Part 4

When Eleanor and Olive Ostnes would visit the friendly storekeeper, Louie Kier, he would always give them a box of Society chocolates. One summer day he announced to the girls he was going to make a special treat for them, strawberry ice cream! They would watch as he poured the ingredients into a large, hand crank freezer: 10 tins of canned milk, a dozen eggs, a bottle of vanilla, a sack of sugar and a large can of canned strawberries. Nothing was measured just poured in. He then began to hand crank the machine. He let them lick the paddles when all was finished before serving up a dish of the delicious and creamy ice cream.

Up river the next imposing structure was a two-story building that served the U. S. Commissioner, George Marsh, and his wife Ethel as a hotel. Ethel was almost blind so hired the local Yup'ik Eskimo girls to clean the rooms and do washing. In the story by the Marshall High School Journalism Class of 1984, Exenia Fitka remembered cleaning the hotel for one dollar a day. Others would bring two five-gallon buckets of water on a yoke for 25 cents a trip. A little further up river was Bill Amouak's house.

Going down river from the Betsch store H. Roy Hunter's house and Post Office loomed high on the horizon. The Hunter's had a small farm area near them with goats, chickens, rabbits and a horse. H. Roy Hunter became U. S. Commissioner in the 1940's. Between the Post Office and the Betsch store was a small old Catholic Church, a larger newer Catholic Church, the Alaska Territorial Guard bunk house, U. S. Marshall, Eric Johnson's house, and Columbia Bean´s house. Near the Betsch store there was a one-room schoolhouse, which had the teachers quarters attached. Also near the Betsch store was a jail and a house used between 1942 and 1952 by the family of U. S. Marshall, Albert Bahls. Up river from the Betsch store and a further back from the Yukon River stood the Ostnes house, the Marsh house, the hotel, Al and Anna Maranzie's store and finally Bill Amouak's house.

With the help of Charlie Fitka, Alex Evan, Vernon and Dorothy Hunter the following information was gathered. Today the Betsch store and the Albert Bahls house are standing, however they are relocated to the Mt. Village further down the Yukon River from Marshall. In Marshall today the Catholic Church, Ostnes house, Marsh house, the Marsh hotel and Bill Amouak's house still stand.

During the summer months, most of the Yup'ik Eskimo moved up and down river to their fish camps. The summer catch of fish would be caught in either a fish wheel or nets. The women cleaned the fish, cut them into strips, sides or fillets. These then would be hung on large lines and drying racks to dry over alder wood fires. It was important to preserve the salmon for it was and is still today a food not only for the people but for the main diet of the dogs as well. The salmon strips were a delicacy for all. They were about the width of a finger and perhaps two feet long. They could be chewed on for hours.

Dorothy Hunter explained that her family fish camp, Ingrihak, was about six miles up from Marshall, maybe three miles from the Marshall Landing. Oney and Flora Amouak fished with their family at Ingrihak every summer. Oney´s father and mother, Oliver and Olga Amouak, were married at Willow Creek. At some point the missionaries or schoolteachers decided there were too many Amouaks' in Marshall. Therefore, some of Oney and Flora's children began to be identified by their father´s first name used as their last name. Franklin Amouak remembered when he and his brother John Oney would deliver fish for the Willow Creek Mine. They would catch the fish then walk three miles to the Edgar Cabin and call in the message. On those occasions the telephone at Willow Creek camp would ring and the message would be “Fish at the Landing”. The fish would be delivered whole and then covered with grass so the sun would not dry out the fish before the camp could send someone to pick up the fish. Eleanor Ostnes remembered in the 1930's they would drive down the four miles in the Model A and there would be six or seven large fish weighing up to twenty five pounds. The fish would be neatly cleaned and stuffed with grass. For this the fishermen would ask about $1.00 a fish.

