A book centered around the wooden windjammer C.S. Holmes got underway while I was at sea. In July of 2016, my daughter Mallory and I were using an Alaska Marine Highway ferry called the Columbia as a base camp for a three-day voyage through the Inside Passage from Juneau to Bellingham, Washington. We duct-taped our tent to the aft deck and spent a considerable amount of time sitting in the ship's white plastic chairs. From there, we witnessed breath-taking wildlife and scenery, observed the complexities of weather change, and smiled at fellow passengers as they walked about the boat.  

On the second day, we invited a man named Brad Barker from the state of Washington to join us in conversation. Brad presented a wonderful story about his Uncle Clark, who had signed on as a crew member aboard the C.S. Holmes in 1936. This four-masted schooner traveled annually from Seattle, Washington to Barrow, Alaska, in the early 1900s, helping to supply remote coastal Arctic villages. Young Clark Runyan kept a diary and produced a photo album about his unique adventure.

Brad told me about Captain John Backland Jr., the reputable Seattle-based merchant who ran the Midnight Sun Trading Company and owned the C.S. Holmes. He was a master navigator who piloted his craft though the hazardous and unforgiving arctic ice each summer. All other supply ships north of the Arctic Circle had installed engines decades before the 1930s. The C.S. Holmes was the only trading vessel going to Barrow without inboard mechanical propulsion. It was the "Last Ice Dancer."

Brad expressed his desire to have a story written about his uncle's experiences aboard the C.S. Holmes. I enthusiastically volunteered. Narrative opportunities like this don't come around often.  

Brad's initial thought was the creation of a historical novel. I embraced the idea of creating a book that told a story rather than one that presented academic-style non-fiction. But, the saying "The truth is stranger than fiction" certainly applied in this situation. There was no need for fabricated plot generation, so I moved toward the genre of "Ethnohistorical Dramatization." The liberties taken in this book are centered around the encorporation of true events from several previous cruises. All conversations created are based on; diary entries; personal correspendeces; biographical and autobiographical accounts; present day and historical interviews; newspaper and magazine articles; ethnographic and scholarly research publications; or widely known historic events.

During my 30-year public school teaching career, I found a lack of authentic factual-based stories portraying northern and Arctic Alaska. I hope to fill part of that void by writing this book. I am honored and humbled to be in this position.

Photo, upper right: The C.S Holmes courtesy Bainbridge Island Historical Museum.

Photo, right: I took this picture on a walrus hunting trip with my in-laws. This was actually day two of my "honeymoon."

My research highlights the interactions between the crew of the motorless wooden boat the C.S. Holmes and the resilient people of the remote Arctic during the late 1920s to the mid-1930s. It is full of Alaska Far North history.

A philosophical belief that I have adopted is "the path is the goal." I'm finding such satisfaction researching this project, and I'm meeting the most amazing people along the way. I've gotten to know family members of the crew, including Captain Backland's children John and Nellie, Clark Runyan's son Pat and Grenville Broom's son George.  

I've had the pleasure to "itangniyaq" (visit) with many Alaska Natives whose relatives knew Captain Backland. I got together with Perry Okpeaha Sr. at his Barrow home in August of 2017. Perry is the grandson of Claire Okpeaha. He told me his grandfather witnessed the Wiley Post/Will Rogers crash in 1935 near his seal hunting camp and ran to get help. Despite battling shore ice, soft sand, flowing creeks, and marshy tundra, the fifty-something-year-old Claire traveled over 12 miles from Walukpa Lagoon to Barrow in less than three hours. That act of physical prowess and bravery led to the world being alerted about the tragedy. The C.S. Holmes carried the plane's engine back to Seattle the next summer. I reenacted Claire's trek in August of 2017 (see photo below).

I've met with relatives of Louis Tungwenuk, James Nilima, and Waldo (Kusiq) Bodfish Sr. - men who were reindeer herders in 1936. I've located the original trading posts of Charles Brower, James Allen, Tom Berryman, and Charlie Lockhardt. And, I've stood in the same church buildings Captain Backland once did.

I've talked with family members of cultural trailblazers such as Percy Ipalook and Howard Rock, who were young men in 1936.  Both Percy and Howard would one day help shape the future of their Native people.

The archives and museums have been fascinating places to visit. Nicolette Bromberg, a special collections curator at the University of Washington, provided the lead for a "second story" that propelled the project in its current direction. The furthest I've traveled was New Bedford, Massachusetts, where I met with renowned northwestern Arctic historian and author John Bockstoce.

I've located first-hand accounts from four different crew members, three of Captain Backland's logs, and the 1936 pilot log of the Bureau of Indian Affair's North Star. Among my discoveries are a 21-minute, silent movie of the C.S. Holmes in action, lots of significant newspaper clippings, stacks of personal correspondences, and quite an assortment of old pictures. I've also acquired an extensive array of reference books. My digital collection contains over 40,000 items.

In the summer of 2019, I honed my sailing skills by joining a ten-day cruise aboard the schooner Zodiac, which ventured from Bellingham, Washington to Desolation Sound in British Columbia. I worked on navigation skills using a sextant. I helped determine sea depth using a lead line and worked to assess boat speed using a chip log. But the most enjoyable aspect of the voyage was helping to sweat lines.

Photo, right: In August of 2017 (the 82nd anniversary of the Wiley Post/Will Rogers plane crash) I retraced Claire Okpeaha's steps by running from the Memorial at Walukpa Lagoon back to Barrow. I used lightweight synthetic clothing, and sleek running shoes, and still couldn't match Claire's time, even though he ran in animal skin mukluks!

An especially pleasing benefit of this endeavor has been developing an expanded knowledge of the region I have called home for nearly my entire adult life. During my four decades in the Far North, I have visited most of the places the C.S. Holmes supplied . Unfortunately, the trip I had planned to Point Hope in April 2020 was postponed. My wife and I are planning a trip there soon.

I believe my collection of life experiences has prepared me well for this project. Every day I discover new information and come across fresh leads.

This book is intended to support Inupiaq and Yupik cultural revitalization and language preservation.

Photo, lower right: During the summer of 2018, my daughter Mallory and I walked nearly 70 miles from Teller Reindeer Station (now known as Brevig Mission) to Wales, Alaska, which lies at the westernmost tip of North America. When we arrived, the Ontowasruk family was corraling their reindeer herd. Along the way, we came across the Olanna reindeer men and women from Brevig Mission and saw two separate groups of deer in the mountains. On the last day of hiking, we stood on the summit of the 2300-foot Cape Mountain and looked out across the Bering Strait to the United States' Little Diomede Island and Russia's Big Diomede Island. We also spotted mainland Russian some 55 miles away, and Alaska's King Island to the southwest. From the top, I imagined the C.S. Holmes sailing past on her way to Barrow.. My daugher imagined what life might have been like for her ancestors on King and Little Diomede Islands.

A story about the C.S. Holmes published in the Summer 2020 issue of The Sea Chest, the journal of Puget Sound Maritime, can be found in MORE PUBLISHED WRITING SAMPLES below.

If you would like to learn more about the project, or know of things I could add to the research, please email me at...

Keith Conger - congo6@gci.net