Historic Fairbanks

HISTORIC 

FAIRBANKS 

An Illustrated History 

by Dermot Cole 

A PUBLICATION OF THE FAIRBANKS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

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HISTORIC 

FAIRBANKS 

An Illustrated History 

by Dermot Cole 

Published for the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce 

Historical Publishing Network 

A division of Lammert Publications, Inc. 

San Antonio, Texas

❖ 

Miners take a break, preparing an 

elaborate float for a Fourth of July 

celebration in 1904. 

COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 

ALASKA FAIRBANKS ARCHIVES, 

CHARLES BUNNELL COLLECTION. 

First Edition 

Copyright © 2002 Historical Publishing Network 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing 

from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Historical Publishing Network, 8491 Leslie Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78254. Phone (210) 688-9006. 

ISBN: 1-893619-24-9 

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2002103983 

Historic Fairbanks: An Illustrated History 

author: Dermot Cole 

cover artist: DeeDee Hammond 

contributing writer for 

“Sharing the Heritage”: Scott McCrea 

Historical Publishing Network 

president: 

vice president: 

project managers: 

director of operations: 

administration: 

graphic production: 

Ron Lammert 

Barry Black 

Joe Neely 

Robin Neely 

Charles A. Newton, III 

Angela Lake 

Donna M. Mata 

Dee Steidle 

Colin Hart 

John Barr 

PRINTED IN SINGAPORE 

2 ✦ HISTORIC FAIRBANKS

CONTENTS 

4 FOREWORD 

5 CHAPTER I gold discovery & the founding of Fairbanks 

13 CHAPTER II the gold rush ends as the struggle begins 

18 CHAPTER III dredging up a new era of prosperity 

25 CHAPTER IV World War II hits home in Alaska 

33 CHAPTER V cold war in a cold country 

41 CHAPTER VI celebrating the forty-ninth star on Old Glory 

47 CHAPTER VII fueled by an oil bonanza, Fairbanks booms 

53 CHAPTER VIII Fairbanks celebrates a centennial 

58 SHARING THE HERITAGE 

125 INDEX 

128 SPONSORS 

❖ 

The Fairbanks waterfront on a busy summer day in the early days of the community, when the river was the main artery for commerce and transportation. 

COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS ARCHIVES, CHARLES BUNNELL COLLECTION. 

Contents ✦ 3

FOREWORD 

For untold generations, people have lived along the Tanana and Chena Rivers in the interior of Alaska. Alaska missionary Hudson 

Stuck, writing in 1914, marveled at the perseverance of the small groups of Athabascans who survived by hunting, snaring, picking 

berries, and fishing: “With no tool but the stone axe and the flint knife, with no weapon but the bow and arrow and spear, with no 

material for fish nets but root fibres, or for fish-hooks or needles but bone, and with no means of fire making save two dry sticks— 

one wonders at the skill and patient endurance that rendered subsistence possible at all.” 

Within a few decades of the purchase of Alaska from Russia, the long-established pattern of life changed forever. The arrival of 

explorers and prospectors on the Chena and Salcha Rivers transformed the countryside and ushered in a new era marked by the search 

for gold and founding of new settlements, one of which was Fairbanks. 

This book tells the story of the first one hundred years of a town that witnessed both prosperity and poverty as it grew from a small 

mining camp to a modern community. It has a population of eighty-three thousand diverse individuals brought together in 

circumstances that continue to make this an exciting and vibrant place to live. 

For more than a quarter-century I have written about life in Alaska as a reporter and columnist for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. 

This has given me a unique perspective on the changes and many characters here who call Fairbanks home. 

As with my four previous books, I have benefited from the assistance of many friends and colleagues. I would be remiss if I didn’t 

put my wife Debbie Carter at the top of the list of those to thank. In addition to overlooking my faults, she is a perceptive editor. My 

children—Connor, Aileen, and Anne—are a constant source of inspiration. 

I would like to thank the Daily News-Miner, particularly publisher Marilyn Romano and Managing Editor Kelly Bostian for their 

assistance with photographs used in this book. I am also indebeted to my friend Candy Waugaman for graciously allowing me access 

to photos from her wonderful collection. The staff at the Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, headed by Paul 

McCarthy, have helped me on countless occasions. 

I want to thank Kara Moriarty, chief executive officer of the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce and her predecessor in that 

role, Pam Younker. Thanks are also due to my twin brother Terrence Cole for his expertise in Alaska history and to John Burns, Buzz 

Otis, Chuck Gray, Richard Veazey, Joe Wagner, Claus Naske, Jason Soifer, Pat Cole, Joe Tremarello, Mike Mathers, Joe Correia, Eric 

Muehling, Rob Stapleton, Dan Joling, and Michael Carey. 

Dermot Cole 

Fairbanks, Alaska 

❖ 

A ninety-seven-year-old Fairbanksan 

proudly stands in front of his cabin, 

with plenty of kindling at hand. By 

the early 1920s the population had 

dropped sharply, but some sturdy 

souls hung on. 

COURTESY OF THE 

CANDY WAUGAMAN COLLECTION. 


CHAPTER I 

GOLD DISCOVERY & THE FOUNDING OF FAIRBANKS 

On a bright Alaska summer day in 1905, a Fairbanks prospector sat in the district attorney’s office, 

amid the racket created by a dozen men pounding on typewriters. Outside the window, the dirt 

streets of Fairbanks were noisy with horse-drawn traffic and barking dogs. 

Steamboats loaded and unloaded on the riverfront docks. The narrow gauge railroad that ran to 

the mining camps outside the city every day of the year, in temperatures as cold as sixty-five below, 

had passengers and freight to deliver. The new city boasted a telephone system, four churches, 

restaurants, a host of saloons, drug stores, a school, hotels, newspapers, three banks, electrical service 

in the business district, and hundreds of squat log cabins. The businesses supplied by riverboat 

offered everything from hardware to oak dining tables. At least 3,000 people lived in the city, with 

5,000 more spread out in the nearby mining camps. 

“Can’t seem to get used to it,” Henry Kortlitz, the prospector, said to a reporter. He couldn’t get 

over the idea that this spot had been a densely wooded forest just three years earlier. “It don’t seem 

possible there could be such big changes in that time. I built one of the first cabins that was ever built 

here. Who’d ever thought at that time that where the trees then stood would be a big city like this. 

If one’s forethought were as good as his hindthought he could make lots of money, couldn’t he?” 

“A good many of us just located temporarily on the wing, as it were, ready to fly whenever 

anything better offered. This place was not intended for a town, anyway, at that time. It was simply 

a trading post—trading with the Indians mostly, and supplying grub to a few prospectors.” 

The unlikely story of the founding of Fairbanks goes back to 1901, when trader E. T. Barnette 

hired a steamboat to take him up the Tanana River to start a trading post along the trail from Valdez 

to Eagle. He had no intention of creating a town along what was then called the Chena Slough, now 

known as the Chena River. 

Barnette had owned a small boat called the Arctic Boy that had sunk earlier that spring at 

St. Michael on Alaska’s west coast. He turned to Captain Charles Adams and hired the Lavelle Young 

for transportation. The agreement between Adams and Barnette was that the riverboat would go as 

far as it could upstream toward Tanana Crossing, about four hundred miles from the Yukon River. 

When it could go no farther, Barnette would have to unload his 130 tons of supplies on the 

riverbank. The Lavelle Young steamed up the Tanana River past the mouth of the Chena River and ran 

into shallow water. Hoping to get around that section, Adams went back downstream and turned up 

the Chena. He planned to return to the Tanana River farther upstream on a channel that connected 

the Chena with the Tanana. 

❖ 

The Fairbanks waterfront featured an 

impressive collection of bars, hotels 

and other businesses catering to the 

mining trade. 



Chapter I ✦ 5

❖ 

Left: E. T. Barnette found himself 

stuck along the banks of the Chena 

River, the luckiest thing that ever 

happened to him. 

COURTESY OF THE TERRENCE COLE COLLECTION. 

Right: Felix Pedro, born Felice 

Pedroni, the Italian immigrant 

who made the gold strike that 

started Fairbanks. 

COURTESY OF THE DAILY-NEWS MINER COLLECTION. 

“Up the Chena about six miles above the 

present site of Fairbanks we stuck fast,” Adams 

recalled in a 1936 interview. “Ours was a deep 

draft boat. I told Barnette that he would have to 

unload his things in accordance with the 

agreement. He argued. He wanted to go back 

to Chena.” 

A trading post had already been established 

near the mouth of the Chena River, and Barnette 

wanted to be on the main river, not on a 

tributary, but Adams balked at going all the way 

back to the mouth. Floating freight downstream 

is much more difficult than taking it upstream 

and he feared getting stuck. Indeed, the 

riverboat scraped bottom many times, and it was 

a battle to keep going. After six miles, Adams 

had had enough. “The going became so hard I 

insisted that Barnette land,” he said. “We cut 

some spruce and helped him get his freight off. 

We left Barnette furious.” It was understandable, 

for Barnette now had $20,000 in trading goods, 

including horses, dogs, windows, general 

supplies, doors, and a steam launch, on a 

backwater that didn’t appear to hold any 

promise. The date was August 26, 1901. 

The site chosen in this off-handed manner 

became the center of the town now known as 

Fairbanks. Had the water in the Chena been 

higher that day or had the riverboat drawn a 

little less water, Barnette would have set up shop 

somewhere else. The following day the Lavelle 

Young steamed off downstream, 130 tons lighter, 

as the Barnettes watched. “Mrs. Barnette was 

crying when we left,” Adams said, “as it did not 

look good to her either.” 

Barnette was angry, but being dumped along 

the banks of the Chena River was the luckiest 

thing that ever happened to him. 

The accidental trading post became 

permanent thanks to the efforts of a man named 

Felice Pedroni. He was an Italian immigrant who 

had come to the United States in 1881 when he 

was twenty-three years-old. What he lacked in 

money, he more than made up for with his will to 

work. News accounts about him in Alaska used 

the words “careful” and “competent” to describe 

his life as a prospector. He was looking for gold 

in the hills north of the Chena when he saw the 

plume from the smokestack of the Lavelle Young 

in 1901. Pedro and a prospecting partner needed 

supplies. They made their way down to the 

Chena River and informed Barnette that they had 

hope of finding gold on some of the nearby 

creeks and planned to keep up the search. 

The following spring and summer Pedro 

returned to Barnette’s cache at least three times 


for supplies. On his third trip he mentioned 

quietly to Frank Cleary, Barnette’s brother-inlaw, 

that he had “struck it.” The forty-two-yearold 

miner staked claims on what would become 

known as Pedro Creek and Cleary Creek. 

The news from Pedro prompted Barnette to 

drop plans to move his trading goods up the 

Tanana River, for he immediately saw the 

potential for a profitable stampede at his 

doorstep. About a dozen prospectors held a 

meeting in September 1902 in Pedro’s tent. 

Barnette proposed that the town be named 

“Fairbanks” in honor of Charles Warren 

Fairbanks, a senator from Indiana and future 

vice president. Barnette was following through 

headline printed in type several inches high: 

“EX-CONVICT.” Barnette left Alaska in disgrace 

about a decade after the founding of Fairbanks, 

with many depositors blaming him for the 

failure of the Washington-Alaska Bank. 

For his part, Barnette said it was a matter of 

jealousy at his hard-won gains that led to the 

failure of his bank, and an eventual loss to 

depositors of about $500,000. “Some of the 

people of Fairbanks are evidently sore at me 

because I entered Fairbanks first and made a 

success there,” he said in 1912. “I worked and 

fought hard up there and made good. I now 

have twenty thousand acres of fine land in 

Mexico which I am improving.” 

on an agreement with Judge James Wickersham, 

who considered Fairbanks his mentor. In 

exchange, Wickersham said he would base his 

courthouse in Barnette’s town, which would be 

good for business. 

Elbridge Truman Barnette used his political 

and business connections to amass a fortune in 

Alaska over the next decade as a merchant and 

banker. At various times he was accused of all 

sorts of underhanded actions including salting a 

mine, hoarding supplies to raise food prices, 

and defrauding customers at his bank. Born in 

about 1863 in Ohio, Barnette was a flamboyant 

man whose talents ranged from piloting 

steamboats and riding horses to running banks 

and trading in real estate. 

When people in Fairbanks discovered some 

years later that Barnette, as a twenty-four-yearold, 

had done time in Oregon in 1887 for 

larceny and been banished from the state forever, 

his reputation was further sullied. The news was 

conveyed in the Fairbanks Times in a one-word 

Early on, in his long fight to “make good,” 

Barnette had to create a stampede to populate 

Fairbanks. “He was sure that the spread of exaggerated 

and false information would bring a 

considerable number of miners to the valley,” 

historian Cecil Robe wrote in 1943. “The season 

of the year would be no detriment to travel if 

inducements were made sufficiently strong.” 

The inducements came in the form of letters 

Barnette wrote claiming that gold had been 

found in rich quantities on many creeks. He also 

“salted” a gold mine and showed it in December 

to a visiting Army officer working on the 

telegraph project. The Army officer received 

several pans of dirt salted with gold and spread 

the news of the wealth awaiting those who 

headed to Fairbanks. The crowning 

achievement in the Barnette campaign came 

when he sent Jujiro Wada, who worked as a 

cook for Barnette, to Dawson to talk up the 

strike. An interview with Wada appeared in a 

Dawson newspaper under the headline, “RICH 

❖ 

The town of Fairbanks grew along the 

Chena River and was already a busy 

spot by the summer of 1904. 



ROBERT JONES COLLECTION. 

Chapter I ✦ 7

❖ 

The town of Chena near the mouth 

of the Chena River was a rival 

to Fairbanks. 



STRIKE MADE IN THE TANANA,” which was 

all hundreds of people needed to make the 

arduous trip in January and February. 

“Dog sleds, double-enders dragged by mules 

or horses, Yukon sleds guided by gee-poles and 

pulled by dog teams, single sleds dragged 

wearily along by ropes over prospectors’ 

shoulders, and troops of prospectors loaded like 

pack-train mules, were hurrying in and 

locating,” Wickersham wrote. 

The judge said the “music of the saw and 

hammer never stilled, and within a month more 

than 200 cabins were constructed.” Wickersham, 

who arrived in April 1903, described Barnette’s 

post as a log structure that looked “like a 

disreputable pig sty.” 

“A hundred yards up the stream, also facing 

the river, a half-finished two-story log building 

without doors or windows bore the home-made 

sign on a white cloth, ‘Fairbanks Hotel.’ Two 

other small log cabins marked, ‘Pioneer’ and 

‘Northern,’ made known to miners with 

wilderness thirst that civilization and all its vices 

were there,” Wickersham wrote. 

In the spring there were nearly one thousand 

people in the mining camp, the Fairbanks Miner, 

the first local newspaper, said. Eight copies were 

typed on the only typewriter in town. The 

editorial policies of the paper were summed up 

as, “If you don’t like our style, fly your kite and 

produce your 30-30.” 

The newspaper featured ads for the Fairbanks 

Hotel, which had “Monte Carlo games on the 

square,” and the Tanana Restaurant, which offered 

“meals at all hours.” One story mentioned how 

the first banquet ever held in the Tanana took 

place April 28, 1903, at the Tokio Restaurant. 

Felix Pedro was among the guests and his gold 

pan served as a tray to carry drinks and cigars. 

Wickersham said Pedro was pleased to learn that 

the gold pan and a container of Pedro’s gold 

would be sent to Senator Charles Fairbanks. 

The newspaper took note of the rival town of 

Chena several miles downstream at the mouth of 

the river, and made it clear that Fairbanks would 

be competing for all the trade it could get. Chena 

was actually in a better geographic position than 

Fairbanks because it could almost always be 

reached by steamer in the summer. When a 

railroad was built to connect with the nearby 

mining camps the tracks started at Chena, but a 

connection to Fairbanks helped compensate for 

the steamboat access problems caused by low 

water in the river. Various reasons have been 

given for the eventual demise of Chena, 

including the theory by missionary Hudson 

Stuck that it all hinged on the refusal of Chena’s 

founders to provide cheap sites for buildings. 

If Chena had its problems, so did the fledgling 

town of Fairbanks in early 1903. “As the season 

gradually advanced and little dust made its 

appearance in town, a spirit of unrest settled over 

the town,” one writer said. One of the dispirited 

stampeders said Fairbanks was the “poorest 

apology for a mining camp” that he had ever seen. 

The exaggerated reports of easy pickings led to 

trouble because once the stampeders arrived they 

found that there was little mining going on and 

speculators had tied up most of the creeks. Many 

who joined the rush to Fairbanks quickly turned 

around and joined the rush from Fairbanks. Only 

about a dozen men had been working in 

underground mines through the winter, so there 

was no big payoff in the spring. Many of the 

stampeders confined themselves to the saloons. 

“Upon arriving in town,” a critic said of the 

typical boomer, “the first duty was to stake a lot, 

and the next to plan ditches and drainage systems 

with the finger on the wet bar top, but few 

thought of going to the creeks.” 

According to one estimate there were only 

about one hundred people left in Fairbanks in 

June, but the numbers steadily increased again 

as miners began to hit paydirt in drift mines, the 

product of back-breaking labor. 

This time the gold rush was slower to 

develop, but even so there was a serious food 


shortage by the end of the summer. The 

Northern Commercial Co. had purchased 

Barnette’s trading post and it was out of flour, 

bacon, rice, ham, and potatoes by September. 

“Many people, well-to-do, had failed to 

purchase their winter outfits in time, and were 

compelled to join in the scramble to secure the 

few remaining staple articles of diet the 

company had yet to dispose of,” the Fairbanks 

News reported in October. 

As of November 1, 1903, the new city had 

offices of federal officials including a 

commissioner, marshal, clerk of court, and 

recorder, and about five hundred cabins. When 

the voters went to the polls that month to select 

a mayor and town council, Barnette had the 

second highest number of votes, but he used his 

influence to be named mayor by the other 

council members. At the first council meeting, 

steps were taken to set up fire protection, 

acquire “how to” government documents from 

Eagle and ask the federal government to help 

ease the food shortage. 

The ready supply of rabbits and moose 

helped Fairbanks get through that winter until 

improved transportation allowed the merchants 

to carry complete provisions. Mining claims 

that sold for $50 in the spring of 1903 could 

not be purchased for $50,000 the following 

May, such was the improved outlook. A growing 

band of more realistic miners, many of them 

veterans of the Klondike or other gold rushes, 

saw to it that Fairbanks was no flash in the pan. 

❖ 

Above: Fairbanks Public School, 

May 26, 1908. 

COURTESY OF THE DAILY-NEWS MINER COLLECTION. 

Below: Isabelle Barnette holds the 

golden spike of the Tanana Valley 

Railroad in 1905. Judge James 

Wickersham is on her left. 


Chapter I ✦ 9

❖ 

Above: A hardy team of horses pulls a 

big load of logs in Ester, one of the 

many small towns that grew up 

outside of Fairbanks along the 

mining creeks. 



Below: A log jam formed above the 

Cushman Street Bridge in 1905, 

threatening to flood the entire town. 

COURTESY OF WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY, PHOTO BY L. E. ROBERTSON. 

At least eighty percent of the gold was 

anywhere from 40 to 260 feet underground in the 

valley bottoms. The normal practice was to dig a 

shaft of about 10 or 12 square feet, thawing the 

ground with a steam boiler. A hand-powered 

windlass would be set up to lift buckets containing 

one or two cubic feet of rock to the surface. 

A mining engineer described a tour of an 

underground mine in which he went down 

seventy feet in a large bucket to the bottom of the 

shaft. Lighting a candle, he walked down the 

horizontal tunnels that ran for about two hundred 

feet from the shaft. The tunnels were six feet high 

and narrow. The engineer had to stand against the 

wall so that men pushing wheelbarrows loaded 

with 375 pounds of gravel could pass by. Each 

man had to dig and haul about one hundred 

wheelbarrow loads per day. 

The miners worked throughout the winter 

deep underground. Even when it was 40 or 50 

below zero on the surface, temperatures were 

tolerable down in the mines.When spring came 

and the water flowed again, the miners turned 

their attention to the huge piles of gravel they 

had built up through the winter on the surface. 

They dumped the gravel into extensive wooden 

sluiceboxes to wash the dirt away and collect 

the gold. Gold production shot up from 

$40,000 in 1903 to $400,000 in 1904 and to $6 

million in 1906. By 1909, it peaked at $9.6 

million, making Fairbanks one of the richest 

towns anywhere. 

Even at the height of its prosperity, the 

community lived with the constant threats of fire 

and flood. The first major flood happened in June 

1905, caused not by ice in the river or heavy 

summer rain, but by a huge log jam that backed 

up behind a new $10,000 bridge across the 

Chena. The log jam destroyed the Wendell Street 

Bridge that had been built upstream from the 

Cushman Street Bridge. 

The remnants of the Wendell Bridge and 

thousands of logs soon crashed into the 

Cushman Street Bridge a quarter-mile away. 

The new bridge held, but the current ate a 

channel along First Avenue for four hundred 


feet, destroyed the road and threatened to wash 

away buildings on the waterfront. The crisis 

was solved by blowing up the bridge, which 

cleared the log jam and kept the river from 

wiping out the town. 

For the town’s first fifteen years, a new 

bridge was built every summer across the 

Chena River. It would remain in place until just 

before breakup in the spring, when crews 

would salvage as much of it as they could, 

knowing that breakup would likely sweep away 

some or all of the bridge supports and decking 

if it were left in place. When the ice moved, 

Ruth Condit said, the piers “that hold up the 

bridge and seem immovable on account of 

numerous cables attached to them, break off 

like toothpicks.” 

The construction of the first permanent 

bridge across the river in 1917 not only 

eliminated the need for annual bridge 

replacement projects, it also started a new era of 

springtime gambling. People liked to bet on 

breakup, but pinpointing the exact minute had 

been a problem. “Heretofore every year there 

has been some dispute as to just what 

constituted the breakup,” the News-Miner 

reported in 1917. “The fact that the piles of the 

old bridges always held back the ice somewhat 

caused confusion and no one could be 

thoroughly satisfied as to just what constituted 

the breakup.” 

To solve the dilemma, two businessmen 

ordered a flag that was placed in the ice in the 

river just upstream from the bridge and across 

from their restaurant, the Arcade. With the new 

bridge in place, the owners of the Arcade said 

that breakup would occur when the flag went 

under the bridge. In later years this system was 

refined by attaching the marker in the river to a 

clock on shore. The money spent by 

Fairbanksans through the years replacing the 

wooden bridge after breakup would have paid 

for a couple of steel bridges, but a mining camp 

did not live on plans for the long term. The new 

structure was greatly appreciated. “We are 

thankful to all who helped to give us this fine 

bridge and now we can stand in the middle of it 

when the ice is going out and laugh at Nature’s 

fury,” the high school students said in their 

1917 annual. 

❖ 

Above: Winter recreation in early 

Fairbanks often meant a trip to the 

frozen surface of the Chena River for 

ice skating and horsing around. This 

was an impromptu tug-of-war on 

Easter Sunday in 1910. 



Below: The Tanana Valley Railroad 

supplied mining towns that grew up 

outside of Fairbanks along the creeks. 

This wooden trestle bridge crossed the 

Fox Gulch. 



Chapter I ✦ 11

There was no comparable means of 

overcoming Nature’s fury when the enemy was 

fire. On a hot day in May 1906, a dentist was 

trying to solve a patient’s tooth trouble when he 

turned his back on the little alcohol flame that he 

used to sterilize his dental instruments. A gust of 

wind must have blown the curtain into the 

flame. Within seconds the room was full of 

flames, and the dentist and his patient had to run 

for their lives. 

Attorney John Clark had an office in the 

Washington-Alaska Bank Building on the 

corner of Second Avenue and Cushman Street. 

“Someone came into the office and told me that 

there was a fire in the next building, and I went 

to the opening where the iron door was located 

and could see the smoke pouring out of the 

transom down the hall,” he wrote. “Carefully 

closing the door, I went back into my office 

and told my partner and our stenographer that 

there was abundant evidence that we had 

better vacate.” 

In the banks, the tellers tossed as much gold 

dust as they could into the safes and sprinted to 

the doors. The fire department had little 

training or equipment and could do little to 

slow the spread of the fire. “If ever a community 

received a harder knock just at the beginning of 

its career, we never heard of it,” News-Miner 

publisher W. F. Thompson wrote ten years after 

the fire. The fire destroyed everything from First 

Avenue to Third Avenue and from Cushman 

Street to Lacey Street. 

One of the enduring stories about the fire 

concerned a decision by the Northern 

Commercial Co. to dump a ton of bacon into the 

boiler of its power plant to increase the water 

pressure on the fire hoses. The fire burned all 

night and destroyed the heart of the business 

district, but the N.C. Co. warehouse, which held 

most of the town’s food supply, was saved. There 

was never any doubt about rebuilding from the 

fire, for the creeks outside of town were 

producing such wealth that the headline the next 

day in the Fairbanks News was an accurate 

assessment: “Fire Can Not Stop Fairbanks.” The 

Outlet Clothing Co. advertised a “Genuine Fire 

Sale,” while a restaurant advised patrons, “After a 

Hot Fire get a Cold Drink.” 

The day after the fire the telegraph office sent 

a record of more than $700 worth of telegrams 

Outside, most of them from businesses ordering 

new supplies. More than two million board feet 

of lumber went into the rebuilding effort that 

summer, and the sawmills worked at full capacity 

to meet the demand. 

❖ 

Above: Flames spew from downtown 

businesses moments after the Great 

Fire of 1906 started in Fairbanks. 





CHAPTER II 

THE GOLD RUSH ENDS AS THE STRUGGLE BEGINS 

Edward Lewis “Bob” Bartlett, who later became one of Alaska’s first two United States senators, 

attended first grade in Fairbanks in 1910. It was the richest and largest of the fourteen incorporated 

towns in Alaska, boasting a population of 3,541. Nome was the second largest city in the territory, 

with twenty-six hundred residents, followed by Douglas, Juneau, and Ketchikan. Anchorage did not 

yet exist. 

Bartlett always believed that Fairbanks was an ideal place to grow up. “It was that way from the start,” 

he wrote many years later. “How shall we state the qualities that add up to the almost perfect whole? Is 

it the space that is offered? Is it the freedom from civilization’s restraints? Is it the closeness and 

compelling aspects of nature as contrasted with the slums in a great city? Whatever it is, it is there.” 

It was a town of wooden sidewalks where dwellings constructed of logs were dubbed “cabins,” 

while those built of framed lumber were “houses.” Since most of the shallow wells produced 

undrinkable water, horse-drawn wagons delivered liquid refreshment to almost every home. The 

homeowners would place a card in the window to show if they wanted 1 or 2 five-gallon buckets that 

day. In the wintertime the wagons looked like horse-drawn blocks of ice. A stove on each wagon kept 

the water tank from freezing solid, but the driver had to use a hammer to turn the frozen faucets in 

the rear. 

“Our family had a standing order with Fred Musjerd, who operated the Blue Crystal Well, for two 

buckets daily at ten cents a bucket. Fred’s arrival on cold winter mornings wearing fur coat and hat 

with frost or small icicles hanging from his walrus mustache made an awe-inspiring sight for us kids,” 

pioneer Tom Hering recalled. “Fred continued operating his horse-drawn rigs until the late ’20s when 

he converted to truck operation and then became known as the town’s worst driver. He would talk 

❖ 

Cushman Street is bedecked with 

American flags and pennants for the 

Fourth of July in 1917, when 

Fairbanks was still overjoyed about 

the new permanent bridge across 

the Chena. 

Chapter II ✦ 13

❖ 

Above: W. F. Thompson, the most 

influential journalist in early-day 

Fairbanks, worked hard to keep up 

the town’s spirits. 


DAILY NEWS-MINER COLLECTION. 

Top, right: A Fairbanks boy, Dick 

Pratt, hitched his dog to this wagon 

and won a prize at the Tanana 

Valley Fair in 1938. His dog was 

named Tippy. 



MRS. HAROLD BYRD COLLECTION. 

Below: The news that the federal 

government had approved 

construction of the Alaska Railroad 

was cause for celebration in 

Fairbanks and a railroad parade 

through the streets. 



to his truck as he had to his horses and on one 

occasion was reported to have driven through 

the end of his garage when his truck failed to 

stop at the command of ‘whoa.’” 

The largest business enterprise was the 

Northern Commercial Co. and one end of its 

large complex served as the post office. “It was a 

big shabby building with walls festooned with 

signatures of silly people waiting for their mail,” 

Mary White said. The company carried 

everything from mining supplies to dried beans 

and canned milk. The N.C. Co., also had a 

power plant to provide electricity to the 

downtown area, along with steam heat and a 

water system. The power plant burned wood for 

fuel and drew on a stockpile of thousands of 

cords stored near where Barnette Elementary 

School is today. 

“The people who chose to live in Fairbanks 

were friendly and never rested on formalities,” 

said Mary’s husband, pilot Sam O. White. 

“There was no “Mister,” so the first names and 

nicknames were the order.” 

“Fairbanks has a delightful individuality,” 

travel writer Frank Carpenter wrote of the early 

era. “It is a combination of the picturesque and 

the plain, of the shabby and the sumptuous, of 

the old and the new.” 

One of the distinctive features was the fenced 

“Line,” or “restricted district,” where the mining 

town’s prostitutes were headquartered in a 

collection of about twenty small cabins close to 

the center of town. The ladies of the Line were 

allowed to continue in business as long as they 

paid fines to the city and did not solicit business 

in restaurants and saloons. The Line on Fourth 

Avenue was as much a part of life in frontier 

Fairbanks as the town’s other institutions, the 

bars, churches, clubs, schools, cigar stores, and 

other retail establishments. 

Evidence of the frontier town’s isolation 

could be found in the constant debate over the 

adequacy of mail service from the Outside. An 

entire winter’s worth of magazines and 

newspapers might be delivered in the spring 

when riverboat travel resumed. A great 

celebration, exceeding the Fourth of July, 

would greet the first riverboat from St. Michael 

when it arrived with freight and mail in 

the summer. 

In the winter the mail was carried twice 

a week on a horse-drawn stage from Valdez. 


One reporter complained that important items 

were often held back in Seattle, but it wasn’t 

unusual for the mail bags to include “a stack or 

two of governmental statistics on cotton growing 

in the South or the foreign trade with China.” 

After the Alaska Railroad opened in 1923, the 

benefits of faster communication began to be 

felt immediately. “The first thing we noticed was 

that fresh vegetables could be brought in from 

Seattle in about ten days,” said pioneer Jessie 

Bloom. “And then we got our magazines all 

winter long. Even if they were two weeks old 

when they came, it was a great improvement 

over the old times, when we had our reading 

material six months late.” 

Most people grew gardens and preserved as 

much of their own food as they could, 

supplementing vegetables with moose and other 

game. They canned food and dug root cellars 

under the kitchen for natural refrigeration. This 

was supplemented by ice supplied from the four 

hundred tons local dealers would cut in the 

rivers and store under sawdust in the summer. It 

wasn’t until 1927 that the first electric 

refrigerators appeared in Fairbanks. “The 

Frigidaire freezes ice by electricity and because 

of its convenience is being universally adopted 

in the states,” the News-Miner reported on June 

3, 1927. The Mocha Cafe was the first restaurant 

with a refrigerator. 

Communication by telegraph was quick, but 

expensive, with a ten-word message to New 

York costing $4.85 in 1916. When World War I 

broke out, the two Fairbanks newspapers 

appealed to the government to lower their cable 

rates so they could carry more war news. They 

said the number of subscribers did not warrant 

an increase in expenses, but there was a demand 

for the news. The officer in charge of the system 

said that he appreciated the patriotic motive, 

but cable traffic was already so heavy it was 

impossible to send more news. 

People in Fairbanks were proud of their 

phone system, which connected the town with 

Chena, Cleary, Fox, Dome, Vault, and the other 

mining camps. The most expensive call was 

$2.50 to Cleary for five minutes. Callers 

cranked the bell once or twice and waited for 

one of the operators, collectively known as 

“Central,” to respond. Until World War II in 

Fairbanks it was common practice to ask for 

people by name, not by number, when talking 

to the ladies who served as Central. 

In 1916 the sense of isolation remained 

strong in Fairbanks. A sign at the south end of 

❖ 

Above: Most of the people in 

Fairbanks relied on water delivered to 

their doors in the winter because they 

said the well water tasted bad and 

smelled worse. 




Below: A bicyclist keeps his balance, 

riding down the middle of the street 

with a platter on his head. 



Chapter II ✦ 15

❖ 

Top: Miners worked through the 

winter underground in drift mines 

tunneled along ancient creek beds 

near Fairbanks. 



Above: Gold miners were a hardy 

bunch, accustomed to long hours of 

backbreaking work. The gold rush 

gave them the adventure of their lives. 



town said, “Main Road to Valdez, 360 miles.” At 

summer’s end the newspapers carried many 

articles about who was going Outside for the 

winter. Steamboat travel ended in October, and 

the community settled into its winter routine. 

In the years after gold production peaked, the 

end-of-season exodus became a permanent one 

for thousands. The population dropped by twothirds 

between 1910 and 1920. “We have enough 

homes for several times as many population as 

we have because the homes of the town were 

built to house fifteen thousand people, those 

leaving being unable to take their homes with 

them,” News-Miner Editor W. F. Thompson wrote. 

The people in Fairbanks who longed for the 

good times to return figured that one key for 

survival would be better transportation—a 

railroad to the coast. When Congress approved 

construction of the Alaska Railroad in 1914, 

Fairbanksans threw their hats in the air and staged 

an unprecedented celebration. At that time women 

were not allowed in the bars in Fairbanks, but an 

exception was made for that evening, which 

concluded with two free dances and a masquerade 

ball. The residents of the Line participated in the 

masquerade as well, and the Red Light District was 

open that night to anyone. The excesses of the 

railroad celebration helped spur the creation of the 

“Fourth Division Drys,” a group that was 

instrumental in promoting and winning passage of 

prohibition legislation two years later. 

The community party was a “hail and farewell,” 

Jessie Bloom said. It was to welcome the new age 

that would come with the railroad and to say so 

long to the old days of being so inaccessible to the 

Outside world. “No longer were we to be frozen in 

for the long winter,” she said. 

Some old-timers who relished the isolation 

warned that the arrival of the railroad would 

mean that nickels and dimes would appear in 

Fairbanks, another step in making Fairbanks just 

like the Outside. For most of its early history, the 

smallest coin in circulation in Fairbanks was a 

quarter, a boomtime holdover that was a source 

of pride to many residents. This persisted for a 

long time, and, as late as World War II, the Army 

distributed a handbook to soldiers warning that 

“Alaskans don’t bother with pennies.” 

In 1916 the Fairbanks Commercial Club 

published a pamphlet aimed at those outside the 

territory whose interest in Fairbanks had been 

sparked by the excitement over the railroad. 

“The railroad will bring about a condition to a 

certain extent paradoxical, for while Fairbanks 

will be made a greater mining camp it will at the 

same time be removed from the category of 

‘camps’ in the usually accepted sense of the word 

and assume its rank as a ‘town’ of stability and 

assured permanence,” the club said. 

At that time Fairbanks had 9 hotels, 20 lawyers, 

8 cigar stores, 1 architect, 3 dentists, 2 ice dealers, 

3 civil engineers, 7 doctors, 12 saloons, and 6 

billiard parlors. For recreation there was baseball 

in the summer, the highlight of which was the 

annual game played at midnight in the perpetual 

daylight on the longest day of the year. Forty 

members of the Fairbanks Lawn Tennis Club 

played at a wooden tennis court downtown while 

people also enjoyed boat races, trap shooting, 

basketball, curling, skiing, and snowshoeing. Dogsled 

races held great potential, everyone agreed. 


