Alaska/Canada 2022-20: Kennicott
July 22-26, 2022
It's been nearly 10 months, but it feels like yesterday that we were camped at Base Camp Kennicott, at the end of the 60-mile-dirt McCarthy Rd, on the banks of the Kennicott River.
.jpeg)
Kennicott Glacier & moraine viewed from our campsite.
Walking back to the campground office from our campsite the first day, we chatted with a young man who turned out to be an employee of St Elias Alpine Guides—employees camp like the rest of us. He encouraged us to take a tour of Kennicott Mill Town with St Elias. Being convinced, we booked a tour at the office for the next day.
In the morning, after first moving to a campsite on the banks of the Kennicott River, we headed across the footbridge to McCarthy.
It's about a half mile from the footbridge to the McCarthy Museum, housed in the former Copper River and Northwestern Railway Depot. There we turned right on Kennicott Ave/Dan Creek Rd. In 5 minutes we were at the far end of town at the shuttle stop in front of Ma Johnson's Hotel.
Barrett also leased parcels of his land to the miners who followed the rumors to the area and the entrepreneurs who followed, to mine the miners. The area became the town of McCarthy, where Kennicott miners and their families availed themselves of services not available in the mill town: restaurants, pool halls, hotels, saloons, an auto garage and repair shop, a hardware store, 2 newspapers, a dress shop, a shoe shop, and a photography shop. There were also holiday celebrations.
.jpeg)
The workforce eventually grew to 600. Roughly half worked in the mines, traveling to the Erie Mine on the Wagon Rd, but to the other mines via aerial tramways. Often workers returned to town only for a rare holiday or to leave Kennicott. The other half of the workforce labored in the concentrator mill, which eventually climbed 14 stories up the steep hill.
.jpeg)
To meet the growing needs for housing and other buildings, hillsides were leveled with mine tailings. Management and specialized workers and their families lived in cottages and apartments on Upper Row, aka "Silk Stocking Row."
.jpeg)
By 1937, Kennicott mill town had more than 100 buildings, including a school, dental office, dairy, and more bunkhouses.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
There were also leisure facilities—a recreation hall, ice-skating rink, ball field, tennis court—though the miners had little time to enjoy them. When they had precious free time, workers also hunted, fished, sledded, and skied.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
In 1938, with the price of copper falling, Kennicott closed down. The majority of those still in the area took the last CR&NW train to Cordova. Kennicott subsequently gave the CR&NW right-of-way to the new State of Alaska. In 1971, a new bridge was constructed over the Copper River, the remaining rails were pulled up, and the rail-bed was covered with gravel, creating the McCarthy Rd and making McCarthy and Kennicott accessible to vehicles—at least as far as the Kennicott River. In the 1980s, residents, with an assist from the state, built a hand-pulled tram over the river. Today's footbridge was built in 1997, allowing easier access to McCarthy and Kennicott.
.jpeg)
The tour with St Elias Alpine Guides was amazing. First of all, the tour guide was excellent—well-informed, congenial, open to any and all questions. Second, he was talented! The puddles in the dirt road from recent rains were hard to miss walking forward, yet our tour guide navigated all of them while walking backward and talking to us simultaneously!
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
...buildings stair-stepped up the not-quite-vertical hill.... containing the machinery of an industrial mining operation and everything needed to keep it going.
.jpeg)
After the tour, we decided to take the shuttle driver's suggestion and check out Kennicott Glacier Lodge. To our surprise the menu was very affordable. We spent a pleasant hour or so eating a delicious meal on the balcony overlooking the town and Kennicott Glacier. In fact, when Doug returned to Kennicott a couple of days later, he could not resist another meal on the balcony.
.jpeg)
It's been nearly 10 months, but it feels like yesterday that we were camped at Base Camp Kennicott, at the end of the 60-mile-dirt McCarthy Rd, on the banks of the Kennicott River.
.jpeg)
Kennicott Glacier & moraine viewed from our campsite.Walking back to the campground office from our campsite the first day, we chatted with a young man who turned out to be an employee of St Elias Alpine Guides—employees camp like the rest of us. He encouraged us to take a tour of Kennicott Mill Town with St Elias. Being convinced, we booked a tour at the office for the next day.
Kennicott viewed from our campsite.
In the morning, after first moving to a campsite on the banks of the Kennicott River, we headed across the footbridge to McCarthy.
Footbridge across Kennicott River from Base Camp Kennicott (far end) to McCarthy & Kennicott.
Walking to McCarthy.
