USA > Alaska > Alaska and the Klondike > Part 16
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XV
THE REINDEER INDUSTRY
A LASKA is not often thought of as a live-stock coun- try, and yet it has been the scene of a very in- teresting and very successful experiment in animal husbandry. I do not know whether the Rev. Shel- don Jackson is entitled to all the credit of having con- ceived the idea of importing domesticated reindeer from Siberia, but, as I understand it, he is entitled to the credit of having acted upon it, with results already important and destined in a short time to be very much more valuable not only to the Eskimo, in whose behalf this enterprise was undertaken, but to the white settlers as well.
The invasion of the northern seas by the whaling ship had driven the whale, the walrus and the seal so far from their accustomed haunts along the Alaskan shore that the natives were unable to pursue these sources of food and shelter and clothing in their frail hunting boats. The in- troduction of firearms and the use of them by the natives themselves in wasteful slaughter had driven so much of the game from western Alaska that every means of sub- sistence was failing rapidly. It was in view of this des- perate situation, and influenced by the fact that just across Bering Strait people of substantially the same charac- teristics were comparatively prosperous and well-to-do
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through reliance upon their reindeer herds, that the intro- duction of reindeer into Alaska was undertaken. The domesticated reindeer of Siberia and the wild caribou of Alaska are generically the same animal; but it was mani- festly easier to import the domesticated animal than to attempt to domesticate the wild one.
It was in 1891 that Mr. Jackson, thoroughly familiar with the conditions among the Eskimo by reason of his office as general agent of education in Alaska, obtained from the Government permission to use the revenue cutter Thetis for a trip to Siberia for the purchase of reindeer. The Government had been asked to make an appropria- tion for this purpose, but so little confidence was reposed in the scheme by those in authority that no public money was available. Private citizens, having confidence in Mr. Jackson's judgment and sympathy with the cause, fur- nished $2,000 with which to purchase reindeer. The next obstacle was to remove the objections of the Siberians themselves. While they were glad to obtain money or goods, they were reluctant to dispose of any of their animals. Social rank was determined largely by the num- ber of reindeer the individual possessed. It was like lower- ing one's dignity and standing in the community to sell his reindeer. And this obstacle was not overcome until the Thetis had cruised for 1,500 miles along the coast of Siberia, picking up a reindeer here and one there, until finally 16 were obtained and carried to Amaknak Island, in the Aleutian chain. The next year 171 were obtained and taken to Port Clarence; the first permanent reindeer
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Midday Rest of Reindeer Herd
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ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE
station was established, and named Teller Station. In later expeditions to buy reindeer, and through arrange- ments made with the Russian Government, reindeer were obtained as a loan, with the understanding that the same number were in the course of time to be returned.
There are said to be hundreds of thousands of square miles of what is known as reindeer moss in Alaska. This is a grey, hard, brittle form of vegetation which in the matter of consistency and palatableness ought to take high rank as a breakfast food. It is, however, a very nourishing plant, and upon this wild caribou feed in win- ter, the summer forage of the caribou as well as of the reindeer consisting of the green growth of grass and shrubs.
The imported reindeer, coming to conditions similar to those from which they had been brought, throve and mul- tiplied, demonstrating the practicability of stocking the plains and hills of Alaska with herds of this exceedingly useful animal. The Government in 1894, satisfied with the results accomplished, made an appropriation of $6,000 for the further development of the reindeer industry. Appropriations have been made annually ever since and in increasing amounts, until now they amount to $25,000, and the reindeer herds, which began 13 years ago with the first lot of 16, have increased to over 7,000. These animals are distributed in herds of various sizes from Point Barrow, the most northern habitation of the white man on the Arctic Ocean, to Bethel Mission, a thousand miles south at the mouth of the Kuskokwim.
Laps and Reindeer
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ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE
Of course, the Alaskan Eskimo, having never kept domesticated reindeer, had to be taught how to care for them. For this purpose the Government imported a num- ber of Laplanders and Finns, and also brought over for a short time several Siberians. As a rule reindeer stations have been established by the Government in connection with some church mission, for the existence of the mission implies the presence of an Eskimo village and a number of young Eskimo men from whom may be selected those best qualified for this work. The Eskimo serves an ap- prenticeship of five years as a herder in connection with some mission station, his wages consisting mainly of a certain number of deer set apart for him each year, so that at the end of his apprenticeship he may start in the reindeer business on his own account. The object of the Government in introducing this industry being to benefit the Eskimo and not the white man, it has forbidden the sale of female reindeer to any one but Eskimos, so that no others, for the present at least, may become possessed of reindeer herds.
Under this arrangement about sixty Eskimos have been started in business for themselves as owners of reindeer herds, and have been raised from a condition of depend- ence and poverty to comfort and comparative affluence.
