rne Simon Kristofer Erickson was a Norwegian import who spent his life in the mining game in Iditarod and at Crow Creek. He was born in Bergen, Norway in 1887. He immigrated to the United States in 1909 and almost directly proceeded to Fairbanks in search of the elusive gold. He prospected around Fairbanks for approximately one year until the strike in Iditarod caught his fancy.

In 1910 Arne went to Iditarod and prospected near the Dave Strandberg property near Discovery on Otter Creek. There he met Josephine Johannson, who was born in Malmo, Sweden in 1888, immigrated to the United States in 1910, and had come to Iditarod and Flat in 1913 to visit her sister, Jennie Strandberg. Arne and Josephine were married in Flat in 1913 and remained there until 1920.

Arne and Josephine had two sons, Hans, born in 1917 and John, born in 1920. Shortly after John’s birth, Arne sent his family to Anchorage, as the mining camps of Flat and Iditarod were losing population due to the decrease in mining. In late October 1920 Arne and a friend, referred to only as Oscar, proceeded to “mush” over the Iditarod trail from Flat to Anchorage.

In 1922 Arne was hired as superintendent of the Girdwood Gold Mine. In 1930 he filed his own claim and worked the Crow Creek Mine until 1940. In addition, he was a skilled furniture maker who specialized in making grandfather clocks after his retirement. Josephine died in 1955 and is buried in the Pioneer Tract, Anchorage Memorial Park. Arne remarried in 1961 and passed away in 1978 at the Fairbanks Pioneer Home. He is buried in the Fairbanks Cemetery.

Arne and Josephine Erickson had four grandchildren. Their son, Hans G. Erickson had one daughter, Kathryn Erickson Navaille. He died in 1917. John A., who died in 1971, had three children, Arne Gerald, Marjorie Anne Erickson McConnell and Joan Kristine Erickson.

The diary of Arne Erickson's 1920 trip from Flat to Anchorage (Oct. 28-Nov.18), a distance of 350 miles.

The following is a transcript of Arne’s diary from his 1920 trip with Oscar, starting in Flat on October 28 and arriving in Anchorage on November 18. This diary testifies to the hardiness of the pioneers who thought nothing of walking 350 miles from Flat to Anchorage. (The settlements of Flat, Flat City, Iditarod and Discovery are within four miles of each other, and the four names refer to nearly the same location.)

Diary of Arne Erickson from Flat Creek to Anchorage, Alaska by way of the Iditarod Trail. Nothing is changed, including punctuation and spelling. Permission to relate this was given by Arne’s granddaughter, Marjorie A. McConnell.

Oct. 28, 1920
Oscar and I brought down the rest of our stuff from the Up Grade and left that claim for good. Was up to Dave Strandberg’s for supper. Left his house at about 9 A. M. and went to bed at Abe Weiss.

First day out. Oct. 29
Started for the outside. Fine weather. Left Flat at twelve noon. Stopped in at Mrs. Harms and Jim Farrells. Had a cup of coffe and left Jims at l0 minutes to 1 P.M. Got to Ruby roadhouse at 6:30 P.M. Good road but pack pretty heavy and my shoulder is awful sore. 16 miles from Otter. [Note Otter Creek and Flat are synonymous.]

Second day out. Oct 30
Started from Ruby roadhouse 7:30 A.M. Stopped for lunch 8 miles out. Got to Moore Creek 9 P.M. Pretty tough going. Had to snowshoe about half way. 22 miles from Ruby roadhouse.

Third day out. Oct. 31, 1920
Left Moore at 6:30 A.M. Lots of snow. Had to snowshoe all the way. Tough going. Started to make camp at 5 P.M. 11 miles from Moore Creek. Put pot of beans on camp fire and had supper when beans was cooked and they was burnt all to hell. Got pretty sick after eating burnt beans and went to bed under a tree. Snowing all day and night.

Fourth day out. Nov. 1
Left camp at 5:30 A.M. Had some of the burnt beans. Was sick as a dog all day. Had to take a dose of salts. On the snowshoes all day. Made ten miles to Halfway House. Cooked up the last of our grub. Pretty tough house to stay in-old smoky heater. Had to sleep on table. 58 1/2 miles from Flat.

Fifth day out. Nov. 2, 1920
Left Halfway House at 7 A.M. Was on snowshoes all day. Got to Big River Roadhouse at 3 P.M. Nobody home so we had to go up river to an Indian Village. Nobody home there either. We broke into a cache and found a little flour and sugar. On our way up I shot one grouse and one ptarmigan so we will have supper tonight. Oscar is cook. 72 3/4 miles from Flat.

Sixth day out. Nov. 3, 1920
Left Indian village at 8 A.M. Got to big River at 9:30 A.M. Put on our packs and started off. Oscar and I left 2 dollars in flour sack and I dollar on the table for the lodging and grub. Had to snowshoe down the river about 8 miles. Nothing to eat all day. Hard going. Arrived at Takotna about 6:30 P.M. All well.

