WRANGELL ST. ELIAS NEWS MARCH & APRIL 2007 PAGE 1 Wrangell St. Elias News “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” Volume Sixteen Issue Two March & April 2007 $2.50 One tale Dad loved to tell, t was the fall of over and over, was how Coffin, I1958. My lifelong during one of his trips with Gill school chum, Dick in the interior, had medically Renner and I had just helped one of the great native graduated from high old-timers in that part of the school in Cordova. Dick country — a lady who was one and I had enjoyed hunting of the last to be born at Taral goats and geese on the across the river from Chitina. coast, and when an oppor- Dad’s version of the story was tunity to go after the undoubtedly embellished. At famed Dall Sheep in the one time, Dr. Coffin and Gill upper reaches of the Chi- were involved in some sort of tina River in the Wrangell Photo courtesy the author sheep hunt goof up. About the Mountains came along, In 1958, during sheep hunting season, Cordova Air- same time, Suzie, the indige- we were eager to give it a line would often overnight a DC-3 in May Creek. The nous and aged Athabascan from try. crew would drive a jeep over to the McCarthy Lodge. Taral, had a medical problem This area had become that Coffin cured. So, according the favorite hunting territory of Bob was using one of Cordova’s Stinson to Dad, Suzie used to say, “Him Gill, a long-time commercial fisher- Reliants. great doctor, not much hunter.” man from Cordova. Gill had been A very popular medical doctor Dad loved to tell that, and truthful- sheep hunting in the Wrangells for from Cordova, Raymond Coffin, re- ly, Ray liked to hear it. located to the Territory from over a decade. He was our leader page on continued (story 7) and the only one of the group who the New England states be- knew anything about sheep hunting. cause of Alaska’s great out- Matter of fact, he was one of the doors. He even brought his only guys around Cordova who knew Maine canoe to Cordova. But much about it. Coffin couldn’t get away Gill had been hunting the from his practice in Cordova Wrangells even before Jack Wilson very often. When he did he or Howard Knutson showed on the absolutely loved to hunt. He scene as pilots for Cordova Airline. especially enjoyed sheep His sheep hunting experience began hunting in the interior with with Herb Haley as pilot; it was still Gill. My father, “Mudhole,” and the doctor were very Photo courtesy the author Cordova Air Service then, and Herb Gill’s “cave”—Harley King, at far left. (At the close friends. They loved to time Harley lived in Cordova; later he moved kid each other. to Long Lake.) Dick Renner and his father Ralph are also pictured. PAGE 2 WRANGELL ST. ELIAS NEWS MARCH & APRIL 2007 A note from the publisher (hope it wasn’t necessary from all locals are crossing it safely once t is March 2nd. Rick and I are the typing that goes into her shar- again. Ijust about to pull out the ing those scrumptious recipes with If you tried to call anyone in Ricoh printer and begin the us!). Being in a splint really cuts McCarthy and the outlying area on next stage of producing the back on her typing capabilities. We January 29-31 or February 22 and March/April issue of WSEN, the fi- all wish you a speedy, complete re- 23 and didn’t have any success, it nal product. For those of you who covery, Peggy. was because our long-distance and have recently come on board as a The month of February brought local service was out of commission. subscriber, we do the entire WSEN the news of the passing away of two Thanks to Copper Valley Telephone here in our log cabin located on the community pillars —Ed LaChapelle and AT & T’s repair crew, we are up outskirts of McCarthy. We have lived of McCarthy and Lance Gilpatrick of and running again. When our phone here on this property west of the Chitina/Valdez. Both men will be service goes down, things get really Kennicott River since the summer greatly missed. Our prayers go out quiet, especially in the winter of 1978 after spending a year at to Ed’s Meg and Lance’s Susan and months. Several folks, us included, Long Lake, about 15 miles from their families. Please note a person- have Starband dishes for internet here. al story written by Ed’s son, David, access. Communication has become Rick and I began Wrangell St. who is also well-known in the McCa- a high priority in many our lives, Elias News the summer