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Dr. Harry C. DeVighne, a
Juneau physician for the Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine, built
the lodge in 1923. The hunting and fishing camp was called
Twin Glacier Camp after the two glaciers upriver from the
lodge.
Originally there was only the main lodge
building; sleeping accommodations were in large tent frames.
People and supplies were transported from
Juneau by riverboat or barge. Trips had to be timed at high
tide for passage over the numerous sand bars in the river.
Most supplies are still transported this way.
In the fall of 1930, Mrs. Erie L. Smith
visited the lodge while touring Southeast Alaska on her
yacht, the “Stella Maris”. Mrs. Smith was the
daughter and heir of lumber baron Leigh Hackley who was
well known for his large bequests to the city of Muskegon,
Michigan. Traveling with her son, Leigh Hackley, and her
nurse, Mary Joyce, Mrs. Smith bought Twin Glacier Camp as
a second home for both summer and winter use. Her son, Hack,
stayed on at the lodge year-round and Mary Joyce stayed
as housekeeper and nurse. Hack kept a crew of men busy constructing
new buildings and maintaining the place. The log cabins
“Cedar” and “Killisnoo” were built
at this time.
Mrs. Smith returned each spring with the
“Stella Maris” loaded with supplies. The yacht
was anchored in front of Taku Glacier and the supplies were
ferried to the lodge by small boat. These included hay and
feed for the purebred cow and her annual offspring. Since
there were no bulls in the valley, the cow was barged to
Juneau each fall to be bred. She adapted well to life on
the Taku; in fact, her favorite snack was raw salmon, which
she would eat as fast as Hack could fillet it.
In 1934, Hack set out on a hunting trip
on the Stikine River. While in Wrangell, he suffered a heart
attack and died. In the spring, Mrs. Smith gave the lodge
to Mary Joyce, but she continued to come back each year
as long as her health permitted. At the time of Hack’s
death, there were 14 buildings, 15 sled dogs and 3 head
of cattle.
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Mary Joyce was an adventurous
girl. When she received an invitation to participate in
the 1936 Fairbanks Ice Carnival, she decided to make the
trip overland by dog sled. She set out from the lodge in
December of 1935 with 5 dogs and a loaded sled to travel
1,000 miles. She traveled much of the distance alone and
used guides for portions of her trip. Commercial airliners
followed her story and monitored her progress throughout
her journey. Mary spent three months on the trail of which
she actually traveled 52 days. She averaged 20 miles a day
in spite of temperatures to 50 degrees below zero and only
a few hours of daylight each day. The sled and harness she
used on the trip are on display at the Taku Lodge. |
Mary and Hack had begun raising sled dogs
during their years at the lodge, putting them to work in
the winter hauling firewood and using them for travel on
the frozen Taku River. After Mary’s trip to Fairbanks,
she began breeding a specific line of dogs whose sire was
J.P., her lead dog on the 1,000-mile journey.
Mary's passion for travel took her out of
Alaska as a flight attendant. However with her heart in
Alaska she soon returned. Her next adventure was to become
a pilot. The “T” shaped building on the riverbank
at Taku Lodge was constructed as an airplane hangar but
was never used. Mary opened the lodge and operated it successfully
as a tourist resort, calling it Twin Glacier Lodge. She
owned it until 1942 when she sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Royal
O’Reilly. In Juneau, Mary opened two bars on South
Franklin Street and lived above the “Lucky Lady”
until her death in 1976.
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The lodge became Taku Glacier
Lodge in 1949. There have been several owners and many colorful
stories since. In 1971, it was purchased by Ron Maas of
Juneau. At the time of his purchase, the lodge was in need
of many basic repairs and had been closed for two years.
Ron fell in love with the Taku Glacier Lodge and in 1972
he met Kathy whose dream was to live in the bush. They decided
to devote the greater part of their lives to bringing the
lodge back to its original condition. They were married
in front of the granite fireplace in 1974. The Mass’s
used the lodge as their home and retreat for six years,
putting all their spare time and money into rebuilding the
main lodge buildings. By 1979 the Maas’s decided to
share their love of the Taku Glacier Lodge with visitors
of Southeast Alaska by offering the Wilderness Salmon Bake
& Scenic Flight. |
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In 1993, the Maas family decided
to retire and sold the lodge to a Juneau couple, Ken and
Michelle Ward. Ken was raised in Ketchikan, moved to Juneau
in 1967 where he later owned and operated an air taxi business,
Juneau’s Ward Air. Michelle was born in Seattle and
raised at the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy, Alaska. She has
worked for Alaska Airlines since 1973. Ken and Michelle
were married in 1985. They have three children who were
all born in Juneau (Michael “86”, Natalie “88”,
and Buzz “89”).
Also part of the family is the Lodge watchdog
Yellow Lab Rossignol, who follows in the footsteps of the
famous Lodge Black Lab, Disney. Since buying the lodge,
the Wards have also adopted several black bears that visit
quite frequently.
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The most famous being Scarface
who visited the Lodge from 1985 until he passed on in 2002.
Once Scarface gave up his reign the Lodge was available
to many other black bears, many of which are his offspring. |
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The landscape of the Taku Lodge changes drastically each
season as winter sets in. The month of October is spent
preparing the Lodge for the harshness of winter in the
glacier valley. Snow can accumulate in excess of twelve
feet and winds can reach over one hundred miles an hour.
The Lodge remains vacant until the spring when the staff
returns to begin the thawing process. While summer travel
is by floatplane, the frozen river requires the floats
be replaced with skis to land on the frozen river. River
valley transportation changes from boat access to snow
machine travel.
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Work begins on snow removal... starting
with 7 feet of snow on the roof of the lodge. |
Over the years, many people have called
the Lodge home. Each summer a crew of nine employees
occupy the small cabins surrounding the Lodge. This is their
home away from home as they welcome guests each day of the
summer season.
It is because of the wide variety of people
involved with the Lodge, the many visitors and the overall
love for this magical place that the history of the Taku
Lodge is still alive today. On behalf of all them, we invite
you to take the time to share this special place.
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Early lodge visitors
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