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The Filson Journal

Anne LaBastille_1200x628

Anne LaBastille: True to Nature

At the age of 31, after securing a small plot of private land studded with mixed spruce, balsam fir, and hardwood forests, LaBastille embarked on a solitary life in the wilderness of the Adirondacks. The closest village lay five miles away to the west over the mountain, and was accessible only by boat. She was an example of how to live in harmony with nature and still gain satisfaction from this solitary existence.

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a large collection of old nautical

Anacortes Junk Co.

Marine Supply? Hardware? Antiques? Museum and gift shop? It’s a bit of all of these. Wander over wood floors that creak like the deck of a ship to find less glamorous but just as useful galvanized cleats, cubbies of hard-to-find pipe fittings, and various sizes of chain and rope. That part for your vessel you were certain only existed in your imagination—it’s somewhere here—might be a bit dusty. Think some of the stuff lying around might be junk? Perhaps, but as Steve Demopoulos heard his grandfather “Mike,” say many times, “It’s only junk until someone needs it.”

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painting of a ship on very rough waters

Rum, Sailors, & Pirates: the dark history of booze on the High Seas

The spoils of captured merchantmen vessels often yielded large cargos of rum, wine, and ale, which pirate crews put to good use. Ironically, these periods of mass intoxication would last days or even weeks, alternating with periods of going without the most basic foodstuffs and water aboard ship, until landfall or the taking of another ship could replenish supplies.

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wooden raft at sea with single sail being steered by a man

Taking a Closer Look at Kon-Tiki

Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000 km across the Pacific Ocean in a hand-built raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands.

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worn filson patch on tan cloth with patch text reads: A genuine Filson Garment CC Filson CO. Seattle

Signature Materials

Tin Cloth Cruiser History

While the design of the Tin Cloth Cruiser has changed little over the decades, it has undergone some minor variations to meet demands beyond the forests. Over the years, the “cruiser” name has become synonymous with ruggedness and dependability—qualities that apply both to the Filson jackets themselves and to those who wear them.

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old black and white photo of men standing in front of tent in snowy forest

Walter Harper: The First to Summit Denali

By the time they established their final high-altitude camp at 17,500 feet both Stuck, and Tatum were struggling. The archdeacon, in particular, was in trouble. A forty-nine-year-old lifelong smoker, each breath was a struggle, and he would periodically blackout. But the team decided to try for the summit. The decision to put Harper in the lead was a simple one. “Karstens recognized that any chance they had to succeed hinged on having their strongest climber lead, and that was Walter,”

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painting of people waiting in line for a soup kitchen

Yesler Way: the history & origin of “skid row”

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map of alaska with judicial division marked off in red

Map Maker of the Pacific Northwest

The Kroll Map Company, Inc., has been a fixture of the downtown business community in Seattle for over a century. Three generations of the Loacker family have continued the work started by founder Carl Kroll, an Austrian immigrant who first arrived in Seattle in 1903. Kroll worked as a cartographer for the Anderson Map Company, until he started his own map company in 1911.

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group of men working on clearing a path with a bulldozer in a pine forest

Black Regiments of the Alcan Highway

Seventy-eight years ago, the Army Corps of Engineers completed one of its most ambitious assignments of World War II—the Alaska-Canadian (Alcan) Highway. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Alcan Highway became a high priority. Eight engineer regiments were assigned: 18th, 35th, 340th, and 341st, and Black 93rd, 95th, 97th, and 388th reluctantly added. Race relations in American were very different in 1942, which was still in the era of Jim Crow and a segregated Army. Opportunities for Blacks were rare, and expectations low. They were unwanted for duty in the front lines and often treated with condescension or contempt by their White leaders and other White soldiers.

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log cabin in a grassy field

The History of the Gallatin Valley

Long before Lewis and Clark first set foot into Gallatin Valley in 1805, the area was revered by the indigenous native tribes that roamed its broad-shouldered mountain ranges. Over the years, this sacred land became highly sought after by settlers, and logging soon left its mark.

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red ford bronco driving through deep water on a road spraying water out impressively on either side

The Jackie Robinson of Car Design: McKinley Thompson Jr.

McKinley Thompson Jr., a Ford designer who helped pen the first-generation Bronco, was the first African American designer hired at Ford Motor Company after graduating from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California with a degree in transportation design in 1956. “McKinley was a man who followed his dreams and wound up making history. He not only broke through the color barrier in the world of automotive design, but he helped create some of the most iconic consumer products ever…designs that are not only timeless but have been studied by generations of designers.”

