Petersburg Pilot -

The first thing Charlotte Hoiosen did when she moved to Alaska in 1960 was have dinner with the governor.

Hoiosen was 38 and married with two kids. The family loaded a van and started a one-way trip from Southern Minnesota to Petersburg. Her husband, Roscoe, would be a teacher there.

The family camped along the way. Not for leisure. Money was tight back then.

"I remember waking up one morning and finding a nice little nest of baby rattlesnakes not far from our tent," said Hoiosen, who turned 95 in December.

The first stop in Alaska was Haines, where they would stay overnight in a hotel a...