The Wrangell sentinel. (Wrangell, Alaska) 1909-current, 1933-02-24

at IuS puOIOBFapu uSeu VIII nlS ar
ticle, you will see that it is not In
a deep canyon or in thick timber.
Well, anyhow, they make camp in
the mystery cabin to nurse the Es-
kimo. In addition to the injury he
contracts a severe case of influenza
and while they are here Mr.. Rug
giles hears of the Eskimos' harrow
ing adventures.
Total Ignorance
Now just suppose that Ruggles is
a newcomer in Alaska and has
mistaken Indians for Eskimos; even
so, he shows total ignorance of tho
habits of Indians. The boys in giving
an account of themselves are said to
have stated that they had put in
the winter trapping on Tazlina
River. That would place them as be-
ing of the Copper River tribe; their
village would be Copper Center and
they would be out distance of
about forty miles. That is the usual
limit of the distance an Indian
hunts or traps from his village and
it would be unusual If you found
him over sixty miles away. The
Indians do not infringe or go into
the district of another tribe. Still,
Mr.. Ruggles says they left for the
north slope of the Alaska Range,
due to the migration of game and
fur. Their winding route of travel
would make this q distance of 200
miles the way he routes them and
through the district of Valdez Creek
tribe and on into another district.
An instance of how little inland
Indians travel came under my OBJ
servation while with the reindeer
herds. Among our apprentice In
dian boy reindeer herders was
boy from Susitna village on the low
er Susitna River and a boy from
Valdez Creek, headwaters of Susitna
river. The two boys could not under
stand or talk to each other in their
own language.
Eskimo Epic
According to the Eskimo Epic I'M
der discussion, the boys lose their
sleds and camp outfit in a canyon
on the Tyone River, In the accident
one of the boys has his leg badly
cut which makes travelling very diff
ficult for him, so his partner built
a good fire and from his pocket
pulled out an old sugar sack that
they had wrapped up their noon
lunch in and dressed the injured
leg. The empty lunch sack would
place the time of accident sometime
after midday.
To me, one of the most insane
parts of this story is that the boys
do not turn homeward but con-
tinue on their way without any out
fit except their snowshoes. If the
country were heavily crusted, as
stated, the boys would not have
been wearing their snowshoes, they
would have been dashed ON the sled
and lost with the outfit. However,
they go on and are soon followed
by wolf pack. That night they are
surrounded by wolves where they
make camp, and next morning are
followed again, until they make
their final camp at ten o'clock
that morning due to the injured
boys being unable to travel further.
1t is here, just east of Valdez Creek.
that Ruggles says he finds them
surrounded by wolves. He describes
their travel as being slow and diff
ficult, but the distance from this
position back to the nearest can
yon on Tyone Creek where the ac-
cident happened the previous after
MON, is sixty or seventy miles. Why,
think the boys did fine!
Ample Supply of Baloney
OF course, Ruggles just saved
them from being eaten by wolves.
have yet to hear of an authentic
instance where a wolf attacked a
man, or followed within sight of
him And now to finish up the story;
in four days the Eskimo RECEIVERS
from his serious leg wound and bad
case of influenza and these tough
boys are ready to be on their way
again. No turning back for them.
Mr.. Ruggles kindly gives them a %
pistol and ammunition, tarp and
blankets and-well, of all things
an ample supply of food! When Rug
giles started on this sled trip he said
they took very little food as their
food supply was low. Oh, sure, l
forgot! What he gave them was an