President Lincoln died from his wounds on April 15th. The assassin assigned to Vice President Johnson lost his nerve. However, Secretary of State Seward and three others in his home were seriously wounded during the attempt on his life, but Seward recovered.
Secretary of State Seward went on to negotiate the Alaska Purchase from Russia in 1867. Seward, Alaska, is named after him. In the early 1900's the Iditarod Trail was blazed from Seward to the interior of Alaska to bring people and goods to and from the port of Seward.
In 1903 the Alaska Railroad began in Seward and by 1914, the U.S. government bought the railroad and moved its headquarters to "Ship Creek," later called Anchorage which was a tent city during the construction of the railroad.
This summer I will be spending a week in Anchorage and one day in Seward. I'm thankful for the opportunity and for the many lives that went ahead of mine into the making of this great country we call the United States of America.
President Lincoln has a continuing legacy as does Secretary Seward, but so do the every day hard working men and women of America, like my father and uncles who were railroad men providing critical infrastructure services, and like people like me working in the telecommunications industry providing critical communication services to rural, suburban, and urban communities.
Times have changed, but much remains the same, and we are equally connected to our past as we are our future.
I want my days count for something and that's why I'm going on mission to Alaska.
