The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1895-05-04
First White Woman There Muir
by Indians.
TERRIBLE TRAGEDY AT NULATO
Commodore Weaver Tells of an Alaska
Trip I'm 1Ss9-The Koukuk
River.

II. l.. Weaver. better known in the
northwest as Commodore" tells the
Alaska Mining Journal of his early trip
up the Yukon Mr.. Weaver assembled
that stream up as far as Old Fort Re
lance on the steamer st. Michaels in
1879. He was then in the employ of the
Western Fur and Trading Company of
San Francisco gathering furs This was
just before the memorable expedition
OF the Jeanette upon which he himself
came very near embarlIng. In those
early days there We're no prospectors on
the Yukon river, and no white inhab-
itants except the few and widely scat
tered fur traders These traders knew
of the existence of gold there, but in
those days nobody paid any attention to
mining. There We're q traders on the
Yukon at that time. scattered along the
river from St Michaels for a distance of
goo miles above, and ones nearest neigh
Dor was a hundred miles or more dis
tant. Messsr. Harper and Hart were
the first actual discoveries of gold on
the Yukon and later, in 1891 Harper
found gold on a stream lying between
the Yukon and Tananah rivers. Harper
and Hart went i'm there from the Stick
cen river i'm 1872 and both are now at
Forty Mile. They met and Joined Al
Mayo on the lower Yukon i'm the fall of
1872. the two latter coming from the
east on the Mackenzie and down the
POrcupine to the Yukon.
The first white lady on the Yukon
was Mrs. Bean, the wife of trader.
They were married i'm Chicago and to-
gether went to their post about so miles
/ A. M.
after their arrival baby boy was born
to them, he being the first white child
born i'm the Yukon country. Mrs. Bean
is described as being a woman of great
courage and an adept in the use of fire
arms. In 1873 a difficulty arose between
! Bean and the Tananah Indians through
| his refusal to purchase all the furs they
saw fit to bring to him. and tried to
compel him to take all-good, bad and
! Indifferent ones. His stern refusal to
buy poor skins angered them, and the
| three Black Shaws. or medicine men,
made up their minds to kill Bean. But
they We're afraid of his wife. knowing
| well her pluck and her skill i'm the use
of firearms, and as the only means of
saving their own lives from her re-
vengeful weapon they at last decided
to kill both of them. The slSullxing brutes
noble woman in the back She fell dead
upon the ground and her husband, taxi
ing in the situation at a glance, grabbed
his little 3-year-old boy and jumping
with him into a canoe made good his
escape down the river to Nulato Short
ly afterward Messrs. Harper and Mike
Lebarge went up and recovered the
body. finding it just as she had fallen,
and returned with it down to Nulato
where it was buried. Mike Lebarge is
the man after whom Lake Lebarge is
named.
In 1882 another bloody tragedy oc-
cured at Nulato. A son of Jimmikoff,
a Russian, had slain an Indian, and one
day. while Jimmikoff was intoxicated
from an over-indulgence in hoochinoo,
the Indians shot him in the back Prior
to this the Indians had threatened to
kill the son in retaliation for the Indian
that had been killed, but Jimmikoff in
turn said if they did he would go and
clean out their whole camp, and the In
dams knew he would make good his
threat, as he was bad man." So,
fearing to face his wrath, but still want
ing revenge, they treacherously shot
him down from behind.
The second white lady on the Yukon
was Mrs. Greenfield, wife of the North
American FUR COmp0nNS agent Mr..
Greenfield was i'm Juneau last week
aboard the Francis Cutting Mrs. Law
renee wife of the Alaska Commercial
Company's agent at ST. Michaels, was
, the third lady
Johnny BOardman was the first white
5 man to view the headwaters of the
KOukuk river. in 1882. He went there
5 in quest of furs The Indians on the
upper headwaters heard of his approach
! through one of their hunters while he
was yet some distance down the river
and the old chief Of the village sent his
son down to meet him and invite him tC
] his house. BOardman was the first white
= man these Indians had ever seen, anC
f the old chief sat up all night looking al
e him and wondered much at his pale
skin and flaxen hair. He was rewarded
! for his trip in securing more valuable
4 furs than he could pack back.
In the spring of 1881 Mr. Weaver mad,
e the trip with dog team from St Mich
t ael to Newklakhyet and return, a dis
= lance of 1900 miles. only laying ovel
four days on the trip, in SO days
I |