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Copyright 2003. ISBN: 0-9720144-0-3. 8.5"x11"x.75". 155 B&W photos. 15 Maps. (From the back cover) Andrew Berg came to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula in 1888. A young Finnish immigrant seeking wildlife and wilderness, he found both in extraordinary abundance. Pursuing his own passion for hunting, he was the first guide to introduce big game hunters to the world-class trophies in southcentral Alaska. As civilization crept into the Territory, Berg became the first licensed hunting guide and held guide license "No. 1" for over twenty years. Berg's biography also tells the story of the early Euro-American settlement of this part of Alaska. Inhabitants struggled with isolation perpetuated by Alaska's remoteness and winter's icy grip on the land. Gold and fur brought economic booms and busts. Salmon and game sustained people through hard time. Berg, like many others, was a hunter, trapper, fisherman and miner. At times he also worked as a fish and game warden. Life for Berg and his neighbors on the frontier is chronicled through correspondence, photos, maps and newspaper articles. Andrew tells much of his story himself. Transcribed here are the journals he kept at his remote cabin on Tustumena Lake in the heart of the what would become the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Through his simple, often humorous, descriptions of daily activities, the reader acquires an understanding of the effort, ingenuity, patience and forbearance required for life in the wilderness. An excerpt from the "Alaska" magazine: "Not just a biography, "Alaska's No.1 Guide"
chronicles a time when Alaska truly was the Last Frontier. Alaska authors
Catherine Cassidy and Gary Titus have produced a fine winter's read."
Table of Contents 1. Introduction
2. 1890 - 1899
3. 1900 - 1909
4. 1910 - 1919
5. 1920
6. 1921
7. 1922
8. 1923
9. 1924
10. 1925
11. 1926
12. 1927
13. 1928 14. 1929
15. 1930
16. 1931
17. 1932
18. 1933
19. 1934
20. 1935
21. 1936
22. 1937
23. 1938 - 1939
24. Afterword
Sources
Index
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