Angela is also an expert at making birchbark baskets, and has taught the art to all of our youngsters. Now she teaches this traditional skill to our grandchildren, and she spends time at Galena schools as a volunteer, teaching basketmaking.
Give some kids an opportunity and they grab it. For some years at Galena I had a dealership selling Polaris and Yamaha snow machines and Mariner outboard motors. My son Roger now owns that business. One spring a woebegone little Indian boy around thirteen years old came to me. I knew that his parents neglected him because they were often drunk. He barely had enough to eat or clothes to wear, but his greatest desire was to own a snow machine, and he told me he wanted to work for me so he could earn one.
“Fine,” I said. “You come to me every day and I’ll give you a job to do. You keep track of your time. When you have earned enough for a snow machine, I’ll see that you get one.”
That little guy arrived faithfully every day, and each day I assigned him a job, usually pure drudgery. He cleaned boats, shoveled refuse, straightened up a workshop, retrieved parts, and ran errands, helping with our salmon business.
He asked me to keep track of his time, but I insisted that he write down his own time. I wanted to show my confidence in his honesty, and I hoped he would see the practical value of arithmetic.
By Christmas he had earned a snow machine. Through this process he learned the value of work, and so was proud of his new machine and was determined to care for it properly. Today that young man is married, and a sober, hardworking citizen. He made himself what he is; my contribution was small but, I like to think, significant.
In 1966, a book, On The Edge of Nowhere, by James Huntington (my brother Jimmy) as told to Lawrence Elliott, recounted Jimmy’s adventurous life to that date. In that account, the ages of Marion, Jimmy, and me, when our mother died in June 1920, were incorrectly given as “seven, five, and not quite two.” The editors chose not to print our real ages, claiming that readers wouldn’t believe the story. To set the record straight, I was born on May 10, 1915, and was five; Jimmy, born August 14, 1916, was three; and Marion, born December 2, 1918, was a year and a half.
In the late 1970s, Jimmy was elected to a two-year term in the Alaska House of Representatives. After that, Governor Jay Hammond appointed him to the Board of Fisheries, where he served two three-year terms. We didn’t agree on many issues, for he was inclined to be liberal while I’m generally conservative. But that didn’t keep us apart: we sometimes argued, but we respected each other’s views.
When he was fifty-nine, Jimmy had a heart attack while trapping marten in the Hog River country. He lay under a tree for seven hours before he recuperated enough to get back to his cabin. After resting a few days, with the help of one of his sons, he pulled his traps and drove his snow machine all the way to Galena in one day—a hard day’s work even for a man in good health. He boarded a plane that evening and flew to Anchorage and the next morning surgeons performed an emergency heart bypass operation on him.
That spring he had his Yukon River fish wheel running. His camp was six miles below my fish camp. Every morning during salmon season, at five o’clock, sometimes earlier, I went to check my fish wheel, three miles below Jimmy’s place. I’d stop and we’d visit for a moment, or sometimes I’d just wave as I passed, happy to see him out and about.
That fall, amazingly, he hunted moose. Annually he made several trips by boat from Galena to Hog River, hauling fuel for his snow machine, planning to be back trapping in winter. He loved the Hog River country.
In March 1987, he fell ill and tried to drive his snow machine to the Galena Medical Clinic. He almost made it, but in great pain he stopped at a friend’s house, and his friend got him to the clinic and called me. Jimmy and I talked while waiting for a medevac airplane to arrive from Anchorage.
“It’s been kind of a bad year for me, Sidney,” he said, not complaining, just stating a fact.
I told him we had both lived good clean lives that we could look back on with pride, that I felt we did what God intended for us to do—help make the world better for others.
“Sidney, I know. I don’t think I’ll see you again,” he said.
The attendant closed the airplane door, and I watched the plane lift into the darkening sky. Jimmy died five minutes after takeoff.
In the summer of 1987 a reunion was held at Anvik Mission to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. I attended that reunion and treasured meeting again with ninety-two-year-old Henry Chapman. It was my pleasure to thank him for making a home for me as a sad five-year-old in 1920. At the reunion I found the grave of Homer Collins, my childhood friend. Tears came as I stood by the grave and remembered my dear friend, gone for all of those sixty-seven years.
My grandfather, the trader, was probably born about 1850, perhaps earlier. That’s about a decade after the first Russians arrived at Nulato. I was born ten years after my grandfather’s death. Thus only two lifetimes (although mine hasn’t ended yet) plus twenty years span the period since first contact with whites in Koyukon Indian country. At Galena I live in a modern house with electricity and all that goes with it, including television, telephone, automatic heat, and hot and cold running water. My grandfather saw many changes in his life, but I’m sure he never dreamed of anything quite like my comforts.
