The Shooting
Alaska was indeed the "wild west" even in the '70s.
To illustrate, here is a story of an infamous New Year’s Eve party held at the Hope Social Hall in 1978.
It was a party my family did NOT attend due to heavy snowfall beginning. I feared being trapped in Hope if the snowfall was deep, keeping me from returning to teach on January 2nd. Indeed, the snow fell hard enough that even as we left, 9 miles from civilization, I found myself pushing snow with our station wagon’s bumper. By the time we managed to get to the main paved Seward Highway, only first gear was operational in the car, and I had to travel back to Anchorage in first gear. A new transmission was required, but we had returned safely.
Meanwhile, back in Hope, the party commenced. It was a raucous affair, attended by hard drinking locals and cabin residents. Everyone was deep into the music and liquor when two locals named Rusty and Chuck decided to kill Goose.
To explain…. Rusty was not only alcohol impaired, he was also somewhat mentally challenged. But he had a large .357 pistol and thought of himself as the “protector” of our cabins. He was often welcomed with barbecue and beer at our cabin sites as his presence indeed kept strangers from visiting our properties. Chuck, meanwhile, was lesser known. He had a back condition that had him in a half-body cast at the time of the party. Like Rusty, Chuck had some limitations but also owned and used firearms.
Meanwhile, squatting in an old miner’s abandoned cabin outside of town, lived Goose with several lady friends. He had a large goose tattooed on his right arm, hence his name. During our winter visits we would often encounter Goose and his friends at the store covering for Coolidge and enjoying discussions with visitors. Several nights we spent in town playing board games with him and his women friends, enjoying hot popcorn and soda. They seemed like nice people, like many who found Alaska to be a place to escape whatever ailed them in lower 48 society.
Sometime during the New Year’s Eve party, Chuck and Goose crossed paths and had words. I don’t know of anyone who knows exactly what transpired, but the cabin residents I later talked with explained what happened this way:
Chuck decided he had to kill Goose. He left the party to retrieve his firearms of choice… a shotgun and a .44 pistol. Rusty backed him I heard but wasn’t actively involved. Since Chuck announced his intentions, the partygoers who were not too inebriated relocated Goose behind a 50-gallon drum two doors away, behind the store.
When Chuck returned, several people tried to talk him down. He would have none of it and threatened several with his pistol. He walked them backwards toward the store, believing Goose was in the store with Coolidge. He marched up the stairs onto the deck in front of the store’s main doors. There he encountered Coolidge, who tried to face him and calm him.
As Coolidge had the attention of Chuck, Goose emerged from the corner of the store, came up behind Chuck, and conked him over the head with a beer bottle.
Chuck went down, but in so doing, involuntarily pulled the trigger of his .44. A bullet emerged and passed directly through Coolidge’s colon. Coolidge went down. Someone jumped on Chuck, who promptly bit off the end of his little finger. Someone else picked up the shotgun Chuck had dropped and broke it over his head.
Chuck was subdued and Coolidge injured. A call was made to the nearest lawman.. a State Trooper in Seward. It took the trooper three hours to arrive at the store, at which time he was able to call for a helicopter to be dispatched from Anchorage to pick up Coolidge.
The outcomes of this incident were that Coolidge, with no vital organs or arteries involved, ended up with a colostomy. He left town with his wife. Chuck got off lightly since the shot was involuntary, and he still lives in Hope today.
The bullet was located two years after the incident, lodged inside the leg of the wood stove in the center of the store.
A visit in 2014 was interesting when I asked a resident of that time what she knew of this story. She knew Chuck and had heard a rumor that he had once killed a man in town.
Almost.
To illustrate, here is a story of an infamous New Year’s Eve party held at the Hope Social Hall in 1978.
It was a party my family did NOT attend due to heavy snowfall beginning. I feared being trapped in Hope if the snowfall was deep, keeping me from returning to teach on January 2nd. Indeed, the snow fell hard enough that even as we left, 9 miles from civilization, I found myself pushing snow with our station wagon’s bumper. By the time we managed to get to the main paved Seward Highway, only first gear was operational in the car, and I had to travel back to Anchorage in first gear. A new transmission was required, but we had returned safely.
Meanwhile, back in Hope, the party commenced. It was a raucous affair, attended by hard drinking locals and cabin residents. Everyone was deep into the music and liquor when two locals named Rusty and Chuck decided to kill Goose.
To explain…. Rusty was not only alcohol impaired, he was also somewhat mentally challenged. But he had a large .357 pistol and thought of himself as the “protector” of our cabins. He was often welcomed with barbecue and beer at our cabin sites as his presence indeed kept strangers from visiting our properties. Chuck, meanwhile, was lesser known. He had a back condition that had him in a half-body cast at the time of the party. Like Rusty, Chuck had some limitations but also owned and used firearms.
Meanwhile, squatting in an old miner’s abandoned cabin outside of town, lived Goose with several lady friends. He had a large goose tattooed on his right arm, hence his name. During our winter visits we would often encounter Goose and his friends at the store covering for Coolidge and enjoying discussions with visitors. Several nights we spent in town playing board games with him and his women friends, enjoying hot popcorn and soda. They seemed like nice people, like many who found Alaska to be a place to escape whatever ailed them in lower 48 society.
Sometime during the New Year’s Eve party, Chuck and Goose crossed paths and had words. I don’t know of anyone who knows exactly what transpired, but the cabin residents I later talked with explained what happened this way:
Chuck decided he had to kill Goose. He left the party to retrieve his firearms of choice… a shotgun and a .44 pistol. Rusty backed him I heard but wasn’t actively involved. Since Chuck announced his intentions, the partygoers who were not too inebriated relocated Goose behind a 50-gallon drum two doors away, behind the store.
When Chuck returned, several people tried to talk him down. He would have none of it and threatened several with his pistol. He walked them backwards toward the store, believing Goose was in the store with Coolidge. He marched up the stairs onto the deck in front of the store’s main doors. There he encountered Coolidge, who tried to face him and calm him.
As Coolidge had the attention of Chuck, Goose emerged from the corner of the store, came up behind Chuck, and conked him over the head with a beer bottle.
Chuck went down, but in so doing, involuntarily pulled the trigger of his .44. A bullet emerged and passed directly through Coolidge’s colon. Coolidge went down. Someone jumped on Chuck, who promptly bit off the end of his little finger. Someone else picked up the shotgun Chuck had dropped and broke it over his head.
Chuck was subdued and Coolidge injured. A call was made to the nearest lawman.. a State Trooper in Seward. It took the trooper three hours to arrive at the store, at which time he was able to call for a helicopter to be dispatched from Anchorage to pick up Coolidge.
The outcomes of this incident were that Coolidge, with no vital organs or arteries involved, ended up with a colostomy. He left town with his wife. Chuck got off lightly since the shot was involuntary, and he still lives in Hope today.
The bullet was located two years after the incident, lodged inside the leg of the wood stove in the center of the store.
A visit in 2014 was interesting when I asked a resident of that time what she knew of this story. She knew Chuck and had heard a rumor that he had once killed a man in town.
Almost.