Last Chance Mining Museum in Juneau, Alaska
The Jualpa Mining Camp, also known as the Last Chance Basin Camp, is a former gold mining camp, just outside the city of Juneau, Alaska. Its main building is now operated as the Last Chance Mining Museum by the Gastineau Historical Society. The camp was located on the southern banks of Gold Creek, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Juneau, near what is now the end of Basin Road. The camp was the site of one of the largest gold finds in the Juneau mining district. It was established between 1910 and 1913 by the Alaska-Juneau Gold Mining Company and operated until 1944, producing more than $80 million worth of gold. The largest surviving structure of the camp is its air compressor building, which was 84 feet (26 m) long, and still houses the compressor used by the company. Also surviving are a variety of railroad-related resources, which the company used to bring or to its mill on the Gastineau channel, an electrical transformer house, powder magazine, and cable hoist.
1996: Driving Around Juneau, Alaska 2
A driving tour of Juneau, AK, probably early 1996. If you can help date it, such as by how complete the Mt. Roberts Tram building is, please comment. Filmed and narrated by Jay Crondahl.
Starts in Douglas, then goes into Downtown and down South Franklin St. as far as the Mt. Roberts Tram which is still under construction. Points out the old A.J. Mine. Then up to Starr Hill.
Juneau, AK Climb to Perseverance Trail, Lost Mine Museum
Bike ride from the State Capitol to Perseverance Trail trail head, Lost Mine museum. We ride past the Mt Roberts trail head were you can take the tram downtown. Clear 34 degrees riding up steep hills that tested my stamina. Most of the coarse was in low gear up hill riding my Coaster pedicab.
1930s Juneau and Wrangell scenes
Filmed in the early 1930s by glaciologist William O. Field, this clip contains images of a man repairing a boat motor, unidentified men aboard a fishing vessel with another unidentified man at the helm, AJ Mine and Juneau waterfront, Juneau streets and shops, cars on Juneau streets, and Juneau docks. Last few seconds contain a glimpse of Wrangell, Alaska. (Silent/B&W/35mm).
This sequence contains excerpts from AAF-21000 from the William O. Field Papers collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more information please contact the Alaska Film Archives.
Gold Mine Tour
Tour the original AJ Gold mine as described by Jerry Harmon.
Juneau gold mine tour part 1 of 3
Alaska Story Time with Aunt Phil, Alaska's First Serial Killer, Sept 3, 2018
In this episode of Alaska Story Time with Aunt Phil, which first aired on Anchorage CBS affiliate KTVA Daybreak Channel 11 on Sept. 3, 2018, Alaska's first-known serial killer is revealed.
Between 1912 and 1915, a number of single, unattached men mysteriously disappeared in Southeast Alaska. The few law enforcement officials in the territory were baffled, but a suspect finally emerged in the fall of 1915.
A Petersburg man named Edward Krause, who’d run for the Territorial Legislature as a Socialist Party candidate in 1912, represented himself as a U.S. Marshall to officials at the Treadwell Mine in Douglas in mid-September. Krause told the bosses that he had a court summons for mine worker James Christie.
Christie departed with the bogus lawman and was never seen again.
Managers of the mine investigated Christie’s disappearance, thinking it was related to problems and rivalries between the company and laborers. They thought Krause, a radical socialist, may have been a hired killer engaged by the violent wing of the labor union.
Then, when it was learned that Krause was identified as the last person to see a missing charter boat operator out of Juneau, a warrant for his arrest was issued on charges of impersonating a federal officer in the Christie case.
Krause escaped the clutches of the law in Ketchikan and jumped onboard a steamer heading for Seattle. But a savvy passenger, who had seen wanted posters plastered by the Treadwell Mining Company, recognized him as the man with a bounty on his head.
When the steamer docked in Puget Sound, police detectives were waiting. A search of Krause’s possessions turned up incriminating evidence including forged documents, bank accounts and real estate transactions, which tied him to not only the recent disappearances in Juneau, but to the disappearances of at least eight other men, too.
After Krause was returned to Alaska, his true identity surfaced. Krause was really Edward Slompke, who’d served with the U. S. Army at Wrangell in 1897 and deserted in 1902.
Authorities found that over the years Krause recovered the assets of the murdered men. They also learned that a “murder gang,” run by Krause at Petersburg, was involved in additional mysterious disappearances.
Krause’s trails started in the spring of 1917. Since none of his victims ever were found, jurors found him guilty of kidnapping, robbery and forgery among other charges. He was sentenced to die by hanging in Juneau.
Krause sawed through the bars of his cell and escaped from the Juneau Federal Jail two days before his slated execution. That launched the most widespread manhunt in the territory’s history.
Fishing fleets in every Southeast community mobilized to block his escape out of Alaska. A few days later, a homesteader collected the $1,000 reward by killing Krause after the fugitive stepped out of a stolen skiff onto the beach at Admiralty Island.
To this day, law enforcement believes the extent of Krause’s criminal activities, if ever known, would be one of the most startling in the annals of American crime history.
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Douglas Bridge grand opening [10/13/1935].
