Iowa Heritage Illustrated

Kids Rule the Diamond

Schaal, Marietta Miller

An Iowan’s
Yukon
Adventure
by Marietta Miller Schaal
Iowan Marietta (“ Etta” ) Schaal poses in her wolverine parka, surrounded by three 
dogs and mining equipment, near Magnet Gulch in the Yukon.
I
n 1911, David F. Schaal donated an eight-foot mammoth tusk 
to the State Historical Museum. He had found it a decade 
earlier in the deep, gold-bearing gravel deposits of Magnet 
Gulch, near Dawson City in the Yukon. The museum displayed 
the tusk in the typical fashion of the day—in a "cabinet of cu­
riosities," showing the artifact for its own sake, but with no in­
terpretation to reveal its larger significance or context, and no 
story to capture our imagination.
Nearly a century later, the museum again displayed Schaal7s 
tusk, in its "Mammoth: Witness to Change" exhibit. A museum 
visitor named Mabel Hudson, of West Des Moines, spotted the 
tusk and realized that it was the one donated by her father. She 
invited me to lunch and showed me her mother's photo albums 
and the following text, "Account of Trip to Yukon Territory."
Here was the story behind the tusk. In 1900 Fred Schaal of 
Seattle had convinced his brother David, then of Polk City, Iowa, 
to travel with him to the Yukon. The next year David's wife, 
Marietta ("Etta") Schaal, and Fred's wife, Franc, joined their 
husbands in the goldfields. Thanks to Etta's words and photos 
(which she took with a small box camera), we see their Yukon 
adventure through the eyes of a 26-year-old Iowa woman.
—Bill Johnson, museum curator
David F. Schaal holds the tusk—the left incisor—of 
a wooly mammoth, next to more tusks and bones 
found in the Schaal diggings. Mammoth remains, 
which in the Yukon date back 30,000 years, are also 
found in river and glacial deposits in Iowa. See the 
Schaal tusk in the “ Mammoth: Witness to Change” 
exhibit in the State Historical Building, Des Moines.
186 loica H eri tage Illustra ted
The Yukoner stops to take on wood for fuel, between W hite Horse and Dawson. Right: Mrs. Seebom with camera, and Etta.
O
n July 1,1901 we left
Polk City via the North­
western to St. Paul and 
from there over the 
Northern Pacific on the North Coast 
Limited, passing through Minneso­
ta, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, 
and Washington, reaching Seattle 
in the evening of July 4.
After a good night's rest we 
started out in the morning to 
find when a first-class passenger 
steamer would sail for Alaska and 
found that the Dolphin would sail 
in two days, so we purchased our 
tickets and secured our state­
rooms, then set out to take in the 
town, which we did as thoroughly 
as our time would permit for there 
are many things of interest in Se­
attle. The view which I enjoyed the 
most—and never shall forget—was 
beautiful Mt. Rainier, the perpetual 
snow-capped mountain 40 miles 
distant.
It was with happy hearts we 
boarded our steamer about 7 
o'clock the evening of July 6, for 
she was billed to sail at 8 PM. We 
were four days on the Dolphin 
and had every comfort one could 
enjoy in their own home, and such 
elegant meals I had never seen 
before. The scenery was beauti­
ful, so many wooded islands, 
Indian villages, etc. At Petersburg
our steamer landed for an hour or 
more and while there we visited 
the salmon canning factory where 
nearly all the [employees] are 
Indians. They have a nice mission 
there where a missionary teaches 
them.
We also visited Ft. Wrangel, 
where there is also a mission and 
near it is a totem pole carved by 
the Indians. Wherever our boat 
landed to take on wood, the Indi­
ans would come out of the woods 
to see the sights, the passing 
steamers are the most they see or 
know of the outside world. On the 
eve. of July 10 we reached Skag- 
way, a rude little town nestled 
among the mountains and over­
looking the oceans. This is a Mili­
tary post where the U.S. Govt, has 
stationed probably a few hundred 
soldiers. We visited the barracks, 
took a walk up a mountain trail, 
and retired about 11 o'clock while 
it was still broad daylight, as we 
were so far North now and in the 
long days. On the following morn­
ing we left Skagway for White 
Horse, a distance of 112 miles over 
the narrow gauge R.R., the White 
Pass and Yukon R.R. fare being 
$20, or 162¡3 cents a mile. This 
building of this road is said to be 
one of the greatest engineering 
feats that was ever accomplished.
There are many places where the 
solid rock has been blasted around 
the sides of the mountain only 
wide enough for the little cars 
to pass, others where for miles 
tunnels have been made through 
mountains, and still other places 
where great high trestles are built 
over chasms to look down which 
makes you feel that your life is as 
uncertain as the rickety little train 
