The Cheechakoes

by Wayne Short

Newcomers to an isolated Alaskan island, they learned to live on their own. Includes drawings by Peter Parnell.

244 pages

First published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[Reff Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tired of overwrought angst and too-smart writing? Need a break from self-indulgent reflections cloaked as memoir? Wayne Short's straight forward re-telling of his family's early homesteading days in Alaska is like a drink of cold well water, the kind that almost makes your teeth hurt(in a good way.) Short, a recent World War II solider joins his family in carving out a living on the coast of Alaska. But Short is also a keen observer to the ebb and flow of nature around him--and the tides that define how he and his brothers can make a living fishing in these waters. At one point in the story, he reflects that he just can't kill anything any more--even though it is the only means the family can survive. They need to eat, they have to hunt and kill, but there is no joy.

This book was published in the 1960's and Short never makes us feel that we are failures because we did not leave our warm and comfortable houses for self-sufficiency and adventure. What he does show us is the land and its hardships are not for everyone, and he and his family make mistakes as "green horns" along the way. This is not the romantic west, but a clear-eyed reflection on day-to-day living in the wilderness.

Pick this up when you have had a bad day--the kind where the barrista got your coffee order wrong, the WiFi was slow at home, and the Copper River salmon run has finished. Feel better that you don't have 800lb bears breaking into your food stocks? Of course you do--and thank your salmon fisherman.

[snorwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, no frills writing but better for it. W. Short captures the appeal of Southeast Alaska. The vast wilderness and regional familiarity, the bounty, the subsistence, the inherent danger, the independence. Much of the posturing and plastered on superficiality of “Down South” is stripped away, humbled by salty spray and glacial winds. But the seas and the forest are brimming with life and one can carve out a living here if will and grit and luck combine to make it so. Every day presents a new challenge, a gamble.

Now, I can’t pretend I’ve roughed it up here, really got my hands dirty but I’ve brushed shoulders and swapped stories with those that have, some who still carry the great surnames found in these pages. I’ve seen the value wrung from land and sea with nothing more than good advice, the right tools, and persistence. As I tore through Short’s tales of fortune and failure I’d sometimes look out the window and I could see the same harbors, the same bays and points, the same mountains that he and his family worked to survive and have a little something extra at the end.

There’s something special about this chain of islands and inlets lining the BC coast and be sure: the folks crazy enough to put down roots on these rocky shores have stories to spare.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5
A solid 3-star story.
I enjoyed this autobiographical retelling of rural Alaska, given to me by my grandfather who lived there and loved that land. I one day wish to visit Alaska because it seems to be such an honest way to live, with more reliance upon each other and upon the community. The writing was easy to follow and the stories were short and sweet. I liked the read.

[Cheryl Takaoka · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very easy and comfortable read for those who enjoy tales of the outdoors. Mostly covers the family's life from Wayne and his brothers' POV, I would like to know what his mom thought as well.
Starting from scratch when you could just plunk down wherever you felt like - the Shorts did a good job of learning from their mistakes and leading a healthy life in rural Alaska.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am from Alaska and this part of the woods, so it felt relevant to me! I enjoyed the description of the way of life at that time. If you like Alaska literature and want to know more about Southeast history and culture, I recommend.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super quick read, and a cool look at historical Alaska.

[Gale Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew Walter Sperl in this book, but even without that connection it is a wonderful clean book

[Jeff Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, easy read. Especially interesting if you’ve been to Alaska and experienced the terrain.

[David Wurster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with this title was the first book I read from my Elementary School library. I loved it at the time. It was an adventure story about an outsider in the arctic wilderness.

I read the book around 1956. I do not know the author. Wayne Short's version was published by Random House starting in 1962. I would love to know if the book that I read earlier is, in fact, Wayne Short's book first published by a smaller house and then picked up by Random House.

Update: The following book, published in 1958, may be the one that I read. Goodreads does not recognize it, but it does exist. The publication date is more consistent with my memories.
The Cheechako. A Novel of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush;
BY AMES, ROBERT ANDREW

[Chuckles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story about a family (written by one of the sons) who moved to an Alaskan island after returning from WWII. There they lived off the land and sea, and the book chronicles their first several years as some of our county’s last pioneers. Encounters with brown bears, dangerous fishing trips, having to take on side-hustles to sustain themselves, the story is not as glamorous as reality TV.

[Kathy Creason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a teen, we read it at night on a camping trip. Wonderful adventure!