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retired U.S. Army First Sergeant who served in the
4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) 25th Infantry
Division from Fort Richardson, first initiated efforts
to attain formal approval to name “Gold Star Peak”
in May 2017. The Eklutna Tribe and State of Alaska
granted their permission and the project generated
tremendous support, with solid backing by many
Alaska individuals and organizations and from all
50 states. Alkire was proudly in attendance when
the Senate announced the U.S. Board of Geographic
Names had voted unanimously in favor of his
proposal.
Alaska has at least 300 registered Gold Star
families – immediate relatives of Armed Forces
members killed in combat or in support of certain
military activities. Alkire says, “We recognize
that no one has given more for the nation than the
families of the fallen. Honoring them by naming this
peak is a small token of our appreciation for each of
their sacrifices.”
Overlooking the Matanuska-Susitna Valley about
30 miles north of Anchorage, the 4,142-foot mountain
lies south of the Knik River and a little west of a Pick up your copy of Travel Guide Fly Alaska at the
complex that includes Mount POW/MIA, named in Anchorage Visitor Information Center
1999 to remember soldiers who were prisoners of
war or missing in action. There is a commemorative
plaque at the Matsu Visitors Center Veteran’s Hall
of Honor off the Glenn Highway where Gold Star
Peak is very visible, and another along with flags and
other memorials atop the mountain.
A primitive, steep trail to the mountain begins at
Mile 5 on the Eklutna Road, just between the marker
and a speed limit sign; another landmark is power
pole 85. Many hikers park at a small pull off about
Mile 4-3/4 and walk along the road to the trail that
begins above a steep bank.
In response to requests from veterans and
surviving family members for assistance in making
the moderately difficult climb, Alkire founded Gold
Star Peak, Inc. In its first season, the non-profit
helped well over 100 people including children and
seniors to undertake the healing pilgrimage to the
top. For those requiring an easier pace, their combat
veteran guides offer other free nature adventures
ranging from viewing the Northern Lights to
watching the salmon run. For more information, visit
goldstarpeak.org.
ANCHORAGE HISTORY
Anchorage’s history is relatively new, although
the first settlers of Cook Inlet (direct descendants of
the original Natives who migrated from what is now
Siberia to Alaska across the Bering Land Bridge some
29,000 years ago) arrived in 3000 BC. Important
dates and major events in Anchorage history are
included below:
Mid-1700s. Russian trappers and hunters, called
“promyshlenniki” arrived in search of furs and
trade. Many Natives were converted to the Russian
Orthodox religion.
1778 - British Captain James Cook arrived,
searching for the Northwest Passage.
1835 - Russian traders and explorers established a
mission near Knik, across the inlet from present-day
Anchorage.
March 30, l867 - Financially strapped Russia sold
Russian-America to U.S. for 7.2 million or about
two cents an acre. The treaty was negotiated by U.S.
Secretary of State William Seward.
1882 - Gold was found at Crow Creek near
Girdwood, just 39 miles (62 km) south of Anchorage.
1914 - Congress authorized construction of Alaska
Railroad, the only railroad to be owned and operated
by the U.S. Government.
April 10, l915 - President Woodrow Wilson selected
the railroad’s route from Port of Seward through coal

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