Memorial Along the Bike Path Multi-cache

Visit the oldest cemetery in the Fairbanks area and pay your respects to the early pioneers who carved their living out of the hillsides and river valleys of Interior Alaska shortly after the beginning of the 20th century.

The Clay Street Cemetery was officially opened in 1903 and was unofficially closed in 1938 after nearing its capacity.  The cemetery was designated as a National Historic Site and placed on the National Historical Register in 1982.

Many of those buried here were foreigners who came to find their fortune in the gold fields of Alaska.  Instead, many died far from home working as pick and shovel laborers in drift and other mining operations.  Drift mines were especially dangerous because they required tunneling through frozen riverbed gravel at the bottom of shafts sunk to bedrock.  The miners would build a fire to melt the frozen gravel and once the coals cooled, they would enter the tunnels and muck out the gold containing gravel for later processing.  The tunnels sometimes collapsed, trapping the miners under tons of debris.

Pay your respects to these men who gave their all and helped shape Interior Alaska.  Then, determine the cache's location (within easy walking distance) by using information found at the cache page coordinates.

64 50.AB6  147 4C.DE.

A=Last digit of year Pete Jorgenson was buried here after dying near Goldstream Creek.
B=Number of miners buried here in 1913.
C=Last digit of year memorial was dedicated.
D=Number of miners killed in mining accidents along Cleary Creek in 1906.
E=Total number of miners killed in mining accidents in the Fairbanks area between 1905 and 1916 minus 31.

This is cache #12 of the Ladybug Kids' Bike Path Series. As with other Ladybug Kids' Bike Path series caches, don't forget to record the code word from the cache log sheet. You will need the code word to find the upcoming bonus mystery cache.

Please be respectful of the surroundings and other visitors who are here to pay their respects.