The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1892-04-16
FACTS FURNISHED.
An Authentic Account of Arch
bishop Seghers Murder In
Alaska in 1887.
LETTER FROM j. H. KEATLEY

TO Cardinal Gibbons Relates in 6
Concise Manner the History of
Fuller's Crime.
John H. Keatley, of Sioux City, Iowa
under date of March 81, forwarded the
following letter to Cardinal Gibbons
concerning the murder of Archbishop
Seghers, which took place November a.
1887:
Sioux Cry, Iowa, March 81, 1892.
Cardinal Gibbons, Baltimore, Md
VERY DEAR SIR: Having served as
United States Judge of Alaska until De-
oember 8, 1889, and Archbishop Seghers,
OF British Columbia. having been mur-
dered by one of his associates within the
limits of Alaska in the year 1887, 1 deem
it my duty, after having become ac-
quainted with all the principal facts,
they being somewhat scattered among
documents and held in memory by per-
sons now widely dispersed, to present
them to you in this form, in concise
narrative, SO that you may file it in the
archives of the cardinalate, if you desire,
for future references.
The extraordinary and tragic character
OF the incident resulting in the death Of
the Bishop is sufficient justification Of
this course. >.-"~
Up until the spring of 1887 no serious
attempt had been made to establish any
Roman Catholic missions among the ma.
tives of the valley of the Yukon, in Alas
ka, owing, in part, to the opposition
made by the Greco Russian priests and
monks subject to the jurisdiction of the
Holy Synod at Moscow, Russia, and to
the opposition made for q century and
more by the officers of the Hudson Bay
Company, whose agents have been oper-
ating along the headwaters of that great
river for several generations.
A change of policy was deemed neces-
sary, and, consequently, on the 30th of
July, 1887, Archbishop Seghers left Vic
torla, B. c., accompanied by two Jesuit
Fathers-Tosi and Robeut, and SER
want named Frank Fuller. BY August
81, the party was heard from at the head
OF Salmon river, in Western Alaska, by
letter from the Archbishop, stating that
the party was having some trouble with
the natives. This did not alarm his
friend, and the news of August 81, being
tho last heard from him for many
months, it did not create any uneasiness,
owing to the fact that it frequently re-
quires year to receive intelligence
from those remote regions, and even from
United States officials, who are able to
command better facilities for communi~
cations than many others.
The next intelligence received from
the Archbishop and his party was that
ON the morning of November 81, he was
shot and killed by Frank Fuller, near a
native village called Nulato, on the
Yukon river. Fuller was about thirty
years of age, was tall and slender, and of
a nervous, excitable temperament. He
had been a matchmaker at Portland,
Oregon, before going to Victoria, and
meeting Archbishop Seghers at Victoria
and expressing a strong desire to accom-
pany the party to the Yukon, he was
taken as the Archbishop's personal at
tendant. This was contrary to the adj
vice of the other members of the party.
When they reached Chilcoot village, pre-
paratory to crossing the coast range by
"Chilcatt pass to the headwaters of the
Yukon, F'acher Tosi strongly urged the
Archbishop to send Fuller back to the
settlements as last opportunity, on ac-
count of his singular behavior, which in
dicated some unsoundness of mind. The
party continued together until they
reached the mouth of the Stewart river,
in Western British America, where
Fathers Tosi and Robaut established
themselves to winter, and Archbishop
Seghers proceeded down the Yukon, the
Fathers still protesting against his going
alone with young Fuller on account OF
his strange and ipexplicable conduct.
The Archbishop was resolute and re-
fused to believe that he was In any dan
ger whatever. They had one Indian
with them, and proceeding to q point
near Nulata, which they reached on the
evening of November 26, 1887, they went
ashore and encamped,
About daylight, on the morning Of
November 81, Fuller went to where the
Archbishop was sleeping in the tent,
called him, as it to awsken him, to begin
the journey for the day; and when the
prelate attempted to rise he was shot by
Fuller and mortally wounded with the
gun which had al along been 2 part OF
the outfit Of the expedition. The Indian