MISSIONS OLD AND NEW 
 
 IN 
 
 ALASKA 
 
 Reprinted from the 1927 Annual Report 
 
 Board of National Missions 
 of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. 
 156 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 
 
Missions Old and New in Alaska 
 
 THE territory of Alaska has been settled by white people since 
 1784. It passed into the possession of the United States in 
 1867 by purchase, the price being $7,200,000. For a score of 
 years it was ridiculed, neglected and despised and the needs of its 
 people all but forgotten. Then for a decade it was placed under 
 the occupancy of the United States Army and soldiers were quar- 
 tered in all the salient points. Then another period of waiting inter- 
 vened before civil government was set up. It is not to the credit of 
 the American people that it took them so long to "discover" Alaska 
 and so long to apply to it the principles of stable, orderly govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Salmon fisheries were the first industry of the territory. The 
 untold wealth within the waters of the sea was easily available to 
 the fishermen with slight equipment, and so fishing is the first and 
 oldest industry. As the territory became more and more occupied 
 there were discoveries of precious minerals, both quartz and placer 
 mines, and later copper, coal and other valuable minerals. Next in 
 the order of development came farming in the south and eastern part 
 of interior Alaska. The soil is inconceivably rich and the summer 
 climate is such as to render production unusually large. To a small 
 extent only this source of livelihood has been utilized. A recent 
 industry is the marketing of reindeer meat. Through the initiative 
 of Sheldon Jackson, reindeer were introduced into Alaska for the 
 purpose of supplying food to the Eskimos. The total number 
 imported from Siberia was a little over 1,000. It is now estimated 
 that there are 500,000 in Alaska. The survey of the U. S. Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture shows that the vast tundras are capable of 
 supporting four million reindeer. In the near future a great industry 
 is sure to develop from the pulp woods in the Tongass national 
 forests. 
 
 The beginnings of missionary work in Alaska are intensely 
 interesting. Nearly one hundred years ago, in 1829, a returning 
 missionary for the Sandwich Islands made a tour of exploration 
 which carried him as far north as the Russian and Indian settle- 
 ments near the present site of Sitka. His published letters and 
 reports describe the deplorable conditions existing. Nothing how- 
 ever was done by Protestant forces to meet the needs which he 
 depicted until nearly a half century had elapsed, although in the 
 meantime the Russian Church, of course, had its priests and adher- 
 ents in Alaska. 
 
 In 1868, one year after the purchase of Alaska by the United 
 States, Rev. Aaron L. Lindsley, who is well entitled to be called the 
 patron saint of Alaska, became pastor of the First Presbyterian 
 
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Church of Portland, Oregon. The following year he had an inter- 
 view with Secretary Seward, whom he had previously known, while 
 the Secretary was returning from his visit to Alaska. From him he 
 obtained much information regarding the natives, their conditions, 
 habits and needs. 
 
 At about this time a Presbyterian layman, a member of the 
 New York Avenue Church in Washington, D. C, was located at 
 Sitka, in the government service. He organized and conducted a 
 Sunday school for Russians and Americans. 
 