of 1992, rthy area, on page 6. Due to our lim- whether it’s with our family mem- thinking it may only be the ited space, David gave us permission bers, friends or neighbors. We are July/August issue in celebration of to shorten it. We thank you, David, always glad for the capability to con- the 4th of July. We are now on our for so kindly sharing your heart’s tact our telephone providers in 83rd issue and still going strong, thoughts with us on such short no- Glennallen or Valdez or each other thanks to you and your continued tice. when there is an emergency situa- interest in the news from and affect- Since our last issue, the McCa- tion on our community. Things have ing the McCarthy/Kennicott area. rthy area experienced a very unusual certainly changed since the early The cover story, White Sheep occurrence with the opening of the days when we first came to this area Paradise, is written by a long-time Kennicott River. Residents were us- in 1978 when our local communica- contributor to WSEN, Kenny Smith. ing a snowmachine crossing over tion was CB radio. Our only contact Kenny never ceases to surprise us the ice for quite some time, but with the “outside world” was via the with the myriad of stories he recalls that came to an abrupt end the mail or Amateur Radio. (Rick and I from his experiences in this wonder- third week of January. You can read are “hams,” in case you couldn’t ful state of Alaska. Many of you will Keith Rowland’s account of Hidden tell!) recognize some of the characters in Lake Dumps Mid-Winter on page 8 WSEN welcomes aboard the fol- Kenny’s story of Cordova hunters in with pictures by local pilot and resi- lowing subscribers: Larry and Mau- the Wrangells. dent Don Welty. For the past week, reen St.Amand, AK; Pete Mapes, AK; Peggy Guntis, Cooking with Peg- and I’m sure with the help of the Mike Nolte, NC. Online subscribers: gy, passes on her regrets for such a frigid temperatures that dropped to Michael Stemper, NY; Mark Cassell, short column this issue, but she is -42, the river is now frozen over and Aric Morton, Miles Erickson, WA. recuperating from wrist surgery Wrangell St. Elias News (USPS 011301) VOL. Sixteen, Issue Two, March & April 2007. Published every two months at McCarthy, Alaska. McCarthy, PO Box MXY, Glennallen, AK 99588-8998. Phone (907) 554-4454. FAX (907) 554-4494 E-mail: [email protected] “Copyright © 2007 by Wrangell St. Elias News. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without the express permission of the publishers.” Contributors to this issue: Peggy Guntis, George Cebula, Ned Rozell, Don Welty, Keith Rowland, David LaChapelle, Jeremy Keller, Kaylin Moffitt, Susan Smith and Kenny Smith. Subscription price is $14 for one year in the USA. Canada $16. Other countries $23. Advertising rates upon request. Deadline for publication in next issue is April 15. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT GLENNALLEN, AK. 99588. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wrangell St. Elias News, McCarthy #42, PO Box MXY, Glennallen AK 99588-8998. WRANGELL ST. ELIAS NEWS MARCH & APRIL 2007 PAGE 3 Items of Interest ed itself. I think this is only two enabled you to upgrade your po- Jim and Audrey Edwards: times it has been like that for sition with the ferry system! Just because it’s winter in McCa- more than a few days in the 33 Jim Kreblin: Jim lives down rthy doesn’t mean Jim and Au- years I have lived by Swift Creek. the road, about 15 miles, from drey take the season off and bury Sometimes physical phenomenas us. His cabin is on the bank of their “to-do” list under the snow are quite interesting!” Long Lake, our frequent ice-fish- (which finally arrived). The Ed- Dan Elofsen: Rick and I were ing spot. He doesn’t come up wards’ just don’t get bored. I surprised to see Dan back in the this way too often in the winter, guess that isn’t on their list. neighborhood. His job with the but the other day he snowma- They decided to continue Alaska Marine Highway ferry sys- chined toward McCarthy looking their kitchen-upgrade project tem keeps him away from home for his dog, Nomad, who was —out with the scratched, burnt, several months out of the year. happily visiting locals in our peeling, old yellow countertops But, we can be sure when he has neck of the woods. Nomad espe- and in with the brand new light the opportunity, he comes cially enjoyed seeing fellow play- blue-gray counters.