A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....10-19, 20-05...North to Alaska!

Mama_Bear

[Mama_Bear]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Dutchess, DollyCali, Mama_Bear ~

We're
"On the Road Again"...

Please join "A Few of FR's Finest" as we make a cyber-visit to another state in this great Union of ours.

Over the past couple years each "Finest" hostess has profiled her home state for the Finest Thread. The remaining states are being presented, about one a month, in random order. We hope you are enjoying these visits to our beautiful United States. Please FReepMail me if you would like to participate in spotlighting your Fine state. I would appreciate your ideas and suggestions on what you would like to see highlighted.

These are the states
we have presented to date:

05-23-03 Alabama 06-27-03 Maryland 07-11-03 Vermont 07-25-03 Utah 08-05-03 Texas 08-22-03 Nevada 08-26-03 Wash DC 09-05-03 Tennessee 09-17-03 Florida 09-19-03 Minnesota 10-03-03 New Mexico 10-14-03 Georgia 10-17-03 Louisiana 10-22-03 Michigan 11-04-03 South Dakota 11-14-03 California 01-09-04 South Carolina

02-06-04 West Virginia 02-20-04 Oregon 03-09-04 Pennsylvania 03-30-04 Wyoming 04-13-04 Mississippi 04-27-04 Missouri 05-25-04 Indiana 07-21-04 Virginia 08-18-04 Colorado 09-29-04 Idaho 10-20-04 New Hampshire 12-07-04 Hawaii 02-09-05 Maine 03-09-05 North Carolina 04-13-05 Arizona 06-15-05 Iowa

Today we are visiting our 49th state ~
The Last Frontier!

Click above to go to the Alaska Message Board.

Alaska's History in Brief

Russian Colonization

The disastrous voyage of Vitus Bering and Aleksey Chirikov in 1741 began the march of Russian traders across Siberia. The survivors who returned with sea otter skins started a rush of fur hunters to the Aleutian Islands. Grigori Shelekhov in 1784 founded the first permanent settlement in Alaska on Kodiak Island and sent (1790) to Alaska the man who was to dominate the period of Russian influence there, Aleksandr Baranov. A monopoly was granted to the Russian American Company in 1799, and it was Baranov who directed its Alaskan activities.

The Russian Orthodox Church and Native Alaskans

The primary goal of the Alaska mission was to convert the Native population to Orthodox Christianity. Conversion was encouraged by the Tsar, as head of the Church, and by the hierarchy. Rules for converting Natives strictly forbade using coercion. Orthodox missionaries were generally successful in their conversions, more so among the Aleuts and Eskimos than the Tlingits. Among the obstacles to conversion were the language barrier, and the shamanistic traditions of the Natives, deeply entrenched in the culture.

Today, Alaskans are proud of their Russian heritage and active Orthodox Churches are to be found in many towns.

Early Years as a U.S. Possession

In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $7,200,000. The U.S. purchase was accomplished solely through the determined efforts of Secretary of State William H. Seward, and for many years afterward the land was derisively called Seward's Folly or Seward's Icebox because of its supposed uselessness. Since Alaska appeared to offer no immediate financial return, it was neglected. The U.S. army officially controlled the area until 1876, when scandals caused the withdrawal of the troops. After a brief period, during which government was in the hands of customs officials, the U.S. navy was given charge (1879). It was not until after the discovery of gold in the Juneau region in 1880 that Alaska was given a governor and a feeble local administration.

The Gold Rush

The Klondike strike of 1896 brought a stampede, mainly of Americans, and most of them came through Alaska. The big discoveries in Alaska itself followed—Nome in 1898–99, Fairbanks in 1902. The miners and prospectors (the sourdoughs) took over Alaska.

"North to Alaska,
They're goin' North,
the rush is on!"

The steamship Portland had just pulled into Seattle, returning from the Yukon with over a ton of gold. Her arrival instantly sparked an all-out human stampede for the Yukon.
To seek their fortunes in the Yukon gold fields, prospectors had to make their way along the Inside Passage, cross the Chilkoot Mountains with a ton of supplies, build a raft or boat during the long, hard winter, and then float 550 miles down the Yukon River to Dawson. After reaching Dawson, each prospector had to stake a claim and spend countless weeks, months, or years digging his claim before panning or sluicing the dirt, hoping to strike it rich, but more likely scratching out a meager existence.