you are riding on. We felt a little 
safer when we were over the sum­
mit and on more level ground, but 
still better when we reached White 
Horse that evening and found we 
could get one of the nicest of the 
many river boats, the Yukoner, out 
of town that same day.
We had several hours and so 
visited the Barracks, this being a 
Canadian Govt. post. Here our 
trunks were inspected, and I had 
to pay $2.50 duty on my camera. 
Our trip of two days and nights 
down the Yukon R. was full of 
interest and very pleasant in every 
way. Along the banks of the river 
we saw many queer Indian graves; 
also some very nice military sta­
tions. We reached Dawson, our 
destination, about 8 PM. and 
telephoned out to the boys we had 
arrived and would be out on the 
first stage we could get; their claim 
being 12 miles from Dawson. We
Winter 2006 187
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188 Iowa Heritage Illustrated
to our strawberries or raspberries 
here. The red raspberries, cur­
rants, and cranberries were also 
plentiful, and we preserved all we 
needed of them for our winter's 
use.
In September . .. we moved 
into ... a larger and warmer 
[cabin], I then began to bake bread 
to sell. I received 25 cents a loaf 
where I sold it or $6 for baking up 
a sack of flour, they furnishing the 
flour. I soon had all the custom­
ers I could supply. 1 baked nearly 
every day from 15 to 17 loaves. 
The days were now getting pretty 
short. I thought it so romantic to 
burn candles, but later on 1 was 
glad to have a lamp, a very plain 
one but cost $2.50 and a five gal. 
can of oil cost $5. About this time 
we bought our winter supply of 
provisions which cost us between 
$350 and $400. Our potatoes cost 
22 cents per pound, or $13 per 
bushel. These we kept piled up in 
sacks in our cabin, so you know 
our cabin was warm. The boxes 
containing the canned goods, 
cream, milk, corn, tomatoes, beans, 
peas, salmon, oysters, pumpkins, 
all kinds of fruit, etc., were opened 
on the side and stacked up, thus 
taking less room and being very 
convenient. We also bought dried 
fruit and crackers by the box and
Top of page and here: Two views of Etta and Dave SchaaPs 12x14 cabin, with bleached flour sacks on the walls to cut the cold 
and brighten the cabin. Right: Etta’s sister-in-law Franc Schaal with her son Roy, in Franc’s cabin.
reached there about 11 o'clock, 
and it was still light as day.
The little log cabin Mr. Schaal 
had secured for our home was 
about 12 x 14 ft. square, had one 
window, one sash, and one door 
in it. Built onto this was what is 
called a cache, a place where all 
the provisions are kept. We or­
dered a stove, a little cast iron,
what would cost perhaps 10 or 
15 dollars here, and it cost us 
$40 there. We had a hand-made 
bed, table, and one chair, and for 
cupboards we nailed boxes up on 
the wall. We burned wood, and 
for this paid $16 per cord. The 
blueberries were now ripe, and we 
used to go every day and gather 
all we could use. They were equal
<n f
Garvie’s Hotel & Lunch Room advertises meals 
for miners, and stables for horses and dogs.
flour by the hundred. These with 
the coffee, sugar, hams, and bacon 
we put in the cache for they would 
not freeze. A case of eggs cost us 
$30. We also used the crystallized 
egg which was as good for baking 
purposes as any. The Yukon river
Etta and a friend. Books, music, letters, 
and social visits helped while away long
winter nights.
froze over at Dawson on 
Nov. 11, and after this the 
mail was carried in on 
sleds drawn by dog teams 
until the ice was very 
thick, then by horses. We 
had mail all winter and 
could buy most any paper 
or periodical we wanted 
of the different news boys 
who made regular trips 
out on the creek. We had 
good neighbors near us 
and often visited and 
spent the evening from 
cabin to cabin. There are 
people there from nearly 
every country in the 
world except Chinese, and 
a number of these came as far as 
White Horse and w'ere sent back. 
This gives an excellent chance for
studv of the nationalities. One*
soon learns to distinguish them by 
sight.
The days w'ere very short in 
the winter. We w'ould light our 
lamp soon after 4 o'clock in the 
P.M. and burn it in the mornings 
until 10 o'clock; for about three 
months we did not see the sun at 
all, but the delightful summers 
more than compensated for the 
long winters. The first snow' fell 
Sept. 28, and from then until in 
June we could see snow' some­
where on the north sides of the 
hills. One thing that added greatly 
to our enjoyment w'as a beautiful 
pianola owned by a Mr. Northrup, 
near us, a nephew' of Helen Gould. 
The pianola was purchased by 
Helen Gould in New' York City at a 
cost of $1,000 and sent as a pres­
ent to her nephew'. We with others 
