Lodge History

If there are ever history books written about Midway on the Talachulitna, the Miller’s and Talaheim would be deemed as one of the area’s first settlers.

But we weren’t alone. There were five other plots of land up for sale in the 1970’s before State of Alaska deemed the area as a restricted park.

Trapper Jim and his family were the first homesteaders in the area. In fact, if it weren’t for Jim, Talaheim wouldn’t be where it is today. Jim was the first to show Mark the initial acre of land, stating “this might be a nice little spot for a fishing lodge.”

Today, Jim and his wife Jolayne spend their summers Midway on the Tal, just two bends down from Talaheim. They welcome our guests into their craftsman log cabin and share Jim’s hand crafted wooden bowls.

Next to Trapper Jim’s property lie four other lots, each occupied by fellow pioneers we proudly call family.

There’s Gary and Marsha who come from Wisconsin every year to enjoy retirement, and Dick and Nancy who fly in from Anchorage for the weekends to do the same. Then there’s Frank who guides for Talaheim, and Alan who used to guide for Talaheim, but now brings his family up from Georgia for a few weeks during the summer.

We’re a tight knit bunch, and have been for decades. We’ve raised our families here. We’ve created more history together than could ever fit in a textbook.

Yes, maybe the history books will state that Talachulitna means “River of Blood” to Alaska’s original Athabaskan people. But the only blood shed that’s occurred in our waters in the last four decades are that of fish. And even then, we do our best to limit this.

We are the keepers of this beautiful land and the reason it remains pristine. And that’s something we don’t take for granted.