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Florence Barrett Willoughby, also known as Florence Barrett, daughter of a riverboat captain, was a best-selling novelist who wrote works of romantic fiction and nonfiction from 1920 to 1940. Two of her works were adapted into films. She herself comments in her book Gentlemen Unafraid (1928), that she was created in the waters of Alaska.
The year she was born is not known for certain, but in the 1910 and 1920 censuses she records her date of birth as May 1886, in Wisconsin, United States. Her application for social security was registered on May 28, 1891.
Some of her early experiences in the region are recounted in her first novel, Where the Sun Swings North (1922). She loved Alaska, its land, history, and people so much that all her novels, except one, are set in this place of lush and challenging nature. Many of her male protagonists are, like her father, riverboat captains. All her female protagonists share her love for the country. In addition to novels, she wrote short stories, travel books, and character sketches of important pioneers of the region.
In her time, Florence was hailed as "Alaska's first true novelist." Her works of romantic fiction and nonfiction delighted the national press during the 1920s and 1930s. Willoughby lived for many years in Alaska, much longer than any of his still-famous contemporaries such as Robert Service and Jack London.
She was in love with the north, but the north she loved and vividly described was not the harsh, perennially frozen place where other authors set her stories. Diligent, intelligent, and stubbornly idealistic, Willoughby carved her way to success in what can be seen as a dually masculine world: She was both a best-selling author and an accepted Alaskan.
“I want to tell the whole world how beautiful this land is,” she told a national radio audience in 1932, “a land of bright courage and cheerful life, where everyone had a great time.”
What country is this?
Alaska became inhabited 10,000 years before Christ. Back then, migrants followed herds of animals across a natural land bridge that stretched from Siberia, Russia, to eastern Alaska. Of these migrant groups, the Athabaskans, Unangan (Aleuts), Inuit, Yupiit (Yupik), Tlingit and Haida remained in the territory.
In 1728, an expedition commissioned by Tsar Peter I of Russia and led by the Danish sailor, with Russian nationality, Vitus Jonassen Bering, determined that the new land was not linked to the Russian continent, which was not true. As they were in heavy fog, they were unable to see North America at the other end of the bridge. The name Bering Strait was given in honor of the Danish navigator, responsible for the first navigation over the channel.
Bering was again elected to lead a second expedition to Kamchatka, this time by the Russian Empress Anna Ivanovna (1693-1740), whose objectives were to explore a part of Siberia, the northern Russian coasts and the sea routes between Okhotsk, North America, and Japan. Bering returned to the Kamchatka region in 1735. With the help of local craftsmen, he built two ships: the Sviatoi Piotr (São Pedro) and the Sviatoi Pavel (São Paulo), with which he left in 1740.
He led an expedition to North America in 1741. A storm separated the two boats and Bering ended up on the southern coast of Alaska in the Bering Sea, landing near Kayak Island. The second boat, captained by Aleksei Chirikov, landed in the Alexander Archipelago in southeast Alaska.
The region's harsh conditions forced Bering to return. He fell ill and, unable to steer his ship, had to take refuge in the Komandorskiye Ostrova islands, southwest of the Bering Sea. On December 19, 1741, Vitus Bering died on Bering Island, along with twenty-eight members of his crew.
Among the tangible results of the expedition are the precise cartography of the northern and northeastern coast of Russia, the refutation of the legend about legendary inhabitants of the North Pacific, the conducting of an ethnographic, historical, and biological study of Siberia and Kamchatka and the confirmation of the bridge native to the Bering Strait.
Recognition of your shipments
Many geographical features in the area he explored today bear his name, such as the Bering Strait, Bering Island, the Bering Sea, and the natural bridge of Beringia. The most accepted theory of the occupation of America, via the Bering Strait, was proposed in 1590 by the Spanish historian and Jesuit José de Acosto (1540-1600), in the book Natural and Moral History of the Indies, from 1590.
Many researchers confirm that it was through crossing the Bering Strait that the first human beings arrived in America eighteen thousand years ago, forming the native peoples of this continent. Man would have arrived in America through the 85 km Bering Strait, located between the extreme east of the Asian continent and the extreme west of the American continent. At that time, the sea level was so low that the two territories were connected by a type of land bridge. Today, almost the entire region is covered in water, and it is no longer possible to travel there on foot.
The peopling of the American continent, however, remains a mystery. The Clovis Culture, named after the archaeological site in New Mexico, United States, where artifacts produced 11,500 years ago were found in the 1920s, led to the construction of the Clovis-first model, according to which, a single batch of Individuals who crossed the Bering Strait would have started the settlement of the American continent.
