Sanders, W.A.
Primary Name: Sanders, W.A.
Filed as: Sanders, W.A.
Also known as: W.A. Sanders
Occupation / Association: Mining engineer
Associated places: Douglas, Alaska; Nova Scotia, Canada
Keywords: W.A. Sanders, Douglas Alaska mining engineer, Douglas cemetery land dispute, Lawson Creek Douglas Alaska, Douglas Alaska mining claims, Minnie Ross Holman, W.A. Thompson
Biography
W.A. Sanders was a mining engineer involved in mining development and land claims in Douglas, Alaska, at the end of the nineteenth century.
In 1899, Sanders, along with W.A. Thompson and Minnie Ross Holman, applied for a federal patent to mining claims covering more than fifty acres at the northwest end of the town of Douglas. The claims included thirteen lode claims, mill sites, and portions of the developed townsite, including streets and buildings. Residents of Douglas organized a committee to protest the patent.
Sanders agreed that if the committee did not oppose the patent application, he would deed back the town lots, street easements, and other areas in which the patent interfered with the existing townsite. This agreement was later put in writing.
The committee also asked Sanders to provide land for a cemetery. Sanders verbally agreed to give the people of Douglas “the dry knoll this side of Lawson Creek” if they would not object to his patent. He also promised to construct a road to the grounds but declined to place that promise in writing, stating that his word was sufficient.
Following this understanding, a cemetery committee consisting of P.H. Fox, M.J. O’Connor, Rev. Peplogle, and W.C. Boyd took possession of the knoll and marked a route from Third Street in Douglas to the site. Laborers cleared a trail that later became a gravel road. Planking and small bridges were constructed, and several acres were cleared and enclosed with wire fencing. The location corresponds to what later became the Douglas City Cemetery.
Although Sanders was known as a mining engineer, some Douglas residents argued that his claims were invalid because he was a resident of Nova Scotia, Canada. The United States Patent Office ultimately granted Sanders a patent to part of the mining claims in 1900.
While Sanders honored the written agreement to return town lots and buildings, he refused to fulfill the verbal agreement regarding the cemetery land and later denied making the promise. Residents of Douglas maintained that they had earned the right to the cemetery ground because they had not interfered with his patent application. They even offered to purchase the land at the government rate of five dollars per acre, but Sanders declined.
As late as 1903, Sanders reportedly posted no-trespassing notices threatening prosecution of anyone using the land for burial purposes. The notices soon disappeared, and Douglas residents claimed they had been in “legal and peaceable possession of the premises” for several years.
Sources
Survey and Inventory of Douglas Historic Cemeteries
Thane, Bart
Primary Name: Thane, Bartlett L.
Filed as: Thane, Bartlett L.
Also known as: Bartlett Lee Thane; Bart Thane
Occupation / Association: Mining engineer; mine developer; Alaska Gastineau Mining Company executive
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Sumdum, Alaska; Sheep Creek, Alaska; Salmon Creek, Alaska; Annex Creek, Alaska; New York City, New York; Berkeley, California
Keywords: Bartlett L Thane, Bart Thane, Alaska Gastineau Mining Company, Perseverance Mine, Salmon Creek Dam, Sheep Creek Adit, Juneau Gold Belt, University of California Berkeley engineers, early Alaska mining engineers
Biography
Bartlett “Bart” Thane was a mining engineer whose work in the Juneau Gold Belt helped create one of the largest and most technologically advanced gold mining complexes in the world during the early twentieth century.
Thane was born in 1879 and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1898. While attending Berkeley he was the star quarterback of the university’s football team. Many of his teammates studied mining engineering and would later assist Thane in his ambitious mining ventures in Alaska.
At just under twenty years of age, Thane came to Juneau to begin his mining career. He was hired by veteran mining man Herman Tripp to operate and maintain the shaft pumps at the Sumdum Chief Mine, located approximately sixty miles south of Juneau. Although initially skeptical of college-trained engineers, Tripp quickly developed respect for the young engineer, beginning a lifelong friendship. Within three years Thane had gained a controlling interest in the Sumdum Chief Mine.
By 1911 Thane had successfully raised investment capital and obtained operational control of six gold mines in the Juneau Gold Belt. A mountain in the region was later named for him.