At the Willow Creek camp Eleanor remembered the hills surrounding the camp were covered with soft tundra. When the blueberries were ripe she and Olive would pick them lazily lying on the tundra not having to move very far. Wild iris grew along the streams and rose colored fireweed covered the hills. The cranberries ripened later in the fall. Elise would pay the Yup'ik Eskimo women to pick gallons of the tart berries. She would later ship them to Seattle in butter barrels.

When not doing chores Eleanor and Olive would roam the hills and follow the creeks. An “old hermit”, as they used to call Tony Jurack, lived back behind the camp at an abandoned quartz mine. This transplanted Spanish Basque had a small cabin with a lovely creek running in front, a cache nearby, a drying rack for skins, snowshoes and of course the equipment to mine for gold. Picks, shovels, gold pans and small sluice box were about all he needed. Tony had been in the Marshall area mining since the early 1920's. He had spent his whole live looking for a “strike” but then in his declining years all he wanted was peace and quiet. Tony was extremely fond of Lars and Lars in turn respected Tony and his chosen way of life. Lars would keep an eye on him. One time Lars brought Tony some supplies and in gratitude Tony insisted on Lars staying and eat dinner with him. Tony was cooking up a rabbit stew. It did smell good but when Tony made a stew he put everything in it. When he dished up a bowl, Lars saw two very large eyeballs floating. It was almost too much for Lars. Out of politeness though Lars made a weak attempt to eat a little.

Another old timer out in the area was Jim Douglas. He prospected a little on upper Willow Creek. He lived alone in a small cabin and cared for his team of huskies on Slope Creek, which is about half way to Willow Creek camp from Marshall Landing. Leif kept in shape for the track team he was a member of in Seattle. Every morning Leif would get up before breakfast and run down the road past Slope Creek and back to camp. One day old Jim came to Lars for advice on a very puzzling problem. He told Lars that about five in the morning all the dogs woke him up with their barking. He would go out and calm them down and then go back to bed. About fifteen minutes later the howling would start up again and he could not understand what was upsetting his dogs. He had checked for bear and other wild critters but found no evidence. Lars of course knew the source of the problem but never let on he knew. Leif however from the next morning on confined his running to the camp side of Slope Creek.

Bears were a common occurrence in and around the Marshall area. In fact the bears there were well known to jump in the river and swim after boats. Once when Eleanor and Olive were out in the hills when they detected the familiar odor of bear. Their numerous trips to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle had perfected their olfactory senses. They did not investigate but ran as fast as they could to report the bear at camp. Lars and Leif took their rifles and investigated but the bear had evidently had run as fast as the girls but in the other direction as there was no sight of it. Another time when Leif and the girls were out in the hills together they came upon a porcupine. The girls wanted the quills for handiwork so persuaded Leif to kill it. When they returned to camp with their trophy they faced angry disapproval and a tongue lashing from Lars. He thoroughly admonished them and concluded with “we only kill wildlife for meat and only when needed!”

While in the Willow Creek camp or out in the hills the women wore knee high laced up boots called jodhpurs with heavy wool socks. The ferocity of the mosquitoes and small gnats called no-see-ums would be checked in the evenings. The bites attested to the ability of these insects to penetrate the boots and socks. This lasted only for a short period of time during the summer so the assault was endured. Some times though mosquito netting was slipped over safari type hats with varying lengths. The men would tie the netting above their chest and the girls would tie the netting around their waists. All the bedding was covered with mosquito netting as well.

When a change of bedding occurred in camp, along with other clothing, the laundry was an all day chore for the girls. The sheets and towels were washed in a large copper boiler on top of the stove. For the work clothes the camp cook would make a strong lye-soap. Then the oily, greasy clothes were put into a large barrel with boiling water and the lye-soap. A large plunger was used to circulate the clothing in the water. The plunging was done for the wash as well as for the double rinsing. After the rinsing, the clothes and bedding would be wrung out by hand and hung on clotheslines to dry. To say the least it was a hard and trying chore.

