Iditarod pioneer., 1914-11-07

| played part III It's making. 1 q was a boy of 13 when the Russian flag was lowered and the Stars and Stripes 1 raised on Castle hill at Sitka," he said 1 That was October 13, 1867.
 "The soldiers sent to Sitka remained ten years. Then they were ordered away and we had no protection against the Indian | tribes The Indians were fighters do not l forget that and they were a real menace ! to Sltka.
 There had been a stockade built from the town as far back as the lake. When | the soldiers left the Indians believed that | the United States had lost interest in the | | territory and the withdrawal of the troops | meant Alaska's abandonment The first thing they did was to destroy the stockade.
 We sent letters and petitions to Wash | ington asking for protection, but no atten ton was paid to our pleas. When the Rus {, sians owned Alaska they made huge rev enues from the fur trading and discouraged all immigration because they feared it would interfere with their profits The United States had let the sealing privilege 10 the | Alaska Commercial Company. These men | had their agents at Washington, and un- donbtodlv they, too, did not wish to be interfered with.
 
 1 naught It was very slow process even to get word to Washington, for since we had no telegraph, all communications went by the mail boat, the steamer California (afterward the Eurekal, which came up from Portland once a month.
 "After the soldiers had gone and left us GefenseIoss we organized ourselves into three militia companies. At about this time schooner from San Francisco came to Sitka and hired seven Indians to make up the crew The captain said they were going after sea utter but they really in tended to visit St. Paul island for seal.
 This schooner get into Berng sea and encountered a storm. Boring sea is dan gerous place, as you know, and the storms gre sudden and fearful The schooner was wrecked and all but one Of the Indians | lost
 "This Indian eventually was taken to San Francisco, from whence he was sent to Port lend and returned on the California to Sitka.
 "Nbcn the Indians heard the story of the wreck they came in a body to Colonel M D. Bal. collector of customs at Sitka and the only official of the United States gov ernmcnt in Alaska, and demanded pay for ther dead.
 These Indians had the stern creed of an eye for an eye and tooth for tooth. If some white man caused the Ceath Of one of them they were going to have satistac- ton from the white men. They weren't very particular which white men they choee to make do the paying.
 T interpreted for the interview Colonel Ball SEW that the situation was dangerous, and he told the Indians Ec you'd haze to take up the question of payment with the government. He wrote the company which had sent the schooner to sea if there was any back pay coming to the men. There vas none.
 Al the same time We petitioned the United States government to send us a h!p a] our situation vas desperate. Nc attention was paid to our petition.
 'At !usr we had to admit to the Indians that we were not g,Dg to pay thcnl.
 "l vas one of those on guard the high. the Indians planned their attack. We could hear them coming in the a4rIy morning, singing as the Indians do when they are about to fight. These Indians had made them. elves hootch and when they were d:.:nk they were Gem,ns.
 '2hcrc were two clans of these Indians, the ka- sa-tUcs and the \l, '. an-, &nS. The kak-wan-t&ns wcra freHai" to $}Jla. I.e two clans met just bet:e tie attack, aAd g great argument began.
 The hak-wan-;aHs pointed out that if tho Nak-sa-tces burned SltEa and killed oil rha whites, as they intended doing in course Cf time the United State, would send & War vessel and the soldiers would kill all In Gans without regard to their guilt in the | nl4ssaCre Finally the argument g0t hot and one of the men stuck his knife into enc oi the other elan and they fought among themselves So Sit5a was saved.
 After that we got tired of a king the United States fer aid. SO we sent word to the British government which had a naval station at EsGulm<, and asked for war ship to protect us. The British sent u- the man-ofwar Osprey at once and the Indians left.
 Finally Washington was aroused. The news that the British had sent WarShip to protect Us caused considerable alarm and the man-of-war Alask2 was sent to Us. The Alaska relieved the Osprey.
 But the captain of the Alaska had just been married and didn't like coming to SitIa and leaving his bride at home. So after a couple of days in the harbor he decided to go away and leave us to our fate
 There was a sailcr in one of the gigs with whom some of us became acquainted We handed him telegram to Washington. All the ships touched at Nanaimo fer coal and there was telegraph line there. So the Alaska took our telegram when it sailed, though the captain did not know it. 1 To the great astonishment of the young | DridCgrGOm he had not been twenty four hours in Nanaimo before he received per emptory orders to return to his post lie never did learn how the news leaked out
 Until 1898, when the gunboat Wheeling was withdrawn from Sitka for service against Spain, we had gunboat to protect us from the Indians"
 We hear much of the governments neglect of Alaska these days This com plaint is bringing results in g. greater off cal interest in that territory than has ever