Legislature(2019 - 2020)BUTROVICH 205
02/04/2020 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB144 | |
| SB164 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 144 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 164 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SB 144-ESTABLISH JUNE 7 AS WALTER HARPER DAY
3:32:23 PM
CHAIR REVAK announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 144,
"An Act establishing June 7 of each year as Walter Harper Day."
This is the first hearing on this bill.
3:32:51 PM
SENATOR CLICK BISHOP, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 144, relayed that he read and appreciated the
book, "Walter Harper, Alaska Native Son" about a year ago. He
said he is a history buff and a member of the Episcopal Church,
as was Mr. Harper who was the first man to summit Denali. He
said he is honored to carry the bill to recognize June 7 each
year as Walter Harper Day.
CHAIR BISHOP described Alaska as a large state geographically
but small in connections to people. He said he used to hunt and
fish just down river from where Mr. Harper's father owned a
trading post. Then last year when he was walking through
Evergreen Cemetery, he discovered that Walter Harper and his
wife are buried there.
3:35:30 PM
At ease
3:35:51 PM
CHAIR REVAK reconvened the meeting and asked Mr. Peterson to
provide his testimony.
3:35:57 PM
DARWIN PETERSON, Staff, Senator Click Bishop, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, introduced SB 144 paraphrasing the
following outline of the history and accomplishments of Walter
Harper:
• Walter Harper's name is permanently stamped in
Alaska history because he was the first person to
reach the summit of Denali on June 7, 1913.
• SB 144 proposes to honor this great Alaskan by
th
designating June 7 of each year as Walter Harper
Day.
• There were four climbers in Walter's party: (None
of these men had technical climbing experience on
a mountain like Denali).
o Harry Karstens (expedition leader) 35 years
old. He was an accomplished outdoorsmen, a
miner, a packer, a guide and he ran dog
teams and river boats around Alaska. Later
became the first superintendent of Denali
National Park from 1921 to 1928.
o Hudson Stuck (expedition leader) 50 years
old. The Episcopal Archdeacon of the Yukon.
o Robert Tatum 21 years old. Robert was a
theology student from Knoxville Tennessee
who was working at the Episcopal mission in
Tanana when Hudson Stuck invited him to join
the expedition.
o Walter Harper The youngest member at 20
years old. He was Stuck's prot?g?.
3:37:46 PM
• The expedition members left Nenana on March 13.
On April 11, they had their base camp set up and
started planning their ascent.
• On May 2nd, they had relayed their cache to the
midway point of Muldrow Glacier at 10,800 feet
when disaster struck. They lost a great deal of
their gear, including tents, clothes and food
when their cache caught fire. (A match tossed by
Karstens or Stuck after smoking their tobacco
pipes).
th
• They continued on and on June 7, Walter was the
first human to set foot on the summit of Denali
with the other three members of the expedition
arriving after him.
• Stuck concluded that Walter could have climbed
another 10,000 feet based on his condition at the
summit. Harry Karstens referred to Walter as
"fearless" and Stuck attributed a great deal of
their success to Walter's exceptional stamina and
his ability to always maintain complete self-
composure in the face of any hardship.
• As extraordinary as this achievement was, it's
not the only reason we should celebrate Walter
Harper.
• Born in Tanana in December 1892, Walter was the
youngest of eight children. His mother was Jenny
Albert, a Koyukon Athabascan and his father was
Arthur Harper, an Irishman who emigrated in 1847.
• Arthur was a well-known prospector and trader in
the Yukon basin. In fact, his widespread
prospecting, numerous discoveries and his
prolific letter writing to outsiders about the
gold prospects in the Yukon won him the
recognition as the discoverer of gold in the
region and [he was] credited with starting the
Klondike Gold Rush.
• But Walter never knew his father personally
because his parents split up when he was two
years old. It was Walter's mother, Jenny, who had
the greatest impact on his formative years. She
raised Walter in the Athabascan traditional way
of life and he spoke the Koyukon-Athabascan
language.
3:40:02 PM
• When Walter met Archdeacon Stuck at a fish camp
in 1909, he began attending school at the St.
Mark's mission in Nenana. He was 16.
• Being so impressed with Walter's ability, Mr.
Stuck hired him the next year when he was 17
years old to be his winter trail guide, riverboat
pilot and interpreter throughout his travels
along the Yukon as a missionary.
• The Archdeacon tutored Walter and in the
proceeding years, Walter seamlessly integrated
into his father's Western culture without
forfeiting an ounce of his mother's Athabascan
heritage.
• After the Denali expedition, in the fall of 1913,
Walter traveled outside with Stuck to continue
his formal education in Massachusetts where he
attended the Northfield Mount Hermon preparatory
school through 1916. That same year he returned
to Alaska to continue working with Archdeacon
Stuck in preparation for college.
• In 1917, Walter became ill with Typhoid fever.
While he was recovering in the Fort Yukon mission
hospital, he fell in love with his nurse Frances
Wells, who devoted herself to his care. On
st
September 1, 1918, they got married in Fort
Yukon.
• Seven weeks later, the newlyweds boarded the
Princess Sophia in Skagway bound for Seattle.
They planned to travel to Philadelphia so Walter
could attend medical school. After which, the
couple planned to return to Alaska so Walter
could serve his people as a medical missionary.
• Sadly, their future dreams were never realized
because they both died along with the rest of the
passengers when the Princess Sophia ran aground
th
in the Lynn Canal on October 25, 1918.
• After their bodies were recovered, Walter and
Frances were buried beside each other in the
Evergreen Cemetery here in Juneau.
