( Historial Sketches and Experi
Itences of Trail-Blazers Who Made
Alaska the Empire of the North
PIONEERS OF ALASKA
EDITED BY
JOHN W. FRAME
President Anchorage Igloo No. 15
MEMBER OF FAMOUS SOUR
DOUGH ORDER IS NAMED FOR
ENTRANCE TO ANNAPOLIS.
M. ANDERSON, OF FAIRBANKS
A pioneer of Alaska, member oi
Fairbanks Igloo No. 4, has been nam
ed for entrance to the United States
naval academy at Annapolis, says the
Fairbanks Citizen. He is Melvin An
derson, who holds the office of histor
ian in the Fairbanks igloo, and he if
the first member of the Alaska Ordei
of Pioneers to be appointed to Amer
ica’s great naval service school.
Anderson, who is 20 years old, wa.
born in Seattle, Wash., and war
brought north by his parents before
he war 1 year old.
He spent his early boyhood in tin
north and went to Seattle to attenc
school and there graduated from tin
Broadway high shcool. He canu
north two years ago and since ther
ra> been employed as stenographer it
the office of the clerk of the Unitec
States district court at Fairbanks.
since coming to Fairbanks t\v<
yea s ago, he became a member ol
Fahbanks Igloo No. 4. Pioneers ol
Alaska, and at the last election ol
of:, et s was chosen historian,
t Me was appointed to the naval acad
<• . by Delegate in Congress Charier
A. Sulzer, on recommendation o
Charles E. Bunnell, judge of the Unit
• d States district court for the fourtl
division, with headquarters at Fair
banks.
The young man has left Fairbanks
for the states to prepare for his en
trance examination into the nava
academy.
J. H. Ferris, an old-timer of th«
north, died suddenly the other day a
a cabin on Engineer creek near Fail
banks. Mr. Ferris was more than 7
years of age, hut notwithstanding hi
great age, he was able to work stead
by up to a short time before hi
yloath. In 1898* Mr. Ferris rushec
i Dav - in with the stampeders. Late
, .vent to Fortymile and in the earl;
< cys h: went to Fairbanks. Whei
t • Fairbanks school was in the Fore
1 ■■ k he was the janitor of the build
ing. Later, owing to the illness o
Mrs. Ferrs he went to the outsict
and was in the states for sovera
years. About two years ago he re
turned to Fairbanks and was in Fail
banks and vicinity ever since.
Soldiers arc policing the streets o
Skagway, and extra precautions ar*
being taken at night. Martial lav
has not been declared, as that is no
believed to be necessary, but the ef
feet is almost the same. The othe
night fourteen persons in Skagwa}
were ordered to report at the cour
1
iiouse, where they were instructed n
the rules of the government regarding
approach to terminals, waterfronts
depots, etc., and were informed o
laws against seditious speech. This
was merely a precautionary measur<
and the persons called were thos*
whom authorities thought should b<
\ ^especially warned for one reason oi
^■another. Rumors in Skagway are t<
Wthe effect that the recent Industria
■ Workers of the World plot in Fon
| Seward which was exposed, and foi
I which several soldiers were giver
I heavy sentences by court martial, ha:
■ been traced to some extent to Skag
way.
Bill Seeley, of “Busy Bill’s Corner,’
Vjur.eau, recently received word to thi
effect that a distant relative had die<
and left him a farm in the nriddh
west. Mr. Seeley will make a trip t<
survey his property. Ho is presiden
of the Alaska board of pharmacy.
6 l
* YOU WIN
A cold spell: Z. E. R. O.
A hot spell: H. E. L. L.—Ball Cranl
MISSOURI ONCE
ALL SAME ALASKA
The people of Alaska sometimes
forget that all frontier have been
much worse than here in the north.
