Clark Fair

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Frenchy posed with this heap of hunting and trapping trophies in Kenai in 1899. (Photo courtesy of the Viani Family Collection)

Unraveling the story of Frenchy, Part 4

Frenchy was not satisfied and not even close to being finished with big achievements

Frenchy posed with this heap of hunting and trapping trophies in Kenai in 1899. (Photo courtesy of the Viani Family Collection)
Frenchy wrote many letters and postcards to family members. This 1906 postcard was addressed to his sister Bianca in Villa Viani, Italy. (Image courtesy of the Viani Family Collection)

Unraveling the Story of Frenchy, Part 3

On Aug. 4, 1892, the Associated Press reported that the revenue cutter Bear had, on June 4, rescued only Peter Viani from the island

Frenchy wrote many letters and postcards to family members. This 1906 postcard was addressed to his sister Bianca in Villa Viani, Italy. (Image courtesy of the Viani Family Collection)
Frenchy Vian, who posed for many photographs of himself, was acknowledged as a skilled hunter. (Photo courtesy of the Viani Family Collection)

Unraveling the story of Frenchy, Part 2

In fact, Frenchy’s last name wasn’t even Vian; it was Viani, and he and the rest of his immediate family were pure Italian

Frenchy Vian, who posed for many photographs of himself, was acknowledged as a skilled hunter. (Photo courtesy of the Viani Family Collection)
This photo of Frenchy with a freshly killed black bear was taken on the Kenai Peninsula in the early 1900s. (Photo courtesy of the Viani Family Collection)

Unraveling the story of Frenchy, Part 1

The stories were full of high adventure — whaling, mining, polar bear hunting, extensive travel, and the accumulation of wealth

This photo of Frenchy with a freshly killed black bear was taken on the Kenai Peninsula in the early 1900s. (Photo courtesy of the Viani Family Collection)
Marcia and Mary Alice Grainge pose in 1980 with a pair of caribou antlers they found in 1972. The sisters dug the antlers from deep snow and detached them from a dead caribou. (Photo provided by Marcia Grainge King)

Fortune and misfortune on the Kenai — Part 2

In Kasilof, and on Kachemak Bay, in Seldovia and later in Unga, Petersen worked various jobs before being appointed deputy marshal in 1934

Marcia and Mary Alice Grainge pose in 1980 with a pair of caribou antlers they found in 1972. The sisters dug the antlers from deep snow and detached them from a dead caribou. (Photo provided by Marcia Grainge King)
Photo provided by the KPC archive of historical photographs Ed Back, left, and Bill Gross chat with Ridgeway homeowner Betty Karsten as they install a natural gas hookup to her home in 1961. Betty and Emmett Karsten became Alaska’s first civilian consumers of natural gas.

Fortune and misfortune on the Kenai — Part 1

Sometimes timing is everything

Photo provided by the KPC archive of historical photographs Ed Back, left, and Bill Gross chat with Ridgeway homeowner Betty Karsten as they install a natural gas hookup to her home in 1961. Betty and Emmett Karsten became Alaska’s first civilian consumers of natural gas.
A headstone for J.E. Hill is photographhed in Anchorage, Alaska. (Findagrave.com)

Night falls on the Daylight Kid — Part 2

“Bob,” he said, “that crazy fool is shooting at us.”

A headstone for J.E. Hill is photographhed in Anchorage, Alaska. (Findagrave.com)
Page from Seward daily gateway. (Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum, Juneau, A.K.)

Night falls on the Daylight Kid — Part 1

Night Falls on the Daylight Kid—Part One By Clark Fair

Page from Seward daily gateway. (Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum, Juneau, A.K.)
On Oct. 3, 1945, the Spokane Chronicle published this A.P. photo of Miriam Mathers and her goats as she prepared to board a Seattle steamship bound for Seward.

Tragedy and triumph of the Goat Woman — Part 4

Mathers had only three cents in her purse when she arrived in Kenai

On Oct. 3, 1945, the Spokane Chronicle published this A.P. photo of Miriam Mathers and her goats as she prepared to board a Seattle steamship bound for Seward.
The Associated Press caught up to Miriam Mathers in 1943 and took this photo when she was trying to move overland to Alaska with her goats and other animals.

Tragedy and triumph of the Goat Woman — Part 3

Her quest for Alaska had begun, but another date with tragedy lay just around the corner

The Associated Press caught up to Miriam Mathers in 1943 and took this photo when she was trying to move overland to Alaska with her goats and other animals.
In about 1904, the full family of Arthur and Ellen Davidson (front row) posed for this family portrait. Miriam Davidson, the third born, is in the dark blouse on the right end of the back row; she is standing next to her older siblings, Cora and William. (Photo courtesy of the David Family Collection)

Tragedy and triumph of the Goat Woman — Part 2

Mathers was dead.

