Mr. and Mrs Darrell Chaffins
Sixteen Years On A Small Island
Loved Every Minute Of It—Chaffins
By Miriam J. Angell
‘Walls do not a prison make’
imjt <4o the blue waters surround
ing an inland if that island is nam
ed Woody and the occupants are
the Darrell Chaffins, who have
loved every year of the 16 they
have iSjpeat there. To the jaded
etty dwoitor the poacfnl islaaad
H8e wight suem a litfeke to© tape
but we were greatly in»pms»ad with
tftisa SdJrMyhig cplatade and leisure
ly manner of living, the beauty of
th® tendering sprace forests and the
dhriilBog vfaws toward our own
t»**r island and to seaward.
We uttod over m the FA A boot
With its skipper, Howard Stomger,
OH ®he of the recent rare fine days
when only a gonitis swefll disturb
ed die sniircfttee of the channel and
48to snow covered Mountain ranges
of Kadiak stood out starkly wkite
gainst a ^©ar dky. Howard point
ed ant Near, amd Popoff, and Cro
oked Islands as w# followed in
fto W«ke ®f tab Hall’s amphilwan
■m its take-aflf ran, and. rounding
'the 'bouys, caw© wearer ttoe float
feat has served as dsebni'kation
pwmft tor a number of years to all
fNMH* do Woody Istand. The tod
«rked and the float rocked; it
wws easy t® impgiwt why m s®«*e
diaffs, Seward Stoaiger would iwt
artsk landing bis passengers and
«arf«M, but return Amt to ICodi
Ofe moat id csttaer seas pa-waited.
Witoh Mrs Chaffin we stepped
(WWfuHy around holes in the dilapi
date! «tordc. at tong last being re
'b-Piiidrt, wd drove across (toe widtfla
©f to narrow island t® ttee FAA
Ration ©iwwBiwaity whece b®»es
.’iBDid a school, a one truck fire de
pprtwent, and the offices ®f the
iF^*A Fii#ut Satwicn Station jwe
'toeatsd. Op a Muff ©.ves'tefflkimg
IwDPg Island Channel and Chiniak
*’■’»» - .: < ' j «| _ ' ' -i-imn. . ■
Bay is the Chaffin home, a com
fortable white clapboard house
set In a row of similar houses, all
connected by a Wooden walkway
and surrounded by white picket
fences and lovely green lawns.
The community gardens extensive
ly and even now there are remn
ants otf colorful flowers beside the
bonnes. Yule Chaffin showed us
her vegetable gar#®, almost gon®
at »his season tout still distinguish
ed by the largest turnips we bavo
ever seen.
Across fihe fl»o®t <$f thje Chaff is
home is a glassed-in gallery look
ing out to Ltotog Island—a naarve
tegns pin*?®, w® thought, t® spend
hoars jast drinking in the y«ew.
Yule laughed and said the family
teas®* her about “Mother’# yacht,
because I painted the waHe blue
a ad hung up some fishnet amd
glass float#.” Wo inquired ateut
the baud some blonde hear ski®
banging on the stair wall of the
livingroona. "Tftrnt’# a two year old
cub Darroll shot a couple years
ago. A*d fehe bead @» the other
Wad! is also his bear, tout rathe*
small; he shot ope that was po
baidy trophy sme but djdm’t brim
it «St.”
We wemt to her study where
ohe Ims free-lance Writing «<t
much of tor research into Kodiak
and Woody Island history. On this
first visit we were pdaaaniag our
first TV program, This Is Kodiak’,
on which Yule Chaffin appeared
and gave a most fascinating and
aifole account of the early history
of Kodiak’s eolaniwati©® few Rus
sian enpgopers ad adventurers.
(She was to reappear Mae past
Monday but the station’s one live
camera (broke down and new parte
could not to obtamatsi ip time.)
In going over the material she had
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arranged for the program we were
amazed at the wealth of know
ledge she had accumulated, from
reading, and questioning what she
has read, comparing assorted and
opposing accounts, finally authen
ticating one version; from talking
to older residents whose memor
ies, jogged by questioning, proved
out in detail some thread of story
heard, or guessed at from rumor,
or ruins found, or obscurely re
ferred to in an out-of-print book.
Factual local history is so deter
mined and perhaps someday will
so be written. Yule said, “When
I first started this research it was
like going up against a brick wall,
but if you dig long enough, you
find it and each time it’s like
finding gold. Much of the history
of this area is right here on Woody
Island; there was a sawmill here,
and a boat building operation-Dar
rell and I have run across a num
ber of spruce tree trunks that the
Russians felled and from them,
carved out boat keels. The upper
lake you saw was where they cut
blocks of ice and there are remn
ants of the flume they used to
get the ice to the lower lake from
which they loaded it onto ships
bound for San Francisco.
“One of the early Baptist mis
sionary families Who cans© When
the UjS. bought Alaska from Rus
sia had their son write down
stories ©f tub® early days, but the
reeords all w»r© burned when the
Missis® b®rmed. (The Baptist Mis
siffln was originally located o®
Woody Island). There are s® many
missing links and it's really a
thriil Wfeeo y®u find ®«a*.”
Buring our brief afterwoo® with
Yute Chaffin we learned sofflae ©f
Phe miereejthiig facts of her own
life. Bhe was raised in the Bear
Paw mountains of Northern Mon
tana on a ranch that was twenty
miles from the nearest town. Yule
punched cattle, fixed fences and
drove the farm equipment in what
were still horse and buggy days
in that remote section. For the
first several years of school she
and her sister were taught at home.
“My mother taught us language
and spelling, my Dad, arithmetic,
geography and history. I got my
love of words and books from him;
(Continued on Page 11)
It is with sincere appreciation that I say “THANK YOU” to
all my good Alaskan Friends for their support in this past elec
tion. The challenge is now up to the men you have chosen. It is
imperative that all citizens support these men in the develop
ment of Alaska and insist that this development be realized
through a progressive and unselfish program.
Though I shall not be privileged to serve you in the United
States Senate, please know that my hand is always extended to
help Alaska and that my efforts will in no way be diminished
by the loss of any election. Your choice has been a wise one for
it was made by a majority of our citizens. Let this ever by the way
of our life.
Signed: Dr. Lee L. McKinley
And
White evening jackets.
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