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CHICKEN, ALASKA By Edgar Castillo
It’s 1886, and gold mining starts in the remote eastern edge of Alaska, close to the Yukon border. Nothing major has been found, only small crumbs and flakes of gold. Ten years pass and local prospector Bob Mathieson strikes it rich along the South Fork of Alaska’s Fortymile River.
He has found gold. Not a little—a lot. He quickly stakes his claim and builds a cabin nearby. Word spreads of the lucrative deposit. Gold diggers, money grubbers, and adventurers flood to the region to make their own fortune.
The area becomes a central hub for mining activity and more than 700 miners arrive in the boomtown. The landscape changes. Crude structures and tents sprout up like weeds. Nearby, new mines are dug every day and the local streams are filled with working forty-niners, diggers, haulers, and surveyors. Following these rugged men are family, friends, and vagabonds that fill the wretched saloons and brothel. The once secluded outpost is now a makeshift settlement.
Every day, miners flush mottled brown and white chicken-sized birds, which are so prolific that they are a nuisance, completely ignored by the new tenants. Only the native Athabaskans, who refer to them as “dilgama,” know their value and hunt them year-round. The locals call them “ptarmigan.”
The lucrative gold panning summer months soon turn into a long, dry winter. Daylight is minimal. Extreme cold sets in. With an influx of people, supplies crucial to sustaining the inhabitants wither away. Personal caches don’t last either. Food becomes scarce and survival becomes real.
A small band of hunters venture out into the wild. The goal: kill anything to keep themselves alive. Success is minimal. An occasional caribou, moose, or even bear is found and shot. It is not enough and a reliable food source is needed if the tenderfoot townsfolk are to survive.
Another hunting party is formed and sent out. They scatter into small groups and explore the vast wastes of muskeg, clumps of willows, and black spruce forest. The men are armed with an array of firearms including rickety rifles, pistols, and a couple of blunderbusses (shotguns). Hunters come across clusters of ptarmigan.
The white birds have changed color and their coal black eyes and beaks appear as small dots against the colorless backdrop. They scurry about atop the crusty snow by using their built-in “snowshoes.” Black accented tails are seen only when flushed. One of the men shoots his musket. The string of pellets kills seven of the snowbirds. The hunters have an epiphany: the once disregarded bird is found everywhere and is easy to kill.
The men fan out and find coveys of ptarmigan throughout the copious amounts of willow in the area. Within no time at all, heaps of birds pile up. Returning to the mining camp, bundles of ptarmigan are passed out to everyone. The odor of cooked birds’ wafts through the entire post. Hunting the plentiful gamebird becomes a daily routine and goes on through the winter. The miners and their families keep themselves alive by hunting ptarmigan and the occasional Spruce grouse or fool hens that perch themselves motionless on tree limbs.
With lessons learned, the citizens survive well into the new century. 1902 arrived and with it a post office, and the official incorporation of the town, the second to do so in Alaska. According to legend, many of the miners suggest “Ptarmigan” for the new name. They argue that if it weren’t for the bird, they would have all perished. The assembled men like the idea and agree but feel the quotation marks are too presumptuous and are removed.
Soon, more infighting begins as no one can agree on the correct spelling of ptarmigan. The new town doesn’t want to be a source of confusion, ridicule, and laughter, so they unanimously decide on “Chicken.” The nearby gold-producing stream is also renamed Chicken Creek.
What’s become of Chicken, Alaska since? Well, the area is still very wild; the willow ptarmigan became the state bird and mining operations are still in effect today, leaving it one of the few surviving gold rush towns in the state. However, the tiny village has dwindled in size and boasts a whopping permanent population of 12.
And the ptarmigan? They are abundant as ever and offer up superb hunting opportunities, and will serve you well if you find yourself in a survival pinch in Chicken, Alaska.
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New Model Sharps
God Bless America 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/oSfuFSV5hz
— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) January 13, 2025
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The US Battleship Florida (BB-30)
I am always amazed at the skill of who ever drew this blue print. As they have an ability way above my pay grade!! Grumpy
A few days ago I posted about the irony of Antifa claiming they were “true Americans”. When John Schussler then asked, “What looting, bombings, or beatings are you referring to?”, I was shocked. I thought everyone was up to speed on those activities. Apparently, there are some information bubbles that sufficiently insulate people from reality.
The data is so overwhelming that I can’t imagine the legacy media does not know the truth. They are blatantly lying if they say Antifa is peaceful or does not exist as an organization. The people who believe the lies are, at best, willfully ignorance.
