Books

Award-winning writer Lew Freedman shares Alaska fishing tales with wit and humor in this collection of true stories about fishing in the Last Frontier. From salmon to halibut to trophy rainbow trout, with side trips for shrimp, clams, and an octopus (!), Lew shares dozens of adventurous fishing trips across the Great Land. 6″ x 9″ format, 266 pages, ISBN 979-8884786264, published in March, 2024. $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

This book by Jody Ellen Meanus shares the profiles and photographs of more than thirty champion women bronc riders who made history in the early days of rodeo. 180 pages, full color, indexed, with more than 120 photographs. Bibliography, Resources, Indexed. ISBN 979-8870015576. Available from Northern Light Media for $39.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

Interviews with some of the race’s most interesting and compelling competitors sharing their adventures on the Iditarod Trail. Published in December, 2023. 292 pages, 6′ x 9″ b/w format, includes photos, map, bibliography, indexed. ISBN 979-8871190364 $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

A historic race from Nome, Alaska to Anadyr, Chukotka, Russia, a testament to the courage and vision of a handful of Alaskans, and their counterparts across the Bering Strait, who saw the value in building a bridge between their countries via a month-long 1,200-mile sled dog race across some of the wildest lands on Earth. Published in 2023. 228 pages, 6” x 9” format, full color on premium paper, indexed, with dozens of color and b/w photos. ISBN 979-8393817428 $39.95 plus $6.00 shipping.

With contributions by some of the foremost sled dog historians, this full color elegantly illustrated book traces the history of the great sled dog teams who ran the snow-covered trails of the past, hauling freight, gold, mail, passengers and more, and providing what was often the only access to isolated towns and villages. “….A vast and intriguing read… One heck of a book!” —David James, Anchorage Daily News Published in 2023. Full color on premium paper, 416 pages, 8.5″ x 11″ format, dozens of b/w and color photographs, images, and artwork, extensively annotated, resources, bibliography, indexed. ISBN 979-8365139428 $69.95 plus $6.00 shipping.

The history of the railroad’s construction is a wide-ranging look at Alaska’s growth and development, in which the railroad played a major role;, the history is told through historic documents, photographs, and publications. Published in 2017. 400 pages, over 100 b/w historic photos, maps, bibliography, indexed. ISBN 978-1542329941 $29.95 plus $6.00 shipping.

In the Territory of Alaska, dogteams were an integral part of events such as the 1925 Serum Run to Nome, explorations of the land before there were roads or railroads, and the thrilling adventures of legendary mushers such as Leonhard Seppala, Harry Karstens, Jujiro Wada, ‘Iron Man” Johnson, Arthur Treadwell Walden, the ‘Malemute Kid,’ and many others. Stories such as Alaskan mail carrier Eli Smith’s epic trip to Washington, D.C., Alaska Nellie’s daring rescue of a lost mail carrier, the Rev. Samuel Hall Young’s 1913 trip over the Iditarod Trail, and Territorial Judge James Wickersham’s 1901 dogsled trip down the frozen Yukon River from Eagle to Rampart. Dozens of old photographs and postcards showcase the history. Published in 2016. 320 pages, 6′ x 9″ b/w format, includes maps, charts, bibliography, indexed. ISBN 978-0692668474 $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

This book shares the history, photographs, maps, artwork, and articles about these iconic Alaskan structures through the adventurous stories of Alaska’s early travelers. With photos and excepts from books, newspapers and magazine articles from the turn of the century, exciting tales of the roadhouses are shared Published in 2016. 284 pages, over 100 black/white photographs, 6″ x 9″ format. ISBN 978-1517785635 $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

A first-hand look at life aboard a revenue cutter during Alaska’s formative early years. The ships of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Revenue-Cutter Service patrolled the waters of the Bering Sea, the coast of Alaska, and the Yukon River, and for several of those voyages a bright and engaging young physician, Dr. James Taylor White, served aboard and recorded his adventurous work in personal correspondence and journals. Published in 2021. 412 pages, over 45 photographs, images, and maps. 6″ x 9″ b/w format, extensively annotated, bibliography, indexed. ISBN 979-8488207240 $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

