The Anonymous Source:

About a week and half before the gunplay three workers from the Bridges and Building (B&B) gang stationed in Healy headed to the McKinley Park Hotel Bar for some refreshment. A few miles north of the turn into the Park the driver of a red 1976 GMC pickup carrying the three accidently crossed into the northbound lane nearly running a car that was also headed south off the road. The driver of the car thought it was intentional. He surmised that the red truck was headed to the bar so he drove up the Park entrance road, turned around and then forced the red pickup off the road. At that point the three thought that the guy in the car had gotten his revenge and that settled the problem. This turned out not to be the case as two of the three went to the Park bar the following Saturday night and the drivers met face to face. The driver of the car was still exceedingly upset, accepting of no form of apology. At this point the driver of the truck, with several shots of Wild Turkey under his belt mentioned that this was becoming a Mexican Standoff and told the other driver that as a Mexican he should settle down and not become troublesome. This did not settle well with the alleged Mexican as he was native American not Mexican. At that point the car driver picked up the truck driver's whiskey glass and broke it on the left temple of the truck driver. A near riot ensued as the entire bar got involved in the action. Knocking over tables and chairs, it spread down the stairs into the restaurant area. This was unfortunate as the owner of the Hotel was showing the business to a possible buyer from California.

The Anonymous Source:

The following week the B&B crew was working in the vicinity of the section gang of which the car driver was a member. There was some tension but nothing occurred and no words were spoken between the participants of the hotel altercation.

Friday night of that week the B&B crew had returned from work. They were preparing to start construction on a track-related structure at the Suntrana/Usibelli mine the following Monday.

The B&B foreman was in the hotel bar talking to the bartender who was also the dozer operator on the crew. Most of the rest of the crew were preparing for a night out in the bunkhouse which was located south of the station and hotel. The sound of what was thought to be fireworks caused one of the crew to walk to the hotel to see what was going on. He came back alerting the others that there were several armed bikers near or in the hotel and that he did not know the condition of anyone in the hotel. At that point he (Louie) and the truck driver (Gus) decided to investigate, each taking a shotgun. When they arrived all seemed quiet, they hid their guns outside and entered the hotel not knowing what to expect. At this point considerable gunfire had taken place inside. (Two bikers had been shot by one of the crew inside the hotel. They had asked who was the mayor of Healy, they got agitated when there was no response. One of the bikers had a modified AR-15 and fanned the bar and backbar, not hitting anyone. Don Hatmaker returned fire with a .44 magnum, which he usually carried when he was out and about, hitting both bikers, one severely.) As Louie and Gus entered the hotel the two crew members yelled from there hiding spot behind the bar warning them about the presence of the armed, angry bikers. At that time Louie and Gus, retrieving their shotguns, left the hotel area realizing that the bikers were serious. They were pursued by one biker who did not fire on them. Upon their return to the bunkhouse Louie and Gus for volunteers to go back and help defend or rescue their friends pinned down in the bar. The time period from when the gunfire started to this point was probably about 90 minutes.

There will be two more installments: Louie talking Gus into assaulting the bus brought into Healy by the bikers, fortunately aborted by the arrival of law enforcement and some anecdotes.

John Combs:

I just got off the phone with my locomotive engineer friend Frank Dewey.  He just came out of surgery a week ago and I was calling to check on him.  Well, we got to talking about the Healy Hotel shooting and I asked him if he knew the US Marshall involved.  He said he didn’t recall that. However, he remembers Railroad Special Agent (an ex-Texas Ranger) Marcy Trump from Anchorage, Railroad Special Agent Bill Bettis from Fairbanks and State Trooper Brown.  All were there.  He also said Air Force SWAT teams from Clear, Eielson and Fairbanks were there too.

Frank was inside the hotel when the shooting broke out.  He said B&B #7 was there working on the hotel.  The section foreman (from Ferry) was Don Hatmaker.  He was in the bar when the bikers came in.  One of the bikers pulled his gun first, but Hatmaker was faster and shot the man.  Bikers ran out of the bar, retrieved their guns and returned.  A gun fight ensued.  Hatmaker hid behind a pool table and returned fire.  One of his shots into in the wall ricocheted off a stud and came down through a biker's clavicle stopping an inch away from his heart.

Frank recalls another of the bikers was Pee Wee who had either a .32 or .38 caliber revolver.  Hatfield had a Smith and Wesson .45.  Frank said the two bikers were severely wounded, but later recovered.  Hatmaker was injured when is arm was struck by shrapnel.  Frank ran out of the room and down a dead end hallway.  He said he heard Plotzman hit the floor and later heard the bikers drag both bodies out of the hotel.

Although Hatmaker hid behind the pool table, it did not have a scratch on it.  He said it was later determined that 130 rounds had been fired in the bar room.

Frank continued to watch out a window for 30 minutes.  Eventually, he fell asleep.  When he awoke he left the hotel.  He found a .32 caliber pistol on the ground.  He went to the depot and talked to station agent Duane Fracke who had been calling the dispatcher in Anchorage to keep the railroad aware of the situation.

Frank said the members of the Brothers motorcycle gang were escorted back to Anchorage.  The state police were afraid of retaliation of citizens against the bikers.  It was rumored that a 300 man militia (residents north of Healy) was prepared to deal with the bikers if they returned.

Anonymous Source:

I remember being told the State Patrol and the Air Force coming in later that night.

Don Hatmaker was the foreman of our B&B crew. He was hit in the (left?) upper arm, not too seriously as he worked the following Monday. He was in the bar with a .44 magnum. The bartender was Dick the dozer operator and there is a faint memory that he carried a snub-nosed .38. They had been working on trestles in the Park and had recently raised a bridge deck under the whip of Roy Stavenjord (?).

The B&B crew were moved from the bunkhouse to some crew cars on a siding south of Healy on the south side of a tunnel. B&B crew members Dennis, Richard as well as others were interviewed by a FBI agent late in the next week. He suggested that unless the B&B crew were really tied to Alaska that they should move on, which they all did. On Tuesday or Wednesday, Dennis and Richard dove off the 289 powered speeder when they struck two torpedoes placed by the section gang thinking that it was happening again.  They were supposed to have started work on a bridge at the Suntrana Mine that Monday but that did not happen.

John Combs:

Ready to send your next installment?

[Note: I never heard from the anonymous source again.]