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About The upper left edge. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1993)
and tr y in g to walk on deck was a case of clim b then slide It was no tim e to have eaten a big ch icke n d in n e r The spray was dashing over the bow of the boat and swells looked grand as they rolled in it was gorgeous w ith the sea w h ooping in like that Raymond 1 e ll so smart because he didn I gel sick though he did base to go and lie down fo r a w h ile A bunch o i fellow s were standing in the bow of the boat when a big wave struck it and went clear ove r them knocked them (la i and sim ple dren*. hed them Letter G C u> J B June ’ 1914 ’ I c-wa Htj o fV A year later on the Sth of June 1914 Grace was on the tram to v Seattle her travel hag beside her She was very happv and eicited She d spent the last few years finishing up her college studies, and had graduated from Willamette University as a music maior Now she was ready for something different something m<»re eicitm g She loved adventures she loved to ride and she planned to prove herself as a cow hand on the trip Raymond met her at the tram His parents were also in Seattle to see the expedition off Grace had liked Raymond s mother from the start she could see how Louie hated to have her lerrv go That same alternoon she made the acquaintance of two old Yukon characters who were accompanying the cattle drive north Bill Schanbel. tall and lean and keen eved contrasted wonderfully w ith his partner Dutch, a short lat sleepy little man w ith a permanent tattered cigar The two were lu ll of Alaskan tales and Grace was fascinated w ith the first real sourdoughs she had ever talked to Raymond told her not to believe a w<»rd they said and had to drag her away to go shopping Grace was planning to press every variety of w ildllow er she tame across and they wanted to buy a b<xA big enough to accommodate the protect They also went down to the stables bv the docks to meet her mount a little black horse they decided to name Cheechako for the Ballads of Cheechako. by Robert Service, which they d |usl been reading Cheechako was an Alaskan Indian word meaning newly arrived translated by the sourdoughs as tenderfoot They d call the horse Chako for short Louie Mckennon insisted that Grace sleep w ith her at the hotel, instead of staving by herself Grace was almost too eicited to sleep The city kept her awake She kept wanting to gel up and check her boat ticket She wished she d had a chance to try out Chako She began to feel hungry for breakfast She decided to try and sneak some sugar cubes for the horses ,n the morning When she finally fell asleep she was picturing herself galloping across Alaska on a fine black horse The n e it morning Grace leaned on the rail of the Sampson scribbling a postcard to her friend Jean, which she asked a girl going ashore to mail for her The Sampson was loaded down w ith lumber cement. 200 sheep, and ISO passengers Grace hung over the rail watching as the horses were loaded She saw Raymond s horse Cy. his long ears twitching as he was led up the gangplank They loaded the dogs a team of Huskies and Mrs Mckennon s sheepdog Bummer The cattle would follow on another steamer accompanied by Bill and Dutch x Quite a crowd had turned out on the pier to see the boat off l)eep V under her feel Grace felt the Sampson s engines starting up and she^Jf,.** gripped the rail w ith eicitement Raymond appeared at her elbow' and as they waved at his parents a bugler on the dock began to play Then You II Remember Me The crowd shouted and swayed, calling out their farewells as the boat began to pull away By the time the bugler worked his way into Auld Lang Syne Grace and Raymond had to lean out over the rail, listening over the tug s horn the roar of the engines the chop of the water and the cries of the people around them to discern the tune The shadow (if a gull slipped over them they were on their way At first light the next morning Grace was on deck, drinking in the scenery The water glinted like silky glass in the morning sun. broken only by a school of porpoises playing off the stern They were moving up the Inside Passage a narrow channel overhung on each side by huge old snow capped mountains The sun was just striking the highest peaks, all around her little waterfalls dashed down the cliffs, and above in the blue an eagle tilted and hung Before breakfast she had been down in the hold to see the horses, who seemed to be settling in well enough Placid old Lucy, the Mckennon s saddle horse, stood beside Cy and Bummer the sheepdog was camping in his stall By the next day they were well on their way up the Inside Passage Grace became acquainted w ith the Sharkeys who would be helping on the drive Grace liked F C Sharkey a gentle, unassuming man Mrs Sharkey was loud friendly and outspoken She was prone to much expounding, talking a lot without really saying much, sometimes