On March 13th, 1903, Dean Rice, newly arrived in Alaska, departed the mission and hospital in Circle by dogteam. He was accompanied and guided by the young Esias Joseph, who assured mission staff that he "knew his own country".
The trip proved to be difficult, with blizzards and
drifting snow on the summits and overflows on
the trails. They arrived in Fairbanks,
Wednesday, March 25th, and held the first church
services in the new camp the following Sunday.
The service was held in the Fairbanks Saloon
(located at the corner of today's 2nd and Lacey
Streets ) which closed for the occasion. They
returned to Circle several days later.
In 1921, Rice became Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Juneau and remained there until his retirement in 1944. Joseph later went on to become a prominent teacher and chief of his people. Dean rice is pictured above, upon his retirement, with his wife, Helen.