Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1888-02-07
MISCELLANEOUS.
Letter from Alaska.
ea@ n, s. IS
SrrKA, Con the ocean, ALAsKA.
d July 10th, 1887. {

Z
AFTER passing many little channels
and sounds that could with propriety
haveiall been known under one name.
wei come to Chatham Sound, the
last in British domaihsA II is about:
ten miles wide and about forty miles
long and communicates with the Pa
cific, which, is known as Dixon Ems
traice,7 the boundary between British
Columbia end Alaska beyond, whose
blue mountains we see in the dis
tanee.r The number. of islands in
this part of Alaska alone has been
estimated at eleven hundred exclu5
.sive of rocks and isIets. Clarence
Strait is the main channel at this
point,of Alaska aud was named by
Vancouver one hundred years ago,I in
honor of the Duke of Clarence
From Clarence Strait we enter
Stickeen Strait ttheti we come TO
.wfangle. the Port to the Cassids
Mines they are in British Colnm-
bia, and breach them the Stickeen
river, emptying near Wrangle must
be ascended !; jit is said to he n.i' ga
BILE one hundred and fifty miles, for
small steamers Up this fi.er you
meet with great glaciers, innumern-
BILE peaks. spires and domes o. ice
and snow towering grandlJ toward
the sky. Up this river you see the
Skoot river canon, a grotipof peaks
from ten TO twelve thousand feet
] l,sssi. = = s.fi,-o t,,fir= fiio.e.'it he.
mouth, you meet the base OF the
great glacier, six miles across. 1t
takes its rise some forty miles back;
it is called the ice Mountain its
front is three hundred feet high. AZ
Killisnoo the Northwest Trading Co.
of Portland have extensive works for
the extraction of oil from herrings.
Killisnoo is on chatham Strait
Kootznohoo, village near killisnoo,
was the scene of q naval fight two
years ago, between Captain Norman,
IU. S. Navy, and the Indians, in
which the latter came off second
best. Those Indians on the west
coast up to this way as a rule, bury
their dead on top of the ground
Over the mountains, along the u.
Pacific r. R., they utilize trees, hang
them up in baskets made of bark, &c.,
and leave them solitary and alone
with the dismal howl of some hungry
wolves and the moaning requiem of
the winds. We have Just left Chilkat,
the headquarters of large number
of tribes; the Crow Indians were
once powerful, the chief died a few
wears ago, and was cremated. 1t
was their custom to sacrifice two or
more slaves at the death of any
prominent Buck, and his heir was
his sisters son; If he had no such
relative, then younger brother and
he was compelled to marry the widow
l (Petoff). This is the region in which
are found the Crows, Stickeens,
Sitkas, Chilkats, KootZnahoos,
T'linkets, Tarcos, &C., ad infinitum.
The domestic life of these Indians Is
like that of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, a number of families being
gathered under one roof. Genealo'
gies were kept for ages, honors and
distinction made hereditary, to marx
these, insignia, like the coat-of.arm'
of the Europeans and Asiatics, Fert
adopted and in rude carvings they
stroye to represent them. The paint
ings ON the tombs (ahoTe grouDC
and in their cabius1 and " Totem
|, poles" are almost obliterated, but
their carving will last for centuries
yet to come. The sea and the LIANT
have both been made to do duty il
furnishing representative figures
The eagle. the whale, the bear, tn
otter and wolf, etc. even their imag
iDation furnished gritfins and ami
mails, the like of which never occur
red to me- At Sitka measured on
of these poles-34 feet by p feet a
its base and about so, perhaps 100
feet high, the front facing the Sc
3, and right before his cabin of logs tn
chief planted his t Totem-pole'
carved with a multitude of design
representing scenes and incident
Hong since forgotten by the youn
lbIoods. 1t is strange, passing straDg
to me, am hewiIdered and canno
find words sufficiently expressive, a
THE striking similarity fac simile reE
resentation of the Mexican Peruvian
Egyptian, ChaIdean and Assyria
carvings as shown us by eastern tra'
- elers and antiquarians- In Alask
the ruling tribe of Indians is q
~ T'Iinket, sub-divided into man
n smaller or subordinate tribes; a
J. speak the same language, but hay
e no stronger ties of union. The
,e 1e often war against each other. II
Is T'Iiuket once immensely humetol
E. have dwindIed down to mere ct
poral's guard of warriors. 1 y