TRAILS AND TRAMPS
IN ALASKA AND
NEWFOUNDLAND

BY

WILLIAM S. THOMAS

AUTHOR OF “HUNTING BIG GAME WITH GUN AND KODAK”

WITH ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS FROM ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS

G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1913

Copyright, 1913
BY
WILLIAM S. THOMAS

The Knickerbocker Press, New York

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To
MY WIFE
WHO SHARED NONE OF THE PLEASURES OF THE TRAIL AND BORE
ALL THE ANXIETIES FOR MY RETURN.

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PREFACE

The matter here submitted has been accumulated upon several hunting trips in the wilderness, and many excursions from time to time into the woods and fields about home. The author has for some years kept more or less extensive field notes, and has taken numerous photographs of objects, scenes, or incidents by the way.

Not all of the narrative is concerned with the chase, but all has to do with, or is in some way attributable to, the wanderlust that from boyhood days has cast its spell over the author at uncertain intervals, and from time to time, has compelled a pilgrimage nearer or farther into the regions of that freedom found only where man is not.

If in the heart of the reader it sets vibrating again some chord once sounded by the breath of the forest, or stirs to harmony some strings hitherto not attuned to the music of the great outdoors, the mission of this volume will not have been vain, for it will then have assisted in a modest way the interpretation of that medium of expression of which Bryant has said,

W. S. T.

Pittsburgh, Pa.,
March, 1913.

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CONTENTS

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ILLUSTRATIONS

class="tdl">Totems at Sitka 18 Indian War Canoe 20 Petersburg 22 Streams of Crystal Water 23 Lighthouse near Dixon’s Entrance 26 Sitka 27 Priests of the Greek Church at Sitka 28 Fairweather Range 30 Upper Ice Fields 31 The Author Looking into a Crevasse 33 Native Women Trading 35 Mother and Babe 36 Playing in the Sand 37 Native Boys out Gunning 38 Sunset near St. Elias 39 Cape St. Elias 41 Hinchinbrook Island 44 Valdez after the Flood 45 Bruin in a Steel Trap 46 Salmon Running up Stream to Spawn 49 Killing Fish with a Club 50 Gulls Feeding on Salmon 51 A Good Fisherman 52 Dogs Fishing for Salmon 53 Indian Hut 55 Indian Graves 56 Indian Women Repairing the Bidarka 57 Sunrise 60 Our Permanent Camp 61 An Island near Valdez 65 Sea Lion Rocks 67 Seward 68

tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">Seldovia 69 Turbulent Shellicoff 71 The Ravens 72 Kodiak 79 Gull Island 80 Forget-me-nots 81 Crow’s Nest and Young 82 Nests of Eagle and Magpie 83 Eagle Watching for Prey 85 Eagle’s Nest and Young 86 First Sight of Day 88 Sea Parrot Incubating 90 Sea Parrot’s Nest and Egg 91 Characteristic Nest of "Gygis" 93 Nest and Eggs of Herring Gull 94 Our Camp among the Cottonwoods 97 An Extinct Crater where the Bear Hibernate 101 Where he fell 103 Stretched Bear Skins 105 Indian Barabara 108 Kodiak Island Pinks 109 Kenai River 129 Lining the Boat 133 Mid-day on the Kenai 137 "Porky" 141 The Tonsorial Artist at Work 144 Ready for the Start 147 Approaching the Low Pass 149 Home of the White Sheep 151 Seeking a Ford 155 Ptarmigan 167 A Bath in Lake Skilak 174

tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">Bay of Islands 185 Constructing a Raft 186 One Took to the Woods 187 One of the Others 188 Trailing Arbutus 190 Spotted Sandpiper’s Nest 192 Merganser’s Nest 194 Nest of Wilson’s Thrush 195 Learning to Swim 199 Out for Themselves 200 Learning to Walk 201 Reflections 202 Radiant Splendor 206 Whiskey Jack 208 Nest and Eggs of the White-Throated Sparrow 209 Bunchberries 213 The “Steady” 215 Solitude 217 Breakfast Head on the Humber River 219 Color Blending 224 Putting in the Ferret 226 His Last Nibble 229 In Hot Pursuit 230 Picked up 231 Down the Old Fence 233 The Dog Listening to the Last Sound 235 Did he Come out? 236 The Hunting Party 239 Dog and Coon in the Mix-up 244 Home of the Cardinal 249 Cardinal’s Nest and Eggs 252 Winter in the North 254 Indigo Bunting’s Nest with Cowbird’s