“Last year a series of races was run here, but 

Fairbanks has not yet taken the place it should 

as a dog-racing center,” the club said. “This is 

something, however, that lovers of the sport 

hope to see corrected with time.” 

The railroad euphoria was tempered by the 

continuing decline caused by the mining 

slowdown and the large number of laboring men 

who left during World War I. As one resident put 

it, “It seemed only those of us who had children 

or were afraid to take risks, remained in camp.” 

The young men enlisted or were drafted, and the 

older men went to Seattle where they could find 

high-paying jobs. About one-half to threequarters 

of the prospectors in Alaska before the 

war left to seek their fortunes elsewhere, the U.S. 

Geological Survey said in 1919. 

A man and wife could live comfortably on 

about $100 a month in 1916, but because of the 

decline in gold production, it was becoming 

more difficult to count on a steady income. 

Business leaders in Fairbanks were quick to 

point out that there was still gold to be mined in 

the area, but the economic constraints and the 

shortage of fuel stifled mining. 

Wood had always been the only fuel available 

for generating power and heat in Fairbanks. It 

became so scarce on the denuded hillsides 

outside of Fairbanks that the price per cord had 

doubled and tripled. “With the rapid exhaustion 

of the easily accessible timber, wood is 

increasing in cost,” a 1914 USGS report warned. 

“The operator who now works on placers of 

lesser gold tenor than those handled by his 

predecessor of a few years ago is forced to pay 

two to three times as much for fuel.” 

A year after the railroad bill cleared Congress, 

Wickersham, as the territory’s non-voting 

delegate, pushed a second piece of legislation 

through that would have an equally big impact 

on Fairbanks’ future. In 1915 Congress 

approved legislation to create a land grant 

college in Alaska. It was the last bill to pass the 

Sixty-third Congress. With his own money, 

❖ 

Above: Teams of men compete on 

motorized homemade saws in a 

contest to cut wood, benefitting a fund 

for World War I orphans. 

COURESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA 

FAIRBANKS ARCHIVES, VIDE BARTLETT COLLECTION. 

Below: The Shaw Hotel at the corner 

of Second Avenue and Wickersham 

Street featured an elaborate lobby. 

It was destroyed by fire in the 

early 1930s. 



Chapter II ✦ 17

❖ 

Above: Fairbanks school children 

display their love of country as “Uncle 

Sam’s most patriotic school” during 

World War I. 



DOROTHY LOFTUS COLLECTION. 

Below: The businesses of Garden 

Island on the north side of the Chena 

River. Of these buildings, only the 

Immaculate Conception Church and 

Samson Hardware would last for the 

long term. 



Wickersham paid for a cornerstone for the 

college and gave a five-thousand-word speech at 

the dedication ceremony on July 4, 1915. Then 

Wickersham lobbied the territorial legislature to 

create the Alaska Agricultural College and 

School of Mines and to accept the land grant— 

which it did by one vote in 1917. 

Of these two endeavors, the railroad and the 

college, it was the railroad that had the greatest 

immediate impact, as it finally gave Fairbanks a 

dependable means of transportation to and from 

the seaport of Seward. The completion of the $65 

million line was important enough to warrant a 

visit by President of the United States Warren G. 

Harding to drive the golden spike in July 1923 in 

Nenana. To mark the event, the name of Salchaket 

Lake, about forty miles outside of town, was 

changed to Harding Lake. Fairbanks went all out 

for the presidential party. Harding rode through 

town, ate lunch at the Masonic Temple on First 

Avenue, and visited the Daily News-Miner, where 

he set a line of type with his initials. 

“When the President of the United States goes 

into a country newspaper office and sets type, 

thereby getting his fingers covered with dirt that 

almost won’t come off, he is doing about all one 

fellow can do to distinguish one country print 

shop,” Editor W. F. Thompson wrote. 

Harding said that no individual would have 

built the railroad, so it had to be done by the 

government. “I am glad a generous government 

understood and carried to completion the 

construction of the Alaska Railroad,” he said at the 

Nenana ceremony. “It is not possible to liken a 

railway to a magician’s wand, but the effect to me 

is the same. For the whole problem of civilization, 

the development of resources, and the awakening 

of communities lies in transportation.” 

With the railroad complete, Fairbanks was 

about to awaken. 


CHAPTER III 

DREDGING UP A NEW ERA OF PROSPERITY 

The founding of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, the building of the Alaska 

Railroad and the emergence of new leadership helped Fairbanks rebound from the desperate 

conditions in the years after World War I. 

Among the notable figures were Charles Bunnell, founding president of the college, Norman 

Stines, who in the minds of many Fairbanksans was synonymous with the Fairbanks Exploration Co., 

Austin E. “Cap” Lathrop, the most powerful man in town, and Carl “Ben” Eielson and Noel Wien, 

two of the pioneer bush pilots. 

Bunnell served as president of the college, which became the University of Alaska in 1935, for 

twenty-eight years. A graduate of Bucknell, he had practiced law in Valdez and served as a federal judge 

before taking command of the college in 1921. The college opened its doors in 1922 with six students 

and six faculty members. Against great obstacles, Bunnell saw to it that the doors never closed. 

The administration consisted of Bunnell and his secretary, who doubled as the registrar, librarian, 

teacher of stenography, and bell ringer. Within three weeks there were 12 students and by the following 

February, enrollment climbed to 15. 

Bunnell asked the post office to create a “College” post office, to show that the institution was distinct 

from Fairbanks. Instructed to suggest three names to the postal authorities, he would only give 

them “College,” which perhaps explains why it took more than a year to win approval for the College 

Post Office. 

❖ 

The first Alaska air mail flight, which 

was piloted by Carl “Ben” Eielson, a 

Fairbanks teacher and pilot. 



Chapter III ✦ 19

❖ 

Four teams haul thirty cords of 

wood on the river to the N.C. Co. 

storage yard. Wood was the only 

source of fuel, and wood cutting was 

a major enterprise. 


While Bunnell and others struggled to 

establish the college, Stines faced an equally 

daunting prospect. A consultant who had 

earned a degree in mining from the University 

of California in 1905, Stines provided the vision 

and the energy for the ambitious mining plan 

that brought large-scale dredge operations to 

Interior Alaska. Along with Lathrop, he did 

much to establish basic industry and create 

steady payrolls in Fairbanks, which sustained 

the community until the Second World War. 

In the 1920s, when mining was no longer a 

pick-and-shovel proposition, Stines obtained 

options on placer mining properties throughout 

the Fairbanks area. Then he convinced investors 

that the properties were a rich source of 

untapped wealth. All that was needed was a way 

to handle large amounts of low-grade gravel at a 

low cost. Stines, described in 1925 by an admirer 

as “experienced, capable, young and optimistic,” 

worked eighteen hours a day to make his vision a 

reality. Stines had promoted mining prospects in 

Russia and other nations, but in the 1920s he 

devoted much of his energy to Alaska. 

The work of Stines and the others in the 

Fairbanks Exploration Co. would give “this 

camp from 20 to 40 years of prosperity,” writer 

Margaret Deyo predicted in 1925. “Out on the 

creeks now dotted with decaying log cabins and 

rotting tailing dumps—ugly souvenirs of the 

original owners who nearly all took themselves 

and their gold Outside—giant dredges will be in 

operation for many years to come, furnishing 

employment to all who want it and happiness to 

all who are willing to work for it.” 

Deyo looked forward to the day in Fairbanks 

when the prosperity from the dredges would 

mean that “Modern, electrically equipped 

homes will replace tumble-down log huts, a 

water and sewerage system will be substituted 

for the well and its neighboring cesspool.” 

What may have seemed a utopian vision 

eventually came to pass. Within a few years a new 

neighborhood developed in Fairbanks, some 

called it a small city, about a quarter-mile north of 

the Chena River. The Fairbanks Exploration Co. 

built a concrete office building, four large cottages 

for its senior executives, the biggest local power 

plant, the biggest machine shop, and the biggest 

warehouses. The pieces of the first two giant 

dredges filled more than one hundred railroad 

cars on the journey from Seward to Fairbanks. 

The company built miles of electrical transmission 

lines to supply power to the dredges, which 

rumbled along on the outlying creeks for eight or 

nine months a year. The massive dredges that 

operated round-the-clock became the lifeblood of 

Fairbanks, especially after President Franklin D. 

Roosevelt devalued the dollar and raised the price 

of gold to $35 an ounce in 1934. 

Workers drilled mining claims to determine 

their value and washed away the layer of fine silt 

called “muck,” often up to two hundred feet thick, 

with water from powerful nozzles called “hydraulic 

giants.” Other crewmen hammered pipes into the 

ground so that water could be pumped in to thaw 

the frozen soil in the ancient creek beds. It took 

months or even years to prepare a site for dredging. 

Julius “Korny” Kornfiend, a longtime labor leader, 

said that his first job was pounding pipes into the 

ground. He said his hands were so sore the first few 

days that he had to pick up his coffee cup with two 

hands. “Your fingers just didn’t work the way they 

were supposed to from banging those points into 

the ground,” he said. 

There was a joke that the FE was so efficient at 

extracting gold that if a crewman fell into the 

dredge he would emerge from the rear of the 


dredge in one piece, but with his gold teeth 

missing. To obtain the water needed to wash away 

millions of cubic yards of dirt and to create ponds 

to float the dredges, the mining promoters built 

the Davidson Ditch to bring water to Cleary, 

Goldstream, and other creeks from the headwaters 

of the Chatanika River. It was named after engineer 

James Davidson, one of the original proponents of 

the idea. The word “ditch” hardly conveys the 

scope of the project, which featured a combination 

of 46-to-56-inch pipes, a tunnel seven-tenths of a 

mile long, and 83 miles of ditching to carry 125 

cubic feet of water per second. Ralph Strom, who 

worked on this original Alaska pipeline, said they 

connected the pipe segments with chain blocks 

and a Fordson Tractor, working seven days a week 

for $1 an hour. “The only rule we had, if it was 

forty below we wouldn’t go out.” The problem was 

the thermometer wouldn’t go any lower than 

thirty-seven below. 

The Davidson Ditch water filled the moving 

ponds the dredges dug and floated in. Another 

water project was the Chena Pump House, which 

is today a restaurant, but was once the means by 

which Chena River water was pumped to Ester to 

supply the dredging operation. “A mining 

dredge, in case you have never seen one,” travel 

writer Harry Franck said in 1939, “looks rather 

like a river steamer with a penthouse on top, or 

like some fantastic modernist building with two 

long protruding trunks.” 

Isabel Eagan Richards, who grew up on 

Fairbanks Creek, said even the children could 

soon tell by the sound of the croaking and 

groaning whether the dredge was turning or 

digging gravel. “As children our lives revolved 

around the dredges that mined up and down the 

creek in front of our house. We knew all about 

them—what the stacker, the spud, the winch 

room, the bucket line, the boiler room, the 

tumblers, etc. were all about. As you see, the 

men that operated them were all our friends, 

and many times when they would see us 

standing on the bank watching them, they 

would lower the gangplank and let us on. After 

filling us with cookies from their lunch pails 

and answering our many questions, they would 

lower the gangplank and let us off again.” 

The endless chain of giant steel buckets in 

the front of the dredge, each weighing more 

than a ton, scooped up rocks and gravel, and 

conveyed the material to large revolving screens, 

where the gold-bearing gravel would be 

separated. Most of the rock would be spewed 

out the back in a continuous stream, creating 

ribbed piles that would last for decades. 

“On days of silence down in the creeks, we 

knew it was ‘cleanup day.’ The cleanups, I 

remember, were brought to Fairbanks in heavy 

metal containers placed in the back of the 

superintendent’s private touring car with his 

bookkeeper and himself as the only guards,” 

Richards said. 

The gold was processed at the FE offices in 

town and poured into gold bars that were 

shipped by registered mail to an assay office in 

San Francisco. A 1928 report praised the FE 

operation for being so “carefully planned, 

thoroughly analyzed and efficiently conducted so 

that little of its success has been left to chance.” 

In 1935, when Fairbanks had a population of 

about 2,780, the Fairbanks Exploration Co. had 

903 employees and a payroll of $1.9 million. 

The town was taking on a more permanent look, 

with improvements such as concrete buildings, 

the removal of the wooden sidewalks on 

Cushman Street, and a $58,390 contract to 

make a five-block stretch of Cushman the first 

paved street in northern Alaska. 

The thriving industrial operation, which 

insulated the people of Fairbanks from the 

worst of the Great Depression, was powered by 

coal delivered to Fairbanks via the Alaska 

Railroad. The coal supply had been sporadic 

until Lathrop bought a controlling interest and 

❖ 

The dredges that operated near 

Fairbanks were the economic lifeblood 

of the community in the 1930s. 

COURTESY OF BERNIE RINEAR. 

Chapter III ✦ 21

❖ 

Above: Charles Bunnell, founding 

president of the University of Alaska, 

tended the garden as well as the 

academic institution. 

COURTESY OF JOHN KOWALAK. 

Below: A miner operates a Giant at 

Cripple Creek, the high-pressure 

water pumps that washed away 

millions of tons of dirt and rock in 

advance of dredge operations. 



developed the property in Healy into the largest 

coal mine in Alaska. 

Cap Lathrop, who moved to Fairbanks in the 

1920s, did more than anyone else to change the 

face of the community, for he was not content to 

build one-story frame fire traps with false fronts. 

Like Wickersham, his formal education ended in 

the eighth grade. He began to make his mark in 

the world as the “boy contractor” in Seattle and 

later went on with a variety of business enterprises 

in Alaska, starting in Cordova and expanding to 

Fairbanks and Anchorage. He was a tough boss 

who could see the faults and the good points in 

people he dealt with, Carl Wilson, projectionist 

for the Fairbanks theaters, said in 1950. “Unlike 

most people, he let you know about both. He 

didn’t pull any punches, and he didn’t do any 

coddling,” Wilson said. 

He was a power in the Republican Party, a 

member of the University of Alaska Board of 

Regents, and the richest man in Alaska. Lathrop 

built the first concrete building in Fairbanks, the 

Empress Theater, which was completed in 1927 

and withstood the climate and objections from 

skeptics who said it would crack in the cold. The 

theater opened August 25, 1927, with a showing 

of Behind the Front, a war farce. A newsman said 

the event had “all the brilliance that attends the 

opening of a major metropolitan playhouse.” 

Though no longer a theater today, the building 

remains a prominent part of the downtown 

landscape, part of the Co-Op Plaza. When it 

opened, it had a Kimball Organ that was said to 

be the finest west of the Mississippi. “Don Adler 

played beautifully on the great organ before and 

after the pictures,” Mary White once said. “There 

were ads to start things off, and often we could 

pick out a familiar baby face telling us the merits 

of Bentley or Creamer’s milk. The curtain had 

pictures of Greek people lying gracefully about.” 

Lathrop continued to expand his holdings, 

constructing the Lathrop Building across the 

street on Second Avenue and the Lacey Street 

Theater. The ground floor of the Lathrop 

Building was headquarters for the Fairbanks 

Daily News-Miner, which he had purchased, 

while the fourth floor would hold KFAR, the 

Lathrop radio station. The second and third 

floors had the finest apartments in town, while 

the basement held the Lathrop bowling alley. He 

founded the Bank of Fairbanks and later sold it. 

One of his employees compared his vocabulary 

to a “Roman candle,” which was what Fortune 

Magazine was referring to when it published an 

article about Lathrop and said, “Many of Cap 

Lathrop’s most graphic comments on life and 

business are, unfortunately, unprintable.” 

The hard-to-quote businessman said the 

problem with Anchorage was that it was full of 

cheechakos “who don’t know anything about 

Alaska and don’t give a damn.” The problem 

with Fairbanks was different. “When I walk 

down the street in Fairbanks, I meet old-timers 

I have known for years. Hell, Fairbanks is full of 

old-timers. That’s the trouble with Fairbanks.” 

He died in 1950, run over by a train at his coal 

mine in Healy. He had often spent Christmas at 

the mine, and it was his favorite among the many 

Lathrop enterprises, a place where he could get 

his hands dirty. The community honored his 


memory with the opening of the Austin E. 

Lathrop High School five years later. 

Until his death at age eighty-four, Lathrop 

traveled constantly to check on his varied 

businesses. “His old suitcase was a boon 

companion,” businessman Les Nerland said of 

him. “And the bulk of his business affairs were 

handled with a pencil on the back of a businesssized 

envelope, which he kept in his inside coat 

pocket. On this he made notations whenever one 

of a thousand everyday details would come to 

mind. And such was the beginning of many of 

the dreams that we have seen this man transform 

into accomplishment.” 

If the development of the Lathrop empire 

brought a dramatic change to Fairbanks, so did 

the work of the pilots, mechanics, and investors 

who ushered the community into the age of 

flight. The first local airplane flight was a 

promotional stunt in 1913 on the Fourth of July, 

but it was a decade later on July 3, 1923, when 

Carl Ben Eielson, an Army Air Corps reservist 

and Fairbanks science teacher, became the first 

Alaska bush pilot. 

Eielson flew to mining camps and villages 

that summer, but the real test occurred the 

following winter, when Eielson operated the 

first experimental air mail flights in the territory. 

For his pioneering air mail flights in a borrowed 

open cockpit De Havilland DH-4 biplane, 

Eielson had to dress for subzero weather 

because he began in February. He wore two 

pairs of wool socks, a pair of caribou skin socks, 

moccasins that reached to his knees, a suit of 

long underwear, khaki breeches, trousers made 

of Hudson Bay duffel, a heavy shirt, a sweater, a 

marten skin cap, goggles, and reindeer ski parka 

with the wolverine fur hood. He also wore wool 

gloves and fur mittens. 

On his first flight to McGrath he carried 164 

pounds of mail, along with emergency supplies that 

included food for ten days, a gun, an axe, and tools. 

He made the 315-mile flight in a little less than 

three hours, astounding many a dog team driver. A 

light cast by a bonfire at Weeks Field helped guide 

him back to the landing strip in Fairbanks. He hit 

a tree and broke a ski while landing and the plane 

broke a prop, but Eielson was unhurt. The grateful 

residents of Fairbanks gave him a gold watch, 

honorary membership in the Pioneers of Alaska, 

and asked him to speak at the college. He went on 

to make eight airmail flights over the next few 

months. Postal authorities in Washington, D.C. 

❖ 

Above: Members of Igloo No. 4 of 

the Pioneers of Alaska march 

proudly with an American flag and 

their banner in an early-day ice 

carnival parade. 

PHOTO BY REUEL GRIFFIN. 

Below: The magnificent 1939 Ice 

Carnival Throne was built by sculptor 

Pietro Vigna, part of the annual 

celebration of life in Fairbanks during 

the cold season. 



Chapter III ✦ 23

❖ 

Almost everyone in Fairbanks turned 

out to welcome Howard Hughes as he 

stopped in Fairbanks on his roundthe-world 

flight in 1938. Hughes 

completed the journey with four 

companions, circling the globe in a 

little less than four days. 



concluded that the service wasn’t safe just yet, 

while people in Fairbanks eagerly waited for the 

day when air mail would become routine. 

That same year Noel Wien, then twenty-five, 

completed the first flight between Anchorage 

and Fairbanks. “I was flying about 200 feet at 60 

mph. We didn’t have any charts, no windsocks, 

weather reports or radio aids, just the Alaska 

Railroad tracks to navigate by,” Wien recalled. 

The headline in the newspaper story about the 

first flight said, “Fast Time Made Over 

Unknown Course.” 

Aviation grew rapidly in Fairbanks after that. 

Within fifteen years, there were nearly four 

dozen airplanes flying out of Weeks Field. On 

Sunday afternoons people would stand 

alongside the field behind the brush to watch 

student pilots try to land smoothly. 

By 1940, Fairbanks mayor Les Nerland would 

say, “In a way, Fairbanks is the most important 

aviation center in the world. Fairbanks people 

fly more miles per capita than any other people 

on earth. We are the hub of Alaska flying, and we 

constitute one of the most important aviation 

crossroads of the Northern Hemisphere. The 

skies are our most practical highways.” 

In addition to local fliers, Fairbanks was a 

popular stopping point for Wiley Post, Howard 

Hughes, and others who made round-the-world 

flights. In 1935 Fairbanks played host to Post 

and Rogers on their ill-fated journey that ended 

in a fatal crash near Barrow—a tragedy that 

shocked the nation. Rogers, one of the most 

famous humorists, film stars, and commentators 

of the 1930s, said he would write approvingly of 

Fairbanks in his newspaper column. “You have 

a lovely Chamber of Commerce here,” he said. 

“They didn’t annoy me at all while I was here; 

and I think I bluffed your mayor out.” 

Three years after the deaths of Post and 

Rogers, Fairbanks was again in the national 

aviation spotlight when Howard Hughes 

stopped in Fairbanks on his record-setting 

world flight. Hughes, a movie producer and one 

of the wealthiest men in America at age thirtyfour, 

was on the ground in Fairbanks for 1 hour 

and 18 minutes. As mechanics worked on his 

Lockheed, they removed all excess weight from 

the plane, so that it could carry enough fuel for 

the nonstop flight to Minneapolis. Ping-Pong 

balls that had been carried for flotation in case 

the plane had to be ditched became valued 

souvenirs. Other items left in Fairbanks ranged 

from a bag of oranges to a rubber boat. 

The airplane used the entire runway to get off 

the ground, prompting this warning from the 

News-Miner 

about the town’s “miserable” 

airport: “If a plane of this size is so cramped 

here, what of the conditions when the super 

planes with four motors and thirty-twopassenger 

capacity, now being constructed for 

Alaskan service at Seattle come this way.” 

The technological advances that had allowed 

civilian aviation to outstrip the capabilities of the 

old airport meant the isolation that had kept 

Alaska a world apart for so long had diminished. 

A little more than two decades earlier, 

Fairbanks was a backwater on the verge of 

economic collapse. But during World War II, 

Fairbanks was on the front lines of American 

defenses, a change that would once again signal 

a new era in Fairbanks history. 


CHAPTER IV 

WORLD WAR II HITS HOME IN ALASKA 

As the plane from Juneau approached the Weeks Field airstrip in late November 1939, Alaska’s 

delegate to Congress took satisfaction with what he saw outside the window a few miles to the 

southeast. “I noticed the large area already cleared at the site of the Army air project and the 

extension of railroad tracks almost to the site,” Anthony Dimond said after he landed. “I recalled that 

it was in 1933 that I first conferred with army chiefs on the necessity for an air base near Fairbanks.” 

Everywhere in Fairbanks there were signs of change. Commercial radio had just come to town in the 

form of Cap Lathrop’s KFAR, which prompted newspaper articles stating that radios in cars were no 

longer something to be sneered at. School enrollment had risen by fifty percent in four years. 

Fairbanksans looked forward to the opening of the Lacey Street Theater, and new homes were replacing 

log cabins twisted by melting permafrost. The clearing of thousands of spruce trees to the southeast of 

the city, the scene that had attracted Dimond’s eye, portended the arrival of the military age. 

The outbreak of war in Europe had made the construction of the Ladd Field cold weather test site 

more of an urgent concern, but there were those who thought it was too little, too late. No one knew 

that better than Henry “Hap” Arnold, then a lieutenant colonel and later the commanding general of 

the Army Air Forces during World War II. In 1934 Arnold had led ten B-10 bombers on a flight to 

Alaska and learned firsthand about the defensive shortcomings of the vast territory. “We do not know 

anything about Alaska,” Arnold said in 1939. “Our people have got to be trained how to fly and how 

to navigate up there, the kind of clothing they should use, the kind of equipment they must have, 

❖ 

Ladd Field in 1943, along the 

meandering Chena River to the 

southeast of Fairbanks. 

COURTESY OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE. 

Chapter IV ✦ 25

❖ 

A Douglas A-20 bomber ready to take 

off for Russia during World War II as 

part of the lend-lease program that 

brought thousands of airplanes 

through Fairbanks. 

COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA 

FAIRBANKS ARCHIVES, KAY KENNEDY COLLECTION. 

including servicing. How to start an engine 

when it is forty degrees below zero. How to 

keep the oil from congealing before you get it 

into the engine.” 

While Hitler was on the move in Europe, 

Arnold argued that military facilities in 

Fairbanks and Anchorage were a necessity 

because Alaska was the most vulnerable 

American possession. As part of a plan to 

improve Alaska’s defenses, Congress approved 

$4 million to construct the cold weather test 

center in Fairbanks. The work continued 

through the winter of 1939-40 on the base 

named for Army Major Arthur Ladd, who had 


died in a crash four years earlier in South 

Carolina. Major Dale Gaffney made the first 

Ladd Field landing, setting down an O-38 

observation plane on September 4, 1940. It was 

said that any twenty-foot section of the broad 

runway contained more concrete than could be 

found in Fairbanks, which boasted nearly a 

quarter-mile of modern roadway. 

Taking note of the rapid evolution of the city, 

linguist Richard Geoghegan wrote to his niece in 

1941. “We have lots of soldiers here now and 

bombing planes are roaring overhead practicing 

at all hours of the day and night. There is an 

airplane beacon on top of the post office. It 

turns around and around so that a flash comes 

in my bedroom window ten times a minute if 

the shade is up; planes are said to be able to see 

it forty miles away. We have thirty planes here 

that fly each day to all over the Territory, besides 

the planes that the Army people have,” he said. 

“When I first came here more than thirty 

years ago, everybody had a team of dogs and a 

sled to get around by, but now the dog is 

following the dodo and the horse into oblivion. 

It is either car or plane these modern days.” 

Aviation had changed the way people looked 

at Alaska’s geography, and the territory began to 

be thought of as a crossroads of world air routes. 

“In light of the war now being fought over the 

map of Western Europe, I think few will take 

exception when I say that we had better build 

these air defenses in Alaska now and build them 

high and strong,” Arnold said on a 1940 stop 

in Fairbanks. 

He hoped the air defense network would 

never be needed, but it was a form of “national 

insurance,” in Arnold’s view. The insurance coverage 

was found lacking after the surprise attack 

on Pearl Harbor thrust the United States into 

World War II. In early 1942 the Army chief of 

staff told President Roosevelt that a Japanese 

raid on Alaska could occur “at any moment” and 

warned that this might be followed by an 

attempt to occupy a base in the region. 

Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 

host of the “Women’s Hour” radio program on 

KFAR said that Fairbanksans had to carry on with 

everyday chores at homes and businesses as best 

they could. “Those of us who have lived here for 

some years have seen great changes,” Mary Cash 

told listeners. “The work at the base has provided 

employment for many and brought added 

prosperity to the town. To some it has given the 

means of buying things really needed, to others it 

❖ 

Engine No. 1 of the Tanana Valley 

Railroad was stored for decades in 

front of the International Hotel 

and later at Alaskaland, now 

Pioneer Park, but was restored to 

running condition just before the 

Fairbanks centennial. 


Chapter IV ✦ 27

❖ 

Above: The first Russian mission to 

Ladd Field during World War II. 

Nearly eight thousand aircraft 

were transferred to the Russians 



Below: The USO Snack bar was a 

popular stop for servicemen in 

Fairbanks in the 1940s. Sundaes were 

fifteen cents. 



Bottom, right: American and Soviet 

allies share a light moment during the 

second anniversary celebration of the 

Russian presence at Ladd Field during 

World War II. 


has meant having more than a few luxuries. 

We’ve all screamed about the inefficiency and 

needless waste in this same defense work, but 

now it has given us a measure of protection. We 

have enjoyed referring to ourselves as Uncle 

Sam’s stepchildren. Maybe we are, but the Old 

Boy’s arms are around us now, and even 

a stepfather’s arms, when they happen to be 

Uncle Sam’s, can feel very good.” After the Pearl 

Harbor attack, civilian and military authorities 

blocked roads and fields in Fairbanks that 

could be used as runways by the enemy, posted 

guards at power plants and other key facilities, 

and ordered blackouts that kept the town 

dark that winter from 4 p.m. until 9 a.m. 

“Fairbanks has been a shining mark, visible 

for hundreds of miles to any flier approaching 

the city at night,” the Daily News-Miner 

editorialized a few weeks later. “This must be no 

more—and not even a candle glowing where it 

can be seen.” 

Outdoor lights were banned, and plywood 

and drapes were hung over the windows of all 

houses and offices. Car headlights were covered, 

and pedestrians were warned that if they used 

flashlights, not to point them skyward, lest the 

light aid an enemy bomber. Homeowners were 

advised to have shovels, a pail of water, a ladder, 

and bags of sand available to put out fires in 

case of bomb attacks. 

The attacks never came in Fairbanks, but the 

Japanese did invade the Aleutian Islands, bombing 

Dutch Harbor in June 1942 and landing on 

Attu and Kiska. Thousands died as U.S. forces 

battled to expel the Japanese in a campaign that 

lasted fifteen months. 


As Alaska became a battle zone, Fairbanks 

entered the picture as an important stop on an 

international supply route, both on the ground 

and in the air. Less than a year after the attack on 

Pearl Harbor, there were trucks hauling supplies 

over a fifteen-hundred-mile primitive road to 

Alaska. With the construction of what would be 

known as the Alaska Highway, no longer was 

access to Fairbanks limited to air, sea and railroad 

connections. The road was important for many 

reasons, not the least of which was that it helped 

open a new highway in the skies connecting the 

United States with Russia, which had become an 

ally in the fight against Hitler. The road gave 

better access to the military airfields, and it 

became a navigational aid and a fifteen-hundredmile 

emergency landing strip. “Never in the 

history of aviation has a road been so important to 

airmen,” Arnold said of the Alaska Highway. 

The aerial highway to Russia came about 

because Stalin needed bombers and fighter 

planes. The United States decided to 

temporarily put aside differences with its former 

enemy and send millions in war supplies to help 

counter the German war machine. In three years 

the Russians received 7,926 airplanes at Ladd 

Field, aircraft that proved vital in helping defeat 

the Luftwaffe on the eastern front. Nearly 5,000 

of the planes were either P-39 or P-63 fighters. 

The Americans had proposed that the planes be 

handed over in Russia to Soviet pilots, but the 

Soviet leader refused, insisting that Soviet 

airmen fly the planes from Alaska. In July 1942, 

Stalin told the American ambassador, “Our 

fields are ready to receive planes. All I want to 

know is how many per month and when.” 

The Russian pilots who came to Fairbanks to 

pick up aircraft newly painted with the Red Star 

included many who were being given a break 

from the rigors of battle. “There were seldom 

fewer than 150 Soviet pilots at Ladd Field, and 

sometimes there were as many as 600. They 

were older and hardier than our boys, and 

nearly all were combat veterans. The deadly 

“Siberian Lane” was considered a great honor by 

these pilots, and it was held out to them as a 

reward for courage and for wounds in action,” 

Major George Jordan wrote. 

The Russians in their black boots and trim 

uniforms became a familiar sight on local streets, 

and they became legendary for buying large 

quantities of soap, watches, shoes, hats, candy bars, 

jewelry and other consumer goods hard to find in 

their homeland. 

❖ 

Above: What had been a mining town 

became a military town with the 

buildup associated with World War II. 

It was all due to the strategic position 

of Alaska on world air routes. 



Below: The Nordale Hotel on Second 

Avenue was a downtown fixture, 

providing rooms for visitors and a 

lobby where old sourdoughs 

speculated on the issues of the day. 



Chapter IV ✦ 29

❖ 

Right: Second Avenue traffic was 

controlled by a stop sign in the center 

of the intersection with Cushman 

Street. Most of the town’s retail 

establishments and offices were a 

short walk from this corner. 

COURTESY OF ALASKA PHOTO SUPPLY. 

Below: N.C. Co. complex along the 

waterfront was one of the chief 

mercantile centers in Fairbanks. 




Venice Stampalia, who had come to Fairbanks 

in 1940, said the war seemed remote, but the lack 

of rationing was a blessing. “I remember sending 

camera film and nylon stockings to friends in the 

States,” she said. Another resident said that 

compared to most places in the States, 

Fairbanksans enjoyed “The Life of Reilly.” 

The Russians demanded that the planes be 

handed over in perfect mechanical condition, 

and the procedure caused no end of bickering, 


translator David Chavchavadze said. “The 

Americans were irritated because the Soviets 

were so sticky in signing for and taking over this 

largesse. They did not realize that if a plane 

developed mechanical trouble on its way to the 

front, the Soviet mechanic who had signed for it 

was held responsible, and if it crashed, the 

consequence for him could be very serious,” 

said Chavchavadze, a Russian who served as a 

U.S. Army interpreter. 

There was also friction with the Russians over 

the death of a young Fairbanks soldier who 

drowned in Ballaine Lake in 1943, while driving 

two Russian officers near the University of 

Alaska. No charges were ever filed in the case, 

but the circumstances always bothered pioneer 

broadcaster Augie Hiebert and Ed Fortier, a 

retired military intelligence officer. More than 

forty years later they wrote and spoke about their 

theory that the soldier was murdered by the 

Russians. They said there was a secret project to 

intercept Russian weather reports, information 

that was vital in planning the Aleutian campaign, 

at a site near the University of Alaska. The FCC 

Radio and Intelligence Division sent the coded 

information from the College Hill site to KFAR, 

where Hiebert would send it in code to San 

Francisco. The Russians had not declared war on 

Japan, so the weather information was not given 

to the United States. The Russians are suspected 

to have discovered this wire. “The American 

soldier was killed to prevent his witness and 

disclosure of the Russian tap of the field wire 

running from College Hill to the KFAR 

transmitter,” Hiebert’s daughter wrote in his 

1992 biography. 

The official secrecy surrounding the Russian 

presence in Fairbanks ended in 1944 when Vice 

President Henry Wallace, one of many 

dignitaries who flew along the northern air 

route, gave a press conference in which he 

talked openly of cooperation with the Soviets. 

Soviet Ambassador Andrei Gromyko and Soviet 

Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov were 

❖ 

Above: In winter, the sun just creeps 

above the horizon and marks a low 

path across the southern sky. 



Below: The Cooper’s Hardware 

sportsman’s department carried a 

full line of rifles, traps, and other 

outdoor equipment. 

COURTESY OF THE BERNIE RINEAR COLLECTION. 

Chapter IV ✦ 31

❖ 

Austin Lathrop with two-thirds of the 

Class of 1945 graduating from the 

University of Alaska: Virginia Verle 

Sparling, economics (left), and 

Elizabeth Ann Crites (Bradford), 

home economics (center). 



among the other high-ranking leaders who 

stopped in Fairbanks during the war. 

There was more attention directed toward 

the entertainers who toured Alaska to give the 

troops some relief. Comedian Joe E. Brown was 

one of the first celebrity visitors. “My, what a 

large liquor store,” he said of Anchorage’s main 

street, a joke he repeated in Sitka and could 

have made in Fairbanks. Bob Hope, Edgar 

Bergen, Ingrid Bergman, Lillian Hellman, Al 

Jolson, Dashiell Hammett, and Joe Louis were 

among the others who toured Fairbanks. A 

reporter who talked to Louis said the boxing 

champion was especially interested in how 

people survived sixty-below weather. Pegge 

Parker gave Louis a tour of her apartment in the 

Lathrop Building. She also escorted playwright 

Hellman, who toured the mothballed gold 

dredges, bought a sleeping bag, and “was 

thrilled to death to buy a pair of shoes without 

a ration coupon.” 

