Fort plans to mark Chkalov’s 77th

Vancouver — Fort Vancouver National Historic Site will celebrate the 77th anniversary of Valery Chkalov’s landmark transpolar flight Saturday, highlighting a busy day at the national park.

The free 10:30 a.m. event will be at Pearson Air Museum, 1115 E. Fifth St.

The program will feature a talk by Luda Leksunkin, a bilingual National Park Service guide at Fort Vancouver. Chkalov and two other Soviet aviators landed at Pearson Field on June 21, 1937, after a 63-hour flight over the North Pole.

“I’ve been passionate about Chkalov’s story since I began volunteering in this park six years ago,” Leksunkin said.

Artifacts from the historic flight will be displayed. Scenes from that day will be recreated, with re-enactors portraying Gen. George C. Marshall, Vancouver mayor John P. Kiggins and Chkalov. The Vancouver Community Concert Band will play period music.

On the Vancouver Barracks Parade Ground, re-enactors — and their horses — will provide a living-history look at a Civil War-era cavalry unit from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday also marks Fort Vancouver’s 68th birthday. There will be free entry into the reconstructed fort, with guided tours and birthday cake at noon.

The park service will give away more than 500 trading cards from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights movement.