Fort Liscum

The site was chosen for its deep anchorage, a nearby mountain stream providing a continuous supply of fresh water, and a location, in Abercrombie's words, "just far enough from the head of Port Valdez to be beyond the influences of the whisky element to be found in frontier towns.

The completed installation numbered 37 buildings, including two-story quarters for officers and civilians, a hospital, a stable, and a bakery.

A U.S. War Department report described the facility as "well constructed" and easily supplied, but lamented the "unfortunate" location, where northern exposure and shadows cast by the overlooking mountains ensured that winter snow would not melt until June.

"The object of a company commander," wrote Wilson, "is to promote temperance, to make his men sober, and keep them in good physical and moral health.

In 1929, the land was claimed as a homestead by Andrew and Oma Belle Day, who renamed it Dayville, opening a cannery and a sawmill on the site.