Hello Boys and Girls,

I promised to tell you about Hatcher Pass which is near Wasilla. It is a place in the Talkeetna Mountains that a lot of locals and visitors go to explore, hike, and take pictures of some really neat views of the mountains. Hatcher Pass is also the location of the Independence Mine State Historical Park. You can enter the pass from Palmer, Wasilla or the Willow/Talkeetna area. In winter, when there is deep snow, the road is not open. It is a beautiful place to go for an overview of the Anchorage and Mat-Su Valley area. It is also a place for hiking and other outdoor recreational activities. I have often gone hiking with my human in the pass. I like to watch my human friends take pictures of the plant life. I have done a lot of research about the history of the area and will share some of that with you.

In 1886, southeast of Anchorage, gold was discovered. Prospectors found gold in the quartz veins in the granite of the Talkeetna Mountains. Prospectors became very busy looking for gold. This happened before Nome’s gold rush. Gold wasn’t discovered in Nome until 1898. That discovery sparked Alaska’s greatest gold rush. When gold was discovered, the population of the town or area grew very quickly because people had ‘gold fever’. Gold fever wasn’t like the flu, boys and girls, it was like a sense of need to find the gold. This was an interesting time in Alaska’s history and there are lots of stories that you could read about this.

In 1906, Robert Hatcher discovered and staked a claim for gold in the Willow Creek Valley. This was a ‘hard rock claim’. As you might guess, this area of Alaska, Hatcher Pass, was named for Robert L. Hatcher. When Hatcher discovered this gold, you can imagine the excitement and the number of prospectors who were eager to find gold, too.

Because of this discovery, two mines, The Alaska Free Gold (Martin) Mine and The Independence Mine became important mines in Alaska. In 1938, these mines were owned by one company.

In 1942, with the United States entering World War II, gold mining in the United States was stopped so that more efforts of what people did were focused on the war. Gold wasn’t an important or necessary item to be mined. Independence Mine continued operations to mine scheelite. In 1943, the mine was ordered to close because there wasn’t enough scheelite coming from the mine. After the war, the mine opened again. In 1951, the mine closed for good. In 1974, Independence Mine was listed as a Historical Place.

There are still some of the old mining camp buildings standing today. It is great fun to go on a tour there and learn about mining. The park has become a favorite attraction for locals and tourists because it is an area of recreation for those who like hiking, skiing, snow-boarding, or snow-machining.

I don’t do much snow-machining. I prefer to trot along beside the noisy thing. I tried snow-boarding, but could not figure out how to get all four of my feet on the board at one time. As soon as I pushed off and tried to put the fourth foot on the board, I went flying one way and the board went another! I don’t consider that fun. But hey, isn’t that kind of what mushers are doing when they drive a sled? Only they put their feet on the runners of the sled and runners are not as wide as snowboards.

Being involved in outdoor sports is good for canines and humans. I just want to remind my human friends to remember to stay safe and play safe. Staying safe means to dress appropriately for the weather and paying attention to your environment. Playing safe means to remember to use or wear safety equipment like helmets.

I have attached some pictures of our trip to Hatcher Pass for you. I hope you enjoyed learning about Hatcher Pass. Also, if you want to learn more about Hatcher Pass, ask your teacher to help find some website that will give you more information.

Until next time,

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma

PS: Teachers: From time to time, I’ll try and give you some additional information and hints, like vocabulary words or websites to help your students. Here is information to get you started.

Vocabulary words:
Gold Rush
Hard rock mining
Environment
Timelines

· There are a lot of dates in this article. This might be a good time to help students understand sequence of events by making a timeline. You might also want to look at your own state or countries history and see what was going on at the same time that these things were going on in Alaska.

Websites:
Map of Independence Mine

Information about the state park