Bishop Coudert grabbed a plate of hot food in the kitchen tent. By the time he got it to the mess tent, 120 feet away, it had frozen solid. William Griggs spilled gasoline on his clothing, it evaporated so fast that when he hurriedly peeled it off, skin came with it. No mere thermometer …
Tag Archives: Alaska
Uniforms
Uniforms presented the soldiers of the 97th their single worst problem during the awful Alaska winter of 1942/43. Senior commanders, the men ultimately responsible for providing adequate clothing and equipment apparently had other things on their minds—until the Washburn Report landed on their desks and the desks of their superior officers back in Washington. H. …
True Masters of the Air
True masters of the air, bush pilots, flew in the subarctic north, and to do that they needed unique skills. Link to another story “Gillam Weather and a Legendary Bush Pilot” First, bush pilots needed to be true masters of the ground as well as the air. Suffering mechanical problems, needing to ground his plane, …
Little Tok River
Little Tok river doesn’t amount to much. But it meant a lot to the soldiers of the 97th Engineers in August 1942. Their assigned portion of the Alaska Highway lay on the north bank of the Tanana River, 266 miles from where they left the ship that brought them to Alaska. Over the last eighty …
Nine Children
Nine children ranging from 1 year old to 20 along with both parents made it to Anchorage, Alaska from Mobile, Alabama in a 65 Chevy van along with a homemade utility trailer. David Feldhaus started his comment on my Steamboat Mountain story with those words. His family made that trip in 1969. The comment …
The Bride of the Klondike
The bride of the Klondike, Ethel Berry arrived in Seattle from Alaska in July 1897. She wore ragged men’s clothing but she had $100,000 in her bedroll. News of the gold Ethel and her husband Clarence had brought back from the Klondike helped set off the great Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Link to another …
Albert Herda’s Idea
Albert Herda had an idea. He knew about the Alaska Highway. In 1946 it approached its fourth birthday. If a trucker, Albert thought, could load his truck with things tough, and expensive, to get in Fairbanks, Alaska and then get his truck to Fairbanks over the new highway he could make a nice profit. Link …
The Most Unique Contribution
The most unique contribution to Skagway atmosphere probably came from “Old Man Davis”. He considered bathing an unnatural activity, incompatible with good health. Residents knew to be up wind when they encountered Davis. Harriet Pullen brought her three sons to Skagway with the miners—sold them pies. When the miners left, she opened a small hotel, …
Nellie Hadn’t Finished
Nellie, the Angel of Cassiar, had just got started. Her path through life, one long adventure, would wind up taking her to the Klondike Gold Rush and then on to the Gold fields of Northern Alaska Angel of Cassiar. When Cassiar mining petered out, Nellie headed south to try out the Silver fields of Arizona. …
Badass Women
Badass women, the Anchorage Daily News called the first two ladies to win the Iditarod. Libby Riddles did it first—in 1985. Her victory inspired a famous tee shirt that read “Alaska: Where Men are Men and Women Win the Iditarod”. Sled Dogs Rescued Nome In 1986 the other badass woman, Susan Butcher won, and Susan …