Title from film container. Originally issued on 16 mm. film. Shows opening ceremony of the bridge between Juneau and Douglas [10/13/1935]. Shows scenes of the Alaska-Juneau (AJ) Mine.
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Alaska Interlude, 1930s
A visit to Alaska in the early 1930s. To purchase a clean DVD or digital download of this film for personal home use or educational use contact us at questions@archivefarms.com. To license footage from this film for commercial use visit: travelfilmarchive.com
Mendenhall Glacier Historical look present to the past compilation.
This is for the people who like me have noticed the changing face of the glacier throughout the years. I lived in Juneau In the early 80's while I was a child. Nugget falls was barely visible from the visitors center when my Dad first took me there, newly coming into view over the top of the ice. I came back a few years ago was amazed at how much it has retreated in the last 20 years. This is a compilation of images gathered from the internet and boxes in my house. From what I have read from various sources is the Glacier started retreating around the 1700's after a 'little ice age and will continue into the foreseeable future, until it will completely disappear within several centuries. I am NOT making this video to validate any claims of man made global warming. This is just to look back and appreciate the rapid change of this magnificent natural landscape.
The Historic Taku Glacier Lodge
Taku Lodge was originally built by Dr. Harry C. DeVighne in 1923. He opened it up as one of Alaskas first Hunting and fishing Lodges available for overnight guests. The lodge was used as a base camp as they conducted their excursions all around the valleys and streams of the Taku River.
In the fall of 1930, Mrs. Erie L. Smith visited Taku Lodge while touring Southeast Alaska on her yacht, the Stella Maris. Mrs. Smith bought Twin Glacier Camp as a second home for both summer and winter use. Her son, Hack, stayed on at Taku Lodge year-round as a caretaker. In the summer Hack kept a crew of men busy constructing new buildings and maintaining the camp. Also helping out with year round caretaking was Mary Joyce. Mary was originally hired on as a private nurse for Ms. Smith and Hack, but quickly fell in love with the lodge and stayed on to help out with the year round maintinance and upkeep of Taku Lodge.
Mary and Hack had began raising sled dogs during their years at the lodge, putting them to work in the winter hauling firewood and using them for travel on the frozen Taku River. It did not take long for word to spread about these Taku River huskies. What started as a hobbie for Hack and Mary quickly became a business as they began to sell well trained sled dogs all around the state of Alaska and Western Canada.
In 1934, Hack set out on a hunting trip on the Stikine River. While in Wrangell, he suffered a heart attack and died. Mrs. Smith was very distraught at the loss of her son, and decided she did not want anything more to do with Taku Lodge. Mary had always expressed a passion for the Taku River, and Mrs. Smith did not have the heart to take that away from her. Mrs. Smith was happy to give Taku Lodge to Mary Joyce.
Mary Joyce was an adventurous girl. When she received an invitation to participate in the 1936 Fairbanks Ice Carnival, she decided to make the trip overland by dog sled. She set out from the lodge in December of 1935 with five dogs and a loaded sled to travel the1,000 miles to Fairbanks. Mary spent three months on the trail of which she was only actually able to travel fifty-two days. She averaged twenty-miles a day in spite of temperatures to fifty degrees below zero and only a few hours of daylight each day. The sled and harness she used on the trip are on display at the Taku Lodge.
After her journey Mary opened Taku Lodge and operated it successfully as a tourist resort, calling it Twin Glacier Lodge. She owned Taku Lodge until 1942 when she sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Royal O'Reilly. In Juneau, Mary opened two bars on South Franklin Street and lived above the Lucky Lady until her death in 1976.
The Taku Lodge officially became Taku Glacier Lodge in 1949. There have been several owners and many colorful stories since. In 1971, Taku Lodge was purchased by Ron and Kathy Mass of Juneau. After several hard working years of restoring the lodge the Maas's decided to share their love of the Taku Glacier Lodge with visitors of Southeast Alaska by offering the Wilderness Salmon Bake & Scenic Flight in 1979.
In 1993, the Maas family decided to retire and sold Taku Lodge to a Juneau couple, Ken and Michelle Ward. Ken was raised in Ketchikan, and moved to Juneau in 1967, where he later owned and operated an air taxi business, Juneau's Ward Air. Michelle was born in Seattle and raised at the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy, Alaska. She has worked for Alaska Airlines since 1973. Ken and Michelle were married in 1985, and they have five children who have grown up spending summers at the Taku Lodge.
Over the years, many people have called Taku Lodge home. Each summer a crew of nine employees occupy the small cabins surrounding Taku Lodge. Taku Glacier Lodge is their home away from home as they welcome guests each day of the summer season.
It is because of the wide variety of people involved with Taku Lodge, the many visitors, and the overall love for this magical place that the history of the Taku Lodge is still alive today.
Wings Airways is honored to offer our Taku Glacier Flight & Feast Tour and we hope you will join us on this once in a lifetime experience!
Feeding a Squirrel Peanuts Out Of My Hand In Alaska
Feeding this squirrel peanuts out of my hand at the AJ Mine in Juneau Alaska.