The next issue of Alaskan History Magazine will be available September 1, featuring the history of the first Eklutna Power Plant, built in the late 1920s, thirty years before today’s Eklutna Hydroelectric Project. But it also tells the story of Anchorage businessman Frank I. Reed, who spearheaded the Eklutna Power Project and whose many other contributions led the Anchorage Daily Times to memorialize him upon his death in 1944: “….Mr. Reed probably had more to do with the advancement of the city of Anchorage than any other individual….”

Other articles in this issue include the history of the Chukotka dogs of Russia, a stout, hardy, bright-eyed and prick-eared type of dog, used for herding, hunting, packing, and pulling sledges over long distances. The article is an except from the book, The Hope ’91 Sled Dog Race: From Nome, Alaska to Anadyr, Russia, by Helen Hegener and Jon Van Zyle.

Also: A 1921 Cookbook titled “A Collection of Choice Recipes” was compiled by the Anchorage Woman’s Club, which was founded in 1915 by Jane Mears, wife of the man in charge of building the Alaska Railroad. Mrs. Mears and 35 other women used the railroad’s surplus building materials to construct the first schoolhouse in Anchorage.

The Eagle City Tribune was a weekly newspaper published during the Klondike Gold Rush in Eagle City, Alaska, was started by surveyor Charles Carruthers in 1898. As it turns out, Carruthers was somewhat of a scoundrel and the miners held a meeting….

Frank B. Camp was a soldier-poet who penned the lines of the popular ballad ‘My Hitch in Hell’ in 1917, for his book, American Soldier Ballads.In 1921 he wrote a book of Alaskan poetry, Alaska Nuggets, and four of his poems are shared in this issue.

And last, the story of how, in the spring of 1935, the federal government transported 200 midwestern families to Alaska as part of F.D.R.’s New Deal social experiment, the Matanuska Colony Project. This article, an excerpt from a book by Helen Hegener, focuses on how and why the families were selected and transported to Alaska. An excerpt from the article:

Alaskan History Magazine Volume 5, Number 5, Sept-Oct, 2026. 76 color pages in an easy to read 6" x 9" format. $12.00 postage paid.

A Note from the Editor:

This issue marks a return to color photographs and images for Alaskan History Magazine, and while most historic photographs are in black and white, the advent of color photography brought a renewed interest in capturing the beauty and excitement of the North, and the color photographs bring another facet to the history.

This issue also sadly ends the subscriptions to this magazine, and it is now only available as a per-issue purchase. My apologies in advance to those who have been faithful subscribers for a long time, I will try to offer back issue sets from time to time, and every issue will remain in print for as long as I am publishing (and perhaps longer).

The Northern Light Media Books Catalog—72 full color pages—is mailed FREE with every order of Alaskan History Magazine!

Thanks for reading, and for supporting independent presses in Alaska!

~Helen

The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound, by Helen Hegener, published in March, 2026 by Northern Light Media, was selected as Editor’s Choice for New Pages, the premier guide to the independent press.

Founded in the early 1970s as a print publication, NewPages provides online news, information, and guides to literary magazines, independent and university publishers, graduate and undergraduate creative writing programs, independent bookstores, alternative periodicals and newsweeklies, writing conferences and events, and more.

The book was also reviewed in June for the Anchorage Daily News and the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner by respected Alaskan author and literary critic David A. James. James’ review begins with the trail’s well-earned reputation thanks to the famous race which takes place each winter, but notes that not many people know more about the route and its history: “Ask them why the race exists, and they might mutter something about honoring the frantic 1925 scramble to bring serum to Nome amidst a deadly diphtheria outbreak, perhaps mention a dog named Balto, and otherwise a offer blank stare. Beyond that, even many Alaskans would struggle to cough up much more.”

“Diving into this void of knowledge is Alaska’s most perpetually productive popular historian Helen Hegener, owner and publisher of Northern Light Media. Her latest volume, “The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound,” examines how the route came to be and what’s happened along it since. Which is to say, quite a bit.”

There has indeed been a lot of history along the Iditarod Trail, and that led to the route being among the first four trails selected when the National Historic Trails were formally named under the 1968 National Trails System Act.

David James continues in his review: “As with her other books, Hegener breaks down the history she’s sharing into thematic chapters that could stand alone as magazine articles, making the book easy to pick up at one’s leisure. She packs those pages with plenty of her own writing, reprints long passages from contemporary accounts by those who lived in the periods being covered, and includes hundreds of photographs that add immeasurably to the telling.

“Though not an academic historian, Hegener’s a stickler for accuracy, and the end result is a book that serves as both a history and, because of the included historical narratives, documents, references, and photographs, a compendium of materials for those wishing to search further into the story.”

The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound, by Helen Hegener, is available at bookstores and gift shops throughout Alaska. Published in March, 2026 by Northern Light Media. ISBN 9798252387352. 6” x 9” b/w format, 408 pages, over 200 photographs, indexed, bibliography, annotated references, extensive online resources. $29.95 plus shipping from any bookseller or directly from Northern Light Media.

Also from Northern Light Media, Alaskan History Magazine brings interesting and in-depth articles about the history of Alaska and its northern neighbors to readers in a “no advertising - all history” format. Every 64-page issue features well-researched articles, book excerpts, historic photographs, maps, and images, presenting a look at several topics, events, people and places which played a role in the history of the North.

The current issue features the story of the 'Tanana Chief,' a sternwheeler which plied the waters of Interior Alaska, told by the great-granddaughter of one of its builders, J.E. Orme, who journeyed north with the ship in 1898 in search of Alaskan gold. Mary Lynn Roush shares her great-grandfather's letters to his sister, which includes the rescue of one of Alaska's earliest explorers, Second Lieut. J.C. Castner of Edwin F. Glenn's 1898–1899 military expedition, who had been presumed lost for months.

Also included is the 1889 voyage of the U.S. Revenue Cutter 'Bear,' as seen through the eyes of the ship’s surgeon, Dr. James Taylor White, from the book by Alaska historian Gary C. Stein.

The story of the Eskimo lad, Emiu, known as 'Split-the-Wind' for his fondness for fast dog teams, is included. An Eskimo guide for Vilhjalmer Stefansson’s expeditions, the Seattle Times named him “the greatest musher the country ever produced.”

The great 1912 eruption of Novarupta in the Mount Katmai region, the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, includes the official report of Capt. K.W. Perry of the Revenue Cutter ‘Manning,’ which was in port at Kodiak at the time of the eruption, and sheltered over 400 people, providing fresh water from her evaporators (which were an innovation at the time).

Plus the visit of then-Senator John F. Kennedy to the 1960 Alaska State Fair, and several pages from a 1929 brochure for the Alaska Steamship Company.

Alaskan History Magazine

The full color, 64 page Northern Light Media books catalog is available to read online free in a flipbook format, with a two-page spread describing each title. A wide range of books by many different authors has been published by Northern Light Media, from the history of Denali National Park and Preserve to the construction of the Alaska Railroad to living aboard a commercial fishing tender to the historic roadhouses of Alaska to the great sled dog races like the Iditarod, the Yukon Quest, and the All Alaska Sweepstakes, and all are collected in this easy-to-read catalog. Check it out!

Thanks for reading!

Helen

The next issue of Alaskan History Magazine will be available July 1. This issue features the story of the ‘Tanana Chief,’ a sternwheeler which plied the waters of Interior Alaska, told by the great-granddaughter of one of its builders, J.E. Orme, who journeyed north with the ship in 1898 in search of Alaskan gold. Mary Lynn Roush shares her great-grandfather’s letters to his sister, which includes the rescue of one of Alaska’s earliest explorers, Second Lieut. J.C. Castner of Edwin F. Glenn’s 1898–1899 military expedition, who had been presumed lost for months.

Also included is the 1889 voyage of the U.S. Revenue Cutter ‘Bear,’ as seen through the eyes of the ship’s surgeon, Dr. James Taylor White, from the book by Alaska historian Gary C. Stein, a part president of the Alaska Historical Society. The book, “I Wish You Could Come Too,” The Alaska Diaries of Dr. James Taylor White, was published in 2021 by Northern Light Media.

The story of the Eskimo lad, Emiu, known as ‘Split-the-Wind’ for his fondness for fast dog teams, is included in this issue. A respected Eskimo guide for Vilhjalmer Stefansson’s Arctic expeditions, the Seattle Times named him “the greatest musher the country ever produced.”

The great 1912 eruption of Novarupta in the Mount Katmai region, the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, includes the official report of Capt. K.W. Perry of the Revenue Cutter ‘Manning,’ which was in port at Kodiak at the time of the eruption, and sheltered over 400 people, providing fresh water from her evaporators (which were an innovation at the time).

Plus the visit of then-Senator John F. Kennedy to the 1960 Alaska State Fair, with the full text of the speech he gave there (“I am the first candidate for the Presidency to actively campaign in the State of Alaska. “), and several pages from a 1929 32-page tourist brochure from the Alaska Steamship Company on their ships and the scenic attractions of the Last Frontier.

