Author Archives: Helen Hegener

About Helen Hegener

Author and publisher, Northern Light Media

Leonhard Seppala’s Serum Run

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Helen Hegener

The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the Great Race of Mercy, was a 675 mile dog team relay of diphtheria antitoxin across the U.S. territory of Alaska, accomplished by 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs in … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History | Tagged Bering Sea, Bluff Roadhouse, Dexter Roadhouse, diphtheria, Dr. Curtis Welch, Elizabeth Ricker, Golovin, Governor Bone, Iditarod Trail, Isaac's Point, Kaltag, Leonhard Seppala, Manley Roadhouse, Minto Roadhouse, Nenana, Nome, Nulato, Olson Roadhouse, Port Safety Roadhouse, Seppala, Serum Run, Shaktoolik, Siberian huskies, Solomon Roadhouse, The Cruelest Miles, Togo, Tolovana Roadhouse, Unalakleet, Unlakleet | 9 Comments

2015 Alaska Book Week

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Helen Hegener

Northern Light Media will be participating in Alaska Book Week again this year, with a book-signing at our favorite bookstore, Fireside Books in Palmer, on Saturday, October 3, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm! We’ll be focusing on our mushing books, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Tagged Alaska Book Week, All Alaska Sweepstakes, Fireside Books, Iditarod, Matanuska, Northern Light Media, Yukon Quest | Leave a comment

Woodchopper Roadhouse

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Helen Hegener

The Circle Mining District records a list of 320 individuals whose names appear connected to claims on Coal Creek, Woodchopper Creek and their various tributaries. Coal claims were the first claims staked in the drainages. Steamboats plying the Yukon River … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Roadhouses | Tagged Art Reynolds, Bering Sea, Circle City, Circle Mining District, Coal Creek, Dan O'Neill, Douglas Beckstead, Eagle, Ernest Patty, Flora Brentlinger, Frank Rossbach, Frank Slaven, Fred Brentlinger, George McGregor, gold mining, Jack Welch, Jim McDonald, Kate Welch, Melody Webb, steamboats, Valentine Smith, Woodchopper Creek, woodchoppers, Yukon River | 1 Comment

Judge James Wickersham

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Helen Hegener

James Wickersham’s classic book, Old Yukon: Tales, Trails, and Trials (Washington, D.C. : Washington Law Book Co., 1938), is an account of his years as a pioneer District Court Judge in Alaska. Judge Wickersham was appointed by President McKinley in … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History | Tagged 20 Mile roadhouse, Alaska territorial court, Charley River roadhouse, Circle, Circle City, Coal Creek roadhouse, dogteam, Eagle, Ed Crouch, Ed Jesson, Fort Yukon, Fourth of July Creek, gee-pole, Guggenheim, Half-Way roadhouse, J. P. Morgan, James Wickersham, Johnson's roadhouse, Judge James Wickersham, mirages, Montauk roadhouse, NAT&T, Nation River roadhouse, Nunivak, Old Yukon: Tales Trails and Trials, President McKinley, purchase of Alaska, Rampart, Salt Creek, Seventeen Mile Cabin, Seventy-Mile River, shelter cabin, Star roadhouse, Third Judicial District of Alaska, Webber's roadhouse, Yukon River | 1 Comment

Fireside Books Top Ten List

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Helen Hegener

The Matanuska Valley’s Fireside Books in downtown Palmer, known locally as the home of “good books and bad coffee,” has been a major supporter of Northern Light Media books for several years, keeping several of our titles in stock on … Continue reading →

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The Ghost of Wild Bill Shannon

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Helen Hegener

It had been a long evening’s presentation as the mushers, snowmachiners, support crews and others gathered in the Nenana community center listened intently. The trail boss, musher coordinator and others explained the final preparations and outlined their trip across the … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History | Tagged All Alaska Sweepstakes, Don Duncan, Doug Swingley, Helen Hegener, Iditarod, Iditarod Trail, Nenana, Nome, Norman Vaughn, Northern Light Media, Seppala, Serum Run, Terrence Shanigan, The Cruelest Miles, Togo, Tom Walker, Von Martin, Wild Bill Shannon | 1 Comment

Alaskan Wildflowers

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Helen Hegener

The Matanuska Valley is home to an incredible array of wildflowers, from tall stately fireweed and lupine blooms to the tiniest alpine flowers on high mountain slopes. These photos are from my 2014 book, The Beautiful Matanuska Valley:

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The WPA Federal Writers Project

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Helen Hegener

The Federal Writers’ Project was created in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as part of the United States Work Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal jobs program, to provide employment for historians, teachers, writers, librarians, and other white-collar workers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books | Tagged Alaska, books, history, The Federal Writers' Project | Leave a comment

John August Springer

Posted on August 8, 2015 by Helen Hegener

John August Springer In October of 1914, an Alaskan pioneer of Swedish descent named John August Springer filed for homestead rights to 320 acres of benchland located on the north bank of a sweeping bend in the Matanuska River, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Matanuska Colony | Tagged Albert Marquez | Leave a comment

The Great Alone

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Helen Hegener

During the 2013 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race the independent filmmaker Greg Kohs followed four-time Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey along the trail. Combining that hard-won film footage with family photos, interviews and other media, Kohs produced a … Continue reading →