Alaskan Oil Pipeline $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Paul Schofield]

Fairbanks was the true wild west of the 20th century. There was no one in Fairbanks that was from Fairbanks. There were no families there, just transient nomads. That place was dangerous. I made it a habit in my travels to look for police. I never saw an officer on duty. You were on your own and you had better have some street smarts. Drunk Eskimos wandering around downtown Fairbanks in the endless sunset at 4:00 in the morning is a memory. To this day, I have never seen such a concentration of hookers, hustlers, and people on the run in my whole life. Everyone had an angle they were using to get by. I was told that the snow banks on the main highway heading toward Anchorage out of Fairbanks would get 20 foot high during the winter. The spring thaw would reveal the bodies of discarded hookers. I can't believe I was up there with my wife when I was 21.

One thing you had to always remember, help and asistance was hours upon hours away. That very fact took caution to a whole new level.

 

[GreenFeltguy]

earthquake of 64

I was a tugboat guy in New Orleans in 64 and we felt the effects of the earthquake well over 2,000 miles away. We first heard people on the marine channel saying what seemed like a tidal wave coming down the Mississippi was breaking barge fleets apart, the people on our tug thought the world was ending, soon it hit New Orleans, ships broke loose from the docks, hundreds of barges were loose on the river, something I'll never forget. As for the pool action in Alaska, wish I could have been there, love to gamble on pool matches for over 50 years ! Gerald Huber, author, The Green Felt Jungle

 

[Johnnyt]

When I was in Ft Wainright, Alaska in 63 you weren’t allowed to mingle with the natives. One night I snuck an Eskimo girl from Farbanks up in the barracks. The next morning I didn’t hear revelry called. The next thing I know the top Sarge is pulling the covers off me and discovering me and Easter, the Eskimo girl nude in bed. I got an article 15 out of that one. Johnnyt

 

[Island Drive]

I was a tugboat guy in New Orleans in 64 and we felt the effects of the earthquake well over 2,000 miles away. We first heard people on the marine channel saying what seemed like a tidal wave coming down the Mississippi was breaking barge fleets apart, the people on our tug thought the world was ending, soon it hit New Orleans, ships broke loose from the docks, hundreds of barges were loose on the river, something I'll never forget. As for the pool action in Alaska, wish I could have been there, love to gamble on pool matches for over 50 years ! Gerald Huber, author, The Green Felt Jungle

1968 I also worked on the Tugboats......Badger Fleet had a breakaway, I hung in the Wheelhouse and logged maneuvers, and checked shoring and cable wraps. Boy the red/beans/rice/hamhocks on ship were the Best ever.

 

[Paul Schofield]

When I first arrived in Fairbanks, I asked a hooker on the street if she knew where there was any pool action. She pointed to a bar where she saw a ring game not even a half an hour ago. I went straight to an easy score. She wandered in during the game and stayed afterward. She approached me and said "I see I did you right. How about helping me make some money?" I said "Tell me about it." She replyed "Just play me a game of pool". I looked at her with a skirt as short and tight as you could ever imagine. I said "Let's do it." We never got to finish the game before she got her action. This girl attracted some attention! She would have won an open blind bid in a calcutta.

 

[Paul Schofield]

I drove the Alcan many times. The asphalt stoped about 40 miles outside of Dawson City.

That was still 1,300 miles or so from Anchorage. The road was gravel - very dusty - and washboard.

The options were to drive under 25 or to find that perfect speed where you would 'glide' over the tops of the bumps. Usually around 55 or so.

Kinda dangerous on the curves because you did not have good tire contact with the road and would slide around a lot.

Besides some pictures, I have one lone momento from Alaska. My wife and I drove 20 or so miles north of Fairbanks. In the 70's that was all the further North you could get. There was no Dalton Highway to Dead Horse yet. At the end of the road, there was a defunct gold mine. Some guy gave us a gold pan and gave us a 15 minute lesson on panning for gold. Imagine that! A Nine-Ball player panning for gold! Just rediculous. I found my gold in the bars populated with Eskimos and workers off the slopes.

I have saved that gold pan all these years. I had it sandblasted and laquered. It sits on a table in my house as a reminder of where I came from.