Project Jukebox Survey
Help us redesign the Project Jukebox website by taking a very short survey!
Fred Ewan
Fred Ewan was interviewed on June 8, 1999 by Ruth Ann Warden and Bill Schneider at his house in Gulkana, Alaska. Ruth Ann arranged the interview and throughout the interview Fred references her grandfather, Henry Johns. Fred's interview is informative on many topics such as surveying the road, life out in remote camp, Indian customs, and the beginnings of wage employment. Throughout the interview, there is a message that the old days were good because people had their land and their way of life - no one told them where to go, what to do. Fred also thinks that the lessons of the woods are not known by young people today and that this is too bad; they couldn't make it in the woods if they had to.
Digital Asset Information
Archive #: Oral History 99-25
Project: Wrangell-St.Elias National Park
Date of Interview: Jun 8, 1999
Narrator(s): Fred Ewan
Interviewer(s): Bill Schneider, Ruth Ann Warden
Location of Interview:
Location of Topic:
Funding Partners:
National Park Service
Alternate Transcripts
There is no alternate transcript for this interview.
After clicking play, click on a section to navigate the audio or video clip.
Sections
1) Introduction and family background
2) Community of families at Crosswind Lake and a typical year
3) Yearly cycle continued and trading furs
4) People getting together and trading furs
5) Trading with the Russians
6) How Crosswind Lake got its name
7) Fred's grandfather participating in the building of the road and his knowledge of the land
8) Discussing a photo of his wife and how he met her and his first model-T car
9) Getting married to Stella
10) Fred and Stella going to Crosswind Lake
11) Working for wages and how it changed their lives
12) Teaching himself how to read and write, and working for the Alaska Road Commission
13) People working during wartime and the good old days
14) Dog racing and working in the old days
15) Advice for young people today
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: Crosswand Lake -- born\ brothers -- two\ sisters -- two\ growing up\ moved -- 1950\ building house -- 1952\ wife\ Norman, Harry -- 2 children\ dog team\ McMahon, Cleo\ flying freight
Section 2: Tion?, Andy\ ?, Kevin\ trapping\ interference -- none\ trap -- fox, mink, otter\ fishing\ Copper River\ summer -- fishing\ August -- hunting\ whitefish\ food -- storage\ winter -- trapping
Section 3: spring -- trap for beaver, muskrat\ groceries\ yeast, coffee, tea, butter\ furs -- trade\ Sourdough, Gulkana, Gakona to trade\ paper slip -- instead of money
Section 4: party\ making moonshine\ beer\ meat -- bring\ get together -- eat\ ducks\ dry meat\ self- reliant\ respect\ land\ Anchorage\ Cordova\ Valdez\ trade
Section 5: Orthodox Church\ Chitina\ Palmer\ Copper Center\ Chief Andrew\ Cordova Headquarters\ Russian traders\ Copper River\ Harry\ Mother
Section 6: Charley Lake\ Charley from Gakona\ grandfather\ airport -- working on\ ferry\ miners\ Chief Ewan -- grandfather\ worked for mines\ freight -- haul\ Palmer\ Glennallen
Section 7: engineers\ Glennallen\ Copper Center\ walking\ Indian River
Section 8: Ewan, Stella\ cook -- Indian River\ met in 1936\ Buster Brown\ bought $50\ sold it -- $12 after two years\ Harry sold it to Ben's brothers\ travel -- model T\ Copper Center\ Sourdough\ Paxton\ job -- provided wood\ work -- hard
Section 9: married\ 1938 Indian marriage\ Ewan, Stella -- parents\ helping parents\ payment -- work for parents\ respect\ grandfather
Section 10: trapping\ working -- Alaska Road Commission\ time off to hunt\ fish\ interference -- none
Section 11: village -- moving in\ education -- effects on children\ McMahan, Cleo\ Copper Center
Section 12: education -- learning to read and write\ village -- moving\ school\ house -- building\ wife\ salary\ Gakona\ jobs -- operator, road grader\ Alaska Road Commission\ money\ contractors\ airport -- building
Section 13: working -- quit\ wife\ old days\ dancing\ Indian way\ worries -- none\ dog racing
Section 14: dog races\ Fairbanks\ airport\ O'Hare bus line\ Santa Claus lodge\ dog teams\ Anchorage\ bus -- driving\ dog racing\ McMahan, Cleo\ photographs -- dog racing\ old days -- good times\ work\ interference -- none
Section 15: education\ old days -- no education\ education -- necessary\ survival\ knowledge\ country -- mapped\ high school\ hunt