8 Shaanáx Tlein (Lemon) Archives

Two scales of geopdfs for Shaanáx Tlein watershed.

Shaanáx Tlein, big valley (Lemon Creek valley) & Eix‘gul’héen, warm springs creek (Switzer Creek)

Switzer Creek is tributary to the larger Lemon. Because Dzantiki’ Héeni Middle school sits on Switzer, we’ve treated this as a ‘subsidiary’ watershed in its own right. The majority of Discovery’s educational and research activity in greater Shaanáx Tlein has been in this smaller ‘subshed.’

Charley Switzer, a big-hearted philanthropist that historians remember as a “one-man Glory Hole,” was probably one Important White Guy who deserved to have something named after him. Preferably, though, a street or building, and not this little trout stream precious to the Leeneidí. Jake Cropley told Goldschmidt & Haas (1998):

“Just north of Lemon Creek there is a small creek called Eix’gulhéen. This was a very good stream, especially for a late run of dog salmon, but also for cohos. There were 3 or 4 smokehouses there belonging to the Auk people, but they were crowded out by the road. The fox ranchers have gone up there and fished out this creek. . . The Native people used to go up Lemon Creek to get goat and bear, and to trap mink, marten, wolverine and lynx.”

Although I love Shaanáx Tlein, it’s a little damp for even my mold-tolerant metabolism. Driving from The Valley to Downtown, it’s occurred to me that a clever entrepreneur could market a replacement sleeve for our windshield wiper levers. Instead of “low, medium, high,” it’d say: “Valley, Downtown, Lemon Creek.”

Trails and stream channels near Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School, on 2006 air photos, CBJ.

Stereopair for Shaanáx Tlein in 1926 can be viewed in 3D. North is to the left. Today’s roads are overlaid onto left-side image for reference.

Some of the tallest trees in Áak’w Aaní once grew on alluvial margins of the glacial river entering this scene from upper left—easy to appreciate under the stereoscope. More giant spruce grew on the toe of an alluvial fan that would become Switzer Village. Compare them to the relatively scrubby hemlock forest on Sunny Point, at bottom.