Hide Article Text (OCR)
By GIL TRUITT Special to the Sentinel Sometimes in life we get so used to our surroundings and things that are seemingly unimportant. So much so that we get so used to them that we take their existence for granted. A lot like people. We do not pay much at tention to them until they are gone and it’s then that they are missed and their existence and importance is finally re alized. Today’s piece will feature three things that fit this description: A cannon that is situated on the Mt. Edgecumbe High School campus; Bra dy Haul; and a bell from the Sheldon Jackson campus. During the Russian occupation of Sitka many years prior to the 1867 pur chase, the Russians divided the town into two parts: the Russian town and the Native town. To make certain that there was no misunderstanding about the boundary line, the Russians stuck a cannon into the ground as a boundary marker. A block house was on the hill not far from the cannon and the divid ing line ran from the beach through the cannon and Block House. (The replica is in the exact location.) There was only one Native house on the Russian side of the stockade, a house owned by Thomas Saunders, Sr., a Kik Sadi, and the Tlingit transla tion of the house was “Inside the Fort House.” When the federal government built what eventually became the BIA school, Mr. Saunders donated the property with a few stipulations, the most important being that the building would always be used for educational purposes. That stipulation was adhered to when the BIA pulled out of Sitka in the late '40s and an agreement was reached by the Sitka ANB and the city council that the City would continue use of the building with the agreed to stipulation. The September 1947 agree ment was printed in the Sitka Sentinel. In the years that followed, the City used the building for purposes other than education. The Sitka Tribe not too many years ago presented a copy of the September 1947 Sitka Sentinel that de scribe the agreement and rightful own ers of the property. Fred Reeder was mayor at the time and spoke clearly and with great definiteness. “It appears as though the City of Sitka was claiming property that we had no right to claim.” He then asked what needed to be done. He recommended that the attorneys for the City and the Tribe iron out differ ences, if any. Within days, the property was returned to the Sitka Tribe. The Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi commu nity house sits on that property today. The cannon that served as a marker for the boundary line rests peacefully on the Mt. Edgecumbe High School campus and will stay put as far as Herb Didrickson Sr. is concerned. The can non when placed by the Russians was virtually in the living room of the house in which he grew up. The cannon was up for grabs when the Russians left Alaska. So much for the cannon. Most people may not know what a “Brady Haul” is. It is a very important piece of machinery in the operations of sawmills. It was big time with Sheldon Jackson School and those dependent upon electrical power. The Haul was and is the machinery that pulls into the mill. For years, Sheldon Jackson pro duced its own electrical power and was dependent upon water supply from the dam on Indian River. The water was transported to the school’s hydroelec tric plant by a flume that always seemed to need repair. After years of use, the flume was in bad shape by 1934. In retrospect, the flume was a re markable engineering feat. In his book “Sixty Years In Sitka,” Les Yaw de scribes the flume as “a wooden boxed in water channel.” With so many kids playing around the campus, it is amaz ing to look back and realize no one fell or jumped into the waterway. In a 1934 meeting the deteriorat ing condition of the flume was dis cussed. The need for a sawmill was agreed upon when all realized that $400 was needed for the repairs and that was something that the school did not have. Talk about a mill continued and mill machinery was available if red tape with the Forest Service could be cleared. The Forest Service agreed, and this gave SJS the required permis sion to salvage the necessary machin ery from an abandoned mill four miles up the Indian River valley. The iron machinery was packed out by adult staff members and older stu dents from the school. In a short time, the machinery was on campus. Help came from friends of SJS, such as used lumber and scaffolding from the com pany that built the Pioneers Home, and a small diesel engine that was to give the mill the needed power to operate. Beach-combed logs were used for the mill foundation When everything was in place. Mr. Yaw asked Peter Simpson to be in charge of the mill. Mr. Simpson agreed but made one request. The Brady Haul that was salvaged from the abandoned mill was too small and did not meet Simpson’s specifications. He knew of a bigger one from an abandoned mill on a site that was once the turn-around for Alaska Coastal Airlines next door to the Skate Park today. The Haul was rusted and half buried on the beach. Mr. Simpson was asked what he would do with the heavy machinery. His answer was “We will build a fire under it so that all parts will become movable. We will then chip off all the rust with ham mers and then will give it two coats of dark green paint. It will look like we just it from a Seattle company.” When all machinery and essential equipment was in place on the floor, Mr. Yaw asked Mr. Simpson how soon he could have the mill running. Simp son promised 21 working days. The mill was running in 19 days. From that point on, Sheldon Jackson was never in need of lumber. The flume and hydro electric plant furnished all the needs of the school. From 1911, perhaps, the community of Sitka was awakened and was always kept informed of the correct time by a large bell that rang several times each day. It was easily heard all over town. It was as much a tradition of the town as it was for Sheldon Jackson. The bel fry was located in what was the laun dry and was rung by a male student. It was his assigned duty. All students had chores and details and most were designed to make the school physically better. The bell ringing chore was con sidered the plum of all assignments. One day, two or three boys tied pillows around the clapper in such a way that no sound came when the bell ringer pulled the rope. In earlier times, two or three boys ingeniously filled a wash tub full of water. When the bell ringer pulled the rope, he was ingloriously drenched with cold water. After that, he was con tinually told that showers were to be taken in the dorm only. (Much of the information about the Brady Haul came from the book authored by Les Yaw, “Sixty Years in Sitka.”) ial tes SJS Is built by Andrew Hope from lumber cut in the SJS Sawmill. (Photo from Les Yaw’s “Sixty Years in Sitka”’) The Brady log haul. (Photo by Jon Nyberg, SJC Archives, from Les Yaw’s “60 Years in Sitka’)
Newspaper Details
Daily Sitka Sentinel
Sitka, Alaska, US
Mon, Dec 21, 2015
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Jessica W.
