that was only abandoned recently because this one is almost wholly intact the way it was left in 1938.



Other buildings on the complex are in various states of condition from nearly fallen-down, to fully-restored. The mill will require a lot of attention because the entire building appears to be sliding off the hill on which it was built. The machine shop is being restored. The office and depot have already been restored. The hospital is now in pieces. The east barrack is endangered and will probably not be saved. The assay office is a near-total loss. Also several significant structures are long-gone, including the Stephen Birch house, the superintendent's residence and the engineers' staff house.

All things considered however, the site has fare reasonably well consdiering how long it was abandoned. 
  Above: The Kennecott townsite circa 1925. Click for larger image. 
Below: Panorama No 2 of 3 available of the La Touche minesite. Click for larger image.
  The story behind La Touche is not quite so positive. The site was abandoned in 1930, although a watchman was kept in place at least until the abandonment of Kennecott in 1938. That is because La Touche WAS Kennecott ! In 1915 Stephen Birch picked up the mining claims for the newly-formed Kennecott Corporation and began an extensive renovation and upgrade of the facilities. As it turned out, the investment was well worthwhile.
However in 1971 as a result of the Antiquities Act which was passed by Congress to protect certain historic sites, the anonymous owners of the property at the time went out of their way to destroy every single significant structure so as not to be subject to potentially costly federal oversight while they were involved in whatever development was underway at the time. This also happened to another intact ghost town in Alaska--the gold boom town of Denali-- a few years later. Thus, thanks to heavy-handed federal government meddling, the laws of unintended consequences overrode Congress and two complete towns of enormous historic value were lost forever. I am not saying this type of destruction would not have happened anyway, but both actions were directly traceable to a fear of federal interferance in the form of the Antiquities Act, shortsighted as it was on the part of those who engaged in such massive destruction of old historic sites. 


--more to follow


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

I should add that the original Antiquities Act is an old one, dating back to 1906 and has probably had many good consequences, especially in making it illegal to plunder Native American gravesites. What was happening in Alaska was that the federal government had begun using the act as one means to stop some mining activities. Much of this occurred under the auspices of the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. In the case of the BLM, they themselves sought out historic cabins on federal land and proceeded to destroy them so these cabins, most of them nearly a century old, could not be used by others. Meanwhile the NPS did everything it could to wipe out small mining activity in Denali National Park, which even included destroying certain historic structures so they could not be used. In the end they were successful. There was even a debate about destroying Kennecott itself, or at least allowing it to simply fall into complete deterioration and destruction, because the site was considered by some high up in the NPS to take away from the natural beauty of the area.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

I have a feeling the long covered structure was a tram way for the ore to travel to the bins. This would allow year round operation. Keeping the ore dry would prevent frozen ore stuck in cars... 
A plus side effect is a covered causeway for the town folk.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Totalwrecker on 04/19/2009 3:46 PM
I have a feeling the long covered structure was a tram way for the ore to travel to the bins. This would allow year round operation. Keeping the ore dry would prevent frozen ore stuck in cars... 
A plus side effect is a covered causeway for the town folk.

You are correct. That was the tramway for ore from the mill to the docks. It was well over 2,000 feet in length.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Acquisition of the Beatson Mine properties first appears in the Kennecott Copper Corporation Annual Report for the period May 27, 1915 to December 31, 1915. I took the following as a direct excerpt out of that report which I have among my historic Kennecott documents. In that year Stephen Birch is listed as the president and also as a director. Other directors were Elliot C. Bacon, Samuel J. Clarke, Thomas Cochran, S.W. Eccles *, Willima Pierson Hamilton, H.O. Havemeyer **, Seward Prosser and John Steele ***




_The Kennecott Copper Corporation was incorporated April 29, 1915, under the laws of the State of New York. The number of shares authorized to be issued and its stated capital since its organization are as follows:


Shares (Without nominal Stated Capital
or par value)
At Organization (April 29, 1915) 100 $ 500.00
May 27, 1915 720,000 6,000,000.00
Dec 14, 1915 3,000,000 15,000,000.00

On May 27, 1915, the Corporation acquire the entire property, assets and liabilities of the Kennecott Mines Company, issuing in payment therefore 599,900 shares of stock and $10,000,000 First Mortgage 6 per cent. Convertible bonds. The Corporation also acquired by the issuance of 119,996 shares of stock and $25 in cash the entire property, assets and liabilities of the Beatson Copper Company.

