Auke and Taku Tlingit territory (Juneau)

8 A.M. went ashore at Juneau and mailed a few letters. A dingy, rambling little town at the foot of a lofty hill that seems ready to topple over on its inhabitants. At 9 AM we went to the landing on Douglass Island, opposite Juneau, and inspected Treadwell Mine, which is said to have fallen into owner’s hands in this fashion: 1st, he took part of the ground in payment of a $150.00 debt and then added to his possessions by the purchase of another, adjoining piece of ground for $300.00. It is also said that more gold has been taken out of this mine than the whole of Alaska cost (the purchase price paid to Russia having been $7,200,000.00) I did not go down into the mine but contented myself by walking through one of the stamp mills of 300 stamps, (another building, I am told has 200 stamps, and there are 4 other mines, with big stamp mills nearby) and also through the adjoining building where the grayish powder [passes over?] wet beds to precipitate the gold.  

Auke and Taku Tlingit territory (Skagway) 

Special train on White Pass and Yukon Railroad to Summit, adventure of 20 miles; 2883 feet higher than Skaguay. Remainder  of road (22 or 28? miles) to Bennett to be completed by July 15th.  Road to Summit begun May ‘98. (Mr Hawkins chief Engr, who was with us) and finished in less than a year. Wonderful triumph of engineering skill. Passengers number 80 to 150 a day to  Summit; [tame?] 25 ¢ a [ride?]. 

 Over 2000 men have been employed in road. 13 men have been killed by explosions. Men are paid 30 ¢ an hour Plain view of trail near track.  Many men and more than 2000 horses are said to have perished on old trail over which  nearly 15000 men have made their way toward Klondike. Good lunch at construction camp at Summit; 1400 feet from tunnel near there to bottom of gorge. Mounted police (of North West Territory of Canada) at Summit to prevent persons from going on unless they have 18 months (??) supplies or money for some. One hotel (tent) at Summit flies American flag & another—also a tent—flies English flag. We passed a  man with pack on his back evidently bound for Klondike.  

I counted nine dead horses & saw many signs of deserted camps—[along?] the trails. RRd owned by English syndicate. When the first rush of gold seekers took place over trail there were many women & children in the crowd—and many of the adventurers had neither money nor provisions & depended on occasional wages earned along route or on charity. RRd has eight locomotives, brought from Seattle in barges; moved off the barges to track.

Sheey Atiká Kwáan Tlingit territory (Sitka)

It seems Sitka has a variable population many of regular inhabitants being absent at certain seasons, working in mines, salmon canneries, &c but there are said to be from 500 to 1000 Indians (Thlinkets); 500 Russians and 250 Whites (including 45 Marines of the Garrison). Water for drinking, cooking & washing brought from Indian River, 2 miles distant, costs 50¢ a barrel; brought in tin cans (wooden handle across top of each can) in small wagon drawn by half a dozen men. Some of inhabitants however depend largely on rain water. Russian boarding School for boys has about 20 boys now.

A view of the cannery in Orca. From the Harriman Expedition Souvenir Album, Eberly Family Special Collections Library, Penn State.

dAXunhyuu/Eyak territory (Orca) 

I went ashore [and] looked in at the Cannery and saw the process of making cans; Tin first cut into three pieces, each being for body of can; then rolled; soldered by hand; when bottom is put on by hand and pressed on by machine; the can runs down an incline plane bottom lower than top and revolving in molten solder for a few feet which thus finishes can all but top; the chinamen at work are diligent at their tasks; one of their number, an expert, taps with a small iron rod the filled cans after corking process to find out from the sound whether any air is still inside; if the sound isn’t right, he picks the can out from the rows in which it stood, in order that it may have further treatment.

I had some conversation with a weather-worn gold seeker who told me that he spent 24 days with some other men crossing the Valdes Glacier; tramping and sleeping on snow and ice; without a morsel of cooked food, as they could make no fire, drawing his sled over a hundred miles in that particular journey; and enduring hardships which he said no words could describe and which no one who hadn’t endured them could think possible. When I expressed to him the hope that he had found some reward for his privations and toils he said: “I got nothing!”

dAXunhyuu/Eyak territory (Orca) 

Great quantity of salmon on dock connected with Cannery; chinamen forking them into wheelbarrows and wheeling them to end of dock close to cutting-up room; went ashore and saw chinamen prepare the fish for topper which cuts them into pieces to fit cans. One man cuts off head with his knife in hand; another, standing alongside, cuts off fins and tail and removes most of entrails doing the last with one forward and backward movement of knife, pushes the fish off table into trough into which water runs from a pipe connected with stream on mountain side; other men then complete the preparation by removing such remnants of entrails, &c. as still cling to the fish. 

(…) Motley group on wharf; cannery employees; men with guns and packs and sacks stuffed full of outfits; an Indian in a black felt hat, red jacket, striped with flaming blue green and yellow, a sealskin vest, blue overalls and boot moccasins; a couple of men, apparently tourists, with Kodaks strapped over their shoulders; one man carrying in his hand a pair of snow shoes. The stern of our ship being close to wharf, some of our party got out the graphophone and set it up on deck at the stern and entertained the crowd on the wharf for an hour with [Black] melodies; banjo solos; brass band airs; humorous recitations &c., and the applause which greeted each piece proved that the entertainment was warmly appreciated by this strange audience of a hundred and more—travellers; cannery chinamen; sailors; fishermen; miners; two women, one [Black] man; seven or eight boys and our red-jacketed aborigine—assembled for an hour so informally, and without tickets of admission, from the four corners of the world.

