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Alaska Film Archives

About the Collection

Over the past half century, the University of Alaska Fairbanks has built the largest collection of archival films in and about Alaska. The collection combines hundreds of donations of film and videos to UAF by individuals, organizations and institutions. Materials range from professional productions to amateur home-movies, made in and about Alaska from the earliest days of filmmaking through today. Since 1993 these materials have been held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library. Films and videos selected for this portal project are a sampling of the thousands available for checkout on DVD through the Rasmuson Library. Unless otherwise noted, items are presented here in their entirety, unedited and uncut. Short, popular clips from the collection can be viewed on our YouTube channel. Read more about the Alaska Film Archives.

1 to 8 of 8 Objects
[Alaska flying in winter and summer]
[Alaska flying in winter and summer]
The original film is labeled “Winter storm, wind storm with Champion, have on video.” The film contains scenes of driving along a snowy road in winter, caribou along the roadside, John Baker gassing up an Aeronca Champion airplane on skis, an airplane taking off, an airplane at a remote location, a man removing wing covers and hand propping the airplane, Queenie the dog going into the airplane, an airplane on skis taking off from a remote strip, a truck crossing a narrow bridge across a river, caribou, aerial views of the landscape, Queenie with a pack, John Baker brushing away a horde of mosquitoes, a bulldozer digging a trench, many airplanes around a lake, construction crews, aerial views of Anchorage, men hunting, and a small tracked vehicle.
[Alaska summer and fall]
[Alaska summer and fall]
The original film is labeled “Fall and summer.” The film contains scenes of small airplanes around a float pond, John Baker fishing, Alaska wildflowers, canvas-sided cabins, Queenie the dog, a sternwheeler pushing a barge on a river with a fishwheel in the foreground, flowers, a ptarmigan, a barge on a river, a floatplane taxiing on water with railroad cars in the background, travel along a gravel road, road construction possibly in Mt. McKinley/Denali National Park, a glacier, a red squirrel on a picnic table, a magpie, Dall sheep, caribou, a close view of a grizzly bear feeding, blueberries, autumn colors across the tundra, trees, a ptarmigan, a moose, an arctic ground squirrel, a moose, airplanes on skis taking off and landing, John Baker with an airplane, John Baker hunting goose, a beaver in a pond, and a dog chasing after fish.
[Aleutians travel, Old Town Valdez]
[Aleutians travel, Old Town Valdez]
The original film is unlabeled. The film contains scenes of ocean waves crashing against a rocky shore in the Aleutian Islands – likely Amchitka, a large abandoned building, a man with a sign that says “Amchitka forest,” a sea otter in ocean waves, otters playing in an enclosed pool, military buildings and Quonset huts, a man fishing, grave markers, a barbed wire fence, wrecked military airplanes, a large airplane hangar, a gun turret, a Reeve Aleutian Airways DC-6 airplane landing, aerial views of clouds and a volcano, grebes in water, a man with a string of fish, John Baker with a string of fish, a road sign for New Valdez and Old Valdez, homes and buildings in Old Valdez that were abandoned following the 1964 earthquake, Pioneer Hall, the oldest building, an old cable office, Hotel Valdez, an abandoned vehicle, old oil tanks along the shoreline, the wrecked boat “Gulf King,” Valdez sheet metal works, a Gilson’s sign, a church, a boy with a bicycle, and pickup truck driving out of town.
[Baker family films]
[Baker family films]
The original film is labeled “Ma and pa golfing, cutting and bringing in Christmas tree, Ma and Tom and Queenie.” The film contains scenes of the Baker family golfing in Michigan, Queenie the dog pulling people on a sled, a small airplane flying low along a shoreline, two people cutting a Christmas tree that is then towed to the truck by Queenie, and blue jays at a bird feeder.
[Farrar buggy, scenes outside Alaska]
[Farrar buggy, scenes outside Alaska]
The original film is labeled “Ray Farrar and buggy, me and Champ, Tom shoveling snow – Michigan, Toni on water ski, Siebert and deer.” The film contains scenes of a dog pulling a loaded sled, brief aerial views of a town and an airport landing strip, a large vehicle with many tires moving across the tundra, sections of pipe being hauled by vehicle, a demonstration of a vehicle’s ability to travel smoothly over rough terrain, a small airplane taking off from an airport, John Baker repairing the tail of an airplane, snow storm scenes, a workshop's interior, a deer near a barn, a man posing with a deer, a pheasant in snow, men moving a raft of logs, a water chute and logging operation, a man water skiing, and an airplane on floats landing on water. Some scenes were filmed outside Alaska.
[Kenai – with Roy and Ethel Koshney]
[Kenai – with Roy and Ethel Koshney]
The original narrated DVD is titled “Kenai.” The original silent film is labeled “Roy Koshney Kenai.” This is the narrated version. The film contains footage of Roy Koshney planting a garden and mending nets for commercial fishing, Roy heading out in an old cannery boat to the fishing grounds on Kasilof or Kenai River, Roy running nets out from his fishing boat, Roy pulling in nets, a sunset over the inlet, a boat hold full of fish, Roy moving fish using a peugh, men offloading fish at a cannery, Roy and Ethel Koshney cutting up salmon, Roy and Dina or Deena Koshney picking berries, the fishing boat PG 78 in a dry dock, and fishermen baiting and running out longline for halibut. An un-narrated scene at end includes a small fishwheel along a river and a man with a string of salmon.
[Mining with Bob Young 1970s]
[Mining with Bob Young 1970s]
The original narrated DVD is titled “Mining with Bob Young 1970s.” The original silent film is labeled “Bob Young Mining.” Note that image quality is in some respects superior in the HDR scan. This is the narrated version. The film contains footage of Bob Young and John Baker with a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer traveling in winter from Talkeetna to Falls Creek, a bulldozer breaking though ice on a river and crossing through deep water, a bulldozer breaking a trail through snow, an Invader snowmachine parked at a summit, Bob Young building a shower, placer mine scenes, a man sluicing and panning for gold, a bulldozer pushing gravel into a sluice box, a bulldozer pushing tailings piles, a man removing screens from sluice boxes, the man shaking and cleaning rugs at the bottom of the sluice box, Bob Young drinking a can of Pepsi, Bob Young panning and holding a pan full of gold, Bob Young measuring and weighing gold, and Bob Young’s grandmother and mother cooking in a kitchen.
[Mining with Bob Young 1970s - HDR]
[Mining with Bob Young 1970s - HDR]
The original narrated DVD is titled “Mining with Bob Young 1970s.” The original silent film is labeled “Bob Young Mining.” Note that this is the HDR scan, not the narrated version. The film contains scenes of Bob Young and John Baker with a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer traveling in winter from Talkeetna to Falls Creek, a bulldozer breaking though ice on a river and crossing through deep water, a bulldozer breaking a trail through snow, an Invader snowmachine parked at a summit, Bob Young building a shower, placer mine scenes, a man sluicing and panning for gold, a bulldozer pushing gravel into a sluice box, a bulldozer pushing tailings piles, a man removing screens from sluice boxes, a man shaking and cleaning rugs at the bottom of a sluice box, Bob Young drinking a can of Pepsi, Bob Young panning and holding a pan full of gold, Bob Young measuring and weighing gold, and Bob Young’s grandmother and mother cooking in a kitchen.