 In 1875 General O. O. Howard came to Portland and resided 
 on the same street opposite Dr. Lindsley. Dr. Lindsley had frequent 
 interviews with him regarding the natives of Alaska. All these years 
 his interest had been developing as his information increased. In 
 1877 he commissioned and sent to Alaska a member of his church, 
 a layman by the name of J. C. Mallory, with instructions to visit 
 Ft. Wrangell and Sitka, make a general survey of the needs of the 
 natives and the opportunity for opening up mission work, and to 
 open up such work where opportunity offered. Mallory visited Ft. 
 Wrangell first of all. Here he found a Christian Indian named 
 Philip Simpsian who had been converted in the Wesleyan mission, 
 near Ft. Simpson, British Columbia. This Indian had actually in 
 operation a school for the teaching of the natives. Mallory employed 
 him in the name of Dr. Lindsley to have charge of the school and 
 promised him $25 a month for three months. He also obtained 
 from the natives at Wrangell the promise to assist in the building of 
 a church for worship. Before Mr. Mallory had time to go over 
 very much of the territory, he received the news that he had been 
 appointed by the government to be an Indian agent in Colorado and 
 his health was such that he felt obliged to accept the offer. As his. 
 successor, Dr. Lindsley appointed another member of his church, 
 Mrs. A. R. McFarland, the widow of Rev. D. F. McFarland, for- 
 merly a missionary of the Board in New Mexico. She went to 
 Wrangell in the late summer of 1877 and assumed charge of the 
 work which Mr. Mallory had begun with Philip Simpsian as the 
 native teacher. The support of Mrs. McFarland was assumed by 
 Dr. Lindsley. After some months of correspondence, her support 
 was taken over by the Board of Home Missions. Mrs. McFarland 
 was escorted to Wrangell by the Rev. Sheldon Jackson who hap- 
 pened to be in Portland at the time of her departure and who 
 seized the opportunity to go to Alaska to make a re-survey of con- 
 ditions and missionary opportunities. They were followed, about 
 a vear later, by S. Hall Young and John G. Brady, later Governor. 
 In 1879 Dr. Young organized and built the first church at Ft. 
 Wrangell. 
 
 Some twenty years earlier, in 1857, William Duncan, known 
 generally as Father Duncan, had established a mission among the 
 Tsimpian Indians in British Columbia. He organized a self- 
 supporting Indian colony known as Metlakatla. Because of irksome 
 governmental regulations and the persecution, both political and 
 ecclesiastical, to which he was subjected, in August, 1887 he moved 
 
 3 
 
his whole colony to Annette Island, Alaska, and established there a 
 new Metlakatla. At the death of Father Duncan, a Presbyterian 
 Church was organized over which Rev. Edward Marsden, a native, 
 was called to be pastor. In 1890 in answer to the call for missionary 
 work in the Arctics broadcasted through the religious papers by a 
 Lieutenant in the U. S. Navy, Prof. L. M. Stevenson went to 
 Barrow and opened up the work there. 
 
 From these humble beginnings the work has developed with 
 many vicissitudes, until today there are two Presbyteries, one hos- 
 pital, the great Sheldon Jackson Training School, the orphanage 
 at Haines, two mission boats and many churches and stations. 
 
 Alaska comprises 590,000 square miles and has 26,000 miles of 
 coast line. It is a land of superlatives. Its dimensions are vast. 
 Its natural resources are incalculably rich. Its scenery is magnifi- 
 cent. Its climatic range is downward from the temperate climate of 
 southeastern Alaska to what you will. And Alaska enthusiasts, of 
 vv'hom there are not a few, envisage for it a future which only 
 superlatives can describe. 
 
 The present population of Alaska is about 55,000 of whom 
 26,500 are natives. That fact, taken in conjunction with the vast 
 size of the country, will convey some idea of the difficulty of mis- 
 sionary operation. The natives are of four races : the Eskimo, on 
 rhe coast of the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean ; the Aleut, on the 
 Aleutian and Shumagin Islands and the Alaska Peninsula, Cook's 
 Inlet and Prince William Sound; the Alaskan Indians, in the 
 Yukon, Kuskokwin, Susitna and Copper Valleys; the Japanese na- 
 tives, inhabiting southeastern Alaska and comprising three groups 
 of languages, Thlinkets, Hydas and Tsimpsheans. 
 
 In Southeast Alaska the Presbyterian work is mainly among the 
 natives with but five white churches here. In central Alaska, north 
 from Anchorage and Cordova to Nenana and Fairbanks the work 
 is exclusively for the white population. In the Arctics three stations 
 have been established, at Cape Prince of Wales, St. Lawrence Island 
 and Barrow. The former two points have been vacant for some 
 time now on account of the reduction made in the Board's budget. 
 
