INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEP:R INTO ALASKA. 113 



had a very interesting summer school for the river Eskimos who were 

 camped on the fishing grounds about the mission for the sunnner. 



On the 19th the Thetis got underway for Point Hope and came to 

 anchor oft" Cooper's Station about 2 p. m. the following day, making 

 three consecutive Saturdays the cutter had anchored at this j)lace. 



Lieutenant Shoemaker and his crew had made a good showing. 

 They had the frame of the l)uilding up and ready for the rafters. No 

 work was done on the building Sunday, but on Monday Captain Ham- 

 let sent extra men ashore and consideral)le showing was made naihng 

 on outside sheathing, the ceiling joists over the schoolroom, and saw- 

 ing the rafters. A fierce, raw^ w^ind was blowing, so no attempt was 

 made to nail the rafters in position. Lieutenant Shoemaker reported 

 that Mr. Marlen was a very fair carpenter, so before leaving we 

 arranged with him and Mr. Konig to complete the frame and outside 

 of the building and store the lumber and hardware inside of it. 



On the evening of August 23 we anchored at Cape Prince of Wales. 

 Here Mr. Collier and his assistants, Messrs. Washburn and Hutch- 

 inson, and myself left the cutter, and Doctor and Mrs. Campbell, w^ho 

 had been making a summer visit at the Cape, came aboard to return 

 to their home on St. Lawrence Island. 



Since returning here I have put in the time assisting in the work at 

 this station. The new building is almost ready to occupy; the paint 

 is almost dry; the benches are being put down, and w^e hope to have 

 school open next Monday, October 17. We have had a season of 

 stormy weather for the past two weeks. Sixteen canoes have not 

 returned yet, but most of them will probably arrive before the open- 

 ing of school, so that Mr. Evans can begin with a full school. 



The natives who have returned from Nome think our new building 

 is much nicer than any house they saw there. The old mission build- 

 ing, which cost the American Missionary Association .|.3,000, now" 

 looks like a "shack." Mr. Evans is planning to have a "house- 

 warming," or ah va pa le za uk tuk, as the natives call it, one night 

 this week. 



Last week I planned to go either to Kotzebue or Port Clarence, l)ut 

 the w^eather prevented my going either north or south. It now looks 

 as if navigation is al)out closed and that in the future I shall have to 

 travel by sled. 



As needed changes suggest themselves to me, I shall write you from 

 time to time in regard to them. Hoping to hear from you often this 

 winter, I am. 



Very truly, yours, , W. T. Lopp, 



Superintendent of Reindeer Stations and Schools 



in Northwest Alaslca. 



Dr. Sheldon Jackson, 



General Agent oj Education in Alaska, Washington, D. C. 



