More detail on this person: Douglas Leo
Buchanan, a longtime resident of Fairbanks,
Alaska, left peacefully on his next adventure
February 7th in the hills north of Helena, Montana
with his wife & partner, Iloilo Jones, by his side
after a long battle with cancer.
Born on May 19th, 1947 to Leo & Laura Buchanan
(both deceased) of Selah, WA, Doug was the
youngest of 7 children, brothers Bruce Buchanan
(deceased) (Karron), Lynn Buchanan (Connie) of
Yakima, Roger Buchanan of Judith Gap, Montana,
sisters Betty Hillstrom Keller (Doug) of Selah,
Kaye Patton of Dallas, Texas, & Marilyn Buchanan
of Mercer Island, WA. Doug is survived by 13
nieces and nephews.
Doug grew up in Selah where he graduated from
Selah High School in 1964. He then attended
Washington State University where he got a degree
in Wildlife Biology while participating in
R.O.T.C. After graduation from W.S.U., Doug went
on to complete his military obligation in the U.S.
Army where he served with the 7/17 Cavalry as a
platoon leader and helicopter pilot in Vietnam
until 1974.
He left the US Army while stationed in Fairbanks,
where he would spend most of the rest of his life,
and where he became an important part of an active
outdoor adventure community.
A brilliant thinker and gifted epistemologist,
Doug wrote significant works on the ethics of
government's use of force, on the evils of murder
disguised as warfare, and the contradictions of
armed robbery by taxation.
Doug lived many lives, all connected, all enacted
thoughtfully, artfully, meaningfully. He enjoyed
the respect and company and humor of many,
mostly in Fairbanks, but also around the world,
where he was famous.
Famous for rabble-rousing, for elevating freedom
above safety, security, & control.
He was right, of course, as he almost always was
during mid-winter party talk, serious parties,
serious talk, but witty, too, and humor in those
smiling gray eyes... though his sister would claim
them blue.
In 1979 Doug organized the Alaskan Alpine Club.
He fought federal regulations and won.
In the mid 1980s Doug pioneered climbing
insurance in this country. The Mountain Rescue
Expense Fund was the first. It lived on for
decades, protecting the runners, skiers, and
packrafters of the Wilderness Classic. Doug also
pioneered climbs in the Alaska Range and
Wrangells, especially first winter ascents. He
specialized in the nameless, the unknowable, the
cold and the desperate, the lonely.
Doug was an
Eagle-scout-climber-skier-boater-skydiver-self-pro
pelled-subsistence hunter (just to name a few) for
more than 50 years. He jumped out of hot-air
balloons, rappelled into glacier bellies, lined
his boat upstream and returned with it full of
moose. Doug experimented with fabrics from the
70s-80s, lightweight fabrics he sewed himself in
designs he imagined while pursuing wild, icy
mountain and solo ocean adventures so far out of
the league of everyone else that decades passed
before others did the same. He knapped
arrowheads, made museum-quality pipes and
sculpture, and later kept incredible websites of
stories of such things and more. The turn of the
century compelled him to build those floating
islands that can be seen out on L.L. Buchanan
Lake.
Yes, a revolutionary, a visionary in ways,
physical, metaphysical, and herbal. Doug was
instantly recognized by head hair that reached
down his back, face hair to his chest, and his
iconic Top Hat... but the beard... the long, gray,
full beard, an enigmatic blend of wisdom,
counter-culture, and liberty shined in resplendent
display.
Yes, he was a visionary. A mentor. A friend, a
husband, a brother, and an uncle.
More than that, he was a model of a man to all
that were lucky enough to cross his path.
They will celebrate Doug's life in Fairbanks,
Alaska on May 19th, his 65th birthday. Family and
friends will celebrate a memorial of his life in
the Yakima Valley in the springtime, as well as
memorials on the East Coast, Helena Montana,
Laramie & Lander Wyoming, North Carolina, and
various other locations at various times.
Memorials are suggested for the Alaskan Alpine
Club, 1957 Weston Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99709, or
the charity of your choice. More information on
celebrations, as well as comment on Doug's life,
can be found on the CaringBridge.org site of Doug
Buchanan, or more of his fascinating life can be
read about at Alaskastories.com.
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 04/13/2025
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