LOCATION

Tanana. rightly c alled b> her c in

rens 'The Hub of Alaska." is sit

uated on the right bank of the ^ 1

kon river, three miles below th«

mouth of the Tanana The main

channel of the Yukon, immediately in front of the town is about on-

half mile wide and contrary to the

usual stream in Alaska, its course

there runs practically straight for

a distance of about four miles

The location of Tanana is pecul- iarly adapted to townaite purpose* from more than one point of view

Situated as she is at the junction of

two such great rivers as the Yukon

and the Tanana she is of a strategic

importance second to no other town

in Alaska. Another important thing

to be taken into consideration re

garding the location of Tananu i-

the height of the river banks on

which she is situated These arc*

far above 'high water mark even at

town with tho post and the mission

and which is operated by t'-e post authorities. However, most of the

business houses and a number of

residences are lighted by gas and

heated by steam Tanana is already recognized as

the center of things by the two

'argest companies doing business i

Ma-Va. nanteh the Northern Horn

merciil company and the American

Yukon Navigation company Tin

former corporation keeps probably a larger assortment of everything needed in their line at their Tanana

station than at any of their otliei

stores, while the transportatinn com

piny operates its commissary de

partment from this point The rea

son for that is that Tanana is lo

rated at a place which is always accessible to boats operating on the

Tanana and Yukon rivers to any of

the outlying towns and is the trans-

fer point for all freight.

ST. ALOYSI US MISSION. TANANA.

the times of the highest flood which sometimes invest the Yukon and Tanana valleys, and. therefore the danger of inundation some-

times felt at other places, is never

known here. Hack of Tanana the country

spreads out in a mesa like plain for a distance of several miles, the hills

closing in like a half moon all around a natural basin with a river

frontage of four miles. The town

itself is. therefore, ideally situated for growth. Several small creeks

having their outlet In the Yukon, flow across this mesa, some of them

through the city limits, draining this area which, it is safe to say. makes Tanana better drained than most towns in Alaska of quadruple its size.

Adjoining Tanana on the west is Fort Gibbon, the I'nited States gov

ernment military post. It comprises an area about 60 square miles in ex-

tent. A short distance above Tanana on the east, is the tract reserved by the government fqr native education- al purposes, upon which is located the Episcopalian Mission of Our Savior, and the Indian village and school

SIZE OF CITY. Within the corporate limits of

Tanana there are something over

400 acres of ground On the south the boundary line, running along the

The height of the river banks at

Tanana offer other advantages of

location. These are above high wa-

ter mark at all times, and afford

docking facilities such as are found

hut rarely at other towns along the

Tanana and tire Yukon. T! e water

is always deep enough along the

entire waterfront to permit the land-

ing of the greatest draft steam

< rs and barges. In fact all of the

larger business houses of Tanana

are supplied with their own docks on which their shipments of goods are landed direct from the boats

CITY GOVERNMENT. Tanana assumed the importance of

an incorporated city on December 3rd. 1313. Prior to that time there had been many attempts made to

incorporate, but the majority of tin

people were of the opinion that the rate of taxation would he too high. However, as things were, the town

was without any of the actual necessities of a city, such as a fire-figlu- ing apparatus and a water system, both of which were badly needed, and at length, incorporation was de- cided upon. The fight for t' e

measure was carried forward by a

number of the citizens headed by George F. Bemis, the present mayor, who were able to show the majority of their townspeople that the reven

lies from the saloons alone, which were then going to the government

ST. JAMES' MISSION, TAN AN A—Haggert Photo VWWVSWVNA|<WWVWWW^V^V •SA<VWWW»/SA^WWWW»^V>/WW»^^WWWVW>.

Yukon river waterfront, is a little

more than one mile in length, while

the side lines extend inland slightly more than one-half mile.

