Alaska Film Archives

Alaska Division: Great Falls to Fairbanks
Alaska Division: Great Falls to Fairbanks
This is an Army Air Corps training film for crews ferrying aircraft from Great Falls, Montana to Fairbanks, Alaska, where Soviet pilots then took possession of the airplanes. The aircraft were part of the Lend-Lease program in which the United States sent war supplies to the Soviet Union during World War II. Footage includes graphics showing the route, aerial views of runways along the route, views of runways during landings, and graphics advising pilots of procedures for aborting flights. During the life of the Lend-Lease project, nearly 8,000 planes flew along this route, also known as the Alaska-Siberia (ALSIB) route, from Montana to Alaska then on to Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. The film was made by the U.S. Army Air Forces Air Transport Command Overseas Technical Unit.
[AMOCO-Navarin operations]
[AMOCO-Navarin operations]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,000 numbered as Bacon 102-1 and titled "AMOCO-Navarin Operations: WP [workprint]-400 feet." It contains footage of men boarding a Boeing 234 Chinook helicopter, the helicopter taking off and then landing at an oil rig or platform in the ocean, a sign that says "Ocean Odyssey," a man in a small control room, drilling operations and men at work aboard an oil rig, a satellite dish and control room, a man being interviewed, more scenes aboard the oil rig, a cargo ship and a sign reading "Maersk Serangoon," a man with binoculars, a pipe and cargo aboard a ship?, a helicopter landing at an airport, and men disembarking from the helicopter. Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 102 - 1 Reel - Film Bill did for AMOCO Oil. They had a contract. Also, they had a lease for fifty miles off of Anwar [ANWR] on the border of Canada and the United States and they wanted a film of the whole operation."
[Alaska travel, Healy, Valdez, Gulkana, Ski Boot Hill, travel outside 1]
[Alaska travel, Healy, Valdez, Gulkana, Ski Boot Hill, travel outside 1]
This film is made up of several smaller reels labeled: "Raft Race and Rodeo," "August 1967, Mom and Dad Arriving, Valdez Trip, Floods, [?] House," "Raft Race," "Raft Race," "Wisc Kids 1966," "Wisc Kids #2," "Ferry to Whittier 1972," and "Square Dance 1973." The film contains footage of a raft race on the Tanana River near Fairbanks, a rodeo, Wien airplanes at an airport, Valdez area waterfalls, a man and boy holding fish and standing near a camper, flooded homes in a neighborhood, North Star Borough School buses, family scenes outside Alaska, scenes viewed from the deck of a ferry, and people square-dancing.
[Annabeth Hanlon collection 2]
[Annabeth Hanlon collection 2]
Footage includes people panning for gold, a B-17 flying overhead, men cutting firewood with a truck-mounted saw in downtown Fairbanks, downtown buildings, Wien Alaska Airlines operations at Weeks Field, an airplane taking off, Jim Dodson's airplane, hangars on the field, fire, children ice skating, dog sled races on the Chena Rive, men launching a small barge, travel in an outboard motor-powered riverboat, the tug M.S. Otter of Fairbanks pushing a barge, a grouse on the road, men working on a cabin, a small boat being launched in a lake, men cutting ice for drinking water with a hand saw, a car pulling a sled with blocks of ice, a fire in a Fairbanks Laundry building, and a formation of military airplanes. Notes accompanying the film say: view of McKinley, Deadwood and Dr. Schiable, around Fairbanks, sawing wood, around 2nd Ave., Wien Airways & Jim in planes, old Pan Am, Dorothy's house, skating in Main School yard, my 8th, dog team races at end of 2nd, K9 team won, youngster falling down, Albas trip, grouse, McKinley, ducks, Hanlon, building at lake, kids, lake boat, Albert Martin, Bob Harwood, geese, cutting ice, Bud Shaw, (?), fire at laundry, Russian DC-3, P-63 to Russia led by B-25.
