Exhibit celebrates 100th anniversary of powered flight in Alaska

 

During a quick break from Cordova’s booth at the recent Great Alaska Sportsman’s Show, I zipped over to the Anchorage Museum, determined to see more than the aisles of Fred Meyer on this trip to the big city.

 

With precious little time, I zeroed in on an exhibit titled Arctic Flight: A Century of Alaska Aviation and scampered up to the museum’s top floor. Well, maybe not scampered. Riding the massive freight elevator is a slow and deliberate adventure. As the giant lift quietly hummed, two small children danced around the cavernous interior while I watched the multi colored blinking lights on their little glitter encrusted sneakers. Sneakers with blinking lights. Amazing.

 

Anyway, the lift landed gently on the top floor. The doors slowly opened and the dancing sneakers came to a total stop. There stood a shiny red Stearman C2B biplane.

 

If you don’t know what a Stearman C2B biplane is – just imagine the neatest looking classic red biplane you’ve ever seen and it’s right there in mint condition.

 

This plane was brought to Alaska in 1928 and was flown by several legendary Alaska bush pilots including Joe Crosson, the first pilot to land on Mount McKinley, and Noel Wien, founder of the state’s first airline.

 

After a few minutes of staring, the blinking sneakers and I rounded the corner into the main exhibit area. A huge smile came across my face. There stood a tiny vintage delivery truck in mint condition, painted with the words “Cordova Airlines Mudhole Smith President.”

 

The story goes that Mudhole Smith acquired property at the closed Kennicott Mines where the old car was discovered stored in a shed. Smith used it to ferry passengers and supplies to and fro. Eventually he sold it to Tillie Reeve who had quite a colorful life herself.

 

Coming to Alaska for ten months to work for Bob Campbell, a famous Alaska bush pilot, she married Reeve and over the years, the two lived in Valdez, Fairbanks and Anchorage. The car became known as Tillie’s Taxi and was as famous as the woman who drove it. Years after Tillie’s Taxi had been officially retired, it was a fixture in Anchorage parades.

 

You can reach Jennifer Gibbins with comments and suggestions at editor@thecordovatimes.com