Of special note: This issue marks the last subscription issue; future issues of Alaskan History Magazine will be available singlely or in annual sets, and all the back issues will remain in print.

This also marks the last 6” x 9” black-and-white issue, as the magazine will return to a full-color, 8.5” x 11” format with the next issue, Volume 5, Number 5. Over time, the ten issues printed in B/W will be republished in the full color, 8.5” x 11” format, providing a complete series for libraries, museums, historians, and anyone interested in the history of Alaska.

To support this work a new Patreon community, Friends of Alaskan History Magazine, will be created, and details about that effort, the back issues, the book anthologies, and other information can be found on the magazine’s website, AlaskanHistoryMagazine.com

New books this year from Northern Light Media:

The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound

A complete history of the Iditarod Trail, from long before its founding as a route to the Innoko-Iditarod gold fields, to its official designation as a dog team mail trail from Seward to Nome, to decades of becoming overgrown and unusable, to its resurrection as a race route and the northernmost Congressionally designated National Historic Trail.

The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound, by Helen Hegener, published in March, 2026 by Northern Light Media. ISBN 9798252387352. 6” x 9” b/w format, 408 pages, over 200 photographs, indexed, bibliography, annotated references, extensive online resources. $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping. Also available from bookstores.

Icy Hell: Experiences of a news-reel cameraman in the Aleutian Islands, Eastern Siberia and the Arctic fringes of Alaska.

The book describes the travels of a private hunting and exploring party on a 1913 trip in the schooner Polar Bear, through the Bering Strait into the Beaufort Sea, then east to Demarcation Point, and then overland by dogsled to Ft. Yukon when the Polar Bear became trapped in the sea ice.

Will Hudson’s rare and hard-to-find 1937 book ‘Icy Hell,’ detailing the harrowing overland journey he and three others made across the great Brooks Range to the village of Fort Yukon when their schooner ‘Polar Bear’ became trapped in the polar ice pack in 1913. 312 pages, more than 30 full-page photographs by Will Hudson, 6” x 9” b/w format, Published in May, 2026 by Northern Light Media. $24.95 plus $5.00 shipping. Also available from bookstores.

A new feature on the Northern Light Media website is a 64-page full-color catalog in a flipbook format of all of the books available, with a two-page spread describing each title. You can check it out below, and there are new links to it at the Northern Light Media website.

An excerpt from a Northern Light Media book:

Friendship Flight

An excerpt from The Hope ‘91 Sled Dog Race From Nome, Alaska to Anadyr, Chukotka, Russia. Written by Alaskan author Helen Hegener and the Hope ’91 Race media coordinator Sandra Medearis, with illustrations by Alaskan artist and Hope ’91 race judge and co-organizer Jon Van Zyle and photographs by the race photographer Frank Flavin. 228 pages, 6” x 9” format, full color on premium paper, indexed, with dozens of color and b/w photos. Published in 2023 by Northern Light Media.

The race route had the mushers leaving Nome by dog team and traveling to Teller and Wales, Alaska. From Wales they loaded their teams into big orange Russian helicopters for a flight across the Bering Strait to Uelen, and then continued by dogsled through many small villages, through the larger seaport settlement of Provideniya, and finally to Anadyr, the easternmost town in Russia. The total distance was between 1,000 to 1,200 miles.

Chapter One, The Friendship Flight, lays the background for the sled dog race and tells the story of a little-known, but quite important, chapter in Alaskan—and American—history:

In May, 1948 mounting Cold War tensions dictated the end of an agreement between the United States and the Soviet government to allow for free exchange between Alaska and Soviet Natives across the Bering Strait. Dubbed the “Ice Curtain,” the border was suddenly sealed between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., and all contact was banned. Friends and family members were separated, and most would never see each other again.

Nearly 40 years later, in 1986, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and his advisers adopted glasnost and perestroika as political campaign slogans. Meaning literally “openness” and “reconstruction,” the two terms referred to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic systems, opening the door for increased communication beyond Russia’s borders.

A series of incidents and endeavors led to the eventual breaching of the “Ice Curtain,” and courage and persistence bridged the gap across the Bering Strait and reunited Native families and friends for the first time in four decades via the 1988 Friendship Flight.

Eighty people were booked aboard an Alaska Airlines jet sporting the face of an Eskimo elder on its tail, with City of Provideniya painted under the pilot’s window in the Cyrillic script of the Russian language. The 45-minute, 230-mile flight from Nome, Alaska to the Soviet port city of Provideniya, in Russia’s Chukotka region, had been organized by a large contingent of Alaska’s business leaders, government officials, journalists, academics, artists, entrepreneurs, and Native elders.

The one-day trip was designed to reignite relationships and reunite Eskimo families on opposite sides of the long- closed border, and to open the door for future connections between the two nations. Provideniya officials planned to entertain their visitors with tours, a banquet and a trip to an outlying native village.

In 2013 a report from the Alaska Historical Commission highlighted the 25-year anniversary of the Friendship Flight, to celebrate the historic occasion. Statements from many of the participants shared memories and reflected on the significance of the event.

Gunnar Knapp was a young economics professor at the UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research. He was on the flight because he was one of the few Alaskans at that time who spoke some Russian, had spent some time in Russia, and knew something about the Russian Far East, and he had been advising the Governor’s office about the opportunities for trade and travel between Alaska and Russia. He wrote: “It was amazing, soon after taking off from Nome, to see the mountainous coast of Chukotka to the west, to circle the ice-choked bay, and to see the big concrete buildings of the town along the shore below us. It was amazing, as we landed, to see the hammer and sickle flag of the USSR, Soviet border guards, and crowds of Russians waiting to greet us. It was amazing to find ourselves in a place so close to Alaska but so Russian—with Russians in fur hats and speaking Russian, Aeroflot jets, Communist party banners and slogans, a statue of Lenin—and borscht. Provideniya was as Russian as Nome is American.”

Former Nome mayor Leo Rasmussen was representing U.S. Rep. Don Young on the flight. He would later write:

“For me, then President of the Iditarod Trail Race, the intent was to offer the opportunity for a musher from Russia to participate in the Iditarod; eventually two mushers were to come over and would actually participate. Both completed the Iditarod and Nikolai Ettyme would again participate in the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. Nicolai Ettyme who was of Chukchi blood, continued that relationship between Chukotka and Alaska. His youngest child was born in Alaska.”

Leo continued: “In the thirteen hours we were there, I shot twelve and half rolls of film. After I had processed them, I looked at the pictures and my mind’s eye memories did not match the photography. Six weeks later, we had a joint meeting with all of those from Nome that had gone on the Friendship Flight, it was only then I realized I’d taken some of the finest photography of my life. What I saw was the representation of what we’d witnessed -- the communication that began with the flight. In the thirteen hours, various groups opened up; first the 1st to 4th graders, then the teenage school groups, trying out their very rudimentary English. It was no less fantastic for them, than it was for us. Piece by piece, young adults in their 20’s and 30’s began to open up. As we were boarding the Plane to depart Provideniya, I remember the old folks who came over to the airport. They were not sure if we were the enemy but I remember their arms beginning to reach out over the crowd, wanting to let us to know that they cared about a relationship of friendship that may have begun with the Friendship Flight and reunion. It was one of the highlights of a lifetime...”

Alaskan artist Jon Van Zyle, a two-time Iditarod finisher and the Official Iditarod Artist since 1979, was invited to be the official artist for the Friendship Flight, and his personal interest in the trip was to aid in researching his beloved Siberian Huskies.

“Because of my life-long interest in the Siberian husky, I wanted to know more about them in Siberia. They had been imported in early 1900’s into Nome from that area. I shot-gunned letters to every museum and university in Russia asking to meet somebody in Provideniya for the friendship flight. Lyudmila Bogoslovskaya from the University did meet me and she was an expert on the Chukchi Native and the Siberian Husky.”

Jon also wrote of the human aspect of the event: “The actual flight to me was one of the most heart-wrenching things I’ve ever done. The idea of families from the Nome area having a dad or uncle out kayaking or hunting one day and suddenly they became Russian and not knowing what happened to those people. The whole thing was about reuniting the families, not only those lost, but the guys from the islands that had relatives over there they’d never met. When we landed, to see those families reunited with relatives, some lost and some just relatives they’d never met, was incredible.”

Jon continues: “Another thing we did was a few of us had cooked up an idea to have a dog race between Siberia and us. We hadn’t been dealing with the Russians for God knows how many years. The Olympic committee was considering re-doing sled dog demonstrations to be included in the Olympics, which had been done in 1932, but not since. They ended up having the demos, and we knew the Russians would want to participate. A couple of us challenged the Russians at the meeting to a dog race and they accepted and a few weeks later we had Russians sitting in our living rooms talking about a race called the ‘Hope Race.’ It took a couple of years to organize and the first race was held in 1991...”

