Histories of Alaska: A murder in 1899 committed by a man named Martin Severts and his subsequent hanging was the source material for London‘s “The Unexpected.”
on Alaska history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage or Alaska history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.
Jack London photographed in 1916, shortly before his death. The most highly-paid and most widely read writer of his time, Jack London is still the most widely translated American writer. A news article from the Seattle Daily Times published Oct. 28, 1906 with a picture of Hans and Hannah Nelson. The Nelsons were involved stopping and apprehending Martin Severts following a murder in Lituya Bay in 1899.
Damage from the 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami can be seen in this aerial photograph of Lituya Bay, Alaska as the lighter areas at the shore where trees have been stripped away. The red arrow shows the location of the landslide, and the yellow arrow shows the location of the high point of the wave sweeping over the headland.
Around the same time, the news quickly began to spread. In May, the first newspaper accounts of the murder and hanging were published. As the tale traveled, the details evolved, partly due to desires for more sensational retellings. On Oct. 14, 1900, the San Francisco Examiner published an especially lurid version of the story in its Sunday magazine supplement. The article was titled “Woman Hangs a Man and the Law Upholds Her.
Though London exaggerated aspects, some core of the story remained true. However, a critical Seattle Post-Intelligencer article accused him of lying, that his claim of historical accuracy was a shallow attempt to sell more copies. “Not a single Alaskan can be found who knows that the incidents happened,” declared the article. “Men familiar with all of the West Alaska coast, who have mined and tramped and paddled along the stretch from Yakutat to Lituya bay, have never even heard of such a thing.
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