Lighthouse

STAN BISHOP—A TRUE SOURDOUGH

KEEPING THE LIGHT ON

Stan: My life has been a mixture of steps, you might say. One year I was doing this, the next year I was doing that. I’ve done almost everything in this country, I’ve logged, I’ve farmed, I was with the fisheries service. I was a cooperative weather observer on the Unuk River; I took care of the lighthouse up there. [A little clarification here: according to Louise Harrington, "the light at Burroughs Bay was not a lighthouse but a kerosene light with a small house that covered it. Stan would keep the light filled and lit...or try to. In the interview he talks about how difficult it was even to get to the light in the winter time. But he was not a "lighthouse keeper"--he merely kept the light filled. The light was located on the point between the mouths of the Unuk and Klahini Rivers."]

I was instrumental in getting that buoy put in there because we had a problem holding an anchor there in the winter time… I told the lighthouse superintendent what a problem we had holding an anchor there and he said, “How would you like a light, too?” And I said, “Well, it’d be handy. People could use the light to see where the buoy was when they came in.” So he installed a kerosene light there and I took care of that for eight years. I used to go out there in the wintertime and have problems getting back in. Sometimes when I went out to service the light, I never knew for sure if I was going to get back home. I always had a camp outfit and a skiff because the wind was so variable. When I went out it might be calm, blowing north wind, but before I could get the light filled and relit, it would pick up into a snarling north wind and you couldn’t get back in under any consideration.

They had a regular house built for my light. The light itself was an elaborate...I often regretted it wasn’t one of those saved to show what they looked like because people don’t realize now what an elaborate thing those kerosene lights were. It had a big Fresnell lens that was level with the flame. And the lens enlarged the flame…many times...it bounces one beam against the other...and level with the flame it was really hard to look at it, it was so bright.

Louise: It’s not there anymore, though.
Stan: No. I finally stopped taking care of it. I couldn’t handle it all. I discussed it with the Lighthouse Service and they said, “Well, we’ll put it out.” So they discontinued the light then.

* * * * * * * * *

1.Introduction	2 Early Years in California	3.Coming to Alaska- Yes Bay	4.Becoming a Disciple of Alaska	5.The Unuk River	6. Keeping the Light On	7.Homestead on the Eulachon River	8. Fur Trapping
9.Home for Thanksgiving	10.Placer Mine on the Unuk	11.Building a Road to Canada	12.Freighting on the Unuk	13.Ketchikan	14. Wartime Work-Ketchikan	15.Port Stewart & Ketchikan Pulp Company	16.Epilogue

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