SEPT. 29-30, 2019 PART 5: OLSON LEAVES FOX ISLAND FOR SEWARD
ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL
JOURNAL
100 YEARS LATER
by Doug Capra © 2018-19
Part 5: Lars Matt Olson
Sept. 29-30, 2019
ABOVE – Before World War I, tourists had sailed the Inside
Passage aboard the steamships. That had been happening since the mid-1880’s.
Later wealthy sportsmen and hunters, many from Europe, ventured on Alaska
vacations. By the early 1900’s, Seward became an outfitting center for
expeditions to South Central Alaska. Other more modest adventurers included
school teachers with the summer off. By 1918, with the construction of the
Alaska Railroad, more conscious tourism marketing increased, as we see from this
ad in the Aug. 14, 1918 Chicago Tribune.
BELOW – Fur farming was a popular business throughout the
country even before World War I. After the war and through the 1920’s, it
became more lucrative. Notice how this ad, also from the Aug. 14, 1918 Chicago
Tribune, caters to women who represented a big market for fur. See the Alaska
flowers and glaciers and totem poles – but also visit the fox farms and perhaps
hold one of those cute baby creatures. Ironically, this focus comes about the
same time the Fox Island enterprise is closing. Compared with other fox farms,
the business in Resurrection Bay was a small-scale operation, more of an
attempt by entrepreneur Thomas W. Hawkins of Seward to test the market. By
1917, with the U.S. in the war and the draft in effect, it became difficult to
find any young men to act as caretakers for the operation and Olson,
approaching his mid-70’s, was not in good health.
OLSON OF THE DEEP EXPERIENCE
OLSON LEAVES FOX ISLAND FOR SEWARD
SHALL I MOVE TO VERMONT, HE WONDERS?
PART 5
Kent left Alaska at the end of March 1919. By
May he had a successful Knoeders Gallery show of pen and inks. By mid-summer he
had purchased an old farm near Arlington, Vermont and named it “Egypt.” Kent
received a letter from Olson in June or early July 1919. I haven't found that
letter, but the artist does publish an excerpt from it in Wilderness under
the Jan. 18 journal. Olson relates an incident on Fox Island that happened on
May 29, and Kent includes it in Wilderness
under the January 18, 1919 entry – with all its misspellings: Had a
scear or acksedent on the eighteenth. i vas putteng som grase in to the fox
Corrals an i most heav left the hok of van i turnd around the dor vas open and
1 fox var over at the tant i cald to em et vas suppertam to Com bake and get
som sepper and He sat down and luckt at me bot finly mosed of op in the Hill. i
take teh other fox and put em in the other Corall and left the 2 -- tow Coralls
open and put feed in the seam es nothing ad apen. the first night i did not
sleep vary val. the sakond night and not showing up, bot naxt morning i Came
out to the Corall the feed vas goin en the pan an the fox vas sleping on the
box var he allves du and i felt a little Beater van the doors ar shut.
NOTE: Olson's letters are first presented as he wrote them followed by a translation into readable English. I do this so you can get a feel for his voice -- he writes much like he speaks.
I had
a scare or accident on the eighteenth. I was putting some grease into the fox
corrals and I must have left the hook off. When I turned around the door was
open and a fox was over at the tent. I called to him – it was suppertime – to
come back and get some supper and he sat down and looked at me but finally
moseys off up the hill. I took the other fox and put him in the other corral
and left the two (tow?) corrals open and put feed in the same as if nothing had
happened. The first night I did not sleep very well. The second night nothing
showed up, but the next morning I came out to the corral {and} the feed was
gone in the pan and the fox was sleeping on the box where he always does and I
felt a little better when the doors are shut.
ABOVE – Article
from March 9, 1918 Hanford Sentinel (California).
BELOW – Just as the
Fox Island business is shutting down, this article appeared in the Dearborn
Independent (Michigan) on Nov. 22, 1919 – with a Seward, Alaska dateline.
By the end of August 1919 Kent has finished the book and got to work on finishing his Alaska paintings for a March 1920 showing to coincide with the publication of Wilderness. On Sept. 2 he writes to Olson in Alaska: We haven’t heard from you for a long time. That probably means you have been staying right there on the best spot in the world living the best life there is. It’s fine here, but I envy you. I can’t think of Fox Island without being a bit home-sick. Here everything goes well. I’m starting on a large addition to my house. I’ve been hewing the timbers for the second floor. They’re of oak, and that’s pretty hard stuff to cut. My foundation is under way. That’s the worst job of all. Tomorrow we move onto our own place. We’ll probably sleep in the barn until we’ve had time to paint some of the rooms and put the place in order. Everyone asks me whether or not you’re coming. But I have to tell them I’m afraid not. Kent writes about the play his family is participating in, about Vermont days after the Revolutionary War. We’ve given it in two towns before full houses…my wife, little Kathleen and I, - Rockwell too…My wife was the heroine and I suppose I was the hero. Little Kathleen got as much applause as anyone in the play. She looked very pretty and she surprised the audience by turning somersaults all over the stage. Rockwell was an Indian…It’s all prohibition here but I had a flask full of Irish whiskey in my pocket and drank out of it all through the show. The audience thought it was part of the play and supposed it to be some kind of make-believe drink. My book is in the hands of the Publishers, but it will not come out until next winter. I’ve set Seward about as Seward deserves. And my dear old friend, I’ve paid you part of the tribute you deserve.
