History of Duncan Canal and Indian Point
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A Short history of the FAA Duncan Canal, Indian Point Range in SE Alaska.
Much of this is my memory so some of the facts are estimates.
Dave Zeller, Email: davezeller@hotmail.com

Click this link to view some photos of Duncan Canal

At the start of WWII there was an immediate need for the CAA (now FAA) to provide aviation Low Frequency Range facilities to and throughout Alaska to facilitate the buildup of the Military Defense War effort. Duncan Canal was selected as one of the several sites along the coast of Southeast Alaska on the airway between Seattle and Anchorage. Construction was done in 1941 under the supervision of "Red" Wilkins, FAA General Engineer. Mr. Wilkins later became the FAA Area Manager for the Juneau area and consequently moved on to be the FAA Sector Manager at Boeing Field in Seattle. Repeater communication sites were also constructed at Narrow Point and Sunset Cove to connect the Annette, Duncan, and Juneau facilities.

At the time Duncan was a one man electronic technician location living in the Low Frequency Range building, which included one bedroom, plus a bunk room for living quarters. In the summer of 1955 my brother-in-law Carl Hendries and my sister Ann, with a 6 month old child, Billy, obtained the technician position at Duncan, moving from Milwaukee, Wis. Duncan is a remote site with access only by amphibian aircraft and/or boat located some 12 air miles due west of Petersburg, Alaska. (30 miles by boat). At the same time I was completing a 15 month tour with the Navy at Adak in the Aleutian Islands. In September I received my discharge in Seattle and met my father from Wisconsin and we flew to Duncan to visit the Hendries as well as hunt and fish. I returned again with my father for another month long vacation in 1957. My father, being retired, returned in the fall for an extended vacation every year while the Hendries were at Duncan. During the next ten years sister Ann produced two additional children, Bryan and Chrisy. Ann traveled to Anchorage to stay with her sister Phyllis and husband Paul. And Bryan was born in May of 1959. At the time Paul was a FAA employee at Merrill field. In November of 1960 Chrisy was born in Sitka as Ann stayed with friends.

In 1959/60 the Air Force Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) White Alice site was constructed directly across the canal on top of a 2,500 foot mountain. During this same time period the FAA constructed a type 61 dwelling for the technician and a second employee was add to perform the Plant maintenance duties at the station. Ann and Carl moved into the spacious new dwelling and Ray Boggs and his wife moved into the Range dwelling. Prior to this arraignment all plant support was provided to Duncan routinely by a traveling boat crew consisting of Gordon Meyer, Foreman and pilot, mechanics, George Bryson, Emory Hunter, and sometimes Dudley Clark.

During this same time period VOR's were constructed throughout Alaska by the FAA which would in the next 20 years replace the Range facilities. The nearest VOR was built at Level Island, some 15 miles to the south in Sumner Straight. The communication link to Annette and Juneau was now routed through the nearby White Alice system causing the decommissioning of Narrow Point and Sunset Cove facilities. An added bonus was a telephone link to Petersburg which not only benefited the FAA site but useful to passing fishermen, nearby mining and logging operations. Home schooling became too much of a burden causing the Hendries to move to Annette in 1965.

In 1969, my wife Lois and I obtained the Plant maintenance position at Duncan coming from the Corps of Engineers in North Dakota and moved into the Range building living quarters. Again my Dad returned for his annual hunting and fishing trips. Throughout the years wonderful friendships, cooperation and relations were made with the White Alice folks by everyone who ever worked at the Range site. Due to Lois's health problems we left the station after two years and moved to Juneau where I became the FAA electrician at the Juneau Airport.

After some 39 years of operation the Range was decommissioned in 1980 and about this same time Satellite communications replaced the White Alice site and it was also decommissioned. After the FAA removed all the buildings and equipment in 1982 one can only guess nature has overtaken the cleared 3 1/2 acres with new growth timber.

In the early years Mr. Wilkins and FAA Alaskan Administrator Al Hulen constructed a forest permit hunting and fishing cabin along the beach 1/2 mile south of the Range site. They utilized it every fall and became good friends with Carl, Ann and Dad as they would walk up the beach to enjoy a home cooked meal, take a shower, and tell lies with my Dad. They also became friends with Lois and me during our two year stay at Duncan. I can recall meeting both men during one of my visits in the late 50's as the FAA then had a Grumman Goose aircraft and they had spent a few days at the station on official business. Mr. Hulen later became the FAA Administer for Europe stationed in Belgium.

Several of the White Alice personnel also had constructed forest service permit cabins on the beach at the base of the road leading to the mountain top site. In the fall 1971 Gordon Lee, White Alice mechanic, allowed me the use of his cabin. My brother and sister-in-law traveled from Wisconsin for a month long fishing trip. We repeated the vacation again in the fall of 1973.

The Level Island VOR facility remains today in 2009 but no doubt soon to be replaced by perhaps GPS type equipment. Dad, Carl, Ann, and Lois have all passed on. The Hendries children and I are all that is left of my old Indian Point family.

This past year I have taken on the project of writing my 35 year Government career history. I contains mostly good hearted short stories. Here is a sampling of a couple of stories from our time at Duncan. Lois was my first wife and Elsie was the Tech's wife.   Dave Zeller

Party Time. While in North Dakota we had two 15 foot evergreen trees in the yard that we would string some 30 sets of Christmas lights on each in December. Being we had so much allowable weight for shipping our household goods we brought these light strings along and put them to use. The gals (Lois & Elsie) had the outside of both houses lit to the hilt. Of course there was no one to see them as the local air taxi planes do not fly at night and the commercial airlines were above the fog and clouds. Gordon Meyer (Foreman) & Bob Mell (SET) arrived on one of their visits and in the evening we had everyone over for dinner. While eating, Gordon made a kidding remark that all the lights may put a strain on the generators. Both women, in unison, said "well you may just have to turn off some of the electronic equipment". The two women were constantly gearing up for the next holiday or celebration. We had birthday parties for many of the White Alice folks, decorations for Valentine day, Easter, Fourth of July, and even a Halloween tree in both houses. We were allowed to order one 16 mm movie a week from a rental agency in Anchorage paid for by the FAA. In addition the White Alice folks had the same privilege. With once a week mail service we would trade with them so twice a week we would have a movie in a set up in the basement of the Technician’s house.

Life was good.

Hack White, owner of Sanitary Market in Petersburg, had a 24 foot older wooden cabin cruiser. From time to time he would spend a weekend in Duncan Canal for a little drinking and fishing with his friends. At the upper end of Duncan Canal is an area called the Salt Chuck. A Chuck is an area when at high tide it fills a large lake area and as the tide recedes rapids develops as the area drains. One can travel into this area with a boat at a good high tide, but you must get out of there before the tide recedes to the point that the rapids develop. Well Hack and a buddy went into the Chuck at high tide but waited too long to get out. As they tried to maneuver the rapids with this fairly large boat they became lodged between two large rocks. Nothing they could do but wait for the next tide some 10 to 12 hours later. After lifting a few they went to bed. During the night Hack gets up to do his duty and finds the boat is a good 10 feet above the water sitting on the rocks.

FAA Regional Administrator Kerry B. Long
Editor, Charlie Muhs