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!

[Mama_Bear]

Elmendorf Totem Pole - Sergeant Chester carved the figures on an old, creosote-soaked utility pole that tells the story of the US Air Force through its roles and missions.

Now, that is very interesting.

We saw lots of totem poles in Ketchikan and Sitka, but I don't know if they were originals or reproductions. The cruise ships don't let you stay ashore long enough to really learn much about what you are seeing.

[thackney]

Even the kitties have to be tough in Alaska.

[JRandomFreeper]

We saw lots of totem poles in Ketchikan

Most of those are originals, even if they were carved recently.

Some day, I'll post the picture of me standing under the eagle's butt. (The large wooden eagle, near Tongas Trading Center).

God bless you tourists. Ketchikan wouldn't survive without you.

/john

[Aquamarine]

Welcome Home!

[LadyX]

Thanks - it was a fantatic thing to have those challenges when I was young enough to make the most of 'em..:))

Not knowing this thread on Alaska was coming up, I a few weeks ago described some of the things we went through before we got on base, including going through the Good Friday Earthquake in March of '64, as well as in the past. Won't repeat all of them here, since most of the regulars have heard them more than once..:))

That includes a week of camping (Special Services foldout tent camper rented for $2 a day) the summer of '65, going north on the Steese Highway (snow flurries on August 13th) to above the Arctic Circle.

We then went back to the base to replenish things, and south to Mt. McKinley.

It was truly primitive then, and we were free to drive the Denali Highway all the way to 126 Mile (within 10 miles of it) before turning back to set up camp at the 88 Mile overlook.

Here is a description I found of the highway:
"Denali Highway
I have looked at this road on the map for years, but I never had time when I have been in Alaska to do it. I love the off the beaten path roads, the roads that don't go directly anywhere, the roads whose time and utility have mostly passed, the Blue Highway's that William Least Heat Moon talks about in his book of the same name. It did not disappoint.

Elevation
I was a little concerned because it was early evening and I had about 2 hours of light left. The first 20 miles are paved, so I made good time as the road wound up to the high alpine tundra to the south of the Alaskan Range mountains. The land was tundra with some willow brush, but mostly open. It was pocked with little lakes and the colors of red and brown dominated the vegetation. The road gains eleveation up to over 4200 feet and is above 2600 feet for most of its length. I was keeping a close eye on the snow cover and road elevation, to make sure I could make it across on two wheels. Luckily the snow level was quite a bit higher in this area.

Into the gravel
At mile 20, the pavement ends and it becomes a fairly rough gravel road. There was some hardpacked dirt where I could drive 40-45 miles an hour but a lot of the road was pock marked with pot holes - thousands and thousands of them. I would be driving 45 mph and then hit a row of pot holes that would loosen my teeth. In areas, especially on some of the hills, the gravel was very large, and it was a little disconcerting, but luckily, these areas were limited, and it eventually returned to the pot holes. I had to slow down to 5-10 mph in places, but other areas, I could speed up to 30 or 40. The area was spectacular as the road curved along the hills like a wet spagheti noodle. The Alaska Range of white capped mountains was visible to the north."

This is similar to my experience, although those "first 20 miles" were that week just being torn up TO pave! The pot holes and terribly rough gravel road were not by any means an exaggeration.
[just like the Alaska Highway in the summer of '66 when we drove out.)

In 1965, there were absolutely NO conveniences - hotels, gas stations, stores - no advertising - just pristine wilderness.
Bit of a handicap with the vast open spaces with only scattered low brush, when Mom had to well - answer the call of nature.
Complicating Factor was it was the day before Moose Season began, with parties of hunters cruising up and down the highway looking for an ideal spot to get one.
My boys were then 10 and 11 (daughter 3) and were stationed to WATCH THE ROAD and shout if they saw a vehicle coming, while I took advantage of a slight depression..:))

Denali Highway

Leading to scenes like these:

Before getting to Mt.McKinley - -

You absolutely knew "Who hath made these things" looking at the utter VASTNESS stretching across areas below you!

[Mama_Bear]

Thank you all for coming over and welcoming scubachick's husband home, and for expressing your appreciation for his service. I know it will mean a lot to scubachick (and to Mr. scubachick) when she comes in and reads your posts to her and her husband.

[Mama_Bear]

Thanks, Aqua. I LOVE that graphic you posted for scubachick. :-)

We are sure happy to have him home. Even though he is in NC and not HERE, at least he is safely back in the USA. :-)

[LadyX]

I was living in Fairbanks when the Good Friday Earthquake struck.
Even that far away, I had to sit down on the kitchen floor with my baby in my lap, the two-story house with basement rocking like a ship on a high sea!
The aftershocks were quite unsettling, wondering if something stronger were going to hit...

The worst part was not having communications with the Lower 48 for 4 days, so our families did not know how greatly we were affected - were dead or alive.

[thackney]

The Eagle River Fire Department is responsible for River and Avalanche rescue, as well as backup for wildfires. Consequently, they get a few fun toys.

[The Mayor]

You have moose everywhere don't you..

