ALASKA THE GREAT COUNTRY CHAPTER XX From Sitka to the Sea: Ice, Storms, and the Violet North

There are journeys you dream of—and then there are the ones that shatter the dream by exceeding it. When the Santa Ana sailed west from Sitka through the maze of emerald islands and into the violet shimmer of Icy Straits, I knew I was seeing something sacred. The opal light, the cold breath of glaciers, and Mount Edgecumbe—round, white, watchful—framed a world both fierce and fragile. We passed the ice-filled waters once ruled by the majestic Muir Glacier, now a crumpled field of memory. It felt like sailing through the ruins of a cathedral built by nature herself. The ghost of its once-opaline palisades whispered in the cold wind. I was headed for the far Aleutian Isles—those lonely, green-crested isles crowned with fire and snow, kissed by the Bering Sea. It was the realization of a lifelong dream. But dreams, in Alaska, come wrapped in weather. That night, the North Pacific showed her fury. The sky darkened, the waves rose like mountains, and the wind punched the breath back into your lungs. Standing on the texas deck, drenched in salt and awe, I felt not fear—but wonder. This was the North I had come for: beautiful, brutal, alive. The storm rolled the ship like a cradle of thunder. The captain helped me to my cabin, joking, “Shut your door—or you’ll be washed out of your berth.” Before he could close it, a wall of sea rose behind him and crashed through—drenching us both before sliding back into the black, roaring night. I was soaked. Shivering. Speechless. Happy.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twenty. Our ship having been delayed by the storm,
it was mid afternoon when we reach Yakutat. A vast
plateau borders the ocean from Cross Sound north of Baranoff
and Chicagof Islands to Yacitat. And out of this plateau
rise for great snow peaks Mount la Perouse, Mount Krillen,

(00:22):
Mount Lituyia, and Mount Fairwether, ranging in height from ten
thousand to fifteen thousand, nine hundred feet. In all this
stretch there are but two bays of any size, Lituya
and Dry, and they have only historical importance. Lituya Bay
was described minutely by la Perouse, who spent some time

(00:43):
therein seventeen eighty six in his two vessels, the Astrolabe
and Bustle. The entrance to this bay is exceedingly dangerous.
The tide enters in a bore which can only be
run at slack tide. La Perouse lost two boat loads
of men in the bore on the eve of his departure,
a loss which he describes at length and with much feeling.

(01:07):
Before finally departing, he caused to be erected a monument
to the memory of the lost officers and crew on
a small island, which he named Senetaph or monument Isle.
A bottle containing a full account of the disaster and
the names of the twenty one men was buried at
the foot of the monument. Laperouse named this bas Porte

(01:30):
de Francis. The chronicles of this modest French navigator seem
somehow to stand apart from those of the other early voyagers.
There is an appearance of truth, enough fine feeling in
them that does not appear in all. He at first
attempted to enter Yacatat Bay, which he called the Bay
of Monty in honor of the commandant of an exploring

(01:53):
expedition which he sent out in advance, but the sea
was breaking with such violence upon the beach that he
abandoned the attempt. He described the savages of the Tuya
Bay as treacherous and devish. They surrounded the ships and canoes,
offering to exchange fresh fish and otter skins for iron,

(02:15):
which seemed to be the only article desired, although glass
beads found some small favor in the eyes of the women.
La Perouse supposed himself to be the first discoverer of
this bay. The Russians, however, had been their years before.
The savages appeared to be worshippers of the sun. La

(02:35):
Perouse pronounced the bay itself to be the most extraordinary
spot on the whole earth. It is a great basin
the middle of which is unfathomable, surrounded by snow peaks
of great height. During all the time that he was there,
he never saw a puff of wind ruffled the surface
of the water, nor was it ever disturbed, save by

(02:57):
the fall of masses of ice, which were discharged from
five different glaciers, with a thunderous noise which echoed from
the farthest recesses of the surrounding mountains. The air was
so tranquil in the silence, so undisturbed, that the human
voice and the cries of sea birds lying among the
rocks were heard at the distance of half a league.

(03:19):
The climate was found to be infinitely milder than that
of Hudson Bay of the same latitude. Vegetation was extremely vigorous,
pines measuring six feet in diameter and rising to a
height of one hundred and forty feet, celery sorrel lupins,
wild peas, yarrow, chickory, angelica violets, and many varieties of

(03:44):
grass were found in abundance and were used in soups
and salads as remedies for scurvy. Strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, the elder,
the willow, and the broom were found then, as they
are to day. Trout and salmon were taken in the
streams and in the Bay Halibit. It is to be

(04:05):
feared that la Perouse was not strong on birds, for
in the copses he heard singing linnets, nightingales, blackbirds, and
water quails, whose songs were very agreeable. It was July,
which he called the paring time he found one very
fine blue jay, and it is surprising that he did

(04:27):
not hear it sing. For the savages, especially the women,
the fastidious Frenchman entertained feelings of disgust and horror. He
could discover no virtues or traits in them to praise conscientiously,
though he tried. They lived in the same kind of
habitations that all the early explorers found along the coast

(04:49):
of Alaska, large buildings consisting of one room twenty five
by twenty feet or larger. Fire was kindled in the
middle of these rooms on the earth floor. Over it
was suspended fish of several kinds to be smoked. There
was always a large hole in the roof when there

(05:09):
was a roof at all, to receive the smoke. About
twenty persons of both sexes dwelt in each of these houses.
Their habits, customs, and relations were indescribably disgusting and indecent.
Their houses were more loathsome and vile of odor than
the den of any beast. Even at the present time,

(05:31):
in some of the native villages, notably Belkovskiyon, the Alias
and Peninsula, all the most horrible odors ever experienced in
civilization distilled into one could not equal the stench with
which the natives and their habitations reek. As their customs
are somewhat cleanlier now then they were a hundred and

(05:51):
thirty years ago, and as upon this one point all
the early navigators forcibly agree, we may well conclude that
they did not exagger. The one room was used for eating, sleeping, cooking,
smoking fish, washing their clothes in their cooking, and eating
wooden utensils, by the way, which are never cleansed, And

(06:13):
for the habitation of their dogs. The men pierced the
cartilage of the nose and airs. For the wearing of
ornaments of shell, iron or other material. They filed their
teeth down, even with the gums, with a piece of
rough stone. The men painted their faces and other parts
of their bodies in a frightful manner with ochre lamp

(06:35):
black and black lead mixed with the oil of the
sea wolf. Their hair was frequently greased and dressed with
the down of sea birds. The women's also. A plain
skin covered the shoulders of the men, while the rest
of the body was left entirely naked. The women filled

(06:56):
the frenchmen with a lively horror. The laborate in the lip,
or ladle, as he termed it, wore unbearably upon his
fine nerves. He considered that the whole world would not
afford another custom equally revolting and disgusting. When the ornament
was removed, the lower lip fell down upon the chin,

(07:18):
and this second picture was more hideous than the first.
The gallant Captain Dixon, on his voyage a year later,
was more favorably impressed with the women. He must have
worn rose colored glasses. He describes their habits and habitations
almost as Laperouse did, but uses no expression of disgust

(07:40):
or horror. He describes the women as being of medium sighs,
having straight, well shaped limbs. They painted their faces, but
he prevailed upon one woman, by persuasion and presents, to
wash her face and hands, whereupon her countenance had all
the cheerful glow of an English milk mats, and the

(08:04):
healthy red which suffused her cheeks was even beautifully contrasted
with the white of her neck. Her eyes were black
and sparkling, her eyebrows of the same color, and most
beautifully arched, her foreheads so remarkably clear that the translucent
veins were seen meandering even in there minutest branches. In short,

(08:25):
she would be considered handsome even in England. The worst
adjectives he applied to the labor it were singular and curious.
Copyright by E. A. Hegg Juno courtesy of Webster and
Stephen's Seattle Pine Falls Adeline Copyright by E. A. Hegg

