During territorial days, US Federal Marshals in Alaska made regular trips South, first delivering prisoners to McNeil Island Prison in Washington, then taking patients to Morningside Hospital. Warren Gohl is part of a group attempting to locate the graves of Alaska Natives who died while serving sentences at McNeil Island. Please leave a comment if you have any information or ideas for Warren
From Warren Gohl
I act in collaboration with the 13th Heritage Foundation which represents the 12 Alaskan Native Corporations in the lower 48 States and Hawaii. The foundation has initiated a project: ”The Search”. This project has as its sole purpose the discovery of the grave sites of 22 Alaskan Natives sent to the Federal prison at McNeil Island, Pierce County, Washington between 1872 and 1951 (dates approximate), where they passed away while serving their Federal prison sentences. Their passing at McNeil Island prison has been confirmed through record reserarch at the National Archives, Sand Point, Seattle in 2011. However, their McNeil Island gravesite locations remain unknown in spite of considerable inquiry to agencies of the State of Washington who assumed control of the former Federal prison and co-located properties on McNeil Island following closure of the Federal prison in 1981. The 13th Heritage Foundation seeks the physical location of the Alaskan Native grave sites in question so as to begin closure to the Alaskan Native families who lost track of their loved ones upon their incarceration under Federal custody and subsequent demise. Any guidance, assistance, advice, etc. you may provide is of great importance, no matter how seemingly insignificant.
4 Comments
To my knowledge Native Alaskans were buried with other prisoners in the prisoner cemetery on McNeil. There are #115 numbered prisoner graves in the cemetery but the records as to whose remains they may contain have all been lost, as they were from the early BOP years, prior to DOC and DSHS proprietorial leasing of McNeil. Active searching is on going for any records or artifacts of all unknown prisoner burials, Native Alaskan or otherwise.
Thank you for information. Last week I received first report that one Native Alaskan, a James Fadaoff, was buried in the prisoner cemetery. Oddly, he does not appear on offical record as admitted to USP, McNeil. I am providing the entire list of decendents for grave marker matchup to the orginator of the above reoprt. There are past reports Alaskan Native prisoner remains on McNeil disinterred and placed in containers at a utitlity/tool shed by the apple orchard when the golf course was built. Attempts to access this building to verify not conclusive. I don’t know if the active searches going as you mentioned are others than the one I participate in. For this “Search” project I represent the 13th Heritage Foundation for Alaskan Natives, Seattle. The “Search” is to help Alaskan Native families learned the fate of loved ones lost track of at McNeil. Any help, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated.
If anyone would like me to search my databank for information on Alaskans who died outside the state while in hospitals or prisons, please send me what info you have and I will check my records. I have genealogical data on about 260,000 individuals either of Aleut or Alutiiq descent or who are related to these individuals by marriage or adoption.
For instance, this may connect to Warren Gohl’s posting: James O. FADAOFF, born 21 Jan 1933 Woody Is., AK and died 24 Apr 1969 in Pierce Co., WA. More details available.
I do a lot of genealogical research on Alaska Native families. Is the list available of those who were sent to McNeil Island? Thank you.