Tag Archives: history

Alaskan History, Vol. 4, No. 5

The September-October, 2025 issue of Alaskan History Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 5, features a wide variety of articles. Continue reading

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True to the Trail

The next book scheduled for publication by Northern Light Media is True to the Trail: A Great-Granddaughter’s Alaskan Quest a Century On, a compilation of the journals and photographs of Englishman Arthur Dallimore, who joined the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, then traveled down the Yukon River to try his hand at prospects in Alaska, staying in the North for a dozen years, finally building a roadhouse northwest of Fairbanks. Continue reading

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Roadhouses

Kiniry described half a dozen roadhouses and interviewed Alaskan roadhouse owners Mary Knight, of Tolovana Roadhouse; Annie Hopper, of the Rapids Roadhouse; and me–Helen Hegener-author of the book, Alaskan Roadhouses. Continue reading

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Alaskan History Vol. 4, No. 1

The first new issue of the revised Alaskan History Magazine will offer an assortment of articles on the history of the state, from the history of Tanana to The Knik News and pioneer photographer P. S. Hunt, to an article about a woman who came to Alaska seeking information about her great-grandfather and wrote a book about it, some of which is excerpted in Searching for the Ohio Roadhouse. Other articles include an in-depth looks at the final days of Will Rogers and Wiley Post as they left Seattle and toured Alaska, and the history of the 72-mile Alaska Central Railroad, which was a forerunner of the current Alaska Railroad from Seward to Fairbanks. 64 pages, 6” x 9” format, B/W interior, postage paid. Continue reading

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Alaskan History Magazine

Longtime readers and followers of my work may remember my Alaskan History Magazine, a full color bimonthly publication which featured stories of the history of Alaska. Between 2019 and 2021 I published 14 issues, but when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, sales … Continue reading

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A New Books Site

I have reworked an old website I built a few years ago and it is now a showcase for my Baker’s Dozen books on Alaskan history. The front page displays all the book covers, and clicking on any book title will take you to an in-depth description and ordering information for that book. Continue reading

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Kindle Edition: Alaska and the Klondike

 ‘Alaska and the Klondike, Early Writings and Historic Photographs,’ compiled and edited by Helen Hegener, was published May 10, 2018, and is now available as an Amazon Kindle eBook. 

Charting an unknown country, exploring a wondrous land, searching for gold, delivering freight and mail beyond where any roads would reach, these were the exciting topics of books which became northland classics, with titles such as ‘Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled,’ ‘The Land of Tomorrow,’ and ‘Along Alaska’s Great River.’

Wonderful photographs accompany the often colorful writings of Frederick Schwatka, Hudson Stuck, Robert Service, Josiah Edward Spurr, and many others as they tell of adventures, explorations, fortunes won and lost, and the magnificent promise of our great northern lands. Read the words of those intrepid travelers who accepted the challenge of the north and left an indelible mark in their writing of it. Their first-hand observations are invaluable to understanding the history, as when world traveller Frank Carpenter noted while touring the construction of the Alaska Railroad: “I was so fortunate as to see Anchorage in the stump, tent, and shack stage, though it was growing marvelously fast. I give you my notes just as I penned them when I was on the spot, seeing how Uncle Sam’s engineers and executives were putting through their big job.”

Alaskan author Helen Hegener has compiled an engaging journey through the literary history of Alaska and the Klondike, and an introduction to some of the most compelling books ever written about the North.

The Kindle edition of this 2018 book is formatted as a print replica Kindle book, which maintains the rich formatting and layout of the print edition. Order your own copy today for only $5.99 (Kindle MatchBook $2.99). Continue reading

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Kindle Edition: Alaskan Roadhouses

Now on Kindle, this book presents historic photos of dozens of individual roadhouses, and along with the colorful histories are first-hand accounts of those who stayed at the roadhouses while traveling the early trails and roads of Alaska, including the Reverend Samuel Hall Young, Frank G. Carpenter, Judge James Wickersham, Leonhard Seppala, Col. Walter L. Goodwin, and Matilda Clark Buller, who opened a roadhouse near Nome in 1901, at the height of the Nome Gold Rush. From Haly’s Roadhouse at Fort Yukon to the Grandview Roadhouse near Seward, and from the Slana Roadhouse south of Tok to the Deering Roadhouse on Kotzebue Sound, these respected establishments made travel in territorial Alaska possible. Continue reading

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Kindle Edition: “A Mighty Nice Place”

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

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Parks-Archer Colony Barn

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

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