A letter in the book “Pioneer Fam
ilies of Missouri,’ written 100 years
ago by a woman in Missouri to her
sister in Kentucky, reads as follows:
“The men and dogs have a line
time, but we poor women have to suf
fer. We pack water from one-half
mile to one mile for cooking and
washing. My advice is, stay where
you are. Put if you see anyone com
i ing to this country, send a plank
cradle for poor little Patrick. His
poor back is full of hard bumps, ly
ing in a cradle George made out of
a hollow log with a piece of wood for
a pillow. George and I attended a
wedding last week. The preacher, a
hard shell Baptist, had a long buck
skin overcoat. The groom was in his
shirt sleeves, with white cotton pants
i that came just below his knees, and
i white cotton socks and buckskin slip
1 pers on his feet. The girl was dress
ed in a low necked,short waisted, short
. sleeved white cotton dress that was
[ monstrous short for a girl like her.
. She had on buckskin slippers and her
. hair was tied with a buckskin string,
which is all the go here. And when
the preacher was spelling and read
ing the eerinony from the book, the
girl commenced sneezing and the
buckskin string slipped off her hair,
■ which fell all over her face, and ev
■ erybody laughtd.
An early marriage ceremony in
Livingston county took place with the
couple on one side of Medicine creek
. and Squire Jordan on the other side.
• The creek was booming. The young
man swam the stream and brought
the squire down from his house. Then
the young man swam back and took
his place beside the young woman.
. Squire Jordan couldn't swim. He
wanted to postpone the ceremony a
few days until the creek went down.
The young folks wouldn’t have it.
They joined hands and told the squire
to go ahead. The questions and an
. swers were shouted across the creek
and the knot was tied. Medcine creek
. got its name, according to tradition,
because a country doctor in trying to
swim it lost his “pill bags,” as they
were t ailed.—Kansas City Star.
TANANA Hi I AX), NO. 13,
ELECTS OFFICERS
President
First vice
Second vice
Historian .
Chaplain
Secretary ..
Treasurer
Sergeant
Trustee ......
Trustee .
Trustee .... .
Doorkeeper
.C. L. Vawter
Cuy H. Bergman
Basil F i t z wi 11 i a m s
. \V. H. Davis
\V. H. Bergman
..J. C. Doha
D. F. McClure
W. J. Casey
.J. A. Adams
.E. A. Kotgh
.Jos. Anieieh
.Henry Luttman
On Decmber 5th the Igloo gave an
entertainment, “The Days of ‘07” for
the benefit of the American Red
Cross. The net proceeds were $961.25.
They are going to repeat it on the
22nd of this month and expect to out
do the first entertainment. The mem
bership of the Igloo is 60.
; The auxiliary, Pioneers of Alaska,
, is busy rehearsing for their dramatic
, entertainment to be given at the labor
. temple on March 0. They report good
• progress and declare that it will be
i something worth while. The ladies
have certainly been successful in se
; curing some of the best talent in the
• city and with Mrs. J. E. Robarts and
[ Mrs. Wilbur Ward in charge, it can
; not be otherwise than a big success.
The members of the Woman’s
Auxiliary, Pioneer of Alaska, are to
’; serve lunch to the Pioneers tonight
1 after the session of the auxiliary is
1 over. All the Pioneers are cordially
i invited to come out and have a seat
; ! at the table.
A fire recently damaged the Dwyer
j inn at Strelna to the extent of $1,000.
Two rooms over the kitchen were de
j stroyed. The fire was the result of a
; defective flue.
DOINGS OF IGLOO NO. 15
t
There was a very enthusiastic meet
ing of the Pioneers at their hall on
Friday evening last. Almost 100
members were present. Vice-Presi
dent John H. Robinson, in the absence
of President Lynch, presided over1 the
meeting with great efficiency and in a
most pleasing manner. Three new
applications were submitted and inas
much as all of the applicants were
present an election was held, resulting
in the admission of all to membership.
Under suspension of the rules the
newly-elected members, Martin Mur
ray, Injvald Rystad and Michael Stag
ner, together with R. D. McDonald,
I elected at a previous meeting, were
all duly initiated. A short recess was
taken to give the new members a wel
come while the members “lit their
pipes.”
After the recess the igloo resumed
the routine business of the evening, on
the completion of which, President
Robinson, under the “good of the or
der.” called for a talk from J. W.
