Alaska Film Archives
- These notes are from Jennifer Jolis of Fairbanks and UAF Prof. Stanley Edwin of Fort Yukon, who viewed this film in the Alaska Film Archives offices at the Rasmuson Library, UAF, on November 21, 2017. Jolis was a VISTA volunteer and Edwin was a 6-year-old growing up in Chalkyitsik, Alaska, during 1966-1967, when Jolis and others shot these films. AAF-13934 contains scenes of Eagle-the-dog; slough where fall fishing and ice fishing happened; Bobby Moses as a boy; Alice and Carl Moses cutting moose; Marianne Nicholson; Patty Salmon in canvas-covered canoe; summer of 1966 scenes; cabins with poles sticking up for radio reception; cabins; greenhouse and the old school, which was replaced in 1967 because of flooding; Bob Mott’s barge; Fort Yukon boat; Bill Fredson changing stovepipe; children playing on oil barrels include Stanley Edwin, Darryl Salmon, Robert Moses, Paul Edwin, and Agnes Herbert (wearing a scarf); unknown boy on swing; girl on swing is Isabelle Salmon wearing red; Bill Fredson with hand over face; scenes from flying over Chalkyitsik – possibly in Wien airplane – when Jolis was first arriving in 1966; fall time of year; Red Bluff, so called because of the reddish color of the soil; Johnny Edwin and possibly Woody Salmon in plaid shirt (maybe Paul Herbert shot this portion of the film); and Bill Fredson at lake.
- AAF-16390 is a super-8mm film labeled, “Start flight into camp, end with [illegible] and fox.” The film contains aerial views of snowy mountains as seen from a small airplane, coming in for a landing over a spruce forest onto a snowy runway, aerial scenes of a small settlement [possibly Good News Bay?], coming in for another landing on a snowy runway [possibly the Platinum airport?], a grab dredger moving what looks like chunks of ice, a dog team in the distance, a snowshoe hare running, and four men working with what appears to be a clamshell bucket while a smaller grab dredge removes ice from a slushy pond in the background. Additional scenes include a dredge that appears to have a huge chunk of ice stuck on its bucket, a snowy landscape, a helicopter, a group of people shoveling [possibly digging clams] in a tidal area, snowy mountains in the background, a mining camp and surrounding areas, a smaller dredge, a general overview of area, a fox, and a grab dredge with another large piece of machinery.
- This is a film that was developed in June 1959 and the early 1960s and is labeled, “St. Juneau - end is [illegible].” The film contains scenes of southeast Alaska, aerial views from a seaplane in flight, views from a small powerboat, a Grumman seaplane at a dock (N1019N), families swimming, a Petersburg parade, the Petersburg 4-H Club with a banner in a parade, a family camping and swimming, a wildfire along the roadside, and a bulldozer clearing a fire line.
- This 35mm film from the Alaska Visitors Association shows eagles, whales, rivers, sled dog teams, aerial views, mountains, seals, hills, forests, moose, sheep, caribou, geese, rivers, ducks, bears, a cruise ship, fish, Prince William Sound, totem poles, a blanket toss, Alaska Native peoples, recreational activities, and waterfalls. A narrator encourages people to visit Alaska following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
- 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.
- This film contains views of Fairbanks in the early 1960s, including cars driving through thick ice fog downtown, muddy neighborhood roads during spring break-up, the sternwheeler “Nenana” parked along the Chena River prior to its restoration and move to Alaskaland, and a bulldozer clearing snowy land.
- AAF-13879 contains scenes of a house and buildings in winter. AAF-13880 contains scenes of a house and buildings in winter. AAF-13881 and AAF-13882 contains family Christmas scenes. AAF-13883 contains scenes of men packing game meat onto a small boat. AAF-13884 contains scenes of a woman and children with a baby skunk. AAF-13885 contains scenes of the Valdez harbor, moose, and cabins. AAF-13886 contains scenes of men loading game meat onto a boat and small cabins in winter.
- 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.