 The economic situation in the last seven years in Alaska has 
 been such that many have been obliged to leave the territory. The 
 population is at a low ebb. While it is true that there are less adults 
 in Alaska than usual, at the same time it must be noted that those 
 who are there now are there for purposes other than seeking for 
 gold. They are building homes instead of prospecting. More 
 children have been born in the territory in this period than at any 
 similar period heretofore. There is a growing need for increased 
 school accommodations. This is only to say that the period of 
 inflation due to gold excitement and other commercial booms has 
 passed and the era of home building and community development 
 has begun. This will make the work in the near future more 
 attractive than ever. The social side of life is being developed and 
 the amenities of home and civilization are being cultivated. 
 
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Economically, the natives are in difficulty. When the white man 
 came to Alaska he found them living on the fruit of their eflforts at 
 fishing and hunting. Relatively it was easy to obtain a livelihood 
 under such conditions, for both game and fish were abundant. Since 
 the large packing companies have come in and syndicated the fish- 
 ing, the native is employed only in seasonal efforts. His former 
 supply of food, easily obtained, is vanishing. It is realized that he 
 must, somehow, adapt himself to the modern economic situation. 
 During this time of transition, the training given in the Sheldon 
 Jackson School is invaluable; also efiforts like those of Mr. Beck at 
 Hoonah to teach the natives agriculture should be encouraged. This 
 transition has been rendered a little more difficult by the racial 
 prejudice that unscrupulous politicians have fomented in Alaska. 
 Since all of the natives are citizens and inclined to exercise the 
 franchise, their insistence on their own civil rights is not always 
 looked upon with favor by certain interests. Hence, there is far 
 more prejudice between natives and whites than ought to exist. It 
 is the privilege of the church of Jesus Christ in this critical stage of 
 development to mitigate as much as possible the bitterness of this 
 conflict and to assist the native in maintaining his rights under the 
 law. 
 
 Events of the Year 
 
 The past year has been marked with tragic events. On Septem- 
 ber 16, a fire broke out in the village of Kake at a time when most 
 of the men were at work in the cannery at a considerable distance 
 away. One half of the village was destroyed by fire, including the 
 church with its contents. The manse, however, was uninjured. 
 Twenty-six families numbering ninety-two persons were rendered 
 shelterless and many of them lost their winter's food supply. Im- 
 mediate relief was rushed to the scene by the American Red Cross. 
 It happened that the mission boat "Princeton" was at Haines when 
 the fire occurred. A wire started the boat southward bringing Rev. 
 David Waggoner and Rev. and Mrs. George J. Beck, who spent 
 several days with the people, ministering in every possible way. It 
 is very, earnestly hoped that money may be obtained in connection 
 with the Alaska Jubilee to rebuild this house of worship at as early 
 a date as possible. 
 
 On October 10th a fire broke out in the village of Douglas which 
 destroyed property to the amount of considerably more than $200,- 
 000, including the building of the Presbyterian Church. In this 
 instance, also, a great many of the natives were rendered homeless 
 and destitute. They were aided immediately by the Red Cross and 
 bv our missionaries. It is hoped that money may be obtained through 
 the Jubilee fund as in the case of Kake for rebuilding this, house of 
 worship. 
 
 It is significant to note that the new building of the Northern 
 Light Church at Juneau which takes the place of the one burned a 
 year ago, has been completed during the year and will be dedicated 
 in April with the Presbytery in session at the time. This structure 
 is the most attractive and commodious church in the capital city. 
 
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This is the only self supporting church of our faith in the territory 
 and the claim is made that it is the only such church of any denomi- 
 nation in Alaska. During the year of building, the spiritual side of 
 the work has not been neglected and an increase in the membership 
 of 50% has been reported. In consequence, this church faces the 
 future with great optimism and hopefulness. 
 
 The mission at Barrow has been very prominently in the mind 
 of the general public during the year, on account of the fact that 
 the exploring expedition of Capt. Wilkins used the village of Bar- 
 row as the base of its operation during the winter of 1925-26 and 
 the same Commander returned for exploration during the winter of 
 1926-27. An epidemic of typhoid fever occurred in the early spring. 
 The mission has had a prosperous year. All of our fields in the 
 interior of Alaska, excepting Nenana, have been manned during the 
 year. The pastor at Anchorage, Rev. J. E. Youel, broadcasts his 
 sermons every Sunday night over the radio, and responses have 
 been received from all over the territory showing that he has been 
 able to reach the remotest parts of Alaska. 
 
