Remembering Tom Butterfield

For many years Tom was a mainstay in the downtown Ketchikan tourism industry. It was the perfect gig for Tom as it allowed him to be back in Alaska making good money for the peak Summer months while affording him the flexibility to spend his winter traveling the world. Tom was a modern renaissance man and every year he had a new adventure on tap planned for the Fall. But you could always count on him being back in the early Spring to restock his finances in Ketchikan. One such Summer he had advanced to running a tour bus on the Herring Cove “eagle and bear watching” route.

Tom did great in the Spring, as the bears were in full force and the tourists were generous with tips when the wildlife was out. But after the king salmon run had tapered off the bears headed towards higher ground. As a result, Tom started to see his tips fall off. One July evening we were all out at our house for a family Bbq. Back in the 2000s Tom was a staple in our home. It was a family tradition each year to have any number of my 5 siblings and I back in Ketchikan, pursuing our Summer fortune in any one of a variety of Ketchikan occupations. My Dad always relished these evenings when the house was full, and we all had the opportunity to enjoy our little piece of Alaska heaven. Dad was particularly fond of Tom and he was by far his favorite among my friends. 

Every Summer he would see Tom circulating the downtown area working hard. Tom was always respectful, and without fail he addressed my Dad as “Mr. Currall”. Dad always liked Tom and his hard work ethic. He also knew there was a pretty strong correlation to successful fishing when Tom was on the trip. 

One particular evening Tom was sharing his woes of the diminishing tips. Dad was eager to help find a solution. Given it was a wildlife tour, he came up with the idea of bringing Our dog Farley into the mix. We resolved that it would it be completely fair to take some liberties and sell a story around Farley’s heritage. We certainly did not see any problem marketing Farley as part wolf! There may have been some exaggerations, but there was certainly a kernel of truth there. From that point forward Tom added a new stop on his tour out South. Every day Tom refined and further developed his story of the domesticated Wolf of Ketchikan. He would pull his bus over in front of our house each day. En route he would lecture the tourists that it was vital they stay on the bus for their own “safety’. Then Tom would run in and retrieve Farley from the house. The tourists would go into a frenzy. They would all pile over to one side of the bus and crane their bodies to try to capture a close up of this “wild beast” Tom would impress them with his cool and calm command of Farley. After a few minutes of photos, Tom would return Farley home and they would all head back out on their way. For the rest of the 45 minute trip the tourists remained in awe of their first hand encounter. Even when they did see bears, Tom always said that Farley quickly became the main attraction. At the end of that summer Tom told me it was the best year for tips ever! It gives me some comfort knowing that for thousands of tourists, they have a treasured photo of Tom and Farley as a signature piece of their trip to Alaska.