Category Archives: Gold Rush History

Alaska & The Klondike

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Helen Hegener

Alaska & the Klondike, Early Writings and Historic Photographs, compiled and edited by Helen Hegener, is an anthology of selected writings by early explorers and travelers in Alaska and the Yukon Territory of Canada. Wonderful photographs accompany the often colorful writings of Frederick Schwatka, Hudson Stuck, Robert Service, Josiah Edward Spurr, and many others as they tell of adventure, explorations, fortunes won and lost, and the magnificent promise of our great northern lands. Read the words of those early travelers who accepted the chalenge of the North and left an indelible mark in their writing of it. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, Explorers, Gold Rush History, Kindle eBooks, News & Information, photographs | Tagged Alaska, Dawson City, Klondike gold rush, Yukon | Leave a comment

Alaskan Roadhouses

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Helen Hegener

This 284-page book by Alaskan author Helen Hegener, published by Northern Light Media in 2016, presents stories and photos of dozens of historic roadhouses found along Alaska’s roads and trails. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, Gold Rush History, News & Information, Roadhouse, Roadhouses, Transportation | Tagged Helen Hegener, Roadhouses, travel | Leave a comment

Jan-Feb Alaskan History

Posted on December 27, 2020 by Helen Hegener

Inside this issue: • CR&NWRR Steamboats on the Copper River – Between 1907 and 1911 the Copper River and Northwestern Railway operated a fleet of steamboats on the Copper and Chitina Rivers in support of railroad construction and mining operations at … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Explorers, Geology, Gold Rush History, missionaries, News & Information, Transportation | Tagged 1901 Yukon River Ethnographic Questionnaire, Alfred A. Selden, Anvik, Bethel, Captain William R. Abercrombie, Christ Church, Copper River, Copper River and Northwestern Railroad, CR&NWRR Steamboats, Dall River, Dr. James Taylor White, Dr. Joseph Romig, Eagle, Eagle-Valdez Trail, Edward J. Knapp, Glacial Lake Ahtna, Holy Cross, Ikogmiut, Issac Jones, John Wesley Powell, John Wight Chapman, Joseph Jules Jetté, Joseph Raphael Crimont, Juneau, Koserefsky, Lt. John C. Cantwell, Nulato, Oscar Fish, Patsy Ann the Bull Terrier, Rampart, Russian Mission, St. Andrews, St. James, St. Michael, St. Peter Claver, steamboats, Tanana, The Dog Team Doctor, trails, U. S. Army, USS Nunivak, Valdez | Leave a comment

Leonhard Seppala House

Posted on May 11, 2020 by Helen Hegener

The Leonhard Seppala House was named as one of the Ten Most Endangered Historic Properties for 2020 by the Alaska Association for Historic Preservation, Inc., which is dedicated to the preservation of Alaska’s prehistoric and historic resources through education, promotion and advocacy. Preservation of the built environment provides a vital link and visible reminder of the past, emphasizing the continuity and diversity of Alaska. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Gold Rush History, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Balto, Fritz, Leonhard Seppala, Nome, Seppala House, Togo | Leave a comment

Sled Dog Mail

Posted on March 9, 2019 by Helen Hegener

Dogs were capable of covering long distances, day or night, and could travel over frozen lakes and rivers and pass through dense forests. By 1901, a network of mail trails throughout Alaska was in use, including a system that followed almost the entire length of the Yukon River. The historic 2,300-mile Iditarod Trail was the main dog trail that carried mail from Seward to Nome. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Gold Rush History, Iditarod, News & Information, Sled Dog History | Tagged Chester Noongwook, DeeDee Jonrowe, dog team mail, Eagle, Iditarod Trail, Jeff Schultz, sled dog mail, stamps, USPS, Yukon mail | Leave a comment

Iditarod National Historic Trail

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Helen Hegener

Nationally, our Historic Trails commemorate major routes of exploration, migration, trade, communications, and military actions that formed America, and only 16 trails in the U.S. have been honored as National Historic Trails. The Iditarod is the only Alaskan trail in the National system, and the only Historic Trail celebrating the indispensable role played by man’s best friend in America’s Last Great Gold Rush. Without dependable sled dogs hauling freight, passengers, mail and more, the history of Alaska and the north country would have been quite different. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Gold Rush History, Iditarod, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Alaska, Iditarod Trail, Seward, Seward-Nome Trail, sled dogs | Leave a comment

Addison Powell in Valdez

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Helen Hegener

Addison M. Powell was an adventurer, prospector, hunter, and a guide for Captain William R. Abercrombie’s 1898 Copper River Exploring Expedition, one of three military expeditions organized to explore the interior of the new territory of Alaska. His book Trailing and Camping in Alaska, subtitled Ten Years Spent Exploring, Hunting and Prospecting in Alaska – 1898 to 1909, was republished in its entirety by Northern Light Media in September, 2018. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Book Reviews, Books, Gold Rush History | Tagged Abercrombie, Addison Powell, Copper River, Exploring, Miles Brothers, Nizina, Trailing & Camping in Alaska, Valdez, Valdez Glacier, Valdez-to-Fairbanks Trail | Leave a comment

1911 Iditarod Sweepstakes

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Helen Hegener

On New Year’s Day, January 1, 1911, 62 years before the inaugural run of today’s race, the First Annual Iditarod Sweepstakes Race was held over a 20-mile course which started in front of the Miners and Merchants Bank in the town of Iditarod. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, Gold Rush History, News & Information, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Alaska Kennel Club, Anchorage Kennel Club, Claude Shea, Eklutna, Flat City, Frank Dixon, George May, Iditarod, Iditarod Trail, Northern Commercial Company, Old Knik, race, sled dog race, Summit Roadhouse, Sweepstakes, The First Iditarod | Leave a comment

All Alaska Sweepstakes

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Helen Hegener

The historic All Alaska Sweepstakes is the oldest organized distance sled dog race in the world, with records kept by the Nome Kennel Club dating back to the first race in 1908. The race, which was held from 1908 to 1917, and commemorated with 75th and 100th anniversary races in 1983 and 2008, is the subject of All Alaska Sweepstakes: History of the Great Sled Dog Race, by Helen Hegener. Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Book Reviews, Books, Gold Rush History, Sled Dog History, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Aaron Burmeister, All Alaska Sweepstakes, Baldy, Candle, Jan DeNapoli, Janice Doherty, Jeff King, Jodi Bailey, Joe May, John "Iron Man" Johnson, Jon Van Zyle, Lance Mackey, Leonhard Seppala, Mitch Seavey, Nome, Nome Kennel Club, Percy Blatchford, Scotty Allan, Togo | Leave a comment

Sled Dog Tales

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Helen Hegener

True stories include Alaskan mail carrier Eli Smith’s epic trip to Washington, D.C., Alaska Nellie’s daring rescue of a lost mail carrier, the Rev. Samuel Hall Young’s 1913 trip over the Iditarod Trail, and Territorial Judge James Wickersham’s 1901 dogsled trip down the frozen Yukon River from Eagle to Rampart. Fascinating stories of Alaska’s history as seen from the runners of a dogsled! Continue reading →