Larry & Aileen Burrow - Candle - Wedding & Winter
Wedding day - September 3, 1933
Aileen flies to Candle -
Sendoff at Nome airport
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Aileen Spaeth | 
Aileen Spaeth & Jean Kellett |
Aileen tells Mom
"Sunday was a beautiful day & we left Nome about 10:45 a.m. There were 3 carloads of friends out to see me off & they showered me with rice & filled my pockets with it. Florence took a lot of pictures, but some of them I hope won't be good because they were so silly. They made me pose by my baggage with my gun in my hand, & I was squinting when she took it. I forgot the gun when I got off at Candle, but I think the pilot will know it's mine, & leave it next time he comes. It took us just 1 1/2 hours to get here from Nome and Larry came down to the landing field in a boat, as soon as he could make it. He had told only one couple about my coming, so my arrival made quite a sensation in town. He took me to Rydeen's (The one's who knew) and as we couldn't get married until evening, we had dinner there and the ceremony took place there also. We had to have the commissioner do it, and he was out of town until 7 p.m. He is also postmaster, and some second-class mail arrived that day also so, we had to wait until he got that distributed. It was about 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, when the knot was finally tied."
Aileen Spaeth Burrow, letter to Mom, September 7, 1933
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Note: the wedding occured on September 3 but US Commissioner Gillis did not prepare the certificate until the following day.
Larry tells Dad
"Better get set, and hang on for a surprise. "I'm married". Yep, you are a Father in Law, for the first time, how does it feel? If you feel like I do it's Great. I suppose you wonder who the unlucky girl is that married me. I think I mentioned her name in a letter last spring, but I'm not sure. Anyway I suppose you want to hear more about her. Her name is Aileen, (Was, "Aileen Spaeth") her home is, or was, at Ketchikan Alaska. About as tall as Lila, curly brown hair, age 29 weight 109, likes to go hunting and fishing and likes to go camping, would like to put on trousers and tramp all over the hills and does when we get the chance. Is a U of W graduate, was teaching school, but resigned to become Mrs Larry Burrow, and at present taking good care of me. Incidently, I think I'm going to get fat, because Pop, she is a good cook. Last nite had for supper potatoes and gravy, Fried young wild Duck, Blue-berry shortcake, and other things. We are going out this evening and try to get some Ptarmigan. Also pick some more blueberries and cranberries. The cranberries are about the size of currants, and blueberries same size a huckelberry is.
"We were married here, in Candle four days ago Sept 3 by the U.S. Commissioner after she had flown from Nome to marry me. As Candle is practically on the Arctic Circle we can say we were married on the Circle. Have been so busy getting straightened out ready for the winter havn't had much chance to write. The last boat will be at Keewalik tomorrow, they have to freight all the supplies up in flat bottomed scows and pull em over shallows etc to get up river to Candle. Keewalik is at the mouth of the Keewalik River, and Candle is about ten miles up river. Our next boat will be next July. Don't know whether we will have airplane mail service this year or not from Nome. Heretofore it has been via dog team. But first class mail will be by plane anyway."
Larry Burrow, letter to father, September 7, 1933
Candle Radio Station 1933-34
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 |  Aileen: “The Radio castle on
the bluff overlooking the
Keewalik River at Candle.” |
Cargo for Candle
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Bringing up supplies on the Keewalik River to Candle, Alaska. September 1933
"This is the way all our supplies came in. Ships anchored 10 miles off shore in Kotzebue Sound and lightered ashore on barges to Keewalik then 10 miles up river to Candle. Tundra in background.”
Hunting for Dinner
Larry & Shep, hunting ptarmigan, on Keewalik River, Fall 1933
"We depend on game and reindeer meat unless we want to have some sent in by plane from Nome, so I'm very glad I like the flavor of wild meat. The other day we got 2 ducks from a native, for 50¢ & had two meals from them. I've done such a sketchy job of cooking in recent years that it's almost like learning over again and I'm very proud when things come out well. The night I cooked the ducks I made blueberry shortcake and it was awfully good & so were the ducks. Right now I have my cranberries draining to make jelly and jam and it certainly smells good.
"Our house is large enough to have the station & living quarters all in it and used to be a hospital. There is one room where a lot of the old supplies are stored, so we are liberally supplied with medicines in case we get sick - that is if we know what's the matter & what remedy to use."
