Ken and Margaret McGahan

Kenneth Victor McGahan was born 23 Apr. 1914 in Troy Township, Newaygo, Michigan.  Margaret Evelyn Orr was born 20 Apr. 1917 in Holland, Ottawa, Michigan. Ken and Margaret were married 16 Aug 1932 in St. Ignace, Mackinac, Michigan. Ken was 18 years old and Margaret was 15 years old.

Before their first born, Ila, was a year old (abt. 1934) Ken moved his family to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where they lived in the Newberry, Curtis and Germfask areas.  In 1945 they moved to Cooks, Schoolcraft County, Michigan. Ken was a farmer and Margaret was a homemaker.

In the early 1950’s the government came to Ken (and other farmers) and told him to plow his crop of potatoes under or use them to feed the cows and pigs. If he used them as feed the potatoes had to be dipped in a purple dye so they could not be sold. The government would pay him for the crop and pay in the coming years NOT to plant & harvest. That did not sit well with him; Ken loved farming. 

In the spring of 1954, Ken, with his brother Mazie ‘Mac’ and son-in-law Francis Davidson, drove to Alaska from Cooks, Michigan to check out job and homestead possibilities. The first dirt road from Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula was constructed in 1951. They drove Ken’s 1952 Chrysler DeSoto automobile on unpaved, gravel and mud roads and made the roundtrip in 10 days, approximately 7,000 miles. 

As told by Richard McGahan: “They drove right to Wildwood Army Station (established in 1953, transferred to US Air Force in 1965 and later became a correctional facility) the communications headquarters center for Canada, Mexico and the United States. They got a contract to work on the DEW line (Distant Early Warning) which was the radar system around Alaska from Palmer to Anchorage, Anchorage to Whittier, Seward, Soldotna and Homer.  Once they got the contract they returned to Michigan. Dad asked at dinner one night how many of us kids (and mom) would like to go to Alaska?  Well, after milking 53 cows a day and slopping 5 hogs, of course I said I do! And everybody did and mom also raised her hand which surprised me. But she was a go getter, she would try anything that dad wanted to try. So we all raised our hands and he was surprised but – "Okay we’re all gonna go to Alaska! In the spring we’ll have an auction.” 

The summer of 1954 Ken and the boys dug a well at the farm in Cooks and then dug, by hand, the ditch for the water line. More than a quarter mile, it went across the South Road. Finally they got water into the house with a hand pump. Margaret didn’t even have it a full year before they left for Alaska! She started all over again with no running water…

She said it was the best thing they ever did. No more cows to milk, at least for a little while.

During the winter of 1955 Ken bought two new Chevrolet dump trucks and got a small 27’ travel trailer (previously owned by Norm & Lois McGahan). He already had a DeSoto automobile to use for the journey to Alaska. Mid-April, Ken, Margaret and nine of their eleven children left for Alaska up the Alcan Highway, they were part of a large caravan. The trip took 21 days. Jackie later totaled the DeSoto when he ran into a Doyle’s Fuel truck in 1956 or 57.

In April of 1955 Ken either sold or auctioned all the farm equipment, a horse, cows, pigs and chickens from the farm in Cooks, Michigan.  Ken’s brother Henry “Hank” was there the day the family left for Alaska to take the remaining cows off the farm, as seen in the photo below. 

In the early winter of 1963 Ken and Margaret took in Margaret’s niece Lois Ann (9) and nephews Timothy (7) and Calvin “Yogi” (5) Vincent and raised them as their own.  Margaret’s sister Onilee Ilene Orr and her husband Dean Leonard Vincent were killed in a car accident 1 Sep 1963. They had five children; the two older ones Donna (15) and Danny (13) stayed in Michigan with other family members.

Ken sold the Cooks farm sometime in 1965; he went back to Michigan and traded the last of the land for a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville, title for title.

In 1965, offshore oil discoveries in Cook Inlet fueled a period of rapid growth. Kenai has been a growing center for oil exploration, production and services since that time.  

After Ken retired in the late 1970's people would continue to say all the time - Ken was the ‘best’; he never left the end of the driveway plugged with a snow or mud berm. 

In 1977, Ken built the F/V Sharlai for commercial fishing in Westport, Washington. His son Richard and Ken's nephew, Harry McGahan (Ben's son), went down and helped build it. Richard's family went alone and stayed for several months while the boat was being built.  Then Richard, Ken and Margaret, along with Sharon, drove the boat to Alaska. Karen, Richard's wife, and their four children drove up the Alcan Highway; Karen's mother (Geri Boye) went along to help. Richard had his fishing boat, the F/V Lea Kay, built the year before.

