ALASKA: GIANT OF THE NORTH

[Music] evening ladies and gentlemen this is jack douglas tonight's armchair vacation covers a lot of ground so we'll really have to move along and when we look at this map of alaska we can understand why for example the trip by boat from juneau to skagway takes eight and a half hours anchorage and the matanuska valley lie another two thousand miles northwest of skagway and the city of fairbanks is another one thousand one hundred miles north of anchorage yes the distances are staggering but we must take to the air to really appreciate the enormous size of america's 49th state with a land mass one-fifth the size of the rest of the united states alaska has breathtaking scenic beauty miles of inland waterways and people and customs found nowhere else in america this is your vacation trip and mine to alaska the giant of the north taking off in a small plane at juno we're airborne for a bird's eye view of the city juno is situated in the coastal valley surrounded by rugged mountains and green forests on three sides with a population of around seven thousand juno is the third largest city in alaska it was named by the way after a minor called jojuno who discovered gold hereabouts in the summer of 1880. one of the state's few incorporated cities juno has been the capital since 1906 and of course at that time alaska was still a territory of the united states then on january 3 1959 alaska was admitted to the union and the people of juneau celebrated for three days today the seat of state government is located in the simply designed stone building the same edifice that housed the territorial government for many years the old juno mine here is a rusty relic of the city's past still operating as recently as 1944 it had produced millions of dollars in gold over a period of years a short distance from modern juneau we find one of the most primitive sites on the north american continent this is the gigantic ice field that feeds the mendenhall glacier comprised of over 1 000 square miles it extends eastward into canadian territory and scientists tell us that the ice we see here fell as snow about 200 years ago we've landed on mendenhall lake now for a close look at the glacier with the afternoon sun behind the ice we catch a glimpse of sculptured blue-green formations and honestly they must be seen to be appreciated well it's this kind of awe-inspiring beauty that attracts thousands of people to the mendenhall glacier recreation area [Music] inside the visitor center the glaciers history is revealed in maps and pictures but it's the glacier itself that is irresistibly magnetic its millions of tons of ice caught and held in a great frozen river dwarfs the figures of visitors it's a scene if pristine grandeur will always remember the small town sitting quietly beneath the misty sky is skagway on its unpaved main street the old golden north hotel proudly waits for customers just as it did back in 1898. one of the handsomest buildings in town it still provides a1 food and lodging a few doors south is the lodge of the arctic brotherhood a fraternal organization of miners that was founded in 1899 a year prior this photograph was taken of railroad men who were laying a track from a settlement in yukon territory all the way to skagway and when the railroad was completed in 1899 skagway's main street looked like this with the tracks running right down the center today main street in skagway looks as we see it here there aren't any gold miners around but for the visitor there are exotic gift shops such as the trail bench now this store claims to have the only animated polar bear in skagway all right it also has hundreds of handmade items such as indian moccasins or a beautiful jacket made of arctic rabbit hair that sells for 49.50 a leopard seal vest for a man priced at 75 a ladies bag made of leopard seal 25 and a matching hat for 37.50 now if this scene recalls stories about dance halls in the days of 1898 then these can-can girls have achieved their purpose they're all non-professionals who live here in skagway and perform for vacationers during the summer season it's all part of the nostalgia that goes with skagway where once 10 000 people live each one dreaming of striking it rich in the gold fields of the yukon [Music] if skagway looks small to us then let's stop for a while at anchorage alaska's largest most cosmopolitan city with a population of 93 000 anchorage calls itself the all-america city and it's the fastest growing area in the state one of its great tourist attractions oddly enough is the alaska historical society museum now this vessel was made from pieces of driftwood and is about 100 years old it was found in an eskimo village that had been abandoned for 50 years the natives probably used it to store seal or whale oil aleutian grass baskets woven of long grasses and roots by elute women who work with their hands underwater in shallow streams these are beads from the period when russians first came to alaska and settled on kodiak island in 1784. the russians used the necklaces in trading with the indian tribes now here's a prehistoric ceremonial necklace thought to be about 2 000 years old made of animal bones [Music] furs by david green marks one of the better fur salons in downtown anchorage and in the stores workshop craftsmen meticulously work on pelts that will be fashioned into fur coats and jackets in the salon model diane jackson shows us a beautiful mongolian fox coat two recent emigrants to anchorage mrs robert martin and miss betty kirschbaum are an appreciative audience next mary ruth knitter models an oyster white bleached beaver coat and now here's diane jackson again wearing a muskrat parka in a diamond pattern the