Fort Liscum (Valdez, Alaska)
Valdez · Alaska · Boxer Rebellion era
History & Significance
Fort Liscum was a United States Army post in the Alaska Territory on the south shore of Valdez Bay and operated from 1900 to 1922. In 1899, Captain William R. Abercrombie designated a site for a military reservation at Port Valdez, selecting 650 acres on the south side of the bay near Ludington's Landing.
The site was chosen for its deep anchorage, a nearby mountain stream providing fresh water, and a location away from frontier saloons. In May 1900, 100 soldiers arrived to establish the post and begin construction, completing 37 buildings including officer quarters, a hospital, stable, and bakery.
The fort served dual purposes: maintaining law and order in the gold-rush establishment and establishing a military road and telegraph line to the Alaskan interior. On September 6, 1900, the post was named Fort Liscum in honor of Colonel Emerson H. Liscum, who was killed leading his regiment at Tien Tsing in China on July 13, 1900.
Liscum had died in Tianjin while leading the U.S. Army's 9th Infantry Regiment as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance to suppress the Boxer Rebellion. On August 24, 1902, the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS) connected Fort Liscum with Fort Egbert.
In 1914, soldiers from Fort Liscum helped construct a dike around Valdez to prevent annual floods from the Valdez Glacier. Fort Liscum closed in 1922 with post-World War I reductions, and Valdez's population fell from 7,000 to below 500. In 1929, the land was homesteaded by Andrew and Oma Belle Day, who renamed it Dayville; the Trans-Alaska Pipeline marine terminal was later built on the site.
Key Facts
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Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Liscum
- https://www.valdezalaska.org/discover/history/fort-liscum/
- https://www.valdezmuseum.org/fort-liscum/
- https://www.valdezmuseum.org/exhibits/resources/short-history-of-valdez/
- https://lam.alaska.gov/sled/military-in-alaska/
- https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/Emerson_H._Liscum