The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1950-08-24

Alaska signed measure passed
by the Territorial Legislature des-
ignating Aug. oath as "Wickersham
Day" in recognition of the valu-
able services rendered the Terri
tory by James Wickersham, as dele
gate, judge and citizen of Alaska.
1t was fitting to designate day
in the year on which the people OF
the Territory might remember the
man who may properly be named
"Alaska's Foremost Citizen of the
first half of the Twentieth Century"
1t is slightly over fifty years to
the day since James Wickersham
first set foot on Alaska soil. Many
things have come to pass during
that period of time in many of
which he played an important role.
Born in Illinois in 1857 he was adj
mitted to the Bar of that State in
1880. He came west in 1883 and eS-
tablished himself in Tacoma. AS a
courageous and energetic young
lawyer he became City Attorney for
that city and represented it, with
success, in long list of important
lawsuits. The successful termination
of this litigation contributed greatly
to his election to the Legislature OF
the State of Washington in 1893. "a
In 1900, upon the recommendation
of Senator Foster from that State,
President Mckinley appointed him
District Judge for the Third Judicial
Division of Alaska. In the summer
of that year. he and his family
established their home at Eagle,
official headquarters for the court
of that division.
Eagle was then one of the larger
settlements on the Yukon River and
was surpassed in size only by Ram
part and Circle City. There was
hardly sufficient litigation in the
entire division to justify the es-
adjustment of a court regime and
Judge Wickersham suggested to the
Attorney General of the United
States that he be assigned to as
sist other judges in the Territory
where work was more plentiful.
It was the time when the motor
ious Judge Moves and his henchman
Mckenzie were running things with
a high hand in the Nome region.
Many complaints have been tiled
with the Department of Justice and
Judge Wickersham was directed to
proceed to Nome to clean up the
mess. This was a task for a man OF
his vigor, ability and love OF work
He arrived in Nome in the fall OF
1901 and in the course of a year
cleared the calendar and restablish-
ed the confidence of the people OF
the Second Division in the integrity
of the courts of the United States.
He returned to Eagle and held
regular terms of court there at
Circle and Rampant. His spare time
was devoted to an intensive study
of the early history of Alaska. That
was his hobby and it remained with
him to his last days.
When the rich discoveries OF gold
in the Tanana Valley became known
in 1908 he moved the judicial head
quarters from Eagle to Fairbanks
and began to disentagle the hund-
reds of controversies which arose
among miners. Those were long and
arduous days. But work held no
fear for him.
1t was not long until the steadily
increasing number Of unsuccessful
litigants, and their attorneys, be-
gan to spread unjustified stories OF
partiality and venality about him,
with the result that two exhaustive
Investigations were ordered by the
Department of Justice. These were
made by competent men and re-
suited in a clean bill of health for
the Judge 1t was then that Presl-
dent Theodore Roosevelt announced
that he would reappoint him Dis
trict Judge as long as he was Pre-
sident and Wickersham desired to
hold the position, a promise made
good by the President up to the time
he rendered his resignation in Dec
ember 1907. He resigned, practiced
law for short time and then start
ed on a campaign over the entire
Territory for the office of Delegate