The Northern Narratives series drops anchor in Southeast Alaska’s rainiest, fishiest, and foggiest frontier town with its latest volume: Tall Tales of Alaska Ketchikan AK: A City Built on Salmon, Timber & Totem Poles. Waiting for you at the doorway to the Inside Passage, Ketchikan is more than just a stop on the “milk run.” It’s Alaska’s first city—first to greet you, first to drench you, and first to prove that truth is often stranger than fiction.

If you think you’ve seen everything Alaska has to offer, wait until the fog lifts in Ketchikan. And within these pages, you’ll wade through a town built on pilings, perched above tides, and forever shaped by salmon. You’ll explore how the timber wars divided communities, why a fish pirate might have been the most respected criminal on the docks, and what really goes on along Married Man’s Trail. From floating logging camps to phantom submarines, Ketchikan has always harbored a story or two—some foggier than others.

Trust me, every boardwalk and back alley has a version of events, and none of them quite match up. You don’t need to be a historian, an archivist, or a researcher to revel in this town’s past. Although, they’ll probably like it too. Tall Tales of Alaska Ketchikan, AK: A City Built on Salmon, Timber & Totem Poles is for the curious, the adventurous, and anyone who’s ever wondered what awaits them behind the mist. So, grab your raincoat and your imagination, and set foot into a town where the salmon run thick, the secrets run deeper, and the stories never run dry.

Read about:

• Ketchikan’s role in the Salmon and Timber Wars

• The truth behind the Road to Nowhere

• Why the town might have more than one mayor

• The legendary fish pirates of Southeast Alaska

• Rumors of secret submarine activity near the docks

• Ketchikan Creek: where history runs upstream