cornering Gracie for ten minutes to complain about the rough voyage Grace wished fervently she could trade her for lean, but at the same time she was grateful for Mrs Sharkey s boisterous presence, which alone enabled her to make the trip The voyage was smooth until they reached Queen Charlotte Sound . Then to o th in g but slang w ill answ er! there was som ething doing believe me The old boat stood on une end fo r aw hile then v e ry suddenly on the other Two days out of Seattle they reached Alaskan te rrito ry They stopped ai Ketchikan for an hour just as the sun was setting Grace inhaled deeply she stepped on the strangely springy earth I hey had only a tantalizing glimpse o( totem poles against the sky at an Indian village in (he distance before they had to reboard the Sampson In the morning they landed in Peteisburgh Grace and Raymond explored ihe town it w as full ol rickety old buildings and strange narrow winding streets They saw the h id e s«H three bears that had been killed that morning Grace could not resist purchasing a lin y pair of baby moccasins from some local Indians They looked Eskimo w ith their dark leathery faces They w-ore strange combinations of blankets and shawls and w hile men s clothes Grace learned later that furs were worth so much to the trappers that they discouraged the Indians Irom wearing them By lune 12th they had steamed further along the coast to Cordova w here they unloaded the horses and sheep Raymond spent the day making arrangements w ith the railw ay to take them to Chitina The little railway ran back and forth between Cordova on the coast, and the inland town ol Chitina a distance of R() miles They departed w ith their livestock on the tram along with th irty two government horses The government expedition was headed for the interior to make a survey for the new railroad The countryside was chiilv the streams a m ilky colour from the glaciers They passed glaciers that glittered in beautilul blue green colours The railroad bed itself was laid on solid ice In Chitina Raymond hired a man named Nick OBrien to herd the sheep and thev moved the camp outfit to the edge of town to wait for Bill and Dutch and the cattle They had lo w ail a week there outside of Chitina in the middle of a herd ol sheep where the wind blew constantly up between the mountains and the air was filled w ith a fine grit, making it impossible to keep clean A longshoremen s strike in Juneau delayed the cattle which did not arrive until June 23rd In the meantime there w as much to keep them busy The novelty of Alaska alone kept Grace s attention all day She had a hard lim e sleeping, lying in bed w hile the sky stayed light and the sun alw ays woke her up. shining like noon al one th irty a m She observed that the locals never really went to bed on a regular schedule, they |ust napped whenever the notion hx»k them The Indians around the area were d irty quite undesirable people unlike the Yakuiat Indians where Grace had bought the moccasins About a half mile from their camp lived an ancient Indian woman named Horse Creek Mary who was I I I years old She lived alone in a tent w ith seven Husky dogs and chopped down trees and snared rabbits to make her living The salmon were running king salmon and they managed to calch a tew Grace and Mrs Sharkey cooked the delicious melting pink steaks over a twig fire The first night the mosquitos were unbearable and they had to unpack Ihe little mosquito tents, but for the rest of the week the insects were mysteriously absent They built a sheep corral sel up ihe wagons, fitted harness and tried out Grace s saddle horse. Chako Raymond w'ashed his clothes They went on a walk and saw a ptarmigan la northern grouse like birdf w'ith seven young ones Raymond caught one of the chicks and took a picture of Grace holding it They look a buggy ride up Ihe trail in Dutch s rattly old w agon When the cattle finally caught up w ith them they decided lo graze them for a day june ¿4lh Lei Ihe lA lllc r«U H ill and I shod the work horses Grace found a head ol labbage Dur>' R Mckennon Grace was the day s hero The head of cabbage was like a gold nugget, suppplemenling as H did their usual diet of beans bacon potatoes. bread and coffee Thev badly craved green vegetables On the tenth day. they broke their camp and gathered the livestock They started up the trail for Fairbanks, over 300 miles away lias been lb * lir s t ol a three part stocy about a young »Oman in Oregon in the early nineteen hundrerli ihe text was < ornpiled and w ritten by Jessica Lark all and Marti Reece. Grace t daughter We ire proud to share tb it history not only because Grate Carter it also the Great Gr and «or her ol our Graphics Assistant Cditoe Sally Larkaff. and (he mother ol Dallas Mckennon la long lin e resident ol Cannon Hex hl but also because it a l l i i m t our belief that a woman s p l x e is in the wo« Id no matter where or when urrtn. un april ■