In “Northern Journey” Lew tells the stories behind the adventures which became his books and articles, and he shares tales of learning the language of northerners, racing on snowshoes, facing down moose, engaging in polar bear swims, and noting that the river ice under his 5,000-pound taxi is very close to breaking up. “Northern Journey, A Report from the Frontier,” by Lew Freedman. Published by Northern Light Media in 2023. 238 pages, 6″ x 9″ format, more than two dozen photos. ISBN 979-8373238281 $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

In the spring of 1935 the U.S. government took a direct hand in the future of Alaska when it offered 203 Depression-distraught farm families in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin an opportunity to begin again in a far-off land, with government financing and support. The Matanuska Colony Project was part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal for America, an audacious plan to build a government-sponsored farming community in Alaska’s Matanuska Valley. Published in 2016. 276 pages, 120 photos, 6″ x 9″ b/w format. ISBN 978-1539698951 $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

The All Alaska Sweepstakes, the race that made ‘Scotty’ Allan and Leonhard Seppala famous, is the oldest organized distance sled dog race in the world, with records kept by the Nome Kennel Club dating back to the first race in 1908. This book traces its gold rush roots and details the 2008 centennial run for the richest purse ever offered for a sled dog race: $100,000.00 winner-take-all! Published in 2013. 160 pages, over 350 photos. Full color, 8.5″x 11″ format. ISBN 978-0-9843977-0-9 $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping

The story of the first 1,000-mile race from Anchorage to Nome in 1973, told mostly in the verbatim words of the intrepid mushers who made that very first journey. On that cold morning in March, 1973, thirty-six mushers stood at the starting line in Anchorage, Alaska, looking over the backs of their teams and down the trail toward Nome, over 1,000 miles away. They were on their way to making history. Published in 2019. 200 pages. 6″ x 9″ format, b/w illustrations, bibliography, resources, indexed. ISBN 978-0984397761 $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

In 1935 the U.S. Government transported 200 families from the Great Depression-stricken midwest to a valley of unparalleled beauty in Alaska, where they were given the chance to begin new lives as part of a federally-funded social experiment, the Matanuska Colony Project. As part of each family’s farmstead, a magnificent barn was raised, a sturdy square structure 32′ by 32′ and soaring 32′ high. Today these Colony barns are an iconic reminder of what has been called the last great pioneering adventure in America. Published in 2013. 140 pages, full color. Includes Colonist families listing, maps, bibliography, resources, indexed. ISBN 978-0-9843977-4-7 $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping.

The Yukon Quest Trail takes readers checkpoint by checkpoint from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, an extraordinary journey in which the author shares details of the trail, along with the incredible history of both the race and the wild and beautiful land it crosses. Over 180 full-color photographs, and Trail Notes for Mushers, by two-time Yukon Quest Champion John Schandelmeier. The Yukon Quest Trail: 1,000 Miles Across Northern Alaska and the Yukon Territory, text and photographs by Helen Hegener, additional photos by Eric Vercammen and Scott Chesney; with Trail Notes for Mushers, by two-time Yukon Quest Champion John Schandelmeier. Published in December, 2014 by Northern Light Media. 151 pages, 8.5″ x 11″ full color format, bibliography, maps, indexed. $29.00, plus $5.00 for First Class shipping.

Written in 1909 by Addison M. Powell, an adventurer, prospector, hunter, and a former guide for Captain William R. Abercrombie’s 1898 Copper River Exploring Expedition, one of three military expeditions organized under the direction of the Secretary of War with directives for exploring the interior of the new territory of Alaska. Originally published in 1909. 300 pages, 30 b/w photos, published by Northern Light Media in 2018. ISBN 978-1727274264 $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping.