The first summer he left his native Iowa and scouted for cabin locations near Twin Lakes, Alaska. After finding a suitable location he felled enough trees to build the entire 11′ by 14 ...

In 1968, Richard Proenneke — a 52-year-old Iowan who’d fallen in love with the Alaska outback — headed to a remote spot in the southwestern part of the state to test himself. Using simple handheld ...