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The Tripod Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance July 2015 Passport stamps The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, has released the first round of Park Passport Stamps for the Iditarod National Historic Trail. The “Passport to Your National Parks,” is a popular program for travelers to collect stamps when visiting National Parks. The “Passport” includes a section for the National Trails. The National Park Travelers Club presented the Bureau of Land Management with the first stamp last summer, which is currently at the Bureau’s Anchorage Field Office.
The stamp will be available at eight other locations, each with their respective mileage along the trail: the Kenai Fjords National Park Visitor Center in Seward (at left), the Begich-Boggs Visitor Center in Portage, the Roundhouse Museum in Girdwood, the Alaska Public Lands Information Center in Anchorage, the Knik Museum and the Mushers Hall of Fame in Knik, the McGrath Museum in McGrath and the Nome Convention and Visitors Bureau in Nome. Keep an eye out for these stamps throughout your travels and for additional stamp locations in the future.
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 The summer trail The Iditarod Trail was a winter trail, but from break-up to freeze-up the main transportation corridors to and from the Iditarod district were rivers. One route was from St.
Michael, where passengers and freight came from outside by steamer and then were taken by river boats up the Yukon, Innoko and Iditarod Rivers, as illustrated by this advertisement from the July 17, 1915 “Iditarod Pioneer.” Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance PO Box 2323, Seward AK 99664 IditarodHTA@gmail.com http://www.Iditarod100.org You can donate to the Alliance through the 2015 Pick. Click. Give Program until August 31, 2015. Go to your MyAlaska profile, select your 2015 dividend and go to the option to add or change a donation.
Tripod, July 2015 Another route was from Fairbanks, via the Tanana, Yukon, Innoko and Iditarod Rivers, as illustrated by this advertisement from the August 14, 1915 “Iditarod Pioneer.” From the past… “Iditarod Pioneer” July 10, 1915 FLAT CITY ENJOYS BIG CELEBRATION Intermittent showers of rain throughout the day did not dampen the ardor of the big crowd of people that gathered at Flat City last Monday from all parts of the district to celebrate the Fourth of July. A large and good natured crowd gathered at the baseball grounds, where Judge Charles E. Bunnell and District Attorney R. F. Roth made splendid and appropriate addresses, for which they were roundly applauded by all present. After the patriotic exercises were concluded there was a fast five-inning game of baseball between the Flat City team and the team of the Yukon Gold Company.
The score stood 5 to 2 in favor of the Flat City team. One of the pleasant surprises and a big feature of the game was the exceptionally good playing on the Flat City team of Judge Charles E. Bunnell, who was pressed into service on short notice as shortstop, owing to the disability of the regular man in that position. The agility with which his honor arrayed himself for the contest on the diamond easily convinced many that he was by no means a stranger to the great national game. Not only did Judge Bunnell scoop up several hot daisy-cutters and put the ball where it would count the most in the record of the game, but there were also one single and a two-base hit to his credit. And merely to show that he was not feeling at all bad on the happy occasion, the judge scored a tally by turning a complete and graceful handspring as he touched the home plate. Mayor Ned M.
Stanton of Iditarod played right field for the Flat City team. He didn’t pull down any “long drives” to that garden, made no sensational slides to bases, no safe hits, nor was he fined for “sassing” the umpire; consequently there were no errors charged to his account. The play of both teams was exceptionally good, and the game was greatly enjoyed by all. At the conclusion of the ball game the usual athletic events were indulged in by local talent, and liberal prizes were awarded by the committee for the efforts. The big event of the early evening proved to be the quartermile horse race for a purse of $1,000 between the famous old racer Ignatius, with George Mutchler in the saddle, and Meacham’s Blue Hen, with Mead Maynard up. The course of the race was up Gold Street.
During the jockeying at the beginning of the race the heaviest shower of the day was falling, but a little thing like that did not keep the people indoors, nor did it detract one iota from the interest in the race. The Blue Hen won the race and the big purse. The dance at Moose hall in the evening was largely attended, and the dancing continued until nearly 3 o’clock in the morning, when one of the most successful and happiest celebrations in the history of the live creek town became only a pleasant memory. NOTE: In 1922 Charles E. Bunnell became the first president of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines (renamed the University of Alaska in 1935) and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1949.
Iditarod representation at Trail Conference The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance is happy to announce that youth Caitlan Dowling represented the Iditarod Trail, as a Trail Apprentice Scholarship recipient, at the Partnership for the National Trails System 2015 National Scenic and Historic Trails Conference in Franklin, Tennessee, June 27 to July 1. The Scholarship Program aims to increase youth involvement with the National Trails. The theme of the Conference was Find Your Trail: Planning and Hiking Pathways into the 21st Century. Kevin Keeler, the Bureau of Land Management Trail Administrator for the Iditarod National Historic Trail also attended the Conference. Reports on the Conference will be in next month’s Tripod.