Bonner and Bess Cooley live at the heart of Teslin, Yukon. They may, in fact, be the heart of Teslin, Yukon.
A few years ago, we travelled through Yukon researching the book we would title, We Fought the Road, and in Teslin we met Bess and Bonner They helped us, taught us, and befriended us.
The following excerpts from a recent Christmas letter from the Cooleys conveys the flavor of life in Teslin.
“The garden was a disappointment. Around 300 pounds spuds and I was expecting 500. Carrots about 70 pounds. 50 pounds rhubarb.”
“For the last two months we have been out hunting whenever we had the time. No moose killed. Several families are skunked this year.”
“One hunter from British Columbia and his partner were calling on a river south of Teslin and was attacked by a sow grizzly with two cubs. She was quite old and very hungry. She took him down, but his partner was able to shoot her. He was badly bitten and bruised but alive.”
“It snowed here in early October… our first snow. Ground solid with temps around minus 20. We need lots of snow this year as the lakes and rivers were very low.”
The Cooley’s shared memories. They showed us the twisting and turning route of the original Alaska Highway through their village. They stood with us as we stared, enthralled, at the bridge that today spans Nisutlin Bay. A member of the Inland Tlingit First Nations, Bess explained the burial mounds in the peaceful cemetery on the shore of Teslin Lake.
And they directed us to two heart wrenching memorials along the highway near Teslin.
A few months ago, James Miller commented on one of my posts. “Somewhere along the Alaska Highway,” Mr. Miller noted, “a soldier died and was buried along the road and every time I drove by that grave, I always said to myself what a lonely place to be buried out in the middle of nowhere and all alone.”
He asked if we knew where that was. And, thanks to Bonner and Bess Cooley, we did.
For seventy-six years, the Historical Society in Teslin, Yukon has carefully maintained not one, but two memorial cairns along the Highway. One lies right along the Highway just east of Nisutlin Bay. That’s probably the one in Mr. Miller’s memory. And it memorializes Max Richardson of the 340th Engineers who died in a truck wreck at that spot.
The other lies further east, off the road on a two track near a small lake. Without Bonner and Bess’ help we would never have seen it.
This cairn memorializes William Whitfield of the 340th. A 340th Regiment morning report notes William’s death and the location. Soldiers Donna Blaser Bernhart interviewed for her book, Pioneer Road, told the rest of the story.
A young second lieutenant in the 340th decided his men needed training on cleaning a machine gun; took it upon himself to provide that training.
And accidentally shot Whitfield.