In This Issue
Text of this issue
The Tripod Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, PO Box 2323, Seward AK 99664 http://www.Iditarod100.org IditarodHTA@gmail.com The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance is an equal opportunity program provider and employer. February 2020 The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance promotes public awareness of the Iditarod Historic 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 and developing partnerships that foster stewardship commitments and support. Pick. Click. Give While applying for your PFD online, you can choose to donate to the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance under the Pick. Click Give. Program. You can add or adjust your online donation until August 31.
All donations are tax deductible and donors will receive tax documentation from the State once their donations have been processed. Archives moved again In 2016 The National Archives facility in Anchorage was closed and millions of pages of documents removed to Seattle. And now they are being moved again. The decision to pack up and move the National Archives at Seattle to Riverside, California and Kansas City, Missouri, has startled those who have spent hours doing research in the mammoth facility. A panel, charged with looking at ways to trim federal properties deemed excess, recommended the 73-year-old Seattle Archive building and its 10-acre site be sold. The US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) agreed and announced its decision on January 24.
The move came despite a letter sent to the OMB by all senators from Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and Idaho and eight of the ten Washington state representatives to Congress. The letter said the recommendation to close the archive “was flawed” and should be rejected. Washington Senator Maria Cantwell said, “Trying to move these articles from the region with their historic content just shows an absolute disregard for the importance of them and their significance to our region.” The archives are a repository for all federal records generated in the Pacific Northwest. The expansive collection includes military, land, court, tax and census records. It contains important treaty documents relating to the 272 federally recognized tribes in Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The archive has been digitizing its vast volume of records, said Suzan Karren, director of the Seattle facility.
But, she said, “probably only .001 percent” of the records were now in electronic form. From the past… “Seward Gateway” January 31, 1935 SCARCITY OF SNOW IS CAUSE OF WORRY AT FLAT With only 18 inches of snow on the ground round Flat, the people there are beginning to be concerned about the supply of water for next season’s mining, but they have not yet given up hope that there will be a heavier fall before the winter is over. This time last year there was fully 3 feet, which was reflected in the active season that followed. Speaking of conditions at the famous old camp, past and present, Paddy Marshall, who arrived in the city on Wednesday’s train, mentioned several outfits that did good work last summer. There were three draglines, two dredges and six hydraulic plants that kept things humming.
And besides that, the Alaska Road Commission kept 14 men employed on road work, the specific piece of road construction leading to Snake River. 1 The Tripod February 2020 In addition to the placer outfits that it is known will be in operation in 1935, Flat is looking forward with interest to expansive development of the quartz ground three and a half miles out of town. This property, said Mr. Marshall, has been taken over by the Lucky Shot people and development work has already taken place, considerable tunnel work being done. It is expected that a large force will be engaged there in 1935. With the closing down on beaver and martin, little fur is now caught about Flat, it is said. The trappers have to go long distances and then the fur, consisting mostly of fox, is scarce. Wolves and coyotes range adjacent country in numbers, said Mr.
Marshall, and report has it that fully 2000 reindeer were slaughtered by the killers last winter. The wolves travel in packs and followed by the sneaking coyotes that finish off partly eaten carcasses. The nearest reindeer feeding ground is 60 miles away and already reports are coming in of depredations committed this winter. Every effort is made to trap the beasts, but there is a little success. Mr. Marshall had a great deal to say about the great benefits the country derives from airplanes, but that this winter there is difficulty in flying planes on and off the local field because of scarcity of snow, the wind that blows about the region having about cleared the field following the first fluffy fall. On one occasion last summer he counted six planes on the field at one time. Mr. Marshall came to Seward to see Dr. A. Haverstock, at the Seward General Hospital.
He doesn’t believe there is much the matter with him but feels the need of some treatment. In the city he is a guest at the Seward hotel. Studies •Mental Health Benefits of Trails: www.americantrails.org/mental-health-benefits •Health Benefits of Trails: www.americantrails.org/health-benefits •Business Owners Along Continental Divide Trail Say Trails are Vital: https://tinyurl.com/ttowak6 Trails around the world A famous hiking trail in Austria has just become much more accessible courtesy of one of the best architecture firms in the world. Snøhetta has completed a series of additions to the oft-hiked, 1.7-mile trail dubbed the Perspektivenweg (“Path of Perspectives”), in the Nordkette mountain range above the town of Innsbruck, Austria. Visitors reach the start of the trail after taking a cable car 6,250 feet in the air.
From there, Snøhetta's new designs to the existing path begin to reveal themselves. Due to the steep nature of the route, switchback trails are required to safely move up the terrain. At several turning points along the trail, Snøhetta created a series of benches, elongated platforms, and one dramatic cantilevering platform that allows for visitors to better enjoy the vistas below.