Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1878)
142 THE WEST SHORE. June. At 5:301. H. we anchored in Alert Bay, On the west side of Cormorant Island, In BfOUghton Strait, and went ashore to the trading post of Mr. Al den Wcsllcy Hudson, particularly known as "West" Hudson. Here I purchased the great canoe which I sent to Philadelphia, for the Centennial Ex position. She was made at Xootka, on the west side of Vancouver's Island and aril owned by MoqullU, the head chief, the decendant of the celebrated Moqullla, mentioned so often in the narrative of Vancouver and Mcares. This canoe was made from a single tree of cedar and measured sixty feet long and eight feet wide, and four feet deep. Mr. Hudson sent her for me to Victoria, where I had her thoroughly pointed and decorated by Indians with heraldic designs and Anally, shipped Aief by steamer " Dakota " to San Francisco, where she was cut in two to enable her to be placed on the truck carS and thus be transported by rail road to Philadelphia. We left Alert Hay the following morning, at 7:30, passing through Golctas' channel, around the north end of Oaliano Island, through Shad well Pass, Into Queen Charlotte Sound. Some ten or twelve years ago, the U. S. steamer, "Suwanee," was wrecked on Vansittart Island, in Shad Well Pass, ind in 869 I passed by the wreck in the steamer "Constantino," and saw a portion of her wheels and smoke tlack, but everything has since been WOthed away, anil not a vestige now irennlns. I am particular in describing our course as it may interest some per sons to trace our movements on the charts, and thus enable them to obtain .1 better idea of a northron cruise than they otherwise could. Wo crossed Queen Charlotte's Sound, passing Cape Caution, 111 the vicinity of which the steamer " Geo S. Wright" was supposed to have been lost, in the winter of 1872, and entered Pltlhugh Sound at eight P, H,, sea quttfi Smooth and light westerly breeze, mm' :-i 9:40 1'. M. anchored in Safety Cove on the eastern -idc of Calvert Is Hand, where we remained all night, and Ktarted .it 3:15 a. m., June 13th, pass ing through FiUhugll Sound, Fisher Channel and Lama Passage, arriving If the Bella Bella village, in Mc Laughlin May, on the west side of the Passage. This is the she of old Port Mllbailk, a former trading post of the Hudson's Hay Co., now abandoned. There i-, however, a small trading establishment of the company at the Delia Bella village, but we did not stop, m we were anxious to teach the an chorage in Carter Hay, near the en trance of llickish Narrows, before night. So we continued our course through Scaforth Channel and thence due north through PinUyson Channel to our anchorage in Cartel Bay, w hich w e re t hod at s:d ; m., ami sent a boat ashore to procure water from a frMtltiful fall, iNtto feet high in a series of cascades, (rom the snow line. The in tuntfttn measures j.oo feet. June 1 t at four a. M.,got under w ay, pawing through Graham's Reach, past Worke Mand, through Prater's Reach The whole distance from Carter Hay eras a series of magnificent w aterfalls of various sies, from the tiny rivulet, commencing at the snow line, like a lUvef thread running down the hides of the mountain, Increasing n it de scends, till its tinal plunge into the sail water of the channels as a full grown river, w h.se 10.11 conk 1 be heard aboard :'he cutter above the din of the ma chinery. The scenery along the distance is most enchanting, particularly when viewed during the long days of June, when the summer sun melts the snows j on the mountain tops, which rise sheer l from the water to a height of 3,000 feet, with a depth of 100 fathoms ol water at their base. The largest and most magnificent waterfall wc saw, was opposite Worke Island, on Prin cess Royal Island. Here, from a mountain 4,300 feet high, a river of considerable size descends in a series of cascades from five hundred to a thousand feet. It Is one of the grandest scenes I ever beheld. Here, the weather, which had been somewhat misty, cleared up, enabling us to sec the tops of the mountains, and trace the waterfalls in all their beauty. The mountains appeared to be prin cipally bare rock with but little vege tation, but presenting an appearance Indicating mineral deposits. Leaving Worke Island, we passed through Wright's Sound ami Green ville Channel, and at nine a. m. an chored for the night oil the S. E. end of Kennedy Island, in gy fathoms of water. June 14th, we got under way, at 2130 A.M., and at 6 a. m. passed the Mctlakatlah Mission, which was estab lished some thirty years ago by Rev. Mr. Duncan, a zealous and indefatiga ble missionary of the Episcopal church, who has been fortunate