Alaska Skies: Brides for Brothers / The Marriage Risk

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The History of Hard Luck, Alaska (#u632d220d-9b46-537b-b657-dc2bf1d9206e)

Hard Luck, situated fifty miles north of the Arctic Circle near the Brooks Range, was founded by Adam O’Halloran and his wife, Anna, in 1931. Adam came to Alaska to make his fortune, but never found the gold strike he sought. Nevertheless, the O’Hallorans and their two young sons, Charles and David, stayed on—in part because of a tragedy that befell the family a few years later.

Other prospectors and adventurers began to move to Hard Luck, some of them bringing wives and children. The town became a stopping-off place for mail, equipment and supplies. The Harmon family arrived in 1938 to open a dry-goods store, and the Fletchers came soon after that.

When World War II began, Hard Luck’s population was fifty or sixty people all told. Some of the young men, including the O’Halloran sons, joined the armed services; Charles left for Europe in 1942, David in 1944 at the age of eighteen. Charles died during the fighting. Only David came home—with a young English war bride, Ellen Sawyer, despite the fact that he’d become engaged to Catherine Harmon shortly before going overseas. Catherine married Willie Fletcher after David’s return.

After the war, David qualified as a bush pilot. He then built some small cabins to attract the sport fishermen and hunters who were starting to come to Alaska; he also worked as a guide. Eventually he built a lodge to replace the cabins—a lodge that was later damaged by fire.

David and Ellen had three sons, born fairly late in their marriage—Charles, named after David’s brother, was born in 1960, Sawyer in 1963 and Christian in 1965.

Hard Luck had been growing slowly all this time, and by 1970 it was home to just over a hundred people. These were the years of the oil boom, when the school and community center were built by the state. After Vietnam, ex-serviceman Ben Hamilton joined the community and opened the Hard Luck Café, which became the social center of the town.

In the late 1980s, the three O’Halloran brothers formed a partnership, creating Midnight Sons, a bush-pilot operation. They were awarded the mail contract, and they also deliver fuel and other necessities to the interior. In addition, they serve as a small commuter airline, flying passengers to and from Fairbanks and within the northern Arctic.

In 1995, at the time these stories start, there are approximately one hundred and fifty people living in Hard Luck—the majority of them male.

Now, more than twenty years later, join the people here in looking back at their history—particularly the changes that occurred when Midnight Sons invited women to town. Women who transformed Hard Luck, Alaska, forever!

From Jana S

to her Three Tree Point angels,

Mary C and Ann P (RIP Jeannie A);

her forever friends and fellow readers,

Barbara S, Sherry M, Cindy C and Cindy S;

her sisters by choice, Lori F, Chris S and Lori MK.

Brides for Brothers (#u632d220d-9b46-537b-b657-dc2bf1d9206e)

Prologue (#u632d220d-9b46-537b-b657-dc2bf1d9206e)

June 1995

“What you really need are women.”

Sawyer O’Halloran made a show of choking on his coffee. “Women! We’ve got enough problems!”

Ben Hamilton—the Hard Luck Café’s owner, cook and just about everything else—set the coffeepot on the counter. “Didn’t you just tell me Phil Duncan’s decided to move back to Fairbanks?”

Phil was the best pilot Sawyer had. He wasn’t the first one Midnight Sons had lost to the big city, either. Every time a pilot resigned, it was a setback for the Arctic flight service.

“Yes, but Phil’s not leaving because of a woman,” Sawyer said.

“Sure he is,” Duke Porter piped up. Still clutching his mug, he slipped onto the stool next to Sawyer. “Phil quit because he couldn’t see his girlfriend as much as he wanted. He might’ve given you some phony excuse when he handed in his notice, but you know as well as I do why he quit.”

“Joe and Harlan left because of women, too. Because they couldn’t meet any, not if they were living here!” It was Ben again. The ex-Navy “stew burner”—as the O’Halloran brothers called him—obviously had strong views on the subject. Sawyer often shared his opinions, but not this time. He had half a mind to suggest Ben keep his nose out of this, but that wouldn’t be fair.

One of the problems with living in a small town, especially if you’d grown up there, was that you knew everyone, Sawyer reflected. And everyone knew you—and your business.

He might as well set up the Midnight Sons office right here in the middle of the café. His pilots routinely ate breakfast at Ben’s, and the cook was as familiar with the air charter’s troubles as the brothers were themselves.

Christian, the youngest O’Halloran, held his mug with both hands. “All right, if you won’t say it, I will,” he began, looking pointedly at Sawyer. “Ben’s right. Bringing a few women to Hard Luck would keep the crew happy.”

Sawyer didn’t really disagree with him. “We’ve got a new schoolteacher coming. A woman.” As a member of the school board, Sawyer had read over Bethany Ross’s application and been impressed with her qualifications, but he wasn’t sure the state should have hired her. She’d been born and raised in California. He still hadn’t figured out why she’d applied for a teaching position north of the Arctic Circle.

“I just hope this teacher isn’t like the last one,” John Henderson grumbled. “I flew her in, remember? I was as polite as could be, circled the area a bit, showed her the sights from the air, talked up the town. The woman wouldn’t even get off the plane.”

“I’d still like to know what you said to her,” Christian muttered.

“I didn’t say anything,” John insisted. “I mean, besides what I told you.” He squinted at Sawyer. “The new teacher’s not coming until August, is she?”

“August,” Ben repeated. “One woman.” He readjusted the stained white apron around his thick waist. “I can see it now.”