Oil Boom

Alaska’s oil boom changed the economy of Alaska. Thousands of jobs were created in this time period to not only work on the drilling rigs, but also build and maintain the pipeline. This incredible phenomenon began in 1968, when a 9.6 billion barrel oil reserve in Prudhoe Bay. Early explorers and natives had noticed that parts of the shore were soaked by natural oil seeps. Big companies began drilling along the north slope, but weren’t making much progress. However, on their last hole, they found copious amounts of usable commercial oil and thus oil production boomed. Although it took years of deliberation and regulation, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was final constructed in June of 1977 after struggling with the idea since 1969. Valdez is where the pipeline ends, which impacted it greatly. The population boomed and grew during the building of the pipeline, but after it was finished, Valdez’s jobs and population decreased.

1. Why did you decide to make this book?
2. How do you go about being published?
3. How long did it take you to compile/write these articles?
4. What was Jeff Smith's family like?
5. Does Jeff Smith III's book paint Soapy as a good guy?
6. What are the different "haunted" places in town?
7. Do you believe Soapy was as good of a guy as his family paints him?
8. Did you edit it or have someone edit for you?
9. What was Frank Reid's family like?
10. Which family told a more realistic story?