The New Eldorado - free ebook by Maturin M. (Maturin Murray) Ballou

THE NEW ELDORADO A SUMMER JOURNEY TO ALASKA

I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and cry: “’Tis all barren!” and so it is, and so is all the world to him who will not cultivate the fruits it offers.— Sterne....

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PREFACE.

The Spaniards of old had a proverb signifying that he who would bring home the wealth of the Indies must carry the wealth of the Indies with him. If we would benefit by travel we must take with us an ample store of appreciative intelligence. Nature, like lovely womanhood, only reveals herself to him who humbly and diligently seeks her. As Sir Richard Steele said of a certain noble lady: “To love her is a liberal education.” Keen observation is as necessary to the traveler who would improve by hi

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CHAPTER I.

Itinerary.—St. Paul.—The Northern Pacific Railroad.—Progress.—Luxurious Traveling.—Riding on a Locomotive.—Night Experiences.—Prairie Scenes.—Immense Grain-Fields.—The Badlands.—Climbing the Rocky Mountains.—Cinnabar.—The Yellowstone Park.—An Accumulation of Wonders.—The Famous Hot Springs Terrace.—How Formed.—As Seen by Moonlight. A journey from Massachusetts to Alaska was a serious undertaking a few years ago. It involved great personal risk, considerable expense, and many long months of weary

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CHAPTER II.

Nature in Poetic Moods.—Is there Lurking Danger?—A Sanitarium.—The Liberty Cap.—The Giant’s Thumb.—Singular Caves.—Falls of the Gardiner River.—In the Saddle.—Grand Cañon of the Yellowstone.—Far-Reaching Antiquity. Obsidian Cliffs.—A Road of Glass.—Beaver Lake.—Animal Builders.—Aborigines of the Park.—The Sheep-Eaters.—The Shoshones and other Tribes. How unapproachable is Nature in her poetic moods! how opulent in measure! how subtle in delicacy! No structure of truest proportions reared by man

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CHAPTER III.

Norris Geyser Basin.—Fire beneath the Surface.—A Guide’s Ideas.—The Curious Paint Pot Basin.—Lower Geyser Basin.—Boiling Springs of Many Colors.—Mountain Lions at Play.—Midway Geyser Basin.—“Hell’s Half Acre.”—In the Midst of Wonderland.—Old Faithful.—Other Active Geysers.—Erratic Nature of these Remarkable Fountains. A pleasant drive of twenty miles in a southerly direction from the Hot Springs Hotel, through the wildest sort of scenery, over mountain roads and beside gorgeous cañons, will take

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CHAPTER IV.

The Great Yellowstone Lake.—Myriads of Birds.—Solitary Beauty of the Lake.—The Flora of the Park.—Devastating Fires.—Wild Animals.—Grand Volcanic Centre.—Mountain Climbing and Wonderful Views.—A Story of Discovery.—Government Exploration of the Reservation.—Governor Washburn’s Expedition.—“For the Benefit of the People at Large Forever.” In the southern section of the Yellowstone Park, near its longitudinal centre, is one of the most beautiful yet lonely lakes imaginable, framed in a margin of s

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CHAPTER V.

Westward Journey resumed.—Queen City of the Mountains.—Crossing the Rockies.—Butte City, the Great Mining Centre.—Montana.—The Red Men.—About the Aborigines.—The Cowboys of the West.—A Successful Hunter.—Emigrant Teams on the Prairies.—Immense Forests.—Puget Sound.—The Famous Stampede Tunnel.—Immigration. After a delightful, though brief, sojourn of ten days in the Yellowstone Park, realizing that twice that length of time might be profitably spent therein, we returned to Livingston, where the N

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CHAPTER VI.

Mount Tacoma.—Terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad.—Great Inland Sea.—City of Tacoma and its Marvelous Growth.—Coal Measures.—The Modoc Indians.—Embarking for Alaska.—The Rapidly Growing City of Seattle.—Tacoma with its Fifteen Glaciers.—Something about Port Townsend.—A Chance for Members of Alpine Clubs. The city of Tacoma takes its name from the grand towering mountain, so massive and symmetrical, in sight of which it is situated. We cannot but regret that the newly formed State did not a

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CHAPTER VII.

Victoria, Vancouver’s Island.—Esquimalt.—Chinamen.—Remarkable Flora.—Suburbs of the Town.—Native Tribes.—Cossacks of the Sea.—Manners and Customs.—The Early Discoverer.—Sailing in the Inland Sea.—Excursionists.—Mount St. Elias.—Mount Fairweather.—A Mount Olympus.—Seymour Narrows.—Night on the Waters.—A Touch of the Pacific. The city of Victoria contains twelve thousand inhabitants, more or less, and is situated just seventy miles from the mainland; but beyond the fact that it is a naval station,

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CHAPTER VIII.