In recent years, the theory has faced great resistance, following the discoveries of earlier settlements. A study published in Science magazine on February 23, 2007, discarded the Clovis Culture theory. Analysis of samples from several Clovis sites conducted at Stafford Laboratories in Colorado concluded that they dated from 10,800 to 11,050 years ago and the 11,500 estimated in the 1920s.
The review leads to a conclusion that the Clovis Culture may have lasted only two centuries. It would be impossible that, in such a brief time, its representatives had spread across the continent. The results of the research are that records such as those from Monte Verde, in Chile, predate the oldest records of the Clovis Culture by at least a thousand years.
The first European settlement was established in 1784 by the Russians at Three Saints Bay, near present-day Kodiak. Many Unangan were killed by the newly arrived Russian fur traders, overworked by seal hunting, and several of them by diseases brought by the Russians.
Kodiak was the capital of Alaska until 1806, when the Russian American Company moved its headquarters to Sitka, where sea otters were plentiful. Sea otter pelts brought to Russia opened a rich fur trade between Europe, Asia, and the North American Pacific coast during the next century.
The company's top operations manager, Aleksandr Baranov, was an aggressive administrator, but the Tlingit destroyed his first effort to establish a settlement at Old Harbor near Sitka. His second attempt, in 1804, at Novo-Arkhangelsk (“New Archangel”; now Sitka), occurred in the Battle of Sitka, the only major armed conflict between Alaska Natives and Europeans.
A period of fierce competition among fur traders was resolved in 1824 when Russia concluded separate treaties with the United States and Great Britain that established borders and trade regulations. The Russian American Company continued to govern Alaska until the United States purchased the region in 1867.
United States possession
The near extinction of the sea otter and the political consequences of the Crimean War (1853-56) were factors that contributed to Russia selling Alaska to the United States. U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward led the purchase of the territory. After much public opposition, Seward's formal proposal of $7.2 million was approved by the United States Congress, and the American flag was raised in Sitka on October 18, 1867. The Alaska Purchase was initially referred to as the Madness of Seward by critics who were convinced the land had nothing to offer.
Alaska was governed by military commanders from the United States War Department until 1877. A salmon cannery built in 1878 was the beginning of what became the largest salmon industry in the world. In 1884, Congress established Alaska as a judicial district, federal district courts and a school system were created.
Gold was discovered in the Stikine River (1861), in Juneau (1880), and in Fortymile Creek (1886). The Gold Rush made Americans aware of the economic potential of previously neglected land. Large hard-rock gold mines in the Panhandle were developed and copper was discovered at McCarthy (1898). Gold dredging in the Tanana River valley began in 1903 and continued until 1967.
The creation of a state
In 1946, Alaskans voted in favor of statehood and adopted a constitution in 1956. Congressional approval of the Alaska statehood bill (1958) was followed by formal entry into the union (1959 ).
Oil and natural gas discoveries on the Kenai Peninsula and offshore drilling in Cook Inlet in the 1950s created an industry that by the 1970s ranked first in the state's mineral production. In the early 1960s, large pulp mills were built in Ketchikan and Sitka, primarily to serve the Japanese market. These plants were closed in the 1990s due to restrictions on logging.
In 1969, a group of oil companies paid the state a billion dollars in oil revenues, but the proposed pipeline through the Eastern Brooks Range, Interior Plains and Southern Ranges to Valdez created heated controversies among the industry, government, and conservationists.
In 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez veered off course in Prince William Sound, causing the most disastrous oil spill in North American history and inflicting enormous damage on the region's marine ecology and local economy. A huge cleanup effort was undertaken, but only about a seventh of the oil was recovered. The issue was resolved when the oil company Exxon agreed to pay a $900 million settlement to the federal and Alaska governments.
Life in Alaska
Living in Alaska, despite all the difficulties, is a unique and incredible experience, unlike anywhere else in the United States. This vast and rugged state offers residents an unparalleled connection to nature, with stunning landscapes ranging from towering mountain ranges to pristine coastlines.
The July-August 2019 issue of Alaskan History Magazine features an article on Barrett Willoughby, as Alaska's first commercially successful female novelist. Her romantic stories, set in various parts of the country, were serialized in the most popular magazines of the time, and two of her books, Rocking Moon, and Spawn of the North, were adapted into films.
Biographer Nancy Warren Farrell wrote in Barrett Willoughby, Alaska’s Forgotten Lady (University of Alaska Press, 1994):
“Willoughby's novels were romantic adventures. And therein lay one of the keys to Willoughby's personality and her writing. If one word described Barrett Willoughby as a person and as a writer, it would be “novel.” It was the romantic prospect that encouraged her, that kept her excited about the future. His journey in life was like a steamship journey north: 'A warm, magical Alaskan wind that fills me with anticipation and makes me certain that ahead – around the next bend – is something I have always wanted. I do not know exactly what it is, but it is beautiful; and it contains youth and vivacity – and that golden, indescribable will of the will-o’-the-wisp – Romance.’”