The rest of Kent’s Sept. 2, 1919 letter to Olson is
political. Most veterans he meets are disillusioned, he says, and claims they
wish the allies had been defeated. The man who talks patriotism
now-a-days sounds like a jackass braying in the wilderness. The best
hope for the world, Kent avers, is in the Russian Revolution – but the
capitalists are doing their best to stop that uprising by sending in troops.
But those soldiers are refusing to fight against Russia, according to
Kent, and the falsehoods don’t fool anyone but such poor, brainless
simpletons as you do find in far off parts of the world and the half-imbecile
type of which that creature on the Gateway is a blooming specimen. This
is one of only two references I’ve found from Kent about his battle with the Seward
Gateway and the teacher, Mary Baen Wright. He ends the letter thanking
Olson for the oil painting he has sent him, saying it is always being
admired. I think the world of it. My guess is this is the portrait
Kent did of Olson, the one he gave the old Swede for Christmas. At this point,
Olson has no firm plans to join Kent in Vermont, though he is about ready to
give up on Alaska. He travels light, he has no family or relatives as far as I
can determine, and doesn’t like how Alaska is changing. What could he do with a
portrait of himself? Best give it to Kent and Rockie as a remembrance of their
time together.
ABOVE – In 1967,
while preparing a new limited edition and expanded publication of Wilderness
with the Ward-Richie Press, Kent sent along this illustration from his original
manuscript. In a March 3, 1967 letter to an editor, Kent writes that Wilderness,
his first book, as far as illustrations are concerned, is undoubtedly my
best book.
BELOW – An article
about a fox farm about 25 miles north of Seward on Kenai Lake – from the Feb.
12, 1920 Courier-Tribune (Seneca, Kansas).
Olson responds to Kent’s Sept. 2 letter on Sept. 22:
Fox Island September
22th 1919
Dear Rockwell Kint.
{Page 1}
Your litter of 2th
September at and i vas up to Seward yesterday to get the meall an i svant a lot
of stof to you, So now i vel strart in with bot i du not know van at vill get
to the post offis. you no how the Weather is hear in the fall and Winter time
bot you canbyshure to Hear from me van Ever i heav a thians to right. i take
your bading and Coking uteansels to mi Cabben in Seward and I am going to Kill
the foxis of and take the goats to Seward. this as the arangmint now. and ef i
Cant find ut ane ting aboth the titel to the land. i vel taer Down the Bellding
and seave the lumber thet ar god. and Burn up the rest and I am going to meak
one more stabb att alaska and et vell be next Winter. you talk about the
oilpanting I did not send et to you I sent it to your vife or
Dear Rockwell Kent:
Your
letter of 2nd September at {arrived} and I was up to Seward
yesterday to get the meal {fox food} and I sent a lot of stuff to you. So now I
will start in with {begin this letter} but I do not know when it {this letter
will} get to the post office. {He’s back on Fox Island writing this letter} You
know how the weather is here in the fall and winter time, but you can be sure
to hear from me whenever I have a chance to write. I took your bedding and
cooking utensils to my cabin in Seward and I am going to kill the foxes off and
take the goats to Seward. This is the arrangement now. And if I can’t find out
anything about the title to the land, I will take down the building and save
the lumber that is good and burn up the rest and I am going to make one more
stab at Alaska and it will be next winter. You talk about the oil painting. I
did not send it to you. I sent it to your wife or
N2 {Page 2}
mrs. Rockvell Kint.
mr. Kint you Can meak an other to sutt your self. both you ar not abeal to meak
one lik at. nor anny artest in the Hall World. probly you hev not studed et to
the full exstant. i se in your litter you ar geting to parform on the stage. if
i head being ther i vold giv you the mallimut. i se in your litter you ar
yousing your albowgrees on the Heard Wod. i know et s tuffer then alaska sprus.
bot i kno you vell get over et. i vis i ad being bake of the Curtin van you
Head the litty flask and i regards to me Coming to Vermont I know ve get
meapellshurger from ther, bot noting mor. and the time vel tel. and in regard
tu the Boke you ar getting up I am sory ve thed not talk mor abuth that racket.
both i suspos et vel be adision to et. Can you read the littlers ven i Wreth
ved leadpinsil.
