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Bowers, Peter M., Catherine M. Williams, William H. Adams, Mary Ann Sweeney, Amy F. Steffian, and Robert M. Weaver (1998) 4.2 Early Historic Cabin. In Historical Development of the Chena River Waterfront, Fairbanks, Alaska: An Archaeological Perspective, edited and compiled by Peter M. Bowers and Brian L. Gannon, CD-ROM. Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, Fairbanks.
The 1992 field efforts discovered and mitigated an early historic cabin, an early 20th century structure which formerly lay adjacent to E.T. Barnette's original trading post and the NC Co. complex (now the Key Bank parking lot). The cabin may have existed as early as 1901, however its construction date is unknown. It was torn down in the fall of 1904. The California Saloon replaced it on the lot (Section 4.3).
The cabin feature is located partially within Block 16, Lot 1, and extends eastward into the western one-third of Barnette Street. Construction of the California Saloon obliterated the portion of the cabin within Lot 1 (Figure 4.2). The proposed Barnette Street bridge would include a large storm drain and outlet to the river in this vicinity, which, if constructed, would effectively wipe out all of the physical remains of the former cabin. Therefore mitigation activities included 100% recovery of the feature's artifacts.
From an archaeological perspective, the early cabin yielded a small but diverse assemblage of artifacts (Appendix 1). A sample of the 603 items recovered from this area are shown in Figure 4.6. A plan view of the cabin site (Features 2 and 8) is presented in Figure 4.7, and a stratigraphic profile of the main part of the cabin deposits is illustrated in Figure 4.8.
Figure 4.6. Sample of artifacts recovered from the early historic cabin (Features 2 and 8).4
Figure 4.7. Area C2: Composite plan view of 1992 cabin excavation showing features mentioned in text. Note especially historic cabin (Feature 2) and historic surface (Feature 8) in relation to the California Saloon wall and builders' trench (Feature 3). The builders' trench is only exposed in two places in order to show the full extent of Features 2 and 8.
Figure 4.8. Area C2: Profile along N988, north wall of test trench showing stratigraphic relationship of historic cabin features (2 and 8) to builders' trench of the California Saloon (Feature 3). Note that earlier cabin features are truncated by later builders' trench, circa fall 1904. Also shown is deep trench for early steam line (Feature 4).
The cabin's location, west of the original E.T. Barnette trading site (later the NC Co. tract), was some of the choicest riverfront property in Fairbanks and was developed quite early. Businesses located to the west of the cabin in 1904, from east to west, were "C.E. Jones Groceries, Hay and Oats," the Northern Hotel, and the Pioneer Saloon.5 Based upon our analysis of historical photographs (Figures 2.2, 4.9, and 4.10), the cabin stood about 50 feet from the northwest corner of the NC Co. store (1903-92), and about 195 feet west of Barnette's log trading post cache (1901-04).
The following discussion focuses on the location of Barnette's trading post and modern day Block 16 (called "Block 1 West" between 1903 and 1909) of the Fairbanks Townsite (Figure 1.2). After 1909, with the publication of the L.S. Robe map of the Fairbanks Townsite, the block is referred to as Block 16 (Figure 1.2). The 1903 Town Lot Book refers to Lots 1-6, numbered east to west. Our deed research indicates that Lot 1, the focus of Area C research, must have been subdivided into two parcels. We do not know exactly what the early plat looked like, although a later writer observed that the first official town surveys found that many of the early cabins had been built in the streets.6 Frank Cleary surveyed the town lots in 1903. His map was lost, however, probably in May 1906, when the early municipal records were destroyed by fire.7
E.T. Barnette originally made a trading site claim for a parcel measuring 350 feet by 350 feet,8 not 160 acres as he was entitled to, and was content with owning the nucleus of what later became the core of the commercial district. By welcoming his commercial competitors at his doorstep, he ensured that this location would ultimately prevail over others nearby, especially the rival town of Chena. Until late in 1902, Barnette's 26x54 foot log store and cache was the only commercial establishment; a few miners' cabins stood nearby. By Christmas 1902, the Fairbanks Hotel had begun operation about 40 feet east of Barnette's Cache.9 By March, 1903, George Noble ran a saloon, David Petree operated the Pioneer Hotel in a log building on First Avenue, and "quite a number of other shacks and cabins" were located nearby.10 One source from this time gives the number of cabins at twenty-seven, but by April 1903 some two hundred shacks and cabins were built or under construction.11 By the summer of 1903, a great swarm of stampeders was arriving in Fairbanks from the Klondike and the Yukon River, and "every new arrival staked a town lot."12
By 1903 the Barnette Trading Post parcel extended west to Barnette Street, and squatters occupied the townsite lots on present day Blocks 16 and 35. The trading post area, then called "Block 0," fell between First and Third avenues and Cushman and Barnette streets. Judge Wickersham owned Lot 1, Isabelle Barnette (wife of E.T. Barnette) owned Lot 2, and E.T. Barnette owned the rest of the parcel.13 By April, 1903, Barnette had donated some land to the U.S. Government for a courthouse and jail.14 On April 3, 1904, he sold the remainder of his land on Block "0" to the NC Co.15 Sometime between late 1904 and the summer of 1905, the NC Co. tore down Barnette's original log trading post and built a machinery shop, a hardware store, and a power plant on the site.16