In about 1904, the full family of Arthur and Ellen Davidson (front row) posed for this family portrait. Miriam Davidson, the third born, is in the dark blouse on the right end of the back row; she is standing next to her older siblings, Cora and William. (Photo courtesy of the David Family Collection)
Better Homes & Gardens article photo, 1955 Rusty Lancashire, who befriended her neighbor, Miriam Mathers, climbs into her vehicle in front of the Kenai Commercial Company store in Kenai.

Tragedy and triumph of the Goat Woman — Part 1

Florence Lorraine “Rusty” Lancashire first met her neighbor, the old Goat Woman, in the fall of 1948

Better Homes & Gardens article photo, 1955 Rusty Lancashire, who befriended her neighbor, Miriam Mathers, climbs into her vehicle in front of the Kenai Commercial Company store in Kenai.
Chester LeRoy Oughton was in his mid-60s and still serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in Alaska when these photos were taken at McNeil Island federal penitentiary in Washington in 1972. (Image courtesy of the National Archives in San Francisco)

The Seward jailbreak of 1952 — Part 2

Prisoners Frank Charles Oliver and Chester LeRoy Oughton had been foiled in their attempt to reach the central Kenai Peninsula

Chester LeRoy Oughton was in his mid-60s and still serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in Alaska when these photos were taken at McNeil Island federal penitentiary in Washington in 1972. (Image courtesy of the National Archives in San Francisco)
Chester LeRoy Oughton’s entry photos at the Alcatraz Island federal penitentiary in 1953. Oughton was convicted of first-degree murder in Alaska. (Image courtesy of the National Archives in San Francisco)

The Seward Jailbreak of 1952 — Part 1

The fugitives were Franklin Charles Oliver and Chester LeRoy Oughton.

Chester LeRoy Oughton’s entry photos at the Alcatraz Island federal penitentiary in 1953. Oughton was convicted of first-degree murder in Alaska. (Image courtesy of the National Archives in San Francisco)
Photos from Seward Community Library Association collection in Alaska Digital Archives S.S. Yukon is perched half left on the rocks after the steamship broke in half, the stern sank out of sight. This forward section remained wedged on the rocks off Cape Fairfield, near the entrance of Prince William Sound.

The heroic rise and tragic fall of ‘The Screaming Swede’ — Part 2

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the second part of a two-part story about Jimmy Johnson, a commercial fisherman who suffered an ignominious demise on the Kenai… Continue reading

Photos from Seward Community Library Association collection in Alaska Digital Archives S.S. Yukon is perched half left on the rocks after the steamship broke in half, the stern sank out of sight. This forward section remained wedged on the rocks off Cape Fairfield, near the entrance of Prince William Sound.
This is the memorial plaque that since 2001 has adorned the grave of James William Johnson, also known as “The Screaming Swede.” Photo courtesy of Peggy Arness.

The heroic rise and tragic fall of ‘The Screaming Swede’ — Part 1

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I would like to thank Peggy Arness for access to her history files and the Resurrection Bay Historical Society for access to its… Continue reading

This is the memorial plaque that since 2001 has adorned the grave of James William Johnson, also known as “The Screaming Swede.” Photo courtesy of Peggy Arness.
The spruce-covered cliffs behind Cliff House were the inspiration for the cabin’s name. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)

Twists and turns in the history of Cliff House — Part 3

So many oddities. So many contradictions. So many holes in the story.

The spruce-covered cliffs behind Cliff House were the inspiration for the cabin’s name. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)
Robert “Bob” Huttle, posing here next to Cliff House, spent the night in this cabin in April 1934 and mused about a possible murder there. (Photo courtesy of the Huttle Collection)

Twists and turns in the history of Cliff House — Part 2

How much of the doctor’s actions Bob Huttle knew when he stayed in Cliff House 10 years later is difficult to know.

Robert “Bob” Huttle, posing here next to Cliff House, spent the night in this cabin in April 1934 and mused about a possible murder there. (Photo courtesy of the Huttle Collection)
This 1940s-era image is one of few early photographs of Cliff House, which once stood near the head of Tustumena Lake. (Photo courtesy of the Secora Collection)

Twists and turns in the history of Cliff House — Part 1

Here, then, is the story of Cliff House, as least as I know it now.

This 1940s-era image is one of few early photographs of Cliff House, which once stood near the head of Tustumena Lake. (Photo courtesy of the Secora Collection)
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Peninsula Crime: Bad men … and dumb ones — Part 2

Here, in Part Two and gleaned from local newspapers, are a few examples of the dim and the dumb.

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