The properties so acquired from the Kennecott Mines Company and the Beatson Copper Company have been producers for some five years past, with ore reserves steadily increasing in extent, but in order to confer an increased measure of stability, your directors deemed it wise to make an investment in shares of copper mining companies in other fields, whose properties have been demonstrated to contain ore reserves of such large tonnage as to give assurance of a long life. They also believed it advisable to acquire ownership of all the stock and bonds of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway Company and a substantial holding of the stock of the Alaska Steamship Company, thus not only securing protection in essential transportation facilities, but also acquiring properties with earning fully justifying the investment. In pursuance of this proposal a special stockholders' meeting of the Corporation was held December 14, 1915, at which a plan was ratified and approved, to increase the shares to 3,000,000, for the following purposes:

_ _ To purchase from the Guggenheim Exploration Company 404,504 shares of Utah Copper Company stock for 606,756 shares of your Corporation's stock. . . _

* S.W. Eccles was the President of the Copper River & Northwestern Railway. When the copper spike was driven at Kennecott on March 31, 1911, it was presented to him.
**H.O. Havemeyer was a long-time back of Birch who was responsible for putting Stephen Birch in a position in Valdez where he could act as an intermediary for a number of investors who bought the Bonanza Mine shares that would eventually become Kennecott.

*** John Steele was the General Counsel at Kennecott during the entire Alaskan operations. He was still counsel when Kennecott was abandoned in 1938. I mention him in my book in the chapters dealing with the avalanche at the Mother Lode mine.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

In its heyday LaTouche Island had 4,000 residents, exceeding the entire Copper River Valley even during the time of the Kennecott operations there.
Like Kennecott, when it was abandoned, only a watchman was left behind. Everyone else left because there was no longer an operating infrastructure.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By blackburn49 on 04/19/2009 3:50 PM
Posted By Totalwrecker on 04/19/2009 3:46 PM
I have a feeling the long covered structure was a tram way for the ore to travel to the bins. This would allow year round operation. Keeping the ore dry would prevent frozen ore stuck in cars... 
A plus side effect is a covered causeway for the town folk.

You are correct. That was the tramway for ore from the mill to the docks. It was well over 2,000 feet in length.










*Here is what I was seeking: *" The property has a 300' wharf, on a natural harbor, connected with the Mine by a half-mile tramline of 24" gauge, laid with *2-lb. steel rails." Not sure is that is 12 pound steel or some other figure. At least now we know it was a rail line from the mine and mill to the wharf.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By blackburn49 on 04/19/2009 7:27 PM



*Here is what I was seeking: *" The property has a 300' wharf, on a natural harbor, connected with the Mine by a half-mile tramline of 24" gauge, laid with *2-lb. steel rails." Not sure is that is 12 pound steel or some other figure. At least now we know it was a rail line from the mine and mill to the wharf. 

Maybe someone can give me an idea of what pound rail this 24 inch gauge would likely be. the *2 could be 22, 32 or some other number, but what?


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## thekollector (Jan 2, 2008)

12 pound asce rail has a 2 inch base, 2 inch height with a 1 inch head.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By thekollector on 04/20/2009 8:30 AM
12 pound asce rail has a 2 inch base, 2 inch height with a 1 inch head. 

That would be the rail one would expect on a 24 inch gauge rail tramway ?


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## thekollector (Jan 2, 2008)

From my reading over the years, 12# would not be uncommon. But later (and underground) operations can often go higher. One source reports that 40-60 pound rail on a 24 inch gauge is used in mines. Generally, I find that the rail size choice is determined by the chosen equipment. If we can determine the locomotive weight and wagon size, then it is easier to predict the rail size. 

Jack


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By rlvette on 04/17/2009 6:03 PM
Not sure if you seen this auction on ebay, but thought you might be interested 

Randy 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aristo-O-Craft-...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:4|65:10|39:1|240:1318


Thank you. I _WAS_ able to convince the seller to ship these items himself rather than for me to arrange pickup from way up here in AK. I also want to thank Matthew who generously offered the services of one of his contacts to pick up these items and ship them from Connecticut if I were to purchase them. Thanks, Matt. Shows the value of MLS once again.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

From ExploreNorth dot com:


_ 

A series of copper prospects were staked on Latouche Island in the late 1890s, and the Beatson copper mine, in the northwest section of the island, started shipping ore in 1904. In 1915, with war needs greatly boosting demand (and prices), the mine was taken over by the Kennecott Corporation. At its peak period in 1917-1918, there were about 300 people working at the Beatson and almost 4,000 people on the island, most in the town of Latouche close to the Beatson mine. Expanded operations required a steady supply of coal, and to supply that need, the Alaska Railroad built spurs into coal mines such as the Janios & Athens operation near Houston. 
_ _ 