We may never know for certain who built the cabin excavated on Lot 1 of Block 16, or precisely when it was built. Evidence shows, however, that the structure could be one of the first built in Fairbanks.17 Early historical accounts describe how E.T. Barnette and his men built a hastily-constructed cabin before erecting the 26x54 foot trading post structure: "The next day Barnette and Smith began to unload their goods. A small house [cabin] was erected for the use of Captain and Mrs. Barnette. Tents were put up as warehouses, and assisted by Jim Eagle, Dan McCarty, Ben Atwater, and John Johnson, they soon built a log store, and Barnette's trading post was completed, the beginning of civilization on the Tanana."18 Historian Cecil Robe described the situation as follows: "upon arrival at the designated bank, the steamer was made fast, the gang plank was lowered, and men clambered ashore to examine the ground. The timber and the surface were found suitable for the erection of a cabin and other temporary structures in which to house supplies and a team of dogs."19
A May 1904 account describes how Frank Cleary was left at the new trading site in the winter of 1901-02 as "the sole white inhabitant of the town... which was composed of one small cabin and a solitary store building."20 The few photos which show the Block 16 cabin depict a rough cut, crude-looking structure with unpeeled logs and sod roof; archaeological evidence confirmed that sod blocks were used in its construction. Three 1904 views of the cabin are shown in Figures 4.9, 4.10, and 4.11.
Figure 4.9. Fairbanks in 1904, showing the Lavelle Young in front of the NC Co. Store. Note historic cabin discussed in text located just beyond the far NC Co. Building. The roof of Barnette's Cache is shown in foreground. Charles Bunnell Collection [5.02], Alaska and Polar Regions Archives, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Figure 4.10. Fairbanks on August 3, 1904. Note historic cabin between the NC Co. Store and C.E. Jones Groceries. The Hotel Northern and the Pioneer Saloon are to the right. Copy of photo on the wall of the Wickersham House, Juneau; copied courtesy of the Alaska State Library.
Figure 4.11. The Fairbanks Waterfront on July 29, 1904. Note cabin to right of NC Co. Store. F.C. Hess [112.12], USGS Photo Library, Denver.
The earliest record we could locate that dealt specifically with the cabin ownership dates to March 3, 1903, when the U.S. Government granted a claim for a parcel described as Lot 1, East 1/2 and Lot 2 to a man named John Bennett.21 This date is among the earliest of any Fairbanks deed records in existence. On May 18, 1904, Bennett granted a quit claim deed to the town lot and several mining claims to his two partners, Charles Scott and Fred Dunbar. Soon thereafter, the two partners sold the claim to F.G. Manley and A.R. Rice. Manley and Rice then sold out to the original owner of the California Saloon, Alfred White, on December 12, 1904. Additional details about land ownership for Block 16 are given in Section 4.3 under the discussion of the California Saloon.
We have been able to locate only fragmentary information on John Bennett, although it is clear that he was among the first wave of stampeders to arrive from Dawson.22 A 1903 account by early Dawson pioneer D.E. Griffith places a "Scotty" Bennett as a crew member of the Lavelle Young, the steamboat which first carried Barnette to this site in 1901.23 Based upon several early advertisements (for example, Figure 4.12), including the first issue of the Fairbanks Miner, John Bennett was involved with packing supplies to the gold fields with his two partners, Scott and Dunbar, who formed the so-called "Alaska Freighting Company."24 In a 1904 photograph of the cabin area (Figure 4.10), a prominent sign next to the cabin reads, "Pack Train / Freighters to the Mines."25
Figure 4.12. Advertisement for Scott, Bennett, and Dunbar, 1903.26
Bennett was also a miner. The same three partners are reported as getting ready to prospect Pedro Creek during the winter of 1904, along with Frank Cleary (E.T. Barnette's brother-in-law), Charles Willig, O'Conner and Noble, and Tom Jurack.27 Scott, Bennett, and Dunbar also worked the mines on Cleary Creek with Felix Pedro's partner, Tom Gilmore, and other first generation pioneers Frank Costa, Ed Quinn, Bill Smallwood, and Harry Atwood.28 Bennett may have changed occupations in later years, as a John Bennett is listed in the 1907-08 Alaska-Yukon Gazetteer as a washer at the Alaska Laundry, residing at Seventh Avenue, and has a similar listing in 1909-10, 1911-12, and 1915-16. From the 1909 voting records maintained by the Fairbanks City Council, we also learned that he was from Minnesota, was 34 years old, and listed his address as the Cosmopolitan Hotel. An obituary for a "Jack" Bennett appears in the Fairbanks newspaper in 1930; he is described as one of the "early Fairbanks pioneers," and died of an alcohol-related accident in a homestead cabin near Nenana.29
Based on historic photographs and archaeological evidence, the cabin followed commonly used log construction techniques for the day. It follows almost exactly the detailed instructions given by Tappen Adney in 1900 for the construction of a Klondike miner's cabin.30 The cabin stood about 10 to 12 logs high (about 6.5 feet) above the existing ground surface. Based on a 1904 view, both the east and north wall had four-pane windows; however, views of the west and south walls are not available. The relatively large amount of broken window glass recovered in our excavation indicates that more than one window provided light to the interior. The front (and probably only) door faced First Avenue and the waterfront. The projected dimensions of the cabin are about 16x20 feet.
