Ben Benson and The Governor
Ben Benson, Designer of Alaska’s Flag
Tells of Early Life In The Aleutians
r,y MIRIAM Ji ANGEILL
When, on July 4th., 1959, Alaska
celebrated its newly won statehood,
ceremonies all over the state
marked the great day, and the flag
of Alaska flew in new splendor
over cities and villages from the
I
It’s later that.
you think!
NOW
is the time to install
A HOMART
HEATING SYSTEM
Order by July 1
SAVE 10%
No matter what type or size of
heating system you require—oil
or gas ... air, hot water or steam
—Sears has one to correctly fit
your needs.
A Free Estimate of all your
heating needs, including installa
tion if you wish, is yours just for
the asking. But, be sure to call
before July 1.
No Money Down ... and up to
3 full years to pay on Sears
Modernizing Credit Plan. No
Monthly Payments ’til Oct. 1 if
you order now!
FOR FREE ESTIMATE
PHONE RIGHT NOW
Ph. 486—2277
SEARS CATALOG
SALES OFFICE
4 Main Street
If you prefer, mail coupon for Free j
Estimate...
Sears, Roebuck and Co.
(Address) (Town)
Please serai estimates
(type of system)
Name
Address ___
Town____
southernmost boundary of the pan
handle to the northernmost limits
of the Arctic lands. The flag itself
was not new, the design having
been adopted in 1927 by the old
Territorial Legislature after an
Alaska wide contest, sponsored by
the American Legion, turned up
the now familiar gold stars on a
blue field.
lien iienson ot KoaiaK, who
made the original design at the
Methodist Mission school in Sew
ard, now lives in Kodiak, and we
have had the pleasure and honor
of meeting and talking to him. In
recounting the exciting day 34
years ago, Benny remembered that
the telegram came and the teacher
gasped and couldn’t read it out
loud. Her husband took it from
her and read it to us.” According
to news stories at the time, the
boy turned pale and speechless,
and could not respond to demands
for a speech from the other boys
in class. “I guess I was pale: I
couldn’t move in my seat. They
closed the school that day and af
terward I got a lot of publicity
and mail. It was funny—people
would come to the mission and I’d
go hide in the woods. And the let
ters—I found a lot of relatives I
didn’t know I had; everybody
named Benson wanted to know if
my dad was this or that.”
Much more publicity has since
followed Ben Benson, but little
mention has been made of his fam
ily, and of how he grew up. He was
bom in Chignik in 1913; his mother
was of Aleut-Russlan descent, his
father, a Swedish fisherman who
came to the Territory in 1904. Mrs.
Benson died of pneumonia when
Ben was barely three, his brother
and sister even younger. “I knew
Mrs. Eli Metrokin’s mother in
Chignik; she took care of us before
we went to the Mission. My mother
died in the fall and we went to the
Mission the following fall. The boat
we went on was the old Dora, the
mail boat that went between Sew
ard and Unalaska. My dad was
mate on her for a while. She was
the one that hit a reef and carried
a rock in her hull all the way to
Seattle. It’s in a park there.”
At the time, in 1916, the Mis
sion was located at Unalaska. In
her book, ‘‘Where The Wind Blows
Free,” Mary E. Winchell who
taught there for a number of years,
describes life on that far away,
•storm-lashed island. A Bostonian,
Dr. A. W. Newhall, and his wife,
several teachers and helpers, pro
vided a warm, happy home for chil
dren from the Aleutians and the
Bristol Bay area, and a few from
farther north, brought down on
whaling ships. Some had only one
parent; others had both parents
but no schools in their home vil
lages. They ranged in age from
just-past-babyhood to the late
teens, and depending on age and
size, were expected to help with
the work of keeping the large fam
ily clean, fed, and clothed. They
picked berries in season, and
fished, gathered putschi stalks
which are somewhat like celery,
•and the leaves of that plant for sea
soning—anything fresh and usable
to supplement the staples that
came but once a year from Seattle.
