If you’ve been paying close attention – as I hope you have been – you’ll recall my mention of Fairbanks, Alaska. I’ve only been there once, but I’m reminded of what some acquaintances once told me. Asking if I’d ever been to Alaska, I answered “yes – Anchorage.” They scoffed. “If you haven’t been to Fairbanks, you haven’t been to Alaska.”
And it’s in this town – Fairbanks – that Neil Mackay meets someone who will play a prominent role in his life. Her name is Jean Sullivan. You could call her a connector. I’d even call her a fixer.
Oh and, of course, none of this would be possible without the ever-increasing importance of Fairbanks. Not just locally. Globally. It’s both Alaska’s second largest city and the city closest to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields, 500 miles to the north. Conveniently, there’s also a rail line that connects Fairbanks to the deep-water port in Seward – 500 miles to the south. So… location, location, location put Fairbanks at the center of Alaska’s growing oil boom. And, by 1976, they were only one year away from the start of production.
And it’s this part – this place – the oil patch – that ultimately connected Neil Mackay to… Jean Sullivan. You can say it was just another chapter in Alaska’s boom and bust cycle. Gold. Timber. Fish. Mining. And then… Oil and gas. It goes deeper. Because the possibility of great fortune attracts… Everyone.
By July of 1976, it was the criminal underbelly in Fairbanks that really showed its cards. First there was the mysterious disappearance of Fairbanks Teamster Jack Martin, better known as “Red.” And then, only days later… Another one. This one hitting Teamster Harry Pettus. They were both out of the NorthStar warehouse in Fairbanks. A building that held millions of dollars in equipment and supplies destined for the North Slope.
What was that about? The Fairbanks Daily News Miner speculated: Drug trafficking on the pipeline. Theft or embezzlement of equipment. Maybe an in-house power struggle. Missing Teamster Pettus, for example, was a job foreman and the No. 2 Teamster at the North Star warehouse. Martin was a warehouseman – and job steward. Positions of power. Soon there would be answers… Sort of…