Supplies were not rationed, but mail and the 

media were censored, and people traveling to and 

from the territory had to have travel permits as 

Alaska was declared a “military combat area.” 

Aerial photography was forbidden, and troops 

could not reveal their locations in correspondence. 

In what was termed an example of “ineptitude and 

stupidity” by Alaska’s delegate to Congress, warrelated 

articles in U.S. newspapers were clipped 

out of the copies sent to subscribers in Alaska. All 

Alaskans who were more than half Japanese were 

interned, and dependents of military personnel 

were sent Outside. Enrollment declined sharply at 

the University of Alaska, and the Army took over 

about two-thirds of the campus facilities. The 

graduating classes in 1944 and 1945 consisted of 

three students each. 

The war not only brought the arrival of the 

Russians, the completion of the Alaska Highway, 

and the building of a military infrastructure, but 

also the shutdown of gold mining, which had 

been declared “non-essential” by the War 

Production Board. For many residents the war 

became a great dividing line of social and 

economic change. It ushered in an era when the 

main source of financial wealth was no longer 

gold dug from the ground, but the construction 

and operation of military and defense projects 

funded by the federal government. 

At Ladd Field seven large hangars were 

jammed with planes, pilots, and mechanics. 

Quarters built to house 250 men soon were home 

to more than 950 men. The military needed an 

auxiliary landing field when Ladd Field was 

closed by ice fog and for extra room. At a site first 

called “Satellite” or “Mile 26,” to denote its 

distance from Fairbanks, the installation known 

today as Eielson Air Force Base was established. 

The pressures of the war suddenly 

evaporated when Japan surrendered in August 

1945. Fairbanks Mayor A. H. Nordale declared 

a two-day holiday as crowds gathered in the 

streets and sirens delivered a resounding blast. 

The celebration continued for the next two 

days. “Bacchus, the ancient god of wine, reigned 

in downtown Fairbanks,” a reporter wrote. 


CHAPTER V 

COLD WAR IN A COLD COUNTRY 

A period of unprecedented growth in Fairbanks followed the end of hostilities as the federal 

government launched a campaign to upgrade Alaska’s defenses for the Cold War. Both Ladd Field and 

Eielson Air Force Base saw major construction booms and additional personnel. The creation of the 

Distant Early Warning Line in northern Alaska and the expansion of the Fairbanks bases were part 

of a new strategy aimed at fending off any Russian air attacks against the United States. The military 

and civilian government payroll in Fairbanks mushroomed to about $4 million a month, and the 

military infrastructure was soon said to be worth $300 million. 

“The economic and social impact of these expenditures have been great,” analyst Richard Cooley 

said in a 1954 report on Fairbanks. “Business has boomed. Hundreds of new retail and service needs 

are being provided which formerly could only be obtained Outside. Many of the businesses presently 

related to and dependent on military construction are developing into permanent establishments.” 

Transportation improved with the opening of the new $5-million Fairbanks International Airport 

on June 1, 1951. The airport was built about five miles from the town on a swamp that used to flood 

every spring. A Wien Alaska Airlines DC-3 was the first plane to take off, with a crew of Dave 

Bronaugh, Bill English, George Clayton, and stewardess Kay Pederson aboard. The six-thousand-foot 

runway was long enough to handle DC-6s in all kinds of weather. By the end of the 1950s, the 

❖ 

The new Cushman Street Bridge 

under construction in 1959, replaced 

the old structure which had served 

Fairbanks well before being shipped to 

the Seward Peninsula, where it 

remains in use today. 



Chapter V ✦ 33

❖ 

Above: During the Cold War, Ladd 

Field and Eielson Air Force Base saw 

major construction booms and 

additional personnel. 

Right: Crowds gather within the 

shadow of the Cushman Street Bridge 

for the 1946 dog races and other 

winter carnival events. 


DC-6C aircraft could get passengers to Seattle in 

5 hours, 50 minutes. 

In 1953 the Chamber of Commerce lured 

Scandinavian Airlines System to land in 

Fairbanks on one of its flights testing a polar 

route from Europe. Fairbanks business leaders 

had hoped to attract international stopovers for 

flights from Europe to the Orient, but the 

business went to Anchorage instead. 

Fairbanks in mid-century looked in some 

ways like a Midwestern city, with cafes, theaters, 

two-story glass-fronted shops, and other 

businesses along Second Avenue, the main 

business street. The gold dredges were back in 

operation, but on a more limited basis, stymied 

by inflation. As mining engineer William O’Neill 

put it, “The costs are too high and the profits are 

too low. Everything has gone up except the price 

of gold.” 

The Fairbanks Exploration Co. usually had 

six or seven dredges in operation in the 1950s, 

but its business was in decline. The last of the 

big dredges shut down for good in 1964. A total 

of $125 million worth of gold, figuring the 

price at $35 an ounce, had been extracted in 

thirty-six years. 

As the town grew, so did the variety of the 

local clubs. These included Lions, Rotary, 

Kiwanis, Soroptimist, Quota, and other 

organizations such as the Eagles, Moose, Elks, 

Rebekahs, Odd Fellows, Pioneers of Alaska, 

Pioneer Women, and the Masonic orders. There 

were also thirty churches and sporting groups 

ranging from the Fairbanks Curling Club and 

local baseball to the Tanana Valley Sportsmen’s 

Association. According to one estimate, 150 

organizations existed in Fairbanks in 1955. 

Residents could water ski on Harding Lake, 

ski, garden, hike, hunt and follow many 

other pursuits. 

Building a community took many forms. 

During the decade the city had to construct and 

finance facilities that in most cities would have 

been spread out over 30 or 40 years. The 

number of school children doubled and then 

doubled again. Double-shifting continued for 

several years and even after the construction of 

Denali Elementary School in 1951 and Nordale 

Elementary School two years later, the facilities 

were overcrowded. 

The rapid population growth, 240 percent in 

1942-52, created great wealth and enormous 

problems. The telephone system suffered from 

high maintenance costs and there was a backlog 

of eight hundred customers who wanted 

phones. It had been possible since 1945 to 

make long-distance calls to the States, but the 

service was an expensive luxury. 


Fairbanks was a “badly over-burdened 

community which is unable to provide the 

community facilities normally deemed necessary 

for civilized living,” the city manager said in 

1953. The city had an extreme housing shortage, 

inadequate utilities, and substandard dirt roads. 

In 1951, less than one-third of the houses were 

connected to a sewer system, with the rest using 

cesspools and septic tanks. The community 

water system only served the downtown area, 

and there were only eight fire hydrants. 

In 1953, the Alaska Water Pollution Control 

Board said that because of the raw sewage being 

dumped in the Chena River, the waterway was 

not fit for use as drinking water, for recreation, 

or for the propagation of fish. Given the rise in 

population, a new power plant and electrical 

distribution system, telephone system, sewer 

and water mains, and street paving all had to be 

financed and built on an urgent basis. “We have 

been establishing the foundation for a modern 

city in the place of a very small town where 

future planning had never been a necessary 

consideration,” Kenneth Gillanders, the 

president of the Chamber of Commerce, said 

in 1957. 

For many years the sign on the Cushman 

Street Bridge that said, “Speed limit 6 Miles per 

Hour. Walk Your Horses,” was a clear indication 

that times had changed but the bridge hadn’t. 

Traffic problems grew, and, in the late 1940s, 

there were several court cases over whether Paul 

Greimann’s bus had the right to straddle the 

center rail on the narrow structure. 

Drivers approaching the other way refused to 

back off the bridge to let the bus pass. This led 

to court cases pitting the likes of Joe Vogler and 

Cecil Wells against the bus company. The 

construction of the Wendell Street Bridge in 

1953 eased congestion somewhat, but it would 

be 1960 before the old Cushman Street Bridge 

❖ 

Above: Eva McGown, the hostess of 

Fairbanks, rides atop a Cadillac in a 

winter parade. The sign says “Eva, 

The Queen of Them All, Flies High 

with Northern Airways.” 

COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA 

FAIRBANKS ARCHIVES. 

Below: The first streamlined train of 

the Alaska Railroad arrives in 

Fairbanks on October 18, 1947. A 

contest among school children led to 

the selection of the name AuRoRa 

with the capital letters standing for 

Alaska Railroad. 


ALASKA RAILROAD COLLECTION. 

Chapter V ✦ 35

❖ 

Right: A late winter storm snarls 

vehicular traffic in Fairbanks, but 

pedestrians were out in force. The 

Empress Theatre, at right, was the 

first concrete building in Fairbanks. 



Below: A group of fans watch all 

the action of the dog races on the 

river from the Cushman Street Bridge 

in the 1940s. 


Opposite, top: The Fairview Manor 

Apartment Complex, built on land 

leased from the city, provided some 

relief to the critical housing shortage 

in the early 1950s. The apartments 

were built next to the Weeks Field 

airport. 



Opposite, bottom: Fairbanks football 

in the snow, the “Ice Bowl.” 

COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA 

FAIRBANKS ARCHIVES. 

was retired and shipped out to the Nome area, 

where it is still in use today. 

The housing shortage created problems for 

civilians and military alike. An Army captain 

reported living for a winter in an “old GI vehicle 

crate,” while another captain paid $80 per 

month, one year in advance, for three rooms and 

a bath. He had to help build the house, which 

was close to four houses of prostitution. 

“Packing case ‘houses,’ open wells with 

outdoor sanitary facilities nearby, and flimsy 

huts that look like shacks from a ‘hobo city’ are 

the homes of servicemen who are forced to live 

in what are probably the worst conditions under 

the American flag,” New York Times reporter 

Hanson Baldwin wrote in early 1949. 

Writing about Fairbanks and Anchorage, the 

New York Times man said, “The towns are more 

or less wide-open frontier communities, with 

bars at nearly every other door on the main 

street; and brazenly operated brothels. The 

alliance between prostitution on the one hand, 

and politics, police, and some of the citizens of 

the town seems to be quite close. However, the 

better citizens of Fairbanks, spurred by General 

Gaffney’s appeals, have started efforts to clean 

up the town.” 

“The problems of these vastly overcrowded, 

mushrooming communities with a different 

code of propriety to our own, are major, and 

their remoteness, the weather and the terrain, 

plus the rapid development of great military 

centers on their very doorsteps—make the 

solution of these problems extremely difficult,” 

Baldwin wrote. 

The demand for more housing sparked a 

building boom that led to the construction of 

Queens Court, Dixon Apartments, Fairview 

Manor, Birch Park, Hamilton Apartments, 

Island Homes, Arctic Park, and the two buildings 

that would remain the “skyscrapers” of 

Fairbanks for the rest of the century—the 

Northward Building and the Polaris Building. 

The city had 1.3 square miles of land for many 

years, then it annexed the Brandt, Mooreland 

Acres, and Westgate subdivisions and the southside 

of the city. 


Chapter V ✦ 37

❖ 

Fairbanksans turn out in force to 

enjoy the waters of the outdoor 

swimming pool that was downtown at 

Griffin Park next to the baseball field. 



Three dozen subdivisions outside the city 

were under construction, and people were 

awakening to the idea that the hills outside of 

town would be good places to settle. In January 

1955, journalist Maury Smith wrote of a winter 

visit to the Don Thies family on a hillside off 

McGrath Road and above Farmer’s Loop, where 

the temperature was twenty degrees warmer 

than in town. “View property on that hill and 

others will become valuable one of these days as 

we realize just what a wonderful place hills 

make for a home,” Smith wrote. He said he went 

home with “visions of the Fairbanks of the 

future with view homes dotting the hill 

overlooking the Tanana Valley.” 

The sunny, south-facing slopes of the hills 

near Fairbanks would gradually be developed 

with new subdivisions. 

The Golden Valley Electric Association 

under President Nick Eidem was growing 

rapidly and expanding electrical service to areas 

outside of town. One writer said 1948 would be 

the “Year of Enlightenment,” with electric lines 

being built to serve an estimated 250 homes in 

the Steele Creek, Farmer’s Loop, and Ester 

areas. The connection would mean that 

“electric lights will shine from farmhouse 

windows, electric pumps will carry water into 

bathrooms with tubs and flush toilets, and 

electric stoves, washing machines and 

refrigerators will spell emancipation for many a 

farmer’s wife,” Herb Hilscher wrote on January 

2, 1948, in Jessen’s Weekly. 

In the meantime, there were efforts under 

way in Fairbanks to get a new hotel built, which 

culminated in the construction of the Traveler’s 

Inn. Built by future Governor Wally Hickel, the 

Traveler’s Inn opened in 1955, featuring, as one 

writer put it, “touch-button lighting, couch beds 

and built-in radios. If you ask for an earlymorning 

wakeup call, the office not only 

awakens you but pops on your bathroom 

lights.” The need for more hotel rooms led to 

some unique attempts at solutions. In 1948, 

tourism leader Chuck West came up with a 

novel idea for a site he bought at Sixteenth 

Avenue and Cushman Street. He planned to 

build “Tent City.” 

“We graded the land and set about buying 

war-surplus tents, stoves, beds, mattresses,” he 

wrote in his autobiography Mr. Alaska. 

“The truth is that I didn’t know what I was 

doing in this venture, but paying passengers would 

soon arrive and I had to put them somewhere.” 

The Tent City opened to poor reviews. “An 

all-time record for discontent,” is how West 


described it. The rain, the mud, the mosquitoes, 

and complaints about sharing tents prompted 

West to rent the top floor of the Fairbanks Hotel 

downtown to accommodate his visitors. 

One of the many other conflicts between old 

and new Fairbanks that marked the post-war 

years was the debate about getting rid of the 

“Line” where prostitution had been more or less 

quietly accepted since the founding of the town. 

The pressure to eliminate the houses of 

prostitution came from federal authorities and 

church leaders. 

A New York group known as the American 

Social Hygiene Association did undercover 

investigative work in early 1952, finding fifteen 

houses of prostitution in Fairbanks, most of 

❖ 

Above: Harry Champlin, pastor of the 

First Presbyterian Church, prays as 

Fairbanks pioneers look on during the 

dedication of the first memorial to 

Felix Pedro near Fairbanks on July 

11, 1947. 



Left: The Daily News-Miner press 

was visible through the windows of 

the newspaper plant, providing 

passersby a chance to see the heart 

of the downtown operation. 



Chapter V ✦ 39

❖ 

Cabins that once were part of the 

Fourth Avenue “Line” shortly before 

they were razed in 1959 as part of an 

urban renewal project. 



them on Fourth Avenue. The association said 

the “district within a stone’s throw of the United 

States government building in Fairbanks was 

again inhabited by prostitutes” and they 

operated nearly round-the-clock. 

In 1949, Brigadier General Dale Gaffney 

campaigned to bring an end to the line, but it 

was a short-lived response to an old tradition. 

Three years later, the new commander of Ladd 

Field, Brigadier General Donald Smith, said it 

was his job to look out for the servicemen, who 

were mostly 19 or 20 years-old, and “It is my 

job to protect them from bad conditions which 

at present are prevailing in the city.” 

The general had the power to declare the city 

off-limits to military personnel, which would have 

devastated local businesses, so the city responded. 

A newspaper reporter dubbed the campaign 

“Operation Versus-Vice.” A Presbyterian minister 

said that after the houses of prostitution were 

removed the fences should be taken down so that 

the area would not revert to the old ways once the 

operation ended. Some people wanted to keep the 

line, arguing that it was a way to control the 

world’s oldest profession. 

Vice did not vanish from Fairbanks, but the 

campaign to close the line did succeed, and the 

area became the center of an urban renewal 

campaign that lasted many years. Several 

businesses, office buildings and parking lots 

were constructed in that neighborhood and 

surrounding blocks. 

By the late 1950s, the rapid growth of the 

economy had cooled as the military 

construction boom tapered off. Fairbanks 

landlords found themselves with vacancies on 

their hands for the first time in many years. At 

the end of 1957 there were about 1,000 

vacancies in the Fairbanks area, the Fairbanks 

Housing Association estimated. By then the 

utility improvements and new developments 

had created the foundation for a modern city. 


CHAPTER VI 

CELEBRATING THE FORTY- NINTH STAR ON OLD GLORY 

On February 5, 1956, the delegates to Alaska’s Constitutional Convention gathered before a crowd 

of about one thousand in the University of Alaska Gym to sign the document that would be the blueprint 

for the State of Alaska. 

For three months that winter, the delegates studied every aspect of government, from voting to 

fishing. The oldest delegate was E. B. Collins of Fairbanks, an eighty-two-year-old attorney who had 

served as the speaker of the first territorial Legislature in 1913 and was a former Fairbanks mayor. 

The other delegates from Fairbanks included the likes of bush pilot Frank Barr, attorney Warren 

Taylor and businessman Leslie Nerland, whose family ran one of the major home furnishings stores 


For seventy-five working days, the delegates debated the framework of the future state, meeting 

in the new Student Union Building at the university. The students moved out and the delegates 

moved in, receiving $35 per day for their efforts. After the convention, the University of Alaska 

named the building Constitution Hall. 

The preamble of the 14,400-word Alaska Constitution reads: “We the people of Alaska, grateful 

to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land, in order to secure and 

❖ 

A parade making its way through the 

streets of Fairbanks to celebrate the 

Senate’s passage of the statehood bill. 



Chapter VI ✦ 41

❖ 

Above: C. W. Snedden, publisher of 

the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 

and flight hostess Marita Shere of San 

Diego, check out an issue of the 

News-Miner delivered by Air Force 

jet to Washington, D.C., the day after 

the U.S. Senate approved statehood 

for Alaska in 1958. 



Below: Constitutional Convention 

delegate Jim Doogan argues a point of 

policy during deliberations at the 

University of Alaska in 1955. The 

delegates wrote a blueprint for the 

future State of Alaska. 



transmit to succeeding generations our heritage 

of political, civil, and religious liberty within the 

Union of States, do ordain and establish this 

constitution for the State of Alaska.” 

There were fifty-five delegates, matching the 

number of delegates who drafted the United 

States Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787. 

One goal of the convention was to show 

Congress that Alaska was ready to join the 

Union. “All the delegates put their best effort 

into it and didn’t worry about the partisan 

politics,” Fairbanks delegate Jim Doogan said 

forty years after the convention. “We wanted to 

concentrate on policy and let the Legislature 

take care of the law.” 

Jack Coghill, a delegate from Nenana who 

would later serve as a legislator and lieutenant 

governor, said the basic framework established by 

the constitution served the state well in the years 

that followed. “Alaska was foremost in the minds 

of the delegates, not special interests,” he said. 

As intended, the convention helped draw more 

national attention to the statehood cause, which 

culminated in January 1959, when President 

Dwight Eisenhower signed the proclamation 

admitting Alaska as the forty-ninth state. The 

headline in Jessen’s Weekly expressed the sentiment 

of many in Fairbanks: “SATURDAY WAS THE 

GREATEST DAY IN THE HISTORY OF ALASKA.” 

The biggest celebration had taken place the 

preceding summer, following Senate approval of 

the statehood bill. Interviewed on the day of the 

Senate action, attorney Ed Merdes said it was 

like finally owning your own home and no 

longer being a ward or a tenant. LaDessa 

Nordale, the United States commissioner, said 

Alaskans were like the parents of a newborn, 

feeling confident about the future. 

Grant McCoy, a local hockey star, said: “I’m 

in the same boat as the majority of people here. 

We don’t know whether it will benefit us or not. 

We don’t know what we’re stepping into, but 

now we will have our own say in things.” 


There was a giant star to be raised and dye to 

be dumped into the river from the Wendell 

Street Bridge to make the Chena golden. The 

chemistry experiment didn’t work as planned, 

however, and the celebrants watched as the river 

turned bright green instead. 

The euphoria of that day was followed by an 

election in which eighty-five percent of the 

voters endorsed statehood. Eisenhower signed 

the bill the following January, and the new state 

was off and running. But the early years of 

statehood brought uncertainty to Alaska, 

derived mainly from the “lack of any selfsustaining 

and basic economic activity at its 

core,” economist George Rogers wrote. 

Fairbanks continued to depend on the military 

and on the growing University of Alaska as 

its economic base, with many hoping that 

resource development and tourism would create 

new jobs and allow for better community services. 

Transportation improvements made it 

more convenient to reach Fairbanks, as Pan 

American began civilian passenger jet service 

March 1, 1960, with a Boeing 707 flight from 

Seattle. The first jet flights landed at Ladd Field, 

and not at Fairbanks International Airport, 

because the six-thousand-foot civilian runway 

had to be lengthened for the jet age. 

The military underwent some major 

restructuring that year. The news that the Air Force 

would no longer have two bases in the Fairbanks 

area shook Fairbanks. Business leaders denounced 

this decision, and it wasn’t until the Army 

announced that it would take over Ladd Field that 

the community began to like the consolidation of 

Air Force operations at Eielson Air Force Base. 

Ladd Field became Fort Wainwright, named for 

General Jonathan M. Wainwright, a hero of 

❖ 

Above: Bill Walley, future mayor of 

Fairbanks, hosts the Foodland 

Banstand on KFAR-TV in 1963, a 

Saturday show patterned after Dick 

Clark’s American Bandstand. 



Below: The 1964 Lathrop High School 

basketball team won the state title. 

Standing in front are Coach Joe 

Tremarello, players Mike Scanlan, 

Romar Swarner, Gary Wilken, Greg 

Mitchell, Ron Punton, and Assistant 

Coach Ernie Eveland. The back row 

includes Rod Stone, Alvin Stephens, 

Don Connage, Jim Hayes, Gary 

Dixon, and manager Larry Lewis. 

COURTESY OF THE JOE TREMARELLO COLLECTION. 

Chapter VI ✦ 43

World War II, and opened as an Army post on 

January 1, 1961. 

Two years later the city celebrated its sixtieth 

anniversary, and the mayor took pride in saying 

that for the first time a motorist “can drive the 

streets of downtown Fairbanks without dodging 

chuckholes.” A decade earlier the only paved 

streets had been Cushman Street, Airport Way and 

part of Second Avenue. By 1963, there were fiftynine 

miles of temporary and “semi-permanent” 

paving, Mayor Darrell Brewington said. 

At Lathrop High School, Jim Whisenhant 

started a cross-country skiing program, using 

military skis that were trimmed down to resemble 

racing skis. Whisenhant received permission 

to take the ski team up to a site on top of Birch 

Hill to clear brush and cut trails, which was 

how the “Jim Whisenhant Ski Trails” originated. 

To symbolize the community’s progress, local 

leaders launched an ambitious plan to host a 

major exposition in 1967, the centennial of 

Alaska’s purchase from Russia. Out of this effort, 

the forty-four-acre site that would later be known 

as Alaskaland, now Pioneer Park, was born. 

While the urban renewal project downtown led 

to the removal of dozens of old cabins to the west 

of Cushman Street and the construction of new 

buildings, some Fairbanksans attempted to 

preserve parts of the old. On the suggestion of 

Wally Burnett, a couple of dozen cabins that 

would have otherwise been burned were 

relocated to the Alaska ’67 Exposition for its 

Gold Rush Town. “At times it was literally a race 

between exposition architects and the fire 

department to see who could ‘get’ the old 

buildings first,” Jessen’s Weekly said in 1967. 

The giant stern-wheeler Nenana was saved 

and floated into the park along temporary 

earthen locks dug to make a channel out of the 

Chena River. Among the many visitors that 

summer was Vice President Hubert Humphrey, 

who spent seven hours at the park on the 

Fourth of July, watching part of a local 

production of Showboat and doing some 

gold panning. 

The A-67 exposition was plagued by financial 

troubles, and the organizers sought a bailout 

from the state later that month. A bailout of a 

different kind was needed a short time later as 

the worst flood in Fairbanks history hit the town 

by mid-August. It had already been a wet 


summer when the heaviest rains began in the 

second week of August and the Chena River 

spilled its banks. The evacuations began with the 

sixty-two patients at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Within 

a day, thirty thousand people had to flee their 

homes for high ground. More than seven 

thousand people went to the campus of the 

University of Alaska, which became Alaska’s 

fourth largest city overnight. Other flood victims 

went to live with friends outside of town in the 

hills or at evacuation centers such as the one at 

Lathrop High School. In some one-family homes, 

as many as twenty-five people camped out. 

In many areas of Fairbanks four or five feet of 

cold, muddy water flowed in the streets. One 

homeowner, who stayed in her house for days, 

❖ 

Opposite, top: The A-67 Exposition 

under construction, later to be known 

as Alaskaland and now, Pioneer Park, 

one of the most popular parks in 

Fairbanks. 



Opposite, bottom: Joan Koponen 

tends to her horse, Galaxy, who is 

looking into the family living room 

from the barn. 



Above: Cushman Street turned into a 

waterway during the 1967 flood, with 

people traveling by canoe and 

motorboat in waters that were three 

or four feet deep. 



Left: Thousands of houses in 

Fairbanks were damaged by 

floodwaters from the 1967 disaster. 



Chapter VI ✦ 45

❖ 

Irene Sherman, one of the most 

recognizable Fairbanks characters, 

often greeted people with the words, 

“How ya doing kid?” 

COURTESY OF 

THE DAILY NEWS-MINER COLLECTION. 

watched from upstairs as the ground floor of her 

house filled up with thirty inches of water. “I 

have spent much of my time reading and 

running from window to window, waving at 

passing boats and chatting with the occupants,” 

she wrote of her stay at 10 Timberland Drive. 

She had a camp stove, sardines, V-8 juice, a fruit 

cocktail, raisins, and other supplies. She did 

have her suitcase packed in case she had to leave 

in a hurry, but she held on, and the waters 

receded four days later. 

George Sundborg, an administrative assistant 

to Senator Ernest Gruening, said the flood 

reminded him of an “enormous moving brown 

lake” and “For all we could tell the Chena was 

connected with Cook Inlet, the Pacific Ocean 

and Kingdom Come.” 

City crews kept the utilities on in most areas, 

and KFAR radio remained on the air, with Bill 

Walley and others broadcasting from the station 

transmitter on Farmer’s Loop. Helicopters took 

off and landed on the roof of the Travelers Inn, 

while members of the Fairbanks Outboard 

Association patrolled the streets that had 

become canals. At the university more than 

fifteen hundred flood evacuees answered a call 

for volunteers to fill sandbags and build a dike 

that protected the university power plant from 

the flood. The waters came within an inch-anda-half 

of shutting the plant down. 

When the water receded, the race was on to 

prepare for winter. An inch or two of smelly 

mud coated floors and walls, and the water 

ruined many a foundation. A total of more than 

$61 million in low interest loans from the Small 

Business Administration interest proved to be of 

immense help in getting the city back to normal. 

The SBA loans came in for some criticism later 

for being too generous, but they were essential 

in the town’s recovery. 

In the sunny intervals after the flood, 

homeowners spread clothes and carpets on their 

roofs and yards to dry them out, and the whole 

town looked like a junkyard. Clotheslines inside 

Denali Elementary School held papers that were 

hung out to dry. Repair work proceeded quickly 

on the streets, thousands of tons of rock 

were hauled to strengthen riverbanks, and 

construction contracts were let to repair waterlogged 

homes and businesses. 

Four people died in the flood, and the 

damage ran to the hundreds of millions, but 

thanks to the work of state and federal agencies, 

other Alaska cities, and many civic and 

charitable groups, Fairbanks recovered. People 

of all walks of life worked shoulder to shoulder, 

shoveling dirt, lending tools, painting houses, 

and fixing foundations. The community spirit 

was expressed by Ruth Peger, who said, “We 

must cast aside all personal grievances and 

rebuild Fairbanks bigger and better.” 

One of the crucial needs brought to the 

forefront by the flood was the hospital, which 

had been run by the Sisters of Charity of 

Providence since 1910. The sisters had been 

aware for years that a new building was needed, 

but they couldn’t afford to finance a new one. 

The hospital had dealt with many emergencies 

over the years, including times when the lights 

went out and the blinds had to be opened to 

complete surgery. The announcement that St. 

Joseph’s Hospital would be closed spurred the 

community to action. Attempts to get a bond 

issue approved to build a new hospital failed, 

but a community organization headed by 

University of Alaska President William R. Wood 

set about raising money to build a new hospital. 

Out of that effort the new Fairbanks Memorial 

Hospital on Cowles Street came into existence. 

In 1969, Fairbanks was one of eleven cities 

honored as an “All-America City,” largely in 

recognition of the flood recovery and the 

hospital campaign. 


CHAPTER VII 

FUELED BY AN OIL BONANZA, FAIRBANKS BOOMS 

The news broke in the spring and summer of 1968. At Prudhoe Bay, on Alaska’s North Slope, the 

oil companies had discovered an immense oil field containing billions of barrels of oil. After a long 

search, two wells, drilled seven miles apart, had helped confirm the existence of the largest oil field 

ever found in North America. It was a turning point in the history of Alaska. 

The following February a consortium of oil companies announced plans for the construction of 

the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, or TAPS, an eight-hundred-mile line that would cross the state and 

pass within ten miles of Fairbanks. The oil companies saw the pipeline as a means of getting oil to 

Valdez, where it could pumped onto tankers and shipped to market. Many people in Fairbanks saw 

the oil pipeline as their economic salvation. 

The pipeline soon became one of the most hotly contested environmental disputes in the nation, 

with intense debate about whether the building of a road to the North Slope and a pipeline would 

destroy the last wilderness in the United States. Supporters compared the pipe plan to a thread across 

a gym floor, while opponents said it would be more like a scratch across the Mona Lisa. 

❖ 

Sections of pipe were stacked five high 

in the pipeyard on the outskirts of 

town, built in the area now crossed by 

the Johansen Expressway near the 

Steese Highway. 



Chapter VII ✦ 47

The federal dispute over authorization of the 

pipeline jump-started the negotiations that 

produced the landmark Alaska Native Land 

Claims Settlement Act. The 1971 law provided 

for the creation of thirteen Native regional 

corporations, payment of nearly $1 billion, and a 

forty-four-million-acre land grant to Alaska’s 

Native people. The largest land grant, twelve 

million acres, was to Doyon Ltd., which 

established its headquarters in Fairbanks and 

would become an increasingly important part of 

the Interior Alaska economy with operations 

ranging from oil drilling to tourism. The 

Athabascan company is the largest private land 

owner in the United States. 

A second Native organization that would also 

become a major employer in the Fairbanks area 

was the Tanana Chiefs Conference, which 

represented villages from throughout Interior 

Alaska and provided social and health services 

through government grants. 

In the midst of the political and legal 

wrangling, the oil companies created the Alyeska 

Pipeline Service Company and ordered $100 

million worth of forty-eight-inch pipe from 

Japan. The 120 shiploads of pipe were stored in 

Valdez, Prudhoe Bay, and in Fairbanks. The 

Fairbanks pipeyard contained dozens of giantsized 

rows of pipe in the area now traversed by 

the Johansen Expressway at the foot of Birch Hill. 

The pipe would remain in storage for five 

years, however, as the Native land claims and 

environmental lawsuits put the project on hold. 

The delays ended in late 1973, when Congress 

❖ 

Above: Construction of the Trans- 

Alaska Pipeline in the 1970s brought 

abrupt and lasting changes to 

Fairbanks and every other community 

in the state. 



Right: Crews install the forty-eightinch 

Trans-Alaska Pipeline at Fox 

outside of Fairbanks in 1976. The 

pipeline was buried in sections 

where the soil would allow and 

elevated elsewhere. 




Thousands of job seekers flooded Fairbanks. The 

phone system ran out of phone numbers, and jobseekers 

filled every house and apartment. Prices 

soared. A two-bedroom house became a boarding 

home used by 45 people, but since they worked 

different shifts they squeezed in. The following ad 

appeared several times in the “Unfurnished 

Apartments” section of the classified ads: 

Looking for a reasonable alternative to highpriced 

housing and rental? Advance to the frontier 

living of ’75, with your very own home providing 

all the comforts of high cost living at a price you 

can afford. Contact Alaska Tent and Tarp for our 

solution to the housing problem. Cozy white 

canvas home available in sizes from 6-by-8 feet to 

16-by-24 feet, ready to move into. All you 

need is a couple of trees with a little ground 

between them. 

approved an amendment to limit further court 

challenges. Vice President Spiro Agnew, casting a 

vote for only the second time, broke a 49-49 tie 

in the Senate, an action that soon cleared the way 

for the project. 

There had been a burst of pipeline enthusiasm 

in Fairbanks after the oil discovery, but the six 

years of delay before the project started were a 

time of great expectations, high unemployment 

and little planning. In a town still drying out from 

the ’67 flood, there was little patience for those 

who warned that there might be a downside to the 

coming boom. As a result, Fairbanks was illprepared 

for what soon would be universally 

characterized as “pipeline impact.” 

The atmosphere in downtown Fairbanks 

changed during the construction of the pipeline, 

and Second Avenue assumed a dual identity, 

serving as both the retail center for the town and 

the place where pipeline workers came by the 

thousands for R&R after nine weeks on the 

pipeline. By day, Second Avenue was a place 

where people went to buy film or toothpaste at 

the Co-Op Drug Store or pick up a pair of boots 

at Big Ray’s. By night, the 4 package liquor 

stores and 18 bars within a short walk became 

the biggest show in town. Second Avenue 

became “Two Street” to the pipeliners. There 

were dozens of hookers walking the streets, and 

the rowdy reputation of the neighborhood was 

spread worldwide in almost every news report 

on the pipeline. 

❖ 

Above: Fairbanks in the early 1980s 

before the major renovation projects 

that led to construction of a new 

courthouse and a new SpringHill 

Suites Marriott Hotel in the heart 

of downtown. 



Below: The nine-member board of 

the Tanana Chiefs Conference in 

1972 included (from left to right) 

Ronald Sam, Melvin Charlie, 

Lucy Carlo, John Sackett, Tim 

Wallis, Ernest Holmberg, Jimmy 

Huntington, Jonathan Solomon, 

and Patrick Frank. 

COURTESY OF FRANK MURPHY. 

Chapter VII ✦ 49

❖ 

Right: Trina and the Triceratops 

entertain 150 people at the Noel 

Wien Library in 1988. The 

Triceratops include (from left to right) 

Vicki Andrews, Marcia Trainor, Nicky 

Eiseman, and Julie Reinhard. 

COURTESY OF THE DAILY NEWS-MINER 

COLLECTION, PHOTO BY MIKE MATHERS. 

Below: Warm winter blankets help 

keep even pickup trucks comfortable 

in the winter. 



Opposite, top: Pope John Paul II meets 

the Reverend Jean Dementi, an 

Episcopal priest, during his stop at 

the Fairbanks International Airport 

in 1984. 

COURTESY OF THE JIMMY BEDFORD COLLECTION. 

Opposite, middle: John Hajdukovich 

(left) and George Sundborg (right) 

who led the planning for the visits of 

the pope and president in 1984. 



Opposite, bottom: Students at the 

University of Alaska Fairbanks 

enjoy a game of mud ball during 

Meltdown in 1988, an annual 

celebration of spring. 


COLLECTION, PHOTO BY MIKE BELROSE. 

Alyeska had ordered all of its trucks in 

yellow, which made them visible targets of 

frustration for motorists on the heavily 

congested city streets. The yellow trucks came 

to symbolize everything that people didn’t like 

about the project, from hour-long lines at the 

bank to the thousands of new arrivals who 

seemed to be interested only in big paychecks. 

The turnover rates at jobs in Fairbanks became 

extreme, as people left low-paying positions as 

soon as they could to sign on with a union and get 

out on the pipeline. Household income doubled 

within a few years. Many teenagers held jobs that 

would normally have gone to adults. Lathrop 

High School was split into East Lathrop and West 

Lathrop, with students attending on split shifts. 

