Anchorage
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Subject: [witw] Information about Anchorage #1 From: Morten Kjeldseth Pettersen <[email protected]> Hi everyone! It's been quiet for a while now, too quiet in my opinion. So, I'll share this little exchange between William F. Hostmann and myself. William is a resident of Anchorage and a poster on the WFRP mailing-list, to which I also subscribe. (Busy man ;) Seeing that William was from Anchorage, I sent him a mail asking about some more info about Anchorage itself. There is little helpful in the Walker book apart from the bare necessities, so I wanted something to flesh out my descriptions to my players. These are his replies, my questions/comments appear with '>' Bear in mind that this is an ongoing exchange, I might add things later. I've not edited out my own questions, you'll just have to bear with me. Also, William asked me to point out that this is from his memory only, and might therefore be inaccurate to some degree. The map might look funny on the list, if you have any problems viewing it send me a note and I'll send you a .txt file. ---Part #1 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I read your post on the Warhammer list, and I noticed that you mentioned that you lived in Anchorage. That got me wondering if you could help me out. I am currently a Keeper (GM) in Call of Cthulhu, and we're currently running Pagan Publishing's "Walker in the Wastes". Now one of the chapters in that book is set in Anchorage, and I've been desperately trying to dig up some facts about the place, but so far have come up with little. What I wondered was if you could help me out with small bits of information about the weather and such. The kind of small details that really helps to describe the scene to my players. Contact me if you want to know more about the game, or whatever. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Ok, Morten, I'm back at home... fire what questions you want. Just for reference, current conditions:33-35 deg F., Scattered cumulous and cumulonimbus clouds, sunny, with an average of 2-4 inches (5-10cm) of snow on the ground. Roads are icy AND wet, but the ice is thin. Piled snow berms along roadways reach in some areas up to 4' (1.25m). Main roads are well driven, and free of ice. Road grid is approximately 7deg from true, and deflection on compasses is nearly 20 degrees... Long axis of anchorage runs north-south. Rough text map of neighborhoods, north up: g Government Hill E Elmendorf AFB (EDF) m Mountain View (Formerly city of mountain view)
M w p R a d f T S j B r L D i O H u A s
Muldoon Wharehouse "District" Port of Anchorage Russian Jack Airport Heights (Includes Merril Field (MRL)) downtown Fairview MidTown Spenard (Formerly City of) Jewel Lake Boniface Raspberry Road Area Lake Otis Dowling Dimond Omalley Road Area "The Hilside" Huffman DeArmon Sand Lake ggggEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE pp ggggggg mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ppwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwmmmmmmmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM ppwwwwwww aaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM ddddddddddddddffaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWdddddddfffffffaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWWdddddddfffffffaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWWdddddddfffffffaaaaaaaaaaaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWWSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWWWSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMM WWSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMM WWSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMM WWSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMM SSSSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLL jjSSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLL jjSSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLL jjrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr jjrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr jjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii jjssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ssssiiiiiii iii h h h h ssssOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh h ssssOOOOO OOO h h h h sss uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh h sss uuu uu h h h hh ss AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh -----------------------------------------------------------------------Subject: [witw] Information about Anchorage #2 From: Morten Kjeldseth Pettersen <[email protected]> Part #2 --->The game (I don't know if you know it) is set in the early '30s extending >towards Dec. 31 1932. My players are supposed to come to Anchorage in the >late summer/early autumn. They arrive in August by a steamer from Toronto,
>and their lodgings will be at the Majestic Hotel. They will do research in >the following places: The Anchorage Times, Anchorage City Library, and the >Department of the Interior's office of Anchorage. From there they are >expected to go on a three day hike Northwest of Anchorage, and then >finally travel to the fictitious town of Endurance, a small trading >community located in a densely forested region of Alaska to the south of >Mount Hayes. Well, the "City Library" might not be historical... there was no such place on the 1942 Phone "Book" of public facilities. (I used to work at the National Archives, Alaska Region office... I found one. only some 30 public offices had phones in 1942...) I am fairly certain that there was at least one library, but I believe it was private. I'll check with the Friends of the Library and find out. Horsecarriages and horses tended to be the primary local modes up through the early 30's, although cars and bicycles were not uncommon; roads tended to be unpaved (Most of anchorage was paved by the army corps of engineers during WWII), muddy, and rocky. Extant cities of the time include anchorage, spenard, and Mountain view, with jewel lake soon to join (note: these are all on the text-map, as downtown and their