 The Old Rescue Hut at Point Barrow 
 
 The Presbyterian church was organized at Metlakatla seven 
 years ago. Father Duncan had many followers, who, after his 
 death did not feel like becoming members of another organization. 
 Some of these members actively opposed our work. The pastor. 
 Rev. Edw. Marsden, counseled patience, and through his influence 
 the breach has been largely healed. Before the missionaries came, 
 the Indians depended upon the blaze of an open fire at night for 
 light. The traders brought candles with them. When the mission- 
 aries came, kerosene lamps were put into use. When the gas boats 
 began to come, gasoline lamps were introduced. The young men 
 in Metlakatla lately began to ask for better lighting, and as a result 
 the natives are putting in a hydro electric plant which will supply 
 
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adequate current for municipal and domestic use. This is a good 
 illustration of the general progressiveness of this unique community. 
 
 The Board has rural missionaries who are approaching their task 
 in a spirit of evangelizing the very soil itself. At Hoonah, Alaska, 
 Rev. Geo. J. Beck, a veteran of nearly twenty years in the Board's 
 service, recently spent his Sabbatical Year in planning an agricul- 
 tural mission. His Indians used to be fishermen, and they still are 
 employed in the fisheries carried on by stock companies at that place. 
 For this work they receive wages, but the industrial organization of 
 salmon fishing excludes the Indian from the enjoyment of the sur- 
 plus of the salmon catch, which used to feed him during the winter, 
 and from the profits of the salmon run. The wants of these Indians 
 are increasing and they must look for other sources of wealth. 
 
 Mr. Beck, their missionary, believes that they can farm the land. 
 He is turning their attention therefore, from the sea before them to 
 the land behind them — which is fertile, and the growing season is 
 long. He brought back with him from his leave of absence an agri- 
 cultural equipment, suited as he thinks to the cutting down of tim- 
 ber, and clearing the land for the crops best suited to that soil for 
 the needs of the people. He has saws, axes, plows, harrows and 
 other implements — everything he needs but a tractor. It is Mr. 
 Beck's belief that only in agriculture can the settlement at Hoonah 
 be maintained. 
 
 Sunday School Missions 
 
 The two Sunday School Missionaries in Alaska, Rev. Robert R. 
 Marquis and Rev. David Waggoner, are doing real pioneer work, 
 although the work of each is carried on under widely different con- 
 ditions and with great liberty of adaptation to meet the peculiar 
 needs of the groups to which they minister. Mr. Marquis continues 
 to hold the work at Nenana as a center for a widespread ministry 
 to the settlements along the line of the Government railway. He 
 has planted mission Sunday schools at a number of points where 
 there are no other Christian organizations. The long distances and 
 hardships of travel in this region, together with the almost utter 
 absence of local leadership, makes progress much slower than in the 
 States. 
 
 During the past year, the program has been enlarged by the 
 development of a plan announced last year, to utilize the service of 
 the other Missionaries of the Board in Alaska, who are placed in 
 charge of churches, in behalf of the outlying settlements and neigh- 
 borhoods which their churches cannot reach. They are given an 
 allowance for travel and a clearly defined program of Sunday school 
 and Vacation Bible School work. The missionaries have cooperated 
 in a very effective way, and the results have been most encouraging. 
 Mr. Youel writes : 
 
 "I regularly visit Wasilla. It is a very small village 65 miles 
 north of Anchorage on the Alaska Railroad. Seventy-five fully 
 numbers the population within a radius of five miles including the 
 village. Nearly all the children of the community are pupils in 
 the Sunday school. Several good and faithful ladies are regularly 
 
 7 
 
working in the Sunday school, the day school teacher being one o^ 
 them. I have a standing appointment for holding a service at Wa- 
 silla on the Tuesday evening after the first Sunday of each month. 
 These services are well attended every month, fully one-half of the 
 population being present. I use part of the evening for a Workers' 
 Conference, in which all present seem to be interested. Services, 
 including the session of the Sunday school, are all held in the school 
 house." 
 