detailed fur trim is sewn onto cat's and here's a big wolfskin parka that's designed to keep us warm in sub-zero temperatures when the wind comes up you simply close the hood [Music] at the u.s army's fort richardson a short drive from anchorage we enter the provo marshalls building we're not here on army business but rather to see one of the finest wildlife exhibits in alaska displayed in the museum are such outstanding specimens as this alaskan brown bear one of the largest ever captured in the state here's a wolverine noted for its nasty temper and its fighting abilities the arctic fox a popular fur a fine specimen of mountain goat and incidentally this one was awarded first prize in 1964 in competitions sponsored by the alaska big game trophy club one of alaska's finest game birds is the tarmagen the state bird and it's seen here in its summer plumage in the winter its protective coloring matches the whiteness of the snow this is the harbor seal the eskimos favorite source of skins for parkas and here the largest polar bear shot by a woman in alaska the great arctic snowy owl shown here holding a grouse in its talons is one of the rarest birds in the state protected by law this specimen was shot for the museum only after special permission had been granted by the department of fish and wildlife one of the things we travelers from the outside as they say notice first in alaska is the difference in food prices they're between 25 percent and 75 percent higher than the rest of the united states because almost everything must be brought in by ship and plane in the broad matanuska valley near anchorage we're in the heart of alaska's small agricultural district in the long daylight hours of summer cabbages often reach the size of this one it weighs believe it or not 60 pounds one of these huge vegetables makes an ideal spot for karen frazier to sit down and write a postcard to the folks back home well stimulated by the warm sun that shines for as long as 20 hours a day flowers of all descriptions mature rapidly vegetables such as these beets grow to five and six times their normal size and this looks more like a watermelon than a zucchini squash it's an amazing place this alaska this giant of the north mount mckinley national park is located approximately 700 miles northwest of anchorage we're taking the train but the park is also accessible by way of an excellent road at the mckinley park hotel we board a small bus for a sightseeing tour of this large preserve now up here they call it merely large where i come from we call it gigantic because mount mckinley national park covers 1 million 939 000 acres taking a brief stop along the way this is our view of north america's highest mountain peak starting at the valley floor at only one thousand feet above sea level this magnificent natural wonder rises to a height of twenty thousand three hundred and twenty feet from another angle its snow-covered slopes give it the look of a beautiful oil painting the park is one of the finest wildlife refuges in america herds of caribou grazing near the roadway are a common sight occasionally one of the shy doll sheep wanders down from its high feeding spot on the steep crags moose frequent the mountain meadows and porcupines can be found in the forested areas but nothing can detract from mount mckinley one of the more majestic scenic wonders of america fairbanks situated by the banks of the chena river is the second largest city in alaska only 130 miles south of the arctic circle fairbanks is subjected to extremely cold temperatures that necessitate the use of heaters such as this for parked cars now the heater prevents the engine oil from freezing into a solid mass we found fairbanks to be a clean attractive city of wide residential streets the trees were showing off their fall colors but in contrast notice these pansies still in full bloom the university of alaska located four miles northwest of fairbanks first opened its doors in 1922. at that time it had only six students today it has an enrollment of 3700 on a hillside overlooking the campus a team of university biologists is raising a herd of musk oxen one of the hardiest hoofed animals alive the musk ox somewhat resembles a small american bison or buffalo these ooming max or bearded ones as the eskimos call them once roamed alaska in large herds however they were killed off in great numbers by the eskimos when firearms were brought into the northern part of the territory in the late 1800s now it's hoped that a new industry can be developed for the natives utilizing the soft wool of the musk ox as well as its meat which tastes by the way much like beef this young lady is wearing a sweater woven of natural undyed musk ox wool the fairbanks country club claims a distinction truly all its own they say it's the farthest north of any golf course in the world that it is [Music] on the cold windswept beaches of the bering sea we stop at gnome to pan for gold during the fever pitch of the alaskan gold rush forty thousand people lived here today there are only twenty three hundred we can still experience the excitement of finding those precious tiny yellow nuggets in the sand in his workshop beside the beach aloysius pikanana of gnome carries on the tradition of ivory carving that's been in his family for as long as he can remember working on a large piece from the tusk of a walrus he will painstakingly create figures such as these an eskimo in his kayak or this small gnome-like creature or a polar bear or a mother seal with her cup if it can be carved from ivory aloysius pikonana is the man for the job flying over the yukon river alaska's most important waterway we're heading northeast for the village of katsebu and if we want