Steamship Corona and her Passengers.—The New Eldorado.—The Greed for Gold.—Alaska the Synonym of Glacier Fields.—Vegetation of the Islands.—Aleutian Islands.—Attoo our most Westerly Possession.—Native Whalers.—Life on the Island of Attoo.—Unalaska.—Kodiak, former Capital of Russian America.—The Greek Church.—Whence the Natives originally came. Our journey through that portion of Alaska known as the Inland Sea was made in the steamship Corona, Captain Carroll, a commander who has had long experie

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CHAPTER IX.

Cook’s Inlet.—Manufacture of Quass.—Native Piety.—Mummies.—The North Coast.—Geographical Position.—Shallowness of Behring Sea.—Alaskan Peninsula.—Size of Alaska.—A “Terra Incognita.”—Reasons why Russia sold it to our Government.—The Price Comparatively Nothing.—Rental of the Seal Islands.—Mr. Seward’s Purchase turns out to be a Bonanza. Cook’s Inlet, which lies to the north of the island of Kodiak, was esteemed by the Russians to be the pleasantest portion of Alaska in the summer season, with it

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CHAPTER X.

Territorial Acquisitions.—Population of Alaska.—Steady Commercial Growth.—Primeval Forests.—The Country teems with Animal Life.—A Mighty Reserve of Codfish.—Native Food.—Fur-Bearing Animals.—Islands of St. George and St. Paul.—Interesting Habits of the Fur-Seal.—The Breeding Season.—Their Natural Food.—Mammoth Size of the Bull Seals. The subject of the addition of Alaska to the United States suggests the fact that our territorial acquisitions from time to time form certain decided and interestin

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CHAPTER XI.

Enormous Slaughter of Seals.—Manner of Killing.—Battles between the Bulls.—A Mythical Island.—The Seal as Food.—The Sea-Otter.—A Rare and Valuable Fur.—The Baby Sea-Otter.—Great Breeding-Place of Birds.—Banks of the Yukon River.—Fur-Bearing Land Animals.—Aggregate Value of the Trade.—Character of the Native Race. Surgeon J. B. Parker tells us in a published article upon the fur-seals of Alaska, that just previous to the transfer of the country to this government five hundred thousand sealskins w

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CHAPTER XII.

Climate of Alaska.—Ample Grass for Domestic Cattle.—Winter and Summer Seasons.—The Japanese Current.—Temperature in the Interior.—The Eskimos.—Their Customs.—Their Homes.—These Arctic Regions once Tropical.—The Mississippi of Alaska.—Placer Mines.—The Natives.—Strong Inclination for Intoxicants. It is a well-known fact, proven by official observations, that the climate of the Pacific coast is considerably more temperate than that of the same latitude on the Atlantic side of the continent. The re

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CHAPTER XIII.

Sailing Northward.—Chinese Labor.—Unexplored Islands.—The Alexander Archipelago.—Rich Virgin Soil.—Fish Canning.—Myriads of Salmon.—Native Villages.—Reckless Habits.—Awkward Fashions and their Origin.—Tattooing Young Girls.—Peculiar Effect of Inland Passages.—Mountain Echoes.—Moonlight and Midnight on the Sea. Let us observe more order in these notes, and resume the course of our experiences in consecutive form. As we speed on our sinuous course northward, inhaling with delight the pure and balm

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CHAPTER XIV.

The Alaskan’s Habit of Gambling.—Extraordinary Domestic Carvings.—Silver Bracelets.—Prevailing Superstitions.—Disposal of the Dead.—The Native “Potlatch.”—Cannibalism.—Ambitions of Preferment.—Human Sacrifices.—The Tribes slowly decreasing in Numbers.—Influence of the Women.—Witchcraft.—Fetich Worship.—The Native Canoes.—Eskimo Skin Boats. The aborigines of Alaska are slow in their movements, and in this respect resemble the Lapps of Scandinavia, having also a drawling manner of speech entirely

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CHAPTER XV.

Still sailing Northward.—Multitudes of Water-Fowls.—Native Graveyards.—Curious Totem-Poles.—Tribal and Family Emblems.—Division of the Tribes.—Whence the Race came.—A Clew to their Origin.—The Northern Eskimos.—A Remarkable Museum of Aleutian Antiquities.—Jade Mountain.—The Art of Carving.—Long Days.—Aborigines of the Yukon Valley.—Their Customs. Still sailing northward, large numbers of ebon-hued cormorants are seen feeding on the low, kelp-covered rocks, contrasting with the snowy whiteness of

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CHAPTER XVI.

Fort Wrangel.—Plenty of Wild Game.—Natives do not care for Soldiers, but have a Wholesome Fear of Gunboats.—Mode of Trading.—Girls’ School and Home.—A Deadly Tragedy.—Native Jewelry and Carving.—No Totem-Poles for Sale.—Missionary Enterprises.—Progress in Educating Natives.—Various Denominations Engaged in the Missionary Work. We prefer to think it was to see the sun rise that we got up so early on arriving at Fort Wrangel, and not because of the torturing fact that our berth was too short at bo

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CHAPTER XVII.

