Wn MlEmCTTNMlSSIOimRY 
 Re V^iWilliam 71. Judge, S.J. 
 
ClassTE-V^Leoi. 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
REV. WILLIAM H. JUDGE^ S. J. 
 
An American Missionary 
 
 A RECORD OF THE WORK 
 
 OF 
 
 RET. WILLIAM H. JUDGE, S. J 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. CHARI.es J. JUDGE, 8. S 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 His Eminence, Cardinai. Gibbons 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 SECOND SOITION, BBVI8BD AND AUGUMENTBD 
 
 CATHOIilC FOREIGN MISSION BUREAU 
 63 UNION PARK ST., BOSTON, MASS. 
 
3mprtmatur: L 
 
 lUBRARYofCONSRE^Sj 
 Two Copies Receivec 
 
 DEC 26 1907 
 
 , Copyngni tntry 
 COPY B. 
 
 4 1#( -A 
 
 > ^<\^ 
 
 \ 
 
 ^ James Card. Gibbons, 
 
 Archie p. Baltimorensis. 
 
 Baltimorae, die 26 Aprilis, 1904. 
 
 Copyright; imj, by 
 Rev. Charles J. Judge, S. S. 
 
i 
 
 I 
 
 HIS MISSION. 
 
 'Twas not for gain of glittering gold, he trod 
 
 Alaska's frozen loin; 
 Nay, but the superscription of their God, 
 
 On colder hearts to coin. 
 
 John B. Tabb. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction .... 
 Preface to the Second Edition 
 Preface 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The Preparation .... 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Priesthood 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Rocky Mountain Mission 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Off for Alaska .... 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 On the Yukon 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Forty Mile Post and Circle City 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Rush to the Klondike 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Dawson City 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 His Death and Funeral 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Tributes of Respect and Affection 
 
 ix 
 
 XIII 
 
 XVII 
 
 Page. 
 . 1 
 
 8 
 
 . 16 
 
 . 28 
 
 . 47 
 
 . 128 
 
 . 189 
 
 . 200 
 
 . 255 
 
 . 278 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Portrait of Father Judge .... Frontispiece. 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 College of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Woodstock, Md. 4 *" 
 
 Souvenir of the Rocky Mountain Missions . . . 22 '^ 
 
 Unalaska , , Z2^ 
 
 St. Michael, Alaska 48 • 
 
 Alaskan Missionary in Winter Costume . . . 64y 
 
 Anvik, Yukon River 77^ 
 
 Archbishop Charles J. Seghers, the Apostle of Alaska . 95 
 
 Nulato, Yukon River 105^ 
 
 Yukon River in Winter 121 / 
 
 Forty Mile Post 128- 
 
 Holy Cross Mission 145"' 
 
 An Eskimo and His Kyak 177" 
 
 Dawson City in the Summer of 1898 — Catholic Church 
 and St. Mary^s Hospital 200/^ 
 
 The First Catholic Church in Dawson .... 203/ 
 
 Summer Work at the Mines 214. 
 
 Front Street, Dawson 217 • 
 
 Bird's-eye View of Dawson City — Catholic Church in / 
 
 right foreground 240 
 
 Captain Jack Crawford 251 
 
 Interior of St. Mary's Church — Tomb of Father Judge 277 
 
 Map of Alaska, showing Yukon River Missions and the 
 
 Klondike , At end.y 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THIS biography, from the pen of one who 
 is in complete sympathy with his sub- 
 ject, will prove to be, it is hoped, for the 
 young Levite into whose hands it may fall, 
 an incentive to Apostolic zeal. 
 
 Reared in a family in which the Christian 
 virtues were, in all patience and meekness, 
 daily practised as a matter of course, what 
 to others might have appeared unusual, Wil- 
 liam H. Judge deemed not extraordinary; 
 what to others might have had the appear- 
 ance of the heroic, he aspired to as but a step 
 above the ordinary. Whatever duties he 
 was assigned to he fulfilled to the best of his 
 powers, but throughout his life there was 
 the undercurrent of the missionary's zeal. 
 Truly he might say, '' Zelus domus tuae com- 
 edit me.''* 
 
 Nothing daunted by the hardships that a 
 life in the far Northwest most certainly had 
 in store for the venturesome soul that en- 
 tered its icy confines, he hailed with delight 
 
 * " The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up."— P^. Ixviii, 10. 
 
 ix 
 
X An American Missionary 
 
 the command to go and preach. The story 
 of his work, its sufferings, its privations, its 
 disappointments, its consolations and joys, is 
 here told by one eminently fitted for the 
 labor of love. 
 
 What I would particularly ask the reader 
 to note is the tone of cheerfulness which 
 characterizes the letters of Father Judge. 
 These, we may believe, reflect the spirit of 
 joy which illumined his soul ever, in spite of 
 the dark days of hardship and privation 
 through which he passed. In this we find a 
 lesson. The true missionary's life is not one 
 of sadness and brooding over what, to the 
 world, would seem a sad lot. His life is 
 hidden in God. Is he successful, God be 
 praised; is he unsuccessful, God be praised 
 none the less. This joyful spirit in the midst 
 of what is calculated to produce the opposite 
 effect is characteristic of those generous, 
 holy souls whose life reads '' per Ipsum, et 
 cum Ipso, et in Ipso est Tibi Deo Patri Om- 
 nipotenti in unitate Spiritus Sancti, omnis 
 honor et gloria.''* 
 
 He who would follow in the footsteps of 
 Father Judge, in the like spirit of patience 
 and meekness, may confidently expect, even 
 in this life, peace and tranquility of soul oc- 
 
 * Through Him, and with Him, and in Him is to Thee God 
 the Father Omnipotent in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all 
 honor and glory. — Canon of the Mass, 
 
Introduction xi 
 
 casionally brightened by the sweetest conso- 
 lation, according to the promises of our 
 Lord, of a hundredfold even in this life. 
 
 May this biography inspire other gener- 
 ous souls to take up the burden from which 
 God has called Father Judge to his reward. 
 This, I think, is the main purpose of this 
 book — '' Ut Ecclesia Dei aedificationem ac- 
 cipiat."* 
 
 J. Card. Gibbons. 
 
 Baltimore, June loth, 1904. 
 
 * " That the Church may receive edification." — L Cor, xiv, 5. 
 
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 THE kindly reception accorded ''An 
 American Missionary ^^ has cheered and 
 encouraged the editor. The Httle volume 
 has given pleasure and edification even be- 
 yond his expectations. That this pleasure 
 and edification may be extended to others 
 and perpetuated is sufficient reason for of- 
 fering to the public this second edition. 
 
 We take this opportunity to thank Arnold 
 F. George, of Dawson, J. W. Crawford 
 (Capt. Jack) — the well-known Lecturer — 
 C. H. Higgins of Steelton, Pa., and E. C. 
 Gerow of Seattle, for their assistance in fill- 
 ing out the narrative, and E. A. Hegg of 
 Seattle, for permission to use photographs. 
 A happy result of the publication of Father 
 Judge's letters, has been to bring us into 
 communication with some of his old Klon- 
 dike friends, and to elicit further expressions 
 of their love and admiration for the Mis- 
 sionary. 
 
 These and other communications have 
 given us the comforting assurance that our 
 effort to tell the simple truth without frater- 
 nal bias has been successful. The following 
 
 xiii 
 
xiv An American Missionary 
 
 words of the editor of the Dawson Daily- 
 News show that, if we have erred, it has 
 been on the right side : " I fancy . . from 
 the tenor of your whole letter, that you are 
 being made a convert. I mean that your 
 correspondence with those like myself, who 
 had the felicity of a personal acquaintance 
 with your brother in the last years of his life, 
 has not been without its effect .... You 
 are now reaching the point of view of some- 
 one outside of the family. The love and ad- 
 miration of a brother or sister .... is a 
 beautiful thing, but altogether a different 
 thing from the sentiment of love Father 
 Judge inspired in the thousands here .... 
 It was of the nature of reverence, and those 
 who knew him most intimately experienced 
 the most of this reverence. 
 
 So I fancy in future editions of the book 
 I shall see more of the same spirit as my 
 own, and less of the brotherly diffidence no- 
 ticeable in the first edition. I realize, after 
 all, that though a brother's touch may be 
 most truly loving, there are curbs, checks, 
 and bounds. So let me suggest that brother- 
 ly apprehension lest too much be said, while 
 indicating family modesty, is not necessary 
 in the case of Father Judge. The most that 
 family and personal love could dictate in 
 affectionate adulation, would yet come far 
 short of the general estimate here. '^ 
 
Preface xv 
 
 There is then reason to hope that it will 
 now do the work no injury, for the public to 
 know that it is edited by " my brother's 
 brother. '' A source of great satisfaction 
 is the fact that this edition is published by 
 and for the benefit of the Catholic Foreign 
 Mission Bureau of Boston. Thus, Father 
 Judge will still be working for the Missions ; 
 the usefulness of his words and labors will 
 not have ended with his short missionary 
 career. 
 
 St. Chables' College, Md. 
 Feast of the Assumption^ August 15th, 1901, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 "God speaks to us still, as He spoke to our forefathers." 
 — Fr, Caussade. 
 
 TO the youth of America, who feel them- 
 selves called to the Priesthood or the 
 religious life, this narrative is dedicated, in 
 the hope that it may cheer them on their 
 way, and encourage them in times of diffi- 
 culty. It is the simple story of one like 
 themselves, born in the same circumstances, 
 living for years in the same everyday world, 
 and encountering the same difficulties that 
 they may encounter in corresponding to the 
 call of God. Yet, with all this absence of 
 the extraordinary, there is evidence in this 
 life, of a call from God, of a heavenly voca- 
 tion, and of the divine assistance for its 
 perfect accomplishment. 
 
 Is it not a happiness to think that, in the 
 midst of this work-a-day world of ours, 
 amidst the bustle of city life or the humble 
 occupations of an ordinary home, " God 
 speaks to us still, as He spoke to our fore- 
 fathers"? Yes, He speaks to us as He 
 spoke to the Saints whose lives we read with 
 awe and admiration. 
 
 xvii 
 
xviii An American Missionary 
 
 If we look around us, as we jjass through 
 the crowded street, or enter the busy store 
 or the trolley-car, we see youths or maidens 
 who, to all appearance, are occupied with 
 temporal business or intent on pleasure; but 
 could we look into some of those hearts, how 
 our impressions would change ! We would 
 find that there is One, Who is omnipotent. 
 Who is divinely benignant, knocking at the 
 door, and calling to those souls to give them- 
 selves to Him, and Hib knocking is not 
 always disregarded. His call is not always 
 rejected. There may be clouds of doubt, 
 there may be obstacles innumerable, but 
 the voice of God is potent in its goodness, 
 and in its patient condescension. The 
 Word of God that thus speaks to a soul is 
 light and life, as St. John says : " In the be- 
 ginning was the Word In him was 
 
 life and the life was the light of men.'' * 
 
 Little by little the ligrht enters the soul of 
 a youth, and gradually new vistas open, 
 paths to him untrodden, which lead to great 
 and good things, to God and heaven. Then 
 with the light come strength and courage; 
 and, after a time, his young heart feels that 
 no prospect of difficulty or sacrifice can deter 
 it from following the gracious call of the 
 Lord; no temporal pleasure, no earthly 
 happiness can have any weight, when 
 
 * St. John i, 1, 4. 
 
Preface 
 
 XIX 
 
 balanced against the joy of doing the will 
 of God. 
 
 Hence we see the young man or the young 
 woman quitting gladly what others may 
 look upon as bright prospects, but which 
 these favored souls consider only as liga- 
 ments, which would bind them too closely 
 to this lower world, and from which they 
 are glad to be free. They feel in greater or 
 l^ss degree the noble sentiment which the 
 Church attributes to St. Henry, Emperor of 
 Germany, when she says of him, " Not con- 
 tent with the narrow limits of a temporal 
 kingdom, he sedulously served the Eternal 
 King, in order to obtain the crown of im- 
 mortality,'' and that other, expressed by St. 
 Stanislaus Kostka in these words : '' I was 
 not born for temporal things, but for eter- 
 nal." 
 
 St. Charles' College, Md. 
 Feast of the Sacred Hearty June 10th, 1904. 
 
CHAPTER L 
 
 THE PREPARATION. 
 
 " Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth."— / Kings, Hi, 10. 
 
 I WAS in Paris, in 1875, when I received a 
 letter from the subject of this sketch, in 
 which he informed me that permission had 
 been given him to go to the Jesuit Novitiate 
 at Frederick, Md. '' It was the happiest day 
 of my Hfe,'' he wrote, " for you know that 
 ever since the time of my First Communion, 
 I have wished to enter the Society/' " I 
 knew no such thing,'' I said to myself; for 
 I had not been aware that he thought of the 
 priesthood, or of entering the Society of 
 Jesus. However, I was pleased to hear that 
 he was thus able to take the first step 
 towards realizing his long-cherished desire. 
 One element in his joy was the fact that he 
 had found he was not, as he had supposed, 
 too old to begin the preparation. 
 
 Born in Baltimore, April 28th, 1850, 
 William Henry Judp^e was twenty-five years 
 pld when he was admitted to the Novitiate. 
 About ten years before, he had begun to 
 study at Loyola College, Baltimore: but, 
 after one year, he was obliged to quit his 
 
 1 
 
2 An American Missionary 
 
 studies for an occupation better suited to the 
 state of his health. For ten years he was an 
 active clerk in one of the largest planing- 
 mills of Baltimore. Here he gained a 
 practical knowledge of woodwork and of 
 building, which afterwards in his missionary 
 career he found vastly useful. 
 
 What was going on in his soul during 
 those years of business life appears in some 
 lines which he wrote to one of his brothers 
 in March, 1874. " You spoke of the thoughts 
 and feelings which you experienced in 
 church the Saturday evening following the 
 reception of A's letter and mine, both of 
 which contained much concerning N's recep- 
 tion and my intention of soon following her 
 example. This naturally made you think as 
 you did ; and I do not know any better time 
 or place for serious reflection, than Saturday 
 night in church. There in the stillness of 
 the night, by the dim light of the Sanctuary 
 lamp, we see our intentions, as well as the 
 pride and ambition of the world, much more 
 clearly than at almost any other time. I 
 have often, when in the Cathedral or the Col- 
 lege (St, Ignatius Church) at that time, 
 thought : * Here another week has passed, 
 and now that it is gone what difference does 
 it make whether it has passed pleasantly, or 
 I have had many trials and much worry and 
 trouble, if my conscience does not reproach 
 
The Preparation 3 
 
 me with having misspent it ' : and I judge 
 that we shall feel very much the same, when 
 we come to look back on our whole life, for 
 the last time/' The reception spoken of in 
 his letter was that of one of his sisters, who 
 entered the convent of the Sisters of Mercy 
 on the same day that another sister made her 
 profession as a religious of the Good Shep- 
 herd. 
 
 As time wore on, he resumed his studies, 
 as far as his duties at the office would permit. 
 
 No wonder that after ten years of longing 
 and suspense, his heart bounded with joy and 
 gratitude when, on August 23, 1875, he was 
 admitted into the Novitiate at Frederick. 
 The years of prayer and study which fol- 
 lowed, were happy ones for him; indeed, 
 from that time, he was always joyous: for 
 we shall see that, even amid the hardships 
 of the Alaskan Mission, he usually ended his 
 letters with the expression, " I am well and 
 happy/^ In truth, what happiness can com- 
 pare with that of being in the way of one's 
 vocation, of feeling sure that he is doing 
 God's will, and that consequently he is on 
 the road to peace and usefulness in this life, 
 and eternal happiness in the next : — '' Qui 
 facit voluntatem Dei manet in aeternum."* 
 He said to one of his brothers, that he had for 
 
 *"He that doeth the will of God, abideth forever."— 
 / John J ii, 17. 
 
4 An American Missionary 
 
 years pictured to himself the happiness of 
 the Novitiate, but that he had never thought 
 it was so great as he found it to be. 
 
 His novitiate and juniorate over, the 
 young Jesuit taught for three years in Gon- 
 zaga College, Washington, D. C. ; gave a 
 year to the study of philosophy at Wood- 
 stock; acted as prefect and teacher in 
 Georgetown College, for a year; and then, in 
 1883, returned, for the study of theology, to 
 the great House of Studies, the College of 
 the Sacred Heart of Jesus, at Woodstock, 
 Md. 
 
 Here, again, his heart must have been filled 
 with gratitude to God for his vocation, and 
 for the privilege of studying in a place so 
 well fitted to foster the spirit of so high a 
 calling. Even a casual visitor to Wood- 
 stock would pronounce it an ideal place for 
 study, elevated as it is high above the wind- 
 ing Patapsco and the railroad, and separated 
 thus from the ordinary world. The student 
 is aided by his very surroundings to raise his 
 mind to heaven; and yet, as he casts his eye, 
 from time to time, far down to the river, the 
 little village, and the rushing trains, he is 
 reminded that, as a priest of God, he is to 
 live not for himself alone, but for the up- 
 lifting, and the salvation of his neighbor. 
 
 In September, 1883, William Judge wrote: 
 
C 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 a» 
 
 H 
 
 o 
 n 
 
The Preparation 5 
 
 '' I am glad to be back at Woodstock again, 
 and if all goes well, I hope to be ordained 
 two years from next Easter. We have a very 
 large community this year, a splendid body 
 of young men, and I expect a very happy 
 time/' Later in the came year, he shows 
 how he was beginning to combine fraternal 
 affection with zeal for a brother's spiritual 
 good. '' I cannot tell you how glad it makes 
 me to find you so comfortable and happy, but 
 especially to see 5^ou, while you are enjoying 
 these blessings, laying up for yourself an 
 eternal reward by the faithful practice of 
 your religious duties. At the same time, by 
 your good example, you are forming the 
 hearts and minds of your little ones to the 
 love and esteem of virtue; thus giving them 
 a treasure as much greater than the goods 
 of this world, as heaven is above earth." 
 
 Busy years were those of the scholasticate ; 
 the time wisely divided between study and 
 prayer, with hours of recreation and rest in- 
 terspersed. Although some may wonder 
 how so long a preparation is required to fit 
 the scholastic or the seminarian for his work, 
 the initiated find, as did the future mission- 
 ary at Woodstock, that the days of twenty- 
 four hours, are only too short. 
 
 Finally the great day of ordination to the 
 Holy Priesthood arrived. On August 28tH, 
 
6 An American Missionary 
 
 1886, William H. Judge, with a number of 
 his fellow scholastics, received the sacred 
 order of the Priesthood from the hands of 
 Archbishop Gibbons, in the beautiful chapel 
 of the College at Woodstock. 
 
 Thus, after eleven years of prayer and 
 study, the young Jesuit found himself 
 clothed with the character and blessed with 
 the powers and the graces of the Priesthood. 
 He would have been content to be even a 
 Brother in the Society of Jesus, but he found 
 his good-will rewarded with that superem- 
 inent gift which raises a mortal man so 
 near to God, his Savior. Jesus says to all 
 His. priests, as He did to His Apostles: " I 
 will not now call you servants, for the ser- 
 vant knoweth not what his lord doeth. But 
 I have called you friends, because all things 
 whatsoever I have heard from my Father, I 
 have made known to you."* 
 
 The young priest feels the truth of these 
 words of St. Ephrem : '^ O tremendous mys- 
 tery of the Priesthood, spiritual and holy, 
 venerable and blameless, which Christ, com- 
 ing into this world, has bestowed even upon 
 the unworthy ! On bended knee, with tears 
 and sighs, I beg that we consider this treas- 
 ure of the Priesthood. A treasure it is for 
 those who worthily and holily guard it. It 
 is a bright and incomparable shield, a firm 
 
 ♦St. John XV, 15. 
 
The Preparation 7 
 
 tower, an impregnable wall, a solid and 
 stable structure reaching from earth to the 
 heights of heaven/'^ 
 
 t Sermon of St. Ephrem the Deacon — De Sacerdotio. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE PRIESTHOOD. 
 
 " If I were to meet a priest and an angel, I would salute 
 the priest before the angel; for the angel is the friend of 
 God, but the priest holds His place." — Cure of Ars. 
 
 THE reception of the Holy Priesthood was 
 a joy not only for the young levite, but 
 also for his relatives. One of his brothers was 
 present on the solemn occasion, but others 
 who could not enjoy that favor, awaited his 
 coming to receive his blessing and assist at 
 his Mass. It must have been especially con- 
 soling for him to visit his sisters in their 
 convent homes and to offer the Holy Sacri- 
 fice in those sanctuaries, where faith and 
 love spare no pains to render the altar and 
 its surroundings worthy of the Divine Visi- 
 tor, who comes at the consecration. 
 
 After a few days passed in holy joy and 
 thanksgiving. Father Judge took up his ap- 
 pointed work as Minister at Woodstock. 
 
 No doubt, in selecting Father Judge for 
 this important office, his superiors wished to 
 utilize his experience in the world; and in 
 this, they were not disappointed. The young 
 
 8 
 
The Priesthood 9 
 
 Minister threw his whole heart into the 
 work of superintending the great House of 
 Studies, and of ministering to the wants of 
 his brethren, with earnest zeal and cheerful 
 alacrity. 
 
 Any one acquainted with such Institu- 
 tions knows how heavy is the task of the 
 Minister, or, as he is called in some places, 
 the Procurator or Treasurer; what patience 
 and benignity he needs to meet properly the 
 thousand and one demands of perhaps two 
 or three hundred persons. Yet this active 
 life of business, charity, and zeal seemed to 
 have a charm for the young priest. He 
 thought he had found his life-work in the 
 fruitful labors of a '^ Minister " ; but he was 
 not to stay long amid the charming scenes 
 and studious associations of the College of 
 the Sacred Heart. 
 
 However, the years that He spent there as 
 Minister, were no bad apprenticeship to the 
 life of active charity and zeal which he was 
 later to lead as a Missionary. 
 
 As an instance of the cheerfulness with 
 which Father Judge gave himself up to this 
 labor of love, we may mention an excursion 
 of the vacation time. According to custom, 
 a number of Novices, or Juniors, from the 
 house in Frederick, were spending their 
 weeks of relaxation at Woodstock. To vary 
 their recreation, an excursion to the grounds 
 
10 An American Missionary 
 
 of St. Charles' College, some five miles off, 
 was arranged for them. The Father Min- 
 ister accompanied the young men, and spent 
 the day with them joyously and obligingly. 
 To the west of the College campus is a fine 
 wood of oak, chestnut, and hickory. Here 
 the excursionists established themselves and, 
 as noon approached, prepared their rustic 
 dinner. A two-horse team had brought all 
 that was necessary, even down to the pepper 
 and salt for the soup, and the sauce for the 
 slapjacks. Little stone furnaces were im- 
 provised, and soon soup was simmering, 
 potatoes boiling, and beefsteak frying. It 
 was a pleasant sight to see the Rev. Minister 
 moving among the impromptu cooks, cheer- 
 ing them with his joyous activity, and taking 
 a generous share in the work. One of the 
 faculty of St. Charles\ who was invited to 
 join the company, declared that he had never 
 before eaten such slapjacks as those cooked 
 on that occasion by Father Judge. This was 
 a prelude to the good work that he did later 
 on for the inmates of his hospital in Dawson. 
 
 After two years, Father Judge was sent to 
 the Novitiate at Frederick, there to exercise 
 the same useful functions that had claimed 
 all his devotion at Woodstock. 
 
 About this time he wrote to his youngest 
 sister, who was not yet settled in her voca- 
 tion. The letter discloses his love for the 
 
The Priesthood 11 
 
 religious life, and also his desire to go to the 
 Western Missions. 
 
 Woodstock College, 
 Woodstock, Howard Co., Md., July 3, 1888. 
 Dear Sister, 
 
 Pax Christi ! 
 
 I received your letter of June 24th a few 
 days ago, but I have been so very busy that 
 it was impossible to answer sooner. I think 
 you overlooked one clause in my last letter, 
 for I think I said '' if you were once settled 
 in the cloister, I would be less anxious about 
 writing to you,'' because then you would not 
 need my letters. But while you are in your 
 present state, I shall do my best to repair my 
 past want of regularity in writing to you, 
 especially as you tell me my letters encour- 
 age you to go on more courageously in the 
 service of our dear Lord, and therefore any 
 time I can steal from my work for that pur- 
 pose, will be well spent. 
 
 Since receiving your letter, I have redou- 
 bled my prayers in your behalf, and I shall 
 not rest until I see you safe in the cloister, or 
 perfectly happy, as far as one can be happy 
 in this land of exile. Why do you hesitate? 
 Do as I did at the time of ordination. With 
 good reason, I was unwilling to take the re- 
 
12 An American Missionary 
 
 sponsibility on myself, so I left it entirely to 
 my superiors to say what I should do, and 
 they said, '' Go ahead, we take the responsi- 
 bility/' Now, no matter how unfit I find 
 myself, I have no anxiety, for I feel sure that 
 in following their advice, I did what God 
 wished and that He will turn all to His own 
 glory, and my good. I shall say Mass for 
 you to-morrow, and again next Sunday, 
 which will be the 8th, and after that, I shall 
 say it for you every Friday, until we obtain 
 from the Sacred Heart for you that peace 
 which can come from It alone. 
 
 I shall also make a novena to St. John 
 Berchmans, who, you know, was canonized 
 at the time of the Pope's Jubilee, hoping the 
 Sacred Heart will grant our petition more 
 readily when presented by one whom He has 
 been pleased to raise so lately to the honors 
 of the Altar. We should derive great con- 
 solation from the canonization of St. 
 Berchmans, because all his sanctity consisted 
 in doing his ordinary actions with great 
 purity of intention, which is so easy, and 
 adds nothing to the burden of life, but rather 
 lightens it very much, since nothing seems 
 hard to do for one we love. 
 
 Our Provincial has lately been changed, 
 and I have renewed my request for the Rocky 
 Mountain Missions, and it has been more 
 favorably received than by the late Provin- 
 
The Priesthood 13 
 
 cial, but I have not received a positive answer 
 yet. If I am allowed to go, I may pass your 
 way; and, if possible, I shall get permission 
 to see you. I expect an answer within a few 
 weeks, and I shall let you know the result as 
 soon as I hear. 
 
 In concluding, I beg you to put yourself 
 entirely in the hands of your superiors, re- 
 ceiving as the certain will of God whatever 
 they determine. 
 
 I must stop, it is now eleven P. M., and my 
 alarm goes off at a quarter before four. I 
 need not tell you that I am very happy, 
 thanks to the goodness of God; not that I 
 have nothing to trouble me — for I have had 
 no end of causes of worry and vexation in the 
 management of a big community like this — 
 but I know that no matter what happens, it 
 is God's will it should be so, and therefore I 
 would not wish it to be otherwise on any 
 account. 
 
 Begging you to pray often for me, and to 
 thank our dear Lord for all his goodness to 
 one so unworthy, I must say good-by. 
 Your loving Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 Another year passed before he obtained 
 leave to go to the Missions, and that year he 
 spent as Minister at Frederick. 
 
 May I2th, 1889, he wrote to one of his 
 
14 An American Missionary 
 
 sisters : " I intend to start for the West on 
 Monday, May 20th, and, if agreeable to Rev. 
 Mother and yourself, I would like to say 
 Mass for you on that morning at the Con- 
 vent/' 
 
 Then came the farewell visits to his rela- 
 tives, before setting out for the Rocky 
 Mountain Missions. These partings were 
 not sad, for all expected to see him again. 
 After leaving Baltimore, he stopped in St. 
 Louis and spent a pleasant evening with his 
 eldest brother, and again in Denver, to pay 
 the promised visit to his sister in the Good 
 Shepherd Convent, where he said Mass, on 
 the feast of the Ascension, May 30th. Al- 
 though this last adieu must have been, 
 naturally speaking, a trial, it was no doubt 
 with a heart full of spiritual joy and consola- 
 tion, that Father Judge started on the trip 
 through the Rockies. 
 
 It is a delightful experience to journey, as 
 he did, through such scenes at the end of 
 May. The gorges and canyons between 
 Denver and northern Idaho are always grand 
 and inspiriting, but how lovely they must be 
 in the spring season, when the resurrection 
 of nature clothes forest and plain in verdure, 
 awakens to new life the animal kingdom on 
 the earth and in the air, and whispers to the 
 heart of man that this earth of ours has not 
 been wholly corrupted. And yet, much as 
 
The Priesthood 15 
 
 our traveller must have enjoyed the novelty 
 and the beauty of this trip, we are inclined 
 to think that he took the same gen- 
 erous view of the matter that we have 
 heard expressed by a Missionary in Oceania, 
 who said : '' The scenery along the way is 
 superb, but as I am not a tourist but a Mis- 
 sionary, I will leave it to others to describe. 
 What is picturesque from my point of view 
 is that the valley is well populated and that 
 there are plenty of young people fresh from 
 school, so that our services are carried on 
 with enthusiasm."* 
 
 We may well suppose that Father Judge 
 said to himself: ''This is sublime indeed, 
 and blessed be God who grants us such joys, 
 in this our exile; but what is most joyful to 
 me is that this swift-moving train is bearing 
 me to the scene of a labor of love, to the Mis- 
 sions established by Marquette and De 
 Smet." 
 
 * Annals of Prop, of the Faith. May and June, 1902. p. 
 132. 
 
CHAPTER HI. 
 
 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN MISSION. 
 
 " Forgetting the things that are behind ... I press towards 
 the mark, to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in 
 Christ ]tsns:'— Philip, Hi. 13, 14. 
 
 IT would seem that our Missionary went 
 * first to Spokane, Washington, where the 
 Fathers of the Society of Jesus have a Col- 
 lege and a church; and there or at Walla 
 Walla, he helped in the parish work at 
 Christmas and in Lent. The year however 
 was to be chiefly spent by him in making his 
 " Tertianship,'' or third year of probation, as 
 a Jesuit, at the De Smet Mission in Idaho. 
 He went there on August 28th, the third an- 
 niversary of his ordination to the holy 
 Priesthood. 
 
 He gives us an idea of the Mission and of 
 his Tertianship in a letter, under date of 
 September 15th, 1889: 
 
 " This Mission is in the Coeur D'Alene 
 Reservation in the northern part of Idaho, 
 and is a delightful place. The Reservation 
 is about thirty miles long and twenty wide. 
 We are in the southern part of it, about six 
 miles from the Washington line. 
 
 16 
 
The Rocky Mountain Mission 17 
 
 '' I have never enjoyed so good health any- 
 where else as I have here; nor do I think 
 that I have been so completely happy even 
 in my noviceship; for then there v^as always 
 the fear of not being received, to mar my 
 happiness; and besides, I now have the 
 Priesthood with its joys, which I had not 
 then. But this is the last resting-place, so 
 you must pray hard for me this year, that I 
 may lay in a good store of piety and solid 
 virtue, so that I may be able hereafter to do 
 something for God, in return for all that he 
 has done, and is doing for me. 
 
 " Do not think that I am leaving you be- 
 hind; for, although I came to the Mission 
 with the desire of suffering something for 
 our Lord, as yet I have had no opportunity, 
 nor do I hope for any this year. What may 
 be in store for me when I leave here I do not 
 know, but God's will be done! We must 
 always remember that perfection consists 
 not in this or that, but in doing God's holy 
 will. Let us pray for each other that we 
 may never have any other intention in all we 
 do than that of fulfilling His holy will." 
 
 In another letter, written towards the end 
 of the year, April 20th, 1890, he tells us what 
 was expected to be the fruit of this last year 
 of probation and spiritual exercises. " By 
 a special permission of Very Rev. Father 
 General, I am to take my last vows on the 
 
18 An American Missionary 
 
 Feast of the Ascension, May iSth. I shall 
 begin my retreat, on the 6th. Pray for me 
 especially during this retreat, that God may 
 give me the true spirit of the Society, to 
 which, in His great mercy. He has called me. 
 When we make these vows, we are expected 
 to be perfect Jesuits, men who are crucified 
 to the world, and to whom the world is cru- 
 cified, men who have but one object in life, 
 namely, to promote God's greater glory/' 
 
 And now we have an example of how the 
 grace of God leads men of good will and of 
 generous love to do with ease and joy, what 
 less faithful spirits would deem impossible; 
 nay, what they themselves, earlier in their 
 course, would have thought a romantic fancy 
 or a pious dream. 
 
 We have seen how the grace of his voca- 
 tion had enabled William Judge to quit the 
 busy world, to sever himself from the scenes 
 of his youth, and to bid adieu to his friends 
 and relatives in the East. He is now in the 
 Rocky Mountain Mission, happy in the 
 thought that he is soon to do something for 
 God and souls. 
 
 But the spirit of charity and zeal urges 
 him to go still further. He has heard that 
 volunteers are needed for the distant and 
 arduous mission of Alaska, and promptly he 
 offers himself for the work. Writing to 
 Woodstock about this time, he says : '^ I 
 
The Rocky Mountain Mission 19 
 
 am going to Alaska on the next steamer. I 
 offered myself when I first came; but, as 
 there are so many who would be happy to be 
 sent, I hardly hoped to be selected this year/' 
 In a letter to one of his sisters, he speaks of 
 the intended step in these terms : '' You 
 may have heard, by this time, that I am go- 
 ing to Alaska. Much to my joy, I have been 
 appointed to join the five Fathers already 
 there, and I shall leave about the middle of 
 May for San Francisco, where I shall take 
 the steamer for St. Michael.'' 
 
 The buoyancy and strength of the mission- 
 ary spirit which now animated the young 
 Jesuit, are shown in a letter written to con- 
 sole his younger sister, in the grief that she 
 naturally felt at the thought of his departure 
 for so distant a field of labor. 
 
 De Smet Mission, April 27th, 1890. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 Pax Christi ! 
 The promptness with which you answered 
 my last letter, urges me to write at once, that 
 I may thus in some sort allay the sorrow that 
 the news of my going to Alaska has caused 
 you. Your letter came to me, as mine did to 
 you, late in the evening, so that I could not 
 read it until this morning. It has edified me 
 very much ; for, while I understand fully the 
 tears you shed, your spirit of perfect resigna- 
 
20 An American Missionary 
 
 tion makes me thank God exceedingly. It 
 shows me that your sorrow is that true 
 Christian sorrow, which our Lord has prom- 
 ised will be turned into joy, and which, so 
 far from robbing you of the merit of the 
 sacrifice that God demands of you, only in- 
 creases its value. 
 
 Is it not a coincidence that the Gospel of 
 the day,* and my meditation, should be on 
 the joy that our Lord promises to those who 
 suffer here for his sake? We make this sac- 
 rifice because we believe it is pleasing to 
 Him; and therefore we may be sure He will 
 keep His word and give us a joy that no man 
 shall take from us. I am sure neither of us 
 would refuse our Lord anything He might 
 ask from us, no matter how hard it might be 
 to nature. I like very much what you say 
 about prayer being our telephone and the 
 Sacred Heart the main office. How great 
 should be our love and gratitude towards 
 God for His great goodness to us! This 
 thought affects me very much and makes me 
 feel an intense and personal love for God, 
 and makes me realize how personal is his 
 love for us. He has ever been a most sweet. 
 
 * Gospel of the third Sunday after Easter, St. John xvi, 
 in which occur these words of our Lord : " Amen, amen, I 
 say to you that you shall lament and weep, but the world 
 will rejoice; and you shall be made sorrowful, but your 
 sorrow shall be turned into joy . . . and your joy no man 
 shall take from you." 
 
The Rocky Mountain Mission 21 
 
 bountiful, and indulgent Father to us, so we 
 must try our best to prove ourselves most 
 loving children. 
 
 Remember above all that it is our love He 
 v^ants, our hearts, and nothing else. He 
 stands not in need of our goods or our labor; 
 He can do all things by an act of His will, 
 but He will not force us to love Him ; and yet 
 it is that alone that He cares for, '' Son, give 
 me thy heart.'' Let us not refuse it to Him, 
 but let us cast ourselves into His arms, and 
 tell Him to do with us whatever is most 
 pleasing to Him, and to grant that hence- 
 forth we may never have any will but to do 
 His holy will. From my childhood, I have 
 always found an intense pleasure in the ac- 
 complishment of God's holy will, and my 
 favorite ejaculation has been: '' Lord, only 
 be it Thy divine will, and be it done unto me 
 a sinner, even unto death !'' 
 
 Such were the sentiments with which 
 Father Judge made his retreat at De Smet, 
 and took his last vows on the feast of the 
 Ascension, May 15th, 1890. 
 
 Though we have no account of the cere- 
 mony of that day, we can easily imagine the 
 fervor and the joy of soul with which the 
 would-be apostle received his Lord in Holy 
 Communion, and offered himself once more 
 to be all for God. ^' Laetus obtuli universa."* 
 * " I have joyfully offered all."—/ Par. xxiv, 17. 
 
22 An American Missionary 
 
 That must have been a day of joy in the 
 humble Mission-house of the Fathers at De 
 Smet. 
 
 The little souvenir reproduced on the op- 
 posite page is of interest as it gives us auto- 
 graphs of Father Judge and other Mission- 
 aries of the North West. According to 
 Father Barnum, it was Father Joset, the sec- 
 ond on the list, that composed the prayer, 
 adapting it to the use of the Sons of St. 
 Ignatius from the prayer used by the Church 
 for the octave of St. Lawrence, August 17th. 
 In English it would run thus : '^ Stir up, O 
 Lord Jesus, in thy Society, the spirit which 
 animated our Blessed Father Ignatius, that 
 we being replenished with the same, may 
 strive to love what he loved, and to practise 
 what he taught.'' 
 
 Almost immediately, on May 17th, our 
 Missionary bade farewell to his fellow 
 priests and started for the Pacific coast. 
 Fifteen days after the feast of the Ascension, 
 he wrote from San Francisco. Distance 
 seemed only to render stronger the bonds of 
 affection for his brothers and sisters, and 
 religious devotion elevated and purified that 
 affection. In spite of the absorbing duties 
 of preparation for the long voyage, he found 
 time to write several letters. We may 
 quote from these some passages which show 
 
A. M. D. G. 
 
 fsts 
 
 (Mil 
 
 S8U 
 
 
 SS8 
 
 Excita, Domine Jesu, in tua Societate «a 
 
 spiritum, cui Beatus Ignatius Pater noster '^ 
 
 servivit, ut ecdem nos repleti, studeamus ?5? 
 
 amare quod amavit et opere exercere quod s|i^ 
 
 8S« 
 
 docuit. Qui vivis 
 
 
 ^<r 
 
 /^«-/ 
 
 />i^ /*♦«/• *<^^#K 
 
 ^8 
 
 ail 
 
 I)Rf>MKT 
 
 SOUVENIR OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN MISSION 
 Found in Father Judge's Breviary after his death 
 
The Rocky Mountain Mission 23 
 
 the gratitude and joy that animated him on 
 the eve of his departure from San Francisco. 
 
 San Francisco, May 30, 1890. 
 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 Pax Christi ! 
 
 Your last letter came this morning. The 
 other I received on the day of my vows, 
 together v^ith the '' Vade Mecum''; but, as 
 I had only one day to pack up, it v^as im- 
 possible for me to w^rite before starting. I 
 know not how to acknowledge the many 
 marks of kindness you are continually show- 
 ing me. My breviaries have been a constant 
 reminder of your affection, and now you 
 send the " Vade Mecum/' that I may have 
 you with me not only while reciting the 
 Office, but also when going to visit the sick. 
 The boat I am going on — the St. Paul — is 
 now in port, but the time of starting has been 
 changed to the loth, so I have a little more 
 time. I am very glad of the delay; for 
 otherwise, I could not answer all the kind 
 letters that I have received from members 
 of the family and others during the last few 
 weeks. You need not envy me the happiness 
 that God has been so good as to bestow on 
 me by calling me to the Missions, for your 
 mission is not less meritorious, and it may 
 even be more trying to soul and body. Be- 
 
24 An American Missionary 
 
 sides, you know that all our perfection 
 consists in doing God's holy will, and you 
 have no reason to doubt that you are fulfill- 
 ing it most perfectly. 
 
 On the same day he wrote to a younger 
 brother: '' When I read your letters, so full 
 of affection, it is hard to keep back the tears; 
 and yet they do not make me sad or unnerve 
 me, for I know that by leaving you for our 
 dear Lord's sake, I do far more for your hap- 
 piness than I could by remaining with you. 
 We cannot outdo Him in generosity. He 
 always repays, a hundredfold, every little 
 sacrifice we make for His sake. If men 
 would only believe our Lord when He tells 
 them ' My yoke is sweet and my burden 
 light,' how much happier they would be both 
 now and for all eternity! To me there is 
 nothing so sad as to see men, created to 
 know and love God here and to be happy 
 with Him for all eternity, living like mere 
 animals, with no higher aspirations than to 
 eat, drink, and enjoy themselves. And yet 
 how many thousands there are who live and 
 die in these sentiments. 
 
 How thankful we ought to be for the gift 
 of faith, and how careful not to lose it. 
 
 Try always to remember that God is our 
 father, and heaven our true home, and that 
 now we are as travellers, journeying towards 
 home, and we must not be cast down if we 
 
The Rocky Mountain Mission 25 
 
 meet some difficulties and hardships on the 
 way; for the more we suffer now for God's 
 sake, the more happy we shall be for eter- 
 nity." 
 
 On June 4th, he writes to one of his sisters, 
 '' I have been so busy preparing for my long 
 journey, or rather providing for the time to 
 come, that I have not been able to answer 
 the many kind letters I have received from 
 all sides, wishing me ' God speed ! ^ Now my 
 time is so limited, I shall have to be much 
 shorter than I would wish. I find that dis- 
 tance cannot separate us from our friends, 
 for it seems to me that the farther I with- 
 draw from you, the nearer I feel; and this is 
 especially the case with those who have 
 learned how sweet it is to leave all for 
 Christ's sake, and to be united with their 
 friends in the most loving Heart of Jesus. 
 May we ever find a sweet home and a safe 
 refuge in that Sacred Heart, and let us plead 
 for each other at that throne of grace, until 
 our term of exile is past and we meet again 
 in Its sweet embraces never more to be sep- 
 arated." 
 
 While waiting for the day of departure, he 
 paid a visit to the College of the Society in 
 Santa Clara, a short distance south of San 
 Francisco. No doubt he experienced in both 
 places the happiness of being a member of a 
 widely spread Order, as he found a home and 
 
26 An American Missionary 
 
 congenial surroundings in each place. 
 Whilst in Santa Clara College, he wrote: 
 " When I consider all tliat God has done for 
 me, it fills me with a most ardent desire to 
 do and suffer great things for His glory, and 
 awakens in me a most childlike love and an 
 unbounded confidence in Him. Let us then 
 once for all resign ourselves into the hands 
 of our loving Father, and take care never to 
 desire anything but what He pleases to or- 
 dain both for ourselves and for our friends, 
 and for all and in all things. Then all the 
 changes of Superiors, companions, places 
 of abode, etc., will have no power to disturb 
 our peace of soul, but will rather make us 
 happier, because we shall rejoice to see the 
 will of our dear Father thus accompHshed.'' 
 
 Returned to San Francisco, he wrote the 
 night before his departure for Alaska : " I 
 cannot tell you how happy I feel. I thank 
 God exceedingly for His great goodness to 
 me, and hope you will help me to make some 
 return of gratitude for so many favors." 
 
 One day earlier, he wrote to his Superior: 
 " We shall sail on the St. Paul on Tuesday, 
 loth, at II A. M. All here have been very 
 kind, have given me many things, and helped 
 me in many ways. I am sorry I have no 
 word to take to Fr. Tosi about the Sisters. 
 My health is good, and I was never happier 
 in my life. May God grant me grace and 
 
The Rocky Mountain Mission 27 
 
 strength to do and suffer something for His 
 glory/' Thus it was with buoyant spirits 
 and a joyful heart, that on June loth, 1890, 
 our missionary embarked for the distant 
 Mission of Alaska, practically bidding adieu 
 to his own country. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 OFF FOR ALASKA. 
 "Go ye therefore and teach all nations." — Matt, xxviii, 19. 
 
 WE can imagine with what feehngs of 
 mingled joy and hope Father Judge 
 stood upon the deck of the St. Paul, that 
 June morning, and, with all the supplies and 
 presents for the Mission safe on board, and 
 the faithful Brother by his side, watched the 
 deck hands casting off and hauling in the 
 hawsers that held the steamer to her moor- 
 ings. There was the usual feeling of relief 
 and repose after a busy season of prepara- 
 tion and farewell; but there were also 
 sentiments of joy and gratitude as he realized 
 that now he was actually a Missionary, 
 about to imitate in an humble way the Apos- 
 tle whose name, by a happy coincidence, the 
 vessel bore — St. Paul. 
 
 The voyage was to be a long one, lasting 
 over a month, with one or two stops between 
 San Francisco and St. Michael; the first 
 stage being an uninterrupted run across the 
 waters of the Pacific to Unalaska Island. 
 
 28 
 
Off for Alaska 29 
 
 We have only one letter written during the 
 thirteen days of this, Father Judge's first ex- 
 perience of ocean travel, and we give the 
 greater part of it here. 
 
 On the Pacific, 2,000 miles from San 
 Francisco, 
 
 June 22nd, 1890. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 I have been listening to you for the last 
 half-hour speaking through your letters. 
 
 My rule has been not to keep letters after 
 I have answered them, but I have made an 
 exception with regard to the six that you 
 have written since you heard of my appoint- 
 ment to the Alaskan Mission. I have felt 
 that they would be useful to me as spiritual 
 reading during the year; for, I assure you 
 that your letters have always had the effect 
 of spurring me on to greater generosity in 
 God's holy service. 
 
 This is the first attempt that I have made 
 to write on the boat, so you must not wonder 
 at the character of the writing, as the vessel 
 is not over steady. 
 
 I do not remember whether I told you 
 about my visit to Victoria, or not. From De 
 Smet I went to Spokane Falls for a few days, 
 then by rail to Tacoma, a fine growing City 
 on Puget Sound, where I took a steamer for 
 Victoria, Vancouver Island. Victoria is an 
 
30 An American Missionary 
 
 old town, with about forty thousand inhabi- 
 tants. There I saw our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. 
 J. N. Lemmens, and returned to Tacoma the 
 next day. 
 
 Thence I went straight on to Portland, 
 Oregon, where I arrived on Saturday after- 
 noon (May 24th), the eve of Pentecost, and 
 stopped at the Archbishop's in order to be 
 able to say Mass on Sunday.* 
 
 Portland is a fine large city, with a Cathe- 
 dral and four or five other churches. All 
 these cities would surprise a person from the 
 East. Though they have not the population 
 of the great eastern cities, they have all the 
 appearance of large cities, and no doubt they 
 will soon be such. From Portland I came 
 direct to San Francisco, a distance of about 
 seven hundred miles. It takes two days to 
 make the journey, on account of the heavy 
 grades on the mountains. The scenery 
 is the grandest that I have witnessed 
 anywhere. The road winds up the moun- 
 tains like a serpent, and at some points you 
 can see below you three and even five sec- 
 tions of track, over which you have passed. 
 In Oregon the weather was warm, but when 
 
 ♦The Most Rev. Wm. H. Gross was Archbishop of Port- 
 land at the time. If Father Judge found his Grace at home, 
 he must have been encouraged by the genial manner and 
 the earnest zeal of the good Prelate, who was himself full 
 of the Apostolic devotion, and the energetic charity of a 
 Missionary. 
 
Off for Alaska 31 
 
 we reached San Francisco, to my surprise, 
 overcoats were quite comfortable; and yet 
 one sees palm-trees and vegetation of all 
 kinds proper to a warm climate. It seems 
 that although the sun is strong, the breeze 
 from the water keeps it from ever being very 
 hot, and besides there is a great deal of 
 cloudy weather. The forenoons are gener- 
 ally warm and the afternoons cool during 
 the whole year. 
 
 As I told you before, we left San Francisco 
 on the loth, a few minutes after eleven 
 o'clock. The day was fine, but there was a 
 strong breeze which made the sea a little 
 rough. About one o'clock, I tried to take 
 some dinner, but did not keep it long, and I 
 did not make another attempt to eat until 
 the evening of the second day. It was only 
 on Saturday, the 14th, that I felt perfectly 
 well again. After the first few days the sea 
 was quite calm, and we enjoyed the voyage 
 very much until the i8th, when it got very 
 rough and I had to fast again until evening. 
 When the vessel rolls very much, even some 
 of the old hands feel it. We are expecting 
 to see land this evening, and I hope to be at 
 Unalaska Island, our first stopping place, in 
 time to say Mass to-morrow — a happiness 
 I have not had since we left San Francisco. 
 
 With the exception of a few days that I 
 was sick, the time has passed very pleasantly. 
 
