An article in the 8/18/1924 issue of the Anchorage Times relates the death of Jess Wickersham who was killed by his common-law Native wife on 8/16/1924 at a cabin about two miles above Chickaloon on the Chickaloon River. If the census records are correct about his wife's age, she would have been only about 20 when the shooting took place.

The article says that the woman reported that she had been originally attacked by Mr. Wickersham on July 4th. She told him at that time she would not allow him to beat her again. On August 16, Mr. Wickersham, who was drunk, started to attack the woman with a sheaf knife.  After being cut on her hands, she shot her husband with a .32 Savage automatic three times.  One shot grazed the left side of his head, the second shot entered the neck and lodged in his spine and the third shot entered his hip.  Lee Harrison contacted the Deputy Marshal, Frank Hoffman, and told him of the shooting.

A coroners jury  produced a verdict saying that Jess Wickersham had been killed by gunshot wounds at the hands of his common-law wife.  The body was taken to Chickaloon and placed on the railroad speeder car and sent to Anchorage.  The Marshall found a still at the cabin, that was not in use, as well as four gallons of moonshine, both were destroyed immediately.

The newspaper article gives a brief description of Jess Wickersham.  He was reportedly well known in Anchorage and the surrounding territory and was about 48 years old. He was a veteran of the Spanish American war.  The newspaper reported that he had wealthy relatives in Arkansas. Mr. Wickersham was survived by his common law wife and their three children, the oldest one being 2 and the youngest being 6 months.

The Native woman was arrested and brought to Anchorage and lodged in the federal jail, along with her youngest child. She was to face a grand jury for the shooting.  Jess C. Wickersham was buried at the Anchorage Cemetery.

NOTE:  The article does not say who the Native woman is. I feel fairly certain that the woman was Anne (Nicolai) Wickersham (who later married Lee Harrison). I searched the Anchorage criminal files for 1924 and found no mention of a trial, so I'm assuming that she was not charged with a crime.

Jess. C. Wickersham's birth date (according to his WWI draft registration papers) was 10/13/1883 and his next of kin is listed as: relatives Yellville, Marion County, Arkansas.

Annie (Nicholai) Wickersham married Lee Harrison, son of Waburn A. and Sarah Harrison.  According to the 1900 US Federal Census for Stillwater Co. Montana, Waburn Harrison (I've found more than one spelling for Waborn) was born in September of 1836 in Canada and came to the United States in 1864.  His wife Sarah (also spelled Sary on some older records) was born in March of 1849 in New York. Their oldest son Lee Harrison, was born in 1873 in Minnesota. He had 2 brothers: Delbert D. Harrison born 1872 in Montana and Cecil P. Harrison born 1878 in Montana. This Harrison family lived in Lower Yellowstone and White Beaver, Galatin County, Montana in 1880. In 1900 and 1910, the family lived in Sweetgrass, Stillwater County, Montana. Lee Harrison registerd for the WWI draft in 1918. Those records give his birth date as February 14, 1873 and his occupation as miner for the Alaska Engineering Commission. Those papers list Mr. Harrison's brother Cecil as his next of kin living in Gray Cliff, Montana. About 1926, Lee Harrison married Annie (Nicholai) Wickersham, they had 5 children. Present day Tribal Chief, Gary Harrison is Lee and Annie's grandson.
 
 

1930 Chickaloon      (census taken December 1929)
Balanger, George 35 Canada  Miner
Harrison, Lee 55    father born U.S.A.  mother born in California
Harrison, Anne 23 Aleut
Harrison, Helen 7  Step-daughter             Aleut mix
Harrison, Beebe 6 Step-daughter             Aleut mix
Harrison, Charles 4 Step-son                     Aleut mix
Harrison, Anne 2 Step-daughter                 Aleut mix
 
 
 

1939 Sutton and Chickaloon
Corey, Jack J. 40 Head  White
Corey, Olga J. 33 Wife   Indian
Corey, Herbert 9 (son) Mixed
Corey, Elsie 7 (daughter) Mixed
Corey, Danny 1 (son) Mixed

