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LeNora Conkle

LeNora Conkle

LeNora Conkle and her husband, Bud, came to Alaska after WWII, when he got out of the military. He learned to fly and then got into the guiding business at Tanada Lake. She home schooled their son, Collin who is now a commercial pilot in Fairbanks. They lived off of Mile 58 on the Tok Highway in what eventually became part of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Bud Conkle wrote the book Trail of the Eagle, Hunting Alaska with Master Guide Bud Conkle. For more information about LeNora, you can read the book that she and Jim Reardon wrote called Wind on the Water: The Story of a Pioneering Alaskan Couple detailing their pioneering lifestyle. She also wrote the book Hunting: The Way It Was to Our Changing Alaska, which details some stories of the guiding, flying and hunting business she had with her husband. For more about LeNora, see her obituary in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner newspaper.
Date of Birth:
Aug 10, 1909
Date of Death:
Feb 7, 2013
LeNora Conkle appears in the following new Jukebox projects:
LeNora Conkle's Slideshow
Interview Title Abstract Archive #: Oral History Project Date of Interview
LeNora Conkle

LeNora Conkle was interviewed on October 19, 1993 by Bill Schneider and David Krupa at her home, the Eagle Trail Ranch, near Nabesna, Alaska at Mile 58 on the Tok Highway. The road down to her place was under some scrutiny, since she wanted to make some improvements and the National Park Service had informed her that she had to get a permit to do the work. She and her late husband, Bud, built the road and adjoining airstrip. So, she had been involved in lots of meetings on that issue with the National Park Service and the Department of Transportation. LeNora and Bud came to Alaska after WWII, when he got out of the service. He learned to fly and then got into the guiding business at Tanada Lake, and later at Wolf Lake. In this interview, LeNora tells about their life in the hunting camps and the life she and Bud made together. Now she lives in the house they built, and there are many reminders of their life. The many pictures, setting-strip, float pond, visitors, young people that admire her, the life she has led, and even the fight to preserve her claim are evidence of her commitment to the way of life she and her husband shared.

95-71-11 Wrangell-St.Elias National Park Oct 19, 1993