This was our last day in Haines and we have loved being here. It is really beautiful. Today started out just like the previous days here in Haines with sunny skies and a temperature of 43 degrees which would reach 71 degrees by the end of the day. Mel wanted to harvest a few more Devil's Club buds, so we started out early at 8 a.m. with a drive around Mud Bay Road and then to River Road while he was looking for sights for more bud picking.
Mud Bay Road is an 8-mile one way paved road that includes views of Chilkat River Flats, Chilkat Inlet and the Chilkoot Inlet near Mud Bay. This road predominately follows the coast and offers numerous road-side pull-off locations for viewing.
On our way out Mud Bay Road we stopped at one of the oldest cannery sites in Southeast Alaska, Haines Packing Company. (We were hoping to be able to tour the site, but no such luck.)
We were still able to see it from a distance however.
We stopped several times along Mud Bay Road and River Road when we saw Devil's Club buds, but they seemed too big. So Mel then decided to drive back into Chilkat State Park to the Battery Point Trail where he had been very successful at finding them yesterday. He spent a few minutes harvesting buds while I waited in the truck.
Our next stop was just south of Haines city center at Fort Seward on Portage Cove in Haines -- as we planned to do a historic walking tour.
Named Fort William H. Seward, in honor of the secretary of state who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, this was established as the first permanent Army post in the territory.
The first troops arrived in 1904 from Camp Skagway. In 1922, the fort was renamed Chilkoot Barracks, after the mountain pass and the Indian tribe on the Chilkoot River. In 1946, Chilkoot Barracks was deactivated, then sold in 1947, to a group of enterprising U.S. veterans who had designs of creating a business cooperative on the site. Their original plans were never fully realized, but most stayed on, creating the city of Port Chilkoot by converting some of the buildings into homes and businesses.
In 1970, Port Chilkoot merged with Haines to become a single municipality, the City of Haines. Two years later, the post was designated a national historic site and became officially known, again, as Fort William H. Seward (although the underlying land is still owned by the Chilkoot Company). The Fort was to be a showcase reflecting the Army’s strength in Alaska. It covered over 4000 acres. The foundations of the buildings were cut from local granite by Italian stone masons that were brought in for that purpose. The officer’s houses had the latest in conveniences with indoor flush toilets and bathtubs. In 2002, the City of Haines was consolidated with the Borough of Haines to form Haines Borough.
The walking tour took us about 1-1/2 hours to complete and it was very interesting. Some of the sites we saw are shown below.
1. The Fort's signal office where cabled messages in Morse code were sent to and from the outside.
2. As we continued uphill, we passed the homes of "Soapsuds Alley" on our left. Here wives of noncommissioned officers took in the officers' laundry thus giving the neighborhood its nickname.
3. Across the street, the long white building was the Fort Commissary that included a lead-lined cooler.
4. Continuing up to the Parade Ground, we saw the stone foundation -- all that remains of a Company barracks building that burned in 1981. It was the twin of the adjacent building that is still standing.
This is the twin of the Company barracks building that burned in 1981. Notice how big it really is covering almost the entire block.
5. The large, brown barn-like structure below is the Chilkat Center for the Arts. Built in 1890 as a cannery and warehouse, it was moved to its present site in 1919 and was converted into the Fort's education and recreation hall. It was renovated in 1967, upgraded in 1980 and now serves as the community's 350 seat theater for plays and concerts.
Across the street at the Parade Grounds is the Tribal House (see below) and numerous totem poles.
6. The first large, white building below that faces the Parade Grounds is the Alaska Indian Arts. This originally was the Fort Hospital which was staffed with two doctors at all times. Those physicians were also allowed to accept private patients from the Haines community and many were able to live entirely on their fees, banking all of their paychecks for their military tour of duty.
7. Continuing toward the mountains, we passed a house with a totem pole on one side and a cannon on the other. Now a private residence, this was the Fort's headquarters building and post office.
Craftspeople of Alaska Indian Arts carved the totem pole, which represents the eagle, spirit figure and bear.
The cannon was cast in 1861 and is one of the world's first breech-loading naval guns, designed to use shell casings and to be fired from the rear.
8. As we reached the top, we paused to view the Parade Ground on our left. This six acre area was where troops drilled and where the morning muster and evening taps were sounded. An historical marker stands near the flag pole. There are several newer buildings on the Parade Ground including a replica of a Chilkat Tribal House, decorated with carvings made at Alaska Indian Arts.
9. Along the top of the hill is Officer's Row. Here the Fort's captains and lieutenants and their families lived. The first building on the left, one of the Fort's two single family homes, was the chief surgeon's residence. The duplexes contained over 4,000 square feet of living space, including a full stone basement and large attic. Most of the buildings are roofed with an asbestos and cement composite tile, made to resemble slate.
10. At the end of our walk at the top of the hill to the right was a duplex that served as a Bachelor Officers' Quarters. It's now part of the Hotel Halsingland.
11 & 12. The central hotel building was the Captain's Quarters. While the main building of the Halsingland Hotel was originally the Commanding Officer's quarters. It was here that Elinor Dusenbury wrote the music to the "Alaska Flag Song" as she prepared to leave Alaska.
13. Walking down the hill we saw the fire hall that housed a LaFrance soda pumper. In the winter, soldiers used a knotted rope to pull it by hand over the boardwalks.
14. The Guard House had four cells and a duty room. The guard's duties included raising and lowering the flag each day and firing the morning and evening salute guns. While in custody, prisoners were required to haul coal and freight from the dock uphill to the Fort.
15. Once again at the bottom of the Parade Ground as we turn right is the large barracks building that we saw previously on our tour. It housed half of the Fort's enlisted men.
16. The Post Exchange is the large building below. It was formerly a gymnasium and movie house, it also contained a library, barbershop, reading room, soda fountain, store and bowling alley. The soldiers kept a pet bear, dubbed "Three Per" -- short for three percent beer -- who would beg for ice cream cones if he could not get beer.
17. The red building below was the mule stable. In the summer, the mules pulled wagons and in the winter, they pulled sleds.
Next we went to the Haines State Fairgrounds, where we felt like we were walking onto a movie set -- and that's because we were. The movie set was Dalton City from the movie "White Fang." The gold-rush-era houses were constructed to replicate Dawson City for the movie "White Fang" that starred Ethan Hawke in 1991. The set had been moved here from its original location by some enterprising locals.
Leaving the movie set behind, we drove around Haines and found a few more totem poles.
Totem pole at the Haines High School.
Totem poles at the American Bald Eagle Foundation (above) and totem pole at the Chilkat Center for the Arts (below).
We then ate appetizers and a late lunch at Fogcutter's Bar in Haines (mini corn dogs, tater tots and a pizza). Later we had a pot roast with veggies for dinner. Yummy!
Leaving the totem poles behind and moving on in Alaska,
Shirley & Mel
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