The services which the reindeer renders are many and valuable. The reindeer supplies food; his pelt supplies clothing and shelter. The reindeer is a great success as a means of transportation, packing 150 to 200 pounds on his back, or hauling 500 pounds on a sled, and travelling
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THE REINDEER INDUSTRY
from 35 to 50 miles a day. The reindeer may be a source of revenue to his owner, who may sell his flesh in the market or sell his services as a means of transportation. At the same time, this commonly docile animal, capable also of great endurance, is practically self-supporting. He
Group of Laplanders in Alaska
will find his favourite food in winter under any depth of snow yet experienced in that country, and, turned loose from the sled after a long hard day's travel, will proceed to rustle for himself like the self-reliant fellow that he is. Those who have tested his capacity for work declare that he is much more useful than the dog or the horse, whose feed must be provided, since he is able to find subsistence
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ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE
for himself in almost every part of that country at all times of the year.
The flesh of the reindeer is equal to that of the wild caribou, or the deer, and scarcely inferior to the best American beef. A carcass is worth in the market of Nome from $40 to $60, while the reindeer, trained to the sled or the saddle, is ordinarily valued at $100 to $150. So it is apparent that from the financial standpoint the im- portation of domesticated reindeer into Alaska has al- ready proven a success.
But even if this were not true, the service which the reindeer herds of Alaska rendered in the winter of 1897 and 1898 in connection with the relief expedition to Point Barrow, led by Captain Jarvis, would justify the whole undertaking. It will be remembered that Captain Jarvis took several hundred head of reindeer from the reindeer stations around Norton Sound when he went to the relief of the imprisoned and famishing whalers, and saved the lives of scores of them by the relief which he brought and the regulations which he enforced. Two hundred and forty-six reindeer were slaughtered at Point Barrow that spring for the subsistence of the sailors, affording a kind of food essential to their health, brought on foot, and the only kind which could ever have been taken to their relief.
Several contracts have been made by the Government with owners of reindeer for transportation of the mails in winter, and their fitness for this service has been amply demonstrated.
Mary Andrewuk, Reindeer Rancher and Richest Native Woman in Alaska
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ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE
The Government has come to recognise the reindeer as a valuable contributor to the development of Alaska; it has made it a crime punishable by a fine of $50 to drive a reindeer away from a herd, and imposes imprisonment for not less than a year for stealing one of these animals. The reindeer have adapted themselves readily to condi- tions naturally favourable to them in Alaska. They are prolific, and the natural increase will soon stock all west- ern Alaska with hundreds of thousands of these useful and valuable animals.
So it appears that through the introduction of reindeer Alaska is destined to be supplied with an excellent sub- stitute for beef cattle, while the usefulness of the rein- deer as a means of transportation will add an important element of value to these herds. The skin of the reindeer, too, is capable of being converted into garments attractive in colour and finish, and likely to be popular in the fur markets of the country, while the less desirable skins will be used for shelter tents and other purposes.
At the same time the influence of this new industry upon the natives is likely to be of immense value. It will eventually convert many of them from a state of pauper- ism and mendicancy into independent, self-supporting men many grades higher in intelligence, health and comfort than before the reindeer became an institution on the Seward Peninsula. Indeed, the introduction of the rein- deer into Alaska is, in its possibilities, at least, the most important thing the Government has done for the material welfare of the natives of Alaska.
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MCCULLOCH
INDEX
INDEX
Agriculture, on upper Yukon, 34, 38, 78, 94; Holy Cross, 120; Copper River valley, 231 ; Sitka, 262; Tanana val- ley, 265 ; compared with Rus- sia, 270
Aleutian Islands, 194, 200 Andraefski, 124
Anvik, 117 Anvil Creek, 158
Arctic Brotherhood, 104 Arctic Circle, 40, 96
Baranof, Alex., 242 Bennett, Lake, 27 Bering Sea, 175 Bertholf, Lt. E. P., 85
Bompas, Bishop Wm., 28, 29
Bonanza Creek, 61 Boundary line, 27
