The Cordova daily times. [volume] (Cordova, Alaska) 1914-1947, 1919-07-21
MONDAY, JULY q, 1919
"coLoNEL DICK" OF ALASKA

very interesting article concerning
Brigadier General Wilds P. Richard
son, formerly of the Alaska road COM
mission Under the caption of "a Vet
eran of the North Now Serving in Rus
sia," the article says:
when it was announced some time
ago that an army engineers unit
headed by Brigadier General W. P.
Richardson was going to Archangel to
ioin the American forces fighting the
BOlsheviki and the Arctic climate on
the Murmansk front, few friends OF
Colonel Dick of Alaska recognized
him as the commanding officer. But
Colonel Dick it was, and none other;
veteran of more meteorological biz
yards and political hurricanes than any
other man Alaska has produced, bar
ring possibly Jim Wickersham, dele
gate in congress from the territory
most of the time since it has been N
titled to one.
Colonel WiIds Preston Richardson,
colonel of regulars and brigadier gen
era by temporary commission, is by
nativity a Texan-to mention which
were we'll nigh supererogation for any
body knowing him a social half hour
would be sure of it. Alphabetically
he is built on the generous lines of
William Howard Taft, though it may
be mentioned that wartime strenuOsi-
ties have in both cases considerably
reduced measurements. The colonel
bears another resemblance to the for
mer President, too, in his expansive
amiability and infectious good nature;
wherefore, naturally, the two men are
excellent friends. Apropos of which
but that comes later.
THE most acrid critic of our war
administration would have to admit
that it was a stroke of genius that
selected Colonel Dick for the Muir
mansk job. If there's anything that
he doesn't know about winds, weather,
waters and ways in and adjacent to
the Arctic circle, then nobody else
knows it. He is a West Pointer of
the famous class Of 1884. West Point
classes should always be referred to
in that way; each class knows itself
as the famous and nobody else can
deny Twenty odd years ago, as first
lieutenant in the Eighth infantry, he
was sent to Alaska, where he built
Fort William H. Seward, and then was
placed on the Alaska roads commits
sion-so named in honor of the fact
that there wer9no roads in Alaska.
"Since that time the coloneTs bust
ness has been to survey and build
roads and trails everywhere, with no
money in particular to pay the bills;
and between times to do the collar
andelbow with congressional commit
tees in the effort to make them believe
that Alaska deserved an occasional ap-
preparation. At one time or another he
mas AClu W lSl1L dlIl1OSL SNSl DOuy III
the territory and at Washington to get
a chance to do the big work he has
accomplished for Alaska. He has
been accused variously of stealing
most of the territory, sometimes for
his own personal advantage, and at
others for whatever financial interest
CHANGED at the moment to be the most
effective local bogy; but through all
of it nobody ever caught the colonel
with Alaska concealed about him. He
has spent these long years plugging
along doing things for the benefit of
other people, helping them toward
realizing his and their claim that
Alaska is going to be a great country
in few more decades.
when the world war gathered
America into it's vortex, Colonel Rich
ardson was comfortably attending to
his Alaska roads and trails. Being not
only West Pointer, but former in
structor in tactics at the academy, he
was promptly wanted to help lick the
rockies into soldiers and to that end
he was assigned to one of the big
camps.
New duties, new difficulties. He
must ride horse, and hadn't done it |
in years. He hunted around, found a J
horse big and strong enough, and then