Alaska man looks for story behind mysterious Whitehorse painting

It's an infamous and oft-remembered event in Yukon history, but to Alex Luebke in Fairbanks, Alaska, it's just a strange painting that hung in his family's home for decades.

The large acrylic-on-board painting — about 4 by 8 ft., Luebke estimates — depicts the fire that destroyed two iconic Yukon sternwheeler ships, the SS Casca and the SS Whitehorse, in Whitehorse in 1974.

Luebke just recently discovered the real-life history of the scene, and now he wants to solve the deeper mystery — who made the painting, and how did it end up in his family's house?

"It's just been sitting in my basement for the last 30 years, we have absolutely no idea where it came from," he said.

His parents told Luebke the painting came with the house when they bought it, and they just left it where it was. 

There is a name on the painting — "Hazelton."

Luebke has searched online for further information, but found nothing.

"It's really a captivating painting, I mean, it really feels like you're really there, and I kind of wanted the rest of the world to see it, too," he said.

"Mostly my father was just tired of looking at it. He wanted me to throw it in the dump, and I was like 'No! No! This is a piece of art!'"

'A piece of history'

Luebke, who is a comic-book artist, says he wanted to make sure the painting was preserved because "it's basically a piece of history." 

It's in rough shape, he says, with drill holes and cracks in the board, and decades of dirt and grime caked on.

He recently put out a call in a Fairbanks newspaper, hoping somebody would restore and frame the painting, and display it somewhere. The Fairbanks city hall was interested, and so was a local hotel.

"I figured I'd give it to the hotel, because they'd have people [from] all across the world who'd be able to see it, whereas, you know, if it was in town hall, the only people that would really see it are people paying their water bill."