APPENDIX A. 



THE ITINERARY FOR 1895. 



By William Hamilton, Assistant Agent of Education. 



Bureau of Education, Alaska Divjsion, 



WasJtington, D. C, December 31, 1895. 



Dear Sir: Iu accordance with your iustructions I left Washington 

 on April 15, arriving at Tacoma six days later. Here I took passage 

 for Sitka on the Pacific Coast Steamshij) Company's vessel City of 

 Topeka. The low rates to Alaska during the present season, the alleged 

 rapid development of the gold mines in the Yukon region, and the 

 unusually hard times on the Pacific Coast are greatly encouraging 

 immigration to Alaska. The City of Topelm was crowded from stem 

 to stern with all sorts and conditions of men; every berth was occu- 

 pied, and at night tlie tables in the dining saloon were covered with 

 long rows of slumbering humanity. 



Soon after crossing the line between British Columbia and Alaska 

 the steamer touched at IMetlakahtla, the home of Mr. Duncan's colony 

 of Christianized Timpseans. There are about 100 neat frame houses 

 in the village, a large church and schoolhouse, the boys and the girls' 

 boarding home, Mr. Duncan's residence and office, the cannery, saw- 

 mill, and the store. The church is complete with belfry, spire, vesti- 

 bule, gallery, and pulpit carved by hand, all native handiwork. The 

 salmon cannery ships about 8,000 cases each year, and the sawmill 

 supplies all the lumber needed. Sidewalks in excellent condition, 10 

 feet wide, extend along the principal street of the village. A con- 

 spicuous object is a platform built on a liuge cedar stump, where ttie 

 native band plays on steamer days. As the steamer arrived late iu the 

 evening and left at 4 o'clock the next morning, I regret that 1 did not 

 see the school in session. 



The next place of interest at w^hich the steamer stopped was Fort 

 Wrangell. In the days when the Cassiar gold mines at the head of the 

 Stikine Kiver were in their glory, and when the barracks were occupied 

 by United States troojis, a tide of motley life swept through the long 

 street which extends along the water front from the fort to the chief's 

 house. In 1877 the Government withdrew its troops from all posts in 

 Alaska, the mining regions of the Stikine have been abandoned, and 

 the only indication of the industry of civilization is the frequent i^uffs 

 of steam issuing from the large sawmill. 



H. Doc. 92, pt. 3 37 ^^^ 