(08:46):
Juno courtesy of Webster and Stephen's Seattle Pine Falls Adeline.
Don Morello and other navigators found now and then a
woman who might compete with the beauties of Spain and
other lands, but none shared the transports of Dixon, who
idealized their virtues and condoned their faults. Tibanka flocated two

(09:08):
immense glaciers in the Bay of Latuya, one in each arm,
describing them briefly, the icebergs fall from the mountains and
float over the waters of the bay. Throughout the year,
nothing disturbs the deep silence of this terribly grand gorge
of the mountains, but the thunder of the falling icebergs.
La Perous found enormous masses of ice detaching themselves from

(09:31):
five different glaciers. The water was covered with icebergs, and
nearness to the shore was exceedingly dangerous. His small boat
was upset half a mile from shore by a mass
of ice falling from a glacier. Mister Meir describes La
Perouse glacier as presenting grand ice bluffs to the open ocean,

(09:54):
into which it occasionally discharged bergs. All agreed that the
appearance and surrounding of the bay are extraordinary. Yactat Bay
is two hundred and fifteen miles from Sitka. It was
called Baring Bay by Cook and Vancouver, who supposed it
to be the bay in which the Dane anchored in
seventeen forty one. It was named Admiralty Bay by Dixon

(10:18):
and the Bay of Monty by la Perouse. The Indian
name is the only one which has been preserved. It
is so peculiarly situated that, although several islands lie in
front of it, the full force of the North Pacific
Ocean sweeps into it at most seasons of the year.
It is full of floating ice which drifts down from

(10:40):
the glaciers of Disenchantment Bay. At the point on the
southern side of the bay, which Dixon named Mulgrave, and
where there is a fine harbor, barre Enough established a
colony of Siberian convicts about one thousand, seven hundred and
ninety six. His instructions from Schlikov for the laying out
of a city in such a wilderness make interesting reading.

(11:04):
And now it only remains for us to hope that,
having selected on the mainland a suitable place, you will
lay out the settlement with some taste and withdew regard
for beauty of construction, in order that when visits are
made by foreign ships, as cannot fail to happen, it
may appear more like a town than a village, And

(11:24):
that the Russians in America may live in a neat
and orderly way, and not as in Okotsk, in squalor
and misery caused by the absence of nearly everything necessary
to civilization. Use taste as well as practical judgment in
locating the settlement. Look to beauty as well as to

(11:45):
convenience of material and supplies on the plans as well
as in reality. Leave room for spacious squares for public assemblies.
Make the streets not too long, but wide, and let
them radiate from ses. If the sight is wooded, let
trees enough stand to line the streets and to fill

(12:06):
the gardens. In order to beautify the place and preserve
a healthy atmosphere, build the houses along the streets, but
at some distance from each other. In order to increase
the extent of the town. The roofs should be of
equal height, and the architecture as uniform as possible. The
gardens should be of equal size and provided with good

(12:29):
fences along the streets. Thanks be to God that you
will at least have no lack of timber. In the
same letterpour Bearnoff was reproached for exchanging visits with captains
of foreign vessels and warned that he might be carried
off to California or some other desolate place. The colony

(12:49):
of Convicts had been intended as an agricultural settlement, but
the bleak location at the foot of Mount Saint Elias
made a farce of the undertaking. The site had been
chosen by a mistake. Opposed and fortifications were erected, but
it is not chronicled that Schlikoff's instructions were carried out.

(13:10):
There was great mortality among the colonists and their families,
and constant danger of attacked by the Kolash. Finally, in
eighteen o five, the fort and settlement were entirely destroyed
by their cruel and revengeful enemies. The new town of
Yakutat is three or four miles from the old settlement.

(13:32):
There is a good wharf at the foot of a
commanding plateau, which is a good site for a city.
On the wharf are a sawmill and cannery. A stiff
climb along a forest road brings one to a store,
several other business houses, and a few residences. There are
good coal vanes in the vicinity. The Yakatat and Southern

(13:55):
Railway leads several miles into the interior and handles a
great deal of time. In seventeen ninety four, Puget sailed
the Chatham through the narrow channel between the mainland and
the islands leading to Port Mowgrave, where Portof was established
in a tent, with nine of his countrymen and several
hundred Kadiak natives. He found the channel narrow and dangerous.

