Wikisource:WikiProject Film/Drafts/Archives/The Chechahcos

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File: The Chechahcos (1924).webm

Author: Lewis Hembree Moomaw

Publisher: Alaska Moving Picture Corporation

Year: 1924

PD: PD-US|1980|film=yes

Note: A 1924 American silent adventure drama film about the gold rush days in the Klondike, and the first full-length motion picture filmed entirely in Alaska. It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress.

Cat: Adventure film, Silent film


00:01

THE ALASKA MOVING PICTURE
CORPORATION
Austin E. Lathrop, President
PRESENTS
"THE CHECHAHCOS"
(The new comers)
Made entirely in Alaska
Pathe, Physical Distributor


00:14

Story and Direction by
LEWIS H. MOOMAW
Production Mgr. GEORGE ED. LEWIS
Sets and Lighting GUERNEY HAYS
Photographed by
HOBORT BROWNELL and
RAYMOND JOHNSON


00:25

A  White Dominion—lonely—unfathomable—


00:50

Glaciers are great mountains of ice—impassible—constantly pushing toward the water's edge where tremendous blocks, millions of tons in weight, sluf off with a sickening roar——


01:05

It was a whisper that echoed "'round the world" and started an epochal stampede. Fired with the faith of fools, thousands poured madly into the treasure trail.


01:49

Everything had to be packed. A bank clerk carried his pen, a barber carried his chair, but if you were a boiler maker——?


02:25

To lengthen this human chain, ill-chosen ships sped northward in 1897 with their cargoes of eager Chechahcos.

[Note: "Chechahcos" an Alaskan word meaning tenderfoot.]


03:14

"Stow the family album, Dad, and think about the fortune you're going to take back."


03:41

"Horseshoe" Riley—an old timer around mining camps, who hated two things—women were both of them.

… William Dills


03:52

Bob Dexter——An adventure-craving young engineer who was due to have that craving glutted to the limit.

… Albert Van Antwerp


04:01

BAR


04:06

"Them lambs handle a pan like they was mixin' a drink—they'd be lucky to find gold in a mint."


04:18

Goto-Dust


04:30

"I'm goin' to grab a grubstake, teachin' them the A. B. C.'s of gold pannin'."


05:07

"Sure it's gold—the kind you're goin' through hell for."


05:59

Mrs. Stanlaw and her child had been swept along with the mad fever that had overtaken her husband, a young college professor.

… Miss Eva Gordon
… Baby Margie


06:33

"One would think them jays was already millionaires, the way they're spendin' money on them painted biddies."


06:51

"—and when there glaciers moved on, they left the gold exposed. It only remains for us to pick up the larger nuggets and return home."


07:15

"Careful, son—they'll all trim you if they get the chance."


07:28

"Would you please tell my husband I'd like to see him."


08:39

"She's awful. Let's get the professor's wife to sing again."


08:55

STEWARD


09:13

In those frenzied times speed meant more than human life.


09:51

"She's got all the steam she can stand."


10:25

♪ "Mid pleasures and palaces tho' we may roam—" ♪


10:55

♪ "—be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." ♪


11:12

"She's the professor's wife."


11:17

Richard Steele was one man going North who didn't expect to dig his fortune from the ground.

… Alexis B. Luce


11:36

"Come on, old kid, give us a lively tune for a change!"


13:24

S. S. RELIANCE


14:39

"I wouldn't be scared if my mama was here."


14:51

Marine history of that Northern coast is rife with the tales of disastrous wrecks.


15:04

But the survivors all joined the eager army at Chilcoot Pass where they pressed on to a blizzard-beaten crest.


15:35

There was only one who would have gladly turned back except for an insistent yearning.


16:10

"If the young engineer is alive our best chance to find him is at Lake Bennett."


16:32

It was not in the gambler's plans to tell Mrs. Stanlaw that her baby was being sheltered in the very camp they were leaving.


17:28

MAMA


18:05

"Riley, it's kind of nice to be a—a mother."