wrere often invited in of evenings 
to hear it, and I never before or 
since have enjoyed music so much. 
We also had twro men near us 
wrho played the violin and guitar 
together, and they with several 
others used to spend a good many
evenings at our cabin. Altogether 
the winter was very pleasant even 
if it w'as often 60 below' zero. Two 
other ladies and myself made it 
a rule to call on each other on the 
coldest days just to say w'e had 
been out. This fact made one man 
say he knew' we were chuchaco's 
by our being out, if w'e had been 
sour-doughs we would know' bet­
ter. These are the Indian terms for 
new and old.
In the spring I took a few 
boarders, had five most of the time 
from March until we came out in 
September. I received $2 per day 
each for their board. This with my 
bread baking kept me quite busy. 
On the night of June 21 a partv 
of us went to one of the highest 
points near us for a picnic. We 
saw the sun until 11 o'clock, and 
it came up again at 2 o'clock. We 
took several pictures by the natu­
ral light at midnight w'hich are as 
clear as any we had ever taken.
At this time of year the sluic­
ing season had begun again; the 
snow' was melting on the moun-
A miner pours water over gravel to 
loosen the gold, which next falls through 
a screen as the box is shaken.
!
190 Iowa Heritage Illustrated
to cable in going 
up stream; the pas­
sage is so narrow 
here they let most 
of the passengers 
off for safety, 
and we walked 
about a mile along 
the bank wrhich 
seemed a treat to 
get on land and 
to walk on soil so 
seldom trod only 
on such occasions. 
The night we went
Midnight on Mt. Lookout,June 1902. The picnickers found through Hell s 
an elk horn and wrote their names on it. Etta is in the Gate, another 
front, in the plaid hat. dangerous place on
the river we found 
a boat stranded
tains, and with the rainfall water on the rocks, and with the natu- 
was plentiful, and this means ral swiftness of the river and the
plenty to do in a placer mining waves caused by this boat made
camp. The dumps they had all it very difficult for us to get past,
gotten out during the winter were in doing so our boat had a rudder 
to be washed up; and the open cut broken, so we were several hours 
work was in full blast. Many com- in this dangerous predicament,
panies ran a day and a night shift The Captain then sent a number of
now, it being just the same un­
derground and so light all night.
The hills now were red, purple, ;lft>
and gold with the beautiful wild 
flowers, and with plenty of fresh 
berries and the river open and 
the boats bringing in fresh sup­
plies, we did not envy our friends , \ i 
back in the States of what they 11 | |
had to eat. The summer passed all 
too quickly, and in the Autumn 
we found ourselves debating the 
question whether to stay there or 
come outside, but affairs seemed 
to adjust themselves in such a 
way it seemed best to return, so 
on September 15 on board the 
"Thistle" we started up the Yukon 
River. So many were coming out 
now our boat was overcrowded, 
and the river trip was not so pleas­
ant as going in. At Five Fingers, a
place where the river is obstructed Canine pals Buck and Blackie flank 
by five huge rocks, the boats have their friend (probably Etta).
men to the shore in the life boats 
and by means of cables we were 
pulled upstream, and without 
further accident we reached White 
Horse, w'here we stayed all night 
before going over the dangerous 
little railroad I have before de­
scribed. While on this, on crossing 
the Canada-Alaska border line, the 
whole carload of passengers burst 
out in the dear old familiar song 
"America." At Skagway the steam­
er Dolphin was waiting, and we 
took passage on her for Seattle and 
had a very smooth voyage. We 
spent a great deal of our time out 
on deck watching the wraves, the 
seagulls, the porpoise following 
the boat watching for something 
to eat to be thrown out, and the 
many beautiful places and islands 
along our way, and one day while 
thus engaged a large whale came 
so near us its back was plainly 
visible through the water until 
it made a dive and went deeper 
under the water. We saw a great 
many of them spouting not far 
away. A beautiful sight to me was 
an iceberg in the distance which 
looked like pale green glass.
When we reached Seattle we 
felt like we were at home again. 
Here we spent two weeks, then 
going to San Francisco for 10 days, 
then to Los Angeles for a day, and 
from there through Arizona, New 
Mexico, Indian Territory, to Kansas 
visiting there 5 days, then home 
on October 27,1902. To me this 
has been a wonderful experience, 
one which I shall never be too old 
to look back upon with great inter­
est but not with unmixed pleasure 
for it like the gold we went to seek 
has its dross. ♦>
Whiter 2006 191