Most of the copper mines in Alaska closed soon after the end of World War I due to falling prices. The Beatson mine lasted much longer, but with copper prices nearing 5 cents a pound, it closed on November 29, 1930. During its lifetime, the mine had produced a total of 182,600,000 pounds of copper - there were 23 other copper mines in the region, but the total production of all 23 combined was only 26,067,000 pounds. 
_

*That's 88 percent of the copper production for the Prince William Sound area taken just from the Beatson-Girdwood Mines on LaTouche Island ! *


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

One of the copper mines frequently mentioned as being part of the history of Prince William Sound is Ellamar. That mine was a promising producer not far from Valdez and on the Alaska Steamship route which flooded, much like Treadwell at Douglas near Juneau, ending its productive life. It's productive workings were all below sea level and were protected by a series of coffer dams. One of them gave way. 

Click any of the images below for a larger one. 


  
  This is one of the few serious competitors to Beatson-Girdwood, but Ellamar was gone by the end of World War I. Like 
Beatson, almost nothing remains of this site to indicate how significant it once was. 
  
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k220/blackburn49/Kennecott-LaTouche/Ellamar.jpg


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By blackburn49 on 04/20/2009 3:13 PM
Posted By rlvette on 04/17/2009 6:03 PM
Not sure if you seen this auction on ebay, but thought you might be interested 

Randy 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aristo-O-Craft-...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:4|65:10|39:1|240:1318


Thank you. I _WAS_ able to convince the seller to ship these items himself rather than for me to arrange pickup from way up here in AK. I also want to thank Matthew who generously offered the services of one of his contacts to pick up these items and ship them from Connecticut if I were to purchase them. Thanks, Matt. Shows the value of MLS once again. 







I'm glad you got it worked out. That's a great looking passenger train for sure.

Randy


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

So these two mines were copper mines. Is there any coal mines in Alaska? 

Randy


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By rlvette on 04/20/2009 6:53 PM
So these two mines were copper mines. Is there any coal mines in Alaska? 

Randy

Alaska is a BIG coal state. The western shores of Cook Inlet near Kenai see coal deposited with every storm. It used to be regularly gathered up for personal consumption. The Bering River field to the east of Cordova had enormous reserves. The CRNW Railway planned to use it as a resource to run its railroad but federal anti-trust sentiments eventually resulted in the unavailability of those claims. The Matanuska Coal field included the Chickaloon Mines, run for a brief time by the U.S. Navy to supply its ships and the Jonesville Mine which supplied consumer coal as late as the 1960s. There were numerous coal fields along the AKRR line but the largest were the Healy area mines, Suntrana and later Usibelli. The Usibelli continues to supply coal to the interior. A large amount is also shipped overseas through the port of Seward. Additionally, Usibelli just completed purchasing more coal rights in an area east of Palmer for a new coal mine, probably for domestic consumption.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Speaking of Alaskan coal, I just ran into this:

Officially, *Alaska has half the nation’s coal resources*, about 134 billion tons of coal.


_Unofficially_, the USGS estimates that *Alaska’s North Slope contains 5 trillion tons of coal*. That’s 5,000,000,000,000 tons of coal.


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## sbaxters4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks again Ron for supplying us with valuable history of the last, mostly unknown region of our great country! It is truly the natural beauty that also contains such amazing amounts of natural resources! From the oil to coal to copper and then there is the gold and all the other precious metals and gems found up there!! Simply amazing and beautiful!


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

It gets even better. All these years you have been hearing how we have been running out of oil in the world. 

How about if we forget oil, forget hydro, forget all those stupid ugly windmill power generators and solar panels, hydro-thermal and even nuclear. How about gas? Check this out: 




_ 

The United States Geological Survey officially estimates that we have 234 trillions cubic feet of conventional natural gas on the North Slope. The Department of Energy estimates that we have at least three times that much, or around 700 trillion cubic feet of natural gas trapped onshore on the North Slope in the form of gas hydrates---methane trapped in a lattice work of water crystals and frozen in ice. Beyond that, there is the entire Arctic Ocean Basin which is underlain by gas hydrate ice up to two miles thick. 


One cubic foot of gas hydrate ice will release 180 cubic feet of methane gas.


