The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1902-11-21
A Reindeer Queen
-. IS...
Mary Makridoff
She Owns More Than Four Hundred
Of the Animals in Alaska
and Is Rich.

IEARY MalSrdon the reindeer queen
M S f Afsf now is for a@essh r6sck charlie
IVI Augensook is dead, says the San
IVi Francisco Call,
49, sinrock Charlie lals IVA, was her her f hus-
leaving her in entire charge I
many miles S of white o, tundra ana ana
owned by an Eskimo. Mary, represents
to her people not only tn highest degree
of rank, and honor, but OF :ealth. culture
is one with their time-honor.d supersti-
| ton.
Her mother before her was Queen of
| Alaska. From her came Marys right 70
rule. Her father was Russian, who had
| the knowledge of a few written words,
and this caused her to rank as the daugh-
! Charlie Agensook, owned and bequeath al
to her his famous reindeer herd. ms
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.
He home lies in the midst Of the vast
| tundra where her reindeer pasture. There
in the cold land stretch miles upon mug, mlits
Of her moss covered GROUND WIZ ne
| summer moss takes the place OF the WIN
| ter snow and whitens the ground. spring,
ing up in few hours after 1t is nibbied
away On approaching you see only white
ground. The deer arc far off, where ire
moss is thicker Then Of a sudden as the
sound or the scent Of your, party reaches
their ears or their noses the great herd
of 400 ONE like a whirlwind oyer the
tundra. The word has been passed among
them that there is an excitement, an ar
risal. They come to see, as boys rush
to fire. They come to listen, they come
to smell.
Then, like trained chorus entering for
the nearest knoll and draw up there
They draw IN in a great semicircle. TIL "
stand with their antlers branching up
ward Ike forest sta and o there ret, they trum-
That is the. picture that you VIII always
remember of your first sight of the IA
nous herd. 1t is herd known Alaska s,a
ever When reindeer were imported rom
Siberia by the United States government
they were in many cases given to reliaDie
Indians. sinrock, Charlie, was good In
dian even before he was dead, and he was
allowed 125 of the deer. He was so sue,
cessful in raising 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 business ability as
Charlie did.
If Mary decides to receive you she. will
come out to meet you dressed in her best,
which Is a costume of such furs as a
queen may we'll wear The parka, is of
p sne 'i Il is IRENE ndous and flowing. The
Sleeves are. either one. large enough for
an ordinary shoulder cape. The parka de,
fares at the edges, being bordee:ed 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 servants The ser
vents attend to. the work of the house
and help Mary in her immense business
of raising reindeer The children are
countless. They swarm. They have been
picked up here, there. everywhere. when
was cold or in a. hurry for his dinner
which was not forthcoming. They, are
little and brown and greasy and are bum
halos around their dirty little faces;
Augook is the most sinful of them and
the most promising, His hug is, very
viii 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
The house contains wonderful room
with dresser and looking glass. There
is no such thing as this in any other
parlor, and the proudest Eskimo is al
ways overwhelmed with its magniicence
A sight of that dresser alone would quell
an uneuly. subject, if Mary ever had one
The sleeping rooms are in loft above
Thither one must climb every night by
means of a shaky ladder; Odds and ends
the work. For Mary, although queen,
works like all of her people, except that
she carries on business on larger scale.
She lives by the profits that her reindeer
bring her. and those are large.
In the first place the deer cost almost
nothing, The land is as good as hers;
Is the white moss which covers the tun-
dra and grows of its own free Will In
great plenty: The moss Is sufficient TO
keep them in good condition the year
round. They need no other food. 1t will
sustain human life, by the way, and
might have saved many traveller had he
value of about 5000 apiece, This means
fortune of $4,000, which is immense
wealth to an Indian. The income Is
people, for she is a business woman born
and made, and she gets every cent out Of
those deer that there is to get. She gets
omic industry that is as up to date as
great American packing house or cotton
factory. Not one product is lost in WORK.
ing for others.
Some of the deer bring in an income. for
use In transportation. The troops hire
them for this purpose. One is furnishsi
BY o the shrewd lady 1y for something ing Nj
worth the money she gets for their hire,
however, for they can travel ten miles
an hour oyer aye frozen s9oW, drawing as
nothing of the sledge. They sometimes
cover 100 mile3 in a DAY. The deer are at
certain times Killed ana sofa LOT 1000.
This is when they would not bring in
better income by hauling. Mary watches
and she never slips on her transactions.
Reindeer porterhouse steak IS Nome
deicacy and it brings a fancy price in
the market.
But the deer dead is worth far. more
than HIS price as steaks. His skin is
precious as cloth of gold, and when Mary
and her women have wrought 1t into
parkas and mucklucks 1t brings in ~
goodly sum. Day after day they sit and
cut and sew, making the garments. which
are later on sent down the thirty-nile
road that leads to Nome. On the coolest
days they work indoors. when the sun
makes II possible. they may be seen sit
ting under the shelter of an upturned
boat, all huddled in their parkas, eac1
with Ter halo of fur thrown back that
she may see. 1t is this same halo that
can be drawn over the faco in a snow
storm to break the force OF the cutting
drift.
The fancy mucklucks. made of the fin
est reindeer fur and exquisitely stitched,
sell for SO to SO pair. 4 parka may
be sold at any price from Alo to 500, &C
cording to the value of the flIr used and
the elaborateness of the style of making.
1t costs money. you see. to live in the
far north. and Mary takes advantage of
the fact
a.Na- -