Alaska Film Archives

[Glaciers, Wonder Lake, Merrill and airplane]
[Glaciers, Wonder Lake, Merrill and airplane]
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.
[Gold mining, Alaska travel and activities 1]
[Gold mining, Alaska travel and activities 1]
Footage features a bulldozer caught in ice on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, a large Service Motor Company fire in downtown Fairbanks, mining activities, a man holding a large gold nugget, a bulldozer and dragline in operation at a large placer mine operation, men walking toward camp, a sluice, tailings piles, a bulldozer stuck in the Chena River after breaking through ice, people in parkas ice skating, a man photographing people on skates as well as a man ice fishing with a net, people weighing fish with a scale, Chena River and Cushman Street bridge, the railroad depot in Fairbanks, chained black bear cubs being fed, river views, people in a small boat and a man with a duck, a cow and pig, St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox church and graves in Eklutna, women feeding a baby moose with a milk bottle, a man in a small boat, a tent and campsite, a family at a camp or picnic, men and women posing by a Birch Lake sign, a woman outside of a log post office, placer mining operations, aerial views of a mine area, a man operating a dragline, and people posing near an airplane. Handwritten notes on the film boxes are as follows: “Service Motor.” “Tractor and Gold Mine.” “Alaska, trip to Palmer, grave house, baby moose, skating, Birch L. “Bert P[?].” “Trip to Ophir, [?] Barrow trip.”
[Gold mining, Alaska travel and activities 2]
[Gold mining, Alaska travel and activities 2]
Footage features people aboard a boat outside of Alaska, dog mushing, a tractor pulling a load of timber or logs with the Cushman Street Bridge visible in the distance, small girls at a birthday party, a girl with a dog, a bridge and road, people posing for the camera, a Farmall tractor pulling a boat out of the river at Cushman Street Bridge, hay piles, mountain scenes, Savage Rock at Denali or McKinley National Park, a large coal chute near Healy, a truck loaded with coal, mining operations, men and women in a boat, a waterfall, mountains and a sunset, aerial views of a river and mountains, airplanes and a camp on a rocky beach in northern Alaska, men posing by an airplane, aerial views of wildfires and mountains, men with cameras posing along with children in a northern Alaska coastal village (Barrow?), children in parkas posing, village homes, a woman chopping wood, a caribou, children in parkas with a small dogsled in Fairbanks, a brief glimpse of Leonhard Seppala with a dog team in Fairbanks with the Samson Hardware Building in the background, winter carnival scenes in Fairbanks, women in parkas posing near a Pacific Alaska Airlines airplane, a brief aerial view of the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, people disembarking from a DC-3 airplane, women and a man posing, people re-boarding the airplane, winter carnival lights, people shoveling deep snow at a cabin, men and women posing with a dog team, a man placing dogs in harnesses (black & white section of film with the first man identified as Jeff Studdert by local historian George Lounsbury in 2014), dogs running under the Noyes Slough swinging bridge and out onto the Chena River in Fairbanks, and another man driving a dog sled as a woman rides in the sled. Handwritten notes on film boxes are as follows, though the order does not seem to correspond with the order of scenes above: “Boat trip, Bowler[?].” “Dog team and tractor.” “Trip to Delta – loop.” “Fire scenes at Mc Park, coal mine at Healy.” “Lake Chelan boat trip sunset.” “Trip to Barrow, caribou, carnival and dog sled ride.”
[Gold mining in Alaska]
[Gold mining in Alaska]
The donor’s original number and title for AAF-20641 are: “M 7. Gold Mining in Alaska.” This film contains scenes of a bulldozer clearing land and knocking down an old log cabin, a pilot with an airplane on floats, a large placer mining operation, draglines and hydraulic giants, a man and women cleaning a large sluice box, the Sternwheeler Nenana pushing a barge, many people on the porch of a Northern Commercial Company building as barrels are loaded onto the barge, a sternwheeler paddling away, hydraulic giants removing overburden at a mining operation, a sign for N.C. Co. Air Field, metal-sided buildings, a Gullwing Stinson airplane being fueled, an International tractor wrecked in the ice, and sled dogs.
