Kansas City daily journal., 1896-12-28


best represented by q pony. blanket
and a pony; a blanket and a kyak, skin
| canoe, is the acme of wealth to both types.
| Princess Tom has enough kyaks and blank
| cts for an Alaskan kings ransom, If there
were such person. Some of the Alaskan
| blankets are very beautiful, and Princess
| Tom owns only the choicest, which she
| keeps in piles in her treasure ROOM
The Yakutat Indians of Alaska are the
most expert basket makers of the North.
| They weave them of grasses and tender
willow wood split into long silky strips.
| Their decorative methods, when they for
sake toterns, are very similar TO those OF
the Yaqui and other Southern Indians.
Some OF their baskets are so closely woven
that they will hold water. Princess Tom,
| being Yakutat, has a passion for baskets
and is the owner of some of the finest
specimens it has been my fortune to see.
The mark of the totem is over all of
Princess Toms treasures. whether
blankets, baskets. furs, chests or ships that
go down to the sea
Princess Tom was young woman when
she began to trade. The trading instinct
was as strong in her as ever it was in
Jay Gould or in Russell Sage. She began
by peddling the furs taken by her husband,
and finding that she was skilled in trade,
she also made deals for the husbands of
her friends and neighbors. Then she saw
a good chance to make good trades for her
self, and bought furs from other Indians
and took them to the trading posts. Mean
time, she became a collector of blankets,
copper kettles and that sort of thing. In
the course of a few years she amassed a
vast amount of Indian wealth, but learned
that white mans wealth was better.
So, as soon as possible she sold her Indian
stuff for silver money. Later it came to
her knowledge that gold was better than
silver ard she traded her silver for gold,
of which she now owns about SIS, 900 worth
in SO pieces. Besides these, she has in
Vulnerable bangles, bracelets, necklaces and
other ornaments made from the shining
yellow superior coin of the United States.
Some of her bracelets have as many as
fifteen SO gold pieces in them, and when
Princess Tom decks herself out in her
golden coin jewelry she is a person of
weight. Her golden treasure is hidden
away in a variety of places, and, as she
never spends any of it, it is getting to be
a burden, especially as she cannot look at
it very often for fear of attracting covetous
eyes to its resting places.
Princess Toms mail is something enor-
nous, considering all things. Impecunious
persons who have heard of her and rely
upon her being a simple Indian maiden
with a lot of money she does not know how
to spend, write begging letters. Miss
Campbell reads these to her whenever a
sufficient number have accumulated to
make it worth while After the fashion of
writers of begging letters, most of these
begin by stating that the person who writes
has heard of the good and beneficent Prin-
cess Tom, and admires her for her ability
and wealth. This sort of thing the princess
enjoys, because she really believes in
human nature, but as soon as the reader
comes to that portion of the letter which
begs or demands money the princess flies
into rage and will hear no more of it, for
the old lady loves her wealth exceedingly.
AS the employer Of a large number of
traders, hunters, boatmen and agents, and
the owner of number of virtual slaves,
Princess Tom is kept reasonably busy
looking after her affairs. Her husbands, Of
which there are five. are graded in her
estimation. The oldest does no work, those
of the middle aged men who possess suf-
fcient intelligence assist her in managing
her affairs. The youngest and latest is
being raised a pet" and he seems to
realize that he has a good position,
especially as the young Indian girls of his
acquaintance Ike him all the better for it,
while the young men. when not iocular,
aTs wildly envious.
L had several interpreted talks with Prin-
cess Tom and found her to be an unusually
intelligent Indian woman as well as q good
American. Her observations about Ameri-
can affairs, and particularly those relating
or of interest to Alaska, showed good sense
and more information than one would sus-
pect. She hoped. she said, to see the time
when Alaska would be more closely gov
erne6 and the vast interests of the terri
tory open to intelligent trade. She knows
intimately the details of hunting fur-bear-
ing animals, and 1 judge that she could
not be easily fooled by her agents and
Iniddlemen. She brought some of her
choicest sea otter SKINS out for my in
spection, and displayed an intimate knowl-
edge of their uses in other countries and
theil value. She also insisted that her
photograph be taken with one of her sea
otter skins hanging over her arm. She
carries a gold watch, of which she well
knows the uses, and although she owns
a good deal of jewelry seldom wears any
of it Her clothes she has made in the
American fashion, as nearly as Alaskan
sesmstresses can copy it.
1 asked her If she intended visiting the
United States and described to her the
ease of travelling across the great stretches
of country lying between the Pacific and
Atlsrtic coasts. She said that she knew
all about that and had heard of Chicago
and New York and Washington, and knew
their populations, but she was now too
old. When younger, travel was not so
easily accomplished, and she was not so
rich, but now she could not leave her
business and the East must get along
without her
She does not make friendships easily
with white men, and has never allowed
anyone to photograph her. Through tho
good offices of Miss Campbell, however,
was enabled to establish such confidence
that she readily granted my request to
photograph her, and grew quite interested
in il, although she insisted on looking into
the camera TO see the picture as soon as
l had taken ii, and could not or would not
understand why this was not possible until
after the plate had been developed.
At Juneau / made the acquaintance of
two Indian chiefs who are great admirers
and friends of Princess Tom. One of these
Chief Tlan-Tech, of the Kah-wan-tan clan.
was most interesting old chap. who wore
a high silk hat and store clothes with a
gieat deal of jaGntiness. He is as natural
ly born TO politics as an Irishman and
lives in a good pine house with his numer-
Gus wives and progeny. Another chief was
quite amusing with his pretensions to FASH
iOu0hle manners, creased trousers and 9TH
er evidences of opulence, TO say nothing of
the gOld-headed cane he always carried
His house was furnished very comfortably,
and in his parlor hung picture cards and
little gimcracks. besides innumerable COL
ored prints of saints and the Christ, pre-
sented to him by the priest of Russian
Greek church, Of which he is devout
member
All my inquiries about the white sheep
brought replies that they were away to the
north. with a sweep of the hand that
meant tmmeasurable distances. A hunter
told me he had seen pair of white sheep
horns in Cooks inlet. There l went, and
stopped at Toyuic, an old Russian settle
ment, where 1 saw the first evidences of
white sheep, a piece of hide. There met
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