Wilderness, A Journal of Quiet Adventure in Alaska

with the day of our final coming there, We

er from the beach at Seward, clamped our little patched-up three and one

t consist in the detailing of the innumerable little commonplaces of our daily lives, we shall

stove 1

tovepipe 1

m Turp

pan Li

asin Nai

gasolin

rice 2

arley 2

meal 1 roll

lled oats

ominy 3 b

ina 10 lbs.

ar 10 lbs.

ur 5 lbs. M

bran 10 lbs

coa 12 ca

100 lbs.

k 10 lbs.

ocolate 5

p 1 gal. pe

ing oil 1 g

e baco

dried e

ed beans 5

5 lbs.

ncake flour 5

wheat flour

soap 4 c

y soap 1

ups 2 Dut

plates

bowls 1

dishes P

w other things. And when these were stowed away in the dory there was little room for ourselves. Howe

old goods; we unloaded our useless motor, our gasoline, and our batteries, cleared a little space in the boat for ourselves to man the oars, and in a miserable drizzling rain, pushed off for a long, long pull to the island. By too literal a following of directions I lengthened the remainder of the course to twelve

We cooked our supper on his stove and slept that night and the next on his floor; and then, having our own quarters by that time

on, he was at Nome with the first rush there, he has trapped along a thousand miles of coast; and now, ever unsuccessful and still enterprising, he is

ite dark but for the small door and a two by two feet opening on the western side. We went to work upon it the morning following our arrival and in two days, as has been told, made it a fit place to live in but by n

BUI

interior is a mullioned window willing to admit more light than can penetrate the forest beyond. Before it is a fixed work table littered with papers, pencils, paints, and brushes. On each long side of the cabin is a shelf the eaves' height,

e at the boo

ssays." C

hische

ater B

nson

Prose

n's V

tory of Ireland

e I

rock o

Ody

's "Fair

Book of En

e Medica

's "P

's "Life

"The Cave Dwellers,"

Coast T

ake Zara

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"In North

d boards is under our feet, a wooden platform-it is a bed-stands in the left-hand corner by the stove. Clothes hang under the shelves; pots and pans upon the wall, snowshoes and saws; a rack for plates in one place, a cupboard for potato

eared the ground; cutting avenues and vistas; then, though contented at first with these, enlarging them until they merged, and the sun began to shine about the cabin. It gr

E W

shall be copied into these pages. It follows in

on an artist cam ar to Day and going to seward efter his ou

. Kint and is son arivd from seward

Mr. Kint Working on the Cabbin fixing a

ats vant for the montane igan. Hel

day. Big steame

tem

trip around the i

from the S. E. goa

isly rai

oing to

ame Hom

y rain and

. E. ra

ig S. E.

g S. E.

g S. E. r

d night this fall

d Calm. Tug and

the Sought 5.30 P.M.

ngora queen ar in Hit this morning. F

l Day. the goats ar in the ca

S.E. ra

North Est storm With C

r. Kint and the Boy van

l day steamer from West

ining hea

nstorm from Soght E

vary Hie Comes clear up in the gras and the surf ar Stiri

raining

skuner from West going to Seward. toed by som gassboth raining t

er four

need recalking, I am told, once a year, and mine, roughly built as it is, needs it now in the worst way. Some openings are four or five inches wid

indow that faces the water could see the blue-the deep blue-mountains and the rosy western sky behind them. At last the sun rose somewhere and tipped the peaks and the hanging glaciers, growing and growing till the shadows of other peaks were driven down into the sea and the many ranges stood full in t

t of the land you stand upon, to plan and create clearings, parks, vistas, and make out of a wilderness an ordered place! Of course so much was done-nearly

thousand wild incidents of it, give it its true setting-publishing a map of that part of the coast where his travels mostly lay-let it be frankly his story retold, above all true and savoring of this land-and I believe no record of pioneering or adventure could surpass it. He's a keen philosopher and by his critical observations gives