[Golden Days, Fairbanks, Haul Road, snow, wildlife 1]
[Golden Days, Fairbanks, Haul Road, snow, wildlife 1]
AAF-10407 is made up of several smaller reels of film. Handwritten notes on original film boxes are as follows: “#2 Kobuk, D King flying, Walker Lake.” “#3 Kobuk.” “#4 Kobuk River.” “Dad’s vest, Parade Golden Days 1973.” “Parade, train, Tom and Jan, Parade 73, Bible Baptist.” “Gobblers Knob sign with Raven on it in middle of picture, good ending of snow covered trees at 46mi TAPS, chickadees feeding here?” “Winter cold of 74 in Fairbanks.” “Parade 1978.” This film contains footage of airplanes, a bear cub, a moose, river travel and fishing, camping scenes, a post office, a family in gold-colored vests, a Golden Days parade with Irene Sherman waving from a 3-wheeled bike prior to the KUAC float, downtown Fairbanks scenes, a KTVF station wagon and a Bible Baptist bus at a cabin, a helicopter, snowmachines, a Gobbler's Knob Prospect Creek sign, wintry Haul Road, trees south of the Yukon River covered with snow and frost, a chickadee at a feeder, Fairbanks streets and trees covered with frost in winter, a Golden Days celebration, the Kings Kup building in the background, Ted Stevens in a parade, and Don Young in a parade.
[Golden Days, Fairbanks, Haul Road, snow, wildlife 2]
[Golden Days, Fairbanks, Haul Road, snow, wildlife 2]
AAF-10408 is made up of several smaller reels of film. Handwritten notes on original film boxes are as follows: “Buffalo.” “Plane taking off mi 101 Steese Hi 182 Atigun Pass, bull moose in Park, plowing Atigun Pass going up after storm, Atigun Pass slide, 1980, Mt. McKinley.” “Prudhoe, Bev and I at P Bay, good summer shots of caribou, air show at Eielson.” “Snow bound blizzard, snow bound at Prudhoe blizzard, geese and swans springtime, ptarmigan.” “Wide building moving at P Bay, rest trial run with camera.” “Sheep.” “Great Denali Trespass, [?].” “Grizzly, air show, sheep, Haul Rd.” “Driving to and around Prudhoe, cam breakdown 2 mi TAPS, Teglar, S end [?], [?] king.” This film contains footage of bison and fall trees, a large raft on rapids, an airplane taking off on a road, moose, caribou, snow being cleared from a road, caribou, permafrost along river, a caribou and the pipeline, an airshow with a short takeoff and landing demo, ptarmigan, a storm on the Haul Road, trucks snowed in on the Haul Road, a helicopter and swans and waterfowl along a roadside, pump station facilities, city streets, dall sheep, a bear and the pipeline, a bear with three cubs, Cantwell, the 1979 Great Denali-McKinley Trespass event near Cantwell, a bear alongside a truck, construction, a truck off the road, and wintery road scenes.
[Golden Days, Valdez, log home construction, Dawson City 1]
[Golden Days, Valdez, log home construction, Dawson City 1]
AAF-10409 is made up of several smaller reels of film. Handwritten notes on original film boxes are as follows: “Turnagain arm, Homer Spit, first of Golden Days parade 1989, Bell’s.” “Bell’s, Golden Days Parade 2 1989.” “Bell’s, 1989, Golden Days 3.” “Bell’s, 1989, Smalley Creek Mine.” “Bell’s, 1989, Valdez, Matanuska Glacier.” “Bell’s, 1989, Valdez.” This film contains footage of scenic travels, a large halibut, glacier views, a 1989 Fairbanks parade, Golden Days celebration scenes and parade, a man with a small sluicebox, gold flecks in a pan, calving glaciers, icebergs and seals, an eagle's nest, a waterfall, a dredge, a tour boat, sea otters, glaciers, and icebergs.
