Cape Decision
Alaska’s first lighthouse to be powered by electricity!
During his voyage of discovery in 1793, Captain George Vancouver sailed throughout much of present-day Southeast Alaska. He bestowed names left and right; on bays, islands, lakes, straits, points, coves, inlets, ports, passages, and capes; such is the prerogative of an 18th century British explorer. Near the end of that year’s sailing season, Vancouver reached what must have been for him an important decision, for he named the tip of the nearby island (now Kuiu Island) Cape Decision. He decided that he had progressed far enough north to be beyond the islands claimed by Spanish explorers. It would be over a century later before the Lighthouse Service would make the decision to construct the Cape Decision Lighthouse.
For several years following the land purchase of Alaska in 1867, the vast majority of vessels made their way between Seattle and Juneau by following a twisting route through the myriads of islands that parallel this stretch of the northwest coast. By remaining “inside” the islands, the captains and passengers could enjoy safer and smoother journey. Braving navigation “outside” the islands in the open North Pacific often meant larger swells and rougher waters.
As ships gained more girth over the years, the demand for alternate routes through the narrow passages increased. For instance, some ships were unable to transit the Wrangell Narrows and many were regularly forced to make the detour around Cape Decision. Captains sailing north now follow the lengthier route through the Sumner Strait to its end at Cape Decision. They are briefly exposed through this route to the full fury of the ocean before entering Chatham Strait.
Passenger vessels are not the only ones transiting the waters near Cape Decision. Fishermen often pass by the cape in search of more lucrative catches near Cape Ommaney. Several fishing communities, like Port Alexander on the eastern side of Baranof Island, along with the supporting salmon canneries, herring salteries, and reduction plants, have grown over the years to dot the shores of Sumner and Chatham Straits.
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The Loss of the Ramona
On September 10, 1911, the wooden steamship Ramona ran aground while traveling through thick fog. The vessel was bound from Skagway to Seattle when the weather turned within the area of the Spanish Islands, just off Cape Decision. There were a reported 23 passengers, 52 crewmen, and 405 tons of salmon cargo on board.
Fortunately for many of those on board, the gallant fishing steamer Grant was nearby. The ship picked up thirty passengers and crew from the wreck. Unfortunately, the remainder were forced into an unexpected wilderness adventure and left to spend the night on an uninhabited island. The next day, the steamship Northwestern arrived on scene to collect the remaining passengers and crew and transport them to Seattle, Washington. The captain noted that a heavy sea was breaking over the Ramona’s hull and deckhouse.
The Ramona was quickly determined a total loss, and the newspaper article reporting the incident placed blame on “the lack of a lighthouse on Cape Decision.”
Navigating Construction
In 1912, Governor Walter Clark of Alaska advocated to include funding for the construction of a major light at Cape Decision. The first light installed was an unattended acetylene lantern placed on one of the Spanish Islands.
By 1925, the Lighthouse Service requested funds for a light and fog-signal station at the cape, emphasizing its importance. Cape Decision is a crucial headland on the north side of the narrow passage between the Spanish Islands and Kuiu Island. It connected Chatham Strait and Sumner Strait. Vessels navigating the main route through southeastern Alaska often pass by Cape Decision, particularly those too large or hindered by unfavorable tides. Vessels use the shorter Wrangell Narrows route in order to pass through Sumner Strait, Chatham Strait, and Frederick Sound. Poor visibility such as the frequent fog in the area, coupled with strong tidal currents, a broken shoreline, and numerous off-lying rocks, makes navigation hazardous.
Construction of Cape Decision Lighthouse was estimated to cost approximately $175,000 by 1927. Two years later, Congress appropriated an additional $59,400 in July 1929 for the project. Between September 1929 and the following July, the site was leveled, a camp building was erected, and a dock, tramway, derrick, hoisting machinery, and boathouse were constructed.
All concrete work was finished by July 1931, leaving station keepers to primarily interior tasks. The reinforced concrete lighthouse, with a focal plane of ninety-six feet, was officially activated on March 15, 1932. By then, $158,000 had been spent on the station, which became the last of the sixteen major lighthouses built in early 20th century Alaska.
Water for the station was piped from a dam about 300 feet north of the lighthouse. When the weather cooperated, rainwater was captured from the roof and stored for future use. Once, in August 1941, the water supply had failed for multiple lighthouses. That year, southeastern Alaska received a measly 0.76 inches in rainfall that month compared to the August average of 11.57. The Coast Guard cutters Nemaha and Cyane were tasked with delivering water to the lighthouses at Cape Decision, Guard Island, Tree Point, and Eldred Rock.
Two Tyfon fog horns were mounted on the roof of the building, facing south, and a Class B radio-beacon was installed on the rocks just seaward of the lighthouse. An elevated tramway and footpath connected the lighthouse across a ravine to a landing dock in a sheltered cove. A dock housed a boathouse, blacksmith shop, and hoist house. A stiff-legged derrick, built on a separate concrete pier, was used to transfer supplies between boats in the cove and the dock.
On September 1, 1974, the last live-in crew left the lighthouse to itself as upgrades supplied the acetylene light with a reliable diesel generator. The station was later converted to solar power to further reduce the toll on the environment and maintenance work-load. One memorable lighthouse moment was on October 11, 1989 when the Aids to Navigation Team from Sitka narrowly avoided disaster while checking on the site.
Visiting the location still poses challenges for maintenance crews. In 1996, the Fresnel lens was replaced with a solar powered aero beacon. The Third order Fresnel lens is on display at the Clausen Museum in Petersburg, Alaska.
The lighthouse is currently maintained by the Cape Decision Lighthouse Society.
Tales from the Keep
Rather than transporting trash away from the site, it was customary to burn it in fifty-five-gallon barrels. On one particular day, MK1 Ron Conklin and his team retrieved two barrels from the boathouse, placed them on the wooden walkway outside, and filled them with debris.
“I added the usual gallon of diesel to each barrel to ensure the trash burned completely,” Conklin recalled.
In hindsight, this was probably not the best method choice for disposal. After assigning tasks to his colleagues farther up the walkway in the lighthouse, he grabbed a fire extinguisher and returned to the boathouse to tend the fire.
As Conklin approached the helicopter pad, he noticed thick black smoke coming from beneath the boardwalk near the boathouse. It was not immediately clear where the smoke was billowing from. Conklin ran to investigate if the pier was on fire or if the smoke from the barrels was drifting down through the pier. After discharging the thirty-pound extinguisher into the two barrels, Conklin was alarmed to discover that the pier was indeed ablaze.
H.O. Essig served at Cape Decision from 1943 to 1946, where one of the perks of the remote assignment was three full months of leave after a year at the station. Despite this, few men signed up for more than a single year. Essig himself noted that “it requires a certain breed of cat to handle it.” Operations at the station ran smoothly, with minimal supervision, during his tenure.
Before a relief keeper arrived from the Coast Guard base in Ketchikan, the chaplain’s office jokingly warned Essig that “everything gets lit but the light” at Cape Decision. He also remembered a celebratory ride to Port Alexander aboard the mail boat for “lemonade” upon hearing of V-E day. Additionally, rough seas once forced them to land a twenty-case shipment of beer eight miles from the station. That blessing from the ocean helped ease the boredom and loneliness of life at Cape Decision.
Alaska’s Lighthouses