Through a complicated series of events Thane gained control of the Perseverance Mine near Juneau. The company’s president, Colonel William Sutherland, had been accused by stock and bondholders of mismanagement and was facing legal action. Sutherland died suddenly of a heart attack, and competing claims by two wives further complicated the estate. The company appeared hopelessly tied up in litigation.
With financial backing from prominent mining financiers D. C. Jackling and W. P. Hammon, Thane raised eight million dollars in 1912 to take over and redevelop the Perseverance Mine. His project would eventually become the Alaska Gastineau Mining Company, which developed into the largest gold mining operation in the world at the time.
Thane’s plan for the mine had three major components: providing tidewater access through a two-mile tunnel, developing year-round hydroelectric power, and constructing a revolutionary mill capable of processing thousands of tons of ore each day.
The Sheep Creek Adit, begun in November 1912 and completed in February 1914, was 10,497 feet long and at the time was driven at the fastest rate of any tunnel excavation in the world. The tunnel provided access from the Perseverance Mine to tidewater through the Sheep Creek Valley.
With assistance from former Berkeley teammates, Thane also oversaw construction of the Salmon Creek Dam. Completed as the first thin-arch concrete dam ever built, the structure stood 172 feet high and 648 feet across at the crest. The design proved revolutionary, and more than one hundred similar dams were later constructed around the world using the same principles first demonstrated at Salmon Creek.
The massive mill constructed for the Alaska Gastineau operation was designed to process up to 6,000 tons of ore per day using new rotating mills developed in the large copper mines of Nevada and Arizona. Completed in 1915, the mill exceeded expectations and was soon processing approximately 10,000 tons of ore per day at costs lower than projected.
To meet the growing demand for power, Thane developed another hydroelectric project at Annex Creek on Taku Inlet. The site was optioned from Herman Tripp in April 1915, and power was being produced by December of that same year. The project marked the first time a lake had been tapped by tunneling beneath it and blasting through the lakebed to release water for hydroelectric generation.
When the blast opened the lake, water reached the turbines two miles away in just forty-two minutes. The Annex Creek and Salmon Creek hydroelectric plants continue to generate power today and remain among the lowest-cost sources of electricity in Alaska.
For a brief period before World War I, the Alaska Gastineau Perseverance operation was the largest gold mining complex in the world and produced more than 500,000 ounces of gold.
The loss of labor during World War I and rising costs following the war made the operation unprofitable. On June 3, 1921, the mine closed.
Thane later attempted to repurpose the facilities for a large pulp mill development. In 1923 an agreement was reportedly reached with Japanese investors, but the catastrophic Yokohama earthquake that year killed the investors and the proposed pulp project collapsed.
Although his work had transformed the mining industry and left lasting engineering achievements, Thane died in New York City in 1927 reportedly embittered by the collapse of his final venture.
Upon hearing of his death, Fred Bradley, the legendary engineer behind the Treadwell and Alaska Juneau mines, remarked, “He built great monuments to man, but forgot what he was here for.”
Sources
Juneau mining historical records
Vanden Wyer, Catherine L.
Vanden Wyer, Catherine L.
Born: July 1894
Birthplace: Douglas, Alaska
Died: May 3, 1964
Place of death: Seattle, Washington
Parents: Nicholas King; Alice Alicia Develin King
Spouse: Hurbert A. Vanden Wyer (marine engineer)
Children: Alice E. Vanden Wyer (born June 2, 1921, Alaska); Hurbert Anthony Vanden Wyer (born 1926, Seattle, Washington)
Association: Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo Auxiliary No. 6
Biography
Catherine L. Vanden Wyer, born Catherine L. King, was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo Auxiliary No. 6. She was born in July 1894 in Douglas, Alaska, the daughter of Nicholas King and Alice Alicia Develin King, members of the early Douglas Island community during the territorial mining era.
She married Hurbert A. Vanden Wyer, a marine engineer, in 1920. The couple had two children: Alice E. Vanden Wyer, born in Alaska on June 2, 1921, and Hurbert Anthony Vanden Wyer, born in Seattle, Washington, in 1926.
Catherine spent part of her early life in the Juneau–Douglas area and later lived in Seattle, Washington. She died in Seattle on May 3, 1964.
