stefansson-wrangel-09-15-036

Feb. 12.

Dear 'V'.S. -

It grows warmer and warmer and the calmest laziest sea I have every been on. We get in at 5.30 this evening - an hour and a half late - I dont know just what the trip will bring forth. I hope the foundation is laid for a good deal more confidence in you - and in other people.

I believe I have a new lead, I am begining to think that her suspicion comes from talking to people who come down on the boat from Nome - who warned her against newspapers - photographers explorers - and the human race in general. A very poor piece of business I think.

It came to my attention this way - In S.F. the photographers were there from papers - and reporters - she at once fled - to her state room and locked the door. and "refused to be interviewed" - a photographer later got Bennett in the sand pile a (good picture at that) and as we walked up the street to the Ferry Bldg there was the paper on the stand. Not knowing there was a story in it I bought the paper.

I had talked a few minutes to Mr. Dreyer who was on the Seattle Times now on the S.F. Herald, - told him her destination - and that you had given her the trip on account of Bennetts illness - for that he, withouth seeing Ada made up a two column story - when Ada

discovered this she said Here is my name - if I had known there would be all time papers to get story I would stay in Seattle, - The she followed it with "if they tell things not true I'll give them hell" - This being unanswerable I kept quiet - after she had been anger angry awhile - I told her that if she wanted to go back to Seattle she could turn just stay on the boat and ride back, as it made the round trip. That you had given her the trip down for Bennett - but you wouldn't want her to do anything she didnt enjoy - If she wanted to stay only a week in California that was alright too - or maybe an just as she wished this she didnt answer. - after a long time she said Marshall Jordan had read her a letter from Stefansson saying "She could stay month or two in L.A. if she wanted to " - I said that would be alright if she liked it and it did Bennett good."

She was still in silent mood when I went off at lunch time to the St Francis to meet some friends. I really didn't know whether I'd find her on the boat when I got back or not - and I flew down below the minute I came aboard to see whether she was still on the ship - but by this time she had forgotten her anger [impatience] - and was

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just getting back to normal, when more reporters with cameras came on -when the boat was about to sail. - sheag again fled to her room and I couldn't get her up again until. we were past Alcatraz.

Then she told me that people got paid for talking to papers and giving pictures sometime $20 = I told her I hadnt heard of such a thing - unless they had written a story to sell and her story had already been printed but she was sure Eskimo at Nome had been paid

for pictures.

Later she told me she bought 3 papers with Bennetts picture in it. One to send to her "friend,'

= In the afternoon she grew quite went back to her usual happy frame of mind, and told me some Eskimo stories legends. one long one about Eskimo man who married Polar Bear and thought it was a human - and one about the Lady in the Moon. I like that one so well that I wrote it down last night - I tried to write it as nearly in her manner of telling it as I could - of course I couldnt take notes so I am afraid I didnt get quite the whole thing. It is a story from of of her mothers telling - her mother was from Council - - - and does

not speak English.

Today as we passed the coast near below Santa Barbara she said the hills looked like Wrangel. Only some hills were higher on Wrangel. - all covered with snow in winter and brown and black in summer.

Bennett talks a lot and asks questions about everything - "not like me, Ada says, always my people say I never ask questions about anything" - on Wrangell the first year I do not talk much - but when Knight and Crawford go on ice trip - and I am left alone with Maurer and Galle for week, I tell them stories - story of Lady in the Moon I tell you. Galle like it very much." - Then when I am alone with Knight we do not talk much, but he tell me stories. "Jack in the bean stalk" =

Maurer talks Eskimo - not quite the same as her dialect but she can understand.

"Homesick for Nome - and some ice and snow - she would like some seal oil and sour leaves, and salmon berries . On Wrangel she had had seal oil but no sour leaves." I've wired

People on the boat have been kind - but she only talk to only a few - then not very much, sometimes I can get her to talk a little to someone else.

Yesterday she told me she had read your "Life with [...] Eskimo" - every word of it - and "I think it is Every Word True " So so she pays you the what he says about North Country" - So she

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pays you the perfect Tribute. I haven't yet heard her make any comment to show any difference in her feeling about any of the men of the expedition except to speak of Maurers ability as a hunter =

About her stories, she has a real gift in the way she expresses herself. It might be she could write a group of folk tales - Legends - and they might be Saleable. - I don't know about the value of such things but I find.

them quite interesting - and different - the polar bear tale is like the Japanese fox woman - and your story is [on] somewhat similar. = The milky way is the "Trail of the Old women" - The great dipper the caribou and when the handle is straight out - it means to the Eskimo good hunting and many reindeer -

- In telling me about the polar bear on Wrangel, she said - sometimes Eskimo say, Polar bear (nanook) know poor pepl people and does not hurt them. Then she told me the story of the poor woman who had a mean husband - and how the woman met the bear and looked in its eyes, all day, sun up to sun down, "eye to eye' until the bear dropped