Here’s the weird part. Riker only ever says that he’s from Alaska in the show. He doesn’t specify Valdez. So where does Valdez come from?
Both the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 223) and StarTrek.com identified Valdez, Alaska as Riker’s place of birth. [1]
I mean sure, why not Valdez? Riverside, Iowa decided Kirk was born there because he said he was from Iowa and no one ever claimed it before them, so I guess they got there first. They have a statue and a marker.
Someday, I’ll have to visit the Janeway statue in Bloomington, IN (Voyager did establish her as being from Bloomington because Jeri Taylor went to IU), the Kirk statue in Iowa, the soon-to-be Riker statue in Valdez and maybe finish at Vulcan, Alberta. A Star Trek road trip!
Here’s the weird part. Riker only ever says that he’s from Alaska in the show. He doesn’t specify Valdez. So where does Valdez come from?
I mean sure, why not Valdez? Riverside, Iowa decided Kirk was born there because he said he was from Iowa and no one ever claimed it before them, so I guess they got there first. They have a statue and a marker.
Someday, I’ll have to visit the Janeway statue in Bloomington, IN (Voyager did establish her as being from Bloomington because Jeri Taylor went to IU), the Kirk statue in Iowa, the soon-to-be Riker statue in Valdez and maybe finish at Vulcan, Alberta. A Star Trek road trip!