Alaskan Sourdough
Miners who came to Alaska during the gold rush in the 1890's brought sourdough with them for biscuits, bread and especially pancakes. In Alaskan slang, "sourdough" refers to an old-timer (newcomers are known as Cheechakos).
Many Alaskan families keep a sourdough pot bubbling away even today, and there's nothing more hearty and delicious on a weekend morning than sourdough pancakes! Our sourdough was given to us by the late Dick Proenneke, whose book One Man's Wilderness tells of his solitary adventure building and living in a one-room cabin on a remote mountain lake. In fact, Dick's historic cabin is located just a short flight from our headquarters on Lake Clark -- let us know if you'd like to visit it.
Dick told us he got the sourdough in the 1960's from an old trapper near Lake Iliamna, who had guarded it since he received it in the 1930's. It's quite possible that our sourdough's lineage goes all the way back to the Gold Rush!