ARGONAUTS OF ’97.
Troubles of Early Arrivals in this
Section. Wanted to Hang
the Promoter.
Ahie of the first cx|>cditions to
reach \ aldez l»:iy came from San
Francisco, and was styled the
Alaska Mining ami IVvelopmcnt
Co., or was Is-tter known as the
I.aXinfa Co., so-called on account
of the vessel of that name on which
they came here. The party con
sisted of forty-two people, and of
Jhat number only one remains. Mr.
Adam Swan, the well-known resi
lient of this place. The party ar
rived at Swanport and later came
to this side of the bay. Like most
.of the pioneers tothis part of Alaska,
pone of the company knew any
thing of the country, and very few
,of them were fitted for the life of a
prospccU>r ip a new, unexplored
country such as this was at that
time.
The company was organized in
San Francisco by one H.T. Kenton,
.who was formerly a second-ltand
dealer along the water front of that
city. hen the gold excitement
broke out lie saw ap op|mrtunitv
for making a good thing by getting
up an expslition to Alaska. He
advertised in the Han Francisco
papers that he had a '.‘dead sure”
thing and would take a few jteople
with him. He induced forty-two
■joersons to put up $'200 apiece for
'passage money, besides other as
sessments for supplies. He claimed
to have a thorough knowledge of
of the country and especially
'the Copper river district. He
would take his schooner up Copper
'river thirty miles and there estab
lish a winter camp. In the spring
the party were to go 100 miles fur
ther up the river in a steam launch
'that they would take with them
and prospect the river for that dis
tance. He gave his company a
pipe dream alsnit having gone
[ashore from a revenue cutter after
-fresh water and picking up lx-auti
ful gold nuggets from the stream.
Renton was a smooth article and
filled his eager listeners full of such
stories, and they, anxious to
hear and believe them, were eager
to get away to the new Eldorado.
There was only one drawback to
the whole affair,and that was what
to do with the blood-thirsty indians i
along the Copper river. But they |
were advised to take plenty of,
rifles and ammunition and ifneces-'
j sarv. a galling gun. With these ,
implements of warfare they could
scare off all the natives on the
river.as they had never seen many
guns, using mostly l»ows. arrows;
and spears in their warfare.
The manager of the expedition '
had claimed that eighty |»ersons1
were liookcd for the trip, hut after
waiting for several weeks, lie was j
compc'led to start with the fortv
• j
two, the remainder failing to ma
terialize. It was then Sept. 22.1
1W7, and anyone familiar with,
this country at all would have'
known that that was the wrong
season in which to start on a trip
to the north pole.
The La Xinfa was thirty days
reaching Xucliek. and witli storms,
rough weather, j»oor food and sea
sickness the company did not feel |
the liest when they dropped anchor'
at that little native village. There
was already several inches of snow,
the weather was windy and cold,
and the surprise of the party.can
lie imagined when they ascertained
that they could not get within
twenty miles of the mouth
of the river, and that it was
ditlicult to get up that stream in a
small dorv, let alone in a large
schooner, and that a launch could
not get up the river at all. What
were they to do? They could not
winter at Xucliek as there was no
harhor for their boat. They also
ascertained that the natives were
more peaceable than themselves
and this was a great disnp|mintmcnt
to them. What would they do
with their ammunition? They had
planned on fighting the painted
savages and had pictured with
pleasure how they would tight and
die for their country and open up
to jiosteritv a great and rich dis
trict. In their dreams they had
seen themselves in battle array,
cutting down their blood-thirsty
foes from block houses or hastily
built breast works. Many of them
had wondered how his scalp would
look dangling from the licit of a
Copper river Indian; and now this
pleasure was to be denied them.
The company then decided to go 1
to Orca and establish winter quar
ters. They would not give up and
would start out a few small Imats
for the Copper river. This they
did and in a few weeks the natives
brought hack the party, half frozen
and nearly dead from cold, hunger
and exposure.
There had lieen some mutterings
against Renton, luit now they com
menced in earnest. It was a cer
tainty that he had never l>ocn in
the country Indore and knew noth
ing about it. However lie still
claimed that he had. hut that tin
country was greatly changed.
Nearly every mendn-r of the party
now had a different idea of what
they ought to do. Some wanted
to winter at Orca. Others
wanted to try the Copjn>r river
again. Others wanted to go to
Valdez hay and go over the glacier,
and some were for going home.whilc
several didn’t want to do anything.
Split by dissensions, the ]*artv at
last agreed to divide their outfit.
