Recently, I was given a gift of a deck of playing cards. Like the playing cards that were used in Iraq to identify the bad guys, each of these cards represent an Outlaw, Rebel or Con Artist that is part of Alaska history.

The majority of them are politicians, of course Ted Stevens, Frank Murkowski, Don Young, Sarah Palin, and Wally Hickel are all honored with a picture and brief write up as to why they made the list. In my personal opinion some of those that made the list really do not belong on the list of outlaws, rebels, and cons. I am sure, the $80,000 that disappeared when famed U.S. Marshall, Wyatt Earp left Alaska, after living in Nome during the "gold rush" was just an oversight or banking error.

A few names surprised me that they had a card dedicated to them:

Seven of Hearts: Steve McQueen: On a fishing trip to Alaska in 1972, he was stopped by the City Police in Anchorage for speeding and laying down brodies. Resisting arrest, he was charged with reckless driving and spent the night in the 4th Avenue jail. The following morning, he posted bail and left the "Last Frontier".

King of Hearts: Robert Stroud: Migrating to Alaska at 18, Stroud fell for a prostitute named "Kitty". Stroud killed a man in Juneau for messing with "Kitty" and then killing a guard in the local jail. He was sent to the Alcatraz Island prison where he educated himself. He wrote several books and was considered an expert on canaries and a variety of other birds. He gained fame as the subject of the Oscar Winning movie, "Birdman of Alcatraz" starring Burt Lancaster.

Five of Spades: Captain James Waddell: Sent to Alaska by the Confederate States during the Civil War, the English Captain sailed the Shenandoah to the Bering Strait to destroy Yankee whaling ships. In June 1865, unaware that the Civil War had ended the Shenandoah destroyed 21 whaling boats crippling the U.S. whaling fleet. Learning that the war had ended, Captain Waddell evaded the Union warships to escape back to England.

The community of Homer had only one person represented in the deck of fifty-two. On the Three of Hearts, the terrible "Outlaw, Rebel, or Con" was the Eagle Lady, Jean Keene who passed away at the age of 82 in 2009. I would question the validity of why she is on the list, perhaps we should let the thousands of eagles that she fed each winter vote as to whether she was a "outlaw" or a "saint".