‘Into the Wild’ bus display receives $300K federal grant

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) - The University of Alaska Fairbanks has received a $300,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to help develop exhibits around the historic Bus 142, which was featured in Jon Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild” and a subsequent film adaptation.

The university took over the responsibility for preserving the abandoned bus in 2020 after it was removed via helicopter from its location on the Stampede Trail inside Denali National Park and Preserve, undertaking a years-long process of conservation, which ended in 2023.

According to Angela Linn, UAF Museum of the North senior collection manager of ethnology and history, that process involved repairing the windows, fixing the damage that had occurred when it was flown out from the Stampede Trail and making sure it’s weatherproof.

Ultimately, the bus will be put into a free outdoor display open 24/7, including a pavilion and the possibility of guided tours of its interior.

“We were able to clear a space in the woods to the north of the building, just off of our parking lot, which is where the exhibition will actually take place,” Linn said.

“We’ve got about 100 feet of a nice graduated trail and then a nice big opening in the trees back there in that boreal forest setting, and so in that space, we’ve been able to lay down gravel so that it’s going to be a fully wheelchair-accessible trail and access to the exhibit site.”

Linn said another $100,000 in funding is needed before the bus can be put into its outdoor display, in order to secure it from vandalism and wild animals by connecting power to the area and installing lights and security cameras.

Before the display is opened, Linn said the museum will test out interpretive labels with its visitors, with the goal of holding a soft open for the area toward the end of next summer, followed by a grand reopening in summer 2028.

While it awaits display, the bus is being kept in storage on campus.

Currently, an exhibit inside the museum highlights the journey and influence of traveler Christopher McCandless, who in 1992 sheltered in the bus for more than three months before dying in the wilderness shortly after.

His story is immortalized in “Into the Wild,” leading hikers to pursue the Stampede Trail site for years and causing controversy among some Alaskan residents who question McCandless as a role model.

The current exhibit includes McCandless’ belt and camera, as well as a preserved window from the bus and media related to his journey.

“What we really want to do is tell the story of the bus within the context of interior Alaska,” Linn explained. “What does it mean? What’s it connected to Alaska’s history, natural history, cultural history, and what stories do we learn about Alaska history through the bus?”

Research from the museum indicates the bus, a 1946 model, likely served as a military transport vehicle, a school bus and a city bus, before being left on the Stampede Trail in 1961.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com