While the gold fields lay far to the north, towns like Skagway and Dyea became boomtowns almost overnight. These towns marked the start of the overland portion of the Trail of ‘98 – Alaska’s gateway to the Klondike. With numerous saloons, brothels, and a full complement of gunslingers, con men, drunkards, and outlaws, Skagway was a feral, lawless Wild West of the north.

Most of the would-be prospectors came to Alaska with little or no knowledge of mining or backcountry survival. Many soon found themselves questing no longer merely for fortune, but for their very survival. Not surprisingly, of the 100,000 who set out, only a few thousand ever reached the gold fields – and only a mere handful ever struck it rich.

~ A Historical Vignette ~

Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith was a Western crook with the gift of organization. A southern charmer and a master of the bait and switch, he was a confidence man who dressed like a judge, sat on a horse like a prince, and spoke like a bishop. He honed his skills in Texas and Colorado. Gradually he gathered shills and toughs around him, and commanded his gang of “lambs” as a colonel might command a battalion. When the Klondike Gold Rush began in 1897, he knew that the tenderfeet headed for northern goldfields would be ripe for the picking, and chose raw, lawless Skagway as his headquarters. In this bleak settlement at the head of Alaska’s Lynn Canal, he constructed an empire that any Mafia don might envy. However, less than a year later, the town had had enough of Soapy. He was killed by Frank Reid, in 1898 when he was 38 years old. Soapy's life story is a rip-snorting portrait of the rise to power of a man without a conscience. It reveals the strong-arm robberies, bloody trail murders, illegitimate businesses, rigged card games, and garish, candle-lit honky-tonks of the Gold Rush.


One of Soapy's best cons involved his "telegraph office." Recent arrivals were greeted by men who offered to send telegrams to their families for only $5. Most people did not look behind the "telegraph office" to notice that the wires ended a few yards out.

Territorial Status

Juneau officially replaced Sitka as capital in 1900, but it did not begin to function as such until 1906. In the same year Alaska was finally awarded a territorial representative in Congress. A new era began for Alaska when local government was established in 1912 and it became a U.S. territory.

Statehood

In 1958, Alaskans approved statehood by a 5 to 1 vote, and on Jan. 3, 1959, Alaska was officially admitted into the Union as a state, the first since Arizona in 1912.

• Outsiders first discovered Alaska in 1741 when Danish explorer Vitus Jonassen Bering sighted it on a voyage from Siberia.
   
• In 1867 United States Secretary of State William H. Seward offered Russia $7,200,000, or two cents per acre, for Alaska.
   
• On October 18, 1867 Alaska officially became the property of the United States. Many Americans called the purchase "Seward's Folly."
   
• Joe Juneau's 1880 discovery of gold ushered in the gold rush era.
   
• In 1943 Japan invaded the Aleutian Islands, which started the One Thousand Mile War, the first battle fought on American soil since the Civil War.
   
• Alaska officially became the 49th state on January 3, 1959.
   
• Alaska's most important revenue source is the oil and natural gas industry.
   
• The state of Rhode Island could fit into Alaska 425 times.
   
• Prudhoe Bay, on the northern Alaskan coast, is North America's largest oil field.
   
• The Trans-Alaska Pipeline moves up to 88,000 barrels of oil per hour on its 800 mile journey to Valdez.
   
• Most of America's salmon, crab, halibut, and herring come from Alaska.
   
• The term Alaska native refers to Alaska's original inhabitants including Aleut, Eskimo and Indian groups.
   
• Dog mushing is the official state sport. The Alaska Legislature adopted it in 1972.
   
  Click here to read about
  "The Last Great Race on Earth", the Iditarod!
  
  
• The state motto is North to the Future.
   
• Gold is the official state mineral. It was named the state mineral in 1968.
   
• Alaska has been called America's Last Frontier.
   
• Every four years Alaskans elect a Governor and a Lieutenant Governor to four-year terms.
   
• The Alaska State Legislature is made up of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
   
• Twenty senators are elected to four-year terms; forty representatives serve two-year terms.
   
• Alaska's Constitution was adopted in 1956 and became effective in 1959 making it the 49th state.
   
• Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle.
   
• The Alaska Highway was originally built as a military supply road during World War II.
   
• The state boasts the lowest population density in the nation.
   
• The discovery of gold in the Yukon began a gold rush in 1898. Later gold was discovered at Nome and Fairbanks.
   
• Alaska is a geographical marvel. When a scale map of Alaska is superimposed on a map of the 48 lower states, Alaska extends from coast to coast.
   