Aileen Burrow, letter to Mom, September 7, 1933
Winter sets in
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“The Water Man” | 
"From our front door” | 
"From our front door ” |
Goodbye, Shep
"Sunday morning we didn't get up until about noon, but at 9 o'clock I had heard Shep stirring around so I came down to let him out, & he had been throwing up a lot, in the office & hall. When Larry got up several hours later Shep was acting pretty sick & Larry brought him in the house, but he wouldn't stay, and went off down the bluff as tho he'd gone away to die. A couple of hours later he was back & had made a bed in the ashpile. Larry brought him in the house again & he was too far gone to walk anymore. He died that evening before we went to bed, and both of us cried over him - imagine that if you can - I more thru sympathy for Larry, I think, than for the dog - altho he was a loveable, good-natured fellow."
Aileen Burrow, letter to Mom, January 19, 1934
Aileen travels by dog-sled to Elephant Point reindeer station
"There are so many things to write about that I don't know where to begin. Mrs. J. says to tell you that if she should decide to entertain in my honor she could invite one little squaw and her two kids. That will give you an idea of what a populous place this is. It is a Lomen station, Julian's run a store and take care of things. A few weeks ago they did the winter butchering and there were more people around then. They slaughtered about 4000 head of deer this time & now the carcasses are in cold storage waiting to be shipped out during the summer. The cold storage is one of the interesting points of the place. It is entirely natural - they have dug out caves in the bluff, which is really just glacial muck frozen, and have a series of large rooms capable of storing over 6000 carcasses. The place has one outside entrance and a couple of ventilation shafts, so in winter they let plenty of cold air get in.
"I came over with very little baggage but it looks as tho I'll have a sled load going back. Mr. J. will send his own team with me, and he has more and better dogs, so it won't be a hard trip at all."
Aileen Burrow, letter to Mom, from Elephant Point, January 29, 1934
"Jan. 31. Here I am at home again, and there may be a plane along today so I'll get this finished. I got home at three o'clock yesterday afternoon after a much more pleasant trip than I had going over. Julian's fixed up the sled so it was more comfortable, and the temperature was 20° above zero, so I was as warm as toast, altho I didn't wear all the clothes I had going over. I guess Larry was glad to have me home again, he started down to meet us the instant we got near town. He had an invitation out to dinner last night, which included me if I was home, so we didn't have to do any cooking, and I had a good chance to rest, so I wasn't very tired by dinner time. This is unusually warm weather we're having and everyone feels it. Mrs. Julian was advising me about how to dress coming home and she said I wouldn't need much warm clothing because it was so hot out. I laughed and said, just tell that to Seattle folks & they'd say you were crazy. Going over, it was so cold that I covered up all but a breathing hole, and didn't see any of the scenery, but yesterday I sat up and looked around. After I went to bed I could shut my eyes and see a row of bobbing tails and ears ahead of me. It's interesting to see the dogs, they are always so eager to go, and with the big team and light load yesterday, it was all the driver could do to stop them."
PFC Larry Burrow
US Army Signal Corps Radio Station WXN, Candle, Alaska, February, 1934
“25 below and blowing (It’s a forced grin)"
Aileen travels to Kotzebue for pre-natal checkup
"You may be surprised to notice the address on this letter, but scarcely more so than I am. The doctor said, when I wrote to him, that unless something went wrong, he didn't think I'd need to come before June, but I guess I'm inclined to want extra assurance, because Larry & I decided we'd both feel happier to know everything was o.k. So Tuesday Larry arranged with Tom Roust for me to come up with Ben on his next trip, and sent word to Florence Kinney that I was coming. It turned out that Ben came the next day so I was here almost as soon as I decided to come. Just about then the moderate weather we'd been enjoying broke and it has been down around 30° below ever since I came. Not very pleasant for getting out, especially as there's quite a wind, and Kotsebue is strewn out for such a distance that it must be a mile from here to the post office. This is a bigger place than Candle, but nearly all Eskimos. I don't think there are so many white people as there are in Candle, but Florence seems to have found a very congenial crowd of about 10 people to run around with. They certainly have a lot of social activity and we haven't had an unoccupied evening since I came. In fact, yesterday - Saturday - we were out to breakfast, lunch, dinner & a show - really more activity than I care for, altho the exercise of going from one place to another is something I need.
"I had the doctor look me over the day after I came and he says I'm in fine condition, and built so I ought to have an easy time, also that he thinks it will be a small baby. I weigh about 120 lb. now with my clothes on, and can see in my face & arms that I'm getting some fat on me. I hope I don't do as Perie did, & stay that way."