Frame on the patriotism of Ameri
cans in the war. Mr. Frame respond
ed in a manner that aroused much en
thusiasm. The president then called
cn I Tether Thomas Dwyer of the
■ Home Exemption board, who explain
ALASKA’S FOURTH GOVERNOR.
James Sheakley, Alaska’s fourth
governor, was born in Mercer county,
Pennsylvania, April 26, 182:). He
died December 10, 1017, at the ad
vanced age of 80 years. 11 is father
was one of the early pioneers in the
state of Pennsylvania, having located
in Adams county where his ances
tors- had settled before the revolu
tion. Janies’ early ambition was to be
a lawyer but he was dissuaded in this
by his mother, his father having died
when he was only ten years old. At
the age of 16 he went to Meadville
where he learned the furniture busi
ness while attending the Meadville
academy, lie returned home in 1849
and lived with his mother until 1851.
when he got the gold fever and went
to California by the way of Nica
ragua. He remained in California un
til 1854. He returned to his old home
in the east and in the year 1855 was
married to Miss Lydia Long, who
still survives him.
In 1859 he entered the oil business
and started operations in the famous
Butler oil district and in 1864 held an
Interest in the Grant oil well which
for some time produced 1,000 gallons
of oil per day with oil selling at $6
per barrel.
Governor Sheakley’s most oft-re
peated story was the manner in which
money was handled those days. There
was very little paper money and being
paid in hard coin for oil it was haul
ed around in sacks in a buckboard
and handled with less care than a sack
of potatoes would be today. He fol
lowed the oil business until 1874 when
he was elected to the 44th congress
on the democratic ticket, notwith
standing the fact that the district was
largely republican, politcally. In
congress he. was a bitter opponent of
the electoral commission bill and led
the movement on the floor of the
house for the purpose of stopping
the counting in of Mr. Hayes by the
commission and have the house of
representatives elect Mr. Tilden.
In 1884 when congress passed the
I act giving the then district of Alaska
a civil form of government, to con
sist of a United States district court
' and four lower courts, the judges to
! be known as United States commis
■ sioners, Mr. Shealey was one of the
I commissioners apointed, and placed at
Fort Wrangell. He was also appoint
1 ed superintendent of the government
schools of Alaska. He was a warm
friend of Rev. Sheldon Jackson and
was the co-worker with him in the
establishment of Alaska schools, and
the natives who learned to love him
I to this day refer to him as the “Little
I Father.”
At the Democratic national conven
tion in Chicago, in 1892, Mr. Sheakley
and udge A. K. Delaney were the del
egates representing Alaska, and by
casting their ballots' for Cleveland,
ed fully the regulations governing en
listment in the army. Great interest
was manifested in h-.s talk. The next
brother called up was I. Bayles for a
talk on “business.” Mr. Bayles made
an extremely interesting talk and
pleased the audience much by declar
ing that Alaskans could stay even if
there was no business. But Mr.
Bayles was quite optimistic as to the
future of Alaska and Anchorage in
| particular.
j President Robinson then made a
j short talk on the outlook of Anehor
! age for the season and left a hopeful
j feeling in the breast of all the mem
i bers present.
Brother Thompson spoke on the en
| tertainment to be given at the Labor
temple March 9, and urged all to get
| in and work for a big success. He
i said the sister Pioneers were work
ing hard and we should do all in our
; power to assist them.
Brother Packard reported some
good news as to new coal strikes
i along the railroad and seemed full of
I hope that this part of Alaska would in
due time marvel even those who live
! here and know of our wonderful lat
j . nt resources.
The meeting adjourned in due form.
gave him the necessary two-thirds
i vote to win the nomination. For this
loyalty President Cleveland, in 18!).°>,
appointed Mr. Sheakley governor of
i Alaska. He took office in Sitka on
August 2S, of that year. His record
' was such that President Harrison re
appointed him, notwithstanding his
1 opcsite politcal affiliations. After
i serving a total of nine years as an
1 officer in the territory and being in
his 58th year, he resigned and return
ed to his home at Greenville, Pa.,
where he lived up to the time of his
death.
