Map of the Chitina Local Branch of the
Copper River & Northwestern Railway
Copper River & Northwestern Railway
Legacy of the Chief, Chapter 19, Pt 1: "Birch Party at McCarthy-1924" |
click on picture for larger image: some of these images appear in the book for this chapter. |
as it approached Crystal Lake. The small trestle by the water tower required much slower speeds. The train passed the steam-powered sawmill operation at the lake, then picked up speed again until the Lakina River trestle came into view. This marked the extreme western end of the Long Lake area where the train would wind its way along the lake while beginning to climb into the hills. The pace would be much slower during the next fifteen miles as the train worked its way through a series of hills and trestles spanning steep creek gorges. Sourdough Peak finally came into view somewhere beyond Swift Creek. Then Porphyry Mountain emerged, signaling that McCarthy was only a brief distance ahead. Just beyond the gravel pit at Porphyry, the train began a long descent into the Kennicott River valley, emitting three loud whistle blasts to announce its impending arrival at Shushanna Junction. Porphyry Mountain and Sourdough Peak dominated the view as the train headed down the east slope of Fireweed Mountain. Then entire south face of Bonanza Ridge became visible. The most distinctive of the peaks along this ridge was Castle Rock, which marked the site of the rich Jumbo mine a thousand feet below the summit. Finally, the array of red buildings which were the mill complex could be seen below the rock glacier on the northwestern face of Porphyry. At the base of the valley the prominent glacier was so heavily laden with detritus that it appeared to be an enormous tailings pile. The rugged and rocky face of the Kennicott Glacier ended abruptly just short of the long railroad trestle north of the small settlement of McCarthy.
After a series of curves the slope leveled. The short consist approached the riverbed flood plain. It passed another active gravel pit with a siding which included a wye used for turning the maintenance trains around on the west bank of the river. Just ahead was the final approach to the quarter-mile long trestle which crossed the roaring Kennicott River. A 50,000-gallon water tower stood at the eastern end of the low-lying trestle. Just beyond an assortment of warehouses, small barracks, a mess hall, sheds and the locomotive repair and storage buildings left the impression of a busy railroad junction. The railroad built these to meet the demands of the Chisana gold rush of 1913 and to facilitate copper ore loads coming from the Motherlode and Green Butte Mines. Three years later the rush was over. In 1918 Kennecott acquired Mother Lode, ending the hauling of ore down the creek to McCarthy. Besides the small town of about 200, only the Green Butte and a handful of small gold mines in the Nizina gold district used the railroad junction by 1924.
hotels, McCarthy already had in its midst several railroad buildings which served no purpose. Amidst these was the depot, which was placed right at the junction where a spur line led into town, paralleling the main business street known as Shushanna Avenue. The depot appeared to be busy from time to time depending on the business activity at McCarthy. By 1924 the town was slowly dying, but few realized that McCarthy had only a limited lifespan. Kennecott had settled into a routine which brought far less business to McCarthy. The Great Depression would nearly kill the town in the early 1930’s. In 1938, the closing of the Kennecott mines and the shutting down of the railroad finally doomed the town. Birch and Jackling and the two aides watched this panorama develop as the private train winded its way down the hill at the base of Fireweed Mountain with great interest. The valley had a prehistoric and at the same time a ghostly appearance which was enhanced by the jagged hilltops of Bonanza Ridge and the sheer massiveness of Porphyry Peak, which is a treeless steeply rising basalt dome with deep vertical cuts throughout its western face. The proximity of the glacier which caused the town to appear very diminutive in comparison further enhanced the effect. Stephen Birch impulsively decided he wanted to take a break in McCarthy before continuing to Kennecott. He sent the word up to the engineer to pull up beyond the switch at the depot, then back through the switch to the end of the siding at the northern edge of the town.
The two Kennecott directors, along with two aides who had accompanied them, Dermot and Cecil, stepped off the back of the observation car onto Shushanna Avenue and headed across the small street toward a large building which housed the McCarthy Drug Store. Stephen picked the Mecca, an establishment which featured billiards tables and a card room as a likely place to relax. The Alaskan was a similar establishment anchoring the northern end of the two story drugstore, but it appeared to be closed. Cecil was the first to reach the door. He held it open as Birch, Jackling and finally Dermot entered. Birch thought he recognized the Indian shooting a game of billiards at the closest table. The well-dressed woman standing next to him wore makeup which strongly hinted that she was a part of the town’s night time entertainment. She appeared to be at a good ten years older than the Indian. His opponent was a slightly shorter Indian with the strong build of one who had worked hard all his life. The woman with him also appeared to be a female escort, but she was much shorter and almost plump. A large dog sat a few feet away intently watching the four people playing the game. Johnny turned to see the distinguished party of four enter the hall. Continue with "Birch Party at McCarthy" pt 2 |
No comments:
Post a Comment