History of Iditarod

HEROIC DOGS AND MUSHERS RUSH TO RELIEF TO NOME;
AVIATORS READY TOMAKE FLIGHT TO NOME IF NECESSARY

Long before Seward’s legendary mushing Seaveys ran the first Iditarod Trail Race, and a generation later became the first into Nome, Seward had ties that bound it tightly to the history of the world’s greatest dog sled race.

The bronze statue of Iditarod hero lead dog Balto, which once stood at the Jesse Lee Home, has been missing for decades; but its pedestal still proudly proclaims “Mile Zero.” Gone, but not forgotten, the cultural afterglow of the story’s drama lingers on.

A diphtheria epidemic had been raging in Nome for weeks. According to the Alaska Trail Blazer’s February, 1925 edition, “ Locked in between Arctic tundra and frozen sea, four hundred miles from the railhead, this little city which now remains of the once-great mining camp, was stricken with the dreaded disease during the last week of January.”

There was only one doctor in Nome, and no serum, as a result the entire town was under quarantine. They wirelessed for help. Twenty of Alaska’s best mushers and their teams relayed the serum 674 miles from Nenana to Nome.

Four and a half days later, Gunnar Kasaan pulled into Nome with the serum and four frozen dogs. His last relay was completed through seventy-eight miles of blinding blizzard. The serum was frozen, but thawed without damage. Half of it was used up in the first day.

A passenger steamer crowned on the steam between Seattle and Seward, with another supply of the desperately needed serum. It was met by a special train which rushed the shipment through to Nenana.

Half the shipment was to be trusted to Roy Darling and Ralph Mackie. The veteran fliers from Anchorage volunteered to make the flight from Fairbanks to Nome, risking their lives in attempting the flight with an open machine in temperatures that had been averaging fifty below for over a month. Their plane was put into condition; woolen clothing and furs were improvised to substitute for the electrically heated suits normally worn in high altitudes.

The other half was trusted to the dogs, “for Alaskans still have deep faith in their huskies,” suggested the Alaska Trail Blazer. The situation cleared in Nome, the first shipment of serum had turned the corner of the epidemic. An additional supply was sent via the usual dog team mail.

“The interest of the world has been centered upon Nome;” the Alaska Trailblazer concluded. “One result is the prompt action of congress in extending airmail service to Alaska.”

Barnes & Nobles Booksigning success

Thanks to everyone who came to my recent booksigning for Midnight Blue Noon at the Anchorage Barnes & Noble.

We had a great time with a mini-Chugiak High School reunion, a Friends of the Jesse Lee Home meeting, a discussion on moon phases, and a fashion show.

None of which were planned in advance, but hey, I am more than willing to roll with it.

St. Peters Episcopal Church

When hope is high, faith surely follows. The establishment of Seward’s celebrated St. Peter’s Church was no exception to that rule. A small group of pioneers met at the home of Dr. Daniel H. Sleem on June 12, 1904; the Reverend F.C. Taylor of Valdez served as the first celebrant.

Services alternated between Moore’s Hall, the Alaska Northern Railroad depot, and a tent the members erected. In late January of 1906, the arrival of building materials allowed construction to begin, and by mid-March the majority of the exterior work was completed. Pioneer Alaskan prelate Bishop P.T. Rowe dedicated St. Peter’s Church on April 1, 1906.

St. Peter’s Church was the first Protestant church established on the Kenai Peninsula. The Church suffered for extended periods of time without a resident priest. Baptisms and confirmations were performed when Rowe would visit the congregation.

The missionary in charge of the Prince William Sound area, Reverend Edward H. Mohony, came to Seward in 1915 to organize a permanent post. Mohony had originally planned to return to Anchorage on the Farragut with his wife and two daughters, but Anchorage’s port proved ice bound and inaccessible. The ship returned to Seward, where St. Peter’s members persuaded him to stay until spring.

In November of 1916, Reverend George Zinn arrived to hold services and meet with parishioners to discuss building a rectory so a permanent clergyman could remain in Seward. The lot adjacent to the church from Ballaine for $250.

The church building was complete, but had no interior furnishings. Services were being held in the basement, using a storage box as an altar. The construction of the Episcopal rectory was authorized in August 1917, and by November the outside work was completed.

In February 1917, a small circulating library was established when Miss E.K. Chamberlain of New Jersey donated more than 100 volumes of recent fiction, scientific, and theological books to the church.

