Cheechako

A ragtag collection of Alaskan castaways struggle to survive after a devastating earthquake destroys their small fishing village. But the adversity surpasses the physical as a sinister force of the underworld, Pluto, is unleashed from the torn earth by the quake. Ultimately, they must confront not only the fury of the torn earth, but also a world traumatized by addictions to power, comfort, drugs, sex, and other hungers that linger beneath the shadows of human secrets. A fast-paced and fantastic adventure that is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to be both entertainied and shocked as Cheechako opens your eyes to the true cost of our human nature.

A fond look back at the adventures of a Cheechako who took flight training in Alaska, and his experiences from Port Heiden to Wiseman.

The Langdok's move to Anchorage, Alaska in 1969 was a daring and gutsy decision on the part of this young Wisconsin couple with a two-year-old baby daughter. It wasn't long before exciting and unexpected challenges started to shape and mold their character; from finding a dead body, dealing with airplane crashes and police department murders to ‘homesteading' in a log cabin with no electricity or water! A second baby girl joined the family and together they enjoyed the summer camping and fishing surrounded in breathtaking scenery, autumn horseback rides throughout the beautiful Chugach Mountains and winter snowmachining and skiing in a frosty, cold landscape. They learned to live off the land raising delicious vegetables under the midnight sun, smoking fresh-caught salmon for the larder and filling their freezer with moose and caribou. It was a good and rewarding life! Together with their children, Don and Lanna established lifelong friendships while making Alaska their home. This is their true story...

Ballads of a Cheechako is a collection of poems about a new miner in the Arctic regions of the world. Robert W. Service writes insightful and nostalgia-provoking verses about the gold rush as well as the thrill of Arctic adventures. Excerpt: "To the Man of the High North My rhymes are rough, and often in my rhyming Men of the High North Men of the High North, the wild sky is blazing; The Ballad of the Northern Lights One of the Down and Out—that's me. Stare at me well, ay, stare!"

Will Rollins, a greenhorn––cheechako––(chee-chock-oh) is miserable in his new Alaska life. In addition to the bully after him, he can't seem to make any friends in school and doesn't know a thing about dogsleds, riverboats, hunting, or surviving at 40 degrees below zero. Even though he doesn't feel very brave, Will darts out alone onto rampaging river ice to rescue a stranded dog. His bravery wins him a valuable, trained sled dog, Blackie, and a new human friend as well, an Alaskan Indian boy named Elias. It's Elias who challenges and inspires the cheechako to become a rugged outdoorsman and a real Alaskan. Will starts out by feeding, harnessing and then driving a sled dog team. He learns to throw a hatchet–and hit what he aims at! He learns to snowshoe and stay alive in the cold, to challenge his fears and to push on when everything he wants to do is quit. Best of all, he learns to be a good friend.But when a fierce, Siberian blizzard rampages across central Alaska, stranding Will's family, nearly burying their log cabin in wind-blown snow drifts,it will be up to Will and Blackie to try to make it out alive. With Elias injured and Will's family in danger of freezing, can a cheechako save them? Can he save himself?