Evening star., 1917-01-21
lures of Life and Work i'm Heart of Arctic Alaska

q ~ ~ <)So
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
copyright. 19l.. by Frank G. Carpenter,
NOME. Alaska.
There's lapd above the Arctic, they cHn 1t
=" sesr il ealIir. it's csllin' me and you.
Il amt no plsce for children. nor for women
understand; -
'Ta.nr place for moilEcoodies' nut ioi h'
Seems . thousand miles from nowhere and
.-,,,a-in' frot, The silence that's a-hsngin'
But again raj "G I hear it eanin' It's csll,n' me and
So Tn ssilin' in the morn;a'. ssiiin' north to
Edgar c. Eaine.
-HIS letter relates to kotzebue am
the Kobuk 1t deals with arctic
Alaska that vast area which lies
& between the arctic circle and the
Arctic ocean. Ii treats of one of the least
known countries of the world and one OF
the strangest My information concern
ing it comes from talks with its pros
pectors and explorers, who have drifted
10 Nome for their winter supplies, and
with the miners ard traders who live
there and who have taken advantage OF
open navigation to pay their annual sum-
Iner visit to this metropolis OF the north
Last night. for instance. I had a long
talk with a man who has a store ana
trading station on Kotzebue sound. and
during my stay I have had several inter-
views with Judge NJ. F. Moran, who rep
iesents our farthest north in the les1s-
lature Of Alaska. He lives so far away
from Juneau. the capital that his mile
age allowance is $500. His home Is at
Shungnak, on the Kobuk river above the
arctic circle. and SO far north that dur
ing the summer he has broad daylight for
three months in succession. while for
Part of the winter his home is almost
shrouded in darkness.
But before / give the gist of these in
terviews let us take bird's-eye view OF
Alaska comprises about one-fourth OF the
territory. 1t is almost hak the size of
Texas. more than twice the size of Hi
lois and three times that Of Ohio. Nir-
Sinia or Kentucky. If you could lift II
up and drop II down upon Europe 1t
would more than cover the half of France,
it would entirely hide the British Isles
with its blanket Of snow.
-
Arctic Alaska may be said to begin a
little south OF Bering strait and to run
from there eastward to the Canadian
boundary. and northward to the Arctic
ocean. The country comprises some
parts of the northern watershed Of the
Yukon. and II includes the Rocky noun
tain system. which. extending from the
United States through Canada, runs al
most 10 the western end of Alaska. This
range in ALASKA is nearly 100 miles wide.
and IL slopes down into the plains which
border the Arctic ocean. The noun
tains are mile and half high where
the range leaves Canada. and they fall
10 the height of the Alleghanies. or
lower. on their way westward.
The coastal plains are a part of the
tundra belt that encircles the Arctic
ocean Much of the ground is low and
swampy. II has great lagoons and mo-
rasses and many slow-iowing rivers.
The plains are covered with moss. upon
which the Eskimos Craze their rein
deer. There is practically no timber
except the stunted trees in the noun
t;.fns and the alder and willows. which
grow along the banks of the streams
Tie vast country has less population
tiian any other under the American
Tag. II has few white men living
along Kotzebuc sound and on the banks
"f the kobuk river, and there are. all
told. perhaps three or four thousand
J.@kimos. The Eskimos are scattered
along the Arctic ocean in little settle
5Eents. the largest of which have only
three or four hundred souls. There are
several Eskimo villages in the interior.
The government has established schools
~ nearly all Of these settlements ard
many OF the Eskimos are growin,, rich
30 the raising Of reindeer. They also
INT walrus for their ivory tusks.
"hich they sell 20 the traders. and they
deal largely in furs.
One of the chief trading stations is
at Xotzsbua sound. The white men in
charge there tell me tina. they have
during the summer 500 native families
living IN canvas tents. and that the
Eskinos come in by from as far
north a. Point Barrow. They use great
skin boats, called omiaks. which are
i've or si2 feet in width and thirty
teet long. Such boats will carry from
five to eight tons They have square
sails and are propelled also by paddles.
The natives bring with them the furs
they have caught in the winter. and
trade them for calicos. ginghams and
other cloth. They buy |all kinds OF
hardware and especially needles for
They want the best OF guns. knives and
hatchets. They ouy canned foods of
various kinds. and even stoves and
window glass to take back to their
homes One reason for their coming
TO kotzebue Is to catch salmon. the
winter food supply for themselves and
their dogs.
l asked the trader TO tell me some
thing as to the character of Kotzebue
sound. He replied:
1T is a great bay into which flow
some of the largest rivers OF northern
Alaska. One Il the Kobuk, which is
six or seven hundred miles long: an
other the Noatak, which Is almost az
large, and third is the Selawik, which
is more than half the length of the
kobuk. The port is an open road