Seventh day out. Nov. 4
Layed over today. Heard it was too crowded at McGrath. Went to call on Mrs. Lowery. All’s well. Paid $5.00 for a two and half months subscription to Kusko Times.

Eighth day out, Nov. 5
Left Takotna at 8 A.M. Good mushing to McGrath. Got in at 2 P.M. 16 miles.

Ninth day out. Nov. 6 1920
Left McGrath at 7 A., M. Made twelve miles by noon. Had lunch and went twelve miles farther, 24 miles today. Good walking. Got in at 6 P.M. Had to sleep on floor. [Evidently overnight at Berry.]
Tenth day out. Nov. 7
Left Berry on Big River at 7 A. M. Walked 17 miles today. Arrived Salmon Roadhouse at I P.M. 149 miles from Flat. Good mushing today. Had big supper and feeling fine 30 above.

Eleventh day out. Nov. 8
Left Salmon at 6:30 A. M. Mushed 12 miles. Had lunch and mushed another nine miles. Got in at Piluck at 3 P.M. in good order. Trail good, mushing fine today. No Snow.

Twelfth day out. Nov. 9 1920
Left Piluck at 6:45 A. M. Raining a little in the morning then turning into snow. Mushing fine, no snow on ground. All creeks frozen. 190 miles from Flat. Got to French Joes at 2 P.M. Twenty miles mushing today. Alls well.

Thirteenth day out. Nov. 10
Left French Joes at 6;30 A.M. Blowing to beat the band. Mushed about I9 1/2 miles. Got in at 2:30 in good shape. Mushing fine from French Joes to Davis on Rohn River. All’s well.

Fourteenth day out. November 11, 1920
Left Davis at 6:40 A.M. Good walking for about nine miles up Dills Canyon She was a bad one on Rainy Pass snowing and blowing. Got to Andersons 6:20 P.M. 12 hours out, had to snowshoe from summit on down. Mushed 24 miles today. Feeling fine.

Fifteenth day out. Nov. 12 1920
Left Andersons at 6:30A.M. Mushed 29 miles. Got in at 9 P.M. not too bad. Got in to Happy feeling fine. Paid for Oscar #6.00 and $4 for lunch.

Sixteenth day out. Nov. 13
Left Happy Roadhouse at 6:40 A.M. Caught up with and passed a dog team that was hauling a big shipment of gold [$150,000] from dredge at Candle Creek to Anchorage for shipment to Seattle. Had to snowshoe all the way to Mountian Climbers 21 1/2 miles. Got in at 8 P.M. Pretty tired and nobody at roadhouse and nothing to eat. Hungry as a bear. When dog team drove in I talked driver out of a small piece of reindeer meat [his dog feed]. Cooked this and devided it up between six of us. Saved a bit of the broth for morning. Collected $l.00 from the boys except Oscar. Feeling fine.

Seventeenth day out. Nov. 14
Left Mountian Climbers at 6:30 A.M. Had about half a cup of reindeer soup for break fast. Good mushing to Skwentha. Made twenty miles. Was in at Skwentha Crossing about 3 P.M. and had a big supper. Feeling fine. 295 miles from Iditarod.

Eighteenth day out. Nov. 15
Left Skwentha Crossing at 7 A.M. Got into Lake View at 3:45 P.M. Pretty wet mushing. Raining more or less all day. Been thinking about wife and kiddies. Getting closer every day. Feeling fine.

Nineteenth day out Nov. 16 1920
Left Lake View at 6 A. M. Got in to Susitna at 2:40 P.M. Was nine mushers together along the trail--not too bad. Cost $1.00 to get across the river. River broke a couple of day ago. Had a good feed when we got in. Everything in good order. Feeling fine. 335 miles from Iditarod.

Twentieth day out. Nov. 17
Left Susitna at 7 A. M. got into Little Susitna at 2:30 P.M. Wet snow half the way then turn to rain. Got pretty wet before we got in. Ate lunch we had along as roadhouse was not open. Paid $7.00 at Susitna. 353 1/2 miles from Iditarod. Feeling fine.

Twenty first day out. Nov. 18, 1920
Left Little Susitna at 7 A. M. Got to Knik at l P. M. Stopped for lunch and boat was ready to leave for Anchorage at 5:30 P.M. Every place filled up. Finally got a room at the Northern Hotel. [The Northern Hotel was located at 5th Avenue and K Street.] Bought a full suit of clothes and a grip. Paid $ l5I. 75. Also bought some fruit for $I.50. Was pretty hungry for fruit. Too late to send telegram to wife. Feeling fine. [Evidently Josephine and boys were in Seattle.]