to send a postcard home from the arctic circle we've come to the right place katsibu is one of the largest eskimo settlements in this land of the midnight sun until a few years ago many of the natives lived in these sod houses and it was common practice to decorate the exterior with the jawbones of a whale another custom that is still carried on and one that is quite practical in cold weather is this one now you see her a cute little eskimo baby girl now you don't and there she is again to a man such as chester civic his reindeer mean food on the table and valuable hides for the making of clothes for his family on katsuboo sound we shove off an anumiak a skiff made mainly of walrus skins the people of katsubu still use these boats for hunting but for transporting tourists they've added a 20th century touch a gasoline-powered outboard motor the power for this rig is as old as the story of the eskimo a team of alaskan huskies the fact that the snow hasn't fallen yet doesn't stop us for a minute for this dark sled is equipped with rubber tires and off we go bouncing across the tundra just like sergeant preston of the yukon [Music] like the people of alaska's five indian tribes the eskimos have a long heritage of storytelling and dance the only instrument used is a skin drum fashioned from the hide of a walrus in a series of movements that are centuries old an eskimo woman performs a dance of friendship welcoming us to her village katsebu a place where the present truly meets the past [Music] taxiing out into the waters of sitka sound we're about to take off for a look at one of alaska's most interesting mountains [Music] we're flying over some of the small uninhabited islands that dot the blue expanse of sea a bay of the pacific ocean looming on the horizon like a great earthenware bowl is mount edgeconn a dormant volcano and incidentally alaska does have several active volcanoes a closer look at the rim of mount edgecomb reveals the rust-red stain left by lava that erupted here many years ago [Music] heading back towards sitka we catch a rare glimpse of white mountain goats on a rocky crag and then slipping past a cloud shrouded peak of the coast mountain range we look down on the small city of sitka standing in front of the pioneers home an apartment building for retired people is a statue called the old prospector a memorial to the rugged breed who answered the call of adventure and came to the north country in the days of the gold strikes the indian arts and craft board is housed in this building in sitka its objective is to perpetuate the native skills of alaska's eskimos and indians we look in on mr george benson a member of the taklinkit indian tribe using a talent he developed as a child mr benson works carefully on a piece of sitka spruce when completed the carving will be in the form of a small totem pole among the other items here this figure of a bird made by an eskimo a large serving spoon carved by an indian a tarmagen created by an eskimo from point barrel and this rounded form carved from a single piece of wood this old cemetery located on a hillside behind sitka recalls the russian expedition that established the first white settlement in alaska in 1784 ringed by weather beaten white stakes is this marker on a grave lieutenant alexander gavrielov born on the 18th day of august 1818 passed away on may 25 1848 peace be to your dust in 1806 sitka became the russian capital of alaska settlers who had become rich in the and shipping trades made it a thriving city and at that time it was called the paris of the new world in the center of downtown citgo we stopped at st michael's cathedral construction was started by the russians in 1844 but to finish the job they imported skilled woodworkers from finland the building was dedicated in 1848 bishop innocent vina minoth the first bishop of alaska administered the initial communion in this sanctuary years later he left sitka to return to russia becoming the first metropolitan of moscow the highest office in the russian church but here at saint michaels are religious treasures that would make even moscow envious the royal doors that separate the chapel from the main body of the church the book of the holy scripture printed in 1834 it's made of hand-hammered silver ornamented with siberian topaz and the words are printed in ancient slavonic two crowns glittering with jewels that are held above the heads of couples who marry in the church a graceful silver chalice and gold plate with gold ornamentation the miter warned by the bishop an intricate pattern of siberian pearls decorates its surface the cross is made from a single emerald an icon made of ivory and the sitka madonna bought for the cathedral by donations of russian workers in 1850 st michaels of sitka a stunning remembrance of our vacation to alaska the giant of the north [Applause] at sitka national monument we found some of the finest examples of totem poles in alaska the two men in costume are wearing the ceremonial blankets and headdresses of their tribe they happen to be to clink at indians and their ancestors have lived here at sitka for countless generations this is called an eagle headpiece it's made of fur inlaid abalone shells ptarmigan feathers and walrus whiskers the other one depicts a bear holding a salmon the totem pole is called the fog woman now totem poles as we know tells stories stories you'll want to hear and remember on your vacation to alaska america's giant of the north will be on hand next week same time same station for another colorful 30-minute tour somewhere in america i do hope you'll be able to share it with us until then jack douglas saying thank you so much and good night ladies and gentlemen boys and girls [Music]