The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1909-07-21
Story of William Duncan
The Apostle of Alaska.

of Alaska.
sir, except the authority Of self.defen-
&c. My life is in the hands of these
Indians. They are my friends now.
But ifyou take away their reason l will
have nothing to defend my life with.
And l am going % prevent your plac.
ing my life in jeopardy if / can"
"HOw?"
"DO you see those Indians on the
beach? They are only waiting for a
signal from me. The moment they
get it they will rush aboard this boat,
overpower your crew, beach your
schooner and burn it with all its con-
tents. They will do it at one word
from me. They are obedient to me
now. fthey get liquor they will SER
We the devil, and not me, and the first
thing he will tell them to do may be
to kill me. Will you let me search
your vessel peaceably. or shall give
these men the signal?"
No liquor was sold from the schoOn-
er, but when the trader complained
later to the officials at Victoria, Cover
nor Douglas wrote to Mr.. Duncan, not
censuring him for taking the law into
his own hands, but inclosing a COM
mission as justice of the peace, so that
thereafter he had lawful jurisdiction
over 500 miles of the coast line.
Many of the cases he handled are ex-
tremely dramatic and interesting, as
Mr.. Alexander has transcribed them
from MIR. Duncan's notes.
After Mr.. Duncan had labOred sue.
cessfally at Metlakahtla for. thirty
years the Church of England sent out
a bishop to ruiz over him and his con-
verts-and spoiled everything. This
is the only dark chapter in the story.
The bishop knew nothing about the
Indians, and he seems to have treated
them in a domineering way, that soon
had the whole community in turmoil.
Then the missionary society demanded
Mr.. Duncan's resignation.
At last the Indians took matters
into their own hands and voted almost
unanimously to abandon their homes,
public buildings, mills-all the fruits
of lifetime of labOr-rather than live
under the odious authority that had
supplanted their beloved teacher. And
50 it comes about that Of the 94S in
habitants of the village, 1913 went over
into United States territory to build
New Metlakahtla and begin all over
again under the indOmitable William
Duncan and the Stars and Stripes.
That was in 1887. In the interven-
ing years these industrious natives
have created the neat modern town
which the tourist sees today Oh An.
nette Island, carrying on peacefully
all the industries aud many of the
diversions of a civilized community.
Their largest enterprise, the salmon
cannery, supports the majority Of the
The town has u brass
band and a pipe organ, played by
skilled Indians. A chorus of forty
voices recently gave Handles Mes
siah" with credit. There has not been |
q case of blOOdshed in the community |
for forty years. There is u Jail, but it |
lies empty year after year. Every
body goes to church three times on
Sunday. What white community can
show q like record?
Mr.. Duncan's methods Of discipline;
his early use Of whipping, even for
serious ofenses; his ingenious scheme
for holding wife-beaters in Jail until
the wives asked for their release; his
clever and masterful way OF bringing
The Hudson Bay Company to terms
when it tried the high.handed tactics
IF a monopoly-these and score of
other matters help to increase ones
for the grand old man" of
Mr.. Alexander has written his book
IN the strongly religious spirit of Mr..
Duncan himself, and while he has few
literary graces he has n gift Of dra-
matte narrative that makes the various
episodes effective. The volume is full
# human, religious and sociological
interest. 1t appropriately illustrated
md is published at the price of $3.50
~ the Fleming H. Revell Company
# New YOrk.-Edwin L. Shuman in
chicago Record Herald. II