As the Yukon Floods, Residents of Eagle, Alaska Scramble to Save Their History
by National Trust for Historic Preservation on May 20th, 2009
Gas pumps at Eagle Trading - Monday (NPS Photo - Carl Stapler)
Written by Brian Turner
In early May, the small town of Eagle, Alaska was inundated with the worst flood in its recorded history causing unprecedented damage to the town’s infrastructure and cherished historic buildings. The disaster occurred after an unusually warm stretch of spring weather caused upstream snow and ice in the Yukon River to melt and back up behind masses of downstream ice, a phenomenon commonly known as an “ice dam.” But when the rapidly rising water threatened a key link to the town’s past, residents sprang to action.
The flooding posed an imminent risk to the century-old historic customs house, the site of the town’s museum housing an impressive collection of frontier-era artifacts. Residents worried that the modest, wood-framed structure could be swept downriver at any moment and rushed to save its collection. They broke a back window as the house filled with water and carefully passed out artifacts one-by-one. Some did so while their own homes and possessions floated away.
Front Street looking upriver (NPS Photo - Carl Stapler)
Six miles west of the Canadian border in central Alaska, Eagle was the site of a U.S. Army establishment at Fort Egbert in the years following the 1898 Klondike gold rush. Originally occupied by the Han, a Northern Athabascan group, Eagle’s population is now a mere 200. Items rescued from the customs house are testament to the town’s colorful history — a ledger signed by Jack London, ice skates used to travel from Yukon to Nome during the gold rush, a hand-made antler chair, a wedding dress, china dolls, toys, and other artifacts of life on the frontier. Eagle’s character is richly described in John McPhee’s Coming Into the Country. The title of the book is derived from “clannish sense of place” that McPhee found to define the people of the upper Yukon.
Today Eagle is a National Historic Landmark. Because of its relative inaccessibility, the town’s historic fabric has remained essentially intact. The National Trust for Historic Preservation funded a preservation plan for the town in 1975 and Eagle later received a Save America’s Treasures grant. The Eagle Historical Society has demonstrated enduring dedication to the town’s history. National Park Service employee Steve Peterson recalls that the commitment to preservation in Eagle is unmatched in small town Alaska.
Fire House (NPS Photo - Carl Stapler)
The situation in Eagle today is dire. Approximately 85 people, nearly half the town, is homeless. Massive chunks of ice are lodged under buildings and residents can only wait for them to melt this summer. Local wells are contaminated. Most waterfront buildings including the town’s hotel and restaurant are in ruins. Rumors swirl that freezers full of meat were swept from homes and are now attracting bears.
State and federal agencies have been busy restoring roads and rescuing stranded residents. News arrived on May 18 that FEMA will be coordinating a response, but so far no federal disaster has been declared.
Old Customs House with Front Street in Background - Tuesday Morning (NPS Photo - Carl Stapler)
The historic customs house still stands, but barely. The Park Service will conduct a conditions assessment next week. If it can be rehabilitated, the town’s next challenge will be to find the emergency funds to do repair work. The full impact of the flood won’t be determined until the ice melts this summer and the effect on some historic resources could be dramatic. But given obvious determination of its residents, Eagle might survive yet another 100 years to tell the story.
More information and photos can be found on the National Park Service website.
Brian Turner is the law fellow at the Western Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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