- This film contains images of men sorting supplies for a field expedition (likely including Roscoe Bonsal, Ben Wood, Percy Pond, Andrew M. “Andy” Taylor, and Paul Kegal), a man unloading supplies from a small boat onto shore, men with packs hiking across an uneven glacier surface, a rock slide in the distance, canvas tents on a glacier, men hiking and posing for the camera, men hiking alongside crevasses, men roped together while hiking, men looking out across an icefield, snow covered mountain peaks, a glacier calving into water, mountain peaks as viewed from a boat, men on a boat, men posing with mountain goats they’ve hunted, a boat moving through icy waters, men with animal hides on a dock, a man (possibly skipper Paul Kegal) repairing the boat M/V Eurus, Paula and John Anderson’s fox farm and roadhouse (Polly’s roadhouse) at the north end of Wonder Lake in what is today Denali National Park, dogs pulling a sled in summer with one man driving and another riding in the sled, men at a cabin near the lake, a man and woman (possibly Paula and John Anderson) at a cabin, dogs, railroad tracks as viewed from a moving train, a train going through a tunnel, a south or southeastern coastal Alaska town, the Anchorage No. 1 Travel Air biplane taking off and climbing steeply, men in a rowboat towing the Anchorage No. 1 on floats, pilot Russel Merrill fueling an airplane, a man cranking and hand propping the Anchorage No. 1 airplane, aerial views of landscapes and shorelines from an airplane, a totem pole, Ketchikan, the Ketchikan Spruce Mill, a fish trap tender boat named the "Eureka of Seattle" with a fish scow alongside it named "APEX No. 3" (or possibly No. 8 or No. 9). The poles sticking out of the water are part of a fish trap known as a standing trap or pile trap. Identifications were made by comparing the film to photos in “With a Camera in My Hands: William O. Field, Pioneer Glaciologist: a Life History as Told to C. Suzanne Brown,” edited by C. Suzanne Brown and published by University of Alaska Press, 2004. According to Ketchikan author and retired Alaska Marine Highway System Captain William M. Hopkins in 2016, the end of the film contains views of Ketchikan, including the old Spruce Mill at the mouth of Ketchikan Creek. The waterway scenes are of the Eastern Channel of the southern end of Tongass Narrows between Mountain Point and the Coast Guard base and the Spruce Mill. If the entire clip was filmed in the same general area, the fish trap is possibly located somewhere along the southern Tongass Narrows or along nearby Annette Island.
- This film was used for lectures by the Machetanzes when they travelled outside Alaska. Footage includes Open North American dog sled races in Fairbanks and Dr. Roland Lombard wearing bib number one. Additional images include travel on the Alaska Railroad during winter, a man with a reindeer in Fairbanks, downtown Fairbanks, a party at the Atwood home in Anchorage, international travelers arriving at the Anchorage International Airport and Bob Reeve at the airport, a musical conductor and choral group, KTVA television studios and Norma Goodman, and shoppers in a grocery store. Southeast Alaska images include glaciers and travel by ship, amphibious aircraft taking off in Juneau, loggers cutting and hauling trees, Ketchikan Pulp Mill, salmon in a stream, purse seiner and cannery. Additional images include two men going upstream in a canoe and fishing for grayling, and campus buildings at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.
- AAF-13887 contains scenes of a family Christmas, a moose, and a glacier. AAF-13888 contains scenes of deep snow. AAF-13889 -- AAF-13894 contain scenes of a glacier face, a Bridal Veil falls sign, Fourth of July celebrations, a family camping, a river and fishing (poor exposure on original film), a family Christmas, and a camper and boat.
- AAF-16346 is from a film containing the following note: “Jean, Ingrid and Norm at 18 Mile, Bob and Charlotte, Carl Elken[?] Matanuska, Ron and Norm Davidson Ditch, Harding Lake, dressed up for Easter, Jean in [??] parade, birthday Ingrid and Norman, reindeer [??] at university, Jean’s birthday party, Christmas at Arne’s home, Ingrid and Norm learning to ski, beaver swimming.” The film contains scenes of family activities and travel around Alaska, children walking on railroad tracks, the Cushman Street Bridge in Fairbanks, people hiking and climbing on tors formations, children swimming at Harding Lake, a family in a boat, children playing on snow piles, children racing on ice skates, a boy dressed like a cowboy, children dressed up and posing for the camera, a girl in traditional Scandinavian clothing, a summer parade in Fairbanks, a Pioneers of Alaska float and other floats in the parade, a birthday celebration, a family riding on a sled pulled by reindeer, Christmas celebrations, and children on skis.
- 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.
- 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?).
- This film includes footage of Seward, aerial views of Seward, and Anchorage following the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. Additional footage includes Alaska Dog Mushers dogsled races at the Fairbanks track on Farmers Loop Road, dogsled races with Le Mans style start, dogsled slalom race, a snowshoe softball game, the 1966 Golden Days Parade including Charlie Creamer driving a car and George Clayton with his old truck. Final images feature people on rides at the Golden Days Midway.
- 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.