These gas hydrate resources represent over a gigaton of hydrocarbon fuel, *enough to supply the entire world with heat, refrigeration, electricity, and fertilizer for 30,000 years.* Using advanced carbon recycling virtually all of that fuel can be recycled on an indefinite basis with near zero carbon emissions. 
_ _ 

Alaska would be the only viable American base to process and ship gas derived from offshore gas hydrate ice. 
_

Folks, your government has been lying to you (imagine that). _If _we do this right CLEAN energy should NEVER be an issue. We literally have ALL the GAS in the WORLD right here in or off the shore of Alaska ! 
















Liquid natural gas leaving Alaska for the Orient.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Images from the Chickaloon Coal Mine:

The US Navy developed this deposit for use in its ships. Only a few loads were ever taken to Ship Creek for processing before it was determined that this coal was unsuitable for Navy use. 
Shortly thereafter the Chickaloon Branch of the AKRR was abandoned.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Until recent years you could still drive over the two AKRR bridges that crossed the Chickaloon River on the way to the abandoned site of Chickaloon:







The below photo appeared on a Matanuska Telephone Company book cover about 1980. You can click it for a larger image.
In the background is Castle Mountain, source of the coal veins.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

These days one railroad bridge remains sitting alongside the road into Chickaloon:


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Chickaloon existed on two levels that were connected by a long set of stairs you see here.
The lower level was the railroad and mine buildings. The upper level was the location of the residences--two or three rows of cottages.









You may never have heard of Chickaloon or the Chickaloon coal mine, but President Harding did. He visited the site in 1923. Here you see him on those same famous steps.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

My relations at Chickaloon, 1923:
Yes, the railroad is in my DNA:
John Bull, Annie Nicolai, Molly Shaginoff, Olga & Mary Nicolai, and Johnny Shaginoff, Apr 11, 1923.
By then the Chickaloon coal mine was already doomed. By late in the year the U.S. Navy would determine that the coal was unsuitable for us on Naval vessels. 


  
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k220/blackburn49/Chickaloon/Nicolais-on-RR.jpg


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Chickaloon coal field locator map

Showing the AKRR, TVRR, & CRNW Railways
click for larger map


  
This is a 1916 map. As you can see, very little infrastructure existed in Alaska in those days. The towns of Susitna, Matanuska, Chickaloon, Kennicott, and Chatanika no longer exist as towns. 
Copper Center and Paxson were nothing more than roadhouse stops. Chitina was a transhipment point that actually resembled a real town. For some reason, Nenana is not even shown. This is probably because the railroad did not reach there until 1917. Seward and Cordova were both railroad port towns, as was Anchorage.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Ron 

Your history lessons of Alaska are tremdous. Love the pictures and the information. 

Keep it coming 

Randy


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

At the time I was writing this brief thread about Kennecott's LaTouche copper mines I was looking for TWO things:
a) MORE historic pictures of the site (I acquired some of these afterwards)
b) An actual historic MAP of the mine site showing the location of at least SOME of the structures relative to the mines themselves. 


I had given up looking for the map because, after consulting with a local National Park Service historian who makes it his business to KNOW source material, I finally decided that whatever maps had existed were no longer to be found. The historian had NEVER seen any and told me such a map probably no longer existed. He did, however, have in his possession some fascinating La Touche photos I had never seen and have not yet published here, although I had intended to. 


Well, this evening I was moving one of my bookshelves to another location. Stuffed in behind the books were several old maps--mostly copies of originals. But ONE of them WAS an original. Guess what it was ? Yes indeed. 

How did I _not_ know I had this ? Where did it come from ? How long have I had it ?


I have no idea. But I do have it here right in front of me. It IS EXACTLY what I was seeking. It is not in the best of shape, but all the critical map information is right there on this map. It has some holes in it and it is wrinkled and brittle. The lower right-hand segment is gone--apparently rotted away. But that part is not critical. 

So here I am looking at this thing in absolute amazement. I will bring this into town and see if there is a large enough flat scanner available to copy it. It HAS to be one-of-a-kind. The date on the map is 12-3-1919.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Bravo Ron 

We axciously wait your continued history lesson of the LaTouche copper mines with pictures 

Randy


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Wow, what an amazing and fortuitous find!


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## sbaxters4 (Jan 2, 2008)

awesome historical find Ron!!! can't wait to see it!


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By sbaxters4 on 04 Nov 2009 07:20 AM 
awesome historical find Ron!!! can't wait to see it! 

