Homesteads on Fort Richardson, Alaska - The USARAK Home Page ...

ecords and found that the area on the lower half of Otter Lake was open for entry,and decided to file a claim, moving there in the same year. 102Bill’s brother, Paul, cut trees for the homestead cabin. Then they hired a Finnishcarpenter to build the house. Water was piped in from a spring on a hill close to thehouse, providing running water for home and garden. The Stolts reached the cabinby rowing a boat across Otter Lake rather than walk around its perimeter. 103Bill relinquished the homestead to the government in May of 1942. He left thatsummer with the intention of returning at a later date to move his house and allpersonal property off the land. However, moving the heavy cabin across land andlake was eventually deemed too difficult. When Bill went back to the homestead inOctober of 1942 to collect his belongings, he found military personnel had severelydamaged the cabin. The front door and screen were missing. The windows andtheir frames were removed. The ceiling of the cabin had been taken off and theplumbing was gone! A number of other things were also missing; including thekitchen sink, a rocking chair, beds, silverware, floor linoleum and a forty gallonwater tank. The Stolts received $1500 from the government for the value of thecabin in 1943. In a brief phone conversation, Lily Stolt said that the cabin wasdestroyed in a fire soon after they were paid. The family felt a great loss at losingtheir Otter Lake claim, which they had so enjoyed.John J. HarringtonFigure 22. John J.Harrington, 1942.Courtesy of AnchorageMuseum of Historyand Art. Liston PassportPhotos.John Harrington was from Newfoundland, Canada, and lived in Alaska for 26 years,beginning in 1930. He filed his homestead application in 1939 and received patentin 1941. The government purchased his land the same year of patent for $4,414. Hebuilt an 18' x 20' log cabin with a full basement on the homestead. Another cabinwas built before this one. It was, however, completely destroyed by fire in 1941.Harrington was a bachelor and spent much of his life as a mechanic. He served inW.W.I and died in Anchorage at the age of 67 in 1959. 104Albert HoserudAlbert Hoserud was born in 1856 in Iowa. He filed his homestead application in1939, after the government had issued Executive Order 8102. According to a Certificateof Inspection and Possession conducted by the Real Estate director of theArmy in 1943, no habitable improvements were made on the land. Thus, Hoserud’shomestead entry was cancelled and the land acquired by the Army at no charge.Hoserud did apparently have a cabin on the land though, where he passed away in1942. He lay in the cabin for three months before his body was discovered byneighboring homesteader, John A. Bisson. Hoserud was 85 and a bachelor with nosurviving relatives. He was involved in mining and had lived in Alaska for 20years. 105102Ibid., p. 133-135.103Ibid.104Obituary, Anchorage Daily Times, 24 Feb. 1956. p. 9.105Obituary, Anchorage Daily Times, 7 March 1942. p. 1.42<strong>Homesteads</strong> on Fort RichardsonAlaska