Chapter 34: "Strelna Work Crew Sets Up," Pt 3

"You take our land and hunt it until nothing remains, and then expect us to be grateful that you bring us white man food that you sell at a high price.  You take our language and give us yours, and tell us we must be like you, then you give us only work the white man won't take, and tell us we can't go here and we can't go there.  You expect us to want to save places like this after all that disrespect?"  --Cap Goodlataw in an exchange with conductor Matt Stevenson at Strelna on the matter of saving the burning Dwyer's Inn A group of mostly Natives at Strelna in 1915  --UAF, B. Bragaw Collection, 85-108-16 "I know, climb the pole and splice in so you can have a connection." "You’ve got it, Cap. We’ll need every man we’ve got to pull that engine back into line. It went off right where we lost our first Pullman years ago. They made the curve too steep. This time the ground must have sunk just enough to let the leading wheels drop over the edge. We’re stuck good until we pull that thing back into place." "Can we get it back on track, Matt?" "I think so, but I’m sending for the engine at McCarthy and more crew men just in case. It can pick up the others at Strelna." "How long ?" "Oh, probably all day." Engine No. 102 pulled in with the regular McCarthy crew and the Strelna Native crew four hours later. It pulled a flat car with extra rails and a frog and switch, plus three box cars carrying most of the remaining railroad workforce on the line between Chitina and McCarthy. It took three more hours to pull engine no. 22 back into place. "Obviously, the rest of the line must be good, so we’ll follow No. 102 into Strelna. It can turn around at the gravel pit wye there and return home." "That’s good, Matt. So we’re finally on the way to Strelna?" "Just don’t forget that the next several weeks could be like this, Johnny. If the line keeps sinking, which it probably will, we may be facing even more derailments." "Great life, isn’t it," Charles responded. "How’s your head, kid?" "I’ll survive. We’re all hard-heads around here, anyway." Cap was among the first to spot the smoke somewhere in the distance. He watched for the flames through the trees. It was not long before the top of the raging fire could be seen. It was a large one. As the train hit the straight stretch that passed by Strelna , the form of Dwyer’s Inn came into view, heavily involved in flames. There was a small gathering of people trying to save the structure with a hose from the nearby water tower, but the effort was clearly futile. The crews from the three work trains jumped out to help, but there was little to be done. The large two-story log building would burn to the ground. A historic piece of old Alaska was going up in flames. "If we had only been here last night, maybe we could have saved it, Tanas." "Maybe Mr. Stevenson. Or maybe it was meant to happen this way. Once that train derailed, we took all the extra men up the line with us, including the ones they could have used to fight this fire. Now it’s too late." We’ve arrived just in time to witness the white man’s lodge disappear before us." "White man’s lodge, Cap?" Dwyer's Inn at Strelna  --photo courtesy of Candy Waugaman "This was for the trophy hunters. It was not for us. This was the symbol of the men whose money built your railroad and that mine, Mr. Stevenson. Now it’s going up in smoke. It will be only the first of many." Cap’s prediction froze the conductor in his steps. The Indians here really do resent us. My God, we give them work and they spit on us. We give them a better life and they laugh at us. Even this man Cap, whom I’ve worked with for years sounds like an enemy. Or maybe I’m the one looking at it all wrong. As if to answer his thoughts, Cap continued. "You take our land and hunt it until nothing remains and then expect us to be grateful that you bring us white man food. You take our language and give us yours and tell us we must be like you, then you give us only work the white men won’t take and tell us we can’t go here and we can’t go there. You expect us to want to save places like this after all that disrespect?" He walked away from the conductor, joining the other Natives closer to the wall of fire. "It’s too hot to get anywhere near it, Cap. Look at the shape of the building dissolve before us." "This doesn’t look good for our fall guiding business, Cap. That rich-man’s place was where our sheep-hunting customers gathered." "Nicolai wouldn’t have minded, Sla’cheen. You know what he thought of those big game trophy hunters. Maybe this was Kay-yee-gay ‘s doing." "The spirit of Nicolai ? That wouldn’t surprise me, Cap. He resented anyone hunting our land except us. He always said they were rich, so they could bring in their own meat. Uncle Tanas stepped up behind them to add to the conversation. "I know you boys made money off of them. That was good. Billum would have done the same. But always remember that our great tyone hated trophy hunters. Many times he said that hunting for just the horns is what killed off our Indian brothers’ way of life. He feared the hunters almost as much as the railroad which brought them in." "But Uncle, you’ve worked for the railroad company for years. You’re a regular , just like Tom or Uncle Andrew. The railroad’s your life." "I know. I’m proud of my work, but it still bothers me sometimes. Yet even your own grandfather told us we can’t turn back." "He said that we must make the railroad our own, uncle. It’s the only way." "We have to stop talking and start fighting this losing battle. Let’s look like we mean to save what we all know is lost." "Okay, we can look like we want to save it, " replied Cap. Tanas tried to gather his scattered crew, most of whom stood by watching the blaze in complete fascination. They seemed to enjoy the spectacle. "Let’s grab a hose and help bring that fire down," Tanas yelled out. "In the end this could work out well for those of us who are still here, Cap. Maybe not us, but Uncle Eskilida’s people. They live right here. If enough white men leave, our people can come back and hunt as before." Cap grabbed Johnny’s shoulder and pointed upward. In the distance were the Saghani-Ggaay--four large black ravens circling high overhead. "They’re here. Why always four, Cap ?" "They appeared only after Nicolai’s curse. When the end comes, there will be a multitude of them. Until then, there will always be two pairs. It is the way of the Kay-yee-gay who resides with us in this valley." CRNW work crew on the Gilahina trestle, west end.   --Laurie Nyman Continue with Chapter 35, "Returning Crew Meets Tom"