To handle the wrinkles on the clothing they used a three-pound cast iron “flat-iron”. It was heated on the stove to the right temperature then used quickly and placed back on the stove for further heating. An ancient treadle-sewing machine or hand sewing with needle and thread took care of what little repair work was needed.

The houses were not equipped with plumbing or central heat. The ubiquitous outhouse handled all the sanitary needs. All of the houses and mess hall were heated with wood burning pot-bellied stoves. Kerosene lamps provided lighting except in the mess hall. There a generator would provide the modern convenience of electricity.

The mess hall was one of the favorite spots in camp. A root cellar underneath the mess hall kept potatoes, onions, butter barrels, hams and slabs of bacon at perfect temperatures. Fresh fruit and vegetables were unobtainable but the dried fruit and canned vegetables were always on hand. Canned and powdered milk were used exclusively. The Willow Creek camp was well known for its superior “grub”, this being an important consideration when one considers employment. Whether the shifts were three eight-hour shifts or two twelve-hour shifts, good food and plenty of it was available to the workers. Breakfast was at six a.m., lunch was at noon and dinner at six p.m. An ordinary breakfast would consist of hot and cold cereal, ham, bacon and eggs, sourdough pancakes, hot biscuits, canned fruit, toast and coffee. The cooks would always save some sourdough batter for the girls when they arrived late for breakfast. Lunches were full meals too, meat and potatoes, vegetables, fresh bread or biscuits with jam and honey, pies, cakes or canned fruit for desert. Raised donuts were another desert treat; the cooks would fill a big washtub with the donuts for all to eat. Dinner was similar with perhaps fish, ducks, geese or a large ham for a variety in meat. Pie was always there for everyone. Vernon Hunter worked at Willow Creek Mine in 1948 and again in 1953 as an oiler. His brother Don Sr. worked as a cat skinner in the late forties and early fifties. Vernon has a fond remembrance of the pies in the mess house and was one to ask for seconds later in the evening.

The annual goose hunt would be taken in the “Molly Lee”. Lars and his friends would travel up river in this boat after Lars purchased it around 1940 from the itinerant dentist Dr. LaRue. Previous to this purchase a small skiff was used for water transportation. The “Molly Lee” was luxurious compared to the skiff. The “Molly Lee” was also used to for mini-vacations. The family would take trips up to Russian Mission to visit Chris Betsch. The town also had a small Russian Orthodox Church dating from 1845 and other buildings dating from the Russian American Company's trading post. The general store would occasionally have a few fresh cabbages and carrots. The family would also travel down river to visit Jack and Ruth Emil who had a fish cannery in Alukanuk. Every fall Frank Amouak remembers Lars coming into Marshall with the “Molly Lee” to meet with the sternwheeler “Nenana”. Supplies and equipment would be shipped in and passengers would travel back up river to Nenana and beyond on the sternwheeler “Nenana”. Dorothy Hunter remembers when Lars Ostnes would come to town in the “Molly Lee” she and Jeanne Bahls and other children would hurry to see if they could “clean the boat up” as a chore. Lars would allow it and go off to his house up the hill. The children would later go to the house and Lars would get down on his knees and say ‘whose going to give me a hug first?´ They all would and get their just rewards in candy.

In the early 1940´s the Willow Creek Mining Co was now developing a 300 to 500 feet wide streak at Lower Willow Creek. It was reported to contain $3.00 a bedrock foot. That year a D-8 Caterpillar was delivered to Willow Creek as well as another large piece of equipment, a huge washing plant. This was shipped to the site in pieces and erected by Leif in order for it to work that season in September. This equipment, some call a dry land dredge, resembled a five-story dredge on tracks. The dragline, usually operated by Sam Gullick, would dump its bucket of gravels into a hopper at the top. There water from angled 1 ½ inch pipes would wash the material down to a huge revolving cylinder. This cylinder was surrounded with plates that were perforated. Water would wash the gravels as the cylinder revolved. The holes allowed the sand, gold and small gravel to pass through to the sluice boxes set below. The boxes were situated in a switch back manner down to the bottom and caught the gold bearing pay. This machine eliminated the need for long sluice boxes previously placed past the wing gates at the cut. A conveyor belt within the washing plant expedited the placement of tailings through the stacker.