32 An American Missionary 
 
 I brought with me a flute and some music, 
 which, with my Office and the reading of 
 some books, have made the days seem short. 
 I had not played any since I entered the So- 
 ciety; but, to my surprise, I find I can 
 manage the flute very well. Music is use- 
 ful on the Mission, as the Indians like to 
 sing, and an instrument helps greatly to give 
 them the air. We have only eight fellow 
 passengers, and all of them are going up on 
 business for the Fur Company, except one 
 man, not a Minister, going to help at the 
 Episcopalian Mission, not far from one of 
 ours, and two young ladies sent out by the 
 Moravian Church, which has several Mis- 
 sions some distance south of the Yukon. 
 
 The letter was continued, after landing, as 
 follows : 
 
 Unalaska Island,* June 24th, 1890. 
 
 We sighted land Sunday evening (22nd) 
 but did not get into port until yesterday 
 (Monday) morning, about six o'clock. 
 
 As soon as the boat was made fast, I said 
 Mass in my stateroom for the first time since 
 we left the continent. There is here a nice 
 Httle settlement, with about 200 residents, 
 whites and natives. All the former are em- 
 
 * See map at the end of this book. 
 
# 
 
Off for Alaska 33 
 
 ployed by the Alaska Commercial Company, 
 or by the United States Government, and the 
 natives work for both. 
 
 The whites here have no doubt that the 
 natives are of Japanese descent. There are 
 many points of resemblance. Like the 
 Japanese, these natives are very intelligent 
 and extremely handy in making all kinds of 
 carving and woven work. They say that a 
 Japanese, who came to these islands not long 
 ago, could understand the natives and be un- 
 derstood by them. 
 
 Both the Brother and myself are very well. 
 Last evening I visited the Custom-house 
 Officer, whose wife is a Catholic. I have 
 promised to take tea with them this evening. 
 They pride themselves here on their '' Rus- 
 sian tea " : even the natives, who are poor, 
 have fine urns for making tea in Russian 
 fashion. I have not tried it yet, but I expect 
 to do so this evening. I feel exceedingly 
 grateful to God for the fine voyage we have 
 had thus far. St. Michael is about eight 
 hundred miles from here; but we shall have 
 to go two or three hundred miles out of our 
 way to land one of the passengers. We 
 shall very likely leave here to-morrow, and 
 reach St. Michael before the Fourth of July. 
 I must say ''Good-by!'' for the present. 
 May God bless you and all your good Sisters 
 in Religion. 
 
34 An American Missionary 
 
 I remember you all every day in my 
 prayers and at Mass, when I can say it. 
 Again '' Good-by! '' May the Divine Heart 
 of Jesus ever grant you Its most abundant 
 consolation! 
 
 Writing on the same day to his Superior, 
 he says : '' These Islands, as far as I have 
 seen, are clumps of high mountains covered 
 with grass and moss; no trees are visible. It 
 is generally cloudy and it rains nearly every 
 day. It is not cold now and, even in winter, 
 the temperature, they say, is never below 
 zero. There is here a Russian church which 
 the natives attend. They keep the Czar's 
 birthday as a holiday and know nothing 
 about the United States. Fine coal-mines 
 have been discovered on the peninsula be- 
 tween this and the mainland, and they expect 
 to have a great coaling station for all Pacific 
 steamers. It is still daylight here at lo P. 
 M., and yesterday morning I was up soon 
 after 3 o'clock and it was already bright day. 
 From what those who have been to St. 
 Michael say, it seems the weather is quite 
 mild there now. August is rainy, and the 
 cold begins in September and October." 
 
 He found time that same day for another 
 letter to one of his sisters, in which he says: 
 " We arrived here safely yesterday, after 
 thirteen days on the Pacific. We had an 
 
Off for Alaska 35 
 
 unusually pleasant trip, they say, thanks no 
 doubt to the prayers of my many friends. 
 During the first two days I was very sick, 
 but after that I got used to the motion and 
 enjoyed the voyage. The greatest part of 
 our journey is over; we have left the ocean 
 and have now to cross Bering Sea, which, 
 they say, is much calmer than the Pacific. 
 They have very little sunshine in this part 
 of the world; it is cloudy most of the time. 
 The temperature was about 50"" all the way 
 out, and it is about the same now. They 
 say it does not go below zero here in winter. 
 I do not think I shall find it as bad in Alaska 
 as is generally thought; but, whatever 
 comes, I am sure that, with the help of your 
 prayers and those of my other friends, it will 
 all be sweet. I am very well and happy and 
 anxious to get to work. I pray for you 
 every day. Good-by! May God bless you 
 all ! " 
 
 The day after these letters were written 
 was the feast of St. William, Father Judge's 
 patron Saint; and the joy of saying Mass on 
 that day must have been some compensation 
 for the privation of Mass and Communion 
 which he had to endure on the feast of St. 
 Aloysius, the 21st of June, a day so dear to 
 all the members of the Societv of Jesus. 
 
 The party evidently remained at Unalaska 
 until the evening of the 26th or the morning 
 
36 An American Missionary 
 
 of the 27th. Then the St. Paul, weighing 
 anchor once more, headed her course north- 
 east along the Alaskan Peninsula to Bristol 
 Bay. As intimated above, this departure 
 from the direct route to St. Michael was nec- 
 essary in order to land a lady passenger at 
 the Moravian Mission on the Nushagak 
 River. Our voyager did not find Bering Sea 
 so calm as he might have expected, as we 
 shall see from the following letter which he 
 wrote after the steamer made land. 
 
 Nushagak, Alaska, July 4th, 1890. 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 I know you are anxious to hear from me 
 now that I am so far away; so I take the 
 occasion offered by a sailing vessel, which 
 we have met here and which will start soon 
 for San Francisco, to let you know that I 
 have arrived thus far without accident. This 
 place is only about three hundred miles from 
 where I wrote last; but, on account of a 
 storm that made it too rough to come in, we 
 were just seven days getting here instead of 
 three. We have yet at least eight hundred 
 miles to go before we reach St. Michael. I 
 thought we would be there to-day, but now 
 we cannot make it before the nth or 12th. 
 
 God has been so good to me at all times, 
 but especially during the past year, that I 
 
Off for Alaska 37 
 
 am convinced that He has heard your 
 prayers for your little brother; and I am en- 
 couraged to hope that He will be pleased to 
 use so unworthy an instrument to help these 
 poor souls so dear to the Sacred Heart of 
 Jesus. Always remember that you can save 
 souls as well in the convent as on the Mis- 
 sion, for prayer is the most powerful of all 
 the means of salvation. May God bless you 
 always ! 
 
 It was a novel way to spend the Fourth of 
 July, moored in an Alaskan harbor. The 
 thought of the '' Fourth '' inspires a page 
 that he wrote to his youngest brother. '' As 
 I am so fortunate as to fall in with another 
 vessel bound for San Francisco, I must give 
 you the benefit of it and spend a little while 
 with you on this great day, imagining I see 
 you sending off fireworks for the children; 
 for, although it is only two o'clock here, it 
 is eight o'clock with you. This would be a 
 bad place for fireworks, as it seems never to 
 get dark at this season. One can read at 
 ten o'clock at night, and I cannot say how 
 much later; and it seems impossible to get up 
 before the sun. 
 
 This place (Nushagak) is on a river of the 
 same name, which empties into Bering Sea 
 north of the Peninsula. There are four 
 salmon canneries on the river. A gentleman 
 
38 An American Missionary 
 
 who came on board this morning from one 
 of them, said they caught thirty thousand 
 
 salmon yesterday My health is very 
 
 good. I believe the voyage is making me 
 fat. God grant I may use all the strength 
 He gives me for His glory ! '' 
 
 We have no record of the seven or eight 
 days spent in going from Nushagak to St. 
 Michael. The St. Paul had to retrace her 
 course and take up again the route from 
 Unalaska to St. Michael. It would seem to 
 the uninitiated, that the natural course 
 would have been to pass along the coast and 
 through Etolin Strait.* But that is rendered 
 impossible by the immense deposits of sand, 
 earth, drift-wood, and debris of all kinds 
 brought down and cast forth by the Yukon 
 and the Kuskokwim. Thus the water near 
 the shore is so shallow that steamers are 
 obliged to keep forty miles or more from 
 land, and to pass to the west of Nunivak 
 Island. They then steer northward sighting 
 the eastward extremity of St. Lawrence 
 Island, and curving northeast towards Cape 
 Nome and Cape Darby, descend to St. 
 Michael. 
 
 Whatever may have been the experiences 
 of this week on the water, when our Mis- 
 sionary reached St. Michael he was too busy 
 
 * See map. 
 
Off for Alaska 39 
 
 to write about them. A week after his arri- 
 val, he wrote to his Superior: 
 
 St. Michael, July 20, 1890. 
 
 Rev. and dear Father Superior, P. C. 
 
 Brother and I arrived here last Sunday 
 evening, the 13th, nearly thirty-four days 
 from San Francisco. I sent you two letters 
 on the way, one from Unalaska, and one 
 from Nushagak, which you should have 
 received before this. We found Father 
 Tosi and Father Treca waiting for us. 
 The first thing they asked was : '' Where 
 are the Sisters?'' And I cannot tell 
 you how disappointed they were when I 
 told them no Sisters were with us; 
 and all the people here were equally dis- 
 appointed. Everybody is praising the Sis- 
 ters' school. Mr. Petroff, a Russian, who is 
 taking the census, was here a few days ago ; 
 he had just come down the Yukon and had 
 stopped at the school, where the children 
 gave him a specimen of what they could do 
 in reading, speaking, etc. I heard him say, 
 " I am ashamed of my church ; we have been 
 here for fifty years and have not done as 
 much as you have done in two or three." 
 From all I hear and see, I am sure we can get 
 all the children we can accommodate. The 
 Sisters have made a good impression on all 
 
40 An American Missionary 
 
 classes, and the disappointment at not seeing 
 more come is great in proportion. I hope 
 you will be able to get us six for next year; 
 for schools seem to be more necessary here 
 than anywhere else. The Indians are most 
 anxious to learn and are very smart. 
 
 A letter written in August to a fellow 
 priest gives us some interesting details of 
 Father Judge's first work in Alaska. 
 
 St. Michael, Alaska, Aug. 17, 1890. 
 
 Dear Father Laure, P. C. 
 
 We arrived here just five weeks ago to- 
 day. I had no idea then that I would be here 
 so long. Father Tosi and Brother Cunning- 
 ham left three weeks ago for Koserefsky on 
 one of the Company's steamers, leaving me 
 here to look after the provisions for all three 
 Missions. We bought a little steamer from 
 the Company, and it left here on the ist of 
 August with Father Treca and his provis- 
 ions, for Cape Vancouver, which is on the 
 coast about four hundred miles to the south, 
 where he and Father Muset with a Brother 
 have been since last fall. They have a small 
 log-house, which they built themselves, and 
 which is divided in two, one half being used 
 for a church and school, the other half for a 
 dwelling. Both of them picked up the Ian- 
 
Off for Alaska 41 
 
 guage very quickly and are doing great 
 good; they have baptized more than two 
 hundred already. 
 
 I am v^aiting for our steamer to return 
 and take me and the provisions up the river 
 to Koserefsky and Nulato; the former is 
 about four hundred miles from St. Michael, 
 and the latter six hundred. I expect to re- 
 main at Koserefsky, and I think Father Ro- 
 baut will go to Nulato with Father Ragaru. 
 The latter, I believe, has been without flour 
 for two months, unless he has been able to 
 borrow some lately from the boats going up 
 the river, which I doubt; so he must be look- 
 ing anxiously for the steamer. 
 
 The weather has been unusually windy for 
 this time of the year, which has made the 
 sea too rough for small steamers, and has 
 very much delayed both ours and those of 
 the Company. The best idea I can give you 
 of this place is to ask you to recall the villa 
 of St. Inigoes.* If, instead of the houses 
 there, you imagine a dozen large log-houses 
 one story and a half high, and the Russian 
 church as shown in the photograph at De 
 Smet; and, on the Rosecroft side, a range of 
 mountains, you will have a good picture of 
 St. Michael. All the houses belong to the 
 Company and are used as dwellings and of- 
 
 *In St. Mary's Co., Md., on the peninsula between the 
 Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River. 
 
42 An American Missionary 
 
 fices for their agents, and as store-houses for 
 their goods. The Russian priest does not 
 live here and seldom comes. There is a 
 small village of natives about a mile distant 
 on the other side of the island. There were 
 a great many Indians here when the St. Paul 
 came, living in tents; they come every year 
 to help in unloading the steamers, for which 
 they are paid. These Indians are very dif- 
 ferent from yours — finer looking, fond of 
 work, anxious to learn, and very good-na- 
 tured. I think they would make good Cath- 
 olics. The country is also quite different 
 from what I expected; there are no trees on 
 the coast, but it is all covered with grass and 
 moss, and has a pleasing appearance. It is 
 not the barren waste I expected to find. 
 
 Nor is it so terribly cold as we were led to 
 believe. From May to October, and some- 
 times much later, it is about the same as at 
 present — that is a temperature ranging 
 from 40° to 60° or 70*", and the coldest 
 weather they had here last winter was 40"" 
 below zero, and at Koserefsky 45"". All these 
 temperatures and those that follow are, of 
 course, Farenheit. The following is taken 
 from an official report for the years 1879 
 and 1880: — 
 
Off for Alaska 43 
 
 THERMOMETER AT ST. MICHAEL. 
 
 Mean. Min'm. Max'm. 
 
 July 53 36 68 
 
 August 50 35 62 
 
 September 45 19 58 
 
 October 26 13 42 
 
 November 17 —12 36 
 
 December 6 —32 36 
 
 January • — 19 — 45 16 
 
 February — 41 ? 
 
 March 8 —37 ? 
 
 April 19 —27 ? 
 
 May 28 — 1 ? 
 
 June — not given, but about the same as July. 
 
 So you see it is not so bad; for the most 
 part, nothing worse than you have already 
 experienced; so you need not be frightened 
 if you get orders next year to come to St. 
 Michael. All the whites and those of the na- 
 tives who can get them, live in ordinary log- 
 houses, and say they are warm enough. 
 Most of the natives live in tents in summer 
 and in baraboras* in winter. If it were not 
 for the frequent rain it would be very fine 
 here in summer; but, as at every place on this 
 coast, it rains nearly every day. Up the 
 river however, they say it is much better; 
 even here, the Agent has a garden of rad- 
 ishes, turnips, spinach, lettuce, etc., and 
 Father Tosi cultivates cabbage and potatoes. 
 
 I have tried to give you, as best I can, my 
 impressions of the place after five weeks' 
 
 ♦Alaskan huts — See page 58. 
 
44 An American Missionary 
 
 observation, and I hope they will enable you 
 to form a more correct idea of it. 
 
 I forgot to state that there are a good 
 many wild flowers here, and also three kinds 
 of wild berries — the salmon berry, the blue 
 berry and the red currant; they all grow on 
 creeping vines and are very plentiful. 
 
 Many of the useful things which you gave 
 me have done good service already, and your 
 flute which I got at Spokane, is my best 
 friend. It helped very much to make the 
 time pass pleasantly on the steamer, and now 
 I find it a good companion. I have been 
 kept quite busy arranging and packing the 
 supplies for the different missions, but I have 
 finished that, and I am now trying to make a 
 beginning with the Indian language. There 
 is a half-breed boy here, who is helping me, 
 so that the time I am detained here will not 
 be wholly lost. Father Muset did not leave 
 until the 14th of November; that is, as soon 
 as the bay was frozen over. It would be 
 good for those who come to have a stand, 
 and a waterproof cover for their chapel, rub- 
 ber boots, coat, and cap, as there is so much 
 rain here in the summer. We have a room 
 in the Company's house this year, which was 
 intended for the Sisters; if they had come, 
 we would have had to camp out in a tent. I 
 have told you all I can think of that might 
 
Off for Alaska 45 
 
 interest you. I need hardly add that I am 
 well and happy. 
 
 Best wishes and kind regards to all. 
 
 Your brother in Christ, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge. 
 
 The foregoing letter is supplemented by 
 one written five days later to one of his 
 sisters : — 
 
 St. Michael, Alaska, 
 Aug. 22nd, 1890. 
 Dear Sister: — 
 
 This will be a Httle surprise for you. You 
 see, by the heading, that I am still at St. 
 Michael. It is nearly six weeks since I ar- 
 rived, and I did not expect to be here as many 
 days. The U. S. Revenue Cutter, the Bear, 
 Captain Healy, is here on her way to San 
 Francisco from the Arctic, where she has 
 been on her annual cruise, and it is by her 
 that I send this — it is the last chance this 
 year. 
 
 The Captain, who is a brother of Bishop 
 Healy, and of our Father Healy, has his wife 
 with him. They have invited me to take din- 
 ner with them on the steamer this evening. 
 
 I am more than pleased with what I have 
 seen both of the country and the natives. 
 The natives are very good-natured, quick, 
 and anxious to learn. Many of them are 
 
46 An American Missionary 
 
 fine-looking and very intelligent. Pray for 
 our good Indians that they may have the 
 grace to embrace the true faith, which has 
 brought us so much happiness ; that so they 
 may share our joy. Good-by! May God 
 bless you and all your community ! 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 ON THE YUKON. 
 
 "I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your 
 souls." — 11. Cor., xii, IS. 
 
 THE Missionary is now in the field; and 
 the work demands all his energy, atten- 
 tion, and devotion. He will have little time 
 to write letters, and less facility for sending 
 them to the East. 
 
 And here it is well to recall the state of 
 communication with Alaska in the nineties, 
 before the discovery of gold in the Klondike. 
 The territory was little known and little 
 spoken of. There was no mail to Alaska, and 
 letters were not accepted for delivery there. 
 Correspondence had to be directed in care 
 of some one in San Francisco, to be for- 
 warded by the steamer that left, once a year, 
 for St. Michael. The return mail followed a 
 similar course. A letter from the Yukon 
 Missions took about two months to reach 
 Baltimore; and, when handed to the eager re- 
 cipient, it was redolent of bacon, tar, or other 
 ship's stores, owing to its long voyage across 
 Bering Sea and the Pacific. The Alaskan 
 
 47 
 
48 An American Missionary 
 
 Missionary was as effectually cut off from 
 the outside world, as if he were in China or 
 the interior of Africa. 
 
 On these annual letters, which Father 
 Judge wrote to his brethren in the Society 
 or to members of his family, and a few others 
 sent when an opportunity offered, we must 
 depend to follow him in his work from 1890 
 to 1897. 
 
 The reader need not look for elegance of 
 diction in these letters, which were not in- 
 tended for publication, and were often 
 written under difficulties. The unstudied 
 narrative of the Missionary's work has 
 pleased those who have heard or read it, 
 more than fine phrases or rhetorical descrip- 
 tions would have done. 
 
 The work of the first year in Alaska is 
 summed up in the following letter: — 
 
 St. Michael, Alaska, 
 Dear Brother: June 30th, 1891. 
 
 I know you and all the family will be 
 anxious to hear how I have spent my first 
 year in this unknown land, so I will try to 
 give you as faithful an account as I can, and 
 you will have to pass it to all our brothers 
 and sisters, as it would be impossible for me 
 to write at length to all. 
 
 I thought to begin my letters during the 
 year, but I have been so very busy that it 
 
On the Yukon 49 
 
 was simply impossible. I made the days 
 as long as possible — often from five A. M. 
 to twelve P. M., and yet they were not long 
 enough. 
 
 I reached the Mission on the i6th of Sep- 
 tember, and found there Father Tosi, our 
 Superior, and Father Robaut, who left for 
 Nulato, two hundred miles up the Yukon, 
 the next day; also two Brothers, and three 
 Sisters of St. Ann, and fifty children. The 
 Mission is located on the right (west) bank 
 of the Yukon, about four hundred miles from 
 the coast, on a level piece of land about a 
 quarter of a mile wide, with high mountains 
 to the west and north. Both the mountain 
 and the plain are covered with thick woods 
 of spruce, birch, and cottonwood. We have 
 cleared about ten acres. For the Sisters' 
 house and school we have a log-house seven- 
 ty-five feet long by twenty feet wide, and 
 one and a half stories high; and for ourselves 
 another, forty-six by twenty-four feet, the 
 same height; and a church thirty by twenty 
 feet. 
 
 Until last March the present church had 
 to serve for everything. It was divided into 
 six rooms, two for the Fathers, one for 
 kitchen, one for chapel, one for dining-room, 
 &c., and one for the Indians when they came 
 to trade, &c. The chapel had large doors, 
 which we opened for Mass, Benediction, &c., 
 
50 An American Missionary 
 
 making the chapel, dining-room, and Indian 
 room all into one; and sometimes we had as 
 many as eighty in it. The upper story 
 served as a dormitory for thirteen larger 
 boys and the two Brothers, and as a store- 
 room for provisions. Although it was very 
 small for the purpose, it was quite comfort- 
 able, and required little fire to keep it warm. 
 
 I am quite sure I suffered less from the 
 cold last winter than you did. We did not 
 keep fire at night generally, and had only one 
 stove, which was in the common room, into 
 which all the others opened, and yet it froze 
 in my room only two nights when it was 50° 
 below zero. Since we got into the new house 
 we have been very comfortable, and the boys, 
 twenty-two now, have a fine high dormitory. 
 We have turned the old house into a church 
 and it looks right well for these parts. I 
 papered the sanctuary and whitewashed the 
 body of the church after filling up the cracks 
 between the logs with mortar, and painted 
 the six windows in imitation of frosted glass, 
 making the centre panes red, so as to form 
 a red cross, and the others white. I painted 
 the altar white; and, with some fine altar- 
 cloths, ten silver candlesticks, and some 
 flowers, all of which, though not new, are 
 very good and were given to me by our 
 Fathers in California, it makes a very re- 
 spectable-looking altar. The sanctuary is 
 
On the Yukon 51 
 
 covered with matting made by the Indians, 
 which is nearly as good as what you buy. 
 Thanks to the generosity of the Altar So- 
 ciety in Washington we are well supplied 
 with vestments. 
 
 Now for the events of the year. The day 
 after I arrived at the Mission, while carrying 
 a heavy box, about three hundred pounds, I 
 slipped, and it fell on my leg, and although 
 it did not break it, it bruised it very badly 
 and made it so stiff that I could not make 
 a decent genuflection for three months; but, 
 thank God, I was able to keep about and did 
 not miss Mass once. At Christmas we used 
 as a church the new house, which was then 
 under roof, but had no partitions in it yet. 
 In the corner, at the Gospel side of the altar, 
 I fixed a very pretty crib, with a fine set of 
 figures painted on tin by a Brother in Spo- 
 kane Falls. The Rector gave them to me 
 when I was coming away. They are in six 
 groups, and I like them better than those 
 that I paid $130 for, when in Frederick. The 
 church was dressed with evergreens, and 
 looked quite Christmas-like. Father Tosi 
 sang midnight Mass, and in the morning at 
 nine o'clock we baptized thirty-four children 
 of the school. Afterwards I sang High 
 Mass, which was over at one o'clock. At 
 two o'clock we had Benediction. There 
 were about sixty Indians from the village 
 
52 An American Missionary 
 
 at Mass and Benediction. At three o'clock 
 I dressed up in fur from head to foot and 
 played Santa Claus for the children. They 
 did not know who it was, and enjoyed it very 
 much. Thus ended my first Christmas in 
 Alaska, and I do not think I ever spent a 
 happier one. 
 
 On the loth of February I started with a 
 sleigh and seven dogs to visit the Indians on 
 the Shagaluk river, which runs into the 
 Yukon a little below us. I had a boy for my 
 interpreter and a man to help with the 
 sleigh. The first day we went only fifteen 
 miles to an empty barabora, as the Indian 
 houses are called. They are built of logs, 
 starting three or four feet below the ground, 
 in this shape. 
 
 They are from twelve to twenty feet or 
 more square, and eight to twelve feet high, 
 and covered with clay, so that they look like 
 hillocks, rather than houses. The door is a 
 hole two or three feet high covered with 
 a piece of skin or matting, and generally 
 it is reached through an under-ground pas- 
 
On the Yukon 53 
 
 sage of the same size, through which you 
 have to crawl to get in; this is to protect 
 the inmates better from the cold. In the 
 centre of the roof there is a window two or 
 three feet square covered with a piece of 
 bladder or thin skin, which admits all the 
 light needed. On three sides there is a 
 bench or shelf about six feet wide and 
 eighteen inches above the floor, which they 
 cover with mats; and there they sit in the 
 day time, and sleep at night with their heads 
 to the wall and their feet towards the middle 
 of the room. In the centre of the floor just 
 under the window, they make the fire, once 
 or twice a day, and when it is out they close 
 the window, and the room remains comfort- 
 able all day even in the coldest weather. 
 
 In every village there is what is called the 
 Casino."^ It is a building just like a bara- 
 bora only it is very much larger, generally 
 thirty to forty feet square and fifteen to 
 twenty-five feet high, and instead of the 
 broad berths for sleeping, there is a narrow 
 shelf about two feet wide and three feet high 
 running all around. The Casino is for the 
 men ; they work there during the day making 
 sleighs or snow-shoes, dressing skins, &c. 
 
 *This Alaskan inn or club-house is called by the natives 
 " Kazhga," and by the Russians " Kazhim " or barracks. 
 The Russian word has been variously rendered " Kachime," 
 "Cazine," or " Casine " and "Casino." This last expresses 
 the idea better than any other word in our vocabulary. 
 
54 An American Missionary 
 
 Their wives or children bring their meals to 
 them, which they eat, sitting tailor-fashion 
 on the shelf, while their wives sit on the floor 
 ready to wait on them. The young men 
 also sleep on the shelf, and all travellers are 
 lodged in the Casino. It is also used for 
 their dances and all pubHc meetings. 
 
 To return to my trip. As soon as we had 
 put our things into the barabora we made a 
 fire, cooked our supper and went to bed. 
 Next morning I said Mass, we took break- 
 fast and started. Soon we met three Indian 
 sleighs going our way and we gave them 
 part of our load; at noon we stopped and 
 cooked some fish for dinner, and about three 
 o'clock we reached a log house belonging to 
 an Indian, where we stopped for the night. 
 Next morning I said Mass, made a little in- 
 struction, took breakfast and started for the 
 first village, which we reached at four 
 o'clock, and took up our abode in the Casino. 
 
 As soon as I went in, I found all the In- 
 dians sitting around as quiet as mice, and I 
 saw that they had up what they call ^' spirit- 
 sticks." These are four sticks about six feet 
 high, painted different colors, with feathers 
 stuck into them here and there. They place 
 these sticks one at each end of the Casino, 
 and one at each side; and while they are 
 there, no one can speak loud or do any work. 
 The Indians firmly beheve that these sticks 
 
On the Yukon 55 
 
 have the power to kill them or do them good. 
 When I went to hang up my coat on one of 
 the sticks, they said '' No/' because the 
 spirits would hurt them if I did. When I 
 had taken my supper I spoke to them, show- 
 ing how foolish it was to believe that those 
 sticks could hurt them, and I then asked 
 them to let me break them up. The young 
 people were willing and I was just going to 
 do it when some old women cried out: 
 " Our souls are in those sticks, if you break 
 them we will all die,'' and then some old men 
 jumped up and grabbed the sticks and I 
 could not prevail on them to let me break 
 them up. But they promised never to bring 
 them into the Casino again. 
 
 I staid there two days teaching the chil- 
 dren. I baptized three infants and one old 
 woman, the mother of one of our school 
 girls, who had never been baptized, heard 
 the confession of her husband, whom I bap- 
 tized conditionally, and then married them. 
 They did not belong to the village, but lived 
 alone about ten miles below it. They do 
 not believe in the sticks and seemed to be 
 good people anxious to do what is right. I 
 was just in time, for the old man died sud- 
 denly, a few days afterwards. They wanted 
 me to stay longer but I told them I could do 
 nothing for them as long as they refused to 
 break up the sticks. 
 
56 An American Missionary 
 
 Then I went ten miles further to a small 
 village of very good people, who did not be- 
 lieve in the sticks and were anxious to learn 
 the prayers. They have no doctors or 
 medicine men. These doctors are our great- 
 est obstacle, they have most of the people 
 completely in their power. They pretend 
 to have great power to kill or cure by their 
 incantations and also to be able to cause the 
 fish and game to come or not as they please, 
 and the poor people believe it all firmly. 
 Sometimes they put all the people in the 
 Casino with strict orders not to leave it, and 
 then they (the doctors) go out, telling the 
 people they are going to the moon, and after 
 several hours they go to the Casino and tell 
 all they have seen and learned there. There 
 is nothing, no matter how foolish, the doc- 
 tors may say, that can shake the faith of the 
 people in them. Many of them are ventrilo- 
 quists, hence they make the spirit-sticks and 
 also the dead appear to speak. Father 
 Ragaru saw one of them making a dead child 
 speak and showed him up, much to his dis- 
 pleasure. 
 
 To return to my trip. At this village I 
 staid four days, taught the people a short 
 offering of themselves and of their actions 
 to God, the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory 
 be to the Father, &c., and the formula for 
 baptizing in danger of death; all of which 
 
On the Yukon 
 
 57 
 
 they learned well, as also a little hymn, and 
 two chapters of catechism. There I bap- 
 tized one infant and twenty-eight others, and 
 married seven couples. I also taught them 
 how to know the days of the week, so that 
 they could keep Sunday and Friday. I did 
 it in this way, and they liked it. I took a 
 piece of board, and cut it, and marked it 
 thus: 
 
 A 
 
 ^ • » • 
 
 o o o o o o o 
 
 The triangle I told them was for God's 
 day or the first day, then two holes for the 
 second day, three for the third day, four for 
 the fourth, five for the fifth, and a fish for 
 Friday, and seven holes for Saturday. I put 
 a pin, which they were to move downward, 
 one hole every day, until they got to the bot- 
 tom, and then jump to the top again. I met 
 one of them several weeks after I left, and 
 he had a small one of the indicators nicely 
 made to carry in his pocket, and had the pin 
 in the right hole. 
 
58 An American Missionary 
 
 When I left that village I went to another 
 six miles up the river, the Shagaluk, and as 
 soon as I got there they told me there v^as 
 an old man very sick at a village two miles 
 further, on the other side of the river; so I 
 left my sleigh and everything else, and went 
 to see the sick man. I found when I got there 
 that he was an old man, very sick, who had 
 never been baptized. So, after giving him 
 some medicine to try to relieve his pain, I 
 prepared both him and his wife for baptism, 
 and promised to return in the morning. Next 
 day as soon as I had said Mass and taken a 
 little breakfast, I went over and found him 
 very low. There was no time to lose. I bap- 
 tized him and his wife, and gave him Ex- 
 treme Unction. In less than an hour he died. 
 It looked as though he had been waiting for 
 me to come to baptize him. 
 
 I went back to the other village, and 
 stayed there two days, teaching the children 
 the prayers and catechism, but I could not 
 do anything with the old people, because, as 
 at the first village, they would not give up 
 the sticks. I baptized one infant, two young 
 men and one young woman belonging to the 
 second village, and married a couple. The 
 young woman has died since. Then I went 
 over to the village where the old man died. 
 I knew that it would be useless to try to get 
 them to give him Christian burial, so I did 
 
On the Yukon 59 
 
 not try. When I got there, they had the 
 body sitting in the Casino, with a dish of fish 
 and a can of water beside it, and all the wo- 
 men and children were sitting around on the 
 floor looking at it. But it is at night that they 
 have the principal part of the funeral rites. 
 They keep the body four days, and every 
 night they sing and dance from about six 
 P. M. to six A. M. in this way. The women 
 sit on the floor around the corpse, and behind 
 them the children stand shaking themselves 
 from side to side and up and down, by bend- 
 ing their knees a little, and behind them 
 again the young men stand beating sticks 
 together and singing a song composed for 
 the occasion, referring to the life of the dead 
 person, to a tune that sounds like ya-ya, ya- 
 ya. They beat the sticks and sing as hard as 
 they can until they are all in a sweat, and 
 then others take their place, and they keep 
 that up the whole night. The old men sit on 
 the shelf and look on. The only source of 
 light is a dim taper burning in a dish of oil 
 before the corpse. While they were thus 
 performing their antics, I fixed up my bed in 
 one corner of the shelf and turned in, and 
 although I often woke up, I managed to get 
 enough sleep. I shall not soon forget that 
 night. It was the most savage-looking thing 
 I have seen. I am sure a New York paper 
 would be glad to have a photograph of it. 
 
60 An American Missionary 
 
 Next day I started for another village 
 about forty miles off, because I could not 
 teach the children after they had been up all 
 night dancing, but I promised to call on my 
 way back. When I reached the village in the 
 evening I went to the Casino as usual. They 
 were glad to see me and I stayed, I think, 
 four days, teaching the children all day; but 
 as they, like the others, would not give up 
 their superstitions, I could not do much for 
 them. Then I returned again to where the 
 man had died, but I could not do anything 
 but teach the children, as the doctors kept 
 the people strong in their superstition. From 
 there I crossed over to a large village on the 
 Yukon called Anvik, about forty-five miles 
 from the other, where there is an Episcopa- 
 lian minister. I did not go to his house, but 
 put up in the Casino — his house is across 
 the river from the village. It was late when 
 we reached there, so after supper we went to 
 bed. The Casino was so crowded that I 
 could not get a place on the shelf, so I fixed 
 my bed on the floor, — just as good. For 
 my bed I have fallen heir to Archbishop 
 Seghers^ travelling bed, which is a large 
 bearskin.* He was lying on it when he was 
 
 *This bearskin is now in the museum of Georgetown 
 University. Father Judge used it for five years, taking it 
 with him up the Yukon to Forty Mile Post. In 1896 Father 
 Barnum sent the interesting relic to Georgetown. On Arch- 
 bishop Seghers, see p. 105. 
 
On the Yukon 61 
 
 killed, and it has his name painted in large 
 letters on the back. I use it all the time, both 
 at home and when travelling. 
 
 I said Mass in the morning and had a good 
 congregation. While we were taking our 
 breakfast, the minister came in to hire some 
 men to work for him, and was not a little 
 surprised to see me there. I told the Indians 
 I did not stop with the minister, because I 
 did not want them to think that I approved 
 his religious teaching, but that I would go 
 to see him so that he would not be angry 
 with them. It pleased them that I stopped 
 in the Casino instead of at the minister's. 
 Very few go to his church on Sunday. I 
 went over and took dinner with the rev. 
 gentleman and told him plainly why I did 
 not stop at his house. My frankness pleased 
 him and he was as kind as could be. I stayed 
 in Anvik one day and did not teach, as I did 
 not wish to make open war with the min- 
 ister. I expect to go there frequently this 
 year and don't think the minister will be able 
 to keep me from making the people Catho- 
 lics. From Anvik I came towards home, 
 about fifteen miles, to a small village, Bane- 
 jilla, where I did some good; because like the 
 people of the other small village, the second 
 I visited, the inhabitants of Banejilla have no 
 Shaman nor sticks, and besides some natives 
 from the second village, by telling how I 
 
62 An American Missionary 
 
 taught, made them anxious to see me. I 
 stayed three days teaching the prayers and 
 catechism, baptized three infants and sixteen 
 grown persons, and married several. I re- 
 turned home March 6th. The whole dis- 
 tance was just about two hundred miles. I 
 took with me some bread, corn-meal and 
 flour mixed for making cakes, and some tea 
 and sugar. I got all the dry fish and rabbits 
 we wanted from the Indians for a little tea or 
 tobacco. My bread began to get short before 
 I was half way round, so we had to eat dry 
 fish instead. I cooked the rabbits and eat 
 the dry fish with them just as bread and did 
 not find it bad. The last few days, we had 
 no sugar and very little salt — the salt I miss 
 more than anything else. 
 
 Such was my first trip with dogs and 
 sleigh and I was surprised to see how much 
 the dogs can do. I started with seven and 
 bought four on the way, making eleven, 
 which is a good team. It was lo'' below 
 zero the day I started, and 20° below the day 
 I returned, but it had been higher many days 
 during the trip. The Fathers had told me 
 when I came, that the best temperature for 
 travelling was from 10° to 15° below^ zero. 
 At the time, I could hardly believe it, but I 
 found it true. The sun is so strong that as 
 soon as the temperature gets above that, the 
 dogs get too warm and cannot run as well. 
 
On the Yukon 63 
 
 I expect to go over the same trip in a boat as 
 soon as I get back — if I go back, and not 
 to some other mission. 
 
 Six days after I returned, Father Tosi 
 started to see the Fathers on the coast at 
 Cape Vancouver about five hundred miles 
 from St. Michael. He arrived there on 
 Good Friday, stayed about a v^eek, and re- 
 turned on the 2ist of April (if I remember 
 rightly), making a trip of more than one 
 thousand miles. He had to travel fast, as 
 the v^eather v^as getting v^arm, and there 
 v^as danger of the ice on the river breaking. 
 In returning he travelled all night and rested 
 in the day, because the snow was too soft 
 after the sun got high. 
 
 At Easter I was the only Father at Kos- 
 erefsky, so we could not have very grand 
 services; but we had what we could. The 
 Sepulchre looked well. Easter was a beauti- 
 ful, warm day. We had High Mass sung 
 by the children, who sing well, and the day 
 was a happy one. 
 
 During the whole of April the weather at 
 the Mission was fine, warm days with bright 
 sunshine, and cool nights. The average 
 temperature for the past twelve months, 
 taken at five o'clock in the morning, was as 
 follows : July 52°, August 45°, September 40°, 
 October 27°, November 4 3-4'', December 
 -II 2-3°, January -8°, March 13 1-4°, April 
 
64 An American Missionary 
 
 19°, May 30°, June 50'', all Fahrenheit. The 
 coldest spell was from the 6th to the 26th of 
 December. On the loth it was 50° below 
 and on the nth 52° below. For one week 
 it did not get above —30'' at any time, but we 
 did not suffer. The days were bright, and 
 the nights beautiful and clear, and our 
 houses are so warm that we do not mind the 
 cold. The Fathers on the coast suffered 
 much more than we did, although the cold- 
 est they had was 23"" below zero; but their 
 house is not as good as ours, and they have 
 much more wind. I am sure I did not suffer 
 as much from the cold as you did last winter. 
 What I feared most was cold feet, but to my 
 great surprise I was agreeably disappointed. 
 The Indian boots which we wear in winter 
 are splendid. They are made of sealskin, 
 with the fur outwards. In the bottom of 
 each boot we put a handful of straw or hay. 
 We put on a couple of pairs of woolen stock- 
 ings or a piece of blanket wrapped around 
 the foot, and then the boots with the straw, 
 and unless one gets wet the cold will not 
 trouble him. Instead of a coat, when trav- 
 elling, we wear what they call a Parky, 
 which is made of fur, deerskin or other 
 skins, in the shape of a bag with sleeves, and 
 a hood that has an edging of long fur which 
 blows across the face and keeps the wind 
 from cutting. The Parky is very warm, and 
 
ALASKAN MISSIONARY IN WINTER COSTUME 
 
On the Yukon 65 
 
 as it has no opening Hke a coat the wind can- 
 not get in. It generally reaches to the 
 knees. 
 
 The ice on the Yukon broke on the 13th 
 of May, and on the 22nd the Company's 
 steamer came up. Every spring as soon as 
 the river opens, the Alaska Company sends 
 a steamer up the river, principally to take 
 provisions to the miners far north, and bring 
 down the traders to get their supplies for the 
 coming year. It goes up more than 2,000 
 miles. When the steamer comes down, we 
 have a little exhibition and entertainment 
 by the school children, as we have then more 
 whites present than at any other time. This 
 year the steamer came on the 27th of June. 
 About 4 o'clock in the morning its whistle 
 woke us up. It was a beautiful morning. 
 Now the sun is as high here at four as it is 
 with you at nine o'clock. 
 
 As soon as I was dressed, I went down to 
 the boat and invited all the white men and 
 some Indians to come to see the school, and 
 they all came except two ministers. The 
 children, fifty-two in all, were already up and 
 dressed. The boys had nice suits from the 
 States, and the girls very pretty dresses 
 made by the Sisters, and all looked well. 
 When the people came, the children were 
 already in the large school-room ready to 
 begin. The program was as follows: — A 
 
66 An American Missionary 
 
 welcome song by all the children; a little 
 play by the girls, which was very well given; 
 then the boys came in as a company of 
 soldiers with wooden guns and an American 
 flag. After drilling for a few minutes they 
 sang three songs, and six of them spoke 
 pieces. Then they marched out, and the girls 
 came in, and performed their calisthenic 
 exercises ; after which they all sang the Star 
 Spangled Banner. Then each class gave a 
 specimen of reading, writing, spelling, and 
 arithmetic. Both the entertainment and the 
 lessons pleased and surprised all present. 
 All the children speak English. We do not 
 allow a word of Indian. After all was over, 
 one of the Government Survey party took a 
 photograph of all the children, the Sisters, 
 and your humble servant in a group, another 
 of the whole Mission, and one of each build- 
 ing. Then all our visitors returned to the 
 steamer, one of the Sisters and myself ac- 
 companying them. 
 
 Father Tosi and a Brother went down in 
 a sailboat a week ago to get our steamer 
 which was left about two hundred miles be- 
 low. A Father came here from Nulato a 
 short time ago to remain until Father Tosi 
 or I return. We reached St. Michael on 
 June 30th, and found here the steamer from 
 San Francisco, on which were Father 
 Barnum, a Brother, and three Sisters of St. 
 
On the Yukon 67 
 
 Ann. This was good news for us. Father 
 Barnum dehghted the Captain of the 
 steamer, and both the latter and the Com- 
 pany's Agent here congratulated Father 
 Superior on receiving so fine a man. He 
 will do great good I am sure. When I left 
 the Mission our garden was looking fine. 
 We have cabbage, turnips, potatoes, onions, 
 radishes, lettuce, &c., &c. Last year we had 
 a good deal of cabbage and turnips, but as 
 we had only a few potatoes as seed, we got 
 only about two bushels of potatoes, all of 
 which we kept for seed, and have planted 
 them this year and hope to have a good crop. 
 Now I think I have given you all the news 
 I can from this quiet little world of ours. 
 When Father Barnum tells me all the news 
 of the year — wars and rumors of war, &c., 
 &c., I feel thankful that I have been called 
 to this sweet solitude. We hear nothing of 
 all the events that agitate the world until 
 they are all over and have become mere facts 
 of history. 
 
 July 4th. 
 We are living in tents. Fathers Tosi and 
 Barnum and I have one, and Father Treca 
 and two Brothers have another. Father 
 Barnum brought a nine-foot American flag, 
 which we put up in front of our tent last 
 night with a string of Chinese lanterns. The 
 
68 An American Missionary 
 
 Government Survey party v^ho came down 
 last year too late for the steamer and had to 
 winter here, have a house and a tent near 
 ours and have two flags up. The Company 
 also have one on their store-house, and the 
 four small steamers in the bay and the St. 
 Paul from San Francisco are all flying their 
 colors, so you see we have some Fourth of 
 July here too; besides, the Survey Party 
 fired a salute of ten guns in the morning, 
 and the Company fired ten at noon. 
 
 Father Barnum will go to the coast with 
 Fathers Treca and Muset to learn the lan- 
 guage, and in the spring will probably be 
 sent to start another mission somewhere in 
 those parts. Fathers Ragaru and Robaut 
 will remain at Nulato and I shall stay at 
 Koserefsky with Father Tosi. All the Sis- 
 ters will stay at Koserefsky at least till 
 spring or later, until we have another school 
 ready. 
 
 We have not been able, as yet, to make any 
 great showing in the number of adult con- 
 verts. They have more on the coast than 
 we have on the river. I think we have bap- 
 tized about six hundred, mostly children, or 
 adults in danger of death. I think six chil- 
 dren and two adults whom I baptized last 
 winter died soon after. I cannot say yet 
 how many children we shall have at the 
 school next year. We are not losing any 
 
On the Yukon 69 
 
 this year and will get a good many more; 
 so I am sure we shall have a good school the 
 coming year. We can have as many chil- 
 dren as we can take. We are trying to have 
 some from all parts, so as to make the school 
 and its advantages known throughout the 
 country. It has already done us immense 
 good. 
 
 All the whites are loud in their praise of 
 what we are doing. None of the Protestants 
 have boarding-schools, and none of their 
 children speak English as ours do. It is 
 very slow work to teach them in day-schools. 
 I had from twenty to thirty children from 
 our village every day for three or four 
 months last winter. I taught them their 
 catechism and prayers, and some spelling 
 and reading, for about three hours every day. 
 I gave most of the time to the catechism; 
 yet they were doing well in English. But 
 when they stop for some time — as they 
 must when they are not boarders, because, 
 as soon as spring opens they leave their 
 homes and move about from place to place, 
 wherever the parents can find the best fish- 
 ing, — they forget much of what they have 
 learned. We have not the great numbers 
 that are to be found in other missions, but 
 we have plenty to do, and these poor souls 
 are as dear to our Lord as those of more 
 favored lands. Besides, the Gospel must be 
 
70 An American Missionary 
 
 preached here before the Book of Life is 
 closed. God is blessing our Mission very 
 much, and we have reason to hope that He 
 will before long bring the great majority of 
 these poor people to the knowledge of the 
 true faith. Good-by for another year ! May 
 God bless you always during life, but es- 
 pecially at the hour of death ! 
 Your Brother, 
 
 William H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 A month later he wrote a few lines about 
 his experience on the river. 
 
 Steamer St. Michael, Aug. 6, 1891. 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 I was very sorry I had to be so brief in my 
 last, but I could not help it; and now I am 
 writing under difficulties, on board our little 
 steamer, going from St. Michael to our Mis- 
 sion. 
 
 This is our second and last trip this year. 
 I am Captain and Second Engineer; and a 
 Brother, who came up this year, is First En- 
 gineer and First Mate. We run the boat 
 turn about, six hours each. I ought to be 
 asleep now, but I give up sleep to have a 
 little chat with you; although it will be a 
 long time before my words reach you, if 
 indeed you get them at all; for I am writing 
 
On the Yukon 71 
 
 in the hope that the U. S. Revenue Cutter 
 will not reach St. Michael before this gets 
 there. 
 
 We came down from the Mission, a dis- 
 tance of about four hundred miles, in three 
 days; but it takes nearly six and sometimes 
 more to go up. 
 
 I am in excellent health and spirits, and 
 could hardly be happier in this world. We 
 have beautiful weather here now. Last 
 month there was no night, now there are 
 only two or three hours of it; we shall have 
 a little frost in September, but no great cold 
 before October. May God bless you all! 
 Good-by ! 
 
 Your loving Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 The next year's work is reported in a let- 
 ter from the Mission station on the Shagaluk 
 River: 
 
 Shagaluk River, Alaska, Aug. 3, 1892. 
 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 I write this in a tent on the bank of the 
 Shagaluk River, about 75 miles northeast 
 from Holy Cross Mission. I came here ten 
 days ago to build a log-house, which is to 
 serve as a church and a residence. It will 
 be 30 by 24 inside and two stories high. 
 
72 An American Missionary 
 
 I believe Father Superior intends to put a 
 priest here as soon as he can spare one, and 
 until that time it will be a station visited as 
 often as possible from Holy Cross Mission. 
 This is the village wrhere I baptized many on 
 my first trip, of v^hich I gave you an account 
 in my letter of last year. That letter closed 
 on the 4th of July, 1891. On the 12th of the 
 same month I left St. Michael in our steamer. 
 We had three boats in tow, two for Holy 
 Cross Mission, and a third belonging to the 
 Coast Mission, on board of which were 
 Fathers Treca and Barnum, and Brother 
 Cunnineham, with their provisions for the 
 year. They also had a large skin boat, and 
 four or five hundred feet of lumber with 
 which to fix up their house and church. We 
 towed the Fathers about 100 miles, and then 
 left them to sail the rest of their way, while 
 we continued our course to Holy Cross, 
 where we arrived on July 21st. On the 24th 
 of July we started back to St. Michael to get 
 the balance of our goods; but, just as we got 
 under way, we heard shouting and the report 
 of guns, and upon looking up the river we 
 saw several boats rounding the bend above 
 the Mission. 
 
 At first we thought they were miners, but 
 presently they ran up the American flag, and 
 then we concluded that it must be the U. S. 
 Survey party, so we went back and waited 
 
On the Yukon 73 
 
 for them. When they came near we found 
 in fact that they were Mr. McGrath and his 
 men who had been up north for two years 
 determining the boundary hne between 
 Alaska and British America, and that they 
 wished us to take them in tow to St. 
 Michael. 
 
 After giving them time to see the school, 
 we started again and reached St. Michael in 
 three days — very good time."^ Having 
 loaded our boats and arranged all our affairs 
 with the Alaska Commercial Company we 
 started, on the evening of the 3rd of August, 
 to return to the Mission. It was raining and 
 the sea was very quiet, so we were hopeful 
 of a good trip. We have about 75 miles of 
 sea before we reach the mouth of the Yukon. 
 Once in the river we are all right, but our 
 boat is not built for rough seas ; hence we are 
 always anxious to have good weather for 
 that first part of our voyage. 
 
