Nome saw the day of the 100 year anniversary of Amundsen’s arrival on August 30. The celebration included a presentation at the Nome Rotary Club, followed by a parade by Nome schoolchildren to the Amundsen memorial, where Denise Michels, mayor of the City of Nome, spoke on the occasion. The ceremony also included the dedication of a bronze plaque by Norwegian Consul to Alaska, Anton Zahl Meyer.
Amundsen landed in Nome in 1906. His ship, “Gjøa”, thereby became the first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage. With a crew of six, Amundsen traversed the passage in a 3 year journey. From Nome, the great explorer and his crew sailed on to San Francisco, where they were met with a hero’s welcome on October 19.
In Teller Amundsen’s 1926 landing with the airship, “Norge”, was celebrated and a new bronze plaque dedicated to the great polar explorer.
The 16 man expedition included, Umberto Nobile, the airship’s designer and pilot, expedition sponsor, Lincoln Ellsworth, and polar explorer, Oscar Wisting, who on the journey served as helmsman.
On May 12 the airship reached the North Pole, where the Norwegian, American and the Italian flags were dropped down onto the ice. Two days later, on May 14, “Norge” reached Teller, where, in view of worsening weather, the decision was made to land rather than continue to Nome.
The centennial was rounded off with a visit to Brevig Mission, some 80 miles north of Nome, where Pastor Tollef Brevig and his wife, Julie, arrived in 1894 to establish what was to become Brevig Mission Village.
The 1890’s saw an influx of people to the shores of the Bering Strait in Northwest Alaska, including Norwegian adventurers, gold seekers, trappers and Saami reindeer herders. Pastor Brevig stepped forward to take care of the spiritual needs of those who had made the journey to Alaska. Later many missionaries followed in his footsteps, whose collective efforts greatly improved the lives of everyone in the area.