On March  5th, 1959, 42 Detroiters packed up and left that city bound for Alaska to take advantage of the homestead land on the Kenai Peninsula that could be had for a $10 filing fee.

The 21 families, displaying Alaska or Bust! banners and signs were accompanied by Detroit News reporter, John Treen, in a Detroit News staff car.

Detroit’s vehicles weren’t selling and unemployment had soared to 15%, prodding the 59ers into seeking a better life, so the caravan departed a drive-in theater parking lot and headed to the Alcan Highway.

The journey on the highway, that typically took 18 days would stretch out to 53-days as flat tires, vehicle breakdowns, bad weather and assorted mishaps, plagued the group of travelers.

Some of the travelers would give up and turn around. Others, once reaching Alaska, took employment in the southern part of the state. Only 12 of the original  21 families would make it to their destination. Of those, only four would manage to claim a homestead.

As the years went by, most of the 59ers would return home.

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  1959, 59ers, Alaska, detroit, homestead