Exclusive of the soldiers of the

post and the inhabitants of the In-

dian village. Tanana has a popula- tion of about 400. Including those

places another 400 would be added to that number. The waterfront of Tanana proper is a little over one

mile in length. However, from the

mission to the lower end of Fort Gibbon it is more than three miles, consequently the waterfrontage of the

city can be said to be at least that

long, as the vacant land between the town and the mission is all taken

up by homesteads. ADVANTAGES.

Tanana is a well ordered town in

every respect. There are two churches, a public school, three large mer-

cantile establishments and several smaller ones, six saloons, laundry, restaurants, three hotels, etc. In

fact Tanana possesses everything which goes to make up a typical Northern town. For the pleasure of

the amusement lover there is the usual “movie” show. Public utili- ties there are none, excepting the

telephone system which connects the

would more than support city gov-

ernment. The city has now been incorporat-

ed for nearly two years and there are no taxes, although there have been many improvements made.

During the year 1913 the license fees

paid to the government and returned later to the city, were in the sum

of $fi,900. This amount, exclusive of the salaries paid the city officials, more than paid for all of the improve- ments made.

Following the incorporation of the

.town late in 1912, a city election was

held in Tanana. but. as the articles of incorporation stated that a regu-

lar election was to be held in

April. 1913, nothing much was done

by the first council. Neither did

they have money to do anything with, had it been necessary, as all of the license moneys were not due to be paid until the following spring

IMPROVEMENTS. At the regular election in April.

1913, a full council was elected, and

it was then that Tanana under the

powers granted her by incorporation, began to improve. And at the rate that she has advanced since that time she should have been an in-

corporated town many years ago.

The first action of the new conn

cil was to order from the Outside

hand chemical fire-fighting appart tits at a cost of $800. This came in

during the following spring, and by the help it has rendered when small

blazes have broken out at different ntes in Tanana. has more than

htstif ed the amount pa id for it

l-'or further fire protection the citi-

zens also organized themselves into

a company of volunteer firemen whose

duty it was to man the chemical

and to form the bucket brigade. The city council also improved the

facilities for fighting fire by sinking two wells on the river front of the

town, one at the upper and one at

’he lower end of First avenue.

These wells, with the pumps which

were installed, cost in the neighbor-

hood of $800 each

Among the other improvements in-

stituted by the Tanana council of

10F1 was the cleaning and grading of Front street. Before the days of

incorporation the street proper was

merely a path or trail, while the riv-

er front was lined with gardens. The

new council as soon as they took the

oath of office began to exercise tli 1

city and government right to sixtv

feet of ground on the water front,

and. where the owners of cabins or

houses refused to move I'era, they were purchased and the whole un-

sightly mass removed until now

Front street in Tanana nresents a

sight which is pleasing to the eye. The grading of the street and the

installing of the necessary bridges

and culverts w is t' en cotntnenced

Three new bridges with fills were

nut in that year, and rnlverts of a

permanent character installed, while

the property holders all along Front

street were ordered to put in the'r

proportion of the first city sidewalk

that Tanana had ever known. A

lot running from Front street to

Second avenue was also purchased -for the purpose of making a cross

street, which street is soon to he

run on through to Third avenue.

A great deal of the aforemention-

ed improvement has been done this

year likewise, and the city revenues

for 1914 have, therefore, nearly nil been used in that manner. How-

ever. out of the approximate amount

-if fifth which will lie received

this yenr by the city in license mon-

eys. $2.non has been appropriated for

the maintenance of the city school

-nd $1 non for the salary fund. The present city council of Tatia-

na is composed of George F Bemis.

mayor, and eouncilmen Joe Anicich Arthur J. Campbell Paddy Carroll.

Charles Chanquist. W. B. Hodman and A G. Vachon. The chief of

police is George Lindsey, while Jo-

seph C. Dehn, who Is also Fnited

States commissioner at Tanana. is

acting as city clerk and magistrate. The city treasurer is Theo. Diederick.