respective areas), the furthest extent was the north edge of what is now midtown; fairview and west fairview were new "Fringe" subdivisions in anchorage. Fort Richardson and Government hill existed, but Fort rich of then is the Elmendorf of now. Government hill was so named for being home to many government employees, both army and civil service. Hugh M. Elmendorf Field was established in (from the plaque in the EDF AFB Officer's Club) 1932. Total population of the whole area was around 20-40 thousand persons. >Now, I would like to know (don't worry, I'm not asking you to do research >on '30s period for me, I'll do the conversion myself ;) the following: > >- What sort of weather could they expect in the summer/autumn? Anchorage Summer temps (all in deg farenheight) reach to the mid 80's in july and early august, with lows in the 50's, dropping to lows in the upper 30's by late august. September tends to be dry until about the 16th, when snow begins to fall. first "Sticking" snow tends to be mid october. By october, temps consistantly stay at or near the range 20-40 degrees through the day. Early summer is wet, both from snowmelt, and evaporative redistribution rainfall. Mid and late summer tend to be dry, with brief rains (1-3 days) every 3-4 weeks. Currently, temps are around 45-50 daytime highs, and 30-40 nighttime lows, dependant upon cloud cover. >- What is the scenery like (town/country)? you see I've never been to >Alaska, my knowledge is from TV-shows, nature documentaries, etc. For the most part, what I've seen on movies and TV of Scotland and Norway seem to be pretty reminiscent of southcentral alaska, and for that matter, southeast >- Are any of the locations mentioned above, first of all, real? In any >memorable buildings? Parts of town? No "Majestic" hotel... but the Sheraton and Captain Cook hotels both existed (in much different forms than today). Largest buildings of the time would be three story wood and/or brick. Tallest building in town is Holy Family Cathedral, which was in 1932, just finishing a renovation and expansion (the narthex opens onto 5th avenue) which included the choir
loft, and the bell tower (which had no bells until a carilon was installed in 1978). The times building was also just being built, on the sw corner of 5th and H, right across the street from the Cathedral (nw corner). (The times remained there until they were bought out by the Daily News in the late 80's or early 1990's). Department of the interior was in the Federal Building, built in about 1930, between 4th and 5th ave., f & H streets. the Captain Cook, Est 1932, IIRC, was built in 1931, on the corner of 5th and I. The public lands library was in the federal building, as was the courthouse (there were no local courts until 33, and the anchorage police department was brand new) and the law library. There is one high school, Anchorage High School, which in 32 still met at the Methodist Church, IIRC. The methodist church still sits at 9th and G. The railroad terminal (still in use, BTW) was built in about 1925, and sits on Second, just north of the ends of D and E... whcih do not connect, due to a 20-30m dropoff.4th avenue slices down the hill, and connects about cordova street. On the corner of 4th and gambell is the one seedy bar of note: The Hub. It has always been a violent, and dangerous place. Street names in downtown and fairview, from west to east (they run South from tthe avenues listed): N (s of 9th), M (south of 7th), L (south of 5th) K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, (all south of 3rd, and third sits upon the bluff) C, B, A, Barrow, Cordova (all south of 3rd, and C runs down to the warehouse and port area, and all these streets replicate down there, too) Denali, Eagle, Fairbanks, Gambell, Hyder, Ingra, Juneau, Karluk, LaTouche, Medfra, Nelchina, Orca (all south of 4th, but past cordova, fourth becomes the Richardson Highway, leading to Mountain View, and then on to the just-being-settled Matanuska-Susitna Valley (Between the Matanuska and Susitna Rivers) with their farms, and eventually on to Fairbanks. With the exception of L street, all streets stop at 15th avenue. L becomes spenard road past 15th, and leads to Spenard, then Jewel Lake. The "Airport" was the "Park Strip", and ran from roughly H to A streets, between 9th and 12th. Out in Spenard is Lake Spenard, the Seaplane airport. Avenues start with 1st, which wraps north to the government hill and main gate of Fort Rich (Now the Gov't hill gate of EDF). 1st, telephone, and second are all in the warehouse district, and port road is north of first, but runs to the west from A, and then turns north along the port. >- What sort of terrain surrounds Anchorage and Mt. Hayes? Anchorage sits in a bowl, along a curve of the turnagain arm; the arm and mountains form a pentagonal bowl. Looking south from downtown, the most notable formation is called (by native tradition, too) the Sleeping Lady, comprised of a mini-range of three very blue mountains, with a high pass between the left and middle, and a low pass between the middle and right. Outside the developed areas of anchorage are hilly swamps, and rocky beaches with tidal flats of silt... the silt is effectively thick quicksand. No survivors are known to me who sunk past the knees; the suction of the mud is enough that even helicopter rescue is impossible (a guy was literally ripped in half at the waist a few years ago when they tired to pull him out with a helo... he'd have drowned an hour later anyway.) Tides run to 16 feet, and rip tides are common. Most of the mountains forming the bowl have extensive coniferous evergreen forest, they are all fir (there is no pine native to southcentral AK). The swamps have hills covered with poplar and birch, as well as willow trees. The common
