MORE: Looking Back At Alaska History & The Post Office: "Why Don't You Write A Letter Home?"

COPPER RIVER COUNTRY JOURNAL 

HISTORY OF ALASKA 

Man reading mail brought by U.S. Post Office, 
on the Stampede Trail. (Library of Congress) 

As The Current U.S. Post Office Looks Like It's About To Bail Out On Us, Let's Look Back At The Enormous Importance Of The Mail 

The Ongoing Assault On The Post Office Just Continues. This Story Was Originally Written By The Journal In 2020 

During the 1898 Gold Rush in the Copper River Valley, mail from outside Alaska was enormously important to the would-be prospectors. Desperately lonely, often underfed or sick, they lived for the mail – and for word from their loved ones. 

Lonely, desperate men in the Copper River Valley and Valdez – fully aware that their difficult, dangerous quest to find gold was futile, longed for word from home. Of course, they were simultaneously terrified that some awful news would arrive; that a child was dead, or a terrible accident had befallen someone, or their wife had died in childbirth. It was a double-edged sword, the mail. A joy, and a stress that required them to stop everything and quickly write back if something needed to be addressed.

Lifeline To Family & Loved Ones
In the Alaska-Klondike Gold Rush, a number of sentimental songs were written by and for the men of the gold fields. One of them (which was chronicled by Jean Murray of Anderson, Alaska in a massive book of Gold Rush songs) was called: "Why Don't You Write A Letter Home?"

This song could have been written as an advertisement for the U.S. Postal Service. It urged thoughtless young miners to take a moment, pull their act together, and write a letter home.

 The song says:

"Have you forgot the old home that you left in days of yore? And loving ones that wait for you to come?... You vowed each week you'd write a letter home! Why don't you write a letter home?  Why do you linger, do not wait. Why don't you send them just a word? Why don't you write before too late? You know they know not where you are. For if they did some word to you would come. But you know just where a line would reach them! Why don't you write a letter home?"

Mail has always been important in America. The delivery of mail in America is one of the great success stories of our country. The Pony Express  lasted only eighteen months, from 1860 to 1861, but it lives on in glory: As a mail carrier.  In these days before the introduction of the train, the Pony Express took 10 days to send mail and packages to California from the East Coast and relays of horseback riders did the work – just as dog mushers crossed Alaska on the Iditarod Trail, carrying the U.S. mail to the coast. 

The Wells Fargo Wagon Is A Comin' Down The Street
Before it was a banking company, and before it took over National Bank of Alaska in downtown Glennallen, Wells Fargo was an overland freighting and mail company that traversed the North American continent. It was much bigger than the Pony Express (though it did work with the Pony Express during that business' short and flashy moment in the sun). Mail has always been vital in America. American Express – before it started selling credit cards, way back when was also a cross-continental mail delivery service.

The U.S. mail has been Americans' link to the rest of the world and to each other.  Many Alaskans  lived so far from "home"  and the mail carriers of this part of the Alaskan territory were legendary. Cliff Steadman was a mail carrier who traveled the entire Copper Valley, no matter what the weather, on awful roads during the 1940's, dedicated to the concept that "the mail must go through" even to distant Chitina.

In the Copper Valley, mail carriers were local heroes. On the way to Valdez, at Mile 57 on the Richardson, there's a sign beside the road honoring "Emil Wegner, Mail Carrier." Born in Wisconsin in 1918, Emil came to Alaska and began driving the mail through this part of Alaska in 1962. He eventually moved to Valdez and became the mayor. But along the way, his outgoing personality (he waved to everybody along his route and talked to all of them) made "bringing the mail" more than just a job.

Alaskans need the U.S. mail. When Ravn Air decided to close down its extensive air services in April, 2020, Ravn reduced its fleet of 30 planes to three and took out passenger and freight services. But it also told the U.S. Postal Service that it wasn't going to deliver mail – to 180 communities.

This was such a severe decision and affected so many small bush villages on so many levels that it even stirred the Alaska Congressional Delegation to action. They took notice, saying "We will continue to work to ensure that mail, as well as essential goods and services can continue to be delivered to rural communities in Alaska."

Beyond the localized issues surrounding Ravn Air, the entire United States Postal Service has been in financial trouble for years, and some Alaskans are beginning to worry what would happen if we didn't have postal service. 

To see what's happening with the Postal Service nowadays, read this Journal story:

U.S. Postal Service – Once Tied To Wells Fargo Wagons, Dog Teams, & Dedicated Mailmen – Loses Ground 

On July 31st, 2020,  Lisa Murkowski, apparently also concerned, wrote to constituents on the topic of the U.S. Postal Service and its future:

For decades, Congress has recognized that the Postal Service is a “basic and fundamental service: that is authorized by the Constitution and that its mission is to “bind the nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people.  It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities."  I am very much aware that the Postal Service serves an essential role in connecting and providing basic necessities for each of our communities in our state.  I recognize that many Alaskans rely heavily on the USPS for their mail, packages, medication, and other supplies, and that the Postal Service serves as a vital service for Alaskans.

USPS, which receives no federal funding except to mail ballots to Americans living overseas and to mail accessible reading material to the blind, continues to face difficult challenges due to declining first class mail volume and requirements to pre-fund retiree health benefits.  While the volume of package mail has increased significantly during the pandemic, Postal Service leadership expects the USPS to run out of funds within 18 months.

As you may know, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, overwhelmingly passed 96-0 in the Senate and signed into law on March 27, 2020, included $10 billion in additional borrowing authority for the USPS, subject to approval by the Department of the Treasury.  However, that borrowing authority has not yet been granted and the Postal Service continues to face financial hardships that have only been exacerbated by the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.  As a result, I have continued to look into ways to further improve the sustainability of the USPS.

I am a co-sponsor of S. 2965, the USPS Fairness Act, which was introduced by Senator Daines (R-MT) on December 3, 2019.  If enacted, the bill would repeal the requirement that the Postal Service annually prepay future employees’ retirement health benefits.  Under current law, the USPS is required to fully pre-fund retiree health benefits for its employees (both current and estimated) by making payments into the Treasury’s Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund.  This requirement has significantly challenged the Postal Service’s liquidity.  The USPS Fairness Act would repeal the requirement to make those payments, which would not make the USPS completely solvent, but would help substantially.

I joined a letter with a bipartisan group of Senators supporting “significant emergency appropriations” for USPS to be included in the next relief package, as well a request that the package include language ensuring USPS will be able to borrow the previously approved $10 billion without restrictions that have not been approved by Congress.  The letter also urges that additional provisions for Postal Service employees include PPE, reimbursement for sick and family leave related to COVID-19, and hazard pay.  I will continue to work toward the inclusion of these provisions in the stimulus package currently being negotiated.

I am also a co-sponsor of S. 4174, the Postal Service Emergency Assistance Act, introduced by Senator Collins (R-ME).  The bill would establish in the U.S. Department of Treasury the Postal Service COVID-19 Emergency Fund and appropriate $25 billion, which would remain available until September 30, 2022.  The legislation requires the USPS to prioritize the purchase and availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to postal employees and facilities, and conduct additional cleaning of facilities and delivery vehicles to maintain a safe working environment.  The bill also requires the Secretary of the Treasury to lend the amounts authorized in the CARES Act to the USPS and set the terms and conditions of the loan as those in place on September 29, 2019.

The USPS is a vital lifeline to Alaskans and our nation’s commerce as well as to the daily life of individual Americans.  I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure we have a reliable and sustainable Postal Service.  I hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and well during these challenging times.