erbert Hazard McCutcheon was born in Bayside, California in 1876. He came to Alaska in 1899, arriving in Nome as chief steward aboard a steamship. He left the ship that year to try his luck at mining on Dime Creek. After a few fruitless years of prospecting, he moved to the goldfields of Chitina in 1908, and there he met Clara Johanna Krueger. She was born in Mapleton, Minnesota in 1890 and at the age of seventeen went to Cordova where she worked as a cook and waitress for the Copper River and Northwestern Railway,

In 1910, H. H. and Clara were the first couple to be married in the community of Chitina. Five years later they moved to Anchorage and joined the hundreds of new residents establishing businesses and working for the Alaskan Engineering Commission and the Alaska Railroad. The McCutcheons first lived in a tent in Tent City while H. H. was taking on contracts to clear right-of-way on the Birchwood section of the railroad. He built a log cabin at 310 West 7th Avenue, which became the family’s home for many years. Clara and H.H. had three sons: Stephen D., born in 1911; Stanley J., born in 1918 and Jerome, born in 1931.

H. H. McCutcheon moved up to the position of Roadmaster of the Alaska Railroad. He entered politics in 1931, when he was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives. He was Speaker of the House in 1941, then was elected to the Senate, where he served from 1943 to 1945. H. H. was one of the first members to join the Anchorage Elks lodge and was Exalted Ruler in 1925. He was also elected President of the Pioneers Lodge, however, due to ill health he was unable to complete his term. Clara was also an active clubwoman and gardener, and was Pioneer Queen Regent of the 1970 Fur Rendezvous. Their eldest son Stephen was one of the signers of the Constitution of the State of Alaska in 1955.

H. H. McCutcheon died in 1945 and is buried in the Elks Tract, Anchorage Memorial Park. Clara passed away in 1986 and is buried in Angelus Memorial Park. Son Stanley married Evelyn Bockoven and they had two daughters, Cheryl Scotte McCutcheon Ramstad and Shelle Jay McCutcheon Moseley. Stanley died in 1975, and his brother Steve died in 1998.