Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ Trail Tidbits 18

by Kim Slade

There’s No Place Like Nome:

Nome claims to be “The Most Famous City in the World “due to the discovery of gold in 1899. News of the find spread and by 1900, 40,000 people came to Nome. The gold was found by the “Three Lucky Swedes” in Anvil Creek, three miles north of present day Nome. They brought several thousand miners from other gold camps in Alaska and the Klondike. It was a remarkable discovery of gold on the beaches the following year that started the stampede of thousands up the coast by ship to the boomtown of Anvil city, soon named Nome. People not only came from other states, but from every European country. Some of them had mining experience, a few struck it rich, but many found other ways to survive in a town that blossomed almost overnight with shelters made from white-walled tents to Victorian-styled buildings.

In the turn of the century Nome was the largest city in Alaska. The mining industry and the town continued to grow. The beach gold was quickly scooped up and soon drift mining performed underground took place of the steam-sluicing. Eventually, large scale mining operations using gold dredges dominated the countryside. Not needed any longer due to the machinery which did most of the work, over time many miners left the region. Epidemics further reduced the population and in a few years, Nome had shrunk to a smaller, more stable town with a winter population of about 800 by the 1920’s.

Nome came to fame once again during the 1940’s during World War II. As part of the effort to protect North America against Japan, the government built Mark’s Air Force base at Nome. It was at this base that the U.S. supplied aircraft to the Soviet Union for the Eastern Front. During and after the war, many Eskimo people and other civilians moved to Nome to take jobs.

The face of Nome has changed some since the days of the gold Rush due in part to ocean storms and large fires it has suffered. However, many of the original buildings still stand and the city still has that old west aesthetics. Today the population of Nome is culturally diverse with over half of its inhabitants being of Eskimo heritage. Several people can trace their families back to the gold miners who came to settle as early as 1899. Nome now enjoys daily jet service and is visited throughout the summer months by luxury cruise ships, and is visited by people from all over the world during the winter for the Iditarod.

The Race Continues:

The top ten mushers made it into Nome all by 12:30 p.m. today, Wednesday, March 14, 2007. Tollef Monson was the tenth musher to make his way under the Burled Arch. He spoke briefly about the race. He felt the worse part of the trail was from Ophir to Iditarod - the trail here had very little snow and a lot of tussex (clumps of grass that can be very dangerous).

Alaskan Vocabulary:

Bunny Boots – these boots are very popular on the trail. The boots were originally used by the armed forces and are large insulated boots used to protect against frostbite.

Bush – the Bush is usually referred to as any part of the North Country not reachable by road. Light aircraft are used to reach these areas and are usually referred to as Bush planes.

Kuspuk – is an Eskimo woman’s shirt or dress often made so that an infant may be carried piggyback-style inside. The kuspuk is made of a lightweight fabric, typically calico, trimmed with rick rack and ribbon.

Where is Jack?

Can you figure it out?

One Small Square:

Do you see any patterns in the frame?

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