As the project continued, it generated 

complaints about traffic, the housing shortage, high 

prices, long lines and crime. In 1976, a Fairbanks 

anthropologist said that the pipeline had not 

become part of local folklore, unlike the Gold 

Rush, the World War II boom, and the construction 

of the Distant Early Warning or DEW Line. One 

commentator of the time said that perhaps the 

waste and inefficiency of the project had something 

to do with that. In time, however, the pipeline did 

become the subject of local folklore. 

People in Fairbanks would not forget the 

antics on Second Avenue or the prosperity of the 

most tumultuous period in the town’s history. It 

all ended fairly abruptly after three years and 

two months of construction and an expenditure 

of nearly $10 billion by the oil companies. 

Fairbanks would never be the same. Most retail 

businesses migrated to the malls away from the 

city center. For more than a quarter-century after 

the end of the pipeline frenzy, one of the most 

contentious issues in the community was how to 

bring new life back to downtown Fairbanks. 

The City of Fairbanks, with heavy financial 

support from the state legislature, installed new 

utilities downtown, bought up most of the old 

bars and leveled the buildings. It took longer 

than anyone had expected, but the long-awaited 

redevelopment happened as Fairbanks neared its 

centennial, with the completion of the new 


Rabinowitz Courthouse on the river, the 

construction of the new SpringHill Suites 

Marriott Hotel and a new parking garage. 

Thanks in large part to oil wealth that 

allowed for the construction of new schools and 

public facilities ranging from the Carlson Center 

Arena to various new buildings at the University 

of Alaska Fairbanks, the community extended 

its reach. 

Operations at Fort Wainwright and Eielson 

Air Force Base remained an important part of 

the national defense picture, and the Fort Knox 

Gold Mine continued the century-old tradition 

that began with prospectors searching for the 

elusive yellow metal. The 2000 census showed 

a population of 82,840 in Fairbanks, with twothirds 

of the residents residing outside the city 

limits in the growing suburban areas within 

twenty miles of the city center. 

Perhaps the biggest highlight in the town’s 

recent past happened on May 2, 1984, when two 

world leaders met in Fairbanks in what may have 

been the most unusual event in local history— 

the meeting of the pope and the president. 

It was mainly a matter of good timing that led 

President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II 

to Fairbanks that day. The president was heading 

home after a trip to China and Pope John Paul 

was on his way to Korea. The details for what 

would be known locally as “The Visit” were 

planned in meticulous fashion for several weeks. 

John Hajdukovich and George Sundborg, Jr., cochaired 

the committee planning for the pope, 

and the Reverend Frank McGuigan was the 

general coordinator. A second committee, led by 

Bonnie Roberts and Margaret King, handled the 

presidential side of the diplomatic effort. 

Reagan arrived on May 1 and stayed at 

Senator Frank Murkowski’s house along the 

Chena River. Reagan spoke at the Patty Center at 

the University of Alaska Fairbanks in a building 

decorated with posters drawn by children, 

banners in Alaska Native languages, and a 

Fairbanks Festival 84 logo that read, “Proud to 

be Alaskan. Welcome President & Mrs. Reagan.” 

The next day the crowds started gathering at 

the airport early, and there were a couple of 

hundred people present by 4 a.m., despite 

temperatures in the high thirties and rain. About 

ten thousand were on hand when the pope’s 

Alitalia DC-10 touched down and he was greeted 

Chapter VII ✦ 51

❖ 

Above: Members of the Secret Service 

assigned to protect President Ronald 

Reagan on his Fairbanks visit in 1984 

ride on the University of Alaska 

Fairbanks campus in advance of the 

presidential appearance. 



by Fairbanks Bishop Robert Whelan, who had 

invited the pope to Fairbanks. The pope went 

down the steps and clasped hands with Reagan, 

who was waiting at the bottom of the ramp. 

The two men met for about thirty minutes on 

the second floor of the airport terminal in what 

is now known as the “Pope and Presidents 

Room” before bidding each other farewell. The 

meeting did not change any national policies or 

lead to world peace, but “The Visit” would be 

long remembered. 

Bottom, left: Ahardy Fairbanks 

resident braves temperatures of fiftyseven 

degrees below zero. 

Bottom, right: Soldiers of the Sixth 

Infantry Division (Light) get in the 

swing of things during an air assault 

combat class at Fort Wainwright 

in 1987. 




CHAPTER VIII 

FAIRBANKS CELEBRATES A CENTENNIAL 

The fiftieth anniversary of the gold discovery that created Fairbanks featured the dedication of the 

Brooks Building at the University of Alaska, and the unveiling of a monument to Felix Pedro on 

the Steese Highway. The Italian consul general from San Francisco arrived with a bust of Pedro that 

had been donated by the Italian government for the 1952 festivities, which were organized by the 

Pioneers of Alaska. 

Henry Rhoden spoke at a banquet and refused to use a microphone, saying, “Felix Pedro wouldn’t 

have used one.” Before too long, the commemoration of the gold discovery became the annual 

Golden Days event, which continues today, a century after the founding of Fairbanks. 

The gold rush in the first years of the twentieth century touched off a boom that created a town almost 

overnight. Mining remains part of the foundation of Fairbanks, which has grown into a diverse 

community of eighty-three thousand that also draws strength from the University of Alaska, the oil 

industry, the Army, the Air Force, construction firms, service industries, state government, Native-owned 

enterprises, and transportation companies. 

The real story of Fairbanks is not found in lists and statistics, however, but in its people. Back in 

the early days of the community, author Mary Lee Davis made this observation about the people 

settled along the banks of the Chena River: “Our people are all non-conformists, in the wide sense 

of the word and a community of non-conformists is never a stagnant spot.” 

Looking back through the first century of Fairbanks, one is tempted to say that forces far beyond local 

control dominated what happened here—the price of gold, global politics, federal spending, and U.S. 

❖ 

Skiers hit the trail for the UAF 

Skiathon in 1984, one of many 

popular races for cross-country skiers. 


COLLECTION, PHOTO BY JOE CORREIA. 

Chapter VIII ✦ 53

❖ 

Above: Dick Flaharty and his son 

Tyson, age four, learn how to milk a 

goat at the Tanana Valley State Fair 

in 1989. Annette Bray, right, chuckles 

at the situation. 



Right: Gordon Wear, center, president 

of the “Chena Bank,” recruited 

volunteers for several years to spruce 

up the banks of the Chena River. The 

bank staff in 1990, included (from left 

to right) Brian Phillips, Virgil 

Gillespie, John Paul Stenberg, Steve 

Carlson, Ray Sandberg, Sam Barnes, 

Jim Haselberger, Buzz Otis, and 

Gene Mackin. 



energy needs. A closer examination will also show 

that individuals had just as much to do with 

forging the community’s character. 

Some of their names are preserved in 

buildings or streets. Others are recalled through 

stories told and retold. Talk to those who 

have been here a while and you will hear of 

Hulda Ford, who walked the streets in rags 

and picked through trash late in life, but was 

worth a fortune at her death at age eighty-three 

in 1957. 

There was the man with a master’s degree in 

economics from the University of Chicago 

who delivered milk for Creamer’s Dairy. Paul 

Gavora went on to build supermarkets and 

stores in Fairbanks. He said his life was a 

“typical American experience.” Celia Hunter’s 

environmental activism has made a difference in 

Alaska and nationally, while the community 

spirit of builder Dennis Wise, who built and 

donated spacious new homes for the Fairbanks 

Community Food Bank and the Fairbanks 

Rescue Mission, will benefit the needy for many 

years to come. 

W. F. Thompson, the iconoclast who ran the 

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and was its only 

editorial employee just before his death in 1926 

at sixty-three, is among those buried in the Clay 

Street Cemetery. He has no epitaph, but it could 

have been something he wrote in the paper on 

his sixtieth birthday: “I attribute my longevity to 

having always—against great opposition—lived 

my life in my own way.” 

To a greater or lesser degree, there were 

always those in Fairbanks who failed to pay 

heed when the words “It can’t be done” were 

uttered. The Reverend Francis Monroe didn’t 


listen in 1911 when he had the Immaculate 

Conception Church moved from Dunkel Street 

across the ice of the Chena River to where it 

stands today. About six decades later Hez Ray 

had the outlandish idea of moving an old 

airplane hangar from Tanacross and setting it up 

in Fairbanks as the Big Dipper Ice Arena. 

Similarly strong-willed was Charles Bunnell, 

the founding president of what would become 

the University of Alaska, who overcame strong 

odds in moving that institution ahead. Among 

the university presidents who followed, none 

had a greater impact on Fairbanks than William 

R. Wood, the fourth president of the institution. 

After his tenure at the university ended in 1973, 

he continued his service to the community, 

serving as mayor and elder statesman. He was a 

man who, as long as he was physically able, 

would not hesitate to pick up litter on Second 

Avenue as he walked to his office. “Leave the 

place just a little better than when you found it,” 

he would say. 

Syun-Ichi Akasofu, who earned a doctorate 

at the university and later led the Geophysical 

Institute, had the vision to spearhead the 

creation and development of the International 

Arctic Research Center in the 1990s, an 

institution that brings together scientists to 

study global change. 

As models of dedication, we can include the 

legendary pilots who risked their lives in 

establishing aviation in a land of vast expanse 

and few roads. In 1925 Noel Wien had to land 

on a sand bar forty miles from Nenana. He had 

two stale buns, a gun and an axe with him as he 

walked back to safety. “I was in water over my 

knees for three days and it was the hardest work 

I ever did in my life,” he said later. “I made 

sure—the very next trip—that I would never go 

out unprepared again.” He and many other pilots 

❖ 

Above: Zachary Fitzgerald (left) and 

Tyler Loud (right) check out the 

creations in the annual Gingerbread 

House Contest in 1995. 



Below: Fairbanks city policeman Dave 

Maitlen comforts a little boy named 

Kevin in 1986. 


COLLECTION, PHOTO BY ERIC MUEHLING. 

Chapter VIII ✦ 55

❖ 

Above: Graduates of Main School line 

up during the forty-year reunion in 

1993. Nineteen graduates from the 

Class of ’53 took a tour of the old 

building, which today serves as City 

Hall and the home of the Boys and 

Girls Club. 



Below: The milepost in downtown 

Fairbanks is a favorite spot for 

photographers from near and far. 


COLLECTION, PHOTO BY ERIC MUEHLING. 

were aided by expert airplane mechanics who 

included the likes of James T. Hutchison, who 

lived by the words, “Man Buildeth. I rebuildeth.” 

New arrivals to Fairbanks often were illprepared 

for the challenges that awaited them. 

For tens of thousands of new residents and 

visitors, Eva McGown was a lifesaver in helping 

find hotel rooms and apartments in the 

overcrowded city. As the town’s official hostess 

from the 1940s on, she was a fixture in the lobby 

of the Nordale Hotel with her Irish teapot at her 

desk. She was once featured on the TV show This 

is Your Life and on the pages of Reader’s Digest. 

She died in the Nordale Hotel fire in 1972. 

Another indomitable woman was the 

irrepressible Irene Sherman, the last person to be 

buried in the old Clay Street Cemetery. As a fiveyear-old, 

she survived a fire that killed two other 

children. For many years she was as widely 

recognized in Fairbanks as mayors and governors 

at the time. 

Fairbanks was home to many political leaders 

who showed strength of purpose. John Butrovich 

served admirably in the territorial and state 

legislatures for thirty years. He was also a big fan 

of the Alaska Goldpanners and an outdoorsman 

who loved being out on the Goodpaster River. 

Butrovich used words sparingly. One of his local 

contemporaries with a sharper tongue was Joe 

Vogler, the Fairbanksan who founded the Alaskan 

Independence Party, though he took pains to 

point out the goal was “peaceful separation,” not 

secession from the United States. 

Sam O. White, the first flying game warden, 

was renowned for his skills as an outdoorsman 

and he helped survey Alaska and put it on the 

map. “I love maps, but now I have the map in 

my head and don’t need the paper one,” he said. 

A strong sense of direction was evident in the 

good works of Mable Rasmussen, who 

continued into her 90s to serve as a chaplain to 

prisoners at the jail. “When I look at a man I can 

see what he has done, but I don’t pay any 

attention to it. I pay attention to what he can 

become,” she would say. 

These and thousands of others were unique 

and strong personalities, as different as you can 

imagine, yet they all helped create the community. 

A 1916 brochure by the Fairbanks Commercial 

Club boasted of the library, hospital, clubs, 

schools, and how the twenty-five-cent piece was 

the smallest coin to be found in circulation. It was 

a place “where there is never to be found a beggar, 

tramp or panhandler and where there is no 

Potter’s Field, where every man is as good as 

another and politics and religion are as wide and 

broad as the world.” 

“If you are a pessimist, for God’s sake don’t 

come to Fairbanks,” the club said. 

An exaggeration no doubt, but there is 

something about the Fairbanks spirit that 

reflects faith in the future. It is evident in the 

families that gather by the thousand for youth 

soccer games on endless summer nights. And by 

those who rise in the Saturday morning subzero 

darkness so their children can play hockey. The 

builders of the hospital and the donors who 

helped make the Denali Center nursing home 

and the cancer treatment center a reality 

demonstrated this spirit in convincing fashion. 

The founders of the Alaska Goldpanners, the 

countless men and women who risked their life 

savings to start small businesses, construction 

workers and clerks, the scholars and scientists 

at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, artists 

and others have all strengthened the pulse of 

the Golden Heart City. The weather tends to 

give people of all stations in life a common 

frame of reference, because fifty below zero is a 

great equalizer. 

Fairbanks has problems that can’t be 

minimized. It has become a cliche to suggest that 

people sometimes circle the wagons and aim at 

each other, but that tends to happen when the 


winter drags on. Political combat sometimes 

resembles a contact sport with dueling factions 

that can’t even agree to disagree. Alcohol abuse, 

crime, drug addiction, racism, and other evils can 

be debilitating, but the essence of the community 

will never be found in a simple catalog of the 

things that have gone wrong. 

Rather, it has always been a combination of 

intangible qualities. What people value the most 

about Fairbanks are the wide open spaces 

nearby, the low regard for social status, the 

opportunities to make a difference and the 

friends to be gained by living here. Life is always 

an adventure and your place in the mix of things 

depends more upon who you are than where 

you came from or how long you have been here. 

I echo the words of pioneer Tom Hering, 

spoken on the seventy-fifth anniversary of Felix 

Pedro’s gold strike, when Fairbanks was 

struggling with the pipeline boom. 

“The most important thing about Fairbanks 

has always been its people,” Hering said. “I 

consider myself extremely fortunate to have 

spent so many pleasant years here, and to have 

known so many of the friendly, considerate and 

capable residents who have made our city what 

it is. While I have no insight into what the 

future might hold or how we should resolve the 

many divisive and complex issues that face us 

now, I would like to believe that a determined 

effort by each of us to understand the opinions, 

needs and rights of everyone can lead us to 

satisfactory compromises.” 

❖ 

Above: Two people walk their dog 

along the Chena River under trees 

that sparkle in the winter sunlight on 

a day of subzero weather. 



Left: Members of one of the many 

military units that participant in the 

annual Midnight Sun Run, held near 

the longest day of the year at 10 p.m., 

march together in this 1991 event. 


COLLECTION, PHOTO BY ROB STAPLETON. 

Chapter VIII ✦ 57

❖ 

Northern Commercial Co. was a fixture on the waterfront, receiving supplies from the many boats that traveled the river system. 

COURTESY OF THE CANDY WAUGAMAN COLLECTION. 


SHARING THE HERITAGE 

Historic profiles of businesses and organizations 

that have contributed to the history of Fairbanks 

University of Alaska Fairbanks .........................................................60 

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital............................................................64 

Alaska USA Federal Credit Union......................................................67 

Wedgewood Resort ...........................................................................68 

Bridgewater Hotel...........................................................................69 

Sophie Station................................................................................70 

Dr. James Beckley ...........................................................................71 

AT&T Alascom ...............................................................................72 

The Glenn Gregory Family ...............................................................74 

Tanana Air Service .........................................................................76 

Yukon-Koyukuk School District .........................................................78 

The Franich Family.........................................................................80 

Cache R Us....................................................................................82 

KTVF Channel 11 ...........................................................................84 

Larry’s Flying Service......................................................................86 

American Mechanical, Inc. ...............................................................88 

Design Alaska ................................................................................90 

The Beistline-Hering Family .............................................................92 

Chena Hot Springs Resort ................................................................94 

Golden Valley Electric Association.....................................................96 

Shields Rental Center ......................................................................98 

Alaska Accounting & The Snack Shack ...............................................99 

H&S Warehouse ............................................................................100 

The Nance Family .........................................................................101 

Denali State Bank .........................................................................102 

Cook, Schulman & Groseclose, Inc. ..................................................103 

Greer Tank & Welding ...................................................................104 

Charles Bettisworth & Company ......................................................105 

Brice, Inc. ...................................................................................106 

James A. Messer ...........................................................................107 

Alaska Goldline Express .................................................................108 

Tatonduk Flying Service/Air Cargo ...................................................109 

Unwin Scheben Korynta Huettl, Inc. ................................................110 

Everts Air Fuel, Inc.......................................................................111 

Dr. Arthur S. Buswell ....................................................................112 

Veva Gilbert Becker .......................................................................113 

Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau ........................................114 

Wells Fargo Bank Alaska ................................................................115 

Fairbanks Concert Association ........................................................116 

Alaska Railroad ............................................................................117 

A Touch of Gold ............................................................................118 

Hector’s Welding ...........................................................................119 

KJNP ..........................................................................................120 

Animal House Veterinary Clinic and Noah’s Ark.................................121 

Military and Civilian Federal Credit Union formerly 

Fort Wainright Federal Credit Union .............................................122 

Fairbanks Arts Association .............................................................123 

Northern Truck Center...................................................................124 

SPECIAL 

THANKS TO 

AT&T Alascom 

Fairbanks Title Agency 

Giant Tire, Inc. 

Greater Fairbanks 

Chamber of Commerce 

Sharing the Heritage ✦ 59

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS 

The University of Alaska Fairbanks, 

America’s farthest north university, got its start 

thanks to a dream and a doorstop. 

Judge James Wickersham, Alaska’s delegate 

to congress, is the man credited with founding a 

college in the struggling mining town of 

Fairbanks. The story goes that in 1915 

Wickersham was working in his Washington, 

D.C. office when he picked up a law book that 

he used as a doorstop. He happened to open it 

to a section that discussed providing land grant 

colleges an annual payment of $50,000 from the 

federal government. Wickersham, who had 

played a key role in helping put Fairbanks on 

the map, was fond of his hometown and 

thought it would be an ideal location for 

a college. 

Fellow members of congress, who openly 

ridiculed his proposal to establish a college in 

Fairbanks, did not share his sentiments. 

Unhampered by their skepticism, he even went so 

far as to hold a ceremonial dedication of a college 

cornerstone. Without any guarantee that there 

would ever be an actual college, the ceremony was 

held on July 4, 1915. The ceremony’s location on 

a hill overlooking the federally established 

Agricultural Experiment Station was on a site 

known as Troth Yeddha’ or “Wild Potato Hill” to 

the local Athabascan Indians. 

Wickersham eventually got the support he 

needed from both congress and the Alaska 

legislature. At the close of the legislative session 

in 1917, Governor J. F. A. Strong signed the bill 

that officially created the Alaska Agricultural 

College and School of Mines, signifying the 

birth of higher education in Alaska. 

The college opened its doors five years later 

on September 13, 1922, with six students 

starting class that historic day. Personalized 

attention from the professors was guaranteed, as 

the faculty, including the college’s president, 

Charles Bunnell, outnumbered the student body 

seven to six. Three weeks later, six more students 

joined the student body. Students enrolling that 

fall semester had sixteen different courses to 

select from in five major fields of study— 

agriculture, home economics, general science, 

civil engineering, and mining engineering. 

Bunnell was a remarkable president who was 

involved with every aspect of the college. He 

took on roles ranging from janitor to 

administrator, and it was a rare day that he 

worked fewer than fourteen hours. This was out 

of financial necessity as much as dedication, as 

appropriations from the legislature were meager. 

Many times Bunnell had to use his own money 

to buy equipment or to loan to a needy student. 

Yet the college survived, and as enrollments 

grew, Alaskans began to realize that Bunnell’s 

“$50,000 woodshed” had enormous potential. 

The college saw one of its biggest enrollment 

increases during the Great Depression from 

students who were looking to gain skills and 

education that would safeguard them against 

unemployment. By 1934-1935, the student 

body population had grown to 164. 

Two significant events in the 1930s further 

solidified the college’s importance in Alaska. In 


❖ 

Opposite, top: Early in the college’s 

history, the men’s and women’s 

basketball teams traveled across 

Alaska and to several colleges in the 

Pacific Northwest, challenging 

successfully almost all comers. In this 

photograph, the team prepares to 

board the Alaska Railroad at the 

beginning of a journey. 

COURTESY OF THE ALUMNI SERVICES 

PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION (ACC. # 83-49), 

ALASKA AND POLAR REGIONS DEPARTMENT, 

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS. 

1931 the Agricultural Experiment Station was 

transferred from federal ownership to the college. 

This action established the Agricultural and 

Forestry Experiment Station and its experiment 

farm as a unit of the college in line with 

agricultural experiment stations in other landgrant 

universities. In 1935, the legislature decided 

the school had graduated from a college to 

something more, and the “University of Alaska” 

was born. 

As the University of Alaska, the school began to 

delve into areas that would be its mainstay 

for years to come. This included studies of 

the treasures below the earth, through the school’s 

archeology program and growth of its museum 

collection; and studies of the treasures above the 

earth as the university began its first investigations 

of the aurora borealis in 1937. Because of the 

university’s geographic location, it was considered 

an ideal site for the study of geophysical 

phenomena. This led to the establishment of the 

Geophysical Institute in 1947. Over the years the 

institute has earned an international reputation for 

its studies of the earth and the physical 

environment at high latitudes. 

Bunnell guided the university until his 

reluctant retirement in 1949. His last decade at 

the university can best be described as a roller 

coaster. World War II caused such a reduction in 

students and faculty that it was difficult to keep 

the school’s doors open. Adding to this was the 

fact that the army was using nearly two-thirds of 

the campus. This became quite a contrast to the 

first year after the war, when returning veterans 

caused the university’s enrollment to soar. 

All was not well, however, in postwar Alaska, as 

a statewide financial emergency in 1947 put the 

University of Alaska on the verge of bankruptcy. 

Local business leaders teamed together to solicit 

$200,000 in interest-free loans to keep the 

university open that tumultuous year. That type of 

local dedication still exists today, as the business 

community donates millions of dollars for 

Opposite, bottom: The university’s 

first president, Charles Bunnell, 

dressed in his academic robes, looks 

on as Judge James Wickersham breaks 

ground in May 1934 for construction 

of the Eielson Memorial Building, 

the second concrete structure erected 

on campus. 

COURTESY OF THE HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPH 

COLLECTION (ACC. #64-94-34N), ALASKA AND 

POLAR REGIONS DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF 

ALASKA FAIRBANKS 

Above: An aerial view of the 

University of Alaska in 1938. 

COURTESY OF THE FAIRBANKS COLLECTION (ACC. 

#P68-69-2380), ALASKA AND POLAR REGIONS 

DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS. 

Below: Lola Cremeans Tilly, one of the 

first professors and head of the home 

economics department, mushes a 

dogsled to campus in 1929. Today the 

campus commons is named for her. 

COURTESY OF THE LOLA TILLY PHOTOGRAPH 

COLLECTION (ACC. #89-049), ALASKA AND 

POLAR REGIONS DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF 

ALASKA FAIRBANKS. 


❖ 

Above: A student makes her 

way past the Rasmuson Library 

on the University of Alaska 

Fairbanks campus. 

UAF PHOTO BY TODD PARIS. 

Below: Japanese students from an 

“English as a second language” 

summer sessions class take time out to 

enjoy the sun in front of Constitution 

Hall on the Fairbanks campus. 

UAF PHOTO BY ERIC MUEHLING. 

scholarships, the arts, the UA Museum and much 

more each year. 

Bunnell passed the keys of the university to 

Terris Moore, who would serve as president for the 

next four years. While his tenure was short, his 

accomplishments were many, including the 

addition of graduate studies, the raising of faculty 

standards, the growth of the Geophysical Institute 

and establishing a master plan which would lay 

the groundwork for the modern campus of today. 

Dr. Ernest Patty, who was one of the six original 

instructors at the college, became the next 

president of the university. The Patty era from 

1953 to 1960 saw astronomical growth in student 

and faculty numbers, as well as campus expansion. 

Several of the buildings on campus today were 

constructed during Patty’s administration. 

The university played a significant role in 

Alaska’s admission to statehood, as the campus 

was host to the Alaska Constitutional 

Convention from November 1955 through 

February 1956. The constitution was signed in 

the gymnasium, known today as Signers’ Hall. 

The Board of Regents selected Dr. William R. 

Wood to lead the university after Patty’s retirement 

in 1960. An exuberant champion for the 

university, Wood was president for the next 

thirteen years. Many compared Wood’s pioneering 

spirit to that of Bunnell. Wood expanded the 

college on the hill into a modern university that, 

through its community colleges, reached out 

across the entire State of Alaska. Campus 

construction was literally an ongoing process 

during his tenure. The university’s research 

mission expanded, and departments such as the 

Institute of Marine Science and the Institute of 

Arctic Biology were created. 

In 1975 the University of Alaska was 

reorganized into a statewide system to include 

main campuses in Anchorage, Juneau and 

Fairbanks. Howard Cutler, a former vice president 

under Wood, was selected as the first chancellor of 

the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Dr. Patrick 

J. O’Rourke followed him in 1981. O’Rourke, like 

Wood and Bunnell, was a visionary. He established 

programs to reach out to those at home such as the 

Rural Alaska Honors Institute (RAHI) as well as 

programs to establish UAF’s global outreach such 

as the Office of International Programs. UAF 

became a multi-campus university, with branches 

in Bethel, Dillingham, Nome, Kotzebue, and 

downtown Fairbanks. One of O’Rourke’s final 

achievements was seeing UAF complete its “triple 

crown” as a land, sea, and space grant institution. 

Dr. Joan K. Wadlow became the next 

chancellor, and while the 1990s saw a decline in 

state funding to the university, UAF moved ahead 

nonetheless, with the completion of the state-ofthe-art 

Natural Sciences Facility and the addition 

of the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center to its 

list of institutions. UAF’s current chancellor, Dr. 

Marshall Lind, has successfully guided the 

university into the twenty-first century, and thanks 

to new monies from the state, has helped position 

UAF as one of the top universities in the country. 


A statue of Bunnell stands in the center 

of campus today, and aside from the mission 

of serving the people of Alaska, the college’s 

first president would find very few similarities 

to his little college that first opened its doors 

to six students. More than 9,000 students 

from all 50 states and 43 foreign countries 

attend UAF today, either at its Fairbanks 

campus, at a branch campus, a learning center 

or by distance delivery in more than one 

hundred communities. 

Accredited by the Northwest Association of 

Schools and Colleges, UAF’s colleges and schools 

offer degrees or certificates in more than 70 

disciplines, including technical and vocational 

fields. The school is classified as a 

doctoral/research intensive institution by the 

Carnegie Foundation, and is one of the top 75 

research institutions in the country. As it expands 

the frontiers of knowledge, UAF will continue to 

play a major role in making Alaska, and the world, 

a better place to live, to learn and to prosper. 

❖ 

Left: Students complete requirements 

of a lab assignment in one of the 

electrical engineering courses at UAF. 

UAF PHOTO BY ANDREW JOHNSON. 

Below: Cold temperatures and snow 

don’t keep these undergraduate 

students from having fun at UAF 

throughout the winter months. 

UAF PHOTO BY RYAN WILSON. 


FAIRBANKS 

MEMORIAL 

HOSPITAL 

❖ 

Fairbanks’ first hospital, St. Joseph’s, 

is pictured here next to the 

Immaculate Conception Church 

during spring break-up in 1937. 

Photograph courtesy of the United 

Stations Air Force Rasmuson Library. 

One of the greatest examples of the “can do” 

spirit that is prominent among residents of the 

Golden Heart City can be found in the 

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital/Denali Center. 

More than just a healthcare facility, the hospital 

is a place that came into existence because of 

the dedication and perseverance of the 

Fairbanks community. 

The year was 1967, and the city had just 

survived one of its worst natural disasters when 

the Chena River flooded the City of Fairbanks. 

Among the many buildings damaged as a result 

of the flood was the old St. Joseph’s Hospital. 

The Sisters of Providence, who had operated the 

hospital since 1910, announced that they would 

have to close the hospital the following year. 

After two bond issues for a city hospital were 

voted down, City Council member Harry Porter 

led a group of local dignitaries to Fargo, North 

Dakota, where the Lutheran Hospital & Homes 

Society (LHHS) was based. The group’s goal was 

to enlist the Lutherans’ help in solving the 

Fairbanks hospital problem. LHHS told the 

contingency that if the community could build a 

debt-free facility, they would run it for them. 

This challenge led to the formation of the 

Greater Fairbanks Community Hospital 

Foundation, which set about raising $1 million 

to build a new hospital. This was no easy task, 

given the fact that the city and its residents were 

still reeling financially from the impact of the 

flood. But with then University of Alaska 

President Dr. William R. Wood—one of the most 

optimistic leaders to ever live in Fairbanks— 

leading the charge, the foundation had faith that 

the community would pull together. 

And pull together they did. Pledges came in 

from every sector of the community. “It was a 

case of everybody in town taking a part,” Wood 

recalled in a 1992 interview. “Kids would bring 

in thirty-seven cents. The dramatic incident of 

the flood brought the people together. They 

were all in it together.” 

“We had people standing in line at our 

headquarters in the basement of the Chamber of 

Commerce log cabin to pledge money for the 

hospital,” said former foundation member Ron 

Nerland, who was co-chair of the fund drive. “It 

was incredible. Everybody was so positive about 

the hospital and what it was going to do for the 

community.” 

Indeed, the response was overwhelming. The 

good people of Fairbanks gave more than $2 

million toward the project, an incredible sum of 

money for 1968. The state and federal 

government then funded the balance of the $8.5 

million hospital so that it would be built 

completely debt-free. 


The contract for building the hospital went 

to Peter Kieweit and Company. Groundbreaking 

ceremonies were held on May 8, 1970. This, 

too, was a community effort. “Instead of having 

two or three dignitaries with shovels, we had 

about 150 people there and we lined up 

along a rope (which was attached to a goldpainted, 

old-time scoop) and everyone grabbed 

the rope and pulled it a little bit,” said Bill 

Mendenhall, who has served on the Foundation 

since 1968. 

In March of 1972 Fairbanks celebrated the 

grand opening of the new hospital. At 120,000 

square feet, the 116-bed facility was 

considerably larger than old St. Joseph’s 

and boasted the latest in medical equipment 

and technology. “It seemed so large to us, 

because we were used to such a small space,” 

said Mary Ethel Ghezzi, who had worked as 

a nurse at St. Joseph’s since 1941. “It was 

almost like you wondered if you were going to 

get lost.” 

The patients at St. Joseph’s, which LHHS had 

been operating since 1969, were all moved over 

to the new hospital in April of that year. Even 

that memorable event had the involvement of 

the community, with locals helping transport 

patients in personal vehicles. 

The construction of the Trans-Alaska Oil 

Pipeline brought an influx of residents to 

Fairbanks in the early 1970s, and that growth 

led to what would be the first of many additions 

to the hospital. In 1976 there was a groundbreaking 

for a new seventy-thousand-squarefoot 

North Tower, which was completed in 

1978. Three years after its completion, the 

Foundation voted to construct a fivestory 

South Tower for more bed space, 

which was completed in 1985. In a little over 

a decade, the face of the hospital campus 

had changed dramatically. It had also changed 

from a technological standpoint, adding to 

its inventory a CAT scan, MRI, and kidney 

dialysis machines. 

The community got a chance to pull together 

for the hospital once again in the 1990s. The old 

Denali Center, known as Careage North, was 

losing money and suffering physically as well. 

The rooms were crowded and the hallways were 

narrow and dimly lit. In 1991 the Foundation 

turned to people of Fairbanks to help with 

fundraising, an effort that was led by Jeff Cook 

of Williams Petroleum. 

“The community came through like a champ 

as they always do in those situations,” said 

Foundation President Steve Stephens. The end 

❖ 

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital as it 

appeared in 1972, the year it first 

operned. The Fairbanks community 

raised more then $2 million to help 

build the hospital. 

COURTESY OF NELSON PHOTOGRAPHY. 


product was extremely beautiful and well 

designed, and the residents of the center 

benefited greatly by the fact that it was 

connected directly to the hospital. 

Another segment of the community that 

has benefited from the hospital has been 

the Alaska Native population. When the 

hospital first opened up, the federally funded 

north wing was reserved for the Chief Andrew 

Issac Center, which provided healthcare for 

Alaska Natives. The center was moved to the 

third through fifth floors of a newly remodeled 

South Tower in 1995, and their vacated space 

was renovated into an outpatient facility the 

following year. 

Expansions and renovations took place up 

until the start of the twenty-first century, 

including a purchase of the Medical & Dental 

Arts Building, an expansion of the Mental 

Health Unit, and the grand opening of the 

Fairbanks Cancer Treatment Center in April of 

2000. And if future plans are any indication, the 

next three decades will be just as busy as the 

first, as the hospital eyes potential changes 

ranging from a new tower devoted solely to 

nursing to a large parking garage. 

The story of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital 

is a story of community support. Dr. Wood 

can best summarize why it came into existence. 

“You have a commitment to see that the place 

where you live is left a little better than 

you found it,” said Wood. “I think it is a guiding 

principle. It isn’t just me. I think it’s everybody 

that’s been involved with this project over 

the years.” 

Dr. William R. Wood passed away in 2001. Ethel 

Ghezzi served as a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital 

and continued her nursing career at FMH up until 

2001, for a total of sixty wonderful years as a nurse 

in Fairbanks! 

❖ 

The current campus of the Denali 

Center/Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. 

The hospital has expanded 

dramatically since it was first 

constructed in 1972. 



ALASKA USA 

FEDERAL 

CREDIT 

UNION 

Alaska USA Federal Credit Union is Alaska’s 

largest consumer financial institution. It is a 

not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative, dedicated 

to providing professional, convenient and 

affordable financial services. Alaska USA was 

chartered in 1948 to serve the financial needs of 

federal and military personnel that settled Alaska 

following World War II. Over the years, 

membership grew and the credit union extended 

its branch network statewide, opening the first 

of six Fairbanks branches in 1975. In 2002 

Alaska USA serves members worldwide with 

over thirty-four branch locations and state-ofthe-art 

online services. 

Service to civilian employer groups began 

during the construction of the Trans-Alaska 

pipeline. In only four years, more than twenty 

thousand pipeline workers opened member 

accounts. The credit union was also authorized 

to provide financial services to shareholders of 

ten of the Alaska Native regional corporations 

established in 1971. 

Between 1979 and 1996, Alaska USA became 

the credit union of choice for the members of 

nine smaller credit unions looking to expand 

services, including Eielson AFB Employees 

Federal Credit Union. Alaska USA expanded 

into the Pacific Northwest as the result 

of mergers with three Washington State 

credit unions. Alaska USA is now authorized to 

provide financial services to nearly anyone who 

lives or works in Alaska, as well as to the 

employees and members of over four thousand 

employer and associational groups. 