weed is Fireweed, best known for it's cottony fluffy seeds, and it's bright fuscia blossoms with white centers, and it can grow to 2 meters. >- What about wildlife? (Stupid question: Do you encounter Moose in the >streets? We have a similar misconception about Norway, that you can >encounter Polar Bears on you way to work. But I have to ask, right?) Moose, yes. Just like your norwegian moose. Caribou on rare occasions (Just another name for wild Reindeer, BTW). Some skunks, beaver. Ravens and Seagulls. The occasional lynx, wolverine, and marmot. Jays, Robins, and some other songbirds. Lots of geese (Canadian Geese), loons, and ducks. Ptarmigan (a semi-flying ground bird, best known for making the turkey look smart...) are a common game bird. Some rabbits, mostly snowshoe hares (which really are rabbits, not hares). Squirrels galore. Some brown bears, but they are kodiak grizzly by subspecies... mostly passive. Horrendous mosquitoes, plus whitesocks (looks like a mosquito without the proboscis, and they take out a 1-2mm hemispherical chunk), horseflies, houseflies, dragonflies (some to about 4 inches!), plenty of moths and spiders. If your players manage to get a car, an encounter with a moose can be a major problem; males in rut will often charge a car from the side! This is usually fatal for the moose in about 20 minutes, and often quite hazardous for the occupants of the car, and totals out the car. On foot, moose are even more unpredictable. They are as likely to carge and trample as ignore you, and may charge once, then wander off, or stick around and finish one off. Two years ago, two professors were attacked in the middle of the university campus by moose; one died from it, and the other spent several months (2.5, to be specific, and I know him... Personally, I think He deserved it, but the other guy was really nice.). >- What about Native Americans? Are they "visible" in the cities in the >'30s. I'm asking because as far as I know the Haida were given rights to >Charlotte Islands, right? Do you know anything about their position in the >'30s? Anchorage was really not used by natives, because the whole area is hilly swampland. Downtown is the largest flat spot of dry land that existed. Most of the natives in town are employed by either the railroad or the government, or are drunks cast out of their villages. Natives, Blacks, and orientals are not allowed in many non-government public places except as employees (The Hub being the notable exception), and may not own property in town. Also in 1932, a black man is arrested in August, for a murder; He is railroaded through a sham trial (He was retarded), and sent to Texas for imprisonment. As of 4 years ago, he was STILL serving his 25 year sentence.... Prisons are non-existent in alaska at the time; "Local" jails are staffed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, US Marshals, and local cops, and are for short sentences (less than 5 years).... Almost no Haida are present in anchorage until the 60's in any great numbers... they were in the surrounding areas, in villages, speaking russian. Many eskimo and alyut (alt spelling aleut, pronounced all-yoot). Alyut and eskimo are often russian blooded, but visually not distinguishable to whites (Eskimo and the laplanders are closely related). There are two kinds of eskimo, for most purposes, one kind of eskimo, and 20 kinds of indian in alaska; anchorage lacked all except the Inuit and inupiaq eskimos); mistaking the ethnicity of a native is liable to start a fight, or at least get a curt correction. Note on roleplaying eskimoes: they will NOT look you in the eye unless they are already mad at you... looking into someone's eyes is a vile insult, equating them to a prey animal. Most natives are Russian Orthodox, but there is no Russian Orthodox
Church in Anchorage... many attend the Byzantine Catholic Mission about 5 blocks outside of town... Follow E street south to "16th", which turns right (west) and runs two blocks going down the side of a bluff, and then turns left (south) as arctic street...going up a hill over 6 blocks. There is a native and black not-quite-ghetto there, along with the most powerful and respected native family in anchorage... the Sipree family (Eskimo, Inuit IIRC). The Matriark is Maggie Sipree, who by then has 4 of her 7 children; her husband works on the railroad until WWII (Now, she has just passed away, at the estimated age of 95; she had 7 children, all of whom lived to have children; she has over 30 grand children, and some 15 great grand children still in town. She is quiet, powerful, and EVERYBODY IN TOWN knows her, likes her, and will do business with her; she is never known to drink.). Well known natives will not be turned away from places of business, if they have a good reputation. One other note on natives: No native groups were given lands anyone would possibly want until the 1976 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act... they were considered by the Federal Government to have been a conquered and occupied people, and had no reservations even. They were never truly displaced, but by the same token, many were part russian. Outside anchorage, discrimination was minor; anchorage was the worst place in terms of anti-native discrimination. It is also not unheard of for a native to be bond, blue-eyed, and of russian build... I know a guy (Wes) who is considered to be 50% Inuit, 50% haida, who is blue-eyed and blond, and looks totally white; whis whole-blooded brother Ron is a huge hulking eskimo, who really looks like an indian rather than an eskimo. The russians had not discriminated against natives who'd become Russian Orthodox, so there are quite a few "Hidden Russkies" in the native bloodlines. Most natives will have typically russian given names, with native surnames. Names like Sipree, Tgusik (t' goose-ig), knikinikinik (pronounce all the letters), Nuska, Noaya, Teelakoanna, and similar names are exemplary of native names soundwise. A large minority of natives have russian familail/patronymic names. Other notes: Public Services: City water and sewer were going in. Electric and phone were available, but phones were not yet common. Anchorage Police were established in 1932, according to the cars... Mountain View has no police, and one store of note: Brewsters Clothing. It sits on the "Mountain View Gate" of Fort Rich, and extends as far south as 9th street