Books
Where the Sun Swings North (1922) - first novel written by Florence Barrett Willoughby. This adventure tale is a fictionalized account of the real-life experience of the Barrett family who were stranded on Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska for ten months from 1896 to 1897, when the writer was probably ten years old. Despite little provision, they had an intense will to live.
The fictional plot centers on two sisters, Jean, and Ellen. After giving Ellen's husband false information about the presence of gold on a desert island, the evil and lecherous Paul Kilbuck abandons them, not returning with the winter provisions he had promised. He gives Ellen, whom she wishes to seduce, a homing pigeon, which she must release when she decides she wants to be with him. Meanwhile, their drunken accountant, Gregg Harlan, tries to warn the family, but also becomes a castaway. Thanks to collecting food, everyone survives the winter; Harlan falls in love with Jean, and she discovers a rich vein of gold. Kilbuck gets his just desserts.
"It's so true to the country it's written about that even an Alaska Native can read it and appreciate it." - The Pathfinder, May 1922.
"It breathes the true spirit of Alaska. It's interesting and clean, like the great outdoors in the Northland." - Sitka Tribune, December 1922.
Rocking Moon, the film (1926) - American silent drama directed by George Melford and starring Lilyan Tashman and John Bowers. Released by Producers Distributing Corporation. As described in a film magazine review, Sasha Larianoff runs a blue fox farm on Rocking Moon Island, assisted by Gary Tynan. She hopes to pay off a mortgage for merchant Nick Nash with the season's proceeds. Sasha's foxes disappear and so does Gary. Nash, who wants Sasha, tells her that Gary tricked her. However, Gary was arrested by farm raiders. He escapes and finds a cave that contains the missing fox pelts. Gary defeats Nash, who turns out to be the leader of the bandits, in a terrible fight and wins Sasha's love.
The Trail Eater (1929) - loosely based on the adventures of Scotty Allen, which Willoughby had already described the previous year in Gentlemen Unafraid. Traces Kerry Wayne's hectic and successful attempt to win the All-Alaska Sweepstakes, a 400-mile dog sled race from Nome to the Arctic Sea and back, and, incidentally, the heart of Barbee Neilan, the courageous ex-fiancée of his main opponent.
Spawn of the North (1932) - refers to both salmon and the first generation of Alaskans. Dian Turlon, daughter of a canning king, returned to Alaska for a nostalgic vacation before marrying a "southerner." After many adventures and few vacations, she discovers that the vigorous North is preferable to the materialistic South and that she has opportunities in Alaska for independence, adventure, and fulfillment that she could never have "out there."
Sondra O'Moore (1939) - alternates between the seafaring adventure days of Sondra's grandfather, Dynamite Danny, and contemporary Alaska. Jean, one of Sondra's suitors, tries to warn her that the other is illicitly involved with Japanese imperialists. Sondra is kidnapped, Jean rescues her, and all the protagonists reconcile.
Willoughby writes Alaskan potboilers and fast-paced adventures, often on the high seas. She also celebrates Alaska - the land, the way of life, the traditions - so much so that all her protagonists born there are fiercely loyal to the land and all her external protagonists succumb to the pull of the environment.
Fearless women
The most interesting thing about your work are the portraits of almost mythical Alaskan women. All her heroines are physically fearless; they sail boats, ride horses and drive dog sleds superbly. They are intensely interested in work, whether fishing or mining, and occasionally run their own businesses (Rocking Moon) or take over their father (Spawn of the North). And they always marry men who have the same physical attributes and interests. Willoughby created the ideal "Alaskan Daughter"—independent, self-reliant, intelligent, and dedicated to her homeland.
Other works
Sitka, Portal to Romance (1930).
Sitka: To Know Alaska One Must First Know Sitka (Sitka: To Know Alaska You Must First Know Sitka – 1930).
Alaskans All (1933).
River House (1936).
Alaska Holiday (1940).
The Golden Totem (1945).
Pioneer of Alaska Skies: The Story of Ben Eielson (with E. W. Chandler, 1959).
Florence Barrett was married three times, first to Oliver L. Willoughby, in 1907, listed in the 1910 census, living in Cordova. On October 19, 1927, in Coconino County, AZ, she married Robert Henry Prosser. He contracted meningitis while visiting family in Pennsylvania and died in June 1928. Finally, she married Larry O'Connor on July 17, 1935, in Reno NV and filed for divorce on July 20, 1942.
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