I Historial Sketches and Experi
! ^nces of Trail-Blazers Who Made
^1 *| Alaska the Empire of the North
PIONEERS OF ALASKA
EDITED BY
CHARLES L. KEMP,
Secretary Anchorage Igloo No. 15.
Has More Inventors to Square Inch
Than Any art of lTniverse. Compar
ed to Its Limited Population.
(Juneau Empire)
Although noted for many things,
Alaska probably would make the big
gest noise yet, which would make peo
ple all over the world sit up and take
notice, if could he lecorded the many
inventions and devices which Alaskans
have perfected and turned out.
Lots of practical working improve
ments have been made which have
never been patented. Most old-timers
are familiar with the evolution of
mining from the wood tires and hot
rocks to the steam thaw points and
big plants and later still to large
scrapers. Mine owners unable to get
improved devices always from the fac
tory. in some instances, made the trip
oast and showed machinists how to
make what they required.
It is generally supposed that one of
the r t deadly German shells now
#> being used was invented by an Alas
% kan, who, it is said, first tried to sell
his devic to the American govern
ment. It was Captain Peabody who
figured out a device to keen dynamite
from exploding prematurely.
In :. everything has been tried
by Ah dans, from trying to solve
p< . pc.;:.a motion to squaring a circle.
t Q1U •• iMcan studied a long time on
the ph. i to make use of the tides of
the ocean for creating power, and an
other figured out that no energy
should 1' allowed to go to waste; that
even people walking restlessly back
and f •«h along sidewalks should be
made to op< rate ■. read ill apparatus
which wound furnish power.
Possibly the fact that Alaskans are
the be.-t read people in the world and
have time during the long winters, cs
pecialy in the interior, to concentrate
their thoughts on such things, may
furnish a physichological reason foi
making the inventive brain more ac
tive.
One of the latest wrinkles gotten
out in Juneau is a worm-driven power
gurdy for halibut equipment by the
Union Machine Works, which is de
- signed to make halibut fishing easy.
Another Juneau man thinks he has
solved the problem of sending shells
a greater distance than the long range
German guns and is busy with experi
ments. Alaskans also have tried their
hand at flying devices and most every
one is familiar with Scotty Allan’s
motor sled experiments. The problem
of getting loads over the ice and snow
trails in Alaska has claimed the at
tention of a good many sourdoughs,
although some of them are still old
fashioned enough to hold the theory
that a malamute team will get them
farther than any of the new-fangled
contraptions.
1
F. Martin, a pioneer of Sunrise, ar
rived in Anchorage yesterday and is
registered at the White house. Mr.
Martin will make a trip down to Sel
dovia within the week in order to get
a line on the business opportunities
there. Owing to the number of per
sons engaged in the fishing industry
during the present season with their
headquarters at Seldovia, it is expect
ed that the latter town will experience
the most prosperous year in its his
tory. In the event Mr. Martin is able
to secure the proper location he will
open a small mercantile business.
Walter Johnson, who will be remem
bered in connection with his setting
up several dredges in Nome, is now
^building a shipyard at Oakland, Cali
fornia. Before building it, however
he secured a contract from the gov
ernment for twelve ships. He encount
eerd some difficulty in getting a ship
yard site in Ookland.
> Henry Maillard, formerly of Cor
dova, died refcently in Seattle.
PIONEER MEET IS HUM
DINGER; MANY PRESENT
(Fairbanks Citizen)
The meeting of Igloo No. 4, Pio
neers of Alaska, held at Eagle hall
last night, was pronounced by all at
tending as being the best in many
sessions. Fully 150 members of the
i order were in attendance, many of
j them from out-of-town places,
i Following the business session a lunch
1 was served, after which the following
: program was rendered:
Patriotic Address—Leroy Tozier.
Songs—T’nomas Dalton.
Narrations-—Paul Rickert.
Three-cornered Wrestling Match—
Davis. Ceurtnay and Bellerby. Davis
won first fall from Bellerby and sec
ond from Courtnay.
Banjo duet—-Billy Williams and W.
E. Waugh.
Songs—A1 Zwieker.
Songs—Jack Smith.
Recitation and Story—Leroy Tozier.
The address of Leroy Tozier was
well delivered on a timely subject and
received great applause.
Many old-timers were in attendance,
chief of whom were the Rampart
bunch, headed by Captain A1 Mayo,
and the following: George W. Ledger,
K. W. McLeod, T. Anthonisen and S.
J. Randall. The old-timers also regal
ed the members with some old-time
stories.
In letters received on yesterday’s
mail from the outside information was
received here to the effect that Wal
ter C. Hall, the former well known lo
cal quartz operator and a member of
the firm of Rhodes and Hall, which
formerly worked a quartz claim on
upper Cleary, had died in his home in
southern California.
