SITKA Administrative History

Chapter 4:
SITKA NATIONAL MONUMENT, MIDDLE YEARS (continued)

Gravel operations

The private gravel operations at the mouth of Indian River be- came a major problem when Navy contractors took over the former Sitka Transfer company operations. The boundary was not clearly defined and the contractors built gravel bunkers on what turned out to be National Park Service land to the east of Indian River. Navy plans to build a flume were dropped when Miller told them park service permission would be required. Miller optimistically concluded this first report by commenting that the dredging should benefit the park by preventing further erosion of the west bank of Indian River. [264]

The contractors soon wanted more gravel than the outwash at the mouth of the river could supply. The service's immediate response was cautious. It stood ready to aid national defense, but the navy could take Indian River gravel only after showing that no other source was available. No monument land was to be transferred to the navy. Gravel was to be taken only from the river bed, an island at the mouth of the river was to be left intact, removal was to be conducted in such a manner that no harm would result to the natural beauty of the monument, and after the supply of gravel was exhausted the retaining wall along the river bank was to be repaired. [265] No other source was available, and navy gravel removal continued throughout the year. [266]

On the ground activities took a different turn, and as early as June of 1941 Miller had to stop the navy contractors from cutting the trees on the island in the mouth of Indian River. After an October 1941 flood destroyed a strip of river bank about 600 feet long and 6 to 40 feet wide, Miller blamed the destruction on the dredging. It had resulted in a pit at the river mouth 800 feet long, 30 to 200 feet wide, and 4 to 30 feet deep. This, in Miller's opinion, had caused the material in the river bed to wash into the pit during the flood. As a result, the river bank slid into the water, carrying its cribbing with it. He believed that further erosion would occur so long as the navy was permitted to mine for gravel in Indian River. [267]

Park service sensibilities about the monument's values took a back seat to the war effort after December 7, 1941. Officials authorized the navy to take gravel from the wooded island at the mouth of Indian River as well as from the river bed. The expanded operations, they believed, would detract from the charm of the monument's footpath, but not be destructive to the main portion of the monument. [268]

The gravel operations turned out to be plagued with problems and destructive of park values. On September 18 and 19, 1942, a flood rampaged down Indian River. Gravel removal that steepened Indian River's gradient in its lower reaches may have increased the flood's intensity. The torrent tore out both Indian River bridges. It also washed away 200 feet of road, 250 feet of trail, and 10 to 50 feet of river bank on either side. Two army men, whose first names are unknown, Sgt. Riley and Pvt. Westfall, who had been on the footbridge when it washed away, were drowned. They were part of the army detail guarding the navy gravel operation. A sailor, Frank Smith, was also washed off the bridge but survived by clinging to one of the downed bridge's cables. The waters swept away a totem pole that stood near the footbridge, but the navy later recovered it in the bay and returned it to the monument. At the same time, it destroyed a portion of the pipeline that took water from Indian River to the navy and city water reservoir. [269]

The navy contractors threw a temporary bridge across Indian River, but fire followed the flood. On November 11, 1942, an army guard attempting to light a lantern started a fire that destroyed an office building and repair shop at the gravel bunkers. Some progress was made because a new road, to replace the old one being destroyed by dredging, was almost completed in the same month. [270]

In March of 1943 sailors from a naval construction battalion (Seabees) took over operation of the Indian River gravel plant. [271]

At one point, this encroachment was seen to benefit the park. The dredging would form a small lagoon that might add to park values and, as a quid pro quo, the navy agreed to widen the entrance to the monument. This would provide adequate space for parking and turnaround. [272]

Construction on Japonski Island was almost completed by 1944 and the need for Indian River gravel diminished. The army cooperatively restored its area of the monument to as natural a state as possible.

Miller began negotiating with the navy for its share of the restoration work. V.S. Carrier, Resident Officer in Charge, at the Naval Air Station, Sitka, submitted a report to the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks detailing the damage that had been done by the gravel operation. He proposed measures that might be instituted to partially rectify it. Photographs made by Miller in 1941 documented the report. Carrier concluded that dredging deep holes at the mouth of the river had caused an increased stream velocity. This gradually cut back the river bed. The change in the river bed in turn had cut back the river banks, which had caused a reverse curvature in the river. Cutting action in the vicinity of the footbridge resulted, causing the bridge to collapse.

Carrier recommended that the navy remove its bunkers and re lated buildings, allowing the City of Sitka to salvage the lumber. The river channel should be restored to its original course. Gravel acquired in the course of changing the course of the river should be used to prevent the river from redirecting itself into its old channel. Logs and stumps which could not be burned on site should be placed in one of the dredging holes and covered with gravel. Additional gravel and debris accumulated on site should be leveled out. The north bank of Indian River should be dressed to prevent under wash. While log cribbing should be built to prevent further bank erosion, Carrier recoin mended that the navy not replace the suspension bridge washed out in the 1942 flood. [273]

Carrier's letter brought Rear Adm. Carl A. Trexel, Director of the Alaska Division, Bureau of Yards and Docks, to Sitka National Monument in March of 1945. He agreed to Carrier's recommendations. Park service concurrence followed, with a commendation for Miller and Carrier for their cooperative work. By April of 1945 the navy had razed its gravel bunkers and all but one of the shacks used in dredging operations. Work was also begun on erosion-control cribbing along the banks of Indian River. More than 600 feet of log cribbing was in place by August of 1945, only to be washed out in a September flood. This left the problem, which was to continue, but active dredging was not to resume for several years. [274]