Alaska: Where There Was A Will: A Common Man in An Enchanted Land

In 1937, and not yet 20 years old, Will Kitchner hitchhiked and rode the rails from his home in Syracuse, NY across the county to Seattle, WA, then boarded a freighter bound for Alaska. He spent most of the following 4 years working his gold claim northeast of Fairbanks and his fur-trapping line on the Salcha River before returning home to Syracuse where he passed away at the age of 38. His legacy was secured by his Kodachrome photographs that he captured of the places he had been and what he had done between 1937 and 1941. Those timeless images reflect the majestic beauty of Alaska when much of the Territory was largely unexplored and uninhabited except by Native Alaskan tribes. They also underscore the courage of a young man who left the dire economic circumstances of New York State during the Great Depression and chose to face the challenges of striking out on his own, ultimately living in the wilderness of Alaska. During this journey his pictures captured the grandeur of a land unspoiled by modern civilization and they frame the essence of his life.