in making it the most successful mission on the Pa cific coast. The village was quite dis tinctly seen from the steamer, and by aid of our marine glasses, we could distinguish the line church and houses, built almost entirely" by Indian labor. As Mr. Duncan was absent on a visit to Ottawa a fact which we learned In Victoria we diil not stop, but con tinued our course to Port Simpson, where we anchored at 9150 a. m. Port Simpson is an important trad ing post of the Hudson's Bay company, situated a few miles south of the boun dary line between British Columbia and Alaska. The tribe of Indians re siding at that point and at Mctlakatlah, arc the Tsimsean, an intelligent band of natives well advanced in civilized ways. Those at Pint Simpson are under the charge of Rev. Mr. Crosby, a Weslevau Methodist, who has built a line church and has a large school well attended. We left Port Simpson the next day at :jo p, m., and ran to Port Tongass, a deserted military post, t. miles distant, in Alaska, where we found an American Inspector of Cus toms. Here we remained till three o'clock on the morning of June ifi, passing around Cape Pox into Revilla tligedo Channel, and thence to Duke of Clarence Strait, where the weather coming on thick and misty, we an chored at four 1. m , near Tonkay point, and the water being smooth, all hands commenced catching fish, and in about two hours wc caught nine hall but, six redfish, four large codfish, and a quantity of flounders and dogfish, and then the men were ordered below to get a little sleep. Here we remained at anchor till u A,M.,wherl we rot under way for Port Wrangle and ar rived there at 10:30 A. U, This being the centennial of the 17th of June, 1776, when the battle of Hunker Hill was fought, we celebrated it by a din ner, and a grand display of flags. Port Wrangle was at one time oc cupied as a military post, but was sub sequently abandoned, and the building j soKl to William King Lear, who estab I llshed a trading post there. When the .Cassiar mines were discovered, the ! rush of miners caused the Government to hire Mr. Lear's barracks ami place some soldiers iu charge, and the place is at present the mott important one in Alaska Territory, as all the traflic I for the mines, of Cassiar, Peace Rivet, and other points in northern British Columbia, pass through it Spring and Fall, when the miners go and return. At the time we were there, a few soldiers under Lieut. McComb, were in charge of the Government property, but they have since been removed, and at the present time there are no laws or any means whatever for the protec tion of the residents. A custom house officer looks after the pecuniary inter ests of the United States as best he can, but the people have to take care of themselves. During our stay, every thing was quiet, and peace seemed to reign. We left Fort Wrangell at 2 40 A. M., June 16, passing through Duke ot Clarence Strait, and across the entrance to Christian Sound, around Ommanny, at the southern extremity of Baranoff Island, and skirting along the western shore of that Island, arrived at Sitka, at 6.30 A. U, June 19, and anchored opposite the Indian village. Sitka, at that time, was the headquarters of the military of Alaska, and, also, con tained the custom house of the District of Alaska. The commander of the forces was Major Campbell, and the collector of customs was Major Berry. The steamer " California," with Gen. Howard and staff, had arrived a few days before us, and had gone north so we did not meet them. There was but little change in the appearance of the place since my visit in 860, but what there was appeared to be for the worse and showed by the apparent neglect exhibited, that the ollicials were already contemplating a removal of the troops and an abandon ment of the post. There is a Greek Catholic church in Sitka with a chime of bells, and Turk ish looking towers and dome, made conspicuous by the aid of red paint and glittering tin ornaments; but, in the interior, are some really line paint ings, and rich silver chandeliers and candlesticks, and splendidly embroid ered vestments, allot' them given by the Empress Catharine of Russia, who en dowed this church many years ago. The priests arc Russians and Aleutcs, into whose orisons the Russian legend: " Pet tint zet copla" (fifteen drops), is uttered with as much unction and with more fervor, than the "Pater Noster." It was in this church that more recent ly the remarkable demonstration of splrltSf-not ardent spirits but real ghosts or materialized denizens of the other world- made an appearance to the as tonished gaze of the captain and offi cers f the U, S. Revenue steamer j " oicon, aim tne u. Mail