Alaska USA has been responsible for 

introducing a number of innovations to Alaska, 

including the formation of the Alaska Option 

Network (AO) that brought Alaskans ATM and 

Point-of-Sale (POS) services. Alaska USA has 

also formed Alaska USA Mortgage Company and 

Alaska USA Trust Company to provide a wider 

array of services to its members. 

Since its charter in 1948, Alaska USA’s services 

and their delivery have changed, however 

commitment to cooperative credit union 

principles has been preserved. Alaska USA 

continues to strive to satisfy the financial needs of 

members from all walks of life and levels of 

income, providing them with the opportunity to 

be financially successful and to improve their 

standard of living. 

❖ 

Above: Convenient access and 

seven-day service are featured at 

Alaska USA. Branches like the one 

pictured here inside Carrs at North 

Pole make one-stop shopping easy. 

Below: Alaska USA services are 

available to anyone who lives or 

works in the Fairbanks North Star 

Borough from any of its six branch 

locations, by Internet or phone. 


❖ 

WEDGEWOOD 

RESORT 

Above: Two guests enjoy a close 

encounter with Alaskan wildlife at the 

Wedgewood Resort. 

Below: The grounds at Wedgewood 

Resort feature some of the most 

beautiful landscaping in Fairbanks. 

One of Fairbanks’ premier lodging facilities, 

Wedgewood Resort was built in the late 1970s 

to accommodate the influx of people who came 

north to work on the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline. 

What was once a relaxing paradise for the 

pipeline’s hard-working men and women is now 

a full-service hotel that caters to a different type 

of adventurer—the thousands of tourists who 

flock to the Golden Heart City each year. 

Located in a beautifully landscaped, naturally 

wooded environment, Wedgewood Resort offers 

superior guestrooms, banquet facilities, gift 

stores, restaurants and other amenities one 

expects to find in a deluxe, full-service hotel. 

While the hotel is just a mile from Fairbanks’ 

main shopping and business district, it features 

easy access to nature trails and Creamer’s 

Wildlife Refuge. The resort is also careful to 

implement amenities and activities with a local 

flair, such as providing in-room art by wellknown 

Alaskan artists. 

Wedgewood Resort is one of three popular 

hotels owned and operated by Fountainhead 

Development, Inc. (FDI). FDI was established in 

1985 and is owned by longtime Fairbanksans Tim 

and Barb Cerny. In addition to hotels, FDI also 

owns a number of industrial/commercial 

properties as well as a construction arm, Tri 

General Construction. 

One recent project FDI spearheaded was the 

new home for the Alaska Bird Observatory, 

which is located at Wedgewood Resort. The 

partnership between the two companies has 

been a benefit for the many users of the 

observatory, including local bird enthusiasts, 

research associates, schoolchildren, visitors, and 

hotel guests. 

Wedgewood Resort employs 250 full-time 

individuals during the busy summer months, 

and 30 from October to April. The staff is 

dedicated to the hotel’s mission of providing 

guests with exceptional hospitality. 

Continued growth of the resort is expected to 

coincide with the growth of the Alaska visitor 

industry and corporate travel to Fairbanks. But 

however large the resort grows, the needs of the 

customers will always come first. The resort will 

closely monitor the needs of its guests, and 

accommodate their changing needs and desires. 


BRIDGEWATER 

HOTEL 

When Fairbanks founder E. T. Barnette 

grounded his sternwheeler the Lavelle Young on 

the banks of the Chena River in 1902, his 

lodging options were pretty limited. The site of 

his landing would eventually become downtown 

Fairbanks, but for the time being, it was nothing 

but trees. Flash ahead one hundred years. If 

Barnette were to step off of his boat in the exact 

same location today, instead of entering the 

wilderness he would be walking into the lobby 

of the Bridgewater Hotel. 

The Bridgewater is a charming hotel that sits 

in the heart of historic downtown Fairbanks. A 

popular, summer-only hotel, the Bridgewater 

features a unique blend of personality and 

appeal, combining the quaint and personal feel 

of a bed and breakfast with all of the features of 

a full-service hotel. 

The site of the Bridgewater was once home to 

another property, the Pioneer Hotel. Built in 

1906, the Pioneer Hotel housed a number of 

prominent guests. President William Harding 

stayed at the hotel during his brief stop in 

Fairbanks in 1923. In 1936 Wiley Post and Will 

Rogers stayed at the Pioneer the night before 

their fateful trip to Barrow. 

The Bridgewater Hotel is one of three popular 



1985 and is owned by longtime Fairbanksans 

Tim and Barb Cerny. In addition to hotels, FDI 


properties and a construction arm, Tri General 

Construction. Tri General not only oversees 

maintenance and renovations at all 

Fountainhead properties, but is involved in 

many third party construction projects as well. 

FDI’s commitment to Fairbanks goes beyond 

just being an hotelier and developer. The 

company plays an active role in many local 

organizations, including the Downtown 

Association, Alaska Travel Industry Association, 

Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, and 

the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

As a summer-only hotel, the Bridgewater is 

very popular with tour groups as well as 

independent travelers. The hotel has many loyal 

corporate customers who look forward to the 

hotel’s opening in May and are disappointed 

when they have to say goodbye in September. At 

the same time, they leave confident, knowing 

that superb service and cozy comforts await 

them next year. 

❖ 

Above: The Bridgewater Hotel is 

conveniently located in the heart of 

historic downtown Fairbanks. 

Below: Excellent customer service and 

friendly hospitality are two of many 

reasons why the Bridgewater Hotel 

sees a lot of return visitors! 


❖ 

SOPHIE 

STATION 

Above: Guests at Sophie Station 

can enjoy Alaskan specialities and 

other mouth-watering delicacies at 

Zach’s Restaurant. 

Below: The beautifully landscaped 

entrance to Sophie Station Hotel is a 

welcome treat for the eyes for travelweary 

guests. 

Named after the builder’s aunt, 

Sophie Station Hotel was built by 

Fountainhead Development in 1984 

to house the population growth 

spurred by the construction of the 

pipeline. However, it was another 

historic event that led to the hotel’s 

final completion. When President 

Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul 

II were scheduled to have their 

momentous meeting in Fairbanks 

on May 2, 1984, construction of the 

hotel was promptly escalated in 

order to accommodate the media 

personnel and other individuals 

who were expected to come witness 

the special occasion. 

The President and the Pope never 

stayed at the hotel, of course, but if 

they had they would have found the 

luxurious accommodations suitable 

even for men of their stature. Today 

Sophie Station is a striking, all-suite 

hotel that offers exceptional guest 

service in a warm, upscale environment and 

features beautifully appointed one-bedroom suites. 

Located just a mile from the airport, the hotel 

sits in the middle of one of Fairbanks’ prime 

shopping corridors. The hotel is very popular 

among corporate and leisure travelers. It is also 

a major employer, with 80 full time staff in the 

summer and 50 during the winter. 

Sophie Station Hotel is one of three popular 



1985 and is owned by longtime Fairbanksans 

Tim and Barb Cerny. In addition to hotels, FDI 


properties in town. One of those properties, 

Alder Place Mall, is situated right behind Sophie 

Station Hotel. FDI is also the developer of 

Fairbanks’ premier subdivision, Sherwood 

Forest, located in the hills just above Fairbanks. 

Although they are the largest hotelier in 

Fairbanks, FDI enjoys the advantages that come 

from being owned and operated locally, as 

the Cernys are committed to continued support 

of the Fairbanks community. Through its 

properties, FDI makes charitable and in-kind 

contributions to countless local nonprofit 

agencies and charitable organizations. 

With the visitor industry showing no signs of 

slowing down, Sophie Station will continue to 

grow in years to come. One thing that won’t 

change is the hotel’s philosophy of providing 

exceptional service to its guests. Fairbanks 

might not get another visit by the president and 

Pope, but thanks to Sophie Station, they’ve got 

a great place to stay if they do. 


Longtime Fairbanks veterinarian Dr. James 

Beckley is showing no signs of slowing down. At 

age seventy-four, he continues to work sixty 

hours a week at his Stacia Street clinic. With 

only one nurse to assist him, he tends to his 

menagerie of patients with the same skill and 

compassion that he did when he first bought the 

clinic in 1956. 

Dr. Beckley and his new bride Ann made 

their sojourn from Washington D.C. to 

Fairbanks in 1952, at the advice of a family 

friend who worked as a 

conductor for the Alaska 

Railroad. The friend knew of 

an animal clinic in Fairbanks 

that was in need of another 

doctor, and Dr. Beckley, not 

long out of veterinarian 

school, decided to check 

it out. 

Dr. Beckley bought the 

business after only four years 

of working there, and he 

has been the sole owner 

ever since. He has many 

fond recollections of the 

early years of the business. 

“Some of my best clients 

were the ladies of the evening 

from Fourth Avenue,” he 

said, recalling that they 

all had cats or Chihuahuas 

that they treated “just like 

children.” 

Dr. Beckley has treated 

thousands of animals over the 

years, from championship 

sled dogs to a circus leopard 

with a twisted stomach. His 

fondest memories are of 

the twenty years he spent 

helping treat and care for 

the musk oxen at the 

University of Alaska. He 

became somewhat of an 

expert on caring for the 

beautiful northern giants, 

and worked with herds in 

Norway and Canada. 

Dr. Beckley finds time 

each year for pheasant 

hunting and other trips to the Outside. 

The Interior Alaska Veterinarian Medical 

Association recently named him “Veterinarian of 

the Century.” 

The walls at his clinic are adorned with 

art and gifts that have been given to him 

by clients over the years. Walking through 

the building, one senses that it is more than just 

an animal hospital; it is a place where all 

creatures great and small receive care by one of 

Fairbanks’ finest. 

❖ 

DR. JAMES 

BECKLEY 

Dr. James Beckley with one of his 

patients after a “no fowl” operation. 

Dr. Beckley has owned and operated 

his veterinarian clinic in Fairbanks 

since 1956. 


❖ 

AT&T 

ALASCOM 

Below: WAMCATS hauling cable into 

Valdez, c. 1904. 

COURTESY OF THE U.S. ARMY. 

Bottom: U.S. Army Signal Corps 

telephone line inspectors on the 

Richardson Trail, now the Richardson 

Highway, c. 1926. 

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. 

AT&T Alascom is the only communications 

company in Alaska that has been in the state 

since the beginning—since 1900, to be exact. In 

a state that spans 367 million acres and 

five varied regions, telecommunications on 

the last frontier takes on an even greater 

importance. Over the past hundred years, 

Alaskans have come to regard AT&T Alascom as 

a way of life. 

What is now AT&T Alascom began as the 

Washington-Alaska Military cable and Telegraph 

System (WAMCATS) in 1900 when Congress 

passed an act ordering communication channels 

to open between Alaska’s isolated military 

outposts and the rest of the United States. That 

year, under the leadership of Billy Mitchell, the 

first operational telegraph link was completed, 

with twenty-five miles of line strung from Nome 

military headquarters to the Port Safety outpost. 

By 1905, 3,607 miles of landlines, submarine 

cable, and wireless links comprised the unique 

and growing network. Provided that traffic 

didn’t interfere with their operations, the 

military allowed commercial and non-military 

entities to utilize the system. Eleven years later 

half of the current WAMCATS lines were 

abandoned in favor of new wireless stations, 

reducing costs and increasing reliability. 

During the 1930s submarine cables slowly 

replaced the talking wire. To reflect the 

changing technology, Congress renamed 

WAMCATS the Alaska Communications System 

in 1936. The system forged ahead, especially in 

the 1940s when the war effort increased the 

need for dependable communications. 

In the mid-1950s, thirty-five years before 

making Alaska its permanent home, AT&T laid 

a new submarine cable between Ketchikan and 

Port Angeles, Washington, resulting in 

upgraded communication between Alaska and 

the lower forty-eight states. 

Meanwhile, RCA Global Communications 

had won contracts to supply personnel and 

maintenance to scattered Armed Forces 

communication sites in the state, and as 

they became more involved in Alaska 

communications, the Federal Government 

decided to stop providing communications to 

the commercial and private sectors. In 1969 the 

United States Congress passed the Alaska 

Communications Disposal Act and put the 

current military owned system up for bid. RCA 

was the successful bidder and the unified 

company was soon known as Alascom. 

In 1972 new technology brought direct 

distance dialing to the last frontier, and by the 

late 1970s Alascom had expanded its service in 

Alaska by constructing more than two hundred 

earth stations and serving even the smallest 

rural communities in the state. 

Company pride and commitment to Alaska 

was never more evident than on October 27, 

1982, when Alascom launched its own satellite, 

Aurora I, the only satellite of its kind dedicated 

to one single state. Live television, which was a 

given anywhere else in the United States, was 

just arriving in Alaska. No longer would 

Alaskans have to wait a week, or sometimes two, 


for favorite entertainment programs and 

sporting events. 

Along with the launch of Aurora I, Alascom’s 

plant improvements had vastly upgraded its 

satellite and terrestrial links within the state and 

to interstate points. A new multi-purpose 

building was constructed on Government Hill, 

consolidating the company’s components in 

one complex. 

On May 29, 1992, Alascom launched its 

second satellite, Aurora II, replacing the aging 

Aurora I after nine faithful years of service. The 

new satellite continued to provide a variety of 

telecommunications services to the growing 

population of Alaska. Alascom also entered the 

age of fiber optics by linking its network with 

the North Pacific Cable that runs from Oregon 

to Japan, a length of fifty-two hundred miles. 

Two strong heritages were merged on August 

5, 1995, when telephone giant AT&T purchased 

Alascom. AT&T’s rich history dates back to 

1876 when Alexander Graham Bell and Tom 

Watson were testing an idea for a telephone in 

Boston, and Alascom’s history began twentyfour 

years later in 1900 with Captain Billy 

Mitchell and WAMCATS. What we have today is 

a company with two tremendous histories 

offering telecommunications services to 

virtually every Alaskan community. 

AT&T Alascom currently employs about 500 

people statewide and handles in excess of 95 

million calls per year. AT&T has spent over 

$200 million in capital improvements in Alaska 

in the past five years, and successfully launched 

its third satellite, Aurora III, on December 19, 

2000, reinforcing its commitment to the last 

frontier. This determination to deliver service 

to all Alaskans has resulted in one of the 

largest satellite networks for telephone service 

in the world. 

Bringing people closer together—it’s the 

greatest benefit of AT&T Alascom’s technology 

and community service. In conjunction with 

AT&T’s philanthropic efforts, the company 

actively participates in the AT&T CARES 

program. AT&T CARES allows every AT&T 

employee to devote one paid workday per year 

to volunteer at a non-profit organization of his 

or her choice. This commitment is valued at 

approximately $20 million nationally. AT&T 

Alascom associates have donated thousands of 

hours to communities throughout the State 

of Alaska. 

The rich heritage that began with Alexander 

Graham Bell and Billy Mitchell continues today 

at AT&T Alascom–Alaskans working to bring all 

Alaska within reach of the world. 

❖ 

Above: AT&T Alascom Headquarters, 

Government Hill, Anchorage, Alaska. 

Below: AT&T Alascom Earth Station, 

Minchumina, Alaska. 


❖ 

THE GLENN 

GREGORY 

FAMILY 

Above: Glenn and his wife Lena have 

been married for more than fifty 

years. The two met in Bethel. 

Below: Glenn’s reputation as a pilot 

and mechanic were known and 

respected around the state. 

Those who are fortunate to spend even just a 

short amount of time with Alaskan pioneer 

Glenn Gregory will leave the conversation 

knowing they’ve just had the opportunity to 

meet someone who has truly lived life to its 

fullest. From aviation mechanic and bush pilot 

to prolific author and poet, Glenn has made it a 

point to strive for personal fulfillment in all 

areas, whether it’s from behind the controls of a 

Cherokee Six, in front of a word processor, or as 

a devoted husband and father. 

Glenn was born in Dolores, Colorado in 

1925. Upon graduating from high school he 

went overseas with the U.S. Army to help finish 

up WWII. His patriotic duties took him to 

Oahu, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Saipan, and Guam, 

which is where he was when the war ended. 

After the war Glenn moved back to 

Colorado, but his time there was short, and in 

1946 he ventured north with his uncle, Bob 

Holmes, to work for the Alaska Road 

Commission. Glenn recalls a conversation he 

had with an ARC cook, Frances Young, on his 

first day on the job. “She told me there is something 

about Alaska that gets into a man’s blood, 

especially a young man.” Glenn said, “She said 

that he comes and he stays.” 

And stay Glenn did. After working for ARC he 

spent time helping build the airport at Eielson 

Air Force Base. He made a brief visit back to 

Colorado in 1947 to acquire his private pilot’s 

license. That license would propel the nomadic 

young man into a long career in Alaska aviation. 

While running maintenance in Bethel for 

Northern Consolidated Airlines in 1950, Glenn 

met his wife-to-be, Lena Laraux. The two were 

married in Fairbanks in 1951, and have had many 

happy years of marriage that resulted in eight 

children and, at last count, 36 grandchildren. 

(“We still haven’t had our first argument, but that’s 

her fault,” he said with a smile.) 

Glenn took different flying jobs over the years, 

spending time in Fairbanks and various villages. He 

was the first to fly Borate Bombers on forest fires in 

Alaska with TBMs and F7F Tigercats, and spent 

many winters flying trappers to their traplines. He 

would supplement his income in the summer 


working construction, a profession that was always 

in demand in the rapidly growing town of 

Fairbanks. Glenn has had a hand in many projects 

around town, from the paving of the Richardson 

Highway to being a finish patrol operator on the 

original Fairbanks International Airport. 

In 1964 Glenn and Lena opened a successful 

trading post and flying business in the Village of 

Tanana. Located on the Yukon River, it was close 

enough to Fairbanks for Glenn to make daily 

runs for freight and passengers. The post was a 

family-run business, with the seven daughters 

and one son helping with the daily operations. 

While the children would eventually branch off 

into various occupations, ranging from FBI 

agent to construction, all but three of them 

would remain in Fairbanks. 

After selling the business in 1980 Glenn and 

Lena moved back to Fairbanks where they 

happily reside today. The couple now lives off 

Chena Hot Springs Road on five acres of peace 

and quiet. It was in these serene surroundings that 

Glenn found his muse and became a published 

author. He has written two autobiographical 

accounts, Never Too Late To Be A Hero and The 

Trading Post, and a book of poetry, Missing Lynx. 

He continues to write on a daily basis. 

Glenn has held many other interests and 

hobbies over the years. He was active in the 

Republican Party for a few years, but never ran for 

office himself. “I recognized that my disposition 

was not conducive to being a politician,” he freely 

admits. Glenn also discovered that the same 

hands that could rebuild a Cessna or craft a poem 

were equally suited for restoring old guns and 

violins. And like most longtime Alaskans, he has 

enough hunting and fishing stories to fill a book 

of their own. 

In his poem “Home” Glenn writes, “My head 

is full of thoughts and of memories of the 

wonders that I have beheld.” Lucky for us, 

Glenn has made those thoughts and memories 

available for the rest of us to enjoy. 

❖ 

Above: One of many successful 

hunting trips; this one was taken in 

the early 1980s on the Nowitna River 

between Fairbanks and Ruby. 

Below: Glenn signs copies of his book, 

Never Too Later to be a Hero, at a 

book signing in 1995. 


TANANA 

AIR SERVICE 

❖ 

Tanana Air Service’s Fairbanks 

headquarters are located off of the 

East Ramp of the Fairbanks 

International Airport. 

In the remote villages of rural Alaska, one of 

the most anticipated sounds is the familiar 

drone of an approaching airplane. For many of 

these villages, that plane is the only connection 

to the Outside, and the only way residents can 

receive groceries, mail, medical supplies, and 

other necessities that those in urban areas take 

for granted. Tanana Air Service is one such 

carrier that has provided this valuable service to 

remote communities throughout Interior Alaska 

for well over twenty years. The company 

provides the means for passengers to see their 

doctors, get their groceries, and in some 

locations, to attend school. But more 

importantly, they help give these communities 

and the people who live there the secure feeling 

of knowing that they are not alone. 

The ninth-largest passenger air carrier in 

Alaska got its start in 1979. The parent company 

is the Alaska Native-owned corporation Bidzy 

Ta Hot Aana Corp. Corporate President Harold 

Esmailka has owned eight other air carriers, 

which also serviced the interior of Alaska. 

Esmailka has developed the company so that it 

is known for its superior safety, quality, service, 

and dependability. 

Tanana Air is a commuter airline that 

provides cargo, mail, and passenger service to 

some eighty communities in Interior Alaska. 

The company also operates five remote stations, 

each of which houses at least one aircraft, a 

pilot, and an aircraft maintenance technician. 

The remote stations include Galena, where 

Esmailka first began his airline activities in 1970 

and now provides commuter/charter service to 

ten surrounding villages: McGrath, where 

Tanana Air is the only commuter airline to 

provide service to nearby communities; Aniak, 

which provides commuter service to the villages 

on the Yukon and Kuskokwim River; Kotzebue, 

which provides scheduled cargo/charter service 

to the outlying villages; and Bethel, which 

provides scheduled cargo service for the Yukon- 

Kuskokwim Delta Area. 


Tanana Air Service is the only passenger 

carrier to six villages in the state, including 

Minto, Manley Hot Springs, and Lake 

Minchumina, and is the primary passenger 

carrier to many other villages. For the past ten 

years the company has been the first scheduled 

passenger carrier to depart Fairbanks on 

weekdays to villages down the Yukon River, and 

the company is the sole commuter carrier 

between Fairbanks and McGrath. 

The company has a fleet of 13 aircraft and 

employs 34 full-time employees in Fairbanks 

and at their remote stations. The company also 

has seventy-five part-time agents/contractors in 

the villages that they serve. These valuable 

employees meet the aircraft upon arrival and 

transport the mail and cargo to the villages. 

The company’s corporate offices are located in 

Fairbanks on the East Ramp of the Fairbanks 

International Airport. The location houses the 

company’s maintenance facility, administrative 

office, and it is where the airline’s chief operations 

are performed. All pilot training for new pilots is 

conducted in Fairbanks, as well as annual and 

semi-annual proficiency flight checks. 

In addition to providing a valuable service to 

Alaskan communities, Tanana Air Service 

provides valuable community service to 

Alaskans. The company donates free service for 

the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese for their clergy 

and Brothers and Sisters who serve the local 

villages. All of the schools in the villages 

serviced by Tanana Air receive reduced fares for 

school travel, and the company provides at cost 

transportation for school trips from the villages 

to a major hub for trips to Washington D.C, 

Hawaii, and other Lower 48 destinations. 

The company has seen impressive growth 

over the past eight years, going from flying just 

over 5,600 hours with five single engine aircraft 

in 1994 to over 12,000 hours with 13 single and 

twin-engine aircraft today. And they’re not 

showing any signs of slowing down as they 

continue to meet their mission of ensuring 

continually improved quality services. Tanana 

Air Service plans to continue to provide safe, 

quality air service for its customers and to 

develop a customer base in the new locations 

where they are flying cargo service to enhance 

the traveling public. 

❖ 

Tanana’s fleet includes both singleengine 

and twin-engine aircraft that 

provide service to ten villages around 

Interior Alaska. 


❖ 

YUKON- 

KOYUKUK 

SCHOOL 

DISTRICT 

Above: Minto students participating in 

a “Reading is Fundamental” program. 

Bottom, left: Kaltag Elementary 

School in Kaltag, Alaska. 

Bottom, right: This school is located in 

Ruby, Alaska, on the southern bank of 

the Yukon River. 

The Yukon-Koyukuk School District 

(Y-KSD) is located in the heart of 

Interior Alaska, encompassing the 

valleys of the Yukon, Koyukuk, and 

Tanana Rivers. The district covers sixtyfive 

thousand square miles and is larger 

in area than the State of Washington. 

Despite its vastness and the remote 

isolation of the school sites, the District 

has worked hard for twenty-five years to 

provide high quality education for 

its students. 

The district is comprised of 

eleven village schools, with the total 

student population averaging 450. 

Communities range in size from 

Wiseman, with a population of 13, to 

Nulato, with a population of more than 

400. Three villages are accessible by 

road. The remaining eight can be 

reached by year-round scheduled 

commuter air service, winter snow 

machine trails and summer river travel. 

Residents of the eleven villages live 

modified subsistence lifestyles with 

trapping, fishing and hunting being the core of 

their economy. 

In 1976, Senate Bill 35 established the Y-KSD 

as a Rural Education Attendance Area (REAA). 

Prior to that time, the district was under the 

jurisdiction of the Alaska State Operated 

Schools System. The establishment of the 

district as an REAA enabled it to be governed by 

an elected regional school board. Members of 

the first board included Lincoln Bifelt; Donald V. 

Honea, Sr.; Sally Hudson; Eileen Kozevnikoff; 

Elmer Manook; Marie Monroe; Kenneth Sam; 

Ronald Sam; and Leonard Stickman. Each 

village has a community schools committee that 

serves in an advisory capacity for local schoolrelated 

issues. 

The board, together with teachers, 

administrators, parents and students all play a 

role in developing programs in different 

curriculum areas. The district’s curriculum 

covers core academic areas as well as 

enrichment subjects. Each curriculum content 

area is revised according to a six-year rotating 

schedule. Work has progressed toward aligning 

most of the content areas with Alaska State 

Performance Standards. 

Although limited by school size, the high 

school curriculum provides an array of 


challenging course offerings and requirements. 

The program reflects both a respect for the 

Athabascan culture and an awareness of national 

and global concerns. 

Just as important as developing a 

solid curriculum is the hiring and training 

of qualified teachers and support staff. 

Y-KSD employs fifty-two certified teachers, 

administrators and specialists. Y-KSD is proud 

that thirty-five percent of the certified staff is 

Alaska Native. 

In an ongoing effort to raise declining 

achievement test scores, the district has 

directed intense focus on staff development. 

All district teachers and administrators 

participate yearly in training that facilitates their 

teaching all content areas through Athabascan 

cultural perspectives. 

The district office of the Y-KSD is located 

in Fairbanks. Approximately twenty administrators, 

specialists, maintenance and clerical 

staff work together at the district office to serve 

the needs of all students and staff district-wide. 

The office also houses the district-wide library 

media center. 

The current Y-KSD Regional School Board 

consists of Emily Bergman; Fred Lee Bifelt; 

Andy Durny; Donald V. Honea, Sr.; Shirley 

Stickman; Charlie Titus; and President Luke 

Titus. As with the original board, this board and 

all Y-KSD stakeholders are fully committed to 

the district’s mission of providing students with 

the skills and knowledge necessary to become 

contributing members of their families, 

communities and society in general. 

❖ 

Above: A Y-KSD student with 

handcrafted snowshoes. 

Left: Y-KSD students at winter play. 


THE FRANICH 

FAMILY 

❖ 

Joe Franich and Evelyn Goding 

were married on March 14, 1939, at 

the Immaculate Conception Church 


There exist in Fairbanks hundreds of 

memorable stories from residents who can recall 

their first few hours of arriving in the Golden 

Heart City. None is probably more memorable 

than that of Evelyn Goding. No sooner had she 

stepped off her plane at Week’s Field on March 

14, 1939, when she was whisked away by dog 

sled to the Immaculate Conception Church. 

Within hours the young Ms. Goding, fresh from 

her stint as a stenographer for the Territorial 

Legislature in Juneau, became Evelyn Franich. 

The lucky man on the other side of that 

marriage was Joe Franich, a fellow considered 

by many to be the handsomest man in town. 

The couple had first met in Evelyn’s 

hometown of Skagway, where the Seattle-raised 

Joe was working in the local butcher shop. 

Evelyn came into the shop to buy T-bone steaks, 

and left with something extra, as a few months 

later they announced their engagement. The 

wedding was put off while Joe ventured 

north to Fairbanks to put together a grubstake. 

Evelyn later joined him, and the couple 

remained married for fifty-six years until 

Joe’s death in 1996. In a 1989 interview with 

the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Joe joked 

that their marriage was originally “a fifty-year 

lease,” one he gladly chose to renew on their 

golden anniversary! 

After their marriage, Joe worked a variety of 

jobs until 1947 when he opened up his own 

meat counter at Lavery’s grocery store. In 1949 

he expanded the business into Quality Meat 

Company, a business that is still in operation 

today. Not one to shy away from hard work, he 

ran the business actively up until 1992. 

More than just a hard working businessman, 

he was also a generous businessman. For many 

years he grubstaked many miners and extended 

credit to many businesses, based on his own 

personal assessment of a person’s character. It 

was this same type of trust business owners 

extended to him when he first came to 

Fairbanks, and Joe was keeping the generous 

tradition alive. 

Evelyn kept busy raising the couple’s three 

adopted children in their modest home off of 

Lathrop Street, where they lived until the 

children grew and left home. The couple then 

moved into a condominium off of Cowles Street, 

where Evelyn lives to this day. She assisted Joe 

in many of his community endeavors, and in 

1984 the two were co-chairs of HIPOW. 

In between work and family, Joe kept busy in 

many endeavors in the community. He served 

on the Fairbanks City Council and the Alaska 

State Personnel Board, as well as many other 

civic organizations. 


But Joe was best recognized for his love of 

sports, in particular Goldpanner Baseball. An 

athlete all of his life, he played semi-professional 

baseball in the Pacific Coast League before 

coming to Alaska. He was also a member of the 

Washington State Championship basketball 

team. After moving to Fairbanks, he became a 

star infielder for the Fairbanks Merchants 

baseball team. 

When Fairbanks baseball was threatened 

after the city closed Griffin Park, Joe took out a 

personal loan to finance construction of a new 

ballpark, which allowed the Goldpanners to 

build Growden Memorial Park. Joe and Evelyn 

also opened their home to several Goldpanners 

to live with them during the summer months. 

The children John and Andra have both 

followed in their parent’s footsteps and are 

now raising their own children in Fairbanks. 

Tim, their third child, passed away in 1994. 

John is the Fairbanks Supervising Attorney with 

the Office of Public Advocacy while Andra 

designs and manufactures her own line of 

spandex sportswear, selling directly to athletic 

teams, dance studios, figure skaters, and health 

clubs. John and Andra and their spouses, Vicky 

and Jim, also own a real estate development 

corporation, Franco, Inc. 

“He was a very generous man with a 

strong work ethic,” recalls John fondly, while 

sitting with his mother in her condo on a 

chilly February evening. The two laughed 

as they shared stories of Joe, and after 

awhile, old pictures came out and were passed 

around. Looking at the pictures in the living 

room where Joe spent his last few years, one 

got the feeling that the handsome butcher 

from Seattle was somewhere out there watching 

them, with a smile on his face just as big 

as theirs. 

❖ 

Bottom, left: Joe and Evelyn adopted 

and raised three children. This is Joe 

and Evelyn’s wedding photo, taken 

March 14, 1939, on Second Avenue in 

Fairbanks. The background shows the 

historic Nordale Hotel, which was 

destroyed by fire in the 1970s. 

Below: This picture was taken at Joe 

and Evelyn Franich’s fiftieth wedding 

anniversary in Maui in 1989. 


CACHE “R” US 

❖ 

Below: The drive-thru at the Cache 

“R” Us Fairbanks location opened 

June 2000. 

Fairbanks has been a boom and bust town 

ever since it was founded in the early 1900s. It’s 

a small fact those who live here have come to 

accept, much like the cold weather in winter 

and the twenty-four hours of daylight in the 

summer. While most residents plan accordingly, 

sometimes the bust cycle and other financial 

problems can happen out of the blue. When 

that does happen, people can rest assured that 

Cache “R” Us is there to help them in their time 

of financial need. 

Cache “R” us was formed in 1993 to fill the 

void left by the banking institutions with their 

restrictive policies governing check cashing and 

small loans. The company was originally formed 

with four incorporators, all of whom had the 

foresight to see the need for this service in the 

local community. The original founders have since 

gone their separate ways, except for Cynthia 

Lenord (now Hachez) and Michael Hachez. 

The Fairbanks location was opened on 

December 1, 1993. It was an immediate success 

that prompted the owners to open up a location 

in North Pole and Anchorage three years later. 

The North Pole location closed after three years 

due to corporate restructuring. 

The corporation went through another 

restructuring in 2001. Michael Hachez sold his 

stock back to the corporation and the company 

split into two separate corporations. The Cache 

“R” Us in Fairbanks is now Cache “N” Catalog 

Company of Alaska and the Anchorage location 

is Catalog Company of Alaska. The managers of 

each location, Jacinda Day Elterman and 

Michael Ralston, are now stockholders in the 

respective companies. 

The present shareholders are life long 

Alaskans who feel strongly about providing 

outstanding customer service and contributing 

to the economy of the community. The majority 

of the present owners has owned and operated 

other businesses and has drawn from these 

experiences to help set the policies and 

procedures that govern the present operations. 

Cache “R” Us provides customers with a 

service that most banks cannot–small, short 

term, high-risk loans. The loans are given 


through an innovative method of providing 

catalog sales to customers, with cash back for a 

check written. The customer designates the date 

of deposit or repayment. 

The purpose of Cache “R” Us is to offer 

individuals a financial solution in a time of need, 

and to relieve them of untimely financial demands. 

In doing so, the company provides them with good 

service and as much for their money as possible. 

The unique catalog sales the company provides 

enables all of their customers to get merchandise as 

well as cash for each of their transactions. Felix 

Pedro should have been so lucky! 

Cache “R” Us contributes to the community 

by providing fifteen job positions as well as a 

policy of buying goods and supplied from local 

companies whenever possible. 

“Our strategy is the more we do for our 

customers, the more they will come back to us,” 

said Fairbanks owner Jacinda Day Elterman. 

That approach has generated a tremendous 

amount of interest throughout the community. 

Cache “R” Us customers include all levels of 

income groups, including civilian, military, 

professional, government employees, politicians, 

and so on, into every walk of life. 

❖ 

Above: The staff of the Cache “R” Us 

Fairbanks location (from left to right): 

Joan Vedder, Robin Fronek, and 

owner Jacinda Day Elterman, 

and Dixie Elmer. Not pictured is 

Brian Swift. 


KTVF 

CHANNEL 11 

A visitor to downtown Fairbanks on the 

evening of February 17, 1955, would have been 

surprised to find the streets literally deserted, 

even for a cold, winter night. But it wasn’t the 

arctic chill keeping the citizens inside. That 

night, at 7 p.m., KTVF Channel 11 went on the 

air, and Fairbanks had officially entered the 

television era. 

Pioneer Alaskan broadcaster Augie Hiebert 

was the man responsible for the birth of KTVF. 

Hiebert came to Fairbanks in 1939 to help local 

millionaire Captain Austin “Cap” Lathrop start 

up KFAR, the town’s first radio station. 

Although he was only twenty-three, he already 

had experience as a chief engineer at a radio 

station in Oregon. Hiebert worked for Lathrop’s 

company, Midnight Sun Broadcasting, until 

1953 when he resigned to become president 

and general manager of his own company, 

Northern Television, Inc. 

Northern Television’s first venture was the 

establishment of KTVA-Channel 11 in 

Anchorage, which went on the air December 11, 

1953. After seeing how television could succeed 

in Anchorage, Hiebert decided to bring it 

further north to Fairbanks. It was an event 

highly anticipated by the town, which, because 

of its location, felt more isolated than its sister 

city to the south. In the weeks leading up to the 

event, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner featured 

numerous advertisements for televisions by 

local merchants, with prices in the $100 to $300 

range, surprisingly similar to today! 

