In 2002, we fell in love with Alaska and purchased property near Fairbanks. Our Alaska log home was built in 2003 by Bill Kisken of Log Weavers here in Fairbanks. Bill is an artist, who uses the hand scribed Swedish cope system. Notice how tightly the logs fit at the ends, this is very diffucult to achieve. We retired in 2013, and moved our residence to Alaska.


April 16, 2009

Harpers Ferry, WV

Ever since I read James Robertson's biography of Stonewall Jackson,  I have been interested in Harpers Ferry.  Of course, we all study John Brown's rebellion in school, but there is so much more to the place than that event.  Lewis and Clark stopped there to collect weapons for their journey.  The first rifles with interchangeable parts (a key element of the industrial revolution) were made by John Hall at Harpers Ferry.  The Appalachian Trail passes through Harpers Ferry.  When Robert E. Lee passed north to Gettysburg, he forded the river near here.

Nothing however, prepared me for the way the nearby mountains overshadowed the place. When Stonewall took Maryland Heights, he had total control over the Federal troops at Harpers Ferry.  Those mountains make it indefensible!  This was Jackson's greatest victory.  

Harpers Ferry has all the connections to our history.  It should be studied for more than just John Brown.

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