steamer "v. amornia, on tne occasion ot a grand potlatck given to 5,000 Indians by Sitka Jack, the present Mayor of Sitka, dur ing the month of October, 1 S77. As this story has gone the rounds of the press, and has even been illustrated by one of the sensational New York picto rials, I will not again repeat it, but will simply observe that the truth of it is I vouched for, and religiously believed I by every person who witnessed the deeply interesting phenomenon. There was one fact of importance to Sitka w hich we did observe, and which has been tully demonstrated by the soldiers, ami that was regarding the possibility of cultivating the land. Those persons interested in keeping out all immigration and all uttlnmimi nf Alaska, who wish to have it continued as a magnificent preserve for a power jful monopoly to exercise exclusive , control over all fur-bearing animals, have, through hireling writers devoid j of truth and common honesty, promul gated and reiterated the assertion that I nothing grows In Alaska but forest trees, shrubs and nettles; that cabbages will not head, nor potatoes grow larger than ounce balls and, in short, that everything a white man wishes to cat, must be carried there, and yet we found things quite the reverse of this. In Sitka the mossy soil on the hills had been deeply trenched in many places by gardeners, and when thus cultivat ed, yielded good crops of most excel lent vegetables. Major Campbell, the commander of the garrison, informed me that last fall, (1S74) Dr. Fitzgerald, the post surgeon, had presented him with a potato of his own raising that weighed two pounds, which, when cooked, proved of a most delicious fla vor. Both gentlemen stated that they had seen turnips weighing eight pounds, each, and a cabbage Weighing twenty pounds. Collector Berry in formed me that potatoes thrive remarkably well, and one crop he saw raised in a field in Sitka, averaged three potatoes to the pound. I noticed several gardens and fields well laid out in elevated beds to allow the moisture to freely drain off, where potatoes and peas were looking remarkably thrifty. Collector Berry also informed me that last fall (1S74), a man at Koutznow, or as it is pronounced, Hoochnoo, near Hood's Hay, on Chatham Strait, har vested and brought to Sitka, forty tons of potatoes of such superior qual ity that they readily sold at an advanced price over the Oregon and California potatoes brought there from Portland. By the tables of the annual rain-fall of the United States, published by the Smithsonian Institute, in 1S72, it will be seen that the annual rain-fall' at Sitka, is S3 39-100 inches, while at Neah Hay, Cape Flattery, W. T., the annual rain fall is 12335-100 inches. It has been demonstrated on the Indian reservation at Neah Hay, during a series of years from 1S62, that every kind of vegetable production, except cereals, can be easily and profitably cultivated; and from my long residence at Neah Hay, and my observation-' at Sitka, together with the scientific records of the Smithsonian Institution, I am satisfied that the climates of Neah Bay and Alaska are nearly indentical, and that the earth can be cultivated with as much profit in one place as the other, particularly potatoes, which thrive remarkably well in each place. June 23, we left at 7 a. m,, and pro ceeded north to go around Baranoff Island, into Chatham Strait. At 9 a.m. in Olga Strait, opposite Pirates' Cove, we saw a deer swimming in the strait, and the steamer being headed for him, the officers got out their rifles to give him a shot, but no one hit him, although Lieut. Harwood declared he struck him in the head; at last, Lieut. Kilgore jumped into the dingy, or small boat, with Brown, who had special charge of her, and pulled ofT and caught the deer alive and brought him on board with no mark Hpon him except a hole through one of his ears, which Dingy Brown had punched w ith the end of the boat hook. A council of war was then held, and the deer slaughtered to furnish the mess table with a savory roast and stew. At 12 if, we passed the rapids in Peril Strait, and at 3 P. K. wc stopped at a waterfall to water the ves sel. This was done by means of a V spout which the carpenter constructed with two boards, and through this the water was conducted into the Cutter's boats, which were filled in a few min utes, and then brought alongside ami the water emptied into the tanks by means of buckets. At 6:50 P. U we anchored for the night in Lindenburg harbor, near Chatham Strait. Leaving our anchorage at s:io the next morn ing, we crossed Chatham Strait to Koutznow point and village on the northeast side of Chatham Strait, Mat from Lindenburg hatbor. Some of