KTVF’s first broadcast that historical evening 

started with a test pattern, and was followed by 

a 30-minute dedication program from the 

station’s studio in the Northward Building, 

complete with local dignitaries, artist, and 

performers. In his remarks at the ceremony, 

Hiebert talked about how the station was 

dedicated to meeting the needs of the local 

community and to public service. After the 

ceremony, Fairbanksans were then treated to 

their first network television program, “The Life 

of Riley,” which was sponsored by Ray’s Market 

and Ed’s Bakery. 

As Fairbanks entered its largest period of 

growth, KTVF was there every step of the way, 

from covering the constitutional convention 

that led to Alaska becoming a state, to the 

construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and 

up to the local impact of September 11, 2001. 

One event that had a tremendous impact on 

the station was the 1967 flood. The station was 

off the air for nearly four months after the river 

destroyed the Northward Building studio. When 

it finally did come back on the air, it did so with 

an added bonus: Hiebert used the opportunity 

to upgrade the station to color film. 

With an appetite for technology, Hiebert was 

constantly trying to keep his Alaska stations on 

pace with the Lower 48, and helped usher the 

state into the satellite communications era. He 

remained actively involved with the station and 


NTV up through the early 1990s. Hank Hove, 

who started as an engineer for Hiebert in 1978, 

played a significant role in the station’s growth 

in the 1980s. Hove was president of NTV when 

he was elected borough mayor in 1997. 

Those who worked with Hiebert have many 

fond memories of him. “I have met many people 

throughout the state who have ‘Augie’ stories–all 

endearing and all based on Hiebert’s love and 

insightful knowledge of what it took to make 

KTVF a leader in the business,” said Ann 

Secrest, who left the news desk in fall 2001 after 

first signing with NTV in July 1981. 

KTVF was sold to the Seattle-based Ackerley 

Group in 1999, and it has been the number one 

station in Fairbanks for many years. An NBC 

affiliate, the station has the top network 

programs as well as the number one local news 

program in Interior Alaska. And just like 

Hiebert, station manager Bill Wright and his 

staff of forty are committed to the local 

community and the public service mission of 

the station. This is evident in the station’s 

endeavors to hire locally and in its live coverage 

of community events ranging from the Yukon 

Quest to the Tanana Valley State Fair. 

Community pride is evident in those who 

have worked at the station. “KTVF was the kind 

of place where, if you were willing to work hard, 

you excelled,” recalled Secrest. “I will forever be 

grateful that I was a part of the KTVF family— 

to me, it’s Augie’s family.” 

❖ 

Opposite, top: The first executives of 

KTVF stand in front of the station’s 

new General Electric studio camera 

as Northern Television Inc. brought 

TV facilities to Fairbanks for the very 

first time (from left to right): Vice 

President and Technical Director Jack 

Walden, Station Manager Walter 

Welch, Commercial Manager W. J. 

(Bill) Hunt, and A. G. Hiebert, the 

corporation president. 

Opposite, bottom: An unidentified 

man surverys the damage done to the 

KTVF studio after the 1967 flood. 

Above and left: While the station was 

considered to be fairly high-tech when 

it first went on the air in 1955, the 

control room of today is a far cry 

from what ran the station in the 

early years. 


❖ 

LARRY’S 

FLYING 

SERVICE 

Above: Larry’s Flying Service was 

founded in 1977 with two floatplanes 

and a Cessna 152. 

Below: Today, Larry’s Flying Service 

consists of a fleet of 18 aircraft and 

150 employees. 

Were Alaska to have a hall of fame for 

aviators, it’s a sure bet that Larry Chenaille, 

founder and owner of Larry’s Flying Service, 

would be leading the list of inductees. 

Chenaille first came to Fairbanks in 1964 by 

way of Albany, New York. For a few years he 

traveled back and forth between Alaska and 

New York, working various construction and 

welding jobs. One of the biggest projects he 

worked on was the New York Verazzano- 

Narrows Bridge, the longest suspension bridge 

in the world at the time. He also worked on the 

former World Trade Centers, a poster of which 

he proudly hangs in his office today. 

While it was construction that brought home 

the paychecks, his true passion was in aviation. 

His love for flying prompted him to obtain his 

commercial and flight instructor ratings and he 

began giving flight instruction in 1970. In fact, 

his love for being airborne was so great that he 

gave free lessons, a bargain that did not sit well 

with those who were charging for similar 

services! His favorite pupils were fellow 

welders, who already possessed many of the 

coordination skills that were needed for flying. 

In 1974 Chenaille married Jean Kennedy, 

who was a mathematics teacher in Seaford, New 

York. They had two children, Larry Jr. and 

Nancy. That same year Larry began working on 

the construction of the Trans Alaska Oil 

Pipeline. It was during those years that he 

gained the reputation of being able to perform 

impossible repair jobs on structural steel 

machines and other pieces of equipment, with 

nothing more than hand bits and pieces of tools 

to work with. Larry’s knowledge of metallurgy 

saved construction companies hundreds of 

thousands of dollars. 

Larry’s love for aviation grew along with his 

investments in aircraft. With the money he 

saved from the pipeline, he purchased new 

airplanes from the east coast and flew them back 

to Alaska to be sold. However, it wasn’t for a 

profit on his behalf. “I did it because I loved to 

fly,” he commented. 

He didn’t sell every plane. In 1977 with two 

floatplanes and a Cessna 152 in his possession, 

he started Larry’s Flying Service. Initially, the 

operation consisted of flight instruction and 

charter service to the interior communities of 

Stevens Village, Rampart, Beaver, and McKinley. 

Larry’s skills as a pilot were also called upon to 

perform rescue missions and MEDI-VACS 

throughout the Interior, usually under less than 

ideal flying conditions. 

The company became incorporated in 1982. 

In addition to obtaining some of the highest 

certification awarded by the FAA, the company 

also became the most productive aircraft 

dealership in the entire northwest. By the time 

he obtained the required 401 authorization in 

1986, which gave Larry’s authority to carry 

cargo, mail and passengers, the 

company had grown to a fleet of 

10 aircraft. The company was the 

most successful small air carrier 

in the late 1980s, and flew 

almost a thousand more 

passengers per year than its 

nearest competitor. 

In the 1990s Larry expanded 

the business to the bush, and 

established operations in Bethel, 

St. Mary’s, Dillingham, Emmonak, 

Kotzebue, and Aniak. Mail and 


cargo make up a bulk of what is carried to 

and from those destinations, although the 

company does have a healthy passenger service, 

and, in the summertime, is a popular 

carrier for tourists to Interior Alaska. Today 

the company has a fleet of 18 aircraft and 

employs close to 150 people throughout 

the year. 

Larry’s Flying Service is more than just 

a business. For years now the company 

has flown free pumpkins to children in 

rural Alaska, giving them a chance to not 

only carve, but in some cases see, their 

first real pumpkin. The company makes a 

similar trek at Christmastime when they 

take Santa and a planeload of donated gifts 

(many by Larry himself) to numerous 

villages. In addition, Larry’s has donated 

hundreds of complimentary flights to 

village sports teams and school groups, 

and has provided free air service for 

participants in the Athabascan Fiddle Fest, 

ever since the event’s inception. 

At the age of 64, Larry is just as much a 

part of the business as he was when he 

first started it in 1968. “People ask me if 

I’m here seven days a week,” he said. “I tell 

them, no, I’m here 365 days a year.” Don’t 

believe him? Give the company a call any hour 

of any day. Unless he’s out flying, chances are 

Larry will be the one to answer your call. 

❖ 

Above: Every Halloween, Larry’s 

Flying Service donates and transports 

pumpkins to rural Alaskan villages 

for eager youths to carve. 

Below: Larry’s Flying Service holiday 

visits are not just limited to 

Halloween. The company also flies 

Santa Claus out to rural villages 

at Christmastime. 


❖ 

Above: American Mechanical Inc.’s 

stately corporate headquarters is 

located off of Peger Road. 

Below: The American Mechanical, Inc. 

Administration Team. Far left: Karen 

and Dennis Michel. Front row (from 

left to right): Tony Messina, Juanita 

Emerson, Dina Boles, Michelle Michel, 

Dennis Kennedy, and Dave Rush 

(inset). Back row (from left to right): 

Doug Bal, Howard McIntyre, Tim 

Sponseller, John Wentz, and Robert 

Sandstrom. 

AMERICAN MECHANICAL INC. 

It’s difficult not to do a little head turning 

when you drive by the stately corporate 

headquarters of American Mechanical Inc. 

Located on Peger Road in an industrial 

subdivision, the building’s modern architecture, 

complete with white pillars marking the 

entrance, clearly enhances the neighborhood. 

It’s the type of building that says achievement. 

Those who know the corporation know that 

achievement is evident in more then just the 

look of the building, it’s something that the 

company strives for and attains on a daily basis. 

That success is because of the hard work of 

lifelong Fairbanksan Dennis Michel, American 

Mechanical’s founder, sole owner, and president. 

Dennis, an Athabascan Indian, was born and 

raised in Fairbanks and worked alongside his 

father in the plumbing trade at an early age. It was 

a skill that Dennis quickly caught onto, setting the 

stage for a lifelong career. After graduating from 

Lathrop High School in 1969, Dennis went on to 

study Mechanical Engineering at the University of 

Alaska Fairbanks. Shortly afterward he joined the 

Local Plumbers Union 375 as an apprentice and 

would eventually work his way to journeyman 

and business agent for the union. 

Like many Alaskans in the 1970s, Dennis 

found employment with one of Alaska’s most 

lucrative projects of all time, the Trans-Alaska 

Pipeline. Highly skilled local workers such as 

Dennis were in demand. He worked for a 

number of years as a mechanical superintendent 

for oil company pipeline contractors. 

The hectic schedule of North Slope 

employment inspired Dennis to start his own 

company in 1982. After obtaining the necessary 

licensing, Dennis borrowed a small truck and 

some tools, and business was started. His wife, 

Karen, whom he met while developing property 

in Hawaii, managed the office. It was a risky 

time to start a contracting business in Interior 

Alaska. Since the completion of the pipeline, 


several banks were collapsing and many general 

contractors were leaving town. But Dennis saw 

the long term potential for the business, and 

weathered the storm. 

In the beginning American’s focus was on the 

mechanical field, which included plumbing, 

pipefitting, and welding. As the company 

matured, it expanded to include general 

contracting, design-build, and general 

building/facilities maintenance and repair. It was 

an expansion that paid off. Today the company 

offers commercial and industrial solutions 

throughout the State of Alaska, and does 

approximately $20 million in annual sales. With 

an experienced administration team and seasonal 

labor force as high as two hundred dependent 

upon work in progress, American has 

successfully completed numerous high profile 

projects for various government agencies around 

the state. The company networks efficiently 

between its corporate headquarters in Fairbanks, 

an office in Anchorage, and numerous jobsites 

throughout Alaska. 

While American has many accomplishments 

around the Last Frontier, it’s the corporation’s local 

focus that makes it shine the brightest. Many of the 

professional associates Dennis deals with today are 

former classmates or teammates from his days 

involved in youth sports, and the company prides 

itself on local hire of employees. Throughout the 

years local college students have obtained summer 

employment at the company, including Dennis 

and Karen’s four children—Sharlene, Joe, Dennis 

II, and Andrea. American sponsors many local 

youth sports and high school activities, and is also 

involved in community organizations. 

With his mother’s side of the family hailing 

from the Village of Tanana on the Yukon River, 

Dennis remains proudly connected to his 

Athabascan heritage. He is currently a 

Doyon Drilling board member, has served on the 

board of directors for 

Doyon Limited and 

Tozitna Ltd., and was a 

deputy coordinator for 

Alaska Native Contractors. 

In 1995 he was awarded 

the “Minority Small 

Business Person of the 

Year” by the U.S. Small 

Business Administration. 

Whether it is success 

in business or in the 

community, Dennis Michel 

and American Mechanical 

Inc. have clearly made it 

evident that they are here 

to stay, and to continue 

to make an economic as 

well as a social impact 

on the lives of the people 

of Fairbanks. 

❖ 

Above: American Mechanical offers 

commercial and industrial solutions 

throughout Alaska. 

Below: Dennis and Karen Michel have 

operated American Mechanical Inc. 

since 1982, shown with their four 

children (from top to bottom): 

Sharlene, Joe, Dennis II, and Andrea. 


DESIGN ALASKA 

❖ 

Below: Alaskaland’s original site map 

landscape plan was developed by 

Design Alaska. 

Bottom: Fairbanks’ Big Dipper Ice 

Arena started out as an aircraft 

hangar in Tanacross. 

Take a drive through Fairbanks today and 

you will come across a variety of construction 

styles. While downtown Fairbanks features 

modern facilities such as Doyon Plaza, Jay 

Rabinowitz Courthouse, and Marriott Springhill 

Suites that reflect the architecture and 

engineering of the twenty-first century, other 

parts of Fairbanks, such as Alaskaland, reflect 

the styles of the past. But while the styles may 

vary, one common element is that Design Alaska 

played a role in their development. 

Design Alaska is the oldest firm of its kind in 

Fairbanks today. Founded by Civil Engineer Bob 

Gray and Land Surveyor Les Rogers in 1957, 

Design Alaska has been providing architecture, 

engineering, and surveying services since 

Alaska’s territorial days. Bob came to Alaska 

with his family when he was in grade school and 

received his civil engineering degree from the 

University of Alaska. Les hitchhiked to 

Fairbanks over the Alcan Highway in 1947 with 

his bicycle and $20 in his pocket. 

Bob and Les got to know each other while 

working with pioneer architect George Crosman 

at Alaska Architectural and Engineering 

Company. Feeling adventurous, the duo decided 

to set off on their own. Like any new business, the 

early years were lean ones. The firm was originally 

operated out of Bob’s basement in Slaterville. “Our 

desks were damaged doors acquired from the 

lumberyard, covered with linoleum and 

supported on saw horses,” recalls Les. “Our 

survey vehicle was my surplus military jeep.” 

Bob and Les moved the firm to its current 

location at 601 College Road in 1960. Their 

early projects included Barnette School, Gladys 

Morris Dress Shop, and Alaskaland, which 

opened in 1967 to commemorate the centennial 

of the purchase of Alaska from Imperial Russia. 

The firm was responsible for Alaskaland’s site 

and landscape design, selection of the cabins and 

the other old buildings that were relocated from 

downtown Fairbanks to make up Gold Rush 

Town, design of Pioneer Museum with its 

rotating platform and murals by pioneer artist 

Rusty Huerlin depicting the Gold Rush days, and 

renovation and relocation of Riverboat Nenana. 

In 1973 Ellerbe Associates purchased the firm. 

Ellerbe owned the firm during the heyday of 

development caused by the construction of the 

oil pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez and the 

states’ subsequent spending spree fueled by 

income from its royalty share of oil transported 

by the pipeline. Current Design Alaska President 

Jack Wilbur and Chief Architect Bill Payton got 

their start with the firm during this time working 

on projects such as the Fairbanks Federal 

Building, the Butrovich Building and the 

Duckering Building Addition at University of 

Alaska Fairbanks, and the Big Dipper Ice Arena. 

The Big Dipper might house the Ice Dogs 

hockey team today, but not long ago it was used 

to house aircraft. The arena started out as a 

hangar in Tanacross as part of the lend-lease 

program that provided Russia with airplanes 

during WWII. A covered ice arena in Fairbanks 

was the inspiration of beloved Lathrop High 

School Coach Hez Ray. Ray organized work 

parties to dismantle the structure in Tanacross 

and reassemble it in Fairbanks. In 1981 Design 


Alaska provided designs for renovation of the Big 

Dipper, a renovation so successful it was awarded 

the 1983 Best Design award from the Alaska 

Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture. 

In 1985 a group of employees, including Jack 

and Bill, purchased the firm from Ellerbe and 

have operated it every since. Today Design 

Alaska carries on the tradition of excellence 

started by Bob and Les in 1957 and is helping to 

shape the history of tomorrow with the likes of 

the Alyeska Office Building, the Chena River 

Convention Center, and Doyon Plaza. The small 

company that started off in Bob Gray’s basement 

now has a staff of 38 architects, engineers, and 

surveyors dedicated to making Fairbanks a 

better place to live. 

Design Alaska’s mark can be found in every 

corner of Alaska, but Fairbanks is its home and 

Design Alaska is proud to be a part of its history. 

As Fairbanks celebrates its centennial, the 

community will focus not only on the past but 

also on what lies ahead. Wherever they look, 

one thing is clear–Design Alaska has been and 

will be there every step of the way. 

❖ 

Above: One of Design Alaska’s latest 

projects is the Doyon Plaza, which 

features a southern exposure 

overlooking the historic Chena River. 

COURTESY OF JAMES H. BARKER. 

Below: Beautiful ice sculptures are an 

annual addition to Design Alaska’s 

headquarters on College Road. 

COURTESY OF KADE MENDELOWITZ. 


THE BEISTLINE/ 

HERING FAMILY 

❖ 

Above: Cleary School, Spring 1909 

(from left to right): the three Nordale 

boys, Miss Webster, Eddy Spaun, 

Johnny Nightingale. In front are 

Francis While, Stella Harrington, 

future wife of Boyd Hering, and Anita 

Nordale. 

Right: Dorothy Hering, second 

daughter of Boyd and Stella Hering, 

and future wife of Earl Beistline as 

the 1946 Fairbanks Winter 

Carnival Queen. 

Whether it be due to an abundance of 

creative and entrepreneurial genes or just a good 

ole’ fashioned desire to earn a living, the 

Beistline/Hering families have been involved in 

numerous endeavors in Interior Alaska ever 

since the Klondike gold rush. Mere mention of 

their names can inspire hours of lively historical 

discussion among pioneers in the know, and 

make for family reunions that many would be 

envious to attend. 

Ralph Hoover Beistline brought the Beistline 

name to Alaska in 1907 from Pennsylvania, 

seeking out the opportunities that he heard were 

available for hard workers such as him. He 

obtained a construction job in Cordova helping 

build the “million dollar bridge.” After a short 

stint working at a placer mine in the Circle 

Mining District, he went on to settle in Juneau 

where he worked at the Alaska-Juneau Mine for 

49 years. In 1915 he married Catherine Francis 

Kraynak, and the couple had two children, Earl 

Hoover and Helen Marie. 

After graduating from high school in Juneau, 

Earl went north to pursue a mining engineering 

degree from the Alaska Agricultural College and 

School of Mines, which later became the 

University of Alaska Fairbanks. In 1946 Earl 

married Dorothy Hering of Fairbanks. After a 

stint in the military, retiring as a major, he 

returned to the college and became Dean of the 

School of Mines, until his retirement in 1981. 

Today at age 85 he remains active as a mining 

consultant, and has mining interests in the 

Fairbanks and Circle Mining Districts. 

The Hering roots in Alaska are just as deep as 

the Beistlines. Dorothy’s great-grandfather, 

George Hering, went to Dawson in 1898. He 

and his wife Jennie had two sons, Ed, who 

started up Sourdough Freight Lines in Dawson, 

and John. In 1900 John married Bessie Boyd. 

Bessie’s parents, George and Ella, had 

homesteaded alongside the Herings back in 

Whidbey Island, Washington and had traveled 

to Dawson in 1898 as well. 

The couple had two sons, Boyd and Bill, and 

in 1914 the family moved to Fairbanks. John 

and Bessie operated a candy store on the corner 

of Fifth and Cushman. Boyd, the eldest son, 

went to Fairbanks High School, where he met 

his bride, Stella Harrington. Stella came to 

Fairbanks from Dawson, where she was born in 

1902. Her father, Ed Harrington, was a 

constable with the North West Mounted Police, 

and her grandfather, Charles Mack, operated a 

meat cutting plant, directly across the Yukon 

from Dawson City. 

Boyd and Stella were married in 1920 

and had two daughters, Mildred and the 

aforementioned Dorothy. Boyd spent a number 

of years as a jeweler and watch repairman 

for Art Browns Jewelry, and in 1952 he and 

Stella purchased the College Inn Grocery, which 

they operated full-time until 1967. 


Earl and Dorothy Beistline had four children, 

Ralph, Bill, Katherine and Lynda. In between 

parenting, Dorothy found time to run College 

Floral and Gift Shop, along with her sister 

Mildred Bettisworth. This started a floral 

industry tradition that would continue with 

Dorothy’s two daughters, Katherine and Lynda, 

and numerous grandchildren as well as a 

daughter-in-law, Peggy Beistline, who has 

owned and operated Daisy-A-Day Floral since 

Dorothy’s death in 1996. 

The four Beistline children have all remained 

in Fairbanks. President George W. Bush recently 

nominated Ralph, the oldest son, as a federal 

district court judge for the State of Alaska. He 

and his wife Peggy have five children. Bill 

Beistline owns B-Line Construction, Inc. and 

Pioneer Rentals, and he and his wife Marcie 

have raised six children in Fairbanks. Lynda 

Beistline married Tom Swisher in 1982, and 

the couple is currently raising a son and 

daughter in Fairbanks. 

Katherine Beistline married John Nussbaumer 

in 1971, bringing in yet another historical name 

to the picture. John’s grandfather, Nick 

Nussbaumer, came to Alaska from Switzerland in 

1909, going first to Wrangell and then to 

Fairbanks in 1938, where he opened Fairbanks 

Lumber Supply. Katherine and John operate the 

Salcha River Guest Camp and the Twigs Alaskan 

Gifts at the Fairbanks International Airport. 

And what does the future hold in store for the 

Beistline/Hering descendants? Well, with 

numerous sons and daughters going to college and 

getting ready to enter the workforce, it’s anyone’s 

guess. One thing is for certain. If they follow in the 

footsteps of their ancestors, they will continue to 

contribute in many ways to their community. 

❖ 

Above: Ralph, Katherine and Bill 

Beistline in business in front of their 

grandparents, Boyd and Stella 

Hering’s, College Inn Grocery Store, 

1955. 

Below: Earl and Dorothy Beistline, 

and their children and their spouses 

(from left to right): Bill and Marcie 

Beistline; Ralph and Peggy Beistline; 

Earl and Dorothy Beistline; John and 

Kathy Nussbaumer; and Lynda and 

Tom Swisher. 


CHENA HOT 

SPRINGS RESORT 

❖ 

Above: Your first stop is the historic 

1914 Lodge which houses the 

main lobby, gift shop, restaurant, 

and lounge. 

COURTESY OF BRIAN ALLEN. 

Below: Chena Hot Spring’s location 

makes it one of the best places in the 

world for viewing the majestic 

northern lights. 

COURTESY OF GARY SCHULTZ. 

Like many early day Alaskan prospectors, 

Robert Swan suffered from rheumatism. The 

painful affliction had been brought on and 

aggravated by years of hard work in the 

wilderness, a poor diet, frigid temperatures in 

the long northern winters, and many hours 

working in wet clothes. It was in 1905, while 

looking for a place where he could ease his 

aching joints, that Swan and his brother Thomas 

discovered Chena Hot Springs, the mineral 

springs sixty miles northeast of Fairbanks. 

Rumor of a hot springs came to the Swan 

brothers by way of a USGS crew that had seen 

steam rising from a valley somewhere on the upper 

Chena River east of Fairbanks. Armed with little 

information but fueled by the desire that was so 

common among Alaska’s pioneers, the two 

launched their boat and poled their way up the 

Chena River and later up Monument Creek. On 

August 5, 1905—more than a month after they had 

left Fairbanks—the two discovered the hot springs. 

Though they had no interest in filing a 

homestead on the property, they did construct a 

crude bathhouse on the left bank of Spring 

Creek. They also marked the boat landing and 

blazed a tree on which they marked directions 

and an approximate distance to the bathhouse 

to aid subsequent visitors. 

The two stayed and soaked at the hot springs 

for about a month before making their way back 

to Fairbanks. Once there, they spread the word 

of the curative and medicinal qualities of the 

springs’ soothing waters. Others soon made the 

trek themselves, and were equally pleased with 

the effect the springs had on their ailments. A 

headline in a February 26, 1912, edition of the 

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner read “Hot Springs 

People Dance, All of the Cripples in Big Chena 

Have Recovered.” The article went on to praise 

how the healing waters of the springs allowed 

many former “cripples” to take part in a dance 

that was held to celebrate Washington’s birthday. 

The resort was on its way to becoming one of 

the premiere resorts of Interior Alaska and a 

favorite getaway spot for world-weary residents of 

Fairbanks. Access to the resort was vastly improved 

in 1912, when a trail was cleared that lessened the 


travel time of one to three weeks to a mere twenty 

hours. Regular runs between Fairbanks and the 

resort via the “Hot Springs Stage” with “comfortable 

four-horse double rigs making round trips every 

ten days” was established. Roadhouses were 

constructed along the way to feed and house 

passengers making the journey. 

A 1917 analysis of the water of the hot 

springs by the Bureau of Chemistry revealed 

that the water “was different from any American 

hot springs” that they had previously tested. The 

principal characteristics of the waters consist of 

its content of sulfate, chloride, and bicarbonate 

of sodium. In fact, it is very similar to the hot 

springs found in central Europe. 

Today, Bernie and Connie Karl, who 

purchased it from the State of Alaska in 1998, 

own the 440-acre resort. The resort has seen 

tremendous growth and success under the Karls’ 

management. It features 72 hotel rooms, 8 

suites, and 7 cabins, and boasts a barrage of 

activities for guests to enjoy, from horseback 

riding and canoeing in the summer to dog 

mushing and cross-country skiing in the winter. 

Chena Hot Springs Resort is considered one of 

the best places in Interior Alaska to view the 

northern lights, and because of this it has become 

a popular winter vacation spot for Japanese 

visitors. And the resort’s location near to a 

250,000-acre state recreation park has literally 

made it a wilderness Mecca for all to enjoy. 

It’s unlikely that the thousands of pleasureseekers 

that frequent the resort today are looking 

to cure their rheumatism or other aches and 

pains caused by prospecting for gold. But like the 

Swan brothers, they are seeking a place to rest, 

relax, and just simply get away from it all. 

Soaking in an outdoor springs, with the northern 

lights dancing in the skies above and the only 

sound coming from the springs’ bubbling waters, 

it’s easy to see why others were willing to travel so 

far. Close your eyes and imagine. Suddenly, the 

days of yesteryear don’t seem so long ago. 

❖ 

Above: Like to explore the wilderness? 

The resort is situated near to a 

250,000-acre state recreation park. 


Below: Chena Hot Springs take me 

away! Nothing is more relaxing than 

a swim and soak in the Resort’s 

outdoor springs. 

COURTESY OF TOM KOHLER, 2001. 


❖ 

GOLDEN 

VALLEY 

ELECTRIC 

ASSOCIATION 

Incorporated in 1946, Golden Valley 

moved into these temporary quarters 

on Illinois Street in 1952. From this 

modest beginning, GVEA grew 

steadily and built permanent offices 

further down the street, which during 

the 1960s boasted an appliance store. 

The Fairbanks of today is one that exists 

because of the vision of our pioneers, and 

Golden Valley Electric Association is no 

exception. The company was founded in 1946, 

almost a decade before Alaska was admitted into 

statehood. Its growth since then has been 

nothing short of impressive, even by Alaska’s 

standards. From 70 miles to 2,520 plus miles of 

power lines, and from 108 to 38,000 plus meter 

locations, GVEA has successfully kept pace with 

the continued development and growth of 

Interior Alaska. What hasn’t changed is the 

company’s original mission of providing its 

members with electric energy at the lowest cost 

possible. Those doubting the mission need only 

look at the fact that GVEA maintained stable 

rates for eighteen years—a fact that only a 

handful of utility associations across the country 

can boast. 

Taking care of its members was an important 

philosophy for the nine pioneers who executed 

the GVEA articles of incorporation on January 7, 

1946. Lack of electricity was one of the 

hardships faced by residents in the rural parts of 

Fairbanks, particularly those in agriculture who 

needed it to further develop their operations. 

Seventeen people attended the brainstorming 

session that made up GVEA’s first organizational 

meeting. While those in attendance thought that 

the idea of forming a rural electric cooperative 

was an “impossible” dream, they also thought 

that they had nothing to lose by charging ahead 

with a plan. The group sought funding from the 

Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in 

Washington, which required a minimum of 250 

signatures to justify federal assistance. The 

pioneers felt they could reach half that many; 

they sent in a list of 129 names to Washington. 

As it turns out, that was enough, and REA 

accepted the petition and granted GVEA’s first 

loan to survey the Fairbanks area in 1947. The 

one-time mining powerhouse Fairbanks 

Exploration Company, which was suffering 

because of the decreasing price of gold, gladly 

agreed to sell its power. And so on June 1, 1950, 

the first eighty-one members of GVEA were 

connected and receiving service. 

The GVEA of the twenty-first century is one 

that is now owned by more than 27,700 

members and is staffed by over 225 full-time 

employees. These dedicated employees have 

helped GVEA maintain an average service 

reliability of 99.9 percent. That fact is even more 

impressive when you consider the challenging 

geographical and temperature conditions of 

Interior Alaska, from over 90 degrees in the 

summer to 50 degrees below zero in the winter. 

GVEA has also successfully met the challenges 


presented by the rapid development spurred by 

the Trans Alaska Pipeline as well as natural 

disasters such as the great Fairbanks flood. 

GVEA has a diverse power supply of four 

fuel sources; coal, hydro, diesel and gas, that is 

supplied by five generating facilities located in 

Fairbanks, North Pole, Healy and on the Kenai 

Peninsula. GVEA’s system is interconnected with 

Fort Wainwright, Eielson Air Force Base, Fort 

Greely, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and 

all electric utilities in the Railbelt. In addition, 

GVEA is the northern control for a 138-kV 

intertie connecting Anchorage and Fairbanks. 

The heart of GVEA goes beyond mere 

power; it is, as it has been from day one, of 

service to its members and the community. In 

2000 over $26 million was credited to 

members’ monthly bills in the form of fuel 

credits. GVEA and its employees made 

significant contributions to the community 

through donations, volunteerism, and 

sponsorships of numerous events and 

activities. “Concern for Community” is one of 

GVEA’s principles, and one they take to heart. 

“It seems impossible, but let’s go for it!” were 

the words uttered by GVEA incorporator Cliff 

Hayden more than fifty years ago. Those who 

founded GVEA did go for it, and their success is 

evident throughout Interior Alaska. One cannot 

doubt the challenge those pioneers faced, but all 

can agree that it was a successful undertaking we 

are indeed appreciative of today. 

❖ 

Above: In 1960 Foreman Francis 

Burns (foreground) and his line crew 

responded to this scene on College 

Road. The crew is splicing together 

the power line to repair damage 

caused when a car ran into the guy 

wires, snapping the top of the threephase 

pole. 

Left: Board Vice President Bill Staats 

(standing left) and administrative 

assistant Mike Kelly (standing right) 

show off Golden Valley’s electric car to 

a member. Purchased in 1971, this 

AMC Hornet was one of only three 

of its kind and came with a price tag 

of $10,813. 


FAIRBANKS 

ARTS 

ASSOCIATION 

❖ 

Above: The Fairbanks Art Association 

is located inside the recently renamed 

Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts 

at Pioneer Park. 

Below: Alaska Governor Tony 

Knowles presents the 2001 Governor’s 

Awards for the Arts - Arts Advocacy 

Award to Fairbanks Arts Association 

Executive Director June Rogers in 

recognition of the FAA’s dedication 

and commitment to excellence in 

the arts. 

There are two types of arts to be found in 

Interior Alaska. One is the natural art found in 

the beauty of the mountain ranges, the aurora 

borealis, and the seemingly endless summer 

sky. The second type is the kind created by 

Interior Alaska’s residents—the poets, painters, 

performers, dancers, and so forth. It is the latter 

that are able to thrive in the Last Frontier thanks 

in part to the support and endeavors of the 

Fairbanks Arts Association. 

The organization was founded in 1965 as 

the Alaska Association for the Arts. As the 

only arts association in the state, its mission 

was to provide the incentive for the growth 

and appreciation of arts in Alaska. The original 

board was chaired by Geneva Emmal 

and featured a bevy of well-known Fairbanksans, 

including Jo Scott, the founder of the Fairbanks 

Summer Arts Festival. The board was the driving 

force behind the establishment of the Alaska State 

Council on the Arts and the construction of the 

Alaskaland Civic Center. 

Over the years the association helped open new 

cultural doors in Fairbanks through its sponsorship 

of both local and touring theatrical and musical 

performances, arts classes, educational outreach 

programs, Alaska Native arts exhibits and dance 

performances, and much more. The association 

also helped provide financial assistance to other 

arts organizations in town and encouraged the 

formation of new ones in the community. 

Today FAA remains steadfast in its commitment 

to encourage and advocate arts awareness in 

Interior Alaska. “Our doors are always open to 

local artists, arts organizations, and their 

audiences,” said FAA Executive Director June 

Rogers. “When we can’t help, we find a person or 

organization that can.” Rogers credits the 

organizations success to its hundreds of dedicated 

volunteers who serve on standing committees of 

the board and who help to steer the course of 

quality programming in the performing, literary, 

visual and educational arts. In 2001 the 

organization received the Governor’s Award for the 

Arts for its commitment to excellence in the arts. 

Whether it is hosting a literary reading by 

a local writer, supporting an artist in the 

school program or opening a new exhibit at 

the Alaskaland Bear Gallery, FAA and its 

members have helped keep the arts alive and 

well in Fairbanks. 


ALASKA 

ACCOUNTING 

& 

THE SNACK 

SHACK 

If you’re looking for proof that Alaska is a 

land of opportunity, you don’t have to look 

much further than downtown Fairbanks. Off of 

Fourth Avenue you’ll find two successful but 

different small businesses—Alaska Accounting 

and The Snack Shack—that are both owned and 

operated by Dorothy Bradshaw. 

Bradshaw first came to Fairbanks in 1978 from 

Honolulu to take a job with the IRS. “I fell in love 

right away,” said Dorothy, a self-proclaimed globetrotter. 

“It was like the wild, wild west for me.” 

After retiring from the IRS she bought a local 

tax practice. The practice was formerly called 

Bradshaw Accounting and Tax Service until she 

changed it to Alaska Accounting in 1994. Today 

Dorothy has a mixture of clients made up of 

individuals and small businesses, many of 

which have been with her for years. 

The idea for the Snack Shack came after 

Dorothy sold hot dogs for a friend at an auction. 

She found the experience to be so enjoyable that 

she opened up a seasonal stand at Alaskaland, 

Fairbanks’ historical park. In 2001 she decided 

to open up a year-round diner in the building 

next to her accounting business. Business was 

good from the very start, and Dorothy, the sole 

full-employee, found herself bouncing back and 

forth between the two businesses. She would get 

occasional relief from her husband, Lindale 

Smith, and her granddaughter Alicia Bradshaw. 

Dorothy is active in the community as well. 

She is president and founder of the Fairbanks 

Black Chamber of Commerce and serves on the 

Borough Economic Development Commission. 

During a crisp autumn weekday afternoon, 

the doors to the Snack Shack never stayed 

closed. A young Alaska Native woman came in 

and bought a box of cereal for her toddler. Two 

businesswomen stopped by for a late lunch. No 

matter who the customer is Dorothy attends to 

them in a way that clearly indicates she is doing 

a job she loves. And it’s a job Dorothy figures 

she could only do in Fairbanks. “You do bold 

things here,” she said with a smile. “I could 

never do anything like this anywhere else.” 

❖ 

Above: Alaska Accounting and The 

Snack Shack are located on Fourth 

Avenue in the heart of historic 

downtown Fairbanks. 

Below: Dorothy Bradshaw is the 

proud owner of Alaska Accounting 

and The Snack Shack. 


❖ 

H & S 

WAREHOUSE, 

INC. 

