Seme Highlights Recounted When
Kodiak Became An Incorporated City
How Kodiak became an incor
porated city is told in the early
pages of the Kodiak Mirror.
In one of the first editions of the
Mirror, the editor advocated incor
poration in these words:
“Incorporation of the village of
Kodiak into a city of the first class
will make and mark a great stride
in the progress of this once-small
community.”
The reasons he gave for incor
poration were: return to the city
of federal tax money in amounts of
$8 $10,000; adequate water supply;
regulations for sanitation and
health; franchise can be granted
for light, power and telephone;
streets can be graded; sidewalks
laid; and utilities furnished.
The wheels were being turned
to bring the matter of incorpora
tion to a vote. The next item we
read states the action was post
poned from July 15 to August 27,
thus giving the men and women
who were out fishing a chance to
vote.
ftirnest uruemng, men governor
of Alaska, entered the picture and
expressed the opinion the town
should incorporate for its own
good. He pointed out that Kodiak
is by far the largest community
that is not incorporated.
In a radio telegram just prior
to the election, Gov. Gruening said:
“It is imperative that the citizens
recognize their obligation to do
something for themselves. Certain
ly, neither the federal nor the ter
ritorial government will be dis
posed to help .those who will not
make a small effort to help them
selves.”
Whether the Chamber of Com
merce, the Kodiak Mirror or the
governor had the biggest influence,
it is not brought out, but the voters
went 3-1 for incorporation on Au
gust 27, 1940, and elected the first
council of seven men. This con
sisted of Harry Becker, R. H. Chad
wick, Dr. C. D. Carter, Jergen Fred
erickson, Charles Hopp, W. J. Ers
kine and Edna Kraft. None of the
first council are living in Kodiak
at present.
In the September 13 issue it was
reported the city charter had been
signed by the court at Veldez—thus
making incorporation official. -
The first council meeting saw the
election of R. H. Chadwick as
mayor. In a lengthy speech of ac
ceptance, Chadwick outlined some
of the problems to come before the
council and said in part:
“To be elected the first mayor
of the oldest town in Alaska is a
singular honor—an honor which
can never be duplicated and of
which anyone can be justly proud.
“The problems confronting each
and everyone of us are many—we
are starting from scratch. Know
ing all of you as I do, I believe I
am safe in saying the citizens have
not elected a “yes” council, and
that is as it should be for best re
sults.”
Chadwick was prophetic in his
pronouncement as was borne out
in the months ahead.
Sore spot was the failure of
what was called the Kodiak Public
Utility to furnish sufficient light
and power. Some apparently
wanted to rush into bonded-indebt
edness to provide these services.
This Chadwick was opposed to. as
he also was opposed to calling in
outside help such as a city manager
to run the city.
Admittedly a conservative, Chad
wick concluded his speech with the
words: “Let’s drive carefully and
sanely.”
At the next meeting, such ques
tions as a meeting place, bylaws,
' and appointment of committees oc
cupied the time.
Offices created and some of the
“fabulous” salaries paid were: City
Clerk at $100 a month; City Attor
ney at $100 a month; Chief of Po
lice at $150 per month; Fire Chief
at $25 a month; fire warden at $25;
Night Patrolman at $5 per diem;
City Health Officer at $25 per
month; City Treasurer at $30 per
month; City Magistrate, $20 per
month; and tax assessor at $7.50
per diem, with a working period
of not more than 60 days.
At the next meeting the council
voted to appoint Charlie Cook as
Kodiak’s first Chief of Police and
Fire Warden at a monthly salary
of $200.
The Council were offered and ac
cepted the Baptist Church Parson
age property, for which they paid
$2,500 as a meeting place. The in
tent was to use the building as a
city hall, fire hall and jail.
First Council
Highlights
Highlights from some of the first
meetings of the City Council fol
lowing incorporation:
Velma Ameling, a public steno
grapher, was appointed the first
City Clerk.
Chief of Police Cook was in
structed to erect the curfew bell in
a convenient location. This bell
was to be rung at 9 p. m. every
night, at which time all children,
unless accompanied by their guar
dians, or parents, must be off the
City streets.
The first reading of an ordinance
prohibiting “Live stock running at
large.”
1961? NO, 1940. Councilman
Kraft then brought up the matter
of the condition of the streets at
the present time—being full of
dangerous and damaging chuck
holes.
The site for the proposed high
school building, located on Blocks
3 and 4, north of the city, was
chosen. (Later this was said to
have read 3 and 6.)
A portable gas-engine water
pump, especially designed for fire
fighting purposes, with 600 feet of
1hose, 1 Colt %” nozzle, 6 large
fire-extinguishers and 4 gas masks,
etc., was ordered.
A “Dog” ordinance was passed
which makes it compulsory for dog
owners to purchase a license fee,
$2 for male. $5 for female.
The City Clerk reported that cer
tain moneys had been collected
lately:
Operating license.$16
Automobile.$20
Total.$36
An application for a franchise
of the Community Power Co.
tabled—Council refused free power
for the City Hall.
