The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-05-31
BISHOP ROWE OF ALASKA.
A Sturdy churchman of the Frontier
Type Who Has Many PeriIs.
portland Oregonian.)

Bishop p z. Rowe, an Episcopalian,
has traversed in rowboat or canoe near
ly all of the navigable streams Of Alas
ka. has "mushed" thousands Of miles
across its frozen wastes and it is said
that there is not a village or a settle
ment of any size or importance which
he has not visited. But few miners
come down from Alaska who do not
personally know Bishop Rowe, and all
who have met him admire him as a
man and respect him because of his
devotion to his religious principles. The
Indian and the Eskimos know him and
love him as well as do the white men,
for in his work he knows no color line.
Scores of times he has been in immi-
nent danger of losing mis- life. He has
been capsized in raging rivers while
shooting rapids, he has been chased by
timber wolves, he has been captured
by Indians, he has been cOught and
nearly frozen by billiards, but though
some of his escapes have been verita-
BILE hairbreaGth affairs, no experience
of the kind has ever shaken his nerve.
Bishop Rowe is a crack shot. both
with the rifle and shotgun. When he
makes his long, lonesome trips to some
distant settlement or mission he al
ways carries firearms with him, pTimar-
lily to supply himself with game, but he
is the kind of man who could use them
for self-defense if placed in dangerous
circumstances.
1t is said that few men In Alaska pos
sess more power of endurance when It
comes to "mushing" and this is one OF
the many things that have won him the
admiration of the rough but good
hearted Alaskan miners He has the
reputation of having covered more ter
ritOry than any other missionary in
Alaska, but Bishop Rowe will not tell
you this himself. While outspOken and
frank in his manner, he has little TO
say about himself.
Bishop Rowe was in Portland but
few hours Friday on his way TO Cali
fOTnia. After a few days in the south
he will return to his home at Sitka to
renew his labOrs. From all appearances
he is none the worse for his hardships
in Alaska. He looks to be blessed with
perfect health. The rudy glow of bis
cheeks, the clearness of his eyes, the
breadth of his shoulders and the mus
cular swing of his stride when he walks
are all signs Of an Out-of-door life.
There is no suDrefuous flesh on him;
in the words Of the athlete, he is as
hard as nails
Last summer by boat down the Yukon
and Tanana rivers with a companion be
made a 1,500-mile journey. He makes
this same tTiD nearly every year. and
visits the various settlements, missions
and camps of the natives. The Episco-
pal church has twenty missions in
Alaska
In an eighteen-foot boat, Bishop
Rowe and his companion left Dawson
June q and completed the long journey
Sept. s at AnYik. 400 miles above the
mouth of the Yukon. For days at a
time the two white men never saw a
sign of human beings and lived prin-
cipally on the game they killed and the
fish they caught For the most part,
the weather was favorable, and as hey
had no unpleasant experiences, Bishop
Rowe declares that it was one of the
most wonderful trips of the many he
has taken. The two men ate and slept
in the boat and found relief from the
monotony of the journey by shooting
innumerable rapids.
TT was grand, simply grand" en-
Enthusiastically declared the bishop yes
terday, while describing his trip. "The
weather was perfect and conditions
couldn't have been better. To drift
down the bosom OF the broad and swift
flowing Yukon. under the clear Alas
kan skies and in that invigorating air.
and with an ever-changing vista of the
most beautiful and awe-inspiring seem
cry, is one of the most delightful trips
that can be taken by any man in any
country"
In January. Bishop Rowe will start
out from Valdez for a 1000 mile
''mUsh." He viii go through the in
terror to a point about 200 miles north
of the Attic circle. In the Sang he
will continue on his way to the Arctic
coast. He will return to Sltka either
on whaler or revenue cutter. The
bishop will be accompanied by an In
dian guide.
Last winter. when Bishop Rowe and
his Indian guide were making a cross
country "mush." they were followed for
several days by a large pack of timber
wolves. At night the brutes gathered
so close to the campfire that a blazing
stick could easily be tossed to Wnere
they were. Many of them were shot
and their caTcasses were immediately
devoured by the remainder of the pack.
Bishop Rowe kept shooting the wolves
until the survivors had satisfied their
hunger by eating their companions.
They then dropped the trail.