Alaska Film Archives

[Scenes from around Alaska]
[Scenes from around Alaska]
This film contains images of a dead wolf, bulldozers, a man and woman and two boys, people sledding on a hillside, blowing snow along Steese Highway, Circle Hot Springs in winter, a mining operation, men working in sluice box as children play, fall landscape, caribou, winter landscape, summer landscape, Cat train moving over snowy ground, Ocean Van Line trailer, tractor trailers hauling supplies, a bulldozer plowing a path through trees, scenes in northern Alaska, a dog team, a dead seal, an Alaska Native family posing for the camera outside of a wall tent, a Cat train, an airport, tractor trailers, a bulldozer plowing snow, a Cat train, and men working to free a vehicle that has fallen though ice.
[Seward scenes]
[Seward scenes]
The donor’s original number and title for AAF-20866 are: “RW 134. Early Seward.” This film features scenes from Seward, which include images of the railway station, people gathered around a small structure fire, the start and finish of the Fourth of July Mt. Marathon race, an Alaska Railroad AuRoRa prototype engine 1050 with a plow attached, women with flowers, a man and women outside a building, and a large ship in a bay and approaching a dock.
[Skagway, White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, Carcross]
[Skagway, White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, Carcross]
This film is labeled “Reel #3 Unknown, Part Railroad.” Footage contains scenes of Skagway, passengers disembarking from a ferry or ship, a White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad steam engine and railroad cars, sites along the railroad from Skagway to Carcross in Yukon, Canada, the Caribou Hotel and the Matthew Watson General Store in Carcross, and a sternwheeler in Carcross.
[Snowmachines, trapping]
[Snowmachines, trapping]
All film segments are labeled "Trapping - December 1961 to January 1962," and they contain images of filmmaker Victor Rovier driving to the Alaska Marine store, a Polaris Sno-Traveler sign, men looking at and test-driving various models of snowmachines, moose in the snow, a wounded moose on the road, a bridge, a small group of cabins, people driving snowmachines, people driving on snowmachines and walking with snowshoes while checking and setting traps, a fox in a trap, a wolverine in a trap, a fox in a trap, dogs running alongside snow machines, an elderly man posing on a snowmachine and going for a ride on a snowmachine.
[Stenberg films 1]
[Stenberg films 1]
This film was developed in November 1963 and is labeled, “Mitkoff Highway.” The Mitkof Highway runs south from Petersburg, Alaska to the southeast point of Mitkof Island. the film contains images of a Tongass National Forest sign, trees being cleared, logs being moved by cables, road construction equipment, crews at work, explosions on a hillside, and bulldozers clearing a road.
[Stenberg films 2]
[Stenberg films 2]
This is a film from the early 1970s containing scenes of Smokey the Bear greeting children and families at a Lions Club picnic. The remaining scenes are from Alaska’s North Slope and include caribou crossing a road, a Wien Consolidated jet taking off, a sign for Frontier Transportation Company, construction equipment covered in snow, and a large fire possibly at an oil well.
[Stenberg films 3]
[Stenberg films 3]
This is a film that was developed in August 1961 and September 1962 and is labeled, “Mitkoff Job 75 Reel No. 1.” The film contains scenes of a human skull, a Caterpillar tractor and operator, a tug boat, chainsaw crews and bulldozers clearing land, travel along a shoreline in a boat, a tree being felled, large construction equipment moving rocks, a welder repairing a broken crane, a man climbing and topping a large tree, a man standing on top of a tree cut, men standing on floating logs and forming a timber raft, a man in a work camp, a twilight sunrise or sunset, road construction activities along a shoreline, a blast warning sign, and construction crew housing and cars.
[Stenberg films 4]
[Stenberg films 4]
This is a film that was developed in August 1962 and is labeled, “Mitkoff Hiway No. 2.” The film contains scenes of road construction along a shoreline, crews removing trees and blasting rock, a coastal Alaska town (Petersburg?), and men washing clams.