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 8]
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 8]
Notes with this film say “1949 Charlotte Ames and Bob, Don, Mrs. Wiener, and Lee Family at Airport, Pan Am DC4; 1949 Norman and Ingrid at Badger Road cabin, 1962 Boat Races, Chena River in Fairbanks, Christmas 1961 Arne Jergen; 1962 Boat Races in Chena Rover; 1962 Norman’s second car 1956 Pontiac; 1962 Hydraulic mining Ester Alaska; 1962 Cleanup at Hassel’s Mine; 1962 Golden Days Fairbanks and Ingrid home in 1972; 1962 Arne and Arnold Nordale, Ferry at Nenana.” The film contains footage of a Pan American World Airways airplane, children playing, children hoisting one another with a rope and pulley system, children skiing, a Christmas tree in a home, a family meal in a home, the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, power boats on the river, crowds gathered along the riverbank to watch boats, a Fairbanks home, hydraulic giants and a mining operation, men cleaning up a sluice box, dancing in downtown Fairbanks, Monty’s Department Store and Lacey Street Theater signs, views from aboard the Sternwheeler Yutana, the Nenana bridge, a fishwheel, highway travel, and Fielding Lake.
[Camping, outdoor scenes, and scenes from an airport]
[Camping, outdoor scenes, and scenes from an airport]
This footage features a woman on a swingset next to a lake, a woman and a man paddling a canoe, palm trees, a beach, a city, a woman modeling dresses and furs in front of a brick house, a well-dressed woman and man getting into a car in winter, driving, a woman and man getting out of a car, a landscape viewed from a moving vehicle, an airplane on the tarmac, two women boarding an airplane at an airport, an airplane being fueled at an airport, women picking produce in a field, a group of people eating at a picnic table, and airplanes taking off at the airport.
[Chuck Gray film collection addition 3]
[Chuck Gray film collection addition 3]
The original reel and can notes for AAF-10077 are: "Bristol Bay, Valdez 1971, and winter fishing trips." The film includes fishing, airplanes on floats, a NCA seaplane landing and turning around onshore, a sign the says "Welcome to Brooks River Alaska - Katmai National Monument - Northern Consolidated Airlines - Anglers Paradise Camp" fly fishing near small waterfalls, cabins, fox closeups, a sign that says "Welcome to Kulik River Alaska - Northern Consolidated Airlines - Anglers Paradise Camp," children, a boat harbor, more waterfalls, a family on a boat, airport scenes in winter, airplanes on skis landing and taking off, and winter fishing.
[Dick King collection]
[Dick King collection]
This footage includes a Cessna 140 C-140 taking off and landing from a river bed, men at a hunting camp by a campfire, a riverboat with duck hunters, a small airplane on floats taxiing, Bill Stroecker with a dog retrieving a duck, moving a house with a truck, construction of the Wien hangar at the Fairbanks International Airport, a young girl and boy playing, the chimney for the Wien hangar, an outboard motor-powered riverboat, a gold dredge operating, people watching a bucket train on a dredge , Bill Lavery with a whipsaw making lumber, a cabin, Bill Lavery in a plaid shirt and cap with unidentified men, men by a Cessna 170 C-170 airplane on ice with wheels, a truck moving a house, a man fly fishing, Bill Lavery working on a cabin, men with a riverboat loaded with a moose, Bill Stoecker in a rowboat loaded with a moose, a gold dredge, riverboat travel, a duck hunt with Bill Stroecker holding a duck, a lab retrieving a duck, Stoecker rowing a boat with a moose, a C-170 on ice, men whipsawing lumber, Bill Lavery in plaid, a lab retrieving ducks, children playing and being pulled on a sled by a dog in Island Homes (?). Activities on the North Slope during Dew Line construction include: a camp in winter, Caterpillars, a Wien C-47 airplane, aerial views of a LeTourneau Snow Train and a Cat train. Additional footage includes men unloading a Wien C-47, two riverboats on the Salcha River during freeze-up with ice running, ice skaters, crossing a frozen lake in a riverboat, unloading boats at a Salcha River landing , a truck hauling a disassembled C-47,a Wien Norseman on floats taxiing and taking off, children playing, a C-46 being repaired at Peters Lake, a herd of caribou, a Cat train on the North Slope, a short upside down segment of film with a fox, an Alaska Freight Lines Cat train on the North Slope with a Wien C-47, a Norseman and a Beaver on skis by a Cat train, dog races and an Ice Carnival parade in Fairbanks, a Wien C-47 on ice, a brief shot of a woman, men at a cabin and riverboat hunting, Bill Stroecker approaching with a duck, men unloading a Wien C-46, a moose, a 1 year old named Rebecca, men fishing in the ocean, children playing, a C-46 landing at a North Slope camp, people loading barrels into a C-46, an Alaska Freight Lines LeTourneau Snow Train, men loading a riverboat onto a trailer, Bill Stroecker fly fishing for grayling, a moose, a riverboat, float planes, a cabin on a river, cabins at Healy Lake (?), a man with a fish net, men hunting, a moose on a boats, Bill Stroecker holding a dead bird of prey, Bill Stroecker with a retriever, a string of ducks at a cabin, and a cabin on a river.
