The Way We Were

In the Sentinel 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago.

September 17, 1914: Mr. Frank Warner, U.S. Surveyor for Alaska, arrived on the Dolphin Tuesday. Mr. Warner is here to survey the Wrangell townsite and will go to work at once and complete the work. Mr. Warner brings with him Mr. Earl H. Wilson who will assist in the field work. The survey of the Wrangell townsite has been held up so long it was feared by some of our citizens that the work might not be completed this year. With Mr. Warner in the field, we can feel assured the work will progress as fast as possible. The duck season is in full force and many of the expert hunters of the city have made the trip to the flats during the past week. They report the ducks and geese there by the hundreds and the shooting is fine.

September 15, 1939: Beneficial results from the hair seal bounty law is evident on the Stikine as gillnetters report that seals infesting the lower river are noticeably reduced in numbers from two and three years ago. This is due to the activity of the seal hunters out for the bounty. There are still too many seals preying on the salmon but had it not been for the bounty inducement; had the seals been left to propagate unmolested the salmon toll would be so heavy that today there would be little Stikine fishing. Each year since the seal bounty went into effect there have been hundreds of seals taken, but raising the former bounty two dollars by the legislature this year to three dollars has proved, in the extra dollar, even a greater incentive than had been hoped for. There were also bounty claims for 34 eagles.

September 18, 1964: Six moose were taken on the Stikine on the American side on the opening day of the season, Tuesday, and the days following. Those bringing one moose so far were Bob Neimeyer, Don Salzman, Arnold Bakke, Bill Reach, Bud Jenkins and Ole and Gary Floyd, who were hunting together. In the Campbell and Hay Deer Derby, Lee Meyers stepped into the lead with a 182-1/2 pound buck he took at Virginia Lake. Dan Baldwin is second with a 171 pound animal and David Churchill is third with a 165 pounder.

September 14, 1989: Inquiries keep coming in from physicians interested in locating a practice in Wrangell. But Hospital Administrator John Vowell says no firm commitments have been made. Dr. Michael Ball of Mountain Grove, Mo., visited Wrangell during August. Vowell said Ball has not made a decision, however. “They enjoyed the community, they liked the town and are in the process of making a decision,” he said. In addition, he said, he also has received additional correspondence from Dr. Shelton Jackson, who earlier this year backed out of plans to move to Wrangell. Jackson now is working in Nome, but has sent a letter making more inquiries about Wrangell, Vowell said. A physician now practicing in Barrow also has inquired about the community, and Vowell said resumes should begin filtering in soon from a professional doctor's recruitment firm that has been retained to help in the physician search. “We're still having a lot of activity, but nothing confirmed,” Vowell said. Meanwhile, doctor service in Wrangell is being offered through the hospital's Stikine Physician Services. Doctors are employed on a short-term basis to provide services to the community.

 

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