 On this occasion we had been only a few 
 hours out from St. Michael when it began to 
 blow, and in a short time the wind increased 
 to a storm. We were out of sight of land, 
 so we had nothing else to do but to commend 
 
 * This tow to St. Michael was of great service to the Survey 
 party. By aiding them to get out that summer, it possibly 
 saved them a year's delay. Father Judge took the kindest 
 interest in the party. It is surprising that Uncle Sam's men 
 allowed the missionaries to render this service, as. the angels 
 do, " all for love and nothing for reward." 
 
74 An American Missionary 
 
 ourselves to God and head our little steamer 
 against the wind and waves. The sea soon 
 became very rough, and the waves washed 
 over us every moment, shaking our little 
 craft until we thought she would go down; 
 but, thanks to the Sacred Heart, whose pict- 
 ure we kept hanging in the engine room, and 
 to St. Michael, whose name the vessel bears, 
 we were not allowed to perish. During the 
 night the tow-line caught in the wood-work 
 over the wheel, and broke it so badly that we 
 had to stop the engine whilst Brother P. and 
 myself went out in the rain and darkness to 
 fix it with nails and ropes. At one moment 
 our feet were in the water, and the next we 
 were high in the air, so wildly was the boat 
 tossing on the waves. We were glad when 
 morning came, but it did not bring us calm, 
 and until about nine o'clock we had little 
 hope of saving ourselves and our goods. 
 God, however, watched over us, hearing our 
 poor prayers and those of our friends far 
 away, and by noon we reached the mouth 
 of the river, where we found shelter, safe and 
 sound, and with hearts full of gratitude to 
 God. Our goods were only slightly 
 damaged. The rest of our trip was very 
 good and we arrived at the Mission on the 
 9th of August. On the 17th we went to 
 Nulato, whence we returned on the 24th, 
 
On the Yukon 75 
 
 and then we put up the steamer for the win- 
 ter. 
 
 Father Tosi was away all September visit- 
 ing the Indians on the Kuskokwim River. 
 As soon as he returned, I took the skin boat, 
 which we call a '' Bidarka ''"^ and with it 
 went to visit again the natives on the Shaga- 
 luk River. Our '' Bidarka '' is about twen- 
 ty-five feet long and two feet wide. It is 
 completely closed in, with the exception of 
 three circular openings in the top or deck, 
 where the occupants sit. Each rower has a 
 paddle about four feet long, with which he 
 paddles on one side or the other at pleasure. 
 A boat of this kind carries a quantity of 
 goods and goes very fast, thus affording the 
 most pleasant means of travelling in Alaska. 
 
 As I was saying, I started out to visit the 
 Indians on the Shagaluk River. I visited 
 all the villages to see if there were any chil- 
 dren to be baptized or any one sick, but I 
 could not stay long to teach, as it was late 
 in the season and there was danger of the 
 river freezing at any time. At the last vil- 
 lage on the Shagaluk we embarked on a little 
 river, which, the natives said, would lead us 
 to the Yukon. It is a very pretty stream, 
 and it bore us to a chain of three lakes, each 
 about one mile long, the last of which ended 
 
 *The Russian name for the Eskimo canoe, better known 
 as "Kayak" or " Kiyak." 
 
76 An American Missionary 
 
 only a few feet from the bank of the Yukon. 
 At that season the river is very low, so we 
 had to let our boat and baggage down a 
 steep bank of more than twenty feet. The 
 river at that point is more than two miles 
 wide, but at low water it is divided in the 
 middle by a sand-bar of more than a mile in 
 width. It was Sunday evening when we 
 reached the Yukon. We thought it would 
 be clear sailing homeward; so, as it was cold 
 and windy, we camped for the night. After 
 fixing our tent in as sheltered a place as we 
 could find, we made a fire and cooked our 
 supper. 
 
 During the night it got very cold and blew 
 so hard that our tent could hardly stand it. 
 In the morning I was afraid to say Mass on 
 account of the high wind, so we took our 
 breakfast and started. We had not gone far 
 before we found that the near side of the 
 river was closed with ice too thick to break. 
 We thereupon left our boat and walked 
 across the sand-bar for about a mile to see if 
 the other side was also frozen. Much to our 
 relief we found it free from ice, except along 
 the bank. The current is much stronger on 
 that side, which fact accounts for its being 
 open. But now came the hardest part of our 
 trip; for we had to carry our boat and bag- 
 gage for a mile against a cold wind that 
 raised the sand in such clouds, that we could 
 
On the Yukon 77 
 
 not see fifty feet ahead of us, and we had to 
 direct our march only by the sun on one side, 
 and a high mountain on the other. I had 
 but one Indian man and a boy with me; so 
 I, with the man, had to carry the boat. I 
 did not think that I could do it in such a 
 storm, but we can do much more than we 
 think when we have to. With a good many 
 stops we managed to get the boat over to 
 the clear water. Once in the open river we 
 made good time, for now we were going 
 down stream. We went as far as we could 
 that day, and stopped in an empty '' bara- 
 bora '' for the night. The next day we 
 reached home before noon, having made the 
 last 45 miles in six and a half hours. 
 
 On the 24th of November I started to 
 make the same trip again, but this time with 
 a sleigh and seven good dogs instead of the 
 boat. I visited all the villages, stopping 
 three, four, or more days in each, baptizing 
 the infants, and teaching the children their 
 prayers and catechism all day. I am accus- 
 tomed to say Mass every day, and, as our 
 days are short here in mid-winter, it was 
 generally ten or eleven o'clock before we 
 took breakfast. On my way home I stopped 
 again at Anvik. Here they were having an 
 Indian feast and the village was crowded 
 with strangers. It was with difficulty that 
 
78 An American Missionary 
 
 I got a corner in the Casino, but some per- 
 sons kindly made room for me. 
 
 I shall try to give you an idea of these 
 Alaskan feasts. They are very common 
 among the Indians and are their principal 
 amusement during the winter. When the 
 people of a village wish to make a feast, they, 
 after making their preparations, send mes- 
 sengers to one or more neighboring villages 
 to invite the inhabitants to come on a fixed 
 day. All are invited, but every one that 
 comes is expected to bring some present 
 with him. All the visitors are fed by the 
 people of the village. I arrived in Anvik 
 just in time to see the whole performance. 
 About eight o'clock in the evening, when the 
 Casino was crowded to its utmost, they 
 cleared a place in the centre where they had 
 two dishes of oil with tapers burning in them 
 to light the room. The men of the village 
 then sat around the open space and began 
 to sing a song made for the occasion, in 
 which they told their visitors what they 
 would like to have. When the song was 
 ended the visitors went out and, after a little 
 while, returned with their presents, which 
 they threw in a pile in the clear space in the 
 centre of the Casino. The presents con- 
 sisted of skins of all kinds, great quantities 
 of drilHng, calico, tobacco, etc. When all 
 the presents were in, the Anvikians sang 
 
On the Yukon 79 
 
 again; then two or three men took the pres- 
 ents and divided them among the people of 
 the village. When all had been given out, 
 the visitors sang as the others had done, and 
 then the men of Anvik went out and brought 
 in the gifts which they had prepared for their 
 guests. After another song these presents 
 were distributed among the visitors. Then 
 came the '' refreshments,'' which consisted 
 of an immense dish of what we call ice- 
 cream. The Alaskans make it of deer fat, 
 hard snow, and berries, which they beat to- 
 gether until the mixture looks just like 
 ice-cream. When well made it not only re- 
 sembles ice-cream, but tastes like it too. 
 When all was ready a stout Indian took the 
 dish, having, as if to add solemnity to the 
 occasion, taken off his shirt, and began to 
 deal out the ice-cream with his hand to all 
 the visitors as far as it went. After that the 
 entertainers sang again, and the visitors 
 brought in more presents, which were di- 
 vided up as before. Then all fell to eating 
 dry fish and oil before going to sleep. It 
 was midnight before all was over. 
 
 Such are the feasts these Indians are con- 
 stantly making in one village or another, 
 nearly all the winter. They are harmless, 
 but we cannot do anything while they are 
 going on or for some weeks before they be- 
 gin; because, while they are practising the 
 
80 An American Missionary 
 
 songs and dances, the children are so excited 
 that they can think of nothing else. I forgot 
 to mention above that these people have 
 masquerades of their own for some nights 
 before the distribution of the presents. For 
 these dances, they carve, out of wood, faces 
 of men, some very large, say two feet or 
 more, and some only a few inches in length, 
 and also heads of animals of all kinds. When 
 they dance, they put on these masks and 
 imitate the animals that they represent. In 
 their dances, as a general thing, only the men 
 take part. They do not join hands nor even 
 touch one another, but each dancer simply 
 goes through certain motions or gesticula- 
 tions, in accordance with the character that 
 his mask represents. 
 
 I remained only one day at Anvik, on ac- 
 count of the feast, and then returned home, 
 stopping one day at a little village on the 
 way. 
 
 During this trip we had some very cold 
 weather, and it happened that I was travel- 
 ling in the worst of it. For two or three 
 days the thermometer fell to 50** below zero. 
 On those days I had ice on my eyebrows and 
 eyelashes and often a cake of ice on my 
 cheek. All my clothing too, was covered 
 with a white frost wherever the natural 
 warmth of the body penetrated and came in 
 contact with the glacial atmosphere. The 
 
On the Yukon 81 
 
 weather, however, was clear and the sun 
 bright, and I ran all the time behind the 
 sleigh, guiding it. This kept me very warm 
 and even made my head perspire, but as soon 
 as the perspiration came from under my cap 
 it was turned to ice on my face. 
 
 We did not suffer much. When we 
 stopped for dinner, we started a big fire, 
 made tea, and warmed the bread that we had 
 with us. We had to eat fast, and right over 
 the fire. Once I went to pick up a tin plate 
 near the fire with my bare hand, but I 
 dropped it as quickly as if it had been red- 
 hot, and wherever it touched my fingers, 
 they were white as though burned. The 
 same happened on another occasion when I 
 touched a spoon. When it is so cold, you 
 cannot touch any metal without first holding 
 it to the fire to take out the frost. When 
 one touches metal at a temperature of 50"* 
 below zero, the sensation is just the same as 
 that produced by burning, but the injury is 
 more easily cured if the metal has not been 
 held long enough to take the skin off. When 
 we are frost-bitten, we have only to rub the 
 part affected with snow until the whiteness 
 disappears, and then no harm results from it. 
 I have not had my face frozen yet. The boy 
 that travels with me has been nipped two or 
 three times, but I always saw the discolora- 
 tion of the skin in time and ^' rubbed it out.'' 
 
82 An American Missionary 
 
 I returned from this trip on the i8th of 
 December, just in time to prepare for Christ- 
 mas. As one of the Fathers from the coast 
 was with us this year we were able to have 
 a Solemn Midnight Mass. Father Tosi was 
 celebrant, Father Muset deacon, and I sub- 
 deacon. We had the crib as last year, only 
 a little larger, and the church was dressed in 
 evergreen. I said my first Mass at 8 o'clock, 
 the second immediately after, and sang High 
 Mass at 9 o'clock. In the afternoon we had 
 Solemn Benediction. We got one of the 
 large boys to play Santa Claus this year, but 
 he did not succeed in disguising himself as 
 I did last year. We had a happy Christmas, 
 and I enjoyed the religious part of the cele- 
 bration especially. 
 
 I expected to make another trip in Jan- 
 uary or February, but a bad cold laid me up 
 for three weeks and the serious illness of 
 Father Superior prevented me from doing so. 
 
 On the loth of March our oldest boy and 
 best interpreter died. He was baptized 
 by Archbishop Seghers, and he was the first 
 boy that Father Superior took, about five 
 years ago. He was always sickly and suf- 
 fered nearly all the time, but he bore the 
 pains with patience. He was about seven- 
 teen years old, of far more than ordinary 
 intelligence, quick-tempered, but with a good 
 heart. His faith was strong and he was 
 
On the Yukon 83 
 
 never happier than when he had an oppor- 
 tunity to speak against the medicine men. 
 He was taken seriously sick in January, and 
 about the ist of March he began to sink 
 rapidly. At first he did not want to die, 
 but when the end came he was perfectly re- 
 signed. Having received Extreme Unction 
 and Holy Viaticum, he died just as I had 
 finished giving the last absolution. His 
 death was a loss for the Mission, but it was 
 a great consolation to us to see him make 
 so good an end. 
 
 We have had in all 80 children this year — 
 38 boys and 42 girls. They are so good that 
 they have given us great consolation. Six- 
 teen or seventeen of them have made their 
 First Communion and are very edifying. 
 They would go to Communion every week 
 if we allowed them to do so. These children 
 are our greatest hope for the future. As they 
 are taken from all parts, we hope that when 
 they return to their homes they will sow the 
 good seed everywhere. 
 
 When the steamer came down, the chil- 
 dren gave a little entertainment for the visi- 
 tors, singing, speaking, and acting, all in 
 English, much to the astonishment of those 
 among the whites that had not visited our 
 school before; indeed, some of them sur- 
 prised myself, they did so well. Three more 
 Sisters came to our Mission this year, whilst 
 
84 An American Missionary 
 
 one of those that were already here had to 
 return on account of sickness. As our sec- 
 ond school is not yet ready, all our Sisters, 
 eight in number, will remain at Holy Cross 
 for the present. Hence we may hope to 
 have a fine school there during the coming 
 year. 
 
 We made a large garden this year and 
 planted two bushels of potatoes, a quantity 
 of cabbage, turnips, beets, etc., but the sea- 
 son has been so very cool and wet that I fear 
 we shall not have half the crop we hoped for. 
 
 The ice on the Yukon broke, this year, on 
 May 15th, and as soon as the river was clear 
 I came up here to get logs for the proposed 
 new house. The Indians had told Father 
 Superior that he could get plenty of logs 
 when the ice went out, and he thought they 
 meant drift logs. When I came, I asked 
 them to show me where the logs were. After 
 taking me a long way up the river, they 
 pointed to a pine forest saying: ^^ There are 
 the logs.'' So we had to go to work and cut 
 our timber. We reached the woods on a 
 Wednesday evening and began work at once. 
 After cutting sixty-eight good logs, we made 
 them into rafts on the river and brought 
 them down to this place, so that by Saturday 
 night we had our lumber all piled on the bank 
 here ready for use. On Sunday morning I 
 said Mass in the village and then we returned 
 to Koserefsky. 
 
On the Yukon 85 
 
 Now I have come up again to do what I 
 can on the new house, until our steamer gets 
 back from the coast and comes to take me to 
 Nulato. I expect to be here for three or four 
 weeks. We have two tents, one of which we 
 use for kitchen, dining-room, etc., and the 
 other I keep for myself, so as to have a clean 
 place in which to say Mass. I have two boys 
 from our school to cook and help generally, 
 and I take ten or twelve Indians every day 
 from the village to work. I have to board 
 them, so we have quite a little hotel. It has 
 been raining nearly every day since I got 
 here, which keeps the work back very much. 
 The weather is warm and the mosquitoes are 
 so thick that I have to smoke my tent every 
 morning to drive them out, else I could not 
 say Mass. To-day it is raining so hard that 
 the men cannot work, and I take the oppor- 
 tunity to send you this little account of the 
 year. The man that is to be the bearer of it 
 is waiting, so I must hurry and send it with- 
 out even looking over it. In the union of the 
 Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, 
 
 Your Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 TKe work of this year was reported also to 
 his Superior in the form of diary, a part of 
 which we give, even at the risk of some slight 
 repetition. 
 
86 An American Missionary 
 
 Holy Cross Mission, Alaska, 
 June 2nd, 1892, 
 Very Rev. and Dear Father Superior: 
 
 Another year has passed; how quickly 
 they go when we are busy ! The days, 
 weeks, and months are all too short, and the 
 year is passed before we know it. 
 
 On the 24th of November I started with a 
 sleigh and seven dogs to visit the Indians I 
 have been attending on the Shagaluk. I will 
 give you my diary for the trip so that you 
 may see what we do on these excursions. I 
 started with a boy and an Indian about 10 
 o'clock, halted at 12 o'clock to make tea, and 
 reached the first stopping-place about 5 P. M. 
 Good road, distance about 35 miles. Fixed 
 our supper of fried fish, tea, and hot steam 
 bread made in my patent oven which I used 
 for the first time on this trip and found to be 
 a great success. It consists of a sheet-iron 
 camp-kettle about 10 inches high, in which I 
 have put some pieces of iron so as to support 
 two round tin pans, one over the other. 
 When I want to bake, I fill the pot with wa- 
 ter up to the first iron, mix my soda bread, 
 put it in the pans, cover the kettle and hang 
 it over the fire. The steam cooks the bread 
 very nicely, and you have no trouble with it, 
 as it cannot burn; and, as the fire around the 
 kettle keeps it hot, there is no distillation; 
 
On the Yukon 87 
 
 and, therefore, the bread comes out dry and 
 nice. One hour will cook a larg:e loaf. It is 
 a great improvement on frying cakes which 
 is always difficult on a camp-fire, and more 
 especially so when the weather is very cold. 
 After supper I gave a little instruction and 
 we went to bed. At this place there are only 
 two baraboras and about eight or ten In- 
 dians. 
 
 Next morning, the 25th, I said Mass and 
 gave an instruction. We took breakfast and 
 started at 10.45 ^^^ the next stopping-place, 
 about ten miles distant. We had clear ice all 
 the way and went as fast as the dogs could 
 run, and arrived there at 12.15. Took din- 
 ner — tea and crackers — taught catechism 
 to three children and four grown persons, 
 took a walk to say my Office, cooked supper 
 — rabbits, tea, and hot bread — taught cate- 
 chism, said Litanies, etc., and went to bed. 
 
 On the 26th, which was Thanksgiving 
 Day, I said Mass in a log-house belonging to 
 an Indian at this place, took breakfast, 
 taught catechism, and started at 1 1.30 for the 
 first village, which we reached at 12.30. Here 
 I made a big pot of tea in the Casino, and let 
 all present drink of it. We took some tea 
 and crackers for our dinner, taught cate- 
 chism, took a walk, had supper, and went to 
 bed. Thus I spent Thanksgiving Day. 
 
 On the 27th, I said Mass in the Casino, 
 
88 An American Missionary 
 
 gave some instruction and catechism, took 
 breakfast at lo o'clock, visited the sick, 
 taught catechism, took a Httle lunch, taught 
 catechism, walked, took supper, gave an in- 
 struction, and went to bed. 
 
 On the 28th I said Mass, gave an instruc- 
 tion, took breakfast at 10 o'clock, and started 
 at II for the next village, which we reached 
 at 2.30 — road good most of the way. As 
 soon as we arrived, we went to the Casino, 
 took some tea and crackers, made a pot of 
 tea for the men, talked awhile, went for a 
 walk, took supper and went to bed. 
 
 The 29th was Sunday. Said Mass at 8.30; 
 instruction after Mass. Breakfast at 10 
 o'clock, taught catechism, visited the sick, 
 walked, taught catechism, gave some instruc- 
 tion, took supper, and walked till bedtime. 
 November 30th, Mass 8.30, instruction, 
 breakfast 10.30, catechism, walk, catechism, 
 supper, and bed. In winter the days are so 
 short that, when travelling, I generally take 
 only two meals, as after Mass we cannot get 
 breakfast before 10 and sometimes 11 o'clock. 
 
 Dec. I. Mass at 8.30, instruction, cate- 
 chism, breakfast 10.30, catechism, recess, 
 catechism, walked while they made fire in 
 the Casino, catechism, supper 6.30, prayers 
 for the Indians, and bed. 
 
 Dec. 2. Mass at 8, prayers, instructions, 
 catechism, breakfast 10.15, catechism, recess, 
 
On the Yukon 89 
 
 catechism till 2.30, walk, catechism at 5, 
 singing of hymns, supper, walk, prayers, and 
 bed. 
 
 Dec. 3. Mass at 8, catechism, breakfast 
 10.30, baptized a little girl three years old, 
 catechism, walk, catechism, supper, and bed. 
 
 Dec. 4. Mass at 7.30, instruction, cate- 
 chism, breakfast 10.30, baptized Jane, four 
 months old, and started for the next village 
 12.30. This is the village where I baptized 
 most of the people last year. I take a boy 
 and a girl with me to the school. At 2.45 
 we reached the next village — road good, 
 but weather very cold, at least 30 below zero. 
 By the time we had put our things in order, 
 got warm, and taken supper, it was bedtime. 
 
 Dec. 5. Mass in the Casino at 8, instruc- 
 tion, talk, breakfast at 11, baptized two chil- 
 dren, walked while they made fire, catechism, 
 supper, etc., and bed. 
 
 Dec. 6. Sunday, Mass at 8.45, instruction, 
 catechism, breakfast 11. 10, baptized five chil- 
 dren, at 2 o'clock went about a mile from the 
 village and baptized one little girl, and re- 
 turned for supper. 
 
 Dec. 7. Mass at 8, instruction, catechism, 
 breakfast 10; went about three miles to a ba- 
 rabora where there were a woman and two 
 children who wished to be baptized. I found 
 them to be good, simple people, living alone 
 and seldom going to the village; so I in- 
 
90 An America:!! Missionary 
 
 structed them as well as I could and bap- 
 tized them. 
 
 Dec. 8. Feast of the Immaculate Concep- 
 tion, Mass 8.30, catechism, breakfast 10.30, 
 catechism, baptized one girl, catechism, 
 walk, supper, bed. 
 
 Dec. 9. No Mass, breakfast 6.30, started 
 at 8 for the next village about forty miles off, 
 stopped at 11.30 to make tea, and reached the 
 village at 5.30. Very bad road, or rather no 
 road; we had to break the snow. Very cold, 
 50 below zero, but no wind. Supper 7.30, 
 bed. 
 
 Dec. 10. Mass at 8.30, catechism, break- 
 fast at 10.30, catechism at 12, went to an- 
 other village about 5 miles away and bap- 
 tized one Httle girl, returned at 5.45, supper, 
 bed. 
 
 Dec. II. Mass at 8, catechism, breakfast, 
 catechism, tried to get a dying man to receive 
 the last Sacraments, but could not, visited 
 some sick people and gave them medicine; 
 catechism, walk, supper, etc. 
 
 Dec. 12. No mass, breakfast at 6.30; 
 started at 8 to return to the villagfe we were 
 last at; stopped at 12 to make tea, very cold, 
 about 50 below zero, but not uncomfortable 
 as there was no wind. At four we reached 
 the village. We came by a different road 
 from the one by which we went; it was 
 longer, but much better; supper, prayers, etc. 
 
On the Yukon 91 
 
 Dec. 13. Mass at 8.30, catechism, break- 
 fast at 10.45, catechism, walk, supper, 
 prayers, etc. 
 
 Dec. 14. No Mass. In winter when we 
 have a long distance to go we cannot say 
 Mass, as the Indians who sleep in the Casino 
 do not get up in time. Breakfast 5.30; at 
 6.30 started for Anvik, distant about 50 
 miles. Stopped at 12 for dinner, and reached 
 Anvik at 4.20. I found the people making a 
 feast, which means that a village invites the 
 Indians of one or more villages to come for 
 one or more days and eat as much as they 
 can; but all who come must bring some 
 present for their entertainers, skins, cloth, 
 tobacco, tea, etc. The visitors also receive 
 some gifts from their hosts. I gave eight red 
 handkerchiefs and received two mink skins 
 in return. After distributing the last gifts, 
 they began to eat, and it was past midnight 
 before I could get to sleep. 
 
 Dec. 15. No Mass, the Casino was too 
 crowded; no room to fix my altar. After 
 breakfast I went across the river to the tra- 
 der's house to get some flour. He received 
 me very kindly and offered me a place to 
 stay. As the village was so crowded I ac- 
 cepted his offer and went back to get my 
 sleigh and baggage. I spoke with the In- 
 dians in the Casino for some time about the 
 necessity of prayer, etc., and then went over 
 
92 An American Missionary 
 
 to the trader's house. He is a brother of the 
 Russian priest, but could not have treated 
 me better if he had been my own brother; he 
 invited me to dinner with him, fed my dogs, 
 and paid me every attention. 
 
 I had intended to stay some days in the 
 village, but when they have these feasts, you 
 can do nothing; they are all too busy, even 
 the children are too excited to learn, and be- 
 sides, as they are up all night they must sleep 
 during the day. 
 
 Dec. i6. I did not say Mass, as I was in 
 the house of a Russian. Took breakfast with 
 the trader, and started towards home at 9. 
 Stopped at 12 for tea, and at 3 stopped at a 
 small village about twenty miles from home. 
 
 Dec. 17. Mass at 8, catechism, breakfast 
 10.30, catechism, walk, catechism, instruc- 
 tion, supper, prayers, etc. 
 
 Dec. 18. No Mass, started about 5 for 
 home, stopped at 9 for tea, started again at 
 10, and reached home at i — very cold, but 
 clear, fine weather. Several times during 
 this trip it was so cold that, when cooking 
 dinner outside, if I touched a plate, cup, 
 spoon, etc., it felt like picking up red-hot iron, 
 and made my fingers white immediately. On 
 the two or three days when it was 50 degrees 
 below zero, I had ice on my eyebrows, eye- 
 lashes, and even on my cheeks, every place 
 where any heat from the body came in con- 
 
On the Yukon 93 
 
 tact with the cold; but still I did not suffer. 
 All I wore on the coldest days was one flan- 
 nel shirt, an old knitted jacket, and a squir- 
 rel-skin parky or Indian over-dress, very 
 light but warm. 
 
 Father Tosi returned from the coast on 
 Holy Thursday, April 14; and on Easter 
 Monday started for the Shagaluk to see the 
 Indians I have been visiting. It was the first 
 time he had been there. He had to go quick- 
 ly as the snow was melting, and he returned 
 April 28. He was much pleased with the 
 Indians and promised to build a house in one 
 of the most central villages this summer. 
 
 On the 15th of May the ice broke on the 
 Yukon. We were anxious for the safety of 
 our steamer, fearing that the ice might crush 
 it, but St. Joseph and St. Michael pushed the 
 ice all to the far side of the river and left the 
 boat in clear water. No one ever before saw 
 the ice go out as it did this year; this looked 
 like an answer to our prayers. 
 
 The Company's steamer went up the river 
 on the 25th of May and will be down again 
 about the 12th of this month ; that will be the 
 last chance to send our letters out, at least 
 by the St. Paul. 
 
 June 7. Father Muset started yesterday 
 in a three-hatch bidarka or skin boat to visit 
 the Indians on the Kuskokwim river. He ex- 
 pects to be away five or six weeks. So now 
 
94 An American Missionary 
 
 I am alone. Brother John is hard at work on 
 the garden. He has planted about ten bush- 
 els of good potatoes which we raised last 
 year, and a good lot of cabbage, turnips, 
 beets, etc. Last year we had cabbage and 
 turnips for the whole winter, and this year 
 we hope to have a good crop of potatoes 
 which will not only be very agreeable and 
 healthy, but will save flour and thus lessen 
 expenses. The cabbage and turnips we had 
 this year improved our fare very much. One 
 in the States who has never been without 
 vegetables for any length of time, cannot 
 imagine what a luxury they are. When the 
 traders and others who have not had any for 
 years visit us, they enjoy them immensely. 
 From far and near, the natives, the traders, 
 and even the Russian priest, send to us for 
 medicine when they are very sick, and fre- 
 quently they come to be cured. 
 
 Brother and I are well. Two of the Sisters 
 are very sick, but they manage to keep up 
 and do a great deal of work. 
 
 Kind regards to all. Pray for us that God 
 may continue to bless us in the future as He 
 has in the past. 
 
 Your humble servant in Christ, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge. 
 
 The next year w^s soent by Father Jud^-e 
 at Nulato, that settlement on the Yukon, 
 
ARCHBISHOP CHARLES J. SEGHERS 
 ^The Apostle of Alaska 
 
On the Yukon 95 
 
 which the Apostle of Alaska, the noble Arch- 
 bishop Seghers was striving to reach, when 
 he was so strangely murdered by his own at- 
 tendant. 
 
 When about forty miles from Nulato, the 
 Archbishop stopped for the night in a poor 
 cabin. He had with him two natives, and 
 his attendant, Fuller, whom the kind-hearted 
 prelate used to call '' brother." To say the 
 least. Fuller was weak-minded and eccentric. 
 
 For some time he had been acting strange- 
 ly and rudely. During the night in question, 
 he was restless and got up twice. The 
 Archbishop told him to lie down and try to 
 sleep. 
 
 Towards morning. Fuller went out and 
 got his gun from the sled. To rid himself 
 of one of the Indians, he sent him to get 
 some ice; the other seemed to be still asleep. 
 Fuller threw some handfuls of birch bark on 
 the fire to make a blaze, then called out, 
 " Bishop, get up ! '' and levelled his gun at 
 his victim. 
 
 The Archbishop had risen to a sitting posi- 
 tion on the bearskin which served him as a 
 couch, and when he saw Fuller's gun aimed 
 at him, he seemed to take in the situation at 
 a glance. He crossed his arms upon his 
 breast, and bowed his head as the assassin 
 fired. The bullet grazed the heart of the 
 devoted missionary, and his spirit passed 
 
96 An American Missionary 
 
 from that cold and dreary scene of his labors 
 to the light, life, and joy promised to such 
 faithful servants of God. 
 
 Some idea of the year's work is given in 
 the following letters. 
 
 St. Peter Claver's Mission, 
 Nulato, Alaska, November 22nd, 1892. 
 
 Dear Sister: 
 
 There is a gentleman here who will start 
 in a few days to go to the States overland; 
 which means to go eighteen hundred miles 
 in a dog-sleigh, before he can get any of the 
 modern conveniences of travel. It will take 
 him about three months to make the trip; 
 so you will probably receive this next March 
 or thereabouts, if all goes well with him. 
 
 As you see from the heading, I am not at 
 Holy Cross Mission this year, but about two 
 hundred miles north of it. The cHmate is 
 about the same; the coldest we have had, so 
 far, this winter is 34 below zero. The In- 
 dians are more civilized than those lower 
 down the river, at least in their manner of 
 living. They all live in log-houses, and 
 some keep them very clean. They have 
 mixed much more than the others with white 
 men, especially the miners, which accounts 
 in part for the difference; but all the north- 
 
On the Yukon 97 
 
 ern Indians are cleaner and have better 
 houses than those near the coast. 
 
 It is slow work to convert the grown peo- 
 ple. A Father has been here four years, and 
 he is only now beginning to get a few to 
 their duties. He has about sixteen com- 
 municants, mostly women, including two 
 young women who came from the school 
 last summer. It is wonderful what a change 
 a few years at the school make in these chil- 
 dren. When they go there, they know 
 nothing higher than this world; but after 
 three or four years, they are more anxious to 
 save their souls than to do anything else; 
 they go frequently to Confession and Holy 
 Communion of their own accord, come to 
 Mass every day when they can, say their 
 beads, and give great edification. But what 
 shows most of all how solid is their faith, is 
 the manner in which they die. So far we 
 have had three deaths among those who 
 have been at the school, and all have been 
 most edifying and consoling. 
 
 The last death was that of a boy about 
 fourteen years old. When he came to the 
 school he was a little wild Indian; but the 
 excellent training of the Sisters soon began 
 to bear fruit; and, although he was not as 
 bright as some others, he made up for it by 
 hard work; and, about a year before he died, 
 
98 An American Missionary 
 
 he was well enough instructed to make his 
 First Communion. 
 
 First Communion makes a great change 
 in all these children, but especially was it^ 
 effect noticed in this boy. From that day, 
 no one could make him angry, and he be- 
 came so obliging and kind to everyone that 
 all loved him exceedingly. It was a real pleas- 
 ure to give him any work to do, he did it so 
 willingly and cheerfully. He was always 
 smiling as though he could not hide the joy 
 and peace of his heart. But God wished to 
 try him for our edification and his greater 
 merit, and so, sent him a cross heavy for one 
 of his age and disposition, for he was natur- 
 ally very lively. Soon after Christmas last, 
 he sprained one of his ankles several times; 
 but, with treatment, it seemed to get all 
 right again. Soon after, one evening, with- 
 out any warning, when he was as lively and 
 happy as ever, he had a severe hemorrhage, 
 which weakened him very much; and while 
 he was in bed on account of that, the ankle 
 he had sprained began to swell and became 
 very painful, especially when he moved it. 
 So he had to remain in bed the greater part 
 of the time. All spring and summer he re- 
 mained in that state, often suffering great 
 pain but never complaining or even asking 
 for anyone to stay with him. In July, as we 
 were afraid he would not live long, we sent 
 
On the Yukon 99 
 
 him here so that his parents might see him. 
 He came up on the steamer and Hved with 
 the Fathers. Here, as at school, he gained 
 all hearts, and surprised and edified the 
 Fathers by his piety and wonderful patience. 
 Every day he would read the life of the 
 Saint of the day, in a pictorial '' Lives of 
 the Saints " that we have, and he was not in 
 the least afraid of death. He died early in 
 the morning, after a violent hemorrhage, and 
 his last words were, '' Jesus, Mary, Joseph," 
 which he said of his own accord. What 
 wonders the grace of God is able to work 
 when we do not put obstacles in the way or 
 refuse to follow its inspirations ! 
 
 When I left Holy Cross, there were one 
 hundred children in the school. Three more 
 Sisters came this year; but one of those who 
 came four years ago, had to go back on ac- 
 count of her health. So there are eight Sis- 
 ters now, all at Holy Cross. They expected 
 to open a second school this fall, but we 
 could not get the house ready. It will be on 
 the coast at the mouth of the Yukon, about 
 four hundred miles from the present school. 
 In that part of the country there is not a 
 tree for two hundred miles, and not even a 
 bush for some distance, nothing but thick 
 moss. The place we have selected for the 
 school is a high bank on one of the streams 
 that form the delta of the Yukon. It is the 
 
 .ore. 
 
100 An American Missionary 
 
 only high ground in the neighborhood; so, 
 from it, one can see on all sides as far as the 
 eye can reach, and not a tree to break the 
 view, nothing but water, moss-covered fields, 
 and banks. But it is a cheerful place and 
 very good for that part of the country. 
 
 Do not think that I have no need of your 
 prayers, for there are many dangers on a 
 Mission like this. I am very happy and have 
 not the least doubt that I am where God 
 wishes me to be ; but, when there is so much 
 to do, there is danger of neglecting oneself. 
 So we must always pray for each other. . . . 
 Every day, at Mass, I ask our Lord to keep 
 you ever pure in his sight, and to bring you 
 to a holy and happy death, which is the 
 greatest blessing I can ask for you, as we 
 say in the prayer to St. Francis Xavier — 
 ^' that we may diligently seek and perfectly 
 find that one thing necessary, which is to die 
 and rest in peace.'' May God grant us this 
 grace. 
 
 Your loving Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 Nulato, Alaska, Nov. 26, 1892. 
 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 It is just 12 P. M. as I begin this, but there 
 is a chance to give you a pleasant surprise 
 and I cannot resist. 
 
On the Yukon 101 
 
 Representatives of the Northwestern 
 Trading and Transportation Company came 
 here last summer and built a large river 
 steamer to run on the Yukon. It is a fine 
 boat built on the plan of the Mississippi 
 boats. The object of the Company is to 
 open up the country, trade in furs, supply 
 the miners, mine, or go into anything that 
 they see money in. 
 
 Their steamer is called the P. B. Weare, 
 after the head of the company, the great 
 corn-king of Chicago. He w^as up here but 
 has returned. They intended to go up about 
 a thousand miles above Nulato, where the 
 greatest number of the miners are; but, they 
 were too late in finishing the steamer, and 
 when they got here about the 6th of October, 
 the ice was too thick to allow them to go 
 farther. So they went about six miles be- 
 low us, and put up for the winter. 
 
 They have about three hundred tons of 
 freight, a splendid cargo of assorted mer- 
 chandise. The Agent and his wife, the 
 First Mate, and an Irish servant-girl, are 
 Catholics; and the Captain and the hands 
 are all nice people ; so, we have some pleasant 
 white neighbors for the winter. The dis- 
 tance is nothing, as it takes only about three 
 quarters of an hour to make it with the dogs. 
 
 Soon after I wrote last, I was called back 
 to Holy Cross, and had to leave the house I 
 
102 An American Missionary 
 
 was building on the Shagaluk, only seven 
 feet high. I remained at the Mission, while 
 Father Superior and three other Fathers 
 went to plant a large cross on the spot where 
 Archbishop Seghers was killed. They made 
 the ceremony as solemn as possible, all the 
 Fathers saying Mass there. 
 
 On the first of October, I started to come 
 to Nulato on our steamer, but winter had 
 already begun — about two weeks earlier 
 than usual — and the ice was forming on 
 the river. However, we got on all right 
 until within thirty miles of this place, 
 when we ran on a bar and could not 
 get ofif. So we had to leave the steamer 
 and walk home. We did not know how 
 far we were from Nulato, but an Indian 
 told us we could reach it in a day. We 
 camped one night on the bank of the 
 river, where we had piled all the goods from 
 the steamer; and, in the morning after Mass 
 and breakfast, each one took what he could 
 carry and we started to tramp it. The walk- 
 ing was bad, the river bank being often stony 
 and rough, and our bundles began after some 
 time to be heavy; but we kept on, and to our 
 joy, about one o'clock, we met the Father 
 from Nulato with a party of men coming 
 from the new steamer to our rescue. 
 
 They had heard of our trouble, and started 
 as soon as possible to help us. We all took 
 
On the Yukon 103 
 
 something to eat and after a Httle rest set 
 out again reheved af our baggage, which 
 was taken by the Indians whom the Father 
 had brought with him. On account of the 
 bad footing we could not make good time, 
 and it was not until about eight o'clock in 
 the evening that we reached the steamer. 
 We were all very tired but we met a hearty 
 welcome, got a good supper, and, what we 
 wanted most, a good night's rest. The 
 Transportation Company's people have 
 boarded up their steamer all around, and 
 they are living in it very comfortably. The 
 next day, after breakfast, we finished our 
 tramp and got home. 
 
 We are only two Fathers and two 
 Brothers here; so, it is much more quiet than 
 at Holy Cross. I must stop; it is too late, 
 and I am tired. Kind regards to all. May 
 God bless you always. 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 In May, 1893, he writes of his work at 
 Nulato : ^^ My life has been a quiet one, most 
 of my time being taken up with teaching 
 the children their prayers and catechism in 
 their own language, and a little English, and 
 in trying to learn their language myself. 
 The first task I like very much, for I am 
 fond of children and have no trouble to make 
 friends with them; but the second is very 
 
104 An American Missionary 
 
 much like hard work, and my genius does 
 not run that way. So you must pray for 
 me, that the Holy Ghost may supply what 
 nature has refused, if it be for the glory of 
 God. 
 
 We have had a cold winter this year, the 
 average temperature having been a good 
 deal lower than that of the two preceding 
 years; but, thank God! I have had good 
 health, have not even had a cold. 
 
 The ice on the Yukon broke on the 19th 
 of this month, and from that event we date 
 the beginning of the summer season. Up 
 to about the middle of April the cold holds 
 its own; and one would think, to look at the 
 immense ice more than thirty inches thick 
 on the river, and the whole country buried 
 in snow, that it would take all summer to 
 melt it; but, as soon as the severe cold ceases, 
 the sun is so strong that the snow melts, and 
 the river swells so that it lifts the ice up 
 fifteen feet or more, forcing it to let go its 
 hold on the banks; and, of course, as soon as 
 it is not held, the current carries it off and 
 out to sea." 
 
 In July he wrote to another person: "I 
 was much pleased to hear that you had seen 
 Father Tosi. He has been through more 
 than anyone else up here; and, as you see, 
 he is not dead yet. As I told someone, this 
 
On the Yukon 105 
 
 IS a bad place to come to if one wants to get 
 to heaven quick ; hot countries are much bet- 
 ter for that than cold ones. 
 
 I am sorry you had to send the box by ex- 
 press, on account of the expense; slow 
 freight, I suppose, would be much cheaper. 
 You have only hinted at what you have sent, 
 and therefore I don't know what I may find; 
 but, if you should ever be inspired to send 
 another box, I would be happy to find in one 
 corner a few pounds of common candy for 
 the little ones at Christmas. You see, I 
 have not changed in my love for the little 
 ones.'' 
 
 The summer of 1894 found Father Judge 
 still at Nulato. He recounts the incidents 
 of the year in a long letter to one of his 
 brothers : — 
 
 St. Peter Claver's Mission, 
 
 Nulato, Alaska, June 30, 1894. 
 
 Dear Brother: P. C. 
 
 I think my last letter to you was written 
 in July, 1893, while I was on a visit to Holy 
 Cross Mission. In the latter part of Au- 
 gust I returned to Nulato. A few days after 
 my arrival, Father Ragaru left, having been 
 called by Father Superior, leaving me alone 
 with one Brother, to attend to these two vil- 
 
106 An American Missionary 
 
 lages, one of which is within five minutes 
 walk of the house, and the other about two 
 miles down the river. 
 
 Here we have a small church and have be- 
 gun to build a better one; but at the lower 
 village we had none until last November, 
 when an Indian, who had there a good log- 
 house, sold it to me very cheap, because one 
 of his children died there about two years 
 ago, and the Medicine Man, or Shaman, as 
 they call him, told our Indian that his other 
 children would die if he remained in that 
 house. With a little work, I fixed it up, 
 made a temporary altar, and began on the 
 first of December to use it for a church. 
 
 My plan is to say Mass three times a week 
 there, and three times here, and in each place 
 on other days to say the beads and teach 
 catechism in the afternoon; so that every 
 day each village has either Mass or the 
 beads and catechism. On Sundays all 
 come here, and we have High Mass, instruc- 
 tion, and Benediction of the Blessed Sac- 
 rament. 
 
 The first Friday of the month, for which 
 we prepare by a Novena, we celebrate here 
 by a general Communion of all who have 
 made their First Communion, in all about 
 twenty-five, half of whom are grown chil- 
 dren who have been to school at Holy Cross. 
 
 We are slow to admit the Indian to Holy 
 
On the Yukon 107 
 
 Communion, but this year I have secured 
 the baptism of all the children in both vil- 
 lages, and of nearly all the young people; 
 and, with few exceptions, these come to con- 
 fession at least once a month. 
 
 The Medicine Man could not have con- 
 ferred a greater favor upon me than he did 
 by causing that man to leave his house. 
 Thus we see how God makes use even of the 
 wicked, to accomplish His designs, and turns 
 all to the good of His elect. 
 
 On the 8th of December, the feast of the 
 Immaculate Conception, immediately after 
 Mass, I had to start on a sick-call to a village 
 about thirty miles down the river. We left 
 here, an Indian and myself, with a sleigh and 
 seven good dogs about nine o'clock, stopped 
 at noon at an Indian house for our dinner of 
 tea, dried fish, and bread, and then continued 
 our journey, arriving at our destination 
 about four o'clock. It was a cold day, forty 
 degrees below zero, but the wind was at our 
 back and we did not suffer. I found an old 
 man, the father of one of the children at our 
 school, very sick with something like pneu- 
 monia. I gave him some medicine, in- 
 structed him, heard his confession, and 
 anointed him. He was well disposed and 
 died in a few days after I left. 
 
 On the 15th of December Father Ragaru 
 returned from Holy Cross Mission. He 
 
108 An American Missionary 
 
 spent a month on the road, having visited 
 all the villages on the v^ay, stopping a few 
 days in each. By the route he came, the 
 whole distance was about three hundred 
 miles. 
 
 Christmas day was a happy one for us 
 this year. I said two Masses at the lower 
 village, where I had nine communions, and 
 Father Ragaru had eighteen communions 
 here. At nine o'clock I sang High Mass 
 here, after which I had the Christmas tree 
 for the children, and some fun also for the 
 grown people. Our tree looked well, al- 
 though I had no candy. I made some small 
 cakes, and with them and a large tin of sweet 
 crackers, which some good soul sent us last 
 summer, I filled a number of small bags, 
 some of cloth, some of colored paper, which, 
 together with the toys you sent, set the tree 
 off in good style and made the little ones 
 jump with joy when they saw it. The tin 
 dogs, fishes, etc., which moved by them- 
 selves, amused not only the children, but also 
 the older folks. We raffled the toys, as 
 there were not enough for all, and gave each 
 child a bag of cakes. To the grown people 
 we gave a piece of sweet bread and a cup of 
 coffee, and all went away pleased. 
 
 On the 8th of January Father Ragaru left 
 to make a missionary trip up the river; and, 
 a few days after, he sent me word that there 
 
On the Yukon 109 
 
 were two white men in great destitution and 
 with their feet badly frozen, at the house of 
 an Indian thirty miles above Nulato. At 
 once, I sent a Brother with two sleighs, 
 warm clothes, and a good provision of bread, 
 tea, and fish, to bring them down. He found 
 them with their feet so badly frozen that 
 they could not use them at all, with very 
 Httle clothing and barely enough food to 
 keep soul and body together. The Brother 
 made the trip in three days, and although it 
 was fifty degrees below zero when they ar- 
 rived here, they were so well wrapped up 
 that they did not feel the cold. As soon as 
 they came, we gave them a good supper of 
 stewed rabbits, slap-jacks, and tea, and they 
 enjoyed it as much as you would a first-class 
 feast. Until Father Ragaru met them, they 
 had not tasted bread for seven months; at 
 one time they had been two weeks without 
 anything but a kind of wild rhubarb, which 
 we have here, and again they had lived eight 
 days on one small salmon. 
 
 They are young men about twenty-one 
 years of age; one a Scotchman, a sailor by 
 profession, and the other the son of German 
 parents, from Minnesota, and a Catholic. 
 The Scotchman is a Presbyterian, or at least 
 his parents are, but he left home too young 
 to know much about religion. 
 
 When I examined their feet, I found them 
 
110 An American Missionary 
 
 in a terrible condition; one had the heel and 
 toes of both feet badly frozen, and by that 
 time they were black. The other escaped 
 better, only his two heels and the sole of one 
 foot being hurt. For about two months 
 they were not able to use their feet, and it 
 was nearly four months before they could 
 wear shoes. They left on the first steamer 
 to go to the mining country to seek their 
 fortune, just five months from the time they 
 came. 
 
 These men were very clever. When they 
 were able to move about the room, I put up 
 a carpenter's bench, and although they were 
 not professionals, they made many useful 
 things for me. 
 
 We had to suffer a little for our charity, 
 as last summer we received provisions for 
 only two or three, and we had to make them 
 do for five or six, so that everything was 
 short. What we felt most was that we 
 could afford to take only a limited amount 
 of bread. We cooked twenty-five pounds of 
 flour every week, making twenty-one loaves, 
 one for each meal, which we cut into five 
 pieces, one for each. Our principal food was 
 rabbits — which, thank God, were very plen- 
 tiful this year — sometimes stewed, some- 
 times fried or baked, for variety; for, as the 
 two sailors used to remark, we were afraid 
 we would turn into rabbits. 
 
On the Yukon 111 
 
 After Pentecost, when the snow became 
 too soft to hunt the rabbits, we often wished 
 we had more of them; but we had some sal- 
 mon that we salted last year, which took 
 their place, until the river broke. May the 
 27th. Although we could not get fish in the 
 main river then, because the water was too 
 high, we got some in a side stream and a lake 
 near by; but they did not continue to run, 
 and when the steamer came in sight, on the 
 14th of June, our last meal was on the table. 
 We had two fish-nets out, and the men and 
 the Brother had been out all the morning 
 fishing with hooks, but had caught nothing. 
 
 Rev. Father Superior, who had heard of 
 our need, came up on the steamer bringing 
 us all we wanted. Thus God in His good- 
 ness, that we might recognize His provi- 
 dence more clearly, waited until the last 
 moment to come to our assistance. 
 
 For my own part, I was not anxious, be- 
 cause I felt certain that, as we had deprived 
 ourselves for His sake, He would not fail to 
 help us in the hour of need. 
 
 This spring, I was also struck by a touch- 
 ing instance of His goodness in sweetening 
 even the little crosses He sometimes sends 
 us for our good. 
 
 On Sunday, March nth, I had a sick-call 
 twelve miles up the river. The next day, the 
 i2th, the feast of the canonization of St. 
 
112 An American Missionary 
 
 Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier, I said Mass 
 there, but with difficulty, because the canon- 
 ical finger of my right hand was very sore. 
 After Mass, I gave the Viaticum and Ex- 
 treme Unction to a sick woman and then 
 returned home, when I recognized that I had 
 a bone-felon and therefore would not be able 
 to say Mass for some time; but that same 
 day, Father Ragaru, who had been away for 
 a month, returned. It was nineteen days 
 before I could again say Mass ; but, although 
 the Father intended to leave before that, the 
 weather compelled him to remain, so that we 
 had Mass every day and I did not miss Holy 
 Communion once on account of the felon. 
 
