+++++++++++++++++++++++

We don’t usually think of roads as being living things.  Yet without nearly constant human attention a road will simply return to the life it had BEFORE someone tried to change it into something it isn’t.  This is a delightfully descriptive early homesteading letter my mother wrote – enjoy!

+++++++++++++++++++++++

May 9, 1959 Monday [Mildred’s mother recopied Mother’s writings onto pages – much harder for me to read!]

Dear, Dear Mother,

I hope you had a happy Mother’s Day.  I would have called you but we were “back in” all weekend, so of course I couldn’t, but I thought of you all day!

We sure had a peculiar time for Mother’s Day – I must say!  So much to tell you – how much I wish I could keep you informed day by day!  First I’ll tell you about today, then go back.

Before even telling you about today, though, I’m writing real tiny so I can get more on the paper since I’m low on paper.  I’ll first put you at ease by telling you I’m better.  Oh, Mom how sick I was.  The doctor said it might be two or three months, and Mom he wouldn’t let us pay for two office calls and it was only 25.00.  Now isn’t that a bright note in Alaska of all places?  I know I must watch it and always wear a kerchief in chilly weather, but I feel so much better.  I still am a tiny bit weak but that is to be expected.

I saw today what a pokey-poke I am.  We climbed to the homestead and it took me three hours from here [trailer at bottom of mountain?] to get up!  I had to rest every few steps and sometimes just collapsed on the sleeping bag I was lugging up.  Bill had a bag too and our camp dishes and Sharon.  Even Linda beat me by far.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Oh Mom for words to describe our so-called “road” – (ha-ha.)

The first steep hill is dried out but then we hit one alder tree grove and guess what?  It’s near a mountainside marsh for half a mile!  The water just seeps out of the ground.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

All the water runs from the soil now to our road and down it.  Oh Mom, Mom, our road (?) has turned into a creek.  I never saw anything like it – it’s a stream and where it runs in [to the road] it has even washed the mud off and it’s a stone bottom like a creek and then in between is oozy–deep mud.  You sink way down and your boot sticks in and you can hardly pull it out.  If you don’t move quickly you’d never get out.  For all that distance one has to walk on the upper side through alders and brush; or try to walk in to “creek” or sink into the oozy mud.

Mildred’s caption on the back of this photograph:  This is where we always had to duck through the alders – no other place to walk.  ‘Your pack’ would catch on the trees and it would be a job – nasty alders.  Oh, what days those were.

++++++++++++++

Even the sides are muddy with deep gully ridges.  The upper part is now dried out and is O.K. but so steep.

Bill told me that since the snow and ice had melted it was like that, but I had to see for myself!  We just don’t know how long before it will dry out.  Bill has diverted the water in as many places as he can but it really doesn’t help much.

It took us three hours to get there and another two hours to cook a simple meal over an open fire because the wind was blowing so hard.

Oh Mom I didn’t want to come back to the trailer – Pollard’s know the seventh [the day we told Land Office we were moving to the land to begin the seven month proving-up residency requirement] has passed.  Bill put in residence the night he set up the Quonset [Jamesway, April 4, 1959] – will it count?  Will we be contested?  Oh Mom he must get up there, but no water there.  What can we do?

Tomorrow we’re buying a Yukon stove for heat up there.  It will burn wood.  We can chop and gather and save us hauling oil up now until we can drive – also a camp stove to cook on.

* When school is out I’ll stay there.  We’ll try to prove up in seven months – to get title – that means clearing and cultivating twenty acres this summer!  We have to have a tractor.  We can’t depend on others to do it — Frary’s all booked up solid.  Thomas’ broke down and he is building a new road for himself.  Pollard wants land cleared.  Carr needs his for his own work.  You remember how busy everyone is here in the summer – the precious summer days.

I won’t rest until we get title to our place.  We need at tractor to rebuild this road, clear our own land, haul up supplies now and in the future and to build a new road.  When we get the $ we’ll turn the Ford and Truck in on a Tractor plus 800 down.  2,500 for a second hand one!

*  Oh how the children loved it up there.  Oh to be young, Mom.  They scamper up the mountain shouting and laughing.  They think it is great fun indeed!  I’m glad we’re doing all this now while they are young!

How Bill ever managed to erect that enormous building single-handed I’ll never know.  It would be simple enough to build a house alone, but those enormous big pieces!  He did, though, and he slept there, and even we are dragging our possessions up – so as far as we are concerned we’ve set up residency.  We gave up our apartment and certainly this trailer [still down at the foot of the mountain] is a camp along the way.

How I yearn to sleep there now and wish you could be up there too for the summer.  I’m sorry I can’t come to California – my work is laid out here and every day is precious – so much to be done before winter sets in!

(I am finally selling out plastics – decided last week – so far still booking parties but sold out for 10% off; 20 – 30%, depending.  Samples are going fast and I have very little left.  Have two this week, hope that will do it!  It’s been too much and can’t make profit when must travel so far etc.  It’s made us all tired and irritable and been hard on everyone.)

School is over one week from Friday and I hope to be all done with it by then.  I’ll hibernate to my mountain top even if I walk.

Bill thinks as soon as ground thaws he can dig out a spring in the valley for water.  There are only a few remaining patches of snow up there and not a sign on low lands now.  The berry bushes are all there as last year and the wild Iris are now coming out.

Oh, Mom, I want to be done with town except for occasional trips and make my home here – all year round.  Oh for a decent road, but as I tell Bill, I’d rather wait until we have title for sure or someone else will want our place and contest us.  True?

I would give my eye teeth to have this trailer up there.  It’s home now – elegant next to the Jamesway.  It’s all a matter of comparison, isn’t it?

