Alaska Film Archives

[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.
[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.
A Story of Fur
A Story of Fur
The original narrated DVD is labeled “John Baker - A Story of Fur.” The original silent film is labeled “No. 1 Winter Trapline.” The narrated version is played back at a different frame rate and is slower and longer than the silent version. This is the narrated version. The film contains footage of the B&K Trading Company building and the Roadhouse in Talkeetna; Carol and Verna Close baking bread; a dog named Queenie with John Baker checking a trapline during winter; Queenie wearing a dog pack; John Baker hiking in snowshoes and checking a beaver trap; John Baker and trapping partner Gene Lanzaro building a small log cabin from start to finish, including peeling logs, scribing and notching logs, and sawing boards from logs; setting a wolverine trap; a pilot and mailman Cliff Hudson delivering mail via small airplane; John Baker nailing a roof on a cabin, cutting out a window on a cabin, installing a chimney through a cabin roof, looking at Mount McKinley (Denali) through cabin windows, demonstrating window shutters, and showing bear protection around windows; Gene Lanzaro cutting fireweed and the dog Queenie pulling a sled with logs; cooking meat and pancakes inside cabin; John Baker with a lynx that he trapped; a captive marten kept as a pet; a moose; John Baker demonstrating hiking in snowshoes versus without snowshoes in deep snow; John Baker showing a marten he has trapped and field dressing a spruce grouse; a new snowmachine; Queenie barking at a trapped wolverine; scenes of setting and checking a beaver trap, including fresh beaver signs in spring, a beaver snare, a beaver lodge with steam emerging, skinning a beaver, and Queenie pulling a sled; John Baker starting up and flying a small airplane on skis, aerial views of snowy landscapes, and groups of moose; landing an airplane on skis; a moose walking through deep snow; John Baker butchering a moose and loading it onto an airplane; aerial views of mountains and moose; a ptarmigan in white plumage; a snowmachine pulling a sled; showing off a trapline catch at Summit log cabin; Queenie running behind a snowmachine and riding on a sled; an airplane in a windstorm and John Baker digging out the airplane after the storm passes; Lake Hood airplanes and a hangar damaged by a windstorm near Anchorage; John Baker with a roll of furs and a pickup truck at Lake Hood airstrip; Anchorage Fur Rendezvous scenes, including Fourth Avenue in Anchorage, brief glimpses of George Attla and Jimmy Malemute, Roland Lombard mushing along a trail, a helicopter flying over the trail, Jonas Brothers Taxidermy shop in Anchorage, and a fur auction; Myers Furs shop in Michigan, a furrier at work, and John Baker’s father posing in a beaver coat and hat.