Ken and Margaret donated property for a church to be built and next to it is the McGahan Cemetery. The cemetery has one large section for family and the rest is for neighbors and friends. 

Birth order for Ken and Margaret's children: 

1933 23 May Ila Evelyn - Walkerville, Oceana, Michigan

1935 30 Mar Norman Kenneth - Curtis, Mackinac, Michigan 

1936 15 Nov Richard Cleo - Newberry, Luce, Michigan

1938 05 Aug Jackie Vincent - Germfask, Schoolcraft, Michigan

1940 13 May Dale Ronald - Germfask, Schoolcraft, Michigan

1941 25 Nov William Francis - Germfask, Schoolcraft, Michigan

1943 23 Mar Elaine Joyce - Germfask, Schoolcraft, Michigan

1945 20 Jan  Sharon Faith - Germfask, Schoolcraft, Michigan

1948 05 Apr Marvin Merle - Manistique, Schoolcraft, Michigan - hospital

1951 01 Apr  Carol Arlene - Manistique, Schoolcraft, Michigan - hospital

1952 25 Jun Marjorie Rosita - Manistique, Schoolcraft, Michigan - hospital

Ken had three brothers that also moved to the North Kenai Road area; they were; Henry “Hank” McGahan, Eckley “Tony” McGahan and Mazie “Mac” McGahan and their families. Mac was the first of the brothers who moved to Alaska. Mac lived in McMillan, MI prior to moving to Cooks, MI., where he farmed. Mac and his family moved to Alaska in 1952 and arrived in Valdez 11 May. He moved to North Kenai in 1953 and homesteaded 160 acres – the leader of the pack! 

When Mac came back to Kenai in 1954 he pushed a cat trail a mile past the end of the present road and homesteaded his spot, in the area of where the Nikiski Post Office is today.  In 1956 he received a patent on the land from the United States. He was a smart business man and realized he could make good money after he tried farming in Michigan.  Mac became a land baron and wheeler and dealer, he did quite well. Later on Mac and Doris had a place in Southern Texas where they'd spend their winters. Their three children, Marie, Delores and Merrill, live in Alaska – all married with children. 

Henry “Hank” was a farmer in Michigan, he and Aunt Erva moved to Alaska in 1961. He became a commercial fisherman and a carpenter. Hank lived in Germfask, MI until the late 50’s, then moved to Cooks, MI. His son Duane and his wife Helen with children, Elton and Gerald, also moved up then.  Hank’s daughters, Lois, Eunice and Joan, were married and I’m not sure when they moved to Alaska.

Eckley “Tony” with his wife Wilma and step daughter Christina traveled to Alaska in 1958 and stayed for about 4 months before going back to Michigan. I’m not sure when they moved to Alaska to stay, sometime around 1959-61. He never homesteaded. I believe he bought some property from his brother Mac and built a home on it. He became a carpenter and commercial fisherman. Due to health, he was forced to retire. 

Lois Osterhout McGahan wrote:  

"The trailer that Ken pulled up to Alaska in 1955 was our first home; we had it in a park in Pontiac, Michigan, which was where Norm was working in road construction. We pulled it from Pontiac to the McGahan farm in Cooks. We stayed in it for a while and then we moved in with my folks while we built a house next door to my parents. Just got the house almost finished and we decided to go to Alaska. 

"We were almost ready to leave and Randy, our oldest (2-1/2), got polio from the second polio vaccine. He recovered with some muscle damage but it was never noticeable. We left for Alaska April 10, 1958. 

"It was quite an experience to travel the Alcan: mud, dust, rocks, rain, sleet and five flat tires and two boys (Randy and Kenny) that wanted out of that car. We arrived in Kenai after 5-1/2 days' nonstop driving. Dale, Norman’s brother, helped drive; we never stopped, just kept on going. I say we never stopped - only to stop for gas and to eat. I was not thrilled with Alaska. I was very homesick. So we left Alaska in August and went back to Michigan. In the meantime, our house we had built was sold, so again we stayed with my parents. The following October we went back to Kenai. We found a nice little house to rent for that winter. In March we moved onto our Homestead at mile 29 1/2 Spur Hwy. It was an experience, to begin with we had no water or electricity but we made it; again we lived in that 27 ft. trailer."