Alaska Short Stories: True-Life Tales from the Great Land
Step into real Alaska moments--rough seas, the 1964 quake, icy dives, and the kind of humor you only hear from people who lived it.
Pick a short read below.
Alaska roads lead to adventure.
- 5-10 minute reads (perfect for a break)
- True-life accounts from across Alaska, including Anchorage memories
- Browse featured stories or add your own
"I love reading your stories"
Diane
New here? Start with these reader-favorite Alaska Short Stories--each one drops you right into a true moment that's hard to forget.
Most Popular Alaska Short Stories (Start Here)
Choose your mood: close calls, history, funny moments, or pure adventure.
1)1964 Alaska Earthquake Tsunami: A Survivor's Shipboard Story
A boat, a swirling vortex, and the terrifying power of the sea after the 1964 quake.
Read "1964 Earthquake Tsunami"2) Cordova and the Great Alaskan Earthquake--Good Friday in Cordova, as I Lived It
Clocks slam, the ground waves, and a harbor drops--this is what the quake felt like in Cordova.
Read "Cordova and the Great Alaskan Earthquake"3) 1963 Cordova Inferno: One Family's Dawn Escape
A teenager faces a roaring blaze, explosions, and a fire that won't be stopped.
Read "1963 Cordova Inferno"4) The Big Alaska Earthquake: A Valdez Girl Remembers
A family rides out the quake as the world heaves--and suddenly, everything goes dark.
Read "the Big Alaska Earthquake"Short, true stories from Alaskans and those who love Alaska.
Read "1964 Earthquake Tsunami"
Kodiak, Alaska
The dock rolls like waves, the sea drains away, and then the harbor comes back with a roar.
Add Your Alaska Short Stories
Read "Ice the Savior"
Life and Danger on an Alaskan Fishing Boat
A gripping sea memoir of heavy icing, failing pumps, and sheer endurance aboard a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Alaska in 1962.
Cordova and the Great Alaskan Earthquake
A schoolteacher's family rides out the shaking--then discovers Cordova's harbor has dropped several feet.
Alaska Short Stories
Read "1963 Cordova Inferno"
A downtown fire turns unstoppable--then even dynamite can't stop what's coming next.
Read “The Anchorage Film Caper”
An abandoned basement following the 1964 quake turns into a hilarious adventure for one Anchorage teen.
A fun story with an unforgettable punchline.
Read "Kodiak Reservoir"
His wetsuit was covered with a sheet of ice, but he had to dive into the frigid depths to save the town's water supply.
Read "Ship Creek Adventure"
His foot slipped off a wet log, then he fell into a deep, swirling hole that held him in a cold, dark watery world.
For those who grew up in Anchorage, Alaska.
Read "The Big Alaska Earthquake"
A 14-year-old in Valdez watches daylight vanish, the ground split open, and the town change forever.
Read "Old Alaska Highway Diary"
June 25, 1947
“Roads are so muddy. Hope we never have another muddy hill like we just came over—skidded so—I'm still shaking.”
Alaska Short Stories
"Thank you for all the stories and this website."
Richard
Add Your Alaska Short Stories
Do You Have Stories about Your Adventures in the Great Land?
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Enjoy these Adventures
Click below to see stories from other visitors to this page...
Stuck on an island 
Our family arrived at Camp Island near Petersburg in Southeast Alaska on Sept. 9, 1959.
How we got there is quite a story.
We were living in Charleston, …
The Flip Side Of
Peter Dana show
My dad hosted a show back in 1967 or 68. It was either called “The Flip Side of Peter Dana” or “The Peter Dana show”.
My dad was an entertainer, a …
The Great Cordova Fire
"The whole one side of the downtown buildings were on fire."
On the morning of May 2, 1963, I got up as usual, shaved, showered, had breakfast and …
A The Alaska
Railroad Brat
My dad was an officer for The Alaska Railroad.
As a railroad brat, I had access to a free pass, as did several of my friends. I don't remember who the …
Alaska
All the Colors of White
Are these questions familiar?
Did you know any Eskimos?
Did you live in an igloo?
How could you stand all that snowy whiteness?
Is it …
Joey Bear and Joe 
My grandfather Joe Bayless was born in Circle, Alaska in 1910 on the banks of the Yukon River when it was a “superhighway” running through Alaska from …
Riding
the Laundry Train Car
There was only one place for my brother and I to sit on this run of the Alaska Railroad.
It was on a pile of dirty laundry in the luggage car. Yes, …
The Wasilla Ogre
and the Fool
An Ogre came out of his house near downtown Wasilla, Alaska, yelling and threatening us by waving a hatchet high over his head.
When I was 10 years …
The Cordova Iceworm Festival
Conception Not rated yet
Cordova, Alaska was very sleepy and dead during the months of January, February, and March.
Even though the shortest day of the year is on the 22nd …
The Great Land is a vast place with many people, places, and looks.
The beauty of nature is everywhere, and so is adventure, the hardship of living off the land, and the challenge of building a life in the last frontier.
The Alaska Short Stories, featured on this page of Anchorage Memories, reflect all that this Great Land has to offer. From those who drove the “ALCAN” to come to the 49th state to people who sought adventure or imagined building a new business, a new life, or making a dream come true.
These stories will take your imagination to new places, where you'll experience the Alaska that the authors lived. From the deck of a commercial fishing boat to riding out the 1964 earthquake and everything in between.
When you read these stories, you'll see what being an Alaskan really means to the people of this special place.
These stories are short and excellent lunchtime reads.
So take a few minutes or more and read these Alaska short stories, and let the words of the authors transport you to a new adventure in a far-off land called Alaska.
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