Cleveland High School - Beacon Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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.fgfcwlah Ofcfedlf ,fgidclfic jlflllflf Excavations at Point Hope, two hundred miles north of the Bering Strait, bring to life a town inhabited by a highly cultured people some- time before the time of Christ. This town, sometimes called Ipiutah, had over eight hundred houses. About two hundred are still buried by the beach sand. Until 1940 the extent of the town was not known. The houses were about fifteen feet square and each faced the west. The central heating plant was a hearth in which blubber and driftwood were burned. The floors were made of driftwood. The walls were of sod blocks with a log framework. A cemetery was unearthed with log tombs. The skeletons found in these tombs had large eyes carved from ivory. Since nothing like this was to be found among the Eskimo ruins, it is believed these people mi- grated from some part of the Orient. Objects of ivory and flint were found but none of the natives of Alaska know any possible use for them. The skeletons found in this Arctic region may help to prove whether or not these people came from the Orient, or whether the Eskimos of today are descendants of these ancient people. ANTOINETTE BARTELS. . .. .- 1 ...g :.Q., zz' .1213 :fem if fifvil' stiffer- ,R-'fi' was sal imisa 2 -:aa -as-MQQFEB ll ll f P

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Some effort has been made to preserve these historic relics, and has, so far, proved very successful. This preservation, which is a considerable undertaking because of the enormous size of the poles, is not only being made because they are unique relics but because they are such memorable works of art. Another kind of totem was also found in cemeteries and was called the grave totem. This totem had a place hollowed out in the back at the lower end, in which a box was placed containing the ashes of the deceased. Still another kind were totems that were commemorative to remarkable events in the lives of these Indians. These were historical records whose story was told by symbols carved in wood. Some of the poles were directories to the Indians. A visiting native, though he lived many miles away and spoke an entirely different language, would look for a home with the same totem sign as his own. There, although a stranger, he would be welcomed as a brother. If he belonged to a different family, he thought again before risking an intrusion, so important was the significance of the totem pole. FRANCES REBMANN, JEAN SNODSMITH, VIOLA KOENIG. '0- Gi xi . 'T N N I - xlib 1 J N 1 X. 'Sl Jerome Xickelznzii 16 5.0. ,V

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mericak :wma ga Yes, that is just what the Alaska Highway is to America, a Burma Road. A number of years ago this section had been seen only by Indians, Royal Mounties, and occasional hunters and trappers until a certain grey- haired engineer, Donald MacDonald, fought his way through this wilder- ness. MacDonald had no trail to follow but he had the strong desire to prove the possibilities of a road connecting the United States with all- important Alaska. MacDonald figured that if it were at all possible for him to get by on foot, surely the American people would overcome ther handicaps and build a road. For twenty years MacDonald tried to per- suade the government to listen to his so-called fantastic idea. He made several trips to Washington to arouse interest in building a road from the United States to Alaska. Finally he got Congress and the Press inter- ested, and in 1938 President Roosevelt appointed an Alaskan Highway Commission of which MacDonald was a member. The Commission de- cided, in 1940, that immediate construction should be started but not until December 7, 1941, did things come to a head. Finally, MacDonald's hopes and dreams came true. It was necessary to work doubly fast to get all supplies in before the spring thaws came and hindered the con- struction at Dawson Creek. Immediately Canada sent men with dog teams to go out and buy up all the rights to the land. Army engineers were given furlined sleeping packs and clothes and told they were to do an important but fantastic job in four or possibly six weeks. If the weather 'continued freezing it would be possible, but if the spring thaws were early it would have been practically impossible, for in place of the supplies coming in by Army trucks, the bog and mud would make it necessary for supplies to come by pack horses. At first it seemed as if the thaws were early but then, as if through a miracle, a heavy freeze came which lasted until the end of April. Now the thaws had very little effect upon the construction, as all necessary supplies and machinery had been brought through and con- struction was carried on. With the thaws came the mosquitoes, and it has been said that over the humming of these insects talking was prac- tically impossible. Following the mosquitoes came the no-see-ums, black Hy, horse fly, and deer Hy, but fortunately none of these carried malaria. Day by day, week by week, the construction went on. All construction was under the order of Brigadier-General William Morris Hoge, a native Missourian. It has been said that this expedition could be compared with 18