It's about a half mile from the footbridge to the McCarthy Museum, housed in the former Copper River and Northwestern Railway Depot. There we turned right on Kennicott Ave/Dan Creek Rd. In 5 minutes we were at the far end of town at the shuttle stop in front of Ma Johnson's Hotel.
We boarded a small shuttle bus for the 5-mile drive to Kennicott. Our congenial driver filled us in on some of the local history and recommended the Kennicott Glacier Lodge for lunch.
Thousands of prospectors who debarked at Cordova and Valdez on the Gulf of Alaska in 1898 traveled through this area on their way to the Klondike Gold Rush. Returning from Canada's Yukon Territory, some gave prospecting another try and "discovered" copper here in the Wrangell Mountains in 1899.
Of course, the Ahtna people had for thousands of years worked the local copper into art, utensils, and arrowheads. The McCarthy Rd begins at the town of Chitina, where the Copper River turns south. "Chitina" comes from the Ahtna words for "copper" and "river."
Kennicott Train Depot
Thousands of prospectors who debarked at Cordova and Valdez on the Gulf of Alaska in 1898 traveled through this area on their way to the Klondike Gold Rush. Returning from Canada's Yukon Territory, some gave prospecting another try and "discovered" copper here in the Wrangell Mountains in 1899.
Of course, the Ahtna people had for thousands of years worked the local copper into art, utensils, and arrowheads. The McCarthy Rd begins at the town of Chitina, where the Copper River turns south. "Chitina" comes from the Ahtna words for "copper" and "river."
The mining claims changed hands over the next few years, and in 1907, the Havemeyer, Guggenheim, and J.P. Morgan families founded what would become Kennicott Copper Corporation. By 1908, Kennicott mill town had the basics for a mining operation.
.jpeg)
Horses and dog sleds carried supplies from Valdez to the town. To expedite transport, a steamship was dismantled at Valdez, hauled in pieces over the mountains, and reassembled at Chitina. Until the railway was finished, supplies hauled over the mountains now finished the journey to the mill town on the Chitina River.
.jpeg)
Kennicott town plan 1908.
Horses and dog sleds carried supplies from Valdez to the town. To expedite transport, a steamship was dismantled at Valdez, hauled in pieces over the mountains, and reassembled at Chitina. Until the railway was finished, supplies hauled over the mountains now finished the journey to the mill town on the Chitina River.
Construction of the the Copper River and Northwestern Railway (CR&NW), which would run 196 miles from Kennincott to Cordova, began in 1907. It would take 4 years to complete, with crews working year round, in temperatures as low as -40° F.
A steamboat was hauled in pieces from Valdez to Chitina. The CR&NW Railway ran from Cordova to Kennicott.
The railway required 129 bridges, including the Miles Glacier Bridge over the Copper River in the final stretch to Cordova. Alone it cost $1.4 million, earning it the name the "Million Dollar Bridge." The final cost of the CR&NW was $25 million, equivalent to about $660 billion today.
1 of 129 bridges on the CR&NW Railway.
In 1911, the CR&NW, by then called "Can't Run and Never Will," hauled the first load of copper, valued at $250,000, from Kennicott to Cordova. From there, it was shipped to Tacoma, WA, for smelting.
Meanwhile, about 5 miles down the hill from Kennicott, a homesteader named John Barrett theorized correctly that his land would be a good location for the CR&NW turntable. He leased land to Kennicott's owners for the turntable. Here the locomotives were turned around and pushed the train up the hill to Kennicott.
Remains of the CR&NW turntable at McCarthy
Barrett also leased parcels of his land to the miners who followed the rumors to the area and the entrepreneurs who followed, to mine the miners. The area became the town of McCarthy, where Kennicott miners and their families availed themselves of services not available in the mill town: restaurants, pool halls, hotels, saloons, an auto garage and repair shop, a hardware store, 2 newspapers, a dress shop, a shoe shop, and a photography shop. There were also holiday celebrations.
Kennicott Glacier & moraine today.
When Kennicott was founded, Kennicott Glacier spread from one side of the wide valley to the other. When you looked out over the valley, you say ice. The glacier is still there, but covered with glacial moraine, the rock and silt a glacier pushes in front of it as it moves.
Kennecott grew to include five mines: Bonanza, Jumbo, Mother Lode, Erie, and Glacier. Men came from all over the world, sometimes with their families, to undertake the grueling work. By 1915, the town had added a hospital and a store.
Kennecott grew to include five mines: Bonanza, Jumbo, Mother Lode, Erie, and Glacier. Men came from all over the world, sometimes with their families, to undertake the grueling work. By 1915, the town had added a hospital and a store.
