Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1883-10-18

Northern POssessions--A Mining
Camp Required to
Act as Judge Lynch.
The Hon. Edward Pierrepont of New
York, ex-minister to England, chose very
novel means of making summer tour.
Instead of taking in" Switzerland, the
Rhine or Egypt, accompanied by his son
Edward he visited Alaska. Mr.. Pierrepont
returned from his Alaskan visit some weeks
ago, but has been putting his time in since
then in quiet visit to the Yellowstone.
He..arrived in Chicago Saturday. He was
sitting in his comfortable room at the
Palmer when the reporter called. little
and old but cheerful man, he entered into
conversation enthusiastically.
YES" said he, II have put in my sum-
mer rather oddly, but in selecting Alaska
in preference to some of the more wOrnout
places like the land of the Sphinx or Mont
Blanc, was actuated by several consider
ations. You are too young to remember 1t,
but it was during POlk's administration
that quarrel arose between America and
England over certain western possessions,
in which Vancouver's Island is in
cluded. America concluded that she
had right to extend our parallel OF latl-
tude to 54:4O deg. England contested this
right. A bitter feeling was engendered,
and for long time it looked as if America
and England would 60 to war. Indeed, for
a long time all the Democratic newspapers
were crying for 54:40 or fight But Eng
l. o1o;, Co fIoo
and America finally backed down, and
Great Britain got the territory between AZ
deg, the limit of our possessions, and 54:4O
degrees. One of the objects of my
visit to Alaska was to see this
territory on which the fight was made, and
was amply repaid, though it was very
humiliating to me to be obliged to travel
through British territory to get to Alaska.
But Alaska was what desired most to see,
so on the 18th Of July my son and sailed
from Portland, Oregon, on the steamer
Eureka. This vessel was very kindly
placed at our disposal by Gov. Perkins, of
California. We had almost the entire pos
session of the steamer. Alaska is peculiarly
formed. 1t is one succession of isthmuses,
so that the land is almost cut into strips by
the watery trespasser. We went from the
south to the north and over a greater por-
ton of it, and I never was so much sur
prised at anything as / was at what saw"
What, among other things, did you see?"
MI. Pierrepont consulted his diary for
moment. Then he read: "July 31-Saw
an Indian hung by mob of miners. Ex-
postulated with them, but they said they
must protect themselves, and after holding
an informal court, 1 decided that there was
evidence of the Indians guilt Of murder,
and offered no further objection. The
Indian was promptly hung in my presence.
That" exclaimed the ex-minister, rs fair
evidence of the kind of country Alaska is.
1t is an American possession but there Is
no law there, religious, civil, or otherwise,
and of all the God-forsaken places think
it leads the van. My son and l were the
sole passengers on the Eureka, and in pene-
trating a short distance above Juano
we came upon camp of thirtyfive miners,
who were digging gold with Indifferent
success. We landed and found a few shan
ties, one of which was store, kept by a
man named Coleheur We discovered that
there was something going on, and on in
quiring we learned that two Indians had
the day before murdered two white men.
You see the inhabitants of Alaska are 49,
600 Indians and about 400 whites. The
latter are fur traders and salmon and seal
fishers, and are principally Germans. At
this particular point there was tribe OF
5000 Indians and only thirty-fve white
men. One Indian had been hung for the
murder, and we were taken and shown his
body dangling from the limb of tree. The
ho 1yhi hoH
made a requisitiOn upon the chief OF the
Indian tribe for his surrender. 1t was 3
o'clock in the afternoon that we were in
Coleheur's store, talking, when there was a
great commotion, and a party Of 500 In
dians were seen approaching the camp. We
all, miners and all, supposed that they were
hostiles coming to avenge the death of the
murderer, and the miners hastily barricaded
and armed themselves, ready for the attack.
My son Edward thought it was great fun
to fight the Indians, but [ rather looked at
it differently, and sought refuge in Cole
heur's store. After all it turned out that
the Indians were not hostile, but were COM
ing to deliver the escaped murderer, whom
they had captured. A trial was Immediate
ly held, with myself as examiner. l was
asked to interfere by Coleheur, and on in
Quiry 1 found that the Indian was guilty of
the murder charged. Then l offered no
further objection, and the white miners,
with Massachusetts man named Fuller,
took the culprit to tree and executed him.
The country there is in a fearful condition.
The whites are afraid of an uprising ON
the part of the Indians. There is no law,
and the United States should establish
Territorial government. We returned to
British Columbia August 4, and since that
time have been travelling in the Yellow
stone"
Mr.. Pierrepont describes Alaska as hav-
ing scenery unequaled by that of Switzer-
land. He said the grazing lands were as
fine as those in the Southwest, and that the
wa.ers were filled with salmon and seal.
He purposes making report to the govern
ment of his researches.
What Gloves Are to a Woman.