[Fairbanks International Airport construction]
[Fairbanks International Airport construction]
This film contains scenes of the construction of the Fairbanks International Airport runway and paved surfaces, starting after the trees have been cleared and ending with the first airplane landing. Footage includes construction crews with Caterpillar tractors, scrapers, dump-trucks and draglines moving earth and leveling ground, construction buildings and housing, a man demonstrating an unstable patch of ground which turns to jelly as he jumps on it, a drainage system and lighting system being installed, an asphalt plant in operation and paving crews finishing construction. The film ends with a Consolidated LB-30 Liberator owned by Morrison-Knudsen Construction Company making a landing on the completed runway.
[Fairbanks scenes and Alaska travel]
[Fairbanks scenes and Alaska travel]
Handwritten notes on the film boxes are as follows: “Midnight Sun June 23, Fort Yukon, Paula, Man, Don, Statehood Day June 30.” “Camping at Clearwater July 23 and 24 1960.” “Joe Evie 1960.” “Picnic Moose 1960.” “Statehood view from 9th floor.” “Fairbanks autumn 1960, Stella Man’s [or Maris?] lawn, Ma, Kay, Auntie Vida, Paris – Place de l’Opera, Fairbanks February 1961, Mama skiing, March 1961.” This film contains scenes of a parade (brief), downtown Fairbanks in winter, the Fort Yukon post office and airport, aerial views of a DEW Line station, a parade (brief), people fishing and cooking at a campsite, sled dog races near Creamer's Dairy in Fairbanks, a winter carnival parade, people hiking on a hillside, people picnicking, a moose along the roadside, musicians at a picnic or celebration, Fairbanks in winter as seen from the Polaris Building, Fairbanks in summer as seen from the Polaris Building, scenes outside Alaska, and a woman downhill skiing at Cleary Summit near Fairbanks. Sites visible from the winter and summer Polaris Building views include: Griffin Park with bleachers, an ice rink with light poles, Slaterville across the Chena River, the USO Building, the Fairview Hotel, the Chamber of Commerce log cabin, the new Cushman Street bridge under construction in 1959 with a temporary bridge nearby, Samson's Building, Immaculate Conception Church, St. Joseph's Hospital, the new Cushman Street bridge in use with the temporary bridge no longer in place, changes to St. Joseph's Hospital, coal bunkers, FE Company power plant stacks and Bentley Dairy in the distance, and Wendell Street Bridge.
[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.
