This illustrated guide to homesteading in the Alaskan wilderness contains useful hands-on knowledge, instructions, and information essential to successfully living off the land and far away from any electric, natural gas, road, or sewer grid. This book belongs in every outdoor, hardware, sporting goods, or bookstore where an independent spirit, in search real-life knowledge on living outside the urban grid, might visit.

The Alaska Homesteader’s Handbook is a remarkable compilation of practical information for living in one of the most impractical and inhostpitable landscapes in the United States. More than forty pioneer types ranging from their mid-nineties to mid-twenties describe their reasons for choosing to live their lives on Alaska and offer useful instructions and advice that made that life more livable. Whether it’s how to live among bears, build an outhouse, cross a river, or make birch syrup, each story gives readers a window to a life most will never know but many still dream about. Dozens of photographs and more than 100 line drawings illustrate the real-life experiences of Alaska settlers such as 1930s New Deal colonists, demobilized military who stayed after World War II, dream seekers from the ’60s and ’70s, and myriad others who staked their claim in Alaska.

Map — 3, Foreword: Proving Up the Alaska Way — 7, vIntroduction: The Book of Experience — 8, How to Live Off the Grid — 10, How to Dress for Below-Zero Temps — 13, How to Bake in a Wood-Fired Oven — 16, How to Start a Chainsaw — 18, How to Avoid an Avalanche — 21, How to Build a Snowmachine Sled — 24, How to Field Dress a Moose — 30, How to Take Care of Your Sourdough — 33, How to Build a Dock — 36, How to Cross a River Safely — 40, How to Live Among Bears — 42, How to Build a Steambath — 46, How to Age Game Meat — 50, How to Build a Dog Team — 54, How to Operate a “Bush Maytag” — 58, How to Build an Outhouse — 61, How to Catch a King Salmon — 64, How to Read a River — 67, How to Put in a Winter Water Hole — 70, How to Lay a Woodstove Fire — 73, How to Identify Edible Berries — 76, How to Build a Cache — 79, How to Keep Moose Out of the Garden — 82, How to Land a Bush Plane — 85, How to Build a Root Cellar — 88, How to Handle Isolation — 91, How to Make Zucchini Bread — 95, How to Grow Giant Cabbages — 98, How to Make Birch Syrup — 102, How to Travel with Packhorses — 105, How to Build an Airstrip — 108, How to Feed and Water your Family — 112, How to Smoke Salmon — 116, How to Assemble a First Aid Kit — 119, How to Use Horsepower to Haul Wood — 122, How to Tie Useful Knots — 125, How to Avoid—or Survive—Falling Through the Ice — 129, How to Can Salmon on the Beach — 132, How to Overwinter Chickens — 135, How to Spin Dog Fur — 138, How to Build an Icehouse — 141, How to Run a Trapline — 144, How to Survive Alaska Winters in Tent — 148, Acknowledgements — 152, Reading List — 155, Index — 158

The Alaska Homesteader’s Handbook is a remarkable compilation of practical information for living in one of the most impractical and inhostpitable landscapes in the United States. More than forty pioneer types ranging from their mid-nineties to mid-twenties describe their reasons for choosing to live their lives on Alaska and offer useful instructions and advice that made that life more livable. Whether it’s how to live among bears, build an outhouse, cross a river, or make birch syrup, each story gives readers a window to a life most will never know but many still dream about. Dozens of photographs and more than 100 line drawings illustrate the real-life experiences of Alaska settlers such as 1930s New Deal colonists, demobilized military who stayed after World War II, dream seekers from the ’60s and ’70s, and myriad others who staked their claim in Alaska.