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!

[thackney]

Every been to an Elephant's Birthday? Since Elephants a rather rare up here, we treat them special. This was Maggie's Birthday this past summer.

First you need a cake.

Then you need an elephant.

Jello is tough for an elephant.

But like our warriors, persevere to overcome.

[humblegunner]

"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?"

That's absolutely brilliant!!!

I just know that was fun to build and to use.

[thackney]

I live in Eagle River, Alaska. It is properly named.

Looking out my back window last year.

Ready...

Set...

Go!!!

[Billie]

This Army Mom's letter says it all!

It does. :( It says so much about the character of that mother and the kind of person she is deep inside to want to apologize for *her* behavior at the time she received the news that broke her heart. I'm sure the officers who have to deliver the sad news to the family never expect any other kind of reception than this mother showed at the time. A remarkable woman wrote this letter. Thanks for sharing it with us, CW.

[luvie]

Thanks again for your wonderful stories! What a life you have lived.

[Billie]

So happy to hear your hubby is home. What wonderful news!

[dutchess]

Absolutely beautiful job Lori. Sorry it took til now to get here...peeked in a few times but it was so slow and I couldn't reply. See now there was a FR problem (was wearing my tinfoil hat thinking it as just me)

ANYWAY, BRAVO sistah. Your best yet...(and I'm now salivating for Alaskan King Crab legs)

Hopefully FR is permanently up to speed and so glad this is a twofer so more people can enjoy this awesome cybertour! (((((lori)))))

[dutchess]

Here at the same time????? So glad FR is back to normal. See previous post to lori! ((((billie)))))

[fatima]

Nice story Lady X.My father was stationed in Georgia and we lived on base there for a little while.I still have a little accent-red clay-snake pits-wild almond or walnut trees-not sure which one.

[JRandomFreeper]

Thanks for the ping, Dolly. I was honored to serve under the JTF working on the Alaska Road Project. The guys I took care of were the stuff of America. They worked hard, played hard, and no one got hurt (much).

/john

[Mama_Bear]

Your presentations are always beautiful, Mama_Bear, but this one of Alaska is simply outstanding!

Awww......thank you. :-)

I have been so looking forward to your posts today, then, right before you got here, I had to leave for awhile.

Sounds like Alaska was (and probably still is) truly the wild, wild, west. It's statehood beginnings remind me a bit of what I have read of Australia's, both being made up partially by a criminal element. Very interesting.

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

Thank you so much, Maggie. I appreciate your interesting Alaska stories. I know others do also. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

Beatitufl table, beautiful sentiment, and a touching song! Thanks, LUV. (I saved your red plaid background to my background folder. Hope you don't mind. I love it. The color is so rich.) :-)

[proud2beconservativeinNJ]

I'm happy for you and your family. Thank you for sharing the good news about your nephew's safe return from Iraq.

[Mama_Bear]

Loavely all the way through ... especially like the type arrangement around those cute little critters in your Good Morning art.

Thanks. Compliments coming from you, a real-life graphic artist, mean a great deal to me. And, I notice you seem to like text effects especially. So do I, that's why I have such fun with PhotoShop. I could just play in Photoshop all day....some days I do! Too bad I don't get paid for it. LOL

Isn't Alaska ruggedly beautiful? Takes a special breed of people to settle that area and live there. I enjoy visiting, but am afraid I could not last through the winter.

[thackney]

A little of the 1964 earthquake.

This great earthquake and ensuing tsunami took 125 lives (tsunami 110, earthquake 15), and caused about $311 million in property loss. Earthquake effects were heavy in many towns, including Anchorage, Chitina, Glennallen, Homer, Hope, Kasilof, Kenai, Kodiak, Moose Pass, Portage, Seldovia, Seward, Sterling, Valdez, Wasilla, and Whittier.

Anchorage, about 120 kilometers northwest of the epicenter, sustained the most severe damage to property. About 30 blocks of dwellings and commercial buildings were damaged or destroyed in the downtown area. The J.C. Penny Company building was damaged beyond repair; the Four Seasons apartment building, a new six-story structure, collapsed; and many other multistory buildings were damaged heavily. The schools in Anchorage were almost devastated. The Government Hill Grade School, sitting astride a huge landslide, was almost a total loss. Anchorage High School and Denali Grade School were damaged severely. Duration of the shock was estimated at 3 minutes.

Landslides in Anchorage caused heavy damage. Huge slides occurred in the downtown business section, at Government Hill, and at Turnagain Heights. The largest and most devastating landslide occurred at Turnagain Heights. An area of about 130 acres was devasted by displacements that broke the ground into many deranged blocks that were collapsed and tilted at all angles. This slide destroyed about 75 private houses. Water mains and gas, sewer, telephone, and electrical systems were disrupted throughout the area.

The earthquake was accompanied by vertical displacement over an area of about 520,000 square kilometers. The major area of uplift trended northeast from southern Kodiak Island to Price William Sound and trended east-west to the east of the sound. Vertical displacements ranged from about 11.5 meters of uplift to 2.3 meters of subsidence relative to sea level. Off the southwest end of Montague Island, there was absolute vertical displacement of about 13 - 15 meters. Uplift also occurred along the extreme southeast coast of Kodiak Island, Sitkalidak Island, and over part or all of Sitkinak Island. This zone of subsidence covered about 285,000 square kilometers, including the north and west parts of Prince William Sound, the west part of the Chugach Mountains, most of Kenai Peninsula, and almost all the Kodiak Island group.

This shock generated a tsunami that devasted many towns along the Gulf of Alaska, and left serious damage at Alberni and Port Alberni, Canada, along the West Coast of the United States (15 killed), and in Hawaii. The maximum wave height recorded was 67 meters at Valdez Inlet. Seiche action in rivers, lakes, bayous, and protected harbors and waterways along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas caused minor damage. It was also recorded on tide gages in Cuba and Puerto Rico.

This great earthquake was felt over a large area of Alaska and in parts of western Yukon Territory and British Columbia, Canada.

Close-up of Government Hill elementary school, which was destroyed by the Government Hill landslide. Anchorage, Alaska.

Collapse of Fourth Avenue near C Street, Anchorage, due to earthquake caused landslide. Before the earthquake, the sidewalk at left, which is in the graben, was at street level on the right. The graben subsides 11 feet in response to 14 feet of horizontal movement. Anchorage district, Cook Inlet region, Alaska. 1964.

Control tower at Anchorage International Airport, collapsed by earthquake shaking. Anchorage district, Cook Inlet region, Alaska.

[Mama_Bear]

Beatitufl table,

Well, as you can see, I didn't spell check THAT post. LOL!

[Mama_Bear]

I hope he feels obligated to post a whole bunch of his pictures ;-]

He apparently did, and he has. And I see he is still going strong. I love it!

Thackney, have gone above and beyond in contributing to our thread today. Everyone is enjoying your photos and comments. :-)

We will be here tomorrow too, so y'all come back, okay? ;-)

[Aquamarine]

Awesome job on this Alaska Post MB! Glad to see you back in the saddle with your State presentations. :)

[Mama_Bear]

Great news..WOO HOO..I am thrilled for you,your nephew and family.

Thanks. We are so relieved to have him home. God has answered our prayers. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

Hi Kathy! Sorry, it has taken me forever to get to your post.

Oh, my gosh...there was a real live moose in your driveway? There is something so comical about moose (mooses?). LOL

So glad you came by and posted that photo. I admire you for being able to live up there with your extreme weather. It is so beautiful, but I just don't think I could survive the winter.