Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-13
THE REINDEER QUEEN
RICHEST NATIVE WOMAN IN
ALASKA
Owns Over Four Hundred Head Of
Deer - Is a Recognized
Authority.
From the San Francisco Call.

From the San Francisco Call.
Mary Makridoff, the reindeer queen of
Alaska, is queening it all by herself now,
for Sinrock Charlie Augensook Is dead.
Sinrock Charlie was her husband He
died, leaving her in entire charge Of his i'm
mense estate, which means many miles of
white tundra and the greatest herd of REIN
deer ever owned by an Eskimo. Mary rep
resents to her people not only the highest
degree of rank and honor, but of wealth,
culture and fashion as well. Her power
over them is one with their time-honored
superstition.
Her mother before her was Queen of
Alaska. From her came Mary's right to
rule. Her father was a Russian who had
the knowledge of few written words, and
this caused her to rank as the daughter OF
scholar. Her husband, Sinrock Charlie
Augensook, owned and bequeathed to her
his famous reindeer herd. This has given
her the distinction of being the wealthiest
of all her people. Therefore Mary Is queen
in every sense of the word Her clapboard
house is palatial to the Eskimo eye. Her
garments are regal. Her word is law.
Her home lies In the midst of the vast
tundra, where her reindeer pasture There
in the cold land stretch miles upon miles of
her moss-covered ground, white whether
with or without snow, for the summer moss
takes the place of the winter snow and
whitens the ground, springing up in a few
hours after it is nibbled away. On APP
preaching you see only white ground. The
deer are far off, where the moss is thicker.
Then of sudden the sound or the scent
of your party reaches their ears or their
noses the great herd of 400 comes like
whirlwind over the tundra The word has
been passed among them that there
excitement, an arrival. They come to see,
as boys rush to a fire They come to listen,
they come to smell.
First Sight Of the Herd.
Then like a trained chorus entering
well-rehearsed number they make for the
nearest knoll and draw up there. They
draw up in a great semi-circe. They stand
with their antlers branching upward like
forest, and there they trumpet loudly for
good half hour.
This is the picture that you will always
remember of your first sight of the famous
herd. 1t is a herd known Alaska over.
When reindeer were imported from Siberia
by the United States government they were
in many cases given to reliable Indians.
Sinrock Charlie was a good Indian even be-
fore he was dead, and he was allowed 125
of the deer He was so successful in rails
ing them that he increased his herd to 400
and died then, leaving Mary, his wife, to
care for his property. This she has done
ever since, and she has shown as good bust
ness ability as did Charlie
If Mary decides to receive YOU she will
come out to meet you dressed in her best,
which is costume Of such dark furs a
queen may well wear. The parka is Of the
finest reindeer fur, spotted and dappled.
1t is tremendous and flowing. The sleeves
are, either one, large enough for an ordi-
nary shoulder cape. The parka develops
into sort of hood at the top and flares al
the edges, being bordered with long red
fox fur that makes halo around her face.
No wonder Mary'S people look upon her as
the Rising Sun.
Mary's home is a good-size clapboard
house that accommodates her and her
adopted children and her servants. The
servants attend to the work of the house
and help Mary in her immense business OF
raising reindeer. The children are count
less. They swarm. They have been picked
up here, there, everywhere. whenever Mary
has happened upon a waif who was cod
or in hurry for his dinner which was
not forthcoming. They are little and brown
and greasy, and they are bundled in minia-
ture parkas with miniature halos around
their dirty little faces. Augook is the most
sinful of them, and the most promising.
His hug is very warm and furry and
dirty one, but you will like it. He will
reach out his little arms to you, out of the
far, frozen up north, where even little
boys hearts are frozen most of the year.
Overwhelming Magnifcence.
The house contains a wonderful room,
with a dresser and looking glass. There
is no such thing as this in any other Es
kimo house It IS on display IN the parlor,
and the proudest Eskimo is always over
whelmed with its magnificance A sight of
that dresser alone would quell an unruly
subject, If Mary ever had one. The sleep
ing rooms are in a loft above Thither,
one must climb every night by means of
shaky ladder. Odds and ends of rooms are
used for the servants and the work. For
Mary, although a queen works like all OF
her people, except that she carries on bust
ness ON large scale. She lives by the
profits that her reindeer bring her, and
those are large.