!
The three governors preceding Gov
i ernor Sheakley were John H. Kincade,
| A. P. Swineford and Lyman Knapp.
The Store for All the People
IN REPLY TO THE MANY COMPLAINTS FROM OUR CUSTOM
ERS REGARDING THE
Closing of Our Store on
Saturday Nights at 6 p. m.
WE HAVE DECIDED TO PUT ON AN EXTRA SHIFT AND
• REMAIN OPEN UNTIL
9:00 p. m. Every Saturday Night
SO AS TO ENABLE EVERYBODY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
Our New Plan of Merchandising
And at the Same Time Enable Us to Properly Handle the Increased
Business Derived from This
Profit-Sharing Plan!
KINDLY PLACE YOUR ORDERS EARLY. It helps us to Deliver
More Promptly.
THE STORE THAT HAS REDUCED THE HIGH COST OF LIVING
WE CLOSE AT 6 P. M. SATURDAYS AT 9 P. M.
oo
CD
MEMBERS INITIATED AT LAST
MEETING OF THE IGLOO
r. d. McDonald
Was born in Nova Scotia on the 15th
day of September, 1862. He came
to Alaska in the year 1898, arriving in
Skagway in the spring. After visit
ing many of the camps in the terri
tory he finally settled in Anchorage
in 1914. Mr. McDonald is a bridge
carpenter by occupation but has spent
much of his time in Alaska in the
hills* looking for the glittering sands.
His relatives reside at Smithens, B.
C.
MARTIN MURRAY
Conies from across the briny sea. He
was born in England, May 19, 1867.
He came to Alaska in the year 1898,
along the great Klondike rush. He
has been in many of the Alaskan
i camps and has made mining and pros
I pecting his business in the north. His
| relatives reside in Seattle.
INJVALD KYSTAD.
| Is a native of Norway. He was born
i April 3, 1868. After traveling over
a large portion of che United States
| he finally came to Alaska in February
1898 with the Klondike rush. For
many years he followed mining and
prospecting but by trade).he is a carp
enter. He came to Anchorage in 1915
and has been doing carpenter work
I since coming here. His relatives live
at Great Falls, Montana.
MICHAEL STAGNER.
Is from the good old state of Ohio,
having been born in Toledo on the
15th day of October, 1859. Mr. Stag
ner is an old-timer in the territory,
! having come to Sunrise in June, 1897.
During the most of his time in the
north he has been a prospector and
miner. He still claims Sunrise as his
| home and most every spring shoulders
, his pick and shovel and makes for the
hills.
IF REMINDER.
Click—Is that movie actor absent
! minded? Clark—In a way, but he nev
| er forgets himself.—Film Fun.
PIONEER DIES
WHILE ALONE
WHILE IN CHARGE OF PLACE
| ON HINCHINBROOK ISLAND.
I DEATH FROM NATURAL CAUSES
| _
When Charles Ross returned to his
j ranch on Hinchinbrook island the
j other day after having spent a month
j in Cordova, he found Thomas King,
j an Alaska pioneer, who had been left
in charge of the place, was dead, says
the Cordova Times.
As the fire was out and the body
| frozen stiff it is believed King died
I several days. previously. He was
there alone.
| Deputy Marshal Fursman, of Cor
dova, went to the island and brought
the remains to Codrova. An inquest
was held and the verdict was that
King came to his death from natural
! causes.
The funeral took place from Lam
bert’s undertaking parlors, in Cor
dova, Rev. E. P. Zeigler officiating,
and a large number of friends attend
ed and paid their best respects to the
old pioneer.
King was about 40 years of age and
came to Alaska from Madison, Wis
consin. He spent a number of years
in the Tanana valley and since 1013
had been a resident of Cordova, be
i
ing employed most of the time as a
fisherman. Last April he was badly
burned aboard the Clark & Graham
boat Ikaros, which caught fire while
tied at the Cordova dock. King spent
many months in the Cordova hospital
and never fully recovered from the
burns received. He was badly crippled
i and had lived with Mr. Ross for some
| time.