 The Presbytery of Yukon has taken action endorsing the plan 
 and we believe that by persistent fostering of these outposts our 
 churches will be greatly strengthened, and our occupation of that 
 entire field made more efficient. 
 
 In his boat ministry among the natives, which resembles some- 
 what the character of the work of a Colporteur Missionary, the Rev. 
 David Waggoner is rendering heroic service. With his new boat, 
 "Princeton," Mr. Waggoner is reaching hundreds of families who 
 otherwise would never receive a gospel message. Arriving at a 
 settlement, Mr. Waggoner anchors his boat and goes ashore with 
 his pack of literature consisting of Bibles, Testaments and Sunday 
 school papers with colored Bible pictures, which the children espe- 
 cially are eager to receive. He visits the homes and arranges for a 
 series of gospel meetings with preaching every evening. A Bible 
 school is conducted each day for the children in which they are 
 taught to memorize Scripture selections, hymns and prayers. As the 
 result of these meetings many make a profession of Christianity. 
 After spending five or six days with these people, he goes on his 
 way to another settlement where he performs a similar ministry. 
 Frequently there are sick ones who need hospital care, whom he 
 takes in his boat to the nearest place where medical attendance may 
 be obtained. To thousands of poor natives who are reached by no 
 other Christian ministry, Mr. Waggoner is regarded as a trusted 
 friend and spiritual guide. He enters into their lives and helps in 
 every possible way to lift them to higher standards of living. Let 
 us travel with him to some of these settlements on his Vacation 
 Bible School tour during the summer. Thirteen of these schools 
 were held last summer. Here is a leaf from his diary: 
 
 "During August a trip was made to the Icy Straits country, 
 where are located some canneries and ranches. The visit in the 
 canneries was very helpful. In most of them the native men who 
 were under our training last winter, together with elders from vari- 
 ous churches, supervised and conducted religious services. We found 
 the spiritual conditions therefore better than in former years. 
 
 "Strawberry Point is located on the northern part of the Straits. 
 Here four families have located and are pioneers in farming and 
 stock raising. We spent several hours at this point. We were com- 
 pelled to leave the launch several miles from the homes and row up 
 a shallow stream as far as we could and walk the remainder of the 
 distance. A home Sunday school is being carried on and we have 
 been helping them with literature from time to time. Many of the 
 larger children will remove to Juneau this winter for school privi- 
 
 8 
 
leges. There are not enough children now living within the district 
 to maintain a school according to the requirements of the law. All 
 are hoping for more settlers to come in and take up the land. 
 
 "A visit was made also to the Tenakee Inlet country. This Inlet 
 has two canneries and a village. In the canneries we were hospit- 
 ably received by the management and were able to conduct two ser- 
 vices besides visiting all of the homes. The village of Tenakee is 
 inhabited by a mixed population. The reason for the village is a 
 mineral hot spring. The population is largely composed of adults. 
 There are about twelve children living within the village during the 
 winter months and the territory maintains a school. In canvassing 
 the town we did not find a Christian woman who could read. It is 
 therefore impossible to have a Sunday school this winter, unless we 
 can secure the aid of the new teacher whom we have been informed 
 by the Territorial Commissioner of Education is a Christian. We 
 will try to secure this help during the Teacher's Institute. The only 
 Christian family in the community is native. We have held services 
 twice in the village and the attendance was rather good. However, 
 the type of persons who come to the village are rarely induced to 
 enter a church building." 
 
 Educational Work 
 
 The educational work of the Board in Southeastern Alaska is 
 carried on through two stations : Sheldon Jackson School, a splendid- 
 ly equipped boarding school for both boys and girls at Sitka, now 
 completing the forty-seventh year of mission school work at this 
 post, and Haines House, a boarding home for forty children from 
 tiny tots up to twelve years of age, at Haines. 
 