There it is under glass in the back room:  The map shows the relative location of the dock, the mill, the snowshed-covered tramline, the main mine site, the mining claim boundaries and the  no-development area known as Chugach National Forest (set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt to prevent development of much of the coastal areas of south central Alaska).  I had not realized that the national forest extended to La Touche Island. This map sat rolled up behind a group of my books for an unknown  period. I assume it was last stored at the main Kennecott site. Now that I think of it, I believe I know who likely gave it to me. It had to have been salvaged from the Kennecott ghost town years ago. The writings on it indicate it was sent there for storage in 1919 but was originally drawn up in 1916.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

I have notified my contact in the National Park Service, Anchorage who is a mining expert. We will get this thing copied so I can use it. I anticipate bringing it into town as early as next week. As far as we know, it IS the only copy of its type to be found--will definitely add to what we know about the historic Kennecott La Touche mining operation which ended there in 1930.


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## sschaer (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By blackburn49 on 19 Apr 2009 03:15 PM 
... The two you see here in the foreground are the West Barrack and the Company Store. The latter has been recently restored. The huge structure needed a new roof and foundation. The entire building was jacked up and a new base installed. Considerable work was done on the inside to restore it while making it usable as a visitor contact point. The West Barrack has not been touched, but walking through it is quite an experience. It is like stepping into a building that was only abandoned recently because this one is almost wholly intact the way it was left in 1938. Other buildings on the complex are in various states of condition from nearly fallen-down, to fully-restored. The mill will require a lot of attention because the entire building appears to be sliding off the hill on which it was built. The machine shop is being restored. The office and depot have already been restored. The hospital is now in pieces. ... 





not intending to hijack this topic, but do you have actual pictures of the site ? it's 5 years since i've been up there. at that time the hospital was still in rather good condition. at least from first floor upwards.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By sschaer on 10 Nov 2009 05:56 AM 
not intending to hijack this topic, but do you have actual pictures of the site ? it's 5 years since i've been up there. at that time the hospital was still in rather good condition. at least from first floor upwards. 
Regrettably I have not been up there since 2005. I tried to find a way to make it up there this last fall to update my photo images of the location, but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile I am in Anchorage with the LaTouche map, which I have brought in for copying.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By blackburn49 on 10 Nov 2009 09:44 AM 
Posted By sschaer on 10 Nov 2009 05:56 AM 
not intending to hijack this topic, but do you have actual pictures of the site ? it's 5 years since i've been up there. at that time the hospital was still in rather good condition. at least from first floor upwards. 
Regrettably I have not been up there since 2005. I tried to find a way to make it up there this last fall to update my photo images of the location, but was unsuccessful. Meanwhile I am in Anchorage with the LaTouche map, which I have brought in for copying. 

The place you have not been up to since 2005, Is that the mine that you modled in your bar?

You can still go up there? How do you arrange it? I would never make it up there but just wondering.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Ron

Don't know if any of the following will be of any use to you, or maybe you've already got it, but it's what I've dug up on Latouche Island.


Click picture for larger image.


Click picture for larger image.

Latouche Island Information (PDF)[/b]

Latouche System of Mining - Beatson (PDF)[/b]

Mine Inspection May 1925 (PDF)[/b]


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By SteveC on 11 Nov 2009 09:30 AM 
Ron

Don't know if any of the following will be of any use to you, or maybe you've already got it, but it's what I've dug up on Latouche Island.


Click picture for larger image.


Click picture for larger image.



Steve: Thanks so much for your historic mining. I have not seen any of these reports, which add greatly to the limited body of information available as to mining and mining methods in Prince William Sound and specifically to La Touche Island. The two photos you have here are of the Reynolds Development Company which operated at Horseshoe Bay to the SW of the Kennecott claims of the Bonanza-Beatson Mine. I will be passing on copies of these reports you have provided to Logan Hovis, the mining expert employed by the NPS at the head office in Anchorage. Since he never mentioned these reports to me, he might not have seen all of these. One of them in particular has extremely valuable detailed information on mining methods within the Beatson open-cut and underground mine (all of which is now flooded).


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By blackburn49 on 20 Apr 2009 03:13 PM 
 













Changing the subject slightly:  The above set became my SPARES of Milwaukee Road heavyweights. The complete set of these remains boxed and in storage over in Uncle Nicolai's Shop where I keep the rolling stock that is not currently in use on the main layout (all the rolling stock that was in use last summer remains parked either in the bar, in the Cantwell RR yard or above the RR yard in the three Cicely parallel runs except for the locomotives with built-in batteries, which have all been moved to warm storage for the duration of the winter). 


