Part 5

Also in the 1940´s the Chelson´s and the Peterkin´s had a partnership venture on Disappointment Creek. Jeanne Bahls remembered their mine and the Willow Creek mine as being the only ones operating during her 1942 to 1952 childhood in Marshall. This partnership was probably the Wade-Hampton Mining Company

As in Lars´ earlier years-another World War loomed. For the Willow Creek Mining Company from 1941 to 1945 the war effort necessarily reduced operations. Lars however must have had a permit to work through World War II. Oil and fuel necessary for running all equipment was difficult to obtain in the quantities needed. Elise took over the job of cooking for the camp and ordering supplies for the season. Supplies were delayed, travel was curtailed and most of the manpower was off to war. In February of 1943 Lars was in Marfa, Texas pinning Pilot wings on his son Leif. Lars had flown 750 miles from Marshall to Seward, took a six-day steamship trip of 1,800 miles to Seattle then a train ride to Marfa, Texas. Leif would pilot B-17s, also known as the flying fortress, in Europe. Lars and Elise continued their operations but at a much slower pace. The Report of Commissioner of Mines for the Territory of Alaska for 1945 and 1946 listed for 1945 the Willow Creek Mining Company as a dragline operation. It indicated there was one shovel in operation working the area and there was mention of three prospectors. George Pilcher and Bill Allman were definitely two of the three.

After the war Leif returned and established a family in Fairbanks. Meredith Toy and Leif were married in 1942. When Leif returned to Alaska in 1946 he and Meredith had two girls, Dianne and Carol. Leif had bought a house in the Garden Island area of Fairbanks. Meredith and the children stayed in Fairbanks in 1946 where a third child, Larry, was born and Leif mined on Willow Creek. The mining was done with the dragline, bulldozer and the washing plant. In 1946 besides the Ostnes Willow Creek mining operation with 12 workers, the Wade-Hampton Mining Company continued on Disappointment Creek with 5 workers using a bulldozer and hydraulic operation. Over on Kako Creek near Russian Mission the Yukon Mining Company had a dragline, bulldozer and washing plant operation with 8 workers. Also, incredibly George Pilcher was drilling on Elephant Creek at an approximate age of 82 and Jim Douglas, also by himself, continued to shovel in on Upper Willow Creek.

The placer miners were recovering from the war induced problems faster than the lode miners were because of the equipment costs. In the following years though the increasing costs of mining and the fixed price of gold caused problems for the whole mining industry in Alaska. The Territory now had high paying defense construction projects that drained the work force away from the mining industry. The wages the mining operators were able to pay could not compete with government jobs.

In 1948 and 1949 Leif, Meredith and the three children all were at the mine. They all stayed in the little one room cabin across from Lars and Elise´s house. They flew into Marshall and were met by Charlie Fitka and Don Hunter Sr. with their dog teams. The children, Meredith and some supplies were bundled into Charlie´s huge freight sled with five dogs. Don and Leif took supplies in the other sled. On their ride to the mine the sled with Meredith and the children tipped over going up an embankment. Charlie had tied everyone in so tightly that when Charlie and Leif righted he sled no one had moved an inch. No one was hurt. Meredith remembered the trip and Charlie fondly with a smile. Because of start of school, Meredith and the children returned to Fairbanks in August. They traveled on the “Nenana” piloted by Capt. Adams. Meredith remembered giving the girls little willow sticks with strings hung from them. The girls would sit on the second level of the sternwheeler fishing for hours with their string blowing in the wind at about the level of main deck. This was before the annual clean up was completed so Leif would return later in October or November.

Leif Ostnes stopped working for Willow Creek mine in 1950. Now with a fourth child, Jeanne, he too needed a higher paying job. He continued mining though. In 1950 he was at Movelock Creek mining for Earl Wyman, Max Fenton and Ed Ferrel. In 1951 Leif worked for the Strandberg Mine and the Miscovich Mine in his birthplace, Discovery on Otter Creek near Iditarod.

In 1951 and 1952 Leif and son Larry returned to work with the Willow Creek Mining Company. Both years the Wade-Hampton Mining Company and Willow Creek Mining Company operated. They were scaled back as was the Yukon Mining Company operation on Kako Creek. Lars now was listed in Report of the Commissioner of Mines as a bulldozer and hydraulic operation with 4 workers. The Wade-Hampton Mining Company was designated the same with 3 workers. The Yukon Mining Company operation on Kako Creek was listed as a dragline operation with 5 workers. Jim Douglas was still on Upper Willow Creek with his shovel in operation.

