The Seward gateway., 1923-01-06
HUDSON BAY MAN TOOK LAST BOAT
 FUR HOME TOWN

Listed among the passengers of the Victoria on her last sailing from Sew ard appeared the name of H. H. Hall to all appearances an ordinary person, and quite so, but he can relate many things of interest; particularly so per taining to the Arctic regions.
 Mr. Hall is district manager of the Hudson Bay Company's northern field, with his main station at Herschel Is- land in the Canadian Arctic ocean. His connection with the firm has ex- tended over a period of twenty-two years, the past seventeen of which have been spent among the Esquimos in the Arctic regions, taking him any place from Hudson Bay to the con fines of Banksland, and the Mckenzie delta. This is MT. Halls first trip to the states in five years.
 In relating his experiences in com ing to the coast MT. Hall had the fol- lowing to say:
 Leaving my post at Herschel Is- land. We travelled up the frozen Me kenzie river to the portage, crossing the mountains to the Porcupine river by dog teams, of which we had three, for myself, an Eskimo and an Indian guide. Striking the Porcupine river, we travelled down that stream toward the Yukon river
 Two trading posts are on the Por- cupine, the Old Crow and the Rampant House, but nothing much of interest strikes a travellers eye until Fort Yu- kon is reached, which at one time was very important Hudson Bay post, es- tablished about 1858. The graves of the Old Hudson Bay employees, which still stand, are recognized by the new generation as one of the sights which all tourists should visit.
 EThe next place of interest is Cir cle City, From Fort Yukon to Circle City dog trains are used entirely, but once the latter point is reached, the dogs are abandoned and horses and sleighs are used to Chatanika, which is the terminus of the Fairbanks road.
 No more hosp1table people can be found than those living along the route, once the Porcupine is reached The attention and courtesies shown by the residents to all winter travel CTS are worthy of praise Anyone tray cling in Alaska can always look for ward to be given every possible as sistance to make the trip easy.
 ''My entire trip was accomplished in 3S days from Herschell Island, includ- ing the 160 miles travel up the Me kenzie river. The weather on the whole was very good, with the excep- tion of a few severe days. and no diff ficulty was met with. One condition I had to contend with was the scarcity of dog feed on the Porcupine. Owing to the high water last summer, the residents were unable to procure fish, and rabbits and what little game meat could be bought constituted the dog feed"
 MT. Hall related a tragedy which happened on the Arctic Coast last April. "On April 3, on the Tree River on Coronation Gulf" he said, "a police officer and Hudson Bay post manag- CT at that point were shot and instant ly killed by an Eskimo prisoner, who was held there for murder. It appears the Eskimo procured a rifle and while Duke, the. police officer, was asleep, shot him, the bullet going in through the back and coming out of his shoul- der. The post manager generally visit ed the barracks daily and came along on this day shortly after the murder. The Eskimo spied him and, standing on a chair inside the house, shot him through the window, killing him in> stantly. Duke, the police officer, was said to have lived for some time after he was shot, according to the prison CTS story, but as he could not under stand English he did not know what he said On examining and questioning f l. tended to murder the whole white com munity as they came home that day from a seal hunt, but some of the Els kimos heard the last shot and secured him until the police and other em- ployes of the company came home.
 '"The murderer is now detained at Herschell Island awaiting his trial which will take place next summer,