Now, for those of you experts out there, what are your specific[/i] recommendations for new couplers for these heavyweights. I did order Kadee couplers for these, but they turned out to be the wrong ones. I want to do this set with body-mounts. Have all winter to decide how to approach it. For the operational set, which is parked out there in the Cantwell yard, I want to stick with truck-mounted couplers. Do you have specific recommendations for replacing the original Aristocraft couplers on those ?


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey Ron, at first that's what I thought, but on closer inspection I noticed what the captions on the photographs said. The Reynolds-Alaska Dev. Co. ran excursion trips for tourists out to Latouche Island from Valdez. Which as luck would have it P.S. Hunt had his photography studio too (Note; there are photographs of that also in the collection).

On the upper one at the adit...
"Reynolds-Alaska Dev. Co. Excursionist's on the dump at A. K. Beatson's Copper Mine
Latouche Island, Alaska, Aug. 9 '07"

On the lower one with the buildings...
"A group of Reynolds-Alaska Dev. Co's Excursionists on A. K. Beatson's wharf
Latouche Island, Alaska, Aug. 9, 9-07"

Later on I ran across the following list (i.e. finding aide) of the photographs in the 'Mrs. Mary Whalen Collection' of Phinney S. (P.S.) Hunt's photographs, housed in the Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The upper photograph is located in the 2200-2299 series of the collection, call # 1975-0084-2277, on page 5 of 7. Although there is an error in the list, where it identifies it as G1517 (i.e. Glassplate) you can plainly see on the photograph it's G1516. There are other Latouche Island mining photographs of the Beatson and other mines in the collection. It's easier to use the list then go find the image.










P.S. Hunt; Call# 1975-0084-2277, page 5 of 7[/b]
UAF Rasmuson Libary - Digital Photographs[/b]

Mary Whalen Collection - Accession List (PDF format)[/b]

Biographical Note:
_"Phinney S. (P.S.) Hunt was a photographer who worked in Alaska in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was born in Michigan on April 24, 1866 and lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan until age 18. He married in 1887 and relocated to San Jose, California, where he lived for several years before moving to Sacramento. He then moved to Valdez, Alaska in 1898 and worked as a photographer in Valdez and the surrounding communities. In 1915, he became the official photographer for the Alaskan Engineering Commission and moved to Anchorage. He died suddenly on October 14, 1917 while working in Seward, Alaska."_ As an aside, with in the collection there are some photographs taken at the Copper River and Northwestern Railway 'cut' at Keystone Canyon where the rail marshals shot and wounded some of the Alaska Home Railway Company men, when they had a dust-up on 25-Sep-1907. Nobody said building a railroad was easy or safe.


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## sschaer (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By John J on 11 Nov 2009 08:17 AM 
The place you have not been up to since 2005, Is that the mine that you modled in your bar?

You can still go up there? How do you arrange it? I would never make it up there but just wondering. 






john, 
we were referring to the kennecott buildings indeed. 
feel free to check my website for some pics : "Kennecott 2004" 
you'll also find some pics of ron's model. been visiting him in 2004. 
going to the mill is 'a bit' of rough gravel road , some walking and taking a bus. mc carthy is a cute little town. guessed population of about 60 joined by approx 1000000000000000000 moskitos...


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By sschaer on 12 Nov 2009 11:40 PM 
Posted By John J on 11 Nov 2009 08:17 AM 
The place you have not been up to since 2005, Is that the mine that you modled in your bar?

You can still go up there? How do you arrange it? I would never make it up there but just wondering. 






john, 
we were referring to the kennecott buildings indeed. 
feel free to check my website for some pics : "Kennecott 2004" 
you'll also find some pics of ron's model. been visiting him in 2004. 
going to the mill is 'a bit' of rough gravel road , some walking and taking a bus. mc carthy is a cute little town. guessed population of about 60 joined by approx 1000000000000000000 moskitos... 

You posted some great pictures on your web page. Thanks for the link. 
I love to explore abandon buildings. When you see all that machinery piled up I wonder why they botherd to take it apart. Whey didn't they just leave everything in place? Why did they bother with taking up the tracks?


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Ron

Here's another PDF file with information on Latouche Island, some of it may be redundent. However, I did try to be more careful on the OCR scan errors and correct them against the document images.

