Home

Read the memoirs of Alaskan gold miner pioneer Elmer F. Keturi (1906-1996), written in 1984.

Trails and Tailings tells the story of a hard working son of Finnish immigrants who, during the depression, left the farm in upstate New York for Alaska.   Upon arrival in the 49th state, Elmer hiked hundreds of miles through the snow, ice, and wind to work a gold mine in the remote town of Flat City, Alaska*.    Later,  he found himself running gold mining operations in nearby Moore Creek,  and then Taylor Creek.   And as the predecessor to Alaska’s “Ice Road Truckers”  he would also transport freight using bulldozer led “Cat Trains” across the snow & ice using trails he created on his own. Trails and Tailings details when one of his D8 bulldozers crashed through the frozen Yukon River in sub-zero temperatures, in 1944.   (Be sure to check out the video of the bulldozer recovery with Elmer himself narrating, Chapter 10.)

*Flat City, AK population in the early 1900’s was approx. 6,000.   Flat’s population today is 0.

Table of Contents

Sign Guestbook

Film of D8 being pulled out of frozen Yukon, with Elmer narrating