Rockwell Kent "Wilderness" Centennial Journal

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 Aug. 29, 2018 “Wed. 28th. – Drisly rain and cold,” Olson wrote in his August 1918 diary. “Mr. Kint and is son arrived from seward this afternoon. goats out all night.” “Thurs. 29th. – goats cam ome – 12:30 P.M. Mr. Kint Working on the Cabbin fixing at up. Drisly rain all night and all day.” Lars Matt Olson No doubt Olson was restless Wednesday, Aug. 28th, as he gazed off and on out to sea waiting for the Kents to arrive in their dory. The trip would take the artist and his son longer than they had planned. After their engine conked out, they dropped it off at George Hogg’s camp along the western shore of Resurrection Bay. If Hogg was around, they may have briefly talked with him – but they had to move on. As Olson noted, the day was cold and rainy -- so it would be a long, wet row to Fox Island – at least 3 hours, which meant they arrived at mid-afternoon. “So we settled on Fox Island,” Roc...

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 August 28, 2018 "The wilderness hath charms. To go to it is to return to the primitive, the elemental. It is reached by the trail, the oldest thoroughfare of man. The trail breathes out the spirit of romance...The wilderness still exists...Away off, far from the haunts of man, you pitch your camp by some cool spring...Dull business routine, the fierce passions of the market place, the perils of envious cities become but a memory...At first you are appalled by the immensity of the wilderness...Almost imperceptibly a sensation of serenity begins to take possession of you...Your blood clarifies; your brain becomes active. You get a new view of life. You acquire the ability to single out the things worth while. Your judgment becomes keener...You learn how simple life is when reduced to its elements. The complexity of the life you have left behind becomes apparent. Slowly you become like the land yo...

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 August 25-27 -- Part 2 Olson towed Rockwell and Rockie from Humpy Cove to Fox Island and beached the boats. Once Kent and Rocky climbed the steep, flat-pebbled beach, they were surprised by the “green grass lawn” and what Kent called an “orchard of neatly pruned alders to the mountains base.”  Alaskans might laugh when they read this description of a green grass lawn and an orchard of neatly pruned alders. In the wild, alders and devil’s club have caused much profanity from those bushwacking through their precarious world. It does make sense, though, that Olson would clear the spaces between the alders for trails while keeping some intact. But to call it an orchard? It also shows the romantic wilderness ethic of the time that Kent so enthusiastically goes about -- pioneering, cutting down the trees, and clearing the land –essentially, taming the wilderness. Then they saw Olson’s home. It wasn’...

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 August 25-27, 2018 – Part I On Friday, August 24, 2018, I ventured to Fox Island with a film crew for a project about Fox Island, Kent and this centennial year. At the end of the text, just before the photos, you’ll find a link to a video of some drone shots we took. I was up early and when I looked out my door, Seward was shrouded in a dense fog. The weather this August has been rainy with only a few decent days. We had to cancel shoot once while waiting for a better window. Today was supposed to be it. The forecast, however, said the fog would clear and we’d have a fine day. The producer/director Eric Downs and his sound-man, cinematographer, Josiah Martin arrived in Seward early to catch a sunrise. Instead they did get some eerie footage of the fog. We left for fox Island at 8:30 aboard the Alaskan Explorer, courtesy of Kenai Fjords Tours. They dropped us off at Fox Island then continued on the N...

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 August, 24, 2018 Part 2 The Admiral Farragut docked in Seward shortly after six in the morning on Saturday, August 24, 1918. Rockwell and Rocky were among the six passengers listed in the Seward Gateway who disembarked at Seward. Some of the eleven steerage not listed – probably laborers and railroad workers – may also have landed. Smaller vessels would take the eight passengers headed to Anchorage, three for Seldovia and fourteen for Kodiak. Four passengers were round trippers. The vessel unloaded tons of cargo and mail for Seward, and seventy-five tons for Anchorage. Four hours after landing, the Admiral Farragut left port. Kent registered at the Sexton Hotel where he probably met George Sexton, the owner – and later his daughter, local photographer businesswoman Sylvia Sexton. At thirteen years old, she arrived with her family at Skagway during the ...