Although local citizens appeared to accept or at least tolerate the Army’s presence in Eklutna Valley in the 1960s and 1970s, war drums were beating over the horizon.   Except for some parcels of private land in the lower and middle portions of the valley, Eklutna Valley was federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.  However, the status quo was about to be upended. During … Continue reading Charge of the Light Brigade: Part II – The Army digs in

Today’s residents and visitors in Eklutna Valley occasionally hear the roar of one or two Pave Hawk helicopters rattling up or down the valley.  It was very different in the 1960s and 1970s when the U.S. Army treated Eklutna Valley like an occupied country.  Back then most of the land in the valley belonged to the federal government and the Army had no difficulty obtaining permits to … Continue reading Charge of the Light Brigade: How the U.S. Army lost the battle for Eklutna Valley

” … his own vehicle had been a wreck of rust and nostalgia.” Abby Geni, The Wildlands, 2018 Alaskans like to think we are tough because we survive The Winter, coexist with Bears and live at the End of The Road. But modern Alaskans aren’t nearly as tough as Alaskans used to be. A good case in point is Skip Cheely and his jeep. Skip’s … Continue reading Skip’s jeep and other long-abandoned vehicles

The state of Alaska was still wet behind the ears when the first serious proposal to move the capital out of Juneau was defeated by voters in 1960. But calls to move the capital antedated statehood. One of the places that attracted early attention as a potential site was Eklutna. For various reasons – mostly related to power and money – many Alaskans would like … Continue reading A capital idea?

Anchorage was eight years old in 1922.  But even then its residents were probably telling visitors the best thing about Anchorage was that you were so close to Alaska. Residents could hunt moose and bears south of what is now the downtown park strip, but a headline in the July 12 edition of the Anchorage Times revealed where the real action was: “Hunters’ and Fishermen’s Paradise … Continue reading ‘Ample room for all the campers of a dozen states’: How Eklutna Lake became Anchorage’s playground

“We’re standing on the shoreline of a prehistoric lake.” Mike Wiedmer, 2019 Driving down Eklutna Lake Road I often glance to my left and see a large lake – nearly 18 miles long – filling the valley from the glacier to the Anchorage Water Treatment Plant. I’ve been reading about the glacial history of Eklutna Valley, which tells me a lake used to be there.  Most … Continue reading The icy origins of Eklutna Valley

Animals, other than us humans, have no concept of Christmas.  But might there be an innate “gifting behavior” that is expressed by living beings other than humans? The first mysterious and unexpected object I found in my bird feeder, nestled among the sunflower seeds, was a wizened, black mushroom.  My feeder is a long wooden tray with sides to hold the seeds in but no top.  Birds don’t … Continue reading The Gift of the Fungi

No one should ever confuse Monument Valley, Arizona, with Eklutna Valley, Alaska. But Eklutna Valley has a few monuments of its own. I’ve already written about some of the natural monuments, like Eklutna Lake and Bold Peak. This article is about the grave markers, plaques, shrines and other memorials brought to the valley by people. The best known collection of memorials in Eklutna Valley is, … Continue reading Monument Valley

“Strange Flying Objects Sighted Near Eklutna.”1 If any front-page headline needs an exclamation point, that one does. But by January 23, 1953, Alaskans had grown accustomed to reading about flying saucers. Six women were involved in the Eklutna sighting. They watched a “mysterious round-shaped illuminated object, twice the size of a star and unlike any aircraft ever seen” hover over the top of a mountain … Continue reading Flying saucers in Alaska: An abbreviated history of UFO sightings in Alaska, from the first encounter until one was seen flying into Eklutna Valley

“People forget that Anchorage is in Eklutna, not the other way around.“ Maria Coleman, Native Village of Eklutna Many people now living in Anchorage are unfamiliar with the Native names of prominent geographic features. Fortunately, a linguist and a cultural anthropologist found an Alaska Native, a Dena’ina Athabascan named Shem Pete, who was an expert in that field. Pete had hunted and explored nearly 14,000 … Continue reading Naming Eklutna Valley