SL

t he f

would make the greatest book i

the sto

operating on it myself-a deep incision to the bone being the method. It is no fun having such ailments to handle-unless you're of the type Olson seem

ednesday, Septemb

ad, some of them, been swept away; a bridge was gone, the railroad tracks were flooded, the hospital was surrounded and almost floated from its foundations. And we saw the next day, when it again poured rain, the black-robed sisters of charity, booted to the thighs, fleeing through the water to a safer place. It stormed incess

indication of diversity of character, of ideals, of special tradition; any susceptibility to the influence of local conditions, nothing in any typical American house or town where I have been that does not say "made in one mill." There's a God forsaken hideousness and commonplaceness about Alaskan architecture that almost amounts to character-but i

and winds in a way that seems incredible to me and would, I think, to a New England fisherman. However, I must be cautious. Olson says th

ockwell and I had some difficulty launching our boat down the long beach at low water; but at last we managed it, loaded our goods aboard,-viz., two large boxes of groceries,

WIND

re overtaken by a fisherman in a motor sloop bound to his camp three miles further down the shore. He took us in tow and, finally arriving at his camp, begged us

ction. We headed straight for Fox Island only to find the wind easterly, compelling us to head up into it. I fortunately anticipated a heavier blow and determined to get as far to windward and as near the shelter of th

ew in furious squalls raising a surge of white caps and a dangerous chop. I was now rowing with all my strength, foreseeing clearly the possibility of disaster for us, scanning with concern the terrible leewar

e to windward I had the choice of making a landing in some cove or continuing for Fox Island by running with the wind astern. At last the surface of the water was fairly seething under the advancing squalls; the spray was whip

end my toes are asleep, and I make my big toe sit up first because he's the father toe." At another time Rockwell

ftly upon its crest that if it had not been so terrible it would have been the most soothing and delightful motion in the world. In rounding the headland of our cove a last furious effort of the eluded storm careened us sailless as we were far on one side and carried us broadside toward the rocks. It was a minute

wn securely. Mine was soon beside it. The tides and heavy

SNOW

d that night in their bed Rockwell and his father put their

September t

nt of light even in the winter when the sun is hid. It occurs to me that it may be rather fortunate that my studio window looks to the south. I'll certainly not be troubled with sunlight while I may yet borrow some of the near-sun brilliancy from above our mountain's top. Rockwell and I worked some time with the cross-cut saw. I'm constantly su

eptember tw

be. We took the moss that weeks ago we'd gathered and spread along the shore to dry and commenced with this sopping stuff the calking of our cabin. It went rapidly and the two gable ends are nearly done. What a difference it makes; to-night when my fire roa

tember twen

the frame of our door, made a miter box, and cut my long strips brought from Seward last trip into pieces for my stretcher frames. And Rockwell all this time helped cheerfully when he was c

and a going that nearly the whole day is twilight and the quiet rose color of morning and evening seems almost to meet at noon. We glance through our tiny western window at sunrise and see

c spelling), simply sour milk with all its cream upon it, thick to a

RECTION BAY, KENA

eptember tw

reatest excitement. On the path in the woods near the outlet of the lake he had seen at one time five otters. They came from the water and advanced to within twenty feet of where he and Nanny-the milk goat-stood. And there they played long enough for him to have taken a dozen pictures. In the afternoon we saw a number of ott

ptember tw

en our cabins. It begins to look parklike with trees stripped of limbs ten or twelve feet from the ground and the mossy floor beneath swept clean. With the cross-cut saw I finished up the giant tr

again for one more cut. I believe that the clearing of homesteads gave the pioneer a compelling interest in life that was in wonderful contrast to the or

elings to restore him to the salt water-and let me have back the bread pan. But now one of Olson's box traps is set for a magpie. They're plentiful here. I built myself a fine easel to-day, the best one I've ever had; and put a shelf under my drawin

eptember

with cheese, chocolate, and Swedish hard bread in my pocket for a lunch we started for the lowest ridge of the island that overlooks the east. We had always believed this to be a short and ea

four hundred feet below us; and we stood in wonder looking down and out over a smooth green floor of sea and a fairyland of mountains, peaks and gorges, and headlands that cast long purple shadows on the green water. Clouds wreathed the mountains, snow was on their tops, and in the clear atmosphere both the land and the sea were m

TOR

ast side of the island between its two coves. But the steepness of the ascent and the matted thickets of storm-dwarfed alders that were i

ay from us. I spoke to him in his own whiny-moany language and he was much pleased; he sat up, listened, and then came almost straight toward us. I continued talkin

m; so, grabbing a stick I pursued him poking at him to collect a few quills. But at this Rockwell set up such a shrieking and wailing that I had to stop,-and finally apologized profusely and explained that

h, but no matter, I've begun! A weasel came out and looked at me as I worked, then whisked off. The magpies look into our trap, squint at