This was a strange town, where the white people ran it, from the city council to the major businesses, but the majority of the population was Alaskan Native. Then came the of explosion, when two officers arrested two prominent white men for misdemeanor charges. Things got heated and the local radio station began attacking the police for any number of things, including false arrest. Things also began turning racial and this was at a bad time. Only a couple weeks earlier the fishing strike had ended.
Now in Dillingham, which has the largest salmon fishing industry of the Alaskan west coast, with more than 1,000 boats coming in from local, Russian fleet, Seattle's two fleets and other Alaskan fishermen, our harbor was always packed and other boats had to wait out in the bay. Our harbor, built by the Corps of Engineers, had to deal with 24-25 spring, summer and fall tides. Winter months froze the bay in. But when an opening came in, with the boats packed solid in the harbor, it was a real struggle to get clear and out into the bay before the harbor emptied out of water and the fishing boats were spinning their engine blades in 4 inches of mud.
The fishing strike began over 2-cents a pound for salmon, but that can come to a lot of money when you consider the size of some of the boat holds. Things soon turned violent with boats being set on fire, harbor buildings being burned, people being shot at, knifings in the bars and we had a department of a Chief and 4 officers. I was new boy. But I did have 6 years of Air Force Security Police Law Enforcement Training and it helped. We began working with two officers per patrol vehicle, working 12-hour shifts 7-days a week. A lot of arrests were made and we made bar checks with one of us carrying the shotgun. We never left a bar check or ball call without an arrest. Calls usually involved fighting and those often meant knives involved. Filet knives come in different sizes, but all sharp. Pistols and revolvers fit quite well down inside a fisherman's rubber boot.
One night, while I was driving we responded to a bar call and the back seat window just behind my head was blown out with a shotgun, CJ, my rider, was peppered in glass, but none of the pellets. We were none too happy when we walked into the bar, only to find it generally quiet. But we left with three arrests. Now you'll have to read the book if and when it is released to find out how we transported our prisoners. But enough on that.
Later, our Woman's Crisis Center reported a disturbance. Their Center was located at the end of Wood River Road. You come to a high bushed cul-de-sac and then if you look hard you can see the dirt road that drove down an extremely steep decline. The bushes stood between 7 to 9 feet and formed a three-quarter encirclement. We were on the way out there when another radio call came in on the emergency line. Now the Chief had the radio's rigged so that the emergency line could be heard over the radio. This time the caller was a friend of mine, an Alaskan Native who used to be the department dog catcher. This was a big job in town because a lot of people came to Dillingham to learn and try their hand at dog mushing, only to become dismayed. They would then leave, but only moments after setting their dogs loose. These dogs would then turn wild and run as packs. Norman had to hunt them down and shoot them to save local children and other pets from being killed.
I recognized Norman's voice instantly as he warned, "Tell Bill and CJ, it's an ambush. An ambush is set in the cul-de-sac. Not to go out there." Oh, we went, but not all the way and we found a knoll to sit upon out of visual range from anyone on foot down there. CJ advised our dispatcher to telephone the Crisis Center and get a report. But only to contact us if a problem still existed. If anyone came speeding up the hill from the Crisis Center we had plenty of time to block off the road. We waited for 20 or so minutes, but then through our binoculars we watched as two, another three and another men after that came out of the bushes. 8-men and all of them were carrying long rifles, some with scopes on them. I was guess one or two might've been shotguns.
But if I say too much, you might not purchase the book. I should mentioned for those of you who do not know this, but our oldest son, John Leroy, also spent his Rookie year, 30-years later, at Dillingham. Some of the local people recognized his last name, that made me feel good, even if it was the bad guys who did remember. Now John Leroy is working two law enforcement jobs, one as a federal uniformed officer and for the Whittier Police Department. Oddly enough, that was my last police department where I served as Director of Public Safety/Police Chief. My time lined up with the Exxon Valdez mishap and thankfully what I learned there for me my Investigator's position with the State of Alaska. Having no college can hurt, but experience and training is a good fill in.
I hope to finish with this manuscript by fall, then it goes to Susan for editing. Elizabeth, our oldest daughter, who did the cover for "Apache Snow" has finished her work on "In Search of Honor" and I love it. I believe were within two weeks of issue date. Check with Alaska Dream Publishing.
"My next police book will be "Stronghold", but I'll tell you about that one later.
I have not begun my research work yet on world news and won't until I master this Windows 10, or at least understand it some. But I will say that if you want to know about what is happening in the United States, check the BBC, Gatestone, Jerusalem Online, and make your choice of our political enemies as in Russia and China, who all have English speaking newspapers. But Putin and Obama are becoming strange bedfellows.
And when the new cover is released, probably next week, order a copy of "A Coming Storm", which will be Book # 2 of the new "Fire and Ice" Trilogy. I believe you will find it great reading.
All for now, folks. I need to get back too work. God Bless, BILL Thanks for the replies.