(14:20):
His vessel grounded, but was successfully floated at returning tide.
Passage to Mowgrave was found easy, however, by a channel
farther to the westward and southward. In this bay, as
in nearly all other localities on the northwest coast, the
Indians coming out to visit them, paddled around the ship

(14:41):
two or three times, singing a ceremonious song, before offering
to come aboard. They gladly exchanged bows, arrows, darts, spears, fish,
gigs whatever they may be, kamlaykas or wallascut coats and
needlework for white shirts, collars, cravats, and other the wearing apparel.

(15:02):
An Indian chief stole mister Puget's gold watched chain and
seals from his cabin, but it was discovered by Portoff
and returned. The cape extending into the ocean south of
the town was the Cape Phipps of the Russians. It
has long been known, however, as ocean cape. Cape Manby

(15:22):
is on the opposite side of the bay. Sailing up
Yakatat Bay, the Bay of Disenchantment is entered and continues
for sixty miles when it merges into Russell Fjord, which
bends sharply to the south and almost reaches the ocean.
Enchantment Bay would be a more appropriate name. The scenery

(15:43):
is a varied, magnificent, and ever increasing beauty. The climax
is reached in Russell Fjord, named for Professor Russell, who
explored it in a canoe in eighteen ninety one. From
Yacatat Bay to the very head of Russell Fjord's the
prime's splendor of scenery is encountered, surpassing the most vaunted

(16:04):
of the Old world. Within a few miles, one passes
from luxuriant forestation, to lovely lakes, lacy cascades, bits of
green valley, and then of a sudden, all unprepared, into
the most sublime snow mountain. Fastness is imaginable, surrounded by
glaciers and many of the most majestic mountain peaks of

(16:27):
the world. Cascades spring foaming down from misty heights, and
flowers bloom large and brilliant from the water to the
line of snow Malaspina. An Italian in the service of
Spain named Disenchantment Bay. Turner Glacier and the vast Hubbard
Glacier discharge into this bay, and from the reports of

(16:51):
the Italian Tabankov and Vancouver, it has been considered possible
that the two glaciers may have reached more than a
hundred years ago. Across the narrowest bend at the head
of Yakatat Bay. The fjord is so narrow that the
tops of the high snow mountains have the appearance of
overhanging their bases, and to the canoeists floating down the slender,

(17:14):
translucent waterway, this effect adds to the austerity of the scene.
Captains of regular steamers are frequently offered good prices to
make a side trip up Yakatat Bay to the beginning
of Disenchantment, but owing to the dangers of its comparatively
uncharted waters, they usually decline with vigor. One who would

(17:35):
penetrate into this exquisitely beautiful, loan and enchanted region, must
trust himself to a long canoe voyage and complete isolation
from his kind. But what recompense, what life? Rememberable joy?
Each country has its spell, but none is so great
as the spell of this lone end splendid land. It

(17:58):
is too sacred for any light word of pen or lip.
The spell of Alaska is the spell of God, and
it holds all save the basis, whether they acknowledge it
or deny. Here are sphinxes and pyramids built of century
upon century, snow, the pale green thunder of the Cataract,
the roar of the avalanche, and the glaciers compelling march,

(18:22):
the flow of mighty rivers, the unbroken silences that swim
from snow mountain to snow mountain, and the rose of sunset,
whose petals float and fade upon mountain. And see as
one sails pass these mountains days upon days, they seem
to lean apart and withdraw in pullly aloofness that others,

(18:42):
more beautiful and more remote may dawn upon the enraptured
beholder's sight. Four hundreds of miles up and down the coast,
and for hundreds into the interior. They rise in full
view from the ocean, which breaks upon the narrow ones
at sunrise and at sun one set. Each is wrapped
in a different color from the others, each in its