The minimum fine for “disor
derly conduct” was reduced to $10
and costs in lieu of the previous
$25 for the initial offense.
Dec. 31. Councilman Erskine’s
resolution that authority be grant
ed to carry on negotiations with the
REA for a loan for Kodiak to fin
ance its municipal light and power
plant, passed.
Dec. 31. U. S. Commissioner
Naughton was appointed first City
Magistrate.
Remember When .....
Cows Once Had Right Of Way In Kodiak
Time Honored Custom Hard to Stop
The lowly cow may be regarded
as symbolic of the progress of Ko
diak.
In the early days here she was a
contented creature even far away
from the Carnation people. She
was content to roam the streets of
Kodiak at will.
The appearance of the bovines
as they roamed the streets wasn’t
tihe only objection to them. No
doubt their presence lent a pas
toral glow that was not without
beauty. Even for those from dairy
ing states such as Wisconsin, Wash
ington and others, received a nos
talgic uplift from the sight of them.
One of the first acts of the new
City Council following incorpora
tion was to pass an ordinance pro
hibiting “Livestock running at
large.”
They adhered to the line from
Ibid: “A cow is a very good animal
in the field; but we turn him out of
a garden.” And gardens they did
get into. Imagine all the difficul
ties of cultivating a garden—vol
canic ash, short season, short on
sunshine, long on rain, children,
dogs, cats, and a few more that
could be mentioned, and on top of
that old Bossy comes tramping in
with nairy a regard for the esthetic,
or the smell of a flower. It could
make a genuine flower lover see
red.
This wasn’t the only objection,
however. Cows have a way of mak
ing a big splatter wherever they go.
And it doesn’t matter where or
when. This was regarded as highly
unsanitary.
Unsanitary or not, this wasn t
conducive to a good appearance.
No matter how a man may strive
to fit himself out, completely and
regally fitted out right rown to his
polished shoes, he will sometime or
other make an error in judgment,
and no amount of eau de cologne or
anything else that he might use,
would convince anyone with sensi
tive nostrils that he wasn’t a farm
boy.
It wasn’t that people were un
friendly to the cow. I’m sure she
received many a pat on the back as
she ambled down the main drag.
They in turn were friendly crea
tures, too. Dan Noonan, who many
of you know, tells the story of how
he was walking down through town
one evening, and it was pitchdark
—and for those of you who didn’t
live here then, I don’t think there
was any place quite as dark—no
street lights, few lights of any kind.
Dan bumped into Bossy and he al
ways maintain she kissed him.
Whatever the reason, there was
strong opposition to the cow using
the main throughfare as her trail,
and the ordinance was passed. But
apparently, the bovine population
didn’t know anything about ordin
ances, and fancy regulations
dreamed up by any two-legged an
imal, so they kept on doing what
they had been doing for centuries
and what came naturally. It wasn’t
a problem that could be licked
overnight.
In the Dec. 6 issue ot the Mirror
it stated that Bryan Thorsheim
appeared before the Council and
asked that additional time be ex
tended to him in which to remove
his cows off the city streets.
The Mayor instructed Mr. Thor
sheim to meet with that particular
committee and expressed a willing
ness that such extension be granted
if the urgency of the request neces
sitated so doing.
In the Dec. 20 issue we read that
Councilman Becker stated that all
cattle owners had signified their in
tention of having their cows, etc.,
off the streets by Dec. 28th. The
city ordinance will be effective
on that date, and owners will be
subject to a fine, should their stock
be found wandering around on the
streets.
The cow may be regarded as the
first city engineer Kodiak ever had
She make a few mistakes, of
course, as she followed the paths
of least resistance, but parades,
traffic, people follow much of the
original trails she beat out.
The cow even affected the ar
chitecture of this town, for as
buildings went up, these same trails
served as the line they fronted.
This problem wasn’t easily
solved, for even in 1941 we read of
instances of them being in the
downtown area. The Jan. 10 issue
of the Mirror stated: While a few
cows are still seen on the streets
of Kodiak, the public is assured
that they are being gradually
driven from the streets. No fines
to date had been collected, the pa
per stated, but if the owners do
not get their animals off the
streets, the fines would be col
lected.
Even later than this, there were
instances of our bovine friends
meandering down the streets of
Kodiak.
It all goes to show you, habits,
good or bad, are hard to break.
From a 1940 ad of Erskine's
store:
Friday and Saturday are cash
days at Erskines. The days when
you buy our regular high quality
merchandise for less.
EXTRA SPECIAL FOR FIVE
CENTS.
What is it? Worth twice its cost!
Everybody loves it. But you will
have to coma to the store to find
out what it is!
THIS IS A PART OF KODIAK in 1941. Taken from the files
of the Kodiak Mirror, the picture shows the W. J. Erskine dock and
a portion of the channel with the hillside in the background.
..in.him ■ass? wtmzwm •]
THE ABOVE PICTURE does not belong to the early ’13s, but was taken from the files of the
Kodiak Mirror because of its historic interest. Many of the group can be identified as many of them are
still here. Others have passed on. We leave it to you to identify your friends.