Shadows on the Koyukuk
 Sidney Huntington & Jim Rearden
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 1993 Alaska NW Bks, Anchorage AK USA
  ISBN: 088240427X


One man's incredible tale of hardship & success in Alaska & a tribute to the Athapaskan traditions & spiritual beliefs that enabled him & his ancestors to survive.

Sidney Huntington grew up along the Koyukuk River in Alaska's harsh interior over 80 years ago. After his mother suddenly dies, 3 year old Huntington protects & cares for his younger siblings during two weeks of isolation before rescue comes. As a teenager he plied the wilderness traplines with his father, nearly freezing to death several times.

Shadow on the Koyukuk is a plain & simple memoir with unpretentious recounting of arduous survival interwoven with memories of cheerful, wholehearted contentment of where Sidney found himself. He comes from a marriage of hardy stocks: - an English-Scottish New Yorker, one of the thousands of gold rushers who stampeded to the Yukon Territory at the end of the 19th century while his mother, Anna, was an Athapaskan, born in the late 1870s along the Hogatzakaket, a tributary of the big Koyukuk River.

You'll learn how to make snowshoes from materials found on the land with Eklutna John; about hunting the bad-tempered Moose with his brother Jimmy & the seasons along the Koyukuk; about picking & preserving wild berries. You'll hear about the industrious & respected Beaver & the last almost mythical winter spear hunt for “the big animal.”

Everything you've ever heard about the rough-hewn Alaskan life will come alive in this telling of one man's long & extraordinary, yet so very ordinary, life. One memory melts into another seamlessly remembered & takes you out along the Koyukuk River & its environs as naturally as a walk in the park - some park!

With names like Weaselheart & Schilikum, Monkey John & Cosmos Mountain, Sidney tells of his life on the edge & what happened when civilization arrived & bureaucracy took over. These are the memories of when Anchorage was a city of about 2,000 souls, after the great the Alaska Railroad system was built & the railroad crews had left. You will also find out what “tundra daisies” are.

Shadows on the Koyukuk is a glorious fireside chat with an old-timer who tells the best stories. Jim Rearden has kept Sidney's gentle & thoughtful memories intact & has supplied us with a section of Related Reading & a worthy Index. His other books include: In the Shadow of Eagles; Cracking the Zero Mystery; Castner's Cutthroats, Saga of the Alaska Scouts. Jim Rearden was Outdoors Editor for Alaska magazine & a field editor for Outdoor Life magazine.
(04/22/01)

Rebecca