Fannie Quigley

I began research on Fannie Quigley. My efforts to uncover the real story of Fannie’s life became a quest that absorbed much of my time and ultimately shaped my life and my career. Fannie arrived in the Kantishna mining district in 1906, and her life in the area spanned the creation of the Park itself. Her wilderness life inspired many who met her to write about her unique personality and her hunting and trapping, cooking, and gardening abilities. To the many tourists to Denali National Park has become an intriguing symbol of the enduring, intrepid spirit of the original pioneers. She was described in five book chapters and at least two magazine articles between 1913 and 1955. Ironically, when I began my research on Fannie Quigley nearly thirty years ago, very little was known about the facts of her life; even her maiden name was hard to find, making further research difficult.

Fannie was no starry-eyed idealist, but a realist. She did not have the luxury of placing her existence in the context of adventure or even wilderness, but instead was focused on simply making a living and supporting the prospecting efforts of her husband, Joe.

I have often wondered whether or how Fannie understood the concept of wilderness scenery. Wilderness is a concept which, as a basically romantic ideal, leaning on the concept of the sublime, virtually requires the idea of leisure. Absent the leisure for contemplation; wilderness is only about survival. And survival requires hard work.

Fannie made an art form out of the hard work of survival, carefully coordinating the numerous tasks of hunting, trapping, gathering, growing, and preserving food, and of course, cooking.

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