Biederman's Cabin

Ed Beiderman Fish Camp
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Left bank of Yukon River, about 56 miles (90 km) northwest of Eagle
Nearest city	Eagle, Alaska
Coordinates	65.37623°N 142.53836°W / 65.37623; -142.53836
Area	1.3 acres (0.53 ha)
Built	1916 (1916)
Built by	Ed Biederman
MPS	Yukon River Lifeways TR
NRHP reference No.	87001204[1]
Added to NRHP	July 20, 1987

Biederman's Cabin, also known as Biederman's Fish Camp, is a privately owned cabin on the Yukon River in Alaska. Located within the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, it is maintained as a historic site representing the subsistence lifestyle employed by Interior Alaska residents during the early years of the 20th century and is one of the few structures within the preserve.^[2]

Construction

The cabin was built in 1916 by Max Adolphus "Ed" Biederman for his family. Biederman was an immigrant to the United States from Bohemia, and was attracted to Alaska in 1899 by the Nome Gold Rush. After failing to strike it rich, Biederman became a sled dog driver instead. In 1912, he began running the Eagle to Circle mail route along the Yukon River. In 1916, he constructed the 31 feet (9 m)-long log cabin and roofed it with sod. That year, his first daughter, Nellie Biederman, was born in the building.

Between 1916 and 1938, the Biederman family used the cabin as their summer residence after spending winters in Eagle while Ed ran his dog team and used the cabin as a waypoint between the two locations. Because other winter travelers needed a place to stay during the winter, Biederman constructed a small bunk house away from the cabin. To provide food for the many dogs Biederman owned as a result of the mail route, the family used the cabin as a fish camp and installed two fish wheels to catch salmon swimming upstream during the spawning season. Other additions were made to the cabin, including a tin roof to replace the sod and an Arctic entry. In 1938, the dog sled mail route was discontinued, and in 1945, Ed Biederman died.

Use as shelter

After Biederman's death, the cabin fell into relative disuse by the family, though winter travelers continued to seek shelter in it. In 1984, the Yukon Quest, a 1,000-mile sled dog race between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, chose the cabin as an official rest area along the trail. Though the cabin's official status has been superseded by nearby Slaven's Cabin, which is run by the National Park Service, it continues to serve as an informal hospitality stop for competitors in the race.

A nearby wildfire threatened the cabin in 2007, and the National Park Service installed temporary sprinklers at the site as a preventative measure.^[3]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska

Notes

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. National Park Service. "Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve: Historic sites", NPS.gov. August 8, 2006. Accessed March 11, 2009.
3. Fire and Aviation Management. "Biederman Bluff-ref#421,DM67", National Park Service. July 26, 2007. Accessed March 17, 2009.

References

• Balzar, John. Yukon Alone: The World's Toughest Adventure Race. Henry Holt and Co, January 2000. pp. 169–170.
• Historic American Buildings Survey. "Ed Biederman Fish Camp" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
• Killick, Adam. Racing the White Silence: On the Trail of the Yukon Quest. Penguin Global, May 2005. pp. 225–226