Vincent - In the wake of the frontier: a true account of living in Alaskan isolation

In the Wake of the Frontier

A true account of living in Alaskan isolation

Ruth E. Vincent

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Lincoln Shanghai

In the Wake of the Frontier

A true account of living in Alaskan isolation

Copyright 2005 by Ruth E. Vincent

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Contents

Because others have faith in us, we accomplish unplanned goals.

This book was written at the urging of my dear mother,

Annie Irene Marr Anderson,

and from the encouragement of my sweetheart husband,

Robert Earl Vincent.

It is dedicated in memory of these two, who made my life complete.

Acknowledgments

Not only do I value those within this book who enriched my Alaskan yearseven making the adventure possiblebut I am deeply indebted to others. I greatly appreciate helpful editing from my two daughters, Carol Teegarden and Jan Galbreath. Also, the careful editing from my warm friend, Andrea Seavers, was of great benefit. My gratitude and thanks are expressed to son-in-law Darrell Teegarden for his patient computer aid and generous time commitment. Then, at just the right time, Leslie Leland Fields critiqued and cut this manuscript to make the story march forward more forcefully. Especially, I give thanks to Paul W. Barkley, a neighbor and long-standing friend who suggested, encouraged, and edited with an expert eye. Also, I thank Jeanne Popovich, another neighbor and friend, who patiently proofread each word. Help from these supportive friends and others who have graciously shared their time has been of immense value, and their questionings have added clarity.

Most of all, I am grateful to my late husband, Robert E. Vincent. His insights broadened my observations during those Alaskan years, and these chapters were improved because of his useful suggestions and emotional support.

The solitary scene on the cover was a photograph I captured of my husband walking across frozen Jennifer Lake, just east of our peaceful haven of Kitoi Bay in Alaska. All of the pictures in this book are ones my husband and I personally took as we sought to permanently capture our unique experiences.

Figure 1. Afognak Island lies just north of Kodiak Island

Figure 2. Kitoi Bay Research Station (later Kitoi Bay Hatchery) in October 1954 with Vince Dalys Grumman Goose

Figure 3. A serene view of Pacific waters from our station

Figure 4. Willie the Weasel with food

Figure 5. Silver fox

Figure 6. Frosty and Dinky fighting

Figure 7. Clams dug at low tides were one source of fresh meat. We alsoate crab, snowshoe hare, duck, and fish

Figure 8. Icicles frame the frozen ocean saltwater.

Figure 9. Timed during low tides, our water source was Big Kitoi Creek

Figure 10. Kitoi Bay and surrounding area of Afognak Island

Figure 11. Evolution of a bear trail: tracks (left), ruts (center), and trail (right)

Figure 12. Even in the winter, Bob took water samples to determine the waters temperature and oxygen content

Figure 13. Dinky curiously peers through our window.

Figure 14. Fox-watching

Figure 15. Winter mail delivery on Big Kitoi Lake

Figure 16. Christmas mail brought news and excitement

Figure 17. Dinky eyes the ice cream freezer.

Figure 18. Bob running the skiff.

Figure 19. Walter, Veneta, and Dave Vincent

Figure 20. Shelikof Strait area of southern Alaska

Figure 21. Bob at the short-wave radio

Figure 22. A change-of-scenery outing

Figure 23. Otter trail

Figure 24. Razor clams sizzling

Figure 25. Our fox friends were like pets

Figure 26. Soon I stopped envisioning an Alaskan king crab as a monstrousspider.

Figure 28. Departing for Kodiak

Figure 27. A Grumman Widgeon landing in Kitoi Bay.

Figure 29. A Kodiak street

Figure 30. Aerial view of Kodiak, Dog Bay, and Near Island

Figure 31. Completed wooden pipeline

Figure 32. Preparing dinner in the kitchen/laboratory.

Figure 33. Little Kitoi weir

Figure 34. Pinkie at the barbershop

Figure 35. A mealtime snapshot (Leo at end of table; Molly at far right)

Figure 36. Our shack on the hill.

Figure 37. Our shack became the mansion on Kitoi Bay Heights.

Figure 38. Baby seagull in the cleft of a rock

Figure 39. Kitoi and Izhut Bays showing Ruth Lake and Jennifer Lakes. Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Used by permission

Figure 40. Our sixth wedding anniversary at a typical flat-slate beach

Figure 41. Charlie, a Kodiak brown bear cub, appears at our back porch

Figure 42. Twelve-year-old Pinkie carefully cleans his catch of rainbowtrout

Figure 43. Stone oil lamp found by Quent Edson

Figure 44. Izhut Bay artifacts

Figure 45. Aleut oven

Figure 46. A whale rib made a good bench

Figure 47. A humpy swimming upstream to spawn

Figure 48. Construction of hatchery addition expanded Kitoi Bay Research Station

Figure 49. Artificial spawning

Figure 50. Bill Harvey beside his new 1957 Super Cub

Figure 51. Ruth Lake cabin

Figure 52. Ruth and her seal

Figure 53. Kodiak brown bear

In 1954, I was a sheltered twenty-five-year-old woman teaching elementary school in Oregon. I had never lived outside the Willamette Valley and had certainly never dreamed of moving out-of-state, much less out-of-country to the Territory of Alaska. (Alaskan statehood did not come until 1959.) The vast Alaskan region was a rugged, isolated land, especially Afognak Island, part of the Kodiak Archipelago on the southwestern fringe of the Territory.

My husband, Bob, and I were headed to live on this island for an indefinite time while Bob was to do fishery research on the freshwater life history of the red salmon, which would be a help in salmon rehabilitation. He was also to help in getting the facilities in operation and organizing the research program. Most Alaskan natives depended on salmon fishing or its related industry for their livelihood. Since salmon runs had been steadily declining, the red salmon fish runs needed to be reversed, and new runs of returning adult red salmon needed to be established. Returning salmon runs to their former abundance would bring greater economic stability to the area.

Family and friends were amazed at our plansperhaps even our sanityand wondered how anyone, especially a woman, could live in such primitive isolation. Months without seeing another female might seem like unending torture to many, but because I had always thrived on new experiences, this was one I was eager to embrace.

At that time, short-wave radio and letters were our only means of communication. Since no time could be spent shopping, socializing, commuting to work, or helping others, there was time to construct a thorough, descriptive accounting of our activities. Most of this was done through lengthy letters to our families at home in Oregon. To my surprise, my mother, Irene Anderson, carefully saved all of these detailed letters and subsequently urged me to compile them into a book. So out came my old portable, manual typewriter with a poor ribbon, and during the third and last year on Afognak, a land where time is determined by tides more than by clocks, I created a book-length manuscript of our Alaskan life.