The Koyukon people no longer must roam, searching for better hunting and fishing. They live in permanent homes, with conveniences, and have good medical care. Few babies die, and starvation is no longer a danger. Medicine men no longer dominate their lives. The people still depend upon the land for most of their food, but that food—the fish and game—is abundant.
But the number of Koyukon people along the Koyukuk and Lower Yukon is about the same as when my grandfather was alive. And he would recognize the Koyukuk valley if he could see it today, for it hasn’t changed much. The summer sun circles endlessly, and clean white snow blankets the land every winter. Spire-topped spruces still dominate the forests, and the white birch trees still shine in the winter moonlight. And through it all, the Koyukuk River still flows clear above Hughes, and slightly murky below.
EPILOGUE
Sidney Huntington has been accorded many honors for his civic services to Alaska and Alaskans. A few include:
1980, named the founding father of the Galena, Alaska, city school system, and presented with an engraved silver plaque.
1986, Conservationist of the Year (Alaska Outdoor Council).
1987, Trapper of the Year (Fairbanks Trappers’ Association).
1988, Trapper and Conservationist of the Year (Alaska State Legislature).
In 1989, the University of Alaska at Fairbanks conferred upon Sidney Huntington the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service. The citation accompanying this degree read:
Community leader, cultural link, and supporter of education, Sidney Huntington: During his lifetime, Sidney Huntington has successfully spanned two cultures—one dependent on hunting, fishing and trapping for food and money, and one which has led him to the highest levels of official service to his community and the State of Alaska.
Born in Hughes, Sidney Huntington received only a third-grade education, but through his own efforts and self education, he was able to compete politically and professionally in a changing world.
By reading carpentry books while working on a trapline, he taught himself the skills needed to land a job at the Galena Air Force Station. Once in Galena, he convinced the community to become a first-class city, which allowed it to raise the revenue necessary to save its school.
Despite his own lack of formal education, Sidney Huntington spent 25 years on the Galena School Board, and has personally supported many students who would have otherwise been unable to receive a higher education. He and his wife Angela have raised 15 children, several of whom have been awarded degrees at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Sidney Huntington’s fairness, integrity and ability are attested to by his 17 years on the Alaska Board of Game,
and the willingness of governors from every political background to put their trust in his decisions. Not only a community and state political leader, Huntington has established two salmon processing businesses in Galena in order to bring economic opportunity to the people of his region.
The University of Alaska, Fairbanks, salutes this distinguished leader who has clearly demonstrated his dedication to his family, his community, his region and his state, and proudly confers upon Sidney Huntington the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service. This citation presented at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Commencement Exercises, May 7, 1989.
RELATED READING
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Health, Section of Epidemiology. State of Alaska Tuberculosis Report. Anchorage, 1986.
Alaska Geographic. Alaska's Great Interior, Vol. 7, No. 1. Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1980.
Alaska Geographic. Aurora Borealis. The Amazing Northern Lights, Vol. 6, No. 2. Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1979.
Alaska Geographic. Up the Koyukuk, Vol. 10, No. 4. Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1983.
Brooks, Alfred Hulse. Blazing Alaska’s Trails. Fairbanks: University of Alaska and the Arctic Institute of North America, 1953.
Dall, William H. Alaska and Its Resources. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1870.
Fortuine, Robert. Chills and Fever; Health and Disease in the Early History of Alaska. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 1989.
Gruening, Ernest. The State of Alaska. New York: Random House, 1954.
Hulley, Clarence C. Alaska, Past and Present. Portland, Oregon: Binfords & Mort, 1953.
Huntington, James, as told to Lawrence Elliot. On the Edge of Nowhere. New York: Crown Publishers, 1966.
Madison, Curt, and Yarber, Yvonne. Edwin Simon, Huslia, a Biography. Blaine, Wash.: Hancock House Publishers, 1981.
Madison, Curt, and Yarber, Yvonne. Martha Joe: Nulato. Fairbanks: Spirit Mountain Press, 1987.
Marshall, Robert. Artic Village, a Portrait of Wiseman, Alaska. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 1991.
Murray, Alexander Hunter. Journal of the Yukon 1847–48. Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1965.
Stuck, Hudson. Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914.
Thomas, Tay. Cry in the Wilderness. Anchorage: Color Art Printing, 1967.
Wickersham, James. Old Yukon Tales—Trails—and Trials. Washington, D.C.: Washington Law Book Co., 1938.
INDEX
The index that appeared in the print version of this title was intentionally removed from the eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
Adams, John
airplane
Call Air
Swallow
Alaska Board of Fish and Game
Alaska Board of Game
Alaska Railroad
author rides
history of
alcohol
author’s first “high,”
bootlegging whiskey
forty-day binge
illegal sale to Indians
last drink
withdrawal from and hallucinations
alcoholism
Alice
Allard, Ed
Anchorage
at the beginning of the war
author travels to in 1927
Anderson, James L. (“Andy”)
Andrew, Paul
Anna (author’s mother)
author visits grave of
death of
trip to Nome in 1904
Anvik mission
reunion at
Arctic Circle
Ark
Attla, Eliza (also Eliza Regan)
Attla, George, Sr.
