Monday, September 18, 2006
Gold! A magic word that time cannot tarnish; a soft metal with the strength to forge history. Gold was the magnet that drew thousands of adventurers to the last frontier.
Robert Lee Hatcher discovered and staked the first lode gold claim in the Willow Creek Valley in September 1906, and others soon followed. But lode mining was expensive for an individual operator; it required elaborate tunnels and heavy equipment, so companies merged to pool resources and reduce expenses.
What is now called Independence Mine was once two mines: The Alaska Free Gold (Martin) Mine on Skyscraper Mountain, and Independence Mine on Granite Mountain. In 1938 the two were brought together under one company, the Alaska-Pacific Consolidated Mining Company (APC). With a block of 83 mining claims, APC became the largest producer in the Willow Creek Mining District. The claims covered more than 1,350 acres and included 27 structures. In its peak year, 1941, APC employed 204 men, blasted nearly a dozen miles of tunnels, and produced 34,416 ounces of gold worth $1,204,560. Today 34,416 ounces of gold would be worth $17,208,000. Twenty-two families lived in nearby Boomtown, with eight children attending Territorial School in the new bunkhouse.
By 1942, the United States had entered World War II, and the War Production Board designated gold mining as non-essential to the war effort. Gold mining throughout the United States came to a halt, but Independence Mine continued to operate because of the presence of scheelite. Scheelite occurs in quartz veins along with gold, and is a source of tungsten, a strategic metal. But because Independence Mine's scheelite production was low, the exemption was short-lived, and in 1943 Independence Mine was ordered to close.
The wartime ban was lifted in 1946, but gold mining was slow to recover. After the war, gold could be sold only to the U.S. government at a fixed rate of $35 per ounce. Postwar inflation raged, and gold mining became an unprofitable venture. Finally, in January of 1951, after mining nearly 6 million dollars' worth of gold, Independence Mine was closed by APC, and a chapter of Alaska's gold mining history came to an end.
In 1974, Independence Mine was entered into the National Register of Historic Places, a list of cultural resources significant to American history. In the late 1970's, 271 acres of land were donated to the Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation for establishment of Independence Mine State Historical Park. On January 16, 1980, title to the acreage was transferred to the State of Alaska.
For me, a visit to this mine was like a trip back in time with a history lesson attached. I really was not aware that so much gold had been taken from this part of Alaska as late as the early 1940s. The Alaska Department of Natural resources is in the process of renovating all the old buildings including the bunkhouses, warehouses, commissary and administrative offices, the "new" mess hall, an apartment building, assay office, the now collapsed mill, and the tunnel entrance. Interpretive signs along the walking tour help give you the feel of the camp as it was in 1941.
The manager’s house has already been totally restored and today serves as the visitor center. I discovered in a conversation with Park Specialist, Rob Czarnezki that the son of the manager of the mine had retired to the small town in Pennsylvania where I grew up. I now have a search on to see if Josie Stoll is still living there. Rob told me that Mr. Stoll had come back to Alaska to assist the Parks Department in putting together the excellent interpretive signs used along the route of the walking tour.
The drive up to the mine from Palmer offers many scenic vistas of the mountains in the distance and of the Little Susitna River as it tumbles from the mountains and runs along the roadside for many miles. There is an especially nice pull off area, right before you enter the park, with a little deck built out over the river where you can stop and enjoy the fresh air, the rushing water and the peaceful beauty of the place. I was there in late August in the rain and I was the only one there. It was magical.
The visitor center at the mine is open from June through August. Guided tours are offered twice daily on weekdays and thrice daily on weekends and holidays in summer. There is a day use parking fee and a separate tour fee. The visitor center is closed during most of the winter although some of the area is open for non-motorized winter sports.
Enjoy two unique Alaskan experiences in one: The drive up to Hatcher pass and the Independence Mine.
Some information for this article taken from: http://www.alaskaone.com/asp/inmi.htm and from http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/indmine.htm