A gift of boleek, (smoked sal
mon ), brought to some lncky child
by the mailboat, or a fresh orange
from the expensive company store,
were treasured treats. Driftwood
that occasionally washed up on the
barren island was a valuable find,
and a ship in port, a red letter day.
But for all the austerity of their
lives, there was the wonderful
freedom of the windswept beach,
love—that every child needs from
grown-ups—and the companion
ship of many children.
“They really taught us to work
at the Mission, “Mr. Benson re
membered, “They taught us how
to make bread, sew, everything,
but we had good times too. A lot
of Coast Guard ships used to come
in there, the old Unalga, Haida,
Mojave Bear, Rush, and Thetis.
The men played ball with us kids,
and on the 4th of July when there
CLEANING UP—-C. H. Gosney, left, and A1 Tortorelli pick up
canned goods and groceries strewn through aisles of a large food
center in Hollister, Calif., when an earthquake shook the coastal farm
area with the most severe tremors in years. No injuries were reported
although many window's were broken. (AP Wirephoto
were two ships in, they played each
other. We had a pretty good ball
field.
“I remember around 1923 a Jap
anese ship came in sometimes. The
Japanese wore long knives, like
the Turkish ones, and they gave us
candy to show them the island.
They always had papers and were
drawing (maps) until the Coast
Guard came in one time and scared
us and told us, ‘No more of that.’
And I was in Unalaska when the
Round the World flyers came
through. There were three planes,
but one got wrecked at Port Hei
den. The other two landed on pon
toons and came right up to the
beach. Ships had brought gas ahead
and they fuelled up there. They
let us out of school to see them and
the pilots showed us all their gear.
“I remember when the Coast
Guard ships would race the bidar
kas; they didn’t have a chance with
the bidarkas. Three men could
really make those things sing, go
ing through the water. “One of the
last bidarkas Ben Benson recalls
seeing was at Kanadak, sometime
in the 1920s. “A man named Maxie,
and his wife took tourists out in a
3-man bidarka. They all wore the
kaminka, a bearskin raincoat; they
tied the pucker string of the bidar
ka tight around the waist, and the
drawstrings of the kaminka
around the wTists and face, and
went in with the surf. They would
roll all the way over on the way
in.”
In 1925 the Mission moved to
Seward, perhaps to partially solve
the supply problem—Ben doesn't
remember. The Bear took all the
boys, the Haida, the girls, and the
Mission resettled, this time with a
dairy herd and their first fresh
milk. Two years later, at 13, Benny
Benson’s drawing became Alaska’s
flag, and his words of description,
inspiration for a poem. Now set to
music, it is Alaska’s state song.
He wrote, “The blue field is for the
Alaskan sky and the forget-me-not,
an Alaskan flower. The North
Star is for the future state of Alas
ka, the most Northerly of the
Union. The Dipper is for the Great
Bear, symbolizing strength.” He
was given an inscribed watch and
a $1,000 scholarship to the school
of his choice, but he did not use
the latter until 1938.
In the meantime the senior Ben
son had bought Ugaiushek Island
and his son joined him in trapping
blue fox there and on the mainland.
It was profitable until the price
dropped around 1934, likely a com
bination of the fickle tastes of the
English women who were the larg
est market for them, and the de
pression. By that time too, mink
(Continued on Page 14)
Photography
portraits George C. Ameigh, Jr.
weddings ieutce
J^>BANQUETS
^ Phone 486-2472
^PARTIES
^AERIALS * •« 1133
A r a xmey a r»tr>c KOlllak’ AMOI
^LANDSCAPES
Mallory
NOKABOUT
Here's the hat you’ve been wanting. Keeps its
shape in any weather because it is Cravenette
processed. Tops in style, too. Why would a man
want any other hat when he can have Mallory
style and quality for only
Donnelley & Acheson
Men’s Wear