[Jeanie of Alaska – original reel 1]
[Jeanie of Alaska – original reel 1]
This film includes scenes of Bud and Connie Helmericks traveling with their young daughter, Jeanie, throughout northern Alaska. The date of 1952 was confirmed by Jean (Jeanie Helmericks) Aspen in 2015. Detailed summary information was provided by the filmmakers. According to these notes, the films include scenes of Bud, Connie, and their daughter Jeanie (just turned two years old) walking toward their airplane; an airport in Montana; the family en route to Alaska; scenes from Takahula Lake, including the Helmericks’ log cabin home in the Brooks Range (Jeanie had never seen it before); Connie lifting Jeanie out of an airplane; Jeanie’s first view of the Arctic following a five-day flight from the U.S.; Jeanie wearing a factory-made brown alpaca parka with a hood; the next day, Jean on her tiny snowshoes watching her daddy cut a hole through the four-foot ice of the lake; Ice-fishing; Connie in rubber boots carrying Jean through water to get out on the lake ice in May; Bud gassing up the airplane; ice on Takahula Lake getting slushy and treacherous, and so they must go north because the airplane’s landing field on the frozen lake is disappearing; arriving at the still-frozen Arctic Ocean, 300 miles directly north of the cabin; Bud setting up an Explorers Club flag on a staff; pitching a tent and making a polar camp; Jean watching from a gas can seat dressed in a new caribou fur parka; a dog team driven by a friend arriving from the shore by arrangement; Jean walking on her snowshoes; hunting seals; Jean helping her mother fetch a bucket of snow for melting; on sunny days, camp gear and bedding hung out over the airplane to dry out the dampness of living on the salt ice; Connie hanging child’s diapers to dry on the airplane prop; Bud stalking and killing a polar bear; Jean and her toy seal; ice getting dangerous; on shore again after two months; Oliktok Point, on the north coast of Alaska, changing the landing gear for summer flight; inside a tent – Nannie, Martha, and George; a summer evening on the Koyukuk River and an aerial view; a trading post at Hughes for mail and supplies; over the Brooks Range; a sunset rainbow over Takahula Lake in summertime; building a dock and steps to the cabin; planting a garden; Bud hanging moose antlers up on a gable; Connie and Jeanie paddling through the waters of Takahula Lake in a seven-foot homemade kayak, which was very tippy; on the Arctic coast in summer - the Helmericks family camping with a tent; mosquitos on Bud’s back; Point Barrow - a tractor pushing off a boat; two views of the polar ice pack as it looks in summer; a walrus hunt; a bull walrus charging the boat; and a walrus being harpooned and butchered.
[Jeanie of Alaska – original reel 2]
[Jeanie of Alaska – original reel 2]
This film features an airplane in flight from underneath, showing the floats; the word HELP written on the ground at remote Anaktuvuk Pass in the Brooks Range; Chandler Lake people, dressed in summer parkas, are worried about a very sick baby (Bud flies the baby to the nearest hospital at Point Barrow - not shown); a view of landing on Takahula Lake; the family examines a new electric generator weighing 800 pounds which was flown in 100 miles from the trading post; painting the big yellow canoe; Jeanie crawling over an ancient mastodon tusk on the lake shore; Bud motoring up the Alatna River in the big yellow canoe; caribou and sheep; Bud felling a giant spruce tree; Bud hoisting an enormous eight foot log on his shoulders and carrying it; Bud filling a 20 gallon water tank inside the house; Connie at her twin aluminum sinks inside the cabin with piped water; Jeanie sampling the pie dough; Bud cutting moose steak from a moose Connie shot in the fall; Connie, author of books on the northern wilderness, at her typewriter inside the cabin; the cabin at treeline is used as a base for northern explorations as much as for a home; Jean sleeping in her little sleeping bag; outside, the first snow of winter begins to fall; barricading the cabin and lying a plank with spikes in front of the door to ward off bears; Bud and an unidentified man at Hughes, the trading post, pulling a plane from the Koyukuk River by tractor; ice cakes running in the Koyukuk; flying through Anaktuvuk Pass over the Brooks Range once more to the Arctic Ocean to meet with commercial fishing partners and friends, George and Nannie; landing on sand beach of the Colville River delta and waiting for the Arctic Ocean to freeze for ice fishing; friends looking at the power generator brought for them; their old house and a view of their new frame house (lumber was ocean-freighted from Point Barrow, 240 miles to the west); Connie pulling 12-year-old Lydia and Jeanie on a sled across the new ice of the Colville River channels; Apiak, the oldest son, pulling another sled; George, the father, using an ice chisel to work at a fishing hole; sculpins, or “Irish Lords,” inhabit all the oceans and are a great nuisance to fishermen - they are worthless, covered with spines, and it takes valuable time to disentangle them from nets; tossing fish into the sled lined with a caribou skin to hold them; skinloads of fish are upset onto the ice, making piles of frozen fish all over the river delta to be picked up at will; Jean with George and Nannie, her “Eskimo grandparents,” inside the new frame house - looking at