Alaska Homesteader's Handbook , livre ebook

Turner Publishing Company - Nancy Gates , Tricia Brown

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204 pages

English

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The Alaska Homesteader's Handbook is a remarkable compilation of practical information for living in one of the most impractical and inhospitable landscapes in the United States.

More than forty pioneer types ranging from their mid-nineties to mid-twenties describe their reasons for choosing to live their lives in Alaska and offer useful instructions and advice that made that life more livable. Whether it be how to live among bears, build an outhouse, cross a river, or make birch syrup, each story gives readers a window to a life most will never know but many still dream about. Fifty photographs and 150 line drawings illustrate the real-life experiences of Alaska settlers such as 1930s New Deal colonists, demobilized military who stayed after World War II, dream-seekers from the '60s and '70s, and myriad others who staked their claim in Alaska.

It’s a big job [living in the wilderness]. You have to be willing to tighten your belt. Don’t think Alaska’s going to pay your bills, financial or otherwise. You’ve got to pay your own way. Alaska wants anybody who’s willing to carry his own burdens, anyone who’s willing to give more than 100 percent. You’ve got to be willing to work twice as hard as other people, and be self-sufficient.
And don’t blame others for your problems. You have to bump your own head. When you open that cupboard door, and you rise up under it, you know it’s not the first time, and it’s not the fault of the carpenter who put the door there. You’ve got to be practical. You know, practicality is kind of scarce.
The greatest thing you’ll ever meet in Alaska is yourself. It’s an awfully pretty spot that gives you a chance to really live life. Martha and I are so grateful [for our time in the Arctic]. In fact, we’re still there—in spirit.
It’s home. It will always be home.
Map — 3, Foreword: Proving Up the Alaska Way — 7, vIntroduction: The Book of Experience — 8, How to Live Off the Grid — 10, How to Dress for Below-Zero Temps — 13, How to Bake in a Wood-Fired Oven — 16, How to Start a Chainsaw — 18, How to Avoid an Avalanche — 21, How to Build a Snowmachine Sled — 24, How to Field Dress a Moose — 30, How to Take Care of Your Sourdough — 33, How to Build a Dock — 36, How to Cross a River Safely — 40, How to Live Among Bears — 42, How to Build a Steambath — 46, How to Age Game Meat — 50, How to Build a Dog Team — 54, How to Operate a “Bush Maytag” — 58, How to Build an Outhouse — 61, How to Catch a King Salmon — 64, How to Read a River — 67, How to Put in a Winter Water Hole — 70, How to Lay a Woodstove Fire — 73, How to Identify Edible Berries — 76, How to Build a Cache — 79, How to Keep Moose Out of the Garden — 82, How to Land a Bush Plane — 85, How to Build a Root Cellar — 88, How to Handle Isolation — 91, How to Make Zucchini Bread — 95, How to Grow Giant Cabbages — 98, How to Make Birch Syrup — 102, How to Travel with Packhorses — 105, How to Build an Airstrip — 108, How to Feed and Water your Family — 112, How to Smoke Salmon — 116, How to Assemble a First Aid Kit — 119, How to Use Horsepower to Haul Wood — 122, How to Tie Useful Knots — 125, How to Avoid—or Survive—Falling Through the Ice — 129, How to Can Salmon on the Beach — 132, How to Overwinter Chickens — 135, How to Spin Dog Fur — 138, How to Build an Icehouse — 141, How to Run a Trapline — 144, How to Survive Alaska Winters in Tent — 148, Acknowledgements — 152, Reading List — 155, Index — 158

