The sun., 1897-01-03
WEALTHY PRINCESS TOW
AN Alaska INDIAN uou,x
A TALENT FOR Hy>yT, VIM
% narS @ Moaor"%, or'"Se In ,"'uasre Good.
band sho Buys One n'' Illus.

LAwRENCE. Kan, Dec %
renee juno last for ALASKA ,,o.. law
Seattle to SltkG, and thence H. I'M RON
l had the pleasure Of mcc,i.. ia. m ''c'
markable woman IN Alaska, p,..,... .' '''
VINO weicomcl mo to her lour aud slo,oI'''
her manifoiu treasures, as we'll a, Lpr l,,a.,
husband. Twas introduced TO rrl,,o,. r. ''r'
Miss Florence Campbell. tclrl,r n,d
sionary at Juneau. who WIS ar dy,,,.1 ,,," ',,''
Haskell Institute for lndiar, nr l.,,,.'
Princess Tom speaks only comn.,..,,,. .t....'''
and only enough OF tia: t. tpc.arrr..,.
n trade. at which she Ia very r,i..r, II
fore had TO enlist tie ser, ..rs OF Mis-. r...,
bell " interpret -my eNprrssions - r,,,,r
Princess Tom is slort and SQUAT and ar..,..,
years old. She Is keen in her judgmc..t of ,,.
and took quite a fancy to me.
"soe. buy II man," said Princes, Too, ..
me through Miss Campbell. II ray.o, iI,,,
ksts for him to marry" She uotn,cl,,,,.,,.
ming. fat-faccd young follow. whowasl.rfr.,
husband. "She says she will buy You. ,,. a.,
you arc for SALE" said Miss Campbell l,n.,t.
Ing. And when aid was not Tor sa'r. ,i.
took from her finger a:sIynr ring, sha,rt l,,
q snake. wonderfully chased IN tho Aa.s.,,
fashion and set with n turuuol Q. and pla.rJ
on my finger us token OF good will TLeu srs
set about to show mo her treasures and al.
lowed me to photograph her. SAo desired ,,,
TO photograph her fat young hus1ani AIS,
but he ran or like n bashful boy md lI
himself in the town. Her house, a vc-y comtor.
table franc structure, modcrnlT built IA fuu
OF every description OF Indian treasure, b'an.
kets, skins, baskets Of wonderful workman.
ship. copper kettles, and domestic u,crsi,,
fashioned by the Russians In the days bc,,y,
American possession. Her :hiefcst treasure
besides her COOL American $50 gold pieces, a,,
her sea otter skins. Tho sea otter fur is ,ls
court fur OF both Russia and China and Il,
therefore In great demand at ruinols prices.
The sea otter has been so assduously hunted
and is now so wary that good skins. rough
dried. are worth anywhere from SlOO to 500
each. In one room OF her house this Alaskan
princess has piles OF cedar chests full o. sea
otter skins. OF which sho is in no hurry 10
dispose. In all she must own about 500 skin.
and she has a large number OF native hunters
out in her sloops constantly looking for more.
SO insatiahe Is her des.re for them.
To an Alaskan Indian a blanket lisa tan.
Gible token OF wealth as a pony Is TO praris
Indian. Warmth and food Is tho end OF sue.
cessful existence TO the fat Alaskan, hence =
blanket means something TO him. rassags
over the great stretches OF Unavailable pral.
rio Is necessary to the Indian further east. and
TO him wealth is best represented by POM.
blanket and a pony: n blanket aud kysk,
skin canoe, is the acme OF wealth TO Dotl
types. Princess Tom has enough kyaks aad
blankets for an Alaskan kings RAJ som, IL
there were such n person. Some OF the Alas.
kan blankets are very beautiful. and Princess
Tom owns only tho choicest, which she keep,
In piles In her treasure room
The Yskutat Indians OF Alaska are the most
expert basket makers of the North. lacy
weave them OF trasses and tender willow wood
methods. when they forsGke to,ems. are Very
similar u those OF the 1aqui aud other souih-
ern Indians. Some OF their baskets are 50
cess Tom. being fakutat, has n passion for
baskets AMI 10 the owner Of some OF the !lne-t
specimens 1t has been my fortune To see. no
mark of the totem is over all Of Princess Tom.
treasures, whether blankets. baskets, fugs,
chests. or ships that go down to sea.
