The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-14

I'll be true to the end all the same. Written in the trenches at Petersburg.
 AN ALABAMA MAN IN ALASKA.
 
 Lieut.. Gordon Catts Gives Impressions
 CT the Territory.
 Fort Egbert. Alaska,
 The following is a letter written for The Howard Collegian, and addressed to his cousin, Mir. Hugh Caffey a stu dent at Howard College, by Lieut. Cor don Rives Catts, now stationed with his regiment in Alaska It gives vivid picture of life in that far-away territory;
 Nov 27th, 1906. Dear Cousin Hugh:
 was very glad to have your letter or recent date. and shall be glad to since you mentioned that letter which l wrote while at West Point several years ago was something on the order or what you wished, perhaps descrip- tions met with in this really remark able country would prove of interest
 T shaif now tell you something of Alaska. that (to you) far-away coun- try which we purchased from Russia In 1867 for a mere nominal sum. and most persons. with Indians. reindeer. polar bears. glaciers, Arctic winds and desolate wastes of ice and snow. Now. wniis VII Alaska s possesses all Of these. nor does she have them the year around. Her birds are of great vari- ety. from the ordinary sparrow to the oald-headed eagle; her animals are of So many kinds. from mouse to bear. all. however, wisely clothed with heavy Fur; her woods in supmer are filled Is enormous and waits only the advent Of the railroad to be developed. while even now her gold output is in the year. Tn other words, nsy Alaska 0as is wos oe. derful country, but on account of the rigorous winter can never be developed as our own Alabama. for instance. The climate is perhaps more varied than anything else; on the southern coast 1t Is not so cold but the rainfall is enormous. the clouds are always In coast makes it more disags Seable prob ably than in the interior. On the coast In the winter there are perhaps twenty does not amount mt o to more ni1a than "sia few W feet. In the interior the summers are beautiful. the sun shines until 10 or II ear hour in tse MaY August. At no time is a lamp neces- nature makes up for this lavishness of part of November till the middle of January the sun does not make his aaRPpearance aRPIp.a and there are but two or however, are brilliant, and on account or the stars and the snow, even when tnefe IS no moon. 1t Is not totally dark. responding lowering of the tempera- ture; in November and the winter months 1t goes as low at eo the aver age for these months being ten or twenty degrees below zero.
 To get an idea of where I am get your map and with your finger run up the Yukon until you come to the Cana the boundary line and adjoining the town of Eagle Is Fort Egbert. where are stationed the major and stan of the 10th U. s. infantry There are five military posts in Alaska. at each of sra which ..,1enoT one or two military companies of tSs asds9 o9h tG nah4y taSss signal Corps scattered throughout miarv the ns United States which communication is obtained be- tween the important points in Alaska. while the military cable from Seattle along the coast and keeps up cominuni- cation with the outside" which term Is commonly used for the United States. duties of the troopers at the posts, which, therefore, places them on the trate: Fort Egbert supplies the sta tions-five in number-of this. the in tertor section, which has about 400 mniles miles @ of lines. For this purpose we tn esupplies on pack train in summer and in winter on mule sleds usually on the frozen streams.As there are no roads. roads. only trails. this work IS very hard. for the reasons that in summer as the ground never thaws to the greater depth than a foot or two from mashy; while In the winter the tenn perature is anywhere from zero to forty degrees below. As it Is easier to M sen MntsT ont SH S1 bs 1sd he sledding party, which is out on the trail trail from the middle of December till the middle of March. The farthest of fuel. forage, commissary, signal and quartermaster supplies must be sent you can easily appreciate the difficulty charge of all transportation. but as I have about twenty packers, over fifty mules and horses. and as many sleds I anticipate no great trouble. For the reason that all the streams freeze in September and October we get our sup plies in the. summer when the rivers for about four months In the year, af- ter which we are cut off from the out side world except for the telegraph lines and a weekly letter-maiL which Is relayed through on dog-teams
 There are so many things so entire ly different from the things seen out side of Alaska that do not know just what to tell you about. The Indians who have a village near the post. are interesting, but one visit to them satis- hes the average person. for their way Of living as far IS cleanliness is con cerned. is certainly anything but at tractive. To ind drying rsh, game dirty Indians. skins and dogs ail in the same cabin Is the rule. They live bv catching salmon during the run in the summer which Is dried for winter use: by hunting. though this is rather linn tied now; and making snow shoes. fur mittens and ornaments and curios of dlHerent furs, skins and birch bark which they sell the commercial com panies fin trade" The destitute are fed by the Government They have their own language. but there is mis- sionary at the village who teaches the children. so most of the younger gen. eration speak English. The Indian with his birch bark canoe on the rfvet in the summer. and the Indian souaw with her sled and dog team in the win. ter are very common and picturesoue sights.
 In regard to the gold mining, it is TOT the. greater part placer mining separating the gold from the gravel from the ancient streams which ages ago washed 1t from the rocks and de- posted 1t in the bottom of their beds