Here are some of the evidence links I found:
- First Antifa terrorism charges filed in Texas
- Unmasked (book by Andy Ngo)
- Antifa Defense Fund
- Advocating harassment and violence
- Travis County DA: Three members of ANTIFA arrested for looting Austin Target store | FOX 7 Austin
- Antifa launch ambush firebomb attack on Atlanta police – Andy Ngo
- Multiple police officers injured in violent Portland riot at ICE facility | Fox News
- District of Oregon | Four Defendants Charged with Assaulting Federal Law Enforcement Officers, Other Offenses During Protests Near Local ICE Office | United States Department of Justice
- Multiple police officers injured in violent Portland riot at ICE facility | Fox News
- Andy Ngo, May 2019 | X
I highly recommend Andy Ngo’s book, Unmasked.
See also what Jonathon Turley has to say about them.
Turley has also written a book on them which I was not aware of until today.
I gave the listed links above to Copilot and asked for a blog post with citations supporting my assertion. This is the result:
Documented Criminal Acts Attributed to Antifa: A Summary of Reported Incidents
In recent years, Antifa-affiliated individuals and cells have been implicated in a range of criminal activities across the United States, including looting, bombings, assaults, and attacks on law enforcement. While Antifa is not a centralized organization, its decentralized networks and ideological cohesion have led to coordinated actions that, in several cases, escalated into violence. Below is a summary of documented incidents drawn from news reports, federal indictments, and investigative journalism.
1. Firebomb Ambush on Police in Atlanta
On March 5, 2023, a group of masked Antifa militants launched a coordinated ambush on police officers at the construction site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
According to journalist Andy Ngo, the attackers used explosives, firebombs, and rocks, injuring officers and setting construction equipment ablaze. The incident was widely reported and documented with video evidence on social media platforms.
2. Looting in Austin, Texas
Three individuals identified as Antifa members were arrested for looting a Target store in Austin during a protest. The Travis County District Attorney’s office confirmed their affiliation and charged them with burglary and theft. Fox 7 Austin reported that the suspects were part of a broader protest that devolved into property destruction and theft.
3. Attack on ICE Facility in Texas
In a federal indictment unsealed in 2023, the Department of Justice charged two men affiliated with a North Texas Antifa cell for attacking an ICE facility. The indictment alleges that the men used incendiary devices and coordinated the attack as part of a broader anti-government agenda. The case underscores the federal government’s concern over violent extremism linked to Antifa ideology.
4. Assaults on Federal Officers in Portland
During the height of the 2020 protests in Portland, Oregon, four individuals were charged with assaulting federal law enforcement officers. The Justice Department detailed how the defendants used projectiles, including explosives and rocks, to breach federal property and injure officers. These incidents were part of a series of nightly confrontations that often involved self-identified Antifa participants.
5. Explosives and Riots at ICE Building in Portland
Fox News reported that rioters breached an ICE building in Portland using explosives and rocks, injuring officers and causing significant property damage. The report noted that many of the participants wore Antifa insignia and coordinated their actions through encrypted messaging platforms.
6. Investigative Reporting and Firsthand Documentation
Independent journalists such as Andy Ngo and Wiretap Media have extensively documented Antifa-related violence through firsthand footage, interviews, and social media posts. Ngo’s book Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy compiles years of investigative work, detailing incidents of beatings, arson, and organized attacks on government institutions.
Conclusion
While Antifa is often described as a loosely organized movement, the documented incidents above suggest that its adherents have, in multiple cases, engaged in coordinated criminal violence. These actions have targeted law enforcement, government facilities, and private property, often under the guise of protest. The evidence presented here underscores the need for continued scrutiny and legal accountability for violent extremism, regardless of political affiliation.
Sources
- Antifa Launch Ambush Firebomb Attack on Atlanta Police
- Travis County DA: Three Members of Antifa Arrested for Looting Austin Target Store
- DOJ: North Texas Antifa Cell Attacked ICE Facility
- Four Defendants Charged with Assaulting Federal Law Enforcement Officers
- Officers Injured as Portland Rioters Breach ICE Building
- Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy
This I think is a classic “someday” gun project. I.E. “Someday I will have some time to work on this puppy!” I myself think that if it were mine and I had the talent, tools and be physically able to do it.
I think that it would make for a great plinker in say 22 Hornet with a half way decent scope on it. But when that happens Pigs will fly also.
So have a great Week!! Grumpy