Fri, September 18, 2015
By Diane Rodill, Phd.Despite my interloper lower 48 status, I can report a memorable visit and only warm “Filipino hospitality” from both the Filipino and other communities.My agenda for the centennial visit was two-fold: share my research findings at Kodiak’s Baranov Museum for my pending book on my father (A Filipino Rascal: Denis Rodill 1894-1977); and retrace Dad’s steps in Larsen Bay. In 1915, Denis worked there as an Alaskero (Filipino cannery worker). Peripherally, I fancied a day of fishing,...
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Thu, September 17, 2015
Notes About Transportation and RIDES NEEDED 2015 Annual Joint Meeting in Cordova ------------------------------------------------------------ News about Shuttles, Taxis, and RIDES NEEDED ------------------------------------------------------------ Below we describe what's available to transport you into downtown Cordova depending on your arrival by plane or ferry. Please send a short email to us with the day and time of your arrival. Send info to nancy@cordovamuseum.org. That way, we can be sure enough transport is available! ------------------------------------------------------------ LOOKING for rides: A few folks (from Kodiak or elsewhere)...
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Mon, August 31, 2015
[caption id="attachment_3990" align="alignright" width="326"] Allan Air Sled. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Archives, Henry Boos Family Collection (72-123-17).[/caption] by Chris Allan The challenge of mechanized travel over snow vexed inventors for many years after the Wright Brothers introduced the world to motorized flight and Henry Ford filled America’s streets with automobiles. Beginning in the 1860s, a few tried and usually failed to use steam engines to power spinning barrels equipped with spikes for traction. Even so, by the 1890s some people were convinced that...
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Wed, August 19, 2015
Editor’s note: The column below first appeared in the Alaska Dispatch News on Aug. 18. by Ross Coen Allow me to begin by stating unequivocally that I support efforts by Governor Bill Walker and numerous others to place Elizabeth Peratrovich on the revised ten-dollar bill. Her tireless advocacy for Native rights has certainly earned her a place among the heroes of Alaska. At the same time, however, we have a responsibility when honoring figures from the past to...
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Tue, August 11, 2015
by Chris Allan Few machines are capable of moving over Alaska’s snow- and ice-covered terrain, much less while hauling heavy cargo. The Caterpillar-style tractor is one such machine, and it caused a revolution in northern transportation, construction, and mining. During the 1910s and 1920s when the first Holt-brand tractors arrived in Fairbanks and Anchorage, they transformed what was possible. Suddenly a “cat train” could pull hundreds of tons of supplies over mountain passes and across rivers and through winter and summer without having to be...
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