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Cover image for Windham Chief Consolidated G.M. & M. Co. photograph collection, ca. 1918.
Windham Chief Consolidated G.M. & M. Co. photograph collection, ca. 1918.
Title:
Windham Chief Consolidated G.M. & M. Co. photograph collection, ca. 1918.
Physical Description:
1 album (68 photoprints) : black and white ; 14 1/2 x 20 cm. + map.
General Note:
In the Alaska State Library, Historical Collections, P.O. Box 110571, Juneau, AK 99811-0571.
Abstract:
Photographs depict life and operations at the Windham Chief mining camp on Windham Bay, Alaska, ca. 1918. Images include: mining camp scenes, interior mine scenes, tunnels, the steamer "City of Seattle" unloading freight, mineralized rock and quartz claims, the Treadwell 300 stamp mill, miscellaneous Northwest Coast scenes, and 16 miscellaneous California residential snapshots. Also included in the album is a map of the location of the company with an inset showing assay values of the Apache and Navajo claims. The photographer is unknown.
Biographical/Historical Data:
The Windham Chief Consolidated G.M. & M. Co. was formed to work the Apache and Navajo claims near the head of Spruce Creek but spent much of 1900 fighting legal battles among owners. These squabbles were smoothed out when Amos Raymer became interested in the ground. In 1901, preparatory work was done and a road was built from the beach to haul machinery to the mine site. About $5,000.00 was spent that year. In 1903, Pat O'Neil spent the summer driving two tunnels into the veins and testing the ore in a 2-stamp prospecting mill, with less-than-anticipated results. The next year, 1904, R.V. Rowe found ore and in September Raymer gave a tunnelling contract to Tom Cutler and Jack Panns for the Apache claim. Rowe drove another tunnel on the Apache during 1905 and that was the last interest shown in the property for many years. By the end of 1905 there were four tunnels with about 400-500 feet of workings and a 20-foot deep shaft on the Windham Chief property. [Adapted from Earl Redman's "History of the mines and miners in the Juneau gold belt," p. 221.].
Restrictions on Access:
Collection is open to research.
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