“Only a man shortage there this
summer will prevent the Tolovana
country from producing between
$600,000 and $800,000 during the com
ing season.
M. J. DOYLE.
Mr. Doyle, known by all old-timers
as “Mickey Doric:,” was born in Troy,
X. Y., in 1858. Ho first came to Alas
ka 33 years ago 'on the steamer An
con, which was then running between
Portland and the Muir Glacier, as an
excursion boat carrying tourists. Af
ter the wreck of the Ancon, which oc
curred off Ketchikan, at Loving, he
hunted the fur <eal and sea otter in
the Bering sea for about four years,
then locating at Ketchikan he resided
there until 1612, when he went to
Seward, and established a fishing
station and saltery at Porcupine bay.
In 1914 this property was entirely
destroyed by one of the worst storms
; in the history of that section, after
which he went to Seldovia and took up
a ranch on tidewater, near the town,
where he now resides.
Mr. Doyle was initiated into the
Pioneers of Alaska at the last meet
ing of Igloo No. 15.
—
CAPTAIN HUNTER CELE
BRATES 75TH BIRTHDAY
Captain J. C. Hunter, the veteran
navigator of Alaskan waters, and
commander of the steamer Northwest
ern, recently celebrated his seventy
fifth birthday anniversary. Captain
Hunter is a native of Sweden and
started following the sea when a
young man. He has been in command
of boats operating to Alaska for the
last 35 years and is the oldest navi
gator in the north, both in years and
in point of service. He has hundreds
of friends in every port of Alaska.
The officers of the Northwestern,
on the occasion, gave Captain Hunter
a beautiful leopard skin auto robe for
his machine which he purchased re
| cently in Seattle.
NEW PAY ON SPRUCE.
Niehoff and Indergard have located
i what promises to be rich pay on their
| upper lay on Spruce creek. A phone
: report from Long creek says they
panned out $19 from six pans and an
other pan went $6. Which all goes to
show that Ruby is still a good camp
to tie to, and some of our population
who are planning on going to the
coast would better do a little more dig
ging in these parts first.
\
THOMAS RIGGS, JR.. NEW GOVERNOR
OF ALASKA ASSUMES OFFICIAL DUTH5
THOMAS, RIGGS, GOVERNOR OF ALASKA.
i nonius
jt., IS lilt.' Iilllv.ll
ornor o]' Alaska, having
been appoint-; ■
ed by President Wilson March (5. ]£>18.
■ and confirmed by the senate April 8 t
1918. Preceding him, in their orde'
were John 11. Khnkead, A. P. Swine- <
ford, Lyman E. Knapj), James Sheak
ley, John G. Brady, \\ ilfred H. Hog- ;
g'att, Walter E. Clark and J. F. A.- :
Strong. f
Mr. Riggs was born October 17. !
1873, in Howard county, Maryland. He
| was educated at the Emerson Insti- 1
tuto, Washington, D. CL, and at the 1
school of science, Princeton Univer- i
sity. i
His early experience in engineering i
work was in mine and surveying. In 1
July, 1906, he passed the civil service j
examination for topographic aid, Unit-, i
: ed States Geological Survey, but did j .
not serve under this appointment. In- i i
stead, he was transferred to the Alas- 11
ka Boundary Survey, under the state j1
! department, as assistant engineer.;1
which position he occupied until the i <
WELL-KNOWN ESKIMO
WOMAN GOOD TRAPPER
An Eskimo woman, Mollie Dexter, j
is considered one of the best native j :
| trappers of the Seward peninsula, in j
i northwestern Alaska, according to 11
The Eskimo, a paper published there j 1
| for the Eskimos of the north ocuntry.! <
“This lady, ‘Oomalik’ (meaning rich ’ <
i Eskimo), mushes out to her traps as
regularly as the hardiest man hunter i
of the village,” The Eskimo says. ;
j “The boys say she knows of the hab- j
' its of the animals of the tundra and j
I all the cunning ways to outwit them.” '
• In addition to being a good trapper, j :
| Mollie Dexter is a good cook, the !
paper says. She conducts a trail road
house at Chinik, a Norton sound point, i
and is known all over the peninsula
by white mushers who stop at her ;
roadhouse.
JACK DALTON OFF TO WAR.
SEATTLE, April 27.—Jack Dalton,
the noted Alaskan, is arranging his
affairs here with a view of an early 1
departure for France, where he will; i
offer his services as a railroad builder: ]
to the allied governments. ]
ALASKANS MOST LIBERAL.
