FOURTH DAY IN FAIRBANKS (DOWNTOWN FAIRBANKS' UNIQUE SITES; GOLD DREDGE NO. 8 TOUR & PANNING FOR GOLD) - Wednesday, July 19, 2023

It was a beautiful morning in Fairbanks with a few clouds and lots of sunshine. Temperatures started out at 63 degrees and would reach 76 degrees today. 

We decided to drive around downtown Fairbanks and see some of the sites.

At the start of our walk around downtown Fairbanks, we learned more about the historic Gould Cabin, built around 1910, that we had seen on Monday. It one of the few surviving rough-hewn mining camp cabins in the area -- a classic rectangular cabin featuring a low-pitched gable roof with a sheltering extended eave facing the street. The narrow door and square windows set in thick walls help to retain heat and structural stability. It was constructed of unpeeled, rounded logs on log sills with rough cut round notches at the corners. Inside the cabin, the family used flat sawn lumber over the logs to further insulate against the cold. Mary Ellen Gould covered the planks with lovely Victorian period wallpapers.

Next we knew we had to check out the World's Farthest North Antler Arch on our walk. Also billed as "The Gateway to Downtown Fairbanks," the arch is located a short four-minute walk between the Morris Thompson Center and the Golden Heart Park, along the Chena River.

The arch is made of more than 100 moose and caribou antlers that have been collected from all over Interior Alaska. Ten antlers came from the village of Huslia, while 15 antlers were from Fort Yukon. Additional antlers are from Fairbanks, North Pole, Dot Lake, the Minto Flats, Tok, Koyukuk, Delta, Northway and the Tanana Flats.

The total cost of the arch is approximately $25,000 - with the bulk of the cost being the construction of the two concrete columns which form the base and the steel beam that holds the antlers. Local artist and cabin builder Sandy Jamieson oversaw the installation of the antlers. The arch was completed in 2010. 

Above and below are pictures of the bridge over Chena River in downtown Fairbanks.

Our next stop was at the Lend-Lease Monument that highlights the significance of the role Alaska played in the Lend-Lease program, which loaned thousands of American-made planes to what is now Russia for use at the battlefront during World War II.

In the early days of World War II, Allied Nations found themselves short on the materials and supplies that were needed to keep fighting. This need resulted in the creation of the Lend-Lease policy, which saw the United States end their neutrality to support allied efforts. To help the Soviet Union on the eastern front, nearly 8,000 aircraft and numerous other supplies went up from the Lower 48 and eventually into the war.

The Lend-Lease Monument commemorates the flights of these American planes from the continental United States along the Alaska-Siberia Airway (illustrated on the bronze panel show below).

Much of the Alaska-Siberia Airway route lay over remote and roadless wilderness, which forced pilots to make their way in stages from the safety of one quickly built fort to the next. Many pilots, including ones from the Women's Airline Service Pilots (WASPS), flew airplanes up to Fairbanks to be part of this effort. The Heroism on the part of American and Soviet pilots to participate in the endeavor is celebrated in the two figures that represent pilots from both nations.

Designed and created by Alaskan R.T. Wallen, the monument has an inscription and illustrations that detail this history along with markers that further define the pilots and people that enabled it.

"Women in Wartime" and "Home Front to Front Lines" markers tell a complete story around the many different people and pilots that supported the wartime effort. 

As we continued our walk through the Golden Heart Plaza, we came to a clock tower that was donated by the Fairbanks Rotary Club in 1990 (commemorating the organization's first fifty years of service to Fairbanks and the Interior). 

Below is a "Stepstone in Time," which is a time capsule in Fairbanks that will be opened in 2059.

Right smack on the south banks of the Chena River is the Golden Hart Plaza. It was completed in 1986 and is located where the center of the gold rush activity occurred. The decorative-concrete plaza features a ramp that leads directly down to the Chena River, the literal and figurative heart of Fairbanks. 

The plaza boasts more than 70 bronze plaques that act as a permanent register of names of Interior Alaska families, organizations, and institutions, along with historical vignettes.

The plaza's central feature is a fountain statue, "Unknown First Family" by Malcom Alexander. Standing 18 feet high with water cascading over it into the surrounding pool, the statue has been dedicated to all the Alaska families of the past, present, and future.

Many of the bronze plaques were straightforward history, others honored various organizations or groups of people, while other were simply corporate propaganda.

We also saw the Chena River Flood sign with the "high water mark" for where the water had been on August 15, 1967. 

