The Alaska daily empire., 1916-01-01

diver from tne Boring Sea to Daw. son. And many smaller camps were later established farther northward we'll inside the Arctic Circle. The hardy pioneers of commerce pushed their way into these places as rap idly as the settlements were made. A host of other travelling men came In the wake of the later de- velopment.
 I came to Alaska In 1897, but did not so on the road until 1901, when became the Alaskan representa- tive of Durham. Carrigan and Hay den. Dave Terwilliger soom became associated with me in handling this line. In point Of actual residence in this country, Terwilliger is prob ably the oldest pioneer among the travelling men of this section, as he had spent several years in the Government service in Alaska be- fore taking up the commercial line.
 J. F.. Moulton was the frat trav- cling salesman to enter Dawson. Iditarod and Ruby. He left San Francisco about August lst. 1897, went to Skagway. and started to Dawson over the trail. reaching .he
 aouth of the Dahl River about the :ast of September, of the same year. At this point his boat was frozen in. so he mushed to Rampant, a short distance away, and spent the winter. Starting with the early thaw, he reached Dawson in the Spring of 1898. He continued to cover this territory regularly, until the spring of 1903, when he added to it, going down the Yukon River to the mouth of the Panama, thence up this stream to Fairbanks. He made his first trip to Iditarod by dog team, mushing in during the winter of 1910, and his first trip to Ruby was made in a similar manner during the following win ter. Moulton's present itinerary is characteristic of that of many other travelling men in Alaska. He spends the summer months in the coast towns. and during the winter makes Chitina, Copper Center, Gull kama, Salchaket. Fairbanks, Tan ana. Ruby. lditarod. Tacotno and many smaller camps in the interior, starting at Chitina early in the winter and returning to that town in the early spring.
 The coast towns to the west ward, from Juneau to Unalaska, were pioneered by J. F. Caro, who made his first trip over this terri tory in 1901. The only towns on the west coast, at that time, this side of Nome. were Valdez. Yakutat Kodiak and Unalaska.
 The pathway of the travelling salesman in Alaska is now strewn with roses as compared to the con- ditions in the early pioneer days. At that time the hotel service was very poor, the transportation ser vice 10 the westward depended on about two boats and was extreme ly uncertain. A salesman consid- cred himself fortunate if he sue cceded in getting away from town within week after landing, and was never surprised If his sojourn Heightened into a month. There was. however, one fortunate thing about this state of affairs-we all ways had plenty of time to work
 the towns and get acquainted with the business men.
 Other unpleasant features of those days with which we do not now have to contend were the dangers to navigation. The coasts were poorly charted and the navigators were none too we'll informed as to the location of the thousands of rocks and reefs that lay just be- meath the surface of the water along the entire coastline of this country. Now and then these turk ing dangers became realities. Al Berndies lost his life when the old steamship Clara Nevada struck on Eldred Rock, in 1898, and went to