in anchorage, and as far north as "Negative 4th", the street names are particularly annoying. Mountain view is building an airport, which will but up against fairview, called Merril Field. It is now the worlds busiest small aircraft airport. Planes are not uncommon, but are not comfortable, and there is an airline... Reeve Airlines... best known for their bold pilots. Pilots are everywhere, as the Fort is rapidly becoming a huib for the early Army Air Corps. Telegram Service: provided by the US army signal corps, at western union prices. Western union does have an office in anchorage back then. Getting to anchorage: generally, by boat to seward, stopping in juneau (Stay at the Baranoff hotel in Juneau). from Seward, hop the train to Anchorage (about 4 or 5 hours back then, now about 3). Anchorage is a poor port, and has no passenger service of note, save by tramp steamer. Major cities and towns: Juneau, Fairbanks and sitka are the major cities,
and the big towns are seward, homer, cordova, kodiak, skagway, and petersberg (yes, this was established by a Finnish guy, named Peter, who was under a russian charter, back in the 1840's...). Nome and Dillingham were white villages, with nome rapidly becoming a town. Anchorage was just staring to grow. Radio: I THINK there was one station. Movies: The Fourth Avenue Theater (4th Ave, across from the federal building). A genuine Picture Palace, it was actually rather lush, and open to everyone (although the balcony was reserved for whites). It has always had a plumbed snack bar on each floor, and doubles as a stage-theater despite the shallow (5m) stage. It is, by the way, still open. It has a wonderful "Big Dipper" in the ceiling done with gold wooden stars with light bulbs in them (They would have been removed for fire code if they hadn't been original features when the theater was revamped in the late '70's), and movies opened with the playing of the National Anthem, then a news reel (Usually it was two to three weeks out of date), and then the feature. Languages, in order of number of speakers in anchorage: English, Russian, Japanese, Phillipino, Inupiaq (ih-noop-yak), Inuit (in-oo-it), Tlingit, Alyut, Tsimshian, Haida. Anyplace catering to natives will have menus in russian (pre-1919 russian, for reference). Anchorage Local Resources: Wood. Imported from nearby in alaska: Milk, eggs, fish, some beef. Coal, copper, and gold are available from mines inland to the north. Everything else: imported from canada or seattle, Washington. >If you don't know/don't won't to answer any of the above, don't worry. I'm >grateful for any information you can share with me. It would be cool with >a map of Anchorage, and other bits of tourist info, but time is the >limiting factor. It takes quite a while to send/receive stuff through >mail, and my players might be long gone from Anchorage by the time the >stuff reaches my grubby hands. Thanks for the offer, though. I might take >you up on it if time allows. Actually, I can get it there within a week via International Priority Mail (one 6x9 inch cardboard flat) for under $15 us... if need be. >If I can help you back in some way, let me know. Thanks in advance. Being a historian, this has been a fun intellectual challenge for me, trying to remember what I learned in school. Now, there is very little prejudice against natives. -----------------------------------------------------------------------Subject: [witw] Information about Anchorage #3 From: Morten Kjeldseth Pettersen <[email protected]> Part #3 ---Morten:
One other thing: The first police chief in anchorage was killed in fall 1932; no suspects were ever arrested. Can't tell you if he was stabbed or shot, but you can easily make it out to be C'thuloid cultists at work. Oh, another little detail: Anchorage PD never were beat-walkers; they were a patrol-car force from day one, and were radio equipped very early. Because of this, there were never police call boxes in anchorage. And more flavor: Anchorage had a lot of small-claim miners, and lots of trappers, who came into town talking of strange things, including Sasquatch/Yeti/Abominable-snowmen, ghosts, hauntings, and weirder stuff. Most people still give some credence here to this. -----------------------------------------------------------------------Subject: [witw] Information about Anchorage #4 From: Morten Kjeldseth Pettersen <[email protected]> Part #4 --->William, > >Thanks a lot, this was incredible. Very helpful and very spot >going to enhance my sessions enormously. > >Thanks for the extra information about the police, I might be >in some cultists into the police chief situation. Thanks! > >A couple of questions: outside of Anchorage, what sort of Law >is typical? US Marshals roaming around trying to keep drunken >shooting each other?
on. It's able to work Enforcement miners from
Fairbanks and Juneau had police departments. Most towns had a US marshal or two on a circuit; the village elders would deal with villagers, and hold whites for the next marshal through (Still works that way, save for State Troopers rather than US Marshals). Very little FBI/Secret Service presence. Marshals don't investigate, and back then, FBI didn't make arrests unless they caught the perp red-handed. Secret Service did both, but only in relation to Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Counterfeiting, and Tax Evasion. >I'm also participating in a mailing-list for Keepers of Walker in the >Wastes (the game in question). Since all this information might help >others I was wondering if you would mind if I forwarded them a copy of our >emails, or maybe an edited version (without my semi-ignorant questions ;)? >Would that be okay? Leave in the questions, as they give a reference point. Also, Point out I don't guarantee accuracy; it was mostly from memory. Some more note on the Captain Cook Hotel of the era: Thoroughly Decadently opulent. Fine linens, on bed and table. Comfy queen sized beds. Large rooms. Well trained wait and bell staff. Down Comforters. Imported Cigars, wines, etc. It also ran about 2x the nearest competitor, price wise.