the Sears catalog is a popular pastime; Nannie and her sewing machine; grace, taught by Presbyterian missionaries at Point Barrow, is said before a meal with all participants seated on the floor; Bud draining the oil out of the “Arctic Tern” when the temperature turns 30 below zero; Jean and Lydia in their warm caribou parkas playing house in the discarded airplane cowling as Bud works; Bud’s tool kit - he must do all work on the airplane and make all checks himself without the benefit of a CAA inspector, for the nearest repairs or authorities are 520 air miles away in Fairbanks; Jean scrambling about in her double parkas - the outside parka she wears over caribou is of fancy grey rabbit – she also wears caribou pants, caribou stockings, and caribou booties; the instrument panel upon which the lonely pilot depends; the airfield at Barrow is marked by two lines of empty oil drums on the snow; scenes at Point Barrow: a tractor is used to haul Arctic Ocean ice (fresh) for drinking water for the village - lakes can’t be used because they are too distant and are tainted with salt from the ocean - but ocean ice “turns” fresh when it is over one year old; a sign for Barrow Theater - there are three motion picture houses in Barrow at this time, all owned and operated by an Eskimo businesswoman - the theaters run 24 hours a day, and fresh films are flown in daily from the U.S.; a panorama of Barrow shows a city without sidewalks or streetlights - garbage and sewage disposal is by truck and sled, carrying the city’s refuse out on the Arctic ice to be carried away - permanently frozen sub-soil makes a flush system impossible; Barrow Post Office and children getting mail; polar bear cubs in Barrow await shipment to some zoo; Ice blocks are stacked for the year’s water supply beside the school; a panorama shot of Barrow village, ending with the white framed Presbyterian church whose diocese covers an area the size of England and the British Isles; an Eskimo businessman who owns much stock in the cooperative Native Store enterprise; an American flag; Connie, Jean, and Bud walking through the snow in full winter dress consisting of two parkas; and The End (written in the snow).
[KFAR television news footage 2]
[KFAR television news footage 2]
This footage features men and women being searched by police, a dog sled race, raised homes, people on a sternwheeler, a building with a sign that says "Bank Interior City Branch," aerial views of Alaska countryside, an airplane dropping some type of powder or smoke, people racing and having fun at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a man preparing for an art exhibition, outdoor city scenes on a windy winter day, large lengths of pipe being loaded onto a truck, airplanes at rest, a man using a snowblower, a truck removing snow, children playing, views from inside Alaskaland, the sternwheeler Nenana, a Pan American airplane taxiing, a man exiting the airplane onto a red carpet, a small car traveling down railroad tracks, scenic views of mountains and rivers, a locomotive engine pulling a single car on train tracks, a bridge over a river, surveyors and construction equipment on a dirt road, a steel bridge spanning a large canyon in Alaska, views of Nenana, the military practicing with large guns, crops, views of Barrow, Alaska Natives processing meat, oil workers operating machinery, scenes from inside a very large airplane (including the cockpit), the Wien Consolidated Airlines building in Barrow, scenes from aboard a large ship named the Manhattan, a helicopter landing on the ship, construction equipment moving earth, men and women dining, views from the inside of a power plan (?), men pouring and smoothing concrete, and scenes from a Golden Days parade in Fairbanks.
[KFAR television news footage 3]
[KFAR television news footage 3]
Footage from in and around Fairbanks includes a downhill ski race at Cleary Summit ski area on Steese Highway, the Golden Valley Co-op building, the Arctic Bowl building, students making dog harnesses, a building on fire, an unidentified meeting, UAF scenes, reindeer in pens, Alaska Native Queen contestants, women preparing traditional foods, an unidentified man being interviewed, Midnight Sun 600 snowmachine race activities, and snowmachines being refueled and arriving at the Big Dipper in Fairbanks. Additional footage includes a helicopter flying around the Hurricane Bridge construction site on the George Parks Highway and scenes of a construction site. Additional Fairbanks footage includes snow removal around town, the B&B Center, the Market Basket, Nerlands appliances and its Christmas window display, Fairbanks City Police arresting an individual, a car wreck, City Police arresting a man, and more snow removel. Subsequent footage includes Alaska State Troopers stopping a car, a television studio, City Police arresting people during a raid (?) on a house, men loading drums of fuel into a Canadian military Caribou freight airplane, people unloading the airplane in Anaktuvuk village (?), UAF Rifle Team members practicing, dancers from Telons (?) on stage and touring the Riverboat Nenana and Alaskaland, the inside of a bank, shots of Fairbanks International Airport's interior, various bank buildings and activities, Yukon 800 boats on the Chena River, Yukon 800 winners with a trophy, and an Interior Airways Twin Otter airplane landing at a remote camp in the arctic and departing.
