Lillian Alling Read online

  Peter Caffall-Davis of the Hyder Museum was very patient in explaining to me the transportation system in that area in the 1920s. The Yukon Archives were helpful in supplying archival images and information. Laura Mann of the Dawson City Museum sent me their entire file on Lillian and some new photos of her as well, which was a wonderful surprise. They will be the recipients of my research files on Lillian Alling. The Carrie McLain Museum in Nome, Alaska, provided me with old news clippings from 1929, which proved invaluable.

  Leslie Hamson of North Words Consulting was able to find some previously unknown information about Lillian by using the Yukon Archives. Elena of Blitz Information Russia was a great help in searching through Soviet newspapers. Siberian blogger and journalist Bolot Bochkarev was also of great assistance.

  Lillian has been a passion and obsession for many people. Some have done their own research on her and collected documents and interviews but for their own reasons never put their thoughts into a book or an article. Instead, they generously shared their information with me. Alain Deschamps of Limoges, France, was extremely kind and sent all his Lillian research to me. Dietger Hollman mailed me a copy of his story on Lillian, which gave some new insight into her time in Atlin.

  There were countless other local historians and interested folk who patiently answered my phone calls and emails with courtesy and enthusiasm. I thank them all very much.

  Thank you to those people who read the manuscript in its early stages: Dan Davidson of Uffish Productions, Elizabeth Hunter of the Quesnel Museum, Jean Mackenzie, Bill Miller, Agnes Smith and Lorna Townsend. The line drawings were provided by Eric Josephy. Thank you, Eric.

  Big thanks to editors Jane Stevenson and Betty Keller for their guidance. Thank you also to Vici Johnstone from Caitlin Press, who said “I’m interested” right from the start.

  And the biggest thank you to Walter Josephy, for everything.

  Selected Bibliography

  Books, Articles and Pamphlets

  Albee, Ruth and Bill. Alaska Challenge. London: Robert Hale Ltd., 1941.

  ———. “Don’t Pity the Poor Eskimo,” Part I & II, Popular Mechanics, November 1938.

  Andersen, Earl. Hard Place to Do Time: The Story of Oakalla Prison: 1912–1991. New Westminster: Hillpointe Publishing, 1993.

  Angus, Colin. Beyond the Horizon. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Ltd., 2007.

  Bennett, Martin L. “She Walked from New York to Russia.” True magazine, November 1941.

  Berton, Laura Beatrice. I Married the Klondike. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2006. Originally published: McClelland & Stewart, 1961.

  Bride, W.W. “Lone Adventuress,” The Beaver, September 1943.

  Burr, Martin. In Bolshevik Sibera: The land of ice and exile. London: H.F. & G. Witherby, 1931.

  Coates, Ken S. and William R. Morrison. Land of the Midnight Sun. Edmonton, AB: Hurtig Publishers Ltd., 1988.

  Cooper, Richard W. “Lonely Woman Headed Home the Hard Way,” Western People, WP4, January 3, 1985.

  Coutts, R. Yukon: Places and Names. Sydney, British Columbia: Gray’s Publishing, 1980.

  Dickie, Francis. “Mysterious Lillian: Human Homing Pigeon.” True West magazine, April 1972.

  ———. “New York–Siberia: The Astonishing Hike of Lillian Alling” in Pioneer Days of British Columbia, by Art Downs. Victoria: Heritage House, 1975

  Duke, David Gordon, “Mystery surrounds the real Lillian Alling,” Vancouver Sun, October 13, 2010.

  Eley, Thom. “Sergeant William Yanert, Cartographer from Hell.” In the Geographical Review, Vol. 92, 2002.

  Greenfield, T.E.E. Drugs (Mostly). Meaford, Ontario: The Knight Press, 1976.

  Hoagland, Edward. Notes from the Century Before: A journal from British Columbia. Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1969.

  Hoyle, Gwyneth. Flowers in the Snow: The Life of Isobel Wylie Hutchison. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2001.

  Hrdlicka, Ales. Alaska Diary 1926–1931. Lancaster Pennsylvania: The Jaques Cattel Press, 1944.

