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Albert Carroll
Albert Carroll

Albert Carroll was interviewed on November 2, 1991 by Dan O'Neill and William Schneider at Owen Stockbridge's house in Central, Alaska. Mr. Stockbridge trapped with Albert and has also worked on the river barges with him. The two men were taking a break from wood cutting. Mr. Stockbridge was present during the interview and commented when Albert asked him about dates, and also shared some pictures from the trapping camp they use in the Johnson Gorge area of the Kandik River. In this interview, Albert talks about his experiences piloting boats on the Yukon River and its tributaries, and about trapping. He speaks from the perspective of a lifelong user of the area.

Digital Asset Information

Archive #: Oral History 91-22-59

Project: Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
Date of Interview: Nov 2, 1991
Narrator(s): Albert Carroll
Interviewer(s): Dan O'Neill, Bill Schneider
Location of Interview:
Funding Partners:
National Park Service
Alternate Transcripts
There is no alternate transcript for this interview.
Slideshow
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After clicking play, click on a section to navigate the audio or video clip.

Sections

1) Personal background

2) How he learned about piloting boats and got into his own freighting business

3) A typical trip upriver

4) Alaska Natives as riverboat pilots

5) What they hauled on the barges

6) How he got into the river freighting business, and how he got his pilot's license

7) Learning to pilot ferries

8) The toughest river trip

9) Trapping up the Kandik and Black Rivers

10) His home 12 miles below Circle, and his plans for the coming winter

11) The traplines of his dad, James Carroll, and earlier trapping and mining in the Kandik River area

12) More about James Carroll and old-timers

13) More about Yukon River pilots

Click play, then use Sections or Transcript to navigate the interview.

After clicking play, click a section of the transcript to navigate the audio or video clip.

Transcript

Section 1: Carroll, Albert\ Fort Yukon\ Carroll, Fanny\ Carroll, James\ trapping - Black River\ Black River\ cache groceries\ First Ten Years in Alaska - Carroll, James|

Section 2: Carroll, Albert\ river boats - barges\ freighters - river\ Tanana River - shipping companies\ Inland Riverways\ Yukon Navigation\ travel and transportation - boats\ Circle-Dawson - river freighters\ Black River - story\ pilots - Yukon River\ "Brainstorm"\ "Lucky"\ barge - dimensions\ tugs - diesel powered\ Chalkytsik\ Old Crow\ Dawson\ piloting - skill required|

Section 3: Circle\ Woodchopper Creek - river freighters\ freighting - fuel oil\ Coal Creek - river freighters\ Eagle\ Dawson\ Canadian border - procedure\ fuel oil - mining camps\ mining camps - river freighters\ freight - river\ barge services\ gold prices - 1980's\ swift water - Eagle-Dawson\ river - hazards\ Joseph, Stanley|

Section 4: Alaskan Natives - river pilots\ Young, Don\ Carroll, Albert|

Section 5: fuel oil\ D-8 cats\ D-9 cats\ loaders\ backhoes\ mining equipment\ freighters - river\ river - freight|

Section 6: Carroll, Albert\ barges - river\ tugs - river\ equipment - prices\ Smith, Roy\ Smith, Sharon\ Coast Guard license\ map exam - story|

Section 7: certificates - pilot\ ferries - Yukon River\ "Klondike" - ferry\ Yutana Barge Lines\ piloting - river\ Carroll, Albert\ Frank, Richard\ Tanana River\ Inland Riverways|

Section 8: Smith, Roy\ barge - 600 ton capacity\ tug\ river trip - story\ Saint Michael - river freighters\ river freighters\ Yutana Barge Lines|

Section 9: Kandik River - trapping\ Carroll, Albert\ Stockbridge, Owen\ trapping - Kandik River\ lynx\ marten\ beaver\ fur prices\ cabins - Black River\ Doyon Corporation\ Black River - Carroll, Albert\ trapping - snowmachine\ Carroll, Albert - pictures\ cabin construction - story\ traplines - area\ Johnson Gorge\ trapping - cost|

Section 10: Carroll, Albert\ Native allotments\ fishing - subsistence\ houses - Carroll, Albert\ battery power\ Stockbridge, Owen\ wood cutting\ trapping - snowmachine\ "niggerheads"\ river ice - conditions\ Bombadier Alpine - snowmachine|

Section 11: traplines\ Carroll, James - traplines\ Kandik River - Carroll, James\ dog teams - trapping\ portage - Kandik area\ Black River - trapping\ gatherings - Christmas\ cabins - Manhatten Creek\ Manhatten Creek - Carroll, James\ Charley River Quad (1:250,000)\ Manhatten, Jack\ caribou - Kandik River\ Henry, Paul\ Thomas\ Chalkytsik people|

Section 12: First Ten Years in Alaska\ Carroll, James\ Old Crow Flats\ Carroll, James - store\ grocery store - story\ born on snowshoes - Shore, Evelyn\ Shore, Evelyn\ Shore, Elsie\ Shore, Hazel\ Carroll, Fanny\ women - old timers\ modern conveniences - required|

Section 13: Horace, Daniel\ James, Art Sr.\ Beaver-Circle flats - hazards\ navigation\ river navigation\ piloting - skill\ learning to pilot\ Yukon River - changes\ Tanana River - changes\ Frank, Richard\ sounding boats - Tanana\ sounding - description\ mapping - Carroll, Albert\ Carroll, Albert Jr.\ piloting skills - intangibles\ navigation - darkness\ navigation - memory\ river - flags\ Yutana Barge Lines|