 The past winter was the longest and most 
 severe they have had here for many years. 
 The snow-fall was by far the greatest I have 
 seen, and the spells of severe cold more fre- 
 quent and longer than usual. Generally we 
 can travel only at night in April, because the 
 trail is too soft during the day, but this year 
 it was so cold that the sun was not able to 
 effect anything. It was only at Pentecost, 
 May 13th, that the sun got the better of Jack 
 Frost, and began his work of destruction, 
 when, as though conscious he had a mighty 
 work to do, he went at it in good earnest, 
 and in two weeks this immense river had 
 risen about twenty feet. On Sunday, May 
 27th, the ice began to go out. The next day 
 
On the Yukon 113 
 
 at about seven o'clock in the evening, while 
 the whole river was one mass of broken ice 
 forcing its way out, the large cross, which 
 had been erected two years ago on the spot 
 where Archbishop Seghers was killed, passed 
 down the middle of the river, borne along 
 by the ice but standing perfectly erect and 
 facing the bank. It was a fine sight to see 
 it moving along in the bright sunlight, amid 
 the roaring of that immense body of ice and 
 water. We tolled the bell while it was pass- 
 ing. The place where the Archbishop was 
 killed is about forty miles above this. How 
 far the cross went down the river we do not 
 know. It looked as though it were sent 
 ahead to give us warning of what was to 
 come, for as soon as it passed, the river be- 
 gan to rise rapidly. We had to remain up 
 all night to watch it, and at three o'clock in 
 the morning we took every thing from the 
 church, which is nearer to the bank than our 
 house. All that day the water continued to 
 increase, forcing all the people in the village 
 to take refuge on the mountain, and com- 
 pletely surrounded our house, so that we 
 could not leave it, except in the boat. By 
 noon on Thursday, our cellars were full up 
 to the floors ; so, not knowing what was com- 
 ing, we boarded up the lower windows to 
 prevent their being broken by the ice, and 
 moved everything up stairs; but at 2 P. M., 
 
114 An American Missionary 
 
 the water began to fall rapidly, as if a gorge 
 had broken somewhere, and in about an hour 
 it fell two feet, after which it subsided very 
 slowly, and even now it is higher than it was 
 at any time last year. 
 
 When the water was at its height, we 
 could see no land except the mountains, a 
 thing which had never happened before in 
 the memory of anyone. Immense cakes of 
 ice three or four feet thick remained around 
 the house and in the village after the water 
 subsided but did no damage to anything, 
 owing to a high mountain just here, which 
 threw the current of the river to the other 
 side and broke the force of the floating ice. 
 
 The other village, which I have charge of, 
 two miles below here, did not fare so well, 
 as the water covered it completely, and the 
 ice carried my church and all of the houses 
 far back, leaving them a heap of ruins on the 
 hillside. Some of the people from the vil- 
 lage, who had gone to the other side of the 
 river before the ice broke, thinking they 
 would be perfectly safe there on the high 
 bank, had a narrow escape. When they saw 
 the water coming on them and had no higher 
 ground to retreat to, they built themselves a 
 house, elevated on poles as high as they 
 could, and there they sought a last refuge. 
 Fortunately it was just high enough, but 
 with nothing to spare, for their feet were 
 
On the Yukon 115 
 
 already in the water when it began to fall. 
 All the villages for at least a hundred miles 
 below here were washed away. 
 
 Last summer was so wet that it was al- 
 most impossible to dry fish, and now all 
 along the river the Indians are in want of 
 food, because the salmon, which is generally 
 the first to come, has not begun to run yet. 
 Everything this summer is two or three 
 weeks later than other years. The Fathers 
 on the coast were compelled to give, until 
 they were in want themselves, because the 
 Indians were actually starving, but I hope 
 they have the salmon there by this time, and 
 that we shall soon have it here also. 
 
 Last January the most noted Medicine 
 Man here was taken sick, and thought he 
 was dying. He sent for me, saying he 
 wanted to save his soul. As he had two 
 wives and knew very well that was wrong, 
 he sent one away, and declared before all the 
 people that he would not take her back again, 
 that he did not believe in the Medicine Men, 
 and would not play any more, nor '' make 
 medicine," as they say, if he got well; and, 
 as he seemed to be truly in earnest, I heard 
 his confession and anointed him. It would 
 have been well for him if he had died then, 
 but God gave him a chance to prove his sin- 
 cerity, and allowed him to recover. But, 
 with returning health, he relapsed into his 
 
116 An American Missionary 
 
 former ways. On the night of April 3rd, he 
 played as Medicine Man, and next morning 
 died suddenly, God calling him without a 
 moment's warning. Many looked on his 
 sudden death as a punishment from God for 
 not keeping his promises. I had many con- 
 fessions the following days. 
 
 Ten large girls or, as you would call them, 
 young ladies, returned from the school at 
 Holy Cross Mission, when the steamer came 
 up. They are truly a great credit to the 
 Sisters, so great is the change a few years 
 at the school have made in them. They 
 speak English without hesitation, have made 
 their First Communion and been Confirmed, 
 and are so zealous and devout. As soon as 
 they came, I noticed how much more cour- 
 ageous and open they were in the practice of 
 their faith than those who came back last 
 year, and before ; but the cause of the differ- 
 ence did not occur to me until now, namely, 
 that they have been the first to receive Con- 
 firmation; for it was only when Father Tosi 
 was in Rome last winter that the Holy 
 Father gave him power to confer that Sac- 
 rament. Never before have I seen its effects 
 more evident, and I sincerely thank the Holy 
 Spirit for thus manifesting His power in 
 these first fruits of the Sacrament, for their 
 own sanctification, and the great edification 
 of all who see them. 
 
On the Yukon 117 
 
 I feel greatly encouraged by the hope that 
 when all our neophytes have received that 
 holy Sacrament, which I hope will be some 
 time during the coming winter, they too will 
 become courageous to do and suffer for con- 
 science' sake. In that case, this Mission 
 will be firmly established, and with God's 
 blessing we may hope to reap more abundant 
 fruit from our labors in the future, for good 
 example is a most powerful means to draw 
 souls to God. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 27th of this month, we 
 had, for the first time, the full marriage cere- 
 mony. Two of the girls from the school 
 were married to two young men, brothers, 
 one of whom has been living with us here for 
 several years as interpreter. The day was 
 the finest we have had this summer, warm 
 and bright, and our little church never before 
 looked so well, as only lately we put up a 
 new altar, which was adorned with all the 
 lights and flowers we have. Although not 
 grand, it was neat and devotional. I think 
 you would have been a little surprised, had 
 you seen the two brides in their new calico 
 dresses made for the occasion with all the 
 skill they acquired during the four or five 
 years with the Sisters, and their long white 
 veils and wreaths of flowers. We had the 
 Nuptial Mass, with all of its blessings, at 
 which the four contracting parties received 
 
118 An American Missionary 
 
 Holy Communion; all of which was well cal- 
 culated to impress the Indians with the dig- 
 nity of this Sacrament and make them 
 understand how holy and inviolable is the 
 union between those who receive it. 
 
 Both couples live near the church, and as 
 they manifest such good dispositions and are 
 so well instructed, we have reason to hope 
 they will prove an important addition to the 
 Mission. 
 
 All our Missions are steadily gaining 
 ground, but the field is so large and the la- 
 borers so few, and, what is more, we are very 
 much cramped for means. Even with the 
 greatest economy, on account of the distance 
 from civilization, our expenses are great, 
 while the means at our disposal are very 
 limited. 
 
 A school here would do much good, but 
 we cannot afford it; and we ought to have 
 stations at several points north of this, where 
 many souls are being lost for want of atten- 
 tion, but with our present means we cannot 
 help them. 
 
 I am sure there are many good people in 
 the States, who would be happy to help us, 
 if they knew our needs; so, whenever you 
 have an opportunity, you will do a good 
 work by making those needs known, so that 
 all who wish may aid us in gaining to God 
 this remote corner of the Union; for, al- 
 
On the Yukon 119 
 
 though so far away from you, we are still on 
 United States soil, of which we are con- 
 stantly reminded by the flag, and by hearing 
 the school children singing our national airs. 
 
 In a Mission like this, everything is useful. 
 All kinds of groceries and provisions, and es- 
 pecially flour, rice, beans, and corn meal; 
 dry-goods of every description, as blankets, 
 quilts, calico, muslin, &c. ; hardware, stoves 
 and kitchen furniture; church goods, candles, 
 oil for sanctuary lamps, candlesticks, vases, 
 flowers, altar linen, &c. ; boots and shoes for 
 large and small; in a word, everything for 
 church, school, or house use, or for food, 
 clothing, bedding, &c., provided it is good, 
 for the freight is too much to pay for worn- 
 out or useless things, as old books and papers 
 and the like. We are poor and therefore will 
 not disdain the smallest offering, and as our 
 field of labor is so vast, the largest may be 
 turned to the glory of God and the salvation 
 of souls. 
 
 As our work is not a thing of the present 
 only, but to continue year after year, it 
 would be desirable that those who mav wish 
 to help us by their charity, renew their offer- 
 ings each year, as far as their means will 
 allow. All offerings should be directed to 
 one of the Fathers of the Mission, thus: 
 
 Rev. , St. Michael, Alaska, care of 
 
 Alaska Commercial Company, Sansone 
 
120 An American Missionary 
 
 Street, San Francisco, Cal., and should be 
 sent in time to reach there before the first of 
 May, and the freight should be paid at least 
 that far. 
 
 I nearly forgot to tell you about a little 
 experience I had on the 29th of January last, 
 feast of St. Francis de Sales. I had been at 
 the lower village to say the beads and teach 
 catechism, and about half past five started 
 to return. It was very dark and stormy, so 
 that I could not see five feet ahead, but I 
 thought I could keep the trail by feeling with 
 my feet. For the first half-mile I went all 
 right, passing a big snag that lay near the 
 trail, and going some distance beyond it; but 
 then I lost the trail, and only after feeling 
 around for some time found it and started 
 again. Presently I saw something black 
 ahead of me, and could not imagine what it 
 could be; so, with some misgivings, I kept 
 on until I reached it, and what was my sur- 
 prise when I found it was the snag I thought 
 I had left a mile behind me. In finding the 
 trail after I had lost it, I had turned around, 
 and instead of going towards home was re- 
 tracing my steps. After taking care to turn 
 right about face, and remembering that the 
 storm was blowing down the river, and 
 therefore I should face it all the time, I 
 started again, and made perhaps half a mile 
 more, when I lost the trail again, and this 
 
^^m^^ 
 
 
 ^ii'Sntitllii 
 
 ^^ 
 
On the Yukon 121 
 
 time for good. It was so dark that when I 
 tried to retrace my steps I could not see the 
 last footprint I had made. Once I was off 
 the trail, the snow was above my waist, and 
 every step was a labor. After trying some 
 time, I gave up all hope of regaining the 
 trail; and, keeping my face to the wind, tried 
 to make what headway I could in the snow. 
 After some time, I made a hole in the snow 
 to rest, but I felt so sleepy I was afraid to 
 stop long, and started off again, resolved to 
 keep up as long as I could. So I wandered 
 on for several hours, and was on the point 
 of stopping, intending to pass the night in 
 the snow, when I heard some one call. It 
 was a welcome sound in the stillness of the 
 night, and after answering the call for some 
 time I met two Indians, whom the Brothers 
 had sent out to look for me, and who led me 
 to the house. 
 
 The night was not very cold, about ten 
 degrees below zero, so perhaps I would not 
 have suffered seriously from sleeping out, 
 but I was so warm from the exertion of walk- 
 ing in the deep snow it would have been easy 
 for me to have taken cold. I was three hours 
 and a half, instead of a half-hour, coming up ; 
 but, besides being very tired, I was none the 
 worse for it. If I had taken my snow-shoes, 
 losing the trail would not have been so seri- 
 ous, but I knew the trail was good, and did 
 
122 An American Missionary 
 
 not expect to be so late returning, nor did I 
 foresee the driving snow-storm that so com- 
 pletely shut out all view. 
 
 One of our Fathers on the coast had a 
 more narrow escape. He started with two 
 Indians and three sleighs, each one of them 
 taking a sleigh, to go from one station to 
 another, expecting to be two or three days 
 on the road, but the very day they started 
 they were overtaken by one of those driving 
 snow-storms, so common on the coast. 
 When it came upon them, they were follow- 
 ing close behind one another, the Father 
 being the last; but soon they lost sight of 
 one another, and of every landmark by which 
 they could guide themselves, and what made 
 it worse for the Father and the man in front, 
 the middle sleigh had all the provisions. 
 
 After a fruitless search for the others, as 
 night came on the Father made his camp 
 in the snow, and passed the night supperless. 
 The next morning, it had cleared off enough 
 to let him see the mountains, by which he 
 knew that he was not far from the place they 
 had left, so he returned, and all three met. 
 It was fortunate the storm did not last 
 longer, especially for the two without food. 
 
 We are expecting at any moment the 
 steamer which will take our letters to the 
 coast. It is more than two weeks later than 
 last year, and therefore may not be in time 
 
On the Yukon 123 
 
 to catch the first boat leaving for San Fran- 
 cisco. I shall not write to the others until 
 I receive my mail, which I expect about the 
 middle of July. 
 
 I am well and have enjoyed good health 
 all the year, and in fact ever since I came to 
 the Mission, and the same may be said of all 
 here; so I do not think any one need be afraid 
 to come here on account of health. 
 
 Some, I believe, have been frightened by 
 things written from here in regard to food, 
 imagining we sometimes have to live on de- 
 cayed fish, &c., but as far as I have heard, 
 none of us have been reduced to that, nor 
 have we so far been in want of good, healthy 
 food, though occasionally, as in my own case 
 this year, we have been very near it, but God 
 has always come to our assistance in the nick 
 of time. 
 
 We have beautiful weather now, moder- 
 ately warm, clear, and bright, with full 
 daylight all the time, so that we almost for- 
 get during these three months what night 
 means, and what a star looks like, for we 
 never see one. In the fishing camps espec- 
 ially, the Indians pay no attention to time, 
 but each one sleeps and eats when he feels 
 like it, so that the camp is as busy at mid- 
 night as it is at midday. I know the sever- 
 ity of our winters has frightened some, who 
 have not been where the cold is severe, but 
 
124 An American Missionary 
 
 it has no terrors for those who have ex- 
 perienced it, and there seems to be something 
 about this country that fascinates all who 
 come here, for I have never yet met one, even 
 of those who come to make money, who 
 wished to leave it as long as he could get 
 something to do. 
 
 Good-by for another year, unless I get 
 time to send you a few words by the last 
 steamer. 
 
 In the union of the Sacred Heart I remain, 
 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 William H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 The Missionary's undiminished fraternal 
 affection manifests itself in a letter written 
 at this time to his younger brother: 
 
 Nulato, Alaska, July 24th, 1894. 
 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 I have just read a second time your two 
 letters, which I received on the 19th inst. I 
 cannot tell you what feelings of pleasure and 
 gratitude they awaken within me. Every 
 line tells me you are happy, and I can truly 
 say in your regard, what the old Romans 
 were wont to say when saluting a friend: 
 '' If you are happy, I am happy." You can- 
 not be too grateful to God for all He has 
 done for you; and there is no better means 
 
On the Yukon 125 
 
 to obtain God's blessings in the future, than 
 to be thankful for those already received. 
 But remember that a true Christian blesses 
 God no less when He sends crosses and 
 trials, than when He gives things most 
 pleasing to nature. So, you must be always 
 prepared to say, with holy Job, '' the Lord 
 gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed 
 be the name of the Lord.'' 
 
 If we keep well in mind the truth that 
 God loves us as His own children, with an 
 infinite and most tender love, and watches 
 over us with so great care that not a hair 
 falls from our heads without His knowledge 
 and permission, it will not be hard to under- 
 stand that whatever happens to us in this 
 life, is for our greater good, if we receive it 
 as we should. This truth is the philoso- 
 pher's stone, which has the power of turning 
 all things into gold; for, as soon as it is ap- 
 plied to the sorrows of this life, it renders 
 them sweet and delightful, because the love 
 of the Giver more than compensates for the 
 bitterness of the gift; or rather, it changes 
 the bitterness into sweetness. 
 
 Some one sent me the papers containing 
 the account of the Cardinal's Jubilee. It 
 was the first I had heard of it. Everything 
 concerning him has peculiar interest for me; 
 for, he was my confessor when he was only 
 a priest, and directed and encouraged me 
 
126 An American Missionary 
 
 during the long years I was uncertain about 
 my future. For, although from my earliest 
 years I believed God called me to the Priest- 
 hood, still, for many years, I could not see 
 how I was to attain to it. 
 
 It is such a commonplace thing for me to 
 be well, that it is easy for me to forget to 
 mention it in my letters. This year has been 
 no exception to the common rule, a bone- 
 felon and a little neuralgia being the only 
 splinters of the cross, in that line, that fell 
 to my lot. 
 
 So far this promises to be a good year for 
 fish. I hope it may continue so, for dry fish 
 is here like flour in the States; if we have a 
 good supply of that, there is no real want or 
 suffering. Good-by. May God bless you! 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 The source of the Missionary's strength is 
 shown in a letter written two days later, in 
 which he says: '^As you say, we have the 
 same Sweet Heart to rest on as you have; 
 and, if He is with us what does it matter 
 what else is wanting; for ' he who possesses 
 God, possesses all things.' It was this 
 thought — namely that being a priest, no 
 matter where I might go, I could hope al- 
 ways to have our Lord in the Blessed Sac- 
 rament — that gave me courage to leave all 
 that was dear to me in the East, both in the 
 
On the Yukon 127 
 
 family and in Religion; nor have I been dis- 
 appointed in my hopes. Without that 
 blessed Presence the mission life would in- 
 deed be a dreary one at times, or rather at 
 all times/' 
 
 A few weeks later an event occurred which 
 drew Father Judge a step nearer the scene 
 of his future great work. It is well however 
 to remember that the world was yet wholly 
 ignorant of the treasure that lay concealed 
 along the banks of the tiny tributary of the 
 Yukon, which was soon to become so world- 
 famous. 
 
 The change is described in the letters that 
 follow. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 FORTY MILE POST AND CIRCLE CITY. 
 
 "Man proposes but God disposes." 
 
 Steamer Arctic, 
 Yukon River, beyond the Arctic Circle, 
 
 Aug. 23, 1894. 
 Dear : 
 
 I am on the go again; and this time, I 
 have more reason to say "good-by!'' 
 than heretofore, because I am leaving the 
 United States. When the A. C. Company's 
 steamer came to Nulato a week ago, it 
 brought me orders from Father Superior to 
 go to a place called Forty Mile, v^hich is an 
 old trading-post, and now the largest min- 
 ing-camp on the Yukon. I believe there are 
 eight or nine hundred miners there this year 
 besides the Indians, who also are miners. It 
 is in British Columbia, about ten miles be- 
 yond our boundary, and 1,600 miles from the 
 mouth of the Yukon. 
 
 I shall be all alone there this year and a 
 thousand miles from any of our Fathers, too 
 far to send in a hurry if I should need them. 
 
 128 
 

 o 
 
 H 
 
 w 
 
 O 
 H 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 129 
 
 Father Superior wished to start a Mission 
 there long ago, but he could not spare the 
 men. This year the CathoHcs among the 
 miners begged so hard for a priest, that he 
 could hardly refuse them. 
 
 Four days later, but still on the steamer 
 heading southeast from the Arctic Circle, he 
 speaks of his new move in these terms : — 
 
 Steamer Arctic, 
 
 Yukon River, Alaska, Aug. 27th, 1894. 
 
 I send you this as a '' good-by '' for the 
 year, and to let you know where I shall 
 
 spend the coming winter This time 
 
 I believe I am coming nearer to you, al- 
 though I am leaving the United States.* . . 
 I have been taken from my good Indians at 
 Nulato, where I was so happy, and sent here. 
 I had no notice of the change until the 
 steamer, which was to take me away, came; 
 so I had to take hurriedly what I could, and 
 leave, without time to say '' good-by.'' But 
 I assure you, I have never felt happier or 
 more like a Jesuit than I do now; and I am 
 sure it will not be long before I am as much 
 attached to this new Mission as I was to the 
 other. ... 
 
 * A glance at the map will show the reader that the Yukon 
 flows from the southeast till it curves across the Arctic Circle; 
 when, as if recoiling from the polar regions, the great river 
 flows southwest to Bering Sea. 
 
130 An American Missionary 
 
 Of course, miners, as a rule, '' ain't no 
 saints''; but I am not afraid, and in fact I 
 rather like to deal with such men. They are 
 from every part of the world; to-day I met 
 
 one, a Catholic, from Damascus I 
 
 trust much to your prayers. 
 
 Sacred Heart Mission, 
 Shag-aluk River, Alaska, May 25th, 1895. 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 When I closed my last letter to you, I left 
 you under the impression that I would spend 
 the winter at Forty Mile, among the miners, 
 and so I thought, and so the Superiors in- 
 tended, but '' Man proposes but God dis- 
 poses." How little do we know what the 
 future will bring, or what we shall do to- 
 morrow ! When I wrote you, I was already 
 on the steamer going to Forty Mile, and yet 
 God had other designs. The morning after 
 we left Nulato, I heard a crash in the Cap- 
 tain's cabin, which was next to mine, and 
 you can imagine my feelings when, shortly 
 afterwards, he told me he had broken the 
 demijohn of Mass wine, which had been put 
 in his charge at Holy Cross Mission, and 
 which was to serve me for the whole year. 
 This caused me not a little worry; but, as 
 they were confident then that they could 
 make another trip before the river got too 
 low, I went on, with the gloomy prospect of 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 131 
 
 being six weeks or more without Mass, for 
 it would take the steamer that long to re- 
 turn. 
 
 It was the first time I had been so far up 
 the Yukon. I had not been beyond Nulato, 
 which is about six hundred miles from the 
 mouth, while Forty Mile is about sixteen 
 hundred miles from St. Michael. The river is 
 very much the same all the way up, except in 
 one place, where there are mountains on both 
 sides,'^ while elsewhere they are only on one 
 side. The only little incident that happened 
 on the way up to break the monotony of the 
 steamer life, occurred one morning after we 
 had passed a place called Birch Creek, where 
 we took on twenty-six miners. About four 
 A. M., when many were not yet up, the pilot 
 saw two moose trying to cross the river some 
 distance ahead of the steamer, and at once 
 began to blow the whistle, which had a 
 double effect — first, to frighten the moose 
 and so keep them from gaining the banks, 
 and secondly, to arouse everyone on the 
 steamer. In a few moments the whole front 
 
 * The Lower Ramparts of the Yukon. " At this point," 
 says a late writer, " the river emerges from a noble series of 
 steep hills guarding its waters on both sides. They extend 
 along its course for two hundred miles, and are so embattled 
 in appearance as to give to this part of the country the ap- 
 pellation of Ramparts. For this entire distance the Yukon 
 is half a mile wide, with rapid, smooth current, and deep 
 enough to float an ocean liner." 
 
 Lynch — '* Three Years in the Klondike." 
 
132 An American Missionary 
 
 of the steamer was ablaze with repeating 
 rifles, so that the poor things had no chance 
 for life. Mr. G., one of the members of the 
 A. C. Company from San Francisco, was the 
 first to hit them while yet in the water, at 
 seven hundred yards. For ten or fifteen min- 
 utes there was a perfect rain of bullets all 
 around them, and yet they received only 
 three or four wounds. 
 
 When we reached Forty Mile, I rented a 
 cabin, got some flour, bacon, and tea from 
 the trader, and started housekeeping in true 
 hermit style. After looking around for a few 
 days I started to build a log-house for my- 
 self, but when I had the first round of logs 
 on, the steamer returned from up the river, 
 and then they told me that they might not 
 be able to get back from St. Michael, on ac- 
 count of low water in some parts of the river. 
 I had, in the meantime, tried to find some- 
 thing that could be used for Mass wine; but 
 no one except the Episcopal Bishop had any, 
 and he would not give it. So I thought the 
 safest thing would be to go down to Holy 
 Cross on the steamer, get the wine and other 
 things I needed, and return, if the steamer 
 could get up. Two things especially 
 moved me to this: first, I did not like the 
 idea of being a whole year without Mass; 
 and secondly, I thought it would make a bad 
 impression, in a mixed community like that, 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 133 
 
 to have Catholic service, without Mass. 
 Having taken this resolution, I at once ar- 
 ranged my affairs with the trader and started 
 down. 
 
 After I had been about a week at Holy 
 Cross, the steamer came on its way up again, 
 with a cargo of about one hundred tons of 
 provisions, which would be badly needed at 
 Forty Mile during the winter, the captain 
 hoping to get up, even if he could not get 
 back again. Again I started for Forty Mile, 
 having made sure of the safety of the Mass 
 wine this time. All went well the first two 
 days, but on the third day the captain, who 
 was making the trip against his will, quar- 
 reled with the purser and left the boat, say- 
 ing he would never be able to get up. The 
 next day, the chief pilot said he was 
 going to leave because he had no winter 
 clothes with him, but in truth because he 
 thought they would pay him whatever he 
 asked rather than let him go; but he was 
 mistaken, for they let him go. We were for- 
 tunate enough to find at one of the stopping- 
 places an Indian, who had been chief pilot 
 for many years, but who is now mining, 
 having discovered a creek, which bears his 
 name, and which is said to be as rich as any 
 yet found here."*" 
 
 *The name of this intelligent Indian was Manook or 
 Minook. The latter name was given not only to the creek 
 
134 An American Missionary 
 
 After this, all went well until we got to 
 what is called Fort Yukon, a place where the 
 Hudson Bay Company had a large fort and 
 trading-post, but where there is now only a 
 warehouse, built last year, for storing the 
 goods of the trader. For some miles beyond 
 this point the river becomes very wide and 
 shallow, which makes it difficult for the 
 steamer to pass, except when the river is 
 high. We arrived at Fort Yukon in the 
 evening and remained there over night, so as 
 to have full daylight to make the trial, for 
 we knew it would be close work, if we got 
 through at all. At three o'clock next morn- 
 ing we started out, and in about one hour 
 came to one of the worst places. Here we 
 stuck and for more than an hour tried place 
 after place, and even sent a small boat to 
 sound and find out if there were water 
 enough anywhere for us to pass, but all in 
 vain; so we returned to Fort Yukon, where 
 we left the cargo. We sent word by an In- 
 dian to Forty Mile, which is about three 
 hundred miles from Fort Yukon, telling the 
 trader at the former place where we were 
 leaving the provisions, so that in case of ur- 
 gent need he could come for them with 
 sleighs when the river would be closed. 
 
 which flows into the Yukon at the western extremity of the 
 Ramparts, but also to the town just below the mouth of the 
 creek. The town is now known as Rampart or Rampart City. 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 135 
 
 I had now to make another election and to 
 decide whether to remain and try to get to 
 Forty Mile by sleigh in the winter, or to re- 
 turn to Holy Cross. After saying Mass, re- 
 citing the Veni Creator, and considering the 
 chances on the one hand of getting up to 
 Forty Mile, and on the other of being left at 
 Fort Yukon all the year, I determined to re- 
 turn. Of course, the Father Superior was 
 disappointed when I returned, and so was I; 
 but I had done my best and I felt confident 
 that it had all so happened by the special 
 appointment of God, to bring about what He 
 wished. 
 
 When I returned to Holy Cross, winter 
 was already setting in, so I could not go 
 anywhere until the sleighing season began, 
 which would be in about a month. This 
 time I spent very happily with the Father 
 Superior and Father Crimont, who had just 
 come from the States and whom I knew at 
 Woodstock, and the three Brothers. To- 
 gether they make up our largest community. 
 What added very much to the happiness of 
 those weeks of reunion was that we made 
 our retreat all together. 
 
 As soon as the retreat was over, I started 
 in company with a Brother and an Indian 
 for this station on the Shagaluk to open this 
 house, which I began to build three years 
 ago; but I had to leave before it was half up. 
 
136 An American Missionary 
 
 In the meantime, two Brothers had come and 
 finished the walls and put on the roof, but 
 nothing more. We had two sleighs loaded 
 very heavily, for we needed so many things 
 — provisions, bedding, tools, stove, etc., and 
 besides we had only eleven dogs for the two 
 sleighs, which would not have been too many 
 for one, especially as they were not as good 
 as they might have been, half of them being 
 pups only one year old. However, we got 
 along very well, with a little hard work 
 when the road was not good. The first day 
 we made about twenty-five miles, and at dark 
 camped for the night in an old Indian sum- 
 mer house. 
 
 These summer houses consist generally of 
 a lot of sticks about as thick as a man's arm 
 standing side by side, making an inclosure 
 about eight feet square and six feet high, 
 and a roof of the same kind of sticks, with 
 a hole in the centre to let off the smoke, all 
 covered with moss and clay. The one we 
 camped in was minus the moss and clay on 
 two sides; but it was better than camping 
 outside, with a temperature of twenty de- 
 grees below zero, so we went to work to fix 
 it up as best we could. 
 
 I began by covering the two sides, from 
 which the moss had fallen, with my blanket; 
 then we covered the remaining holes with a 
 piece of drill, which we had brought for 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 137 
 
 trading, and made a fire inside, Indian fash- 
 ion; but we could not stand the smoke, so 
 we unpacked our sleighs and got out a box- 
 stove we had, put it up, with two or three 
 pieces of pipe running through the smoke- 
 hole in the roof, shut everything up as well 
 as we could, and made a good fire, which 
 soon made it quite comfortable. After cook- 
 ing and enjoying our supper, Brother and I 
 performed our religious exercises together, 
 filled up the stove, and prepared a supply of 
 wood for the night. We had a good sleep, 
 and in the morning I said Mass, after which 
 we took our breakfast, broke up camp, and 
 started. About noon we stopped for a din- 
 ner of dried fish, tea, and mush made of 
 boiled flour, which you might find a little 
 heavy; but when one is travelling in the cold, 
 it is very good eaten with a little molasses. 
 
 That evening we reached a place called 
 Nekakai, where an Indian has a log house, 
 the only one in that neighborhood, and 
 stopped there for the night. The house once 
 had a good furnace made of stones and mud 
 that made it very comfortable, but for want 
 of repairs it had become unfit for use, and, 
 Indian-like, the family had gone to live in a 
 mud house near by. As soon as we arrived, 
 we took possession of the log house, and 
 when we saw that we could not make a fire 
 in the old furnace, we got out our stove 
 
138 An American Missionary 
 
 again and put it up. This house is about 
 10 X 14 feet and divided into two rooms, one 
 of which I had to myself. Here we had a 
 good night's rest, said Mass, and after 
 breakfast continued our journey. About 
 nine o'clock we reached the first regular vil- 
 lage on the road, and we stopped for about 
 an hour while I baptized two children. 
 
 About noon the same day we met a party 
 of Indians, who told me there was, at a little 
 village somewhat out of our way, a child 
 who was very sick, and who had not been 
 baptized. At once, I started to go there^ 
 but it was after nightfall when I arrived, not 
 a little fatigued, and you can imagine my 
 sorrow when they told me the little one had 
 died in the morning. I did not mind the 
 fatigue of the journey, as long as I had the 
 hope of saving that Httle soul, but God 
 willed it otherwise. We spent the night in 
 the village, and next morning after Mass 
 and breakfast resumed our march, arriving 
 at our journey's end about ten o'clock. 
 
 We found this house, or at least the walls 
 and roof of the house (for there were no 
 floors or partitions yet) so covered with 
 frost inside that one would have thought it 
 was made of ice or snow. With very little 
 delay we spread some loose boards in the 
 middle of the house, put the stove on them, 
 and ran the pipe through an opening in- 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 139 
 
 tended for a door at the back. Then we 
 made a hot fire, and by two o'clock had slap- 
 jacks and tea ready for dinner. Very soon 
 the heat from the stove began to melt the 
 frost on the walls and roof, and for two or 
 three days it was difficult to find a place 
 where one could keep dry. 
 
 It was Saturday when we got here, and 
 immediately after dinner I went over to the 
 village on the other side of the river, to see 
 a young man, whom I had baptized when 
 here three years ago, and who, I heard be- 
 fore starting, was now dying of consumption. 
 When I went into the mud house where he 
 lived, I found him on the ground near the 
 fire, his face black with smoke, and so weak 
 that he could not move and could scarcely 
 speak. I had him put on the side shelf or 
 ledge, which is raised above the ground, and 
 got some water and washed his face and 
 hands, for which he was most grateful. 
 Then I heard his confession and tried to 
 prepare him for death, as I saw he was very 
 near the end. The next day, Sunday, I 
 anointed him, and when I went to see him on 
 Monday, I found him in his agony, so I re- 
 mained with him, saying the beads in Indian 
 and repeating the Holy Names until he died. 
 
 As soon as the death-stroke came, which 
 was some minutes before he drew his last 
 breath, all his relatives, men and women, 
 
140 An American Missionary 
 
 stripped to the waist and began to cry or 
 wail in a most mechanical manner, waving 
 their arms over his body in a frantic way. 
 It was the first time I had been present when 
 one of the natives died, and I was not pre- 
 pared for this demonstration, but I remained 
 kneeling at his head repeating the Holy 
 Names until I was sure he was dead. Then 
 I made them put on their clothes and would 
 not let them touch him until I had said the 
 beads again for the repose of his soul. He 
 had been a good young man, and it seemed 
 as though God kept him alive until I came to 
 give him the Sacraments. 
 
 As soon as we got one-fourth of the floor 
 of our house down, I started to build an al- 
 tar, and in two weeks I was able to say Mass 
 on it; but, although I was very anxious to 
 have the Blessed Sacrament in the house, I 
 was not able to finish the altar and chapel 
 until Holy Thursday. The chapel is four- 
 teen feet wide and ten feet deep and 
 separated by folding doors from the Indian 
 room, fourteen feet by twenty feet, which 
 serves as the body of the church during ser- 
 vices. Just inside the door is the altar-rail- 
 ing, the first, I believe, in Alaska. The altar 
 has two steps and is nine feet over all. Noth- 
 ing gives me more happiness than to be able 
 to have things nice for our dear Lord in the 
 Sacrament of His Love, and therefore I am 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 141 
 
 most grateful to those who send me any- 
 thing for the altar or the chapel. The house 
 is thirty feet long and twenty-four feet wide. 
 Up-stairs there is a half-story over all, except 
 the chapel, which gives storage, a place for 
 one or two Indian boys, whom I generally 
 keep, and a room for a Brother, when I am 
 happy enough to have one. At present I 
 have charge of six villages, this one, two 
 down the river, and three up, so that I am 
 nearly in the middle of the Mission. 
 
 On the 7th of January I started to visit the 
 three upper villages. When I arrived at the 
 last of the three, which is about fifty miles 
 from this house, I found the people making 
 what they call a feast, which is a supersti- 
 tious performance, by which they believe 
 they will obtain all they need for the coming 
 year. At first they would not let me go into 
 the Casino. When I told them I would not 
 speak against their performance while in 
 there, they allowed me to go in. I was glad, 
 because I had never seen the whole business 
 before, and I wished to know just how much 
 superstition there is in these feasts. I will 
 try to describe all I saw that night, so that 
 you may know what we have to work 
 against. 
 
 This Casino is about twenty-five by forty 
 feet, the side walls about eight feet high, 
 with a roof slanting from the walls to the 
 
142 An American Missionary 
 
 centre, where is the window, which is about 
 sixteen feet from the floor. During these 
 feasts they put four sticks (about six feet 
 high, and four or five inches wide, and dec- 
 orated with feathers and drawings of ani- 
 mals), one a few feet from each wall, at the 
 four sides of the room. They believe that 
 these sticks contain spirits, which have 
 power to make them live or die, and that if 
 anyone go between these sticks and the wall, 
 he will die. Then they make hundreds of 
 sticks about the size of a yardstick, on one 
 end of which they carve rudely different ani- 
 mals, fish, bags of flour or tea, and every- 
 thing they desire to get. These they place 
 side by side all around the Casino, just 
 where the roof joins the wall, and they be- 
 lieve the more of these sticks they place in 
 the Casino during the feast, the more things 
 they will get. 
 
 They never have their performances in the 
 day time, but always at night, and generally 
 begin them about six o'clock, which is full 
 night here in winter. When all is ready, all 
 the people come in, young and old, men, 
 women, and children, the men occupying the 
 large bench or shelf, which runs all around, 
 and the women and children sitting on the 
 floor and filling every corner, leaving only 
 the centre of the room clear. On one side of 
 this opening, that night, there were six men 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 143 
 
 with hoops covered with seal bladders 
 stretched Hke drum-heads, and all night long 
 they beat these with small, flat sticks, keep- 
 ing time to the singing, which they kept up 
 all night, sometimes in solo, sometimes in 
 chorus. It was the best Indian singing I 
 have heard since I came here. They sang 
 in this way until near midnight, when they 
 brought in another stick dressed with 
 feathers like the others, and placed it in the 
 middle of the room. Then a woman and a 
 girl dressed for the occasion with feathers 
 on their heads and feathers tied on their fin- 
 gers, came before the stick and began to bow 
 and bow to it, first at a little distance, then 
 gradually drawing nearer, until they got 
 close to it, when they got down on their 
 knees and bowed down to the floor many 
 times. 
 
 During all this, the men were beating their 
 drums and the people singing. After some 
 time the woman and the girl disappeared 
 through a hole in the floor, the stick that had 
 received so much homage was removed, and 
 the singing went on as before. When I 
 spoke with some of the most intelligent of 
 the men and tried to show them that these 
 sticks had no power to help them, their only 
 answer was : '' When we do this way, we 
 have plenty, but when we do not do it, we 
 have nothing." Again, to show you what 
 
144 An American Missionary 
 
 reverence they have for the Medicine Man: 
 in another village, on one occasion, they shut 
 the window in the top of the Casino before 
 all the smoke was out; and when they per- 
 ceived that, one of the men took an old 
 Shaman's glove, put it on a stick, and stuck 
 it up in the middle of the room. When I 
 asked what that was for, they told me it 
 would prevent the smoke from making them 
 sick. After arguing with them for a while, I 
 took the glove and beat it as hard as I could 
 with my fist and said to them, " See, I beat 
 it, and it has no power to hurt me!" But, as 
 before, they only answered, '' If we do that, 
 we do not get sick; but if we do not put it 
 there, we get sick.'' On my trip I baptized 
 five infants, one of whom died about two 
 months afterwards. To see these little ones 
 go to heaven is one of our greatest consola- 
 tions at present. It is very hard to get the 
 old people to give up the superstitions they 
 have been educated in from their childhood; 
 all we can do is to instruct them as well as 
 we can, and try to save them at the last 
 moment . Many of the young are better 
 disposed, and I think, in time, with constant 
 teaching, they will give up these supersti- 
 tions. 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 145 
 
 Holy Cross Mission, 
 Feast of the Sacred Heart. 
 
 I started from my Mission to come here 
 on the 27th of May in a boat I had built for 
 the purpose. The distance is seventy-five 
 miles by the river, and I expected to make it 
 in one dav, but the mouth of the river was 
 gorged with ice, which almost stopped the 
 current, so we had to paddle all the way. 
 The second night we met the ice about fifteen 
 miles from the mouth of the Shagaluk and 
 had to stop. Next morning it had moved 
 down, so we started again; but, after going 
 about five miles, we overtook it and at first 
 thought we would have to wait. However, 
 after going along the bank for some distance 
 and examining it, we found that on account 
 of the little current in the river the ice was 
 not so compact as it generally is, so we 
 determined to try to make our way through 
 it. At first it was close work, and would 
 have been dangerous if there had been any 
 current, but after working among the ice for 
 about three hours, we came to clear water 
 again, which lasted until we got to the 
 mouth of the river, which we found entirely 
 blocked up. 
 
 As it was near noon, we stopped and pre- 
 pared our dinner, which consisted of a duck 
 roasted on a stick over a camp-fire, without 
 
146 An American Missionary 
 
 any bread or vegetables. In fact, I had been 
 living chiefly on geese and ducks for nearly 
 a month, so that the prospect of waiting two 
 or three days for the ice to go out was far 
 from being pleasant. 
 
 While we were taking our simple dinner, 
 three Indians came down in their canoes, 
 wishing also to get over to the Mission. 
 After talking the matter over and sending a 
 man up a tree to try to see if the Yukon 
 were clear of ice, the Indians said they knew 
 a way to get to the Yukon by making a long 
 portage across the country and following a 
 slough. I determined to leave my boat with 
 my boy and an Indian, who would bring it 
 as soon as the river was open, and to go 
 myself with the three Indians by the portage. 
 
 After going a short distance in the canoes, 
 we landed and carried them two or three 
 miles across the country to a slough of the 
 Yukon, which, though not clear of ice, was 
 sufficiently so to allow our canoes to go. 
 After following this for about two hours, 
 we came in sight of the Yukon, which, to our 
 great relief, we found entirely clear of ice, so 
 all we had to do was to cross the Yukon and 
 we were at the Mission, where we arrived at 
 7 P. M., just in time for the Benediction after 
 May service. 
 
 Since I came here, I have been delighted 
 to see the piety of the school children, boys 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 147 
 
 and girls. In March, Father Superior made 
 the trip to Kotzebue Sound, and selected a 
 place for a Mission, which he hoped to start 
 this year, if we got any men. His health was 
 not good when he started, and it was a long 
 and difficult journey. For the success of this 
 undertaking Father Crimont who has charge 
 of the boys, and the Sisters, started a kind 
 of Apostleship of Prayer among the children, 
 by which they were to offer up prayers, good 
 works, and penances for Father Tosi and 
 the success of his trip. You would be aston- 
 ished, as I was myself, to see the list of heroic 
 acts of charity, mortification, and self-denial 
 performed by these Indian children during 
 the month of March — taking the discipline 
 at night, eating their meals on the floor, 
 keeping hours of silence during the time they 
 are allowed to speak, etc. 
 
 During the month of May they did the 
 same in honor of our Blessed Mother, offer- 
 ing the acts to her on the day of the May pro- 
 cession at the end of the month. But during 
 this month, June, and especially during the 
 novena to the Sacred Heart, they have sur- 
 passed themselves. I do not think they have 
 been outdone by the same number of white 
 children in any school; so their generosity 
 may be a spur even to your boys. 
 
 Just at the beginning of the novena to the 
 Sacred Heart, one of the girls was taken 
 
148 An American Missionary 
 
 sick; the next day, as there were evident 
 signs that she was going into a coma, the 
 Father heard her confession, gave her the 
 Viaticum, and anointed her. When she re- 
 ceived the Sacraments, she was perfectly 
 conscious, but shortly after, the coma came 
 on However, at times she regained con- 
 sciousness, and Sunday night she prayed 
 all night and told the Sister she would go to 
 heaven on Wednesday. At noon on Monday 
 she again became insensible, and at seven 
 o'clock in the evening died without a strug- 
 gle. She had been a good girl, very devout 
 to the Sacred Heart. She was about four- 
 teen years old and had been with the Sisters 
 three or four years. 
 
 Our May procession, although not so 
 grand as yours, was very devotional, and 
 made me feel very happy, for they sang the 
 same litanies and hymns as we used to sing 
 in the grand processions at Loyola. We pre- 
 pared two altars outside for the Corpus 
 Christi procession. The feast-day itself was 
 a beautiful day; but, as we expected back, 
 for Sunday, Father Superior, Father Robaut, 
 and two Brothers, who were away, we put 
 off the procession to that day, and to our 
 great disappointment it rained nearly all day, 
 so we could not have it. 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 149 
 
 St. Michael, July. 
 
 On the 24th of June the steamer Arctic 
 arrived at Holy Cross Mission, having on 
 board all the traders from the upper river. 
 This first down trip of the A. C. Company's 
 boat is a great event at the Mission, because 
 the children always give a little entertain- 
 ment to the agents of the Company, the 
 traders, and any white passengers who may 
 chance to be on board. The children are 
 very anxious for the arrival of this steamer, 
 and often go to the top of the mountain to 
 see if there is any sign of it. 
 
 Its arrival was most opportune this year. 
 The children saw the smoke from the 
 mountain about one hour before the boat 
 arrived, and at once began to prepare for the 
 great event of the year. When the steamer 
 came, the weather was clear and bright, and 
 the Mission never looked better. The chil- 
 dren, boys and girls, were drawn up in two 
 lines to receive the visitors, and one of the 
 boys read a nice little address of welcome 
 to the head agent of the A. C. Company, who 
 was among them. After the address, the 
 children filed into the large schoolroom, fol- 
 lowed by the visitors. The Sisters had pre- 
 pared a long program; but the steamer had 
 been delayed, and the agent was very anx- 
 ious to reach St. Michael before the ocean 
 
150 An American Missionary 
 
 steamer arrived there; so they left out much 
 that had been prepared, giving only a song 
 of welcome, some specimens of reading, a 
 second address and a few more songs, the 
 last of which was '' Wait for the Wagon." 
 
 Although the entertainment was so short, 
 all were astonished at what they saw and 
 heard. When the next steamer goes up, it is 
 likely the children will have a chance to give 
 the whole program. The boys read at table 
 for the Fathers, and I can safely say they are 
 not inferior to any white boys of the same 
 age. 
 
 The ocean steamer arrived here Saturday, 
 June 29th, bringing only one Father and one 
 Brother, while we were hoping for at least 
 three Fathers and as many Brothers. There 
 are so many calls on us, from both whites 
 and Indians, that Rev. Father Superior is 
 truly puzzled how to supply so many de- 
 mands with so few subjects. 
 
 During the past year this station has been 
 completely renewed by the new agent of the 
 A. C. Company. The old buildings have all 
 been remodeled or repaired, and many new 
 buildings have been added, among them sev- 
 eral large warehouses, a large boarding- 
 house for the traders and visitors, and pri- 
 vate houses. We have a double house for 
 the first time ; heretofore we had only rooms 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 151 
 
 in the Company's houses ; or, when they were 
 full, we lived in our tents. 
 
 The number of whites in the country is in- 
 creasing very rapidly and, consequently, the 
 demand for food. Every year since I came, 
 the A. C. Company has been doubling its 
 suppHes ; but, even with what the new Com- 
 pany brings, it has been, until this year, close 
 work, especially for the upper country. 
 The A. C. Company will put on two new 
 river steamers this summer, one very large 
 which will carry at least three hundred tons, 
 and one small which will remain in the upper 
 river to supply the stations above Forty Mile. 
 
 The Yukon river passes just in front of the 
 Mission, about a hundred yards from the 
 fence. This year we have extended the gar- 
 den to within a few feet of the river-bank. 
 Last year the Sisters raised a quantity of fine 
 cauHflower, and both Fathers and Sisters had 
 potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and other vegeta- 
 bles all the year, and were able to give them 
 frequently to the children, who are especially 
 fond of raw turnips, and who enjoy much 
 better health since we have been able to give 
 them in abundance. 
 
 This year we hope to have potatoes enough 
 to give them to the children daily. I have 
 not yet enjoyed the luxury of vegetables, 
 except for short intervals, as I have always 
 run away from Missions, when they began to 
 
152 An American Missionary 
 
 have vegetables, to go to stations where 
 there were none. 
 
 Among our children is the daughter of 
 the Russian priest, which shows that our 
 school has a very good name. We also have 
 the children of nearly all the traders. One of 
 the larger girls is already able to play the 
 organ at Mass. Many of the children are 
 fond of music, and some show unusual talent 
 for it. I wish we had some violins and other 
 instruments for the boys. It would add very 
 much to the school if we could have a band, 
 but we are too poor to buy the instruments 
 and music. 
 
 Many boys and girls have left the school 
 and are doing well; some of the boys are em- 
 ployed by the A. C. Company, others are 
 clerking for the traders and giving great sat- 
 isfaction. Several girls who have been mar- 
 ried to good young men (Indians) give great 
 promise for the future, and they cannot fail 
 to do much good to those around them. 
 
 There have not been many children at the 
 new school, which we opened last year, but 
 only because we did not wish too many until 
 the Sisters had time to prepare. We can 
 have as many children at the school as we 
 wish; the only limit is, how many have we 
 the means to support. If we could only 
 make our needs known to those who have 
 the means to help us, I am sure many would 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 153 
 
 be happy to aid us in this good work. The 
 boarding-schools produce soHd fruit, and ac- 
 compHsh it more quickly and better than 
 any other means; but, of course, they are ex- 
 pensive, and we have been notified that the 
 little help the Government has been giving 
 us will be discontinued for the future, so we 
 now depend entirely on charity for the sup- 
 port of the Mission. 
 
 We have been blessed with an unusually 
 fine spring and summer this year, and what 
 adds very much, we have never seen so few 
 mosquitoes. 
 
 We now have ten Fathers, seven Brothers, 
 and eleven Sisters; but what is that for such 
 an immense country? When will the Lord 
 hear our prayers and send laborers into his 
 vineyard ? 
 