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A Brief Look at the Origin of Denim in North America

The history of denim in America dates back to the 1840s, when the durability of the warp-faced, twill textile was a proven choice for workwear clothing, with pants and overalls much in demand. The blue threads of woven cotton were dyed with indigo through a process known as “rope dying” or “chain dying,” while the weft threads were left white and visible only on the reverse side. Over time, other weights of denim were made available, along with different colors: tan, black, and gray. For laborers in the fields, coal mines, forests, and mills, denim was an inexpensive clothing option that was widely available and came in all sizes. During the California Gold Rush of 1848 to 1855, the prospector dressed in his denim work clothing, field jacket, and hip waders was a common sight.

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a collection of fixed blade buck knives on a table, detailing the handle materials

History of Buck Knives: Made in America

Buck Knives is a historic American brand with a legacy that spans four generations. For 118 years, they’ve been dedicated to crafting quality, handmade knives, and tools designed for a life lived outdoors. While they’re a global leader in the sports cutlery industry, the journey began humbly at the turn of the 20th century.

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group of loggers in white shirts and overalls standing in forest

Maxville: The Town of Oregon’s African American Loggers

Nestled in the dense forests of Northeast Oregon stood Maxville, a former logging town that granted residence to African American loggers during the state’s exclusionary period, which saw Black people outlawed from the state. Despite the odds, this timber town thrived and prospered amidst adversity to become a boon for Black men and their families to flourish.

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old black and white picture of men in park ranger uniforms

Eight, Nine, Ten…He’s Out: The History of Boxing in Logging Camps

Logging camps were rough and tumble enterprises, where loggers often worked from sunup to sundown six days a week in their pursuit of timber harvesting across the forests and mountains of the United States. Sunday was their one day off, and one of the pastimes they engaged in for entertainment every week was boxing. Read more about some of the professional fighters than got their start in logging camps.

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old black and white image of large group of people in dark uniforms with rifles and hats standing posing for a group picture

The People Behind Our National Parks

We’ve all heard about John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt–two iconic symbols of public lands and our country’s National Parks. In this article, we explore some of the lesser-known stories, behind the scenes, that deserve just as much credit in shaping the parks as we know them today.

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white ford bronco at a mountain pass with craggy stone cliffs in the background

A Brief History of the Ford Bronco: American Outdoor Icon

When the U.S. Forest Service needed sturdy trail breakers to cover their 193 million acres of wildland, they turned to the Ford Bronco. Excellent ground clearance, superior maneuverability, slope-hugging stability, and a heavy-duty front axle — everything a forest ranger is looking for in an off-road vehicle.

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Original Alaska Outfitter Since 1897 | The Filson Story

Since 1897 we’ve had the same mission: To create best-in-class products that outsmart the elements, outperform expectations, and outlast you. Our Founder, Clinton C. Filson put it best, “Your satisfaction is the sole purpose of our transaction.” Read about our legacy and history on the Filson Journal.

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black and white image of person with pick and large mountaineering pack standing on a rocky peak with large snowy mountains in background

Inspiring Women of the Pacific Northwest & Alaska

We’ve all heard the stories of historic women like Amelia Earhart and Nellie Bly. Here we’re focusing our scope to our backyard in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, shining a light on a few groundbreaking women that never (potentially) made it into your history books.

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black and white archival image of crew of men working on the great cascade tunnel

The Great Cascade Tunnel

Between Seattle and Chicago, a train called the Empire Builder rolls on 2,206 miles of steel track. It leaves daily on a 48-hour trip, gliding past splendid vistas including Glacier National Park. However, possibly its greatest feat lies beneath the surface.

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black and white portrait of man with a van dyke in military uniform

A Soldier to the Last – Lieutenant Pierce and the Skagit Expedition of 1882

On July 18, 1882, a lieutenant in the US Army named Henry Hubbard Pierce received a letter from Brigadier General Nelson A. Miles, who was commanding the Department of the Columbia, which included the Washington Territory. This communication outlined Special Order no. 97, which charged Lt. Pierce with carrying out an expedition of the North Cascades. The primary goal of the expedition was to map his route of exploration, starting from Fort Colville on the east side of the mountain range to his terminus in Puget Sound by way of Lake Chelan and the Skagit River. As the instructions outlined, his “reconnaissance is to obtain such knowledge of the country and its occupants as may be valuable at present or in the future to the military service.”

