Shirley English

Bill and Shirley English were interviewed at their home in Anchorage, Alaska on August 4, 1992 by David Krupa. Before consenting to the interview, Bill took time to inquire about the purposes of the project, the background of the interviewer, and the nature of the information sought by the project. At the outset of taping, he modestly disavowed having much to say: ninety minutes later Bill had established an enduring and fascinating record of the early days in Wiseman, Alaska. He discusses early transportation with horse-drawn scows, mail routes from Fairbanks to Tanana and up the Koyukuk, hunting for sheep and caribou with his mother in the uplands, the first plane into Wiseman, the colorful characters who populated the Brooks Range in days past, and his experiences as a commercial pilot in Alaska when aviation was still largely a "seat of the pants" adventure. Both of the English's continuing fondness for the area and its people shine through in this interview, and the tape offers a fascinating glimpse of an earlier era of--perhaps surprisingly to some listeners--more vigorous human activity in the region. Bill recalls Wiseman when it was a community of 2,000: today perhaps fifty individuals reside there permanently. He concludes by saying that when times were good in Wiseman, when people could make a living, it was a warm, gentle, and cooperative community. He expressed his concern that the National Park Service, while doing important work in preservation, must not "lock away" land for the pleasure and use of a few elites at the expense of those who would make this their homeland.