C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

Notes to Pages 166-170,220 283Dr and Mrs Burke at the English missionIn 1908, Grafton Russ Burke (1882-1938) went to Fort Yukonas a medical doctor at the urging of his mentor, ArchdeaconHudson Stuck (1863-1920) of the U.S. Episcopal Church(Dean 133; Stuck, Alaskan 161; "Necrology" 536). Stuckassigned Burke to Fort Yukon, where the archdeacon hadestablished a mission in 1904 ("Record" 14). In 19IO, Burkemarried Clara Heintz, who had gone to Allakaket Mission inAlaska with the Episcopal Church injuly 1907 (Burke 277).Both devoted the next three decades to the mission at FortYukon, where Dr Burke provided medical services and laterserved as justice of the peace, while Mrs Burke ran a smallorphanage in addition to mission work (Hrdlicka 159). In1916, after a year's leave, the Burkes returned to Fort Yukon,where St Stephen's Hospital had been built during theirabsence; at the time, it was the only American hospital north ofthe Arctic Circle (Dean 206). In 1921, a year after the death ofhis mentor, Burke renamed the facility the Hudson StuckMemorial Hospital, and himself was ordained to the diaconateof the Episcopal Church by the Rev Peter Trimble Rowe("News" 607), who, in 1896, had become the first missionarybishop of Alaska. Burke was ordained priest in the EpiscopalChurch in 1938, six months before his death ("Record" 14).The hospitable and congenial reception accorded Vyvyanand Dorrien Smith was no more or less than earlier travellershad received from the Burkes (e.g., Philip Godsell, Arctic 293;Hrdlicka 159). For her part, Clara Burke considered 1926 and1927 among the couple's "happiest years" (Burke 275), in largepart because their younger son, Graftonjr, still lived at home,and their older son, Hudson, returned for the summers fromboarding school. Dorrien Smith's field note for 26julymentions that the Burkes' two sons were at home during theirstay at Fort Yukon. Strictly speaking, Vyvyan is wrong to call itan "English mission"; the distinction is inappropriate for theEpiscopal mission but it is understandable, since all previoussettlements visited by her in the Arctic had either RomanCatholic or English (Anglican) missions.Field Note for Mond,!)! 26 Jujy3 men from geological survey down from Scheneck riverDorrien Smith's field note for this date identifies these threemen as Merty, Hunter, and Kilmartin. Vyvyan's field notesmention these names later (29 july) , but do not identify themin terms of the American geological survey.CHAPTER 26: AT FORT YUKON(27 jULY-2 AUGUST)Harry Anthony. While he looked over Gwen's sketches withinterest he told us of a trip that he made with MichaelMasonMichael Henry Mason (1900-82) was an explorer, sailor,linguist and author. He lived in the Canadian and AlaskanArctic for three years. He wrote numerous travel books besidesthe one mentioned by Vyvyan, including The Wild Ass Free, WhereTempests Blow, and Deserts Idle (" Mason"). "About half thephotographs" in his book The Arctic Forests "were taken by [his]friend, Harry Anthony" ([v». judging by the description inthe field notes, the trip which Anthony recounted was the onemade in 1921 and narrated by Mason in Arctic Forests (185-213).On 26 August 1926 above Rampart House, Platt's party"saw a motor boat and barge coming up the river. It pulled intoshore and we came up and found it to be Mr and Mrs HarryAnthony of Crow river in whose cabin Frost had received us.They were both extremely nice and we talked quite a while andpretty Mrs Anthony took pictures of us" (30).we called one day on the matron of the hospitalPerhaps this matron was Winifred Dalziel, who had arrived atFort Yukon in 1917 and who "divided her time between schooland hospital, sometimes working 20 hours a day at the twojobs" (Phillips 2). As mentioned above, one of the two nursesmet by the women during this visit was named Helen. Graduateof Pasadena General Hospit~l in California, she marriedArthur Thornthwaite a year later, on 4july 1927, and liveduntil 1956 (Batchelor).a grand old man of 90 with a gangrenous legIn 1936, this person became the subject ofVyvyan's article"Sunset on the Yukon," in which he is named William Burd.He is a dying old -timer whose memories of an adventurous lifein the North are a composite of elements taken from variouspeople described in the field notes, including Linklater andGuinness, the dog-sleigh driver (29 july) , and various descriptionsof the Rat-Bell-Porcupine route.