Dutch artist Jan Van Emple came to Seward in 1924. From September to November of 1925, Van Emple worked on his first sacred picture, “The Resurrection,” for the church’s altar. This reredos is unique work in that it depicts both the Ascension and the Resurrection of Christ.

Instead of apostles, Van Emple chose to feature the people of Alaska. Natives, a trapper, a fisherman and a pioneer woman make up the foreground. The prospector is said to be a self-portrait of Van Emple, and the angels on either side of Christ portraits of his two sisters.

$650 was raised by subscription for this painting, heralded by St. Peter’s as “a work of great piety and unusual beauty which reflects the Church’s teaching to preach peace to them that are far off and to them that are nigh.”

Mostly known for his coastal landscapes of Alaska, Van Emple’s work is held in the collections of the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. Jan Van Emple was featured at the opening of New York’s Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Studio Club in 1918.

Robust Military Cutbacks

Michelle finds Brokeback Mountain

A successful rancher died and left everything to his devoted wife. She was determined to keep the ranch, but knew very little about ranching, so she placed an ad in the newspaper for a ranch hand. Two cowboys applied for the job. One was gay and the other a drunk. She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk.

He proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about ranching. For weeks, the two of them worked hard and the ranch was doing very well. Then one day, the rancher's widow said "You have done a really good job, and the ranch looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels. The hired hand readily agreed and went into town on Saturday night.

He returned around 2:30 am, and upon entering the room, he found the rancher's widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him. She quietly called him over to her.

"Unbutton my blouse and take it off," she said. Trembling, he did as she directed.

"Now take off my boots." He did as she asked, ever so slowly.

"Now take off my socks." He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her boots.

"Now take off my skirt." He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes in the fire light.

"Now take off my bra." Again, with trembling hands, he did as he was told and dropped it to the floor.

She looked at him and said: "If you ever wear my clothes into town again, you're fired!"

NOW WHERE WAS YOUR MIND?

Seward School Days

By 1905, the settlement of Seward had a name, and a school as well. The first public school was held at the Methodist Church, the home of Frank Ballaine, and the Fire Hall. Money and qualified teachers were scare, so school was only held six months a year. In 1915, high school courses were added, taught at first by the elementary school teachers. By 1919, there were seven high school students.

In 1928, the student body of fourteen students and a faculty of four teachers moved from temporary quarters in the Ray Building, to a spacious new building which had been erected for grade and high school. That year the first graduate of Seward High School received a diploma for the completion of the four year course of study.

Some of the Seward High traditions started in the 1920s, with the very first high school class. “Initiation Week” for the Freshmen by the Seniors occurred the second week of the school year.

“We had to wear our trousers inside out and backwards,” recalls Dr. James Simpson, Class of 1942. “We had to show respect to all seniors and were told to do something outlandish. Sing the Seward High School song, carry their books, clean their shoes. One freshman had to roll an egg across the auditorium floor with his nose.”

“I remember Jenny Skinner had to walk around in cannery boots filled with maple syrup and raw eggs,” remembers Kim Kowalski-Rogers, Class of 1973. “It was also in her hair. Yuk!”

The “Senior Sneak” was also an early tradition at Seward High School, some classes were better behaved than others.

“We drove to Moose Pass and had the use of Mr. Baker's cabin. We were well chaperoned,” says Simpson of his 1942 Class. “Mostly walked by the lake, chatted with our classmates, and ate good food. We each had to bring some sort of dish, vegetable or bakery goodies. We were very good.”

“Our class went to Hope. I'm not sure the road to Anchorage was finished then, so our range of territory was rather limited,” suggests Carol Trevethan-Lindsey, Class of 1954. “I do remember a group of older girls who ‘borrowed’ a baby coffin from the mortuary. They put a doll in it, stabbed the doll, sprinkled ketchup on the wound, and put it on the front doorstep of the Home Economics teacher’s house. She promptly fainted and had to be taken to the hospital. To my knowledge, that was those girls only ‘criminal’ activity, and they were reformed after that incident! An earlier class held a graduation party at the old Boy Scout's cabin at the head of the bay, and it burned down.”

While hazing has been banned from high school activities, Seward students aren’t afraid to mix it up a little. According to Louie Bencardino, recently students have been known to streak down Fourth Avenue.