Sujets

Maison

Entretien de la maison

Alaska

Home

La Charge des tuniques bleues

House

History of the United States

The Last Frontier

Do-It-Yourself

Informations

Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	01 janvier 2013
Nombre de lectures	2
EAN13	9780882409177
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0948€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Tricia Brown and Nancy Gates
ALASKA NORTHWEST BOOKS
To honor my grandma, and hers. -T. B.
To Betty Talley Neal, my mother, mentor, and friend. -N. G.
Text 2012 by Tricia Brown and Nancy Gates. Photos 2012 to various photographers as credited.
Front cover photo credits, clockwise from top left: Roy Corral; Joe Doner; Ray Williams; iStockphoto: 05-14-09 Bart Coenders; IStockphoto: 10-08-06 Beverley Vycital; Lynette Clark. Front and back cover border: iStockphoto: 04-05-11 Alexander Chernyakov.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.
No warranty of accuracy or reliability is given related to the contents of this book. All recommendations and information provided in this book are made without guarantee on the part of the authors or Graphic Arts Books. The authors and Graphic Arts Books disclaim any responsibility or liability in connection with the use of this information.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, Tricia. The Alaska homesteader s handbook : independent living on the last frontier / by Tricia Brown and Nancy Gates. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-88240-811-8 (pbk.) 1. Self-reliant living-Alaska. 2. Sustainable living-Alaska. 3. Wilderness survival-Alaska. 4. Alaska-Social life and customs. I. Gates, Nancy. II. Title. GF78.B76 2012 613.6 909798-dc23
2012024105
Cover and interior design: Vicki Knapton Illustrations: Natalie Gates
Alaska Northwest Books An imprint of Graphic Arts Books P.O. Box 56118 Portland, OR 97238-6118 (503) 254-5591
www.graphicartsbooks.com
Settlers on the Last Frontier
Numbers correspond to chapters
CONTENTS
Map
Foreword: Proving Up the Alaska Way, Harmon Bud Helmericks
Introduction: The Book of Experience, Tricia Brown and Nancy Gates

1. How to Live Off the Grid , Kris Capps, Denali Park
2. How to Dress for Below-Zero Temps , Jim Helmericks, Arctic Coast
3. How to Bake in a Wood-Fired Oven , Joy Orth, Stikine River
4. How to Start a Chain Saw , Keith Lauwers, Southcentral
5. How to Avoid an Avalanche , Jill Fredston, Southcentral
6. How to Build a Snowmachine Sled , Charlie Lean, Nome
7. How to Field Dress a Moose, Joel Doner, Southcentral
8. How to Take Care of Your Sourdough, Lisa Frederic, Kodiak and Denali Park
9. How to Build a Dock, Ray Williams, Lake Iliamna and Anchor Point
10. How to Cross a River Safely, Sherry Simpson, Juneau, Fairbanks, Anchorage
11. How to Live Among Bears, Roy Corral, Brooks Range and Southcentral
12. How to Build a Steambath, Dan Ausdahl, Kuskokwim River
13. How to Age Game Meat, Seth Kantner, Kotzebue
14. How to Build a Dog Team, Jeff King, Denali Park
15. How to Operate a Bush Maytag, Lynette Clark, Harrison Creek and Fox
16. How to Build an Outhouse, Douglas Colp, Southeast and Interior
17. How to Catch a King Salmon, Ken Marsh, Southcentral
18. How to Read a River, Kai Binkley Sims, Bethel and Fairbanks
19. How to Put In a Winter Water Hole, Joe Runyan, Interior
20. How to Lay a Woodstove Fire, Ole Wik, Kobuk River Valley
21. How to Identify Edible Berries, Verna Pratt, Anchorage
22. How to Build a Cache, Tom Walker, Denali Park
23. How to Keep Moose Out of the Garden, Ann D. Roberts, Fairbanks
24. How to Land a Bush Plane, Harmon Bud Helmericks, Walker Lake and Colville Village
25. How to Build a Root Cellar, Maxine DeVilbiss, Lazy Mountain
26. How to Handle Isolation, Leslie Leyland Fields, Kodiak Island
27. How to Make Zucchini Bread, Rose Nabinger, Kokrines and Kaltag
28. How to Grow Giant Cabbages, Don Dinkel, Palmer
29. How to Make Birch Syrup, Susan and Daniel Humphrey, Haines
30. How to Travel with Packhorses, Marlin Grasser, Brooks, Wrangell, Chugach, and Alaska Ranges
31. How to Build an Airstrip, Glen Alsworth, Lake Clark
32. How to Feed and Water Your Family, Clarence and Anneli Bakk, Western and Southcentral
33. How to Smoke Salmon, Russ and Freda Arnold, Ruby
34. How to Assemble a First Aid Kit, Roy and Mary Beth Hooper, Copper Center
35. How to Use Horsepower to Haul Wood, Jack Seemann, Lazy Mountain
36. How to Tie Useful Knots, Steve Axelson, Ketchikan
37. How to Avoid-or Survive-Falling Through the Ice, Bob Uhl, Kotzebue
38. How to Can Salmon on the Beach, Dolores Steffes, Knik River
39. How to Build a Raised-Bed Garden, Charlotte Jewell, Skagway
40. How to Overwinter Chickens, Gloria Day, Valdez
41. How to Spin Dog Fur, Charilyn Cardwell, Mat-Su Valley
42. How to Build an Icehouse, Gale and Jean Van Diest, Holikachuk and Grayling
43. How to Run a Trapline, Keith Rowland, McCarthy
44. How to Survive Alaska Winters in a Tent, Ken Deardorff, McGrath

Acknowledgments
Reading List
Index
The greatest thing you ll ever meet in Alaska is yourself.