 Thank God I am well, and as happy as 
 ever. I love this Mission and would be very 
 sorry to return to the States, even for a 
 short time. Even to come here (to St. Mi- 
 chael) is a penance, as it keeps me from my 
 Mission so long; and, what is worse, as so 
 few new missionaries came to join us this 
 year. Father Superior may be compelled to 
 send me to some new station. Fiat volun- 
 tas Dei! 
 
 Now I think I have given you a good idea 
 of my simple year's work, and hope you will 
 not find it altogether uninteresting. 
 
154 An American Missionary 
 
 I cannot tell you now where I shall spend 
 the coming year, but I shall try to write you 
 later, when it is settled. In the union of the 
 Sacred Heart, I remain. 
 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 Fraternal affection, gratitude to God, and 
 cheerful courage, becoming stronger amid 
 the hardships of Mission work, are mani- 
 fested in other letters written from St. Mi- 
 chael in the summer of this year. 
 
 " You always ask me," he writes, '' to tell 
 you everything about myself, and I try to do 
 so; although I am almost afraid, because 
 you exaggerate things so much, making 
 what is nothing something very heroic. 
 
 ''I was very happy this year with my good 
 Indians, at the Sacred Heart Mission, and I 
 had plenty to eat all the year; but, about the 
 first of May, my flour began to run out, so I 
 had to put myself on short allowance. At 
 first, I had two cups of flour a day, which was 
 good enough, although three cups would 
 have been much better; then I got to one cup 
 a day; and, the last week before I came to 
 Holy Cross Mission, I had no cup. Still 
 there was no danger of starvation or even of 
 being very hungry, as I had plenty of geese, 
 ducks, and fish ; but to eat these three times a 
 day without bread or vegetables is harder 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 155 
 
 than one, who has not tried it, would think. 
 When I had only two cups of flour left, I 
 woke up one night about twelve o'clock, 
 feeling very sick; and shortly after I began 
 to vomit as though I had been poisoned. 
 But I think it was only a bihous attack 
 brought on by eating so much meat at the 
 time of the year when we do not need it. 
 
 ''The next day I was unable to eat any- 
 thing but broken ice. The second day was 
 the feast of the Ascension. With difflculty, 
 I said Mass and got my Indian boy to cook 
 the two cups of flour, making two short- 
 cakes, one of which I took that day, but kept 
 the other for several days, taking only a 
 little piece at each meal. If I had not been 
 sick it would not have been so hard, but I 
 could not bear the sight of meat for some 
 days. The day before I got sick, I had a sud- 
 den inspiration to communicate as though 
 it were my Viaticum, and I did so. When I 
 woke up the next night feeling so sick, I 
 could not help thinking that it might be the 
 beginning of the end and that the commun- 
 ion of the morning was really the Viaticum, 
 as there was no priest within fifty miles, and 
 it was impossible to send word at that season 
 when the snow was melting and the rivers 
 not yet clear of ice. But, as A Kempis says, 
 I was not worthy to pass to my reward yet ; 
 and so I must strive now with the help of 
 
156 An American Missionary 
 
 your prayers to prepare better. I expect to 
 be alone again this year, for nine or ten 
 months; but do not fear, for I feel confi- 
 dent that He, for whose sake I am leaving 
 all, even the Sacraments, will not forsake 
 me in the hour of need/' 
 
 To one of his brothers, he says: '' I assure 
 you I have never felt really separated from 
 you. You are so constantly present to my 
 mind that it is hard to realize I have not 
 seen you for so long, or that there are so 
 
 many thousands of miles between us 
 
 I am very happy, and my happiness is not 
 a little increased by hearing that all the 
 dear ones in the States are well and happy." 
 
 On July 24th, he wrote to one of his sis- 
 ters : " As you say, it is not so much what we 
 do, that God regards, as with how much 
 generosity we do it. And what more can 
 any one do than to desire with his whole 
 heart that God's holy will may be fully ac- 
 complished in him, and to do all he can 
 to bring it about. This year, I have felt 
 more than ever before, how grateful we 
 should be for the many special graces we 
 
 have all received We should be 
 
 continually thanking His Divine Majesty for 
 these special tokens of His love; and we may 
 be sure that if we are grateful for graces 
 already received, He will not fail to grant 
 those we need for the future. I think there 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 157 
 
 is nothing sweeter or more soothing to the 
 soul than an ardent desire that God's holy 
 will may be fully and perfectly accomplished 
 in us; so, when we feel such desires in our 
 hearts, we should thank God for them, as 
 they are the fruit of His bounty towards 
 us 
 
 " I am very well and happy now. I shall 
 have to remain here (at St. Michael) about 
 two weeks more, to attend to our supplies 
 for the coming year and to look after what- 
 ever goods may be sent us by the steamer; 
 then I shall go to Forty Mile, and remain 
 there until next summer. I know I shall 
 have plenty of work, so the time will not 
 hang heavily on my hands. Ever since I 
 came to Alaska, I have been wishing that 
 the days and the years were twice as long.'' 
 
 By September, Father Judge was once 
 more afloat on the great river, as we see from 
 the following letter: 
 
 Steamer Alice, 
 Yukon River, Alaska, Sept. 2nd, 1895. 
 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 I received the books you so kindly sent 
 me, and I am very thankful for them. As 
 you see from the heading, I am on the go 
 again, and with a good prospect of reach- 
 ing Forty Mile this time. I was hoping 
 
158 An American Missionary 
 
 we would receive a good reinforcement this 
 year; but only one Father came, and two 
 had to return to the States. So Father 
 Superior had no one else he could send to 
 the whites, and I had to go. 
 
 We could not well refuse them a priest 
 this year; because, now that our Superior 
 is Prefect Apostolic, he has charge of the 
 whites as well as of the Indians; and be- 
 sides, the number of the former is increas- 
 ing very fast. I have already given you, in 
 my letters of last year, an idea of what my 
 life may be; but what it will be in reality, 
 I cannot say until next year. No doubt the 
 hardest part will be to be alone for ten 
 months, with no communication whatever 
 with the other Fathers ; but I hope it will be 
 '' alone with God.'' 
 
 The letter you wrote May 28th, 1894, came 
 to St. Michael, but too late to be sent up the 
 river. It was forwarded to Holy Cross dur- 
 ing the winter, where I found it when I got 
 there about the first of June. So, it was just 
 a year old when I received it. . . . 
 
 Pray that God may send laborers into His 
 vineyard. Many children are dying without 
 baptism because the field is so large and we 
 are so few. I am well and happy. Natur- 
 ally I would prefer to remain with the In- 
 dians; but I know that what is done from 
 obedience, is more pleasing to God and more 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 159 
 
 profitable to us than what we do because 
 we Hke it; and, although I am in no way 
 suitable for the task that has been put upon 
 me, I have good reason to hope that He, 
 who sends me to this work, will supply what 
 is wanting in His poor servant. 
 
 Wishing you a very happy year, I remain, 
 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 The year 1896 found the hopeful Mission- 
 ary in the new field of labor at Forty Mile 
 Post. The following letters give us some 
 idea of his life and work : 
 
 Forty Mile, N. W. T., 
 
 Feb. 9th, 1896. 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 I hope this will prove a pleasant surprise, 
 coming, as it will, at a time when you are 
 not looking for letters from these parts. 
 About this time every year, some men go 
 from here to the States by way of Juneau, 
 having six hundred miles to make with 
 sleigh and dogs. I do not know what kind 
 of weather you are enjoying this evening, 
 but I would not be surprised if we were 100 
 degrees colder than it is with you. As I 
 am writing, it is 64 degrees below zero, and 
 last month it was 70 degrees below for ten 
 
160 An American Missionary 
 
 days on a stretch. You see, however, that 
 my ink is not frozen; and, in fact, my log- 
 cabin is quite comfortable. We are in the 
 midst of winter, but the short dark days are 
 passed, and we begin to feel the joy of spring, 
 for it does one good to see the sun after it has 
 been out of sight for a month, as it happens 
 here during the period of shortest days. 
 At such times we have scarcely four hours 
 of light, but now we have ten hours of day- 
 light with six of sunshine. The days 
 lengthen very rapidly, and by the end of 
 March we shall not need lamps any more. 
 
 I am with the whites this year, for this is 
 a mining-camp ; everybody looking for gold, 
 some finding it, and some getting nothing, 
 a few becoming rich, but the greater number 
 only making a living, and all working very, 
 very hard. You would be astonished to see 
 the amount of hard work that men do here 
 in the hope of finding gold. They burn holes 
 like wells through the ice and the frozen 
 ground, some of them as much as thirty feet 
 deep. To sink these holes they have to cut 
 large quantities of wood, make a big fire 
 every evening, and next morning clean out 
 all that is thawed. You can imagine what 
 work they have; and yet, very often, after 
 sinking these holes, they find nothing. O 
 if men would only work for the kingdom of 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 161 
 
 heaven with a little of that wonderful energy, 
 how many saints we would have ! 
 
 All my flock are not here at the Post; some 
 are scattered on the different creeks within 
 a range of a hundred miles; so that I have as 
 much travelHng as I had when I was with 
 the Indians. I was away, from January 8th 
 to February 4th, visiting the miners along 
 Forty Mile Creek.* I had some hard work 
 and was delayed by the severe cold, but I 
 was pleased with the result of my visit. All 
 received me well, Protestants as well as 
 Catholics, and I often had an opportunity 
 of explaining Catholic doctrine to those who 
 had never heard a true statement of our 
 faith. I expect to be on the road most of 
 March and April visiting the other creeks 
 where the men are working. 
 
 When at home, and generally even when 
 travelling, I am very comfortable. Still, we 
 have no Pullman cars, and when the snow 
 blows over the trail, it is a little like hard 
 work to go with sleigh and dogs. Here at 
 Forty Mile, I have two log-cabins under one 
 roof, one for our Lord and the other for His 
 poor servant. I am all alone, but it is a 
 happy solitude, for my room opens into the 
 chapel where I keep the Blessed Sacrament, 
 and I can enjoy His company as often as I 
 wish ; so, though all alone, I am never alone. 
 
 * See map. 
 
162 An American Missionary 
 
 I made an altar nearly the same as the one 
 at the Sacred Heart Mission, and a good lady 
 gave me a nice carpet for the sanctuary, 
 which makes the chapel look passing well 
 for these parts. I am well and happy, as I 
 ought to be, seeing how good God has been 
 to me calling me to His sweet service. God 
 bless you! 
 
 Under the same date, he writes to another: 
 " We did not see the sun from the 8th of 
 December to the 4th of January; but that 
 is on account of the mountains which sur- 
 round us on all sides. During those four 
 weeks, the sun never rose high enough to 
 be seen above the mountains; but already, 
 the days are twice as long as they were at 
 Christmas. 
 
 ''As you know, I am with the whites this 
 year, and therefore am enjoying some of the 
 comforts of civilization. For, even in this 
 last corner of the earth, there are some nice, 
 respectable people, and some good Catho- 
 lics among them. A great part of the 
 miners seem to be men who have been run- 
 ning away from civilization as it advanced 
 westward in the States, until now they have 
 no farther to go, and so have to stop here. 
 I am told there is one man, who although 
 born in the States, has never seen a railroad, 
 because he kept moving ahead of the rail- 
 roads until he got here. 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 163 
 
 "I have had the consolation of bringing a 
 good many back to their duties; but there 
 are many more who call themselves Catho- 
 lics, yet practice nothing of what their holy 
 faith requires of them ; and a greater number 
 who have lost their faith entirely. Pray for 
 them that they may not die in so wretched 
 a state. One of the last mentioned class 
 committed suicide last fall, a few days after 
 I had been urging him to come to Mass and 
 to make his confession. . . . 
 
 "Some come to Mass every morning, and I 
 try to have as many communions as possi- 
 ble on the first Friday of each month, that 
 the Sacred Heart may have some glory, even 
 in this frozen region.'^ 
 
 To his youngest brother he writes : " It is 
 life in the Far West, and I think a little dif- 
 ferent from the ordinary 'Far West' of the 
 novels; although we have Indians, bears, 
 wolves, moose, deer, etc., all around us; and, 
 as a rule, log-cabins for houses. Some of 
 these, however, really deserve the name of 
 houses, as they are two or three stories high; 
 while even some one-story cabins are as 
 comfortable as one could wish, and it is hard 
 to realize that one is in a log-cabin, when it 
 is papered and furnished with carpets, lace 
 curtains, pictures, etc. There are a few of 
 that kind, but they are the exception, and are 
 found only where there are white ladies, the 
 
164 An American Missionary 
 
 ordinary miner's cabin being a rather rough 
 affair but generally comfortable. 
 
 ''I have two cabins, or rather, one with two 
 sections, each about fourteen feet square. 
 One serves for chapel and the other for 
 house. The latter is divided by a partition 
 into two rooms, one of which is bedroom, 
 kitchen, and dining-room, and the other, sit- 
 ting-room and reception-room. I keep the 
 Blessed Sacrament in the chapel, which has 
 a door opening into my sitting-room; so you 
 see how happy I am living under the same 
 roof and, I might say, all alone with our 
 dear Lord, night and day. 
 
 '' It is close on 60° below zero this evening, 
 but I am comfortable. We are having a very 
 cold winter but a fine one. I was travelling 
 all last month, and several times I had to lie 
 over because it was dangerous to be out. I 
 remained in one place from the 19th to the 
 29th, as the quicksilver remained frozen 
 during all that time, which means that it 
 was at least 40 "" below; and most of the time 
 it was in the neighborhood of 70° below. 
 
 ''There are many poor men here who 
 have only the clothing they brought from 
 the States, and who cannot afford to buy 
 more. I gave the coat you sent me to one 
 who needed it very much : I never used it in 
 winter, as it was too light, and I have a fur 
 coat which is much better for the severe 
 
 -:j?.' 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 165 
 
 weather, but it was very useful in the spring 
 and fall, and even in summer. I would be 
 thankful for another of the same kind; but 
 I shall not suffer for want of it." 
 
 Two days later, he writes to one of his 
 sisters, a religious, who had had some expe- 
 rience in the Rocky Mountain region: — 
 
 Forty Mile, N. W. T. 
 
 Feb. nth, 1896. 
 You may have a better idea than the oth- 
 ers, what a western mining-camp is like ; but 
 I suspect that an Alaskan mining-camp is 
 different from what you have seen. There 
 are only about one hundred and fifty people 
 living here now; but there are about five 
 hundred in the neighborhood, who have to 
 come here for their provisions. There are 
 two trading companies with large stores, a 
 hardware store, a barber-shop, and a number 
 of saloons. The English Government has a 
 post with twenty soldiers or police, customs 
 collectors, etc. The officers have their fam- 
 ilies with them and are very nice people. 
 They all belong to the Church of England, 
 but are very kind to me, and have invited 
 me to dinner several times. The gentleman 
 who keeps the hardware store is a good 
 Catholic. He and his wife come to Mass 
 
 every morning Last week, they gave 
 
 me a nice carpet for the sanctuary. . . . 
 
166 An American Missionary 
 
 On Jan. 8th I started to visit the miners 
 living on Forty Mile Creek. I had a sleigh 
 and only one dog, for dogs are scarce here 
 and sell for fifty to seventy-five dollars 
 apiece. The first day, I made twenty-five 
 miles and stopped at night with an old man 
 who makes a good living by cultivating po- 
 tatoes and turnips, which he sells like hot 
 cakes to the miners, for vegetables are 
 scarce. He is not a Catholic. 
 
 After leaving his place I found a cabin 
 about every five miles, and the inmates all 
 Catholics; so I stayed one night at each 
 house, and said Mass every day. Having 
 travelled thus for four or five days, I came 
 to a stretch of about forty miles, through- 
 out which there were no more inhabited 
 cabins ; but there were two vacant ones, with 
 stoves in them, used by those who make a 
 business of hauling provisions for the min- 
 ers. 
 
 About two o'clock on the i6th of January, 
 I started in company with one of those team- 
 sters to go to the first of the vacant cabins, 
 distant only about six or seven miles from 
 where we were. I do not know just how 
 cold it was; but the quicksilver was frozen, 
 so it was at least forty below zero. I had 
 never been over that road, but the teamster 
 told me to go ahead, as I could go faster 
 than he could with his heavy load, and so 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 167 
 
 would get more quickly out of the cold. I 
 did so, and all went well for about three 
 miles, when I came to a place where the 
 water had overflowed the ice. Although 
 the surface was frozen, the new ice was not 
 strong enough to bear the sleigh; it broke, 
 and I had to walk in the water, almost up to 
 my knees, for about two hundred yards ; and, 
 as I was not prepared to find water, my boots 
 were not suitable and my feet got wet. I did 
 not know how far I was from the cabin, but 
 thought it was not far; so I pushed on, try- 
 ing to keep my feet from freezing by walk- 
 ing as fast as I could. But the sleigh was 
 made much heavier by the ice that formed on 
 it and the snow that stuck to it after it had 
 passed through the water; so I could not go 
 as fast as I ought to have gone, and I 
 thought I would never get to the cabin. 
 About two hours after I got my feet wet, I 
 felt so tired that I was about to stop, wrap 
 myself in my blanket, and wait for the team- 
 ster who was behind me; for it was so dark 
 that I could not see well, and I was afraid 
 that I might have passed the cabin without 
 knowing it. But, just when I was about to 
 stop, my dog took a sudden start; so I 
 thought perhaps he saw the cabin ; and, sure 
 enough, in a few minutes we came to it. 
 
 It was on a high bank, which I had some 
 difficulty to climb. When I got to it, I found 
 
168 An American Missionary 
 
 a log-cabin with no floor, no window, and no 
 hinges to the door; but there was a stove, 
 and at once I tried to start a fire, after mak- 
 ing some shavings with my knife. The 
 wood was so cold I could not succeed with 
 matches, and I had to go back to the sleigh 
 to get a piece of candle; but my gloves also 
 had gotten wet, in coming through the 
 water, and when I took them off to make the 
 fire, they froze so hard that I could not get 
 them on again, and I had to go down and 
 get up the bank without using my hands, 
 which was not easy, especially the coming 
 up. 
 
 I did not forget that it was the thir- 
 tieth anniversary of mother's death, and I 
 thought that it might be God's will to take 
 me on the same day. But, with some diffi- 
 culty, I got up again, crawling and using my 
 elbows instead of my hands; and, with the 
 help of the candle, I soon got a fire started. 
 As soon as I started to thaw the ice off my 
 boots, I felt a pain shoot through my right 
 foot, so I knew that it must be frozen. At 
 once I went out and filled a box, that I had 
 found in the cabin, with snow, then took off 
 my boot and found that all the front part of 
 my right foot was frozen as hard as a stone. 
 ... I could not make a mark in it with my 
 thumb nail. So, I had to go away from the 
 fire and rub the foot with that awfully cold 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 169 
 
 snow, which is more like ground glass than 
 anything else, until I got the blood back to 
 the surface, which took at least half an hour. 
 After that I held my foot to the red-hot 
 stove for about one hour before it was com- 
 pletely thawed out. With such treatment, 
 no harm follows from the freezing; but if 
 you go into a warm room, or put the frozen 
 part to the fire before rubbing with snow till 
 it becomes red, it will decay at once and you 
 cannot save it. It is the first time I have 
 been frozen; but I have doctored others, and 
 I knew what was necessary, and so, thank 
 God, I escaped. 
 
 Three days later I got to the end of my 
 journey, about one hundred miles from here. 
 I was just in time, for that very evening the 
 most severe spell we have had began, and 
 for ten days the temperature remained be- 
 tween sixty and seventy below zero. I 
 stopped with an Irishman and his wife and 
 was very comfortable. I said Mass every 
 day and had six or seven present each time, 
 for there were other Catholics living nearby; 
 and six received Holy Communion. 
 
 As soon as the quicksilver thawed, which 
 showed that it was less than forty below 
 zero, I started to return, stopping to see 
 some people that I did not see on my way up. 
 It took me seven days to come back : in some 
 places it was very hard work as the wind 
 
170 An American Missionary 
 
 had drifted the snow and covered the trail, 
 making it difficult to push the sleigh, and 
 even to walk. But I was well pleased with 
 my trip; and it is a great consolation to be 
 able to do some little for the glory of the 
 Sacred Heart, by leading these sheep to 
 Him, even though it cost some labor and 
 suffering. As long as I can thus do some 
 good, and have the Blessed Sacrament, I 
 have all I desire. 
 
 So you see I am happy. Pray for me that 
 I may always remain faithful to the great 
 grace of my vocation. How great is our 
 debt of gratitude to Almighty God for His 
 goodness in calling us to the religious life. 
 The older I get, the better I realize the great- 
 ness of this favor, and the obligation we are 
 under of doing all we can for the glory of 
 our Benefactor. I am very well and feel as 
 young as I did when you last saw me; but, 
 no doubt, time is doing its work on all of us, 
 and so we may hope soon to receive the 
 reward of our poor labors. God bless you 
 and all your good Sisters in religion! 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 The incident related in the above letter 
 was one of the most trying in Father Judge's 
 missionary life. We can imagine what were 
 his feelings during those weary hours that 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 171 
 
 passed while he trudged on witli feet be- 
 numbed behind the slow-moving sleigh, 
 alone, almost in the dark, uncertain of the 
 way, and threatened with fatal freezing. No 
 doubt his prayers were more than ever 
 earnest, and his confidence in God unshaken; 
 and yet the accumulated miseries of the situ- 
 ation must have been a sore trial for even his 
 cheerful, generous spirit. 
 
 Here we see what the missionary spirit 
 enables a priest to do for God and the souls 
 of men; and we realize also that although 
 God is ready to aid His servant, yet He ex- 
 pects him to do, on his part, all that he can. 
 
 In the summer of 1896 Father Judge made 
 his usual annual visit to Koserefsky and St. 
 Michael. From the following letters we 
 learn something of the events of that trip 
 down the Yukon, and of his work : — 
 
 Holy Cross Mission, Alaska, 
 
 Dear Sister: Sept. 8th, 1896. 
 
 I feel ashamed when you exag- 
 gerate so much the little I have to suffer here 
 for our dear Lord. I mean the bodily suffer- 
 ings ; for I am sure that, if as great, they are 
 not greater than those you have passed 
 through. 
 
 Of course we have our cross here, the 
 same cross that all Religious are apt to have. 
 
172 An American Missionary 
 
 and that makes the religious life so meri- 
 torious; but, as long as I have so many holy 
 souls praying for me, I hope to be able to 
 bear it. 
 
 I left Forty Mile on the last day of May; I 
 have been to the coast attending to the sup- 
 plies for the coming year, and I arrived here 
 only a few days ago. During all this time, 
 although I seldom missed Mass, I have not 
 had the Blessed Sacrament; for I was trav- 
 elling half the time, and at St. Michael we 
 have no chapel. I am now waiting for the 
 steamer to take me to Circle City, where I 
 am to spend the coming winter. 
 
 Circle City, so named because it is near 
 the Arctic Circle, is a large mining-camp, 
 about two hundred miles this side of Forty 
 Mile. I have to go first to Forty Mile to get 
 what things I left there, and bring them to 
 my new Mission, and begin again. This 
 constant moving from place to place is hard 
 to human nature, but it is what a Jesuit has 
 to be ready for. I hope to have things in 
 better condition this year than last. I have 
 received a small church-bell and an organ, 
 both of which I felt the want of very much at 
 Forty Mile. 
 
 There are several Catholic ladies at Circle 
 City, so I may hope for some assistance in 
 keeping the church nice. . . . 
 
 It would have made you happy to see me 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 173 
 
 when I opened the boxes you sent; I was 
 very happy to see so many things for the 
 altar. I had no altar-laces last year, but 
 now I am rich. 
 
 The breaking of the ice at Forty Mile, this 
 year, was a grand sight. It happened on the 
 17th of May, and on the 31st I started to 
 come down on a little steamer called the 
 Beaver. 
 
 We arrived at Holy Cross Mission on the 
 6th of June. As we expected to find at St. 
 Michael a new boiler for our steamer, we 
 took out the old one; and, with two Brothers 
 and some Indians, I started to drift the boat 
 down to St. Michael, which is four hundred 
 miles from Holy Cross. If we had had good 
 weather, it would not have been so very diffi- 
 cult a task; but the weather was very stormy 
 nearly the whole time, so that we were eigh- 
 teen days on the way, instead of being about 
 ten, as I had hoped. It was hard work, and 
 many times we were in great danger; so 
 much so, that I made a vow to say five 
 Masses and fast on five Fridays in honor of 
 the Sacred Heart, if we got down safely. I 
 need hardly tell you that my confidence was 
 not in vain; all ended well, and we arrived 
 safely at St. Michael on the 4th of July. 
 
 These summer months spent, in great 
 part, in going to the coast for supplies, are 
 generally troublesome and bring more dis- 
 
174 An American Missionary 
 
 tractions than all the rest of the year. I 
 expect that there will be at least a thousand 
 white people at Circle City this winter, and 
 I know there will be many Catholics among 
 them ; so, I shall very likely have a pleasant 
 winter, and with the help of your good pray- 
 ers, shall be able to do something for the 
 greater glory of God. I am looking every 
 day for the steamer that is to take me up. 
 It is getting very late in the year, and there 
 is some danger of the water being too low 
 for the boat to pass some shallow places. If 
 I can arrange things as I hope to when I get 
 up to Circle City, I shall write to the Sisters 
 of Providence to come next spring to open 
 a hospital there. They are anxious to come, 
 and are only waiting for the word. . . . 
 
 May God bless you and all your good Sis- 
 ters in religion for your great goodness to 
 
 ™^' Wm. H. Judge, S.J. 
 
 A few days later, in writing to another of 
 his sisters, who had celebrated the Silver 
 Jubilee of her religious profession, he mani- 
 fests his grateful appreciation of the grace 
 of a religious vocation. 
 
 Holy Cross Mission, Alaska, 
 
 Dear Sister: Sept. I2th, 1896. 
 
 Among all the blessings that have glad- 
 dened my heart and spread sunshine over 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 175 
 
 my life, there is none that I prize more 
 highly, or for which I am more grateful to 
 God, than the rehgious vocation of my sis- 
 ters. And with good reason do I feel thus; 
 for I cannot fail to see how many blessings 
 your prayers and those of your Communi- 
 ties, have brought down upon the family, 
 and on myself in particular. Besides, my 
 great love for you would not be satisfied to 
 see you have any other spouse than the Di- 
 vine Lamb Himself. On that account, as 
 long as our ^'Httle lamb'' was still exposed 
 to the dangers of the world, I never ceased 
 to implore for her the health necessary to 
 follow what I was convinced was her voca- 
 tion; and I cannot tell you the joy that filled 
 my heart when, after so long a delay, she too, 
 was safe within the cloister. The great 
 grace of perseverance with which God, in 
 His goodness, has blessed you all, is no less 
 a subject of joy and gratitude, than was your 
 first call. Therefore, although late, I con- 
 gratulate you most heartily on the happy 
 event of your Jubilee, and I hope you have 
 gained from its celebration new strength to 
 push on in the good fight, striving to become 
 ever more and more pleasing in the sight of 
 your heavenly Spouse, who has chosen you 
 out of the world, that He may have your 
 heart all to Himself and may adorn it with 
 His choicest gifts. 
 
176 An American Missionary 
 
 Each year when your letters come to glad- 
 den my heart and fill it with new courage, I 
 realize anew the greatness of the happiness 
 I enjoy in having three sisters in rehgion. 
 God grant that helped by one another's 
 prayers and examples, we may all persevere 
 to the end, fulfilling perfectly the holy will 
 of God in all things. . . . 
 
 Now you must not think that our life up 
 here is so terrible; for, although the winter is 
 cold, we are prepared for it, and do not suffer 
 much from that source; and, as for provi- 
 sions, we are much better off than many 
 other Missions. We have our crosses and 
 heavy crosses too, but they are such as God 
 often sends even in more civilized places. 
 Bodily sufferings cannot be compared to 
 mental sufferings ; and, as 'A Kempis tells us, 
 sometimes God sends us the cross, and some- 
 times our neighbor will afflict us, and often 
 we are a cross to ourselves. Crosses of this 
 kind you no doubt share with us, although it 
 is true that small Missions are more exposed 
 to them, than more regular communities. I 
 do not ask you to pray that we may have no 
 crosses, but I do ask you to pray in a special 
 manner this year for this poor Mission; for 
 very great dangers threaten us, which can be 
 prevented only by a special protection of 
 Almighty God. 
 
 The trip from Holy Cross to St. Michael, 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 177 
 
 on our own boat, was very hard and dan- 
 gerous this year, and I felt ten years older 
 when I got back a week ago ; but now, after 
 a week of quiet and rest, communing with 
 loved ones by letter, reading, and writing, I 
 begin to feel young again. Age begins to 
 show its effects at times, especially in my 
 back, but only at times, and not sufficiently 
 to prevent me from performing all my duties. 
 Generally I am as active and lively as ever. 
 
 I am sorry that Father Barnum told you 
 I was so thin; for it caused Sister M. to make 
 two beautiful surplices, that she had made 
 for me, so small that I cannot wear them. 
 When I read your letter I had to look in the 
 glass to see if I were really so thin, for I was 
 
 not aware of it so you see there is a 
 
 mistake somewhere 
 
 I sometimes feel that I would like to have 
 some time to prepare myself for death ; but, 
 when I remember that our Lord died on the 
 cross, I see it is better to stand in the fight to 
 the end, trusting to Him to supply for all 
 defects. 
 
 Good by! May God bless you and your 
 good Sisters. Your loving Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 The next letter gives the first news of an 
 event, which was to prove of supreme impor- 
 tance to him — the discovery of the Klon- 
 
178 An American Missionary 
 
 dike gold-fields. This letter announced the 
 fact of the discovery some months before it 
 was generally known. 
 
 Forty Mile N. W. T. 
 Dear Brother: ^ec. 27th, 1896. 
 
 I am sorry that I left you without a letter 
 the past summer. I was hoping to get yours 
 before it would be too late, but it did not 
 reach me until Oct. 9th, because it was put 
 into the mail-bag for Forty Mile, and I was 
 down the river all the summer, returning 
 here Oct. 6th. But I assure you it was no 
 less welcome for being late. It came like a 
 ray of Easter sunshine, just when old Winter 
 was spreading his mantle over us for another 
 eight months. I thank you very much for 
 all the family news, the good wishes, prayers 
 and kind thoughts, which it brought me; 
 all which I shall do my best to repay through 
 the Sacred Heart. 
 
 I have not seen Father Barnum since his 
 return, although he staid in my cabin here 
 two weeks, while I was away; but we passed 
 on the lower river without seeing each other. 
 
 You may be surprised to see this dated 
 from Forty Mile, after my telHng you and all 
 the others that I would be in Circle City this 
 winter. The proverb, " Man proposes, but 
 God disposes," is often verified here. In 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 179 
 
 fact, I was sent to Circle City, and I actually 
 shipped to that place all my supplies for the 
 year, together with all the presents I had 
 received, and an organ and a church-bell; 
 and I came here only to get my church- 
 goods, etc., when by an unusually early clos- 
 ing of the river, I was forced to remain for 
 the winter. 
 
 It was very providential; for, after I left 
 here in the summer, gold was found on a 
 creek fifty miles up the river, and later dis- 
 coveries show the region to be one of the 
 richest and most extensive gold-fields ever 
 known. All that they have had here so far 
 is nothing compared to it. Each man is 
 allowed five hundred feet, and some of the 
 claims are so rich that the owner of one may 
 take five or six millions out of that little piece 
 of ground, some already having had as high 
 as a hundred dollars in a shovelful of dirt. 
 
 The excitement is very high here now; and 
 when the news gets outside, no doubt there 
 will be a great rush for these parts. 
 
 They have started on the Yukon, at the 
 mouth of the principal creek, a town to be 
 called Dawson City, and lots there 50x100 
 feet are selling as high as a thousand dollars 
 already. 
 
 I have secured three acres as a site for a 
 church and a hospital, and I expect Sisters to 
 come up next spring to take charge of the 
 
180 An American Missionary 
 
 latter. The new settlement will be by far 
 the largest place on the Yukon, and I believe 
 it will be a place of consequence for a good 
 many years, as the district where the gold is 
 being found is very large. Men are coming 
 from Circle City every day, and it is likely 
 there will be a general stampede from that 
 place in the spring. 
 
 I was away for a month before Christmas, 
 visiting the miners on two of the old creeks. 
 I have not been to the new diggings yet, but 
 I expect to go there in a month or so when 
 the days get longer. We are having a mild 
 winter this year, at least so far, the coldest 
 having been forty-two below zero, against 
 sixty or seventy last year. 
 
 We had one death a few weeks ago, that of 
 a Canadian, who came last spring looking 
 for gold. Happily I was here to give him the 
 sacraments and say Mass for his soul. God 
 grant that he may have found the one thing 
 necessary, which is above all the gold and 
 treasures of this world. 
 
 I am enjoying my two cabins again this 
 year. My little chapel is very devotional in 
 its Christmas garb. On Christmas day I 
 began my Masses at 7 o'clock, when I said 
 two, and the third I said at 10.30, which was 
 followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sac- 
 rament. I thought of you all on that day, 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 181 
 
 and more than once imagined what you were 
 doing, making allowance for the difference 
 of time. 
 
 The Epiphany, Jan. 6th. 
 
 Before I forget it, I mtist wish you a happy 
 New Year! How fast the years are sHpping 
 by! I can remember the change from '56 to 
 '57, and now we come to '97. You say you 
 are afraid the young folks will begin to class 
 you among the old people: you need not be 
 surprised if they do, for here they call me 
 '' the old man.'' 
 
 To-day we saw the sun for the first time 
 since the 8th of December. It goes on a pic- 
 nic every winter about that time, and does 
 not show its face for some thirty days. I 
 assure you it is a real pleasure to see it peep 
 over the mountains when it returns .... 
 
 I am as well and happy as ever, although 
 at times I begin to find that old bones will 
 not stand as much as young ones. In the 
 union of the Sacred Heart, I am as ever. 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 About a month later, Feb. ist, he wrote: 
 ''In this little world of ours — for we are as 
 much alone as if we were on a globe of our 
 own — there is very little news to speak or 
 write about. The only thing spoken of here 
 
182 An American Missionary 
 
 is the ^ prospects ^ from the different creeks 
 in the new gold district, which promises to 
 surpass anything ever known before. One 
 would think that gold is the one thing neces- 
 sary for happiness in time and eternity, to 
 see the way in which men seek it even in 
 these frozen regions, and how they are 
 ready to sacrifice soul and body to get it. 
 O, how terrible will be their disappointment 
 at the hour of death, when they will realize 
 the vanity of all they have loved so much. 
 Experience shows that most of those who 
 make money in mining, lose it as fast as they 
 make it. However, I am glad to be able to 
 say that there are here a good number of 
 sober, industrious Catholics, who, I hope, 
 will make a good use of all they get. I am 
 preparing to build a church, a house, and a 
 hospital at Dawson City, which will be the 
 town of the new mining region.'' 
 
 So, during the winter of '96-'97, the pastor 
 of Forty Mile Post while attending to his 
 people at home or travelling along the neigh- 
 boring creeks, listened to the stories of the 
 wonderful discovery of gold in the Klondike 
 region. He foresaw the stampede that would 
 take place from the older mining centres, and 
 the influx from the States, when the news 
 would have found its way to the outer world. 
 He did not covet the precious metal for 
 which, as he said, some men were willing to 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 183 
 
 risk soul and body; but he knew that the 
 men around him, and many more would go 
 to the new fields, and if so, he should go with 
 them: where the flock is, there should the 
 shepherd be. 
 
 Most of his people, no doubt, left Forty 
 Mile before he did; but he must have early 
 set himself to study out the problems of the 
 new situation, while waiting for the days to 
 get longer. 
 
 Meanwhile, what was going on up on the 
 Klondike creek? The question is best an- 
 swered by the following quotations from 
 the special sixteen page Klondike number 
 of the New York World of August 22nd, 
 1897:—'' On Sept 6th (1896) Surveyor Ogil- 
 vie wrote: ' It is only two weeks since it (the 
 Klondike discovery) was known, and already 
 about two hundred claims have been staked 
 on it. The Klondike and its branches are 
 good for from three to four hundred 
 claims.' " 
 
 " On November 6th, Mr. Ogilvie wrote : 
 ' One man showed me $22.75 that he took out 
 in a few hours on Hunker Creek ' . . . .On 
 this date Mr. Ogilvie thought he saw 1000 
 claims in sight, which would require 3,000 
 men to work them, and that would bring a 
 population of 10,000 souls in ' a year or two.' 
 He had to better this estimate later on." 
 
 " Naturally the new region, draining four 
 
184 An American Missionary 
 
 or five old ones of their inhabitants, required 
 a town, and one was built almost like magic. 
 Joseph Ladue says : ' Dawson City is now the 
 most important point in the new mining re- 
 gion. Its population in June 1897 exceeded 
 4,000 .... I commenced erecting the first 
 house in that region on September ist, 1896. 
 Within six months from that date there were 
 over five hundred houses erected, which in- 
 clude stores, supply-stations, hotels, restau- 
 rants, saloons, and residences.' '^ 
 
 At length, about the middle of March, 
 1897, Father Judge packed his sled and with 
 the aid of only one dog, started for the Klon- 
 dike. There were fifty miles to make, most 
 likely upon the still frozen Yukon, and the 
 trip must have taken two days. This first 
 visit of the Missionary to the scene of his fu- 
 ture labors, was thus touchingly depicted in 
 the '' Klondike Nugget," two days after his 
 death: "The stampeders from Forty Mile 
 to the Klondike in the winter of '96-'97 re- 
 member overtaking a solitary and feeble old 
 man with a single sled-rope over his shoul- 
 ders, and a single dog helping the load along. 
 This was the Father hastening to a field 
 where he was conscious his ministering serv- 
 ices were most required. Arrived in Dawson 
 he lost no time in securing the ground on 
 which St. Mary's hospital now stands. 
 Spreading his tents, he found that his serv- 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 185 
 
 ices, as one experienced in Arctic maladies 
 and frostbites, were instantly in demand. 
 He grasped the situation at once, saw that 
 a hugh task was laid out for him here, and 
 hastened back to Forty Mile for more med- 
 icine, more supplies, and the necessary equip- 
 ment for the care of the sick.'' 
 
 Father Judge spent about one month at 
 Dawson, started men to work getting logs 
 from the upper river, and cleared the ground 
 for St. Mary's Hospital, before returning for 
 supplies to Forty Mile. From the latter 
 place he wrote : — 
 
 Forty Mile, N. W. T. 
 Dear Brother: ^^y ^^^^ ^^97- 
 
 On Palm Sunday I received your Christ- 
 mas Card, and yesterday the letter that you 
 began January loth. . . . You see I re- 
 ceived it on our reunion day, which made it 
 all the more enjoyable; and on the first day 
 of our Blessed Mother's month. . . . May 
 God continue to bless you all, as I am sure 
 He will, if you remain faithful to Him. O, 
 how foolish are all those who neglect their 
 religious duties, which alone can bring them 
 that peace and happiness for which the 
 heart of man is ever yearning ! If they would 
 only listen to the voice of reason, they would 
 soon perceive that there is nothing in this 
 
186 An American Missionary 
 
 world capable of satisfying the craving of 
 their hearts for knowledge and happiness; 
 and so they would be led to seek them above, 
 knowing that that craving was not given 
 never to be satisfied. 
 
 From the middle of March to Easter 
 (April i8th) I was up at the new gold-dig- 
 gings. There are two creeks very rich-. 
 Some have sold their claims as high as fifty 
 thousand dollars apiece, that is five hundred 
 feet on the creek, which is what each man 
 is allowed to take. I myself saw one hundred 
 and twenty-three dollars' worth of gold in 
 one shovelful of dirt. Some expect to take 
 out milHons, if it holds out as it promises. 
 But there are far more men here than there 
 are good claims for. Those who are working 
 for wages have been making fifteen dollars 
 a day all the winter, which is not bad for hard 
 times; but if, as we suppose, a great many 
 men come in when the river opens, wages 
 will very likely fall to ten dollars and may- 
 be to six, as they were before the deposits on 
 these creeks were found. 
 
 I shall not try to settle for you the geo- 
 graphical position of Circle City, as there is 
 not much left of it since the news of the 
 Klondike diggings reached there. Dawson 
 City is the centre of attraction now, and 
 probably will be for some years. . . . 
 
 I have secured some ground there, and I 
 
Forty Mile Post and Circle City 187 
 
 am preparing to build a church and a hospi- 
 tal, having sent for the Sisters to manage the 
 latter. I shall go there to see to the building 
 as soon as the river opens, which will be in 
 two or three weeks. I do not expect to go 
 down to the coast this summer, so your 
 spring letters will not reach me as soon as 
 usual, and they may not be answered so soon. 
 
 Although I am constantly going farther 
 away from you, that is if we count from the 
 sea; in reality I am coming nearer and 
 nearer, not only in point of miles, but espe- 
 cially as regards communication. Hereafter, 
 direct all your letters to Dawson City, N. 
 W.T. 
 
 When you speak of the happiness you ex- 
 perience in being able to attend services at 
 St. Ignatius', I envy you a little; for, I assure 
 you, there are no days in my life that I can 
 look back upon with more real pleasure, than 
 I do upon those which I spent around that 
 dear spot. It is a great sacrifice for me to 
 be deprived of all the surroundings that lend 
 solemnity to the Divine Service in civiliza- 
 tion; but, it is a great consolation to have our 
 dear Lord Himself so near to me at all times ; 
 and it gives me pleasure to honor Him here, 
 where there are so few who know Him, or 
 care for Him in the sweet Sacrament of His 
 love. 
 
 Give my kindest regards to all the family 
 
188 An American Missionary 
 
 and tell them that even if I do not write to 
 them or mention them in my letters, at least 
 they all find a place in my heart, and are 
 never forgotten in my Holy Sacrifices and 
 prayers. 
 
 In the union of the Sacred Heart, 
 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 
 THE RUSH TO THE KLONDIKE. 
 
 "Gold, gold, gold, gold! 
 Bright and yellow and hard and cold. 
 Molten, graven, hammered and rolled; 
 Heavy to get and light to hold; 
 Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold; 
 Spurned by the young, but hugged by the old 
 To the very verge of the churchyard mold; 
 Price of many a crime untold; 
 Gold, gold, gold, gold! 
 Good or bad a thousandfold!" — Hood. 
 
 IT would be beyond the scope of this work 
 to give a full account of the Klondike 
 gold-fields, and of the rush that followed 
 the unearthing of their rich deposits. How- 
 ever, for the sake of those who may be igno- 
 rant of the facts and to throw light on the 
 work of the Missionary in Dawson, we must 
 say something of the general excitement oc- 
 casioned by the announcement of the dis- 
 covery. 
 
 Although the new gold-fields were discov- 
 ered in August, 1896, such were the difficul- 
 ties of communication between that icy re- 
 gion and the outer world, that it was not 
 until the early summer of 1897, that the 
 
 189 
 
190 An American Missionary 
 
 newspapers startled the United States by the 
 story of the fabulous richness of the Klon- 
 dike. By the end of July, however, the whole 
 country was in a ferment of excitement. 
 From New York to San Francisco, the Klon- 
 dike and how to get there, was all that men 
 talked of. The papers teemed with facts, and 
 figures, and illustrations, that stimulated the 
 ardor of all who had the courage and the 
 strength to make the venture. We give some 
 specimens of these announcements: — 
 
 " Seattle, Wash. July 19th. The amount 
 of treasure brought down from the famed 
 Klondike by the steamer Portland, is now 
 placed at $1,500,000, and there is good reason 
 to believe that the sum was nearer $2,000,- 
 
 000." 
 
 '' Helena, Montana, July 19th. Over 
 $200,000 in gold from the Alaska diggings 
 was received at the United States Assay 
 Office to-day." From the New York World : 
 " The U. S. Mint authorities estimate the 
 amount of gold that has so far reached this 
 country from the Klondike, at about four 
 tons, worth something over $2,000,000.'' 
 The Alaska Mining Record of Juneau, 
 quoted by the World, said: ''The excite- 
 ment is spreading, and by the time this is be- 
 fore our readers, the great army of gold-seek- 
 ers will have fairly started northward 
 
 There remains scarcely a man in Juneau or 
 
The Rush to the Klondike 191 
 
 its neighboring towns or mining-camps, not 
 tied down by circumstances, but will start 
 within the next month, or in the early spring. 
 Not only has the fever reached the ambitious 
 young men, but the sturdy old-timer, who 
 packed his blankets to the Frazer and the 
 Cassair country .... is himself as eager 
 for the hardships and wealth of the Yukon.'' 
 
 " New York, July 19th. New York has 
 been touched by the Alaskan gold fever. 
 The past twenty-four hours have seen come 
 to the front 2,000 Argonauts, who will be on 
 the way to the Klondike region as soon as 
 arrangements can be made for transporta- 
 tion. Some notion of how the craze is 
 spreading may be had from the fact that 
 within forty-eight hours, an advertisement 
 calling for those who desired to join an expe- 
 dition to Alaska and who had from $500 to 
 $2,000 to invest, was answered by more than 
 twelve hundred applicants." 
 
 " San Diego, California, July 19th. An in- 
 teresting letter, telling of the recent trip of 
 the steamer Excelsior, to Alaska, has been 
 written by Captain J. F. Higgins, of the 
 steamer, to a friend in this city. He says: 
 ' As each claim is five hundred feet along the 
 creek-bed, there is half a million to the claim. 
 . . . . One of our passengers, who is taking 
 $1,000 with him, has worked 100 feet of his 
 ground, and he refused $200,000 for the re- 
 
192 An American Missionary 
 
 mainder. He confidently expects to clean up 
 $400,000 and more. He has in a bottle $212 
 taken from one pan of dirt. His pay-dirt, 
 while being washed, averaged $250 an hour 
 to each man shoveling in. Two others of 
 our miners who worked their own claims, 
 cleaned up $6,000 from the day's washings." 
 
 Such statements caused an excitement 
 akin to that which reigned at the time of the 
 discovery of the California gold-fields, in 
 the summer of 1848. Of that event an his- 
 torian says: ''An excitement which tran- 
 scends description seized on the inhabitants; 
 forsaking their farms and shutting up their 
 houses, they flock to the fortunate spot. The 
 news soon reached the Atlantic States. Hun- 
 dreds at once set out for the land of gold; 
 and not from the United States only, but 
 from all parts of Europe, and even from far 
 distant China, did the tide of immigration 
 flow, men of every grade in society giving 
 themselves up to its current."* 
 
 This state of the pubHc mind in 1848 
 would likely have had its parallel in 1898, 
 had not a counter-irritant been applied in 
 the shape of the war with Spain. That ab- 
 sorbing topic called off, to a great extent, 
 the attention of the people of the United 
 States from the glittering prospects held out 
 by the Klondike placers. Had it not been for 
 
 *Hist. of U. S., Quackenbos, p. 443. 
 
The Rush to the Klondike 193 
 
 this check, there would doubtless have been 
 a tremendous and disastrous rush to the Yu- 
 kon. 
 
 As it was, the more ardent and venture- 
 some of the gold-seekers determined to 
 start without delay, and a vanguard of one 
 hundred men left Seattle on July 19th, 1897. 
 But prudence is the better part of valor; and 
 mindful of this principle, the majority waited 
 for the spring of 1898; for winter travel over 
 the ice-clad mountains and snow-covered 
 trail between Dyea and Dawson was, at that 
 time, well-nigh impossible. 
 
 When spring came, there poured into 
 Juneau, Skagway, and Dyea, a constant 
 stream of adventurers, determined to reach 
 the wished-for goal by way of the Chilkoot 
 Pass and the rivers and lakes that lead to the 
 Yukon, a laborious journey of over five hun- 
 dred miles. Even at that season, the aspect 
 of the country was still that of mid-winter 
 in the latitude of Philadelphia or Baltimore. 
 The whole surface of the region was still a 
 magnificent expanse of white, except where 
 the rocky hills peered through the snowy 
 covering. The dark forms of the would-be 
 miners with their luggage stood out in sharp 
 contrast to the spotless background; so that 
 the long line of men, as they trudged in sin- 
 gle file along the trail or through the passes, 
 
194 An American Missionary 
 
 looked at a distance like a train of creeping 
 blackness upon a white surface. 
 
