Alaskan History Magazine’s Weekly Newsletter

The Free Version, March 25, 2021

Mar 25, 2021

A vintage Alaskan postcard, captioned “Traveling in the North with Reindeer, Nome, Alaska.” At one time vast herds of domestic reindeer grazed the tundra.

Hello Friends,

The May-June issue of Alaskan History Magazine will include articles about the gold rush town of Knik, the Arbuckle Bros. Coffee Co.’s trading cards for Captain Cook, the history of Copper Center’s Hotel Holman (later renamed the Blix Roadhouse), and Rev. Samuel Hall Young’s tale of mushing over the Iditarod Trail in 1912. The cover is a tinted slide from a 1923 road trip around Alaska, showing a Chevrolet crossing a glacier stream near the Worthington Glacier on the Richardson Highway. Many more color slides from the trip are featured in this issue. Click here to pre-order the May-June issue.

Three articles from the March-April issue have been posted to the paid subscribers to this newsletter, including the 1936 story of four brutal murders in the Cache Creek Mining District near Talkeetna, the history of the Bering Sea port of St. Michael, and Alaska’s first postal inspector, John P. Clum.

Click here to subscribe to the paid edition and see all of the articles and photographs as they are posted online.

*News article from the Nome Nugget, reprinted from the Anchorage Daily Times.* On September 19 the *Anchorage Daily Times* reported under large black headlines: “Speculation as to the motive of the murders has been rife ever since the discovery of the crime and it was said that the conditions of the pockets of the clothing of Mrs. Jenkins is the first evidence to substantiate the contention that Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins were murdered for their gold. Joy Brittell, who was with Mr. Jenkins, was also murdered and the life of Dick Francis was taken in an attempt to make the crime appear as a triple murder and suicide, according to one theory.”

The print magazine is available from Northern Light Media, from Amazon, or from your favorite book source, whether online or on the street!

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• From the Archives:

Josephine Crumrine’s Sled Dog Portraits Very collectible today, Josephine Crumrine’s pastel portraits of notable huskies graced the menus of the Alaska Steamship Company in the 1940’s and ‘50’s.

The Sept-Oct issue, 2019 issue of Alaskan History Magazine featured an article about Josephine Crumrine; you can read the entire article with all the full-color portraits at the Alaskan History Magazine’s digital issuu pages.

• Social Media: Alaskan History Magazine is active on SubStack, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For information visit the website.

• Free Guides to Denali National Park History

The NPS website for Denali National Park includes many short articles about the park’s history, including the name of the mountain, the first ascent, the history of the park road, the sled dog kennels at Denali Park, and many more.

• Free book excerpts now published to the newsletter site each week include the Tanana Valley Railroad, the history of Seward, and The Land of Tomorrow. The excerpts include photographs and links to more information, and ordering links to the books at Northern Light Media.

• The Alaska Digital Newspaper Project

Since 2016, the Alaska State Library has been participating in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). The program is a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress designed to digitize and provide free access to historical newspapers from across the United States in Chronicling America, the text-searchable online database.

As of August 2018, the Alaska State Library has digitized over 150,000 pages of Alaskan historical newspapers from across the state ranging in date from 1898-1963.

For more project information, including titles selected and available online in Chronicling America to date, please visit the Alaska State Library’s Alaska Historical Newspapers page.

• There are two versions of this newsletter:

~ A free subscription - the version you’re reading now - includes at least one weekly update, news of issue contents, articles and photos from the archives, occasional articles and excerpts from the current issue, and access to the first two years of archived back issues (2019-2020).

~ A paid subscription ($5/month or $40/year) brings all of the updates, all of the articles from the print magazine (posted one or two per week), commenting and discussion of posts, and access to the complete archives through the current issue. Both versions include free weekly book excerpts.

• Digital Editions: The first two years of Alaskan History Magazine, 2019-2020, are available to read free online at issuu.com, the premier digital publication website. Nine issues, over 60 articles to read free in the original full color layouts!

• Back Issues: Print back issues of Alaskan History Magazine are always available, see the Northern Light Media website for information about ordering back issues. Every issue is 48 pages, full color, and contains no advertising. Independently published in Alaska by Northern Light Media.

• Books from Northern Light Media include The Alaska Railroad 1902-1923, Alaskan Roadhouses, The Matanuska Colony Barns, The First Iditarod, Alaska & The Klondike, Camping and Trailing in Alaska (1909), The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, and many more! Check them out at this link.

See you next week,

Thanks for reading!

Helen

Helen Hegener, publisher

Northern Light Media