Category Archives: Alaska History

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

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

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

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

Matanuska Colony History

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Helen Hegener

On Wednesday, May 20, I gave an hour-long talk and slideshow on the history of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project for the Palmer Historical Society. It’s always interesting to given presentations of that history in Palmer, for many of those … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History | Tagged Colony, Matanuska, Palmer, Palmer Historical Society, Willis T. Geisman | Leave a comment

PHS History Night

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Helen Hegener

I’ll be giving a slideshow and presentation about four of my books for the Palmer Historical Society’s History Night on Wednesday, May 20th, at the Palmer Public Library. Through photos, stories, and a look at the history behind the Colony … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books | Tagged Colony, Helen Hegener, history, Matanuska, Northern Light Media, Palmer | Leave a comment

S. Hall Young, Mushing Parson

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Helen Hegener

“In the summer of 1879 I was stationed at Fort Wrangell in southeastern Alaska, whence I had come the year before, a green young student fresh from college and seminary–very green and very fresh–to do what I could towards establishing … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History | Tagged Alaska, Alaska Days with John Muir, Chilkoot Pass, Crow Creek Pass, Dr. Young, Fort Wrangell, Glacier Bay, Helen Hegener, Iditarod Trail, John Muir, Klondike, Knik, mushing, mushing history, Northern Light Media, Old Knik, Reverend Young, S. Hall Young, Samuel Hall Young, Seward, Stickeen, The Mushing Parson, Yukon River | 3 Comments

Alaskan Roads and Trails History

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Helen Hegener

Alaska’s history can be defined in large part by the network of trails and roads which criss-cross the state, threading through the seemingly endless forests and across the wide tundra lands; winding over great mountain ranges and bridging tumultuous rivers. … Continue reading →