LAND OF WHITE ALICE

[Music] alaska is a large land its mountains and glaciers have long been communication barriers but on them now are 100 ton structures of steel these are the antennas of alaska's new long-distance telephone system known as white alice the air force asked your bell telephone companies manufacturing and supply arm western electric to solve a communications problem to link our early warning radar network with our defense bases in alaska the distances terrain and weather made telephone service to remote areas impractical with radio communication often blocked by static towns and villages are widely scattered few roads exist and there is only one railroad but the air force needed a reliable all-weather system which in the event of enemy attack would provide instant communication to the military bases defending our continent white alice provided the solution it uses a new principle known as tropospheric scatter transmission ultra high frequency radio waves unaffected by static storms are precisely beamed by huge antennas straight out over the horizon a tiny part of the radio signal deflected downward by the troposphere is received by other antennas up to 200 miles away amplified and beamed forward again the resources of the air force the bell telephone companies and laboratories and many subcontractors aided western electric in building white alice the enemy was time and weather tons of construction material were brought in by air bits of a jigsaw puzzle ready to be put together by men and machines becoming towers to stand up in the mountains bolted securely to take the fury of wind and howling storms of winter [Music] during weeks and months the labor of men took shape the strips of steel slowly grew to solid structures with winter weather work went on indoors inside the white alice stations miles of wire and cable were spliced together followed by precise testing adjusting though time and weather took their toll not only the air force but all alaskans now have a reliable and dependable long-distance communication system this film is dedicated to the people of our 49th state by the men who built white alice if they were to return to alaska today this is the land they would see [Music] uh [Applause] there are other seasons in alaska season of the wild spring rose in the summer strawberry a warm wind and thaw but winter is the true season [Music] from the northern tip of point barrow all the way down to ketchikan 1500 miles is a long way in winter only 600 miles from anchorage to gnome but it's six months away waiting till the water's open [Music] it's winter in alaska a waiting time a cold time [Music] where to begin how to know a land by its space by miles between its cities and villages by trade minerals climate size by all these but mainly by its people how they live and work and pass the time in the icebound village of kotzebue 30 miles above the arctic circle the closeness of people breaks down the cold in isolation [Music] there isn't much to do this part a year except wait for spring my place seems to be a favorite [Music] that's neil our local bush pilot now that's his wife laura local girl she's a honey it's work that's on their mind carpenters masons mechanics they haven't forgotten how to hunt and fish either [Music] across hundreds of miles of ice-covered stone and frozen hills another group of men are waiting prepared to defend the land they are part of alaska too yet not alaskans they're from the outside but many will stay on to accept the challenge of this land [Music] it's growing country a big country throw in texas twice and steal some room a thousand miles north to the arctic sea six weeks by dog sled [Music] the most precious possession of the house the hunter's kayak is getting a new skin made of seal from the summer's catch neighbors come in to help each with a skill there is far from the next village is the time it takes for winter's ice to leave the waters weather is the clock here a long way southward at the university of alaska another group comes together i think we better stop right back at the double bar if you'll separate that first eighth note from the next one not be meeting but just short let's try it that way once right at the double bar the land seems only to be waiting but another life stirs time that's asleep now awakens and stirs and leaps ahead in the morning air the valleys awake [Music] [Music] anchorage to gnome not in months but hours kiska to calicut fort yukon to the chain the motors sing and the miles go down miles into hours and its echo is man the echo that galena hears and down to ketchikan time into hours the big wings now span and echo on point barrows there all the way to ketchikan how to know a land try and fit it into a single day it'll tell part of the story start in kotzebue laura sees neil off on his morning flight to gnome being the wife of a bush pilot can keep you busy i'm sort of general assistant i weigh baggage sell tickets and check weather reports sometimes i go along for the ride and do some shopping in gnome but most days i wait in the office listen to the weather and hope for clear skies uh kotzebue's alaska airlines 9778 bravo cessna 180 pilot as burke the vfr cuts butted candle candle gnome estimating two hours elapsed time have five hours fuel on board be traveling at one one zero knots and i'm estimating five minutes on the ground at candle seven eight bravo katsubu radio roger your flight plan how to know a land look to the villages look to the sky and beyond to the cities it's not very poor [Applause] [Music] going all over [Music] what's that name again please anchorage like an anchor it's just the time to be in never too late so get on board mister for the 49th day [Music] just outside of anchorage at elmendorf air force base the daily training flights begin protection is part of the frontier but it's a long way from the old west in the 45 try to tuck this weapon into a leather holster from thirty thousand feet down to less than a thousand the sky is their common domain meal on the way to gnome with a stop at the village of candle to deliver his [Music] passenger [Music] along the way far from any voice the isolated reindeer herder gets a hello and if he didn't come out to wave neil would land and have a look the sound that's friendly to man isn't very welcome to a herd of reindeer between the few