When I was a kid living in Maine a moose scared the day lights out of me.
I heard noise outside the back window and opened up the shades to see a huge one staring me in the face thru the window.

I was only 8 in 64.. but I was the man of the house.

[Texas Termite]

Goodness did your post bring back memories to me!!

We were in Alaska from 1951-1957. BEAUTIFUL!! The most wonderful time of my life as I look back on everything.

We built a "summer house" at Moose Pass, lived on base at Elmendorf and made several trips to Mt. McKinley during that time frame.

When you stood on our back stoop, the Denali Mountain range was in our back yard (or so it seemed).

I was in a school that rivaled many "modern" schools on the outside for years. And I remember well how very expensive everything was up there at that time even though we were fortunate and money wasn't a problem for my family.

I remember visiting the Eskimo graves with the beautiful totems and also the little houses over them with all of the dishes, etc. for their spirits to enjoy in their after life.

I've never been back. I don't think you can go "back". It was a different time, our family was complete...Dad, Mom, my sister and myself. All are gone but me. It just wouldn't be the same.

Thanks for letting me reminisce with you......

Nana

[Mama_Bear]

Oh my gosh, are you actually IN Ketchikan? I was only there for a day, but still, it became one of my top ten favorite places. I just loved being there. I loved Creek Street, and the little artist's shops and just everything about it. It is just a charming town. Of course, the day we were there it was beautiful with warm sunshine. I understand that is a rarity. LOL

God bless you tourists. Ketchikan wouldn't survive without you.

I am sure the tourist dollars are very welcome and necessary, but I have also heard that, by the end of the season, the natives are very glad to see us go, along with their stupid comments like: "you speak very good English here"...and the comment from the lady standing on the dock who wanted to know how high above sea level she was. (The man looked over the side of the pier at the water and replied "oh, I'd say about 15 feet".). LOL

[LadyX]

What wonderful news about scubachick's husband being safely home!
I can imagine how excited babychick was.

May God continue to watch over and bless that beautiful family.

[Lady Jag]

[Mama_Bear]

Thank you so much. We are going to call him before it gets too late tonight and offically welcome him home and will tell them both of the many FReepers who have come here today to welcome him home and to tell him 'thank you' for his service. It will mean a lot to them.

[JRandomFreeper]

No, the TDY ended, and I'm back with my home unit. I was there long enough to make some really great friends, be offered a civilian job, and learn which restaurants are the best:

My professional culinary opinion:

#1. The Landing.... The service staff are the greatest. The cooks are professional. The kitchen is clean. It's pro stuff.... Downside... It's mostly fried food. I have new dentures, and fried food, while tasty and appealing, doesn't work with new dentures.

#2. The Gilmore. Great menu. Changes a lot. Great cookstaff. Excellent waitstaff. Good bar. Soups are the best in town. Period. Exclamation point. Turn the page. Fresh stock every day.

#3. That place down by the dock with the beer sampler package and the T-shirt (I've got one). The food is good when the right cooks are there. Ownership is in turmoil. Some of the specialties are really good. It needs a good owner, a good firm hand at the wheel, and to lose the prom night cache.

The above is just my professional culinary opinion, and doesn't mean squat. I've eaten at all three, and would go back to all three.

And Lord knows I miss being up there.

/john

[Mama_Bear]

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

Thanks, proud2be. We are breathing a sigh of relief now that he is safely home. Now we can concentrate on praying that the rest of our men and women come home safely as well. :-)

[JRandomFreeper]

by the end of the season, the natives are very glad to see us go,

So was I... but not for any simple reason. It's a great town, but it's population is about 16000 and tourists double that when there are 5 boats in town. I know that after a couple of months, I learned to count how many boats were in moorage (as we came into Ketchikan for liberty), and figure out whether I wanted to go downtown or not.....

Tourists are great. We love you guys. But when you put double the population is a little footprint like Ketchikan.... It wears after a while. You think back to March, when there was only us there.... and how quiet and sedate it was. In spite of everyone working their butts off to get ready for the tourists and then the salmon.

I will always have a sweet spot in my heart for a)My first dog (R.P. Coltrain) b)The Great State of Texas and .... c) Ketchikan, Alaska.

/john

[LadyX]

Ha, Nana! Elmendorf AFB was down in the Banana Belt..:))

In Fairbanks, we had sub-zero tempertures most of the winter.
It was common for the HIGH for the day to be -40, and hung closer to -50 for several at a time. One day it had a slight breeze and was -80.

The thing is, like when in Rapid City, South Dakota, there were no cafeterias in the public schools, and unless bused, the children had to walk to school, home for lunch and back, and home afterward.
An exception was made if it got below -35. Then they could take a lunch with them to eat there.

With my "break in" period in South Dakota preceding going to Alaska, I adapted quickly.
Even though I grew up in Florida, I reached a State of Mind where my comfort level was set at:
"If it would just get UP to ZERO, everything will be all right!" -
and meant it.

[Mama_Bear]

So you were stationed there? I didn't know there were military there, but, as I said, I was only there for a day.

I will make a note of your restaurant choices, I definitely intend to return someday to Ketchikan. :-)