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 …
Category Archives: North Country
Permafrost
Permafrost proves conclusively, if we actually needed more proof, that in the Far North, Mother Nature fights back with endless creativity. The mileage champions of the Alaska Highway Project, the 18th Engineering Regiment, faced and bested every challenge. Then they passed the Big Duke River, and Mother introduced them to permafrost—muskeg on steroids. Slims River …
Peeing in a Coffee Can?
Peeing in a coffee can, an art “Dusty” Hannon had no interest in mastering, led her to carry her very own chamber pot on the train to Carcross. Well, of course. Everybody in Skagway and in sister town Carcross, for that matter, knew “Dusty”, accepted her logic. Skagway welcomed and took its true flavor from …
Will Rogers’ Brush with Alaska
Will Rogers entertained America through the Great Depression—can’t have been easy. He talked on the radio, he wrote newspaper columns, he appeared in movies; and, whatever the venue, he made people laugh. It’s hard to find humor in his brush with Alaska. More about the Comedian Almost as famous, Will’s friend Wiley Post didn’t …
Liard Hot Springs
Liard Hot Springs, four hundred seventy miles northwest of Dawson Creek, British Columbia and Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway, provided a thoroughly unusual experience for the soldiers who built the great Highway in 1942. More on the Soldiers Today it still offers an unusual experience for those lucky travelers who get to scratch driving …
Monte’s Legs
The story of Monte’s legs has Alaska all over it. Another unique Alaskan Life there is like nowhere else on the planet. It takes a unique kind of person to live there and love it. A few months ago, researching our work in progress, my partner and researcher, Chris, ran across a story that ran …
Humble, Vaguely Malodorous Canvas
Humble, vaguely malodorous, canvas, on the Alaska Highway in 1942, supported life in bivouac. Canvas tents provided barracks, mess halls and offices. Men slept on folding canvas cots. Canvas “lister bags” stored treated drinking water. Canvas enclosures became mechanical repair shops. In canvas enclosures, soldiers transformed empty fuel drums into stoves, showers and bath …
Lt. Mike Miletich, Forgotten Hero
A true hero of the Alaska Highway Project, Lt. Mike Miletich has managed to fade into anonymity. Not fair. The ‘go to’ guy for the 35th Combat Engineering Regiment, Lt. Miletich turned up at every challenging point in their work on the Highway. He led, for example, the advance party to Dawson Creek in March …
Military Support Network
A vast support network came to the far north in early 1942, right behind the seven engineering regiments. By July the regiments worked in the wilderness building road. The support network had mushroomed, and its parts and pieces worked all around the engineers. Topo Engineers surveyed routes through every kind of terrain the path …
Are We Filthy Rich Yet?
The first step in getting filthy rich on the Klondike in 1898? Getting to the Klondike in 1898. The “All American Route” came through the North Pacific, the Gulf of Alaska to Valdez, Alaska and then over the Valdez Glacier. Good luck with that. The Valdez Glacier Route But let’s say you survived all with …