Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1923 · page 43 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #44 — page 43: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a poem titled "The Kobuk Maiden," submitted from Nome, Alaska to *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a satirical magazine. The poem is humorously "smokehouse poetry"—crude, folksy verse about frontier life in Alaska during the gold rush era. The narrative depicts a Native Alaskan woman and a fastidious prospector who falls for her despite cultural and hygiene differences. The satire lies in the contrast: he's "fastidious" at home but becomes accustomed to her "sweet peculiar smell" and igloo's uncleanliness for love. The repeated refrain about the Kobuk River provides mock-poetic gravitas to an otherwise comedic tale of frontier romance and cultural clash. The framing note satirizes the remoteness of Alaska—mail takes months—and reader submission culture, poking gentle fun at both the author's earnest contribution and the magazine's willingness to publish amateur verse from distant subscribers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 43 Smokehouse Poetry (The following dash of poetry, “The Kobuc Maiden,” comes to the Whiz Bang farm from far off Nome, Alaska: “If this meets your approval and you decide to give it space in Whiz Bang, do not forget to fire a copy in this direction to the author of this letter. It takes months to get my mail from the outside and we miss the Whiz Bang in between times.—(Signed)—Northwesterly Yours.” The letter is dated October 25th, Nome, Alaska, post-marked December 1st and was received by Captain Billy January 26th.) “The Kobuk Maiden” Where the sun shines bright at midnight all through the month of June, Where the winter’s sun sheds twilight on the snow and ice at noon, Lived a dusky dark-eyed maiden; and her heart was free from care, And she thought not of the morrow as she ate her salmon rare. Her hands and feet were dainty; she could sing the mission psalms; But a little soap and water would have added to her charms. She could run before her dog team and laugh with childish glee; And the waters of the Kobuk rippled onward toward the sea. When the Kotzebue excitement brought a crowd of miners there, There was one young man among them, with blue eyes and sorrel hair. He was smitten with the maiden, and he was often seen Hanging ’round her little igloo (which was not so very clean). At home he was fastidious, ’twould be difficult to tell How he became accustomed to that sweet peculiar smell. He bought her flour and bacon,—sugar beans and lots of tea; And the waters of the Kobuk rippled onward toward the sea. When the sun came back in summer, and the winter’s storms were spent,