The Glacier Priest’, Bernard R Hubbard narrates this film (:13). In 1876, William H. Seward purchased Alaska from Russia (:24). American’s protested against this purchase and felt it was a waste and dubbed it as ‘Seward’s folly’ (:36). The film will divide Alaska into three sections and the first is highlighted (2:20) as Yukon. Dogs pulling sleds across the snow depict the common perception of what Alaska is (2:38) and it is the malamute husky (3:00). Eskimos are stepping from their homes which were dug outs or log cabins (3:28). This group remained due to the abundance of food and ice fishing is depicted (3:47). Herds of reindeer, imported from Siberia, (4:00) flock across the frozen land. The once frozen Yukon is now shown melting and breaking up in massive chunks. The capital city of Juneau is pinpointed and is at the same latitude as London (5:18) and the climate is similar to that of the New England states (5:38). A view from aboard ship is caught at (6:00) of the inside passage. Shots of Alaska’s first cities follow (6:28). The Alaskan Juneau gold mine was a major source of income (6:38). ‘Alaskan Dairy’ is read across the roof of a dairy farm building as farming is another flourishing industry here (7:00). The narrator divulges his nickname is in reference to the years of research spent in Europe and North America studying glaciers (7:50). Some of the massive Alaskan glaciers (7:58) suddenly rise from under the waters surface and one is shown rising from 1,000 feet below (8:28). To catch the footage of another glacier crumbling into the waters (8:49), the narrator waited eight years (8:49). Back to the map, the Alaskan peninsula and Aleutian Islands are highlighted (9:25). The actual Aleutian Islands are shown next (9:49). The valley shown was destroyed by an eruption in 1912 (10:15). On the northern end of the Alaskan peninsula, rests the Mount Aniakchack Crater (11:02). The film then leads to the incredible life cycle of salmon (11:45). They begin travelling with the current shortly after birth (11:33) and completely disappear after reaching the Bering Sea in the Alaskan gulf (11:41) in the Pacific. Two to five years later they return to their place of birth (11:45). These impressive creatures’ journey is documented as they begin their migration (11:57), returning to the stream in which they are born (12:25) and beating their way upstream to spawn safely (12:34). Once they have reached freshwater, they lose their silver color and are unable to be consumed (12:47). A man is shown holding a full-grown salmon, pointing out the over hung jaw and long teeth (13:49) which are used for digging holes to lay eggs. Another fish is shown fanning the water and creating a mud screen to hide the eggs (15:09). An image of the circle of life is captured as salmon have perished after spawning and gulls feed from the carcasses (15:29). From February to May, ships leave Pacific coast ports for the salmon run in Alaska (16:09). Salmon traps using nets and wood are set up (16:47) and this tactic is known as brailing. Smaller boats ‘sweep the seas’ where the fish are known to be (18:15). Boats are racing home for canning as only 12 to 24 hours were allowed in between capture and canning (18:46). A mechanical elevator moves the salmon through chutes (20:23) and these are sent into bins in the fish house (20:36). The iron chink cuts heads and tails off (20:44). A machine had been developed which could attach and seal the reformed can and deliver them to the canning house (21:56). Cans were later filled and lids were attached automatically by machine (23:44). From here they move to the vacuum machines to be vacuum sealed (24:01). After washed (24:45), cans are seen placed on cooking trays (24:40) and will be cooked with steam (25:05). Later modern labeling machines are utilized and cans are done in batches (27:13). In the end, the salmon industry has produced several times the original purchase price of the state (28:49).

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