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An Old Way of Life - Living in an Alaskan Logging Camp

2022.02.27
Could you live an isolated existence devoid of the Internet, television and radio reception, cars, telephones, streets, and stores? As a child, I did just that.
 
Half a century ago, when I was nine and ten years old, I lived in a remote part of Alaska called Coffman Cove, which had a population of less than one-hundred people. Coffman Cove was a logging camp and the only way to get there was either by boat or by seaplane. Most people who inhabited Coffman Cove were either loggers or the family of loggers. I lived there with my mother, who was the schoolteacher, and my four siblings.
 
It would be easy to think that a place like Coffman Cove would be a boring place to live. Indeed, when my mother first announced that we would be moving there, I was sad because I knew I would no longer be able to watch reruns of Star Trek, which was a popular science fiction television show. However, life in Coffman Cove proved to be amazing.
 
Every Sunday morning, a barge brought supplies and food to the various logging camps that dotted the island, including my town. People would gather at the dock to pick up what they had ordered. Often the grocery store that sent us our food would rip off the covers of various comic books and pack the comics in with our goods. At the time, nothing seemed better than free comic books.
 
I would often go into the woods to play. My friends and I would build forts and set up our own kingdoms. We would make wooden swords and defend our land.
 
In the summer months, I picked wild blueberries and raspberries from the numerous bushes found in the woods. My dog would often accompany me and eat the blueberries right off the bushes. After picking berries for an hour or two, I would bring a bucket of them back home and my mother would use them to make pies and pancakes.
 
Fishing was another activity I enjoyed. Most families in Coffman Cove owned small boats. We would take the boats several miles from shore and fish for salmon and halibut. Every year, there was a contest to see who could catch the largest salmon.
 
In the summer, my brother and I would sit on the dock and watch the sun set at midnight over the inlet, which was framed by mountains. Memories of those sunsets still make me smile.
 
The quiet life also afforded much time alone. I would often read books to entertain myself, which made me into an avid reader. My love of reading persists to this day.
 
Unfortunately, with modern technology, life in Coffman Cove has changed. All the logging camps have been connected by roads, and now there are satellite dishes so people can watch TV. However, I still look back on those years and realize that my generation was the last one to experience a way of life in Alaska that doesn’t exist anymore.
 
 
Photo Credit: Chris Newsom@pexels.com
 
 
Blog Quiz
Q1: What was unusual about Coffman Cove?
Q2: How did food and supplies get to the camp?
Q3: Name four activities the author enjoyed doing.
 
Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Quiz Answers
Q1. It was a remote logging camp that did not have television or radio reception, cars, telephones, streets, and stores
Q2. By barge
Q3. Playing in the woods; picking berries; fishing; and reading

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