Alberta Laktonen was inspired one day in 1955: instead of working in the Larsen Bay cannery mess hall, she would start setnetting. Never mind that she had never fished in her life.
Read More »West Side Stories – Virginia Abston
Virginia Abston speaks about growing up at Park’s Cannery in Uyak Bay and her experiences at Chief Cove, her family’s Uyak setnet site.
Read More »West Side Stories – Weston Fields
Weston Fields remembers setnetting in Uyak Bay in the old days, when hardy fishermen had solo operations using linen nets and cedar floats.
Read More »West Side Stories – Mark Thissen
Mark Thissen of Larsen’s Mercantile in Larsen Bay remembers cleaning up oil in Uyak following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.
Read More »West Side Stories – Jane Petrich
Jane Petrich recalls the day her skiff swamped and she nearly drowned in Uyak Bay.
Read More »West Side Stories – Dexter Lorance
Dexter Lorance, longtime foreman at the Larsen Bay cannery, gives a tour of the canning line.
Read More »West Side Stories – Archaeology of the Karluk River System
West Side Genesis Here, Patrick Saltonstall describes the archaeology of the Karluk River system, uncovering thousands of years of human use.
Read More »West Side Stories – Katmai Eruption
John Thwaites of the mail steamer Dora wrote this account of escaping the ash fall emitted from the Katmai volcano in June of 1912.
Read More »West Side Stories – Karluk 125 Years Ago
Mont Hawthorne worked at a Karluk cannery in 1890. Hear his memories of the early days of the Karluk salmon fishery in this segment.
Read More »West Side Stories – Bertha
The Bertha was a venerable steamer engaged in Alaskan coastal trade in the 19th and early 20th century, until she went aground in Uyak Bay in July of 1915.
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