David Ramseur was the press secretary for then- governor Steve Cowper, and in 2017 he authored a book detailing the story of the historic Friendship Flight titled Melting the Ice Curtain: The Extraordinary Story of Citizen Diplomacy on the Russia-Alaska Frontier (University of Alaska Press, 2017). From the Preface: “...Opportunities abound for the fruitful cooperation between Alaska and the Russian Far East. From science to citizen diplomacy, the Ice Curtain era showed that local collaboration can improve overall relations between our countries. The area of most productive cooperation is managing a changing Arctic. Russia dominates the Far North, with nearly half of the Arctic within its borders as Russians comprise 40 percent of arctic residents. In the United States, Alaska is the only reason America is an arctic nation. That’s a fact that only recently appears to have registered with federal decision makers as climate change dramatically alters the Arctic, especially passage through the Bering Strait shared by Alaska and Russia.”

The love of sled dogs on both sides of the Strait would prove to be a compelling reason for cooperation and collaboration between the two countries. ~

The Hope ‘91 Sled Dog Race From Nome, Alaska to Anadyr, Chukotka, Russia. Written by Alaskan author Helen Hegener and the Hope ’91 Race media coordinator Sandra Medearis, with illustrations by Alaskan artist and Hope ’91 race judge and co-organizer Jon Van Zyle and photographs by the race photographer Frank Flavin. 228 pages, 6” x 9” format, full color on premium paper, indexed, with dozens of color and b/w photos. Published in 2023 by Northern Light Media.

The book was selected as a Reviewers’ Favorite by Anchorage Daily News reviewer David James, in December, 2024: “In 1991, a year when the Cold War was winding down and hope and optimism prevailed, an exhibition sled dog race took mushers from Nome north to Wales along the Alaska coast, then, after an airplane flight across the Bering Sea, south along Russia’s parallel side from Uelen to Anadyr. Helen Hegener, in typical fashion, fills “The Hope ‘91 Sled Dog Race” with personal reminiscences of participants and extensive illustrations, bringing her story to life. In our present era of increasing darkness, it’s a reminder that, shorn of the ambitions of power- hungry political leaders, people living normal lives are kind and good and, if left to their own devices, will reach out to each other in friendship.”

The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound, by Helen Hegener, published in March, 2026 by Northern Light Media, includes details on the network of groups which manage, maintain, and advocate for the Iditarod Trail, including the Alaska Bureau of Land Management, the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, the Iditarod Trail Committee Inc., the Iditarod Trail Blazers and many others. The heft of the book, however, comes from the complete history of the Iditarod Trail, from long before its founding as a route to the Innoko-Iditarod gold fields, to its official designation as a dogteam mail trail from Seward to Nome, to decades of becoming overgrown and unusable, to its resurrection as a race route and the northernmost Congressionally designated National Historic Trail!

Through old maps, photos, newspaper articles and original descriptions of the land and the trails through it by early explorers such as Colonel Walter L. Goodwin and James Lennox McPherson, the entire length of the route becomes clear, and the troubles and travails of those who blazed the trail are brought to life:

The history of the tripod markers which can still be found along the trail today is described:

The trail from Dishakaket to Dikeman, a distance of sixty-seven miles, was marked with more than thirteen hundred tripods, or an average of 19 tripods per mile.

Over 200 photographs provide visual detail to the written descriptions and history, and one reader’s review noted the book “gave the next best adventure to actually traveling the trail myself!”

The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound is available in Anchorage at Tidal Wave Books, and at Rod Perry’s well-known Iditarod Central bookstand on the corner of Fourth Avenue and E Street; in Palmer at Fireside Books, and at River City Books in Soldotna, and can be ordered through any bookstore with the ISBN (below).

The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound, by Helen Hegener, published in March, 2026 by Northern Light Media. ISBN 9798252387352. 6” x 9” b/w format, 408 pages, over 200 photographs, indexed, bibliography, annotated references, extensive online resources. $29.95 plus shipping from any bookseller or directly from Northern Light Media.

More Information

In addition to the books published by Northern Light Media over the past two decades, there’s information about the Alaskan History Magazine, published bimonthly, with issues going back to 2019.

Two New Books

There are two new books this spring, The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound, by Helen Hegener, published in March; and Icy Hell: Experiences of a news-reel cameraman in the Aleutian Islands, Eastern Siberia and the Arctic fringes of Alaska, by Will E. Hudson, A.S.C., published June 1 but available now. Hudson’s book is a reprinting of a rare and hard-to-find title published in 1937, about an adventure which happened in 1913 when the schooner Polar Bear became entrapped in the ice near Barrow and Hudson and three others set out for Fort Yukon, crossing the Brooks Range on foot. It’s a terrific adventure, well told by Hudson, who was a staff photographer for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and documented the journey with his many photographs.

Alaskan History Magazine

The current issue of Alaskan History Magazine features a broad overview of many of the first missionaries to Alaska, who set in place parameters which still affect all Alaskans.

Other articles in this issue include The Espicopal Church in Iditarod by the Rev. Hudson Stuck, the first issue of The Alaska Railroad Record, pages from an early tourist book on Skagway, a look at Anchorage’s historic Federal Building, and an article from 1914 by Belmore Browne on The Dogs of the North.

Check out some of this great reading, share this newsletter with a friend who loves the history of Alaska, and be sure to get outside and enjoy these warm sunny days!

As always,

Helen

Alaska’s Matanuska Valley has seen a wealth of history, from the Dene’ina people who first called it home, to the exploratory expeditions of Captain Edwin Forbes Glenn, the U. S. Army officer in charge of explorations in south-central Alaska in 1898 and 1899. Glenn’s reports were filled with now-familiar names such as geologist W. C. Mendenhall, who made the first rough geological survey of the Matanuska Valley; guide H. H. Hicks, who had been prospecting up the Matanuska River; and Lieut. J. C. Castner, who was sent to explore the Matanuska River canyons with Hicks while Capt. Glenn waited at Knik for their pack mules to arrive.

I have written five books about this marvelous part of Alaska, from The Beautiful Matanuska Valley, which explores the history and present-day places of interest, to The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project and the iconic Matanuska Colony Barns which still grace the landscape. Two earlier books about the Colony Project, divided into the history and the photographs and were later combined into one book, complete the collection.

One more book which covers a large amount of Matanuska Valley history is my 2024 book The First Newspapers: The Knik News and Cook Inlet Pioneer and Knik News 1914-1916, which detailed the history via the first newspapers published in this area. The book opens with a brief history of the Cook Inlet region, the land and its first inhabitants, the Dena’ina. The stories of the towns of Knik and Anchorage follow, giving context for the coming of the newspapers, and then the newspaper histories lead into the actual pages of each publication, reprinted in full from archives at the Library of Congress.

Articles from my books at the archives:

A History of the Land - “A Mighty Nice Place,” The History of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, by Helen Hegener, was published by Northern Light Media in July, 2016. This history of the Matanuska Valley is excerpted from the second chapter of the book.

Pioneering Farmers in the Matanuska Valley - The moderate climate and rich soils of south central Alaska’s beautiful Matanuska Valley attracted farmers who provided a welcome supply of fresh vegetables to gold and coal miners.

Colony Barns: Monarchs of the Matanuska Valley - In The Matanuska Colony Barns: The Enduring Legacy of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, by Helen Hegener, features the barns of the last great government-sponsored pioneering adventure, the largest, most expensive, and most audacious of the planned communities built by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal for America.

The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project - The Matanuska Colony Project was part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s optimistically grandiose New Deal, a series of economic programs designed to provide the “3 R’s”: Relief, Recovery, and Reform.” Relief for the poor and the unemployed, Recovery of the economy to normal levels, and Reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression.

Colony Days

Scheduled for June 12-14 this year, Colony Days is Palmer’s signature summer celebration, honoring the Valley’s rich agricultural roots, pioneer history, and strong community spirit, a fun-filled weekend in downtown Palmer featuring events for all ages.

Featuring the iconic Grand Parade, lively vendor markets, live entertainment, family-friendly activities, local food, and so much more, Colony Days brings together residents, visitors, businesses, and community organizations to celebrate everything that makes Palmer unique.

Researching my recent book on the history of the Iditarod Trail included revisiting the many roadhouses which lined the route between Seward and Nome, from mere tents in the wilderness to expansive log roadhouses which still serve travelers today. The names of many of the roadhouses were new to me, signaling a need to revise my 2016 book, Alaskan Roadhouses, which will be a research project for this summer, with revising next fall and winter, and publication in the spring or summer of 2027.

The first edition is still a terrific book, as the history is well-researched, documented, and valid, but there are so many roadhouses which should be included that the 284-page book will nearly double in size with this revision. In addition to the three dozen roadhouses on the Iditarod Trail, there were many on the Richardson Trail which were not included in the first edition, and very few from remote parts of Alaska such as the southeastern panhandle, the Aleutians, and the far North. The new edition will include all of those and more.