According to the storyboard below, the flood Fairbanks experienced in 1967 was the greatest flood in its history -- a real whooper as the Chena River seemingly swallowed the city whole! Over 12,000 people were evacuated, seven lives were lost, and damage to the city totaled over $80 million in 1967. 

Although the city had a history of floods, few people were prepared for such an extreme event. The community began working on long-term solutions such as flood plain zoning, flood-proofing structures, filling land prior to construction, and building the Chena River Lakes Flood Control infrastructure.

Views of the Chena River.

A plaque above marks Fairbank's spot of origin that was put up for the centennial of the Alaska purchase. It's the site of where Fairbank's founder E.T. Barnette set up a riverside trading post in 1901, which prospered as gold seekers swarmed to the area.

The concrete and steel bridge above spans the Chena River and connects the north and south banks of downtown Fairbanks. All 50 states are represented by their state flag on this bridge that was built in 1917. 

The flags were raised in 1984 to commemorate Alaska's 25th year of statehood.

Above, the well-constructed log cabin houses the Alaskan headquarters of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. It was constructed in 1958-1959 and has been nicknamed the "All Alaska Cabin" because it was built entirely of Alaskan products.

The cabin measures 75 feet by 35 feet and the logs are native spruce that were cut at Rosie Creek, which is approximately 30 miles southwest of Fairbanks. The roof is sod. Early pioneers used sod roofs to provide insulation during the cold winters and to grow gardens during the summer -- far from the reach of animals. 

The above story board tells how the sled dogs were chosen for their endurance, strength, speed, tough feet, good attitude and good appetites, and mostly their desire to pull in harness and their abilities to run well within a team.

We also got to see some of the interesting buildings in downtown Fairbanks (see above and below).

The welcome sign below is located in the Golden Heart Plaza in downtown Fairbanks. 

Below is the International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark plaque to the alaska Highway completed in 1942.

Above and below is the map showing sites in downtown Fairbanks.

The bridge below is the Veteran's Memorial Bridge in downtown Fairbanks that opened in November 2012.

Above Mel is walking across the Chena River on the Cushman Street Bridge. Also see the Cushman Street Bridge below.

Above is the Immaculate Conception Church, which is a historic church located on Cushman Street. It was built in 1904 and it was the first Roman Catholic Church erected in Alaska's Interior.

Our Lady's Statue that stands over the front door of the church welcomes all to a quiet reflection with her son, Jesus Christ, as she miles out at his people enjoying the beauty of Golden Heart Plaza.

Above are the beautiful nasturtiums and flowers around the church, while below Mel walks by another area with statues of Mary.

Below is Polaris -- which is really an arresting collection of crossing steel spires. Polaris combines the ideas of ice, quartz, and the Aurora Borealis. Its longest spire points directly at the North Star. 

The many story boards located at the Polaris statue shared various tidbits about Fairbanks that we thought were very interesting.

Below are a few more interesting building we came across in downtown Fairbanks.

At the site of the Walter Harper statue, there were several interesting story boards about the ascent of Denali in 1913. 

On July 19, 2022, the Walter Harper Project unveiled the 13-foot bronze statue of Walter Harper, including his dog, Snowball. At the age of 20, Harper's Athabascan subsistence skills and courage contributed to the success of the 1913 pioneer ascent of Denali. On summit day, Harper took the lead and became the first person to stand atop North America's tallest mountain, Denali. 

Below is the statue of Snowball, who represents the role sled dogs played in the first summit of Denali in 1913.

Below is another look at the clock tower across the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks.

Mel crosses the pedestrian bridge in Golden Heart Plaza.

As we leave the Golden Heart Plaza and downtown Fairbanks, we head toward Fox, Alaska. Fox with a population of 385, was named for Fox Creek and was the site of a mining camp that was founded in 1905.

Soon we are at the turnoff for Gold Dredge No. 8, where we are taking a tour this afternoon. We got the 2-for-1 discount by using a coupon from our Alaska TourSaver book -- so it cost us $54.95 for both of us.

Gold Dredge No. 8 is a ladder dredge operated by the Fairbanks Exploration Company from 1928 to 1959. Starting in the 1920s, water was brought into the area through the 90-mile Davidson Ditch for gold mining. The Gold Dredge No. 8 cut a 4.5 mile track and produced 7.5 million ounces of gold. The dredge was named a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1986.