R. E. Robertson has a report from 1
Washington, D. C., stating that the i
people of Alaska have contributed f
more field glasses for use of the army <
and navy than most any place in the
states.
__
Anchorage Daily Times, “The 1
Newspaper of Alaska.**
11 I . » Lt vi «I1 I .
his period the 141st meridian was
urveyed and marked from St. Elias to
he shores of the Arctic ocean, a work
rhicli involved great hardship and
■onsitte,able danger. He was the first
nan to use horses for transportation
mrpose north of tire Porcupine river,
md their appearance caused great as
oni.-hment among the Indians and Es
;inros of the Far North.
Mr. Riggs was married in 1913 to
diss Rene Coudert, daughter of the
ate Frederick B. Coudert, a lawyer
if New York city, of international
ante and prominence, who was com
nissioner for the United States in the
Bering Sea controversy.
During the past three years, Mr,
viggs has been in active charge of the
Alaska railroad construction at the
lorthern treminus of the work, with
icadcjuarters at Fairbanks until 1913
vhen he moved to the town of Nenana
vhere the general offices of the north -
*m division are now located.
1. E. RILEY IS KILLED
BY A FOREIGNER
SEATTLE, May 9.—A private mes
sage received in Seattle by Charles
Hess, a banker of Iditarod, tells of the
tilling of J. E. Riley by a foreigner in
lis employe at Otter creek, Iditarod
listrict, last Sunday. The message
contained no detail* of the killing
Riley was one of the most prominent
nining men of the camp and owned
ind operated a large dredger on rich
ground on Otter creek.
Mr. Riley was quite well known in
;he Cook Inlet country, having made
several.s trips, back and forth, over the
Seward-Iditarod trail. It was his cus
tom to go outside during the wintei
months, returning to the interior earh
n the spring. He was a very energetic
md successful mining man and his un
;imely death will be keenly felt by all
vho knew him.
$3,000 FOR LIBERTY BONDS.
The citizens of Sulzer have reported
,o R. E. Robertson that they have
•aised $3,000 for Liberty Bonds. The
Miner’s Union and the Moose Lodge
•aised $600 each of this sum.
Henry Roden, who has entered the
ishing business and who will operate
n the vicinity of Kilisnoo, arrived
'iom the south last night on the City
if Seattle.
A projecting lantern has been in
dented in Europe to enable a person
;o copy a picture by hand almost as
veil as by photography.
E. PODBOY MEETS
DEATH IN ACCIDENT
_ i
:
Ernest .Podboy, the proprietor of
the Green Express, and local agent for
the Rainier Products company, of Se
attle, suffered a fractured skull on
the night of May 8, from which he
died four hours later at the govern
ment hospital, and Miss Mabel Brown
was injured, when the car in which
they were riding turned turtle on the
C street road immediately south of
the Anchorage terminal yards.
Mr. Pod boy was coming from the
terminal yards and had just crossed
the railroad tracks when the car j
swerved and rolled down the embank-!
ment which at this point on the road i
is about six or seven feet high. Miss i
Brown was thrown from the machine i
before it reached the level ground be- j
low the road while Podboy was held i
fast in the seat by the steering gear j
of the cai'. It was necessary to roll
the car over in order to get the victim !
out from under. He was taken to the
government hospital by Dr. John B. j
Beeson and Leo. Denine where he died
i Thursday morning. lie did not regain ■
I consciousness .after the accident.
Ernest Podboy was born in Seisen
berg, Austria, January 5, 1882 and up |
until 1915, was a Canadian and a sub-1
ject of Great Britain. He took out his j
first papers for American citizenshipj
upon his arrival in Anchorage in May,1
1915. Mr. Podboy is well known in;
the interior of Alaska, having been at j
Dawson, Fairbanks, Iditarod and in J
the Kuskokwim country. He was aj
member of Igloo No. 15, Pioneers o:f;
Alaska and was single.
The funeral was held Sunday after
noon from the Pioneers hall and in!
point of number of persons in attend-j
ance was the largest funeral ever held;
in Anchorage.
Services were held at 2 o’clock in <
the Pioneer hall. The funeral sermon
was delivered by Rev. C. M. Brown,;
pgstor of the local Presbyterian;
church.
I
About 1 - ’.0 members of Igloo No. 15
were in attendance at the hall and.
marched in the funeral procession to;
the grave where the regular Pioneer j
service was held, the following acting
as pallbearers: J. N. Nicholson, J. S.
Kenyon, J. E. Chovin, Robert White,
Geo. Howe, jr., Duncan McCormick.
