Yule F. Kilcher

Politician

Birthday March 9, 1913

Birth Sign Pisces

Birthplace Laufen, Switzerland

DEATH DATE 1998-12-8, Homer, Alaska, U.S. (85 years old)

Nationality Switzerland

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1862

In 1862, the United States of America passed the Homestead Law.

If someone met certain requirements, they could obtain federally owned land as long as they proved they lived on the land and maintained it.

1913

Yule Forenorth Kilcher (born Julius Jacob Kilcher; March 9, 1913 – December 8, 1998) was a Swiss-born American homesteader who was a member of the Alaska state senate from 1963 to 1966.

Yule Kilcher was born Julius Jacob Kilcher (the first name is sometimes given as Jules) on March 9, 1913, in Laufen, Switzerland, which was then in the canton of Bern (now in the canton of Basel-Landschaft), to Edwin Kilcher and Lina Kilcher (née Alter).

His place of origin was Nunningen in the canton of Solothurn.

He grew up with four siblings in Zuchwil near the canton's capital, Solothurn.

After the matura at Kantonsschule Solothurn, he studied comparative philology and archeology in Berlin, Bern, Grenoble, and Aix-en-Provence.

1936

He moved from Switzerland to Alaska in 1936 where he then lived permanently, after returning to Switzerland for a short time in 1939, outside of Homer, Alaska.

In 1936, Kilcher went for the first time to Alaska, intending to "found an idealistic community" there.

In Alaska, he changed his name to Yule Forenorth Kilcher.

He received 160 acres of land to homestead.

This land was in the Kachemak Bay area, outside of Homer, Alaska.

1939

In 1939, Kilcher went back to Switzerland for a short time, intending to persuade likeminded people to emigrate to Alaska.

1940

From 1940, he lived permanently in Alaska.

1941

In 1941, he married Ruth Helen Weber, originally from Pratteln, who was an American citizen.

They had eight children who were all raised on the family homestead: Mairiis "Mossy", Wurtilla Dora "Wurzy", (Linda) Fay, Attila Kuno "Atz", Sunrise Diana Irene, (Edwin) Otto, Stellavera Septima and Catkin Melody.

Kilcher sought a self-sufficient, natural lifestyle.

The family lived without electricity and running water.

Yule Kilcher produced two documentaries, filmed on 16 mm film, The Last Frontier and A Pioneer Family in Alaska. This were the first documentaries depicting homesteading life.

1947

He showcased his documentaries around Europe in the years 1947/48 and from 1956 to 1958.

1955

In 1955, Yule Kilcher was elected to the Constitutional convention which drew the Constitution of Alaska, as a representative of the Kenai Peninsula.

He advocated for changing the spelling of the administrative division borough to boro, arguing that the u-g-h spelling "has a nostalgic reference looking back towards New York and further beyond the ocean towards England".

The amendment failed on a voice vote.

1963

In an autobiography he sent in 1963 to the newspaper Solothurner Zeitung, Kilcher wrote that he then worked as a journalist in North Africa, Poland, the United States, and in Scandinavia, where he also worked as a logger.

In Sweden and in the Carpathian Mountains, he learned to build log houses.

From there, he went on to hold the State Senate seat for the Democratic Party from 1963 until 1966.

Kilcher considered himself part of the "radical" wing of his party and a "man of the people".

In the Senate, he advocated for nature conservation.

1968

In 1968, he took part in the expedition that made the first crossing of the Harding Icefield from Homer to Seward.

Exit Glacier received its name from that expedition leaving the icefield over the glacier.

Ruth and the children helped operate the homestead while Yule travelled to Juneau to attend the state legislature.

1969

Yule and Ruth Kilcher divorced in 1969.

Ruth then moved to Tennessee, working as a journalist, writer and translator.

1971

In 1971, she married Charles Rodney "Rod" Mariott in New Mexico.

1986

As of 1986, homesteading is no longer possible in Alaska.

The Kilcher homestead grew from 160 acres to 600 acres of land.

As time wore on, Yule saw how other homesteads around Kachemak Bay were slowly being divided up between family members and becoming smaller versions of the previous homestead.

He did not want the hard work of his family's homestead to disappear.

1998

Yule Kilcher died in Homer on December 8, 1998.

The governor of Alaska, at the time Tony Knowles, ordered state flags flown at half staff at the day of the funeral.