Paul Nathaniel

Richard Smith and Paul Nathaniel were interviewed on August 4, 1991 by Dan O'Neill at their cabin site, known locally as Forty Mile, on the Yukon River, Alaska. Forty Mile is a reference to its distance up river from the community of Circle, Alaska. It is not to be confused with the historic settlement of the same name located at the mouth of the Fortymile River in Canada. The interview was conducted in the old cabin, which had been washed out into the Yukon River at break-up. When the high water receded, the cabin was sitting on ice blocks out in the channel. But the water rose again and floated the cabin back onto Richard's land and set it down within forty feet of its former foundation. It will become Richard's shop; he is building a new cabin for his residence. Paul participated in the interview for a while, then went outside. In this interview, Richard talks about living a subsistence-based lifestyle focused on trapping and fishing, working at the Coal Creek mine, and using dog teams and snowmachines for traveling in the backcountry. He also talks about the effect of the establishment of Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, conflicts over land use and ownership, and the history of the cabin site. Finally, he tells a story about a particularly serious bear encounter he had.