English

An Iowan;s Yukon Adventure

Holmgren, David

Iowa's Governors in Cartoons

Christian, Ralph J

Bud Fowler: The First African American Professional Baseball Player and the 1885 Keokuks

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.87 no.1, Spring 2006

Morain, Tom

Pardon Me, Governor: Ernest Rathburn, William Harding, and the Politics of Justice

Swaim, Ginalie

Pleasures of the Victorian Parlor

Laurence, Susan C

Deadly Diphtheria 
and Walter Bierring
SHS1 (OES MOINES) WALTER BIERRING COLLECTION
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Iowan Walter Bierring diligently made 
these notes on diphtheria, cholera, and 
typhoid while studying in bacteriology 
at the Pasteur Institute in Europe. 
Bierring had completed the State Uni­
versity of Iowa’s three-year course to 
become a physician in a half year. 
Lawrence Littig, the first faculty mem­
ber to teach bacteriology, in I 889, sent 
Bierring to Vienna in 1892 for post­
graduate work. Bierring returned to Eu­
rope in 1894; his study there resulted in 
significant advances for Iowa.
by Susan C. Lawrence
F
or many in Iowa, the aware­
ness that science was rapidly 
producing new knowledge 
[arrived at that moment] when a 
physician, armed with a swab, de­
manded a throat culture from a sick 
child, with the peculiar news that it 
would be sent away to a laboratory 
to confirm a diagnosis of diphthe­
ria, and prepared a syringe to inject 
a substance derived from the blood 
of horses. Bacteriology more than 
any other biomedical research of the 
late 19th century, brought a new 
kind of science into the homes of Io- 
wans, although hearing about mys­
terious germs and getting strange 
injections hardly translated into 
public support for the laboratory or 
for science in general.
In the summer of 1894, Walter 
Bierring returned to Paris for the 
ten-week intensive summer course 
in bacteriology at the Pasteur Insti­
tute. Near the end of the summer, 
he watched Emil Roux take the stu-
Summer 2005 59
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r- - 1