Alaskan roadhouses are a colorful reminder of the state’s past, and many are still an important part of Alaska’s transportation network. Alaskan Roadhouses: Shelter, Food and Lodging, by Helen Hegener, shares the history, photographs, and other information about these iconic Alaskan structures. It’s a great book to have on hand when traveling around Alaska this summer!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE BOOK

More about the Book

The cover of Volume 5, Number 3 features a stylized icon of the First Alaskan Mission (1794), depicting Sts. Herman, Juvenaly and Ioasaph coming ashore, bringing the Orthodox Faith to the New World, after leaving their ship.

This issue begins with a broad overview of many of the first missionaries to Alaska, who set in place parameters which still affect all Alaskans.

Missionaries in Russian America placed value on the local cultures and encouraged indigenous leadership to gain the loyalty of the indigenous populations, establishing the authority of Church and State. This was originally intended to gain the loyalty of the indigenous populations by establishing the authority of Church and State as protectors of over 10,000 inhabitants of Russian America. But by the 1860s, the Russian government was ready to abandon its Russian America colony. Over-hunting had severely reduced the fur-bearing animal population, and competition from the British and Americans exacerbated the situation.

Hudson Stuck in Iditarod and Flat City

Hudson Stuck, born in England in 1863, came to the United States at the age of 22. In 1889 he began formal theological studies in Texas and was ordained deacon on Aug. 7, 1892, and an Espicopal priest on Nov. 30, 1892. He served the church in Texas until 1904, when he moved to Alaska to become Archdeacon of the Yukon in the Missionary District of Alaska. He explored the territory extensively and published many articles and several books describing his journeys, including The Alaskan Missions of the Episcopal Church in 1920. This issue includes an excerpt from Chapter IV: By Dog Sled or Launch:

In the roughly chronological order which has been observed in this narrative, this is the place to speak of the Iditarod, and since the history of the Church in that camp is in all probability a closed chapter, the complete incident may illustrate the difficulties in the way of undertaking religious work in a placer mining camp.

The Alaska Railroad Record, Issue No. 1, November 14, 1916

The Alaska Railroad Record was the official publication of the Alaskan Engineering Commission (AEC), providing a detailed weekly record of the construction of the Alaska Railroad, along with news, progress reports, schedules, personnel notes, and other material relevant to the federal railroad construction project between Seward and Fairbanks. It was published from November 14, 1916 to June 29, 1920. The entire eight-page first issue is reprinted.

Skagway

On June 28, 1900, Skagway became the first incorporated first-class city in Alaska. Included in this issue are excerpts from a tourist guidebook titled Skagway, Alaska, designed to promote the city, assembled by The Skagway Commercial Club in 1910, and published by the local newspaper, The Daily Alaskan. In 1910, the Skagway Commercial Club declared Skagway the “Garden City of Alaska,” with the local combination of fertile soil, adequate moisture and long summer days translating into bountiful crops. The booklet was doubtless produced in conjunction with that declaration to promote the growing town. “Let us walk leisurely down the street….”

The Federal Building in Anchorage

The Federal Building in Anchorage symbolized the U.S. government’s commitment to the economic growth and development of the territory. Providing residents with a post office, courthouse, and other federal services, it was the first large federal building constructed in Anchorage, and in 1978 the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Dogs of the North, by Belmore Browne, 1914

An article by Belmore Browne on the Dogs of the North appeared in Outing magazine in 1914, depicting the differing breeds and their care, feeding, training, and importance to travel in Alaska and the North. The pages are reprinted in this issue, with all of the photographs, paintings, and captions which appeared in the original article.

Alaskan History Magazine, published since 2019, is available at the website for the publication (see below), at Northern Light Media, at Amazon and through your favorite bookstore online or bricks-and-mortar, just give them the title, volume, and number (Volume 5, Number 3). All of the back issues are available, and there are now three anthologies which collect the articles into book format.

One of the most valuable resources in researching my books is the Library of Congress, but it is also one of the most valuable assets in the publishing of my books, as the Library’s Cataloging in Publication is a bibliographic record prepared by the Library of Congress for a book which facilitates book processing for libraries and book dealers. There are parameters, and not every book gets accepted for CIP data. From the Library of Congress website:

In accordance with this, I was delighted when my most recent book, The Iditarod Trail, From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound, was accepted for inclusion by the Library of Congress:

But Northern Light Media has been publishing books since 2007, featuring titles by several different authors, beginning with Dr. Gary C. Stein’s 412-page book about the ship surgeon, Dr. James Taylor White, aboard the U.S. Revenue Cutters from 1889 to 1901:

“I Wish You Could Come Too,” The Alaska Diaries of Dr. James Taylor White, by Gary C. Stein, Ph.D.. The ships of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Revenue-Cutter Service patrolled the waters of the Bering Sea, the coast of Alaska, and the Yukon River, and for several of those voyages a bright and engaging young physician, Dr. James Taylor White, served aboard and recorded his adventurous work in personal correspondence and journals, providing a first-hand look at life aboard a revenue cutter during Alaska’s formative early years.

At the 2022 Alaska Historical Society’s annual awards recognizing accomplishments in history, the late professor Gary C. Stein was recognized for work as an Alaska historian in the 1970s and 80s and service as AHS president. He published numerous articles and book reviews in the Society’s journal and published his seminal work on Dr. James Taylor White of the U.S. Revenue Marine Service in Alaska with Northern Light Media in 2021.

Denali: The Park and the Peak, by Lew Freedman. A fresh and creative look at Denali National Park and Preserve and the tallest mountain in North America. The author takes his readers on an exciting exploration of what is perhaps the most beloved natural feature of Alaska, from the adventures and experiences of those who live near the great mountain—including the stories of many who have scaled its heights—to the history of the area and the simple joys of watching wildlife and just being in this unique and wondrous natural area.

Award-winning author Lew Freedman has published many books with Northern Light Media, including 50 Years of Iditarod Adventures, Northern Journey, Adventures on the Iditarod Trail, Alaska Hunting Tales, and Alaska Fishing Tales.

The Tender Life: 20 Years of Commercial Fish Tendering in Alaska, by Anne Winters, illustrations and maps by Jon Van Zyle. Anne tells stories from her 20 years of working and living aboard two classic wooden boats with her husband Ron as they worked the Alaska fisheries from south of Ketchikan to way north of Nome. They filled their holds with seine fish and gillnet fish, salmon, halibut, black cod and even abalone. They visited big towns and native villages. They suffered a fire and a near total loss of everything they owned. But they worked together, lived a dream, re-built after tragedy and made life long friends.

The Hope ’91 Sled Dog Race: From Nome, Alaska to Anadyr, Chukotka, Russia. By Helen Hegener, with Sandra Medearis, Jon Van Zyle and Frank Flavin. Tthe story of this historic race from Nome, Alaska to Anadyr, Chukotka, Russia is a testament to the courage and vision of a handful of Alaskans. Along with their counterparts across the Bering Strait, they saw the value in building a bridge between their countries via a month-long 1,200-mile sled dog race across some of the wildest lands on Earth, and they brought together mushers from Alaska, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Japan and Chukotka, in an effort to share the skills and knowledge of long distance sled dog racing. Along the way they shared friendships, faced unimaginable perils, and inspired a renewed interest in the ancient sled dog breeding traditions which continues to this day. Written by Alaskan author Helen Hegener and the Hope ’91 Race media coordinator Sandra Medearis, with illustrations by Alaskan artist and Hope ’91 race judge Jon Van Zyle—who was also a co-organizer of the race—and photographs by the race photographer Frank Flavin.

In Gentler Valleys Roaming: A Memoir of Sled Dogs, by Julie Verrette. Summer Place Kennel provided a safe haven for retired sled dogs from some of the premier racers in the world, such as four-time Iditarod Champion Susan Butcher and Yukon Quest Champion Aliy Zirkle. They entrusted their beloved teammates to the care of Julie Verrette, the owner and founder of Summer Place Kennel in Florence, Wisconsin.

True to the Trail: A Great-Granddaughter’s Alaskan Quest a Century On, by Anne Verdonk with the Journals of Arthur Dallimore. This book is a compilation of the journals and photographs of Englishman Arthur Dallimore, who joined the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, tried his hand at a claim near Dawson City, then traveled down the Yukon River to Alaska when he heard of a new strike. Dallimore prospected in the Birch Creek District northeast of Fairbanks, spent several winters cutting firewood for the steamships which plied the Tanana River in the summer months, and eventually built a popular roadhouse on a new trail northwest of Fairbanks.

Sled Dogs in America: The Art of Veryl Goodnight, by Veryl Goodnight and Helen Hegener. This book is an in-depth look at the incredible paintings done by the award-winning Colorado artist who has elevated the history of sled dogs to an exhibit at the prestigious Western Spirit Museum in Scottsdale, Arizona. Pairing the history in photographs and text with the incomparable beauty and historically accurate detail of her paintings, Veryl Goodnight brings a long overdue honor to the brave sled dogs whose role in our history cannot be forgotten.