Mrs. Rockwell Kint.
Mr. Kent, you can make another to suit yourself, but you are not able to make
one like this one, nor {can} any artist in the whole world make one like that}. Probably you have not
studied it to the full extent. I see in your letter you are getting to perform
on the stage. If I had been there I would give you a malamute {an Alaska sled
dog}. I see in your letter you are using your elbow-grease on the hard wood. I
know it is tougher than Alaska spruce, but I know you will get over it. I wish
I had been back of the curtain when you had the little flask and in regards to
me coming to Vermont, I know we get maple sugar from there, but nothing more.
And the time will tell {whether he will come to Vermont}. And in regard to the
book you are getting up I am sorry we did not talk more about that racket. But I suppose it will be an addition to it.
{Olson may be regretting that he had not told Kent more stories about his life
to add to the book}. Can you read the letters when I write in lead pencil?
BELOW – Page 1 of this letter from Olson to
Kent. Archives of American Art.
Page 3
ther es a gasbot leaing at ancor in the Bay to
night. and I am going to tri to get this letter of on that both. i am tierd of
alaska and the pepell in et. alaska lucks vary Bead to me know. both mr. Kint
you heave a big family to luck efter, and then take an other wertles in to yor
family you most tank at over terly. both the time vel tell. wath du that Egypt
men ther that includes in you adres i heav being riting to you in
the last few litters and asking you for many informasin and other tings so I
comins to tanke I am lots of trubbl to you. both you most coseder i am allon on
thes Island now. and you spoilt me by staing here so a short time val i
exspackt at es som mor letters on the road. mi best regard to all. end espasly
to the Chillden the ar the only ones vi ar Working for
L.M.
Olson Fox Island
There is a gas boat leaing at anchor in the
bay tonight. {The boat is anchored on the leeward side of Fox Island,
protecting itself from a southeast wind} and I am going to try to get this
letter off on that boat. I am tired of Alaska and the people in it. Alaska luck
is very bad to me now. {The attack on Rockie in the Seward Gateway probably
upset Olson and he was in poor health. He also sees how Alaska is rapidly
changing with the construction of the Alaska Railroad. About this time he had a
stroke} But Mr. Kent, you have a big family to look after, and then take
another worthless {person} in to your family, you must think over entirely. But
the time will tell. What does that Egypt mean there that you include in your
address. {Olson doesn’t understand why Kent’s reference to “Egypt” in naming
his farm} I have been writing to you in the last few letters and asking you for
information and other things? {Olson wants information about Vermont. He is
considering joining Kent.} So I am coming to think I am lots of trouble to you.
But you must consider, I am alone on this island now, and you spoiled me by
staying here so short a time – well, I expect there are more letters on the
road {on the way}. My best regards to all. And especially the children. They
are the only ones we are working for.
L.M.
Olson Fox Island
Olson writes to Kent
again on Sept. 26
Fox Island September
26th 1919
Dear Mr. Kint
i se in your vifs
letter you Hear talking a great deal about me pleas dunt get her and other
people exited. you kno i am noting both an old brokendown Frunters Man. ef et
should apen that i shuld Com Est the vould be vary beadly thesapointed. and i
am not fit for susiates. tell your boy rocky the skullmam in Seward you ad
truble vith. vear askt to reasian. and se left de Contry and i tank the aditor
of the peapir vil {sti_v?} out this Winter.
L,
M, Olson
Fox Island, September
26th 1919
Dear Mr. Kent:
I
see in your wife’s letter you have {been} talking a great deal about me. Please
don’t get her and other people excited. You know I am nothing but an old
broken-down Frontiersman. If it should happen that I should come east, they
would be very badly disappointed. And I am not fit for society. Tell your boy,
Rockie, the schoolmarm {The teacher that confronted Kent in the Seward Gateway}
in Seward you had trouble with – was asked to resign and she left the country
{the territory of Alaska}. And I think the editor of the paper will start out
this winter.
L.M. Olson
Notice that Olson indicates the teacher, Mary Baen Wright,
who initiated the controversial Seward Gateway letter exchange
in late March 1919, has been asked to resign. The Gateway’s editor – who had
written the late May editorial about the Literary Review article
about Kent’s Alaska art – is also leaving, according to Olson. This indicates
to me that the town as a whole didn’t tolerate the kind of personal attack the
teacher made public using a nine-year-old boy as a pawn.
Olson eventually decides to stay with Rockwell Kent and his family in Vermont.
NOTE – Some of the above information is repeated from these
two previous entries.
NEXT ENTRY
PART 6
LARS MATT OLSON LEAVES
ALASKA
AND HEADS TO VERMONT
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