[Golden Days, Valdez, log home construction, Dawson City 2]
[Golden Days, Valdez, log home construction, Dawson City 2]
AAF-10410 is made up of several smaller reels of film. Handwritten notes on original film boxes are as follows: “Building of our log home.” “Building our house, log work, flying over Fairbanks, flying towards Mt. Mckinley.” “Dollie hauling toboggan downhill to our house.” “Old sternwheels, Dawson City, looking over Klondike.” “Porcupine River August 1978.” “Chitina Jon salmon dipping fireweed, 74 parade.” This film contains footage of land being cleared and a log home being built overlooking Fairbanks, aerial views of an airplane crash, aerial views of Fairbanks, a family dog pulling a toboggan, the Dawson City sternwheeler boneyard, river travel and fishing, and a family posing near a glacier.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 1]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 1]
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.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 2]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 2]
AAF-16391 is a super-8mm film containing footage of a container ship or barge in a bay and men using the ship’s crane to offload a container onto the shore. The last few seconds of the film show a grabber dredge, a stream sluice, and a man working with a high pressure hose.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 3]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 3]
AAF-16392 is a super-8mm film labeled “Bird Island – Clean up at Plt Creek.” The film begins with daytime scenes of small motor boats traveling over open water. A whale surfaces a few times in front of the boats followed by scenes of a rookery. The sun sets behind a rock outcropping as birds fly by. A bulldozer moves mud and snow from a roadway or ditch. A man fishes for salmon from a motor boat, then two men show off their catch. This is followed by scenes of draglines and a large sluicebox and men working and cleaning the sluicebox with shovels.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 4]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 4]
AAF-16393 is a super-8mm film containing scenes of a bucket dredge in a frozen pond, a dragline moving water and mud from the pond, snow surrounding homes, snow piled almost to the top of the roofs, a bucket dredge working in an icy pond with mountains in the distance, a town as seen from a hill above, and more scenes of mining equipment in operation. A man works a dragline while a dog sits nearby. A group of adults gather around people who are processing salmon, and a man holds up a large salmon. The film ends with a shot of the Platinum Post Office and structures along a river or inlet with mountains in the distance.
[Governor and Mrs. Hammond at the Governor's Mansion]
[Governor and Mrs. Hammond at the Governor's Mansion]
Footage includes Governor Jay Hammond playing pool at the Governor's Mansion in Juneau with Frank Gold of Fairbanks. Additional footage includes Bella Hammond showing Frank artwork in the mansion.
[Governor Egan inauguration and speeches]
[Governor Egan inauguration and speeches]
This footage shows Lieutenant Governor Boucher and Governor Egan are sworn in followed by a portion of the Governor's inaugural address. Additional footage includes Governor Egan speaking before the Alaska Chamber of Commerce about the value of Prudhoe Bay oil, Governor Egan speaking about collective bargaining by public employees, Governor Egan swearing in Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court Rabinowitz, Governor Egan speaking about suing the Federal Government over land withdrawals, and Governor Egan speaking before the Alaska Visitors Association about bringing Alaska Natives into the visitors industry.
[Haines fishing]
[Haines fishing]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20045 numbered as Bacon 10-05 and titled “Haines, Fishing, People, Bears, Fish, Mining.” Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about the group of films that includes this film is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: “Carl Heinmiller repairs mask - He started the saving of the Tlingit culture - Carl was a WWII veteran - He came back and bought the houses for Chilkat at Haines - He bought two or three of the quarters that the army used and had them repaired - State ferry coming into Haines, pass by North Star landing at Skagway, the old pilings at the waterfront at Skagway; that is where the ships used to come in - It is all worn out now - This is where they used to have the dock.” Notes on the film box that pertain to this film are as follows: “Reel 5: Haines, fishing – people, bears, fish, mining scenes, scenery, leaving Haines for Skagway, Klukwan.”
[Haines rubber rafts]
[Haines rubber rafts]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20044 numbered as Bacon 10-04 and titled “Haines Rubber Raft.” Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about the group of films that includes this film is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: “Carl Heinmiller repairs mask - He started the saving of the Tlingit culture - Carl was a WWII veteran - He came back and bought the houses for Chilkat at Haines - He bought two or three of the quarters that the army used and had them repaired - State ferry coming into Haines, pass by North Star landing at Skagway, the old pilings at the waterfront at Skagway; that is where the ships used to come in - It is all worn out now - This is where they used to have the dock.” Notes on the film box that pertain to this film are as follows: “Reel 4: 1986 Rubber rafts in Haines.”