Stickman, Walter 65 Head  Indian
Stickman, Ivan 8(son) Indian
Stickman, Bessie 2 (daughter) Indian
Stickman, Louise 16 (step-daughter) Indian

Harrison, Lee 56 Head                                         White
Harrison, Annie N. 34 Wife                                  Indian
Harrison, Angeline 13 (daughter)
Harrison, Raymond 8 (son)
Harrison, Shirley 6 (daughter)
Harrison, Albert 4 (son)
Harrison, Annabel 2 (daughter)
Wickersham, William 15 (step-son)
Wickersham, Kathraine 17 (step-daughter)
Wickersham, Jessie 14 (step-daughter)

Goodlataw, Mary Head 37 widow                         Indian
Goodlataw, Paul 13 (son)                                      Mixed
Goodlataw, Bert 2 (son)                                         Mixed
Goodlataw, Infant 5 months (son)                         Mixed

1939 Knik and Goose Bay
Yakashoff, Mike 59 Head                                 Indian
Yakashoff, Mary 38 Wife                                 Indian
Yakashoff, William 19 (step-son) Indian
Yakashoff, Jennie 17 (step-daughter) Indian
Yakashoff, Andrew 15 (step-son) Indian
Yakashoff, Mike 9 (son) Indian
Yakashoff, Felix 8 (son) Indian
Yakashoff, Ruth 4 (daughter) Indian
Yakashoff, Susan 3 (daughter) Indian
Yakashoff, Annie 1 (daughter) Indian

Stephan, Nick 55 Head                                     Indian
Stephan, Dalia 41 Wife                                     Indian
Stephan, Pauline 15 (daughter) Indian
Stephan, Matrona 10 (daughter) Indian
Stephan, Robert 4 (son) Indian
Stephan, Nicholi 1 (son) Indian
Stephan, Galena 14 (step-daughter) Indian
Stephan, Hattie 10 (step-daughter) Indian
Stephan, Virginia 8 (step-daughter) Indian
Stephan, Eva 6 (step-daughter) Indian
Nakita, Richard 17 (step-son) Indian

Wasilla, Theodore 62 Head                             Indian
Wasilla, Katie 19 Wife                                     Indian
Wasilla, Herbert 4 (son) Indian
Wasilla, Harry 1 (son) Indian
Wasilla, Mike 21 (step-son) Indian

Theodore, William 24 Head                             Indian
Theodore, Alice 17 Wife                                Indian
Theodore, Elsie 1 (daughter) Indian

Elliott, Charles G. 43 Head                                 White
Elliott, Edna E. 46 Wife                                     White
Elliott, Ruthelyn 19 (daughter) White
Elliott, Charles W. 7 (son) White
 

1941 Letter from W.E. Austin  regarding Native population at Susitna Station
Bureau of Indian Affairs Census taker W.E. Austin wrote a letter stating that there was only one Native family living at Susitna Station in 1941, all other Susitna Station Natives had moved to Tyonek to get their children into the school there.
Only people living at Susitna Station were:
Barbul, Nicolai    adult   born at Susitna  full blooded indian
Stephan, Mattie   adult   born at Susitna  full blooded indian
Nicolai, Nick       child approximately age 6  full blooded indian

This family lived in a 12'  x  14' cabin and they owned a canoe.

Palmer Area Alaska Natives:
I found a letter  dated 1/29/1945 written by  Dr. Hoehn, a physician in the area at that time.
It was titled : Report on Natives in the vicinity of Palmer, here is what it said:

1. Eli and Mrs. Howard live in Palmer and I believe they are Eskimo's. He is 29 years old and she is about 26. Mr. Howard
works for the Alaska Road Commission. They are self supporting, keep a nice home and are very desirable people.