Schools in Alaska.—Natives Ambitious to learn.—Wild Flowers.—Native Grasses.—Boat Racing.—Avaricious Natives.—The Candle Fish.—Gold Mines Inland.—Chinese Gold-Diggers.—A Ledge of Garnets.—Belief in Omens.—More Schools required.—The Pestiferous Mosquito.—Mosquitoes and Bears.—Alaskan Fjords.—The Patterson Glacier. The general plan of this school at Wrangel struck us as being the most promising means of improvement that could possibly be devised and carried forward among the aborigines of Alaska.

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CHAPTER XVIII.

Norwegian Scenery.—Lonely Navigation.—The Marvels of Takou Inlet.—Hundreds of Icebergs.—Home of the Frost King.—More Gold Deposits.—Snowstorm among the Peaks.—Juneau the Metropolis of Alaska.—Auk and Takou Indians.—Manners and Customs.—Spartan Habits.—Disposal of Widows.—Duels.—Sacrificing Slaves.—Hideous Customs still prevail. Before reaching Juneau we explored Takou Inlet, where there are two large glaciers, one with a moraine before its foot, the other reaching the deep water with its face, s

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CHAPTER XIX.

Aboriginal Dwellings.—Mastodons in Alaska.—Few Old People alive.—Abundance of Rain.—The Wonderful Treadwell Gold Mine.—Largest Quartz Crushing Mill in the World.—Inexhaustible Riches.—Other Gold Mines.—The Great Davidson Glacier.—Pyramid Harbor.—Native Frauds.—The Chilcats.—Mammoth Bear.—Salmon Canneries. In some portions of the country the aboriginal dwellings are constructed partly under ground; this is especially the case in the far north among the Eskimos proper, on the coast of the Polar Se

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CHAPTER XX.

Glacier Bay.—More Ice Bays.—Majestic Front of the Muir Glacier.—The Bombardment of the Glacier.—One of the Grandest Sights in the World.—A Moving River of Ice.—The Natives.—Abundance of Fish.—Native Cooking.—Wild Berries.—Hooniah Tribe.—Copper Mines.—An Iron Mountain.—Coal Mines. From Pyramid Harbor we turn southward for a short distance, and then again towards the north, soon reaching the ice-strewn waters of Glacier Bay, an open expanse of ocean fully thirty miles long by from ten to twelve in

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CHAPTER XXI.

Sailing Southward.—Sitka, Capital of Alaska.—Transfer of the Territory from Russia to America.—Site of the City.—The Old Castle.—Russian habits.—A Haunted Chamber.—Russian Elegance and Hospitality.—The Old Greek Church.—Rainfall at Sitka.—The Japanese Current.—Abundance of Food.—Plenty of Vegetables.—A Fine Harbor. From Glacier Bay our serpentine course lies southward through the countless sounds, gulfs, and islands of various shapes and sizes to Sitka, the New Archangel of the Russians, Sitka b

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CHAPTER XXII.

Contrast between American and Russian Sitka.—A Practical Missionary.—The Sitka Industrial School.—Gold Mines on the Island.—Environs of the Town.—Future Prosperity of the Country.—Hot Springs.—Native Religious Ideas.—A Natural Taste for Music.—A Native Brass Band.—Final View of the Capital. The Sitka of to-day contains about two thousand inhabitants, but is a very different place from that which the Russians made of it. The subjects of the Tzar carried on shipbuilding, manufactured wooden and ir

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CHAPTER XXIII.

The Return Voyage.—Prince of Wales Island.—Peculiar Effects.—Island and Ocean Voyages contrasted.—Labyrinth of Verdant Islands.—Flora of the North.—Political Condition of Alaska.—Return to Victoria.—What Clothing to wear on the Journey North.—City of Vancouver.—Scenes in British Columbia.—Through the Mountain Ranges. The return voyage from Sitka by the inland course takes us first through Peril Straits, so named on account of its many submerged rocks and reefs. It is, however, a wonderfully pict

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CHAPTER XXIV.

In the Heart of the Rocky Mountains.—Struggle in a Thunder-Storm.—Grand Scenery.—Snow-Capped Mountains and Glaciers.—Banff Hot Springs.—The Canadian Park.—Eastern Gate of the Rockies.—Calgary.—Natural Gas.—Cree and Blackfeet Indians.—Regina.—Farming on a Big Scale.—Port Arthur.—North Side of Lake Superior.—A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Rogers’ Pass, at an altitude of four thousand two hundred and seventy-five feet above the sea, is situated between two ranges of snow-clad peaks, whence a dozen glac

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