The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-10-12

thou, these skin houses are f0lueu u
like tent and carried on the sleds.
The cooking Is done over fire in the
center, a large opening being LEFT In
the top of the tent for the escape of
the smoke.
Upon my arrival / had to undergo
the ordeal Of shaking hands with
every individual, from = decrepit octo-
genarian with one eye, down to the
smallest babe in arms. One woman
even had the monumental assurance
to hold up her dirty faced young one
for me to kiss, but 1 drew the line on
that. All of the mon had ut some
time visited the trading posts, but a
number Of the women and nearly all
of the children had never seen white
man so that my arrival created a YER
liable sensation and the preparation
of feast was at once begun. From
my condition thought it would have
been more appropriate to have had
the feast first and the hand shaking
afterwards but poliicness is one of MY
strong points, so said nothing.
Each family also presented me with
a small present, half a dozen caribou
tongues, or some other native delica-
cy. These presentations were always
made by yonn g cumely young
woman, compliment to my youth
that all but moved me to tears.
At various times during the winter
we had heard rumors from the Indians
to the effect that q whaling fleet had
gone into winter quarters somewhere
on the coast of the Arctic ocean, pre-
sumably at Herschel Island, q point
a hundred miles west Of the mouth of
the Mckenzie. From Rampant House
to Herschel Island can't be more than
two hundred miles if one goes in a
direct line about thirty degrees east of
north, but had wished to make the
trip in roundabout way i'm order to
visit these Indians, SO that now, hav-
ing Travelled about one hundred and
fifty miles i'm nOrth-w esterly directi-
GU from Rampant House, Herscbel
Island lay about the same distance
northeast of us. These Indians said
that if we would wait several days
until they could kill ssme more deer,
number of them would go with us
and take several loads of fresh meat
to the whaling ship to barter for cloth,
tobacco and ammunition.
Although there are some disadvan-
tages about travelling with crowd
of Indians, still 1 thought it better ON
the whole as we would go through
a country with which none of us were
familiar and would soon be among
the Eskimo who are sometimes inclin-
ed to be little frolicsome with their
visitors. We remained with these
people four days, and ON two of these
days went caribou hunting with the
men and distinguished myself by kill
ing one big buck. The manner of sur
rounding herd of these animals is
not without interest but If ] start out
to tell about those caribou hunts, 1
can never bring this letter to close.
Anyhow a considerable number, l
don't know just how many, we're kill
ed in the four days, and ten of these
Indians with six sled loads of fresh
meat, started off with US. We were
now quite procession, twelve men,
seven sleds and twenty eight dogs.
Our course lay almost due northeast
across the Romanzof mountains. On
the morning of the second day We
reached the summit Of the divide at
the headwaters of stream that emp
ties into the Arctic ocean. wish that |
some Of the people who think they |
have seen mountains could have beer |
with me that morning and gazed up
on the view that lay before US. On |
every side stretched a vast snow. COW
cred region, limitless in extent,
through which projected thousands
of jagged mountain peaks. As far as
the eye could reach there was q great
ocean of snowy peaks. range after
range, piercing the bluest of blue
skies, and everything spotless white.
A more desolate or apparently lifeless
land one never beheld. / was the
first white man to gaze upon thi:
scene and it is doubtful if another
will, in the next hundred years, cross
the Romanzof range at this place.
Descending the mountains on their
northern slope, we travelled rapidly
down the valley o: the stream [ have
above, crossing numerous
frozen lakes. Occasionally we would
see a hand of caribou and get one or
two of them and one day an Indian
killed a mountain sheep. On the 4th
day after leaving the Indian camp, we
saw the first signs of Eskimos, a num-
Der Of vacant snow houses that looked
like oyergrown bee hives, and some
sled tracks. =
tContinued)