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black and white boots on a dusty and grassy ground

Boots on the Ground: The History of the Combat Boot

“A-ten-hut!” Cue the sound of many warrior feet coming together at once. One of the most important pieces of gear in a soldier’s arsenal today, the U.S. Army’s combat boot has been through many iterations over time. In fact, over the past two hundred years, the combat boot was updated for almost every new war.

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North Cascades: Bastion of the Wild

Sitting like stone guardians just below the Canadian border, the North Cascade mountains are keepers of the wildness that once roamed unchecked across North America. Soaring high into the skies, their stony and snowy peaks seem to scrape at the clouds that pass overhead demanding tribute as they float by. Sparkling like scattered gems, glacially fed lakes brilliantly reflect the sunlight while, through deep green valleys, bright, blue-gray rivers run down to the surrounding flatlands. It is a spot where a person could quickly leave behind all of the trappings that attach themselves to our modern daily existence and transport to another existence entirely.

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Climber Fred Beckey: Spirit of the Mountains

If you listen hard enough, you can hear Fred Beckey’s spirit whispering among the towering peaks and hidden valleys of the Northern Cascades. Around campfires, bar tops, or anywhere that people gather, his name tends to pop up. He is an outdoors urban legend, the mythical mountaineer who spent eight decades solely focused on one thing and one thing only: climbing.

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exterior view of large shipyard building with sign reading

Pacific Fishermen Shipyard: The Origins of Ballard’s Oldest Working Shipyard

Pacific Fishermen Inc., or “PacFish,” as it is known to the many boat builders, ship crews, employees, family members and stakeholders in the Ballard community, can be traced directly back to the year 1871. It was in this year that a 47-year-old Norwegian immigrant, ship carpenter, and operator named Thomas William Lake settled on the north side of the Salmon Bay waterfront in unincorporated Seattle and opened his own shipyard.

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black and white image of people in antiquated clothes and hats standing behind a large stack of bound wooden boxes reading

You Take What You Can Get: Or Suffer the Consequences

The stampede for gold into the Klondike of the Yukon territory reached a peak in 1898. In that same year, 1,200 other miners set out for other regions of the far north, including to the Koyukuk and Chandalar river drainages in the remote Alaska Territory interior, in a desperate search for similar riches. This region is situated in the northwestern part of Alaska, with the Koyukuk River flowing through it from the borders of the Arctic Ocean to where it enters the Yukon at Nulato.

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vintage black and white image of large crowd of people all in suits at the oregon improvement co. facility

Journey to the Yukon: Passage Aboard the Steamships from Puget Sound to the Far North

The month of July 1897 was an exciting time to be living on the West Coast. Steamships with names like Excelsior and Portland were docking in the ports of San Francisco and Seattle, respectively, loaded down with tons of gold mined from the Klondike region of the Yukon territory of Canada. Alaska was the gateway by which anyone with a desire to strike it rich could make the journey northward and, if well prepared and lucky, eventually return to civilization a millionaire.

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Western Flyer: The Vessel of John Steinbeck

On the morning of Monday, March 11, 1940, writer John Steinbeck and marine biologist Ed Ricketts boarded the sardine seiner Western Flyer at a wharf in Monterey, California. Both men were moving slowly because a fiesta to celebrate the end of fishing season had gone on late into the night after a boat parade, a barbecue, and seine skiff races. Steinbeck and Ricketts were well-known on the waterfront—and elsewhere—so their departure on a six-week expedition drew a raucous crowd. They didn’t get away until that afternoon, and as the Flyer eased from her berth, Steinbeck noticed that the whiskey they’d loaded for medicinal purposes was gone. “Good,” he thought. “A lot of people I know won’t be getting sick for awhile if the booze does its job.”

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large derelict wooden ship docked on a black sandy/muddy beach

The SS Bering

The story of the SS Bering begins with her launching under another name, the Annette Rolph, on July 4, 1918, in Fairhaven, California. The ship was a wood-hulled “tramp” freighter built for the trans-Pacific trade and joined the fleet of the Rolph Navigation and Coal Company. At 245 feet in length, she was one of hundreds of wood-hulled vessels produced for the maritime industry in World War I.

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black and white image of two chained working dogs with snowy coats standing on rocky ground

Coldfoot: More than just another gold camp – a place that defined those who lived in it

The history of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 promised fortune to many who made the journey north to the gold fields of the Yukon Territory, with many of those headed to Dawson City and Circle City in Alaska as jumping off points. By 1898, the search for riches had expanded to other regions of Alaska, including the remote Northwest interior and its network of rivers and tributaries. History has recorded the efforts of those brave souls, and how their search for gold helped to create new settlements and trade routes.

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