Bus 142: Hunting Cabin

The stampede trail bus, or Bus 142, saw more than 70 years of use in Fairbanks and then the mining trail west of Healy, Alaska before being flown back across the Teklanika and eventually becoming an object in a museum collection. Before it became a pilgrimage and a touchstone for memory, and well after its life in the military and the Fairbanks transit system, it was a well-used bunkhouse, a hunting camp for those who knew how to get off the beaten path. 

In the fall of 2022 and the spring of 23, Jerry Freel made three visits to the museum and bus to talk with UAMN Senior Collections Manager for Ethnology and History, Angela Linn about his family’s use of the vehicle. Moose hunting was his dad’s passion. Three visits. Three conversations with Jerry Freel and family.

The More You Look is a production of the UA Museum of the North, on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the ancestral lands of the Dena people of the lower Tanana River. UAMN illuminates the natural history and cultural heritage of Alaska and the North through collections, research, education, and partnerships, and by creating a singular museum experience that honors diverse knowledge and respect for the land and its peoples.