While working as a guide in his youth, Walter Harper met and worked for a man named Hudson Stuck. Their friendship would lead to Walter becoming the first person to reach the summit of Denali.

Research:

Bishop, Click. “Sponsor Statement SB-144 – Walter Harper Day.” Alaska State Legislature. https://www.akleg.gov/basis/get_documents.asp?session=31&docid=58198
Dean, Patrick. “How Hudson Stuck's Ascent of Denali Boosted Recognition of Indigenous Alaskans.” History News Network. 12/13/2020. https://www.hnn.us/article/how-hudson-stucks-ascent-of-denali-boosted-recogni
Denali National Park and Preserve. “Superintendent Harry Karstens.” https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/photosmultimedia/station06a.htm
Ehrlander, Mary. “Walter Harper, Alaska Native Son.” UAF Summer Sessions & Lifelong Learning. Via YouTube. 7/7/2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-FrvS3gONg
Farquhar, Francis P. “Henry P. Karstens—1878-1955.” The American Alpine Club. https://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12195611200/Henry-P-Karstens-1878-1955
Hayes, Alan L. “One Congregation, Two Cultures: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Nenana, Alaska.” Anglican and Episcopal History, vol. 68, no. 1, 1999, pp. 141–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42612013. Accessed 24 Nov. 2025.
James, David A. “In story of the legendary ‘Walter Harper: Alaska Native Son,’ Denali is just the beginning.” Alaska Daily News. 12/16/2017. https://www.adn.com/arts/books/2017/12/16/in-story-of-the-legendary-walter-harper-alaska-native-son-denali-is-just-the-beginning/
James, David. “The Brief, But Bright Story of Walter Harper.” Alaska. 5/21/2022. https://alaskamagazine.com/authentic-alaska/the-brief-but-bright-story-of-walter-harper/
John, Peter. “The Gospel According to Peter John.” Krupa, David J., editor. Alaska Native Knowledge Network. 1996. https://ankn.uaf.edu/publications/Books/Peter_John.pdf
Johnson, Erik. “Honoring the Unsung Heroes of the 1913 Summit Expedition: Esaias George and John Fredson.” National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/dena-history-unsung-heroes.htm
Johnson, Erik. “The Ultimate Triumph and Tragedy: Remembering Walter Harper 100 Years Later.” National Park Service. Denali National Park. https://www.nps.gov/articles/dena-history-harper.htm
Manville, Julie and Ross Maller. “The Influence of Christian Missionaries on Alaskan Indigenous Peoples.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. Vol. 5, Article 8. 2009.
Miller, Matt. “‘May Light Perpetual Shine Upon Them.’” KTOO. https://www.ktoo.org/2013/10/26/may-light-perpetual-shine-upon-them/
New York Times. “Yukon Indian Opens Coney Island Eyes.” 6/1/1914.
Stuck, Hudson. “A winter circuit of our Arctic coast; a narrative of a journey with dog-sleds around the entire Arctic coast of Alaska.” New York. C. Scribner’s Sons. 1920. https://archive.org/details/wintercircuito00stuc/
Stuck, Hudson. “Ten Thousand Miles With A Dog Sled a Narrative of winter travel in Interior Alaska.” 1917. https://archive.org/details/tenthousandmiles0000huds/
Stuck, Hudson. “The ascent of Denali (Mount McKinley) a narrative of the first complete ascent of the highest peak in North America.” New York, C. Scribner's Sons. 1914. https://archive.org/details/ascentofdenalimo01stuc/
Stuck, Hudson. “Voyages on the Yukon and its tributaries: a narrative of summer travel in the interior of Alaska.” New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 1917. https://archive.org/details/cihm_76545/
Walker, Tom. “A Brief Account of the 1913 Climb of Mount McKinley.” Denali National Park and Preserve. https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/historyculture/1913ex.htm
Woodside, Christine. “Who Led the First Ascent of Denali? Hudson Stuck, Archdeacon of the Yukon.” Vol. 63, No., 2 Summer/Fall 2012.

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Walter Harper and the Summiting of Denali, Part 1

Stuff You Missed in History Class