Trip to Alaska Home Movie Last Known Footage of Will Rogers Sled Dogs & Steamship Trip 49594 (1935)

Synopsis

Shot by an unknown American tourist during a trip to Alaska in 1935, this silent, black & white and color home movie footage features some of the last known footage of actor and humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post. It also contains shots of scenery, the Yukon, and native peoples, and gives a good idea of what a tourist might have experienced in Alaska of this era. The story behind Will Rogers' trip to Alaska and untimely death is well known. Rogers was a famous advocate for the aviation industry and became good friends with aviator Wiley Post. Post planned to survey an air route to Russia from the U.S. West Coast, and invited Rogers to accompany him to Alaska. For the trip, Post modified a Lockheed Orion tail# NR12283 as an amphibian equipped with floats, so that it could land in lakes in remote areas of Alaska and Siberia. On August 15, the pair left Fairbanks for Point Barrow but were forced to land near Utqiaġvik due to bad weather. On takeoff, the plane's engine died and the plane crashed, killing both men. Opening: men stand near cars which are parked at a train station in Fairbanks, Alaska (:08). Movie star and humorist Will Rogers jokes with a baby and talks to onlookers (:46). Wiley Post is also visible from behind, his eyepatch strap clearly visible, and then at (1:30) he faces the camera. An aircraft hangar appears to be behind him. A man stands near the Cushman Street Bridge (1:36). Sled dogs in the snow (1:42). A man corrals the dogs in the snow (2:23).…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

16 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage