Walter Harper

I'd like to continue to talk about my ancestors in Alaska.

Aunt Frances met Walter Harper the first day she arrived in the Yukon Territory in 1917. He worked with the doctor and others attempting to set up a hospital there, and he hoped one day to start medical school. In her letter to her family, she mentioned him by name, but said no more about him at that time.

Walter's father, Arthur, was the first white man to seek his fortune mining gold in the Yukon, and then became a trader. He married an Inuit woman, and fathered seven children. Walter was the youngest, born in 1893. Arthur insisted, over Jennie's objection, that the children be educated "Outside". But after the pair separated in 1895, Jennie moved back to her people, and Walter was educated in the old traditions.

When Walter was 16 he met Hudson Stuck, an Episcopal missionary, who later became Archdeacon of Alaska. Stuck befriended Walter, who soon became his aide. In 1913 Stuck organized a party to scale Mt. McKinley (Known in Alaska as Denali) and Walter led them up the mountain. Walter was the first person ever to set foot on the peak of the highest point on our continent.

In 1914, Hudson Stuck took the young man "Outside" to Massachusetts, where he attended school. Walter was 22, a tall, strong, soft spoken and polite young person. He had heard of New York's Coney Island, and said he would like to visit there. That is where they headed on Decoration Day.

On June 1, 1914, the New York Times published an article with the headline: "Yukon Indian Opens Coney Island Eyes". This article is reproduced on the website of my cousin Bob as part of his research of our family history. I will not publish it here, since it contains several things that I find objectionable. They would never appear in today's newspapers, since they would not be considered "politically correct". But I will tell you the story of that day.

As soon as they reached the park, Walter saw the Strength Testing machine, which consisted of a block you hit with a 20 pound hammer in order to ring a bell at the top. It's said that very few people managed to ring that bell. Walter took two swings at it, rang the bell twice, and broke the machine. He apologized for the damage, and went on to the next booth - sharp shooting. Three glass balls bobbed around in the water. Walter paid for three shots for a nickel, and before anyone could count the shots he fired, three glass balls were broken. He was now creating a lot of interest. He moved on to the dunking machine. Again, few people managed to hit the target and dunk the man, who liked to taunt those trying to send him into the water. Walter had never thrown a baseball before, but he had thrown lots of rocks, so he decided to give it a try. He bought three balls. He dunked the man three times. And so it went.'

In the afternoon they took a swim, then lay around on the sand. After a while, Hudson Stuck realized what Walter was doing with the sand. He had built a replica of Mt. McKinley, and a topographical map of the surrounding area. Then he traced their path up to the peak.

It was a long time before the people at Coney Island forgot this man. Quite a guy, my Uncle Walter! No wonder that Aunt Frances fell in love with him. How I wish that I had known him.
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Misadventures Along the Road - Part 2

Most of my misadventures have occurred in the thirty-three years I have been a widow. I am very grateful that my husband taught our son well, and that our son was very receptive to these lessons. He not only learned about carpentry, electricity and plumbing, he also very much enjoyed automotive lessons. In fact, early on, he decided that would be his future. He has switched jobs since, but at the time it was all he cared about, and he became very proficient in his field. So I had no problems concerning general maintenance of our car. But I was still making long trips between states, sometimes alone, and sometimes with one or more of the girls.

There's nothing like the excitement of having your engine suddenly quit, at 60 or 70 miles per hour, in bumper to bumper traffic on Long Island's Belt Parkway! Add pouring rain and an unfamiliar neighborhood. It happened just before I had reached the Coney Island Exit. Momentum carried me that far. Gravity carried me down the ramp onto Coney Island Boulevard, where I made a quick left turn, away from the ocean. I coasted to the curb.

All I knew was that I could not abandon the car in that neighborhood. I sat a while, wondering what to do. This, of course, was long before the cell phone. Finally I tried the ignition one more time, and the engine turned over.I traveled a couple of blocks, and it quit again. Sat a while longer to let it cool, and tried again. It went a couple of more blocks. I continued like this until I reached Coney Island Hospital, turned into their over night parking lot, paid $8.00, and found a space. My daughter and I dashed through the torrential downpour, got inside, reached a pay phone and called another daughter further out on the island, which had been our original destination, and she came to pick us up. This is not as easy as it sounds, since this was a holiday weekend, which means that everyone on the Island was heading for Manhattan, and everyone in Manhattan was heading for the Island, to spend the holiday with relatives. Traffic was unbelievable.

Once back at her house, I phoned my son in New Jersey, who intended to come up the next day. I described the problem to him and he knew immediately what was needed. The next day he drove to Coney Island Hospital, fixed the car, and called me. Into Coney Island we went, and then had us a three car convoy back to Suffolk County. Rescue completed.


I've also broken down - without Joe's help possible - on Staten Island. Not fun. Very expensive. Ending badly, and necessitating re-repair by my son once we did get home. If you are ever going to break down - do not do it on Staten Island!


Stay tuned. More next week.