Category Archives: News & Information

Kindle Edition: Long Hard Trails

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Helen Hegener

Now available in a print replica Kindle edition, Long Hard Trails and Sled Dog Tales is a memoir of sorts, an adventure story to be sure, and a look at what it’s like to follow a winning sled dog team across the Canadian and Alaskan wilderness.

Award-winning author Helen Hegener hitched her wagon to a star: The legendary four-time Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey, beginning with his bid for a fourth Yukon Quest title in 2008. Lance would go on to make sled dog racing history, and Helen would go on to build a publishing company specializing in the history of Alaska. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, Kindle eBooks, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Helen Hegener, Iditarod, Lance Mackey, Northern Light Media, sled dog racing, sled dogs, Yukon Quest | 1 Comment

Kindle Edition: “A Mighty Nice Place”

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Helen Hegener

The story of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, which settled 200 families near Palmer, Alaska. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Book Reviews, Books, Colony Barns, Kindle eBooks, Matanuska Colony, Matanuska Valley, News & Information | Tagged "A Mighty Nice Place", Alaska, Book Reviews, Colony, eBook, farming, Great Depression, history, Matanuska Colony, Matanuska Valley, New Deal, Palmer | Leave a comment

Kindle Edition: Alaska Railroad 1902-1923

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Helen Hegener

My 2017 book about the construction of the Alaska Railroad is now available in an Amazon Kindle edition, giving digital access to this in-depth exploration of an important chapter in Alaska’s history. The story of the railroad’s construction is a wide-ranging … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Alaska Railroad, Kindle eBooks, News & Information | Tagged Alaska Railroad, eBook, Kindle | 1 Comment

Frank George Carpenter

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Helen Hegener

Frank Carpenter photographed Alaska and collected the images of other Alaskan photographers between 1910 and 1924, and Carpenter’s works helped popularize cultural anthropology and geography in the early years of the twentieth century. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, News & Information | Tagged Alaska Our Northern Wonderland, Alaska Railroad, Anchorage, Dawson, Frances Carpenter, Frank G. Carpenter, Jafet Lindberg, Library of Congress, Nome, Overland Trail, Whitehorse | 1 Comment

The Beautiful Matanuska Valley

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Helen Hegener

The Beautiful Matanuska Valley, by Helen Hegener, includes chapters on Palmer, Wasilla, and other communities within the Valley, both still-existing and long-gone. Stories and photos of Knik, Sutton, Matanuska, Big Lake, Chickaloon and others tell the story of the founding, settling, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Matanuska Valley, News & Information | Tagged Alaska Railroad, Big Lake, Chickaloon, Eklutna, Hatcher Pass, Independence Mine, Knik, Knik Arm, Matanuska Valley, Palmer, Sutton, Wasilla | 2 Comments

Split-the-Wind

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Helen Hegener

In 1924 Harold Noice published an account of his adventures with the Canadian Arctic Expedition, titled With Stefansson in the Arctic. In his book, Noice told of an Inupiat guide for Vilhjalmer Stefannsson’s expeditions named Emiu, who was also known as “Split-the-Wind” due to his fondness for fast dogteams. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, News & Information, Sled Dog History | Tagged All Alaska Sweepstakes, Canadian Arctic Expedition, Emiu, Harold Noice, Iditarod Trail, Karluk, Nome, Polar Bear, Revenue Cutter Bear, Split the Wind, Vilhjalmur Stefansson | 1 Comment

A Woman Who Went to Alaska

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Helen Hegener

A Woman Who Went––to Alaska, by May Kellogg Sullivan, was published in 1902 by James H. Earle & Co., of Boston, Massachusetts. The book describes two trips in which the author journeyed to the Yukon and Alaskan goldfields in 1899, a year after the height of the Klondike Gold Rush. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, News & Information | Tagged Dawson, gold rush, Klondike, Klondyke River, May Kellogg Sullivan, Yukon River | 1 Comment

Alaska’s Coal History

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Helen Hegener

Alaska’s railroad history has been interwoven with Alaska’s coal resources almost from the beginning, and the black rock has driven the development of the Alaska Railroad since the days of its smaller predecessors. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Alaska Railroad, Books, News & Information | Tagged Alaska Coal Act, Alaska Engineering Commission, Alaska Railroad, Ballinger-Pinchot Affair, Bering River, Cap Lathrop, Chickaloon, coal, Copper River & Northwestern, CR&NW, Evan Jones, federal coal claims, Gifford Pinchot, Healy, Homer Pennock, Jonesville Coal, Kenai, Morgan-Guggenheim Syndicate, Nenana, Republican Party split, Richard A. Ballinger, Sutton, Usibelli | 2 Comments

Parks-Archer Colony Barn

Posted on May 12, 2018 by Helen Hegener

The magnificent Parks-Archer barn which sat on the south side of Bodenburg Butte is gone now, another loss to Matanuska Valley history, but it was included in my 2013 book on the Matanuska Colony barns (see below for ordering). Comprised … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Colony Barns, Matanuska Colony, Matanuska Valley, News & Information | Tagged Alaska, barns, history, Matanuska Colony, Matanuska Valley, Palmer, The Matanuska Colony Barns | 2 Comments

New Book: Alaska & the Klondike

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Helen Hegener

The newest book from Northern Light Media is an anthology, Alaska & the Klondike, Early Writings and Historic Photographs, compiled and edited by Helen Hegener, published May 10, 2018. Charting an unknown country, exploring a wondrous land, searching for gold, … Continue reading →