Editing Pelican, Alaska (section)

====Location and pilings====

Raatikainen went to his friend Hjalmar Mork and told him what he was looking for. On August 2, 1938, Hjalmar took him to a place up the inlet near his mine and suggested the location.<ref name=Carson/> Raatikainen found a harbor with deep water, land, and a large lake with a waterfall. Located between [[Juneau, Alaska|Juneau]] and Sitka, the site had everything he was looking for.

Raatikainen organized a corporation and brought in a crew to start the building. On September 26, 1938, his boat the ''Pelican'' brought in [[Bob DeArmond]] as timekeeper and storekeeper, Eli Rapich as cook's helper, and another cook known as Slim.<ref name=Carson/> Others may have been Don White and Gust Savela. A. P. "Coho" Walder and his wife Martha arrived with their troller<ref name=Carson/> and Raatikainen had one or two others with him when he brought in his fish scows. One scow was put on the beach and became the mess house with worker quarters in the upper section. The other scow was anchored out and connected to the beach by a floating walkway. It served as a warehouse as well as living quarters for workers. The town site became known as Pelican City. Why is not known, but probably not to confuse it with Raatikainen's boat the ''Pelican''.

Joe and Jim Paddock came with their pile-driving equipment. They used their donkey engine on the pile driver to clear timber from the cold storage site. Hjalmer Mork and Jack Ronning moved their air compressor and jackhammers up from their mine to clear rock from the cold storage site.