So this happened (Homer, Petersburg, Haines: house, buy, living in)

[Metlakatla]

https://www.ktoo.org/2022/07/29/alas...-in-southeast/

Just in case anyone's still out there who thinks that the Brown family has ever been anything but the worst kind of grifters.

“I mean, look what the show is,” he said. “It’s non-residents portraying themselves as Alaskans that basically make us all look like a bunch of frickin’ morons.”

“They certainly weren’t living off the land, building their own cabin and stuff like that,” Stanford said. “You could tell they were more users than givers, not really the kind of people that you would want as a direct neighbor.”

Jim Stanford was a neighbor and said “they seemed like conmen.”

“Depending on the neighbors for support and everybody pitching in, the Browns weren’t cut of that cloth,” he said.

[Techy02]

I always thought it was made for TV crap. Glad they left Petersburg. Hopefully they don't end up my neighbor up there someday.

[MechAndy]

That PFD fraud says a lot.
When you read things like that it’s normally the tip of the iceberg.
I once read that the old guy was really well off because he wrote a lot of books and they “also” had land in Washington.
What part of Washington do those guys live at?

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

https://www.ktoo.org/2022/07/29/alas...-in-southeast/

Just in case anyone's still out there who thinks that the Brown family has ever been anything but the worst kind of grifters.

One of your quoted passages from a disgruntled neighbor was from when they were living at Mosquito lake in the Haines area.

According to an ADN article, "On the show, the Brown family reportedly lived in the woods outside Hoonah, in Southeast Alaska."

Do you know if they actually lived there?

Amazing that the Petersburg realtor ignored their inquires! Only in Alaska.

The patriarch developed serious health problems that lead to death in his 60's.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

That PFD fraud says a lot.
When you read things like that it’s normally the tip of the iceberg.
I once read that the old guy was really well off because he wrote a lot of books and they “also” had land in Washington.
What part of Washington do those guys live at?

The "old guy" was not well off. Anything that family had or ever did have was paid for by the Discovery Channel.

The "old guy" came walking up my driveway looking for work sometime before "the show" (I can't say for sure what the year was), broke as a joke with his entire family living in a dilapidated bus by the side of the road. We gave him a job, but he was incompetent and lasted maybe 10 days. So much for him having worked as a commercial fisherman for 30+ years as claimed. Any books he ever wrote were ghostwritten fabrications.

The real truth about this family is that they grifted up to Alaska in their bus chasing the PFD.

Whatever land he had in Washington was bought by the Discovery Channel to continue filming their stupid show on because the family had become basically unwelcome in Alaska.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by Arktikos

According to an ADN article, "On the show, the Brown family reportedly lived in the woods outside Hoonah, in Southeast Alaska."

Do you know if they actually lived there?

.

It's my understanding that they did not live in Hoonah prior to the show. I've heard others say that they stayed in the Icy Strait Lodge while filming the show. AKStafford can probably provide more information on that.

What I do know is that after they got run out of my town, they grifted up to Port Protection and weaseled their way into a house owned by an elder who had moved to the -48 for health reasons. They told her they would buy it from her when their PFDs came in (it was an older home, not worth much). Instead, they trashed it. Completely. Not only did they take a power cord and pirate electricity from the store there, but they grew marijuana, which takes a lot of electricity. The home was full of filth and garbage when they finally pried the Browns loose from it.

[Parnassia]

The family showed up scouting for land around Gustavus while I lived there and IIRC some company connected with the TV production tested the waters with one or two local businesses. I remember spotting a couple of family members in town one summer. The TV show was well known by then, but the PFD fraud and accounts of others who had been taken advantage of were still rumors. The production people and family were rejected, but I remember there was quite a bit of local anxiety that they'd actually buy a parcel outside town and settle there anyway. There was a sigh of relief when they switched focus to Hoonah (though people hoped Hoonah wouldn't take the bait).

All my family and family friends live down south. Every once in a while, someone would ask me whether the Browns were "real", were they truly so remote they lived off the land as portrayed. I recall watching or trying to watch the show a few times just to see what they were talking about. Couldn't stomach it at all. Just repulsive.

I also agree that not all of the AK reality shows are bad. Port Protection seems legit. The show The Last Frontier featuring the Kilcher family can get overblown. It always plays up how cut off from civilization the homestead is and close to the starvation edge they'll be if they don't harvest enough food. I see family members in one Homer grocery store regularly. You can drive to the place!

[Techy02]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

It's my understanding that they did not live in Hoonah prior to the show. I've heard others say that they stayed in the Icy Strait Lodge while filming the show. AKStafford can probably provide more information on that.

What I do know is that after they got run out of my town, they grifted up to Port Protection and weaseled their way into a house owned by an elder who had moved to the -48 for health reasons. They told her they would buy it from her when their PFDs came in (it was an older home, not worth much). Instead, they trashed it. Completely. Not only did they take a power cord and pirate electricity from the store there, but they grew marijuana, which takes a lot of electricity. The home was full of filth and garbage when they finally pried the Browns loose from it.

Wow, I didn't know about that one. Sad how some people have no issue taking advantage of others.

[HodgePodge]

I looooooooooooooooove any show depicting life in Alaska.

And yes I kinda "fell" for the Alaskan Bush People show... when it started.

But as it progressed, I got the sense that it was more and more made up and a bit pompous and scripted. Then as they got more and more famous, tidbits started popping up on the internet about how "fake" it was.

It kinda saddens me TBH. I loved the "story" of moving up there and being a true hardass surviving the elements, etc.

He did die recently, and I have to admit it saddened me. I obviously know nothing about the reality of who he was... what ultimately was real or fake.

It's really intriguing hearing you folks who actually met and interacted with them. The fact the Matt is shunned by the family now, how he was a drunk and now is never on the show.

[rntim]

I hope they keep on going back to Washington. They did stay at the Icy Strait Lodge while shooting over there. Had a friend who ran into them there. She avoided them because two of the boys were really creepy according to her.