These books, and the almost two dozen books I’ve written alone, comprise an excellent library of northern history, and they lend credence to the honor bestowed by Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Magazine book reviewer David A. James when he profiled me in January, 2024 and wrote, “With her publishing company, Helen Hegener brings Alaska history (and more) to readers.”

Thanks for reading,

Helen

More Information

The newest book published by Northern Light Media is a complete history of the Iditarod Trail, from long before its founding as a route to the Innoko-Iditarod gold fields, to its official designation as a dogteam mail trail from Seward to Nome, to decades of becoming overgrown and unusable, to its resurrection as a race route and the northernmost Congressionally designated National Historic Trail!

From tidewater at Seward and over multiple mountain ranges, across treacherous rivers and through temperatures reaching 50 below, travelers of the Iditarod Trail face challenges which make the route unique among our nation’s National Historic Trails, the only winter trail in the National Trails System.

The most well-known use of the Iditarod Trail is the annual 1,000-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome, but many other sled dog races use portions of the trail as well, not only present-day races, but historic sled dog races from Anchorage, Iditarod, and Nome. But there are many more uses of the trail, such as the the Iron Dog Snowmachine race; the Iditarod Trail Invitational, an ultra marathon for skiers, runners, and mountain bikers; and the grueling Crow Pass Crossing over the most daunting section of the route.

The book includes details on the network of groups which manage, maintain, and advocate for the Iditarod Trail, including the Alaska Bureau of Land Management, the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, the Iditarod Trail Committee Inc., the Iditarod Trail Blazers and many others.

The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound, by Helen Hegener, published in March, 2026 by Northern Light Media. 6” x 9” b/w format, 320 pages, over 200 photographs, indexed, bibliography, annotated references, extensive online resources. $29.95 plus shipping.

More Information

The upcoming issue of Alaskan History Magazine features an excerpt from the recent book by longtime wilderness guide Michael Engelhard, No Place Like Nome: The Bering Strait Seen Through Its Most Storied City (Corax Books, September, 2025), which was an Anchorage Daily News 2025 favorite. The article focuses on Father Bernhard Rosecrans Hubbard, a Jesuit and geologist who led thirty-two expeditions to Alaska between 1927 and 1958. He was an intrepid explorer and an astute lecturer who built a career which made him the highest-paid speaker of his time. A brief excerpt:

Also in this issue is an article by James T. Bartlett, author of The Alaskan Blonde: Sex, Secrets, and the Hollywood Story that Shocked America (Los Angeles, California: Territory Books, 2023), describing a 1947 trip to the territory of Alaska by Walt Disney and his 11-year-old daughter, Sharon, who visited Anchorage, Fairbanks, Mount McKinley National Park (now Denali National Park and Preserve), Nome, and Candle, with several traveling companions. An excerpt from Bartlett’s atticle:

Additional articles in this issue include a tour of the salmon canneries which proliferated along the coast between 1879 and 1950; the history of territorial schools, including the boarding schools established under the dual federal-territorial system of education established in 1905; and an excerpted chapter from Ella Higginson’s 1908 book, Alaska The Great Country, about the exquisite basketry she discovered on her four visits to the territory between 1904 and 1908.

Alaskan History Magazine brings interesting and in-depth articles about the history of Alaska and its northern neighbors to readers in a “no advertising all history” format. Every 64-page issue features well-researched articles, book excerpts, historic photographs, maps, and images, presenting a look at several topics, events, people and places which played a role in the history of the North.

Volume 5, Number 2 will be available on March 1, 2026 at the Northern Light Media and Alaskan History Magazine websites.

The current issue, available now, features articles about Colonel Walter Goodwin and the Iditarod Trail, a 1929 Report on Cattle Breeding in Alaska, Harry de Windt on the Yukon River, Falcon Joslin and the Tanana Valley Railway, and the All Alaska Sweepstakes Champions Baldy of Nome and A. A. ‘Scotty’ Allan. $12.00 postpaid.

All six issues published in 2025 are collected into this book, and every article, photograph, map and image appears just as they ran in the magazine. 377 pages, B/W 6″ x 9″ format, “no advertising, all history.” Over 300 historic photographs. Price includes shipping, also available in a 3-volume set. Visit the NLM website for details.

Special: All Three Books for $60.00 postpaid!

The three Alaskan History Magazine Collections compile the articles which appeared in Alaskan History Magazine, with the full texts of every article which ran in the magazine, including the historic photos, maps, and vintage illustrations which ran with those articles. A convenient and fully indexed library of Alaskan History! $60.00 price includes shipping. $89.85 if purchased separately - save $29.85!

Alaskan History Magazine Volume 5, Number 1

In this issue: Colonel Walter Goodwin and the Iditarod Trail, 1929 Report on Cattle Breeding in Alaska, Harry de Windt on the Yukon River, Falcon Joslin and the Tanana Valley Railway, All Alaska Sweepstakes Champions Baldy of Nome and A. A. ‘Scotty’ Allan. Details and images at the Alaskan History Magazine website.

$12.00 postage paid. 64 pages. 6″ x 9″ b/w format. No ads, just history. Back issues and subscriptions available at the Alaskan History Magazine website.

Website Revision for Alaskan History Magazine

With over twenty issues now published, fully indexed and available in book format, back issue sets, or single issues, the website for Alaskan History Magazine was due for a revision to make everything clearer and easier to find. A free email newsletter also helps readers stay informed about new issues, books, and updates to the site.

Images from Alaskan History Magazine 2025-2026

Alaskan History Magazine

The first issue of Alaskan History Magazine for 2026, Volume 5, Number 1, will feature a lengthy excerpt from Colonel Walter Goodwin’s 1908 report on the route which would become the Iditarod Trail. Goodwin was the Superintendent of the Alaska Road Commission’s Nome District when the Commission (ARC) directed him to lead an overland reconnaissance from Seward to Nome to assess the feasibility of a winter trail across the territory for winter mail service. The stated goal was to provide a shorter, more direct overland winter route to Nome than the existing 1,300-mile route from Valdez through Fairbanks and down the Yukon River.

There were networks of seasonal trails throughout the area, and there were two important winter trails radiating from McGrath to Nenana and to Bethel, but there was no direct route between the Cook Inlet region and the increasing activity in the Innoko-Kuskokwim gold mining district and the established mining areas around Nome.

In the winter of 1908, the Alaska Road Commission dispatched Goodwin and a crew of three men with dog teams to scout a winter route. Goodwin’s report was the first official documentation of what would become one of the most famous trails in the world.

A Brief History of Cattle Breeding in Alaska

The history of cattle breeding in Alaska was the subject of a report written by C. C. Georgeson, Director of the Alaska Agricultural Experiment Stations, in 1929. He wrote about the Russians maintaining “a considerable number" of cattle at Kalsin Bay, on Kodiak Island, and noted later developments after the purchase of Alaska:

“A few head of cattle of the dairy type were introduced with the establishment of salmon canneries at various points along the coasts. Some of the descendants of these animals remained in the country. At Kodiak, Sitka, Kenai, and other places where Americans had settled, a few head of cattle were kept for the supply of milk. More cattle were introduced into the country with the development of new settlements and camps. Dairies sprang up in the towns to meet the local demands for milk. These cattle, however, were maintained, excepting for the small amount of pasturage available during the summer, on feed which had to be imported from Seattle for the purpose. This is the situation even today, but it does not show that cattle can not be supported by locally produced feed.”

Georgeson’s report details the livestock situation in Alaska in 1898, with updates on the situation at the time of his 1929 report, including consumption figures for beef and dairy products in 1925, providing an interesting overview of how cattle played an important role in the early days of the territory.

Harry de Windt on the Yukon River

Explorer and writer Harry de Windt and his friend George Harding had attempted to travel around the world by land in 1896, but in Siberia they ran into unforeseen life-threatening difficulties. Narrowly escaping disaster, de Windt nevertheless wrote a book about the adventure in 1898, titled Through the Gold-fields of Alaska to Bering Straits, and in December, 1901 he and Harding set out once again, this time traveling in reverse of the first trip. This issue excerpts a chapter from his subsequent 1903 book, From Paris to New York by Land. A brief passage:

“Cities on the American Yukon consist of perhaps a score or more of log huts, which Yankee push and enterprise have invested with the dignity of towns. Rampart City, for instance, which the Hannah reached on the sixth day in from the coast, consisted of only about thirty one-storied wooden dwellings, the erection of which had been due to the discovery of gold in the vicinity, although during the previous year (1901) the claims around had only produced £40,000. And yet even this tiny township could boast of two hotels, five or six saloons, electric light and two newspapers: the Alaska Forum and Rampart Sun. The circulation of these journals was not disclosed to the writer, who was, however, gravely interviewed by the editors of both publications. Just before leaving Rampart City news of the postponement of the coronation of his Majesty King Edward VII, on account of serious illness, reached us, and it was gratifying to note the respectful sympathy for the Queen of England displayed by the American inhabitants of this remote Alaskan settlement.”