The supplies were taken ashore and
each received his allotment; but in
the outfit there was not an extra
sack—sugar was in barrels, meat
in boxes, ltcans and rice in hundred
pound sacks, and canned goods in
cases. How they ever expected to
carry this stuff while prospecting
in the interior, no one knew: It
was at last decided to take sails
and make sacks. This work took
some time.
After everything but the bacon
was divided, the storm came and
Kenton nearly lost his lib-. About
1000 pounds of the bacon was in
fairly good shape, but the balance,
1700 fiounds, was decidedly bad.
Over 400 pounds was found to be
made from sucking and unborn
pigs, weighing from six to ten
fiounds each. Each man took his
share and then started for Kenton i
with a rojie. It had dawned upon
them that the entire exfiedition
was a put-up job; that Kenton had
never been in Alaska ; that he had
overcharged them for evervthing ;
• • ° 1 i
that he had sttxtd in with the mer
chants in tsan Francisco and had
charged them with a first-class out
fit and hud Imught the poorest stuff
he could find ; and that he was a
scoundrel and should lie hung as a
"warning to schemers who get up
expeditions.”
C. E. BROWN,
New Store._ New Goods.
Wholesale and Retail.
Outfitting fur tin- mint's a
Specialty. Coffee Teas ami !
Spices are the Best Select
Stock. Guaranteed Fresh
Kggs Always on Hand. Fresh
Vegetables in Abundance.
Fresh Eastern Oysters.
Ka«<tern Canned Fruit an>l
Vegetal.It s of the Best Quality.
The Best Brands «>f Butter.
Cream Cheese ami all Brands
uf (. ream. Bex Bae*>n ami
Ham.
Everything Yon Want To Eat.
• >ive me a Call, ami see the
New Store ami the Complete
Sleek of Fresh I troeeries.
Mi Kinley St., on the Reser
vation, next to .las. Fish. Sr’s
resiilenee.
_USE CRESCENT BAKING POWDER.
A committee went a I ward the
schooner and told Renton he was
wanted ashore. He licgged of the
men who accompanied him to tell
him if violence was intended, and
was told he woidd not be harmed.
When he step|M-d ashore, however,
lie was met hy an angry mob, who
denounced him as a swindler, thief,
traitor, and hcajied u|>on him every
vile epithet that they could think
of. They demanded that he repay
them for everything that lie had
sold them that was not as repre
sented. He acknowledged to hav
ing flat) alsiard the vessel. 1’art
of the crowd accompanied him to
the ship to get the money, hut when
he arrived there he was in such a
fright that he had to Ik- carried
almard. The men draggisl him to
the galley and there his nerve gave
out completely. They chafed his
legs and arms to start up eireula
lation, but he lost entire control of
himself and lay on the deck a fear
crazed wreck.
A doctor who accompanied the
party was sent for and gave the
man an injection and was endeav
oring to make him a hit comfortable
when the angry crowd came again
and were ready to wreak vengeance
on him, but the doctor prevented
it and put the man to Wd. A
committee searched the slop but
found no money, and gave Kenton
the privilege of handing over I'.MJ
or Wing hung and he gave up that
sum. Had it not W-en that the
man was taken so suddenly sick
and there were a few cool heads in
the crowd, he would certainly have
c. DKHORI) J. GRIFFITH STKI'IIKNH
Copper River Trading Post
AND FKRRY.
uf (;,,’V"r !:iv,r ,,n'1 Tonnina River. ROAD
" ' t roHpcctnr* | .Storage. The i»,*t centrally Jo
Cs,te* R,«‘<R"J»i«‘ and Hii|i|>ly l».wt in the mt River Wuterihed
The Wayside Inn
At Foot of Summit on Houle to Interior. Host Ae
eoinodation* for Man an<l Heard. Freighting to nil
I’oints Omtraeted for. Addreax Valdez,
21 Mile* From Valdez.
WILSON, DAVISON A LITTLK, I’HoeKIKTOHS.
Wen strung up. As it was he wa
only too glail to get out of the
country.
After dividing up the outfit, the i
party separated. Nine of them
came to t'wanport, eleven went to
tin- Valdez trading post, now known
a> liaiigtmvn, and the remainder
started for the Copper river.
I— e Creseent baking jiowder—a
modern phosphate powder.
I ~ CLOLCX-tCAL 3U»VtY
COPP£H r«i -onr pi.m
TOPOGRAPHIC SKETCH MAP
or
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND VICINITY
ALASKA
1900
Scale
t » » » _.___
Sketch contours
„ *>*P *r Vailed Stale* Army, with additional inlbnnahao from
tailed Stales Coast sad Geodetic Survey and United Stales Geological Survey
-L.---J._!_