A disadvantage of the machine was the size of the holes in the plates surrounding the revolving cylinder. Some of the larger nuggets could pass through to the tailings pile. Also as the work progressed toward the end of the creek the boulders were much larger. The washing plant could not take the bigger rock so towards the 1950's the mine was back to using the wing gates and nozzles to push gravels toward the long sluice boxes.

The shifts were now two twelve-hour shifts. Another added convenience for the workers was the construction of a shower house built behind the mess house. It was operated by a boiler, which delivered copious amounts of warm water. The water was also piped directly into the mess house. A large improvement to carrying water from the springs by means of a large wooden yoke over the shoulders with five-gallon cans that hung from each side. The plumbing was never in doors though. Outhouses only still because of the winter weather. A generator to the mess house continued to provide electricity there only. Other structures had kerosene lamps for light and wood stoves for heat.

On of their more successful years, a clean up produced 1,785 ounces. Close to 40 miners held that gold and many pictures were taken. The backs of all the pictures note that it was between $54,000.00 and $57,000.00 for the year.

Over in the Wilson Creek area mining had resumed with a Bucyrus-Erie 37B dragline on Disappointment Creek in 1938. A. V. Ericksen and Associates owned the Wilson Creek Mining Company. There was a Road Commission funded cat road serving Wilson Creek. By 1940 the Wilson Creek Mining Company leased and open cut mined on George Pilcher´s property on Elephant Creek. In addition to the dragline they had a RD 6 and a RD7 for moving the gravels. They also used 700 feet of 16-inch pipe to move water for the number 2 giant used for sluicing. They were running three shifts. They acquired a 6-inch drill for prospect work. They had plans of moving down Elephant Creek later in the summer of 1940 as the drilling revealed a paystreak about 150 feet wide.

Other solitary prospectors who had been in the area at varying times continued to look for gold. Individuals who were still prospecting and mining in 1940 were people like Andrew Edgar, Bill Allman and Cy St. Amand. Albert Malden made a trip to the Marshall area for the University of Alaska´s Department of Mines in the summer of 1940. He mentioned Edgar was up on Quartz Creek in the Kuyukutuk basin. He also mentioned there were a couple of Wilson Creek employees, Barney Olsen and Paddy McDermott who were prospecting by sinking a shaft. They were on Whiskey Creek, a tributary of West Fork of the Kuyukutuk River. They were finding some colors but no pay. Of a sample sent to the Colorado School of Mines the assay came back with 35 cents to the ton in gold with a trace of silver.

Bill Allman, a World War One veteran, unrelenting in his search for the elusive mineral had been in Alaska since 1924. Bill had been born about 1900 and grew up a childhood friend of Will Rogers in Claremore, Oklahoma. Bill had worked as a ranger, a mail carrier, a fisherman and of course a miner and prospector. He based his prospecting out of Marshall. Alex Evan mentioned he was considered by many of the children of Marshall as a grandpa. Bill had relations in North Carolina and would occasionally go out to the “lower 48” for a vacation. When leaving Marshall he would make visits to his friends like the Ostnes family in Fairbanks, the Marsh and Gularte family in Anchorage and the Bahl´s, Emil´s and Ostnes families in the Seattle area. During some of his spare time he would build miniature cabin dioramas that included sod roof and a brass gun shell for the chimney. A meat cache and other normal cabin outdoor fixtures would also be included. Usually after a visit one of these dioramas would be left for his friends.

To Part 5

This series of community histories was a partnership between YukonAlaska.com, the Yukon Anniversaries Commission, the City of Whitehorse and several local historians.