Longtime Fairbanksan Raymond 

Karns, pictured with his wife Eleanor, 

is the president of H & S Warehouse. 

You would be hard pressed to find a business 

as deeply committed to its local roots as H & S 

Warehouse, Inc. The company started in 1953 

by Frank Chapados, Henry Schroeder and Judge 

Everett Hepp, to handle general warehousing 

and intrastate shipping. In 1969 the company 

became incorporated with Chapados as 

president and Raymond Karns, an employee 

since 1955, as vice-president. 

That same year Chapados and Karns shook 

hands with James Thurman, president of Earth 

Movers of Fairbanks. The handshake signified 

the formation H & S Earthmovers, J.V., a 

company that would play a significant role in 

the construction of the Trans Alaska Oil 

Pipeline. H & S Earthmovers was tasked to 

handle, coordinate, and store the millions of 

tons of materials, parts and equipment needed 

to keep the pipeline project moving smoothly. 

This was H & S Warehouse’s primary 

focus until the pipeline’s completion in 1979. 

In the 1980s the company went back to 

its roots and concentrated 

on providing first-rate moving 

and warehouse services for 

locals. With a staff of seasoned 

Alaskans, the company 

developed a reputation for 

excellence in service as well 

as in its ability to successfully 

operate in the most extreme 

conditions—a plus for any 

business operating in Fairbanks! 

Karns became president of 

H & S Warehouse, Inc. in 

1982, and his son Kent has 

been treasurer since 1984, 

helping keep the company 

locally owned and family run. 

Today H & S has a staff of 15 

to 20 employees and owns 

two local sister companies, 

Nordic Movers Inc. and Far 

North Moving and Storage. 

Three of those employees— 

Bob Baker, Karen Jacovich, and 

Greg Hoffman—have been 

with the company for more 

than twenty years. 

The company’s motto is 

“Alaskans Moving Alaska.” 

That local commitment is 

evident not just in the way it 

does business, but also in its 

multitude of contributions to 

the community over the years. 

And while the company may 

move hundred of families and 

businesses annually, H & S has 

no plans to make an exit of its 

own. Proudly founded in 

Fairbanks, they’re here to stay. 


From U.S Army nurse to computer science 

professor, the Nance family has clearly made 

their mark on the Golden Heart City. 

In the 1940s, Dorothy Nance arrived as an 

U.S. army nurse. She later opened Dorothy’s 

Barber Shop, which was last located in the 

Samson’s Hardware building. 

In the early fifties Dorothy was joined by her 

brother, Troy B. Nance, his wife Hazel, and two 

of their three sons, Lynden and Troy Lee. Troy B. 

went to work for the city and Hazel took a job 

with N.C. Co. Lynden was a graduated from 

Lathrop High School. Later, he bought The 

Fabric Shoppe on Barnette Street. Troy Lee went 

to work for N.C. Co. before being drafted. 

After returning from service, Troy Lee went 

to work for the North Pole Bakery on Second 

Avenue. In 1961 he married Madeline Lambert 

and went to work for Randy Acord Co. The 

couple was blessed with twins, and Madeline 

left her job at Jessen’s Weekly to raise them and 

the four children that soon followed. 

When the youngest was in junior high, 

Madeline returned to work practicing dental 

assisting for Dr. Sid Staley. The family also 

found time to manage two Interior lodges, 

Tangle Lakes Lodge and the famous Chena Hot 

Springs Resort. Madeline eventually earned two 

college degrees and is now director of the 

Children and Family Life Center for the 

Catholic Diocese. 

In 1979 Troy established a grocery business, 

Sales Associates of Alaska. Troy retired in 1997 

and sold the business to the eldest son, Gary, 

who expanded the business by buying Quality 

Meat Company and now operates it as Quality 

Sales Foodservice. 

Gary’s twin Terry is thriving in the beverage 

business with his employer, Alaska Distributors. 

Eldest daughter, Kara, earned her Ph.D. in 

Computer Science and is now a professor at UAF. 

Bill, a master mechanic, is currently manager of 

the Maclaren River Lodge. Timothy is retail 

operations supervisor for Sourdough Fuel Stores, 

while the youngest, Mishelle, is a pediatrician at 

the Tanana Valley Clinic. 

The entire Nance family has put heart and 

soul into the business of broadening Fairbanks’ 

Golden Heart. The Nance’s nine grandchildren 

will more than likely continue to give back to 

this community as much or more than has been 

gratefully received. 

❖ 

THE NANCE 

FAMILY 

Madeline and Troy Lee Nance and 

their children. Back row (from left to 

right): Gary Lee Nance, Timothy 

Nance, and Bill Nance. Middle row 

(from left to right): Kara Nance, 

Mishelle Nace, and Terry Nance. 

Front row (from left to right): 

Madeline and Troy Lee Nance. 


DENALI 

STATE BANK 

❖ 

Denali State Bank is housed in the 

building that used to be the St. 

Joseph’s Hospital, shown here in the 

first half of the twentieth century. 

Like its namesake, the largest mountain peak in 

North America, Denali State Bank is an institution 

that Interior Alaskans’ can truly be proud of. In a 

day and age where many local banks have been 

bought by outside corporations, the bank lives true 

to its motto of “Your locally owned community 

bank.” In a community such as Fairbanks, where 

local pride shines on a daily basis, that’s a mission 

that has served the bank and its customers well. 

The company first opened its doors on 

February 3, 1986, with the purpose of serving the 

banking needs of the Fairbanks community in a 

superior manner and in an effort to bring local 

banking back to the Golden Heart City. The bank 

was organized by more than forty original 

investors from Interior Alaska and is headed by 

Gary Roth, bank president and CEO. Denali State 

Bank provides a full range of financial services to 

its customers from checking and savings accounts 

to consumer and mortgage loans. 

The bank’s headquarters are housed in a 

landmark Fairbanks building, the renovated St. 

Joseph’s Hospital on Cushman Street. The 

original building was constructed in 1906 and 

funded by local citizens. Father Francis Monroe, 

who was also responsible for the founding of the 

Immaculate Conception Church that stands 

next to the building, led the efforts. The 

building that stands today was built in 1951 and 

the original structure was vacated in 1973, 

shortly after the opening of the Fairbanks 

Memorial Hospital. In 1985 the structure was 

completely remodeled into a modern facility for 

the bank. 

Denali State Bank has branch locations off of 

Airport Way and in Tok. More than just a bank, 

the company prides itself on its community 

involvement. In 2000 Denali State Bank 

received a Business Commitment Award for the 

2000 Business in the Arts. In 1997 the bank 

initiated an Arts Program to help local artists 

display their works as well as allowing the 

community to enjoy their talents. The bank also 

features a monthly program in which local 

volunteers provide entertainment and 

informational material for senior citizens. 

Whether it be assisting a small business owner 

secure a loan or helping up-and-coming artists 

make a name for themselves, the bank’s 

commitment to service speaks for itself. When St. 

Joseph’s Hospital was housed in the building, it 

was known as a place Fairbanksans could go to 

for help from dedicated people. The hospital may 

be gone from the building, but thanks to Denali 

State Bank, the people of Fairbanks know that the 

dedication to customer service is still there. 


Founded in 1957, Cook Schuhmann and 

Groseclose, Inc. (CSG) is the largest law firm in 

Interior Alaska. Prominent Alaskans Robert J. 

McNealy and Edward A. Merdes founded the firm. 

Merdes would later go on to become candidate for 

governor in 1978. In July 1966 the firm became a 

partnership between Merdes, Grace Berg Schaible, 

Howard Staley, and Stephen S. DeLisio. The firm 

opened an Anchorage office in 1971, and became 

a professional corporation in 1972. 

In 1982 Merdes withdrew from the firm and 

the name changed to Schaible, Staley, DeLisio and 

Cook, Inc. When Schaible retired in 1986 to 

become the first and only woman attorney general 

in Alaska, the firm’s name changed once again, this 

time to Staley, DeLisio, Cook, & Sherry, Inc. The 

firm later became Staley, DeLisio & Cook, P.C., 

which was dissolved in 1993. At that time, CSG 

was created to represent clients via the Fairbanks 

office, and DeLisio, Moran, Geraghty & Zobel, P.C. 

organized to operate the Anchorage office. 

The five current shareholders of CSG—Dennis 

E. “Skip” Cook, Barbara L. Schuhmann, Robert B. 

Groseclose, Jo A. Kuchle, and Zane D. Wilson–have 

a combined 107 years of service with the firm. In 

addition to the shareholders, the firm has five other 

attorneys, three paralegals, and nine support staff. 

The firm takes pride in providing top-quality legal 

services in a diversity of areas, from corporation 

and employment law to personal injury litigation 

and real estate. Just as diverse as its services, are its 

clients, who have ranged from individuals in rural 

Alaska to Fortune 500 companies in the Lower 48. 

“Our objective is to be the best law firm 

in the areas we serve by competently and 

fully representing our clients’ interests,” said 

CSG Shareholder Robert B. Groseclose. “We 

achieve this objective by dedicating ourselves to 

quality service and personal fulfillment.” 

CSG has evolved over more than forty years 

from being a Fairbanks-based law firm in the 1950s 

and ’60s, to an Anchorage/Fairbanks firm in the 

late 1970s and ’80s, and back to its Fairbanks 

beginnings today. Although the firm is statewide 

focused, they will proudly state that they are very 

much rooted in the Golden Heart City. 

COOK 

SCHUHMANN & 

GROSECLOSE, 

INC. 

❖ 

Standing (from left to right): Zane D. 

Wilson, Robert B. Groseclose, and 

Dennis E. “Skip” Cook. Seated (from 

left to right): Barbara L. Schuhmann 

and Jo A. Kuchle. 


❖ 

GREER 

TANK AND 

WELDING 

Aerial views of Greer Tank and 

Welding. Located off of the Old 

Richardson Highway, the locally 

owned business has been in operation 

since 1952. 

COURTESY OF EAGLE EYE HELICOPTER, INC. © 2002. 

Most people in Fairbanks would be surprised to 

discover that the charming home that sits at 1507 

Fourth Avenue was the original location for Greer 

Tank and Welding. From a husband/wife team 

working out of a small garage to an organization 

with branches in three locations, Greer Tank and 

Welding, like Fairbanks itself, has grown in 

impressive leaps and bounds over the years. 

Glenn E. Greer and his wife Ruth moved to 

Fairbanks in 1945. Glenn worked at the 

Northern Commercial Company, Ladd Field, and 

on the FE Company gold dredges until 1952, 

when he and Ruth founded Greer Tank and 

Welding. They began manufacturing tanks in 

their garage with a small set of plate rolls. The 

company was incorporated in 1962, and when 

Glenn passed away in 1968, Ruth became 

president of the company, a position she still 

holds today. 

In 1972 the company expanded to include 

Greer Tank, Inc. in Anchorage and in 1994 

opened up Greer Steel, Inc. in Tacoma, 

Washington. This expansion has enabled the 

company to serve all of Alaska and the Pacific 

Northwest as a tank manufacturer and a 

structural/galvanized steel fabricator. 

Greer Tank and Welding has been involved 

with numerous large scale projects over the 

years, from the Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline to the 

expansion of the Williams Refinery in North 

Pole. Most recently it was involved with 

providing structural steel for the Rabinowitz 

Courthouse and the new addition to West Valley 

High School. In 1999 the company expanded 

into the manufacturing of plastic tanks. 

One thing that has not changed over the years 

is the involvement of the Greer family. David 

Greer is vice president of the company while 

Mark Greer manages the Fairbanks operation 

and oversees the Tacoma plant. Stephen Helms, 

who is married to Glenn’s daughter, Linda, 

manages the Anchorage shop. As far as the 

future, Mark has two sons who are already 

working for the company, ensuring that the 

Greer tradition will continue for years to come. 


With numerous state and national design 

awards under its belt, Charles Bettisworth and 

Company Inc. (CBCo) has established itself as 

one of the premiere Alaska-based architecture 

and planning firms. 

CBCo was founded in Fairbanks in 1976. 

Over the years, the firm has developed a 

statewide practice, with completed projects in 

Alaskan communities from Ketchikan to 

Kotzebue and beyond. Project sizes range from 

under $1 million to more than $25 million. In 

the last five years, CBCo has completed designs 

for over $100 million in construction. The 

commissions vary greatly in program from 

administrative and industrial buildings to 

educational facilities, long-term care facilities, 

visitor centers and their venues, housing and 

research facilities. 

The company has an excellent reputation for 

quality design as substantiated by seven 

American Institute of Architects (AIA), Alaska 

Chapter design awards received in 1992, 1994, 

1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998. In 1999 CBCo 

was the recipient of the first Len Mackler Award 

for Educational Design Excellence from the 

Council of Educational Facility Planners 

International (CEFPI) for their design of Randy 

Smith Middle School in Fairbanks. 

The firm is noted for cultivating and 

maintaining good working relationships with 

clients. This reputation is founded on a 

philosophy of professional service which creates 

an eagerness to explore creative options for 

varied client, community, program and 

environmental requirements; creates an 

environment where the client is part of the 

planning and design team; and provides for a 

design process which explores the full range 

CHARLES BETTISWORTH & COMPANY, INC. 

of possible solutions and is thorough in 

its evaluations. 

The firm has been recognized for the quality 

of its project management capabilities. Through 

its years of experience, the firm has become 

adept at total project budgeting to include both 

construction and project development costs. 

Charles Bettisworth and Company employs, 

on average, fourteen professional and technical 

personnel, which includes registered architects, 

intern architects, drafting technicians, and 

administrative support staff. The professionals 

of the firm know and understand the specifics of 

building in Alaska. This includes complete 

familiarity with appropriate construction 

technologies that meet the sub-arctic demands 

of climate, and the seasonal constraints of 

construction logistics in the Last Frontier. 

❖ 

Above: The Denali Long-Term Care 

Facility in Fairbanks, a 65,000- 

square-foot, 90-bed facility, was given 

the 1994 “Honorable Mention Award” 

by the American Institute of 

Architects, Alaska Chapter. 

Below: The firm was also the 

architect for Randy Smith Middle 

School in Fairbanks, which was the 

1999 recipient of the Len Mackler 

Award for Educational Design 

Excellence, CEFPI. 


❖ 

BRICE, INC. 

Right: helenka Brice was the CEO of 

Brice, Inc. for more than thirty years. 

Below: L. A. Brice (left) teaches Sam 

Robert Brice some of the tricks of 

the trade. 

Brice, Inc. is a family-based construction firm 

that was founded in 1961. Brothers Sam, Al and 

Andy Brice started the company along with their 

parents, Luther and helenka. For more than 

forty years, the company has built 

infrastructures such as roads, runways, and 

harbors in rural Alaska. The company earned a 

reputation for overcoming the logistical 

challenges posed by Alaska’s vast size, harsh 

climate, and rugged topography. Recognizing 

the need for waste management and soil 

remediation nationwide, Brice Inc. formed Brice 

Environmental in 1991. 

Naïve Outsiders may view Fairbanks as the 

type of town where the men call the shots. That 

viewpoint would quickly disappear after talking 

to the Brice men at Brice Incorporated, who 

would happily give credit for their business’ 

success to the family matriarch, helenka Brice. 

As CEO of Brice, Inc. for thirty years until 

passing away in 1992, helenka insisted on 

visiting the remote sites to ensure her company 

was living up to its reputation of superior 

workmanship. She was an avid supporter 

of many community organizations, and 

Democrats and Republicans alike sought her 

savvy political advice. 

Today Brice Inc. and Brice Environmental 

Services Corporation employ about twelve 

family members, and the Brice name is one of 

the most well known in Fairbanks. The family 

takes on everything from running for political 

office to being world championship ice carvers. 

The company has numerous achievements over 

the years. The most notable is the work 

provided on the Drift River project, which was 

named one of nine Outstanding Engineering 

Achievements by the National Society of 

Professional Engineers in 1991. 

Whether recovering heavy metal 

contamination from a site in Minnesota or 

building a runway in Rural Alaska, Brice 

Environmental and Brice Inc. pride themselves on 

excellence. After all, there’s a matriarch watching 

over them who wouldn’t want it any other way. 


The military has a strong relationship with 

Fairbanks, and Jim Messer is the man community 

leaders credit with making that relationship what 

it is today. A former member of the Army Air 

Corps, Jim and his wife Rose Mary have been 

instrumental in rallying the community of 

Fairbanks to support Fort Wainwright and Eielson 

Air Force Base. His work has resulted in several 

awards, including the Distinguished Support to 

the Armed Forces Award, which was presented to 

him by General Colin Powell. 

Jim moved to Fairbanks in 1948 to work at 

Aurora Motors, with a promise to Rose Mary they 

would leave after three years. “I’m still working on 

those three years,” he says, grinning. He bought 

Aurora Motors in 1954, and he and Rose Mary 

raised eight children. Jim retired and sold the 

dealership in 1993. 

In the 1960s, the Messers began hosting 

hospitality dinners in their home to make service 

people at Ladd Field (now Fort Wainwright) and 

Eielson Air Force Base feel welcome. Others 

followed suit, and the program evolved into the 

annual Chamber of Commerce Military 

Appreciation Dinner. Messer served as chairman 

of the Chamber’s Military Affairs Committee for 

thirty-two years and is now an honorary 

chairman. Messer and his friend of nearly fifty 

years, Senator Ted Stevens, were instrumental in 

bringing the Sixth Infantry Division (Light) to 

Fairbanks. His friendship with Senator Stevens 

has played an important role in Fairbanks’ 

military accomplishments. 

Jim’s numerous awards include the national 

Outstanding Civilian Service Medal for 

outstanding service to the U.S. Army from 1961- 

’68 and the Secretary of Defense Medal for 

outstanding service to defense in the area. He has 

received the two highest civilian honors in 

Fairbanks; the Chamber of Commerce George 

Nehbras Award and the Fairbanks Daily News- 

Miner Community Service Award. Jim has been 

active in many organizations, including Rotary, 

American Legion, Fairbanks Development 

Authority, Salvation Army Board, and served two 

terms on the Fairbanks School Board. 

“He’s a great friend and a great Alaskan,” said 

Senator Stevens. “I’m proud to have known him 

all these years and to call him my friend.” 

James Messer passed away in March 2002. The 

outstanding service he provided for local military in 

Fairbanks will always be remembered. 

JIM MESSER 

❖ 

Jim Messer (second from right) and 

his wife Rose Mary (far right) have 

been instrumental in rallying the 

Fairbanks community to support 

Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air 

Force Base. 


❖ 

ALASKA 

GOLDLINE 

EXPRESS 

Aurora hunting at Aurora Mountain 

(Skiland) in December. 

The goal of Alaska Goldline Express is to be 

profitable, honest, respected and be a positive 

influence on our local economy. Customers of 

the Fairbanks Motorcoach Company, from 

national and international tour groups to local 

schools and the university, will agree that the 

company is doing just that. The company attests 

that their greatest payment is their customers 

walking away with a smile on their face. 

The company is owned by Hal and Marsha 

Heber, however, they like to say actually the 

company owns them! Hal and his family moved 

to Alaska in 1982. An IBEW electrician by trade, 

he worked up at Prudhoe Bay before getting the 

idea that he might want to enter the world of the 

self-employed. 

The opportunity arose in 1984 when Hal and 

Marsha bought a local transportation company 

and started providing transportation service for 

airline flight crews, courtesy transportation for 

local hotels, and luggage deliveries for the airlines. 

With the relationships they developed, it didn’t 

take long for the tour companies to start calling. 

Today Alaska Goldline Express is the only 

locally owned company in Interior Alaska who 

operates full-size MCI, Prevost, and Setra 

Motorcoaches. The company has 15 employees 

and contracts with tour companies around the 

world. While the majority of the business comes 

during the bustling summer tourism season, the 

company has a healthy relationship with the 

major Japanese tour groups that flock to 

Fairbanks in the wintertime. Winter also keeps 

Hal and the crew hopping with the business 

they get from the school district and visiting 

groups and sports teams. 

Being a civic-minded business, Alaska Goldline 

Express has donated to local charities and 

provided transportation for Special Olympics, 

Shriner’s Hospital, Old-timers Hockey, Fairbanks 

Food Bank, and the Alaska Peace Officers. 

“The biggest thing we’ve learned in this 

industry is you must grow or go out of 

business,” say the Hebers. With an annual 

growth of ten percent, they are doing just that. 

Throw in other positive factors such as a great 

local reputation and several repeat customers, 

it’s obvious the wheels of Alaska Goldline 

Express will keep spinning for years and years 

to come. 


TATONDUK 

OUTFITTERS 

LIMITED 

DBA 

TATONDUK 

FLYING SERVICE 

DBA 

AIR CARGO 

EXPRESS 

Tatonduk Outfitters Limited is owned and 

operated by life-long Alaskan Robert W. Everts. 

Serving Interior Alaska since 1978, the 

company is the parent corporation for Tatonduk 

Flying Service and Air Cargo Express. 

Robert’s career in aviation began while 

working for his father, Clifford R. Everts, a 35- 

year veteran of Wien Airlines and owner of 

Everts Air Fuel, Inc. Robert graduated from 

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1984 

with a B.S. in Aeronautical Science. He 

purchased Tatonduk Outfitters Limited in 1993. 

Tatonduk Flying Service was originally 

established in 1977 in the Village of Eagle. The 

first aircraft was a Cessna 180 with wheel and ski 

capabilities. In the beginning years it was a 

charter-only service, providing air transportation 

for miners, trappers, and explorers. In 1985 the 

company began scheduled service between 

Fairbanks and Eagle. Today, Tatonduk operates 

throughout Interior Alaska and the North Slope, 

with branch offices in both Fairbanks and Barrow. 

The sister company to Tatonduk is Air Cargo 

Express, and it truly reflects the spirit and 

history of aviation in Alaska. Air Cargo Express 

is an all-cargo airline operating DC-6 and C-46 

aircraft throughout Alaska. These aircraft 

were used in World War II and subsequent 

military and civilian service, and were converted 

to some of the best cargo planes ever to be flown 

in Alaska. Given the remoteness and 

inaccessibility of a majority of Alaska’s 

communities, the services Air Cargo Express 

provides are invaluable. The company provides 

affordable, scheduled air cargo transportation to 

13 communities in Alaska, including 

Anchorage, Aniak, Barrow, Bethel, Dillingham, 

Emmonak, Galena, Iliamna, McGrath, King 

Salmon, Kotzebue, Nome, St. Mary’s, and 

Unalakleet. Air Cargo Express also offers charter 

and flag-stop services, and the special handling 

of hazardous materials and oversized shipments. 

The company has made a commitment to 

continue developing its business in Interior 

Alaska and maintaining its headquarters and 

core operation in Fairbanks, rather than relocate 

as other air carriers have done. As Tatonduk 

Outfitters Limited continues to grow, future 

business opportunities will be developed that 

will enhance not only the Fairbanks economy, 

but that of the state as well. 

❖ 

Air Cargo Express is the sister 

company to Tatonduk Flying Service. 

The all-cargo airline operates C-46 

and DC-6 aircraft throughout Alaska. 

The planes are considered to be some 

of the best cargo planes ever to be 

flown in Alaska. 

COURTESY OF KEITH BURTON PHOTOGRAPHY. 


❖ 

UNWIN 

SCHEBEN 

KORYNTA 

HUETTL, INC. 

USKH has been involved in several 

key projects in the Fairbanks’ 

community, including playing a 

significant role in recent projects at 

the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 

Unwin Scheben Korynta Huettl, Inc. (USKH), 

was founded in Anchorage in 1972 by Gordon 

Unwin, as a one-man civil engineering firm. Since 

that time, USKH has expanded its disciplines 

to include architecture, transportation/traffic 

engineering, and civil engineering, land surveying, 

landscape architecture, structural engineering, 

mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, 

and hazardous materials engineering. Today, the 

employee-owned firm offers multidiscipline 

design services from its offices in Fairbanks, 

Anchorage, Juneau, and Wasilla, Alaska, and three 

new offices in the Pacific Northwest. 

USKH’s Fairbanks operation started in 1981 

and is a part of Fairbanks past, present, and 

future! Throughout the years, the firm has been 

selected to design many significant Fairbanks 

projects including: 

• West Valley High School and Auditorium 

Renovation and Addition 

• Mitchell Expressway-Airport Way to the 

Richardson Highway 

• University of Alaska Fairbanks Student 

Recreation Center 

• Parks Highway/Chena Ridge Interchange 

• Fairbanks International Airport Terminal 

Expansion 

• Fairbanks North Star Borough School District 

Prototypical Elementary Schools, including 

Badger, Anne Hopkins Wien, Robert Crawford, 

Anderson, Ladd, Ticasuk Brown, University 

Park, Arctic Light 

• University Cutler Housing (Student 

Apartment Complex) 

• 801 Housing Project, Eielson Air Force Base 

• Fairbanks North Star Borough School District 

Building (520 Fifth Avenue) 

• Alaska Department of Fish and Game Office 

Addition and Renovation 

• City of Fairbanks Block 39 Transportation 

Center (downtown parking garage) 

• Ben Eielson Junior/Senior School Renovation 

and Addition 

• University Lathrop Hall Renovation 

• Fahrenkamp and DeNardo Centers 

• Hering Auditorium Renovation 

• Carlson Center Program Development 

• Aurora GM Sales & Service Building 

• City of Fairbanks Police Station 

Projects now in the design phase include the 

Hutchison Career Center Renovation and 

Addition, and the new Joint Mobility Complex at 

Eielson Air Force Base. 

The mission of the firm and its employees is to 

provide value and quality to their clients by 

performing superior professional design and 

planning services on every project they undertake. 

USKH will be relocating its Fairbanks office in 

early 2002 to a new location downtown at 544 

Fourth Avenue in the old Nerland Building, and 

the staff is looking forward to being part of what 

is seen as a revitalization of downtown Fairbanks. 


EVERTS 

AIR FUEL 

Alaska is a place for dreamers, and for Cliff 

Everts, that dream was flying. Everts came to 

Alaska in 1943 and began his aviation career 

with Alaska Star Airlines, the predecessor to 

Alaska Airlines. Shortly afterwards he accepted 

a position with Wien Air, where he spent 35 

years and flew 30,000 hours before retiring 

in 1980. 

Long before retiring, Cliff had continued to 

pursue his aviation dream with the purchase of 

his first C-46 in 1960. In the early days he 

leased his aircraft out under Alaska Rental and 

Sales. After retiring from Wien he decided to 

take the helm himself and began running the 

operation. At the same time he also started up 

Everts Air Fuel. While Alaska Rental and Sales 

focused on equipment rental and surplus sales 

part of the business, Everts Air Fuel focused on 

Cliff’s true passion–flying the endless skies of 

the Last Frontier. 

The focus of Everts Air Fuel has been to 

provide the best possible service and the best 

price for all of their customers. From landing on 

a lake in the Brooks Range with a load of 

building materials for a lodge, to picking up a 

herd of reindeer in Nome and flying them all the 

way to Colorado, and to moving over 1.5 

million gallons of fuel into a mining operation 

after a barge’s inability to bring its last load in, 

Everts Air Fuel has always stepped up to the 

plate to be there for the customer—no matter 

how unusual the request! 

With offices in Fairbanks and Kenai, Everts 

Air Fuel currently concentrates on providing 

timely delivery of quality fuel services 

throughout Alaska. The company’s air tankers 

are equipped to carry between 2,000 to 5,000 

gallons of fuel. 

Everts Air Fuel is the epitome of the Alaskan 

dream, and its commitment to the customer and to 

Alaska remains strong. The perseverance of Cliff 

Everts has made the company what it is today. 

❖ 

COURTESY OF KEITH BURTON PHOTOGRAPHY. 


❖ 

Above: Arthur and Frances Buswell 

celebrated their fiftieth wedding 

anniversary in 1997. 


Below: The Buswell family enjoys the 

1968 holiday season at their Pedro 

Street home in Fairbanks. 

DR. ARTHUR S. BUSWELL 

Every community has a citizen that everyone 

in the town knows, and in Fairbanks, that 

citizen is Dr. Arthur Buswell. The seventy-nineyear-old 

volunteer has a list of awards and 

recognitions that could easily line the banks of 

the entire Chena River. And despite having been 

retired for more than twenty years, he remains 

extremely active in volunteering for the 

university and the community that he loves 

so dearly. 

Dr. Buswell was born on April 11, 1922, in 

Pocantico Hills, New York. He received his BS 

and MS in Horticulture from the University of 

Maine and a Ph.D. in Extension Administration 

at the University of Wisconsin. In 1951 he took 

a position as assistant professor of agriculture at 

the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. This 

began a relationship with the university that 

would span twenty years as an employee and 

continues to this day as an advocate. 

Dr. Buswell worked his way up the university 

to vice president for public service. Under Dr. 

Buswell’s leadership the university expanded its 

mining and cooperative extension programs, 

continued the growth of community colleges, 

added a Sea Grant extension program, and 

developed a public television station, to name 

a few. 

In 1971 Dr. Buswell served as president of 

the University of Maine at Machias, a position 

he held until his retirement in 1981. He 

returned to Fairbanks in 1984. 

Since his retirement, Dr. Buswell has been 

actively involved in numerous civic 

organizations, including the Rotary Club of 

Fairbanks, the Friends of the University of 

Alaska Museum, the Greater Fairbanks 

Chamber of Commerce, United Way of the 

Tanana Valley, the UA Foundation College of 

Fellows, and many others. He was recently 

awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws 

from UAF in 2001. 

Dr. Buswell has three children, Marjorie, 

Arthur, and Gregg. His wife of fifty-two years, 

Frances passed away in 1999. 

Educator. Leader. Volunteer. Family man. All 

are titles that adequately describe Dr. Buswell, a 

man that is truly one of the most distinguished 

citizens of the Golden Heart City. 


Veva Gilbert Becker is the model of a true 

Alaskan woman; a fact that she would proudly 

admit to. “Some of my favorite times have been 

spent outdoors, hunting, fishing, camping, and 

working in the yard,” said Veva. “Alaska is the 

greatest thing that ever happened to me.” 

Veva was born in Kemmerer, Wyoming in 

1925 to Guy Gilbert and Marie Nendel. She 

grew up on a farm in Kennewick, Washington 

where at a young age she developed her 

fondness for the outdoors that she would 

eventually bring with her to Alaska. 

During World War II, Veva had a variety of jobs, 

including working as a shipyard “burner” and as a 

dental assistant, a position she held for twenty 

years. A true patriot, she would write up to fifty 

letters a week to the military stationed overseas. 

In 1945 Veva married Walter Jones, with whom 

she had three children—Donald, Janet, and 

Richard. Shortly after their divorce in 1965, she 

moved to Fairbanks to join her son Donald and 

her sister and brother-in-law, Al and Alma Eades. 

In 1969 Veva married Douglas Becker, who 

had come to Alaska in 1945 with the Army. 

Douglas owned Becker’s Tractor Services, and 

Veva assisted him as expeditor and gardener. In 

their spare time they traveled throughout Alaska 

in their motorhome, camping, fishing, and 

visiting with tourists. The couple owned a cabin 

on the Salcha River, which is where Douglas’ 

ashes were spread after he passed away in 1999. 

Veva has been active with the American 

Cancer Society, the Pioneers of Alaska, 

University Community Presbyterian Church, 

BSP Sorority, and many other organizations. She 

was awarded the Alaska Outstanding Education 

Award in 1980, the Alaska First Lady’s Award in 

1981, and represented Alaska in Washington 

D.C. as volunteer of the year in 1983. Most 

recently, the Pioneers of Alaska crowned Veva 

the Queen Regent for 2001. 

Six of her seven children and many 

grandchildren and great grandchildren all 

continue to live in Alaska. “Alaska is a beautiful 

state and the ‘Alaska Flag Song’ says it all!” she 

claims. It is obvious Veva is proud to be resident 

of Fairbanks, and Fairbanks is equally proud to 

claim her as one of our great citizens. 

❖ 

VEVA 

GILBERT 

BECKER 

Above: Veva and Douglas Becker 

standing outside their home on 

Rosebud Lane. Veva still lives in the 

home today, which is filled with the 

joyful sounds of grandchildren and 

great-grandchildren on a daily basis. 

Below: The Pioneers of Alaska 

crowned Veva Queen Regent in 2001. 

Standing with her is King Regent 

Merrill Hakala. The photo was 

taken at the Felix Pedro Monument 

during the Fairbanks 2001 Golden 

Days Celebration. 


FAIRBANKS 

CONVENTION AND 

VISITORS BUREAU 

❖ 

Above: The Fairbanks Convention and 

Visitors Bureau’s historic Log Cabin 

Visitor Information Center was built 

in 1958 from white spruce and with a 

sod roof. 


Below: The “Cabin” serves as the 

regional visitor information center for 

Fairbanks and Interior Alaska and 

has for twenty-five years provided 

quality customer service and travel 

information to visitors and potential 

visitors from around the world. 

COURTESY OF PATRICK J. ENDRES, 

ALASKAPHOTOGRAPHICS. 

One does not have to look too far to find 

evidence of the successful impact that the 

Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau 

(FCVB) has on Interior Alaska’s economy. 

Whether it be a recreational vehicle en-route to 

Denali National Park in the summer, out-of-town 

attendees at an annual springtime convention, a 

fall foliage flightseeing tour over the Arctic Circle, 

or Japanese visitors gazing at the aurora in the 

winter, chances are they—and the hundreds of 

thousands of visitors who come annually to 

Interior Alaska—did so because the efforts of the 

FCVB and its members. 

In 1977 local visitor industry businesses led 

efforts to start an organization responsible for the 

direct marketing of Fairbanks as a visitor 

destination. After their successful initiative of 

forming the FCVB, the Bureau purchased the Log 

Cabin on downtown riverfront property from the 

Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce. A 

community icon, the FCVB Log Cabin Visitor 

Information Center has hosted up to 108,000 

visitors per year. 

Two years later, visitor industry businesses 

together with the then Mayor William R. Wood 

and supportive members of the Fairbanks City 

Council secured a tax on lodging rooms. The 

primary intent of that tax was—and continues to 

be today—to reinvest the dollars collected into 

marketing via the FCVB. This action allows 

Fairbanks to greatly heighten its visibility in the 

fiercely competitive destination arena. Within its 

mission statement “to contribute to the economic 

well-being of the Fairbanks area by marketing to 

potential visitors,” the Bureau also positions 

Fairbanks as the gateway for Denali, the Interior 

and the Arctic. 

Today, the professionally staffed FCVB leads 

more than 450 members and an annual budget of 

more than $1.7 million, making it the second 

largest bureau in Alaska. Marketing efforts are 

focused not only on independent visitors, but also 

on tour groups, travel agents, meeting planners 

and travel media from around the world. 

Celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary in 

2002, forward-thinking Bureau members and 

staff have developed a long-term strategic plan 

that will help ensure the positioning of the 

Fairbanks area as an authentic, year-round 

Alaskan visitor destination. 


Wells Fargo’s commitment to outstanding 

sales and service goes back to 1852, when 

Henry Wells and William Fargo founded Wells 

Fargo & Company to provide banking and 

express service to frontier miners, merchants, 

and farmers. In Alaska, gold was plentiful but 

banking services scarce. Wells Fargo & 

Company’s express service helped solve the 

problem in dozens of communities by 

transporting gold and offering basic financial 

services such as money orders, travelers’ checks, 

and transfer of funds by telegraph. 