ORGANIZATIONS. The chief civic organization of

the city of Tanana. aside from the

town council itself, is the Tanana

Chamber of Commerce. This or-

ganization was perfected several

years ago or before the incorporation of the town, for the purpose of pro- moting her interests. However, in

dividual quarrels and disagreements were responsible for the lack of in-

terest displayed by most of the

citizens later, but the club was not

allowed to die for any financial rea-

son as there was a goodly amount of

money in the treasury. Therefore, during the present sum-

mer, a reorganization of the Tanana

Chamber of Commerce took place, most of the old members again com-

ing back into the fold, their num-

bers being augmented by the addi-

tion of many new members, the

citizens foreseeing that only by a

united effort can they hope for a bet-

ter and larger Tanana. It is. there-

fore. expected that the work of the

Tanana Cl amber of Commerce will

have a very beneficial effect on the

future of the city and of the sur-

rounding country. The present officers of the Tanana

Chamber of Commerce are: George F. Hemis. president, and Joseph C.

Dehn. vice-president and secretary- treasurer. The “Hustling Commit- lee” is composed of B. B. Mozee. A. | B. Vachon and E. M. Woods.

Tanana supports two fraternal or-

ganizations which operate with all of the style and pomp of other branches in much larger places and with complete sets of lodge parapher- nalia. The Tanana camp of the Arc-

tic Brotherhood has a membership of

over 100, while the local organiza- tion of the Loyal Order of Moose, which was started only during the

past winter, has a membership of more than 75.

The A. B. hall at Tanana is the

place where most of the social func- tions of the community take place. It covers more ground floor space than any other log building in town The hall contains a hard wood floor for dancing purposes and is lighted by acetylene gas. The Post Exchange building at Fort Gibbon is also an-

other favorite gathering place for those socially inclined, and is where the moving picture shows are held.

LATE HISTORY. A great deal of the discontent of

the citizens of early day Tanana was caused over the name which should be given to the place. It had been called “Tanana Station”

!>y some of the early traders, hut

lotwithstanding that fact, the N. A.1

A- T Co * ailed it “Woare" w .**•

;cy first established their post her* n IMIS Many of the citizens \ve*»

n fa'-or of *• llins their town Fot Gibbon** on account of the fact that lit* military post bore that name

However, the matter was finally mieablv settled by the scndinir nf

\ petition to the postoffice authon i es at Washington asking that the ify he named Tanana by thorn and j

therefore. Tanana it is at the prc °nt There are many who still persist in calling the place “Fort Gibbon” hut the name “Wenre" is

nearly entirely forgotten except iniong the oldest residents.

MISSIONS. At the city of Tanana there are

two churches, while t1 e Indian mis- sion or Mission of Our Savior, is three miles up the river. Neither of the two missions of Tanana an*

established churches as yet. for t’ reason that they are not supported

they will bo able to take a train to

*• ti er the noi thernmost or southern I ■inst parts of the Territory.

Miners Ask Change In Line of Precinct

Several years ago when the firs'

hirer claim was staked on \meti 1

■in creek, which is now in to Hot

;piings recording district, the stake!

thereof recorded his claim at the

present town of Hot Springs, for the reason that he was a Sullivan creek man and had recorded all of his 1

Sullivan creek property at the same !

place. Posterity is the sufferer by that mistake, as the present day miners of American creek are now

compelled to record all of their lo- cations etc., at Hot Springs when

they are. in reality, much nearer

to the town of Tanana.

GOVERNMENT SCHOOL FOR NATIVES, TANANA.

by the community. St. .lames' Mission and Reading

room, Tanana. was established here

in 1903 for the use of the white popu- lation of the city by Rev. Jules I..

l’revost. acting under the Episcopal ian board of missions. Rev. l’revost

also established the Mission of Our

Savior. The pastor in charge of

both of these missions at the pres- ent time is Rev. Edward II. Malony.

St. Aloysius’ mission, the Catholic

institution at Tanana. was establish- ed here in 1907 by Father Sifton. the

superior of Catholic missions in In- terior Alaska. Rev. Father Julius

Jeddy is at present in charge. Father

■Teddy is authority for the state- ment that the building of a hospi- tal at Tanana in the near future is

contemplated, several sisters from the Outside to have charge.

