A black and white picture postcard mailed from Ketchikan, Alaska, on March 8, 1927, to Mrs. W.S. Booth in Chickasha, Oklahoma, has a photo of a dog sled team on the front. The faded caption says: Joy Riding in Alaska. I’m not sure if the person sending it is the musher standing on this sled or not, yet it could have been, judging by the message inside.
“Dear Mother and Father,
Will drop you a line from Seward or some place near there.
Love – John”
It would be impossible to drive a dog sled team from Ketchikan to Seward, across ocean water. The sender, John W. Booth, was evidently going to Seward via steamer. Once there, dogsleds were common transportation throughout this area during the winter months.
John’s parents lived in Chickasha, Oklahoma, a big contrast from the place where their son lived. Chickasha was founded in 1892 with the arrival of the Rock Island Railroad in that area. It was a former Indian village, as this was Chickasha Indian land.
William S. Booth had worked for the Rock Island Railroad for 25 years before he was seriously hurt. After that injury, he was unable to work at all, with him and his wife living off a meager railroad pension. Ella, his wife, was also physically handicapped and unable to hold down a job.
Born on October 30, 1860, William died on November 1, 1951, at the age of 91. Ella passed away five years earlier, on March 12, 1945. She was 76. It’s most likely that the two sons and a daughter helped their parents out financially.
John W. Booth was born in 1890. He was working in Alaska on a fishing boat until moving back to the western states. Like his father, John worked for the railroad for many years. John W. Booth was married and then divorced, staying single until passing away in 1977 at the age of 86.
I like to write junk... 