With the opening of the Alaska Highway to civilian traffic in 1947, Clermont, a young WWII pilot, and his sweetheart, Gwynne, journeyed to Alaska, and settled in the magnificent Copper River Basin, a vast wilderness, where only a small community of individuals lived and depended upon each other. This is the true story of a time and place that are nearly forgotten, and some of the real characters who made things happen in post World War II Alaska. Gwynne and Cler were only 22 and 23, but deeply in love and committed to their dream of building a home in a pristine wilderness, when they made the journey to Alaska. They came in an Army surplus jeep pulling a loaded two-wheel trailer, and brought with them their three small children. In the Interior, strangers became almost instant friends and those who had been there longer freely shared their resources and hard-won wisdom. There were the old timers, like the trapper, Ben Pinks, who did everything in his power to help the young family and keep the fiercely independent Chechakos from starving or freezing to death the first winter; Ma Barnes, who owned the Road House at Copper Center and took the family in after a dangerous mid-winter flood; and the Ahtna native family of “Mama George,” who were like angels to them during those first critical years. Bear encounters were so common that every family needed a good dog and a powerful gun. Cler and Gwynne had brought only a .22 rifle (all they could afford) and had no dog. Ben Pinks gave them Buddy, “the best darn bear dog in the Interior." He also loaned them a gun that would take down a grizzly. Along with the kindness of friends, it took Cler's stunning ingenuity, Gwynne's faith in Cler, and their deep and abiding love for each other to meet the challenges of isolation, incredible cold, limited resources, lack of medical access, and other stresses that all took a toll on their physical and mental health. Despite the odds against them, they “proved up” on the first homestead at Kenny Lake, and established a family and a community in the wilderness.