Historic photographs indicate that the interior height of the walls was about 6.5 feet. The roof had a shallow pitch, about 1:3 ratio, with sod placed on top of east to west oriented poles. The poles were supported by one ridgepole and four purlins. Two chimneys or vents are visible protruding from the roof; these may have been fabricated from five-gallon fuel cans. Internal stringers or trusses may have been needed to carry the load of the sod roof, negating the increased head space created by the gable. The cabin may have had extra headroom as a result of an excavated floor surface. Our data indicate that the floor may have been below ground level; the stratigraphy shows about one foot depth between the bottom of the original floor and the historic ground surface (Figure 4.13). The result of this was to create greater inside head clearance with shorter walls (fewer logs), as well as providing insulation at the base of the walls. The lowered floor also represented a risk, however, as Chena floodwaters, spring melt, or permafrost melting could make a considerable mess of the living surface.
Figure 4.13. Archaeologists Bruce Ream and Peter Bowers examining stratigraphy of the pre-1904 cabin. The California Saloon wall (post 1904) is in the foreground. Note how the cabin deposit is truncated by the California builders' trench, establishing the age relationship between the two features. View to the Northeast in Area C2. ADOT & PF Photo by Brian Gannon.
Based on archaeological evidence, we are certain that the cabin ruins found beneath Barnette Street were built prior to the fall of 1904. Some circumstantial historical evidence hints that it could have been built just prior to Barnette's log store in the fall of 1901. More than one historic reference mentions a cabin that was hastily erected for Captain and Mrs. Barnette prior to construction of the main store.31 The cabin's construction style and materials reflect expedient frontier construction. The two structures also share stylistic similarities that are not seen in other early Fairbanks buildings. However, the cabin is located nearly 200 feet from the store, and not within Barnette's tract, which argues against it being directly associated with the landing party and Barnette's pile of supplies.
The question of who built the cabin also remains unresolved. John Bennett is the first name we can link to the cabin through written sources. The scant documentary evidence about Bennett clearly places him with the earliest pioneers of Fairbanks, along with the likes of Frank Cleary, Tom Gilmore, Frank Costa, and Harry Atwood. One account suggests he was a deckhand on the steamship Lavelle Young, and therefore may have been with Barnette on his first trip up the Chena in August 1901. We may never know for certain who actually built the cabin we uncovered. It was clearly built quite early, however, and was gone by the fall of 1904 when the California Saloon was constructed.
The 16x20 foot cabin was probably considered a squatter's cabin until title was transferred to Bennett by the government in 1903. A 1906 account of the early days of "Fairbanks" camp describes the situation as follows: "The residences were, for the most part, built of logs, which in many instances had been cut on the very lots upon which the houses were erected. The rights of the possessors were 'squatter's rights' as possession was everything."32 Functionally, the structure probably served both as a residence and as the headquarters for a commercial freighting business. The partners of Bennett, Dunbar, and Scott apparently used the building as a base from which they packed supplies to the mines. Recovered artifacts such as a horse shoe, chains, and metal star (suggestive of leather harness decoration) support this interpretation.
Little intact architectural material remained as the cabin was demolished or moved to make way for the California Saloon in 1904. The archaeological remnants we observed in 1992 are interpreted as an earthen cellar into which destruction debris from the cabin later collapsed (Figure 4.13). Originally, the pit was probably dug as a partial cellar or subfloor space for the cabin. We considered the possibility that the feature was the remains of a privy, but the dimensions, stratigraphy, and artifacts suggest otherwise. The architectural debris contained in the pit provide information about the cabin's construction and composition. Sod blocks, pole fragments and twigs suggest a sod roof; some badly decomposed planks probably represent floorboards. Flat glass fragments were originally window panes, which show clearly in historical photographs. Some electrical items confirm the early date at which the gold camp was provided with that service.
The other historic feature found associated with the cabin, Feature 8, is interpreted as an early historic surface, perhaps a sidewalk area running along the west side of Barnette Street. It dates to between 1901 and 1904. The latter date is clearly supported by stratigraphy: the feature is truncated by the California Saloon wall and trench built in 1904 (Figure 4.13). This feature was characterized by organic-rich sediments draped over both the cabin debris and areas of pre-settlement undisturbed sediments. Several compressed and badly-decomposed wood fragments may be the remains of boardwalk/sidewalk planks. The fine-grained organic sediments of Feature 8 suggest a heavily trampled surface that was no doubt muddy during the spring and summer traffic. Wagon wheel ruts were found impressed into the surface, and tree roots remained in growth position (Figure 4.7). The roots represent the natural forest vegetation located along the banks of the Chena river, which was quickly clear cut by the burgeoning population of the young mining camp.
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