Sources
- 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Douglas, Alaska
- 1920 and 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Seattle, Washington
- Alaska Daily Empire, June 2, 1921
- Washington Death Index
Markle, William J.
Primary Name: Markle, William Jennings
Filed as: markle_william_jennings
Also known as: William J. Markle, William Jennings Markle
Occupation / Association: Marine engineer, fireman, Deputy U.S. Marshal; President, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6 (1939–1940)
Born: November 7, 1896, Ballard, Washington
Died: October 15, 1976, Boise, Idaho
Parents: Louis N. Markle; Catherine Markle
Spouse: Ethel Ellen Wilson (m. June 18, 1918; div. September 29, 1947)
Children: Florence Markle; William C. Markle
Associated places: Ballard, Washington; Skagway, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Victoria, British Columbia; Seattle, Washington; Boise, Idaho
Keywords: William Jennings Markle, William J Markle, Markle William Jennings, Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6 president, Deputy U.S. Marshal Juneau, Alaska marine engineer
Biography
William Jennings Markle served as President of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6 in 1939 and 1940.
Markle was born on November 7, 1896, in Ballard, Washington, to Louis N. Markle and Catherine Markle. By 1917, he was living in Skagway, Alaska, where he worked as a marine engineer and fireman. During this period, he applied for residence in Victoria, British Columbia, and worked for the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
On June 18, 1918, he married Ethel Ellen Wilson in Seattle, Washington. The couple had two children. Their daughter, Florence Markle, was born in Canada about 1920, and their son, William C. Markle, was born in Alaska about 1928.
Markle enlisted in the United States Army on October 23, 1918, and was discharged on December 27, 1918. He later worked in Juneau as a Deputy United States Marshal. William and Ethel Markle were divorced on September 29, 1947, in Idaho.
William J. Markle died on October 15, 1976, in Boise, Idaho.
Sources
U.S. Census records; marriage records, Seattle, Washington; military enlistment records; Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6 records
George, Martin
Primary Name: George, Martin
Filed as: george_martin
Also known as: Martin George
Occupation / Association: Charter Member, Juneau Men’s Igloo; mining engineer; U.S. Mineral Surveyor; Chief Draftsman; Office Cadastral Engineer
Born: September 1862, St. Ives, Cornwall, England
Died: December 27, 1925, Juneau, Alaska
Parents:
Spouse: Caroline Jenkins George
Children: Carrie George; Wallis S. George; Elizabeth “Lessie” M. George
Associated places: St. Ives, Cornwall, England; Nevada; Arizona; California; Park City, Utah; Sitka, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska
Keywords: Martin George, George Martin, Juneau Men’s Igloo charter member, U.S. Mineral Surveyor Alaska, Surveyor General office Juneau
Biography
Martin George was a charter member of the Juneau Men’s Igloo.
George was born in St. Ives, Cornwall, England, in September 1862. He came to the United States sometime between 1877 and 1880 and spent the next decade in the American West. During those years, he engaged in mining in Nevada, Arizona, and California, and in 1889, he moved to Utah.
George married Caroline Jenkins, who was born in England in August 1865 and immigrated to Utah in 1889. While living in Park City, Utah, they had three children: Carrie, born October 1890; Wallis S., born September 1891; and Elizabeth “Lessie” M., born February 1895.
George moved to Juneau in April 1897, and his family followed him a month later.
He worked as a federal employee, primarily in the Survey Bureau of the Land Office. He entered the service at Sitka in 1901 as a draftsman, having previously served as a U.S. Mineral Surveyor and Deputy U.S. Surveyor.
George was promoted to Chief Draftsman in 1902 and for twenty years served as the technical and administrative head of the office force under the Surveyor General. During his career, he served under every Surveyor General appointed in Alaska.
He was later promoted to Office Cadastral Engineer and assumed much of the work formerly handled by the Surveyor General, following the consolidation of that position with the Bureau of Surveys. George was a graduate mining engineer.
Martin George died in Juneau, Alaska on December 27, 1925. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
Sources
Daily Alaska Empire, December 28, 1925; Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Volume 2, pp. 103–104, by Ed Ferrell (May 1, 2009)
Tags: Martin George, George Martin, Juneau Men’s Igloo, U.S. Mineral Surveyor Alaska, Surveyor General office Juneau