Maternity ward? A cabin in Eagle Alaska—in January. Obstetrician and nurse? A young husband. New mother? The kind of woman who becomes an Alaskan. If the history of the subarctic north fascinates you, people who choose to live there especially fascinate you. The weather, the terrain, the geology, all downright hostile, draw utterly unique people …
Category Archives: Homesteading the North Country
A 20 Something Girl
A 20 something girl from Seattle transplanted to a part of Alaska so remote that even today it doesn’t have a zip code, learned to survive, to cope with deep snow and temperatures as low as 40 or 50 below, to work a mine, to raise and train and drive sled dogs. Picture a one …
A Hard Good Life
A hard life can be a good life. Many of us today have lost touch with that fact. The Mennonites who came to Manitoba, Canada at the turn of the century came for better lives. They didn’t expect easy ones. Three generations on, in 1921, one austere, deeply religious, family welcomed baby Linda to the …
Olive A. Frederickson
Olive Frederickson, as incredible a woman who ever lived, came to my attention through this blog. I posted about the unique individuals who choose to live in the most remote parts of the Subarctic, and I got a comment telling me about Olive—and her book, The Silence of the North. In the summer of 1910, …
Free Land
Free land has drawn people from the lower 48 to Alaska throughout the twentieth century. Free land or no, most of those people turned around and headed back home after the first winter. The ones who stayed became Alaskans. Alaskans A few months ago, one of those Alaskans, Shirley Balinski, commented on one of my …
Rika Wallen’s Iconic Roadhouse
Rika followed her brother, Carl, to the United States from Sweden, lived for a time on his farm in Minnesota then moved on to San Francisco where she cooked for the fabulously wealthy Hills Brothers Coffee family. She came to San Francisco as Erica, but an affectionate estate staff shortened her name to Rika. The …
Twenty-something Mary, the Legend Continues
Twenty-something Mary moved to Alaska and never looked back. That doesn’t mean everything went smoothly. Legendary Alaskan, Mary Hanson In the early 1930’s Mary got pregnant; had a miscarriage; took herself to Nenana for medical treatment. Not by any means the Mayo clinic, whatever medical facilities Nenana had to offer did the trick. Twenty-something Mary …
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Legendary Alaskan, Mary Hanson
The legendary lady entered the world in Italy; came, at age four, with her parents to Seattle, Washington; grew up there; got married there. At age 23 she moved with her husband to Hope, Alaska. Hope Today The first winter, 1928, they trapped furs and Mary helped other trappers care for their sled dogs; earned …
Maternity Alaska Style
Maternity ward? A cabin in Eagle Alaska—in January. If the history of the subarctic north fascinates you, people who choose to live there especially fascinate you. The weather, the terrain, the geology, all downright hostile, draw utterly unique people who choose to live there because of the difficulty and danger, not in spite of …