• The state's coastline extends over 6,600 miles.
   
• Alaska is the United State's largest state and is over twice the size of Texas. Measuring from north to south the state is approximately 1,400 miles long and measuring from east to west it is 2,700 miles wide.
   
• Alaska's geographic center is 60 miles northwest of Mount McKinley.
   
• The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the United States.
   
• 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States are located in Alaska.
   
• At 20,320 feet above sea level, Mt. McKinley, located in Alaska's interior, is the highest point in North America.
   
  
• Juneau is the only capital city in the United States accessible only by boat or plane.
   
• The state's largest city is Anchorage; the second largest is Fairbanks.
   
• The Alaska Range is the largest mountain chain in the state. It covers from the Alaska Peninsula to the Yukon Territory.
   
• In 1915 the record high temperature in Alaska was 100 degrees Fahrenheit at Fort Yukon; the record low temperature was -80 degrees Fahrenheit at Prospect Creek Camp in 1971.
   
• The Alaskan malamute sled dog is strong and heavily coated. It was developed as a breed by a group of Eskimos named the Malemiuts.  
• Alaska's name is based on the Eskimo word Alakshak meaning great lands or peninsula.
   
• Agattu, Attu, and Kiska are the only parts of North America occupied by Japanese troops during World War II.
   
• Oil is the state's most valuable natural resource. The area includes what is thought to be the largest oil field in North America.
   
• In 1986 Mount Augustine erupted near Anchorage.
   

The "30-30-30" Rule

Polar and Alaskan explorers cite the "30-30-30" rule,
which states that at -30°F, with winds of 30 MPH,
human flesh will freeze solid in 30 seconds!

Alaska king crab fishing is considered to be one of the most dangerous jobs in North America. Every year, hundreds of fearless crab fishermen endure extreme weather conditions and harsh work environments with assertive hopes of catching excessive amounts of the most desirable seafood in the world- King crab!

Deep in the frigid waters of the Bering Sea lurks the highly lucrative — and yet often elusive — king crab. Each year, approximately 250 boats converge on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, awaiting the official harvesting season. It could be four days in length or as many as 12 — the fishermen won't know until the voice of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game crackles across their radios to announce the beginning and end of the fishing season.

Forty-foot waves, freezing temperatures, swinging 700-pound crab pots, a nearly 100 percent injury rate ... but also the chance to earn enough money for a family to live on for a year or more, for just a few days' work. Welcome to one of the world's deadliest jobs — that of the Alaskan crab fisherman.

So, the next time you order Alaskan King Crab at your favorite restaurant, remember the men who risked life and limb to bring this wonderful (and expensive) delicacy to your table. :-)

Read more HERE about "The Deadliest Catch".

The following websites provided information
and graphics for this presentation...

Scoundrels Gallery
Wild Things Photography
The Russian Church and Native Alaskan Cultures
The 49th State

09-27-05 ~ Hall of Fame #13

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 10-17-05 Military Monday 10-18-05 Poetry and Potpourri at the Finest

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[LadyX]

Your presentations are always beautiful, Mama_Bear, but this one of Alaska is simply outstanding!
I love the way you have set the drama that is Alaska against a very gentle background, highlighting the contrast of its extremes!

My time in the state was in the 1960's, arriving in Fairbanks exactly 4 years after it achieved statehood in January 1959.
The population of the city in 1963 was just 22,645, before the oil pipeline created the boom. I lived there for 21 months before getting base housing on Eielson AFB (30 miles south), where my husband was stationed - shopped in town at Ft. Wainwright (Army base) for groceries, etc.

Shopping was very limited - Northern Commercial Department Store (small) - Woolworth's Dime Store - and Sears Mail Order, using our Seattle APO address the major choices.

One of the very first things you learned was never ask anyone their name, where they had lived prior to Alaska, or what they had done/did now....the reason for that was when it became a state, blanket amnesty was granted to its citizens for whatever in their past was illegal!
Many had flown prosecution in the Lower 48; and many still carried on illegal activities there. There was a silent mafia element.
Illustration: with few grocery stores, one enterprising fellow opened a large, very nice new one - - 'tragically,' it shortly after (was) burned down to the ground.
[Arson case never solved]
Growth and competition were actively discouraged, lest the undesirable elements should lose control.