With our Gold Dredge 8 boarding passes in hand, we went to look at the Alyeska Pipeline that we could actually walk underneath before we would board the train to go to Gold Dredge 8.

Above is a map of the 800-mile pipeline from the Arctic Sea south to Valdez, Alaska using twelve pumping stations. 

Below, Mel looks at the "pig" scrubbing device.

Construction of the Alyeska Pipeline began in April 1974 and then began transporting crude oil in July 1977. The pipeline had to be constructed on permafrost and withstand a magnitude 8.5 earthquake. Alaska crude oil contains a small percentage of wax that ends up lining the interior of the pipe. A scrubbing device called a "pig" is inserted at the beginning of the pipe and is pushed along the length of the pipe to scour the inside of the pipe.

Below Mel pretends to hold up the Alyeska Pipeline.

Our guide did a great job of explaining the building of the pipeline, the challenges faced during construction and what it takes to keep oil flowing from the North Slope to the Alaska port of Valdez by using the story boards at this location.

After we had learned all about the Alyeska Pipeline, Alaska's "black gold," we then boarded a replica of the Tanana Valley Railroad. We heard the whistle and the hiss of steam as we headed off on a 35-minute ride through the boreal forest to Alaska's Interior gold fields.

While riding in an open-air train car, our guide explained the gold mining process both on a small, medium, and large scale. Panning for gold is considered the small scale, while Gold Dredge No. 8 is a large-scale gold mining on steroids.

Above Mel reads the Dredge 8 Nugget News Newspaper, while below Shirley and Mel enjoy their ride on the replica Tanana Railroad.

Our guide stopped the train every so often and jumped off to explain how gold mining used to be done.

Above are some old pipes used in the gold mining process, while below are dredge tailings -- which are the natural byproduct of raw materials mining. As the rocks and minerals are crushed and washed, the effluent water carries the dust particles to settling ponds where the material is collected and eventually removed.

Below, our guide explained how they hook up the water to flush the piles for the suction dredge, and then they run it through a sluice box.

Above Mel is listening to our guide as he describes how the dredge works.

Above is an original black & white photo of Gold Dredge No. 8 when it was still in service.

As we pull up to the dredge, our tour guide again hopped off the train and began to tell us about the dredge. This area was mine from 1927 - 1942, and the gold dredge was a mechanical wonder. It walked across the gold fields, scooping up pay dirt and mechanically panning it. The conveyor belt, with the gargantuan metal scoops, tilled up the earth. 

Gold Dredge No. 8 was definitely a beast on steroids. This monster would scoop up earth around the clock and reduce it to gold-laden concentrate. The concentrate would be further worked until just the gold remained. The bucket line scooped up six cubic yards of earth per bucket.

This enormous dredge consumed massive amounts of water and electricity. It was very efficient machine and could operate with just a six-man crew. 

The above story board give you the "ins-and-outs" of how the Gold Dredge 8 works.

Overcoming the need to supply the dredge with water and electricity was only the beginning of issues for Gold Dredge 8. In 1942, the War Productions Board enacted order L-208, which effectively forced the closure of all gold mines in the United States for the duration of World War II. After the war was over, very few mines re-opened. By the time the war ended, the miners that once ran the gold mines were in other professions and their wage levels had increased too high for gold mining to support. But Gold Dredge 8 was one of the few mines that did re-open and ran successfully until it was shut down for economic reasons in 1959. In 1984, the dredge was opened for tours. The Binkley family, who have run a successful sternwheel attraction for over 60 years, added the gold mine tours in 1994.

Above and below staff at Gold Dredge 8 provided a demonstration on the proper way to pan for gold. 

And shortly after the gold panning demonstration, we were escorted off the train. 

After disembarking from the train, we were each given a poke sack filled with "pay dirt" concentrate. And now it was our turn to pan for gold -- as they guaranteed we would find some gold in our poke sack. (After which, we can then have our gold weighed in the gift shop and find out the market value of our haul).

We could even buy an additional poke sack to take home as shown above.

It was now hands-on time. With our poke sack filled with "pay dirt", we headed over to the troughs and took a seat. The first thing we did was pour our concentrate into the gold pan. Then by using water and effective panning techniques, we were able to separate the sand and rocks from the gold.

Below Mel is panning for gold by swirling the water around in the pan.

Below Shirley is panning for gold by picking out some of the larger rocks from her concentrate.

