Chapter 5, Alatna and Chapter 6, Eklutna Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 5, Sidney travels upriver with his father to Alatna, where his father has a trading post with John Evans. They travel in John Evans' impressive riverboat, captained by his son Charlie. They make many stops along the way, including one at Sidney's mother's grave. In the village of Hughes, Sidney sees his grandmother again. As they travel, people help get the boat over shallow riffles in the river. At one point, local Indians pole a canoe up the river to get twenty men to help the boat across a shallow area, and finally they arrive at Alatna, home of another Episcopal mission.

At Alatna, Sidney learns that his father is a good cook and a sober man, prone to worry. Sidney goes to school and begins to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic...