Gunboats North: How the Navy Brought Law and Order to Alaska

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When the Army failed to tame the wild and wicked land of the midnight sun the US Navy was given the unenviable task of bringing law and order to America's newest frontier

Squaring his shoulders, Cmdr. Lester A. Beardslee nodded as Secretary of the Navy Robert Thompson rose from his imposing mahogany desk to offer him Godspeed and good luck on his challenging new assignment. Beardslee would need the Navy Department's blessings, for with Thompson's earnest handshake he had just accepted his toughest appointment in 29 years as a naval officer.

With a vague smile and scribble of his quill pen Thompson signed the order that placed the 43-year-old veteran seaman in charge of …