Walter R. Borneman - Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land--From Russian Fur Traders to the Gold Rush, Extraordinary Railroads, World War II, the Oil Boom, and the Fight Over ANWR

In a bone-chilling drizzle we waded through the swollen waters of the Anaktuvuk River. Two days of steady rain and snowmelt had turned its clear waters a muddy and ominous brown. Somewhere up ahead lay Ernie Pass and the crest of the Brooks Rangethe Arctic Divide. Even in June at the height of the brief Arctic summer, there was evidence everywhere of the brevity of the season and the harshness of the lands extremes.

Clouds obscured the highest peaks, but surely the summit of the pass must be close. For hours we made slow but steady progress across a trailless patchwork of toadstool-shaped tussocks and grassy bogs. That had to be the passright up ahead. The verdict was unanimous except for one lone dissenter. That was the pass, all right, he argued, but it was still four miles and a major drainage awaynot within a hopeful thirty minutes.

A lively discussion consulting topo map and GPS soon confirmed the unpopular position. There were still miles to go. Under a quiet blanket of misty gray clouds, the rest had been lulled into a false hope by the sheer scale of the land itself. Here, one can walk for days and still see major landmarks seemingly unchanged.

Scale. Thats what this land is all about.

When I would mention to those only generally knowledgeable with Alaska and its literature that I was writing a history of that bold land, all too often the response would be, Oh, you mean like James Michener. As a historian and not a novelist, I gradually became upset by this comparison. Closer examination of such responses, however, actually affirmed that I was indeed on the right track. What I was writing was in fact a big picture look at Alaska, and people seemed to understand what that meant.

Now to be sure, there have been many, many books written about Alaska, but fewamong them Micheners noveltell the entire Alaskan story from its first inhabitants to contemporary challenges. Given Alaskas wide-ranging geography, its ubiquitous cast of dynamic characters, and its diverse cultural complexities, such a task is a tall order. There are so many pieces thatjust like a jigsaw puzzleit is impossible to pick up the whole without the pieces falling apart. You can admire the assembled puzzle flat on a table, but it defies handling for close-up examination. Thus, you describe the puzzle in broad terms, all the while striving not to obscure the details of its individual pieces.

But if such a broad view is necessary, why is this entire sweep of eventsthis big picture of Alaskas historyimportant, or even insightful? Alaskas historic themes are surprisingly consistent and reoccurring: new land; new people; new richesand ever-present competing views over their use. These themes have been played out by many different personalities, events, and responses over the years, but to better appreciate their place in the puzzleto get ones hands around the whole story and pick up the puzzlerequires a step backward.

The view that results from such a vantage point is one of a succession of waves crashing across Alaskas landscape: Siberian emigrants crossing the Bering Land Bridge; Russian promyshlenniki (hunters) exploiting a fur empire; European flag bearers checking rival advances; Americans looking north in the aftermath of civil war; argonauts from across the world stampeding north to the clarion summons of gold; soldiers and sailors battling out a decisive chapter in a world war on the most bizarre of battlegrounds; another rush for a different kind of mineral wealth; and always at the core, the conflict over how the land will be used and by whom.

Throughout Alaskas history there has always been another wave cresting, another frontier to cross. Some have wished that the land would remain static, but it never has and never will. Others have been at the vanguard of change, leading the charge to extract tangible resources from its intangible beauty.

Some call Alaska the last frontier. But seen in the full spectrum of its recorded history, that appellation could be applied to any number of periods. It is not so much that Alaska is the last frontier, but rather that it is a land that has always had new frontiers thrust upon it. It is a land that always has been, and always will be, crossing the next frontier.