Katmai
Tourism in Katmai Country
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CHAPTER 3:
NORTHERN CONSOLIDATED
CONCESSION OPERATIONS
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Fig 10. Coville Camp was founded on a
neck of land between Coville Lake and Grosvenor Lake. Gilbert M.
Grosvenor, longtime editor of National Geographic Magazine,
visited the camp in June 1954; in commemoration of that visit, Ray
Petersen changed its name to Grosvenor Camp. This photo, looking north
from the south side of the intervening stream, was taken sometime before
1957. (Wien Collection, AMHA)
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Fig 11. This photo, taken in July 1954,
shows part of old Brooks Camp. Looking flooking south from the present
trading post, it shows three tent cabins on the right and the camp's
cookhouse in the left rear. Most of the early Katmai tent cabins were 9
feet square, but there were also a few larger tents, 16 feet on each
side. (Ward Wells Collection, AMHA)
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Fig 12. Anglers casting their line at
Brooks Falls in 1954. Note the fish ladder on the left, which was
constructed by the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service in 1948-50. The contour of the stream bank has changed
markedly in the intervening years. (Ward Wells Collection, AMHA)
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Fig 13. One reason Brooks Camp fishing
has remained excellent over the years is because Ray Petersen, back in
1950, insisted that the Brooks River be limited to fly fishing. Anglers
were able to fish close to the falls in the 1950s and 1960s; regulations
have since been imposed requiring them to stay farther
downstream. (Ward Wells Collection, AMHA)
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Fig 14. Ace Williams, a publicist for
Pan American World Airways, photographed the cook in the midst of
breakfast preparations during the early 1950s. The 16' x 32' tent-frame
cookhouse remained the center of camp activities until Brooks Lodge was
completed in 1961. (Katmailand Collection)
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Fig 15. Breakfast at the Brooks Camp
cookhouse, 1954. Fishermen in the early days enjoyed a clublike
atmosphere while visiting the camps. Diners included camp superintendent
John Walatka, second from right. (Ward Wells Collection, AMHA)
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Fig 16. The original Brooks Camp gift
shop was limited to a corner of one of the 9' x 9' cabins. It sold just
the essentials: cigarettes, fishing flies, and souvenirs. Native
handicraft items comprised only a minor part of what was sold.
(Ward Wells Collection, AMHA)
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Fig 17. Brooks Camp received many
well-known guests over the years. Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, who
ran for the U.S. presidency in 1952 and 1956, visited the camp in July
1954. He is shown here in the cookhouse signing the guest
register. (Ward Wells Collection, AMHA)
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Fig 18. John Walatka, longtime Katmai
camp superintendent, is shown here at Nonvianuk Camp cleaning his catch
of rainbow trout. (Ward Wells Collection, AMHA)
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Fig 19. When visitors vacationed at the
NCA camps, they sometimes flew out to remote sites in order to fish or
go sightseeing. This photo, taken in 1954, shows a Native fish camp,
probably along the Alagnak (Branch) River downstream from Nonvianuk
Camp. (Ward Wells Collection, AMHA)
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katm/tourism/chap3a.htm
Last Updated: 13-Oct-2004
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