[KFAR television news footage 4]
[KFAR television news footage 4]
Footage from around Fairbanks includes an Alaska State Trooper conducting a traffic stop, concrete being poured at a building construction site at UAF (?), a Boy Scout Camporee or Jamboree at Alaskaland, several cargo jets at Fairbanks International Airport, a drug education center called the Island, boys playing a baseball game, busses at Joy School, Fairbanks Curling Club matches, an Interior Airways Twin Otter airplane at a remote camp in the arctic, motorcycles on Chena Ridge, a Yamaha motorcycle dealership, construction at the Tanana Valley State Fair grounds, a Lathrop Malemute men's basketball game, the Wood Center at UAF opening, residents leaving Steel's Hotel and moving to the Polaris Hotel, voting precincts, beauticians, snow removal, moose in yards, a swearing in ceremony at the City Council (?), a dinner event at Alaskaland Community Center, Mayor Red Boucher receiving a trophy from Mayor Julian Rice, Red and Heidi Boucher dancing, an African American art and fashion show, a switching gear at the Municipal Utilities System (MUS) building, city garbage pick-up, a front end loader dumping snow on a burning cabin, an ambulance at an auto accident, a damaged Cessna airplane in a snowbank, Alaska Railroad passenger cars, an ambulance, people in St. Joseph hospital, the city dump, an elephant and a hippopotamus at Alaskaland, boating, children practicing archery, voting precincts, the Youth Conservation Corp working on Cripple Creek Campground, the Kaktovik Post Office building being loaded into a C-130 Hercules airplane, a small parade, the ceremonial opening of a picnic site (?), rides at the Fairground, Aurora Animal Clinic, parking meters around town, stock car racing at Mitchell or the North Pole Speedway, the city dump, and a heavy equipment loader that ran off the University of Alaska bridge being pulled from the Chena River.
[KTVF news stories from Fairbanks between 1972 and 1975]
[KTVF news stories from Fairbanks between 1972 and 1975]
Footage includes an interview with Mac Fenton about school board issues concerning smoking in schools, Mayor Julian Rice and Wally Droz being interviewed about the relationship between the mayor and the city clerk, an unidentified man being interviewed by reporter Sunny Carpenter about a satellite telemetry project at the University of Alaska, and a Capital International Airways DC-8 crash story from Anchorage International Airport.
[KTVF news stories, McKinley Park, dog mushing, Yukon 800 boat race, forest fire]
[KTVF news stories, McKinley Park, dog mushing, Yukon 800 boat race, forest fire]
Specific dates and other information noted on the original film are given here in parentheses. The footage features views of mountains and scenery at Mt. McKinley National Park, a woman driving a vehicle into the park, a train, dog sledding footage (segment is titled "Mt. McKinley") (no date) (silent), a man loading a dog sled, a dog yard, a man putting dogs into dog boxes on a truck, a man putting chains on sled runners, mushing scenes (segment is titled "Dennis Kogal A&P Mt. McKinley") (no date) (silent), spectators watching the Yukon 800 boat race from the banks of the Chena River, boats on the river, aerial views of a large airport (no description or date) (silent), aerial views of a forest fire, a Yukon River bridge, Five-Mile camp, the pipeline, men with piles of boxes, a helicopter, a boat on the Yukon River, men at a camp along the river, and firefighters fighting a forest fire (no description or date) (silent).
