Giddings Property: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Kobuk Valley National Park

Region 11 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: The Giddings Property is a historic vernacular site within the 1,726,500-acre Kobuk Valley National Park (KOVA). KOVA is part of the Western Arctic National Parklands administrative unit. The Kobuk Valley is situated in a nearly enclosed mountain basin on the middle section of the Kobuk River in northwest Alaska. In this region where forest reaches its northern limit and the tundra begins, thousands of caribou funnel through the mountain passes and cross the Kobuk River during their spring and fall migrations. Caribou travel through the valley in such vast numbers and on such regular routes that they form trails obvious both on the ground and from the air. Salmon swim up the river and spawn within the park and beyond. Whitefish, sheefish, and arctic char are also important resources harvested by Natives in the region. Large numbers of waterfowl nest in the area; the molting birds provide an easily gathered food source. These and other seasonally abundant plant and animal resources have made the middle section of the Kobuk River favorable for human habitation and use. Native people have hunted, fished, and lived along the Kobuk River for almost 10,000 years including present day Inupiat who have allotments along the river within the park’s boundary and within the Onion Portage Archeological District. In June 1964, J. Louis Giddings filed a “Notice of Location” for a “Homesite” on the five acres of land where his team had camped. After filing for a homesite, Giddings contracted an Inupiaq neighbor, Nelson Griest, to construct a cabin, cache, and cold storage structure. In August 1964, Giddings wrote, “And while all this was going on, I was trying to finish up the book nights … The cabin is now nearly complete and we are living in it … It costs $3000, but will be our summer house for the rest of our lives” (W.M. Giddings, 1965: 262). After his death his wife changed the status to a ‘headquarters site’, and was able to ‘prove it up’ in a relatively short period of time. In 1966, a survey was conducted and the property was transferred to the Giddings Family in 1967. The Giddings Family leased the site to the National Park Service for many years, then sold the site to the NPS in 1999. Visitors to the site include NPS archeologists, Alaska Fish and Game researchers, and the occasional tourist. Contributing features to the Giddings Property include the cabin, cache, and the trail leading from the cabin to the Onion Portage excavation site. The views and vistas from the site, as well as its’ idyllic wooded character, are also considered contributing, as these were the primary reasons for his choosing the site and they add to the integrity of setting, and feeling of the site. The outhouse on the Giddings property is non-contributing, as is the cold storage structure, as neither retain integrity.

Giddings Property: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Kobuk Valley National Park

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