Chapter 4: SHIFTING LANDSCAPE: DEMOGRAPHICS, ECONOMICS, AND ENVIRONMENT ON THE OUTER KENAI COAST (continued)
Small independent hunters and traders often acted as intermediaries between Native hunters and the established trading stations operated by the Alaska Commercial and the Western Fur and Trading companies on the Kenai Peninsula, on Kodiak Island and at Nuchek. Similar practices supported Native hunters on Cook Inlet and throughout the Dena'ina region of southwestern Alaska. [22] Porter reported in the 1890 census that "the scattered white traders were lavishly supported with outfits', comfortable houses, and native hunting parties, all on long credit, in order to secure their trade and custom." [23] On the outer coast of the Kenai Peninsula, Frank Lowell maintained a local hunting and trading network that was for many years affiliated with the Alaska Commercial Company's English Bay station. In 1911 Benjamin L. Johnson, a USGS surveyor, mentioned a second independent trader, a man he only referred to as Kimball, who "handled furs for the Natives..." and "had several trading stores here." [24] Lowell and his extensive family traded and sold furs on the coast for approximately fifteen years. Frank Lowell was born in Maine and homesteaded on the Kenai Peninsula with his wife, Mary Lowell, a Native of English Bay. In 1906, an article in the Seward Weekly Gateway reported that in 1883, the couple moved to the site near the head of Resurrection Bay. [25] Frank Lowell apparently left his wife and family in 1893 but Mary Lowell, who was of both Russian and Native ancestry, remained on the homestead until after the turn of the century. [26] Mary Lowell died on May 20, 1906. Soon afterward, the Seward Weekly Gateway ran the following obituary.
In 1898 Walter Mendenhall, the USGS geologist mentioned in Chapter 1, met a group of Natives at the head of Resurrection Bay who were planting potatoes and other vegetables. These people were probably members of the Lowell family. Mendenhall noted four or five houses along the bay. The Lowells provided Mendenhall with a small boat to reach the head of the bay, approximately four miles north of where they docked a steamer ship. [28] Frank Lowell kept business contacts in English Bay until at least 1895. Benjamin Johnson, the USGS surveyor, suggested that he supported other families of his own who also lived along the coast. [29] Census taker Robert Porter, however, stated in 1890 that Frank and Mary Lowell and their children comprised the only residents of the coast.
Frank Lowell worked as an independent trader and as an Alaska Commercial Company agent. He maintained a long-term relationship with the ACC's English Bay Station. He also worked with Charles Smith at the Western Fur and Trading Company. From 1877 to 1895 if not longer, Lowell kept both personal and business accounts at the English Bay Station. His private accounts reflected a need for a wide range of household supplies in addition to luxury and personal items. These purchases give a glimpse into Lowell's personal life and of the products available on the coast in the late 1800s. Lowell regularly bought silk, guitar strings, children's shoes, cakes of fancy soap, needles, smoking tobacco, tea, sugar, lead, and powder. He also purchased a chinchilla cap, a gold ring, cologne, lace brocade, and teapots.
Lowell also maintained an account for his hunting crew at the English Bay station. Although Native hunters kept individual accounts for both furs sold and goods, Lowell subsidized some crewmembers. He regularly helped hunters who were no longer able to pay their debts, and he often traded on their behalf. Lowell's crew hunted and set up winter camps at many points along the coast between English and Resurrection bays, including Yalik, Nuka, and Aialik bays. [31] The principal furs hunted and traded were black bear, gray fox, black fox, marten, and mink, along with sea and land otter skins. Another trader named Smith, perhaps the Charles Smith who shared an account with Lowell at the Western Fur and Trading Company, also had Native hunters in his employ with Alaska Commercial Company at English Bay. [32]
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