The Adair County news., 1922-07-25
ALASKAN NATIVES
MOURN KILBUCK
Gloom in the Far horthIand Fol-
lows Death of Beloved Indian
Missionary.
WILL NOT FORGET HIS WORK
From Kansas to Arctic John Henry
kiIbuck Carried the Gospel, Saw
ing Lives and Winning Love
ct Natives.

Juneau.-There is gloom among the
natives in Alaska today.
From Point BarrOw-the farthest
north-to Metlaka+la and Juneau in
the south; from the headwaters of
the KuskOkwim and Yukon down to
the sea, is travelling forth the word
that "Kilbuck is dead" Everywhere
the news permeates, there follows sad
ness. Grown men and women among
the EskimOs and Indians grieve like
children. All because the most loved
man beyond 54-40'' is no more.
For more than four decades John
Henry Kilbuck, Muncie Indian of the
old Delaware nation that roamed over
Pennsylvania before the days of
Washington and William Penn, had
been intimately associated with the
Klinkits and Takus of southeastern
Alaska, or the Eskimos and breed
tribes around Point Barrow. With
his pale-face wife he was guardian,
counselor, spiritual guide and friend.
Will Not Forget Him.
But the country which John Kilbuck
played such an important part in de-
velOping will not forget him. The
thousands of reindeer that roam the
tundras under the watchful eye of
their native shepherds, will forever
remind the natives of him. 1t was
Kilbuck who, at the request of the
United States government, introduced
reindeer propagation in Alaska, and
by so doing he banished the specter
of famine that periodically wiped out
entire tribes when the hard times
came and the winters closed in before
they were prepared.
Akjak and Bethel, both founded by
the Moravian missionary, some day
may grow into flOurishing cities when
Alaska comes into its own. And they
will cherish his memory.
Doings of missionaries, as a rule,
make rather tame reading. But the
activities of John Kilbuck and his
wife were not confined to strictly spir-
itual things.
Four different times did the Kill
bucks go 'below" with the intention
of spending their declining years in
the States. And four times they went
back. The call was irresistible.
The last time-it was to have been
different. With all the best intentions,
accentuated by memories of past fail
ures to keep good resOlutions-the
pioneer torchbearers of civilization re-
solved to spend their declining years
near the homes of their fOrefathers-
on the Chippewa Indian reservation
down in Kansas.
Deep down in their hearts, however,
they had a 'hunch" that the North
would win. 1t always had.
So the North Won Again.
In their little white and green cot
tage, nesting in the Chippewa hills
and overlooking the placid Marais des
Cygnes river in eastern Kansas the
Kilbucks were waiting. Waiting for
word that the breakup in the Yukon
and KaskOkwim was about to begin
They had reached their decision.
"They need US. The influenza has
reached Alaska. If it gets into the
interior before we do nobody knows
what will happen. Thousands may
perish. Their deer, now numbering
thousands, will be cast adrift over the
tundras-prey to wolves and wild dogs
and equally unscrupulOus breeds"
With the first word of the thaw
they took a steamer out of Seattle.'
They arrived none too soon. Infiu-
enza already was taking it's toll. But
they did get there in time to save
hundreds.
The Kilbucks took up their work
where they had left off upon their de-
parture for the States. They were
just whipping things into shape and
getting comfortably settled for the
last chapter of their life's book when
pneumonia and typhoid, diseases from
which they had saved thousands of
Uncle Sans little Indian wards,
struck home. In three days Kilbuck
was dead.
1t was back in 1885 that John Kill
buck and his white wife arrived in
Alaska. He had just graduated from
the Moravian Missionary school at
Nazareth, Pa, where he had been
sent by a Christian worker among
the Kansas Indians.
1t took years to gain the confidence
Of the Alaska natives, but patience
and kindness finally won and now no
name is better known or more beloved
among the Alaska Indians or EskimOs
than Kilbuck.