The Tripod, January 2014

The Alliance thanks you for renewing your membership and appreciates your support to continue its work to publicize and preserve the Historic Iditarod Trail. iTREC! project Janna Walker, a 2013-14 iTREC! teacher, sent “The Tripod” this report on her students’ iTREC project: The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance mission is to bring people together to preserve, protect, maintain, enhance and enjoy the historic, educational, cultural and recreational values of the Iditarod National Historic Trail and to assist, support and coordinate the cooperative development, maintenance and operation of the Trail across multiple land ownerships and among multiple parties to provide a quality recreational experience and visitor enjoyment. The trail for all seasons.

Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance PO Box 2323, Seward AK 99664 IditarodHTA@gmail.com http://www.Iditarod100.org Rod Perry with Janna Walker’s class and the tripod they built. Rod Perry, Iditarod Trail historian and musher, visited Janna Walker’s 6th grade class at Rogers Park Elementary School in Anchorage for two days in November. He talked to the students about the original trail and the important role tripods had in the early days. He brought in birch logs and taught the kids how to strip the bark off using draw knives. Other kids designed and chiseled a mile post to be attached to the front of the tripod. Then the kids used broken glass to smooth the knots on the logs and drill holes using a hand auger. They smoothed and cut smaller branches to use as pegs to hold the tripod together. The class hopes that their replica can be placed in front of Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla.

An Iditarod centennial The first mail contract for delivery of mail between Seward and Iditarod was awarded in January 1914, as reported in the “Seward Daily Gateway” of January 7, 1914: COLONEL REVELL GETS CONTRACT Col. H. E. Revell, the well known guide and a pioneer of the trail, received notice from Washington last night that his bid for carrying the Seward-Iditarod mail for the next four years had been accepted and he has been awarded the contract. The contract calls for the carrying of the mail from Seward to Iditarod each week beginning November 1, 1914 and ending April 1, 1915, and thereafter during these months for a period of four years. Colonel Revell will establish relay stations along the trail and will have the mail leave Seward and Iditarod simultaneously each week from November 1 until April 1, making twenty-four trips each year during the life of the contract.

He will equip himself with the best dog teams available and proposes to be prepared to give the citizens of the interior towns the best winter mail service they have ever had. There were several other bids sent into the department at Washington, but the Colonel’s bid seemed the most acceptable. The mail to Iditarod has heretofore and is now being taken in via Fairbanks, but has never been satisfactory to the government and to the people of the interior. Colonel Revell will receive about $100,000 for carrying the mail during the next four years. Harry Revell Harry Revell first came to Resurrection Bay in 1899. He carried mail to Hope and Sunrise during the winter when Cook Inlet iced up. He located a homestead at the head of Resurrection Bay in 1903, the same year he married Eva Lowell. The couple had three children, Ida (1904), Harry Jr. (1905) and Frank (1907).

Revell served as a guide to Alaska Central Railway surveyors as they laid down the route of that railroad. He guided big game hunters and prospected, without much success. During 1909-10 he carried mail between Seward and Hope and Sunrise at $75 a trip. He and Eva divorced around 1916. In 1917 Revell married Sue Piersner. They moved north and for several years operated the Rapids Roadhouse at Mile 227.4 on the Richardson Highway. He also conducted a freight and passenger business over the Highway between Valdez and Fairbanks. In 1938 he moved to Fairbanks and worked at Sampson Hardware. He died in Fairbanks on August 29, 1939. APPL Convention The Association of Partners for Public Lands will hold its 2014 Partnership Convention & Trade Show February 23-27, 2014 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Download the program at www.appl.org to learn how the convention can help improve public-private partnerships by: ●Engaging learning formats: keynotes, workshops, forums, roundtables and educational sessions to develop your skills ●Exchange of ideas: focused discussions with colleagues from across the country to find solutions to your challenges ●Premiere trade show: products and services to meet your educational, retailing and nonprofit needs A long trail This trail is currently about 17,000 kilometers in length, but when completed it will be nearly 24,000 kilometers in length. What is its name and in what country is it located? Answers next month.