The law enforcement and judicial systems were strange indeed.
I cite two real life examples of that:
One was a highly publicized in the newspaper case where in a downtown bar quarrel, one man went out to his car, got his handgun, and coldly (perhaps I should have said heatedly!) shot another in front of several witnesses.

The presiding judge ruled he had to be freed. Why, you ask?
Forgetting their real first names, I will phrase it as' Bob' and 'Charley' were arguing over which was better - the door lock on a Ford vs. a Chevy!! Bob shot Charley.
The judge added as his reason for his verdict,
"Charley knew Bob had a bad temper, and he shouldn't have gotten him riled!!"

Another one:
In the early summer of 1964 a teenage couple went walking in woods outside of town, and came across an isolated cabin. Not getting an answer to a knock, they went in the unlocked door and found a dead man lying on the floor.
Law officers responded, and subsequently ruled "the death was caused by part of the roof caving in under the winter snow load."
Nothing wrong with that except for the fact he had a bullet hole in his head..:)) Nonetheless, Case Closed!!

(Saved the state a heap of money and time investigating!)

There were not many big robberies, since there was only one road out of Fairbanks. Were a robber to try to flee, the law merely contacted troopers farther south to head upward and close off the Richardson Highway, checking out every car in their path.

While you digest that much, I'll gather some more things to relate about Alaska Before The Pipeline - - will scatter them today and tomorrow on the thread.

[ST.LOUIE1]

Good morning, wolfie!

Hi, fuzzy. : )

OUTSTANDING! As usual. : ) Thanks. You are always so complimentary of what I do. :-)

Because I know the time and effort you put into making such a beautiful thread. : )

Hey, would these guys be part of your family? A wild bunch, they are. LOL.

Not family, my neighbors. LOL

Wild Things Photography ~ John Hyde

Exc! Bookmarked.

SMOOOOOOOOOOOCH!!!

Is it just my computer, or is FR slow as molasses in Alaska today? :-(

It's extremely slow. Usually it's slow 'before' a 'thon'.

Oooops! Slap my fuzzy face. : )

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, scubachick's hubby, for your service to America.

[ST.LOUIE1]

A wonderful read, CW. The lady is a special person.

("I've entered the snapdragon part of my life ....Part of me has snapped...the rest is draggin'.")

LOL

[Mama_Bear]

Oh, what a hard thing to read! As a mother of a son, I could feel her anguish down to the very core of me. I think I need to take a break from the thread. That really got to me. Some things you never forget. I think that letter will be one of them.

I think it is important that we all suffer some of the grief of those parents, wives, husbands and children who sacrifice their loved ones to this awful war, so that we never become complacent about the impact that war has on our country and our families, no matter how justified and necessary the war may be. Thank you for posting her letter.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Jet Jaguar was stationed at Eielsen AFB near Fairbanks.

[Darksheare]

Yikes!

[Deetes]

I'm in the middle kinda... Los Anchorage ;) But it doesn't take more than 20 minutes get out of town... To places just like that picture. The Salmon sport fishing season is about done now. I might get out once or twice more. But there might be snow on the ground for the last one. We always have snow on the ground by Oct. 31 That picture has the fireweed in bloom. The height of the fireweed is supposed to tell us how much snow we will get. I don't know if I believe it though ...

Juneau is a beautiful place. The way the ships pull in right on top of the town is a strange sight....

[thackney]

As beautiful as Alaska is, I know I am too soft to live such a rugged life....besides which, I really dislike being cold. LOL

You just have to learn to dress appropriately.

My family and I, last year.

[thackney]

[thackney]

Sometimes we get some pretty visitors up here...

[thackney]

Some people here have found their own way to deal with the "traffic".

[Deetes]

Did you see this ping !!!!

[LadyX]

Background

After living in Fairbanks for 21 months, we finally qualified for base quarters at Eielson AFB,
30 miles south of town.
The housing units were comprised of U-shaped eightplexes, around a central parking area with a double line of posts with electrical outlets for each vehicle.
The purpose of this was to plug into them the circulating heater on your engine, so it would not freeze up in the subzero temperatures, and, hopefully, start.

True Story

One family arrived on our court from the Lower 48, the father of a high enough rank to get quarters immediately, moving in during the winter.

His small son asked him, "Daddy - why are the cars here tied up to hitching posts?"!!

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Fast Forward to November 1965 when both my husband and the one next door were off on a day when our children were in school.
Aware of the ugly "I'm Bored Mode" steadily brewing, not content to watch soap operas or play another game of cards, astute wifey (me) had a flash of brilliance.

