?—?He says there is a safe landing just the other side of that point.
This time the old man did not deceive. A cold torrent chased us to shore. We built no fire but quickly raised the tent amongst the trees & climbed in wet, shivering, weary. The old Eyak remains outside, where to none of us knows or much cares. Rain slaps the canvas tent in a noisy pattering. We eat cold beef from tins, all of us crowded shoulder to shoulder.
I asked Samuelson why the young Indians stayed behind.
?—?Fear.
?—?Of the Midnooskies?
?—?No. The trader Jenson. He expects them to help with the otter pelts when the hunters come back.
?—?It is a notable amount of sway he holds over them, I observed.
?—?They aren’t Jenson’s slaves quite yet, but give him time, Samuelson said. —?I have seen him yank an Indian child from his mother’s hands in trade for furs the father didn’t bring in.
?—?What would a white man want with an Indian child?
?—?Fear, the trapper said.
We may sail along the border, or be drawn by sledge-dogs over the frozen streams, until we arrive at the coldest, farthest west, separated from the rudest, farthest east by a narrow span of ocean, bridged in winter by thick-ribbed ice. What then can be said of this region?—?this Ultima Thule of the known world, whose northern point is but three or four degrees south of the highest latitude yet reached by man?
?—?From History of Alaska: 1730–1885,
Hubert Howe Bancroft, 1886
Diary of Sophie Forrester
Vancouver Barracks
January 6, 1885
Oh such amazing news! The general has granted permission so that I will accompany Allen and his men on the steamer north! For days now it has seemed increasingly unlikely, and I am certain it was only Allen’s steady, persistent resolve that has won me passage. Of course, I go only as far as Sitka and will return to the barracks the end of February; I will not even set eyes on the northern mainland where their true adventure will begin, but I am thrilled all the same. Allen, too, is pleased. He charged into the sitting room this afternoon and announced, “You’ll go, my love! Haywood said you’ll go!”
Now there is much for me to do. Until today, I followed Mother’s advice and did not “count my chickens before they hatched,” but consequently I have made no preparations. We expect to board within the month. What should I bring? An abundance of warm clothes. Definitely my walking boots, for I am told the deck is often treacherous with ice and sea spray. My field glasses and notebooks of course, with plenty of spare pencils.
There is this, too?—?a new diary. I resisted when Allen first gave it to me and said my field notebooks suit me fine. His playful reply was that when he returns from Alaska, he would like to hear about more than the habits of nuthatches and chickadees.
I could not then imagine that my days would hold anything of interest: the long train journey to Vermont, the return to my childhood home. Maybe if I were allowed to walk as far as the quarry pond to watch for the pintails and grebes, or to go to the forest in search of Father’s sculptures (how I would love for Allen to see them someday, especially the sea serpent and the old bear), maybe then I would have something to record. Yet I will never be permitted such wanderings. “Shame is the only fruit of idleness.” How many times did I hear those words as a little girl? Mother is always at the washboard and rags, the rake and the weeds, and she will expect the same of me. Who would want to hear such a diary read aloud?
But now! Now I will have something to write in these pages, for I am going to Alaska!
January 8
I cannot help but be caught up in the excitement. Supplies arrive daily from various parts of the country?—?tents, sleeping bags, snowshoes, nearly one thousand rations for the men! I do not know how Allen keeps it all in order. This morning, just as he was about to kiss me goodbye at the door, he said, “Yes, Pruitt will be out with the camera, but Tillman can sort the rifles and ammunition. That way I can get to the telegraph office.” He must get word to Sitka, by British Columbia and then mail steamer, that he will need several sledges built and ready when we arrive.
And then, during my afternoon walk, I happened across Mr Pruitt with his camera near the stable. Allen says the Lieutenant has only recently learned photography in order to document their expedition, so he is practicing as much as he is able. Today, the blacksmith was his reluctant subject.