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

Posted on 10/19/2005 12:02:11 AM PDT by 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!


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Free Republic; Miscellaneous; Political Humor/Cartoons; US: Alaska
KEYWORDS: alaska; finest; friends; fun; military; surprises; tribute; veterans
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To: Aquamarine
Awesome job on this Alaska Post MB!

Thanks, sistah. Glad you enjoyed it. :-)

Glad to see you back in the saddle with your State presentations. :)

Well, don't get too excited about it, because I am hopping right back out of that saddle. LOL. Not saying this is my last, but it will be quite awhile before I tackle another one. They are taking more and more work. Don't know why they should be getting harder and more time consuming, but they are. Maybe I am just making more work out of them than is necessary. LOL

HUGS!

181 posted on 10/19/2005 8:20:53 PM PDT by Mama_Bear (If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.)
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To: Mama_Bear; scubachick
He is home, safe and sound, in the loving arms of his family.

WELCOME HOME SCUBADAD!!!!Love Grammy

182 posted on 10/19/2005 8:21:03 PM PDT by WVNan
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To: JustAmy
Thank you for this lovely thread. I've bookmarked it for further reading later.

You're welcome. Glad to finally see you here. I figured you had just gotten busy.

About the flu shot, don't you need to have one before you have your surgery? If they are not available, they will still do the surgery, won't they?

I hope we are not going to go through what we did last year. I finally got my flu shot in January.

183 posted on 10/19/2005 8:25:04 PM PDT by Mama_Bear (If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.)
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To: WVNan
You are so cute, Nan. Scubachick will love that graphic. It's a wonder she couldn't hear you clear down in NC. LOL!!
184 posted on 10/19/2005 8:29:19 PM PDT by Mama_Bear (If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.)
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To: LUV W
Shoot--I've probably borrowed stuff from you, too! :o)

Well, I'd be flattered if you have. :-)

185 posted on 10/19/2005 8:30:38 PM PDT by Mama_Bear (If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.)
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To: Mama_Bear

I'm assuming they will do surgery with or without the flu shot. I was thrilled when I was told they would give the shots today and tomorrow. Two and a half weeks should be enough time for it to become effective. I didn't get a shot last year.

I see the heart guy Friday, I will ask him if he knows anyone who has the vaccine. I may need to start calling to see if I can find a drug store that is giving them. I wonder why they are having problems with the supplies.


186 posted on 10/19/2005 8:33:53 PM PDT by JustAmy (Our troops need your prayers, now more than ever!)
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To: Mama_Bear

Beautiful thread! Well done!


187 posted on 10/19/2005 8:34:33 PM PDT by tuliptree76 (You can find me in the library reading tax books.)
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To: DollyCali; JRandomFreeper
all.. john is not only military.. but a professional chef & also a top flight IT guy. and likes pets & has a good sense of humor.

I've enjoyed getting to know him a bit on this thread. I have met some very interesting people today. It's been a fun day, but a really long one. I am about ready to call it quits and go watch some tv.

Hope to see everyone again here tomorrow. We still have a lot of Alaska left to explore. :-)

188 posted on 10/19/2005 8:36:01 PM PDT by Mama_Bear (If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.)
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To: tuliptree76
Beautiful thread! Well done!

Thank you so much, tulip. Alaska was one of the most interesting states to research and present. :-)

189 posted on 10/19/2005 8:38:07 PM PDT by Mama_Bear (If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.)
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To: Mama_Bear

Greetings form Sitka. Thanks for the wonderful thread.


190 posted on 10/19/2005 8:42:09 PM PDT by tongass kid
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To: ST.LOUIE1

SMOOOOOOOOOOOCH!!!

I LOVE that graphic. It is silly, like you. LOL!


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. : )

BAD wolfie! (snorf!)

Good night and sweet dreams. I am about ready to call it a day. ((((((((wolfie))))))))

191 posted on 10/19/2005 8:46:05 PM PDT by Mama_Bear (If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.)
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To: tongass kid
Oh, you are in Sitka? Ketchikan and Sitka are my two favorite places in Alaska. (Of course, I've only been as far north as Juneau. LOL)

The highlight of my trip to Sitka was St. Michael's Cathedral. :-)

Thanks for the wonderful thread.

You are welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.

192 posted on 10/19/2005 8:56:28 PM PDT by Mama_Bear (If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.)
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To: Kathy in Alaska
Another moose!! Do moose hang around your place a lot? Or is this the same one?