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 1]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 1]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,055 numbered as Bacon 12-2 and titled "Haines, Sue Silver Carver: 50 feet." 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 12 - 9 Reels, 1 black & white picture - Picture in box of Carl Heinmiller dancing. Picture doing the bear dance... Different upright poles; they had moved the old Whale House. They had four posts and one was a Strong Man Totem that describes a man pulling a killer whale apart and his father fell out of the whale. A Girl and Worm Totem pole; she was put into the totem pole to save until she became eligible for the chief to marry. She wanted to get out so a worm came along and ate all around the wood so she could escape. Potlatch trough was a huge log approximately 30 feet long. They dug all the wood out, carved it with head on the front, legs on the back and that is where they put all the food for a potlatch..."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 2]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 2]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,055 numbered as Bacon 12-2, and titled "Haines, Sue Silver Carver: 50 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "...Silver carver and more inside the Whale House..."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 3]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 3]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,057 numbered as Bacon 12-4 and titled "Inside Whale House: Rev EF Orig-100 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "...Different upright poles; they had moved the old Whale House. They had four posts and one was a Strong Man Totem that describes a man pulling a killer whale apart and his father fell out of the whale. A Girl and Worm Totem pole; she was put into the totem pole to save until she became eligible for the chief to marry. She wanted to get out so a worm came along and ate all around the wood so she could escape. Potlatch trough was a huge log approximately 30 feet long. They dug all the wood out, carved it with head on the front, legs on the back and that is where they put all the food for a potlatch..."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 4]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 4]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20058 numbered as Bacon 12-6 and titled "Haines, Chilkat Indian Dancers: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-300 feet." 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 12 - 9 Reels, 1 black & white picture - Picture in box of Carl Heinmiller dancing. Picture doing the bear dance. Whale House clan at Klukwan inside Whale House..."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 5]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 5]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20059 numbered as Bacon 12-7 and titled "Haines fishing, Chilkat River, Joe Jurgelite Miner, Klukwon: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-250 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "...fishing at Haines, people come there and fly fish. Chilkat River, Klukwan Village."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 6]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 6]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20060 numbered as Bacon 12-8 and titled "Miner Joe with gold, Fort Seward, Lynn Mountains, craft center: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-350 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "...Potlatch trough was a huge log approximately 30 feet long. They dug all the wood out, carved it with head on the front, legs on the back and that is where they put all the food for a potlatch. Silver carver and more inside the Whale House. Miner gal with gold, air shots of Fort Seward in Haines, shots along the Lynn Canal, work in Indian Craft Center..."
[Hanes, totem poles, etc. 7]
[Hanes, totem poles, etc. 7]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,061 numbered as Bacon 12-9, and it's titled "Haines, Indian craft center, Carl Heinmiller: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-200 feet." See AAF-20,004 for an associated item originally labeled Bacon 12-5. 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 12 - 9 Reels, 1 black & white picture - Picture in box of Carl Heinmiller dancing. Picture doing the bear dance. Whale House clan at Klukwan inside Whale House. Different upright poles; they had moved the old Whale House. They had four posts and one was a Strong Man Totem that describes a man pulling a killer whale apart and his father fell out of the whale. A Girl and Worm Totem pole; she was put into the totem pole to save until she became eligible for the chief to marry. She wanted to get out so a worm came along and ate all around the wood so she could escape. Potlatch trough was a huge log approximately 30 feet long. They dug all the wood out, carved it with head on the front, legs on the back and that is where they put all the food for a potlatch. Silver carver and more inside the Whale House. Miner gal with gold, air shots of Fort Seward in Haines, shots along the Lynn Canal, work in Indian Craft Center, fishing at Haines, people come there and fly fish. Chilkat River, Klukwan Village."
[Harry Carter on Alaska Native Lands Claims history and issues]
[Harry Carter on Alaska Native Lands Claims history and issues]
AAF-13176 is a 1/2-inch open reel videotape labeled "Master Tape February 1972 Harry Carter AFN on Native Land Claims." Harry Carter, the executive director of the Alaska Federation of Natives, speaks about the history of land claims settlement, the AFN, land allocation, poverty, economic development, and other related issues.
