Is Industrial Archaeology just a fancy name for junk? There are a lot of
people who should know better who apparently think so.
Two years ago I was able to identify the last remains of a 50-foot
steel-hulled sternwheeler that was carried across the Chilkoot Pass into
the Yukon over the winter of 1898-1899. There wasn't a lot left of the "F.
H. Kilbourne", but I told the Heritage Branch, and explained that there was
enough to let people know how determined the pioneers of Alaska and the
Yukon were. Last week, on a government project, the wreckage was cut up
into little pieces and taken to the garbage dump.
I'm now trying to make sure this doesn't happen with some of our other
industrial artifacts. I spent over 4 hours with a CBC film crew on
Wednesday, and the footage will be aired tonight at 7PM PST on CBC North's
program "Northbeat".
I have much more information, including photos of the "F. H. Kilbourne", on
my Web site at http://arcticculture.about.com/
My main focus now is to get the main Riblet tramway on Montana Mountain
in the southern Yukon, designated as a National Historic Engineering
Landmark. It was built in 1905, and I believe it to be the best remaining
example of its type in the world. Much more information is available from
me, and for those of you who know the structure (it was on the SIA tour of
the Yukon in 1991), letters of support can be sent to Jeff Hunston,
Director of the Yukon Heritage Branch at Box 2703, Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A
2C6 Canada.
Thanks for any support you may be able to offer.
Murray
yukonalaska.com
Your Gateway to The North on the 'Net
http://www.yukonalaska.com
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