Show adventurous AMERICANS by elmo scott watson peter pond hathmaker Path maker T THEY HEY say that when peter pond L was born to the wife of a milford conn shoemaker in 1740 he arrived in a restless mood and from to in that time until the end of his life he was constantly on the go his father wanted him to stick to the last but the boys restlessness led him into the british army at the a age Z e of 0 16 he served under lord howe sir william johnson and general era I 1 amherst in canada and there learned of the wealth ot of the country he was h helping elpi ng to conquer it was furs and he was destined to become one of americas greatest fur traders after the french and indian war was over he went to sea and after a successful voyage to the west indies returned to milford to find his mother dead so he took charge of his eight younger sisters and brothers er until his father returned from a trading trip to detroit when his father died peter assumed his debts and in 1765 went to detroit to engage in the indian trade he spent one winter at mich 1111 mackinac then took another turn to ye west indies but he was soon back in the west at prairie du chien and green bay wis about 1775 he gave up the trade in the mississippi valley and went up into canada he Is said to have been the first white man to reach the peace river country and when the north west company was organized in 1784 he was one of the shareholders ile he helped wrest the valuable trade away from the hudsons Hud sons bay company and he inspired the famous exploring expedition of alexander mackenzie to the pacific pond sold out his interests in the north west company in 1790 and is said to have died in poverty a few years later A dumas hero H E N irish born thomas phelan WHEN W died in Br emerton wash in 1909 at the age of 72 it marked the passing of a character who might m ight have stepped out of one on e of dumas novels when he was 21 phelan came to america seeking adventure and arrived in kansas in time to take part in the border wars as a follower of john brown of osawatomie Osawa tomie in jackson county mo he was captured by pro slavery bushwhack ers who shot him and ae left ft hi him im f for or dead upon recovering he enlis enlisted t ed in in the union army rose from sergeant to the rank of captain and served th throughout hout the civil war once he and several of his company were captured by Quant rills guerrillas and sentenced to be shot their lives were saved by a federal commander who threatened to hang an equal number of southern sympathizers if they were harmed after the war phelan with his sword cane was a picturesque figure on the streets of kansas city where he became noted tor for his skill as a swordsman and his readiness to settle any quarrel on the duelling buelling du elling grounds with rapier or pistol then he enlisted in the fight tor for irish freedom joined the feniane but quarreled with some of their leaders because ot of their terron methods As a result three dyna miters in 1885 1883 attacked him in his office and almost slashed him to death with their daggers before he beat them oft off after many months in the hospital he finally recovered from his wounds in 1894 phelan won international fame when the french cap captain tain alfred dreyfus was and sentenced to devils island phelan immediately denounced count esterhazy Estor hazy as the forger of the documents which convicted dreyfus and challenged him to a duel the charges of the irish soldier of fortune were ridiculed but later events proved that he was right thirty thirty jack ACK in 1898 when jack pratt BACK was 26 years old he left the states tor for alaska and settled near wrangell there was no monotony in his far north life he be became C ame a deep sea diver prospector game hunter mountie saloonkeeper saloon keeper and government agent they called him thirty thirty jack after the rifle he carried instead of the usual six shooter up in nome tor for a while he went into partnership with tex rickard the famous prize fight promoter their bus business ness interests were centered solely in running a saloon so instead of promoting fights they were interested in stopping them there too thirty thirty knew many later notables including rex beach robert W service texas guinan and jack london A few months ago be made a trip to chicago which was his first return to civilization in 38 years he said he was disappointed however because although 68 66 years lid did he guesses he Is still a pioneer at heart he returned to wrangell and put on a big party to celebrate his deliverance from derby hats and oth er signs of formal living a 0 western newspaper paper uni union |