Charles Anway - Haines Alaska

Historical Vignettes

CHARLES H. ANWAY
1857-1949

Charles H. Anway was born on 1 May, 1857 in Ionia County, Michigan to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Anway. He joined his brother John who was born 3 years earlier. The boys attended school until Charles was in about the third grade. Their parents decided to move to new mining areas in the Colorado Territory. They traveled by covered wagon into the new territory. Henry decided to start a roadhouse, which he called the Colorado House. It was said to be one day’s horseback ride from Cherry Creek mining camp, which later became Denver.

His mother did the cooking for the roadhouse and kept a large garden to supply vegetables for the table. Charles helped his mother with her garden tasks. He had a great affection for his mother. As he grew older he learned to hunt and soon was bringing game in to the roadhouse to supply meat for the table.

At the age of 14, he decided to leave home and strike out for himself as a game hunter for the many mining camps in the area. The friction between he and his father added to the early departure. For most of the next 30 years he wandered around the tri-state area, meat hunting, gold panning, and exploring. He only worked for someone when he was in desperate need of money. Once he was working on an irrigation project and was very interested in the level and transit. When the project was finished, the water failed to flow as desired. The engineer left the project in a huff. The owner of the project was desperate, so when Anway suggested that he thought he could finish the project right, the owner hired him. He hand made his own instruments and soon had the water flowing as it should have the first time. After that he did local survey jobs. Later he surveyed his homestead in Haines, and when an engineer checked this survey for the patent, he found it to be perfect.

Charles H. Anway

News of gold in Alaska began to circulate through the country, so Anway and a friend decided to go. They departed in late June 1898 on the Topeka and arrived in Skagway on 2 July 1898. His friend was having second thoughts, as he missed his wife and child. He finally decided he could not go any further. He and Anway sold all of their packhorses, food, and mining equipment. His friend had enough money to return to his family in Colorado, while Anway who decided to stay, had no equipment and could not go to Dawson.

Charlie decided to go down to Pyramid Harbor, near Haines. There he met Jack Dalton, who offered Charlie a job taking a packtrain of horses to the Yukon River where the goods could be trans-shipped to Dawson. This was a great opportunity for Anway to see the country so he would have a better idea where he would like to prospect. As he passed through the Porcupine mining district, he was very impressed. After delivering the goods to a ship on the Yukon, Anway returned with the horses to Pyramid Harbor. He then returned to the Porcupine district and began prospecting. All the good sites on the lower river were already staked, so he went up to the headwaters of Porcupine Creek and staked a few claims. He then crossed over the mountain and explored Nugget Creek, staking out several more claims. These seemed to be his better claims, so he built a cabin on Nugget Creek as home base for all his claims.

During the winter months, he and other miners moved into Haines since they were unable to work their claims. Anway explored the country and eventually found a place he decided would make a good homestead. On Dec 17, 1901, he walked about a mile out of town to this area and staked out his homestead. He immediately began clearing land and getting logs for his cabin. In March, he once again loaded his Yukon Sled and began the long trip to Nugget Creek.

The Anway Cabin

That fall he received an offer for his claims on Nugget and Porcupine Creeks. He accepted the offer, so that he now had a grubsteak for the time needed to start his farm. He needed to clear more land and build his cabin. He decided to have a fruit farm and strawberries would be the main crop. In 1905, he decided to add apples and ordered apple trees that were hardy in North Dakota.

A big turning point in Charlie’s life occurred in April of 1913, when Henry Vermiere and his young family arrived to homestead near his place. Charlie took the children under his wing and helped them as they and the family grew. All of the children worked for Anway where they earned money for school clothes and other necessities. He always made sure they had toys for Christmas. Since he never married, this became his family and some of the children remained with or near him the rest of his life.

Strawberries were the first crop that Anway grew. He got his start from Jack Dalton’s garden at Porcupine. Dalton told him that he got the berry from a man named Dixon about twenty years before. This strawberry is without a rival in size or quality and it does well almost everywhere in the valley, as the climate and soil seem well suited for the plant. During the picking season, Anway would hire as many as 20 women and girls. Pickers were paid 5 cents per box, and they could often earn five dollars a day picking as many as 150 crates. The crates sold for $4.50 each so he was grossing about $720 per day. He continued this for about 25 years, shipping berries to Skagway, then north on the train, and also shipping to Juneau when ships were available. Haines became known as the Strawberry Capital of Alaska. In the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle, Anway won a certificate of honor for his "strawberries in glass."

Anway Fruit.

The apple orchard he started soon began to produce apples, but did not really produce large crops until he imported honeybees. They not only pollinated the apples, but supplied him with honey. He sold apples and apple cider. In the 1915 September Skagway Horticulture Fair, he won an award for "the exhibit of the first mature apple in Alaska." He certainly had the first commercial apple orchard in Alaska. Many of his trees lived long after he was gone, although the last ones appear to be dying (1998).

Strawberry farming is very intensive so by 1930 Charlie was looking for easier farming and settled on a sweet cherry orchard. For the next 25 years, Charlie supplied all the sweet cherries the community could consume. To my knowledge, this is the first and only sweet cherry orchard in Alaska. In the late 50’s the whole orchard died from a fungus.

