BROWER TALKS ABOUT
LIFE AT POINT BARROW
AN INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE ACCOUNT OF LIFE
MAN WHO HAS SPENT FIFTY,
YEARS AT FARTHEST NORTH
AMERICAN COMMUNITY TELLS
OF IIIS EXPERIENCES.
M,""~ '.l!
Mr. Charles D. Qrower, for an |
even half century a resident of Pt.
Barrow, the most northerly inhabit
ed point under the American flag,
gave an interesting account of his
life among the Eskimos and his
meeting with famous Arctic explor
j ers at an all-college Arctic explor
ers at an assembly at the Alaska
Agricultural College and School of
Mines on November 7, the Farthest
North Collegian, student publication
says in its December' issue. Mr.
Brower told of the universal hearfy
hospitality of the Eskimos, even
those who had never seen white
men before he came among, them,
of' his friendship with tatg|ansson
and Eielson, of whale hunting with
the natives, of carrying the news of
the gold strike at Nome to St. Mich
ael, of the first discovery of the so
called “blond Eskimos,” of the great
bird migrations that cover the sky
over Point Barrow from one end of
the horizon to the other, and many
other curious and unique experien
ces of his fifty years in the Arctic.
Came North in 1884
“In 1884 I was in San Francisco
tired of civilization and wanting to
get away somewhere,” said Mr.
Brower. “I heard of an expedition
coming to the Arctic. A party of
six, financed by a whaling company,
started in June in a small steamer
to investigate some coal beds in the
north. Breaking through the ice,
we finally reached our destination.
On the way up we were warned not
to land among the Eskimos as they
would do terrible things to us, but
we took a chance. When we land
ed we found the Eskimos willing to
help us in every possible way.
Eskimos Always Hospitable
“Two of us decided to stay in the
North. . Up to this time there had
been no white men north of St.
Michael. I wanted to go hunting
and went out with the Eskimos. At
this time there were only few rifles
among them and most of them were
using bows and arrows.. In the fall
I started for Point Barrow. I did
not know exactly where it was and
I had no map, but I went along
from settlement to settlement until
I reached there the 26th day of De
cember. Everywhere I stopped I
found the people very hospitable
and kind. They showed not the
slightest bit of inquisitiveness con
cerning my destination or errand.
They were so hospitable that I
could not tell them when I wasj
going to leave or the women folk
would feed my dogs too much the
night before and I could not travel."
Mr. Brower told of an occasion
when he was lost for several days
and a thirteen year old Eskimo girl
trailed him along. more than fifty
miles. The only time he was nol
received hospitably was on his firsl
trip to Point Hope where the chief
of the Eskimo tribe took him oul
and showed him a rack and his pri
vate burial ground where five met
lay buried and hinted that he mighl
be the next victim if he did nol
leave.. But on his return to th<
same village some time later he wai
received very hospitably by thi
same chief and was taken on :
whale hunt with him.
Joins In Whale Hunt
Before they would let him joii
them, however, because of their su
perstitions and taboos, conference:
with the shamans or “devil drivers'
were necessary.
! “There was much beating of drum;
and trances on the part of the sham
ans. Finally one decided I would
‘
bring good luck. Another said I
must have a complete new outfit
which suited me fine as my clothes
were getting worn out. Another
disclosed the fact that the boat in
which I would go would get three
whales. This settled the matter and
I was granted permission. The next
morning when I awoke I found that
everything I had had disappeared.
On looking over the boats and hunt
ing equipment I found not a trace
of the white man.”
First to Learn of “Blond” Eskimos
Mr. Brower, ■who is a member of
the Explorers’ Club of New York
City, has met all the members of
Polar and Arctic expeditions which
have passed through Point Barrow.
He met Stefansson when he first
came to Barrow in 1910. Mr. Brow
er told Stefansson of the so-called
^“blond Eskimos” (so named by New
York journalists, he said) who had
been first discovered in Victoria
Land by a party he sent out in 1907.
Stefansson rediscovered them and
took the news to the States.
Concerning the snow houses of the
Eskimos, the speaker said: “Mr.
Stefansson says people in Point Bar
row never build them. He is mis
taken. They have always done so
and do so even today. Especially
when out hunting or trapping do
.they build these snow houses. They
are used about two weeks when
they become unfit for habitation.
Another house is built along side
i the old one, and they move from
one to the other.”
Radio Commuication With Eielson
Radio Commuication With Eielson
Ben Eielson and Captain Wilkins
spent three seasons in Point Bar
. row before they finally left there
for Spitzbergen. Mr. Brower said,
“Ben was a wonderful., friend of
mine. We shoveled a path for him
I . ’ ’
(Continued on Page Three)
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LOCAL NEWS
Boat Train Leaves
Fairbanks Monday
According to information received
yesterday by J. D. Harlan, Manager
of the Hammon Consolidated Gold
Fields at Nome, the next southbound
train will leave Fairbanks Monday
morning to connect at Seward with
the S S Victoria, which has been de
layed, sailing south for Seattle.
Briggs Indictment
Dismissed Thursday
Upon advice from the government
at Washington, D. C, the indictment
of breaking into a U. S. Mail pouch,
by Glenn Briggs of Candle, was
drcj^ed A Court Order dismiss
ing the indictment against Mr.
Briggs was signed yesterday by Jud
ge J. H. S. Morison fo the District
Court for hte Second Division.
PAA Electra Goes
Back To Fairbanks
—
The Lockheed Electra of the Paci
fic Alaska Airways, took off this
morning on its return flight to Fair
banks with the U. S. Mail. Pilots Joe
Barrows and Joe Crosson, and mech
anics Hoffman and Milligan were the
ionly passengers.
It is reported that the plane will
make the Monday PAA mail flight
with Pilot Robbins in the cockpit.
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