---Well, that's it! Hope you'll find it useful. I'd like to point out the Police ch ief situation again. It might be worth looking into. Thanks to William for supplying this information. If you find this useful and wo uld like to send him a note I'll give you his address on request. Sincerely, Morten Kjeldseth Pettersen - [email protected] "Now you see that Evil will always triumph, because Good is dumb!" - Dark Helmet, Spaceballs: The Movie
Ok, Morten, I'm back at home... fire what questions you want. Just for reference, current conditions:33-35 deg F., Scattered cumulous and cumulonimbus clouds, sunny, with an average of 2-4 inches (5-10cm) of snow on the ground. Roads are icy AND wet, but the ice is thin. Piled snow berms along roadways reach in some areas up to 4' (1.25m). Main roads are well driven, and free of ice. Road grid is approximately 7deg from true, and deflection on compasses is nearly 20 degrees... Long axis of anchorage runs north-south. Rough text map of neighborhoods, north up: g Government Hill E Elmendorf AFB (EDF) m Mountain View (Formerly city of mountain view)
M w p R a d f T S j B r L D i O H u A s
Muldoon Wharehouse "District" Port of Anchorage Russian Jack Airport Heights (Includes Merril Field (MRL)) downtown Fairview MidTown Spenard (Formerly City of) Jewel Lake Boniface Raspberry Road Area Lake Otis Dowling Dimond Omalley Road Area "The Hilside" Huffman DeArmon Sand Lake ggggEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE pp ggggggg mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ppwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwmmmmmmmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM ppwwwwwww aaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM ddddddddddddddffaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWdddddddfffffffaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWWdddddddfffffffaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWWdddddddfffffffaaaaaaaaaaaRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWWSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMM WWWWSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMM WWSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMM WWSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMM WWSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTUUUUUUUUUUBBBBBBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMM SSSSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLL jjSSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLL jjSSDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDLLLLLLLLL jjrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr jjrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr jjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii jjssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ssssiiiiiii iii h h h h ssssOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh h ssssOOOOO OOO h h h h sss uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh h sss uuu uu h h h hh ss AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh -----------------------------------------------------------------------Subject: [witw] Information about Anchorage #2 From: Morten Kjeldseth Pettersen <[email protected]> Part #2 --->The game (I don't know if you know it) is set in the early '30s extending >towards Dec. 31 1932. My players are supposed to come to Anchorage in the >late summer/early autumn. They arrive in August by a steamer from Toronto,
>and their lodgings will be at the Majestic Hotel. They will do research in >the following places: The Anchorage Times, Anchorage City Library, and the >Department of the Interior's office of Anchorage. From there they are >expected to go on a three day hike Northwest of Anchorage, and then >finally travel to the fictitious town of Endurance, a small trading >community located in a densely forested region of Alaska to the south of >Mount Hayes. Well, the "City Library" might not be historical... there was no such place on the 1942 Phone "Book" of public facilities. (I used to work at the National Archives, Alaska Region office... I found one. only some 30 public offices had phones in 1942...) I am fairly certain that there was at least one library, but I believe it was private. I'll check with the Friends of the Library and find out. Horsecarriages and horses tended to be the primary local modes up through the early 30's, although cars and bicycles were not uncommon; roads tended to be unpaved (Most of anchorage was paved by the army corps of engineers during WWII), muddy, and rocky. Extant cities of the time include anchorage, spenard, and Mountain view, with jewel lake soon to join (note: these are all on the text-map, as downtown and their respective areas), the furthest extent was the north edge of what is now midtown; fairview and west fairview were new "Fringe" subdivisions in anchorage. Fort Richardson and Government hill existed, but Fort rich of then is the Elmendorf of now. Government hill was so named for being home to many government employees, both army and civil service. Hugh M. Elmendorf Field was established in (from the plaque in the EDF AFB Officer's Club) 1932. Total population of the whole area was around 20-40 thousand persons. >Now, I would like to know (don't worry, I'm not asking you to do research >on '30s period for me, I'll do the conversion myself ;) the following: > >- What sort of weather could they expect in the summer/autumn? Anchorage Summer temps (all in deg farenheight) reach to the mid 80's in july and early august, with lows in the 50's, dropping to lows in the upper 30's by late august. September tends to be dry until about the 16th, when snow begins to fall. first "Sticking" snow tends to be mid october. By october, temps consistantly stay at or near the range 20-40 degrees through the day. Early summer is wet, both from snowmelt, and