Charlie did other farming as well. He raised milk goats, mink, and rabbits. He grew potatoes commercially. He tried raspberries. He continued to experiment to make a better product. He developed an early pink skinned potato which he called the Early Anway. He also did a lot of work trying to develop an early corn that could be raised here, although in this project he failed.

Anway was an excellent craftsman. He could make anything with his hands, and his building, furniture, and tools were always done with excellence. He was well liked by everyone and was said to have had no enemies. Some of his admirers have said "they don’t make them like that anymore."

Charlie became sick in December of 1949, and was air lifted to the hospital in Juneau where he died on 14 December 1949. He was interred in Juneau’s Evergreen Cemetery. His obituaries called him Alaska’s "Johnny Appleseed" and the "Strawberry King of Alaska". The community of Haines held an annual "Strawberry Festival" in his honor for many years.

Charlie Anway Cabin Preservation & Restoration Project
"Anway's log house, which he built himself, is one of the most picturesque homes in Haines." - Seattle Post Intelligence, September 3rd, 1946 In 1911, the Anway homestead became the first patented in the Chilkat Valley near Haines, Alaska. The restored Anway property will tell the pioneer story of early Haines, through the life of Charles Anway, a minor, surveyor, carpenter, farmer, and horticulturist. Cross cultivated with wild strawberries at his homestead, Charlie developed a berry that earned him the title "Alaska's Strawberry King."	Charles Anway's cabin in the early 1900s.
Cabin Renovation Charles Anway's cabin, constructed in 1903, is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The restoration of the cabin will create a rare opportunity to explore the material culture of the pioneer period in an original structure. Artifacts from Anway's homesteading life will be displayed in his home in a way that will engage people of all ages and backgrounds, and encourage active interest in the history of our community and state. Visitors will be able to view the simple, functional design of Anway's living space, the root cellar he dug into the bank at the back of his cabin with a door leading directly into his kitchen, and the ladder rising to his bedroom. Garden, Orchard, Trails, and Interpretive Signage Charles Anway developed a strawberry so large, red, and sweet that it was celebrated with Haine's annual Fourth of July Strawberry Festival, and Haines became known as the Strawberry Capital of Alaska. Charlie developed the first commercial apple orchard in Alaska, as well as the first commercial sweet cherry orchard. At the 1915 Southeastern Alaska State Fair, Anway won a prize for the first mature apple in Alaska. The gardens and orchard will be replanted with Anway strawberry plant and fruit trees. A trail system will be created and interpretive signage developed about the plants, produce and structures. Benches will be placed along the trails so that visitors can relax and enjoy the grounds. Anway's original woodshed, storage shed, and outhouse will be stabilized and restored as well, offering the visitor a comprehensive understanding of the outbuildings necessary to the homestead lifestyle. Telling the Story of Pioneer Farming Life in Haines Saving this historic building will allow the Chilkat Valley Historical Society to document and share the achievements and creativity of one of Haine's early settlers. The renovated Anway property will be available to educators to help them teach about the early history of Haines and of Alaska. It will also be available for tours during the summer tourist season. By telling the story of the early pioneer life in Haines, and of Charlie Anway in particular, this project plays a vital role in offering an experiential understanding of Alaska's History. Visitors to the site will learn about pioneer culture, values, and traditions, while acknowledging a great innovator of the past. UPDATE: July 21st, 2006 Thanks to the generosity of George and Gladys Meacock, Bob Henderson and many other folks, the Chilkat Valley Historical Society now fully owns Charles Anway’s cabin outbuildings and over an acre of Anway’s original homestead! Many dedicated folks have accomplished much during monthly summer work parties at “Anway’s Place”. Projects were completed around the house exterior. A strawberry patch was planted with Anway starts from Bob Henderson and Myrna Kornelis. Trees and brush were removed from around the house so it can “breathe” and “dry” in the sun. The remainder of the property is becoming more “park-like."

DONATIONS
Anway Cabin Restoration & Preservation

We invite you to become a partner in this exciting project.
Please take a moment to view this donor form.

Donations will be used in the restoration of the Charlie Anway Cabin, property and grounds.

$15-$20	Includes CVHS Membership
$21-$99	Includes Membership and Friend of Charlie Anway certificate
$100-$499	Includes membership, certificate and R.E. Henderson's book on Charlie Anway
$500-$999	Includes membership, certificate, book AND name on plaque on woodshed
$1,000-$4,999	Includes membership, certificate, book AND name in strawberry garden
$5,000-$9,999	Includes membership, certificate, book AND name on flagstone to cabin
$10,000-$24,999	Includes membership, certificate, book AND name on bench along trail
$25,000-$49,000	Includes membership, certificate, book AND name on bridge
$50,000+	Includes membership, certificate, book AND claim Charlies outhouse.

We accept checks, vista & mastercard.
Make checks payable to: Chilkat Valley Historical Society - the Anway Project

All Donations are Tax Deductible!

To Donate click here.

Bob Henderson
updated by Blythe Carter, 2006
(c) Sheldon Museum & Cultural Center, Inc. Box 269 Haines, AK 99827 1(907) 766-2366
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