About fifty members of the Women’s
Auxiliary also attended. In the proces
sion were twenty-two automobiles
furnished by the various owners of
machines in Anchorage. The funeral
arrangements were under the direc
tion of D. H. Williams with Sergeant
at-Arms Edward Ryan, acting as mar
shal.
i
There was a gala time at old Long
last Saturday, March 23, when Igloo
No. 5, Pioneers of Alaska held their
annual meeting there. A large attend
ance was present and everybody was
j enthusiastic and had the time of their
i life, forgetting for a few hours both
| the Gei'man kaiser and the gruesome
I battle at the front. After the meet
' ing was over an animated smoker was
| arranged for the Pioneers and their
j frends, 125 persons participating. Geo.
! Apple, Patrick McCahey, Robt. Hill
iary, Lynn Smith and Henry Vallery
i were in attendance from Ruby.
WELL-KNOWN ALASKAN
GETS COMMISSION AND
IS ON WAY TO REPORT
George A. Parks, well known in Ju
| neau, is aboard the steamer Alaska,
I on his way to Washington, D. C., hav
! ing been com? fissioned as first lieu
! tenant in the engineering corps. He
| has been serving as a U. S. mining in
| spector, with headquarters in Juneau.
He is well known all over the terri
tory.
J. P. Parkin recently was the suc
cessful bidder in submitting charges
for erecting a relief station on the
Circle trail at the eighty mile post,
which is at the head of McManus
river. The sum awarded was $275. The
establishment of this cabin will mean
much to the mushers who have been
obliged to camp out or make an ex
tended trip.
Will I irst Take Trip to California and
Then Return and Live Permanently
in the Washington State .Metropo
lis.
(Seattle P.-I.)
After spending the past twenty-one
years in the north, J. F. A. Strong, for
the past five years the governor of the
territory of Alaska, arrived in Seattle
last evening and said he intends to
make his home in Seattle, after enjoy
ing a trip to southern California of
several weeks. Mr .and Mrs. Strong
are guests at the Frye.
“I do not care to make any state
ment regarding politics in the north,”
said the ex-governor. “I decided to for
get that subject as much as possible
when I turned over my office to my
successor a few days ago, and I in
tend to take a good rest.”
Gov. Strong left Juneau last Sunday
after bidding welcome to his successor,
Thomas Riggs, jr. The new governor
took the oath of office at Ketchikan
Saturday, while en route to the capi
tal from Seattle. Ketchikan residents
were holding a liberty day celebration
when Mr. Riggs arrived, and made the
inauguration of the new governor a
feature.
"The best1 of feeling has at all times
existed between myself and my suc
cessor,” declared Mr. Strong. “The
new executive is a man of marked
ability and of sterling character. In
addition to this, he is very familiar
with the needs of the north, through
his long residence in the territory.”
Mr. Strong said that from his pres
ent plans he intends to make his fu
ture home “outside.” but, like many
old-time Alaskans, he is not sure that
the lure of the north may not take
him back to the northern country.
Mr. Strong followed newspaper
work before leaving for Alaska twen
ty-one years ago. He left a position
with the Seattle Morning Telegraph
in 1897 to go to Skagway, and follow
ed the vanguard of the goldseekers
into the Klondike. After following the
newspaper busines in Dawson and en
gaging in placer mining at odd times,
he joined the stampede to Nome and
later published a paper at Katalla,
which was then the outlet for the Cop
per River country. He started to build
a tidewater terminus at Katalla in
1907, and when the wharves were de
stroyed by storm, the scene of opera
tion was transferred to Cordova,
which became the tidewater terminus
of the line.
Mr. Strong went to Juneau in 1912,
and was appointed governor of the
territory a few days less than five
years ago, serving nearly a year after
the expiration of his four-year term.
D. W. McLeman received a letter
from Alec Capewell in the last mail.
Alec says he and Hans Rasmussen are
running a restaurant in Seattle at 211
First avenue south. He mentions the
folowing Rubyites as being in Seattle:
Frank Anderson, John Nelson, Jack
Carlin, George Thomas, Sam Whitton,
Jerry Hunter, Myer Bloom, Carl Carl
son and Sam Kincaid. He writes a
very glowing account of the conditions
in Seattle and says there is plenty of
work for everyone at good wages. In
this connection we might say that sev
eral of the men who left here last fall
are coming back over the trail. Among
those coming in are Albert Bylund,
Algot Anderson, Theodore Edlund and
Sam Kincaid. Alec says Mrs. Cape
well and the kids are doing fine.
Jafet Lindeberg, well known Anvil
creek operator in the Nome district
has established a marine engine man
ufacturing plant in Oakland. He has
the American rights on a Norwegian
engihe, and is filling orders for all
the big shipyards on the Pacific coast
and has more business than he can
handle.