Ever since Karen Hofstad was a kid, she possessed a strong desire to preserve history through collections. She often thought of herself as a detective gathering postcards or matchbook covers, sleuthing out treasure for her collections. Around 1965, her passion for collecting salmon labels became a lifestyle, resulting in decades of effort to document the fishing heritage crucial to the story of Alaska and many Alaskan families.

When Hofstad moved to Petersburg in 1960, she was in her mid-20s, busy working and raising a family. The Hofstads lived south of town near Tonka Mountain, and her...