Ka.gun.da, George James Beck : Alaskan Pioneer Teacher, Missionary, Leader

Subtitle:Alaskan Pioneer Teacher, Missionary, Leader. Book portrays life in early Southeast Alaska as revealed in the work of George James Beck, who taught at the Sitka Training School from l895 to l912 and, after ordination, served until l936 as Presbyterian minister in Kake, Klukwan, Hoonah, and Ketchikan. At the school he harnessed energy first to mechanize wood sawing and later to bring electric lighting to school. In villages he organized governing bodies; tended the sick and dying under freezing conditions during l9l9 influenza epidemic; built hydro- electric dam, churches, and manses; manned the mission boat to carry his mission to isolated settlements, and served in as civilian chaplain in both World Wars. No wonder they called him ka.gun.da, Tlingit for "torch."