[Stenberg films 5]
[Stenberg films 5]
This is a film from about 1961 labeled, “Petersburg" and "Hunting Fishing #4.” The film contains scenes of women processing halibut and men processing salmon in a commercial processing facility, shrimp being unloaded from boats, an Alaska Coastal-Ellis Airlines seaplane landing and taxiing to shore, passengers posing, a seaplane taking off, mountains and glaciers, a snow-covered car and trailer home, Petersburg main street and wharf, a parade with adults and children in costume, a dunk tank, people walking around town, a boat race, and Alaska Marine Highway ferry M/V Malaspina.
[Stenberg films 7]
[Stenberg films 7]
This is a late 1950s film labeled “Moving dredge - coal mine - ferry at Nenana.” The film contains aerial and ground views of a large dredge being moved – likely Dredge Number 6 being moved from Gold Hill to Sheep Creek near Fairbanks in 1958. The film also contains aerial views of mountains, a mining operation, and Fairbanks International Airport as well as footage featuring a railroad bridge in Nenana and the sternwheeler Yutana in Nenana.
[Stenberg films 8]
[Stenberg films 8]
This is a film that was developed in September 1959 and is labeled, “Moose hunting, Fairbanks world champ dog races and blanket toss.” The film contains scenes of men hunting and butchering a moose, an Alaska Dog Mushers Association banner, sled dog races, a woman in a crown posing and driving a dog sled, an early snow machine near a fence, and a blanket toss.
[Stenberg films 9]
[Stenberg films 9]
This film is labeled, “Home Reel 1.” The film contains scenes of southeast Alaska, men and women posing with bundles of furs, small boats, mountains and glaciers, a waterfall, views from a boat, fishing vessels at a dock, and women walking along a snowy street. The segment titled “Alaska River Voyage” by the Alaska Sportsman Magazine includes scenes filmed in Southeast Alaska such as tourists boarding a boat, a woman posing with a dog, women looking at totem poles, boats, and bears.
[Thompson Valdez film]
[Thompson Valdez film]
Footage includes a moving building, buildings in Old Town, signs identifying buildings, burning buildings in Old Town following the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake, ships in the harbor, Alyeska Terminal 1976, a fire across from Port Valdez Hotel, porpoises and a sea otter, a woman getting her hair styled, a fishing boat with an outboard motor, men hauling a dingy aboard, flying over New Town and Old Town, an unidentified man, Old Town after the tsunami, fishermen pulling a crab pot, and a panorama of New Town. Reels of Super-8mm films had been donated to the Valdez Museum by Jim Thompson in 2006, and were officially transferred to the Alaska Film Archives in 2015.
[Thompson Valdez film 2]
[Thompson Valdez film 2]
Footage features Prince William Sound winter scenery from airplane, Columbia Glacier, an airplane landing on gravel runway at Valdez Airport, Old Town in May, Port Valdez Motel, Old Town fire, Harolds Rent-A-Truck pulling mobile home, Gold Rush fashion show, women in gowns, Old Town, people moving a building, New Town boat harbor, a boat named “Scrounger Too,” a parade in New Town with a military band, a fire truck, a school bus, a fire in Old Town, aerial views of Old Town and New Town, Pinzon Bar, cafe sign, Switzerland Inn, New Town harbor, Rexall store, Xavier Catholic Church, the police department, the Visitors Bureau, paved roads, Eagles Lodge, Old Town, an abandoned church, people moving the Eagles building, and people moving other buildings and an old church. Reels of Super-8mm films had been donated to the Valdez Museum by Jim Thompson in 2006, and were officially transferred to the Alaska Film Archives in 2015.
[Trailers hauled to snowy pipeline camp]
[Trailers hauled to snowy pipeline camp]
This film contains scenes featuring S.S. Mullen Construction Company equipment, a Caterpillar dealership in Fairbanks, aerial views of the Haul Road, a sign that says "Ice May Be Unsafe - Cross at Your Own Risk - State of Alaska Dept. of Highways," men standing next to a cargo airplane, trucks hauling equipment along a narrow snowy road, aerial views of the Brooks Range and a road, aerial views of trucks on a snowy road, aerial views of a pipeline camp, and trailers being assembled and put into place at the camp.