evaporative redistribution rainfall. Mid and late summer tend to be dry, with brief rains (1-3 days) every 3-4 weeks. Currently, temps are around 45-50 daytime highs, and 30-40 nighttime lows, dependant upon cloud cover. >- What is the scenery like (town/country)? you see I've never been to >Alaska, my knowledge is from TV-shows, nature documentaries, etc. For the most part, what I've seen on movies and TV of Scotland and Norway seem to be pretty reminiscent of southcentral alaska, and for that matter, southeast >- Are any of the locations mentioned above, first of all, real? In any >memorable buildings? Parts of town? No "Majestic" hotel... but the Sheraton and Captain Cook hotels both existed (in much different forms than today). Largest buildings of the time would be three story wood and/or brick. Tallest building in town is Holy Family Cathedral, which was in 1932, just finishing a renovation and expansion (the narthex opens onto 5th avenue) which included the choir
loft, and the bell tower (which had no bells until a carilon was installed in 1978). The times building was also just being built, on the sw corner of 5th and H, right across the street from the Cathedral (nw corner). (The times remained there until they were bought out by the Daily News in the late 80's or early 1990's). Department of the interior was in the Federal Building, built in about 1930, between 4th and 5th ave., f & H streets. the Captain Cook, Est 1932, IIRC, was built in 1931, on the corner of 5th and I. The public lands library was in the federal building, as was the courthouse (there were no local courts until 33, and the anchorage police department was brand new) and the law library. There is one high school, Anchorage High School, which in 32 still met at the Methodist Church, IIRC. The methodist church still sits at 9th and G. The railroad terminal (still in use, BTW) was built in about 1925, and sits on Second, just north of the ends of D and E... whcih do not connect, due to a 20-30m dropoff.4th avenue slices down the hill, and connects about cordova street. On the corner of 4th and gambell is the one seedy bar of note: The Hub. It has always been a violent, and dangerous place. Street names in downtown and fairview, from west to east (they run South from tthe avenues listed): N (s of 9th), M (south of 7th), L (south of 5th) K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, (all south of 3rd, and third sits upon the bluff) C, B, A, Barrow, Cordova (all south of 3rd, and C runs down to the warehouse and port area, and all these streets replicate down there, too) Denali, Eagle, Fairbanks, Gambell, Hyder, Ingra, Juneau, Karluk, LaTouche, Medfra, Nelchina, Orca (all south of 4th, but past cordova, fourth becomes the Richardson Highway, leading to Mountain View, and then on to the just-being-settled Matanuska-Susitna Valley (Between the Matanuska and Susitna Rivers) with their farms, and eventually on to Fairbanks. With the exception of L street, all streets stop at 15th avenue. L becomes spenard road past 15th, and leads to Spenard, then Jewel Lake. The "Airport" was the "Park Strip", and ran from roughly H to A streets, between 9th and 12th. Out in Spenard is Lake Spenard, the Seaplane airport. Avenues start with 1st, which wraps north to the government hill and main gate of Fort Rich (Now the Gov't hill gate of EDF). 1st, telephone, and second are all in the warehouse district, and port road is north of first, but runs to the west from A, and then turns north along the port. >- What sort of terrain surrounds Anchorage and Mt. Hayes? Anchorage sits in a bowl, along a curve of the turnagain arm; the arm and mountains form a pentagonal bowl. Looking south from downtown, the most notable formation is called (by native tradition, too) the Sleeping Lady, comprised of a mini-range of three very blue mountains, with a high pass between the left and middle, and a low pass between the middle and right. Outside the developed areas of anchorage are hilly swamps, and rocky beaches with tidal flats of silt... the silt is effectively thick quicksand. No survivors are known to me who sunk past the knees; the suction of the mud is enough that even helicopter rescue is impossible (a guy was literally ripped in half at the waist a few years ago when they tired to pull him out with a helo... he'd have drowned an hour later anyway.) Tides run to 16 feet, and rip tides are common. Most of the mountains forming the bowl have extensive coniferous evergreen forest, they are all fir (there is no pine native to southcentral AK). The swamps have hills covered with poplar and birch, as well as willow trees. The common
weed is Fireweed, best known for it's cottony fluffy seeds, and it's bright fuscia blossoms with white centers, and it can grow to 2 meters. >- What about wildlife? (Stupid question: Do you encounter Moose in the >streets? We have a similar misconception about Norway, that you can >encounter Polar Bears on you way to work. But I have to ask, right?) Moose, yes. Just like your norwegian moose. Caribou on rare occasions (Just another name for wild Reindeer, BTW). Some skunks, beaver. Ravens and Seagulls. The occasional lynx, wolverine, and marmot. Jays, Robins, and some other songbirds. Lots of geese (Canadian Geese), loons, and ducks. Ptarmigan (a semi-flying ground bird, best known for making the turkey look smart...) are a common game bird. Some rabbits, mostly snowshoe hares (which really are rabbits, not hares). Squirrels galore. Some brown bears, but they are kodiak grizzly by subspecies... mostly passive. Horrendous mosquitoes, plus whitesocks (looks like a mosquito without the proboscis, and they take out a 1-2mm hemispherical chunk), horseflies, houseflies, dragonflies (some to about 4 inches!), plenty of moths and spiders. If your players manage to get a car, an encounter with a moose can be a major