June 1, 2015, Monday

We started the day with the walking tour of the town. This begins at Judge Wickersham’s Court House at 9 a.m. and you better be on time! Our tour guide was John. He and his wife, Betty, have lived in Eagle since 1968 when they moved here from Wisconsin. They are two of the longest residents of town. I am not sure how long the walking tour is supposed to last but John spent three wonderful hours with us. He shared great stories .of the area, his personal adventures and oddities about the area. The Historical Society of Eagle has done a fantastic job of preserving historical artifacts from the area. They have restored several buildings at Fort Egbert and filled the space with artifacts and photographs from the early days of the town and the Fort.

In May of 2009, Eagle had an ice jam on the Yukon which sent water and huge chunks of ice into the town. Several buildings were destroyed completely. This summer, a new motel, restaurant and grocery store complex will open in town. It should be very nice. And they do get visitors year round. A famous dog sled race goes right through town in the middle of winter. Years ago a tour boat would come to town from Dawson City. I hope someday that trip could be restored. I cannot imagine anything more fun than taking a boat on the Yukon River to this delightful little town.

Tonight we are camped along the Walker Fork of the Fortymile River. Our weather luck has taken a turn toward cooler, rainy weather. If it wasn’t so cold, we take a try at panning for gold. There are no claims for 500 yards along the river here and it is open to people wanting to pan a little gold for fun.

A Jefferies Truck once hauled water at the Fort and in Eagle.