Falcon Joslin and the Tanana Valley Railway

Other articles in this issue include the history of Falcon Joslin and his visionary Tanana Valley Railway, planned as a rail line reaching north and east to Circle City on the Yukon River, at that time the center of the Circle Mining District and the landing for steamboats heading upriver to the town of Eagle, or to Dawson City in the Yukon Territory, or downriver to Nenana, Ruby, Nulato, and St. Michael on Norton Sound, and the Bering Sea.

A. A. “Scotty” Allan and Baldy of Nome

Also included in this issue is the story of one of the most famous dogs in literature, Baldy of Nome, Scotty Allan’s famous lead dog in the All Alaska Sweepstakes; and a profile of his owner written for a major American magazine in 1921 by one of Alaska’s most famous and beloved writers. The pair are on the cover of this issue and it’s one you won’t want to miss!

Single issues are $12.00 postage paid. This issue will be mailed the first week of January, 2026. Back issues are always available. New subscriptions will begin with the current issue, Volume 4, Number 6, unless otherwise requested, until January 1, 2026.

Click Here for Details

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 writings of Frederick Schwatka, Frank Carpenter, Lanier McKee, 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. These are the words of those early travelers who accepted the challenge of the North and left an indelible mark in their writing of it.

Selected excerpts and chapters are from the following books:

• Golden Alaska, by Ernest Ingersoll
• The Land of Tomorrow, by William B. Stephenson, Jr.
• The Spell of the Yukon & Other Verses, by Robert Service
• The Ascent of Denali, by Hudson Stuck
• From Paris to New York by Land, by Harry DeWindt
• Through the Yukon Gold Diggings, by Josiah Edward Spurr
• A Woman Who Went––To Alaska, by May Kellogg Sullivan
• The Land of Nome, by Lanier McKee
• Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled, by Hudson Stuck
• Along Alaska’s Great River, by Frederick Schwatka
• Alaska: Our Northern Wonderland, by Frank Carpenter
• A Dog-Puncher on the Yukon, by Arthur Treadwell Walden

Alaskan author and historian Helen Hegener has compiled an engaging journey through the literary history of Alaska and the Klondike, and an introduction to some of the most compelling books ever written about the North.

Click here to order at the Northern Light Media website:

Recent posts at the Northern Light Media website:

The First Newspapers of Knik and Anchorage - They were The Knik News – which later became the Cook Inlet Pioneer and Knik News, the name given when the newspaper moved from Knik to the new Knik Anchorage townsite at Ship Creek in 1915.

Denali: The Peak and The Park - by Lew Freedman, is an excellent addition to the literature on North America’s tallest mountain, a delightful guide for anyone seeking to learn more about the Alaskan treasure that is Denali National Park and Preserve.

In Gentler Valleys Roaming: A Memoir of Sled Dogs, by Julie Verrette, whose love of the sled dogs led her to provide a retirement home for some of the best racing dogs in the world.

True to the Trail, A Great-Granddaughter’s Alaskan Quest a Century On, by Anne Verdonk, who journeyed to the far North to retrace her great-grandfather’s trails by foot, by dogteam, by canoe and by airplane with his journal writings in hand.

The Alaska Railroad: 1902-1923, subtitled Blazing an Iron Trail Across The Last Frontier, by Alaskan author and historian Helen Hegener, shares the compelling story of the construction of the Alaska Railroad and its predecessors from the Alaska Central Railroad, the Alaska Northern Railway, and the Tanana Valley Railway, through 1923, when President Warren G. Harding drove the Alaska Railroad’s ceremonial Golden Spike in Nenana.

This 400-page book by Alaskan author Helen Hegener is a wide-ranging look at Alaska’s growth and development, and the many ways in which the railroad played a major role. From dynamiting the railbed out of the rocky cliffs along Turnagain Arm, to spanning the deep chasm of Hurricane Gulch, and from crossing the endless miles of muskeg swamp to bridging the mighty waters of the Tanana River, the story is told through historic documents, photographs, and publications.

This is more than the story of constructing the railroad, however…. This is also the fascinating story of how the U. S. Government built towns and cities across the territory, including Seward, Anchorage, Palmer, Wasilla, Talkeetna, Nenana, and Fairbanks. It’s the story of coal mining in Alaska, from the Guggenheim Syndicate’s notorious attempted monopoly of Alaska’s resources, to the government’s own private coal mine to service the U.S. Naval fleet in the Pacific.

It’s the story of steamboat travel on Alaskan rivers, and how the railroad’s own fleet of steamers and gas-powered “tunnel boats” came to dominate the watery transportation corridors. It’s the story of the role a fledgling conservation movement played in dividing a major political party. And it’s the story of how steam shovels which dug the Panama Canal were brought north to claw at Alaskan hillsides.

The 500-mile long Alaska Railroad runs from the seaport town of Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula, to Fairbanks, the Golden Heart of Alaska. Along the way it crosses two formidable mountain ranges, several broad and daunting rivers, and numerous deep gorges and canyons. It winds along the tidewater edge of Turnagain Arm, past Bartlett and Spencer Glaciers, and skirts the highest point on the North American continent, the Great One, Denali. From running its own opulent luxury hotel—literally in the middle of nowhere—to developing the telephone, water, and sewer systems of Anchorage, the history of the railroad is largely the history of Alaska. Take a ride on the northernmost U. S. railroad, and gain an unusual perspective on a richly fascinating period in America’s past.

Click to Watch

Alaska Railroad “Loop District” 1925-1930. 43 second, black & white/silent, film clip of an Alaska Railroad train running through a loop to ease the change in elevation in the mountains. The scenery includes mountains, glaciers, and trees. [Alaska Film Archives, University of Alaska, Fairbanks]

The Alaska Railroad: 1902-1923, Blazing an Iron Trail Across The Last Frontier, by Helen Hegener, published in May, 2017 by Northern Light Media. 400 pages, over 100 b/w historic photos, maps, bibliography, indexed. The book can be ordered for $24.95 plus $5.00 postage from Northern Light Media.

One of my first website headers featuring the 1910-era stained glass dog team which I discovered while researching the history of sled dogs in 2007. I wrote a book, The Stained Glass Dog Team, about the search for its origin and the gold rush history of Seattle, Alaska, the Arctic Club, and much more.

It has been almost two decades since Northern Light Media was founded, and one of our first projects was producing a DVD/video about Lance Mackey, who was just beginning his meteoric rise to become a legend in sled dog racing history. The DVD, Appetite and Attitude: A Conversation with Lance Mackey, is not currently available, but you can watch the first few minutes of the video at my website.

From the video: “From the stories that I’ve been told—obviously I wasn’t quite around when my dad started—but it was in the 60s, and people like George Attla, Doc Lombard.... There wasn’t an Iditarod at this particular time. Joe Redington Sr. happened to become a friend of my dad’s, and it just kind of evolved, the people he was hanging out with, and the people he was affiliated with, were all getting into—or were already into dogs. And I remember dad telling me that he picked up a registered black lab dog—with no intentions of having a sled dog team—and then my mom, she had a registered Siberian dog, And that’s basically where his kennel started, those two teamed up and gave him a litter of pups.”

In 2014 I published a book about those years I spent following Lance, titled Long Hard Trails and Sled Dog Tales. The book is currently under revision.

Also scheduled for release this winter is a reprinting of Will E. Hudson’s rare and hard to find 1937 book, Icy Hell. Experiences of a news-reel cameraman in the Aleutian Islands, Eastern Siberia and the Arctic fringes of Alaska. The book is an account of a private hunting and exploring party’s 1913 trip in the schooner Polar Bear, through the Bering Strait into the Beaufort Sea, then east to Demarcation Point, and then overland by dogsled to Ft. Yukon when the Polar Bear became trapped in the sea ice.

The publication of Icy Hell marks the return of my publishing company to my first love, vintage books about the history of Alaska. The first-hand experiences and photographs found in these books are true history, told by those who lived it, and I’ve shared some of that history in books such as Trailing and Camping in Alaska, by Addison Powell, subtitled Ten Years Spent Exploring, Hunting and Prospecting in Alaska – 1898 to 1909, republished in its entirety by Northern Light Media in 2018.

Addison M. Powell was an adventurer, prospector, hunter, and a former guide for Captain William R. Abercrombie’s 1898 Copper River Exploring Expedition, which was one of three military expeditions organized under the direction of the Secretary of War with directives for exploring the interior of the new territory of Alaska. Powell’s familiarity with the land made him a valuable addition to Abercrombie’s efforts over the next several years, and brought him into contact with many men who would help to shape the future of Alaska.