Princess Tom was young woman when 10
began to trade. The trading Instinct was as
strong in her as ever It was In Jay Gould or "a
taken by her husband. and. finding tha, se
was skiiled In trade. she also made dea,, :or
Then she saw chance 70 make good trGl,
for herself. and bought furs from other Ia
Meantime ehe became collector Of blaUHe'-,
copper Kettles. and that sort OF thing. IL ts
course OF few years she ama.sed ,a.t
amount OF indian wealth. bu! learned that
white mans wealth was better.
SO. as soon as possible, she sold her lndial
t@T stsr r, Eod Ssf better II San u T
she row owns about $4,000 worth in So
4
bangles. bracelets. necklaces. and other o7us-
ments made from the shining yellow superior
lets have as many as fifteen SO gold piece. \
them, and when Princess Tom decks Arr-.
out In Ter golden coin jewelrS she is prrsna
OF weight. Her golden treasure is hidden
away In variety OF places. and, as shr never
spends any OF IT, II IL getting 10 he iGr.e
Tor rear OF attracting covetous eyes TO us r,---
Ing places.
Princess Toms mall is something euo.rlo.s.
IIHar ra9NNf At4NfNG r..r-. 4
who have beard OF her. and rely upon her ''.
a simple Indian maiden with a lot ot III a..
she does not know how to spend, write bv--
letters. Miss Campbell reads these to -
whenever lei IA, spffic,ent number haye 'c,a
SeS Sn Of TO %rsTs %sEs Of " SSr,h wG hs e
has heard OF the good and benefceqt rr.a.,
Tom. and admires.her for her ABILITY o., !
health. This sort OF thing the Princess cu N-,
6ec-uso she really believes In auman nai,-'.
but as soon as the rea.er comes to tha, pri =
more e /: for tho old lady lady love. her Sca'ta
As ~ employer Of large number OF m.
ers, hunters, N eostmsn ne and SSents ana NJ.
Tom is kept reasonably busy looking ar .,r
affairs. Her husbands, OF whom thor 80
Ave. are graded in her estimation; Tie o'lo,,
does no work; those of the middle-agci H.'n
who possess sufficient intelligence ass A.r
IN managing her affair. The yonnG"s' nrl
latest is being raised pet" nd he serns:o
realize that he has good position. espr. ally
as the young Indian girls OF his aoQuaiuiau .
like him all the better for II. while the yug,E
men, when not locu!ar. are Wildly euviOus
had several interpreted talks with irurcss
Tom, and found her to be an unusually iN'r,.-
gent Indian woman as well as q good Au'r.'
can. Her ,ob ervutlons about American q:
fairs, and particularly those relating tuur &
interest TO Alaska, showed good sense "'i
more information than one would susr, ?.
She hoped, she said. to see the dine w.'
Alaska would he more closely governed n' d
the vast interests OF the Territory open 10 -
telligent trade. She knows Intimately
details OF hunting fur-bcarng animals, Haa
judge that she could not be easily fooled
her agents and middemen. She brought re
OF her choicest sea otter skins out for my n
spection. and displayed an Intimate kuurl-
edge OF their uses In other countries and ilrT
value. She also insisted that her Dhutusru
be taken with one OF her sea otter skins Ga' =
Ing over h~r arm. She carries a gold wa :.
of which she well knows the uses, and, al
though she owns u good deal Of iowelry, s..'
dom wears anv Of II. Her clothes sh" ls
made In the American fashion as nearly ~ IN
Alaskan sCHmstrCss can COpy H.
l Aske. hor II she intended visiting -
United States, and described to her the 80
of travelling acrOss the great stretches ~ n
try lying between the Pacific and a 50 10
coasts. She said that she knew all II ,oa' -
and had heard Of Chicago and New Nuln 90
Washington. aud knew their popula' l-