Regarding the rail weight for the tram check the following entry in the attached file...
[*] The Copper Handbook
Vol. VI - 1904
Latouche Mining Co. p629
Development section
[/list] Latouche Island -02[/b]


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By SteveC on 18 Nov 2009 02:32 AM 
Ron
 
Here's another PDF file with information on Latouche Island, some of it may be redundent. However, I did try to be more careful on the OCR scan errors and correct them against the document images.
 
Regarding the rail weight for the tram check the following entry in the attached file...
[*] The Copper Handbook
Vol. VI - 1904
Latouche Mining Co. p629
Development section
[/list] Latouche Island -02[/b] 


I really appreciate your efforts. You have managed to dig up some excellent source material for this historic project.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By John J on 11 Nov 2009 08:17 AM 
The place you have not been up to since 2005, Is that the mine that you modled in your bar?

You can still go up there?  How do you arrange it?  I would never make it up there but just wondering.




Don't say that you will never make it up here. Even though you are going through tough times right now, it is amazing how circumstances can turn on a dime--even YOUR circumstances. You have already taken steps in the right direction by setting up your own business.  


I am looking at long-term plans (maybe not so long-term, either) that involve an annual tour revolving around this model RR AND Kennecott. This  would be a trip that goes from Anchorage to Copper Center, overnight with meals, through Chitina to McCarthy-Kennecott, overnight one or two nights.  ONE of those overnights in the Kennecott area may very well involve staying on the old Mother Lode grounds. I will be working with the owner on that. Then back to CC with one more overnight with meals, then back to Anchorage. It will be far less expensive than most any other tour coming into Alaska.  It will be a tour like none other. The REAL deal ! 


I am working with another entity to build up the facilities here that will make that tour possible. IF we  proceed with that, the tour WILL happen, assuming I can stir enough interest stateside to make it do-able. It does not have to make any money. It just has pay for the associated costs--and that is not that expensive.


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## sbaxters4 (Jan 2, 2008)

WOW!! Keep us informed on that tour program! That would really be something I would really be interested in... been trying to figure a time when I can get a cruise/tour up there. Would have to figure some way to get sometime of my own to explore areas that the cruises don't go, like Kennecott!


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By sbaxters4 on 19 Nov 2009 11:52 AM 
WOW!! Keep us informed on that tour program! That would really be something I would really be interested in... been trying to figure a time when I can get a cruise/tour up there. Would have to figure some way to get sometime of my own to explore areas that the cruises don't go, like Kennecott! 

I will probably offer several Kennecott tours over the course of a season if all this works out. But ONE of them will be exclusive to large-scale modelers and will be offered through THIS site. THAT one will be the most economical of the tours offered in that it will be essentially "for expenses."  That's the general idea, anyway. I will be meeting with someone about that in the next week or two to see if we can proceed with breaking the ground THIS spring.  Lots of uncertainties out there, as we are all painfully aware. But barring a complete melt-down of our economy (no longer an unrealistic possibility), I am sure I can pull this one off.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Now, let me do a quick cost estimate: Assuming the average round trip[/b] air fare per person of $750.00--and in some cases it could be $200.00 under that, I estimate that the rest of the trip per person to come in at about $550.00, including the meals at Copper Center and at McCarthy. So that should come in at roughly $1300.00 as the base cost with three overnight rooms, travel from Anchorage and return and me along as historic guide. At this point I think I can pull that off. Does that sound reasonable?


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Darn. Looks like my trial balloon is made of lead. Okay, then.  I guess what I am really looking for is rail fans in general--much wider, deeper group of potential customers.  The category of large-scale modelers is evidently too limited.  Considering how few large-scalers there are in AK (I know of three others), I guess that was a clue, wasn' t it? Well, it was worth a shot.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Time to close out this thread, at least for now.  I am especially indebted to SteveC, who, as always, came through for me with some marvelous research. I have been busy putting it all together. Quite an enlightening picture emerges out of this new information. Additionally, I have been given a couple of articles held by the NPS. I actually have enough to build a whole model based on this info.  It is unlikely, but well worth the research in any case.


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## sschaer (Jan 2, 2008)

at least one mls member showed up for your first tour in 2004 ......


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By SteveC on 11 Nov 2009 04:19 PM 
Hey Ron, at first that's what I thought, but on closer inspection I noticed what the captions on the photographs said. The Reynolds-Alaska Dev. Co. ran excursion trips for tourists out to Latouche Island from Valdez... 
As an aside, with in the collection there are some photographs taken at the Copper River and Northwestern Railway 'cut' at Keystone Canyon where the rail marshals shot and wounded some of the Alaska Home Railway Company men, when they had a dust-up on 25-Sep-1907. Nobody said building a railroad was easy or safe.