[UAF fire department 1980 to 1981]
[UAF fire department 1980 to 1981]
This film contains footage of a large group of people swimming and playing in a backyard swimming pool during cold weather and warm weather as well as footage of a firefighting competition which includes firefighting races and fires being extinguished by groups of firefighters.
[Valdez, Alaska and Outside travel]
[Valdez, Alaska and Outside travel]
The first segment in Alaska includes footage of blowing snow in Valdez the and aerial views of winter countryside. Footage outside of Alaska includes George Meals at his farm in Atkinson Nebraska with unidentified women, traffic at night, a Northwest Airlines airplane, a man chopping wood, a woman and dog, tourists watching a dog sled in the summer, mountains, women in a Valdez Light and Power office, men and women in a garden (Nancy, Frank and Ertha Mills in Sebastapol CA), seals in cages, homes and roads, lights in downtown Las Vegas, an old west town (Nancy and Ertha with figures), a dam site, Nancy and friends posing for the camera, homes, people posing (Nancy and family near Amarillo Texas, George Meals with a hay wagon, and farm scenes in Atkinson Nebraska with Melvin and Marvin Meals. The second segment includes footage of downtown Valdez, snow removal vehicles, a propeller-driven vehicle (probably built by Owen Meals) driving down a street, freight being unloaded from a ship, fuel tanks, Alaska Freight Lines and other semi-trucks with trailers and freight, a snowplow, parked semi-trucks, snow removal, a snowy road, wintertime dock activities, an Alaska Steamship Company trailer being offloaded from a ship,Valdez street scenes during winter, trucks hauling pipes, a Valdez Light Power & Telephone Company truck, a small helicopter landing and taking off, and dock views. The third segment includes footage at the Valdez airport with a military DC-3 and other airplanes, an airplane taking off, cars driving on a snowy road, Anchorage city lights, mountains and a lake, foxes at a fox farm, a small water wheel, a cabin and cache, a bear cub and people, scenic views, highway travel, a small airplane taking off and flying by, wind in the mountains, a no-hunting sign, a waterfall and ice, Valdez City School (built in 1936 and used until the 1964 earthquake), and views from a ship. The fourth segment outside of Alaska includes images of families posing for the camera, scenes at a large airport, a woman climbing oil derrick/tower stairs, oil-drilling operation, a small windmill, and oil rigs.
[Waymon Vest collection films 4]
[Waymon Vest collection films 4]
AAF-13898 is from a film identified by the filmmaker as dog mushing in Anchorage on Cordova Street with mushers George Attla and Roland “Doc” Lombard, circa 1969-1971. The full 16-minute reel was made from five smaller reels labeled by the filmmaker as follows: no label; "dog races Lombard and Attla;" "porky camp robber;" "dog races;" and "fur [illegible]." The films contain scenes of crowds watching sled dog races in downtown Anchorage, a cat train, aerial mountain views, a porcupine, a man hiking with a large pack, men at a cabin feeding a Gray Jay or “camp robber,” sled dog teams in Anchorage navigating a corner, and mushers and sled dog teams at the start line.
[White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, Bennett Lake]
[White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, Bennett Lake]
This film is labeled “Train.” The footage contains scenes of travel on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, Bennett train station in Canada, a log cabin, the Trail of ’98 sign, a railroad trestle over a gorge, an Inspiration Point sign, people gathered at a monument, Skagway, a ferry, an engineer, and a church at Bennett Lake.
[White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad summer and winter, de-railed train]
[White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad summer and winter, de-railed train]
This film is labeled “Reel 1, Reel 2, Steam engine trip to Whitehorse August 1961, Railroad shorts June 1960.” The footage contains scenes of the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, a steam engine pulling a train, a train crossing a bridge and arriving at Carcross in Canada, scenery along the railroad route, black–and-white scenes of derailed train cars, train travel, a bulldozer at work, a train at Bennett Lake in Canada, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church at Bennett Lake, a train operating under snowy conditions, black-and-white scenes of a bulldozer pushing railroad cars down a ravine, passengers inside a train car, train travel in winter, a White Pass and Yukon Route sign in Whitehorse in Canada, horses along a railroad route, a machine with a shovel filling a train car, and train travel in summer.
