The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-11-16
GOOD OLD TIMES IN alaska.
sitka Once the Trade tepfer-En-
joyable Gatherings in 1.-The Flag
OF All Sattons~-lndirns D5scf-

John O.&S. one q IRE proprfe'ors or the
Oce,Asn,ai aot.i 10 Juneau. and one OF
I the founders % juneau. IS II the clty.
/ guest with his wife and family. al the Eo-
/ tel Seattle Mr.. O.ls partner IN the hotel
/ business IL NJ e Orton. an old pioneer
! nks himself VINO started mining IL the
.ar,v DAYS ~ ttls C2rio0o excitement Mr.
otaa frat went TO Alaska IN 1s'o as
/ prospector and miner landing a. Wrangel,
/ from which point rs and few others
! started north IN the fail OF 1s-l, going 10
/ Gold creek, 100 miles from S!tka, located
! In The rear Of the present town Of juneau.
i oa juneau was u tAe party ard on lana
Ing in q wilderness OF forest a camp was
made and the name OF juneau given &.
{ The party struck Paying dirt, making on
an average from g. 10 s. day man,
! ard worked Their several mines for num-
h4r 81 years. MIR. ODDS also mined In the
! Cassiar district and IN the Silver Bow
basin. securing good claims III each ard
! realizing handsomely or the general re-
| suits M. Odds mined for about ten years
and has sufficient today 20 insure keep
ing the proverbial wolf a. q respectful dis
fance.
Mr. Olls made Juneau his headquarters
during his stay IN Alaska and has become
thoroughly identified with all The interests
OF that now thriving city. lie was there
when the first gold was struck or Doug
Las island in March ISL. helped % make
the first local mining Laws OF The terri
tory and generally took an active part IN
ibe simple government Of that primitive
country.
Early Days In the North.
In those early days" said MIR Olis yes
teylay '-Sitka was the central point far
supplies and on leaving there for the north
We had 10 take al Our provisions sjtn us.
for We were practically Cat off from civiiiza-
ton, Even Sitka was poorly supplied ana
the stores could not stake q man for any
great length Of time. Our first winter at
Juneau wus a hard one. We ran out Of SUI
gar meats ana almost everything else. and
were without them until the follow
ing Year. and We had to have recourse 10
clans and fish FOL much Of our food. Game
was plenty and We aad no trouble to bag
ducks arsd find plenty IF deer on the island
The next spring quite few people came
into that district ana after March, 1881
We had steamer ana mail once Il month
II built the frs leg cabin In Juneau
md also the first thret-stCry house there
The Log cabin became quite a resort for
the miners IN there and there were men
there Of 50 many different nati0nal.tiea
that We named the cabin THE Flag Of All
! Nations IL vas a very crude affair. with
"a fireplace in the center Of the cabin. but
all enjoyed gathering there and telling
stories Of ar evening and discussing th~
affairs OF the community r. was there
Laws ever adopted In Alaska. | look back
upon those old days with L great deal Of
satisfaction ard aside from many hard
SHIPS ard privations have many pleasant
recollecti0ns of them. Those old pioneers
are almost an gone and hut few now re-
main alive. There IS Dick Harris loo
Juneau. Charles Well. Johnny Dick. and
a few Others and that IS all ] can recall
ont OF about thirty of those who first
opened up that country
Patent tn Juneau Townsitc
The citizens Of Juneau early in 1899
elected me town trustee for the tl!~noee
Of getting a patent from the government
for the iownsi'e ~ Juneau | N once ar-
piled fer Il. but II wac not Issued urrU
( 1897 j. was Issued IN my name THE rea-
son % this delay was owing 20 the fact
that parties had abused the privilege arH
pending an Investigation all applications
fnr patents had been suspended We ais,
had protest flled against our patent in
ISIS hy Ruben Ga!lsten who clairnn1 thar
part - the t7wusjt,. about seven ~
eight acres - = n ;he western mart was
mineral land and that he owned an alleged
quartz location. The secretary Of the fn-
terror ordered a hearing IN juneau ana
We beat him in both the local and general
land Office. bat TIE secretary ~ IT,. IN
terror reversed the two lover decisions ~,
th* ground that W. d.3 rot a1lue, ur4ar
enough to saow that the tpwrr'ts was nom
mineral l8nd NV sllifs have be-,
brought 10 guiet tttlsa ami the matter VIII
10 fought - ~. bitter eua
The FIRST civil l2w that was given uQ
= received ~ 1874 ard waz what was
/ known as the organic art FIR Alaste
PRIOR ~ tnai tlHae Rc governed ourselves
witanni anv trouble We had shat vas
known as an eNrculiVc committee conn
posed ~ iAfee ~ Guy most p~onneer -ifs-
IN namely A Fuller = VI ehisan.
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