Rockwell Kent "Wilderness" Centennial Journal

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018-19 Part 5: Lars Matt Olson Sept. 29-30, 2019 ABOVE – Before World War I, tourists had sailed the Inside Passage aboard the steamships. That had been happening since the mid-1880’s. Later wealthy sportsmen and hunters, many from Europe, ventured on Alaska vacations. By the early 1900’s, Seward became an outfitting center for expeditions to South Central Alaska. Other more modest adventurers included school teachers with the summer off. By 1918, with the construction of the Alaska Railroad, more conscious tourism marketing increased, as we see from this ad in the Aug. 14, 1918 Chicago Tribune. BELOW – Fur farming was a popular business throughout the country even before World War I. After the war and through the 1920’s, it became more lucrative. Notice how this ad, also from the Aug. 14, 1918 Chicago Tribune, caters to women who represented a big market for fur. See the Alask...

ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018-19 Part 4: Lars Matt Olson Sept. 25-28, 2019 ABOVE – Cape Nome, Alaska, 1900. Wikipedia photo. BELOW – Nome, Alaska, circa 1905-8. Wikipedia photo. OLSON OF THE DEEP EXPERIENCE NOME, ALASKA -- 1899 PART 4 And so Olson’s story continues. A story of his life would really be – as an old pioneer in Seward told me – a history of Alaska. Because Olson has never succeeded he has been everywhere and tried everything. I have not done him justice in my abridgment of his Nome story. His recollections are so intimate. He remembers the words spoken in every situation and never, no matter how much and adventure centers around himself, does he depart from what he tells of himself from his character as I know him. Rockwell Kent in Wilderness, Monday, December 9, 1918. Yesterday was Olson’s day for celebrating and many times we drank to the New Year together. But...