  Hunt, William R. Arctic Passage. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1975.

  Hutchison, Isobel Wylie. North to the Rime-Ringed Sun: An Alaskan Journey. New York: Hillman-Curl Inc., 1937.

  Jutta, Frank. Abenteuer an Pelly und Yukon oder 6 Eier bis Dawson. 2003 traveldiary.de, Reisliteratur-Verlag. Jens Freyler, Hamburg.

  Koshevoy, Hymie. “More on Lillian Ailing,” the Province, May 2, 1973.

  Lebedev, V.V. “Siberian Peoples: A Soviet View” in Crossroads of Continents: Cultures of Siberia and Alaska. William W. Fitzhugh, Aron Crowell, eds. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988.

  Madsen, Charles, with John Scott Douglas. Arctic Trader. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1957.

  Miller, Bill. Wires in the Wilderness. Victoria: Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd., 2004.

  Millman, Lawrence. “Chasing Yukon’s Mystery Woman.” Yukon News, December 10, 2007.

  Perdue, Edward M. Lost Adventures From Wango to Solovetski Island with John William Adkins: Westboro, MA, Curry Printing, 2004.

  Potterton, L.A.N. Northwest Assignment. Kelowna, BC: Mosaic Enterprises, Finlay Printing, 1972.

  Pybus, Cassandra. The Woman Who Walked to Russia. Markham, Ontario: Thomas Allen & Son Ltd., 2002. First published in Australia as Raven Road. Cassandra Pybus. St. Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press, 2001.

  Reed, J. Irving. “Did She Reach Siberia?” Alaska Life, June 1942.

  Satterfield, Archie. After the Gold Rush. Philadelphia & New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1976.

  Stainsby, Donald. “She Walked 6,000 Miles to the Top of the World.” Weekend Magazine, No.17, Vancouver Sun, April 27, 1963.

  Stewart Advancement League pamphlet. “The Gateway to the Mines of the Portland Canal District; the Mountain Anthracite Coal Fields and the Logical Railway Outlet for the Peace River Valley,” May 1928.

  Weatherford, Doris. Foreign and Female: Immigrant women in America, 1840–1930. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1995.

  Yardley, Joyce. Yukon Riverboat Days. Surrey, BC: Hancock House Publishers Ltd., 1996.

  Yellowhead/Stewart/Cassiar Times. “Woodcock Remembers Siberian Girl and Telegraph Trail,” April 24, 1990.

  Newspapers

  Omineca Herald, 1927–1928

  The Whitehorse Star, 1928

  Dawson News, 1928–1929

  The Province, Vancouver 1973

  Yukon News, 1965

  Nome Nugget, 1929

  Archives and Libraries

  Archdiocese of Toronto

  Atlin Historical Society

  CP Archives

  Dawson City Museum

  GIC MVD [Main Information Centre of the Ministry of Interior Affairs], Russian Federation

  Hazelton Pioneer Museum & Archives

  Hyder Museum

  Ladysmith Archive

  Library Archives Canada

  National Archives and Records Administration

  Prince Rupert Public Library

  Quesnel Branch of the Cariboo Regional District Library

  Royal BC Museum

  Smithsonian Institution, National Anthropological Archives

  Stewart Museum

  University of Alaska, Fairbanks

  Vancouver Public Library

  Yukon Archives

  Papers and Manuscripts

  Gaffin, Jane. “John Olaf Erickson: Prospector and Hotelier.” Unpublished article.

  Hollmann, Dietger. “Mystery Woman—Der weite Weg der Liliane Alling.” Unpublished manuscript (in German).

  Smith, Diane Solie. “The Legend of Lillian Alling: The Woman Who Walked to Russia,” Atlin Historical Society, 1997.

  Whitehouse, Ed. “The Woman Who Walked to Nowhere.” Unpublished manuscript.

  About Susan Smith-Josephy

  Susan Smith-Josephy is a writer, researcher and genealogist. She trained as a journalist at Langara College and has worked for a number of smal
l-town newspapers in BC. She has a degree in history from SFU, and is passionate about BC history. She lives in Quesnel, British Columbia. Lillian Alling: The Journey Home is her first book.