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Family Sheet

HUSBAND

         Name: Joseph P. Ibach Note
         Born: 27 Dec 1879 at North Evans, , Erie County, NY
      Married: 1908 at Cordova, , , AK
         Died: 12 Jun 1960 at Lemesurier Island, , , AK
       Father: Charles (isadore) L. Ibach
       Mother: Mary E. Yenten

WIFE

         Name: Caroline Shirley Sharpe Note
         Born: 5 Mar 1885 at Guelph, , Ontario, Canada
         Died: 21 May 1959 at Lemesurier Island, , , AK

CHILDREN


NOTES
1). Joe was a pioneer in the Glacier Bay area of Alas k a . H e w orked as aminer, raised fox for fur, a huntin g g ui de, a n d a person who helped trackthe Salmon indust ry . H e ha d a m ine near Reid Glacier named the Inca I.T h e stor y of h is min ingadventures are in the Sierra Cl u b book ab outGlac ier Bay . He and his wife lived in a h u t at Reid G lacier t hat stil lstands. They also lived f o r a time on L emesurie r Island a t the entranceof Glaci e r Bay where the y are bot h buried i n the garden of th e ho use thatJoe buil t. He an d his wife n ever had any c hildr en. One time, Jo e camedow n with appendic itis. Mu z stoo d on the shore of t he islan d waving herlante rn un til a b oat saw it and cam e and rescu ed Joe. They ma d e a pacttha t one would not liv e without th e other. Mu z die d first . Joe Ibachwrote hi s will on a br own pape r sack an d sho t himself. I receive d thisinteresti ng co rrespondenc e fr om a person who had ac tually been to t he mine Thanks for the e mail. It s great to get some more in f o r m ation aboutthe Ibachs, especially from someone rela t e d t o t he Ibachs. This past summer, we had time to paddle over to the Ib a c h s cabin nearReid Glacier and took a look around. W e f o u n d a rhubarb plant thathadreportedly been plante d by M u z I ba ch. It was raining heavily at thetime, s o I didn t g et a n y pictures......The summer I took th e picture of th e min e en trance, my sister climbed up t o the entranc e an d too k a loo kfrom outside the large ga te that curren tly b lock s the entr ance. I had anopportun ity to do the s ame th ing t his past su mmer. While it i s difficultto se e very fa r int o the mine, w e could se e a mine cart a sho rt distanc eint o the mine. Ther e wa s also an old unopene d tin of but ter t hat weguessed h a d been left by the Ibac hs. The entra nce i s difficult t o spo t ifyou don t know w here to look , and ev en if yo u do find i t, it isn t verye asy to approa ch the en tranc e. I think it i s unlikely tha t very manypeo ple have a ct ually walked up t o it since th e Ibachs left . I have hea r d, however, that som e employee s of the park h ave gon e insid e. I think mostvisit ors t o Glacier Bay neve r kno w the min e exists. The cabin, h ow ever,is usually poi nte d out to pas sengers on the cruis e s hips and tour boats t hat bring touri sts into the park. When we were camped at Ptarmigan Creek, we saw what ap p e a r ed to be theremnants of a road that some people sa i d w a s bu ilt by Joe Ibach. Therewere also some metal ra il s i n t he gr avel near the shore that were said tohav e bee n le ft b y a mining company with which Joe Ibach wa s nota ssoci ated. Rex Beach, an author of some merit at the beginni n g o f t h e 20th Centurywrote several books about Alask a an d of te n me ntioned Joe Ibach. He isalmost legendar y in bo th ou r f amil y and in Alaska. From the Glacier Bay Official National Park Handbook The 1930 s mining flap unwittingly centered about a n i n d e fatigableprospector named Joe Ibach. He put asho r e a t Pt ar migan Creek, northwestof Reid Glacier, in th e e arl y summ e r of 1925. Nearby Ibach hitgold bearing ve in s an d stake d t hemregistering them later that summer Mon arc h 1, Monar ch 2 , Inca . So began a three decade as soci atio n withRei d Inle t for Joe and his wife, Muz, jus t as , on t he other s ide o f thecontinent, the fight fo r estab lishin g the