74 
FOREST AND STREAM 
February, 1918 
The “ Sisters,” one of the most dangerous spots on the Stikine River 
The Stikine is subject to sudden rises 
and at such times is very muddy and full 
of floating drift wood. 'It had risen so 
rapidly the night before we left Wrangell 
that a camper was forced to leave his out¬ 
fit to save his own life. His tent, stand¬ 
ing half submerged, presented rather a 
helpless spectacle as well as a warning. 
At the boundary line between the United 
States and Canada the British government 
maintains a customs office at which hunt¬ 
ers’ outfits are listed and a deposit made 
by the hunter to secure the return of his 
outfit to the United States. Guns, ammu¬ 
nition, cameras, films and camp equipment 
must be listed, and a duty of thirty per 
cent, paid on firearms, ammunition and 
films, and twenty-five per cent, paid on 
cameras, tent and field glasses, to which is 
added a small war tax, but upon his return 
all he has paid is refunded. 
As soon as we got beyond the damp, 
rainy, mossy region near the coast the air 
became brighter and drier, and the weather 
enjoyable. The trees gradually change 
from groves of immense cotton woods to 
spruce and cedar and finally to the quaking 
asp and lodge pole pine. Navigating the 
canyon of the Stikine was an exciting 
event, as here the waters are confined to 
a narrow course of great depth and are 
swift and dangerous. Beyond the canyon 
we saw two black bear, one with a cub, 
searching the bars and inlets for stranded 
salmon, of which they are very fond. 
A place of interest on the river is the 
old Hudson Bay camp of 1898 where 5,000 
men spent the winter in the wild stampede 
to the gold fields of the Yukon. At that 
time a brewery was even established at 
this point. Prices soared, but the inevitable 
crash came and horses declined in price 
from $250.00 to $2.50 each and flour from 
$50.00 to $2.00 a sack. 
Near Telegraph Creek there are two 
rocks in the Stikine River concerning 
which there is the Indian legend of Kayak 
and his brother and sister. Kayak was told 
by a medicine man that if his sister ever 
looked at him he would die and, as she 
traveled with her brothers considerably, 
she always wore a bonnet to prevent her 
from looking at them. The brothers were 
wading across the river at a time when 
it was unusually low and the sister, who 
was near, fearing that the swift current 
might sweep them into a deep pool, and 
being alarmed at their danger, looked at 
them. Instantly the brothers were turned 
into two rocks and have remained so ever 
since. The traveler can see the proofs. 
There were nine hunters aboard, includ¬ 
ing a charming woman from San Fran¬ 
cisco, who was accompanying her husband. 
All were most ardent sportsmen and none 
more active, interesting or zealous than 
Governor Comer, of Alabama, whose al¬ 
most three score and ten years rested light¬ 
ly upon him indeed. He secured fine 
trophies on his • hunt and we were all 
pleased and gratified with his success. 
Telegraph Creek U 
T Telegraph Creek the entire popu¬ 
lation turned out to meet the boat, 
all greatly interested in the arrival 
of the hunters, as their coming means 
much in a financial way to many people of 
that little place. This year the picking was 
poor, for the war deterred several parties 
from making the trip. Most of the hunt¬ 
ers were nervous in their efforts to get 
on their way with their outfits at once; but 
this is entirely unnecessary as a day or so 
makes no difference in these game fields 
and there is more than enough territory 
for all who can secure outfits. 
Telegraph Creek is simply a trading post 
or base where supplies are sold to and furs 
bought from the trappers who live in the 
surrounding mountains. As there was 
plenty of time I went over the place thor¬ 
oughly. The inhabitants are a few white 
people and Chinese, and several Indians 
of thfe Tahltan tribe. The village has a 
good hospital, for accidents in this country 
are many. A travois was at the hospital 
gate and I learned that a woman suffering 
from the effects of-premature child-birth 
had just been brought in on the travois 
from a point ninety-six miles distant. Six 
men in four days and two hours carried 
this woman over the trail to the hospital. 
The weight of the woman, the travois 
and the blankets was about 225 pounds. 
The spirit and hardihood of the pioneer 
have evidently not been lost to the human 
family, as such emergencies demonstrate. 
The Indian burial ground on the knoll 
back of the town is of interest. Little 
wooden houses, or sometimes a duck tent, 
are put up over several of the graves and 
in these are deposited trunks or valises 
containing the effects of the deceased. In 
one of the houses was an alarm clock, evi¬ 
dently a greatly prized possession. We 
wondered whether it was set for the res- 
urection morn. A totem in the form of a 
grizzly bear was in front of one of the 
houses. The custom of building a wooden 
house over the grave is now obsolete and 
the tents are put up in stead. 
The view from the foot hills near the 
village is a beautiful one. The Stikine 
from this point is quite similar to the 
Yellowstone above the Falls and the peaks 
of the Saw Tooth Range (every mountain 
country seems to have a saw tooth range) 
are rugged, angular and white with snow. 
Malemutes and huskies are plentiful in 
the streets of the village and are very nec¬ 
essary to the people for all travel is by dog 
sled in the winter. A triangle gong hangs 
from a post in front of the hotel and a 
Chinese waiter announces the meals by a 
vigorous pounding on the gong. This is 
always followed by prolonged howling 
The many glaciers along the way are sublime in their grandeur 