Another book which shares first-hand accounts and photographs is The Alaska Diaries of Dr. James Taylor White, 1889, 1890, 1894, 1900-1901, by Gary Stein, Ph.D., which provides a first-hand look at life aboard a revenue cutter during Alaska’s early years. More than simply a dry text about historic events, Dr. Stein’s book was the result of four decades of research, during which he developed an affinity for the good doctor, writing, “I met James T. White in 1980 while I was researching in the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. We instantly became fast friends. He had been dead for sixty-eight years, but he let me pry into his life through his diaries, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, and natural history and ethnological collections located in various archives, museums and cemeteries in Alaska, Washington State, California, and Washington, D.C. We are friends still—I’ve even smoked a pipe with him at his grave—and there is a great deal of his life to share.”

I’ve published more books which share history by those who wrote it, such as the 2018 anthology Alaska & the Klondike, Early Writings and Historic Photographs, which is comprised of excerpts from books by early explorers and travelers in Alaska and the Yukon Territory of Canada. Last year I published The First Newspapers of Knik and Anchorage: The Knik News and the Cook Inlet Pioneer and Knik News, which is the name given when the newspaper moved from Knik to the new Knik Anchorage townsite at Ship Creek in 1915. The book is comprised of the actual pages of each publication, reprinted in full from archives at the Library of Congress.

Four years ago, when Alaskan History Magazine collapsed during the Covid epidemic, I published two books which collected the articles from the magazine. Available separately or as a set, Alaskan History Anthology: Volumes One and Two captures the first two years of Alaskan History Magazine. The full texts of every article which ran in the first two years of the magazine, with historic photos and vintage illustrations. Edited by Helen Hegener, with contributions by Gary Stein, Thomas Eley, Tim Jones, Patricia De Nardo Schmidt, Thom ‘Swanny’ Swan, Jon Van Zyle and others.

Other Notes

I am working on several projects this winter in addition to the books mentioned at the beginning of this newsletter. The history of the Iditarod Trail is still my primary focus, but there are also two other revisions, updating all of my websites, and I am considering the addition of some swag and merch for Northern Light Media, whether in the form of stickers, tote bags, coffee mugs, calendars or what-have-you.

The idea has been around for a long time, many years, in fact, beginning with a reader’s request for a calendar with roadhouse photographs several years ago; she wanted to gift it to a friend who owned a historic roadhouse, along with a copy of my book on the subect. The calendar turned out beautifully, and I’ve often thought I should do more merchandise relating to my books, but it’s foreign territory to me. Suggestions pro or con are definitely welcome as I dip a tentative toe into those uncharted waters.

And as always, thanks for reading!

Helen

In his classic book, ‘An Age of Barns,’ author and illustrator Eric Sloane observes “The beauty of wood in the state of pleasing decay is one of Nature’s special masterpieces.”

In most parts of the territory of Alaska barns were few and far between, but as roadhouses were built along the trails they found it profitable to provide barns for the stock which traveled the trails, and as people saw the potential of agriculture in the north and the land grew more settled, barns were built to shelter livestock and to store feed and valuable equipment.

I have been collecting photographs and information about barns in Alaska for more than a decade, with an eye toward possibly writing a book about the history. Every time I think I have enough good examples I come across new (old) barns in surprising places, and it becomes apparent once again that the history of Alaskan barns is a subject as large and diverse as the land itself. I’ll share a few barns and some of the history below, and I might get that book written someday.

Some Alaskan barns were small, somewhat crude log shelters, while others were magnificent soaring structures built with the best lumber the federal government could buy and shipped north at considerable expense.

One of the first books published by Northern Light Media was The Matanuska Colony Barns: The Enduring Legacy of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, which shared the history of the stout square log-and-frame barns built for the 200 families who were transported north in 1935 as part of the Roosevelt administration’s New Deal. Nearly one hundred new communities were designed and developed by Roosevelt’s planners, but the largest, most expensive, and most audacious of them all was a government-sponsored farming community in Alaska’s Matanuska Valley. As part of each family’s farmstead a 36’ x 36’ x 36’ barn was built, mostly in the summer of 1936, and today around sixty of these iconic structures still dot the Valley near Palmer.

The history of barns in Alaska is much older than 1935, however, and a 12-page article in the current issue of Alaskan History Magazine highlights some of the great barns which played a role in Alaska’s past. Barns in Alaska, as in most places, come in all shapes and sizes, depending on the needs, location, availability of materials, and often on the skills of the builders.

The first shelters for animals in Alaska were likely the small crudely-built dog barns found at many trailside roadhouses for the passenger, freight, and mail dog teams which traveled the winter trails.

More than dozen families operated dairy farms in the Juneau-Douglas area from the 1890’s until the 1950’s, and large barns could be found on many of them, including the Juneau Dairy, the Pederson Dairy, the Alaska Dairy, the Mendenhall Dairy, the Lemon Creek Dairy, the Sunny Point Dairy and several more.

The large mining complexes which followed Joe Juneau and Richard Harris’ Gold Creek discovery of nuggets “as large as peas and beans,” and the growing government offices of the new territorial capital, along with related businesses, provided steady growth and a ready market for the dairies.

The two great Creamer’s Dairy barns are local icons in Fairbanks, anchoring the Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, over 2,200 acres of wildlife habitat within the urban area of Fairbanks. Shortly after the turn of the century, Charles Hinckley and his wife Belle started a dairy to serve the gold-rich outpost of Fairbanks. In 1928, they sold the dairy to Belle’s younger sister Anna and her husband, Charles Creamer.

The new owners renamed it Creamer’s Dairy, and they worked hard to modernize and expand the business, building two large Louden barns, designed by the renowned Louden Machinery Co. of Iowa. When the dairy ceased production in 1966 it was the largest and most successful dairy in Interior Alaska, and in 1977 the barns were admitted to the National Register of Historic Places.

In the early years of the 20th century the Valdez-to-Fairbanks Wagon Road, now the route of the Richardson Highway, was the primary route from tidewater to the interior of Alaska and the goldfields north of Fairbanks. Roadhouses along the 365-mile trail offered barns for the horses of the stage companies which traveled the route.

The Valdez Transportation Company, Orr Stage Company, Kennedy Stage Company and others took advantage of these facilities, including the heated barns at many roadhouses, including Wortman’s Roadhouse which advertised their “warm, roomy stables that can shelter 100 head of horses.”

When the federal government built the Alaska Railroad, between 1902 to 1923, several large barns were built by the Alaska Engineering Commission for the stock which hauled freight, provided access and transportation, and served many other purposes in the construction project. Huge structures of log and frame were raised in Anchorage, Nenana, Fairbanks and other locations along the 500 mile route.

Returning to those great barns of the Agricultural Experiment Stations which sprang up across the territory, beginning in 1898 in Sitka, additional barns were built at Fairbanks, Kenai, Kodiak, Matanuska and several other sites.

In the photo below from Nome, the sign across the top of the large barn in the background reads “…Transfer Co. A. H. Moore,” while lettering on the wagon in front and at the bottom of the photo is of the W. J. Rowe Transfer and Freighting Company.

“Inside a barn is a whole universe, with its own time zone and climate and ecosystem, a shadowy world of swirling dust illuminated in tiger stripes by light shining through the cracks between the boards. Old leather tack, lengths of chain, rope, and baling twine dangled from nails and rafters and draped over stall railings. Generations of pocketknives lay lost in the layers of detritus on the floor.”
― Carolyn Jourdan, Heart in the Right Place

In February Veryl and I met at the museum and gave three well-received slideshow presentations of her paintings and the history behind them, and the museum sponsored a memorable evening reception for us. It was a career highlight, and the new friends made and old friends reconnected with have been icing on the cake!

Veryl and I helped curate the unique exhibit, which showcased not only the paintings by Veryl, but included the history behind the paintings which I researched for my 2023 book, The History of Sled Dogs in North America. Veryl and I also co-authored a book based on her paintings and the exhibit, Sled Dogs in America: The Art of Veryl Goodnight. Both are available at my website or from any bookseller.

Northern Light Media published three books in 2025, and another is currently in production. More about that one at the end of this newsletter.

True to the Trail, by Anne Verdonk, is a compilation of the journals and photographs of Anne’s great-grandfather, Arthur Dallimore, who joined the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, and traveled down the Yukon River to Alaska when he heard of a new strike. Dallimore prospected northeast of Fairbanks, spent several winters cutting firewood for the steamships which plied the Tanana River, and eventually built a popular roadhouse near Fairbanks.

In Gentler Valleys Roaming: A Memoir of Sled Dogs, by Julie Verrette, is the story of a safe haven for retired sled dogs from some of the premier racers in the world, such as four-time Iditarod Champion Susan Butcher and Yukon Quest Champion Aliy Zirkle. They entrusted their beloved teammates to the care of Julie Verrette, the owner and founder of Summer Place Kennel in Florence, Wisconsin.

Denali: The Peak and The Park, is the newest book from multiple-award-winning author Lew Freedman, a fresh and creative look at Denali National Park and Preserve and the tallest mountain in North America.

