- 1887

240 Stamp Mill at Treadwell Mine, Douglass [sic] Island, Alaska.

Treadwell Mine. 240 Stamp Mill. Battery Floor. Alaska State Library, William Norton Photo Collection, Case & Draper, P226-324.

Treadwell mine added 120 stamps to its mill, making the 240 mill the largest stamp mill in the world under one roof. Protesting “damp and disagreeable conditions” Treadwell miners struck, beginning March 5, and demanded a $3/day wage and board.  Miners complained in general about the high cost of living in Juneau for the winter: wood at $4.50 a cord (now between $250-$350 a cord), coal at $13/ton, and coal oil (kerosene) at $2.50 for five gallons.  Up Silver Bow Basin, the first burro pack train was employed in the spring to carry out ore from the Perseverance claims group for shipping to San Francisco for testing.

Douglas post office established September 28, which also served Treadwell.

Juneau’s first newspaper, the Alaska Free Press started on January 15.

As enrollment increased, a new Juneau school house was built on 5^th street to replace the original log cabin and opened in the fall.