Aileen Burrow, letter to Mom, from Kotzebue, March 4, 1934
Aileen temporarily back to Nome to have baby
"Yesterday morning was beautiful & warm in Candle, but the Nome report wasn't very good so we didn't know whether there would be a plane or not. At noon we learned that Hans had started north with skis, but didn't think he'd come to Candle as he couldn't land on the river or the field. Nome also told Larry that Roust's plane had left at 10:30, and when it hadn't come by 1 o'clock we decided they hadn't been able to get thru. I was tired of being ready for planes that didn't come so I started to clean up the upstairs, and just as I was in the midst of it I heard a plane & it was Hans. He landed on a lake about a quarter of a mile below the field and with Larry's telescope I saw Hans & another man start for town. Larry was talking to Nome just then, so he asked them where Roust's plane was and they told him Roust was with Hans. That meant I would be going with Hans, so I packed my suitcase for the 'steenth time and awaited further news. In the morning there was water enough on the river to go down to the field in a boat, but the ice rose about the time the plane came, and so they got Dick Sundquist to take me down with his dog team. I wish I had movies of that part of the trip. From our house we went on the big drifts that lie on the river bank as far as the field, crossed the river there where the water was only a few inches deep - then thru some soft snow & grass & across a slough where the water was so deep that Hans & Larry carried the baggage & I stood up in the sled so the water didn't come above my ankles, and as I was wearing shoe-pacs I didn't get my feet wet. The rest of the way was over tundra & occasional patches of snow. It sounds like a very exciting trip, but the pulling was hard enough so the dogs couldn't travel very fast & I didn't get jarred a bit.
"Hans had to go to Kotsebue after he got me, so I had a long trip for my money."Aileen Burrow, letter to Mom, from Nome, May 15, 1934
Keewalik River, Candle, Alaska, ‘Breakup’ May 1934
"‘X’ marks the spot where plane landed & took off with Aileen to go to Nome to have Denny.
Had to use skis on plane as landing strip was bar on river which was underwater.”
It’s a boy!
"I suppose you were glad to get Larry's wire about the arrival of our young son, and I was glad to be able to send you the news so promptly on the date set by Dr. Smith. I don't know how many details were in the message, but I know you will want more. I came to the hospital about 6:30 pm Sunday, & Fred Dennison Burrow was born at 1:35 am Monday, so you see it didn't take so very long, & I really wasn't in pain all that time. The first warning I had of anything happening was at about 4 oclock Sunday afternoon. Rydeen's had gone out to Dexter to a picnic & asked me to go with them, but I thought I'd be more comfortable at home. That was about three o'clock. I wrote a letter to Larry & was going to write to you, but stopped to get a bite to eat & before I'd finished eating it began with the water breaking. I think that's a good way to start because your so sure that it isn't any false alarm. A near neighbor who had invited me to dinner helped me get my things together & come over here, only a block from Rydeen's. I guess I don't need to tell you much about what it was like. They gave me a little chloroform when I was having the very last pain, but I was plenty concious & when I heard him start to cry I had to look. That was the very first time I was able to convince myself that my baby would be normal & well-formed. We've both been getting along as well as possible, but now he's getting my breasts sore now that he's really started nursing. He has quite a bit of hair a shade lighter than mine, & his mouth is like Larry's, but otherwise I guess he's as much Spaeth as Burrow. It still doesn't seem quite real to me that Larry & I really have a baby, but I adore him more every time they bring him to me, and I can just lie and look at him as long as they leave him with me. His name is Larry's choice, Fred because he likes the name, and will probably be Fritz. I told Madeline she better have a boy too so we can have both "Hans & Fritz" here at the hospital. We are expecting her here anytime now, but most of the baby's have been late according to Dr. Swartz's figuring. He had me dated for May 27th, you know. By the way, Dennison is a Family name of Larry's - he has an Irish ancestor called Alexander Dennison, of whom he is quite proud - he was a political rebel of some kind, left Ireland with a price on his head, came to America & fought in the Revolution."
Aileen Burrow, letter to Mom, from Nome, June 15, 1934
Candle radio station closing
"Today we received definite word that this station will be closed not later than Sept. 10, and reservations have been made for us to go out on the Derblay. Since I want to see Perie, & have Howard work on my teeth, we think it will be just as well for me to go to Nome by plane and meet Larry there."
Aileen Burrow, letter to Mom, from Candle, August 6, 1934