The Salesman

He was the best salesman north of the Arctic Circle, they said, and they were right. Yukon Will was his name, and he could sell anything to anybody.
When Seward bought Alaska from Russia, it was his great-grandpa that closed the deal. Will inherited the family talent.
He made a comfortable living for years, selling refrigeration equipment to the Inuit. Yep: iceboxes to Eskimos. But they loved him for it.
When he died, they carved his image on the base of a wooden pillar. “Who’s that?” people ask, and I answer:
That’s Willy – Lo Man on the totem pole.