• Walter's untimely death denied Alaska the legacy
of a respected Elder a full life would surely
have provided.
• However, we feel strongly that passing SB 144 is
a fitting tribute to honor this great Alaskan who
lived his life with excellence, integrity and
resilience.
• In fact, Congress saw the wisdom in honoring the
accomplishments of Walter Harper. In 2013,
Congress passed the Denali National Park
Improvement Act that included a bill sponsored by
Senator Lisa Murkowski, naming the Talkeetna
Ranger Station after Walter Harper. Anyone who
intends to climb Denali must first stop at the
Walter Harper Ranger Station to get their permit.
3:42:54 PM
CHAIR REVAK opened public testimony on SB 144.
3:43:17 PM
MIKE HARPER, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, stated that
he is a grandnephew and one of many Harpers in Alaska who is
very proud of Walter Harper and his achievements. He noted that
relatively few people knew about the first successful assent of
Denali until 100 years later when a team of descendants made a
legacy climb in 2013. The University of Alaska also had a year-
long exhibit of Walter Harper and the successful summit. He
recapped a short history of Walter's life including that when
Archdeacon Stuck met Walter, he was so impressed he asked Walter
to be his guide, interpreter, riverboat captain, and woodcutter
as the Archbishop traveled through Interior and Northwest
villages. That led to being invited to be part of the team to
climb Denali. He said the sinking of the Princess Sophia
deprived Walter Harper of what would likely have been a very
remarkable future. He said passing SB 144 is an opportunity to
honor this great Alaskan. As a man of Native heritage, he is a
reminder to young people of the goals one can attain with great
effort and indominable spirit.
3:47:14 PM
BRENDA HEWITT, representing self, Meadow Lake, Alaska, stated
that she is calling in support of SB 144 because more heroes are
needed, and Walter Harper is just that for everyone.
3:48:25 PM
BILL DORDON, representing self, Fairbanks, Alaska stated that he
feels as though he is a descendent of Hudson Stuck because his
father was the Episcopal bishop who followed in the wake of Mr.
Stuck. Mr. Dordon said growing up his father told him about
Walter Harper and his relationship to the Archdeacon. He related
that for decades he and his father flew into Alaska villages.
One of the destinations was Fort Yukon to visit the Episcopal
hospital where Mr. Harper met his future wife and intended to
return to serve as a missionary doctor after completing school.
He noted that on these visits to villages his father always
arranged to be accompanied by a community leader because he
admired the relationship that the Archdeacon had struck up with
Mr. Harper years earlier. It was a mutually beneficial and
trusting relationship with the Native community. It showed the
benefit that could occur between Alaska Natives and new arrivals
during a time of rampant discrimination in Territorial Alaska.
MR. DORDON reported that he, Mike Harper, and Brenda Hewitt are
part of a group that is working to design, finance, and place a
statute honoring the team that first ascended Denali South Peak.
He opined that Alaska needs more statues to tell visitors and
remind Alaskans of the many who paved the way in this state. He
said the hope is to be able to dedicate the statute on Walter
Harper Day in 2021.
3:52:59 PM
ANGELA LINN, representing self, Fairbanks, Alaska, stated
support for SB 144 and relayed that for the past 21 years she
has been the senior collections manager for ethnology and
history at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. In 2013
she was the guest curator for the UAA Museum special exhibit,
"Denali Legacy, 100 Years on the Mountain," which commemorated
the centennial of the first assent of Denali. She related that
the climb diaries that were brought together for the first time
in 100 years showed how beloved Walter Harper was for his work
ethic, calm demeanor, the ability to learn about Western-based
technology and equipment, and intimate knowledge of the Alaskan
landscape. He helped ground the team through their most
stressful and challenging situations. She opined that it was
fitting that he was the first to summit the mountain on June
7th.
MS. LINN reported that while curating that exhibit, her team
reached out to the living descendants of the expedition. Those
interactions made it clear that Walter Harper served as a role
model for many in the extended Harper family. She noted that
while Mr. Harper's role in the climb was overshadowed by the
charismatic Hudson Stuck, more nuanced versions of the climb
story have come to light. Creating June 7th as Walter Harper Day
would ensure that the expanded legacy of this young Alaskan will
continue to be shared. He can stand as a role model for
countless young people, particularly young Alaska Natives.
3:56:07 PM
CHAIR COGHILL opined that it is most important to recognize
Walter Harper's accomplishments even though his young life was
cut short. He added that it is also a testament to Alaska and
the church men who took it to heart to honor Mr. Harper. That
too should be part of the legacy, he said.
3:57:28 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO thanked the sponsor and staff for the
legislation. She opined that bills like this shine a light on
what Alaskans can be proud of. She related that she has visited
Mr. Harper's gravestone and has found that walking through
Evergreen Cemetery is a walk through the history of Alaska. She
suggested that this is a way for Alaska history teachers to talk
to their students.
3:59:17 PM
CHAIR REVAK thanked the sponsor and staff for presenting the
bill and relaying an inspiring story. He opined that it is most
inspiring that Walter Harper's goal was to graduate from medical
school and bring the discipline back to help his and other
communities in rural Alaska.
3:59:48 PM
CHAIR REVAK closed public testimony on SB 144. He noted the bill
had a zero fiscal note and solicited a motion.
CHAIR COGHILL commented that the community of Nenana
commemorated the sinking of the Princess Sophia.
4:00:25 PM
CHAIR COGHILL moved to report SB 144, work order 31-LS1221\M,
from committee with individual recommendations and attached zero
fiscal note.
CHAIR REVAK found no objection and SB 144 was reported from the
Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.