In one word, No! While they all had a common purpose—claiming homestead lands and carving out a life for themselves, they all were endowed with very individual personalities, ideas, and a rugged determination that defined them. Only strong characters would have ever looked for (and found) such an isolated area (with challenges too numerous to mention) in the first place. They pulled together to get common goals accomplished, partied to high heavens when they felt the need for human contact and socialization, and split ways, took sides, and quarreled when times and circumstances called for it.
Did they trust each other? Well, it wasn’t just a question of each other but of neighboring fishing villages as well. One day while in Juneau for just a few days, a group of Tlingit Indians looted Bill & May White’s house. Fortunately they were seen, and a local "posse" of Harry Hall and the Parker Brothers came swooping in on horses with guns. Retrieved were such items as windows and doors! At other times cattle were milked, and root cellars raided.
The Parker’s had there own way of handling valuables such as money, documents, tools, and other treasures. Cleverly disguised cubbyholes were built into walls, steps, attics, and floorboards of each homestead. And yes, sometimes it was because they did not trust each other! Several years ago when Stan Jarvis was conducting demolition on one of Charles Parker’s old buildings, packets of documents fell from the walls as he moved it to the burn pile, and ammunition secreted away all these years began exploding in the fire. One of those documents revealed Uncle Charlie’s distrust of those in charge of the post office whom he was sure was intercepting and "messing" with his mail!
According to some of the homesteader’s own tales there were numerous family jealousies that cropped up when some were perceived to fall into good fortune. Wild claims and accusations ensued. Some would lead to years of bitterness. Lester Rink & Harry Hall nursed a long-term grudge over their wild cattle that nearly led to bloodshed with the now infamous showdown of guns on either end of the Salmon River Bridge.
Then there was Harry Hall’s deathbed attempt in Juneau to reveal his money squirreled away at his homestead in Gustavus. But it was too late. In his feeble state the location could not be understood. Brother Jake was to get the money and Harry’s entire estate. All of Gustavus came together to take part in the biggest treasure hunt the Flats had ever known. After weeks without success, it was generally believed that Harry Hall had not been in his right mind after all.
After Jake’s death, James & Nora Chase purchased the Hall homestead (1943) for the sum of back territorial taxes Jake had neglected to pay. There behind a previously missed brick in the fireplace the mystery was solved! GHAA does not know the sum of the cache found. But it was reported to be as much or more than the back taxes the Chase’s paid in what would become the luckiest transaction in Gustavus real estate history!
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