 With heroic courage the eager army of 
 fortune-hunters pushed on, resolved to sur- 
 mount every obstacle that lay in their path. 
 On April 3rd about seventy persons per- 
 ished in a snow-slide. Nevertheless, every 
 day for three months, an unbroken line of 
 pack-laden men pursued the rugged trail. 
 Treading in one another^s footsteps the 
 hopeful gold-seekers pressed on; but when a 
 resting-place was reached, as at the summit 
 of the Chilkoot Pass, men and dogs, sleds 
 and packs, bags and bundles, were scattered 
 about in the snow and a scene of wintry con- 
 fusion resulted, that might remind one of 
 the flight of Napoleon's army from Mos- 
 cow. Many perished in the effort, but in 
 this and the following year, a sufficient num- 
 ber succeeded in reaching the site of Dawson 
 City, to make it ^' the greatest mining-camp 
 the world has even seen,'' and later, a city of 
 15,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The reader will be pleased to hear the 
 story of one of those pioneers, a friend of 
 Fr. Judge. " The party with whom I trav- 
 elled," writes C. H. Higgins, " left Buffalo, 
 N. Y., on February 8th, 1898, and arrived at 
 Tacoma, Washington, February 13th We 
 bought our outfits, and while thus engaged 
 we were startled by news of the blowing 
 
The Rush to the Klondike 195 
 
 up of the U. S. steamer, Maine. This caused 
 great excitement, and many returned to go 
 to the war. We sailed from Tacoma on Feb- 
 ruary 23rd, arriving at Dyea, February 28th. 
 We were advised by many not to go on, but, 
 having bought outfits at considerable ex- 
 pense, about half the party took courage to 
 defy Chilkoot's heights and see the gold- 
 fields over which the entire world was 
 aroused. We stayed at Sheep Camp the 
 night of March 3rd, 1898, and on arriving at 
 the top of Chilkoot Pass we found a fierce 
 snowstorm in progress. The storm contin- 
 ued for two days. We slept in a tent on the 
 summit of the Pass during the nights of the 
 4th and 5th of March, started for Lake Lin- 
 deman on the morning of the 6th, and pulled 
 our goods on sleighs to a point about twenty- 
 five miles farther north, where we camped. 
 We cut down trees from which we whip- 
 sawed boards and made our boats, to be 
 ready to sail for Dawson when the ice of 
 lakes and rivers thawed. This opening of 
 navigation occurred on May 24th, 1898. We 
 had many exciting experiences on account 
 of sand-bars, and particularly at White 
 Horse Rapids. Several, whose boats struck 
 the rocks, were drowned. Many trying cir- 
 cumstances were met with : but we were tak- 
 ing these chances in order to obtain gold; 
 besides, we had the trials of others always 
 
196 An American Missionary 
 
 present to encourage us in bearing our own. 
 How different was the case of our dear 
 Father Judge, who was nearly always alone ! 
 
 " Let us hurry on to Dawson in order that 
 we may see the real hero of the Klondike. 
 We arrived in Dawson on June 13th, at 4 
 P. M., that is about 8 P. M. eastern time. 
 It was somewhat difficult to land, owing to 
 the swift current of the Yukon, supple- 
 mented here by the Klondike River. We 
 found along the river front a lot of houses 
 and cabins used as saloons, theatres, dance- 
 halls, restaurants, etc., and the river bank 
 was strewn with blankets and robes used as 
 bedding. Many slept on the bank of the 
 river until they could arrange to locate on 
 the hills back of Dawson, or on the creeks. 
 
 "About 9.30 P. M., having cleaned up 
 as well as possible, I set out for St. Mary's 
 Hospital, which I had no difficulty in finding. 
 Approaching from the rear, I saw seated 
 on a bed in the hallway, and saying his 
 rosary, a man whose hair was thin and grey, 
 and whose face was lined with care, but out 
 of whose eyes there seemed to issue a won- 
 derful light. He was in deep meditation, 
 and I had time to observe his clothes and 
 even his boots. The former were dark and 
 seedy, but clean, the latter were, to my sur- 
 prise, heavy boots with good sized nails, to 
 prevent them from wearing out quickly. 
 
The Rush to the Klondike 197 
 
 After a few minutes he noticed me standing 
 outside, and cheerfully asked me in. He in- 
 quired my business, and informed me that 
 he would say Mass in a cabin at 6 A. M. 
 This was nine days after his church was 
 burned down. 
 
 '' Not having heard Mass for four months 
 I was hungry for it. Though our trials and 
 dangers caused us to lead good lives on the 
 trail, we needed something more, we needed 
 the ambassador of Christ, who had power to 
 say to us, ' Go in peace thy sins are forgiven 
 thee.' I was reminded of what the Follow- 
 ing of Christ says in regard to the Mass, that 
 if it were celebrated but at one place on 
 earth how anxious we would all be to be 
 present at it. 
 
 ''Next morning, wanting to be in good 
 time for confession before Mass, I left the 
 boat at 5 A. M., — not having slept any, as 
 the sun merely hid behind the mountains 
 for a couple of hours — and reached the tem- 
 porary chapel ten minutes later. I waited 
 for two hours, and still no priest! I won- 
 dered, but my surprise was explained when 
 I asked a man what time it was and he an- 
 swered: 'Five fifteen.' Then the difference 
 of time between San Francisco and Dawson, 
 about two hours, occurred to me. I had 
 started three hours too early. It gave me 
 time for reflection. By this time many were 
 
198 An American Missionary 
 
 about, mostly Protestants, and a priest, 
 whom I afterwards found to be Father Le- 
 febvre, had come out of the hospital, and 
 was reading his office, standing on a boulder. 
 This Father Lefebvre had come to Dawson 
 as if by a miracle a week after Father Judge's 
 church was burned, thus enabling him to 
 have Mass. All the vestments and sacred 
 vessels had been burned with the church. 
 After a short time the bell, saved from the 
 fire and fastened on a pole, rang out the An- 
 gelus. The good Father said it, and at ' The 
 Word was made flesh ' he reverently genu- 
 flected with hat in hand and head bowed. 
 The impression on the non-Catholic was 
 great, but to the Catholic, the Angelus bell 
 so far from civilization, and the confession 
 of faith by the priest were sublime. Many 
 shed tears of joy, because though far from 
 home and friends they were closer to God's 
 home, and though trials had been constant 
 in their journey, they had arrived in the har- 
 bor of the soul's peace. 
 
 '' In a moment appeared Father Judge 
 with cassock, but no biretta, it too having 
 been burned. He did not look like the man 
 I had met the night before; there was some 
 great difference. That difference was caused 
 by his cassock. His whole appearance 
 changed as soon as it was put on. That 
 morning he came stepping from stone to 
 
The Rush to the Klondike 199 
 
 stone, his face illumined, and his movements 
 eager, as though some most pleasant event 
 were to come. And surely it was so — he was 
 about to offer up the Holy Sacrifice. Father 
 Judge heard our confessions and his instruc- 
 tions were very consoling to the penitents. 
 He vested for Mass and soon began it. 
 Every action was intensely devotional, 
 every syllable plainly spoken. His fervor 
 was that of a young priest saying his first 
 Mass, and it was always so, even to the end 
 of his life. You can well imagine it was an 
 impressive Mass, and a sincere Communion. 
 I do not think the sublime character of the 
 Mass was ever better impressed upon any 
 of us in the grand cathedrals of the States. 
 I attended Mass daily, and on Sunday, June 
 19th, the Feast of the Sacred Heart, our good 
 Father preached at High Mass on Jesus' 
 love. He always said he was no preacher, 
 and he could bear no mention of his good 
 sermons, but it is true that while he always 
 stood erect with hands folded, and made no 
 gestures, every word that fell from his lips 
 sank into his hearers' hearts.'' 
 
CHAPTER VIIL 
 DAWSON CITY. 
 
 " In this we have known the charity of God, because He 
 hath laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down 
 our lives for the brethren." — / John, Hi, 16. 
 
 ABOUT the end of May, 1897, Father 
 Judge went to take up his residence per- 
 manently at Dawson, the growing center of 
 the Klondike region. Most likely he took 
 the first steamer that ascended the river 
 from Forty Mile after the breaking: up of the 
 ice. Thus he was able to transport most con- 
 veniently his little stock of furniture and 
 church goods, as well as any furnishings for 
 the projected hospital, that he might have 
 gathered together. On his arrival he found 
 an improvised town of some five hundred 
 houses or tents, with a population of about 
 four thousand. 
 
 This most northern of American cities lies 
 along the right bank of the Yukon, north of 
 the point where the Klondike creek empties 
 into the great river. The position seems well 
 chosen; for on the east and northeast the 
 town is sheltered by a noble mountain, be- 
 
 200 
 
00 
 00 
 
Dawson City 201 
 
 tween which and the river there is room for 
 a goodly city. 
 
 At the foot of this mountain, and not far 
 from the river, the Missionary located his 
 hospital and church. 
 
 During June, July, and August the pastor 
 occupied a large tent, in which he had four 
 berths ; so that he could lodge two workmen, 
 and, if need be, a guest. He arranged mat- 
 ters so as to be able to say Mass in the tent 
 before preparing breakfast for his men or 
 his guests : for, it seems that the spirit of the 
 Father Minister of former years still urged 
 him to cook for others, as he did at the little 
 picnics in the woods of Maryland. 
 
 We can hardly realize the magnitude of 
 the task of building a hospital, a church, and 
 residences, under the difficulties that beset 
 the builder on the banks of the Yukon in 
 1897. Logs had to be procured and rafted 
 down the river or drawn by dog-teams 
 to the site of the rising structures. Then 
 the thousand and one things needed in such 
 buildings had to be obtained or substitutes 
 invented. If hair and cotton could not be 
 had to fill the mattresses, dried grass or 
 herbs from the mountain-side or the river's 
 bank must take their place. If paper and 
 paint were not available, muslin and sizing 
 would, perhaps, do as well. 
 
 The claims of the sick were so urgent that 
 
202 An American Missionary 
 
 the Missionary's first care was to complete 
 the hospital; and, despite many difficulties, 
 he was able to open it for the reception of 
 patients on August 20th. 
 
 This first building was of logs, the seams 
 being filled with earth and moss. It was fifty 
 feet by twenty, and two stories high with 
 slightly sloping roof. Windows four feet by 
 three, with rustic frames, admitted the light 
 into rooms nine feet high, the floors and 
 ceilings of which were finished alike in wood, 
 while the walls were lined with muslin sized 
 and coated with white lead. The furniture 
 consisted (later, at least,) of very simple lit- 
 tle bedsteads with mattresses stuffed with 
 dry herbage, plain wooden chairs, empty 
 boxes for washstands, some tables, a few 
 wardrobes, and many stoves. 
 
 Our imagination may fill up the details 
 of the priest's busy life during those summer 
 months. With some hundreds of souls to 
 care for, sick men to tend, workmen to di- 
 rect, and material to procure, he must have 
 felt that his desire to '' do some little for the 
 glory of the Sacred Heart " was being satis- 
 fied to the full. 
 
 As the work went on, he was cheered by 
 the thought that the Sisters of St. Ann would 
 come to take charge of the hospital; but he 
 was to have the merit of suffering a tempo- 
 rary disappointment in that regard. He tells 
 
->^-«<fflil)i|ii 
 
Dawson City 203 
 
 of this trial in a letter to his Superior. " It 
 was/' he says, ^^ a great disappointment for 
 all here, miners and prospectors of all de- 
 nominations and nationalities, not to see the 
 Sisters of St. Ann on board the 'Alice,' as 
 they expected them for the opening of St. 
 Mary's Hospital, I need hardly say that my 
 disappointment was still greater than theirs; 
 but God knows what is best for us. The hos- 
 pital is finished, and the Sisters' house and 
 the church are going up rapidly. I still hope 
 that the Sisters will come up this fall. Every- 
 thing else is going on well, and I look for a 
 prosperous year. There are many Catholics 
 pouring in, so I shall have plenty to do." 
 
 The church was rising on the left of the 
 hospital. It was similar in construction to 
 the latter, fifty feet by twenty-four, and it 
 could seat a congregation of about two hun- 
 dred. The front was made as ornamental 
 as the circumstances would permit. A flight 
 of eight steps, the whole width of the build- 
 ing, led to the entrance, which was furnished 
 with a double door and finished with a trian- 
 gular cornice. Over the entrance was a cir- 
 cular window, and above the gable rose a 
 modest hexagonal belfry tipped with a sim- 
 ple cross, and containing a small church-bell. 
 It is thus described by a correspondent of 
 the New York Evening Post: ''The first 
 Roman Catholic church of Dawson City was 
 
204 An American Missionary 
 
 a large structure built of logs, at the north 
 extremity of the town. The seats were 
 merely rough boards placed on stumps. The 
 pastor made the altar himself, doing most of 
 the work with an ordinary penknife.* At 
 first there was no glass for the windows, but 
 heavy white muslin was tacked to the 
 frames, and though the thermometer was 
 often 60 degrees below zero, two large 
 stoves kept the church comfortable. Like 
 all other CathoHc churches, it was always 
 open. 
 
 " At Easter, window glass was put in, and 
 an organ-loft, with a simple railing around it, 
 built in the rear. The organ was a small one, 
 sent up from one of the missions down the 
 river; but owing to the many good voices in 
 the choir, the Masses were rendered finely, 
 especially those at Christmas and Easter, 
 when a violinist volunteered his services." 
 
 Thus the summer and autumn were passed 
 in building up the material and the spiritual 
 house of God, as well as an asylum for the 
 Lord's suffering members. 
 
 Some letters that Father Judge found time 
 to write in the winter of '97 and '98 throw 
 light on the varied occupations of his life 
 during that time. To his immediate Supe- 
 rior at Juneau he wrote as follows : — 
 
 *We must suppose that the correspondent meant the 
 ornamental work. 
 
Dawson City 205 
 
 St. Mary's Hospital, 
 Dawson City, Nov. 15th, '97. 
 Rev. and dear Father Superior: 
 
 Pax Christi! 
 
 I have so much to tell your Reverence that 
 I fear I shall forget at least half of it; but 
 I shall have many opportunities for sending 
 letters to Juneau as soon as the river closes, 
 and so I hope that, little by little, you will get 
 all the particulars you desire. 
 
 Although the ice began to form in the lat- 
 ter part of September, which was earlier than 
 usual, the river is not closed yet, and this is 
 something never known before. Since I have 
 been in the country, we have always been 
 able to travel on the river by this time of 
 the year, but now there is open water. 
 
 This morning was the coldest we have had, 
 viz., 20 degrees below zero; but it moderated 
 during the day. 
 
 The first and most important news is that 
 the Sisters of St. Ann did not get here. They 
 came, it appears, on the " AHce " as far as 
 Fort Yukon, but the water was too low for 
 the boat to pass, and they together with 
 Brother C, returned to Nulato; and perhaps, 
 as I heard, to Holy Cross. In fact, I received 
 nothing from below, not even Mass wine; 
 but, thank God, I have enough of that. . . . 
 
 I was obliged to open the hospital towards 
 
206 An American Missionary 
 
 the end of August, and I have had ever 
 since an average of twenty sick persons. At 
 first, I took only temporary help; but, when 
 I found that the Sisters were not coming, 
 I made arrangements for a permanent staff 
 of nurses, cooks, etc., and everything is 
 working as well as could be expected under 
 the circumstances. All the sick are most 
 agreeably surprised to find so much comfort, 
 and all are loud in their praise of the good 
 work we are doing, and the great blessing the 
 hospital is proving to the camp. 
 
 The fact that the steamers were not able 
 to come up on the last trip has left provisions 
 very short here. Many have gone down the 
 river, not having food enough for the whole 
 winter, and many are paying as much as a 
 hundred dollars a sack for flour, and it is hard 
 to get it even at that exhorbitant price. 
 Many also intend to go away on the ice, but 
 I fear some of them will perish. I need not 
 tell your Reverence how people have been 
 pouring in all the summer and fall, as you can 
 see them passing through Juneau, and they 
 are still coming every day. We see by papers 
 and letters, that the whole world is excited 
 over the place, and that tens of thousands 
 intend to come here next spring. There is 
 only one thing spoken of here, and that is 
 '' grub.'' For the last two months everyone 
 has been busy trying to secure enough to eat 
 
Dawson City 207 
 
 for the winter. The Alaska Commercial 
 Company filled all the orders they promised, 
 and luckily I had placed mine in time. . . . 
 I think I shall have enough of the essentials 
 for the year, but many luxuries, in the rela- 
 tive sense of the word, which I expected in 
 case the boats came, will be wanting. 
 
 The hospital building is finished, except 
 the doors for the rooms. We had no lumber 
 to make these, but we have curtains, which 
 will do equally well if not better. The Sis- 
 ters' house adjoining the hospital is also 
 finished and in use. The church is nearly 
 completed, though the windows are not yet 
 made, nor is it lined. We are using it how- 
 ever, such as it is, having covered the win- 
 dows with white muslin. . . . My own house 
 adjoining the church is also closed in and is 
 used for a carpenter-shop, laundry, and quar- 
 ters for all those employed around the hos- 
 pital. After Christmas I shall send you a 
 list of what we need for next summer. 
 
 Of late my own health has not been as 
 good, at times, as it might be, but I cannot 
 complain. I had a slight attack of chills a 
 few weeks ago, but I was not laid up at all. 
 I have not missed Mass a single day, nor 
 have I been prevented from attending to my 
 duties. However, the work here is too much 
 for one priest. I know your Reverence real- 
 izes the fact, and that you would leave noth- 
 
208 An American Missionary 
 
 ing undone to send assistance. There are a 
 great many Catholics here; we have about 
 one hundred at Mass every Sunday. We 
 have High Mass, sermon, and Benediction 
 of the Blessed Sacrament every Sunday, and 
 a fair number of confessions and commun- 
 ions during the w^eek. 
 
 Of course, besides my spiritual ministra- 
 tions to the souls of my increasing congre- 
 gation, chiefly composed of Canadians and 
 Americans of Irish descent, I have many 
 other duties to discharge. For instance, I 
 have to superintend everything about the 
 hospital myself, seeing that the doctor's pre- 
 scriptions are carried out in regard to medi- 
 cine, food, etc. Again, the keeping of ac- 
 counts is added to my other occupations in 
 the temporal order. All these things com- 
 bined leave me but little spare time. Still, I 
 am happy for all that; and, if God spares me, 
 I hope to keep everything in good order until 
 you come in the spring, when no doubt the 
 Sisters of St. Ann will be up, and some 
 Fathers will come to help me, or even replace 
 me, as you may think best. Recommend- 
 ing myself and my work to your holy sacri- 
 fices, I remain ever, 
 
 Your humble servant in Christ, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J- 
 
Dawson City 209 
 
 The next day he wrote to one of his broth- 
 ers: 
 
 St. Mary's Hospital, 
 
 Dawson, N. W. T., Nov. i6th, 1897. 
 
 Dear Brother: 
 
 This is the first opportunity I have had of 
 sending out letters since I received yours, 
 as it came too late for the summer mail per 
 steamers. . . . 
 
 I undertook last summer to build a hos- 
 pital here for the Sisters, whom I expected 
 to come in on the first boat. This, as you 
 can easily understand, was no small under- 
 taking. To build a hospital in the wilder- 
 ness, or rather on a mountain-side, in this 
 part of the world, with wages from ten to fif- 
 teen dollars a day, and in the few months of 
 good weather which we call summer, is no 
 small work. But, thank God, all has gone 
 well, and I have a good hospital building, a 
 house for the Sisters, a good church, and a 
 residence for the priest. The buildings all 
 being of logs and two stories high, without 
 doubt I have the finest place in town. The 
 only drawback has been that the Sisters did 
 not succeed in getting up the river. When 
 those outside sent word they could not come, 
 I arranged to get four Sisters from the In- 
 dian schools down the river. They came to 
 within four hundred miles of Dawson; but, 
 
210 An American Missionary 
 
 on account of low water, the steamer could 
 not get up, so they returned to the schools. 
 
 I was forced to open the hospital even be- 
 fore I was ready, August 20th, and we have 
 had about twenty patients ever since. Al- 
 though it is not as good as if the Sisters were 
 here, all are more than pleased with the hos- 
 pital, finding it far better than they could ex- 
 pect in these parts. . . . 
 
 No one can tell how many will come here 
 next spring from all parts of the world. 
 
 The mail-carrier is waiting for this, so I 
 must stop. ... I will try to send some let- 
 ters by each mail and you can pass them 
 around. ... I close with a heartfelt '^ God 
 bless you !'' Your Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 The Missionary was thus thrown on his 
 own resources, in the depth of an Arctic win- 
 ter, with sick men to care for and only the 
 necessaries of life for them and for himself, 
 but his courage did not fail. The vitalizing 
 power of the Catholic faith and of the grace 
 that accompanies it, is wonderful and often 
 enables weak mortals to accomplish what 
 would else appear superhuman. Our Lord 
 must have powerfully supported his minis- 
 ter during that trying winter, for he not 
 only did not despond, but he was able to aid 
 and cheer others. 
 
Dawson City 211 
 
 People in the States, knowing the extreme 
 difficulty of transporting provisions to the 
 Klondike region, and the number of men that 
 had gone there, feared for the thousands 
 who would have to spend the winter sur- 
 rounded by almost impassable barriers of 
 ice and snow. Rumors of threatened fam- 
 ine and starvation circulated through the 
 land. Like others, the relatives and friends 
 of Dawson's pastor were seriously afraid 
 that lack of food would be added to his 
 other trials; and it was difficult to obtain 
 news. 
 
 Early in February, 1898, a letter from 
 Father Judge reached his Superior and con- 
 tained these reassuring lines : '' My health is 
 pretty good, and I am very happy and so 
 busy that it is almost impossible to get to 
 town once a month. I have a good organ- 
 ist for the church, and expect to have quite 
 an orchestra for Christmas. . . . Pray often 
 for me and for the work you have entrusted 
 to my care. God's blessing seems to be on 
 it." 
 
 The " Klondike Nugget '' gave, in an able 
 and sympathetic paragraph, this touching 
 epitome of that winter's work: '^ During the 
 winter of 1897-98 Father Judge's hospital 
 was crowded with the sick and the frozen. 
 The Father's charity was broad as the earth, 
 and none of the hundreds of applicants were 
 
212 An American Missionary 
 
 even asked their religious preferences. 
 Nevertheless, the spiritual wants of his flock 
 were provided for in a small church next to 
 the hospital, and we find him adding priestly 
 duties to his many other tasks. By the side of 
 the dead and dying, burying them when none 
 others appeared on the scene for that duty, 
 superintending and personally directing even 
 the minutest detail of the rapidly increasing 
 hospital, cheering the sad, joking the conva- 
 lescent, devising means of comfort for the 
 irritable sick, coaxing the obstinate, praying 
 with and for the religiously inclined, plan- 
 ning appetizing morsels from an almost 
 empty larder, cheering and encouraging the 
 downhearted and sad — thus we find the good 
 man spending his time until he is himself 
 laid low by the cruel hand of remorseless 
 disease. Delicate in health and frail in body 
 from his earliest youth, it not infrequently 
 happened that those he attended were heart- 
 ier and stronger and suffered less than him- 
 self." 
 
 When the long winter was drawing to a 
 close and the first signs of coming spring 
 appeared, the active missionary hastened to 
 dispel the fears of his relatives and to give 
 them, as usual, an account of his doing, in 
 the following letters: 
 
Dawson City 213 
 
 Dawson, N. W. T., 
 Dear Brother: ^^^^^ i, 1898. 
 
 I am sure you and all my dear friends 
 are greatly disappointed on account of my 
 not writing more frequently; but, I assure 
 you, it is not for want of good will that I 
 do not let you know more about things here. 
 We have great laughs at what is printed in 
 the papers about these parts. Everything is 
 so exaggerated, both the good and the bad. 
 The papers have us all dead or starving; and 
 yet, for my own part, I feel as if I were back 
 in civilization again. Beef and mutton are 
 no longer things of the past; although they 
 do cost a dollar a pound wholesale, we have 
 them all the same. So far there has been no 
 starvation, and I hope there will be none; but 
 as the stores have nothing to sell, those who 
 have more than they need, or who are going 
 out on the ice, sell what they can spare at 
 fancy prices. The common price all the win- 
 ter has been one dollar a pound for provisions 
 of all kinds, and generally one would have 
 to take all the party had — flour, meat, can- 
 ned goods, salt, etc. — all at the same price. 
 I have been paying a dollar and a half for 
 candles, and I could not get them less. 
 
 We have had as high as fifty in the hos- 
 pital, about half of them scurvy cases, and 
 all new men who came last summer. 
 
214 An American Missionary 
 
 They are finding new gold-bearing creeks 
 every few weeks; the excitement keeps up, 
 antl no doubt there will be a great crowd 
 here this summer, and the gold that will be 
 taken out will add fuel to the fire of excite- 
 ment outside. 
 
 The Canadian mail, which should have 
 been here last fall, has just arrived but has 
 not been given out yet, and I cannot wait to 
 see if there are any letters for me, as this 
 must go to-night, for the bearer will leave 
 in the morning. 
 
 I am very well, but of course as busy as 
 one can be. Everything however is going 
 well; the hospital is praised by everyone, 
 and it is the means of preventing a great deal 
 of suffering and of doing much good. About 
 a month ago we had a beautiful death. A 
 man well known outside was converted while 
 in the hospital by reading '' Plain Facts for 
 Fair Minds. '^ He received the Sacraments 
 with great devotion, and died most happily. 
 
 If you want to send me anything, good 
 books, I think, would be the most acceptable 
 and would do the most good. I find those 
 who are not of the faith very anxious to 
 know something about the Church, and glad 
 to read books explaining its doctrines. 
 
 But I am not telling you about the coun- 
 try. Well, no doubt there are great quanti- 
 ties of gold here; but do not think that one 
 

 a 
 
 c 
 
Dawson City 215 
 
 can come and get it without hard work. It 
 is just the excessive hard work necessary to 
 get here, together with the poor food and 
 bad cooking on the trail and while travelling 
 around the creeks looking for the gold, that 
 brings the scurvy on so many. . . . 
 
 We have been wondering that none have 
 come down the river for several months ; but 
 we hear that the Government has stopped 
 them above, not letting anyone pass who has 
 not a thousand pounds of provisions. . . • 
 
 Once more assuring you of my own good 
 health and happiness, and hoping that you 
 are all enjoying good health and making 
 good use of the grace of this holy season 
 (Lent), I must stop with a most hearty 
 '' God bless you ! '' 
 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 On the nth of the same month, after 
 speaking of the starvation scare and the 
 failure of the Sisters to get to Dawson, he 
 writes to one of his sisters: " In the mean- 
 time, I have been running the hospital my- 
 self with hired help. Since we opened last 
 August, we have had one hundred and sixty- 
 eight patients, fifty being the highest num- 
 ber in the house at one time. . . . The hos- 
 pital has been the means of leading quite a 
 few sheep back to the fold. . . • 
 
216 An American Missionary 
 
 '' I have a good log church fifty by twenty- 
 four feet, which will seat about two hundred. 
 It is not finished yet, but it will be, as soon 
 as the boats come in the spring and bring 
 us some drilHng with which to line it. 
 
 '' We are using it every day and the Blessed 
 Sacrament is kept there. We had fine music 
 for Christmas and they are now preparing 
 for Easter. God has been very good to me, 
 and has blessed the Mission beyond all that 
 I could have hoped for, sending me so many 
 friends and all the help needed for the hos- 
 pital, and providing us with everything nec- 
 essary when there was so great a scarcity 
 of provisions. You must not fail to thank 
 Him for His great goodness to me which I 
 can not help attributing, in great part, to the 
 prayers of my friends, who I know are con- 
 stantly pleading for me. . . . 
 
 '' I am glad that I am here to give some 
 consolation to the great number of Catholics 
 who come among the rest, and to sow good 
 seed among the many non-Catholics whom 
 I meet in the hospital and elsewhere. I have 
 abundant consolation in all my labors. 
 
 " The church goods you sent me have been 
 a great source of pleasure to me, for it makes 
 me happy to be able to keep the church neat 
 and the vestments becoming. 
 
 " I am sure I am not telling- you half you 
 would like to know about the country, but 
 
Dawson City 217 
 
 you must make allowance for one who has 
 so many things to fill his head. After the 
 Sisters come and relieve me in part of the 
 hospital, I may be able to write more. . . . 
 
 '' If men would do half as much for heaven 
 as they do for gold, how many saints there 
 would be, and how much more real happi- 
 ness in this world! '' 
 
 On April 25th he wrote: " I can send you 
 only a few lines to-night, as the bearer, a 
 great friend of mine, will start in a few hours 
 and he wants to seal the mail he is taking 
 out in a tin box, for fear of water, as the trail 
 is getting bad now. I am kept so very busy 
 that it is almost impossible to write. ... I 
 am well and happy, and not starved as you 
 feared. Last fall there were fears that we 
 would not have food enough for all; but it 
 all came out right — no starvation nor real 
 suffering, although many had to do without 
 things that they would have liked to have." 
 
 The army of invasion from '' the outside " 
 now began to swarm into Dawson, adding to 
 the population at the rate of two thousand 
 a month. It is supposed that thirty thousand 
 persons went into the Yukon country that 
 season, but of course all did not settle down 
 in Dawson City. 
 
 As the number of new arrivals increased, 
 so did the work of Dawson's pastor. The 
 correspondent already quoted said : '' Only 
 
218 An American Missionary 
 
 those who were in Dawson City last spring, 
 and saw the sick constantly cared for, can 
 appreciate the untold good accomplished by 
 Father Judge and his assistants. Men of all 
 creeds, and of no creed at all, helped the 
 good Jesuit priest, for he is greatly beloved 
 for his unselfish and untiring efforts in be- 
 half of the needy and unfortunate/' 
 
 In the midst of this busy season of labor 
 for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the 
 people, there came a calamity that must have 
 sorely tried Father Judge's patience. 
 
 Early on the morning of Trinity Sunday, 
 June 5th, the church, which had cost so much 
 thought and labor, was consumed by fire. 
 The event was thus described by the corre- 
 spondent of the New York Post: ''About 
 one o'clock Sunday morning early last June, 
 the people of Dawson City were awakened 
 by the cry of fire, an ominous sound at all 
 times, but especially terrifying in a town of 
 tents and resinous log cabins. There were 
 the sickening roar of flames and the rush of 
 hurrying feet. The first cry was that the 
 hospital was on fire, and hundreds of strong 
 men, trained by a life of danger to think 
 quickly, grabbed their blankets and a pail 
 and ran to the fire. Every one gave a sigh of 
 relief when it was found that the church and 
 not the hospital was blazing so fiercely. But 
 the latter was in danger, and to save the sick 
 
Dawson City 219 
 
 there must be instant action. While some 
 hastily removed the suffering men, others 
 formed a line and passed pail after pail of 
 water to those on the roof of the hospital, 
 pouring it on the blankets stretched over the 
 roof and into the fierce furnace below. It 
 was a terrible fight while it lasted, but it was 
 soon over, and while every one felt sorry to 
 have the church destroyed, a prayer of grat- 
 itude went up that the helpless men in the 
 hospital still had their refuge." 
 
 What must have made the loss of the 
 church doubly painful to its apostolic pastor, 
 was the fact that he himself was the innocent 
 cause of the misfortune. He had gone, as 
 was his wont, late Saturday night, to say his 
 office in the church. For light, he had a 
 candle fixed on a rude wooden support. 
 While he was thus engaged in offering up 
 the prayers of the Church and communing 
 with his Lord, some one came to summon 
 him to the aid of a patient in the hospital 
 who was very ill. He hastened away imme- 
 diately, in his eagerness omitting to extin- 
 guish the candle which, before he returned, 
 burned down and set fire to the church. 
 
 That must have been a dreary Trinity 
 Sunday for both pastor and people, as they 
 gazed upon the smouldering ruins. But not 
 much time was lost in useless regret. A col- 
 lection was started to rebuild the church, and 
 
220 An American Missionary 
 
 a generous response came from both Cath- 
 olics and Protestants, one of the latter 
 weighing out a hundred dollars in " dust '' ; 
 but, before the collection was finished, one 
 generous man expressed his desire to assume 
 the whole expense. His offer was accepted, 
 and the amount that had been thus far col- 
 lected was donated to the hospital. 
 
 Work was begun on the new church and 
 pushed with such energy that, in about ten 
 weeks from the time of the fire, a much better 
 church stood upon the site of the old one. 
 
 The following letter to one of his brothers, 
 written only two weeks after the fire, shows 
 how bravely and calmly the Missionary ac- 
 cepted both the loss and the new task im- 
 posed upon him. 
 
 St. Mary's Hospital, 
 Dawson, June i8th, 1898. 
 Dear Brother: Pax Christi! 
 
 This is the first opportunity to send letters 
 down the river; and, although I cannot spare 
 the time, I must try to send a few words to 
 let you all know that I am still alive and well. 
 
 The crowd of new-comers is increasing 
 every day and giving our little town the ap- 
 pearance of a large city, the street being too 
 crowded to be comfortable. 
 
 A large amount of gold will go out this 
 
Dawson City 221 
 
 year and the prospects are good for some 
 years to come; yet the royalty and the heavy 
 taxes discourage many from working their 
 claims, the owners hoping to get the royalty 
 off by next year. This will prevent many 
 new men from getting work, and keep the 
 country back. Many are going to seek their 
 fortune in the American territory, where 
 they will have much more ground and little 
 or no taxation. 
 
 My nice church, in which I took so much 
 pride, all the altar furniture, vestments, 
 flowers, lace curtains, and every thing for 
 Mass and Benediction were burned two 
 weeks ago to-day, June 4th. 
 
 I was without Mass for a week, until an 
 Oblate Father happened to come with a 
 portable chapel, just a week after the fire. 
 
 Tell M that all the nice flowers she 
 
 has been sending, from year to year, are 
 gone; so she must begin again, and send a 
 new supply. 
 
 I have not heard yet, but it is likely that 
 the Oblate Fathers will take this place, and 
 then I shall return to Alaska. If I do, I shall 
 send you word of my whereabouts. . . . 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 Wm. H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 P. S. I am building a new church three 
 times as large as the old one, and one of my 
 friends will pay for it. 
 
222 An American Missionary 
 
 Another of the Father's friends, now a 
 prominent citizen of Dawson, gives us the 
 following graphic account of his first visit 
 to the hospital: 
 
 I landed with 40,000 other men in the 
 middle of June, 1898. Dawson was a city of 
 tents — and sickness. The first familiar face I 
 saw was that of an acquaintance of many 
 years before. He had been in the Klondike a 
 year, and was accounted rich. 
 
 '' Have you been to see H ? '' was his 
 
 first question after the usual salutations and 
 mutual explanations. 
 
 " Charley H ? Why I didn^t know he 
 
 was here.'' 
 
 '' Yep ! " he replied. " Been down with 
 scurvy six months. Father Judge took him 
 in. Guess he saved his life. But he's bad off. 
 Guess it'd do him good to see you.'' 
 
 '' Who is this Father Judge? " 
 
 " Father Judge? Why, you don't mean to 
 say you haven't heard of Father Judge? " 
 
 '' I surely have not," I replied somewhat 
 tartly. '' I've been in Dawson only an hour." 
 
 "Well, all I've got to say is that you are 
 forgetting your newspaper business, if 
 you've been here an hour and haven't learnt 
 of Father Judge. I guess he's a priest. Don't 
 know much about those things anyhow. But 
 I do know as he's saved I don't know how 
 many lives this winter. I reckon he was the 
 
Dawson City 223 
 
 only one of us as had time, or wasn't crazy 
 about gold. Saved more'n a thousand. Doc- 
 tors all mining, and the bummest lot you ever 
 saw. Charged two ounces a visit, and the 
 sick fellows mostly broke, or they wouldn't 
 a'been sick. And say! You just ought to 
 know Father Judge. He's the biggest jol- 
 lier — the merriest fellow you ever met. 
 When he runs out of medicine he goes and 
 gets a lot of bark and spruce boughs, and he's 
 kept a whole lot of 'em alive up there, waiting 
 for medicines to come in. You didn't bring 
 any with you, did you? " 
 
 ''Yes," I said. '' I've got some for myself 
 in case I'm sick." 
 
 My acquaintance, B , of the Arctic 
 
 meat market, broke into a laugh as some- 
 thing funny occurred to him. 
 
 '' I guess you had better not let Father 
 Judge know you've got it," he said. '' He'll 
 get it out of you, if you do." 
 
 " Is he pretty good on the beg? " I asked, 
 grinning at B 's infectious merriment. 
 
 '' Well, I should say so. Twice this win- 
 ter he got nearly a quarter of meat out of 
 me — two dollars a pound, too. But you go 
 and see H and ask him." 
 
 I secured my directions, and started 
 through the thickly crowded single street of 
 Dawson for the hill under the slide, where 
 
224 An American Missionary 
 
 tradition says a whole village of Indians 
 was once buried. 
 
 I found, perched up on the rocks, a large 
 canvas church — its log predecessor had been 
 burned. Alongside was a log building, ex- 
 tended with canvas tents. I entered at what 
 I took to be the entrance, though there were 
 many openings, with carpenters passing in 
 and out. I was right, and found the " office,'* 
 a bare room, but clean. I sat down on what 
 I took to be a home-made lounge — it was 
 of hard boards, covered with a clean carpet 
 rug, with a pillow at the head. I touched 
 the bell on the table, and it was answered by 
 a tired-looking, old-young man. I recog- 
 nized a shabby, priestly garb. 
 
 "Is this Father Judge? '* 
 
 " Yes-s,'' replied the stranger, eyeing me 
 thoughtfully. ''How are you? You don't 
 look sick." 
 
 " No, no," I hastened to say. " I'm not 
 sick. I just came down the river. I heard 
 you had a friend of mine here, a Mr. — " 
 
 '' Just came down the river, eh ? " he broke 
 in. Then with his eyes twinkling and the 
 appearance of age gone, he asked somewhat 
 banteringly, but eagerly: — 
 
 '' I don't suppose, now, you've got such 
 things as potatoes with you? " 
 
 '' Potatoes ! " I echoed, with astonishment. 
 " I suppose you are hankering for a mess of 
 
Dawson City 225 
 
 potatoes after the food famine of the past 
 winter/' 
 
 '' I? '' in great astonishment. " Why, bless 
 your heart, no. I don't want potatoes. But 
 I've got a big houseful of fellows here with 
 scurvy, and medicine has been about gone 
 for months. Potatoes would fix 'em though.'' 
 
 He grew thoughtful, and continued as 
 though speaking to himself: — 
 
 '' There'll be some coming in pretty soon, 
 I suppose, but I expect they will be five or 
 ten dollars a pound, and I'm broke. Well! " 
 with sudden resolution and briskness: '' I'll 
 get them if I have to pray for them. Now, 
 whom might you be wanting to see? " 
 
 I told him, and received the proper 
 directions. As I started up the stairs he 
 said : — 
 
 " You want to cheer him up till I can get 
 some medicine or potatoes for him. We must 
 keep them alive on hope, you know." 
 
 I found H . He was sitting up in bed, 
 
 smoking. He had been carried to the hospi- 
 tal six months before, and had never been 
 out of bed. In the ward with him were fif- 
 teen other scurvy patients. After a hearty 
 
 exchange of greetings, H proceeded to 
 
 introduce to me every man in the room, after 
 which I sat down on the edge of his bed and 
 talked. 
 
 '' I don't suppose you've brought any po- 
 
226 An American Missionary 
 
 tatoes ? " he queried, as soon as the confu- 
 sion consequent upon my arrival, had ceased. 
 
 " Only the evaporated,'' I replied. " You 
 all seem to want potatoes. I suppose from 
 what Father Judge said to me, that potatoes 
 are medicine to you fellows.'' 
 
 '' A sure cure," spoke up everyone at once. 
 Then H broke in: — 
 
 ''So you've seen Father Judge!" Then 
 with a confident smile, as knowing the inevi- 
 table answer: — '' What d'ye think of him? " 
 
 Everyone in the room looked up, as if a 
 well-worn and interesting theme of conver- 
 sation had been brought up. 
 
 "Oh," I repHed, diffidently, '^ I really 
 
 haven't seen anything of him much. B 
 
 was telling me down town that he is sort of 
 popular about here." 
 
 ''Popular!" echoed H , in protest. 
 
 " Don't use the word ' popular ' here. He's 
 the finest man that God ever put a soul into. 
 Where'd we all have been this winter without 
 him, I'd like to know. He's just killing him- 
 self trying to take care of everybody." 
 
 " I'm sure he's a good man," I replied, 
 sympathetically, for all had joined in silent 
 but evidently hearty approbation of my 
 friend, H . I continued: — 
 
 '' You're not a CathoHc, H ? " 
 
 '' O that doesn't cut any figure here. Why, 
 God bless me, here's a bunch of sixteen of us 
 
Dawson City 227 
 
 here now in the room, and not a blessed 
 CathoHc in the lot — unless it's Jack, over 
 there. But Father Judge is making Catholics 
 fast. Never preaches or talks doctrine or 
 forms of faith, you know, unless you ask 
 him or show him your mind is uneasy on that 
 score. No! He just does all a mortal man 
 can do for you, and evidently wishes he could 
 do more. Then he jollies you and goes to 
 church, and you feel you'd give one of your 
 two useless legs if you could follow him. 
 Whist! here he comes." 
 
 As Father Judge entered the room with a 
 brisk step and serious mien, every patient 
 that could, raised himself up in bed, while 
 all heads were lifted. Oddly enough there 
 was a smile on every sick face; only the 
 priest looked dull and old. He passed at 
 once to the centre bed, containing: the man I 
 had heard named as ^' Tack." Tack had a 
 rather uncouth, stolid face. He tried to rise 
 as the priest approached, reached out and 
 took one of the priest's hands tenderly in his 
 
 own. H and everyone else had stopped 
 
 all conversation. All looked on. H 
 
 whispered softly to me: — 
 
 " Jack's going to die. The scurvy's got up 
 into his spleen and he's all swelled up. They 
 all die when it gets there. Two died last 
 week that way." 
 
 I was sitting nearest Jack's bed. I watched 
 
228 An American Missionary 
 
 the priest's solemn face slowly light up as 
 from a glow within. The age disappeared. 
 Patient and priest looked earnestly into each 
 other's eyes for a full half minute. Then in 
 the softest tones ever heard from a man's 
 lips, Father Judge said: — 
 
 " I've been praying for you, Jack. If it is 
 the good Lord's will, you're going to get 
 well. The medicine is beginning to come 
 down the river. Nurse will be here in a 
 minute with what you need. Your good old 
 mother is going to see you again if prayers 
 and medicine can avail. Say your prayers, 
 my boy. I'm going down to the chapel again, 
 and I'll leave your case in good hands." 
 
 The priest smoothed back the sick man's 
 hair from his forehead, and then I saw the 
 man was crying. As the Father turned away. 
 Jack raised the hand he held to his lips, and 
 kissed it fervently, then buried his face in his 
 pillow. 
 
 The nurse came in, and the Father, per- 
 sonally administered the new medicine, with 
 thoughtful care. He turned his attention to 
 the rest of the sick men. 
 
 '' Now, Mr. H , those pillows don't 
 
 look comfortable. I've got a better one 
 down stairs. Just got it from a man who is 
 going out. I'll send it up." '' Harry! What 
 are you doing with your feet out of bed?" 
 "' Let me make you comfortable, Williams " 
 
Dawson City 229 
 
 — suiting the action to the words, and re- 
 arranging bedclothes. 
 
 Then taking a position in the very centre 
 of the room : — 
 
 " Tve got good news for you all/' He 
 looked around with a happy smile. '' There's 
 a whole scow-load of potatoes just landed! 
 What d'ye think of that! Now, I do hope 
 the good Lord will not require me to steal 
 them." 
 
 The idea of Father Judge stealing potatoes 
 caused a breach of the silence in a moment. 
 The laughter was infectious. Everyone 
 laughed. Jack had wiped away his tears and 
 spoke up behind the priest's back: — 
 
 '' No, don't you steal 'em. Father. '' I'll 
 steal 'em for you," at which there was an- 
 other laugh. 
 
 '' No, my boy," answered the priest, '' we 
 won't have to steal them. We'll just pray." 
 Then as a merry after-thought, '' It's 
 quicker." 
 
 Then suddenly becoming serious again 
 and speaking softly: — 
 
 '' I wanted you to know that the chapel 
 downstairs is finished, and there will be serv- 
 ices morning and evening. We cannot give 
 too many thanks for what He has done for 
 us this winter." 
 
 He passed quietly around the room, taking 
 temperatures where the cases were most 
 
230 An American Missionary 
 
 serious, with a cheerful word to all, and a 
 merry quip for every convalescent, petting 
 the big fellows like great children, and every 
 one of them looking the most profound grat- 
 itude. 
 
 When a nurse called him away, he hesi- 
 tated just long enough to assume the most 
 delicious Irish twang : — 
 
 '' Now, don't ye all be after getting down- 
 hearted. The boats do be coming in by hun- 
 dreds, and Fm going out now to have them 
 send ye down what's good for ye. Goodbye.'' 
 
 His departure was the signal for the let- 
 ting loose of a perfect flood of talk. The 
 knowledge that the Father would be pres- 
 ently among the host of new arrivals, pur- 
 chasing, bargaining, and, when his money 
 ran out, begging for his dearly beloved sick, 
 was almost too much for many bursting 
 hearts present. I have never in all my event- 
 ful life listened to such a stream of adulation 
 for a living man. Incidents of the winter 
 were related, in which Father Judge had 
 always figured in absolute self-forgetfulness. 
 His never wavering faith that the Lord 
 would provide for him and his sick was dwelt 
 upon at length. At one time he had accepted 
 charge of twenty more patients than there 
 were beds in the institution, or bedding for. 
 Before dark, three bales of blankets were 
 brought on an unknown sleigh, dumped at 
 
Dawson City 231 
 
 the door, and the driver hurried off. At 
 another time, he had to put his rapidly in- 
 creasing patients in an upper, unfinished 
 room, with only the ceiling overhead, and no 
 roof to ward off the summer storms, so 
 plentiful in the Yukon. And, as if in answer 
 to prayer, the storms relented, and it was 
 fine for three weeks, or until the last board 
 of the roof was in place. Much earlier, in 
 the dead of winter, he had been unable to 
 get a hole dug in the cemetery for the recep- 
 tion of one of the dead, and had himself 
 worked with pick and shovel, until he was 
 about to give up in despair, when in the 
 semi-darkness, two burly men came in from 
 the creeks with the story that it had been 
 borne upon them that they were wanted at 
 the hospital, and there they were to com- 
 plete the grave and cover in the coffin. 
 The experience of another is thus told: — 
 "In June, 1898, my father and I were 
 mining on No. 21 Below, Lower Discovery 
 on Dominion Creek. One George Hunt was 
 at this time ill in the hospital at Dawson, 
 and, as we had to take a trip in for provis- 
 ions, while there, we went to see him. It was 
 then I met Father Judge for the first 
 time, and never will I forget him as he looked 
 that day. One felt that his very glance was 
 a blessing. 
 
 " The Catholic hospital was then only two 
 
232 An American Missionary 
 
 stories high, built all of log^s. Dawson at that 
 time was being visited by an epidemic, and 
 all available space was filled. Each room 
 held three or four sick men; the halls and 
 aisles were filled with cots, leaving just 
 enough space for the nurses to move around. 
 Father Judge gave up his own room and bed, 
 and slept where he could. Indeed he hardly 
 needed a bed, for he slept very little those 
 days, and in reply to the nurses' pleading 
 that he take some rest, he said that ' when 
 his work was finished he would have plenty 
 of time for sleeping.' The little ten by twelve 
 office and the kitchen were the only places 
 free from sick-cots. 
 
 ''We did not see much of him on that trip — 
 there were from four to twelve men dying 
 every day, and his time, with the exception 
 of half an hour for saying Mass, was devoted 
 to cheering and nursing the sick, helping 
 them to die well, and, after all was over, per- 
 forming the last rites over them. 
 
 '' There were many men in the Yukon that 
 year who knew nothing and cared less for 
 religion, and yet I felt, from hearing them 
 talk, that the love and respect they bore 
 Father Judge amounted almost to a religion. 
 One man, an infidel, once said to me that the 
 only time he ever felt he wanted to believe 
 was when he was with Father Judge, and he 
 thought if he could only have seen more of 
 
Dawson City 233 
 
 him he would have turned to the Church 
 eventually. 
 
 " During this portion of Father Judge's life 
 in the Yukon he said Mass in a tent. The 
 church had been burned down shortly be- 
 fore, they having hard work to save the hos- 
 pital. The tent was built on the side of the 
 hill, which left a large open space under- 
 neath. I have seen the attendance at Mass 
 so great that the tent could not accommo- 
 date the crowd, and the space underneath 
 would be filled also. Neither fire nor his 
 hard work at the hospital discouraged 
 Father. 
 
 '' It was well known in the Yukon that it 
 was only necessary to let Father Judge know 
 you were in need, and anything he had was 
 at your disposal. The only time I heard of 
 his wrapping himself up well, was once when 
 he gave an undergarment to a man, and he 
 was hastening home without it. 
 
 '' He once placed part of his own cache at 
 the disposal of my father and myself when 
 we did not have a place to store our goods. 
 
 '' It is hard to describe the influence Father 
 Judge had over people who came in contact 
 with him. I always felt as if I were with one 
 who was goodness itself — one who could 
 see right into my heart. He always left with 
 me the feeling that I wanted to go off all by 
 myself and pray. He rarely smiled, and yet 
 
234 An American Missionary 
 
 his face was radiant — beaming with an in- 
 describable Hght. 
 