problem; males in rut will often charge a car from the side! This is usually fatal for the moose in about 20 minutes, and often quite hazardous for the occupants of the car, and totals out the car. On foot, moose are even more unpredictable. They are as likely to carge and trample as ignore you, and may charge once, then wander off, or stick around and finish one off. Two years ago, two professors were attacked in the middle of the university campus by moose; one died from it, and the other spent several months (2.5, to be specific, and I know him... Personally, I think He deserved it, but the other guy was really nice.). >- What about Native Americans? Are they "visible" in the cities in the >'30s. I'm asking because as far as I know the Haida were given rights to >Charlotte Islands, right? Do you know anything about their position in the >'30s? Anchorage was really not used by natives, because the whole area is hilly swampland. Downtown is the largest flat spot of dry land that existed. Most of the natives in town are employed by either the railroad or the government, or are drunks cast out of their villages. Natives, Blacks, and orientals are not allowed in many non-government public places except as employees (The Hub being the notable exception), and may not own property in town. Also in 1932, a black man is arrested in August, for a murder; He is railroaded through a sham trial (He was retarded), and sent to Texas for imprisonment. As of 4 years ago, he was STILL serving his 25 year sentence.... Prisons are non-existent in alaska at the time; "Local" jails are staffed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, US Marshals, and local cops, and are for short sentences (less than 5 years).... Almost no Haida are present in anchorage until the 60's in any great numbers... they were in the surrounding areas, in villages, speaking russian. Many eskimo and alyut (alt spelling aleut, pronounced all-yoot). Alyut and eskimo are often russian blooded, but visually not distinguishable to whites (Eskimo and the laplanders are closely related). There are two kinds of eskimo, for most purposes, one kind of eskimo, and 20 kinds of indian in alaska; anchorage lacked all except the Inuit and inupiaq eskimos); mistaking the ethnicity of a native is liable to start a fight, or at least get a curt correction. Note on roleplaying eskimoes: they will NOT look you in the eye unless they are already mad at you... looking into someone's eyes is a vile insult, equating them to a prey animal. Most natives are Russian Orthodox, but there is no Russian Orthodox
Church in Anchorage... many attend the Byzantine Catholic Mission about 5 blocks outside of town... Follow E street south to "16th", which turns right (west) and runs two blocks going down the side of a bluff, and then turns left (south) as arctic street...going up a hill over 6 blocks. There is a native and black not-quite-ghetto there, along with the most powerful and respected native family in anchorage... the Sipree family (Eskimo, Inuit IIRC). The Matriark is Maggie Sipree, who by then has 4 of her 7 children; her husband works on the railroad until WWII (Now, she has just passed away, at the estimated age of 95; she had 7 children, all of whom lived to have children; she has over 30 grand children, and some 15 great grand children still in town. She is quiet, powerful, and EVERYBODY IN TOWN knows her, likes her, and will do business with her; she is never known to drink.). Well known natives will not be turned away from places of business, if they have a good reputation. One other note on natives: No native groups were given lands anyone would possibly want until the 1976 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act... they were considered by the Federal Government to have been a conquered and occupied people, and had no reservations even. They were never truly displaced, but by the same token, many were part russian. Outside anchorage, discrimination was minor; anchorage was the worst place in terms of anti-native discrimination. It is also not unheard of for a native to be bond, blue-eyed, and of russian build... I know a guy (Wes) who is considered to be 50% Inuit, 50% haida, who is blue-eyed and blond, and looks totally white; whis whole-blooded brother Ron is a huge hulking eskimo, who really looks like an indian rather than an eskimo. The russians had not discriminated against natives who'd become Russian Orthodox, so there are quite a few "Hidden Russkies" in the native bloodlines. Most natives will have typically russian given names, with native surnames. Names like Sipree, Tgusik (t' goose-ig), knikinikinik (pronounce all the letters), Nuska, Noaya, Teelakoanna, and similar names are exemplary of native names soundwise. A large minority of natives have russian familail/patronymic names. Other notes: Public Services: City water and sewer were going in. Electric and phone were available, but phones were not yet common. Anchorage Police were established in 1932, according to the cars... Mountain View has no police, and one store of note: Brewsters Clothing. It sits on the "Mountain View Gate" of Fort Rich, and extends as far south as 9th street in anchorage, and as far north as "Negative 4th", the street names are particularly annoying. Mountain view is building an airport, which will but up against fairview, called Merril Field. It is now the worlds busiest small aircraft airport. Planes are not uncommon, but are not comfortable, and there is an airline... Reeve Airlines... best known for their bold pilots. Pilots are everywhere, as the Fort is rapidly becoming a huib for the early Army Air Corps. Telegram Service: provided by the US army signal corps, at western union prices. Western union does have an office in anchorage back then. Getting to anchorage: generally, by boat to seward, stopping in juneau (Stay at the Baranoff hotel in Juneau). from Seward, hop the train to Anchorage (about 4 or 5 hours back then, now about 3). Anchorage is a poor port, and has no passenger service of note, save by tramp steamer. Major cities and towns: Juneau, Fairbanks and sitka are the major cities,
