The Last Settlers

Abstract

The American frontier closed in 1986 without fanfare. Earlier in that decade, the federal government offered up the last 40,000 acres for settlement in two parcels. The first was near Lake Minchumina, in the geographic center of Alaska, and the second was at Slana, near Alaska's eastern border with Canada. The following essays chronicle the daily doings of two communities and, in particular, two families: the Hannans of Deadfish Lake and the Craigs of South Slana. A work of literary journalism, The Last Settlers draws on interviews, historical documents and reminiscences to explore the changing meanings, on the cusp of the twenty-first century, of wilderness and civilization, stewardship and community. <p>