Roden, Henry

Association: Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men's Igloo

Role: President, Juneau Men's Igloo; Grand Igloo President

Year: 1943

Biography

Henry Roden served as President of the Juneau Men's Igloo of the Pioneers of Alaska and later as Grand Igloo President in 1943.

He was born on August 8, 1874, in Basel, Switzerland. Roden came north during the Klondike gold rush, reaching Dawson in 1898, where he joined the stampeders and worked as a prospector, miner, and wood cutter supplying riverboats.

In 1902, he began studying law independently. Over the next four years, he memorized two law books and successfully passed the Alaska Bar examination in 1906. As he later recalled, “Alaska, the land of opportunity, here I come. I learned later it was a do-it-yourself deal.”

Roden established a law practice in Fairbanks and later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Fairbanks and Iditarod, and as City Attorney of Iditarod. He became widely known throughout Alaska and was affectionately called “our Heine.”

In 1913, he was elected to the First Alaska Territorial Legislature as a senator and was reelected three additional times.

He married Margaret Kaapcke in Tacoma, Washington, on January 22, 1917. The couple later lived in Juneau, where Roden practiced law and also became involved in the fishing industry. He served as manager of the Republic Fisheries Company, which operated floating fish traps in Chatham Strait, and owned the gas fishing vessel Jugoslav. He was also president of Pelican Cold Storage Company and a co-founder of the city of Pelican, Alaska.

In 1940, Roden was elected Attorney General of Alaska and served in that position for four years. In 1944, he was a candidate for the United States Congress as a territorial delegate.

In 1949, he was called back from retirement to serve as the territory's Treasurer and was elected to another term. He later served on the Board of Directors of the Pioneers' Home in Sitka until Alaska achieved statehood.

Roden and his wife moved to Seattle in 1958 due to Margaret’s declining health. She died there in 1961. Even in his late eighties, Roden remained active in the legal profession while living at the Savoy Hotel in Seattle, where he continued to advise former Alaskans without charging them fees.

Henry Roden died in Seattle on June 5, 1966.

Sources

• Ed Ferrell, Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Vol. 3, pp. 244–246