Icebound Empire

Stories of Courage and Grit Behind Alaska's Fierce Independence

A mysterious vigilante murder in Nebraska, the Alaska Gold Rush, muckraking politics that lead to the suicide of an American hero and the ambitious, wealthy men vying for control of Alaskan business and industry at the turn of the century.

This third and special edition has been released with new, never-before-published content outside the Alaska Historical Society Journals. It reveals a first-hand account of the early development of the Alaska railway system and the story behind the richly funded, entrepreneurial Alaska Syndicate initiative that lead to the famous "Keystone Canyon Shoot-out." 

The discovery of a hand-written letter by George Hazelet to Catherine Wilson, a nomadic chronicler of events in the early Alaska territory and publisher of the historical Copper Tints, gives us an encompassing and refreshing first-hand account of the early railway development in what is still known as the "Last American Frontier."

This is the true story revealed of three men who were the prime movers behind an ambitious, turn-of-the-twentieth-century plan to develop Alaska-the J. P. Morgan - Guggenheim Alaska Syndicate, builder of the Kennecott Copper Mining Company, as well as the Copper River & Northwestern Railway. 

George Cheever Hazelet, Stephen Birch, and Captain David Jarvis were true pioneers of this great Alaska Territory and were backed by enormously wealthy men to whom failure was unacceptable. The challenges and setbacks of this gallant trio have been beautifully captured and documented in this third edition by the award-winning Alaska historian and author, the late Elizabeth A. Tower, MD.

Elizabeth Ann (Betsy) Tower, MD was born August 1, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio, and died September 27, 2010, at her home in Anchorage at the age of eighty-four.  

 

After completing their medical residencies in 1954, John and Betsy Tower braved the Alcan Highway and set up John's pediatric practice in their first home in Anchorage. They were enthusiastic supporters of the statehood movement. With pilot's licenses and a spirit of adventure, the Towers enjoyed hunting, fishing, and exploring Alaska. Their friendships with many other young couples newly arrived in Anchorage during the 1950s lasted their lifetimes. They reveled in the challenges and opportunities of Alaska's first fifty years of statehood while raising their four children.    

 

Betsy served as public health officer for the Alaska Division of Public Health for twenty-five years, supervising public health nurses in South Central Alaska, Southwestern Alaska, and the Aleutians.  She traveled widely in Bush Alaska and developed a statewide vaccination program for hepatitis B.

 

Upon her retirement from the Alaska Division of Public Health in 1986, Betsy pursued her longstanding interest in history and writing. Her monographs about Stephen Birch, Mike Heney, Sheldon Jackson, Austin E. "Cap" Lathrop, and William Egan explored the legacy of entrepreneurs and adventurers who shaped Alaska. She received the Alaska Historical Society's 1996 Historian of the Year award for her bookIcebound Empire.  Her longstanding interest in Canada led her to write Over the Back Fence: Conflicts on the United States/Canada Border from Maine to Alaska.

 

In 2010, Betsy was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame, which celebrates women who have shaped the state.  She led a full Alaskan life.

John Clark received a BA in Fine Arts degree from the University of New Mexico and successfully built and ran a printing and manufacturing company located in Louisville, Kentucky for 27 years. Today, Clark is the president of The Port Valdez Company, which traces its land holdings to George Cheever Hazelet and his partner Andrew Jackson Meals original scripting of 720 acres in Valdez. He also is the founder of Old Stone Press. He and his wife Gretchen live in Louisville.