They were flying the Huskys along the Mexican border not in Alaska.
The original Husky landing gear is a bungees under the front seat system, with no hydrosorb shock absorbers. My plane originally had that and it was a bitch to land on rough ground. You'd bounce like a tennis ball if you landed hard. Definitely dangerous. I couldn't wait to swap the gear out. Every Husky owner I've ever spoken with has claimed that they're as good as a Cub. Don't believe it. If they were as good as a Cub, all the guides up here would be flying them instead of $100,000 - $250,000 rebuilt Super Cubs, many of which were built in the 1950's or earlier. Mine is a 1947. Many of them fly at the "edge" all day every day during hunting season; if there was a better plane, they'd have it. Cost is irrelevant; Everyone walking away from every landing is everything.
Here's a picture of a friends freshly rebuilt Super Cub on a strip in August here in Fairbanks less than 2 miles from my house. He was taking off and a landing C-180? couldn't see him over his nose and landed on top of him from behind. Larry was pretty beat up, but was out of hospital and home after, I think, 2 days or less. The Cessna burned to a crisp and I think two onboard died. You can see what's left of it in the background here - just a small pile of aluminum slag. I'm pretty sure Larry starts every day with a big grateful grin at this point.
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