Janette Ross Riehle

Tales of the Trapline: a Romance of Old Alaska Janette Ross Riehle

"Sylvia, will you go out on the trapline with me this fall?" Vernon asked. "Well, don't you think we should get married first?" she asked, not wanting him to think that she was that kind of girl. His reply was quick in coming, "I already asked you to do that. That hasn't changed." "Well, in that case," she blushed, "the answer is Yes. Yes, I'll go out to the creek with you." Vernon wanted to get married right away, but there was one difficulty. . . . They were both young, adventuresome, and accustomed to hard work, hardships and depending on their own resources, as they made their plans that summer of 1937. Two months later, they began their trip to an isolated trapline cabin on Alexander Creek, 40 miles from Anchorage, which was to be their new home. But would they be able to face the challenges of traveling up a swift, winding stream in a 14-foot rowboat, of spending the winter alone without seeing another human being for weeks at a time, of making a living by trapping, raising mink, and fishing out of the stream in front of the cabin, of cutting trees and building a log cabin for their growing family? Would they escape the dangers of breaking through the ice during freezing weather, of crossing the frequently stormy Cook Inlet in an open dory, of accidents and illnesses with no way to call for medical help? Then there were the frustations of having four children in five years while living in a tiny one-room cabin, the tensions of the war years when all of Alaska was a war zone, the pain of losing Sylvia's younger sister to cancer. . . .