Pioneering Spirit: The Sisters of Providence in Alaska

Holy Cross Hospital at Nome
Holy Cross Hospital
and St. Joseph's
Catholic Church stood
as solid and imposing
edifices in Nome.
Photo courtesy of the Sisters of
Providence Archives, Seattle.
of nuggets or dust. It is brought to the city and
exchanged in the banks for minted gold and silver,
and is immediately smelted and cast in bars like
lead and sent out of Alaska. Only a small quantity
is kept in Nome because of the danger that
exists of being assassinated if one possesses
much. In autum n, during the time of the closing
of the mines and the departure of the last
steamers, attempted m urders are frequent."
Accidents and injuries were all too frequent as
well, and they provided a steady source of
business for Holy Cross Hospital. Dr. Rininger,
the Sisters' original benefactor in Nome, provided
care to the employees of a m ining company, and
brought his patients to Holy Cross Hospital.
The dangers that miners faced—instant death,
fractured skulls, and broken legs—prom pted the
Sister chronicler in 1908 to reflect, "They leave
their parents, friends, country, all that is most
dear to them, to come look for gold. A nd what
happens Most often they do not find w hat they
hoped for, but they impair their health and
sometimes, which is unfortunately too frequent,
they waste away or lose their lives seeking wealth.
If only they w ould dem onstrate so m uch
eagerness to gather treasures for Heaven! How
few think about th a t."
In writing about patients treated during 1910-11,
the chronicler told of a man who spent some time
in the hospital recovering from the effects of a
frozen foot. The m an com plim ented the Sisters
for their care during his stay with them, and
remarked that "if everyone could spend a certain
am ount of time at the hospital, there w ould not
be so many bad people in N om e."
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