Deadly Diphtheria and Walter Bierring

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.86 no.1, Spring 2005

Lane, Tim

Iowa-
A Place 
to Grow. 
Healthy
by Tim Lane
The message on the back of this postcard reads: “Mt. Hosmer . . .  rises to some 450 ft. 
above the river at low water mark, but as viewed in the picture seems not nearly so high.”
B
eyond our borders, Iowa is known as a breadbas­
ket, and our reputation for feeding the world is 
widely known. But we have learned that eating 
well and eating too much are not the same. Americans 
are now facing an epidemic of overweight and obesity. 
During the past 20 years, obesity among adults has risen 
significantly in the United States. The latest data from 
the National Center for Health Statistics document that 
30 percent of U.S. adults (20 years and older), or 60 mil­
lion people, are obese. That condition alone is related 
to 112,000 deaths. In Iowa, 37 percent of adults are over­
weight and 24 percent are obese.
To fight that epidemic an Iowa initiative called 
Lighten Up Iowa is impacting America. After a pilot 
effort in 2002, the statewide effort in 2003 involved 
14,000 Iowans and participants from seven other states. 
Lighten Up Iowa promotes physical activity and good 
nutrition via a team and competition format lasting five 
months. This group effort helps change environments 
that contribute to individual success. Sponsored by the 
Iowa Games, the Iowa Department of Public Health, 
and Iowa State University Extension, Lighten Up Iowa 
has generated more than 10 million miles of activity and 
more than 50 tons of lost weight. Variations of this pro­
gram are now in more than 21 other states and is collec­
tively known as Lighten Up America.
In this struggle, as with other efforts, we can find 
plenty of heroes from Iowa's past and present to inspire 
us. Just last year in the Boston Marathon, the fastest time 
by a man was 2:11. Cheri Blau wet, an Iowa native study­
ing medicine and public health, covered the course al­
most 30 minutes faster in her wheelchair, turning the 
concept of handicapped on its head. In 1971, a year be­
fore Title IX, 20 percent of all U.S. high school female 
athletes were from Iowa.
Farther back in our past, during the Civil War, Annie 
Turner Wittenmyer, of Keokuk, Iowa, crusaded for "diet 
kitchens" that would serve nutritious food to wounded 
and sick soldiers in military hospitals. Ulysses S. Grant 
said of her: "No soldier on the firing line gave more 
heroic service than she rendered." During the war's last 
18 months, diet kitchens issued two million rations 
monthly.
In 1851, one of the bluffs overlooking Lansing and 
the Mississippi River in northeastern Iowa was named 
for Harriet Goodhue Hosmer—even though she spent 
less than two hours in Iowa. Born in 1830 in Massachu­
setts, Hosmer was encouraged by her father to pursue 
physical exercise after her mother and siblings died of 
tuberculosis. In 1851, she was traveling up the Missis­
sippi on a steamboat. When the boat stopped in Lan­
sing and the young men on board proposed a footrace 
to the top of the bluff, Hosmer joined in the competi­
tion. Her early devotion to fitness paid off and she won 
the race. The mayor and townspeople agreed with the 
captain's suggestion to name the bluff after Hosmer, as 
a fitting prize for her energy and ability. Hosmer went 
on to Rome the next year to study sculpture. Her work 
frequently addressed the theme of strong women.
Today visitors can enjoy a spectacular view of three 
states (Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) and the beau­
tiful Mississippi River simply by driving—or running— 
to the top of Mt. Hosmer. ❖
Tim Lane is the Fitness Consultant and ICN Coordinator for 
the Iowa Department of Public Health. In that capacity he initi­
ated FITnet, a daily e-mail publication that combines health and 
history. FITnet is delivered to hundreds of thousands of readers 
around the world even/ weekday.
94 Iowa Heritage Illustrated


Iowa: A Place to Grow… Healthy