William Henry Bay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Henry Bay
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Bay
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 William Henry Bay
Location in Alaska
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| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Borough | Haines Borough |
| Time zone | UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-8 (AKDT) |
William Henry Bay is a beautiful waterway located in the state of Alaska, United States. It is found near Haines in the Alexander Archipelago, a group of islands. For a long time, this bay was known for having the only commercial copper deposit in Southeast Alaska, north of Prince of Wales Island. In 2011, surveys even found important amounts of gold and other special minerals here.
Where is William Henry Bay?
This bay is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Juneau, Alaska's capital city. It sits on the western side of the Lynn Canal, which is a long, narrow body of water. The bay itself is about 0.75 miles (1.2 kilometers) long and about 4 cables (about 0.46 miles or 0.74 kilometers) wide.
The Beardslee River flows into the bay, creating a few small waterfalls along the way. About 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) northwest of William Henry Bay, you'll find the Endicott River. This river flows from the west through a deep, narrow canyon in the mountains.
A Look at the Bay's Past
After the United States bought Alaska in 1867, people started exploring the area. In 1869, Navy Commander Richard Worsam Meade was the first to try and find a good way to transport timber from Lynn Canal to Haines through William Henry Bay. He named the bay after the Hudson Bay traders.
Later, in 1880, Navy Commander Lester A. Beardslee visited the bay. He bought firewood that had been cut and stacked there. Detailed maps of the water and surrounding land were made during this time. Farmers also came to the bay area and successfully grew crops like strawberries and rutabagas. For a while, until the late 1950s, telephone cables for the Alaska Communications System ran through here, but they are not on modern maps.
Mining History in the Bay
People discovered copper in the area, about 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) south-southwest of the bay's head. This led to the creation of the Alaska Endicott Mining and Milling Company, which began mining copper. In 1921, they also started looking for gold. However, the copper mining wasn't making enough money, so the mines closed, and the gold search stopped too.
In the 1950s, the U.S. Government encouraged people to look for uranium in the area. This period was even called the "uranium rush." It started because airborne surveys showed radiation about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) northwest of the bay, high up at about 1,800 feet (549 meters). Companies like Noranda Exploration, Inc. and Nippon Mining drilled into the ground in the 1950s. But they couldn't find enough uranium to make it worth mining.
Later, in 1985, a person named Dale Henkins tried to find uranium again with his "Lucky Six uranium prospect" claims, but it also wasn't profitable. More recently, in 2011, geologists from the state of Alaska searched for gold and other important minerals. They reported finding gold and other special minerals, including rare earth elements, in William Henry Bay.