 It is impossible to over-estimate the contribution of Sheldon 
 Jackson School to the formative influences in the development of 
 native life in Alaska. Working under a three-fold program of edu- 
 cation, health and evangelism it has bent every effort to establish the 
 natives as "competent. Christian citizens." The executive reports : 
 "Our pupils are steadily improving in two directions — mentality and 
 morality. In mental attainment they are more nearly up to standard. 
 Not many years ago it was not uncommon to have young men and 
 women of mature years in primer classes and it was impossible to 
 have a high school department for lack of enrollment. This year 
 for the first time, a considerable number of eighth grade graduates 
 of Bureau of Education Schools knocked at our high school doors. 
 Our freshman class has sixteen members, eight of whom took their 
 grade work at Sheldon Jackson School and eight at other schools. 
 
 "The outstanding event of the year was the dedication of the 
 new infirmary. For years we have been waiting and praying for 
 such a building. With about a hundred and forty young native boys 
 and girls to care for, it is very necessary that provision be made for 
 physical welfare. Each year brings the usual number of minor ail- 
 m.ents as well as an occasional serious illness ; no year passes without 
 its peculiar burden of epidemic, accident or other unanticipated 
 emergency. It is probable that our new infirmary is the most com- 
 
 9 
 
plete small hospital in Alaska. There are four two-bed wards, 
 dispensary, operating room, two nurses' rooms, kitchenette and other 
 conveniences. Through a special gift of a long-time friend of the 
 School, a complete outfit of furnishings including a modern oper- 
 ating table with approved light has been supplied. It was with 
 grateful hearts that staff and students gathered on February seventh 
 to dedicate this building to its purpose of physical healing. But the 
 real dedication had already been effected. The daughter of one of 
 our efficient lay workers had been for weeks critically ill. As a last 
 resort a delicate operation became necessary and was successfully 
 performed. This promising girl, on the way to restoration to health, 
 was an interested listener from her bed in one of the wards. Without 
 the modern equipment and sanitary conditions in the new infirmary, 
 it is not probable that her life could have been saved and thus the 
 Great Physician had already blessed our new infirmary and employ- 
 ed it in His service — a dedication indeed." 
 
 Growth in spirituality on the part of the pupils is shown by 
 the facts that this year a number have been able to take occasional 
 charge of the third and fourth year Bible classes and of evening 
 prayers in the Senior dormitories and that there has been a marked 
 improvement in the leadership of Christian Endeavor meetings. So- 
 cial responsibility is definitely developed through various forms of 
 service performed in the native village, for example, the mission 
 Sunday school here is officered and taught by students from the 
 School, with the single exception of the superintendent, who is a 
 staff member. 
 
 The first class to graduate from the high school was that of 
 1921 and two members of that class are now in service under the 
 Board, one as a teacher and one' as an evangelistic worker. Another 
 graduate is a teacher under the Bureau of Education. Former stu- 
 dents who are non-graduates include a minister, four lay workers 
 in charge of native churches, a trained nurse, a member of the terri- 
 torial legislature, a deputy United States marshall and a second 
 teacher. Nine charter members of the Alaskan Native Brotherhood, 
 "the heart and brains of the Thlinget nation today," are products 
 of Sheldon Jackson School. 
 
 "One great result of the Board's work is seen in the improved 
 condition of many of the native villages; the building of sidewalks, 
 the installation of water systems, better disposal of garbage and 
 other sanitary measures, the more intelligent care of children, higher 
 school standards, the eflfecting of village organization and the lifting 
 of moral ideals- — all these are a demonstration of the work of the 
 Board of National Missions through the pupils who have benefited 
 by the training of Sheldon Jackson School." 
 
 The small boys and girls at Haines are orphans, half -orphans 
 or destitute children who have been left to shift for themselves. 
 They attend the Government School in the village and on reaching 
 the age of twelve are transferred to Sheldon Jackson School to 
 complete their education, How these little neglected lives flower 
 under the influence of Christian home training! Though it is not 
 
 10 
 
the practice to suggest this important step to the children, eight have 
 joined the church since last September. 
 
 Haines House also functions very largely as a community 
 center. A dispensary service is maintained for the natives and the 
 staff teach in the native Sunday school and assist in all other forms 
 of church work. 
 
 Sheldon Jackson 
 
 11 
 
Price: Five Cents