Attla, George
Attla, Steven
aurora borealis
Barnard, Lieutenant
bear, black
as food source
hunting of
Jimmy’s encounter with
bear, brown
“big animal” hunt
killed by author
killing bears at den with a spear
last Koyukon spear hunt for
preparation for winter spear hunt
summer hunt with spear
winter hunt for
Bear Creek
Huntington prospect hole
Beatus, Joe
beaver
early Koyukon method of harvest
historic trapping seasons
how to trap
hunting of
important food animal
Koyukon tradition
Bentley, Mrs.
Bentley, The Reverend John
Berglund, Eunice
berries, wild
Bifelt, Edith
Bifelt, Fred
Bifelt, Victor
“big animal.” See bear, brown
Big Mary
Blind Andrew
Blue Parka Bandit
boatbuilding
bootlegging. See alcohol
bracket fungi, as mosquito repellant
Braflet, Dr.
breaking through ice
breakup, of Koyukuk River in 1928
Briffitt, Charles
Broad Pass
Brown, Harry
Buchanan, Bob
Bulegin, Ivan
burbot
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Butler, George
cache, at Batza River
canoe, birchbark, use of and building
of
canoe, canvas
canoe race, at Nulato
Chapman, Henry
Chapman, John, The Reverend
Chief Henry
Chief John
Chief Paul
Chief Thomas
Chief Peter
Chilkoot Pass
Chimawa (BIA school)
Chips Island
Clear Creek
Cleever, Martha
Coghill, Jack
Coghill, Mr.
Collins, Ezra
Collins, Homer
crooked knife
Dall, William
Dalquist, Alfred
Dalquist, Bill
Dawson, Yukon Territory
Demoski, Aloysius
Demoski, Joe
Denali (also called Mount McKinley)
Depression, the
Derrick, Ben
Derzhavin, Commander
Devaney, Tom
Devil’s Island
Dickey, A. W.
dogs, sled
as mail carriers
dogsled
Donaldson, Frank
dredge
Dubin, Sam
DuFresne, Frank
education, “white man’s” vs. “bush,”
Egan, Governor William A.
Eklutna John
Eklutna Vocational School
Elliott, Lawrence
Enterprise, H.M.S.
Evans, Charlie
Evans, John
Evans, Wilfred
Evinrude motor
Fate, Dr. Hugh
Felix, “Happy Jack,”
fish-killing knife. See knife, fish-killing
fish wheel
floods
at Hughes
Batza River
at Koyukuk and Nulato
Fort Davis
Fort Egbert
Fort Gibbon
Fort Yukon
Frank (author’s uncle)
Franklin, Sir John
fur catch
General Jeff Davis
gnats
Golchik, Louis
gold
Gordon, Bishop William J.
grandfather (the trader)
grizzly. See bear, brown
guitar
Hammond, Governor Jay
Hawk owl
heart attack
and bypass surgery
Heart Mountain
Henry, Haymon
high words, in Koyukon tradition
Hill, Amelia
Hog River Johnny
homesteaders
Hootch, Molly
horned owl
Hudson’s Bay Company
Huntington, Ada
Huntington, Agnes
Huntington, Andrew
Huntington, Angela Pitka (author’s wife)
Huntington, Annie
Huntington, Arnold
Huntington, Carl
Huntington, Celia
Huntington, Charlie
Huntington, Christine
Huntington, Electa
Huntington, Elma
Huntington, Elsie
Huntington, Flora Charles
Huntington, Franklin
Huntington, Gilbert
Huntington, Henry
Huntington, James S. (author’s father)
Huntington, Jenny Luke (author’s first wife)
Huntington, Jimmy (author’s brother)
death of
heart attack
in state legislature
Huntington, John
Huntington, Leonard
Huntington, Marie
Huntington, Marion (author’s sister)
Huntington, Marion (Jimmy’s wife)
Huntington, Mark
Huntington, Roger
Huslia Hustler (Jimmy Huntington)
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
Indian Creek
Irish, Charlie
Isaac, Alfred
Jacobs
jawbone (credit)
Jay, gray
Jimmy, George
Joe, Austin
Keilly, Ben
Klondike gold fields
knife, fish-killing
Kokrines, Andrew
Kokrines, Old Man
Kokrines, Tony
Koyukon people
appearance of
attitude toward animals
clothing of
starvation of
traditional stories of
Koyukuk
owned by John Evans
built by author
Laboski, Mike
Larson, John
Lawrence, Harry
Lawrence, Herbert
lend-lease warplanes
Shadows on the Koyukuk Page 26
