Fort
Egbert 1899
to 1911 |
Name of Ski
Area: |
Fort
Egbert |
Location: |
Eagle,
on the south bank of the Yukon River just to the west of the
Canadian border. |
Type of Area: |
Ski
Trails |
Dates of
Operation: |
1899
to 1911 (the U.S. Army Signal Corps stayed after the fort closed
to operate the telegraph station) |
Who Built It?: |
U.S.
Army |
Elevation: |
~150'
|
Facilities: |
Fort
Egbert, a U.S. Army outpost that supported a large number of troops. |
History: |
As the gold rush to Alaska
gained momentum at the tail end of the 1890's, the U.S. Army
arrived to help maintain order. Posts were established
at Fort Seward (Haines), Fort Liscum (Valdez), Fort Egbert
(Eagle), Fort Gibbon (Tanana), Fort St. Michael (St. Michael), and
Fort Davis (Nome).
Soldiers at these posts
used skis for drills, patrols, recreation and for hunting
for food. The book
"Another Man's Life" by C. A. (Bert) Bryant, which can be found
at the Alaska State Library in Juneau, has an account of Bert
Bryant spending 57 days on skis prospecting in this area in 1902
(page 150). Bert would often work as a teamster and wood
cutter for the Fort Egbert post.
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From: Duty Station Northwest,
The U.S. Army in Alaska and Western Canada, 1867-1987, Volume One
1867-1917, Lyman L. Woodman, Lt. Colonel, USAF-Retired.
Major Charles S. Farnsworth
was post commander 1910-1912. Farnsworth encouraged skiing
and hunting parties for recreation and for the Arctic training
value, as well as to obtain fresh meat. Sports and
recreation programs and various forms of entertainment the men
devised contributed to their high morale".
|
Sources of
Information: |
Dave Brann;
John Rogers |
|
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PHOTOS ~ |
This
panoramic photo from 1902 shows Fort Egbert in Eagle Alaska. The
Yukon River can be seen in the center far right. Eagle Bluff is
the prominent high point behind the fort. (click
on this image to expand it) [Photo
credit: Alaska State Library, Einar J. Evans] |

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This
undated photo shows a winter shot of a building at Fort Egbert, cannons
and, likely, the "fort dog". (click
on this image to expand it) [Photo
credit: Alaska State Library, Wickersham Collection] |

|
Here
is an interesting picture of the remaining buildings of abandoned Fort
Egbert in 1919. The fort buildings are encircled by a fence and
the town of Eagle is behind the fort. (click
on this image to expand it)
[Photo
credit: University of Alaska, Anchorage, Archives]
|

|
Bert Bryant
- 1899 Ft. Egbert Packer/ Teamster with the Army |
 |
The photo
above, circa 1897-8, shows Bert Bryant at a lean-to he built for
winter trapping in Montana. Note the skis leaning against
the left side of the structure. More info on Bert Bryant
can be found in the article below and John Roger's email at the
bottom of this web page. |
|
 |
From the Columbia Falls, MT "Columbian":
2/20/1886
Another band of
Elk.
Bert Bryant was down from the Elk camp on Saturday, long enough
to tell that they had succeeded in catching five live elk. The
manner of capture was the same as that described in these
columns last year. The boys on “skis” walked around the edge of
the gulch until the elk were located. Then they whizzed down
the hillside into the bunch of elk and threw lariats over their
heads before the startled animals could realize what was going.
After an hour’s work on the rope the elk is usually willing to
be led into camp. Sometimes the bull elk will show fight, and
the man on “skis” has to keep a cool head and pretty steady
foot. Messrs. Bryant and Christiansen, who have been most
successful in elk capture, describe the sensation of approaching
a band of elk with “skis” running a mile a minute, perhaps, as
the most thrilling in the line of sport. There is sufficient
element of danger to make the ride exciting and decidedly
uncertain for the amateur.
[Note: This date may be a misprint.
John Rogers, a relative of Bryant's, thinks the date is more
likely 1896]. |
~
MAPS ~ |
This
topo view shows
the location of Eagle in Eastern Interior Alaska on the Yukon
River. The black to the right of the map is Canada.
(click
on this map to expand it) |

|
A
zoomed in topo view shows the area around Eagle and where the Fort
Egbert site is.
(click
on this map to expand it) |

|
Research
Correspondence |
[John Rogers - 31
January 2008 email] A
relative of mine, C.A. Bert Bryant, went to Ft Egbert in 1899 as
a packer/teamster with the Army. He soon quit the Army to pack
supplies for miners, cut and sell firewood for river boats, and
eventually he started mining on his own./x-tad-bigger>/fontfamily>
/x-tad-bigger>/fontfamily>
I don’t know how he
got around in the winter, and I have no knowledge of him using
skis in Alaska, but I do know that he previously used skis when
he lived in Montana./x-tad-bigger>/fontfamily>
/x-tad-bigger>/fontfamily>
I enclose a photo
(winter of 1897-8) of Bert at a lean-to he had built for winter
trapping. At the left of the picture are his skis leaning up
against the wall of the lean-to./x-tad-bigger>/fontfamily>
/x-tad-bigger>/fontfamily>
I also enclose a news
clipping (1886) from the Columbia Falls MT “Columbian”,
describing how he captured elk in the winter, on skis./x-tad-bigger>/fontfamily>
/x-tad-bigger>/fontfamily>
Sorry I can’t find any
evidence that he got around in the Eagle vicinity other than on
foot, dog sled, or on horseback. He documented his life in a
manuscript “Memoirs of C.A. (Bert) Bryant”, held in the Sate
Library in Juneau./x-tad-bigger>/fontfamily> |
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Do
you have further information, stories or pictures that you would like to
contribute about this
ski area? |
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