Kennecott

Wednesday morning we walked across the road to the McCarthy Lodge for breakfast of raspberry pancakes, coffee, eggs and bacon. Then we caught a ride 5 miles up the canyon to Kennecott. There is no road across the river, but quite a few vehicles have made it to this side anyway. They cross the river on the ice in the winter or cross down-river on a ferry.

When we arrive at Kennecott we are met by one of John's former Katmai employees -- Stephens Harper. John knew that Stephens owned a place in McCarthy but we didn't know until last night that he was working here. Stephens gave us a personal tour of the town and buildings.

The story goes that in 1900 Jack Smith and Clarence Warner, a couple prospectors looked across to the green hillside and thought they would find some good grass for their horses. Instead they found green rock that turned out to be copper. So these two fellows found Stephen Bird, a mining engineer that eventually connected them with JP Morgan and the Guggenheim brothers and they formed the Kennecott Copper Corporation. There is still some discussion about the name. Robert Kennicott was an Alaskan explorer and the glacier and the town was named for him, but someone made a spelling error so the mines and the company are spelled with an e rather than an i. Nobody seems to be able to keep the i's & e's straight though.

The mines and the mill town must have been an amazing operation. The mill sits on the side of the Bonanza Ridge along side the Kennicott Glacier. The glacier is covered with surface moraine so it just looks gray and lumpy, but the cold breeze is enough to remind you that you are close to a huge chunk of ice. A rail line connected Kennecott with the port city of Cordova 196 miles away. In McCarthy the engine was switched around so that the train was actually backed the 5 miles up to Kennecott (there was no place to turn around).

From 1911 until 1938 when the mines closed, over $200 million in copper was hauled out of these mountains. About 300 people lived at the mill site and an additional 2-300 people lived further up the mountain at the mines themselves. Here at the mill was a state of the art hospital, a couple schools, bunkhouses, meal halls, recreation hall, post office, general store, tennis court and dairy.

When the last train left in 1938 it took the last few people and the town and mill closed. In 1998 the National Park Service bought most of the buildings and surrounding 3,000 acres to include in Wrangle-St. Elias National Park.

Laura in McCarthy

Kennecott power house (with 4 stacks) and glacier in the background

Kennecott school house along wagon road

Laura & Stephens at the base of the mill