Nichiłt’ana, Dena’ina, and Sugpiaq territory (Homer) 

At 10 A.M anchored off Homer (about 700 miles from Dutch Harbor, or as otherwise called, Unalaska), a few unpainted houses—largest one, of logs, flying U.S. flag—on narrow, barren sand pit jutting out into Kachemak Bay from Kenai Peninsula (…) Mr Ray who came aboard tells me that he is interested in a coal mine about to be opened 15 miles from here; that a railroad will soon be built to bring the coal to this point. Coal is costly in these regions. At Dutch Harbor its selling price varies from $12. to $20. a ton in big quantities, and has been known to go as high as $26. a ton. Another gentleman who came aboard is connected with a quartz gold mine about 60 miles from  here, not yet developed, but soon to be opened and operated. He says there are many prospectors scattered through these rugged mountain ranges, and that they endure great sufferings from cold and lack of food.

When I walked out of my stateroom at 8 o’clock this morning, we were lying in Uyak Bay—a beautiful harbor. Here are two big salmon canneries: one of them belonging to Pacific Steam Whaling Co.—large, long building, roof yellow, sides red, with 2 small adjoining houses painted in like manner; the other cannery, a short distance away, with black roof and pale yellow sides, with a little cluster of small buildings near by (…)

At 3 P.M arrived at Kodiak, a snug-looking little village of about 300 inhabitants, mostly Creoles (viz: mixture of Russians and Aleut Indians (…) only 2 persons at Kodiak of unmixed Russian blood) (…) Large warehouse at wharf, 100 x 50 feet, of massive logs, with 2 log partitions, is encased with framed sides and ends, painted white with reddish brown roof. This and several small buildings near wharf framed and painted in like manner were bought by Alaska Commercial Company of Russian Company at time of transfer of Alaska to United States. The Alaska Coml Co. here fits out these Russian-Indians and sends them out to hunt bear; but principally to get sea otter. It then I am told, pays, say $150. for each otter skin, half cash and half in supplies from the Company’s store at the village; and sells the skin in London, at big auctions, for what it can get—$400.

 [*I met Mr Ezekiel, (who came aboard this afternoon,) Agent of the North American Coml Co., with headquarters at Wood Island, 2 miles from Kodiak—a rival of the Alaska Com’l Co.*] 

The Postmaster here thinks this is the last season of sea-otter, which are fast becoming extinct in these waters. Mr Ezekiel doubts this.

Mr Ezekiel says Mr D O Mills of New York and Mr Lloyd [Tevis?] of California are largely interested in the North American Commercial Co. which gets from 80 to 300 sea otters a year in these water, principally just south of Kodiak Island. Hunters now use rifles and shot guns as a rule, though noise frightens the sea otters who are very timid, but formerly they used an arrow (strelkel) which they threw with great skill in such a way as to make it curve through the air before striking the sea otter; as soon as this strikes the barb detaches itself and is held to the arrow by a sinew which unwinds from the arrow, thus leaving the arrow at right angles with the forward movement of the otter and tiring him out.  

(…) Mr. Washburn says he paid an Indian here one day $1,000. for 5 sea otter skins which the latter had killed; but that represented a year’s hunt, and the next year this man; though an expert, did not succeed in getting a single otter. On a little island not far from here called Long Island, there is a fox farm, where from 400 to 500 foxes are being raised for their skins. 

At Sand Point there are only three or four houses—one of them a store and other, large and pretentious, originally designed as a hotel but now closed. Some years ago many cod-fishing vessels—as many as 120 at a time—used to stop here for their permits from the U.S. official before proceeding to Bering Sea; but they do so no longer; and the men who put up the hotel have, in consequence, found their investment a bad one. A gold mine, about 18 miles from here (40 stamp mill) belonging to the Alaska Commercial Co. yields about $100,000.00 a year—so Dr. Dall says. Also an undeveloped Coal mine. Two men  crossing the harbor in a canoe near our ship attracted our attention. One of them, a rough-looking, sandy-bearded  man, was intoxicated; he flourished a black bottle and sang a maudlin ditty as if he enjoyed letting us see how free he was from care! 

North American Commercial Co. has a store; hotel (Baranof Inn); coalyard and residence occupied by the sup’t Mr Stanley Brown. 2 Revenue Cutters, a whaling steamer (one whale stored) and another small steamer were here on our arrival. The small steamer Laurada with 300 passengers from the Yukon for San Francisco came in soon afterwards. If there are really that many passengers on her, as one of them says, how they must be packed! Fare from St. Michael’s to San Francisco $75.00. The passengers for the most part are very rough-looking men, who have doubtless gained valuable experience if not much gold. I have just seen several of them returning to their steamer with big bouquets of wild flowers. It is said the steamer carries $300,000 in gold and that about half the passengers are penniless adventurers sent from the Yukon to San Francisco at Government expense.