monume nt wa s justgrindingtoward res olution. The Ibachs gold operations, in association first wi t h C a p t. tom Smithand later with novelist Rex Beach, ne ve r am ou nt ed to anything. Oneseanson s yield was enoug h t o cove r t h e smelting work in Juneau, but notthe frei ght , for wh ic h th esmelter billed Ibach and Smith! Th e nex t yearwa s mor e pro fitable. After all was said an d done , Joe and M uz net ted $1 3and Smith netted $13. A t that , the latter t hrew i n his pi ck and sledge.Beach n ever re alized anythin g from m ining her e. The cabin that still stands at the entrance Reid In l e t w a s built by theIbachs about 1940 and Muz soon pu t i n t he v eg etable garden with dirthauled in ore sack s fro m Lem esuri e r Island. Three spruces are alsoimport s, wer e plan ted th er e far ahead of their ecological tim e, sinc e theRe id Glac ie r was then less than 5 kilometer s 3 mil es away . Captai nSm ith recounts that Joe and Mu z had agr eed tha t if one o f th e couple diedwhile they w ere in th e wilds t ogether, th e oth er would die right aw ay. Ithin k I woul d feel the sam e way, Smith reflected , if I ha d lived ou tthere all tha t time w ith a wife. The Ibachs last yea r together at Rei dInlet wa s 1956 . Muz died i n Juneau s St . Ann s Hospital i n 1959. J oedied in 1960 , still plannin g to visit Reid Inl et. The m o rning after planning his ret urn, Joe shot himsel f. A t the b ottom o f his will,writte n on brown wrapping pa pe r, Joe ha d adde d Theres a tim e to liveand a time to d i e. This i s th etime. Joe Ibac h shot himself. I have a letter dated 1 June, 1959 in my possesion f r o m J o e Ibach Dear Shirley and Jack, Muz is resting beneath the Cott o n w o ods in frontof the house where she wished to be. Lovingly as ever, Joe Additional Information John, Here s a record of some of Joe Ibach s prospect i n g f i nds in Alaska. Cuz n Art RECORD FOR MF080 ARDF no. MF080 Site Unnamed near Ic e b e r g Point, Lemesurier Island District Chichagof Com mo di ti es , main Cu, Mo Quad 250 MF Quad 63360 B 1 Lat itu de 58 .26 3 Longitude 136.076 Location The occurren ce i s a lmos t a tsea level on Iceberg Point, south of Ja cks C ov e and w es t of Willoughby Cove on the south centr al coa stl ine of L eme surier Island. The site is locatio n numbe r 6 2 of Cobb 1972 . It is accurately located wi thin 0.1 5 mi le. Commodit ies , other Ore minerals Borni te, chalc opyri te, molybdeni te G angue minerals Calcite , epidote , garnet , paligorskite , qua rtz Site type Pros pect Sit e status I nactive Product ion N o Deposit model Dista l tactite, sus pected intrusio n not ex posed. Geol ogic des cription The o ccurrence is i n limeston e of Pal eozoic ag e which, elsewhe re on Lemesurie r Island, i s cu t by grani tic intrusions. T he mineral suit e reporte d a t the locali ty quartz, garnet , epidote, pyrox ene, c alcite , molybden ite, chalcopyrite , and bornite Smi th , 1942, p . 177 i s a tactite suite , probably relate d t o a nearby int rusio n. An unusual asbe stos like miner al, pa ligorskite, cal le d mountain leather , formed as re placemen t of limestone n e ar copper molybden um bearing v ein occurre nces. Paligors kit e masses reported ly were mi ned by Joe Iba ch. The sit e is ab out three quart ers o f a mile east northe ast of th e Whitne y claims MF079 a nother occurrence of co pper mo lybdenum mi neralson t h e island. Workings explorati on S urface exposur es of c opp er and molybdenum minerals we r e explored by trenc he s an d cuts dug by long time southea s t Alaska prospecto r J oe I bach, who occasionally lived o n t he island. Th e occurre nc ewas first reported by Buddi ngto n 1926 . I t was also l i sted by Buddington and Chapi n 192 9 and b riefly describ e d by Smith 1942, p. 177 . Host roc k LI MESTONE Host roc k a ge SIL Assoc ign rock Ign rock a ge Additional comme nts Theprospect is i n a carbonate t e rrane of Paleozoi c age . The prospect i s in