- Film contains footage of a little girl (aproximately 1 year old) at a birthday party with a cake and presents, a little girl playing with toys, a little boy's 3rd birthday party with children, cake, the child opening presents, a truck on a snowy road, scenic views of mountains and winter snowscape, a little girl about 2 years old, a man, woman, and child standing outside on the side of a road in winter, snowscapes viewed from a moving vehicle, snowy roadway viewed from a moving vehicle, winter landscapes, tall cabin at Whitehorse in Canada, sternwheeler riverboats on a shore at Whitehorse, cars racing around a snow track in the winter on the Chena River in Fairbanks, ice skaters performing for a crowd outside in winter on the Chena River in Fairbanks, views of Fairbanks businesses along river, views of the outside of a building, a man standing with a dog, scenic views of the landscape, ships on the water, a church with a Nativity scene in front, a bridge (not in Alaska), a woman and man standing outside of a brick home (not in Alaska), Pan American airplane at an airport, the mountains filmed from an airplane in flight, a man and a boy standing in snow in front of a truck, military vehicles along a snowy road, views from a truck driving down the Alaska Highway, and a truck at Whitehorse in Canada with sternwheeler riverboats on the shore in the background.
- 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.
- AAF-16344 is from a film containing the following two notes: “Early film 1938 [??] Jean, Ingrid and Norman” and “Jean’s birthday 1947 party, 1948, 1949; Ingrid and Norm’s birthday; skiing with Guri, John, Arne and Margaret, Chena Slough; Enid[?] and Arne at Lost Lake.” The film contains scenes of the Lee family, the Richardson Monument, a family having a picnic, a woman wearing traditional Scandinavian clothing in Alaska, a girl sitting on an ice carnival throne, a girl riding a tricycle a sidewalk in Fairbanks, women with skis, people around a campfire in winter, dog mushers on the Chena River in Fairbanks, Cushman Street Bridge, the winter carnival throne, people downhill skiing and some falling, people cross country skiing, men walking through woods and at cabin, men filling a car with gas using a gas can, Fairbanks homes in winter and in ice fog, dog mushing, a family around a dinner table in a home, a family celebrating Christmas and opening presents, children racing on ice skates around an outdoor rink in Fairbanks, children figure skating, Cushman Street Bridge with United States and Canada flags, and a view down Second Avenue in Fairbanks during winter.
- This footage was filmed in the mid-1960s and is labeled, “Tour with Visiting Relatives, Nova Scotia, snippet of UAF plaza, Chena Hot Springs, Alaska Highway Milepost Marker Fairbanks, Malemute Saloon, and Gold dredge.” The film contains scenes of family activities outside of Alaska, travel in Alaska, a circle of flags on the campus of University of Alaska Fairbanks, interior scenes of the museum at the university, Malemute Saloon in Ester, gold dredges, Joy Elementary School, and the Alaska Highway milepost marker in downtown Fairbanks.
- This film was used for lectures by the Machetanzes when they travelled outside of Alaska. Footage includes the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner headline "Alaska 49th State," George Sundborg checking teletype and noting the passage of statehood legislation on June 30 1958, statehood headlines from the Anchorage Daily Times and Anchorage Daily News, men launching a large star suspended by helium balloons from the Polaris building's roof in Fairbanks, a line of people signing a giant telegram in Fairbanks, a statehood parade down Second Avenue in Fairbanks, Ernest Gruening shaking hands in Anchorage, and graphics showing routes to Alaska. Additional images include passengers embarking on the Riverboat Discovery near Fairbanks, Jim Binkley piloting the boat and talking on a microphone, Mary Binkley with a microphone and an unidentified assistant showing fur to passengers, Alaska Natives at Tanana River fish camp, Alaska Native men building a fishwheel, men retrieving salmon from a fishwheel and processing it for drying, an Alaska Native woman making a birch bark basket, Sara Machetanz looking at a birch bark baby carrier, and Sara with baby Traeger Machetanz. Additional images include children bottle feeding a moose calf, people harvesting grain and vegetables in the Matanuska Valley, an aerial view of an oil drill rig, Healy coal mine, men operating a hydraulic giant and driving thaw points near Fairbanks, a dredge operating near Fairbanks, men using Caterpillars and a dragline to operate a large sluice box, sluice box clean-up, and a man smelting gold into an ingot. Additional images include the Machetanzes Hi Ridge cabin near Palmer during winter, Fred using a dog team and chainsaw to obtain firewood, a moose at a cabin, Fred and Sara travelnig to Palmer during winter, a snow plow and rotary snowblower on the road, and Jan Koslosky with a rifle showing a large Polar Bear hide. Images at the Fur Rendezvous in Anchorage include a fur auction, a weight-pull contest, a blanket toss, a merry-go-round, the start line of World Champion Dog Sled Races, and Northern Alaska Native dancers performing the Wolf Dance.
- 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.
- 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.