Daily Sitka Sentinel

Chichagof Had Fill of Colorful Personalities

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This is the second in a series by Laurence Freeburn (1909-1987) about his memories of Sitka and the Chichagof Mine community in the decades prior to World War II, as related in a 1970 letter to his friend Jack Calvin.

Chichagof Memories
PART II

By Laurence Freeburn
    My early recollections of life around Chicagof are of Joe Bauers at Radioville, Sing Lee the Chinese that had a store and garden near camp (you can still see where his terraced gardens were), skating on the ice from the camp into Sister Lakes, John and Henry Sarvela and their families, hunting, fishing, the arrival of the new boat “Chichagof”, which replaced the “Elk”, riding “Dolly”, the mine horse, the mules Jim and Bill, who were too mean to ride and named after my uncle and dad, climbing Doolth Mountain for the hell of it and running back down to see how fast it could be done. An outstanding moment was when I was big enough to ride the skip in #1 shaft with my elbow hooked around the cable instead of being subjected to the bottom of the bucket, and in learning self-restraint when at three thousand feet below daylight a blast went off on the next level above me.

Chichagof is pictured around 1920. (Photo from  Alaska State Library  Winter & Pond Photo Collection)

    The “camp” eventually consisted of fourteen families and one hundred and twenty-five employees. The mine and mill operated three shifts, twenty-four hours a day. The only time they closed were the 4th of July and at Christmas. Living with the constant rumble of the mill, the silence was oppressive when it closed down. As in all camps, the 4th of July was a big day. Usually some of the miners let loose at an early hour with a few sticks of powder, bringing all sleepers to complete consciousness, if not shock. The day was spent in competition on the finish horse, foot races, handdrilling contest (usually won by an Indian) and a ball game. In the evening a fireworks display concluded a carefree day for all.
    Joe Bauers was a retired Army Signal Corps radioman who built a large log cabin at Radioville, an island on the west side of Ogden Passage. He carried all traffic for the mine on his spark transmitter. Had tame geese, ducks and deer. Raised goats, had a good garden and cleared land. He consumed barrels of beer and claimed it took eight bottles of beer and one and one-half gallons of gas to deliver a message to the mine in his single cylinder boat. Joe drilled a well and one time W. R. Rust, principal owner of the mine, visited him. Asked by Rust how the water was, Joe replied that he did not know but that it made damn good beer. Joe had a partner later on by the name of John Suni and it was always a great pleasure to visit them. The opening of Joe’s large cabin was an event that drew everyone from camp for a picnic. On arrival, the “Elk” was tied to the high-water dock. The goats, being curious, boarded the boat for an inspection. One bewhiskered billy got in the wheelhouse and was quite a sight as he jumped up and looked out an open window, looking very much like an old down-east bluenose skipper with his whiskers flying.
End Part 2
Next: A bounty on bluejays