The Gateway City of Interior Alaska Since 1903.
Seaport
Record
Seward's A llAP eat her Port is Alaska's Greatest Asset.
Vol. VII, No. 98
SEWARD, ALASKA, FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 1951
Price 10 cents
The Story of
SEWARD
VI
FIRST SETTLERS OF SEWARD
For the first five sections of
our growing history of Seward
we have been mainly indebted
to the writings of the late Judge
Whittlesey, as published in the
Pathfinder magazine of May,
1920. For the present chapter,
and for many more to come, our
thanks are due to D. C. Brown
ell, Junior, who is by any stan
dard one of this city's foremost
citizens.
The Brownell family was
pioneer by instinct, one might
say. They moved from the East
coast to California in 1846, even
before the gold rush of '49. It
was one of the elder Brownells
who took a leading part in one
of the west's historic events,
the search and finding of the
Donner party. Don Carlos
Brownell Senior, the father of
the present Mr. Brownell, be
came one of the early settlers
of Valdez, establishing a general
store there sometime prior to
1902. Young D. C. Brownell
Junior left Seattle on the old
steamer Santa Ana in 1903, to
visit his father in Valdez.
He soon discovered that the
passengers and ttie cargo of the
Santa Ana were no ordinary
lot. Most of them were bound
for Resurrection Bay. and they
talked freely about the great
things to come from the build
ing of the railroad and the es
tablishment of the town. All
this boom talk had a profound
effect on young Mr. Brownell,
especially when one of the pas
sengers, John Nelson, offered to
bet a large sum of money that
the Resurrection Bay settlement
would have 25,000 population
within two years.
As proof that the party meant
business, there was a pile driver
loaded on the deck of the Santa
Ana, to build the first wharf;
there were horses for the rail
road locators, and a crew of
carpenters, mechanics, and la
borers. all ready to go to work
as soon as the Santa Ana reach
ed Resurrection Bay.
On board too, were John and
Frank Ballaine, the leading pro
moters of the Alaska Central
Railroad.
D. C. Brownell Junior became
quickly fired with enthusiasm,
and as soon as the ship docked
at Valdez, he hurried to his
father’s store and told the Senior
Brownell all the things he had
seen and heard. It was immedi
ately agreed that his father
should board the Santa Ana and
go to Resurrection Bay, while
the younger man stayed in Val
dez to operate the store.
On August 28, 1903, the San
ta Ana anchored in Resurrection
Bay, and unloading of the pas
sengers began. A photograph
taken by Lilly N. Gordon shows
most of the landing party,
mounted on horses, posed along
the beach near the present rail
road depot. Just north of the
beach, the photo shows dense
timber, which, Mr. Brownell
says, completely covered the
(Turn to Page 4)
180 Editors To Arrive Tuesd
The txationai Editorial Associ
ation tour party leaving Seaiii?.
June 5 on the A’sska Ste ims’ ip
Company steamer Aleutian.
h.-.appd wni e boarding crais^
ship v/ere Ediior of E'd^sburg
(Washingion) Daily Record, J.
Clifford Kayncr, reiir: ig N.E.A.
pres deni, and Mrs. Kaynor (io’;;
er lert); and Don Eck, general
manager of the N*E.A., Chicago,
(upper right).
1. A. Mi!!er Wisis This
Week’s Yard Award
The award for improvem ■ :it
of the outside appearance of
house and yard go.s to L. A.
Milier. 307 Third Avenue. He
"'ill receive So.00 in merchan
dise prizes from Doyle's. Hon
orable mention was given to
Lyle Douglas.
There are a number of other
places being watched by the com
mittee from Beta Sigma Phi.
the sponsoring body, but the
work being done has not ad
vanced to the stage of prize
winning material, according to
the report. Householders are ad
vised that th ir progress has
been noted and each yard is
checked weekly to observe the
amount of improvement made.
LAWMEN HAVE GOOD
FISHING ON OPENING DAY
Seward police chief Dale
Greene and a party of federal
men accompanied by local fish
ermen, opened the season Tues
day at Upper Russian River.
They returned to town Thurs
day with tales of the fish that
got away, but returned with a
good catch as well.
Besides Greene, Jim More
land and A. B. Clark, FBI, Frank
Lewis, Hal Gilfilen, Gus John
son and Joe Doyle were in the
party that quartered at Luke
Elwell’s fishing lodge.
Mr. and Mrs. Del Robbins
plan to leave Monday for Out
side, where they will spend a
few months visiting with old
friends. While Outside they will
attend Grand Chapter, Eastern
Star, and Grand Assembly, Or
der of Rainbow for Girls.
IMPROMPTU HEAR HUNT
ON MARATHON
Three local men and nearly
a dozen visitors staged an im
promptu bear hunt on Marathon
yesterday.
