We were released from the sand-bar near midnight, and at eight o'clock
on the following morning we steamed around a green and lovely point and
entered Norton Sound, in whose curving blue arm lies storied St.
Michael.
St. Michael is situated on the island of the same name, about sixty
miles north of the mouth of the Yukon. It was founded in 1833 by Michael
Tebenkoff, and was originally named Michaelovski Redoubt. The Russian
buildings were of spruce logs brought by sea from the Yukon and
Kuskoquim rivers, as no timber grows in the vicinity of St. Michael or
Nome. Some of the original Russian buildings yet remain,--notably, the
storehouse and the redoubt. The latter is an hexagonal building of heavy
hewn logs, with sloping roof, flagstaff, door, and port-holes. It stands
upon the shore, within a dozen steps of the famous "Cottage,"--the
residence of the managers of the Northern Commercial Company, under
whose hospitable roof every traveller of note has been entertained for
many years,--and in front of it the shore slopes green to the water.
Inside lie half a dozen rusty Russian cannons, mutely testifying to the
sanguinary past of the North.
The redoubt was attacked in 1836 by the hostile Unaligmuts of the
vicinity, but it was successfully defended by Kurupanoff. The Russians
had a temporary landing-place built out to deep water to accommodate
boats drawing five feet; this was removed when ice formed in the bay.
The tundra is rolling, with numerous pools that flame like brass at
sunset; only low willows and alders grow on the island and adjacent
shores. The island is seven miles wide and twenty-five long, and is
separated from the mainland by a tortuous channel, as narrow as fifty
feet in places. The land gradually rises to low hills of volcanic origin
near the centre of the island. These hills are called the Shaman
Mountains. The meadow upon which the main part of the town and the
buildings of the post are situated is as level as a vast parade-ground;
but the land rises gently to a slender point that plunges out into
Behring Sea, whose blue waves beat themselves to foam and music upon its
tundra-covered cliffs.
On the day that I stood upon this headland the sunlight lay like gold
upon the island; the winds were low, murmurous, and soothing; flowers
spent their color riotously about me; the tundra was as soft as
deep-napped velvet; and the blue waves, set with flashes of gold, went
pushing languorously away to the shores of another continent. Scarcely a
stone's throw from me was a small mountain-island, only large enough for
a few graves, but with no graves upon it. In all the world there cannot
be another spot so noble in which to lie down and rest when "life's
fevers and life's passions--all are past." There, alone,--but never
again to be lonely!--facing that sublime sweep of sapphire summer sea,
set here and there with islands, and those miles upon miles of
glittering winter ice; with white sails drifting by in summer, and in
winter the wild and roaring march of icebergs; with summer nights of
lavender dusk, and winter nights set with the great stars and the
magnificent brilliance of Northern Lights; with the perfume of flowers,
the songs of birds, the music of lone winds and waves, out on the edge
of the world--could any clipped and cared-for plot be so noble a place
in which to lie down for the last time? Could any be so close to God?
The entire island is a military reservation, and it is only by
concessions from the government that commercial and transportation
companies may establish themselves there. Fort St. Michael is a
two-company post, under the command of Captain Stokes, at whose
residence a reception was tendered to Governor Hoggatt. The filmy white
gowns of beautiful women, the uniforms of the officers, the music,
flowers, and delicate ices in a handsomely furnished home made it
difficult for one to realize that the function was on the shores of
Behring Sea instead of in the capital of our country.
There is an excellent hotel at St. Michael, and the large stores of the
companies are well supplied with furs and Indian and Eskimo wares.
Beautiful ivory carvings, bidarkas, parkas, kamelinkas, baskets, and
many other curios may be obtained here at more reasonable prices than at
Nome. There are public bath-houses where one may float and splash in
red-brown water that is never any other color, no matter how long it may
run, but which is always pure and clean.
No description of St. Michael is complete that does not include
"Lottie." No liquors are sold upon the military reservation, and Lottie
conducts a floating groggery upon a scow. It has been her custom each
fall to have her barge towed up the canal just beyond the line of the
military reservation, ten miles from the flagstaff at the barracks, thus
placing herself beyond the control of the authorities, greatly to their
chagrin. In summer she anchors her barge in one of the numerous bights
along the shore, and they are again powerless to interfere with her
brilliantly managed traffic, since it has been decided that their sway
extends over the land only.
[Illustration: Copyright by E. A. Hegg, Juneau
Courtesy of Webster & Stevens, Seattle
MOONLIGHT ON BEHRING SEA]
It is Lottie's practice to have the barge made fast in such a way that a
boat can be run to it from the shore on an endless line. One desiring a
bottle of whiskey approaches the boat and drops his money and order into
the bottom of it. The boat is then drawn out to the barge, whiskey is
substituted for the money, and the purchaser pulls the boat ashore,
where it is left for the next customer.