"Hey, guys! With that enormous playground in our "back yard" (ringed by other groups of eightplexes), why don't we create our own skating rink by our unit?"

It was staying at least 10 below zero most days, with lots of snow on the ground, and I theorized all we had to do was shovel snow into a perimeter bank about a foot high, wet it down, and we'd have a solid as concrete retaining wall - then spray a few layers of water in the center that would freeze in no time.

"Wow!" they exclaimed. "Great idea, and we can all check out skates from Special Services and teach the kids how to skate!"

Putting on long johns and several layers of clothing, plus parka with hood, mufflers and heavy gloves, they hit Challenge #1.
Other husband: "Uh oh - the outside faucet is frozen solid, and therefore the water will not flow."
My husband: "No problem. I have railroad flares in my car to put out if it breaks down, and lighting one of those suckers should sufficiently thaw it."

It took us a couple of days to get it 'Just Right,' nearly the length of the whole eightplex, and each now dark afternoon, all eight units turned their back porch lights on for illumination, and had at the ready vats of hot chocolate, with marshmallows to top each mug.
The Evening Ritual became children skated until 7 p.m., and then the adults took over!

It soon was the talk of the base. It soon, also, however, sparked the competitive spirit of a unit two groups over, on the side of our playground.

One husband there was a fireman. Yep - he had their fire truck come to fill their rink in no time at all, not having to stand out there, as we did, freezing with a hose in hand..:(
(Down with one-upmanship)

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

My Next Bright Idea to Overcome Cabin Fever:

"Let's have everyone on our court round up our families and drive out to the Base Ski Slope and let the children (and us grownups) sled on the Bunny Slope!"

Instant Convoy formed.
Again, took hot dogs, buns and munchies and brownies and vats of hot chocolate and portable grills....gleefully went up and down the gradual slopes.

You thinking ahead of me here?
Boys will be boys?!!

"Why don't we try sledding on the regular ski slope?" said one Macho Man, and up went the fellas.
That sounded like a great idea for them, until I was slathering mustard on my hot dog and looked up to see MY SONS (then 10 and 11) HURTLING DOWN THE SLOPE, gathering speed up to about 70 mph.....

The LadyX turned grey-haired early, but no bones were broken..:)) =============================================================== The winter of '65-'66 was extremely cold. So much so that the base's supply of coal to generate steam heat for all the buildings was dwindling down at an alarming rate.
It was decided at Christmas if it did not 'warm up' some shortly, it would become necessary to fly to bases in the Northwest Lower 48 all the wives and children, grouping the men together on base to have enough coal to last.

Can you imagine how we felt about that? Get outside to CIVILIZATION! after enduring the challenges up there for so long?!!
Be somewhere with CURRENT TELEVISION - not shipped in cans 3 weeks later to Fairbanks (after Juneau and Anchorage had them) - and thus NEVER, NEVER having in depth news programs?!
The local paper had no national news, dwelling on state and local news. The highlight was the Fairbanks Police Blotter that often contained items like "Mrs. McGillicuddy had a moose wander through her front yard on Friday."

[Oh, how I could have used the Internet then!]

It was terribly disappointing when the weather moderated for a few weeks, and a sufficient amount of coal was shipped in and we still were captive.

======================================================

As Spring came and our orders for assignment to the Lower 48 states was imminent, I had a conversation with God.
"Lord, You know I've been patient and cheerful these 3 1/2 years, and I'd surely appreciate it if You would send us to a place with a semi-moderate climate. If You will, I promise to never complain about the weather again!"

HE LISTENS and HEARS and ANSWERS!!
Our orders came for Myrtle Beach AFB in South Carolina, right across the highway from a State Park by the Atlantic Ocean, and base quarters were available at once!

This is why to this day I do not dare complain about the weather....

======================================================

[thackney]

Personally, I didn't Alaska traffic all that heavy.

[thackney]

Ever get behind someone in the Drive-thru that just cannot make up their mind.

[thackney]

Beaches and Mountains, just a little too chilly for swimming.

Seward, Alaska

[DollyCali]

McD's pix a hoot! off to church/support group. Later

[Darksheare]

I have an Evil Overmom with ways of fixing 'boredom'.

[thackney]

It is a pretty place to play.

But it is a bad place to have problems.

More proof that Alaska has Rednecks (okay, more of a frozen blueneck, but the concept is still the same).