The Alaska daily empire., 1918-04-25
Noted Chief of the Copper Rover Indians Passes to the Happy Hunt
 ing Grounds.
WELLKNOWN CHARACTER
Waged a Relentless and Often Losing Fight Against Booze
 PeddIerS.

Probably few public men, and cer tainly no Natives, are better known in Alaska than Chief Goodla-taw of the Copper River Indians, who recently died at his home in Taral a beautiful spot nestling among the mountains on the Copper River rail way short distance below Chitina
 Good-la-taw was a chief in blood and more especially in those simple, direct, clear-sighted, and noble attri butes of the mind that made him natural leader Taral his home, pre- dates Russian days, and in the vic inity are old Indian trails worn deep in the turf by countless feet, now grown over save in a few places. Good-la-taw remembered when the Copper River Indians were a power full tribe. His uncle was selected to trail the first American lieutenant who invaded the Copper River Val ley Before that time the Natives had never seen any white men other than the Russians and they at once felt suspicious of the American. The uncle and two Copper River runners were instructed to trail the lieuten ant and party and find out if they were bad medicine" or good medi cine" If the former, word was to be passed along to the Natives and the white men were to be killed They were found to be honest-"good medicine men"-and so the word pre- cans do not know it to this day they owed their lives and their unin terrupted passage through the inter for of Alaska to their fair dealings with the Natives.
 Good-la-taw in the interests of his tribe waged relentless warfare against white booze pedlers when Barleycorn was king in Alaska. Time and time again he was jObbed by picked juries of white men in league ceased to endeavor to keep liquor away from his people. Probably his tory does not record more deter mined fight anywhere for a principle When the suggestion was made to gather all of the Natives on a reser vation on the coast, Good-la-taw op posed the movement, claiming that 1t would make mere government wards and serfs of the Natives. The following regarding his death is n1in a Cnr1nua rTip1nc
 That Chief Good-la-taw, most ia nous chief of the Indian chiefs of Alaska, had been called to the happy hunting ground was the word receiy ed last evening by the Rev. A. G. Shriver, pastor of the First Presby terian church. The chief passed away on Saturday night at his head quarters at Taral. according to the information received by the minister but the cause of death was not given in the message.
 Thrifty, naturally a leader and of a line of chieftains, Good-la-taw had no trouble in becoming the head Of the Copper River Indians and re maining the chief, although there were many older men of the tribe and at least one of them was am bilious to be in the supreme posi- tion. He was a nephew of NikOli, who was the chief at the head of the Copper River Indians when the white men began to crowd into the North in the late '90s.
 The exact age of the chief is not known, but old-timers who knew him well say that he was about 40 years of age. Due to thrift and to the fact that he always managed to save part of his annual earnings, it is believed that he left an estate of several thousand dollars.
 The Rev. MT. Shriver left this morning to conduct the funeral ser vices.