Tongass Nat iona l Forest and app ears t o be open fo r mineral locatio n. Clai m activity is u nknown . Reference s Buddington, 1 926 Buddi ngton and Chap in, 1929 Smith ,1942 Cobb, 19 72 MF 436 Cobb, 1978. R eporter s C. C. Hawley Hawl ey Resource Gr oup Last repo rt date 04 1 4 99 MRDS no. A013193 Age Cre taceous or yo unger. Stat e AK Reporte r affiliation Deposi t model numb er Altera tion Develo pment of tactite in lime stone. Prod uction no tes Pr oduc tion of paligorskite, proba bly as min eral spe cimen s b y Ibach. Reserves Lat DMS 58 1 5 48N Lon g DMS 136 04 37 W Primary reference Buddington , 1926 Sm ith , 1942 Medical Joe killed himself after handwritin g a w i l l o n a brown paper bag. He had made a pact wit h his w i f e tha t if one died, the other would soon follo w.
2).  Muz Ibach was the person my Aunt Shirley Ibach was n a m e d a fter. Muz asshe was called was a true pioneer wom a n .  S he a dded a feminine touch tothe wilderness.  Sh e lo ve d t o garde n and planted flowers wherever theyresi ded .  I n fac t, Joe and Muz are buried in the flower gar de n onLem esuie r Island.  One time Joe was sick with appendicitis while the y w e r e o n the Island.Muz comforted him as best she coul d a n d st oo d out on the waters edge witha lantern to hop eful l y fla g do wn a passing boat or airplane. Fortunatel y,a b oa t di d see h erand came to Joe  s rescue. Joe an d Muz we rei nsepa rable .  Muz proceeded Joe in death an d he coul d no t liv e a yearw ithout her.  They never ha d children , but h ad man y, many fr iends.  Her obituary reads  Renown Muz Ibach Dies At St. Ann  s  Was Early Pioneer  Mrs. Joe Ibach,  Muz  Ibach to her many, many friend s , d i e d this morningat 5 30 in St. Ann  s Hospital.  Brought to Juneau last night, with her husband, by De a n G o o dwin, on herlast trip from her beloved Lemesuie r Is lan d , sh e was unconscious when sheentered the hospi tal .  Mu z h ad be en ill for about two weeks. Pneumoniafo llow ed inf luen za and a week ago Dr. C. C. Carter flew o ut t o the is landb ut Mu z was too ill to make the Junea u trip.  Pioneers of Alaska, the Ibachs weree married in Cor d o v a i n 1908, moved toMiddleton Island where they wer e f o x ra nchi ng until 1920 when they cameto southeast Al ask a t o bui l d a home in the wilderness of Lemesuier.  There they mined, raised foxes, built their lovely h o m e a n d a tiny, gayMuz had a garden made famous by th e no ta bl e vi sitors who learned to lovethe Ibachs throug h th e ye ars.  Their guests have included many famous people.  Rex B e a c h v isited themmany times.  John and Dolores Barrymo r e ab oa rd t heir yacht Polarisanchored in the harbor a t th e Iba ch   s fo r long visits on four trips toAlaska .  Othe r visit or s who became close friends were Joe Lip pincott, Eastma n Dry den, Eba n Cord and Ben  Bet a Millio n  Smith.  All of the local hunters, fishermen and yachtsmen wer e w e l c omed at theIbachs   and included the 1930s Dr. Wal te r Co un ci l, Lisle Hebert, JackGucker, Sim MacKinnon, R o d Darne ll , Di ck William, the Jack Burford, allof the l oc al flyer s      and of course, Don Galleghar of the For est er.Galleg ha r took o ver their large home at Lemesuie r las t fall an d si ncethen M uz and Joe have been livin g in th e guest hou se.  There will be Catholic service for Mrs. Ibach, born Ca r o l y n ShirleySharpe, in Guelph, Ontario, March 5, 188 5 , a t 8  3 0 Saturday morning. Muzwill be buried in her g ar de n at Le me suier Monday and Father Raymond W.Mozey wi l l con duct fin a l rites.  Friends who wish may call at the Carter Chapel Friday b e t w e en 7 and 9p.m. Her friends were many     she nev e r l e t a bi rthday or holiday go bywithout a greeting fr o m Mu z a nd Joe.  While he is in Juneau Mr. Ibach is guest at the ho m e o f M r . and Mrs.Wallis George.

						

						

				
					
			

			

				
	

	

	

	

		


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