[Harry Leonard’s Wiseman films]
[Harry Leonard’s Wiseman films]
These films were made by prospector and miner Harry Leonard primarily during the 1930s and 1940s at Fairbanks, Alaska, and at or near Wiseman, Alaska, a small mining community along the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River in the Brooks Range about 270 miles north of Fairbanks. In 2019, the original films were preserved through funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF); Reflex Technologies of Burbank, California, scanned the reels of original 8mm film and created digital DPX files, which were then output to new 16mm internegative and answer print film stocks by Video & Film Solutions of Rockville, Maryland. The original films, new internegative and answer print films, and digital files are all being preserved by the Alaska Film Archives at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Many of the following identifications are from film donor George Lounsbury. AAF-1865 scenes include a fire in a Fairbanks building, Harry Leonard’s wife Savannah Leonard standing near car, Harry Leonard approaching the camera, cabins and sled dogs, Savannah Leonard with a broom and with snowshoes at the Leonard home on Dunkel Street in Fairbanks, and Harry Leonard waving. A pilot starts a Stearman bi-plane airplane on skis, followed by aerial views of Wiseman and mountains. Images back at Fairbanks include fire at the Hotel Alaska. Koyukuk region images include a small dam, large pump and pipe, and Harry Leonard with hydraulic giant moving material at Archibald Gulch on Nolan Creek. AAF-1866 scenes include a dog team on the Chena River at Fairbanks, Soviet aviator Mavriky Slepnyov walking to camera with unidentified men, with Savannah Leonard, and with Harry Avakoff (in dark suit). Harry and Savannah Leonard and other men pose with airplanes at Weeks Field in Fairbanks, and then an airplane on skis takes off. In the Koyukuk region of Alaska, men at the Wiseman Roadhouse include (left to right) unidentified, Phil Sundquist, Ace Wilcox, Poss Postlethwaite, Albert Ness, Martin Slisco and unidentified. On the final pan of the men, Harry Leonard is the last man on the right. Next are images of Wild Lake, Phil Sundquist with rifle, and the Hope Family at camp, including Ludi Hope and her adopted son Henry, who was the son of Japanese whaler and miner James Minano. Following scenes of a lake are men including Ace Wilcox and Vern Watts at sluice box, Biner Wind’s mining camp, Biner Wind on the runners of a dog sled, Harry Leonard with dog in front of tent, Phil Sundquist sharpening a saw, spring breakup on the Koyukuk River, miners shoveling ore into sluice boxes at Biner Wind's mining operation on the Hammond River, Ike English by sluice box, and people gathered around an airplane at Wiseman. Next are scenes of Roshier H. Creecy panning a sample in a washtub over a campfire and standing by a cabin during the winter at Gold Creek. Roshier Creecy, born just after the Civil War ended, was one of the few known African Americans who made their living by prospecting and mining in Alaska in the early 1900s. Following this are scenes of Roshier Creecy pulling a sled over ice and then dogs pulling a sled on snow, Harry Leonard waving to camera, Roshier Creecy waving to camera, Wiseman as viewed from the hillside, a dog yard, a log church (possibly at Allakaket?), and aerial views during a winter flight in a biplane. Images at Fairbanks include the Chena River breaking up downtown, and airplanes at Weeks Field. After scenes of people posing for the camera, are images from the Wiseman area including Tishu Ulen and Joe Ulen and their family, self-tripping dam on Gold Creek, a snared black bear, moose, and Harry Leonard prospecting with pack dog. Next is a scene of people posing by an airplane on floats flown by Wiley Post with Will Rogers while it is parked on the Chena River at Fairbanks. This is followed by scenes of a grouse, mountains near Wiseman, hunters with caribou antlers and meat, and Harry Leonard with a sled hauling firewood in winter. AAF-1867 images from the Wiseman area include high water running over Harry Leonard's Gold Creek dam, mining camp with small sluice boxes and prospect boiler, man shoveling ore into sluice boxes, and Harry Leonard at hunting camp with three moose heads. Images at Fairbanks include people at Weeks Field getting into single engine Wien Alaska Airlines airplane piloted by Herman Lerdahl, Richard Wien as a boy running toward the camera, and a Mirow airplane on skis. Images outside of Alaska include a United Airlines Mainliner and travel to cities at several locations. Scenes of travel across the United States from Key West, Florida, to New York City and El Paso, Texas, were possibly filmed by a friend of Leonard’s borrowing his camera.
