Last Letters from Attu. Mary Breu

when they come.

      I hope there will be many to answer.

      With love,

      Tetts

      February 6, 1932

      Dear Dump:

      Yesterday your letter of January 12 came. That was pretty quick for this time of year. Last week we got mail that was almost two months overdue.

      Mother’s letters sound so much better than they did, more natural. She did enjoy all the Wileys so much at New Year’s. Her letters were full of it!

      I wonder if you have any old shoes with low heels that you want to pass on to me. It seems a shame to get new ones for this place. You get the new ones (joint account), and pass on the old ones. You know I am not “hard” on shoes. Last summer I bought a pair of shoes, the first I have had since I was home.

      It is a gorgeous day, like May on the Yukon. Wish you could be here for a hike, the only form of entertainment we have to offer. But when we get our boat, we shall be kings of all we survey.

      Love,

      Tetts

      April 2, 1932

      Dear Dump:

      Your letter with the bank statement, Book-of-the-Month News, and four books all came yesterday. Needless to say, I am delighted. Thanks for all your trouble. I don’t know what I would do without you. The Sherlock Holmes books are splendid. I have always wanted to read all of his, and I hoped they would send me Mr. and Mrs. Pennington. You see, I have time to read the book reviews, and so am able to keep up fairly well. I have read parts of Mary’s Neck and like it, so that is OK. However, I do not want all the novels. We are both rather serious readers. It isn’t often that Foster will even attempt a novel. He says it is a waste of time, but I would like Finch’s Fortune. I love the Whiteoaks books. And if you can get it, Kristin Lavrandsdatter, Then, Only Yesterday, The Doctor Explains, and Strange Animals I Have Known. I think that will do until the next bulletin comes. The trouble is, I want them all.

      Sorry to hear of your neuritis, and I do hope it is entirely gone. Couldn’t you get a substitute for a time and come up here for a rest? I am sure this wonderful air and scenery would smooth out all the pains. There are absolutely no distractions here, the calm and peace are unsurpassed, and the stillness would not hurt your ears as at Tanana. There is the wash of the surf, the call of wild ducks and seagulls, the whistle of the winds through mountain draws, and the tinkle of streams down mountainsides.

      I am sending you some film for printing, for yourself and the family. Of course, that means Mother and Nan, and be sure to pay for them out of the joint account. Three are taken from the mountain in back of us. The land opposite is Sitkalidak Island but doesn’t show the snow-capped mountains. Two pictures are of a bearskin hanging over a pole in a neighbor’s yard. In one, I didn’t get much of the head but the other seems to be all head. And one is of the beautiful little stream where we fished and berried last summer. These make good postcard-size enlargements, and I would get the enlargements if I were you, because they are too small to be seen well otherwise.

      Take the Admiral Evans, Pacific Steamship Company. It sails every two weeks from Seattle. Please send me a set of postcard enlargements, but only one from the mountaintop. The more I think of your coming up here, the more I see that you must. Not only because you would like to, but because you should. I am convinced this can get you well as nothing else can, and you probably will spend the money for doctors, anyway. I’ll wager Frank agrees with me. I am writing the steamship agent to send you a folder. The Watson, too, probably comes to Kodiak in the summer. Let us know in plenty of time and we’ll meet you in Kodiak.

      Come now.

      Tetts

       Two Alutiiq girls and a bearskin, Old Harbor, circa 1930s

      May 24, 1932

      Dear Dump:

      Foster came home from Kodiak last night bringing, not you as we had hoped, but your letter of April 25th. I told him to open that in Kodiak to make sure about you. We were delighted with its news, except, of course, the BIG DISAPPOINTMENT. I noted that you were to send the cancelled checks and new bulletin, but there were other things to read and see about, so I did not bother about it until later today, and there, oh joy, another letter from you. So we feel that we have had a feast.

      Your two books have not come yet, but I shall look for them eagerly. I have wanted to read both of them, especially Willa Cather’s. I must have been very vague about last month’s books. I DID get Mr. and Mrs. Pennington, long ago, and all the others right up to date. I take it Warden Lawes’s book is on the way, and you are right about that. I would not want to miss it. Sometimes the books are pretty wet, but that isn’t their fault. It is the sloppy seas on the way down from Kodiak.

      Yes, the shoes came, and I put them right on and have worn them steadily ever since. They are just right for the house, and will last me for years, so don’t bother with any more.

      No, my psychology did not work this time, not even with myself, because all along I have not once felt that you would be here, much as I would like to have you. We will concentrate now on you and Frank coming together sometime, and hope it will be soon. It is such good news that you are feeling like yourself again, and your letters sound like it.

      Many thanks for all your trouble with my affairs.

      Love,

      Tetts

      Etta and Foster’s success at their posts came to the attention of their supervisor at the Alaska Indian Service. In June, 1932, plans were made to transfer them to the isolated village of Kipnuk, 414 miles to the northwest on the Bering Sea. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, C. J. Rhodes, wrote: “Kipnuk is a new station being opened this fall. The building is in the process of construction at present. With reference to filling this position, Superintendent Garber wired, ‘Teachers for Kipnuk should sail via Tupper about August tenth. Please bear in mind complete isolation, difficult water supply, great destitution of Natives, and necessary Native health program in making your selection. Practical man whose wife is a nurse is the best combination for this place.’

      Mr. Jones has lived many years in Alaska and is familiar with the isolation and hardships which exist at such a village as Kipnuk. He has had some pharmacy training, he has a great deal of experience in the operation of gas engines and gas boats, and is a practical carpenter. Mrs. Jones is a graduate nurse as well as a teacher. She has taught successfully in our Service for several years. It is believed that Mr. and Mrs. Jones will be an admirable combination for this new school, and it is therefore recommended that they be transferred as recommended above. It would not be desirable to send to this station persons unfamiliar with Alaskan conditions and whose training and experience have been largely academic.”

      In a Letter of Justification from the Department of the Interior, Mr. Thomas wrote:

      “For the proposed transfer of Foster Jones from the position of teacher at Old Harbor to the position of teacher at Kipnuk, Alaska.

      The appropriation for Education of Natives of Alaska, 1931–1932, provided funds for the erection of a school building and teacherage at Cheechingamute, Alaska. The building material was purchased in Seattle and shipped with Cheechingamute as its destination. Due to difficulties of transportation it was not possible to get this material any farther than Kipnuk, at which point the material was landed. Kipnuk is a large Native village, and estimates had been submitted for the establishment of a school there for several years. Authority was therefore granted to erect the building at Kipnuk. The building is in the process of construction.

      The salaries of two teachers were provided for Cheechingamute in the appropriation act for 1932, but the positions have not hitherto been filled due to delay in endeavoring to get the building material to its original destination and in its construction at Kipnuk.

      There are at present thirty-four children