The isolated islands

After Kodiak, we hit a series of communities that essentially rely on the ferry for vital supplies. Here’s the stops and the populations – Old Harbor, 218 – Sand Point, 976 – King Cove, 939 – Cold Bay, 10 – False Pass, 35 – Akutan, 1027 – and finally Dutch Harbor, 4,376. Some of the stops were in the wee hours of the morning, so many times I had to go ashore on my own. Did I mention it was cold?

In my opinion, the visits were always fun, even if not at the ideal time for touring. There was not much to see at most of the stops, but we hit on a bonanza in Kings Cove. I wandered on shore, again all on my lonesome, I stumbled on the Saga. The Saga was the ship that was one of the primary subjects of the Discovery Channel reality series Deadliest Catch. We had also bumped into the homestead of the Kilchers, subjects of the reality series The Last Frontier. I guess Alaska is ripe for reality programs.

We finally made it to Dutch Harbor, the farthest east that the Alaska Ferry system travels. Dutch Harbor lies actually on the Bering Sea rather than the Pacific Ocean. As such it was cold and just a bit hostile. But we learned a great deal. For starters, we found the oldest Russian Orthodox Church in America – the core built in 1825.

We checked out the church and it was all locked up, but I noticed that the next day at 10 AM there was a service scheduled. So, we showed up at 10 the next day, and were rewarded with a look at the inside (almost identical to the one in Kodiak). But we also got a major bonus – a pair of what looked like sibling Red Fox were frolicking in the church yard. We literally watched them play and fake fight for maybe a half hour – magical!

We were stunned that there were bald eagles all over the place. As we drove around town there seemed to be an eagle perched on every 4^th or 5^th light pole. They were on most roof tops, and even just perched on high ground, or a post sticking out of the water. The locals just said “You should see how many are at the landfill.”, so they weren’t all that impressed. We were in awe.

We were told there were whales around as well. A nice lady at the rental car office said she had just moved here recently from coastal Oregon. She said she had never seen a whale in her life until moving here, and now she sees them almost daily. We didn’t get that lucky, so had to settle for some sea otters – not too bad eh?

We learned a lot about how our government treated the Aleuts during WWII. The Aleuts occupied most of the Aleutian Islands when the US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867. As a result of the purchase, they became American citizens.  However, on June 6, 1942, Japanese troops invaded Attu and Kiska Islands, the first occupation of US territory since the War of 1812, taking many Aleuts prisoner. In response, the government began a forced evacuation of Aleuts from other Aleutian Islands, including Dutch Harbor. The evacuated Aleuts were housed essentially in internment camps in horrible conditions. It has been documented that the death toll in Aleut internment camps due to poor conditions and lack of care were as high as those in prisoner of war camps where US soldiers were detained.

And, it wasn’t just forced evacuation to horrifying conditions. The US Department of Interior had discovered it could fund much of its budget by harvesting seals in the Aleutians. Interior coerced the Aleuts to hunt seal for them and paid them the going wage – around $45 for the entire hunting season! Now, that wouldn’t constitute slave labor since they were actually being paid, right? So much for what US citizenship gets you.

So, Attu and Kiska were invaded and held by Japanese troops. Not something I remember learning in history classes in high school. Dutch Harbor was heavily bombed by the Japanese, which is why some of the structures here in those days were built underground. The primary military hospital here was entirely underground, a complex of 3 massive buildings which served the needs of the military, as well as what was left of the town.

We visited the remains of Fort Schwatka. This fortification was built in 1940 and housed over 250 soldiers in 1942. Large guns and an immense number of munitions bunkers still dot the hills around Dutch Harbor.

Except for the concrete gun bunkers, nothing remains of the Fort. Built in 1940, it was essentially completely abandoned by 1948, and has been in a slow state of degradation since then. The concrete foundations of the staff barracks and officers’ quarters remain, but on top of them lie the scattered lumber of the structures that once stood.

That being said, some of the best views of Dutch Harbor and its idyllic location are to be seen from the abandoned portions of Fort Schwatka. I am really glad we ventured up here and witnessed where the war in the Pacific was actually fought on US soil.

So, Dutch Harbor is remote Alaska, with an Aleut heritage, and now primarily a fishing town. So we were surprised to find that the three main restaurants in town were – Dutch Harbor Restaurant, Chinese – Harbor Sushi, nuff said – and Amelia’s, Mexica. Huh! So, we finally found the place where all the fishermen hang out.

So, just a point of perspective. We have all heard about how the wage rate in Alaska is really good. As far as I can tell, that is true. But also, the cost of living here is astounding. Here is what the bill was for us to have some wine and two appetizers in Dutch Harbor. Sheesh!

Talk to you soon!