[Haul Road scenes]
[Haul Road scenes]
Specific dates and other information noted on the original film are given here in parentheses. Footage includes a truck on the Haul Road in winter, men in an office, trucks on the Haul Road (segment titled "Kamikaze Trail outs, Great 80' pipe shots"), a truck parked at Sunset Strip (segment titled "Best Pipedriver"). a still image of a woman pouring coffee (segment titled "Sam and waitress"), a bumper sticker, hanging tire chains, a sign, the Tundra Inn, signs, a logo, a man, the Yukon Bridge in winter, a pump station and road (segment titled "Antigun"), a pass in the road (segment titled "Ice cut"), a trucker, still images of truckers (titled "Stutte," "Col. Custer," "Sourpuss hands," "Canadian," Kid Lyndoms," and "Riggles"), a worn tire, a mechanic, a Hilltop Roadhouse coffee cup, a man (segment titled "Hooking up brakes"), still images of truckers (segments titled "Squint," "Pudgy 1-2," "John Appleseed," "Lancaster," and "kid and Shader"), a buckle and ring, a still image of a woman (segment titled "Muleskinner"), still images of truckers (segments titled "wholesome," "Phil," and "Big Bust 1-2"), a logo, the Haul Road, a can of chewing tobacco, a boot kicking a tire, a logo, a steering wheel, a belt buckle, still images of truckers (segments titled "boots," and "Stutte buckle"), mechanics, truck chains, still images of truckers (segments titled "Burk," "Kid's buckle," and "Mr. Ardee"), logos, still images of women and men (segments titled "Fox cook 1-2," "John's buckle 1-2," and "John - several shots"), men changing a truck tire along the Haul Road, a sign, a truck, still images of a man in a truck (all titled "Sealang Hostler"), scenery and trucks along the Haul Road, camps, and signs (segment titled "Kamikaze live action).
[Haul Road truckers, Muleskinner's, interview scenes]
[Haul Road truckers, Muleskinner's, interview scenes]
This footage shows trucks hauling pipeline segments along the Haul Road in winter, men and boys carrying firewood and buckets of water, a woman working in a garden, a stream and homestead (in an area known as "Muleskinner's" according to a label on the film), flowers, a man and woman being interviewed, a woman cooking in a cabin, a woman serving chicken and biscuits to people seated at a table, men and a woman being interviewed, a child's drawings of a truck, men entering a cabin as children watch, the interior of a truck cab, a trucker driving a truck, and a man being interviewed at a cabin.
[Haul Road, trucks and scenery]
[Haul Road, trucks and scenery]
Footage contains views of semi-trailers traveling on the Haul Road, workers loading empty barrels into a semi-trailer, a man in a cowboy hat, men working on trucks, semi-trailers on the Haul Road, a warehouse, workers loading barrels, road and pipeline construction, road graders, a Finger Mountain sign, a Franklin Bluffs sign and other road signs, Brooks Range scenery, and a Deitrich Camp sign.
[Hauling pipe to North Slope, work in icy waters, sailboat Endeavor]
[Hauling pipe to North Slope, work in icy waters, sailboat Endeavor]
AAF-10588 is labeled "BP Pipe to Slope work print." It includes images of men unloading an oil well or a feeder line pipe in the rail yard at Fairbanks, hauling pipe sections by truck, loading pipe sections onto a C-130 airplane, a cockpit and views from an airplane in flight, and Prudhoe Bay. The label on the film indicates that scenes cover the shipping process to Prudhoe Bay from train to truck to airplane to slope. The title "Ships to Slope" is also included, and this section of film contains images of boats and barges operating in extremely icy waters, pipe sections being unloaded, a man loading and setting sail aboard the small orange sailboat "Endeavor," and an oil well in the distance with cans of Polar Start oil displayed in foreground.
[Hetherington films, reel 1]
[Hetherington films, reel 1]
This film contains scenes of military or government-supported activity in the Interior and on the North Slope of Alaska, perhaps related to exploration work. It includes scenes of early helicopters, large tent camps, men setting up towers and talking on radios, aerial views of tundra and mountains, and a cabin or building engulfed in flames as a crowd of men watches.