The Nome nugget., 1903-05-27
Copyrlght, 1903, by Peter Bavne.

\ ed between Icy cape and Sea
 horse island. The Arctic ice pack closed in on Blossom shoals, leaving no outlet Their crews escaped hy taking to their boats and going south. they divided themselves up among the ships that remained outside, or those that were south of Blossom shoals. Ships in those years were pro- vieioned for from six to eight months The rest of the fleet returned to San Francisco with the crews of the strand- ed vessels Uncle Sam reimbursed them for terminating their voyage and per forming this humane duty.
 This disaster was the greatest that ever occurred in these regions. The gaze was not strong one, but the sea son was extremely late, and the ice very heavy. This disaster occurred in Aug ust, and it was d rich harvest for the many tribes and villages along the coast. From Point Lay to Point Barrow, to the Koogmuts of Wainright inlet. it was d harvest of death, as well as to the Ootocouchmuts of Icy cape. An old anatchout told me the story as fol- lows, sometimes speaking in whispers and at other time; making hidenuS con tortions with face. body and limbs. 10 in- d cate the various ways anI different phases that death brought. After sip ping and drinking the many different kind, uf pu'~uu~ cuutained in the medi- cine cho:,t~ uS those stlandet vessels, they eNpectin1 to find rum. we wait ed some day, jhinI,iug the white men would come Lac,;: up Iauu~ht other ships Nould cone ana talk" away their stutf. They locked up their doors so We could not enter, and we waited many day for them to return, before we broke the doors and began loading our boats, the ships were divided up among ourselves. Nearly every native had ship to himself and his boys and friends. We boated the stuff ashore. the flour we emptied from the sacks and threw it away, we didn't know it was good to eat We found clothing and blankets, heavy and light, cloth for tents, and many things. We didn't know what to do with those that we had not seen before. Some natives found some rum (tongal, and then we gan to look everywhere for rum, the natives began getting crazy drunk: some getting sick and many died on board the ships, and on shore, doctors tanokools) Gied also: we doctors all went to work with the devil (toonach) to know why we were dying, and learn what wrong we had done, that so many should die, for they were nearly all strong and young hunters that had died"
 When asked if they found the cause of so many deaths, he answered: ''Oh. yes, it was for taking the white man s stuff: we should have let the ships be, as the white men left them: we. moved away and built other houses in the hills and lived on deer: some of us would come down on the ice to get seal and walruS, walrus, and seal was all we could get. We don't catch whales any more; they don't come either: they are also driven away. Nearly all the great whale men died the time so many ships came ashore; nearly all that broke doors and ships are dead, and few women died Mso."
 This old doctor is the only native that would talk about this affair. and he would not talk much. This tribe fled in great fear from the coast. Their best hunters and whalemen had died the walrus herds that fed and made their home at Icy cape and Blossom shoals soon became eXterminated and were driven away by whale ships, whales also becoming shy and hard for the native to capture with their priml' tive methods and rude implements.
 I1ejAose years the reindeer were plentiful, but since the Winchester rife was put in the natives hands, they too, are very fast disappearing from those parts. All of those natives have moved, few to Point Hope, butnearl, |, all to Point Barrow and the east to- ward the Mckenzie river, where game is still plentiful and many varieties O. fish are to be had.
 Another great loss of ships occurred in 1875. do not remember how many but about nine. Some of them were east of Point Barrow and were aban doned in the pack miles from shore Some of the crews of the bark Onward and ship St. George returned to theil ships after they had been abandoned lido not remember how many men re turned and were lost in this disaster Nearly all of those ships went off ip the