Iconic 'Into the Wild' bus to be displayed at Fairbanks museum
Jul 31, 2020
Washington [US], July 31 : The iconic bus that was the final campsite for the late adventurer Christopher McCandless is headed to a new, safer home at a museum in Fairbanks, Alaska, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Christopher McCandless, also known by his own given name Alexander Supertramp was an American hiker, who left behind a decent lifestyle after graduation and travelled across North America with an aim to reach Alaska. The late adventurer hiked to the bus in 1992.
The state Department of Natural Resources said on Thursday (local time) that it intends to negotiate with the University of Alaska's Museum of the North to display the bus, so that the public could "experience it fully, yet safely".
Over the years, people from around the world have travelled to the bus, located about 25 miles from the town of Healy, to pay homage to McCandless, cited The Hollywood Reporter.
"Of the many expressions of interest in the bus, the proposal from the UA Museum of the North best met the conditions we at DNR had established to ensure this historical and cultural object will be preserved in a safe location where the public could experience it fully, yet safely and respectfully, and without the spectre of profiteering," The Hollywood Reporter cited the Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige said in a statement.
McCandless' story became famous with author Jon Krakauer's 1996 book 'Into the Wild,' followed nine years later by director Sean Penn's movie of the same name.
"I believe that giving Bus 142 a long-term home in Fairbanks at the UA Museum of the North can help preserve and tell the stories of all these people. It can honor all of the lives and dreams, as well as the deaths and sorrows associated with the bus, and do so with respect and dignity," Feige added.
The 'Into the Wild' bus has been planned to the Fairbanks' museum after being removed from Alaska's backcountry to deter people from making dangerous, sometimes deadly treks to visit the site where McCandless documented his demise in 1992.
As per the publication, two women have drowned in the Teklanika River on such visits to the bus, one from Switzerland in 2010 and the other from Belarus nine years later.
The former Fairbanks city bus is sometimes called Bus 142 or the Magic Bus and was later used by house construction workers building a road in the area. It was abandoned in 1961 and became a shelter for those using the backcountry to recreate or hunt.
