Songwriters Take Liberties with Alaska's Geography

While most Alaskans take pride in their hardiness, even the most seasoned sourdough must blush when Johnny Horton proclaims in one of his best-selling records that "When It's Springtime In Alaska, It's 40 below." While that may be true on rare occasions, it's hardly commonplace.

There are many examples of outlandish stories that have been told of life in the far north (also many very good ones, such as those written by Jack London). A couple of relatively recent songs illustrate the point that there is a lack of general knowledge about where Alaska is, and what it's all about.

One example is found in Lefty Frizzell's fairly old (late 1950s) recording of "Saginaw, Michigan." In this saga, the hero, who is trying to woo his sweetheart in Saginaw, is repulsed by her father, who claims he is a bum. The hero comes to Alaska and, after a while, sends a telegram that claims that he has made the "Richest Strike In Klondike History." The girl's dad, who is obviously a greedy old cuss, now compliments the boy and wants to buy his claim, offering in the bargaining, his daughter's hand. Well, the deal is made, the kids are rich, and everything seems rosy. Except that our hero turns out to be a con-man. As the final words of the song go, (as narrated by the bridegroom):

"Now he's up there in Alaska,
diggin' in the cold, cold ground.
Searchin' for the gold I never found."

The point to this, of course, is not a moral lesson, but that the songwriter did not realize that the Klondike is a region in Yukon Territory of western Canada, and not in Alaska.

But my personal favorite goof committed by songwriters referring to Alaska concerns the song "North To Alaska," again by my favorite villain, Johnny Horton. In the 1960 movie of the same name, John Wayne and Stewart Granger are partners in a placer mining operator in Alaska around the turn of the century. The title song describes the claim's location as being

"Beneath that ol' white mountain,
just a little southeast of Nome."

Unless the geography has changed, if you were to try to follow those directions to reach the claim today, you'd find yourself treading the salty waters of Norton Sound.