2.Mrs. Olga (Grandma) Ezi, the mother and grandmother of all of the Ezi's around here and Eklutna, lives at Matanuska.
She is very old - probably about 70. I do not know very much about her.

3. Bobby Prince of Matanuska is about 28 years old and works for the railroad.

4. Mr. and Mrs. Charlie (her name is Gravia) Roussau  live at Matanuska and he works for the railroad now and then.  She had a baby on 4/5/1944 and has been in to see me several times.

5. Johnny Toughluck living at Caswell is married to a Native woman who already had several children. The seven year old child is not able to walk or talk.

6. Joe Chilligan of Houston has two children by his first wife who are not at Eklutna.  He is married to a Stephan girl and they had a child born in the summer of 1943.

7. Mr. & Mrs. Ruf Stephan, the parents of a large family of children whom I shall refer to several times in this letter as the Stephans.  He works for the railroad in the summer time.   The only girl left at home is Doris age 14. The daughter Jessie age 6 is at the El Nathan Home in Valdez.

8. Theodore Wasilla, age 72, lives about four miles from Wasilla on the Knik Road.  His wife Katie (Stephan) Theodore is 24. They have three children.

9. Nick Stephan (Ruf's brother) lives at Knik and has a large family of children.  One of the girls, Madrona, age 12 is living with the Jack Larsen family.  I think that the rest of the children are living at Knik.  Nick is about 40 and his wife Dalia is about 35.  Nick used to work on the railroad but has not been well for about 3-4 years.

10. Mr. & Mrs. Bailey Theodore also live at Knik. They have about six children. They seem to be quite nice people and I think they take care of themselves very well.

11.Mr. & Mrs. Shaginoff and their three children live at Chickaloon. The oldest boy, Paul Goodlataw is in the Palmer hospital. John works for the A.R.C. and keeps quite a good house.

12. The Jack Corey family live on the highway near Chickaloon. Jack is a white man and makes his living hunting and trapping as well as acting as a guide. He is sort of a foster father to all the abandoned Native children in the district. I don't know how many children they have but probably there are eight or ten.  I don't know how many of these children are Jack's but I do know that the oldest two were her children before Jack married her, and I believe the next three are his own. However, I think the others are foster children - some of them Harrison or Wickersham children, the younger brothers and sisters of the Louis Harrison that you have at Eklutna.

13. Mrs. Wickersham married Mr. Harrison and she had a large number of children.  She is now deceased and the little children were taken by the Corey family and I think they are still there.  There are four Wickersham girls between the age of 25-30.  Three of them as far as I know are very nice girls and have married and are keeping good homes. One is Mrs. Jack (Helen) Larson. They have four children and live at Buffalo Coal Mine where Jack works.  Helen was in the hospital for several months.  Jack is a full Native and they keep a good home.

14. Mrs. Jack Wade, a sister, is married to a white man who works at Buffalo Coal Mine. They have one child with another due in a few months.  Their boys name is Lawrence. They keep a good home.

15. Another married Wickersham girl lives in Anchorage but I do not know her name.  I have heard that they are nice people.

16. The fourth Wickersham girl is married to a man in the Marines.  I do not recall her name at present time. She lives in Anchorage also.

17. At Sutton about 20 miles on the Glenn Highway from Palmer lives old Mr. Stickman.  He is almost totally blind and is helped by his 14 year old dwarfed son.

18. Near Jack Corey lives an old Native, Frank Nicolai, who is about 70 years old.

19. Mr. and Mrs. Pete (Annie Stump) Stephan live at Montana Creek. He is 30 years old and she is 18. They have one child, a boy age 6 months. He works for the railroad and they paid their own hospital bill.

20. Bill and Lucy Ezi live at Montana Creek. She is 32 years old and he is about 40. I believe they have 5 children.
 

Anchorage Times: 3/1/1921 page 5
Dr. J.B. Beeson reports the death this morning of a Native woman known as "Chickaloon Mary".  The deceased has been an inmate of the government hospital for two months. Death was due to consumption.