The Wrangell sentinel., 1940-01-12
PRESERVE THE DUGOUT


In last weeks mail. Merlin Elmer
Palmer Post No. of the American
Legion received notification from
the federal Buildings Administration
that it must Vaeate by February 3
the building il has been using as a
Dugout meeting hall since the
Treasury Department gave it per-
mission to do so many years ago.
The Legion had obtained the use
of the historic old building ON that
premise and of course it will live
up to its agreement. There isn't any
thing very complicated or alarming
about the vacation order because it
is in line with the new building
program which the government will
carry out this spring ON the federal
property where. lhe Dugout, the
court house, jail and customs house
stand.
But there is an alarming and pa
thetic note in it for those who lean
toward the preservation of the his
oric as most of us do.
The Dugout is one of the Oldest
and most historic buildings in all
Alaska. Another is the old Customs
House adjoining it. It would be lit
tie short of desecration to destroy
these famous old landmarks.
The floor of the building which
now houses the Dugout long ago re
sounded to the tramp of soldiers
footsteps and the orders of fort Of
ficers long since dead. Outside, the
light of Indian camp fires reflected
ON the walls the tall forms of Sti-
kline tribesmen as they gathered in
the fort stockade to pow-wow with
the white fathers whose successors
would now SO thoughtlessly relegate
these priceless reminders into the
irreyocable past to join the echoes
of those footsteps.
Present plan, according to infor-
nation here is to raze it to make
way for the new building and land
scaping.
What is this we have been hearing
about preserving the historic things
of Alaska? Can it be that in the
rush of progress such structures as
these, a very vital part of the ar
chiyes of Alaska, are to be destroyed?
The Legion Post, grateful for the
many years use it has had of the
old building, which, by the way, will
be nothing but shell when the Le-
gion takes out the fixtures and
paraphernalia it has in it, feels that
it should be preserved, At its meeting
this week it unanimously voted to
make overtures to officials in the
hope of saving this grand old land
mark for posterity. Emissaries will be
dispatched to Juneau to present the
picture to NJ. S Whittier, Assistant
Collector of Customs, who has super
vision of the property for the Treas
ury Department, and through whose
fine efforts the Legion was granted
permission to use it in the first in
stance. The Legion is hopeful that
Regional Forester B. Frank Heint-
zleman, one of the staunch support
ers of preserving historic landmarks
of Alaska, will lend his support and
that Gov. Ernest Gruening and Dele
gate Dimond will see fit to foster
the idea in Washington, where both
are at this time.
This old building should be saved.
Building men who have examined
it say that it can be moved just as
it is to some other site. Several sites
are available. This opportunity
should not be passed by. With no
cost, other than small moving eX-
pense, the old Dugout can be moved
intact to nearby site and made a
permanent part of the historic lore
of Alaska. 1t would be a fitting ges-
ture on the part of a government
whose glorious history dates back
over a century and half