In May of 1952 Leif flew Lars, Elise, his son Larry and himself into Marshall for the summer. The trip was made in an all metal 1938 built Cunningham Hall biplane. This particular biplane with tail #N 444 was one of only 5 or 6 of that model made. This cavernous plane could hold six passengers or be situated for 156 cubic feet of cargo. In one flight he not only brought in the work crew for the season but also included most of the supplies for the mine.
 
Lars Ostnes hired local residents at different times that included the following people. Some people may be left out as this is from personal memories. Bill Amouak, Bob Kamoka, Vernon Evan, Tom Oney, Johnny Oney, Don Hunter, Vernon Hunter and John Fitzhugh, Jr. They were hired during the summer and from what Vernon Hunter indicated the jobs gave work experience to the men. The pay would not support a family but the experience would allow the men to take jobs later in their work career that included working with heavy-duty equipment.

In 1953 the Willow Creek Mining Company had changed its name to Lars Ostnes and Company. He and Elise had 3 workers. Leif was one of them and son Larry was brought to the mine too. The Wade-Hampton Mining Company was still on Disappointment Creek with 3 workers but this would be their last year. Sadly only the Ostnes operation remained in 1954. Leif again was one of the 3 workers and son Larry was brought to the mine again. In both 1953 and 1954 Eric Johnson, former U. S. Marshall, and Paddy McDermott were prospecting on Edgar Creek. The Second Division that the Marshall district is located in saw a drop of 35 percent in the producing operations between 1953 and 1954. Active mines went from a total of 53 to 34.

The Territorial Commissioner of Mines felt there were four basic problems in the mining industry. First not enough prospectors are available to look for new mineral sites. Second he felt the knowledge about mineral resources of the Territory was woefully small. If more was known possibly more venture capital could be brought in to the market. Thirdly the ownership of the patented land was not well documented. If owners could not be found or were dead the land could not be developed until title was cleared. Finally he hoped an incentive package should be developed in the Federal tax structure. The overwhelming tribulations overshadowing all four problems were the high costs for labor, equipment, supplies and dependable transportation.

By December of 1954 Lars decided to sell his mining equipment. A Fairbanks Daily News article indicates that though he had “decided to sell his mining equipment he made it clear to his friends that he does not intend to retire.” The high cost of production and marginal ground was part of his decision to sell. Another article mentioned, “He is not retiring though-he has seen too many men retire then die. When he disposes of his mining equipment he is going prospecting again-and for gold…”

In the late 1950´s Jack and Ruth (Johnson)Emil were contacted by Jack Cudahay. Mr. Cudahay was a lawyer in Anchorage and a good friend of Marsh´s, Emil´s and Ostnes´. Since the Bon Rosa property on Willow Creek was leased from George Marsh it was still in his name. When George Marsh died the mining property was holding up the settlement of the Marsh estate. Mr. Cudahay suggested that Jack and Ruth buy the claim. The Emil´s did for a nominal fee and the Marsh settlement was completed. In communicating with Mr. Emil, who was in his mid-80´s in 1998, he thought at one point a couple of people from the lower 48 bought the equipment. These “outsiders” did not know much about mining but had been bitten by “gold fever.” There are some remembrances of a large amount of supplies being shipped in for transport to Willow Creek. However, no people ever showed up to work the ground.

Gene Tetinek had been in Marshall for a number of years. Eleanor Ostnes remembers him around their Willow Creek camp. He would ask Lars if he could work the tailing piles in search of gold. When Al Maurance passed on Gene had married Anna, Al´s widow. Jack Emil could not remember the exact time when Gene bought the property on Willow Creek but he did. A schoolteacher in Marshall, Frank Keim and local resident Alex Evan have pictures from Gene Tetinek. Frank´s pictures show Gene working the large washing plant on the Willow Creek claim. The Territory of Alaska, Department of Mines report to the Commissioner of Mines for the biennium ending December 31, 1956 recorded only one mine in the Marshall District. They wrote that Eugene Tetinek was the one fully active operator in the District.

When Gene Tetinek died he left the Bon Rosa claim to the Marshall School. His hopes were that the school could use the property as a place to take the children for outdoor activities. In February 1989 Jeanne Bahls Vaughn and her daughter, Dorothy Hunter and Fortuna Hunter returned to Marshall. At that time Jeanne was taken to the Willow Creek Mining Company property on a snowmachine. She indicated that the buildings were in disrepair. The ones left at that time were the Mess Hall and various outbuildings. She remembered the Model A truck that Lars would use for transportation and it was still there. She remembered the place as always a fun place to go and was sad to see it in ruins.

To Part 1

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