Permanent Collection Archives

Juneau—Douglas City Museum

2006.31.001AB

2006.31

Donated by John Harris McKay.

Letter

Letter from Richard T. Harris to his niece

08/30/1897

Juneau Alaska
Sept. 30th 1897
October 6th

My Dear Niece Lizzie, Weir, McKay.
I received your kind and welcome letter of Aug. 25th and its contents noted, which found me in excellent health and I feel so glad you are all well. I received a letter today from Your Cousin Mary A. Harris. She has got married on the 24th Aug, [t]his man's name is T.C. Dobbins. He is Superintendent of the Electric Light Co. in Teluride, Colorado, this is his third venture. My two nephews William J. + Samuel Harris came out here before their Father Died. Samuel, I sent home as he had not been Married long, And William J., I sent to the Clondike Gold fields on the Yukon, I gave William One year provisions and Clothing and 250 Dollars in Money in all over Six Hundred Dollars, I have been out one Thousand Dollars altogether on the two Boys, there is great excitement here abought the Yukon Gold Mines. You wanted to know all abought it the distance from here is abought 850 miles to the Clondike it is all good travel in the spring of the year, as there is only a Small Portage of 30 miles from Salt Water — over unto the head of the Yukon River And from the Head waters to the mines. There is a good Current in the river all the way down, a person going in where the Ice breaks on the River there is no Hardsipes abought it.

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Times is very good here Just now. the Town used to b called Harrisburg. It is Still the Harris Mining District there is abought ten Ocean Steamships running regular from San Francisco Tacoma + Seattle, on Puget Sound and abought 7 thousand people lying at the Pass on Salt Water which cannot get over before Spring any person Coming in here will require 500 Dollars in money when he gets here to buy outfit + go in. Your Cousin Samuel, took my two little boys, down with him when he was going home as I have put them in a United States Training School at Salem, Oregon the Capital of the State, there is not one man in Juneau cain write or draw, with them two Boys it is an Natural Gift. I feel lonesome since the[y] went away, as the are all I have got to live for and if God spares them the[y] will be a credit to the Harris family. I got a letter from my Dear old Sister Martha Jane your Mother which I enclose in this letter. I am going to write to her today, her and I are all that is left now of the two families. How I would like to See her again, as your Father + your Mother was So Kind to me when I was a Small Boy. And your poor Aunt Sarah nursed me from a baby up. Dear Lizzy, when I think of those things and that is very often, it makes me feel Bad, if I am Successful in the next 5 years. I will See your mother yet if God Spares her and my health is good, I am Strong and well I weigh abought 170 lbs. And feel as young And active as I was at the age of Thirty———hardly any person here believes me when I tell them I am 64 years old. I was born October 31, 1833. I have got all the family ages down in the Bible.

(Page3)
If you do not come out to this country to visit your old uncle I may go and see you Some time, as I think some of purchasing a Farm of Land adjoining my Brother's place in Missouri for my two Boys a long time ago, your Uncle William and myself, wanted your mother to come out And Stay with us to she died but she thought she was too old to make the trip. I would like to know if your Sister Ann ever went home to See her, as she wanted me to go with her at that time. I will send you two of my Photographs in this letter I am sorry I can not send you the little Boys as the[y] went off in such a hurry, but I will get them taken this winter when I visit them in Oregon, if you did not get a picture of your Aunt Sarah I can send you one at any time as I got a lot taken from a Photo she sent me before she died, and if your mother did not get one of her Photos I can send her one, my own Photo I have taken Life Size and framed, it hangs in my town House for my children it is more of a painting than Photo it was done in San Francisco I would like you write Send me the names of your new Family as I have forgotten, how many My Sister Martha had, your Brother Thomas is the only one I ever seen I often nursed him when he was a baby give my kind Love to your good Kind husband and your two Dear little Boys and Kiss the little fellows for their old uncle I will close by wishing you all success and Happyness I am still your Loving Uncle Richard T. Harris

Please write Soon
Kiss the little boys for me
Juneau, Alaska

08/30/1897

Harris, Richard

correspondence