 " I returned from Dawson to the claim, 
 and had been there only a few days when 
 word was passed along that Father Judge 
 was ill. We had hardly become used to the 
 thought, when word was passed along that 
 he was dead. Our claim was about forty 
 miles from Dawson, and we had the news the 
 day after his death. It was wonderful how 
 rapidly the news spread. It travelled faster 
 than a man could, for by the time the man 
 who started with the news had taken his first 
 meal on the road and rested, the news had 
 passed beyond him being passed along by 
 the claim owners. This will give you a faint 
 idea of the love and respect the men had for 
 him. Catholics and non-Catholics. It was a 
 terrible shock — we could hardly realize that 
 the church in Dawson could get along with- 
 out him. 
 
 " I started for the town the next morning 
 hoping to be in time for the funeral, but was 
 a few hours late, notwithstanding the fact 
 that I met a dog team and went through in 
 one day. On my arrival I found the stores all 
 closed as a tribute of respect, and all draped 
 in black, with black festoons on the houses 
 as well. The whole town was in mourning. 
 The church all in mourning looked very som- 
 bre with the pillars entwined with black. I 
 
Dawson City 235 
 
 feel sure there was not a person in the Yukon 
 that knew him, who did not feel sorry for 
 himself, but glad for the Father whose hard 
 work was over and who had been called to 
 his rest. Nothing else was talked of. Of 
 course we being CathoHcs felt it the worst; if 
 the whole town had slipped down into the 
 river it would not have been more of a shock. 
 
 " I was told that the Sunday before he died, 
 while apparently in good health, he told the 
 Sisters at the hospital that his work here 
 was ended, and that he felt that God would 
 call him before the week was over. Father 
 Judge's name will go down in the history of 
 the Yukon as one of its heroes, and I feel 
 sure he will never be forgotten by any who 
 knew him.^^ 
 
 About a month after the burning of the 
 church, the Missionary had the joy of wel- 
 coming to Dawson the Sisters of St. Ann, 
 who hastened to his aid as soon as they 
 could make their way up the Yukon. The 
 sick in Dawson were now to have the service 
 that has been given on many a battlefield 
 and in thousands of hospitals — the minis- 
 trations of those blessed women to whom 
 Captain '' Jack '' Crawford, who was in Daw- 
 son in 1898, once referred in these glowing 
 words : — 
 
 '' On all God's green and beautiful earth, 
 there are no purer, no nobler, no more kind- 
 
236 An American Missionary 
 
 hearted and self-sacrificing women than 
 those who wear the sombre garb of CathoHc 
 Sisters. During the war, I had many oppor- 
 tunities for observing their noble and heroic 
 work, not only in camp and hospital, but on 
 the death-swept field of battle. Right in the 
 fiery front of dreadful war, where bullets 
 hissed in maddening glee, and shot and shell 
 flew madly by with demoniac shrieks, where 
 dead and mangled forms lay with pale blood- 
 flecked faces, yet wearing the scowl of battle, 
 I have seen the black-robed Sisters moving 
 over the field, their solicitous faces wet with 
 the tears of sympathy, administering to the 
 wants of the wounded and whispering words 
 of comfort into the ears soon to be deafened 
 by the cold implacable hand of death. . . . 
 How many a veteran of the war, who wore 
 the Blue or the Gray, can yet recall the sooth- 
 ing touch of a Sister's hand, as he lay upon 
 the pain-tossed couch of a hospital! Can we 
 ever forget their sympathetic eyes, their low, 
 soft-spoken words of encouragement and 
 cheer when the result of the struggle be- 
 tween life and death yet hung in the balance? 
 Oh ! how often have I followed the form of 
 that good Sister Valencia, with my sunken 
 eyes, as she moved away from my cot to the 
 cot of another sufferer, and have breathed 
 from the most sacred depths of my faintly- 
 
Dawson City 237 
 
 beating heart the fervent prayer: God bless 
 her! God bless her! 
 
 " My friends, I am not a Catholic, but I 
 stand ready, at any and all times, to defend 
 these noble women, even with my life, for I 
 owe that life to them/' * 
 
 We may say of the life of every Christian, 
 and especially of the life of every Missionary, 
 what the Church says of St. Joseph : '' Mis- 
 cens gaudia fletibus '' — '' mingling joys with 
 tears ''; it is an alternation of joy and sor- 
 row. 
 
 Thus to the pastor of St. Mary's, after the 
 sorrow caused by the fire, came the joy of 
 the Sisters' coming; this in turn was fol- 
 lowed by fresh solicitude, when, at the be- 
 ginning of August, typhoid fever became 
 epidemic. 
 
 Every day new patients were brought to 
 the hospital, so that in two weeks the limited 
 space was filled. What was to be done ? We 
 shall let Sister Mary of the Angel Guardian 
 answer. '' The charity of Father Judge," 
 she wrote, " again did wonders. With the 
 aid of devoted and charitable friends, he 
 immediately undertook the construction of 
 an addition to the hospital, three stories high 
 and seventy feet long by twenty wide, and 
 of a wing twenty-three feet long by twenty- 
 eight wide. The work was pushed forward 
 
 ♦"Angels of the Battlefield," Barton, P. 299. 
 
238 An American Missionary 
 
 with vigor. As fast as a story was finished, 
 the sick were transported into it. This lodg- 
 ing, even in its unfinished state, afforded 
 them more comfort than they could find on 
 the damp earthen floor of their tents. The 
 epidemic lasted three long months, and the 
 hospital was always full. Most of the sick 
 found in this asylum, the blessing of health, 
 and a great number of Catholics that of a 
 sincere conversion.'' 
 
 Here was work indeed for the pastor. 
 Happily the Sisters were at hand to lessen 
 his labors in the hospital; and soon the 
 Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate were 
 to lend their aid in the parish work, and 
 stretch out their strong arms to help support 
 the growing burden. 
 
 Thanks to the generosity of Alexander 
 McDonald, the new church was nearing com- 
 pletion without being a financial burden; 
 but, it was not so with the extension of the 
 hospital and the support of the inmates, to 
 meet the expenses of which. Father Judge 
 was obliged to go into debt. 
 
 It must have been hard for him to refuse 
 anyone admission to the hospital; and yet, 
 he had to be prudent and not go too far be- 
 yond his means. The difficulty of the situa- 
 tion is thus described by the Klondike Nug- 
 get : " Last summer saw the Father adding 
 building after building in an effort to keep 
 
Dawson City 239 
 
 up with the demands upon his charity. At 
 last a point was reached which distressed 
 him sadly — a lack of any more funds com- 
 pelled the questioning of applicants as to 
 their finances. Hesitatingly and with pro- 
 fuse apology, the good man would ask the 
 vital question and ask them to secure an 
 order of admission from the Government. 
 Nevertheless, as the books of the institution 
 will show, the bulk of the work at St. Mary's 
 Hospital has been done purely in the name of 
 charity; and this in a land of wealth untold." 
 
 During the epidemic there were in the hos- 
 pital, besides six Sisters, thirty-four em- 
 ployees, male and female, whose salary 
 amounted to more than three thousand dol- 
 lars, with board and lodging. 
 
 We may conclude this imperfect account 
 of the work of that busy summer and fall, 
 with the Missionary's own words contained 
 in the last letter received in Baltimore from 
 him, and written from St. Mary's Hospital, 
 Dawson City, under date of Oct. 6th, 1898. 
 
 '* I have had a very busy summer, the 
 building of our new church in place of the 
 one burned, and a large addition to the hos- 
 pital, together with the care of providing 
 for the coming winter, was no little work, 
 and the large number of patients in the hos- 
 pital for the past two months has kept me 
 as busy as I could be day and night. We 
 
240 An American Missionary 
 
 have 135 patients at present, mostly typhoid 
 fever, which has been very bad here this sum- 
 mer, but the doctors all agree that we are 
 having unusually good success in the hos- 
 pital. 
 
 ''Our new church is very fine for this part 
 of the world, and would do credit to a much 
 older town. It has cost $25,000, and is the 
 gift of one good man, Alexander McDonald. 
 I said the first Mass in it on August 21st, 
 and blessed it, and then turned it over to the 
 Oblates of Mary, who have charge of the 
 parish now. I still have the care of the hos- 
 pital, which is as much as I can attend to 
 with the present number, but I expect to 
 turn it over to the Sisters in the spring and 
 go back to Alaska, where I belong. 
 
 " We have five or six hundred at Mass 
 every Sunday, so you can understand what 
 kind of town we have. I have a telephone in 
 my office, not only for the town but also to 
 the creeks (the creeks are fifteen miles from 
 Dawson). They are preparing to give us 
 electric light. I think we shall have about 
 15,000 people in this town this winter. I 
 have met several Baltimore people here late- 
 ly, and indeed nearly every part of the world 
 is represented. 
 
 '' It is sad to see how many poor people 
 have left good homes to come here and find 
 themselves without the necessaries of life, 
 
d<^ 
 
 h -fv 
 
 ImM 
 
 
 
 ^^^Bt^^t^^^TwB^ w 
 
 
 w 
 
 ; 
 
 v» '^ 
 
 J 
 
Dawson City 241 
 
 without money and without work. I fear 
 there will be much suffering here this winter. 
 There are thousands still in tents, and winter 
 is on us.'' 
 
 Relieved of the care of the parish, Father 
 Judge became Chaplain of the hospital, and 
 concentrated all his devotion and zeal upon 
 the work of that institution. 
 
 In all such houses it is desirable to have a 
 chapel for the devotions of the Chaplain and 
 the Sisters, and for the convenience of the 
 sick and convalescent. Father Judge was 
 engaged on the construction and fitting up 
 of a chapel for the hospital when Christmas 
 came with its ever-consoling graces and 
 cheering memories. It was the last Christ- 
 mas that he was to spend on earth. 
 
 December 27th, he wrote to his Superior 
 in Juneau. This letter showed that he was 
 well and rejoicing at the work that was being 
 done. '' The hospital,'' he said, '' continues 
 to do much good for souls, and saves many 
 lives." Enclosed was the program of an en- 
 tertainment given on Christmas night for the 
 benefit of St. Mary's Hospital. 
 
 We shall let an eye-witness, C. H. Higgins, 
 give the details of the Missionary's life dur- 
 ing the latter part of 1898: — 
 
 " Winter' came on ; the last boats for up and 
 down the river left at the beginning of Octo- 
 ber, and we were frozen in for eight months. 
 
242 An American Missionary 
 
 The days became shorter fast, snow had fal- 
 len covering the mountain peaks and the en- 
 tire country. Father Judge liked the winter 
 best. ' This part of the world is so beautiful 
 in its mantle of purity/ he said. Work had 
 begun in earnest on the creeks, and all were 
 settled down to do what they could to be 
 ready with their wash-ups in May, 1899, 
 many to be disappointed, others to succeed. 
 
 Let us briefly review one of Father Judge's 
 ordinary days, after looking in at his only 
 private quarters. In the front room on the 
 first floor of the hospital building, which was 
 the office, was a table that served as a desk, 
 a small book-case containing religious books, 
 a wash-stand, a stove, and in the southeast 
 corner a rough board lounge about two feet 
 high. On this were a couple of blue blankets, 
 and a robe. A curtain hanging down the 
 sides of the lounge covered a rough wooden 
 drawer which served to contain his few be- 
 longings. This was his room, the lounge 
 was his bed. He thought much of the robe, 
 for it was the one Archbishop Seghers used, 
 and on which he was lying when he was mur- 
 dered by his attendant. 
 
 Father Judge rose between five and six, 
 and the first seen of him was when, with cas- 
 sock on, he was repairing to the church or 
 chapel to say Mass. We have mentioned be- 
 fore the very spiritual expression he always 
 
Dawson City 243 
 
 had at this time, and the impression made on 
 those who heard him say Mass. After his 
 thanksgiving he went to the office where fre- 
 quently special matters awaited his atten- 
 tion. He would spend some time receiving 
 patients, hearing poor unfortunates and en- 
 couraging them, or perhaps he would be 
 called to a patient very ill, whom he would 
 see, and then carry to him the Holy Euchar- 
 ist. After this he took off his cassock, and 
 became the manager of a large hospital. He 
 would take a light meal, frequently sharing it 
 with another, and then make a general in- 
 spection of all the patients, asking and an- 
 swering questions. If anyone were danger- 
 ously ill, a screen was put around the bed, the 
 priest would ae*ain put on his cassock, and re- 
 turn to the sick one, speaking to him those 
 words which in many cases seemed to restore 
 health, or to make death easy and peaceful. 
 This was part of his daily labors. Do you 
 wonder, reader, that all eyes were turned in 
 the direction from which his daily visit 
 came? The poor patients were hungry to 
 see this man of God; even non-Catholics 
 were pleased to see him, and it is well known 
 that a large number of conversions were 
 made on those hospital beds. 
 
 His next occupation was to go out and see 
 that the various persons employed were do- 
 ing their work properly, in the enlarging of 
 
244 An American Missionary 
 
 the hospital, the building of the church, and 
 those things necessary for the daily running 
 of the institution. 
 
 It often occurred that when a patient was 
 very low his friends on the creeks were ad- 
 vised of the fact, and if he desired services 
 other than those of Father Judge, a minister 
 was called. When a patient died, if he were 
 a Catholic a Mass was said, after which the 
 friends carried the body from the church to 
 the grave. Father Judge, wearing cassock 
 and surplice, led, an attendant carried a 
 lighted candle and holy water, and the re- 
 mains were buried with solemn ceremony. 
 The bodies of the dead were always carefully 
 washed and as neatly attired as it was possi- 
 ble, Father several times giving part of his 
 scant wardrobe to supply some need. 
 
 A large number of persons called daily on 
 various business affairs, Protestants and 
 Catholics alike seeking his advice and direc- 
 tion. He was looked up to as the one per- 
 son in the gold-fields who would give solid, 
 unselfish, and truthful direction. All knew 
 and spoke of him as ' Father Judge,' their 
 friend. 
 
 Thus the entire day was filled up; and, 
 though it was supposed that he retired about 
 eleven o'clock, after he sought his room, no 
 one knew what rest he took. At any hour 
 of the night he might be seen moving quietly 
 
Dawson City 245 
 
 through the private rooms or wards of the 
 hospital, and he always insisted that the 
 nurses should call him if any patient asked 
 to see him, so that none who might wish his 
 priestly services would be deprived of them. 
 
 On Sunday, August 21st, 1898, the new 
 church was dedicated by Father Judge, as- 
 sisted by the Oblate Fathers. Father Judge 
 preached a most striking sermon on the Real 
 Presence; no gestures, no complex sentences, 
 only plain, forcible, convincing words which 
 were understood by anyone who understood 
 English. This was the great beauty of his 
 preaching; it was always plain, and so clear- 
 ly from his heart that it sank deep into the 
 hearts of his hearers. In concluding his ser- 
 mon on the day of the dedication, I remem- 
 ber, he used a sentence frequently uttered by 
 him, ^' Remember man, the end for which you 
 were created/' After the dedication of the 
 church Father Judge at once took the two 
 rooms next to his office and bed-room and 
 made of them a small chapel in which he per- 
 formed his priestly duties until his death. 
 He and Father Gendreau, the Superior of the 
 Oblate Fathers, were close friends, and after 
 he had turned over the church to the Oblates 
 of Mary they insisted that he should some- 
 times officiate and preach in the new church, 
 which had been erected by Mr. McDonald 
 through love and respect for Father Judge 
 
246 An American Missionary 
 
 as well as for the glory and the worship of 
 God. He accepted the invitation and offi- 
 ciated every third Sunday. 
 
 Thus things went on. Christmas was ap- 
 proaching, and the arrangements for the 
 minstrel performance were almost com- 
 plete.* It was necessary to obtain a hall. 
 We expected, taking things at their inflated 
 values in Dawson, that a fair price for a hall 
 with heat and light would be from $300 to 
 $400. We went to Mr. Joseph Cooper, 
 owner of the Tivoli Theatre, and explained 
 our mission. He said : ' When do you wish 
 to have it?' As many tickets, at five dollars 
 each, had been sold on the creeks and most 
 of the men would come into town on Christ- 
 mas day, without consulting Father Judge, 
 we told him, ' On Christmas nigfht.' Mr. 
 Cooper replied, ' You go to Father Judge 
 and say I will give the hall with light and 
 heat free of charge.' This was a most 
 agreeable surprise, and a substantial dona- 
 tion. 
 
 In the meantime a few of Father's friends 
 about the hospital decided that he must have 
 for Christmas a suit of clothes that would 
 better become the dignity of his calling. A 
 tailor was sent to get his measure, but he 
 would not consent to that. Then we in- 
 
 * To help pay off the debt on the hospital, it had been deter- 
 mined to get up a minstrel entertainment. 
 
Dawson City 247 
 
 structed the tailor to do the best he could 
 to make up a suit, which he did. In addition 
 to this, a fine sealskin coat, reaching to his 
 knees, was procured, with a sealskin cap and 
 gloves. One evening a few days before 
 Christmas, Father was called away from the 
 office by arrangement, and, on his return, he 
 found waiting for him half a dozen friends 
 and his new outfit. He was surprised. Then 
 the spokesman explained. 
 
 Father Judge was much moved by their 
 thoughtfulness, but he told them that he 
 could not accept the gifts, that being a Jesuit 
 priest he could own nothing, and he did not 
 feel that he could accept the gifts without 
 the consent or order of his Superior. 
 
 This chilled the ardor of his friends for a 
 time, but they urged on him that he needed 
 these things, that his Superior could not be 
 reached without some person risking his life 
 in going out over the ice to see him, and that 
 Father Rene, his Superior, would not arrive 
 possiblv for six months. It was at this point 
 that a friend urged on the Father that most 
 of the donors were Protestants, and we 
 think this had much to do with his finally 
 accepting the clothes. 
 
 All was now excitement arransfing for the 
 great festival of Christmas. Spruce and pine 
 boughs, with which the country abounds, 
 were gathered and the church was decorated. 
 
248 An American Missionary 
 
 Father also cheered his poor sick men by 
 decorating the wards. He had an artist 
 paint the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, the 
 angels, the Wise Men, etc., on separate 
 pieces of cardboard; and these surrounded a 
 figure of the infant Saviour, in a most beau- 
 tifully arranged crib, the work of Father 
 Judge and the Sisters. All was now ready, 
 and many were waiting for twelve o'clock 
 Saturday night, to repair to St. Mary's for 
 midnight Mass on the Yukon. Several fine 
 singers were to act as choir; a small reed- 
 organ was accompanied by several stringed 
 instruments. Long before Mass, the Oblate 
 Fathers were busy arranging vestments, 
 etc., for Solemn High Mass, of which Father 
 Judge was to be celebrant. The choir 
 took possession of the gallery, and the 
 body of the church rapidly filled up 
 with many men, and some women, from 
 all over the globe. Owing to the cold 
 weather their dresses were of all kinds. Some 
 had sweaters, some wore furs, others again 
 appeared with their civilization clothes, 
 making altogether an odd sight. 
 
 All awaited the coming of the celebrant, 
 who most likely, after seeing his patients 
 cared for, went to his little chapel to prepare 
 for the offering up of the Holy Sacrifice. 
 
 In a few minutes, while all was still, a foot- 
 step was heard, and Father Judge was seen 
 
Dawson City 249 
 
 advancing up the middle aisle. Something 
 seemed to illuminate his countenance as he 
 advanced towards the altar, and moved to 
 the Gospel side. The choir sang the Adeste 
 Fideles, after which the priests turned to- 
 wards the altar, Father Judge standing on 
 the very spot that, four weeks later, was to 
 be his tomb. The Mass began with beauti- 
 ful music, and was devoutly followed by the 
 worshippers. Father Judge read in English 
 the Gospel of the first Mass on Christmas 
 Day, after which he preached a touching ser- 
 mon on the love we owe to God for His com- 
 ing on earth to redeem us. Then he drew 
 a vivid picture of the loved ones of his 
 hearers in their widely-scattered homes, 
 where the vacant chair was their one anxiety 
 that day. No one who heard, or was pres- 
 ent, could fail to see that all were deeply 
 affected. Strong men wept. Father urged 
 those who had been successful to remember 
 that God had made them simply His stew- 
 ards, and would demand an account; then to 
 the majority of us he showed that while we 
 might not have been successful in earthly 
 gains, if we kept close to God it would be 
 better than if we had gained not only the 
 wealth of the Klondike, which we knew to be 
 great, but of the whole world. All were 
 benefited by his words, and their sorrow 
 would have been great indeed had they 
 
250 An American Missionary 
 
 known that this was to be the last pubHc 
 utterance, at High Mass, of our loved Father. 
 
 Father Judge said a Low Mass after finish- 
 ing the first Mass, and later said his third 
 Mass in the hospital chapel. 
 
 The services of the day being over the final 
 arrangements for the minstrel entertainment 
 were made, and several of Father's friends 
 who had engaged boxes for the performance 
 asked him to share them. He did not wish 
 to go, but they begged him in the name of 
 the hospital, for the benefit of which it was 
 being held, to go down for a while. Of 
 course he knew well that there was no evil in- 
 tiention in choosing that day for it, as the 
 parties had not been posted on the matter, 
 and none had thought of Christmas falling 
 on Sunday. Indeed it was like a Christian 
 affair, all saloons and dance-halls being 
 closed. So Father Judge went at their urgent 
 request. The performance was clean, and 
 the persons taking part in it did their parts 
 cleverly. At the end of the first part all the 
 performers withdrew except the interlocu- 
 tor, Mr. George Noble, who arose and, ad- 
 dressing the audience, pictured our dear 
 Father from the time he turned his face to- 
 wards Dawson, mentioned the great work 
 he had accomplished, but never once used 
 his name. In concluding his address Mr. 
 Noble referred to him as the ' Grand old man 
 
1. 
 
 CAPTAIN JACK CRAWFORD 
 
Dawson City 251 
 
 of Dawson/ This was the signal for the 
 house to go wild with enthusiasm, calling 
 upon Father Judge. He finally came upon 
 the stage, and the cheering continued for five 
 minutes. It would have lasted much longer, 
 but the audience saw that Father was grow- 
 ing embarrassed and they quieted down. 
 Then Father Judge thanked the performers 
 and the audience for their kindness to the 
 hospital. This was the only time we saw 
 him in his new clothes. When he withdrew, 
 the cheering began again and continued for 
 some time. Everybody was pleased, and the 
 hospital was two thousand dollars richer by 
 the entertainment. 
 
 One of Father Judge's callers during that 
 eventful winter, was John Wallace Craw- 
 ford, better known as '' Capt. Jack '' or '' The 
 Poet Scout," whose checkered career and 
 varied experiences are making him to-day a 
 welcome figure on the lecture platform. In 
 characteristic style, the Captain tells us of 
 his visit. Writing to an old acquaintance, 
 he says: 
 
 " I was delighted to get on to your trail 
 when I met you at Harrisburg, after our 
 Klondike experience; and my thoughts go 
 back to the bitter cold day in 1898, when it 
 was 40"" below zero and I left my little log 
 cabin on the hillside, near the hospital, and 
 
252 An American Missionary 
 
 rushed in to open my heart and soul to that 
 martyr for God and humanity, Father Judge. 
 
 '' When I told my story of how I was vic- 
 timized by a hypocrite, who wanted me to 
 get rich and make him rich by endorsing as 
 true his lying prospectus, which claimed 
 twelve million dollars' worth of property in 
 the Klondike, where there was absolutely not 
 a color of gold. . . . 
 
 ^' ' My son,' he said, taking me by the hand, 
 ' don't hesitate for a moment. Sit down and 
 expose the whole scheme.' Then he handed 
 me a roll of bills, adding: ' Take this, it will 
 tide you over till you get something to do.' 
 Well, I was never idle a moment, as you 
 know. I assisted at some twenty benefits 
 for the unfortunate, and gave my entertain- 
 ment to thousands of the boys out on the 
 creeks, and in all my life I never had so much 
 real pleasure while assisting others. It was 
 not long until I built my own little shack and 
 opened my Wigwam, up near the Barracks, 
 where I sold hay and grain on commission, 
 and made ice-cream in the summer; indeed, 
 I sold baled hay and ice-cream over the same 
 counter, and there was but little difference 
 in the price by weight, for I sold baled hay 
 at 35c per lb., and oats and corn at 30c. . . . 
 
 " Well, as I look back over the Klondike 
 trails and mountains, sorrows and joys, the 
 great kind face appears, and the soul of 
 
Dawson City 253 
 
 Father Judge seems peeping from his 
 honest blue eyes into the tangled brush 
 of my own soul, and I hear him saying: 
 ^ My son, don't hesitate, sit right down 
 and expose the whole scheme/ And so this 
 Christmas Day I will let my soul dictate a 
 tribute to one of God's anointed, my friend, 
 and the friend of humanity/' 
 
 FATHER JUDGE. 
 
 Christ died for men and so did he — 
 
 The sweetest soul I ever knew, 
 And when he grasped the hand of me, 
 
 His honest laughing eyes of blue 
 Dispelled the clouds from out my sky 
 
 And warmed the chill from off my heart; 
 And when it comes my time to die 
 
 I pray we won't be far apart. 
 
 But if there is a gulf between 
 
 The Father and the wayward stray, 
 His love will tell what might have been 
 
 And Christ will open up the way. 
 And true as there's a God above 
 
 I know with all my heart and soul 
 That all who suffer for the love 
 
 Of truth, will reach the heavenly goal. 
 
 Not for a creed or circumstance 
 
 Would he a helping hand refuse; 
 Nor pomp, nor power, nor grand finance 
 
 Could change his broad and noble views. 
 He saw his duty. Who can tell 
 
 How much we loved him in the West? 
 But He, who doeth all things well, 
 
 To his tired soul had whispered "Rest." 
 
254 An American Missionary 
 
 When last I gazed into his face — 
 
 His dear, dead face, so truly kind, 
 A halo seemed to light the place 
 
 For God had left the smile behind. 
 And hardy miners bowed their heads 
 
 And felons wiped a tear away. 
 And fever patients in their beds 
 
 Were conscious of a loss that day. 
 
 God's martyr — His adopted son — 
 
 He died, dear friends, for you and me; 
 He surely died as Christ had done 
 
 In love, in truth, in poverty. 
 I crave not wealth, nor care for fame, 
 
 Nor wealth nor fame do I begrudge, 
 But Lord, permit me once again 
 
 To clasp the hand of Father Judge, 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 HIS DEATH AND FUNERAL. 
 
 " I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my course." 
 
 //. Tim, iv., 7, 
 
 NEW Year's Day, 1899, fell on Sunday, 
 and by that time the chapel of the hos- 
 pital was so near completion that Father 
 Judge was able to say the first Mass in it. 
 
 This circumstance must have helped to 
 make the day for him and the inmates of the 
 hospital one of special happiness. 
 
 Each day of the following week he offered 
 the Holy Sacrifice in this, the last of the 
 sanctuaries that he was privileged to estab- 
 lish for the God of the Eucharist. On Satur- 
 day, January 7th, he vested and went to the 
 altar, but feeling ill he was obhged to forego 
 the consolation of saying Mass. Then fol- 
 lowed a week of sickness and pain, the strug- 
 gle of an enfeebled system against the fever 
 and congestion incident to pneumonia,^ until, 
 on January i6th at about 2 o'clock in the 
 afternoon, death put an end to the labors of 
 Dawson's first pastor. 
 
 255 
 
256 An American Missionary 
 
 We shall let the same devoted companion, 
 whom we have quoted in the preceding chap- 
 ter, relate the incidents of the Missionary's 
 last hours : — 
 
 " Having some business of his to attend to 
 on Hunker Creek, I went to his room, 
 knocked on the door, and was invited to en- 
 ter. He lay on his rough bed, dressed in his 
 cassock. After giving me instructions about 
 the business in hand, he said he could not say 
 Mass that day. 
 
 '' When I returned from the creek he had 
 been put to bed in the second room from the 
 front up-stairs. From day to day he would 
 grow worse, and then rally. Hundreds of 
 inquirers came daily, and wherever one 
 turned the question was, 'How is Father?' 
 Any other name was unnecessary. One 
 evening, a few days before the end, the 
 Priests, Sisters, Brother Cunningham, three 
 Indians, a boy and two girls, doctors and 
 nurses, had gathered in the room for what 
 was supposed would be his death. One of 
 the Sisters was reading chapters 23 and 24, 
 Book I, of The Following of Christ. Father's 
 breathing was slow and hard, so the doctor 
 made a signal for the Sister to stop reading. 
 Almost at once Father Judge, to the sur- 
 prise of all, spoke out, saying: 'Keep on. 
 Sister, that is what I want to hear,' and after 
 a half hour he rallied and seemed stronger. 
 
His Death and Funeral 257 
 
 George Mitchell, an old-time friend from 
 down the river, and a Protestant, who was 
 oftener called Skiff Mitchell, came into the 
 room and knelt at the bedside. Father 
 opened his eyes and recognized him, uttering 
 his name. Poor Mitchell cried, as many 
 others about the bed did, and Father said to 
 him, * George, why are you crying?' Of 
 course, on account of his sorrow, the man 
 could not answer. Father continued: 
 ' George, v/e have been old friends almost 
 since I came into the country.^ Then 
 Mitchell said : ' Yes, and we can't afford to 
 lose friends like you.' Father then replied: 
 ^ George, you have got what you came for. 
 I, too, have been working for a reward, 
 would you keep me from it?' No answer 
 was made, as all were filled with sorrow. 
 
 ''The doctor seeing Father's improved con- 
 dition told all to leave the room. Only Mr. 
 George Burns, an old down-river friend, and 
 myself remained. About midnight Father 
 said to Mr. Burns : ' George, go down-stairs 
 and make me a cup of tea as you used to, 
 down the river.' Mr. Burns went out, and 
 then I was alone with my good friend. No- 
 ticing that he had his eyes closed, and that 
 his lips were dry from fever, I took some 
 glycerine and water and moistened them. 
 He opened his eyes, and said, ' Oh, thank 
 you.' I did not answer, but simply looked at 
 
258 An American Missionary 
 
 him. Then he said: 'Kneel down, and I 
 will give you my dying blessing/ After say- 
 ing that we needed him so badly I did as he 
 ordered, and he raised his hand and blessed 
 me. Soon Mr. Burns returned, and after 
 taking the tea Father dozed until morning. 
 '' During this time inquiries continued and 
 the town seemed as if some calamity were 
 about to fall on it. On Monday, January 
 i6th, when I was returning to the hospital 
 from town, a manager of one of the new 
 commercial companies called me to know 
 Father's condition. I answered him, and he 
 gave me a small case of champagne to take 
 to the doctor, thinking Father's weak stom- 
 ach would be helped by it. The value of this 
 wine in Dawson was thirty dollars a pint. I 
 mention this simply to show that the friend- 
 ship of the giver was practical. When I 
 reached the hospital, I noticed the noiseless 
 moving about near his room, and seeing 
 Priests, Sisters, and all gathering there I 
 followed and knelt with the rest. It was 
 nearly two o'clock, and gloomy, as we had 
 not seen a ray of sunlight since November. 
 All were sad and dared not look at one an- 
 other, for grief was pent up in all. Suddenly 
 the rays of the sun shot into the death cham- 
 ber for a moment and again were gone, and 
 with them went the pure soul of Father 
 Judge. 
 
His Death and Funeral 259 
 
 '' It is impossible to describe the feehngs 
 of those present. The good Oblates of Mary 
 had lost a brother Priest, the Sisters one who 
 was a real father to them and who had pre- 
 pared the way for them to perform the duties 
 of charity they so cheerfully took up. The 
 Indians lamented him pitiably. His com- 
 panion, Brother Cunningham, had lost his 
 master and guide, the physicians and at- 
 taches of the hospital their devoted friend 
 and helper; but what of those who for two 
 weeks had watched in vain for that morning 
 visit of their protector and comforter? I 
 think no sadder place could be described than 
 the rooms and wards of St. Mary's Hospital, 
 when the inmates learned that Father Judge 
 was dead. Long afterward they would 
 speak of their ' friend in need.' 
 
 '' About the hospital all hearts were heavy, 
 yet the necessary arrangements for the burial 
 had to be made. The question was where 
 should the grave be? In a short time it was 
 decided that Father Judge should be buried 
 on the Gospel side of the altar, so that those 
 whom he loved and who loved him could 
 offer their prayers to God, and invoke our 
 dear Father's help in their trials, which he 
 knew so well. It took Tuesday and Wednes- 
 day and part of Thursday to dig the grave. 
 Mr. George Burns, of whom mention has 
 been made, arranged for the casket in which 
 
260 An American Missionary 
 
 Father Judge's remains were interred. It 
 was a magnificent one, considering the possi- 
 bilities of the place, and he would not give 
 any information about the cost. I learned 
 positively that it cost a thousand dollars. . . 
 On Thursday night the remains were moved 
 from the chapel to the church, for the fu- 
 neral. Mr. John Mattler of Denver, Colo- 
 rado, and I took turns in watching that the 
 burning candles should do no damage. His 
 turn was up at ii P. M. and I remained until 
 4 A. M. It was bitterly cold, and to keep 
 comfortable it was necessary to walk up and 
 down the aisle. Besides, at that time, we 
 had but a couple of hours of faint light at 
 mid-day, and one might say it was continu- 
 ous night. During my watch the weird 
 howling of wolves and malamute dogs was 
 constant, yet there seemed to be nothing to 
 fear; for there, with that strange dignity on 
 his face, lay our good friend who seemed 
 only sleeping, and ready to answer our call 
 for assistance, as he always did in life." 
 
 As we said in the beginning of this narra- 
 tive, God has not ceased to speak to men, and 
 we know not how often He gives some warn- 
 ing or presentiment of the approach of death. 
 We know that to the Saints the knowledge 
 of the time of their death has been frequently 
 granted. St. Stanislas Kostka, two weeks 
 
His Death and Funeral 261 
 
 before his death, asserted that he would cer- 
 tainly die before the end of that month; a 
 few days later he expressed the hope that he 
 would spend in Heaven the feast of the As- 
 sumption (the 15th of August) ; on the 14th, 
 in the morning, he said that he would die 
 that night, and in fact he did die very early 
 in the morning, August 15th. 
 
 It seems very clear that Father Judge had 
 a presentiment of his death. He said during 
 his illness that he would die on Monday, the 
 i6th. When the Sister who attended him 
 said, '' Oh, no ! Father, you are not going to 
 die; we shall pray hard, and you will not 
 die,'' he answered with a sort of cheerful 
 assurance, " You may do what you please, 
 but I am going to die/' 
 
 By a strange coincidence, thirty-three 
 years before, his mother was taken ill on 
 January 8th and died on the i6th, and this 
 loving son began his struggle with death on 
 the 8th and expired on the i6th of the same 
 month. 
 
 It is interesting to note how firmly con- 
 vinced were the friends or attendants, who 
 heard him speak of the day of his death, that 
 it was the anniversary of his birth. This 
 error can be explained only by supposing 
 that, when the worn-out missionary spoke 
 of that day as his " birthday/' he was using 
 
262 An American Missionary 
 
 the language of the Saints, and we may say, 
 of the Church; and that he meant to say, 
 perhaps half playfully, that it would be the 
 day of his birth to a better life. 
 
 He could not have forgotten that he was 
 horn on April 28th ; for, in his family it had 
 been the custom to celebrate and make much 
 of ''birthdays;" and that custom contributed 
 to impress the dates indelibly on the minds 
 of the children. 
 
 Divine Providence surrounded the faithful 
 priest in his last illness with all the consola- 
 tions of religion. For some years, Father 
 Judge had passed months without seeing a 
 fellow priest; and, if death had overtaken 
 him then, he would have been deprived of the 
 helps that the Church affords her children 
 in their last hours. But, when his time came, 
 though in a place where, three years before, 
 there would have been no hope of seeing a 
 priest, he found not only the affectionate 
 ministration of the priest, with daily Com- 
 munion during his illness, but also the 
 gentle and solicitous care of devoted and 
 pious Sisters. 
 
 Is it not easy to see here the realization of 
 the beautiful thought expressed by a holy 
 soul in these words? — " Give yourselves un- 
 reservedly to God, love Him and seek for 
 nothing out of Him, and the day will come 
 
His Death and Funeral 263 
 
 when you will fall asleep on His Divine 
 Heart, to waken in His glory."* 
 
 The first announcement to the outside 
 world of the Missionary's end, was a para- 
 graph in the daily papers of February nth, 
 1899, which read: '' Father Judge is Dead. 
 An Associated Press dispatch from Dawson 
 City, Alaska, via Seattle, announces the 
 death from pneumonia of Rev. Wm. H. 
 Judge, S. J." 
 
 Owing to the lack of telegraphic com- 
 munication, it had taken twenty-five days for 
 the news to reach Seattle; and the meagre- 
 ness of the information left relatives and 
 friends in a state of suspense until, some ten 
 days later, the following letter was received 
 from the Prefect Apostolic of Alaska : — 
 
 Juneau, Alaska, Feb. 12, 1899. 
 
 To Rev. Father C. J. Judge, S. S., 
 
 St. Charles College, 
 
 ElHcott City, Md. 
 Rev. and Dearest Father: 
 
 The last letter I had from your dearly be- 
 loved brother. Father William Judge, was 
 dated Dawson, December 27th, 1898. He 
 was well then, and rejoicing at the work done 
 at St. Mary's Hospital. ''The hospital," 
 said he, " continues to do much good for 
 
 ♦Mother M. of St. Euphrasia Pelletier. 
 
264 An American Missionary 
 
 souls, and saves many lives." He enclosed 
 in his letter the program of an entertainment 
 given there on Christmas night, for the bene- 
 fit of St. Mary's Hospital. 
 
 Great, therefore, w^as my sorrow, and pain- 
 ful my surprise, when the mail from Dawson 
 brought us today the unexpected news of 
 the sickness of your brother on January 8th 
 and his happy death on January i6th. The 
 Holy Will of God be done ! It is a hard blow 
 to all his relations and friends, and especially 
 to our Mission. We have all suffered an im- 
 mense loss, but God knows better than our- 
 selves what was best for our dear Father, and 
 for our Mission. Our Lord was satisfied 
 with his good works in this world, and called 
 him to his reward and to a better life, where 
 there are no more toils, and hardships, and 
 trials of all kinds, but everlasting joy and 
 peace. 
 
 As a matter of fact, reverend and dear 
 Father, when I visited him last summer, I 
 was very much struck by a change which had 
 come over him and gave to his words and 
 actions a calm and serenity, which appeared 
 to me of a supernatural character, and re- 
 sembled the heavenly peace of the blessed. 
 I made the remark to many of our Fathers 
 at the time. In the midst of his toils and 
 fatigues, day and night, he felt perfectly 
 happy and contented, and superabounded 
 
His Death and Funeral 265 
 
 with consolations. I see by the particulars 
 which have just been forwarded to me from 
 Dawson concerning his death, that this con- 
 dition of his soul was, by a special grace of 
 God, the same up to his last moment; for he 
 was conscious up to the end, and all his utter- 
 ances expressed the happiness of his soul. 
 Therefore I say, we his friends and brothers 
 in Christ, weep not over him without con- 
 solation, like those who have no faith and 
 consequently no hope. Let us pray for him, 
 but at the same time thank God for such a 
 death after such a life of heroic deeds of 
 charity. 
 
 Our beloved Father, according to the let- 
 ter of one of the employees in the hospital, 
 was suffering from congestion of the right 
 lung and pleurisy accompanied by fever. On 
 January 12th, Dr. Barrett, his physician, said 
 that his fever had fallen from 104'' to loi''; 
 also that the inflammation was subsiding and 
 his condition somewhat improved, but owing 
 to his poor general health he was not entirely 
 out of danger, and in case of any further 
 complications arising, the result might prove 
 fatal. Your brother thought it prudent to 
 constitute a board of trustees, to look after 
 his affairs, and appointed a board of direc- 
 tors to conduct and manage the hospital, un- 
 der the supervision of Sister Mary Zephyrin, 
 who was superintending the institution dur- 
 
236 An American Missionary 
 
 ing his illness. He expressed himself as 
 fully resigned, and remarked, — '' If our dear 
 Lord is about to call me to my reward, I am 
 prepared/' Our Father was very happy, 
 despite his sad affliction. Yet all sincerely 
 hoped and prayed that God would spare him 
 a little while longer, as Dawson could ill 
 afford to lose him. All seemed fully to 
 realize it, as there were constant inquiries, 
 both in person and over the telephone, solicit- 
 ing news of his condition. He has erected a 
 monument to God and dedicated to man a 
 hospital, which has been a haven of refuge 
 to the poor afflicted sick of Dawson. 
 
 Father Desmarais, O. M. I., prepared him, 
 in the absence of the Vicar General, Father 
 Gendreau, to receive the Holy Rites of the 
 Church, and he had the happiness every 
 morning, a little after midnight, of receiving 
 Holy Communion as Viaticum. 
 
 On January i6th, a further communication 
 was forwarded to me, as follows : — '' It is 
 with great sorrow that I inform you of the 
 sad news of the death of our much lamented 
 Father William H. Judge, which occurred at 
 ten minutes before two o'clock this after- 
 noon, he receiving the Holy Rites of the 
 Church, surrounded by Father Desmarais, O. 
 M. I., Brother B. Cunningham, S. J., and the 
 Sisters of St. Ann, who were in constant at- 
 tendance, anticipating every desire; a service 
 
His Death and Funeral 267 
 
 which was performed with such grace and 
 gentleness, as only they possess. He suf- 
 fered considerably during the last three days, 
 but rested comparatively easy from about 
 seven o'clock this morning until our Divine 
 Lord was pleased to release him from the life 
 which he so nobly sustained through his 
 magnificent character, strong religious zeal, 
 and great faith in God. 
 
 Rev. Father Gendreau arrived about four 
 o'clock this afternoon, and greatly lamented 
 being too late; he was on the creeks 
 visiting the various missions, and unfortu- 
 nately the news did not reach him until yes- 
 terday, when further travel was impossible.'' 
 
 Father Gendreau himself wrote on Janu- 
 ary i8th, to explain how, when he started 
 for his visit to the mines, nothing had led 
 him to suspect that your beloved brother 
 would fall sick, as he did on the following 
 day. The Oblate Fathers had invited him 
 to dine with them on the Feast of the Epiph- 
 any, January 6th. Father Gendreau had in- 
 formed him that he intended to start for a 
 visit to the Missions in the mines. Our 
 Father had approved of his plan, and lent 
 him his own sleigh and dogs for the journey. 
 At the moment of starting, Father Gendreau 
 went to shake hands with your brother, 
 whom he found in good health. Thus you 
 see how unexpected was the approaching de- 
 
268 An American Missionary 
 
 cease of our dear Father, and how friendly 
 all the Missionaries were living together. 
 
 The same Father Gendreau, in a letter 
 dated January 20th, gives the following par- 
 ticulars of the funeral services of the Apostle 
 of Dawson : '' Every day, from Monday up 
 to Friday, the Office of the Dead was recited 
 at 8 P. M. around his remains. They were 
 brought up to the church on Thursday even- 
 ing, and people watched over them the whole 
 night. There was High Mass at eleven 
 o'clock on Friday, with deacon and sub- 
 deacon: Father Gendreau was celebrant, 
 Father Desmarais, deacon, and Father Cor- 
 beil, sub-deacon. Father Lefebre directed 
 the choir. The crowd was immense; many 
 people could not find room inside. At the 
 end, Father Desmarais spoke in praise of the 
 lamented Missionary, who had done so much 
 and given his life for the welfare of the 
 miners in the Klondike. Father Gendreau 
 also spoke. The government officials, all the 
 prominent citizens, and even the Protestant 
 ministers were all there. The church was 
 magnificently decorated for the occasion. 
 The mourning was general; flags were at 
 half-mast and stores were closed on that day 
 from 9 A. M. to 2. P. M.'' 
 
 Allow me to enclose in this letter the lead- 
 ing article of the local newspaper in Dawson. 
 
 Your beloved brother was buried in a vault 
 
His Death and Funeral 269 
 
 near the altar, on the Gospel side, in that 
 church which was erected by his indefatig- 
 able zeal last summer, on the same lot as the 
 former one, but of larger proportions. I 
 forward you a copy of the photograph of that 
 church, that you may form a better idea of 
 the place where lie the remains of your saint- 
 ly brother. 
 
 Yours very sincerely in Christ, 
 
 J. B. Rene, S. J., 
 
 Pref. Ap. Alaska, 
 
 The article in the Dawson paper, the Klon- 
 dike Nugget, to which the Very Rev. Prefect 
 Apostolic alludes, thus described the sad 
 event : — " Rev. Father Judge is Dead — He 
 yields up his life surrounded by many of his 
 friends — His splendid work in Dawson — 
 ' Charity, Sweet Charity,' his ruling motive 
 — A good man's work— A living faith. 
 
 " The Rev. Father Judge is no more. 
 ' Father ' Judge, as all loved to call him, 
 Catholics and Protestants alike, died at the 
 hospital he has cared for so long and loving- 
 ly, on Monday afternoon, January i6th, at 
 1.50. The Father's faith was as real as his 
 Christianity, and almost his last words to the 
 friends around his death-bed were: 'This is 
 the happiest moment of my life; I have 
 worked for this many years; I am going to 
 my reward.' Each spasm of pain during his 
 
270 An American Missionary 
 
 last excruciating illness, was welcomed de- 
 voutly as the wish of an all- wise and chasten- 
 ing Father; and calmly and serenely the 
 good Missionary glided into the eternity, 
 which has occupied so much of his thoughts 
 here upon earth. 
 
 '' The day of his death, strange to say, was 
 his forty-ninth birthday,* and it was upon 
 the same day thirty-three years ago that he 
 lost his mother. Four years ago, on the 
 same day, he nearly lost his life from freez- 
 ing. To his intimate friends, during his ill- 
 ness, he confided the fact that he hardly ex- 
 pected to live over that fateful day; and, as 
 the time arrived, the more certain of this he 
 became. Friends were summoned and 
 ' good-bys ' were said — the Father as 
 cheerful and contented as at any time in his 
 history, and himself speaking words of com- 
 fort to the big, yet weeping pioneers, whom 
 he had known so long and served so faith- 
 fully. . . .^ 
 
 " Of his private life there is not much to 
 tell. On a hard couch in his office, by the 
 front entrance to the hospital, he spent the 
 few hours devoted to sleep, ready at an in- 
 stant's notice to respond to night-callers and 
 to the querulous calls of sickness. A stand- 
 ing order with nurses and watchmen was 
 that, no matter what the hour, or how un- 
 
 *We have explained above the source of this error. 
 
His Death and Funeral 271 
 
 necessary the call, he was to be instantly 
 awakened if patients desired his presence. 
 
 '' Loved sincerely and genuinely by every- 
 one attached to the institution, the ^ Good 
 Father Judge,' as he was affectionately 
 known to all, will receive the last sad rites of 
 his church on Friday next at eleven o'clock 
 in the forenoon, and his remains will be laid 
 to rest in a vault constructed under the sa- 
 cred building, in which he has so often led 
 the services/' 
 
 A Seattle paper of February 17th, thus re- 
 ferred to the peculiar circumstances to which 
 we have called attention : ^' The deceased 
 was forty-nine years of age, his death occur- 
 ring on the anniversary of his birth. 
 
 " A strange circumstance connected with 
 the death of Father Judge was his prediction 
 of the date on which it would occur. From 
 the beginning of his illness he felt that he 
 would die; and, to intimate friends, he said 
 his death would take place on his birthday, 
 January i6th." 
 
 Nobody could better tell us of the death of 
 the Pastor and Chaplain than the devoted 
 Sister Mary Zephyrin, who attended him 
 during his illness. With a delicate charity 
 she wrote to the youngest sister of the de- 
 parted priest, while his body was still lying 
 in the hospital. From that letter we extract 
 the following lines : " Never were prayers 
 
272 An American Missionary 
 
 more fervently offered for a devoted Pastor's 
 preservation, than ours were for him; and it 
 was only two hours before he breathed forth 
 his pure, noble soul, that our hopes were 
 blasted. . . . 
 
 '' Of his holy sojourn here below, all that 
 we could say would be but the faint shadow 
 of the reality; for his was certainly an ideal 
 life. The spirit of self-sacrifice, that actuated 
 him in every word and deed, proved how 
 zealously he strove to attain that degree of 
 perfection, which has been so eagerly 
 sought after by the Saints, in whose foot- 
 steps he trod as closely as possible. . . . 
 
 '' Could you have shared our happiness, as 
 we all knelt by his bedside, in receiving one 
 of the many blessings he gave ; in listening to 
 the pious words addressed to many of his 
 most intimate friends, who called to bid him 
 'farewell'; in witnessing the look of peace 
 and happiness portrayed on his countenance, 
 as he spoke of his desire to be called forth 
 from this world to enjoy for evermore the 
 company of our Blessed Saviour, whom he 
 loved so ardently, and his entire submission 
 to the Holy Will of God, which was one of 
 the faithful maxims of his life, you would be 
 consoled and fully convinced of how Avell 
 prepared this loved brother was to meet the 
 Creator.'' . . . 
 
