Chronology of Field Work

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2005 - Fletcher, Pollack, Seibert and Woodward conduct a reconnaissance survey of the Thirty Mile section of the Yukon River between Lower Laberge at the north end of the Lake Laberge, and Carmacks. The trip was preceded by an over-flight of the river to pinpoint wreck sites.  

During the 235 km river trip, the team visited the remains of Casca at Lower Laberge, Evelyn lying derelict at Shipyard Island, and the huge and completely intact hull of Klondike lying awash and mid-channel. Additionally they made unsuccessful searches for La France and James Domville. All of this was accomplished out of two canoes and a kayak.

Casca and Evelyn were mapped with baseline surveys, and two small gold dredges were documented. A file report prepared for the Yukon Government and three sites are registered with the Archaeological Survey of Canada.

2006 - Pollack accompanies historian-author Robert Turner and ship restorer Ken Butler to Whitehorse and Dawson City in early June. They visit the largely intact hull of Gleaner at Carcross, the fragmentary remains of Clara Monarch in Whitehorse, and the amazingly complex "boneyard" at West Dawson where the remains of seven large stern-wheelers lie closely packed and derelict on shore.    

2007 - INA formally supports the project as INA-124. Two field projects (e.g. phases) are run back-to-back for the first time. In Phase One, Sam Koepnick (TAMU-NAP) joins Pollack, Doug Davidge, Doug Devine, and Carlos Velazquez on a LIDAR survey of Evelyn at Shipyard Island. In Phase Two, Koepnick, Pollack and Woodward begin documentation of the seven vessels at West Dawson with Archaeology magazine writer Tom Koppel. The stern-wheelers at West Dawson are identified as Julia B., Seattle No. 3, Schwatka, Mary F. Graff, Victorian, composite-hulled Tyrell, and an unidentified vessel.

A file report is prepared for the Yukon Government and seven sites are registered with the Archaeological Survey of Canada. 

2008 - Chris Atkinson (TAMU-NAP), Doug Davidge, Tim Dowd (Yukon Government), Pollack and Woodward search the Thirty Mile Section of the Yukon River in early June at low water. The water is low and clear, and conditions are ideal. The machinery and engines of a small, unidentified stern-wheeler are located immediately north of Lower Laberge. Further down the river,  the lower portion of the hull of James Domville is found in swift water, and we can drift over the wreckage in dry suits despite the swift current. The following day large metal debris are found from La France. Neither of these  two vessels are judged suitable for detailed work due to the current.  

When the confluence of the Teslin and Yukon Rivers is reached at Shipyard Island, we found the Teslin in flood, and a planned total station survey of Klondike is abandoned. Likewise a search for the wreck of Columbian is more difficult due to the high, muddy water. Divers cannot be put into the water due to zero visibility. Nonetheless, some wreckage is located on shore and the general search area for Columbian is narrowed to within a kilometre of river. Subsequently a historic river chart indicating the location of Columbian, is found at the Library of Congress.

With the river trip cut short due to the flood conditions north of the Teslin, Atkinson, Pollack, and Woodward visit West Dawson, and document four tiller-and-rudder systems on the site.

The surprise find of the trip is a small sonar target made during the first day at the northern end of Lake Laberge. Doug Davidge returns to this target with a drop camera and later a ROV, and confirms this target is the wreck of A.J. Goddard, lying in 9 m of water.     

A third file report prepared for the Yukon Government and four additional sites are registered with the Archaeological Survey of Canada. 

2009 - Over the winter of 2008/09, Pollack initiates a project to document the hull of the heritage vessel Moyie in Kaslo, B.C.  This vessel is a sister-ship of Tyrell (lying at West Dawson), and it is an intact example of a composite-hulled stern wheeler. In June, exploration of A.J. Goddard begins as the Phase One project, 24 hours after the ice has broken up on northern Lake Laberge. Doug Davidge, Jim Delgado, Tim Dowd (Yukon Government), John Pollack, Donnie Reid, and Lindsey Thomas (TAMU-NAP) make 28 dives on the site in 3 days. Reid makes a photo inventory of the vessel and its artefacts, while Pollack and Thomas conduct a baseline survey of the site. The wreck is the most significant find in the Yukon of a Gold Rush vessel due to its excellent state of preservation, untouched condition, and the presence of artefacts associated with the day-to-day operation of a small, self-sufficient vessel.

The wreck of Vidette is located nearby, and an initial  total station survey of the main wreck is prepared. The site has been "smeared" by ice across the landscape, and major portions of the wreck have been moved hundreds of meters from their original location.

Phase Two involves a return to West Dawson, Peter Helland, Pollack, Thomas, Woodward and Peter Helland where Seattle No. 3 is documented in plan view and with cross-sections. The vessel contains up to six longitudinal bulkheads (or girders), a centerline keelson, and heavy bilge keelsons. It is atypical vessel given the strength of construction and evidence it was equipped to carry cargo below the main deck. Substantial material culture and ship's spares were found in the hold, including spare rudders, iron circles for the paddle wheel, staves and hoops for large casks, and related material.

2010 - In the fall of 2009 Lindsey Thomas selects A.J. Goddard as her MA thesis topic. With the help of Pollack and Delgado, she assembles a large team to evaluate the vessel. In an eight day period in June, eighteen people camp on the northeastern shore of Lake Laberge. There are three priorities - 3D sonar mapping of the vessel by a BlueView Technologies/Oceangate team, mapping and retrieval of artifacts from the wreck site, and further, measurement of the ship and her machinery. More than 130 dives are accomplished in eight days, and the 3D scan is successfully conducted by Blueview. Twenty-eight artifacts are recovered for conservation, including the steam whistle, gauges, tools, boots and clothing, tools, and a record player with three records. PROMARE, Speigel-TV, and the Government of Yukon are the three main sponsors of the project.  

In August 2010 Pollack and Woodward return to the Yukon with historian Robert Turner, Donnie Reid, and INA Director Jason Sturgis. They collect information in the bow of Evelyn on Shipyard Island and prepare a total station map of the wreck of the super sternwheeler, Klondike 1. The main deck of this latter vessel was dry due to abnormally low water in the Yukon River. Low water also contributed to the discovery of the famous Columbian accident. Three tons of blasting powder exploded on the bow of this vessel in 1906 to the southeast of Carmacks. INA teams had spent three years searching for this vessel before Jason Sturgis pinpointed the hull.

Immediately after the Columbian discovery, Pollack and Woodward took graduate students Nadine Kopp and Chris Cartellone to the "boneyard" at West Dawson where they documented the hulk of the stern wheel steamboat Julia B. This heavily constructed, high-tonnage vessel was originally constructed in Ballard, Washington, and operated on the lower Yukon between 1908 and 1923.