This website has been a thought in the back of my mind for way too long. I'd say this probably started over a decade ago, but if I really think about it, I have always had a strong interest in my family history, especially my local family history and putting everything in one place.
I was raised in a small village in southwest Alaska. Naknek lies where the Naknek River flows into Bristol Bay, which is known to have the largest red salmon runs in the world. Because of this and the amounts of people that have come and gone over the decades, it shaped our communities in ways that truly make this area unique. I'm excited to finally have a place to start sharing my stories, and the history of my family, and of this region, along with the ways I've found to share usable pieces of this history to keep it alive.
My connection to this amazing state goes back further than written records go, but I will start with my two great-grandfathers on my maternal side. My great-grandfather that is still mostly a mystery is my grandfathers dad. He arrived in Bristol Bay in 1909 from Chihuahua, Mexico. Most of his life is still a mystery that I'm trying to uncover as he passed away at a fairly young age in 1925. He started out his fishing career with the Alaska Packers Association at Diamond O in South Naknek and then at some point moved across the river to Naknek where he was married and my grandfather was born at the Red Salmon Cannery.
Today's photo is one that my grandfather took during his sailboat days. The cannery in the background is I believe Diamond O, the cannery his father started out fishing for. The O on the sail isn't for the cannery, but it meant the men on the boat were outsiders, not locals to the area. Outsiders were given better pay for fish and treatment by the canneries over the locals.