The bear was seen early in
the morning. With the numbers
ot visiting GI s and tourists ofi
the Baranof in town, the police
department was worried iliat an
accident similar to the unfortu
nate affair of three years ago
rn.ght be repeated. To avoid
the possibility, Jim Kirkpatrick
and Harry Hall, police patrol
men. and Ed Grounds, experi
enced hunter, climbed the moun
tain to hunt the bear or frighten
it away.
The climbers were plainly
visible from town, and many
p.ople watched flic eastern and
southern slopes all day, or until
the climbers were back in town.
The appearance of so many
people on the mountain frighten
ed the bear back into the can
yon, and it soon disappeared.
Three years ago, a young wo
man was accidently shot and
killed near the top of Mt. Mara
thon on the same sort of occa
sion. In his excitement over the
hunt for a bear that had been
sighted from town, a young man
fired at a movement in the grass,
killing the girl instantly.
No firearms are allowed on
Mt. Marathon since that time.
But strangers and tourists, being
unaware of the ban, might be
injured on the mountain. The
city council will be petitioned
to post the mountain against
hunting this summer, since the
lower slopes now belong to the
city. Mt. Marathon is the scene
of the famous mountain race on
the 4th of July.
Jr. V> or.:e;3 To Hava
Social Next Week
A social will he hold by the
Junior Women’s Club next Wed
nesday evening at 8 o'clock in
the base men i of the Episcopal
Church. Monopoly and canasta
will be the order of the evening,
with other card games for those
who prefer something else. Re
freshments will follow the social
games hour.
All young women are invited
to attend the social and become
acciuainted with the local girls,
and look over the group with
the idea of becoming members.
“Whether you wish to join
the Junior Women’s Club or not,
you are cordially invited to
attend the social," the public
invitation roads.
CRESCENT SHOWS TO
ARRIVE JUNE 27
Crescent Shows, a Canadian
outfit, will appear here at the
community picnic June 30. The
equipment and a personnel of
50 persons will arrive on the
MV Garland about June 27.
The show is sponsored in
Seward by the 4th of July Com
mittee. It will set up on the pic
nic ground at First Lake.
Jeanette Lind, daughter of
Mr and Mrs. Swan Lind, arrived
home from college today. She
has been attending Washington
State College at Pullman, Wash
ington.
Eleanor Salit, winner of the
Lions’ Club Scholarship last
year, arrived home yesterday
from the States. She has been
attending Baker College in Kan
sas.
About 180 men and women of
the National Editorial Associa
tion will arrive in Seward at
7:30 Tuesday morning. They will
board the train within a few
minutes for Anchorage, Fair
banks and Mt. Mckinley.
It is not known just how many
will remain in Seward for fish
ing and a tour of the peninsula,
although there will be some.
Plans are afoot to meet the
Aleutian at the Harding Gate
way if possible, board the ship
there and meet the folks before
their actual arrival. Difficulty
of effecting a boarding in mid
stream may not permit the plan
to go through, but it is being
investigated.
Residents are asked to meet
the ship at the dock, however,
and cards bearing the names of
the 28 states represented by the
passengers will be available at
the dock.
All northbound passengers
will be presented with moose
meat sandwiches with the com
pliments of the Seward Cham
ber of Commerce.
A farewell party aboard ship
is planned for June 15. The
feature of the party will be a
liar's contest, and an extensive
program of entertainment will
be presented to the guests before
their departure. The party is
public to all residents, and an
open invitation is issued here
with for everybody to attend.
Coastwise Line Mow
Has Eight Ships
in Alaska Trade
Coastwise Line announced
this week the addition of the
10,500 ton SS Charles W. Crock
er for operation in the Com
pany's regular coastwise-Alaska
service which links Alaska with
the entire Pacific Coast.
Geo. H. Grant, president, said
the SS Charles W. Crocker
makes a total of eight large
vessels op. rating in the service,
an unprecedented number for
this trade. He expressed confi
dence that this frequent service
between California, Oregon,
Washington and Alaska will fur
ther assist merchants and manu
facturers to broaden their mar
kets and build up permanent
trade relations.
Coastwise Line vessels now
operating to and from Alaska
include the SS Charles W. Crock
er, SS James Lick, SS Joel
Chandler Harris, SS North Bea
con. SS Pacificus, SS Seafair,
SS Tarleton Brown and SS John
W. Burgess. All are 10,500 ton
freighters.
Coastwise Line also operates
four Victory design vessels and
three Liberty type vessels in
offshore trade. *These are the
SS Fenn Victory, SS Muhlen
gerg Victory, SS Monroe Vic
tory, SS Hobart Victory, SS
Joesph Squires, SS William Ford
Nichols and SS Joseph W. Folk.
The SS Charles W. Crocker
will go on berth at Portland,
Oregon, June 16.
Attention Elks: =
SECOND ANNUAL PURPLE BUBBLE BALL
June 9. 1951 CLUBROOMS E!ks & Ladies Only
$2.00 per Couple
Admission by Card