Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1914-08-24
Judge Ira A. Abbott Describes aaaaA F''8
Places of Interest in Alaska


soon passed into American waters The
principal places we visited In Alaska
were Wrangell. ketchikan, petersburg.
Juneau, Treadwell. skagway, sitka ana
funten. They have certain physical
characteristics In common peculiar 10
the region itself. No one OF them, ex-
cept Sltka, has commodious and even
fairly level site. Each is at the wa
ter's edge, or very near II, and at the
foot Of a mountain slope 80 steep that
the building OF houses ana roads ~
attended with great difficulty, even 10
the small extent II Is done. outside OF
the limited space cleared Tor the set
tlcment, ps the forest primaeVai,
tfackleks and almost impassaDle. The
extraordinary rain fail promotes the
CROWN OF ferns. MOSES and thicket
81 small trees, as we'll as the decay OF
the fallen trees. and keeps the whole
mass shipping and unstable. As rule,
the Villages are far apart and the COM
munication between them appears to
be wholly by water. several of them
have both lumber camps ana salmon
cannerics. Juneau Is the capital, ana
near Il are the mining settlements OK
Ifeadweil, Douglas and shetishan, AZ
Iroadwell Is what Is claimed TO be the
largest quartz mill IN the world. The
ore there Is OF low grade. but tits be-
levod that by operating ON a large
scale with modern processes the pres
ent owners are making large profits.
There are other mines operated in the
immediate vicinity. and because OF the
mines mainly juneau has doubled It's
population IN the last year and seems
10 have an assured future, or would
nave If Ihara "a A.
pand between the deep sea IN front
and the precipitous mountain behind
II. Wrangell was Russian settlement.
50 called from a Baron Wrangell. 1t
has still some buildings Of massive
logs erected by the Russians and an
indian settlement. Totem poles, which
are said To be the family records OF
the Indians as TO their clans. are
numerous. Petersburg is almost pure
~ a Norwegian village engaged In
numbering and fisheries. Skagway Is
the village furthest north Of all we Wis
tied, and through it the gold seekers
passed ON their way TO the klondlke,
by way of White Pass, to the head wa
tiers OF the Yukon river. English cap
italists have since built narrow gauge
railroad through the famous ChllcoOt
pass aud on To White Horse In Can
ada, a distance of about a hundred
and ten miles. A special train was
run through the pass and TO Lake Ben
nett, a distance of about forty miles
from Skagway, on which many of us
from the boat were passengers.
Like Santa Ee Trail.
The tran over which the gold seek
ers passed remains in great part in
tact and visible near the railroad, re-
me Of the portions of the
Santa Fe trail seen in Ration pass. The
one through White pass was a wagon
road only a few miles out from Slag-
way, and at White Pass City, of which
hardly a trace now remains, the wa
CONS and most Of the horses were left
behind. SO many horses were killed
then because of scarcity OF feed, IL
was about seven thousand In all, that
the ravine where their bodies were left
came TO be and still is known as Dead
Horse gulch.' In the higher portions
Of the pass nature presents most
savage aspect; the mountains on
either side are OF somber gray color,
secured free of soil and deeply groov-
ed by glacial action In some past age
AT Summit, about sixteen miles from
the sea in a straight line, but twenty
by the zigzag course of the railroad,
the boundary line between the United
States and Canada is marked by per-
monument, near which on one
side the stars ana stripes are kept fly
Ing ana on the other the Union Jack
of England. Here the waters divide.
running on one side through White
pass TO the sea, under the name of
river, and only a few feet
away, forming the source of the Yukon
river ana starting on journey OF
about twenty-five hundred miles 10
the sea, which is reached at st. Nil
ehaels bay, near Nome. From points
IN the pass, the view back to the bay
at Skagway Is very fine, and the main
branch OF the skagway, as 1t came
roaring ana foaming down into the
pass near It's head, over hundreds of
feet Of precipitous rock. is of rare
beauty.
Sitha Interesting.
Our next stop Of Importance was at
Sitka, which was the capital when we
Alaska from Russia and
remained such until few years ago.
/ do not remember why the change
WAS made and can think of no good
reason for making IT, Sitka Is nearer
the geographical center of the terri
tory and has y fairly level space for
growth, which Juneau lacks 1t is on
an island, Baranof, while Juneau Is
on the mainland. but Juneau is wholly
dependent on water transportation and
there Is no probability that it will ever
be connected by railroad or even a
highway with any part of Alaska be-
yond Its immediate vicinity. Sitka has
besides some historic and even an
tiquarian value. The Greek church,
which, under Russia. was the state
stll exists, and with its
paintings by Russian artists and its
bell hung in a wooden tower sepa-
rate from the church Is well worth
visit. ~il
t claims still membership Of four
hundred, and II that Is near the truth,
must be the principal church there,
as | think it rs. The Russian ceme-
terry Is interestinA too, although sad
~ neglected. 1t appeared TO be still
II. use, but Is covered with thickets in
which the quaint wooden ornamental
frames enclosing the graves are sink
ing in decay There are still in use
for retail store purposes, massive log
houses erected by the Russians, but
chief Of all probably in antiquarian
interest Is the log Block house they
huilt a block house is now rarity,
! think, IN any part of North America.
Sitka has very attractive park, large
ly IN IFS natural state. with fine
stream running through it, spanned by
a handsome bridge built by Uncle Sam.
II has roads and paths and profusion
OF totem poles. effectively set among
the groves.
The spokane carries freight as well
as passengers, and when we left Alas
kan waters she had sixteen thousand
cases OF salmon, each case containing
nrtN-olGhl ONO nnllnd panN manN bar /