Smoked and Dried

DerrickForePhotography has added a photo to the pool:

In it's day it was called Koggiung, but these days it's usually just referred to as The Graveyard. I know little about the history of this place, but the general consensus is that is was established by an Italian family (who's name I do not recall) sometime in the 1890's. The following is a VERY brief history I managed to scrounge from the internet.

History: Eskimo village listed by Ivan Petroff in the 1880 Census with a population of 29; 133 in 1890; and 533 in 1900. Its increase in population was due to the establishment of several canneries. The Koggiung post office operated from 1935 to 1946. Description: on E bank of Kvichak River at Graveyard Point, on Alaska Peninsula 9 mi. N of Naknek, Bristol Bay Low.

I do know that the primary operations/dock of the cannery caught fire sometime in the early 1960s, after which the town was abandoned, and has been ever since then, only coming to life for 5 weeks of the years, during the Summer solstice. A couple dozen 2 to 4 man crews of fishermen start to roll in about a week before the Summer solstice to set up their fishing operations in preparation for the red salmon run which occurs just after the solstice, lasting only for 2 to 3 weeks.

The crews essential tend to lay claim (not as owners, but as squatters) to a certain structure, or portion there of, which they return to each year. The 'cabin' that Craig and I camped in was the last of about 5 wooden water towers/tanks which was converted to a loft at some point in past years. It can be seen in the image-link below. It is the one farthest to the right (right of center), just behind the two raised tanks.

Here is an aerial photo of taken sometime in 1953.
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& here is a more contemporary aerial photo taken in 2009.
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