Marcia Biederman is the author of Attic Wife, the true story Agnes McAlpin Young, a Haida woman who married into a well-to-do Pennsylvania family during the Klondike Gold Rush. When her husband and in-laws turn against her, she’s forced to fight for her life and those of her children.

As the Ku Klux Klan rode a second wave of popularity into the 1920s, almost no place in America was spared — including Alaska. New research sheds light on the Klan’s attempt to infiltrate Wrangell through a crafty con-man and an outgoing machine shop owner.

Just as quietly as Axel Rasmussen amassed his collection, so too was it sold and shipped out of Alaska, where most of it resides in the Portland Art Museum today. His legacy is the collection he built and the hole it left when it went away.

Axel Rasmussen had an ambitious plan to own and operate Shakes Island as a private museum, but his quest to purchase the island came up against resistance from Wrangell locals and the U.S. federal government.

After less than twenty years in Alaska, Axel Rasmussen amassed a collection of Native American artifacts so large it could fill a museum. But how did he do it? In Part 1, we look at Axel Rasmussen’s journey from Indiana to Alaska and the beginning of his collection.

The Beaver Totem Pole was once the tallest structure atop Shustack Point before being moved around the harbor, where an additional front piece was attached. It is now in the Alaska State Museum.

The house of Kadashan was an impressive two-story Victorian home owned by Kadashan, head of the Kaaskagweidi. What made his house iconic were the two, towering totems in front bearing his name.

The Wolf Grave Totem is a detailed carving that formerly appeared along the Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw waterfront until being moved next to the Kadashan totems. It is featured in historic photographs from the 1880s through the 1920s.

During the Klondike Gold Rush, the Fort Wrangel Opera House provided a place for performances, parties, and social clubs to gather.

Edward Ludecke was an American soldier when the U.S. Army raised the Stars and Stripes over Sitka in 1867. It was an event that changed Alaska and defined his life. This is his story.

Before there was Bob Ross, Theodore Richardson made his name as a prolific painter of Alaskan landscapes. Over decades, he made trips to Wrangell where he captured these scenes of extraordinary beauty.

Five years ago this month, I released my first podcast episode and officially began this journey as an amateur historian. Here’s what it means to me.