When Mel and Shirley finished gold panning today (see above what combined gold specks they found), they were then weighed on the scale inside at the gift shop, and then put in black canister to take home as a souvenir. Our combined gold weighed in at 4.8 grains and was worth a little over $18.

Above Mel is shown holding what a brick of gold would look like with our little black canister of gold specks on top. Below in the safe with cancelled checks (paystubs from employees of the Fairbank Exploration Company).

Below is the National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark marker for Gold Dredge 8. The marker is attached to one of the steel buckets displayed adjacent to the gold dredge, located just to the right of the gang-way to board the dredge. 

The inscriptions reads: 

"Dredges were brought in to mine gold-bearing deposits in the Fairbanks mining district after 1920. This bucket-line or ladder dredge has 68 buckets, each with a capacity of 6 cubit feet. The bucket line was driven by a 150 horsepower motor that enabled excavation to depths of 28 feet. The gold-bearing gravel was sorted and washed on the dredge.

Dredging became possible in the 1920s after the United States Melting, Refining and Mining Company (USSR&M) brought water to the area via the 90-mile Davidson Ditch. The dredge was built by Bethlehem Steel's Shipbuilding Division in Pennsylvania and assembled in the Fox area in 1928. It operated each year until 1959.

Gold Dredge 8 operated in the Goldstream Valley of Fairbanks from 1928 to 1959 and extracted millions of ounces of gold from the frozen Alaskan ground. Today, Gold Dredge 8 is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and the site is a U.S. Historic District. The dredge serves a monument to the hard working miners who built Fairbanks.

After we finished panning for gold, we were provided complimentary cookies and hot chocolate or coffee. Afterwards, we could go inside the gold dredge, so we were up for that. The following pictures show the inside of the dredge.

There were several levels inside the dredge. Mel decided to climb up and explore so the next few pictures are some he took.

Gold dredges combine four basic functions of mining into a single, mechanized production plant. Those four functions are digging, sorting, gold-saving, and the disposal of tailings.

The next few pictures are some I took of the dredge before I went inside the gift shop and museum while Mel was inside the dredge.

The Living Mining Museum was packed with history and artifacts from the early 1900s. There were also story boards (see below) about the entire gold mining process from cleaning the land, to thawing the frozen ground to the final recovery of the gold. There were also story boards about the historical development of the dredges.

And story boards about the placer gold mining techniques (see below). 

And a story board about the Fairbanks Gold Rush with E.T. Barnette.

And a story board about the Davidson Ditch and the F.E. Power Plant.

And finally a story board on how they clean up the dredges making sure they don't lose any gold that may have been trapped in the mats or elsewhere.

Below is a paystub from a 22 year old employee, Genevieve Parker of the Fairbanks Exploration Company. Quite a good sum considering it was just a few months after the stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression. 

Also inside the gift shop, we got to see the 19 ounce nugget of gold -- the 25th largest nugget ever found in Alaskan Gold Fields. It was discovered at the Silverado Gold Mine in Interior Alaska. It is valued at $75,000. (See below.)

While I was browsing in the gift shop, I found some beautiful paper quilled cards with flowers and animals (see below). Paper quilling, also called paper filigree, is a papercraft that has been popular since the 15th century.

(Above is design creating the fireweed flower.)

(Above is a design with a couple of foxes.)

(Above is a design with a couple of sled dogs.)

(Above is a design with a bear and fish.)

(Above is a design with a raven.)

(Above is a design with a moose.)

We're now back on the Tanana train headed back.

Our Gold Dredge 8 tour was fantastic. We would highly recommend it. 

Above is the Howling Dog Saloon, often just called, "The Dog," is a live music venue, saloon and dance hall in Fox.  "The dog is awake and ready to howl," is a code phrase that any live music fan in Interior Alaska should know.

Since the Howling Dog Saloon wasn't open, we decided to go over to the Silver Gulch Brewery & Bottling Company. It is America's most northern brewery and has been in operation since February 1998 in the small mining community of Fox. Silver Gulch Brewing grew from brewmaster Glenn Brady's home-brewing efforts in 5-gallon batches to its current capacity of 24-barrell (750 gallon) batches. 

We had appetizers there -- I had the pub menu potato wedges with parmesan cheese and ranch dressing, while Mel had the Reuben rolls. Mel also had a few craft beers. After we done eating our appetizers, we headed home and arrived around 6 p.m. We made chicken stir fry and rice for dinner.

What a great day we had -- and as we place our heads on our pillows, pretty sure we will dream of finding more gold! 

Shirley & Mel