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The Tripod Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance April 2015 Wada musical The Mikan Ichiza Playgroup, an amateur theatrical company in Matsuyama City, Japan, is coming to Alaska to perform the musical, “Chasing the Aurora The Samurai Musher The Tale of Jujiro Wada from Japan.” Mikan Ichiza founder, Setsuko Kaida, acts as Setsu, Jujiro’s mother, who narrates the play through letters she received from her son. The role of Jujiro is played by Ehime University medical student, Shu Koita. The musical will be performed in Seward on April 29, in Anchorage on May 1 and Fairbanks on May 3. For more information: www.thesamuraimusher.com Jujiro Wada, a legendary dog-musher and gold prospector during the gold rush era, was born to a poor family in Japan and dreamed about the wealth of America.
He set sail for San Francisco on a steamship at the age of 16 and labored as a cabin boy on a whaling ship in Alaska where he learned English. Wada traveled throughout Alaska and his skills as a hunter, whaler, prospector and dog musher were well known. Wada was one of the pioneers of the Seward to Iditarod section of the historic Iditarod Trail. In 1909 the Seward Commercial Club hired Wada and local musher Alfred Lowell “to demonstrate to an absolute certainty that the Seward route to the Iditarod was an absolutely feasible one,” with the aim of making Seward the jumping off point for the Iditarod gold rush. They left Seward on December 17, 1909 and returned on February 26, 1910, reporting that the trail from Seward was a good way to reach the rich gold Jujiro Wada on 4th Avenue in Seward fields of the Iditarod district.
Statewide Trails Conference With a goal of working together to build, maintain and use trails, the 2015 Statewide Trails Conference will be held April The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance promotes public awareness of the Iditarod Trail and its gold rush and Alaska Native heritage by encouraging education programs and historical research, assisting in the protection, improvement, maintenance and marking of the trail, developing partnerships that foster stewardship commitments and support from land owners, local communities, organizations and others. The trail for all seasons Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance PO Box 2323, Seward AK 99664 IditarodHTA@gmail.com http://www.Iditarod100.org The Alliance received $1,100 in donations through the 2015 Permanent Fund Pick, Click, Give Program. The Tripod 23-25 in Wasilla.
“Partnership-Building Trails, Building Community” will be the theme of this year’s trails conference, which is presented by Alaska Trails with help from the Mat-Su Health Foundation, the Mat-Su Trails and Parks Foundation, Conoco Phillips, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, and the Alaska Recreation and Park Association. The theme of partnerships is emphasized in the presentations and conference format. Some of the breakout sessions that highlight partnership include ‘Cooperation among different trails users,” ‘Trapping on public lands” and “How to start a successful trail club.” The number of breakout sessions has been scaled back from previous conferences in order to make more time for networking and brainstorming between attendees.
Bringing together trail users, builders and managers under one roof is extremely valuable and Alaska Trails will engineer the free time needed for new ideas and collaboration. Registration is now open for the conference, which will be held at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, 1001 S. Mack Drive. To register and find out details about lodging and the conference see www.alaska-trails.org/ trail_teachers2015/conf.shtml From the past… “Iditarod Pioneer” May 1, 1915 ICE MOVED APRIL 24 At 4:48 on Saturday afternoon last, April 24, the clock at the Budweiser which had been attached by a wire to the tripod on the river ice stopped, indicating that the ice had commenced to move. Immediately the cry was set up, “The ice is going out!” and people came running from all directions to watch the expected break up.
After moving down-stream a hundred and fifty feet or so, the cumbrous mass came to a standstill, since which time there has been little indication of the near approach of the eagerly looked for break-up. The mild weather and rains of last week had raised the level of the river considerably by Saturday, and the anchor ice gave evidence of breading loose, and it was hoped that the river would continue to rise sufficiently to carry away the ice. But the weather turned suddenly colder and new ice formed, making the lodged masses more solid than before. The movement of the ice had been sufficient, however, to decide numerous wagers made upon the ice movement, and new wagers were immediately made as to the time when the real break-up would be expected. Since the continued cold spell, however, interest in this method of speculation has relaxed.
Nearly all of the river boats had been enabled by the loosening of the ice to find positions of safety, and the many barges had also been moved to better positions. One boat, however, the Rough Rider, had become waterlogged, and was in a dangerous position. Should the ice move it would inevitably be lost. She had become waterlogged, and her machinery was all under water. It is understood that an effort will be made to place her in a position of safety, although there appears to be no one in charge of her. The cold snap has retarded the preparations for commencing mining on the creeks to a considerable extent. David Strandberg had a large force of men at work at the head of Flat creek, and most of these had to be laid off. A serious setback to mining has been caused by the frigid weather. One class of persons has benefited to some extent by the changed weather conditions.
The soft weather had brought hauling almost to a standstill, and those of the wood contractors who had considerable hauling to do were in a fair way to be put to considerable financial loss. The plentiful snowfall and freezing weather made a return to the use of sleds possible, and the contractors were not slow in taking advantage of the changed conditions. Travel over the trails has, however, about ceased, and few persons from outlying camps are arriving in the district. Things seem to be at a standstill awaiting the break-up and the opening of navigation. Spring iTREC! workshop The spring Iditarod Trail to Every Classroom (iTREC!) workshop will be held in Nome on April 17-19.