The Wrangell sentinel. (Wrangell, Alaska) 1909-current, 1934-04-20
BISHOP ROWE
TOTAKELONG
ARCTIC TRIP

I11AV14N i N1k
Bishop Rowe arrived this week on
his annual visit to st. Philips
Episcopal church. He will confirm
a class Sunday morning and preach
at the church services afterwards
He has been occupied since his
arrival in greeting old friends
meeting with church officials and
will meet tonight with the Hospital
Board which administers the Wran-
CELL General Hospital, built by
funds provided by friends of Bishop
Rowes, and but one of the many
institutions in Alaska made posi-
BILE through his efforts.
The Bishop has been most gener-
Gus in his alotments TO the hospital
since its construction and Inc line
with that policy yesterday gave a
check for $1,000 to the hospital
board.
At this time he will visit only
the churches of his southeast Alas
ka diocese.
Shortly after his return south he
will leave on a journey which will
take him from Edmonton to the rim
of the Arctic Ocean, thence to all
of the missions of interior and
southwest Alaska.
Leaving Edmonton early in July.
Bishop Rowe will take a train to
Fit. McMurray, Alberta, or Water
ways, as it is now known. This is
the lend of STEEL" and the north
ern most spur of any continental
railway system. Here the Hudson's
Bay Companys sternwheel steamer.
Athabasca River takes on passen-
gers and freight for the far north,
crossing Athabasca Lake, and drift
ing down the Slave river as far as
Fort Fitzgerald, where navigation
is interrupted by sixteen miles of
rapids.
At this outpost, Bishop Rowe will
board an auto bus for Fort Smith,
which lies at the foot of the rapids.
and which is just inside the boun
dairy line of the Northwest Terri
tories. Here he will find the Distri>
butor waiting for its freight and
will embark for Aklavik, the farth-
est north settlement on the Macken-
zie River, situated at the edge of
the timber belt, 80 miles from the
Arctic Ocean.
AT Aklayik, the Bishop says, he
Will be guided more or less by cir
cumstances. He wishes to visit the
Church of England Mission at Shin
gle Point, about 40 miles west of
the Mackenzie delta, but as there
is no regular transport beyond Ak
lavik, he will be forced to travel as
best he can. A large fleet of Eski-
mo sail boats visit Aklavik each
summer, and there is a monthly pa
troll by Mounted Police in a power
boat. Any of these craft will ac-
commodate a traveller. according to
reports, and the Eskimos are es-
pecially hospitable.
After visiting the Single Point
Mission, the bishop will perhaps
continue his voyage to Herschel Is
land, 'the crossroads of the Arc
tic" and then on TO Demarcation
Point, where he will enter rfs own
diocese, Demarcation Point being
the most northerly and elsterly
Alaskan settlement. No misst onary
has ever visited this remote cut
post, and it is his earnest desire t.
carry the gospel there.
Two ways are open to the Arctic
traveller who wishes to return to
civilization from D creation
Point. One is by taking passage on
a trading schooner bound westward
through Boring Sea, and the other
is by airplane. Bishop Rowe is of
the opinion that the airplane would
be the surest and most satisfactory
means of his getting to Fort Yukon,
and he contemplates such an ar
rangement. Demarcation Point is
only little over 200 miles from
Fort Yukon, and the route, follow
ing the Colleen and Firth rivers.
is available to planes equipped with
pontoons.