There is no witness to the transaction and it has been impossible to
prove, the authorities claim, who put the money and the whiskey into the
boat, or took either therefrom.
Lottie's barge has operated for many years. Its illicit transactions
could easily have been stopped had the civil authorities on shore taken
a firm stand and worked in conjunction with the military; but there was
the usual jealousy as to the rights of the different officials--and
Lottie has profited by these conditions. Furthermore, many people of the
vicinity entertained a friendly feeling for Lottie--not only those who
were wont to draw the little boat back and forth, but others in sheer
admiration of the ingenuity and skill with which she carried on her
business. She was careful in preserving order in her vicinity, was very
charitable, and frequently provided for natives who would have otherwise
suffered. Thus, by her diplomacy, self-control, good business sense, and
many really worthy traits of character, Lottie has been able to outwit
the officials for years. Her barge still floats upon the blue waves of
Norton Sound. However, it seems, even to a woman, that Lottie must be
blessed with "a friend at court."
We had been invited to voyage from St. Michael to Nome--a distance of a
hundred and eleven miles--on the _Meteor_, a very small tug; being
warned, however, that, should the weather prove to be unfavorable, our
hardships would be almost unendurable, as there was only an open
after-deck and no cabin in which to take refuge. We boldy took our
chances, remaining three days at St. Michael.
Never had Behring Sea, or Norton Sound, been known to be so beautiful as
it was on that fourteenth day of August. We started at nine in the
morning, and until evening the whole sea, as far as the eye could reach
in all directions, was as smooth as satin, of the palest silvery blue.
Never have I seen its like, nor do I hope ever to see it again. To think
that such seductive beauty could bloom upon a sea whereon, in winter,
one may travel for hundreds of miles on solid ice! At evening it was
still smooth, but its color burned to a silvery rose.
The waters we sailed now were almost sacred to some of us. Over them the
brave and gallant Captain Cook had sailed in 1778, naming Capes Darby
and Denbigh, on either side of Norton Bay; he also named the bay and the
sound and Besborough, Stuart, and Sledge islands; and it was in this
vicinity that he met the family of cripples.
But of most poignant interest was St. Lawrence Island, lying far to our
westward, discovered and named by Vitus Behring on his voyage of 1728.
If he had then sailed to the eastward for but one day!
* * * * *
Every one has read of the terrors of landing through the pounding surf
of the open roadstead at Nome. Large ships cannot approach within two
miles of the shore. Passengers and freight are taken off in lighters and
launches when the weather is "fair"; but fair weather at Nome is rough
weather elsewhere. When they call it rough at Nome, passengers remain on
the ships for days, waiting to land. Frequently it is necessary to
transfer passengers from the ships to dories, from the dories to tugs,
from the tugs to flat barges. The barges are floated in as far as
possible; then an open platform--miscalled a cage--is dropped from a
great arm, which looks as though it might break at any moment; the
platform is crowded with passengers and hoisted up over the boiling
surf, swinging and creaking in a hair-crinkling fashion, and at last
depositing its large-eyed burden upon the wharf at Nome. I had pitied
_cattle_ when I had seen them unloaded in this manner at Valdez and
other coast towns!
We anchored at eleven o'clock that night in the Nome roadstead. In two
minutes a launch was alongside and a dozen gentlemen came aboard to
greet the governor. We were hastily transferred in the purple dusk to
the launch. The town, brilliantly illuminated, glittered like a string
of jewels along the low beach; bells were ringing, whistles were
blowing, bands were playing, and all Nome was on the beach shouting
itself hoarse in welcome.
There was no surf, there was not a wave, there was scarce a ripple on
the sea. The launch ran smoothly upon the beach and a gangway was put
out. It did not quite reach to dry land and men ran out in the water,
picked us up unceremoniously, and carried us ashore.
The most beautiful landing ever made at Nome was the one made that
night; and the people said it was all arranged for the governor.
There was an enthusiastic reception at the Golden Gate Hotel, followed
by a week's brilliant functions in his honor.
Three days later the _Meteor_ came over from St. Michael, with a
distinguished Congressman aboard. The weather was rough, even for Nome,
and for three blessed days the _Meteor_ rolled in the roadstead, and
with every roll it went clear out of sight.
There were those at the hotel who differed politically from the
Congressman aboard the little tug; and, like the people of Nome when the
senatorial committee was landed under such distressful circumstances a
few years ago, their faces did not put on mourning as they watched the
_Meteor_ roll.