and the big towns are seward, homer, cordova, kodiak, skagway, and petersberg (yes, this was established by a Finnish guy, named Peter, who was under a russian charter, back in the 1840's...). Nome and Dillingham were white villages, with nome rapidly becoming a town. Anchorage was just staring to grow. Radio: I THINK there was one station. Movies: The Fourth Avenue Theater (4th Ave, across from the federal building). A genuine Picture Palace, it was actually rather lush, and open to everyone (although the balcony was reserved for whites). It has always had a plumbed snack bar on each floor, and doubles as a stage-theater despite the shallow (5m) stage. It is, by the way, still open. It has a wonderful "Big Dipper" in the ceiling done with gold wooden stars with light bulbs in them (They would have been removed for fire code if they hadn't been original features when the theater was revamped in the late '70's), and movies opened with the playing of the National Anthem, then a news reel (Usually it was two to three weeks out of date), and then the feature. Languages, in order of number of speakers in anchorage: English, Russian, Japanese, Phillipino, Inupiaq (ih-noop-yak), Inuit (in-oo-it), Tlingit, Alyut, Tsimshian, Haida. Anyplace catering to natives will have menus in russian (pre-1919 russian, for reference). Anchorage Local Resources: Wood. Imported from nearby in alaska: Milk, eggs, fish, some beef. Coal, copper, and gold are available from mines inland to the north. Everything else: imported from canada or seattle, Washington. >If you don't know/don't won't to answer any of the above, don't worry. I'm >grateful for any information you can share with me. It would be cool with >a map of Anchorage, and other bits of tourist info, but time is the >limiting factor. It takes quite a while to send/receive stuff through >mail, and my players might be long gone from Anchorage by the time the >stuff reaches my grubby hands. Thanks for the offer, though. I might take >you up on it if time allows. Actually, I can get it there within a week via International Priority Mail (one 6x9 inch cardboard flat) for under $15 us... if need be. >If I can help you back in some way, let me know. Thanks in advance. Being a historian, this has been a fun intellectual challenge for me, trying to remember what I learned in school. Now, there is very little prejudice against natives. -----------------------------------------------------------------------Subject: [witw] Information about Anchorage #3 From: Morten Kjeldseth Pettersen <[email protected]> Part #3 ---Morten:
One other thing: The first police chief in anchorage was killed in fall 1932; no suspects were ever arrested. Can't tell you if he was stabbed or shot, but you can easily make it out to be C'thuloid cultists at work. Oh, another little detail: Anchorage PD never were beat-walkers; they were a patrol-car force from day one, and were radio equipped very early. Because of this, there were never police call boxes in anchorage. And more flavor: Anchorage had a lot of small-claim miners, and lots of trappers, who came into town talking of strange things, including Sasquatch/Yeti/Abominable-snowmen, ghosts, hauntings, and weirder stuff. Most people still give some credence here to this. -----------------------------------------------------------------------Subject: [witw] Information about Anchorage #4 From: Morten Kjeldseth Pettersen <[email protected]> Part #4 --->William, > >Thanks a lot, this was incredible. Very helpful and very spot >going to enhance my sessions enormously. > >Thanks for the extra information about the police, I might be >in some cultists into the police chief situation. Thanks! > >A couple of questions: outside of Anchorage, what sort of Law >is typical? US Marshals roaming around trying to keep drunken >shooting each other?
on. It's able to work Enforcement miners from
Fairbanks and Juneau had police departments. Most towns had a US marshal or two on a circuit; the village elders would deal with villagers, and hold whites for the next marshal through (Still works that way, save for State Troopers rather than US Marshals). Very little FBI/Secret Service presence. Marshals don't investigate, and back then, FBI didn't make arrests unless they caught the perp red-handed. Secret Service did both, but only in relation to Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Counterfeiting, and Tax Evasion. >I'm also participating in a mailing-list for Keepers of Walker in the >Wastes (the game in question). Since all this information might help >others I was wondering if you would mind if I forwarded them a copy of our >emails, or maybe an edited version (without my semi-ignorant questions ;)? >Would that be okay? Leave in the questions, as they give a reference point. Also, Point out I don't guarantee accuracy; it was mostly from memory. Some more note on the Captain Cook Hotel of the era: Thoroughly Decadently opulent. Fine linens, on bed and table. Comfy queen sized beds. Large rooms. Well trained wait and bell staff. Down Comforters. Imported Cigars, wines, etc. It also ran about 2x the nearest competitor, price wise.
---Well, that's it! Hope you'll find it useful. I'd like to point out the Police ch ief situation again. It might be worth looking into. Thanks to William for supplying this information. If you find this useful and wo uld like to send him a note I'll give you his address on request. Sincerely, Morten Kjeldseth Pettersen - [email protected] "Now you see that Evil will always triumph, because Good is dumb!" - Dark Helmet, Spaceballs: The Movie