18:20

Being a "mother", however, has its trying moments. Riley was glad little Ruth wasn't "twins".


19:48

Beaver Camp marked the first lap on the way to the Klondike.


20:16

"This is Pierre's cabin—we'll stay over here."


21:20

A good-night kiss.


22:00

"How can I ever thank you for your kindness?"


22:06

"By permitting me to call you—"


22:14

"Margaret."


23:48

The "Chilcoot" was ruthless—it dared the strong and crushed the weaklings.


24:33

"Got his feet froze up at Beaver——and don't know yet they're got to come off."


25:01

"Saw the kid's mother with that gambler Steele, but didn't get a chance to talk to her."


25:36

"Riley, if that mother is on ahead, it's our duty to find her."


25:48

"Maybe so—but it's darn funny she's gallivantin' around with a tin-horn gambler."


25:58

"We're not sure of that——"


26:09

After "mushing" the trail for eighteen hours.


26:41

"Wait here 'til I find a warm place for the kiddie."


27:47

"Sorry I disturbed you and your lady friend—"


27:57

"Huntin' quarters for the night—reckon I came to the wrong place."


28:17

"It's too bad we have to travel with that scurvy crowd."


28:53

"Margaret—you need someone to protect you against it all——you need me!"


29:06

Winter made its sullen retreat—the ice in the Yukon moved down to the sea.


29:51

And the reindeer came up to browse along the warm slopes of Mt. McKinley.

Note: This is the first filming of Mt. McKinley, highest peak in North America.


30:31

The eager army converged on the shores of Lake Bennet, building crude boats that were to carry them to the "Eldorado of their Dreams".


31:07

W6X
Ruth


31:19

KEEP IN A
COOL-DRY PLACE


31:57

"She's ready—and some boat, too."


32:04

"Yep! But God help some of them poor devils—they think they're buildin' boats when they're only buildin' coffins."


32:30

SALT


33:55

Sour-dough bread, bacon, beans, rice and hard-tack was the menu, when you put in your stomach what you packed on your back.


34:14

"I'll give her plenty! Do you want her to grow up to be a midget?"


35:07

"Them beans certainly add a nice flavor to the salt."


35:24

Across the lake and down through the treacherous White Horse Rapids——a death trap to many a goldlured Chechahcos.


36:35

Riley finally did some plain talking to his young partner.


36:44

"You must be wrong—"


36:50

"Maybe—but I saw a plenty that night at Beaver Camp."


37:12

"And we've been trailing her like a pair of sapheads when she didn't give a—"


37:38

Of the many who harkened to that "Whisper" only the few were chosen to reap. With the years the makeshift gold-pan gave way to the hydraulic mining—"Alaska was discovered".


38:01

Dexter and Riley had named their mine "The Golden Girl", for the girl more precious to them than all the yellow dust on the Bonanza——


38:50

The dozen years in the open had scarcely changed the partners. But Ruth had grown to sweet young womanhood.


39:43

"Pretty good for a couple of sour-doughs."


39:50

"Heap big talk——little do."


40:19

Ruth.

… Gladys Johnston


41:21

The land lay beneath its white coverlet, and the crisp air welcomed its lovers to the open…


42:45

"I'm glad you're back. Bob's inside, frettin' his life away."


43:04

"The poor calf's been tryin' to tell me all day. Go in an' show him how it's done, child."


43:55

"No longer your little girl, but your—"


44:19

"You gettum papoose—me taken care of."


44:26

Where the creek showed pay dirt a town grew nearby. Such was Mason, nine hours by dog-team from the "Golden Girl Mine".


44:49

The Dance Hall was a part of a gold-born town—it served both for business and pleasure.


45:04

No longer were they Chechahcos, for the breath of the Yukon has transformed them into lonely sour-doughs, eager to taste the wine of happiness.


45:29

A man, known as "Cold Steele", had lately acquired the "Miner's Rest".


46:21

Steele, recognizing Dexter, saw trouble looming.


46:32

"Get these supplies and load the sled."


47:16

"They call her the 'Nightingale'—she just came in with the new owner."