I stay busy with several projects besides book publishing, and one of my favorites has been the history of Anchorage’s Fourth Avenue, which I have been working on for a couple of years with Iditarod pioneer musher Rod Perry and the Board members of the Anchorage Mushing District. Last spring we published a booklet about the history establishing Anchorage as an important town on the Iditarod Trail: Anchorage was a Trail Town, and this fall the steel arch depicting a musher and his team which will be spanning Fourth Avenue is nearing completion. Alaska Link TV was present this past week when the arch was unveiled:

Alaska Link TV Video

Northern Light Media has published Alaskan History Magazine since 2019, and the last issue of 2025 was mailed on November 1. This issue features an excerpt from Will E. Hudson’s 1937 book, Icy Hell; the friendship between Charles Sheldon and Harry Karstens and the beginnings of Denali National Park; the history of Rika’s Landing Roadhouse; the travels of Lt. Frederick Schwatka; the history of barns in Alaska; and a 1920’s view of the city of Juneau. 64 pages, 6″ x 9″ B/W format, $12.00 postage paid. All six issues published in 2025 can now be purchased as a single set for $40.00, see the index on the website for subjects covered – over 350 pages of Alaska’s history! Makes a great gift!

Another project I support is Authors Against Book Bans, the Alaska chapter of a national coalition of writers, illustrators, anthology editors and contributors, and other book creators, who stand united against the deeply unconstitutional movement to limit the freedom to read. One of our primary goals was highlighted in a letter to the editor which appeared in newspapers statewide during Banned Books Week in October: “We, as members of AABB, sincerely champion the freedom of Americans to read any books they choose, and support libraries and librarians across Alaska and America in their work of providing these books to all who wish to borrow them. Librarians are trained to carefully curate library collections so that the most appropriate and relevant books and materials can be made available to patrons. This is how it should be in a free society.”

For more information you can visit the Authors Against Book Bans website.

And last, the current book project mentioned above: A complete history of the Iditarod Trail, from long before its founding as a mail route and access to the Innoko-Iditarod gold fields to the multifaceted current uses, and the future of the Trail. The most well-known use of the Iditarod Trail is the annual sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome, but several other sled dog races use portions of the trail as well, as did the 1925 Serum Run which delivered diphtheria medicine to the stricken town. But there are many more uses of the trail, such as the the Iron Dog Snowmachine race, and the Iditarod Trail Invitational, an ultra marathon for skiers, runners, and mountain bikers.

The book will include details on the network of groups which manage, maintain, and advocate for the Iditarod Trail, including the Alaska Bureau of Land Management, the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, the Iditarod Trail Committee Inc., the Iditarod Trail Blazers (multiple chapters) and others. Publication is currently scheduled for midwinter.

This issue will be mailed on November 1st:

Featured in this issue of Alaskan History Magazine is an excerpt from Will Hudson’s classic 1937 book ‘Icy Hell,’ detailing the harrowing overland journey he and several others made across the Brooks Range to the village of Fort Yukon when their ship ‘Polar Bear’ was trapped in the polar ice pack in 1913. Will Hudson was the first still photographer on the staff of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and—having discovered the magic of motion picture filming—he had been invited to come along as the official cinematographer for the expedition into the Arctic. The trip proved to be far more adventurous than Hudson had bargained for.

Also in this issue: The friendship between Charles Sheldon and Harry Karstens, and the roles they played in the beginnings of Denali National Park, which is an edited excerpt from the newest book published by Northern Light Media, Denali: The Peak and The Park, by Lew Freedman. Charles Sheldon was a wealthy man with a scientific bent who took a particular interest in bighorn sheep, both from a hunting perspective and a scientific approach. He needed a guide who knew the country, and was steered toward a young man named Harry Karstens. It was a fortuitous match.

More in this issue: The history of Rika’s Landing Roadhouse on the Richardson Trail, the beginnings of which Judge James Wickersham wrote in a description in his diary, dated March 4, 1905: “The trading post is on the bank of the Tanana, about 1/4 mile above the mouth of the Delta River.”

The travels of Lt. Frederick Schwatka in 1883 is excerpted from The Frozen North: An Account of Arctic Exploration for Use in Schools, by Edith Horton, published by D.C. Heath & Co., Boston, in 1904. The beautifully-illustrated primer aimed to educate young readers about the explorations of the still-mysterious Arctic regions. Lt. Schwatka, who had degrees in medicine and law, was sent by the U. S. Army to reconnoiter the Yukon River; crossing the Chilkoot Pass, his party built rafts and floated more than 1,300 miles down the Yukon River to the Bering Sea.

The history of barns in Alaska, from small trailside dog barns to the soaring constructions of the federal government, includes many photographs of these great reminders of a time when animals—dogs, cows, oxen, horses, mules—worked to provide freighting, transportation, mail delivery, dairy goods and more.

Wrapping up this issue is the history of Juneau, told via excerpts from a 1920 article in The Pathfinder, a journal published by the Pioneers of Alaska. An excerpt: “Juneau is 900 miles north of Seattle and is the metropolis as well as the capital of Alaska. Except for the narrow confines of Gastineau Channel, Juneau is wholly surrounded by towering mountairs that for physical grandeur and majestic beauty are unsurpassed in America and unexcelled in the whole world. Many of her mountain peaks have never been crested by animal life except that of the eagle’s wing.”

The current issue will be mailed November 1st. Single issues are $12.00 postage paid, a one year subscription is currently $40, but at the end of December the subscription rate will increase, as all costs relating to publication have risen in the past year. All back issues—dating back to 2019—are available at the website, and indexes to the 20 issues now in print make it easy to find a specific subject of interest.

Alaskan History Magazine website

The newest book from multiple-award-winning author Lew Freedman is a fresh and creative look at Denali National Park and Preserve and the tallest mountain in North America. The author takes his readers on an in-depth exploration of what is perhaps the most beloved natural feature of Alaska, from the adventures and experiences of those who live near the great mountain—including the stories of many who have scaled its heights—to the history of the area and the simple joys of watching wildlife and just being in this unique and wondrous natural area.

Since the 1890s, when the 20,310-foot peak was first “discovered” by a prospector, the great massif has been a symbol of the wild in Alaska. Its mere presence on the horizon has enthralled visitors, the lure of its slopes has enticed mountaineers, and the mountain remains the centerpiece of one of the most rugged National Parks in the United States. More than five dozen photographs, from the cover image of Denali over Wonder Lake by Al Grillo, to historic photos from the beginnings of the Park, give readers an in-depth look at this great American landmark.

The Park grounds attract approximately 500,000 visitors during a short summer season, hikers and campers, bus riders and the wide-eyed who wish to view the spectacular scenery and watch grizzly bears, caribou and other wild creatures in their natural habitat. The Park provides the cocoon surrounding the peak.

At the same time, the perpetually snow-covered mountain is a magnet for around 1,000 people per year who wish to climb one of the most formidable mountains on Earth due to its soaring altitude and unpredictable weather.

The mountain has stood tall for thousands of years. The Park has been under federal government domain since 1917. The mountain and the Park have alternately and interchangeably been called Denali and McKinley, after the late 19th-century president. The query, “What’s in a name?” is one aptly applied to the six-million-acre gem of the north, and author Freedman explores the socio-political dynamics of the great peak’s changing name.

Chapters include interviews with and biographies of past and current Park rangers, superintendents, scientists, climbers, guides, pilots, bus drivers, mushers, tourists, and those who just live near and love the mountain and the area surrounding it. Other chapters explain details of interesting subjects such as the only working sled dog kennel in a U.S. national park, how a glacier-sited base camp functions, how trash and human waste are removed from the mountain, how a sled dog team made it to the summit, and the complexities which arise when a landslide takes out a large segment of the only road into the Park.

Denali: The Peak and The Park, by Lew Freedman, is an excellent addition to the literature on North America’s tallest mountain, a delightful guide for anyone seeking to learn more about the Alaskan treasure that is Denali National Park and Preserve. Handy travel-sized 6” x 9” format, 298 pages, more than 70 b/w photos, 40 chapters. Published in September, 2025 by Northern Light Media.

Click here for more Information

Recently published by Northern Light Media:

Julie Verrette’s In Gentler Valleys Roaming: A Memoir of Sled Dogs is the inspiring and heartwarming story of one woman's dedication to and work with retired sled dogs, and the life she and they built together in a beautiful Wisconsin valley. 114 pages, 6″ x 9″ format, b/w interior and photos, bibliography, indexed. ISBN 9798294154202. $24.95 from Northern Light Media or wherever good books are sold.

A hefty 468-page testament to one man’s grit and determination as a pioneer in Alaska, and his great-granddaughter’s steely resolve to document and share his story with the world.

True to the Trail: A Great-Granddaughter’s Alaskan Quest a Century On, by Anne Verdonk, with the journals of Arthur Dallimore, foreword by Professor Emeritus William (Bill) Schneider, University of Alaska Fairbanks. 468 pages, 6″x 9″ b/w format, with dozens of photographs, images, maps and charts. $29.95 plus $5.00 postage from Northern Light Media.