 The following account from the " Klon- 
 
His Death and Funeral 273 
 
 dike Nugget '' of January 21st, will best de- 
 scribe the funeral of Dawson's first Pastor: 
 "All Dawson mourns the death of Father 
 Judge. There is scarcely a man in the entire 
 community, who, at some time or other, has 
 not come into personal contact with the work 
 of that noble priest, who, on Friday morning, 
 amid the solemn services of his Church, was 
 laid to rest beneath the edifice which stands 
 as a lasting monument to his efforts as a 
 philanthropist. The esteem, in which the 
 benevolent Father was so universally held, is 
 well attested by the great throng which as- 
 sembled to witness the last sad ceremony. 
 
 "At an early hour groups of sorrowful 
 mourners began to arrive; and, long before 
 the hour for the funeral, the large church was 
 crowded to overflowing. The sides and ceil- 
 ing of the church were beautifully draped in 
 mourning, as were also the pillars which sup- 
 port the roof. Around the altar and forming 
 an effective background for numerous waxen 
 tapers, the sombre black and white were 
 gracefully intertwined. 
 
 " Before the altar, in the centre of the 
 broad aisle, was the beautiful casket con- 
 taining the remains of the departed Father. 
 Surrounding the casket were tall standards 
 bearing lighted tapers, which threw a soft 
 light upon the peaceful features of the dead. 
 Perfectly serene he lay and with every indi- 
 
274 An American Missionary 
 
 cation of having fallen into quiet restful 
 repose. 
 
 '' The solemn and impressive requiem 
 Mass of of the CathoHc Church was per- 
 formed by Rev. Father Gendreau, who suc- 
 ceeds Father Judge as pastor of St. Mary's 
 Church, assisted by Fathers Desmarais and 
 Corbeil. At the conclusion of the cere- 
 monial portion of the services, Father 
 Desmarais addressed the assembly with 
 touching words. He reviewed the life 
 of the departed from childhood, when 
 he first manifested an interest in spiritual 
 matters and indicated his desire for the 
 priesthood. During school and college days, 
 he was held in high regard by masters and 
 fellow students alike. Since his ordination 
 as a priest, important duties had been as- 
 signed to him, and all were fulfilled in a most 
 worthy and creditable manner. 
 
 " His work as a Missionary at Circle City 
 and Forty Mile was spoken of with great 
 feeling, and many an old-timer went back in 
 his memory to the days when Father Judge 
 was ministering to the spiritual wants of the 
 miners in the lower country. His efforts 
 and successes among the Indians were also 
 referred to by the speaker, whose personal 
 affection for Father Judge was made mani- 
 fest in every word spoken. 
 
 " Father Desmarais dwelt at length upon 
 
His Death and Funeral 275 
 
 the work of the deceased since his arrival in 
 Dawson. Almost through his own unaided 
 efforts St. Mary's church was founded; and, 
 in connection with it, Father Judge realized 
 a long-cherished wish, when he found him- 
 self enabled to proceed with the construction 
 of the hospital. 
 
 " The fire of last spring, which entirely 
 destroyed the first church building, in no 
 wise discouraged the zealous priest; and 
 he set to work with renewed vigor upon the 
 plans for the present structure, a building 
 far more commodious and better adapted 
 for the purpose. 
 
 " Through his untiring energy and zeal, 
 the accommodations of St. Mary's Hospital 
 were extended until its present capacity was 
 reached: but the accomplishment of the 
 heavy tasks he had set himself, proved too 
 heavy a drain upon a naturally weak physical 
 organism; and at length his life was laid 
 down in the service to which his best years 
 had been consecrated. 
 
 " With a touching tribute to the dead, and 
 a rehearsal of his own intimate relations 
 with him. Father Desmarais concluded his 
 address. 
 
 '' Father Gendreau, successor to Father 
 Judge as pastor of St. Mary's, then spoke 
 briefly in reference to the many virtues of the 
 deceased ; and told of his own feeling of re- 
 
276 An American Missionary 
 
 sponsibility in taking up a work begun by 
 such able hands. His remarks impressed 
 themselves deeply upon all. 
 
 " The audience were then invited to pass 
 up the aisles and view the remains, while 
 the choir in the gallery filled the church with 
 the sweet harmonies of ' Nearer My God 
 to Thee.' 
 
 " The music throughout the ceremony 
 was beautifully rendered. The pall-bearers 
 were Messrs. M. J. Sullivan, Geo. Burns, 
 Thos. Chisholm, Dr. McFarlane, Dr. Bar- 
 rett, and Mr. Stevens.'' 
 
 When the news of the Missionary's death 
 was verified, steps were taken to have suit- 
 able funeral services in Baltimore, while 
 many private Masses were offered for the re- 
 pose of his soul. 
 
 On March 6th a solemn Mass of Requiem 
 was sung in St. Ignatius' Church, which the 
 departed priest had loved so well. 
 
 The celebrant of the Mass was Rev. C. J. 
 Judge, of St. Charles' College, a brother of 
 the dead priest. Rev. J. H. Richards, of 
 Frederick City, was deacon, and Rev. Law- 
 rence Kelly, of Loyola College, sub-deacon. 
 
 Rev. John A. Morgan, President of Loyola 
 College, preached. In referring to the life of 
 Father Judge, he said: "He was an honor to 
 Maryland, to the city of Baltimore, and, we 
 might say, to this special congregation. . . . 
 
His Death and Funeral 277 
 
 He was unquestionably a born Missionary; 
 and, in conjunction with Father Barnum, 
 also of this city, has accomplished a great 
 work, which will be felt in the future." 
 
 When, in the summer of 1899, the Oblate 
 Fathers decorated the interior of St. Mary's 
 Church in Dawson, space was reserved on 
 the wall of the Sanctuary, at the Gospel side 
 of the altar, for the following inscription: 
 
 Hie est sepultum, donee resurgat, 
 corpus P. Guil, H. Judge, S. J. 
 
 viri charitate pleni, 
 
 qui primus, in civitate Dawson, 
 
 aegris habitaculum 
 
 Deo templum 
 
 cunctis cooperantibus erexit 
 
 universaque plebe lugente 
 
 pie decessit in Dno. 
 
 Die 16 Jan. 1899 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 TRIBUTES OF RESPECT AND AFFECTION. 
 
 " Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down 
 his life for his friends." — John xv., 13. 
 
 MEN are often ungrateful ; so great is self- 
 love, so strong the instinct of self-pres- 
 ervation, so deep-rooted the love of comfort, 
 that benefactors are sometimes forgotten; 
 but there is scarcely a human heart that can 
 hold out in cold disregard of spontaneous, 
 cordial, and disinterested charity. Especially 
 does the heart of man respond to kindness 
 and good offices, corporal or spiritual, be- 
 stowed at the expense of the giver, above all 
 when those gracious acts cost the donor 
 pain, sickness, or death. 
 
 Human experience confirms the wisdom of 
 God's plan of redemption. He has under- 
 taken to win the heart of man by love, show- 
 ing that love by benefits and by personal 
 suffering even unto death. This is the mys- 
 tery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to which 
 we have seen Father Judge had so tender a 
 devotion. By loving the Heart of Jesus, this 
 
 278 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 279 
 
 whole-souled apostle had come in some de- 
 gree to imitate It, in kindness, devotion, and 
 self-sacrificing charity. And now that this 
 work of love was finished, men realized how 
 beautiful, how sweet, his charity had been. 
 Since his death, many heartfelt tributes have 
 been given to his zeal and charity, the most 
 noteworthy of which we reproduce in this 
 closing chapter. 
 
 The Klondike Nugget of January 21st, 
 1899, voiced the sentiments of Dawson's 
 citizens in these strikingly earnest words: 
 " The sudden end of the much-loved Rev. 
 Father Judge was not only a distinct shock 
 to the community, but an irretrievable loss 
 also. There are good men in the world 
 plentiful enough; but there is no one here 
 who can take up the Father's good work 
 with the disinterestedness and unselfishness 
 of Father Judge, or can, in less than a dec- 
 ade, win such individual trust as all felt for 
 this physically feeble, yet charitably strong 
 man. 
 
 ''Innumerable instances of the devoutness 
 of his faith, broad-minded charity, and great 
 benevolence, could be cited, if any there were 
 in our midst to be convinced ; but there are 
 none. We all knew him, and an enumeration 
 of his virtues would appear needless. 
 
 " The following resolutions by the Citi- 
 zens' Relief Committee show something? of 
 
280 An American Missionary 
 
 the esteem in which he was held : ' At a meet- 
 ing held by the Citizens' Relief Committee, 
 at the office of the United States Consul at 
 Dawson, January i8th, 1899, it was resolved: 
 
 " That we, the members of the above com- 
 mittee, desire to express our keen sense of 
 the irreparable loss, which this committee, 
 in common with the entire community, sus- 
 tained in the death of its esteemed member. 
 Father Judge. 
 
 ''We feel our absolute helplessness when 
 we attempt to adequately express our appre- 
 ciation of such a career as his, consecrated to 
 the cause of humanity; so sublime an in- 
 stance of a life's devotion to the amelioration 
 of distress, with no sordid ambition or hope 
 for earthly reward, but simply doing good 
 and loving virtue for its own sake. With a 
 childlike simplicity of heart was combined a 
 nobility of character which entitles him to 
 rank with the world's benefactors. 
 
 '' With a wide Catholic charity, that em- 
 braced all creeds and conditions of men, his 
 ear was ever open and his door never closed 
 to the cry of pain and suffering. 
 
 '^ The hospital, which he established as a 
 haven of refuge for the sick and helpless, re- 
 mains as a monument to his herculean labors 
 in the cause of duty; but his best monument 
 will ever be in the hearts and the memory of 
 his fellow citizens. 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 281 
 
 " His buoyant and cheerful spirit strug- 
 gled manfully under a load of debt and 
 grave responsibility incurred for others; 
 but the task was too great, and his death 
 cannot but be regarded as a voluntary mar- 
 tyrdom in the cause of charity. His life- 
 work deserves from us, and from all men, 
 the verdict of ' Well done ! ' Now, there- 
 fore, be it 
 
 '' Resolved, that we extend our heartfelt 
 sympathy to his relatives and friends, and 
 to the Church of which he was so long a 
 faithful servant; and that this resolution be 
 spread upon the minutes, an engrossed copy 
 thereof transmitted to St. Mary's Church 
 and copies furnished to the press. 
 
 " Thos. A. McGowan, Chairman; Al. 
 Bartlett, Treasurer; N. W. Bolster, Secre- 
 tary; O. V. Davis; Ensign McGill; J. C. 
 McCook.' '' 
 
 John L. Rees, editor of the Klondike 
 Miner of Dawson City, paid the following 
 graceful tribute to the memory of Father 
 Judge, in an article contributed to Donahoe's 
 Magazine for December, 1899: 
 
 " On arriving in a strange city, after the 
 first general impresion has been formed, one 
 begins to single out striking personalities 
 and mentally associate them with the work 
 for which their presence stands in the com- 
 munity. 
 
282 An American Missionary 
 
 " That worth commands respect from all 
 classes, even in a mining country, was evi- 
 denced when a Missionary priest died in 
 Dawson City. . . .So closely was he identified 
 with the highest interests of the Klondike 
 region, and so wide-spread was his influence, 
 that no description of the place would be 
 complete without reference to his career. 
 
 " Probably no other event occurred in 
 Dawson City that caused so general a sor- 
 row to be felt and expressed, as the passing 
 away of Father Judge, the good man who 
 founded this hospital, and whose warm 
 heart, good deeds, and effective works of 
 relief of the poor, sick, and afflicted, will ever 
 be remembered. . . . 
 
 " Father Judge had been building a chapel 
 in connection with the hospital, and his 
 whole heart was in its completion. On Sun- 
 day, January i, 1899, the New Year, for the 
 first time, he was able to say Mass in the 
 chapel, and for six days he celebrated the 
 sacred ceremony. On the seventh day, Sat- 
 urday, January 7, he began the Mass, but 
 was taken ill and obliged to discontinue. 
 He never rose from his sick-bed, and never 
 complained, although suffering excruciating 
 agony during a considerable part of the time. 
 To his most intimate friend, George Burns, 
 who had been with him ever since his arrival 
 on the field, and whom he loved as a brother, 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 283 
 
 he said that he would die on Monday, the 
 i6th, that his mother had died thirty-three 
 years ago on the same day; that his birth 
 anniversary fell on that day, and that he felt 
 his life would close then. He died on the day 
 he predicted. In the hearts of thousands of 
 the people of the frozen North the good he 
 has done will live after him." 
 
 In the '' Semaine Religieuse,'' of Montreal, 
 for April 2nd, 1899, appeared this expression 
 of the sentiments of the Sisters in charge of 
 St. Mary's Hospital: 
 
 " The life of the lamented dead was, es- 
 pecially since his arrival in these remote 
 regions, but one series of heroic acts per- 
 formed with the most admirable simplicity 
 and the most complete forgetfulness of self. 
 Hence his death causes, among both Catho- 
 lics and Protestants, profound regret; and 
 every tongue joins in the unending concert 
 of praise, that tells of his piety, his lively 
 faith, his unbounded charity, his apostolic 
 devotedness, his humility, the admirable 
 qualities of his heart and mind, and his 
 ability in matters of business. 
 
 " The funeral of the * Good Father ' took 
 the proportions of a public demonstration of 
 respect and gratitude. It was amidst senti- 
 ments of indescribable emotion, that his 
 mortal remains were deposited in the crypt 
 of the church, in which he had so often exer- 
 
284 An American Missionary 
 
 cised the priestly functions, after having 
 himself drawn the plan, superintended the 
 building, and paid all the cost of it." 
 
 After referring to the hospital as Father 
 Judge's " work of predilection,'' the writer 
 continues : " It was there that he lived, sleep- 
 ing upon a hard couch, in a poor, cold, little 
 room; it is there that he died, in the odor of 
 sanctity, in the midst of his dear patients, 
 Catholic and Protestant, men who had come 
 from every corner of the globe in quest of 
 the gold of the Klondike. 
 
 " In that house, how many souls Father 
 Judge and his helpers, the Sisters of St. Ann, 
 devoted religious from Canada, have 
 brought back to God and to the practice of 
 their religious duties ! " 
 
 A lay Brother of the Society of Jesus, who 
 was a companion of the Missionary, thus re- 
 calls some of their experience: 
 
 " Father Judge's death impressed me in a 
 special manner, as I was his companion in 
 Alaska for three years. He was a man of 
 faith, courage, and charity. The tender care 
 he took of the sick could hardly be surpassed. 
 In the winter of 1892, Rev. Father Tosi was 
 sick unto death. We all thought, at Holy 
 Cross, that we were going to lose him, and 
 also our boy Andrew, who died afterwards. 
 Father Judge and I took turns night and day 
 nursing them ; and he edified me greatly by 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 285 
 
 his watchfulness. His great faith seems to 
 have come from the thought, which was 
 always in his mind, that he was doing God's 
 work. I remember many a time when some 
 accident would happen, or there was some 
 difficulty which we could not overcome, he 
 would say: 'This is God's work, and we 
 must succeed; he will help us out.' The way 
 in which God did help us at these times 
 seemed to me almost miraculous. I cannot 
 forget the night and day we spent in a storm 
 in which we had been caught on Bering Sea; 
 he speaks of this in one of his letters. The 
 tow-rope tore away the guard work over the 
 wheel at the beginning of the storm, and it 
 had to be repaired in the heavy weather. The 
 Father in his concern about me, who was on 
 top of the wheel doing what I could to repair 
 the damage, forgot all about himself and his 
 own danger. Often I had to call on him to 
 hold tight, as the water came over us ; for, 
 sometimes when the steamer would rise on 
 the crest of a wave, her wheel timbers where 
 he was standing would go under water. But 
 the good Father forgot himself, and stood 
 there passing me boards, ropes, nails, etc., 
 and again and again exposed himself to the 
 greatest danger. His courage and confi- 
 dence in God — for he often called on me to 
 put my trust in God, who would help us — 
 encouraged me very much. When the storm 
 
286 An American Missionary 
 
 was over, he gave thanks to God and said, 
 ^ Brother, I thought sometimes, when I saw 
 the big seas coming over the steamer, that 
 we had to go to the bottom.' As he was not 
 a man to spare himself, I think he must have 
 shortened his days by excess of labor. . . . He 
 will, I feel sure, greatly help the poor mission 
 of Alaska, which he loved so well, and will 
 be a guardian angel to all who labor on it.'' 
 
 The Very Rev. Prefect Apostolic of Alas- 
 ka, in one of his letters, gave this honorable 
 testimony: 
 
 " It is needless to say that the sudden 
 death of our beloved Father Judge is a severe 
 loss to our mission. We had hoped that he 
 would live to settle everything in Dawson 
 and return next spring to our territory, 
 ready for new combats and new victories. 
 He was not yet 49 vears of age. But the will 
 of God be done! He has lived long enough 
 to do a ereat and heroic work, which will 
 last, thanks to the zeal of the Oblate Fathers 
 and the charity of the Sisters of St. Ann*; 
 
 ♦ The ^ fulfilment of the hope here expressed is happily 
 shown in this simple statement taken from the Catholic 
 Directory. 
 
 Vicariate - Apostolic of Mackenzie — Yukon District. 
 
 Dawson, St. Mary's, Rev. A. Lebert, O. M. I., Rev. G. Eich- 
 elsbacker, assistant. St. Mary's Hospital and Academy — 
 11 Sisters of St. Ann, Sister M. Zenon, dir. ; pupils, 64; 
 patients, 165. 
 
 Atlin, B. C, attended from White Horse. 
 
 Bonanza, Rev. Father Lebert, O. M. I. 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 287 
 
 and the memory of this noble son of St. Igna- 
 tius, cherished by all, will be a credit to the 
 Catholic Church, to the Society of Jesus, to 
 the province of Maryland, and to the Mission 
 of Alaska." 
 
 The Paris review " Etudes," in its issue of 
 April 5th, 1900, gave this interesting commu- 
 nication from a writer who was in Dawson 
 City in July, 1899: — 
 
 '' First of all, we must speak of the founder 
 of this Mission, Father Judge, S. J., who, al- 
 though only forty-nine years old when he 
 died, January i6th, 1899, was nevertheless 
 called the 'old Father' or the 'old Priest;' 
 so much had he worn himself out in the serv- 
 ice of his dear miners. All, Catholics and 
 Protestants, are unanimous in extolling his 
 zeal and charity. When he arrived at Daw- 
 son (March, 1897) with the first pioneers, he 
 had to organize everything; not only what 
 was needed for religious services, but also 
 
 Dominion, Rev. Father O. Corbeil. 
 
 Forty Mile, attended from Dawson. 
 
 Gold Run, attended from Dominion. 
 
 Hunker, attended from Dawson. 
 
 Lake Bennett, attended from White Horse. 
 
 Last Chance, attended from Dawson. 
 
 Selkirk, attended from White Horse. 
 
 Stewart, attended from Dawson. 
 
 Sulphur, attended from Dominion. 
 
 White Horse, Rev. A. Lefebvre, O. M. I. School, 3 Sisters. 
 
 of St. Ann, Sister M. Didace, dir. ; pupils, 45. 
 Missions with chapels, 9. 
 Stations without chapels, 4. 
 Catholic population, about 8,000. 
 
288 An American Missionary 
 
 what was required for the care of the sick; 
 for, in these ' stampedes/ as they are called, 
 these races for gold, how many poor fellows 
 fall victims either to the cold or to privations 
 of all sorts! 
 
 "With the aid of the miners. Father Judge 
 founded a hospital, which he placed under 
 the protection of the Blessed Virgin; then, 
 thanks to the experience that he had gained 
 before he entered the Society of Jesus, he set 
 to work to build a church, which is quite 
 beautiful. 
 
 ''During- the Winter of '97 and '98, the 
 hospital was full of sick men, of whom the 
 good Father himself took care; he made 
 himself all things to all without distinction 
 of Catholic or Protestant. And how he was 
 loved! For his sake, anyone would have 
 given anything he had. One day, a mes- 
 senger from the hospital went to a store 
 and asked for an article that was the 
 last on hand and could not be had else- 
 where. The price was very high, but 
 the thing was necessary and the man 
 was going to pay for it, when the store- 
 keeper said : ' Is it for Father Judge? ' ' Yes,' 
 was the answer. ^ O, then, you may have it 
 for nothing.' And there are many cases of 
 the kind. When the Father made the round 
 of the wards, how well he was received ! It 
 it true that he scarcely took care of himself; 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 289 
 
 he always wanted to see that the sick had all 
 that they needed. ' You see the old Priest/ 
 said a Canadian, ' it is eleven o'clock (at 
 night) ; he is going to make the round of the 
 ward, and to-morrow morning at three 
 o'clock he will come again/ 
 
 " When he died, the mourning was gen- 
 eral. ' I had been on the Creeks, Father,' 
 said a '' Boy" to me, ' and I was returning; 
 when, from the top of the hill, I saw the flag 
 of the hospital at half-mast. I asked what 
 was the matter; and, when they told me that 
 Father Judge had just died, I left everything 
 and ran to try to see once more him, whom 
 we all loved so much.' 
 
 '' And now his brother missionaries are 
 reaping the fruits of the friendship that he 
 gained. He rests beneath the church which 
 he built and which is the most prominent 
 building in Dawson City; but the remem- 
 brance of him remains deeply engraved in all 
 hearts, and the Catholic Church is honored 
 as having such servants." 
 
 Mr. John Mattler, now of Denver, Colo- 
 rado, having heard somewhat late of the 
 preparation of this work, wrote: 
 
 " It was with a feeling of mingled pleasure 
 and regret that I heard this: pleasure, be- 
 cause of the promised opportunity of reading 
 this book which will naturally possess an 
 extraordinary interest for me, and regret. 
 
290 An American Missionary 
 
 because of being deprived of a coveted oppor- 
 tunity of contributing, in my humble v^ay, 
 some interesting data that may now be 
 v^anting. 
 
 '' It was my sad but highly esteemed privi- 
 lege to excavate the grave, by the side of the 
 altar in the church built by Father Judge, 
 in which his remains were interred. This lov- 
 ing task, I would fondly conjecture, was as- 
 signed to me, because of my known devotion 
 to this godly man of most saintly character, 
 
 " It was my proud privilege to meet 
 Father Judge, for the first time, in Dawson, 
 in the spring of 1898. From that time until 
 his lamented death, I met him almost daily, 
 and learned to ardently esteem and love him, 
 as assuredly did all who had the inestimable 
 fortune of knowing him at all intimately. 
 Not one sentiment have I ever heard uttered 
 relating to Father Judge, that was not 
 couched in the warmest terms of love, vener- 
 ation, and praise. 
 
 ^^ The universal love and admiration that 
 was entertained for his noble character was 
 abundantly manifested at the time of his 
 funeral by the community among whom he 
 had lived and for whose well-being, spiritual 
 and temporal, he had so devotedly labored. 
 All business was suspended during the cele- 
 bration of the funeral services, and the in- 
 habitants of Dawson and the adjacent min- 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 291 
 
 ing-camps ardently vied with one another 
 in honoring his blessed memory. 
 
 ^^ Probably nothing could serve to so strik- 
 ingly and justly exemplify this universally 
 esteemed and beloved priest's grandly simple 
 and simply grand character, as did his de- 
 meanor during the progress of the fire that 
 destroyed his church building (in the month 
 of May, '98, was it not?) and his childlike 
 simple remarks at a later hour on that same 
 day. 
 
 ''During the period of my acquaintance 
 with Father Judge (always, I believe, in re- 
 pose) his countenance ordinarily wore a 
 strikingly serious and somewhat sad expres- 
 sion, due, presumably, to the pain caused by 
 his impaired health, and the very arduous 
 duties of his self-imposed tasks; he could 
 not be prevailed upon to spare himself in the 
 least, and those nearest to him were well and 
 painfully aware that he habitually denied 
 himself the rest necessary to recuperate the 
 physical powers he so devotedly and lavishly 
 spent in ministering to the well-being of all 
 who came to him in need or distress. In 
 conversation and his intercourse with the 
 public, he always bore himself in a most 
 edifyingly cheerful demeanor, but my several 
 weeks' acquaintance with him previous to 
 the event last above mentioned, had led me 
 
292 An American Missionary 
 
 to regard him as a man of an uncommonly 
 serious temperament and disposition. 
 
 '' When I arrived at the scene of the fire 
 alluded to, the situation was alarmingly crit- 
 ical. The church, a comparatively commo- 
 dious structure of thoroughly seasoned 
 spruce logs, was completely enveloped in the 
 fiercely devouring flames, and the hospital, 
 of similar construction, was in imminent 
 danger of speedy destruction. The two build- 
 ings were joined to one another by a corner 
 of each, and when it is considered that there 
 was, at the time, absolutely no means avail- 
 able for combating the ravages of the flames, 
 save the very primitive and crude one of 
 fetching and applying water by pails, it will 
 be easily appreciated that the hospital was 
 only and barely saved by the most devoted 
 and strenuous eflforts of the entire populace, 
 which had turned out for the purpose, almost 
 to a man. 
 
 " The countenances of this assembled 
 mass of sturdy men, who were heroically 
 battling with the destroying element, forci- 
 bly depicted the awful solicitude and anxiety 
 that filled their minds and hearts. Imagine, 
 then, my great surprise and perplexity 
 when, espying Father Judge, I beheld the 
 only gleam of tranquillity and unconcern — 
 yea, even mirthfulness — to be witnessed in 
 that entire assemblage. Indeed, the dear 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 293 
 
 Father's features seemed radiant with emo- 
 tions of glad cheer, as he flitted about among 
 the almost panic-stricken attaches of the 
 hospital (principally young American phy- 
 sicians who supplied, in their persons, the 
 no inconsiderable corps of nurses) and, by 
 words and actions, made light of their in- 
 tensely anxious concern. 
 
 '' To be sure, the wise and noble motive 
 that dictated this heroic attitude was not 
 dijfficult to discern; but, the situation was 
 none the less suggestive of the superlatively 
 marvelous. 
 
 " I am positive that no occurrence of a 
 purely temporal or material character, — 
 affecting the interests of Father Judge ever 
 so disastrously, — was more likely to strike 
 consternation to his devoted heart than was 
 the destruction of his church edifice, and 
 with it all his vestments, altar vessels, &c., 
 thus depriving him of his ardently cherished 
 privilege of celebrating the Holy Sacrifice 
 of the Mass. Particularly as the fire occurred 
 on Saturday night, one naturally expects to 
 find this most fervent priest heart-broken on 
 the ensuing day. However, approaching 
 him at about noon on that memorable Sab- 
 bath day, I again beheld his lovable counte- 
 nance wreathed with the same cheering and 
 winsome smile — and greatly did I marvel. 
 
 '' It may be remarked, and quite justly so, 
 
294 An American Missionary 
 
 that he had then good reason to congratulate 
 and felicitate himself upon the fact that his 
 hospital had been saved as if by a miracle, 
 and upon the most fortunate escape from 
 the slightest injury of the more than a score 
 of more or less seriously ill inmates, notwith- 
 standing that it had been deemed necessary 
 to hastily remove them from the threatened 
 building. 
 
 ''Accosting the Father and commenting 
 upon his surprisingly cheerful mood, both 
 at the time that the fire was at its height and 
 at the (then) present moment, he promptly 
 and with apparent light-heartedness re- 
 marked: 'Ah, well! I had promised our 
 Lord to erect for Him a more commodious 
 temple, and he probably thought I would 
 fail to keep my promise unless the old and 
 inadequate building were destroyed/ Such, 
 in substance, were the words in which he, 
 almost playfully, explained his heroic and 
 edifying resignation in the face of the fact 
 that no one at all acquainted with his finan- 
 cial aflfairs at that particular period, could 
 understand how the funds for the erection 
 of a new building were to be realized within 
 any reasonable period of time. 
 
 " One more very unusual fact is, in my 
 opinion, worthy of special mention. During 
 Father Judge^s pastorate in Dawson, there 
 was not one penny of pew-rent collected, nor 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 295 
 
 did he take up a collection at any of his 
 church services, except in a single instance, 
 which was in pursuance of a special request 
 of members of his parish. When Father 
 Judge's successor in the pastorate (an Oblate 
 Father from Canada) proposed a departure 
 from this unique policy by inaugurating the 
 practice of renting the church pews — the 
 practice that is almost if not quite universal 
 throughout this land — the former viewed 
 this course with a pronounced aversion, re- 
 marking to the writer that he himself would 
 gladly pay for all the pews, if the new pastor 
 might thus be persuaded to abandon the 
 idea of collecting the same from his con- 
 gregation/^ 
 
 The next tribute is from the pen of a Re- 
 ligious, who, perhaps, never met Father 
 Judge, but who seems to have realized vivid- 
 ly his generous spirit. , 
 
 In Sacred Remembrance of Rev. Wm. H. Judge^ S. J. 
 Ad Major em Dei Gloriam, 
 
 Not in annals penned by men 
 
 Such deeds as his are known; 
 Angels of God rehearse his works 
 
 Before the eternal throne. 
 
 *Tis said he died ; but no, he lives 
 
 Where fadeless joys abound: 
 Celestial bliss is his reward, 
 
 His mighty works are crowned 
 
 The prayer we frame dies on our lips, 
 His life was so sublime: 
 
296 An American Missionary 
 
 Self-sacrifice from morn to night 
 In a far-off sunless clime. 
 
 The savage horde on every side. 
 
 What claim had nature there? 
 Toil, toil, his incessant lot, 
 
 His only solace prayer. 
 
 Fit comrade for a Xavier he: 
 
 But saints have passed through fire; 
 
 So, we will pray: Eternal rest. 
 Rest, rest where naught can tire. 
 
 The following expressive poem, by Arnold 
 F. George, of Dawson, was written not long 
 after the Missionary's death, and published 
 in the Yukon Catholic. It was reproduced 
 in the San Francisco Monitor: 
 
 The world was in a fever, men mad with tales of gold. 
 Crowned heads were raised to listen; and timid hearts grew 
 
 cold. 
 And college savants stopped the class — discussed auriferous 
 
 sand, 
 And preachers dropped their Bibles for the journals of the 
 land. 
 
 And doctors cheered their patients with the tale so widely 
 
 told, 
 Of where the rushing rivers were banked by banks of gold. 
 And bootblacks, princes, magnates, restless tossed by dreams 
 
 of wealth. 
 On the altar to Dame Fortune cast their youth, their fortunes 
 —health. 
 
 By Pelly Banks, past Rarnparts, o'er Chilcoot's stormy height. 
 The snow was black with moving men, like locusts in a 
 
 flight— 
 An exodus more mighty than that by Moses led — 
 A miracle but second to Elisha, raven-fed. 
 
 And listen to their speaking, as they draw their loaded sleds, 
 With 'feebled frames so famine pinched; and note their low- 
 bowed heads. 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 297 
 
 Not one but deep is thinking — with a heart as black as 
 
 night — 
 How he'll leave the " other fellow " by his prowess and his 
 
 might. 
 
 How he'll pass him in the night-time; how he'll neither eat 
 
 nor sleep; 
 How he'll get there first, " by heaven ! " if he run or if he 
 
 creep. 
 Not one a kindness showing; not one with aught to spare 
 To prove the God in human nature — reciprocate our Father's 
 
 care. 
 
 Not one! but we are hasty. See yon form all dressed in 
 
 black ; 
 Sled ropes over shoulders, and weakly bended back. 
 Observe that halting figure, eyes ablaze, but not with greed, 
 Fearful — anxious — half -provided with the goods which he 
 
 will need. 
 
 On the frozen, darkened river, silent wends this halting form, 
 Southward, mile by mile, it travels, never heeding cold or 
 
 storm ; 
 On that face a holy smiling — holy purpose in that heart; 
 Not a gold-mine he is after ; not dreams of wealth his pulses 
 
 start. 
 
 On those lips a prayer is trembling: "Grant me strength, 
 
 Lord, for my task, 
 "Thy lost sheep I fain would succor, a few days more is all 
 
 I ask. 
 "Nerve this feeble, failing temple; gird me. Lord, with 
 
 strength Thine own, 
 "Thine, O Lord, the glory ever; Thine, O Lord, and Thine 
 
 alone." 
 
 Then with strength that's more than human, Dawson finds 
 
 him there at last; 
 Hundreds sick and dying round him, sands of life are ebbing 
 
 fast. 
 In a tent, without assistance, moves he fast from man to 
 
 man ; 
 Knows no creed and knows no color, be he black, or white, 
 
 or tan. 
 
298 An American Missionary 
 
 Mines of Monte Cristo round him — wealth by millions to be 
 
 had; 
 Not one tfiought of earthly treasure — for the gold that makes 
 
 men mad 
 Takes healing unguents, wholesome tonics, soothing potions 
 
 from the sled. 
 He's cook and launderer, nurse and doctor, prays for the 
 
 sick, inters the dead. 
 
 See those buildings rise around him — five hundred beds and 
 
 each one filled; 
 See him give his life for sick ones. Day, or night, when all 
 
 is stilled, 
 On his couch a moment lying, but no sleep for wearied eyes; 
 See him sink at last exhausted — welcome rest — the good 
 
 man dies. 
 
 Died ! Yes, dead ; and how we miss him, miss his heartsome, 
 
 cheery voice; 
 Miss this simple, earnest Christian, over whom the saints 
 
 rejoice. 
 Priest he was, but more than priestly; man he was, but more 
 
 than man; 
 Christ-taught pity played his heart-strings — fill his place no 
 
 other can. 
 
 That the sentiments expressed in Mr. 
 George's last stanza, have not been blotted 
 out even by the great destroyer Time, is 
 evidenced by the articles with which we shall 
 end this narrative. They are taken from the 
 " Yukon Catholic " of November, 1903, and 
 '^ The Northern Light '' of Dawson, July, 
 1904 — five years after the close of the good 
 priest's life — a fact that has its significance. 
 
 From the " Yukon Catholic ":— 
 
Tributes o£ Respect and Affection 299 
 
 "FATHER JUDGE MONUMENT. 
 
 "The memorial stone of the late Father 
 Judge has at last come to destination. Dis- 
 tance and delays on the way have caused the 
 public ta wait for it much longer than was 
 at first anticipated. In fact, it was in 1901, 
 on St. Patrick's day, that a concert was given 
 for the purpose of having some monument 
 erected to the memory of the devoted and 
 beloved priest, whose mortal remains are 
 lying under the chancel in St. Mary's 
 Church. However, although at a late hour, 
 his numerous friends and admirers will be 
 pleased to hear that a fitting monument 
 now marks his last resting-place. It will 
 remain there to speak to future generations 
 of his love of the miner and of the gratitude 
 of the latter. 
 
 '' The monument consists of a solid white 
 Italian marble, cut in the shape of a cross. 
 A beautiful lily is carved at the intersection 
 of the arms of the cross, and at the base the 
 old epitaph is engraved in gilt letters in 
 Latin, the translation of which is as follows: 
 
 " ' Here lies the body of Father Wm. H. 
 Judge, S. J., a man full of charity, who, with 
 the co-operation of all, here first erected a 
 house for the sick and a temple for God; and 
 who, being mourned by all, died piously in 
 the Lord, the i6th of January, 1899.' " 
 
300 An American Missionary 
 
 From " The Northern Light/' Dawson, 
 July, 1904. 
 
 " A TRIBUTE TO REV. FATHER JUDGE. 
 
 '' No pantheon of grained marble received 
 his remains. Instead, he rests beneath the 
 bitter, marbled skies of the North-land. No 
 shaft of gray marble, no sculptor's master- 
 piece marks the spot where tenderly we laid 
 him away. Yet were tears jewels, his grave 
 amid the Dawson boulders were a mound of 
 sparkling brilliants, gem vying with gem in 
 flashing fire to speak of some good deed of 
 him who lay beneath. If deeds of kindness 
 were stone. Father Judge's mountainous 
 memorial were even then inadequate. 
 Neither ' storied urn ' or ' animated bust,' 
 a thousand times repeated, would express 
 the height, the depth, the length, the breadth 
 of this man's Christian self-forgetfulness, 
 nor a tithe of the love borne his memory by 
 the twenty thousand early Klondikers who 
 enjoyed a momentary acquaintance. This 
 army of Klondikers, wandering over the face 
 of the earth today with the endless unrest of 
 the gold-seeker, too often, alas! cherish in 
 their breasts but a single gentle recollection 
 of their struggle in the icy North. But that 
 memory shall be his monument; an adequate 
 reward must be left to a higher power. 
 
 " Father Judge — his is a much more pre- 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 301 
 
 tentious title — but it is as Father Judge his 
 memory is treasured by so many sorts and 
 classes of men stampeded to Dawson. His 
 flock of Alaska miners moved in a body up- 
 river to the new gold-fields of the Troandik. 
 A pale-faced priest, drawing a heavily loaded 
 sled like the miners, might have been seen 
 trailing wearily behind, on the ice of the 
 frozen river. The frail figure bended over 
 the ropes as eagerly, but with far less 
 strength, than was to be seen in the miners 
 ahead. We know now that the mark of 
 death was upon him. It is understood better 
 to-day what that stampede cost the black- 
 robed figure traveling along in the darkness 
 of the Arctic winter to the place already 
 named Dawson. Arrived in Dawson, sleds 
 were hastily unpacked of their treasures, for 
 food was very scarce. Then it was seen 
 Father Judge had loaded himself up with 
 bottles and boxes — medicines, potions, 
 salves and bandages, with scarcely sufficient 
 food for himself to last a week. Scarcely 
 anything for himself; those medicines and 
 remedies were too valuable for the shep- 
 herd's use; all were for his flock. 
 
 " Rapidly a tent was erected where now 
 stands St. Mary's Hospital. Hasty work 
 was necessary, for already the sick and dying 
 were beginning to pour down from creeks 
 and hills, needing quick assistance before 
 
302 An American Missionary 
 
 death should claim them prematurely. 
 Father Judge's tent became two tents, and 
 then three, and all filled, with but a weakly, 
 yet luminous-faced priest, half the time 
 alone, to act in the capacity of cook and 
 launderer, nurse and doctor, to pray with 
 the sick and inter the dead. Yes, it was the 
 feeble pick of Father Judge that more than 
 once made the grave, he who sledded the 
 remains of some unfortunate thither, prayed 
 fervently over them awhile, whether they 
 were the remains of Catholic or anti-Cath- 
 olic, covered the rough box with the frozen 
 chunks of dirt mingled with snow, and with 
 the sign of the cross, left the remains alone 
 with an Arctic winter and their God. Yes, 
 it was Father Judge who, night and day, 
 without rest, ministered from tent to tent, 
 sometimes with help, but oftener alone, 
 cheering the dying, jocose with the convales- 
 cent, feeding the food prepared with his own 
 hands, and towards the end of the winter 
 administering the simple remedies gathered 
 from bushes and boughs; for the sled-load 
 of drugs was exhausted by the scurvy which 
 beset the illy-prepared miners everywhere. 
 It was he who, when time could be snatched 
 from prayers at the bedsides, begged from 
 cabin to cabin over the new town for the 
 flour, the blankets, and the grave-clothes 
 needed at the tent hospital on the hill. 
 
Tributes of Respect and Affection 303 
 
 " So we built him a hospital of logs, and 
 having covered him and his patients with 
 a roof and provided them with stoves, 
 begged him husband his failing strength, 
 and grow robust once more, as before he 
 froze himself going to the headwaters of 
 Forty Mile to hold services. He consented 
 to occupy a board couch with a piece of car- 
 pet for a rug — the beds were all needed by 
 the 500 patients now lying about him. 
 Night and day he passed from bed to bed 
 as ever, demanding of his nurses that they 
 call him whenever he might be wanted by 
 any patient, no matter how unreasonable or 
 irrational the demand for his presence, and 
 then suddenly he went to bed himself — to 
 die. He had been nearer death throughout 
 it all than had been ninety of every hun- 
 dred of his beloved sick. His loving minis- 
 trations had been more often than not to 
 great fellows nearer rugged health than him- 
 self. The Angel of Death had been his con- 
 stant companion every hour and every 
 minute while he had wrestled for the lives of 
 others. And he who had not lain in a bed 
 for years, went to bed to die. Cheerful and 
 cheery to the last, he forbade tears at his 
 bedside, and himself comforted those who 
 had come to sympathize with him in his sick- 
 ness. They gathered to pray with him; he 
 prayed for them. In almost his last breath. 
 
304 An American Missionary 
 
 he asked for his sick ones, and his last re- 
 joicing over things worldly was for the un- 
 expected recovery of some of his more hope- 
 less cases. 
 
 '' His epitaph should be : — ' Here lies a 
 simple, earnest Christian. Greater love hath 
 no man than this : that he lay down his life 
 for his friends/ '^ 
 
 THE END. 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 " The Life of Father Judge, S. J., who died a missionary in 
 Alaska, is a simple and uplifting narrative of priestly heroism. 
 It tells of a young Jesuit who asked for an appointment to the 
 Yukon Mission, labored there with cheerful joy and abundant 
 faith, and died after a brief career in his bleak apostolate, 
 loved by everyone who knew him, and venerated even by 
 non-Catholics for his single-minded fidelity to duty. Books of 
 this sort do great good in revealing lives so given up to God, 
 so contemptuous of danger and of ease, so rugged and robust 
 and so well fitted to give to our age a new stimulus to faith 
 and a new inspiration to charity." — Catholic World, New 
 York. 
 
 "Let us consider the book before us. We find here letters, 
 covering a period of nine years, so skillfully connected by 
 the editor as to make a complete narrative, telling the life 
 history of a man whose birthplace was our own city. We 
 read of his childhood, of his early education, of his 10 years' 
 experience in one of Baltimore's planing mxills. Then there 
 comes the recital of his entrance into the novitiate at Fred- 
 erick, of his teaching in Washington and of his appointment 
 to the position of minister at Woodstock, Md. All this is 
 rapidly sketched, and the story is in many of its details not 
 uncommon. Then comes the change; the scene is new, and 
 the attention is forcibly held by the unfamiliar. The civiliza- 
 tion and comfort of Maryland have been exchanged for a 
 life of hardship and unceasing effort in the interior of Alaska. 
 We are given vivid, realistic pictures of the country, of the 
 people, of their customs, of the everyday life of the Alaskan 
 village and town, and we gain an insight into the progress of 
 mission work in that country. But, more valuable than all 
 the other facts that become ours, are those which we gather 
 concerning the subject of the biography. Father Judge was 
 a priest of the Catholic Church ; his mission in the Northland 
 was to the people of Alaska — to the natives, to the miners, 
 to Catholics, to those who give their allegiance to Protes- 
 
 305 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 tantism, to all men and all women who needed his ministra- 
 tions and his prayers, and to thousands of little children. 
 And as we read of how the priest moved in the service of 
 God and man we know that in this work the highest pur- 
 pose of biographical literature has been attained. The book 
 will be an inspiration to all who read." — The Sun, Balti- 
 more, Md, 
 
 "The story of Father Judge is not told in the book as a 
 layman would tell it, but, being told by his own brother, Rev. 
 C. J. Judge — also a priest — , reflects the religious atmosphere 
 surrounding Father Judge more truly than could be done by 
 the most brilliant of secular writers. All is related unosten- 
 tatiously and in simple phrase, and but for the chapter of 
 * tributes ' at the end, little would be learned from the work 
 of the tender esteem and love in which the missionary was 
 held by the many thousands who knew him in Alaska and 
 Yukon." — Dawson Daily News. 
 
 "The age of heroes has not passed. The bands of earnest 
 men who monthly and annually leave the comforts of civiliza- 
 tion in order to win the wandering savage to Christ assure 
 us that the spirit of heroism still flourishes among men. 
 This record of an American missionary is the story of a 
 recent hero. . . . An earnest, self-sacrificing, generous, saint- 
 ly character was Father William Judge. May this touching 
 story of his life spur on many others to journey to distant 
 lands in order to spread the faith of Christ among those who 
 sit desolate in the dark shadows of error and degeneracy." — 
 Donahoe's Magazine, Boston. 
 
 " A good story * went the rounds ' during the Klondike 
 gold-seeking craze, to the effect that among the hundreds who 
 rushed thither, outstripping one another in feverish haste, 
 one of the first to arrive was . . . the indispensable Jesuit! 
 ' Ah, ah — those sly Jesuits again !' ' Se non e vero, e ben 
 trovato.' In any case, the good father was doubtless seek- 
 ing a very different kind of gold to the others — he came to 
 make to himself * a treasure in Heaven, which faileth not.' 
 
 "The book before us explains what truth there is in this 
 innocent story, — giving as it does a very interesting account 
 
 306 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 of the missionary labours of Father W. H. Judge, the Jesuit 
 concerned. After seven years of apostolic work among the 
 Indians in far-off frozen Alaska, he was called to labour for 
 the spiritual welfare of venturesome gold-seekers in the great 
 Klondike Eldorado, where he died in 1899. 
 
 " We gather from this biography a very good idea of this 
 holy priest and earnest religious. His fidelity to his vocation 
 in youth; his ardent zeal for the conversion of poor Indians 
 steeped in every form of superstition and vice, the hardships 
 of his long and lonesome journeys during which he erected 
 log-wood churches along the banks of the Yukon river, his 
 energy in building church and hospital at Dawson City — 
 finally the cheerful resignation of his saintly death — all are 
 graphically and touchingly described." — The Tablet, London, 
 England. 
 
 "The work consists of the life history of Father Judge, 
 the Jesuit, told with rare simplicity and charm, mainly 
 through his letters. Father Judge was a true missionary, pre- 
 pared for his life work in Alaska by a series of providential 
 disappointments that threw his life into an heroic mould long 
 before he was sent to Alaska. How cheerfully he continu- 
 ously carried the sacrifice of his life in his hands as though 
 death were an ordinary matter to be constantly expected, 
 and how light-heartedly he went through hardships and diffi- 
 culties as if they were of no moment is brought out in the 
 simplest way in his beautiful letters. Coming as it does 
 when apostolic life is so much needed amongst our American 
 clergy, the book is almost providential in its timeliness." — 
 Truth, Raleigh, N. C. 
 
 "The most delightful characteristic of the book is the tone 
 of cheerfulness which pervades all the letters. No hardships, 
 no disappointment, no suffering seemed too great a test for 
 the elasticity of Father Judge's spirits. Nothing was further 
 from his mind than the thought of winning the applause of 
 men. His path for life lay clear and well defined before him, 
 and he pursued it with a whole-souled courage and a cheer- 
 fulness which are at once a source of encouragement and 
 a model for emulation to those of us whose lives are spent 
 in a less rigorous climate. 
 
 "Father Judge's life was as replete with adventure and as 
 rich in incident as a life must needs be which is generously 
 hazarded and courageously spent in an environment of con- 
 
 307 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 stant perils, and encompassing it all, as a befitting frame or 
 setting, is that unswerving devotion to his God and enduring 
 charity for his fellow-men.*' — Catholic Mirror, Baltimore, 
 
 "Is not the whole book a tale of trial, wonders, bravery, 
 more tense than a romance because really true? Here we 
 find the missionary off the trail, every step a labor, snow 
 above his waist; again with the whole river at flood, one 
 mass of broken ice, no land to be seen except the moun- 
 tains ; again, * very cold, at least thirty below zero,* and * very 
 cold, fifty below zero, but no wind/ And still, bright, cheer- 
 ful, the brave soul toils on, baptizing, preaching, visiting the 
 sick, teaching the children, making trips with dogs and 
 sleigh, ice on his eyebrows and eyelashes, and often a cake 
 of ice on his cheek. Oh, well, why try to tell his story here? 
 All should read it. Especially let fathers give it to their 
 boys." — Sacred Heart Review, Boston. 
 
 "In the course of his comments on an adverse criticism, 
 directed against the government's policy in reference to the 
 schools in the Yukon Territory, ex-Commissioner F. T. Cong- 
 don spoke as follows : 
 
 " ' However much any Yukoner may dissent from the doc- 
 trines of the Catholic Church, however much he may dis- 
 approve of some of the practices of that Church, and how- 
 ever much he may even despise her ceremonials, so long as 
 the memory of Father Judge and his associates lingers in the 
 Yukon, so long will even the staunches t Protestant among 
 us cherish some tenderness for that ancient and venerable 
 Church.' 
 
 "Most tenderly, indeed, will be cherished the memory of 
 the saintly Father William Judge, S. J., by all who had the 
 blessed privilege of meeting and knowing him. The writer's 
 intercourse with this lovable character will ever continue to 
 be one of the fondest recollections of his life." — Intermoun- 
 tain Catholic, Salt Lake City, 
 
 308 
 
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