Brady, Gov. John G., 258; as a gardener, 262
" Cache," the Alaska cellar, 1IO Call, Dr. S. J., 85 Cattle and sheep, 114, 214, 266 " Chee-cha-ko," 41
Circle City, 94 Clean-up, in Klondike, 64; Nome district, 164; Fair- banks, 312
Cleary Creek, 312
Climate, 15, 45, 235
Coal, 173, 242 Commerce, 1, 173
Commissioners, powers of, 102
Congdon, Commissioner Yukon Territory, 55
Copper, 229 Council City, 168 Curios, 130, 198, 246
Dawson, fare to, 32; seen from river, 39; routes to, 40; tele- graphs and newspapers, 41, 54, 76; population, 42, 44; shops, 44; public buildings, 45 ; latitude, 45 ; climate, 45 ; market prices, 46; schools, 49; amusements, 48; mid- night sun, 49; law enforce- ment, 50, 53, 54; paying in gold dust, 68 Delegate in Congress, 6, 252, 256
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INDEX
Discovery of Alaska, 175 Dogs in Alaska, 90 Downing, Ben, 87 Duncan, Father William, 12, 288 Dutch Harbour, 196
Eagle City, 76, 78, 92, 93 Eldorado Creek, 62 Eskimo-see Natives
Fairbanks, 44, 304; routes to, 307 ; market prices, 310; real- estate prices, 306; value of ore, 311 ; rich claims, 312 Finns, 320
Fisheries, 6; salmon output, 202, 212; methods, 203; packing, 204; spawning, 208; hatch- eries, 210; tax, 211; other fish, 202, 212 Forty-Mile, 39, 61, 76 Fox ranching, 216 Fort Egbert, 76, 78 Fort Gibbon, 116
Fort Yukon, 96, 99
Frost line, 112, 162
Fur seal, rookeries, 176; annual catch, 179; method of killing, 182; pelagic sealing, 187, 190; habits of seal, 187, 188; peculiar seal nomenclature, 188; poaching, 188, 191; sealing privilege, 192
Game laws, 282 Glaciers, Columbian, 217; Val- dez, 218; Malaspina, 240 Gold dust used as money, 68; values in Klondike, 69; Nome, 164; Fairbanks, 31I Gold output, Alaska, 154; Klondike, 74; Nome, 171; Fairbanks, 311; cost of, 172 Government of Alaska, 101, 260
Holy Cross, 119 Homestead claim, 269
Indians-see Natives " Inside passage," 9
Jackson museum, 108, 246 Jackson, Rev. Sheldon, 315 Japan current, 15 Jarvis, Capt. D. H., 82 Judiciary, government by, 10I Juneau, 16, 18
Kazhim, 131 Ketchikan, 12, 14
Klondike, discovery, 56, 58; character of gold, 64, 69; mining methods, 64; staking of claim, 70; output, 74 Kodiak, 213
Laplanders, 320 Lighthouse service, IO
329
INDEX
McCulloch, The, 135, 137 Mail facilities, 6, 78, 88, 171 Marble, 242 Mastodon, 112 Metlakahtla, 12, 288 Midnight sun, 49
Mining laws, 6; in Klondike, 70, 74; in Alaska, 166, 272; power of attorney, 272 ; com- pared with Yukon Ter., 274 Mining methods, in Klondike, 64; at Nome, 159, 160, 162; Fairbanks, 311
Mosquitoes, 118, 123 Mt. McKinley, 237 Mt. St. Elias, 237, 240 " Mushing," 88
Natives, origin, II ; graves, 119; habits, 130; social life, 131; dances, 134; on Seal Islands, 178; decimation, 276; treat- ment of, 278, 284; original condition, 280; food, 280; tribes, 284; citizens, 285; schools, 121, 285 ; hospitable, 296; obligation to, 298; ser- vice of reindeer, 324
Newspapers, 54, 169 Nome, 140; harbour, 142, 148, 171; description, 150; popu- lation, 152; social life, 154, 156; first strike, 157; water supply, 159; clean-up, 164;
government of, 169; gold output, 171; cost of output, 172
Northwest mounted police, 27, 31, 36, 51 ; recommended for Alaska, 54 Nulato, 116, 117
Opportunities, 4, 310, 313
Panning for gold, 64 Petroleum, 240 Political condition, 248 Population, 250
Potlatch, 131
Prices, 46, 170, 222, 224
Pt. Barrow relief expedition, 82 Purchase of Alaska, 3
Railways, 24; at Nome, 159; Valdez to Eagle, 218, 226, 228; profitable, 229; Seward to Tanana, 234
Rampart, 99
Reindeer, introduction, domesti- cated, 316; thriving industry, 318
Revenue cutter service, 136, 138 Roads, 6, 24, 56; need of, in Alaska, 220; Yukon Terri- tory, 220; effect on freights, 222; precursor of railroads, 231; government aid, 232, 261 ; cost of, in Alaska, 232; freights at Fairbanks, 308
330
INDEX
Royalty on Klondike gold, 69 Russia in Alaska, 124, 175, 242
St. Michael, 126 Salmon-see Fisheries
Schools, 121, 285, 286
Seattle, 6, 9
Senatorial committee, 5, 302
Sitka, 242, 245, 248
Skagway, 9, 22 " Sour Dough," 41
Sports, 48 Staking a claim, 70 Swineford, Ex-Gov., 15
Taxes, Yukon Ter., 56; in Alaska, 102, 260
Telegraph, 41, 76, 116, 117, 171,306
Telephone, 306
Territorial government, 6, 101, 248; home rule, 250; ob-
stacles, 250, 252 ; precedents, 255; objections, 259 Tin, 174 Treadwell mine, 16, 18
Unalaska, 195, 199
Valdez, 217, 219 Vancouver Island, 9
Wages, 310 . Whaling, 315
White Horse, 24, 31
White Pass, 21, 23, 26
Women in Alaska, 80, 156
Wood, Col. Z. T., 51
Wrangell, 16
Yukon River, travel on, 32; size of, 34; solitudes, 36; colour, 38; flats, 96; delta, I26 Yukon Ter., buildings, 45; organisation, 55; taxes, 56
M1614a
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67491
Title Alaska and the Klondike. Author Mclain, John Scudder
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