48:20

"The drinks are on you, boys."


48:53

"To the Nightingale!"


49:07

Dance Hall girls received their pay in percentage checks for inducing men to buy drinks and dances. Ten drunks made it a profitable evening.


49:47

"You remember me——please came where we can talk."


50:06

Mrs. Stanlaw told her story—it was not all pretty—yet there was a tragic note in her recital which troubled Dexter's conscience.


50:21

"I couldn't believe my baby was——was drowned—I wanted to stay——"


50:31

"What else was left for me to do?"


50:37

"Just tell me she is alive——"


50:55

"If I told you she was—what then?"


51:04

"Oh, I love my baby—I'd do anything—I'd promise never to see her."


51:21

"When we learned you were with—him—we told her you were——dead."


51:39

"Don't worry—I'm not trying to steal your woman."


51:51

"So it was you who knifed me on the boat! I've got a hunch that rumpus isn't finished yet!"


52:37

"Pierre ees good hand with dogs—you give me job?"


52:45

"We'll start soon as the supplies are ready."


53:13

A woman of the Dance Halls.


53:19

Came a blinding blizzard with the remperature sixty below…


54:44

"You save my life so I tell you—Meester Steele he hire me to keel you——"


54:52

"Tell the skunk I'm coming back to thank him!"


55:41

"Don't worry, Honey—Bob's mushed through worse storms than this."


57:29

"I've got to get warm."


57:34

"Sure—Minnie's bringing enough coal oil to thaw the chill out of an iceberg."


58:24

Throughout a long Arctic night, fighting that demon which chills the bone and cooks the flesh—Frost.


59:02

With the morning came relief and the story of the meeting with Ruth's mother.


59:22

"I thought about it out in the snow——would she have gone with him if she'd had her child."


1:00:19

"Figurin' from what you've said, Bob, I'm thinkin' we might have made a mistake."


1:00:33

"Maybe I should have investigated more the time I found her with the gambler at Beaver Camp."


1:01:38

"Zee storm et get him jus' same, 'cause I find zee dogs."


1:02:02

"The next time you muddle things——remember!"


1:02:19

A cry from the spirit—that hour when man must face the tribunal of conscience.


1:02:46

"God forgive me, if I've done what ain't right!"


1:03:03

The Mail Carrier.


1:03:59

promise. To Know that
my little Ruth lives
has given me courage.
I am leaving Mason
so that she may
never learn the
fate of
Her Unhappy Mother.


1:04:24

"She's going out to the Sates and says to give these to the girls."


1:05:37

"So you're going to leave me because you found out about your brat."


1:05:46

"Yes! You cheat! Liar! You've known where she was all these years."


1:06:11

"—and here's something to tell that engineer——you're mine—and going to stay mine!"


1:06:28

On a pretext of mining business, Dexter and Riley depart for the town of Mason.


1:08:38

"The Miner's Rest" claimed the street crowd, for the "Nightingale" was singing her farewell song.


1:09:27

It was a mother's call that echoed to the girl—her mother—alive—and then a panic haste to reach her before it was too late.


1:10:59

"I'll look after her——you attend to Steele—"


1:11:57

A short cut to the dangerous glacier trail.


1:15:12

"Me an' my pardner have talked it all over."


1:15:37

"So you've come back to thank me, eh?"


1:15:43

FIRE


1:15:46

And nothing to fight it with but snow!


1:16:08

"By the time you're well toasted, I'll be out on the Dyea trail."


1:16:41

Fear hastens Steele's get-away.


1:17:03

Dexter rushes for his dogs.


1:17:18

The first flush of Dawn found Dexter hanging grimly to Steele's trail, determined to bring him to justice.


1:18:35

Lost——dazed——unaware of the danger in venturing onto the glacier.


1:22:07

Steele makes for the glacier edge where he believes Dexter will fear to follow.


1:23:30

Crashing, crumpling, roaring—an ever moving mass of ice.


1:26:50

The End
Alaska Moving Pictures Corporation
Anchorage, Alaska