Harmon Bud Helmericks paused for a formal photo on the day he flew solo to the North Pole in his Cessna 170, around 1950. He signed this print as a gift for his son Jim in 1956. (Photo courtesy Jim Helmericks Family)
Foreword Proving Up the Alaska Way
Alaska has always had a freedom that other states-and countries-don t have. And you can t explain freedom to someone who s never really known it. Some people have a spirit of adventure-a very few-and some don t. Most don t. Most wouldn t do anything different if given the chance.
I was born in 1917, so I was twenty-three years old when I came to Alaska from Champaign, Illinois. I never first came up. I came up to stay in 1940. (During the Depression, you didn t go very far to visit anybody.) My great-uncle Fred had been a signal corpsman with the US Army Corps of Engineers in Seward. I got my opinions of Alaska from him; he loved Alaska and spent his life here.
So, the first place I came to was Seward. I worked for the railroad-that was the only work there really was. My job was transferring freight-groceries, supplies, anything you shipped up in those days-from the steamships to railroad cars bound for Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Later I settled on the Arctic Coast and explored all over the North Slope and Canada by dog team and Bush plane . . . for discovery. It was like, The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see. And I ve flown over more pack ice than most people ever dream of. Of course, folks in the Lower 48 never did have to fly-with roads all over. For us in Alaska, roads sort of spoiled the country.
Alaska always fascinates people. But if you don t like your wife or your husband, don t think going to Alaska will solve that problem. Just forget it. Don t waste your money. If you don t both have an adventurous spirit, and are willing to carry it through, don t think Alaska s going to fix your problems in life. You ll take them with you.
It s a big job [living in the wilderness]. You have to be willing to tighten your belt. Don t think Alaska s going to pay your bills, financial or otherwise. You ve got to pay your own way. Alaska wants anybody who s willing to carry his own burdens, anyone who s willing to give more than 100 percent. You ve got to be willing to work twice as hard as other people, and be self-sufficient.
And don t blame others for your problems. You have to bump your own head. When you open that cupboard door, and you rise up under it, you know it s not the first time, and it s not the fault of the carpenter who put the door there. You ve got to be practical. You know, practicality is kind of scarce.
The greatest thing you ll ever meet in Alaska is yourself. It s an awfully pretty spot that gives you a chance to really live life. Martha and I are so grateful [for our time in the Arctic]. In fact, we re still there-in spirit.
It s home. It will always be home.
-Harmon Bud Helmericks, July 2008
Colville Village, Walker Lake, and Fairbanks, Alaska
Introduction The Book of Experience
Just what kind of person decides to go North and build a life in the Last Frontier? Throughout Alaska s history, restless adventurers have made their way here, as have gold seekers, outdoor enthusiasts, and poets. The military invited a lot of people. So did Big Oil and other employers. Some have arrived to start a new life-or to escape the old one; others are lucky enough to be born here. It all makes for an interesting mix in the population. So you might be sitting on a plane, waiting for a bus, or at the doctor s office, and strike up a casual conversation with somebody who turns out to be a truly extraordinary individual. You find one who headed North against incredible odds, and through strength, intelligence, tenacity-and sometimes just dumb luck-etched out a rewarding life in the wilds of this rugged, unforgettable, unforgiving, achingly gorgeous land. If you get this person talking, and if you really listen, you ll come away wiser.
And now you re about to gain from the experiences of more than forty pioneer types we interviewed for the The Alaska Homesteader s Handbook . We tracked them down and asked each one for a helpful piece of advice, some tip or instruction on getting along in the wilderness. Some were actual homesteaders or had grown up on a remote site; others moved in and out of the Bush seasonally. By genetic predisposition or by hard-won experience (or both), all had acquired how-to that set them apart. They re old and young, male and female, Bush-dweller and city folk, first-generation to fourth-generation Alaskans. What they have in common is the pursuit of their Alaska dream.
For the elders, talking with us brought back rich memories of a life they d return to in a heartbeat if time and strength would allow it. The younger ones are strong and sure and chasing their dream, still loving the place that at times seems hell-bent on killing them.
As we got to know them, we found the type who have great stories,