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
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