When I saw that name Reynolds, I thought I had seen it before.  He was the scam artist behind the Alaska Home Railroad--the only railroad in Valdez that actually had a locomotive. Reynolds used this tours to LaTouche to promote his railroad to the interior. In the process he nearly bankrupted the entire town of Valdez. More to follow . . . 


Oh, no one knows what happened to that engine. I think I might have some pictures. When I get back home from Oregon I will take a look . . .


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By John J on 15 Nov 2009 07:12 AM     
I love to explore abandon buildings.   When you see all that machinery  piled up  I wonder why they botherd to take it apart.  Whey didn't they just leave everything in place?  Why did they bother with taking up the tracks?  





The machinery in the mill is largely intact, although many of the separation tables were overturned.  In the early sixties a salvage crew worked its way through the ghost town and succeeded in tearing much of it apart. Then  a second crew came in and burned down  four of the significant structures there plus the Bonanza mine barrack. 


However, most of the large equipment mostly remained in place just because of its size.  Any copper or brass fittings were stripped off and sold. The largest pieces were shipped out by Kennecott in 1938--mostly from the power plant.


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## cybercab (Dec 26, 2009)

This is wonderful information. Thanks everyone. I recently purchased the land which I believe is right in front of the entrance to the mine show in the photograph from 09 Aug 1907. I plan to go to the site in the summer of 2010 and take photos. One day I plan to build a cabin there. I'd love to learn more about the area is anyone has more information on Latouche. I'd really like to learn more about the weather in the winter. How tough would it be to live there these days? Chuck.


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By cybercab on 26 Dec 2009 01:18 AM 
This is wonderful information. Thanks everyone. I recently purchased the land which I believe is right in front of the entrance to the mine show in the photograph from 09 Aug 1907. I plan to go to the site in the summer of 2010 and take photos. One day I plan to build a cabin there. I'd love to learn more about the area is anyone has more information on Latouche. I'd really like to learn more about the weather in the winter. How tough would it be to live there these days? Chuck. 

The island is characterized by heavy rainfall in the summer and heavy snowfall in the winter. Additionally, the seas will be quite choppy or worse during the winter.  I see it as a summer-only location.  There was a good port at old La Touche, but the island rose considerably during the Great Earthquake, revealing ancient forest land in that area. However, you WILL need a good boat OR a pontoon plane.


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## cybercab (Dec 26, 2009)

Interesting. I've heard about the forest which came up. That's amazing. Currently I'm planning a 1 year adventure out there. I'm building a cabin and filming my life out there alone for a year. Should be an interesting project. i'm planning to build on 6 foot stilts to deal with the snow. My property is 150 feet up and there is good drainage. I just need to ensure it's warm and stable. I still have a little over a year to prepare. It should be a challenge, but is doable.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

I spent some time in the Knight Island area (close to La Touche) during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Cleanup (a fiasco if ever there was one). I remember a grand total of about two days of sunshine, a week or so worth of on and off drizzle, and another week of light to heavy rain. The other thing that stuck in my mind was just how dense the dang forest was out there, even though there was more rock than dirt: even very small islands had dense stands of spruce trees on them.


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## cybercab (Dec 26, 2009)

That's what I'm reading in the weather reports. Lots of rain and fog. I don't think it ever gets too cold there, at least not for long. My land does have a lot of trees on it. So there should be some dirt though it may be very shallow. My cabin will be very small which will be easier to heat. I expect to collect rainwater for drinking. I'll still purify it a bit though it should be cleaner than the surface water. I'm hoping the trees will break up the wind gusts. Still I'm concerned about the rotational moments created by the wind. I'll be putting the cabin on 6' stilts. Then it will rise 8-12 feet so it will be 20' off the ground on one side. I plan to cement the legs in the ground if I can. I'll also cable each side down to the ground or to the base of a tree to reduce the risk of the house blowing over. Perhaps use a trap door underneath to get in and out and an escape hatch near the top in case the snow gets really bad. I don't expect it to get that deep though. In the historical photos it looked like 4' of snow standing on the roofs. That would be a lot of weight. I'll go with a green metal roof at a good angle to shed the snow. 

Does that make sense? I suspect I'll be ok with the cold if I can just keep a dry house. A small stove should do the rest.


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