Egg 256 The Young Interloper 258 A Well-Constructed Home 259 Madam Vireo at Home 260 The Usurper 262 Young Flickers 265 Nest and Eggs of Tanager 267 Little Green Heron’s Nest 268 Little Green Heron’s Nest 269 Leaving the Nest 270 Nest and Eggs of Grosbeak 272 Nestlings 273 Fledglings 274 Tom at the Nest 275 Nest and Eggs of Blue-Gray Gnat-Catcher 276 Nest and Young of Goldfinch 277 Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly on Queen Anne’s Lace 278 Young Goldfinch 280 Nest of Red-Wing Blackbird 282 Young Red-Wing Blackbirds 283 Homes of the Cliff Swallows 285 Nest of the Song Sparrow 287 A Tragedy in Nature 288 Wood-Thrush 289 Nest and Eggs of Wood-Thrush 290 Up a Stump 291 Wood-Thrush’s Nest with Young 292 Nest and Eggs of American Redstart 294 Lady Redstart and her Home 295 Nest and Eggs of Blue-Winged Warbler 296 Young Woodpeckers Foraging 297 Nest and Eggs of the Thrasher 299

tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">On Night Turn 300 Young Thrasher 301 A Delightful Place 306 Caught 307 Nest and Eggs of Ruffed Grouse 313 Not Certain 315 A Sure Point 317 Orchard Nest of Mourning Dove 318 Two Little Turtle-Doves 320

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Trails and Tramps in Alaska and Newfoundland

CHAPTER I

CRUISING AND HUNTING IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA

In the midst of the rustling and bustling on the pier, the creaking of the block and tackle, and the hoisting of the duffel, could be heard the loud, clear voice of the mate resounding in the evening twilight, “Heave to!” “That’s well,” and similar expressions, all preparatory to our departure for the far-away North, the land of glaciers, gold, and fish. In the crowd were many sorts and conditions of men—and not the least in evidence were the sturdy Norseman and the Scottish clansman,—some on pleasure bent, some in search of the mighty beasts of the forest, still others seeking their fortune in the vast gold-fields stretching on and on into the great unknown beyond the Arctic Circle.

Among the ever-changing groups of humanity, my attention was attracted to one, the center of which was a young man about one and twenty. As the time drew near for our departure, around him gathered four or five young ladies, who to all appearances were in sore distress. An only brother, perhaps, was about to leave home and friends to seek his fortune in the Land of the Midnight Sun. The old father, grizzled and gray, stood by with dejected countenance and folded hands, the very picture of despair. Presently one of the girls—the boy’s sweetheart, as I afterwards learned,—unable longer to stand the strain, threw her arms about her lover and wept bitterly. What expressions of sadness upon the faces of those left behind as the lamplight casts its pallid rays over them! And now one staggers and falls into the arms of a friend. Then what a look of grief upon the face of the young man peering over the ship’s rail! Such is the pathos of life at every turn, could we but see it.

On board the steamer was the Hon. Walter L. Fisher, Secretary of the Interior, and his party, consisting of his son Walter, Alfred [Pg 3]
[Pg 4]H. Brooks, of the Geological Surveys Committee, Governor W. E. Clark of Alaska, and reporters of various newspapers. Their mission was to investigate the condition and wants of the people of Alaska. The genial and pleasant old sea-dog, Captain Michael Jansen, was at the helm as the steamer wedged her way towards the north.

For some two hundred miles we skirted the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, lined to the water’s edge with hemlock, spruce, and cedar, through which occasionally bluish-white streaks of water came tumbling down the mountain-side, each adding its own particular charm to the scenery. The English Government has erected along the coast many lighthouses for the protection of navigation, but after we passed through Dixon’s Entrance into Uncle Sam’s domain, very few of these were to be seen. Our Government seems to have given too little attention to this matter.

The first stop on the way north was Ketchikan, a little village nestled snugly at the foothills, with its hospital, saloons, and all the usual adjuncts of a mining town. It has a population of some five hundred souls, whose principal occupation consists of fishing and mining. The most interesting thing to [Pg 5]
[Pg 6]sightseers was a stroll up the boardwalk laid along a narrow winding stream that has its origin in the snow-capped mountains. Pitching, tossing, and foaming it hurried down the narrow gulch, seeking its level in the briny deep. It was alive with myriads of salmon, jumping and leaping in their mad rush to the spawning ground.

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In the dawn of the following morning the boat plowed its way through the green waters of the Strait toward Annette Island, a strip of land covered to the water’s edge with fir and cedar trees. The island is some six miles long, and at the extreme end, on a small, gently sloping plateau, is the little town of Metlakatla, which boasts a population of about a thousand persons. It has its own canneries, saw-mills, and other industries, and the people seem to be happy and contented. At the head of the colony is Rev. William Duncan, who has done much for the uplift of the many tribes of Indians in this locality.