Site Logo
Photo courtesy of the Penney Family Collection Mary L. Penney, one of only two women known to have joined the Kings County Mining Company’s 1898 expedition to the gold fields of Alaska.

Community

Mary Penney and Her 1898 Alaska adventure — Part 2

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The failed 1898 gold-seeking expedition to the Kenai Peninsula by the Kings County Mining Company has…

Drew O’Brien explores the ruins of the Kings County Mining Company’s cabin near Skilak Lake, circa 1999, about a century after it was constructed alongside a then-unnamed stream. (Photo by Clark Fair)

Community

Mary Penney and Her 1898 Alaska adventure — Part 1

By Clark Fair

Cecil Miller took leave from Akron (Ohio) Police Department to join the U.S. Navy Seabees during World War II. When he returned to the force after his military service, he was featured in an October 1945 article in the Akron Beacon Journal.

Community

The Man Called ‘Greasy’ — Part 2

AUTHOR’S NOTE: In 1948, after nearly a quarter-century in law enforcement in Ohio, Cecil Miller, his wife Dorothy…

Photo courtesy of the Pratt Museum During her brief time on the southern Kenai Peninsula, Dorothy Miller, wife of Cecil “Greasy” Miller, was a part of the Anchor Point Homemakers Club. Here, Dorothy (far left, standing) joins fellow area homemakers for a 1950 group shot. Sitting on the sled, in the red blouse, is Dorothy’s daughter, Evelyn, known as “Evie.”

Community

The Man Called ‘Greasy’ — Part 1

There are several theories concerning the origin of Cecil Miller’s nickname “Greasy.” Many of those notions are probably…

Poopdeck Platt fishes with friends in this undated photograph. (Photo courtesy of Ken Moore)

Community

Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 7

By the late 1970s, Poopdeck was already investing in stocks and bonds.

Photo courtesy of Ken Moore Poopdeck Platt, in about 1968, does a little winter target shooting.

Community

Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 6

Poopdeck Platt was nearly 80 when he decided to retire from commercial fishing.

After Red Cleaver, in 1959, helped Poopdeck Platt add 30 inches to the stern of his fishing vessel, the Bernice M, Platt took his boat out onto the waters of Kachemak Bay. (Photo courtesy of Ken Moore)

Community

Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 5

Clarence Hiram “Poopdeck” Platt had already experienced two bad years in a row, when misfortune struck again in…

As his wife Bernice looks on, 43-year-old Clarence Hiram “Poopdeck” Platt poses atop a road sign welcoming him to Alaska. This 1947 photograph from the Huebsch Family Collection memorializes Platt’s first trip to Alaska, which became his home for the next 53 years.

Community

Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 4

In 1947, their correspondence led to wedding bells, and the magazine subscription led them to make a new…

Poopdeck Platt, in western Montana circa 1946, packs out a deer after a successful day of hunting. (Photo courtesy of the Huebsch Family Collection)

Community

Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 3

“For a while,” said Poopdeck, “we were eating guinea pigs.”

In the 1990s, Poopdeck Platt enjoys some sunshine in front of The Saltry, in Halibut Cove. (Photo courtesy of Ken Moore)

Community

Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 2

The story of Poopdeck Platt, who lived in Homer for nearly half a century, began in the American…

Poopdeck Platt dances with Snooks Moore at the Elks Lodge in Homer during the 1990. (Photo courtesy of the Huebsch Family Collection)

Community

Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 1

Clarence Hiram Platt — who preferred to have people call him Poopdeck — may have been slowing down,…

This photograph of Keith McCullagh (left) and photographer Harry Reed in Palm Springs, California, accompanied an article in the Desert Sun in May 1946 describing the pair’s upcoming Alaska Photographic Expedition.

Community

Mostly separate lives: The union and disunion of Nellie and Keith — Part 5

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Born in Michigan, Keith McCullagh had brief careers in Alaska as a forest ranger, a commercial…

Advertisement from the Wrangell Sentinel, 1949 Going out of business was Hofstad’s Sales & Service, the Wrangell-based store owned and operated by Thor and Jean Hofstad.

Community

Mostly separate lives: The union and disunion of Nellie and Keith — Part 4

AUTHOR’S NOTE: After the 12-year marriage of Keith McCullagh and Nellie Crabb ended in 1927, the two members…