SCHOOL.

The school at Tanana is the same

as public, schools of cities as large or much larger than it is. All of tin1 branches of elementary education are taught, the higl est being eighth grade work. At the present time there are in the neighborhood of

25 pupils in attendance. For the maintenance of the city school th» Tanana city council annually appro- priates the sum of $2 000.

The city school at Tanana is a dis-

tinctly different institution from the

government school at the mission At the latter, ti e education of n

I Owing to that fact and for the

| reason that they now wish to be

placed in the Tanana precinct as a

recording place, a number of the : miners recently signed ami forward ed a petition to the judge of the district court at Fairbanks. In this

petition a number of reasons for I the change are set forth. No action ! has yet been taken on it by the

court, although it is l oped that in j the near future. American creek will he tributary to Tanana as a record

; ing precinct. The petition and the signers there-

of are as follows:

"Hon. F. E. Fuller. District Judge. Fairbanks. Alaska. “Sir: We the undersigned citi-

zens residing on American creek in what we believe is a part of the Fort Ribbon precinct, according to

the description of the boundary be

tween the Fort Ribbon and the Hot

Springs precincts, respectfully peti- tion you to further describe the boun daries so as to settle the question as to which precinct we are in. We

prefer to be in the Fort Ribbon pre- cinct for tie following reasons:

“1. It is more convenient for us

to go to Tanana than to go to Hot

Springs to transact our business. "2. Tanana is the postoffice through

which we receive our mail. "3. We do the greater portion of

our trading at Tanana as it is eas-

ier to reach than Hot Springs.

CITY SCHOOL AT TANANA.

tives alone is given attention, the

school in town being for the benefit of the whites. Miss Jessie Harper has been in charge of the school

for several years and will teach again this coming winter.

THE DREAM OF TANANA. Tanana as a city has ambitions

far beyond those of any other In

terior Alaskan town. Knowing that

nature has endowed her with all of

the advantages of a metropolis, she

is endeavoring to become recognized as such by man-made powers. And

she is advancing, not going back, as

is indicated by her growth from the

time she was established as a town

scarcely a decade ago. Tanana dreams of a time wh^n she

will be a city in all of its appoint- ments; of a time when she will be

the scene of an activity on land

greater by many times than she now

enjoys on water; when steel bands

will connect her with the country scarcely 100 miles to the north with

Its untold wealth in gold, and when she will be the seat of government for this part of the Territory'. And she expects those dreams to come

rue in every sense of the word, ter most progressive citizens looking ’orward to the time when they will lot have to stir beyond the city imits to attend court, and when

“4. In summer in going to Hot

Springs, one has to wade through mud for 30 miles, while in going to

Tanana one ran travel two and one-

half miles to Fish lake and then go

I the remaindei of the way by row

boat or by motor boat. “5. It is a much better road for

freighting in the winter from Tanana than from Hot Springs, aside from

being the shorter route.

(Signed) .1. W. Spencer, Dan Kin-

naley. Ben Hastings, R. A. Quinn, G. C. McCauley, J. C. Nail, M. Mur-

ray, P. J. Kinnaley, T. A. Lockhead, John J. Cooney, Wm. Brown, George Heldman, D. E. Madden. John Strom. Fred Major, Mrs. Fred Major, W.

Ochey, C. L. Anderson, J. Q. Cavan-

augh, Mrs. J. W. Spencer, Mrs. J.

Strom, F. J. Hogan, John McKenty.’’ The initial mistake of the first

staker on American creek has

wrought great hardship and incon- venience on the present day miners of American creek, not to speak of

the additional expense involved in

making a trip to Hot Springs from

that stream when they could go to

Tanana more easily. In their effort

to have their troubles alleviated by the judge of the district court, the

miners are being ably assisted by the members of the Tanana Chamber

of Commerce.

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