The boys from Alaska

Jay Hammond

A few years ago my wife, Jean and I had the good fortune to attend a Health Seminar in California. It was an informative week. We learned a great deal about what makes us tick, and how to care for our health. But the most interesting part of the trip turned out to be the people we met, ate with, and talked with at the seminar.

We were especially fortunate because two of couples who shared our table were among the most interesting story tellers we have ever met ‚ Jay and Bella Hammond, and John and Eleanor Claus, from Alaska.

Jay Hammond was a former Governor of Alaska -- a barrel-chested, Ernest Hemingway look alike, an amiable fellow who smiled a lot and made you feel as if he was an old friend. John Claus was a rugged, ruddy-faced, silvery haired, quiet-spoken, long-time friend of Hammond's. Every year or so the two men and their wives made the long trip from Alaska to Southern California to attend the seminars and get a physical tune up at a nearby Health Clinic.

The route of the Trans Alaska Pipeline.

At the evening meals, Mr. Hammond had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of stories, which he told very well. He was frequently the victim of his story, when he had done something wrong, or foolish, that had caused trouble. But the stories were always about his time flying, or hunting or fishing -- never about his days as governor.

It was only when I found myself having a cup of coffee with John Claus that I learned about the political side of Jay Hammond.

I learned that Jay Hammond was probably one of the best-loved men in Alaska. He had served as Alaska's top executive from 1974 to 1982, during the biggest economic boom in Alaska's colorful history -- even bigger than the Gold Rush days of the 1890s.

Hammond was not a native Alaskan. He was born in Troy, N.Y., in 1922, and was enrolled at Pennsylvania State University, studying petroleum engineering when World War II broke out. He entered the Marine Corps, and flew as a fighter pilot with the much-decorated Black Sheep Squadron in China and the Pacific during the war.

One of Hammond's fellow pilots in the Black Sheep Squadron was an Alaskan, who told such intriguing stories of the "Last Frontier," that upon receiving his discharge from the Marine Corps, Hammond bought a used Piper Cub (with pontoons) and headed for Alaska, where he became a bush pilot. When he was not flying, he worked a fisherman, or a professional hunter-trapper, and at times as a laborer in a fish cannery. In his first few years in Alaska, Hammond got to know every part of Alaska, either by plane or dog sled. Eventually, he took up a homestead at Lake Clark, some 200 miles west of Anchorage, which became his permanent home.

While working in the fish cannery, Hammond was involved in an accident, which permanently injured his back and greatly limited his ability to do heavy labor. It was at this point that he returned to school, at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, where he obtained a degree in Biological Sciences and took a job with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 1959, he became interested in politics, and, after serving in local offices, then the Alaska Legislature for several terms, he ran for Governor in 1974.

Hammond was a Republican, a fiscal conservative, with a strong interest in the environment, but at the time he ran for governor he was an unknown, politically speaking. When a reporter asked him if he thought he was the best man for the job, Hammond answered that he felt there were many men in Alaska who were more qualified than he, "But sir, they are not running for governor. I am!"

Few men have had a chance to have as great effect on the future of their state as did Hammond, during his eight years as Governor. During his first two years the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System was built. This was an engineering marvel -- 800 miles of pipeline (plus hundreds of miles of feeder lines), from Prudoe Bay in the north to the ice-free port of Valdez, on Prince William Sound in Southern Alaska.

This pipeline was built after the oil crisis in 1973. It was an amazingly difficult project because of the extreme cold, isolated terrain, and dealing with the permafrost along much of the route. Then there was the problem of dealing with leaks, caused by sabotage, maintenance failures, and holes caused by gunshot.

But the pipeline also meant a huge windfall of riches for the State of Alaska, and it was here that Hammond made his lasting mark on Alaska. He was able to convince legislators that they should establish a Permanent Fund with money received from oil leases, which would be used to help pay for state projects. The interest from this fund would go to residents of Alaska (everyone who has lived in Alaska for at least one year). Since inception, the fund has grown to about $30 Billion. The checks paid to individual Alaskans have varied from a low of $920 to a high of $1,964, and have proved to be very popular with Alaskans. Hammond claimed that the distributions acted as a brake on government spending -- to hold down expenditures so there is more for individuals.

John Claus had been in the construction business in Anchorage, but in 1960 joined his son, Paul, in establishing the Ultima Thule Lodge, within the St. Elias National Park in an exceedingly remote part of Alaska, 150 miles from the nearest road. John seemed very proud that he and Paul had flown in every piece of building material to build and support the lodge -- including their Ford tractor. This lodge has become a very popular base point for hunters, skiers, and fishermen. John and Paul fly their guests to lakes, woods, and ski slopes in even more remote regions of Alaska.

Each evening, John Claus and Jay Hammond (mostly Mr. Hammond) regaled their tablemates with stories of landing on and taking off from glaciers in incredibly short spaces, of encounters with wild or elusive animals, and fishing trips into the cold dark waters of the Bering Sea.

Invariably, if there was talk about flying, the two men would end the discussion with some story about John's son, Paul, who is considered the epitome of the Alaskan bush pilot, and whose exploits have been captured in several documentary films about the Alaskan bush country.

It was interesting that the wives of these two fellows rarely said much at all. Bella Hammond merely smiled as Jay described how his wife had encountered a bear just outside their cabin, and had shooed him away with a skillet. Long suffering, apparently she had heard him describe the incident on numerous occasions.

Recently I was able to attend another of the Health Seminars in California. I looked forward to renewing my acquaintance with the two fellows from Alaska and hearing more stories about the derring-do of those two frontiersmen.

John Claus was still active in flying guests at his Lodge to favorite spots within the St. Elias National Park, but was not at the Health Seminar that year. However, it was with some sadness that I learned that Jay Hammond had died. After leaving political life, he had returned to flying hunters and fishermen into remote parts of the state, often to Ultima Thule Lodge. Apparently, his daring days of flying had been put behind him, and he died peacefully at his home at Lake Clark in 2005. He was 83.

Source: NY Times, Aug. 3, 2005, Jay Hammond, Creator of the Permanent Fund, by Garry Gamber