.jpeg)
Kennicott town plan 1915.
Hospital & bunkhouse on either side of National Creek. Not all buildings have been restored.
The workforce eventually grew to 600. Roughly half worked in the mines, traveling to the Erie Mine on the Wagon Rd, but to the other mines via aerial tramways. Often workers returned to town only for a rare holiday or to leave Kennicott. The other half of the workforce labored in the concentrator mill, which eventually climbed 14 stories up the steep hill.
.jpeg)
L-R: Concentrator mill, general manager's office, hospital, bunkhouse.
"Silk Stocking Row" cottages.
.jpeg)
A resident of Silk Stocking Row?
By 1937, Kennicott mill town had more than 100 buildings, including a school, dental office, dairy, and more bunkhouses.
.jpeg)
L-R: Kennicott Glacier & moraine, ammonia leaching plant, concentrator mill, warehouse (below), general manager's office, railway depot.
.jpeg)
CR&NW Railway tracks embedded in bridge over National Creek.
Inside the Kennicott Post Office.
There were also leisure facilities—a recreation hall, ice-skating rink, ball field, tennis court—though the miners had little time to enjoy them. When they had precious free time, workers also hunted, fished, sledded, and skied.
Kennicott town plan 1937.
.jpeg)
Sawmill on National Creek.
.jpeg)
L: Sawmill with ammonia leaching plant & machine shop beyond.
In 1938, with the price of copper falling, Kennicott closed down. The majority of those still in the area took the last CR&NW train to Cordova. Kennicott subsequently gave the CR&NW right-of-way to the new State of Alaska. In 1971, a new bridge was constructed over the Copper River, the remaining rails were pulled up, and the rail-bed was covered with gravel, creating the McCarthy Rd and making McCarthy and Kennicott accessible to vehicles—at least as far as the Kennicott River. In the 1980s, residents, with an assist from the state, built a hand-pulled tram over the river. Today's footbridge was built in 1997, allowing easier access to McCarthy and Kennicott.
.jpeg)
Hand-pulled tram across Kennicott River.
The tour with St Elias Alpine Guides was amazing. First of all, the tour guide was excellent—well-informed, congenial, open to any and all questions. Second, he was talented! The puddles in the dirt road from recent rains were hard to miss walking forward, yet our tour guide navigated all of them while walking backward and talking to us simultaneously!
.jpeg)
Entering Kennicott. Kennicott Glacier Lodge, a former apartment building, is on the right.
.jpeg)
14-story concentrator mill.
Since the tour of the 14-story concentrator mill begins at the top, we first had to take the rather steep path to the right of the building up to the top of the hill. Before we entered the mill, our guide presented each of us with a hard hat.
Our St Elias Alpine tour guide inside the Kennicott concentrator mill.
As we made our way down through the mill via a series of stairs and ladders, our guide assured us that despite appearances, as long as we stayed on the designated route it was safe.
.jpeg)
A fellow tourist descends ladders in the mill.
Many of the machines were explained to us, yet it soon began to blur.
.jpeg)
It's hard to imagine working here for long periods of time.
Doug discovered a mystery series on this trip by Alaska native Dana Stabenow. It stars PI Kate Shugak and takes place in a huge fictional park loosely based on Wrangell-St Elias.
In Less than a Treason, book 21 in the series, Kate helps us out with how the concentrator mill worked:
In Less than a Treason, book 21 in the series, Kate helps us out with how the concentrator mill worked:
.jpeg)
Gigantic belts and shovels...
.jpeg)
...and shaker tables with graduated grates where the water mixed with the mined ore and shook out the good stuff in smaller and smaller sizes....
...rails with metal carts...carried the day's production to the train, which would take it to Cordova and the bulk carriers waiting there.
.jpeg)
Lunch on Kennicott Glacier Lodge balcony.
We left McCarthy after 5 days. Clouds were pushing out the perfect weather—and maybe it really was time to move on. We drove back out the McCarthy Rd through the Cut blasted in the rock for the CR&NW at Chitina. We followed the asphalt ribbon back to Kenny Lake for gas. The owners of the mercantile had been so kind to us on the way in that we decided to camp for the night and do laundry.
Great info on Kennicott. I absolutely loved my time there, a few years ago. Stayed at the Kennicott Lodge! There is a book titled "Kennicott Kids," telling the story of kids who grew up in the town, contemporaries of our parents. Heard a lovely classical guitar concert in the restored recreation hall. Fabulous place.
ReplyDeleteSounds wonderful! We loved our time in the area.
ReplyDelete