(19:04):
own light, its own glory caused by its own peculiar
shape and its position among the others. While the steamer
lies at Yacatat, passengers may, if they desire, walk through
the forest to the old village, where there is an
ancient flinket settlement. There is a new one at the

(19:24):
new town. The tents and cabins climb picturesquely among the
trees and ferns from the water up a steep hill.
In eighteen eighty there was a great gold excitement at Yacatat.
Gold was discovered in the black sand beaches. A number
of mining camps were there until the late eighties, and

(19:44):
by the use of rotary hand amalgamators, men were able
to clean up forty dollars a day. The bay was
flooded by a tidal wave, which left the beach covered
with fish. The oil deposited by their decay prevented the
action of the mercury, and the camp was abandoned. The
sea is now restoring the black sand, and a second

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gnome may one day spring up on these hills in
a single night. As I have said elsewhere, the Yacatat
women are among the finest basket weavers of the coast.
A finely twined Yacutat basket, however small it may be,
is a prize. But the bottom should be woven as
finely and as carefully as the body of the basket.

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Some of the younger weavers make haste by weaving the
bottom coarsely, which detracts from both its artistic and commercial value.
The instant the end of the gangway touches the wharf
at Yakutat, the gaily clad, dark eyed squaws swarm aboard.
They settle themselves noiselessly along the promenade decks, disposing their baskets, bracelets,

(20:53):
carved horn spoons, totem poles, and laid lamps and beaded
moccasins about them. If during the hours of animated barter
that follow one or two of the women should disappear,
the wise woman passenger will saunter around the ship and
take a look into her stateroom to make sure that
all is well. Else when she does return to it,

(21:16):
she may miss silver backed mirrors, bottles of lavender water,
bits of jeweler that may have been carelessly left in sight,
pretty collars, and even waists and hats, to say nothing
of the things which she may later on find. These
poor dark people were born thieves, and neither the little
education they have received, nor the treatment accorded them by

(21:39):
the majority of white people with whom they have been
brought into contact, has served to wean them entirely from
the habits and the instincts of centuries at Yacitat. No
matter how much good sound sense he may possess, the
traveler parts with many large silver dollars, he thinks of
Christmas and count his friends on one hand, then on

(22:02):
the other, then over again on both. When the steamer
has whistled for the sixth time to call in the
wandering passengers, and the captain is on the bridge, when
the last squaw has pigeontoed herself up the gangway, flirting
her gay shawl around her and chuckling and clucking over
the gullibility of the innocent white people, When the last

(22:23):
strain from the phonograph in the big store on the
hill has died across the violet water widening between the
shore and the withdrawing ship. The spendthrift passenger retires to
his cabin and finds the berths overflowing and smelling to
heaven with Indian things. Then too late, he sits down
anywhere and reflects. The western shore of Yacatat Bay is

(22:49):
bounded by the largest glacier in the world, the Malaspina.
It has a sea frontage of more than sixty miles
extending from the bay to westward, and the length of
his splendid sweep from its head to the see at
the foot of Mount Saint Elias's ninety miles. For one
whole day, the majestic mountain and its beautiful companion peaks

(23:11):
were in sight of the steamer before the next range
came into view. The sea breaks sheer upon the ice
palisades of the glacier. Icebergs, pale green, pale blue, and
rose colored march out to meet and bowing past the ship.
One cannot say that he knows what beauty is until
he has cruised leisurely passed this glacier, with the mountains

(23:34):
rising behind it. On a clear day followed by a
moonlight night. On one side are miles on miles of
violet ocean sweeping away into limitless space, a fleck of
sunlight flashing like a firefly in every hollowed wave. On
the other, miles on miles of glistening ice, crowned by
peaks of softest snow. At sunset, warm purple mists drift

(23:58):
in and settle over the glacier. Above these float banks
of deepest rows through both, and above them glimmer the
mountains parly in a remote loveliness that seems not of earth,
but by moonlight. To see the glacier streaming down from
the mountains and out into the ocean, into the midnight, silent, opening, majestic,

(24:20):
is worth ten years of dull, ordinary living. It is
as if the very face of God shone through the
silence and the sublimity of the night.