Those little ducks look very cold. :-(

193 posted on 10/19/2005 9:01:02 PM PDT by Mama_Bear (If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.)
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To: LUV W; Mama_Bear; Billie; dutchess; DollyCali; The Mayor; JohnHuang2; ST.LOUIE1; Diver Dave; ...
Have been sidelined for a LONG time with server problems..:(

The description of the Denali Highway in my reply and its likeness to the Alaska Highway in summer prompts another story.
Okay - it was a family joke that if Mom took a turn driving, there would logically follow An Adventure..:)

Allowed to leave Eielson AFB to head for Myrtle Beach AFB in SC (by way of visiting families in Florida) at 0001 on 1 June 1966, my husband drove until we were not too distant from the Alaska/Canada border. Needing to nap a while, he had me take over, with the two boys, our daughter and dog in the back with him.
Mind you, the last year we were there, we had a Chevy Greenbrier van, with a 70 horsepower engine in the rear. I made curtains for the windows and covered the cushions, and those folded out, making beds. We on the trip down the Rockies until we reached New Mexico, alternated camping out and motels.

All was quiet, and the road ahead without ups and downs until after one reached the Yukon Territory and beyond. Lulled into a false sense of security, the road became very wet from heavy rains within a few miles of the border, and horrified, I saw nothing ahead but a sea of deep MUD!!

With 70 hp, I knew that to stop was to get hopelessly mired, and there was NO civilization nor traffic, perhaps for several hours.
My only recourse was to GUN IT, hunched determinedly over the wheel..:)) The sudden acceleration woke my husband in the back, seeing only waves of mud flying past the windows - LOL. Had to keep that up for a couple of miles until past the (closed) border station, and finally was brought to a drier road.

The next time he let me drive was at about 11:30 p.m.with no traffic at all as we were working our way up and around the top of the Rocky Mountains.

Crew asleep, I later was chugging up on one of those nasty curves with a VERY steep mountain wall on the right of the 2-lane road, and no guard rail on the left with a straight drop down to - oblivion.
Cheering to myself because I was going to make it up and around the blind pinnacle, suddenly I was staring at two headlights coming toward me!

As that was processing in a split second, ANOTHER road grader working in tandem with the first one appeared at the top - - "Help me, Lord" was my brief prayer as I again had to "GUN IT" to the left of No. 1 and squeeze through the ever so slight gap between it and No. 2 - and hoping there was not a car behind them as I shot through.....whew.....adjusted my sunglasses (yes, sunglasses necesry at 0200!) and kept on going...

LadyX has indeed had some fun times..LOL

194 posted on 10/19/2005 9:08:57 PM PDT by LadyX ((( He Is The Lord, above all things )))
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To: LadyX

Yark! Lady you have led a charmed life! Better yet, one overlooked by God!


195 posted on 10/19/2005 9:13:13 PM PDT by luvie (The love of freedom is the mightiest force of history...GWBush 10-06-05 (Water Bucket Brigade))
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To: LUV W

What a great thread! The moose meets kitty pic was my favorite.


196 posted on 10/19/2005 9:18:54 PM PDT by Dan Lacey
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To: Mama_Bear

Not the same one. I live fairly close to the college property in the middle of town. Lots of woods and a nice home for moose. They wander the neighborhoods nibbling on all the trees in the winter.


197 posted on 10/19/2005 9:21:29 PM PDT by Kathy in Alaska (~ www.ProudPatriots.org ~ Operation Semper Fi ~a field hospital~)
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To: Texas Termite; LUV W; All
Nana, I think I did not have your name in the To box on my Reply # 194.
Meant to do so!

Yes, LUV W, I have been richly blessed, an Appreciator of God's Creations and Love.

Need to go to bed here on the East Coast - good night all.
God give you rest.

198 posted on 10/19/2005 9:23:11 PM PDT by LadyX ((( He Is The Lord, above all things )))
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To: Mama_Bear; scubachick; LadyX
Gee, MB, I'm so sorry it took me so long to get here. I have just finished reading the whole thread. No way to answer everyone. They are probably all in bed by now anyway. I had Miss Em today and then church. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. I had to answer your post that scubadad was home and safe. I'm going to suggest to scubachick that the three of them need to come to WV and spend some time with Grammy.

The thread is one of the best you've done. I've enjoyed the pictures and the reports from Freepers who live there. That is the nice thing about the "state" threads. They bring new people to the Finest. Of course, Sistah's stories always spice things up. She tends to embellish her tales you know. Mama always said she had a flair for the dramatic.

I'm glad you are running the thread for two days. KET and I will be busy tomorrow, but perhaps I can get back here by evening. It's all very lovely and I tip my hat to you for your talent.

199 posted on 10/19/2005 9:25:40 PM PDT by WVNan
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To: LadyX

((((hugs))))) Goodnight sweet Lady. See ya next time 'round! Thanks for entertaining us all!


200 posted on 10/19/2005 9:38:24 PM PDT by luvie (The love of freedom is the mightiest force of history...GWBush 10-06-05 (Water Bucket Brigade))
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