This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Aleutian crew survives volcano and lone island ordeal
On Chuginadak Island near the Aleutians a five man outpost endured a June eruption of Old Tom after winter losses. Alcantara and Purchase survived two weeks in a snowbound camp while Purchase fled toward the peak, a lava flow and ash engulfed the area. A rescue P-141 searched the coast and caves, leaving rations behind for Purchase in Spam Shack.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mnak
Aleutians
Chuginadak Island
Aleutian
Umnak
Arctic Training School
Buckley Field
Coto
Alec Alcantara
Portland
Oreg
William Bigger
Chapel Hill
N. C
Fred Purchase
Holland, Mich
Kenneth L. Pitsenberger
Lead
S. Dak
Billy J. Cotten
Commerce
Tex
Cook
Chuginadak
Jinx Island
Old Tom
Volcanic Mount Cleveland
Miramar
Pacific
Pompton Turnpike
Burma Road
Alcantara
Purchase
Bigger
Cotten
Tom
August W. Templeton
Sacramento
Calif
Alexander F. Johansen
Kenai
Alaska
Evangelos P. Kalafatis
New York
N. Y
Joseph J. Eee
Three "Rivers
Mass
Stephen J. Paradie
St. Paul
Charles I. Berg
Petersburg
Warren H. Hall
Gould City
Mich
George E. Mather
Ketchikan
A. R. Peracca
Crockett
Thomas V. Orsini
Albany
Helmut P. Schurer
Philadelphia
William H. Riley
Anchorage