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Chiseling garnets from the rock ledge |
The famous Garnet Ledge is located at the mouth of the Stikine River. Wrangell Garnet Sellers are renowned world wide. Orders come in from all over the world to fulfill special requests seeking local garnets. And who are these Garnet sellers? The Children of Wrangell, naturally! |
The ledge, which lies within a metamorphic layer of rock along the western flank of the Coast mountains, has been mined by amateurs and professionals for over a century. Wrangell Garnets are found in major gem collections around the globe.
Awareness of the garnet ledge's existence traces back to the early Klondike and Stikine River gold miners of the 1860's. In 1892, J.D. Dana published the earliest known scientific record of the crystals "Analysis of Garnet from Wrangell". In the early 1900's, the area drew the interest of the newly formed, all-woman Alaska Garnet Mining and Manufacturing Company (AGM+M) based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After successfully applying for patent, the company operated at the site, in Wrangell, and in Minneapolis, making and marketing garnet hat pin heads, watch fobs, and such "jewels" of the day.
Wrangell Sentinel newspaper, August 8, 1907: Corporation of Women - Perhaps the only Mining Organization in the World Composed of Women….The purpose of the Company is to mine the garnets of the ledge near the mouth of the Stikine River, … and cut and polish them at the manufacturing plant… The fact that this is the first corporation in the world composed entirely of women has been published in nearly every city in the U.S. We expect every woman in the U.S. to be interested (and what women is uninterested in gems and jewelry) in our project, and in seeing us succeed. It is our plan to create a demand for the exquisite Alaska garnet and to be able to command a better price than for other garnets. The motto of the company is Progress; Success.
Mining and manufacturing of the garnet products continued through 1936. Eventually ownership transferred to Mr. Fred G. Hanford. In 1962, Mr. Hanford deeded the garnet ledge to the Southeastern Alaska Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America "for only so long as the said grantee… shall use the land for Scouting purposes and shall permit the children of Wrangell to take garnets therefrom in reasonable quantities."
Children selling garnets to visitors |
Family traditions have evolved around annual garnet mining and selling. Overnight and day trips are made by families to chip the stones from the rock, or to chip small sections of rock and garnet together for selling to Wrangell visitors |
The US Forest Service maintains a public use rental cabin near by and the Wrangell Museum sells temporary permits for visitors to collect a few garnets themselves. If you are interested in purchasing a garnet, The Chamber of Commerce can put you in contact with the Wrangell children that actively sell them. For Cabin information and reservations, go on-line to the US Forest Service, Tongass National Forest website.
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