In 1883 Wells Fargo opened temporary 

seasonal offices in Sitka, Wrangell and 

Harrisburg (Juneau). Wells Fargo sent gold, 

mail, and express shipments by the fastest 

means possible: stagecoach, steamer, and 

railroad. Alaskan conditions required alternate 

forms of transportation—dogsleds and horsedrawn 

sled stages. In addition to gold, Wells 

Fargo carried other Alaskan goods and brought 

in fresh fruit from Mexico and California. 

In 1911 Wells Fargo expanded into thirtytwo 

Alaska communities, including Fairbanks, 

Bettles, Tanana, Rampart, Fort Yukon, Eagle, 

and Ruby. The Orr Stage Company carried Wells 

Fargo express shipments from Tanana to 

Fairbanks and the Chitina rail depot twice a 

month. In 1918 the federal government took 

over Wells Fargo’s express operations as a 

wartime measure, and Wells Fargo signs 

disappeared in Fairbanks and throughout 

Alaska, not to return until the next millennium. 

About the same time, a new name in Alaska 

banking emerged, when the Bank of Alaska 

opened in Skagway in 1916. In 1918 E.A. 

Rasmuson took the helm and became bank 

president the following year. The Rasmuson family 

guided the bank over the next eight decades, 

becoming Alaska’s largest financial institution. In 

1950 Bank of Alaska took on a national charter as 

National Bank of Alaska (NBA). After North Slope 

oil discoveries transformed Alaska’s economy, NBA 

opened a new branch in Fairbanks in 1969 and 

additional interior offices in Glennallen (1963), 

North Pole (1985), and Delta (1987). 

By 1999 National Bank of Alaska remained 

the state’s largest bank with $3 billion in assets 

and fifty-four branches. The following year, 

National Bancorp of Alaska joined with Wells 

Fargo & Company, returning the famous Wells 

Fargo name once again to The Last Frontier. 

❖ 

WELLS 

FARGO 

BANK 

ALASKA 

Above: The Messenger, magazine of 

Wells Fargo & Co.’s Express. 

Below: Wells Fargo office in Tanana, 

Alaska, 1916. 


FAIRBANKS 

CONCERT 

ASSOCIATION 

❖ 

Above: Audience anticipates a 

performance by vocalist Carol 

Brice on October 17, 1948, at the 

Empress Theatre. 

Below: The Peking Acrobats 

performed in April 1999 as 

part of the FCA’s fiftieth 

anniversary celebration. 

To the Outside world, Fairbanks may at first 

glance seem to be a rustic town where entertainment 

exists only for outdoor enthusiasts. 

Those who proudly live here year-round know 

better. The Golden Heart City is a true arts and 

entertainment Mecca. And no organization has 

played a bigger role in the creation of that Mecca 

than the Fairbanks Concert Association. 

The oldest arts association in Interior Alaska got 

its start in 1947, with the first concerts held in the 

Empress Theater on Second Avenue. The local 

chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority sponsored 

concerts that first year. The following year 

members of the Soroptimists International and the 

American Association of University Women joined 

in to form the Fairbanks Concert Association. 

As it does today, the Fairbanks Concert 

Association filled an important role in the lives of 

Interior Alaskans. The dark and cold days of winter 

didn’t seem as bad when one could be treated to a 

live performance by the likes of Isaac Stern, the 

Chicago Symphony, or the Martha Graham Dance 

Company. The performers that FCA has brought to 

Fairbanks have helped nourish the hearts and lives 

of the community and provide them with 

memories that would last a lifetime. 

Bringing world-famous artists to Fairbanks has 

never been an easy task because of the cost and 

travel logistics. However, many artists gladly add 

Alaska on their tours because of its exotic appeal 

and hospitality. The concert association board 

members have traditionally entertained the 

performers in private homes during their visit, as 

well as being personal escorts. This treatment has 

made Fairbanks a personal favorite among many 

of the performers who have been here in the past. 

FCA strives not just to entertain the community, 

but to educate as well. Ever since the 1950s, many 

of the artists who come to Fairbanks conduct 

workshops and performances at the schools, giving 

students a rare opportunity to interact one-on-one 

with some of the world’s most gifted performers. 

Entering its fifty-fifth season, the association 

is showing no signs of slowing down, and looks 

to continue to dazzle Fairbanks audiences for 

years to come. 


ALASKA 

RAILROAD 

The Alaska Railroad has rightfully earned its 

place alongside the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline 

and the Alaska-Canadian Highway as being one 

of the most important developments that has 

helped make the state what it is today. The 470- 

mile railway provides year-round passenger and 

freight service between Fairbanks and Seward, 

traveling through some of the most beautiful 

country in the world. 

Created by Congress in 1914, North America’s 

last full-service railroad began construction in 

1915. The construction led to the establishment 

of the work camp of Anchorage, which today is 

Alaska’s largest city. Completion was 

commemorated in 1923 when President Warren 

G. Harding drove the “golden spike” at Nenana. 

As Alaska grew, so did usage of the railroad. 

The need to haul military supplies during World 

War II led to the creation of two tunnels built 

through the Chugach Mountains to allow rail 

access from the port Port of Whittier, a military 

fuel depot necessary to the war effort. 

The federal government sold the railroad to 

the State of Alaska in 1985 for $22.3 million. The 

self-sustaining, state-owned independent 

corporation is now valued at over $113 million. 

The railroad transports more than 500,000 

passengers a year, from out-of-state visitors to 

rural residents who ride the “flag-stop” trains to 

their Railbelt homes. 

Major freight commodities include coal that 

powers both the Interior and South Korea, fuel 

that keeps Alaska’s burgeoning aviation industry 

flying, pipe and other supplies for Alaska’s oil 

industry, and gravel for construction. 

The Alaska Railroad employs about 650 

people year year-round and 850 during the busy 

summer season. The corporation remains 

heavily involved in the state it serves, including 

education of Alaska’s youth, and donates time, 

resources and services to many organizations 

along the Railbelt. 

Looking to the future, the railroad continues 

to reinvest its net earnings in making 

improvements to its infrastructure and railbarge 

service in an effort to reduce wear, 

increase safety and decrease run times. These 

steps will allow the railroad to better serve 

current customers and attract new ones, as well 

as allowing them to stay on the right track 

to success. 

❖ 

Above: A train in Seward prepares to 

make the journey north to Fairbanks 

on a beautiful fall day. 

Below: Construction of the bridge over 

Hurricane Gulch. 


A TOUCH OF GOLD 

❖ 

Above: Sisters and A Touch of Gold 

owners Emily Proper (left) and Mary 

Reece (right) at work. 

Right: Emily Proper works on a 

natural gold nugget. 

“There’s gold in them hills!” was the cry that 

brought scores of hearty pioneers to Fairbanks 

in the early 1900s. Well, there’s still gold in the 

Tanana Valley today, but you don’t have to have 

a gold pan or pick axe to find it. Those who are 

less hearty than the miners of yesteryear can 

find plenty of gold—and more—at A Touch of 

Gold, a locally owned custom jewelry store. 

The store was founded in 1981 by Bari and 

Loren (Shorty) Hite, married miners who ran a 

mining operation in Circle Mining District, 125 

miles northeast of Fairbanks. After Bari started 

taking courses in metalsmithing at the 

University of Alaska Fairbanks and at an 

Outside college, they decided to venture into 

jewelry sales. They operated out of the back of 

their house for many years and traveled around 

the west selling their nugget jewelry at trade 

shows and craft fairs. In 1987 they opened up a 

shop in the Bentley Mall and it wasn’t long 

before they were one of the mall’s most 

successful businesses. 

A Touch of Gold is now located on 2034 

Airport Way. The Hites sold the business 

to fellow jeweler Mary Reece and her husband 

Andrew in 1997. The store specializes in 

custom design and gold nugget jewelry, and has 

a high repeat customer base that has helped give 

the store a twenty percent increase in sales 

each year. 

Mary’s sister Emily Proper is also a jeweler 

at the store and together they plan on a 

long investment in the community. That’s 

been evident not just in their business 

philosophy, but also in their social 

contributions. In 1999 they founded a local 

organization called GODDESSES that raises 

money for several charities such as the Cancer 

Center and Love Inc. 

While others might see selling jewelry as just 

another job, Mary views it as being more than 

that. “When people come into the store we work 

very hard to become familiar with their wants 

and needs and take great care to respect the 

emotions attached to purchasing such an 

emotional keepsake,” said Mary. That’s a great 

philosophy for a store that gives new meaning to 

the “Golden Heart” in the Golden Heart City. 


Professional pride isn’t just an idea at Hector’s 

Welding—it’s a tradition. Since 1956 the North 

Pole company’s team of fabrication professionals 

has provided fast, quality services, maintained 

the highest standards of design and fabrication, 

and employs the finest craftsmen in the industry 

to serve its customers. 

Pioneer Alaskans Hector and Jeannette 

Therriault started the business. Hector came 

to Fairbanks in 1948, and 

worked for various contractors 

on many large-scale projects in 

the area, including projects at 

both Ladd Field (now Fort 

Wainwright) and Eielson Air 

Force Base and the paving of 

the Richardson Highway. 

Hector started Hector’s 

Welding in 1956 on a part-time 

basis as a means to support his 

family during the long winter 

months when construction 

projects came to a stand 

still. The company did well, 

and in 1969 it became a fulltime 

business. 

The construction of the 

Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline in 

the 1970s brought a lot of 

business to Hector and his 

employees. They maintained 

the trailers that hauled the 

pipe, a major job given that the 

pipeline is eight hundred miles 

long! Hector’s also built many 

of the sluice boxes used by 

miners during the mining rush 

in the 1980s. 

In 1982 Hector and 

Jeannette incorporated Hector’s 

Welding as a family business, 

and moved to a larger shop the 

following summer. Though 

Hector is now retired, Jeannette 

and other family members 

continue to operate the 

business today. One of the 

largest steel suppliers in 

Interior Alaska, the company 

specializes in steel fabrication, 

heavy equipment repair, steel 

sales, and walk-in business. The company 

is involved in community organizations 

such as United Way, North Pole Chamber of 

Commerce, HIPOW, and local school and 

church organizations. 

With its fiftieth anniversary right around the 

corner, Hector’s Welding continues to forge 

ahead, committed to helping build a better 

Alaska for all to enjoy. 

❖ 

HECTOR’S 

WELDING 

Hector Therriault started Hector’s 

Welding in 1956. Now retired, his 

wife Jeannette and other family 

members operate the business today. 


❖ 

KJNP 

Above: KJNP went on the air October 

11, 1967, with the goal of spreading 

the gospel to rural Alaskan villages. 

Pictured on that historical day are 

station founders Don and Gen Nelson. 

Below: The KJNP studio in North Pole 

is a famous visitor attraction because 

of its Alaskan motif. Viewed from the 

air, the log studio forms the shape of 

a cross. 

People outside may know 

North Pole as being home to 

Santa Claus, but for the residents 

of Interior Alaska, the true 

shining star of the community is 

KJNP AM/FM/TV, the “Gospel 

station at the top of the nation.” 

Don and Gen Nelson, who 

first came to the Last Frontier in 

1956 to start a ministry in 

Steven’s Village, established the 

station in 1967. Don, a pilot, 

wanted to find a way to help 

spread the gospel to rural 

Alaskan villages, and radio— 

rather than plane—seemed to 

be the most convenient way to 

do it. 

The station broadcasts a 

variety of programming, 

including Christian programs 

and music, world, state and 

local news, live talk shows, and 

public service announcements. 

One of the station’s more 

popular programs is “Trapline 

Chatter,” which allows residents 

throughout Interior Alaska to 

send messages to friends and 

relatives in outlying areas. The 

station expanded to include FM 

in 1977, and in 1981 KJNP-TV 

first went on the air. 

While the Nelsons—Don 

passed away in 1997—are the 

founders, three others have 

assisted them since the station’s 

early beginnings. Yvonne 

Carriker and Dick and Beverly 

Olson have been with KJNP 

since it first went on the air and, 

along with Gen, provide it with 

its leadership today. 

The main studio and AM tower are located 

off of Mission Road in North Pole on property 

that was donated by David Ainley. The station, 

which is built out of logs with a sod roof, has 

become a famous visitor attraction because of 

its’ genuine Alaskan motif. Even more unique is 

the view of the building from the air, where it 

forms the shape of a cross. 

KJNP continues to grow with the addition of 

six translators in various parts of Alaska, and a 

stand-alone station at Houston, AK. KJNP is 

looking to change from analog to digital radio. 

While the way KJNP delivers the message may 

change, the message itself—the Good News of 

Jesus Christ—will always remain the same. 

Missionary Don Nelson would want it that way. 


ANIMAL HOUSE 

VETERINARY 

CLINIC 

AND 

NOAH’S ARK 

Most businesses would rather avoid going to 

the dogs, but when you’re a veterinary clinic and 

kennel, it’s your ultimate goal. Noah’s Ark and 

Animal House Veterinary Clinic have not only 

gone to the dogs over the years, but to numerous 

other animals that have been brought there by 

owners wanting their four-legged loved ones to 

receive the very best care. 

“Dr. Dee” Thornell is the owner of the two 

businesses. The energetic veterinarian came to 

Fairbanks with her boyfriend in 1982 to deliver 

a horse. The boyfriend left, but Dr. Dee and the 

horse didn’t, and she’s been here ever since. 

Her first clinic was a traveling one, operating out 

of the back of a pickup truck and doing business 

locally as well as in Healy, Central, and Delta 

Junction. In 1985 she parked the truck and rented 

part of the Kobuk Fuel and Feed Company on 

Peger Road, and in 1996 she renovated and moved 

into her current location in the old Airport 

Equipment Building. The eleven-thousand-squarefoot 

facility houses not only both businesses, but 

also Dr. Dee and her son Jesse, making her daily 

commute to work an enviously short one! 

In addition to expanding her facility, she’s also 

expanded her offerings. Between the two 

businesses, Dr. Dee and her staff of twenty-five 

offer veterinary services, boarding, dog training, 

grooming and retail pet supplies. Perhaps one of 

the most important components of the business is 

education. Dr. Dee is a tremendous supporter of 

4H and FFA, and spends more than twenty hours 

a week working with local youth groups. The 

clinic’s Forget-Me-Not Farm serves as a horse 

leasing, turkey fattening, and steer wrestling 

facility for the 4H children who don’t have space 

for their projects at home. 

Dr. Dee has had numerous career highlights 

over the years, from working on her first elephant 

to having a dog named after her. A 1996 Miss 

Alaska bodybuilding champion, she’s proven 

herself to be a strong businessperson in more 

ways than one. She and her staff have a genuine 

love for their business and for all the pets that 

come through their door. Chances are, they would 

bark, meow, and whinny in agreement. 

❖ 

Above: Being a veterinary wildlife 

rehabilitator means eating, playing 

and sleeping with the orphaned moose 

calves. “Musetta” (Latin for music), 

earned her name because of the 

musical cooing sound she made when 

“Jesse,” the doctor’s son, or Dr. Dee 

were out of sight. (Musetta is 

currently in Washington participating 

in a moose nutrition study.) 

Below: Prism, the clinic cat since it 

opened in 1984, earned the 

responsibility of ridding the doctor’s 

desk of paperwork in her attempt to 

find a cool place to sleep. If she 

doesn’t push it off, she just sits on it. 


❖ 

MILITARY AND 

CIVILIAN 

FEDERAL 

CREDIT UNION 

FORMERLY 

FORT 

WAINWRIGHT 

FEDERAL 

CREDIT UNION 

Above: Fort Wainwright Federal 

Credit Union, now known as Military 

and Civilian Federal Credit Union, 

celebrated its fiftieth anniversary 

in 2002. 

Below: The credit union provides 

outstanding financial services to the 

soldiers and their families at Fort 

Wainwright as well as civilians in the 

Fairbanks area. 

With a history predating Alaska’s statehood, 

Military and Civilian Federal Credit Union 

formerly Fort Wainwright Federal Credit Union 

was organized on September 26, 1952. The 

credit union began when federal employees in 

Interior Alaska attempted to unionize and 

decided to organize a credit union for the 

benefit of all government employees in the 

Fairbanks area. The original name of the 

organization was Tanana Valley Federal Credit 

Union. Membership consisted of anyone 

working for the federal territorial or city 

government within 100 miles of Fairbanks. 

In 1957 the membership was opened to 

active duty military and their families, which 

became a significant portion of the Fairbanks 

community after World War II. Wanting to 

provide better access for its military customers, 

the credit union moved onto Ladd Air Force 

Base in 1960, one year before the base became 

Fort Wainwright. After the base change, 

membership was changed again, this time 

limiting it to the soldiers, families, and federal 

employees of Fort Wainwright. The credit union 

changed its name to Fort Wainwright Federal 

Credit Union in 1965. 

But Fairbanks is a community of change, and 

as the community changed, so did the credit 

union’s membership. Over the years the charter 

went on to include anyone working, living or 

affiliated with Fort Wainwright, the Bureau of 

Land Management, the Association of the 

United States Army (AUSA), and relatives of 

primary members. These changes have allowed 

the credit union to become one of the more 

successful ones in Interior Alaska, with assets of 

over $36 million and a staff of 25 fulltime 

employees. Today, Billie M. Blanchard, who has 

been president and CEO since April 1999, 

manages the credit union. In 2002, the year of 

its fiftieth anniversary, the name was changed to 

Military and Civilian Federal Credit Union. 

In addition to providing outstanding 

financial services to the soldiers and their 

families at Fort Wainwright, the credit union 

provides services to others in the surrounding 

communities, playing an active role in the 

Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce 

Military Affairs Committee, Armed Services 

YMCA, the Association of the United States 

Army, the Alaska Credit Union League and the 

United Way of the Tanana Valley. 


Mix in the luck of the Irish with a hardworking 

Alaskan spirit and it’s easy to see why 

Mike Shields has had such a successful career in 

Fairbanks. 

Born and raised in Ireland, Shields’ dream of 

coming to the United States began when he was 

a child in a one-room schoolhouse, enraptured 

with a teacher’s tales of Alaskan gold strikes. In 

1953, at the age of twenty-one, he left the family 

farm and started his journey. Traveling through 

London and Toronto, Shields worked for a time 

in each of the cities. By 1960 he and a friend 

owned a gas station and repair shop in Seattle. 

A man selling sewing machines, who had just 

come back from Fairbanks, stopped by the 

business and told Shields he’d sold every one of 

the five hundred machines he’d brought up with 

him. Between the man’s “streets paved with 

gold” yarn and the teacher’s stories he had never 

forgotten, Shields’ interest was piqued 

sufficiently enough to adventure north to 

Fairbanks. He’s lived there ever since. 

His first job in Fairbanks was with Noble 

Street Motors, first as a mechanic then as a 

salesman. He worked there until 1967, when 

he moved to Gene’s Chrysler. Shields was a 

talented salesperson and thanks to the influx of 

customers during the rich pipeline years, he 

was able to save enough money to start his 

own business in 1978. That business was 

Shields Truck and Car Sales, which would 

later become his current business, Shields 

Rental Center. He also owned and operated 

Rainbow Rent-A-Car for fourteen years and in 

1995, opened up McKinley Motors with his 

son, Kevin. 

These days, Mike Shields spends most of his 

time at the rental shop. Located near the Birch 

Hill Recreation Area, the shop rents tools and 

equipment to everyone from professional 

contractors to the weekend handyman. His 

employees are some of the same people who 

worked with him at Gene’s Chrysler. He’s been 

considered a fair employer by all except his 

children about whom he likes to tell jokes about 

the time they went on strike while washing cars 

for him. 

Mike has been married to his wife Ellen, a 

local writer, artist, and photographer, for thirtyseven 

years. The couple has three children, 

Kevin, Karen, and Mary, all of whom have made 

their home in Fairbanks. Kevin manages 

McKinley Motors, Karen is a teacher with the 

school district, and Mary works for the 

University of Alaska. 

Mike occasionally makes trips back to 

Ireland to visit his brothers, sisters, and the 

same century-old stone farmhouse and verdant 

pastures he spent so much time in as a child. He 

usually makes a stopover in Manchester, 

England where he visits his brother and sisters 

who no longer reside in Ireland. Although he 

maintains a fondness for the lush, green fields of 

his birthplace, he is clearly content with his 

decision to make Fairbanks his home. Mike has 

always said that Alaska has been good to him 

and he, in turn, has been good to Alaska. 

❖ 

SHIELDS 

RENTAL 

CENTER 

Mike Shields, founder of Shields Truck 

and Car Sales in 1978, which would 

later become his current business, 

Shields Rental Center. 



NORTHERN 

TRUCK CENTER 

If there is one product that Fairbanks has 

always relied on to keep its economical wheels 

turning, it’s heavy-duty trucks. Projects such as 

the pipeline and the Alaska Highway wouldn’t 

have gone far without the aid of diesel giants to 

haul equipment, supplies, and construction 

materials. Just as important as the trucks are the 

people to keep them running. That responsibility 

falls on the shoulders of skilled companies such 

as Vinton, Inc. DBA Northern Truck Center. 

Northern Truck Center (NTC) was founded 

in 1983 by Malcolm “Mac” McKinney as M&B 

Repair. Its primary purpose at the time was to 

provide repair and maintenance for Lynden 

Transport. Willard Vinton, who came to work 

for Mac in 1988, bought the company in 1995, 

and in 1997 changed the name to Northern 

Truck Center. 

At the time of sale Lynden still accounted for 

seventy-five percent of the company’s business. 

A savvy businessman, Willard expanded the 

business to include repair and sales of Peterbilt 

Trucks, Onan Generators, and Cummins and 

CAT Engines. Those changes resulted in a three 

hundred percent increase in gross income and a 

solid customer base of over two hundred 

companies in just a few short years. 

Since 1995 NTC has more than quadrupled 

its facility space and has grown from four to 

twelve highly experienced and dedicated 

employees. One of these employees’s, Dale Hart, 

has been with the company since its original 

inception. Willard’s son, Brian, worked for the 

company while he was in high school and is 

now one of the top generator repairmen and 

troubleshooters in the state. 

Willard now acts as CEO of the company, 

actively guiding it into the twenty-first century. 

Wilma, his wife of thirty-two years, is the CFO, 

using her computer skills to make sure that 

NTC stays current in today’s high-tech market. 

Willy and Wilma know that it’s just as 

important to keep the wheels of our children 

moving, as it is the wheels of trucks. NTC 

focuses its charitable activities on Fairbanks 

youth, sponsoring sports teams and 

scholarships and providing donations to 

numerous other groups. 


A 

Adams, Charles, 5-6 

Agnew, Spiro, 49 

Akasofu, Syun-Ichi, 55 

Alaska ’67 Exposition, 44-45 

Alaska Agricultural College and School of 

Mines, 18-19 

Alaska Goldpanners, 56 

Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act, 

48 

Alaska Railroad, 14-16, 18-19, 21, 24, 35 

Alaska Tent and Tarp, 49 

Alaska Water Pollution Control Board, 35 

Alaskaland, 27, 44-45 

Alaskan Independence Party, 56 

Aleutian Islands, 28 

American Social Hygiene Association, 39 

Anchorage, 13, 22, 24, 26, 32, 34, 36 

Andrews, Vicki, 50 

Arcade, The, 11 

Arctic Boy, 5 

Arctic Park, 36 

Arnold, Henry “Hap”, 25-26 

Attu, 28 

Austin E. Lathrop High School, 23, 43-45, 50 

B 

Ballaine Lake, 31 

Bank of Fairbanks, 22 

Barnes, Sam, 54 

Barnette Elementary School, 14 

Barnette, Elbridge Truman “E. T.”, 5-9 

Barnette, Isabelle, 9 

Barr, Frank, 41 

Barrow, 24 

Bartlett, Edward Lewis “Bob”, 13 

Big Dipper Ice Arena, 55 

Big Ray’s, 49 

Birch Hill, 44, 48 

Birch Park, 36 

Bloom, Jessie, 15, 16 

Blue Crystal Well, 13 

Boys and Girls Club of the Tanana Valley, 56 

Bradford, Elizabeth Ann Crites, 32 

Brewington, Darrell, 44 

Bronaugh, Dave, 33 

Bunnell, Charles, 19, 20, 22, 55 

Burnett, Wally, 44 

Butrovich, John, 56 

C 

Carlo, Lucy, 49 

Carlson, Steve, 54 

Carlson Center Arena, 51 

Carpenter, Frank, 14 

INDEX 

Cash, Mary, 27 

Champlin, Mary 39 

Charlie, Melvin, 49 

Chatanika River, 21 

Chavchavadze, David, 31 

Chena, 8 

Chena Bank, 54 

Chena Pump House, 21 

Chena River, 5-8, 10-11, 13, 18, 20-21, 

25, 35, 44-45, 51, 53-55, 57 

Chena Slough, 5 

Clark, John, 12 

Clay Street Cemetery, 54, 56 

Clayton, George, 33 

Cleary Creek, 7, 21 

Cleary, Frank, 7 

Coghill, Jack, 42 

College Hill, 31 

Collins, E. B., 41 

Condit, Ruth, 11 

Connage, Don, 43 

Cooley, Richard, 33 

Cooper’s Hardware, 31 

Cordova, 22 

Cripple Creek, 22 

Cushman Street Bridge, 10, 33-36 

D 

Davidson Ditch, 21 

Davidson, James, 21 

Davis, Mary Lee, 53 

Dementi, Jean, 50 

Denali Center, 56 

Denali Elementary School, 34, 46 

Deyo, Margaret, 20 

Dimond, Anthony, 25 

Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, 50 

Dixon, Gary, 43 

Dixon Apartments, 36 

Doogan, Jim, 42 

Douglas, 13 

Doyon Ltd., 48 

Dutch Harbor, 28 

Eagle, 5 

East Lathrop High School, 50 

Eidem, Nick, 38 

Eielson Air Force Base, 32-34, 43, 51 

Eielson, Carl “Ben”, 19, 23 

Eiseman, Nicky, 50 

Eisenhower, Dwight, 42, 43 

Empress Theater, 22 

English, Bill, 33 

Ester, 10, 21, 38 

Eveland, Ernie, 43 

E 

F 

Fairbanks Commercial Club, 16, 56 

Fairbanks Community Food Bank, 54 

Fairbanks Creek, 21 

Fairbanks Curling Club, 34 

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 18, 22, 28, 39, 

42, 54 

Fairbanks Exploration Co., 19, 20, 21, 34 

Fairbanks Hotel, 8, 39 

Fairbanks Housing Association, 40 

Fairbanks International Airport, 33, 43 

Fairbanks Lawn Tennis Club, 16 

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, 46 

Fairbanks News, 9 

Fairbanks News-Miner, 12, 15, 16 

Fairbanks Public School, 9 

Fairbanks Rescue Mission, 54 

Fairbanks, Charles Warren, 7, 8 

Fairview Manor, 36 

Farmer’s Loop, 38, 46 

First Presbyterian Church, 39 

Fitzgerald, Zachary, 55 

Flaharty, Dick, 54 

Flaharty, Tyson, 54 

Foodland Banstand, 43 

Ford, Hulda, 54 

Fort Knox Gold Mine, 51 

Fort Wainwright, 43, 51-52 

Fortier, Ed, 31 

Fourth Division Drys, 16 

Fox, 48 

Franck, Harry, 21 

Frank, Patrick, 49 

G 

Gaffney, Dale, 27, 36, 40 

Garden Island, 18 

Gavora, Paul, 54 

Geoghegan, Richard, 27 

Gillanders, Kenneth, 35 

Gillepsie, Virgil, 54 

Golden Valley Electric Association, 38 

Goldstream Creek, 21 

Goodpaster River, 56 

Great Depression, 21 

Great Fire of 1906, 12 

Greimann, Paul, 35 

Griffin Park, 38 

Gromyko, Andrei, 31 

Gruening, Ernest, 46 

H 

Hajdukovich, John, 50-51 

Hamilton Apartments, 36 

Harding Lake, 18, 34 


Harding, Warren G., 18 

Haselberger, Jim, 54 

Hayes, Jim, 43 

Hering, Tom, 13, 57 

Hickel, Walter, 38 

Hiebert, Augie, 31 

Hilscher, Herb, 38 

Holmberg, Ernest, 49 

Hughes, Howard, 24 

Humphrey, Hubert, 44 

Hunter, Celia, 54 

Huntington, Jimmy, 49 

Hutchison, James T., 56 

I 

Immaculate Conception Church, 18 

International Hotel, 27 

Island Homes, 36 

J 

Jessen’s Weekly, 38, 42, 44 

John Paul II, 50-51 

Jordan, George, 29 

Juneau, 13 

K 

Ketchikan, 13 

KFAR, 22, 25, 27, 31, 43, 46 

Kiska, 28 

Koponen, Joan, 43 

Korlitz, Henry, 5 

Kornfiend, Julius “Korny”, 20 

L 

Lacey Street Theater, 22, 25 

Ladd Field, 25, 27-29, 32-33, 40, 43 

Ladd, Arthur, 26 

Lathrop Building, 22, 32, 39 

Lathrop, Austin E. “Cap”, 19-20, 22-23, 

25, 32 

Lavelle Young, 5, 6 

Lewis, Larry, 43 

Loud, Tyler, 55 

M 

Mackin, Gene, 54 

Main School, 56 

Maitlen, Dave, 55 

McCoy, Grant, 42 

McGown, Eva, 35, 56 

McGrath, 23 

McGuigan, Frank, 51 

Merdes, Ed, 42 

Midnight Sun Run, 57 

Mitchell, Greg, 43 

Mocha Cafe, 15 

Monroe, Francis, 54 

Mr. Alaska, 38 

Murkowski, Frank, 51 

Musjerd, Fred, 13 

N 

Nenana, 18, 42, 44, 55 

Nerland, Leslie, 23, 24, 41 

New York Times, 36 

Noel Wien Library, 50 

Nome, 13 

Nordale Elementary School, 34 

Nordale Hotel, 29, 56 

Nordale, A. H., 32 

Nordale, LaDessa, 42 

Northern Commercial Co., 9, 12, 14, 20, 

30, 58 

Northward Building, 36 

O 

O’Neill, William, 34 

Operation Versus-Vice, 40 

Otis, Buzz, 54 

Outlet Clothing Co., 12 

P 

Pan American Airlines, 43 

Parker, Pegge, 32 

Patty Center, 51 

Pederson, Kay, 33 

Pedro Creek, 7 

Pedro, Felix, 6-8, 39, 53, 57 

Pedroni, Felice see Pedro, Felix 

Peger, Ruth, 46 

Phillips, Brian, 54 

Pioneer Park, 27, 44-45 

Pioneers of Alaska, 22-23, 34, 53 

Polaris Building, 36 

Post, Wiley, 24 

Pratt, Dick 14 

Prudhoe Bay, 47-48 

Punton, Ron, 43 

Queens Court, 36 

Q 

R 

Rabinowitz Courthouse, 51 

Rasmussen, Mable, 56 

Ray, Hez, 55 

Reader’s Digest, 56 

Reagan, Ronald, 51-52 

Reinhard, Julie, 50 

Rhoden, Henry, 53 

Richards, Isabel Eagan, 21 

Robe, Cecil, 7 

Roberts, Bonnie, 51 

Rogers, George, 43 

Roosevelt, Franklin D., 20 

Sackett, John, 49 

S 

Salchaket Lake, 18 

Sam, Ronald, 49 

Samson Hardware, 18 

Sandberg, Ray, 54 

Scandinavian Airlines System, 34 

Scanlan, Mike, 43 

Seward, 18, 20 

Seward Peninsula, 33 

Shaw Hotel, 17 

Shere, Marita, 42 

Sherman, Irene, 46, 56 

Sisters of Charity of Providence, 46 

Sitka, 32 

Sixth Infantry Division (Light), 52 

Smith, Donald, 40 

Smith, Maury, 38 

Snedden, C. W., 42 

Solomon, Jonathan, 49 

Sparling, Virginia Verle, 32 

SpringHill Suites Marriott Hotel, 49, 51 

St. Joseph’s Hospital, 45, 46 

St. Michael, 14 

Steele Creek, 38 

Stenberg, John Paul, 54 

Stephens, Alvin, 43 

Stines, Norman, 19, 20 

Stone, Rod, 43 

Strom, Ralph, 21 

Sundborg, George, Jr., 46, 50-51 

Swarner, Romar, 43 

T 

Tanacross, 55 

Tanana Chiefs Conference, 48-49 

Tanana Crossing, 5 

Tanana Restaurant, 8 

Tanana River, 5, 7 

Tanana Valley Fair, 14 

Tanana Valley Railroad, 9, 11, 27 

Tanana Valley Sportsmen's Association, 34 

Tanana Valley State Fair, 54 

Taylor, Warren, 41 

Thies, Don, 38 

This is Your Life, 56 

Thompson, W. F., 12, 14, 16, 18, 54 

Tokio Restaurant, 8 

Trainor, Marcia, 50 

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, 47-48 

Traveler’s Inn, 38 

Tremarello, Joe, 43 

Trina and the Triceratops, 50 

U 

University of Alaska, 22, 46 

University of Alaska Fairbanks, 19, 22, 31- 

32, 41-43, 45, 50-53, 55-56 

V 

Valdez, 5, 14, 16, 19, 47, 48 


Vigna, Pietro, 23 

Vogler, Joe, 35, 56 

W 

Wada, Jujiro, 7 

Wainwright, Jonathan M., 43 

Wallace, Henry, 31 

Walley, Bill, 43, 46 

Wallis, Tim, 49 

Washington-Alaska Bank, 7 

Washington-Alaska Bank Building, 12 

Wear, Gordon, 54 

Weeks Field, 24, 25, 36 

Wells, Cecil, 35 

Wendell Street Bridge, 10, 35, 43 

West Lathrop High School, 50 

Whelan, Robert, 52 

Whisenhant, Jim, 44 

White, Mary, 14, 22 

White, Sam O., 14, 56 

Wickersham, James, 7-9, 17-18, 22 

Wien, Noel, 19, 24, 55 

Wilken, Gary, 43 

Wilson, Carl, 22 

Wise, Dennis, 54 

Wood, William R., 46, 55 

World War I, 15, 17-19 

World War II, 15-16, 20, 24-29, 44, 50 

Yukon River, 5 

Y 

Index ✦ 127

SPONSORS 

A Touch of Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 

Alaska Accounting & The Snack Shack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 

Alaska Goldline Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 

Alaska Railroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 

Alaska USA Federal Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 

American Mechanical, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 

Animal House Veterinary Clinic and Noah’s Ark . . . . . . . . 121 

AT&T Alascom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 72 

Veva Gilbert Becker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 

Dr. James Beckley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 

The Beistline-Hering Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 

Brice, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 

Bridgewater Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 

Dr. Arthur S. Buswell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 

Cache R Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 

Charles Bettisworth & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 

Chena Hot Springs Resort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 

Cook, Schulman & Groseclose, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 

Denali State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 

Design Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 

Everts Air Fuel, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 

Fairbanks Arts Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 

Fairbanks Concert Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 

Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 

Fairbanks Title Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 

The Franich Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 

Giant Tire, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 

The Glenn Gregory Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 

Golden Valley Electric Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 

Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 

Greer Tank & Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 

H&S Warehouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 

Hector’s Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 

KJNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 

KTVF Channel 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 

Larry’s Flying Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 

James A. Messer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 

Military and Civilian Federal Credit Union formerly 

Fort Wainright Federal Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 

The Nance Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 

Northern Truck Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 

Shields Rental Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 

Sophie Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 

Tanana Air Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 

Tatonduk Flying Service/Air Cargo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 

University of Alaska Fairbanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 

Unwin Scheben Korynta Huettl, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 

Wedgewood Resort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 

Wells Fargo Bank Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 

Yukon-Koyukuk School District. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 


ISBN 1-893619-24-9

Historic Fairbanks

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