[Kennecott, Eagle, Haul Road scenes, winter trucking and wildlife 1]
[Kennecott, Eagle, Haul Road scenes, winter trucking and wildlife 1]
AAF-10403 is made up of several smaller reels of film. Handwritten notes on original film boxes are as follows: “1986 Tim Walcott and I flying to P Bay.” “Ketchev plane flying alongside back to Prospect Camp with church people.” “Glacier Bay 1983, excellent falling, Glacier Bay 1.” “Haines eagles, flying to and from Anchorage, Mt. McKinley from air.” “Jim’s river boat, McCarthy, Teklaneka 79.” “End of D. King trip to Isreal – Anchorage, sheep at Glenn Hwy, bear near truck, Bill Chesley wh[?] fishing.” “Good D King and I cutting logs on So Fork, DK landing on So Fork winter time, good pictures at PB on taxi way lots of activity, Good taxi way P Bay, cutting logs with D King.” “Winter view mt from house 6mi, Little at Eagle in Dawson Parade.” “Good activity at Deadhorse Airport P Bay, small sheep, Larissa, beginning of D King logging.” This film contains footage of an airplane and the sign “Jim River DOT,” the pipeline, airplanes, tankers, a fishing boat, seals, calving glaciers, an eagle, mountains at sunset, children with a sled and snowmachine, McCarthy store lodge, Kennicott Glacier and Kennecott Mine, a family boating, dall sheep, a bear at close range trying to climb into a truck, a man chasing a grizzly, a bear and a truck on the Haul Road, cutting up trees, an aircraft, trucking, scenes in Eagle, a helicopter, a sternwheeler riverboat, a parade, and airplanes and trucks at a busy Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay Airport.
[Richard and Janet Ward collection 1]
[Richard and Janet Ward collection 1]
Footage includes a porcupine, Dick Ward with a chained sled dog, Dick Ward in a Pan American World Airways (PAA) uniform in Metlakatla, the PAA terminal building, a PAA Dc-4 or DC-6 passenger plane, Annette Island scenery (?), trucks and equipment at an asphalt plant, men paving a runway, cars and trailers at the Log Cabin Inn on the Glenn Highway, a gold dredge in operation, ice going out on the Chena River during break-up, aerial views of mountains, cars and a semi truck on a muddy road, a glacier moraine, early tripod-style power poles or telegraph/telephone poles used by ACS, a river, a rainbow, power boats, a parade in downtown Anchorage, power boat races on Spenard Lake (?), a squirrel, a light airplane taxiing across railroad tracks, and a small boy. Footage from outside Alaska includes palm trees, scenery, neon lights, an orange grove, highway travel, and a variety of locations. Additional footage includes Alcan Highway scenes during winter, Whitehorse, U.S. Customs at the Alaska border, Macintosh Trading Post, Alcan Highway scenes during summer, sternwheelers and street scenes in Whitehorse, Peace River Bridge, and travel back to the U.S. Border. Additional footage from outside Alaska includes a college, road travel, a flock of sheep on a road, beach and city scenes, PAA and logging trucks, crew members, and (back in Alaska) scenes in Fairbanks following a large snowfall. Additional footage from outside Alaska includes neon lights, travel, a cactus, small children and adults, and a parade.
[Richard and Janet Ward collection 2]
[Richard and Janet Ward collection 2]
Footage includes a construction camp for the Anchorage International Airport, and airport construction scenes from both summer and winter. Additional footage includes winter travel, University of Alaska buildings in Fairbanks, a weasel tracked vehicle, airplanes that were damaged in the Easter 1949 wind storm at the Fairbanks airport, winter travel scenes, bison on a road, a muddy street in Fairbanks, the General Store in Fox, vapor trails, people skiing, travel on the Glenn Highway, ice going out on the Chena River during break-up, Copper Center Roadhouse, Keystone Canyon, people traveling by outboard-powered riverboat, a picnic, men working on a Caterpillar, a road construction camp, and 40 Mile Roadhouse. Additional footage includes a bear cub, salmon drying by a cabin, people traveling in umiaks, an unidentified village, a Cessna 195 light plane taking off, a gold dredge, a small outboard riverboat, caribou, black bears at a dump, summer scenes, ships at a dock in Seward or Whittier, Alaska Railroad travel, Alcan Highway travel, Seward, light planes, Winter Carnival activities, and people sport fishing.
[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.