Yukon Don Tanner reads Chapter 7 , “The History of Land Acquisition in the Talkeetna Territory” from his new book Talkeetna Territory Papers:
As many Americans moved west in pursuit of what once was called Manifest Destiny and discovered the west was filling up with settlers, pioneers had to push on. In the early 1900s, homestead land was opened on the frontier of Alaska by the Bureau of Land Management. Up to 320 acres could be staked. Federal lands for homesteading were closed out entirely by 1972.
The state of Alaska, recognizing the problem, a need for
public land for sale to individuals, pressed hard to get patent
(land title) to suitable land for agriculture classified so it could
be sold. These efforts led to the first farmland sale on August 5,
1961 in the Anchor Point area. The state followed up by creating
eight classifications of property use that could be purchased
from the state. By 1968 a land disposal program was in full
swing. This program was known as OTE (Open to Entry) and
as many Americans moved west in pursuit of what once
was called Manifest Destiny and discovered the west was filling
up with settlers, pioneers had to push on. In the early 1900s,
homestead land was opened on the frontier of Alaska by the
Bureau of Land Management. Up to 320 acres could be staked.
Federal lands for homesteading were closed out entirely by 1972.
The state of Alaska, recognizing the problem, a need for
public land for sale to individuals, pressed hard to get patent
(land title) to suitable land for agriculture classified so it could
be sold. These efforts led to the first farmland sale on August 5,
1961 in the Anchor Point area. The state followed up by creating
eight classifications of property use that could be purchased
from the state. By 1968 a land disposal program was in full
swing. This program was known as OTE (Open to Entry) and
brought the first state land disposal to the Talkeetna Territory.
This allowed up to five acres to be staked by individuals, with
few restrictions. This opportunity ceased to exist in 1973.
In 1980 a new program was opened in the Talkeetna
Territory known as Chase I Remote Parcel. It expanded an area
from Clear Creek /Chase north to Chulitna. There was no requirement
to build. A claimant was authorized to stake up to
forty acres.
In 1985 the state modified the program into the State
Homestead and Remote Parcel Program. This disposal program
allowed up to forty acres per person to be staked in
remote areas of the state. We were successful in acquiring a
40 acre tract in 1980 and again in 1984 northeast of Talkeetna.
The Division of Natural Resources also subdivided and
disposed of, by lottery, several hundred lots along the north
side of the Talkeetna River in the ‘80s. These were five-acre
lots, which were later combined to make ten and fifteen acres,
as a lawsuit by local residents challenged the population density
that would overtake available resources.
Today in the Talkeetna Territory there are 930 private parcels
owned by 720 owners. There may be 120 cabins, but only
50 residents in this area. Each year more individuals build and
move in, bringing an ever-changing bush culture.
Note: “In 1972 Bob Durr headed a conference in Juneau
with Walter Hickel and others to present his recommendations
on land disposals – what he stressed was larger parcels – 40
acres, not the proposed five acres as they were too small to sustain
long term lumber and firewood harvest.” Jonathon Durr
Bob Durr and his family were some of the first to move
into the Talkeetna Territory in 1973. They built on Back Lake
several miles north of Talkeetna. Bob is gone now; his sons
Steve and Jonathon still reside at Back Lake. The resident population
has declined since the ‘70s and ‘80s. Only thirty remain
full time in the area. The weekenders now create some conflict
over trail use.
Tannerville, our homestead residence, was originally
staked in 1962 by Jack Warden. At that time The United States
Bureau of Land Management still allowed staking up to 160
acres. Jack responded to, as he put it, the call of God to preach.
He sold his improvements to Gordon Freeman who received
the Homestead Patent in 1964. Having built a small, 10-by10
cabin (the required habitable dwelling), an outhouse, and
cleared 40 acres for a potato crop to meet federal requirements
for ownership. We purchased this piece of God’s paradise in
April 2000 from the Freeman estate. A 1942-D Caterpillar bulldozer
was part of the package.
We rebuilt the original cabin and added on a 16-by-16
two-sided log addition. This cabin burned to the ground in
2004. The historic structure still standing is the original log
outhouse, fifty plus years old and still in working condition.
The photo of our new log home is included here. It is 30by-
30, built of white spruce from Upper Montana Creek. Built
by Dan Nelson of Talkeetna, hand-scribed with superior skill,
it is a bush masterpiece. Hand-scribing is the method of carefully
cutting what are called relief cuts in each log, and shaping
each log to fit together, one atop the other, so that as the logs
dry and settle, there is no air gap between the logs, nor will
they break or twist out of plumb in the wall.
To bring all the logs and other building materials to this
remote location, it took thirty-nine lifts with a Huey Helicopter
to get everything needed on-site, at a cost of $12,000 just for
the helicopter, about $15,554.00 in 2017 dollars. The ridgepole
was fifty-three feet long and weighed 2,350 pounds.