Saved your recent letters.  Keep them rolling.

Now I’ll go back to the Tuesday two weeks from tomorrow [would have been April 26, 1959] when we got our jeep out.  Remember?  Oh that was a busy day.  I had plastics to deliver, packing to be done.  Bill planned to take Wednesday off and we were to move to the Mountain Top.  I’d even seen the Principal about teaching the children the remainder of the year.

I sold the Motel owner 14.00 worth of plastics so paid for day but still owned $14.  OUCH!

Finally headed home and oh it seemed good to leave the city behind.  Stopped off at Frary’s to see about having him come up next day to do some road building.  He’d been had last several days clearing land for Barclee and was boiling because Barclee’s land was steep — road in.  He is so awful.  Tried to talk us out of homesteading in here and in next breath told us how awful it was when he first homesteaded.

Well, as I said, he’s busy for some time to come and we left.  As we drew out of his driveway Pollard’s drove by – headed back to town.  Oh No!!  Said two jeeps were stuck in mud and couldn’t get by and those were being dug out – much too far to walk – at least five miles and already 8:00 P.M. and me still weak from being sick.  There’s been the real bad marshy place where Pollard and Thomas had just worked over – now barely passable.  Evidently when Frary’s tractor went over it, it ruined it – too heavy – and road collapsed.

We went sadly to Fire Lake Lodge for a decent meal – first decent meal in ages – 10 P.M. before we were done — full and satisfied.  Asked Bockstahlers (she thinks all this if funny – ha-ha!).

I haven’t seen one person other than her since returning to Eagle River and don’t intend to until hold title to our own land!!  It means the world to me – to both of us – if we could leave jeep there over night.

Stayed over night in town at Far North Motel – double room and private bath and adjoining restaurant — $17.00 for one night and well worth it in comparison with other places we’ve seen.

Wednesday night back to town again, but couldn’t pass mud hole.  Pollards right behind us.  So we walked across and left everything in car.  I had gotten a tiny black kitten that day – three weeks old from one of my Haliday plastic women – and carried it to Barclee’s and he rode us to next mud hole.  We all waked rest of the way.  Next morning, Thursday, I had to go back to town so we all got up at 4:45 so we wouldn’t keep the Pollards waiting.  They had their old pick-up truck waiting one mile down the road.  We all walked to it and rode it to bad mud hole.  We all got across it [left the pickup on the other side] and then in our own jeeps and then to town.  What an expedition!

Thursday woman said she wanted plastic party Friday, so we left plastics at her house so we wouldn’t have to bother with them.  Friday night stayed over at Far North Motel again and home Saturday.

When we got to mud hole all the homesteaders were working on the road.  I wish I’d had a camera with me.  Where the road went completely out when Frary went over it, they were scooping all the mud out of that spot to fill it in with gravel and then so pretty birch trees over this to make a bridge over the mud which is so oozy and deep you sink in it.

What a busy place.  Our jeep was loaded with everything we had bought in town plus groceries plus clean laundry, but we couldn’t drive it over.  We all put our high boots on which look freakish in town where everything is all dried up.  We got out.

Ecklund offered to ride us home and Bill would stay and help the men.  They carried the children over the mud.  It would have gone to their knees and maybe over them.  I barely got over – what gooey, gooey stuff.

A view of our trailer stuck at the bottom of our mountain on Pollard’s land – could not get it up “Horror Hill” to the homestead – and that’s slippery, gooey mud!  Mildred’s comment on back of photo:  This is where the trailer stayed for almost six months!  Where we lived in April 1959.  Taken from top of first hill.

+++++++++++

Home to messy trailer  Haven’t really lived in it for some time due to sickness and jeep breaking down.  No water though.  Was in back of jeep so carried some from Pollard’s stream.  Washed dishes, floor, some clothes.  Made cake and Bill got home.  He drove home – amazing to see the jeep get through after all this time and over those hundreds of birth limbs.  Now isn’t that something?  It’s called “corduroying” the road.  Learn something new every day.

For all the trouble homesteading certainly is exciting to say the least.

Sunday [May 1^st] morning Bill had a sales manager from Chan [sp?] Motors coming out to demonstrate a German jeep that he guaranteed (ha ha) could get up “Horror Hill.”  Pollard, Carr and sons were all here to see.  Well, it got up the hill and stuck in first mud hole.  Got it out and he was determined to get through the next, but he couldn’t.  Turned it around and he rammed it into a tree.  Broke front windshield and top!

Boy, I bet he was mad.  Men said Bill should have taken picture for the news of this $4,000 snazzy jeep before and after our road!

Oh I could write pages on all this, but not time.  When I am up there for good there will be more time and peace.

I did write you about mosquitoes.  We were eaten alive first night here after my being sick.  Then got “Off,” a repellant that really works, comes in a spray bottle – no more trouble now!  Thank goodness!

Bill doesn’t get home until quarter of seven.

He’s fine.  We all feel fine, close again and happy.  I felt mean and horrible before I was sick.  Then Bill was so good and kind when I was sick and I’m so thankful to be better now that nothing else matters.

I did have time to think and know I’ll give up anything for our homestead.  It’s ALL to our way of life now.

We’ll live in Jamesway and walk if I have to.

Sharon just came in.  We have a strong glacier wind today.  She feels like ice.  Otherwise day is heavenly – blue skies and sunny.  We’ve had some gorgeous weather recently.

Oh how I love to see you all.  After we get title to our land – we’ll come there – should get title November 1959!  Hooray!

My secret worry is that you and Pollards and others know that we are not on our land – Oh Mother I worry.  Pray for us.  We’ve worked so hard and there’s so much ahead yet.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++++++++