[White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, train interior]
[White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, train interior]
This film is labeled “Poor quality, train trip.” The footage contains scenes of buildings at Bennett Lake in Canada, a conductor and passengers within a train car, White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad travel and scenery, the Caribou Hotel in Carcross in Canada, a sternwheeler in Carcross, and more train scenes.
[Wilkins expeditions, wonders in motion etc. 3]
[Wilkins expeditions, wonders in motion etc. 3]
This footage features mining clean-up and a sluice box in operation, stacking tailings using a bucket, Stinson biplanes, Harding Lake recreation, Wilkins snow-motors seen from the air in 1926, grayling fishing, the paddlewheeler "Pioneer", dog races, and musher Joe Stickman being presented with a trophy (Endicott trophy?).
[Wilkins expeditions, wonders in motion etc. 5]
[Wilkins expeditions, wonders in motion etc. 5]
This footage includes cutting hay with a team of horses, Charlie Creamer (?) in a field with shocks of hay, a large commercial garden and greenhouses, a picnic and political rally, a sluice box operating, a truck pulling Hubert Wilkins' Fokker fuselage through Fairbanks, a crashed Fokker with a broken wing, the wing being removed by men, a crashed Fokker with collapsed landing gear during winter, and snow-motors clearing a runway.
The Would-Be Musicians
The Would-Be Musicians
The Fairbanks Children's Theater present a play titled "The Would-Be Musicians" to children in Kotzebue, Teller, Unalakleet, Savoonga, Bethel and many other Alaska villages during its 1973 Winter Tour. The actors talk about their experiences on the tour as scenes from rehearsals and performances are shown. The program also contains views of activities and people in Alaska villages during the wintertime.
[Yukon River travel, Nenana and Eagle, seal skinning, sport fishing, commercial fishing, Unalakleet, gold dredge]
[Yukon River travel, Nenana and Eagle, seal skinning, sport fishing, commercial fishing, Unalakleet, gold dredge]
Part 1 (AAF-980) footage includes a dog team crossing ice, a riverboat on the Yukon River in autumn, a river pilot in a small boat checking water depth, a school in Nenana, people in Eagle Village, riverboat workers, a Dawson City street, going through Five-Finger Rapids, Alaska and Canada flags, Whitehorse, Skagway, Miles Canyon Rapids, and Lake Bennett. Part 2 (AAF-981) footage includes an Alaska Native woman wearing a parka, drying sea mammal intestines, whale butchering in Kotzebue, river scenery, sod houses, a cemetery at Pt. Hope, a gold dredge operating in Nome, a man speaking to an audience, Alaska Native dancers, a Ladd Field hangar, Athabascan men and women in Eagle, the Mission School in Nenana, Gren Collins float plane at a dock with people crowded around, and men trading furs in Canada. Part 3 (AAF-984) footage includes an Alaska Native woman skinning a seal at Pt. Hope. Part 4 (AAF-985) footage includes people at a picnic, small boats on the ocean, fly fishing on a creek, men catching salmon and flounder, the fishing boat "Radar,” a glacier, a flower garden, Sara Machetanz and a man with dogs pulling a three-wheeled cart in Nome, women in parkas, and Sara Machetanz with children eating ice cream. Part 5 (AAF-986) footage includes Sara Machetanz fishing, unloading salmon from a commercial fishing boat, a fishing fleet, crabs on a dock, totes of fish, emptying nets on fishing boats, salmon swimming upstream at a waterfall, Sara Machetanz with girls at a Girl Scout Camp near Ketchikan, women in parkas putting on mukluks, and boys playing on a rubber raft in a gravel pit. Part 6 (AAF-987) footage includes scenery around Unalakleet. Part 7 (AAF-988) footage includes men driving thaw points for a mining operation, men working hydraulic giants, and a large dredge in operation in Interior Alaska.