Wed, December 09, 2015
Sometimes one finds bits of history in the oddest places. Recently, the Alaska Historical Society was contacted by William Page Johnson, of Fairfax, Virginia, to let us know about a connection between one of his city's early residents and the state of Alaska. Mottrom Dulany Ball of Fairfax, Virginia, was instrumental in the earliest efforts toward the purchase of Alaska by the United States. According to Johnson, editor of The Fare Facs Gazette newsletter of Historic Fairfax City, Inc.,: "Unfortunately, Ball...
(Read More)
Mon, December 07, 2015
by Anjuli Grantham This summer, I ventured on the M/V Tustumena from Kodiak to Dutch Harbor, prepared with Dramamine and ample reading material for the three day sail. Not once did I pop a seasickness pill, and only a few pages were read in my book, as we voyaged through waters I know so intimately through historic accounts but had never seen with my own eyes. [caption id="attachment_4235" align="alignleft" width="300"] Old P.E. Harris/ Peter Pan cannery at False Pass.[/caption] We...
(Read More)
Mon, December 07, 2015
History can come in all shapes and sizes. University of Washington PhD student Ross Coen was in Ketchikan in mid-November to give a presentation on the history of the canned salmon industry in Alaska, and to research a subject he’s passionate about, salmon can labels. Ross Coen admits that he’s a “nerd” when it comes to his interest in salmon can labels. Just like someone might collect baseball cards, there are those who collect labels from fish packers. Coen was...
(Read More)
Mon, December 07, 2015
by Bob King Old time fishermen are often described as “Iron Men in Wooden Boats.” It honors their hard work in the days before motors and hydraulics. Last spring I went to Bellingham’s Center for Pacific Northwest Studies to look through the archives of the Alaska Packers Association (APA), the largest of Bristol Bay’s historic salmon canners. Among other things, they had several boxes of 4 by 6 inch cards: the company’s records of their Bristol Bay fishermen from 1908...
(Read More)
Fri, November 06, 2015
by J. Pennelope Goforth Last month the Bristol Bay Historical Society marked the opening of their new museum with a familiar Naknek landmark−the iron kedge anchor of the CHARLES E. MOODY. Since about 1962 the anchor has lain next to the D&D [caption id="attachment_4165" align="alignleft" width="300"] A young Ted Hadfield, somewhat dwarfed stands by the anchor of the CHARLES E. MOODY in Naknek, Alaska in 1962. (Photograph courtesy Ted Hadfield.)[/caption] Restaurant and Hotel on the highest point of uptown Naknek....
(Read More)
