Alaska's Skyboys

Cowboy Pilots and the Myth of the Last Frontier

Nonfiction, Travel, United States, West, History, Military, Aviation, Americas
Cover of the book Alaska's Skyboys by Katherine Johnson Ringsmuth, University of Washington Press
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Author: Katherine Johnson Ringsmuth ISBN: 9780295806228
Publisher: University of Washington Press Publication: November 24, 2015
Imprint: University of Washington Press Language: English
Author: Katherine Johnson Ringsmuth
ISBN: 9780295806228
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Publication: November 24, 2015
Imprint: University of Washington Press
Language: English

This fascinating account of the development of aviation in Alaska examines the daring missions of pilots who initially opened up the territory for military positioning and later for trade and tourism.

Early Alaskan military and bush pilots navigated some of the highest and most rugged terrain on earth, taking off and landing on glaciers, mudflats, and active volcanoes. Although they were consistently portrayed by industry leaders and lawmakers alike as cowboys—and their planes compared to settlers’ covered wagons—the reality was that aviation catapulted Alaska onto a modern, global stage; the federal government subsidized aviation’s growth in the territory as part of the Cold War defense against the Soviet Union. Through personal stories, industry publications, and news accounts, historian Katherine Johnson Ringsmuth uncovers the ways that Alaska’s aviation growth was downplayed in order to perpetuate the myth of the cowboy spirit and the desire to tame what many considered to be the last frontier.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This fascinating account of the development of aviation in Alaska examines the daring missions of pilots who initially opened up the territory for military positioning and later for trade and tourism.

Early Alaskan military and bush pilots navigated some of the highest and most rugged terrain on earth, taking off and landing on glaciers, mudflats, and active volcanoes. Although they were consistently portrayed by industry leaders and lawmakers alike as cowboys—and their planes compared to settlers’ covered wagons—the reality was that aviation catapulted Alaska onto a modern, global stage; the federal government subsidized aviation’s growth in the territory as part of the Cold War defense against the Soviet Union. Through personal stories, industry publications, and news accounts, historian Katherine Johnson Ringsmuth uncovers the ways that Alaska’s aviation growth was downplayed in order to perpetuate the myth of the cowboy spirit and the desire to tame what many considered to be the last frontier.

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