A Little History on Bettles By ATP Captain Bill Odell
	The last of the Alaska Gold Rush’s was during the late 1890’s along the upper reaches of the Koyukuk River. Supplies and miners to that region came by large paddle wheel boats, which traversed the Yukon River and the Koyukuk to a trading post that was established by a Gordon Bettles and named after him. The supplies and miners where off loaded at Bettles, then loaded on horse drawn barges, for the final miles to the gold fields. When the river became frozen, dog sleds replaced the barges. The gold rush ended and air transportation replaced the riverboat. The community moved to the airfield that had been built about 6 miles further up the river. The new Bettles was born. With the advent of WWII, the Seabees had built the present airstrip, which was controlled by a CAA manager. James “Andy” Anderson was one of the early CAA agents and famous Bush Pilot’s, joining shortly after separation from the Navy as a Pilot at the end of the war. He soon was hired by Wien Airlines and made Station Manager, this was without any building, living and operating out of a couple of tents. He told Noel Wien that he had to have a building to operate out of before the oncoming winter. His answer was they didn’t have the funds, they were trying to expand the Airline. At that early time the aviation support was in the form of two seat aircraft, mostly open cockpit planes. With the help of some people lending him the material, Andy built the lodge himself. It was to serve the many travelers in the area and the Wien Airline. Andy later sold the lodge to the Wien Airline, not for cash, but for stock in the company. There are many tales about the building of the lodge and how so many people helped Andy. The aircraft had advanced to two and four seat Cessna’s and Norseman single engine aircraft on up to the Twin Beech 18’s to mention a few. The lodge soon was listed on the National Historic Register. The lodge is now independently owned, offering accommodations, meals and a “Sauna”, has its own charter airline and offering many types of tours of the approximately 8 ½ millions of acres of the Arctic National Park. Airlines arrive in Bettles with explorers, fishermen, hunters and tourists to enjoy the beauty of this area of Alaska. Next door to Bettles is the Native Community of Evansville, a unique community in that it is both an Indian and Eskimo Village. Each strives to maintain the lifestyle of their ancestors. Each has their own native crafts and these are available for purchase at the Lodge. Bettles has been one of the key factors in the growth of Alaska, during the period of time that Bluegrass Airlines operations are representative. Consider that after the gold rush period faded the next major event was the Cold War. The Canadians and we were greatly concerned with the Soviet Union sending waves of bombers over the North Pole to bomb our major targets. An early warning system was needed and designed; it was the famous DEW Line (Distant Early Warning Line). A major portion of the supplies and equipment for that line were funneled through Bettles out to the sites. The next period was the exploration for oil on the North Slope of the Brookes Range. Initially came the exploration teams of engineers, they and their equipment were transported out to the sites from Bettles and supported while they were there. Then came the well drilling, again everything went through Bettles. The next period was the need to move this oil to the southern coast of Alaska. The Alaskan pipeline (you can see it every time you fly east, northeast or southeast of Bettles) was surveyed and constructed.. Again the equipment, personnel and supplies went through Bettles. To this day flights go out from Bettles in support of these interests with regular inspection flights over the pipeline, support to the well fields and support of what is still functional of the DEW Line. When you see LRRS (Long Range Radar System) after an airport name you know that is one of them.. That was all done as the bush pilots of Bettles also supported the villages in the north with hauling fuel, food, medicine, building supplies, equipment, mail, cargo, transporting their pelts, artifacts and medical evacuation. Bettles became a Mecca for the sport fisherman and hunters as well as geologists and explorers. In other words anyone or anything heading to the North Slope went through Bettles.
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