cities and the web of rivers lie the scattered outpost of villages the bush pilot ties them together his kind opened the territory and blaze the early trails he knows the land and it knows the sound of his coming [Music] the kids of candle he's daniel boone and santa claus rolled into one explorer and bringer of gifts kids might run to meet the train these never saw a train [Music] fletcher umiak the postmaster wonders if his hi-fi speaker arrived in good shape neil says you won't know till it's plugged in also arrived as steam iron a typewriter and most precious the male and more than male his coming from the sky knowing that in all this vast and lonely space there's a lifeline [Music] a gnome radio assessment 9778 bravo requesting your latest weather please partially obscure estimated ceiling 700 overcast visibility one light snow blowing snow with north northeast 2 5 altimeter 2 9 or 9 or 2 uh roger roger on your weather gnome uh i'll continue on towards gnome as far as salmon lake and uh i'm going to check on a trapper down there and if the gnome weather is still bad i'll return to katsubu the horizon grows the day continues the need of the day to be gathered together from the single railroad fair banks to seward the need is echoed to the tundra beyond the distance of days turns into hours the day continues mount mckinley behind in matanuska's fertile valley weather clear for the jets but far to the north where neal is flying the afternoon air is gray and smells of [Music] change today his trapper friend hugo doesn't answer [Music] the clothesline empty no smoke from the chimney a danger sign in the land where the temperature can fall to 40 below uh gnome radio cessna 9778 bravo it's less than a 7 8 bravo no uh gnome radio 78 bravo i'm now over salmon lake uh i'm going to land uh i'll be down on the ground about five minutes uh how's your latest weather down here a seven eight bravo no no weather sky partially obscure estimated ceiling 700 overcast visibility three quarters light snow blowing snow when north northeast two five altimeter two nine or nine or two uh roger gnome i'll be landing uh meet on the ground about five minutes and then return to god's speech 7a bravo roger lanning salmon lake remaining on the ground five minutes and returning two points of view will advise company [Applause] [Music] uh [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] oh so a gnome radio gnome radio weather in the arctic can play sudden tricks on the radio gnome is just ahead but out of contact uh gnome radio gnome radios do you read granite mountain radio granite mountain radio cessna 9778 bravo on 3411. how do you read granite mountain 100 miles away he gets the signal 9778 bravo this is granite mountain radio read you two by two over uh roger granite mountain uh seven eight bravo request you relay a message to know seven eight problems radio send you a message roger roger uh seven eight bravo was down on salmon lake attention requesting you advise gnome and get me the latest gnome in cot's view weather somebody bravo this is granite mountain radio stand by we'll call you back out uh this is ground up mountain white alice uh faa operations please faa operations please faa communications uh this brought mountain white alice i picked up a cessna 9778 bravo down at salmon lake the pilot has a ninja person who needs medical attention uh he wants the kotzebue and gnome weather and the forecast render gnome sky partially obscure estimated ceiling 700 overcast visibility three-quarters light snow blowing snow when north-northeast 2-5 altimeter 2992 katza view estimated ceiling one thousand overcast visibility three light snow wind west one five peaked us at two zero and advice seven eight bravo remain on the ground salmon lake and we'll send ground transportation it's not an ambulance but it's the only way to bring hugo in and driver milton adams is just the man to do it when the recent dog sled derby harpooned a whale he's also manager of the local dance team he's sure of his dogs and he's counting on them to get him back in time for the dance rehearse he hears the wind but not the miracle of voices on the wind white alice on the hill behind keeping the air of alaska alive bringing the land together as soon as you got your first shipment when are you gonna come home but colonel blake is out of washington this week major the weather's still bad i don't know if the flight will get out give him penicillin twice a day until a temperature nine dollars for three minutes plus what time the plane leaves for japan guarantee you will polar bear in ten days i hear you're fine rowan honey some wild dogs running lord made alaskan weather the telephone voice is beamed from the curved antenna into the sky reflected down from the troposphere picked up by the receiving antenna beyond the horizon and beamed forward again [Music] to these hills once bare builders brought their steel piece by piece hauled in flown in dropped from the sky they tamed the mountains native and outsider till the towers were placed and the heartbeat begun from mountain to mountain leaping the valleys time is now instant as the wave of light hello from barrow that gokanna hello from juno to the cape of wales time is at zero distance is dead how does one know a land not only by miles conquered or by cities between the need to reach out is greater than all as man is greater than these hills for he has brought speech into silent places and silence is answered where his footstep has passed is the echo of man the echo that galena hears and down to catchy can [Applause] [Music] hi hey sean [Laughter] [Music] is gonna be all right milton adams didn't quite make the rehearsal but he did bring in the injured trapper safely now genie and junior we'll do uh we'll do your numbers with your parties on this time [Music] i am [Music] from gnome upon the bearing sea the sun comes down the sun comes down [Music] all the way to catch again come home to me come home to me it's winter now in alaska the season of the yukon rose and the summer strawberry lie waiting under the snow darkness comes on with its cold with wind and silence and it is not feared the hills are in shadow the day is over the day in the life of a land lodge as a nation close as a family the night is down all the way to catch again come home to rest come home to sleep [Music] [Music] you