USA > Alaska > Alaska: its history and resources, gold fields, routes and scenery > Part 4
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CHAPTER V.
FISHERIES.
THE fish industry of Alaska is destined to assume immense proportions.
Upon the authority of Professor Bean, of the United States Fislı Commission, more than one hundred va- rieties of fish are found in the Alaskan waters. Sal- mon, ranking first in im- portance, is found in great numbers in the streams from the lower extremity of South- east Alaska to the Arctic ocean. The most favored varieties are those known as the red or silver salmon, weighing from eight to twelve or fifteen pounds each, and the king salmon often weigh- ing as high as fifty pounds. The latter variety is found only in a few localities in Southeast Alaska and in the Yukon, many miles above its mouth. It is said that specimens have been caught weighing over one hundred and twenty pounds.
The first salmon cannery in Alaska was erected in 1878, and at the present time there are thirty-six, most of them are in operation each season.
The growth of this industry was extremely rapid, canneries being constructed at a cost of from fifty thousand to one hundred and twenty thousand dollars each. Enormous profits gave rise to much speculation, but it was found that the supply of canned salmon when the canneries were riin at their fullest capacity was too great for the demand.
In 1892, a combination or trust was formed, which resulted in closing down several canneries, but the owners came into a gen-
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ALASKA.
eral pool and received a pro rata interest in the proceeds arising from the packs of the canneries in operation. Some of these can- neries have a capacity of from forty thousand to sixty thousand cases each year, and when it is understood that a single case contains four dozen one pound cans, and that in the year 1889 the combined pack of all the canneries was nearly seven hundred thousand cases, an idea can be formed of the vast number of salmon caught.
It is unusual for more than one establishment to be found on any salmon stream, but at Karluk, on the northwest side of Kadiak island, a small stream not exceeding sixty feet wide at its mouth, there are five canneries, and the salmon seem inex- haustible. The river at its mouth, and for a long distance out into the salt water, during the spawning season, when the salmon are on their way to the lakes above for the purpose of depositing their eggs, seems to be fairly swarming with these fish. They fill the water to such extent as to almost dam it up, and those below, in their eagerness to ascend the river, crowd those on top so that their fins and part of their body are exposed to view. The first season I beheld the sight I thought an appropriate name would be the "River of Life."
While it will not be fair to charge these canning companies with being directly antagonistic to the settlement and develop- ment of Alaska, it is true that their influence has always been exerted in that direction. It has been the practice of these cor- porations to bring all their help from outside the territory. Not only are their fishermen brought from the Pacific coast States, but the entire canning force- and each establishment employs from forty to seventy-five men- are Chinamen. There are two exceptions, however, where the natives do most of the work of canning salmon, namely, at Klawak and New Metlakaltla.
It requires no special skill to catch salmon, yet it has been the custom of these canneries to bring white men into the country ill the spring, for the purpose, and take them back to their home when the fishing season ended. It has been also the practice to pay the inen for their season's work after they have reached their homes, thus, not only taking the product of the streams away without paying a dollar for it, but depriving the territory of the benefit resulting from the labor therein, whichi would con- tribute in 110 small way to the support and upbuilding of the country. If these industries would employ white men altogether
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(CMaring 515 :
KARLUK SAND SPIT AND "RIVER OF LIFE."
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FISHERIES.
it would bring into the country many who might identify them- selves with it in some way, during the months the canneries are idle. Again, in the packing of salted salmon, the interests of the country are not considered. Fully seven thousand barrels, each weighing two hundred pounds, are prepared for the market each year.
In the preparation of salmon an enormous quantity of boxes are used, but the sawmills of the territory are not patronized. For the material is imported and the boxes are put together as they are needed, though they might be manufactured in the coun- try of as good quality of timber, at less cost, than they are fur- nished under the present system.
Southeast Alaska is covered with a dense growth of spruce, hemlock and cedar, which should be a source of income and a means of employment for a large number of men, but it is lying dormant because one of the great industries of the territory does not deem it proper to encourage manufactures within its borders.
The liberty these canneries take in catching fish without re- striction is a feature of this subject which is liable to be of great importance to the people who will in time inhabit Alaska, as well as to the many thousands of natives, who have, from the earliest periods, subsisted upon fish food. Restriction should have been imposed upon them a number of years ago. Some of the can- neries have erected traps at the mouths of the different streams, and few salmon are permitted to escape. It will not be.difficult to understand, therefore, that in a few years streams thus ob- structed must become exhausted, unless some means are adopted to prevent this wholesale destruction.
Two years ago Congress passed a bill forbidding the construc- tion of traps, and sending officers into the territory to execute the law, but failing to make an appropriation, of course the law was inoperative.
Alaskan codfish industry promises to become extensive in the near future. Cod are found in large quantities along the Aleutian chain of islands, as far west as the Alexandria archipelago, and in a general way they may be said to exist along the whole south- ern coast of Alaska.
In the vicinity of the Kadiak group of islands, and still further south to the Simeonoff, and at the Shumagin group, about the islands of Magipopf and Unga, cod are found in great abundance. In Bering sea, towards the lower Siberian shore, they are also
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ALASKA.
found in large quantities. Two San Francisco firms are the only parties engaged in the catching and shipment of cod at the pres- ent time, but they seem to have developed the business sufficiently to meet the demand, for they have a number of vessels each season employed in the traffic. The manner of fishing is usually from dories. The fishermen are paid at the rate of $25 for every thousand fish caught, and they are to measure at least twenty- six inches in length. If smaller fish are accepted, say measuring from twenty-four to twenty-six, two fish are counted as one. So it will be seen, that these fish are caught with considerable ease and in great quantities, in order to pay the fishermen $50 per month, the amount they expect to make from the cruise.
Next in importance to the cod ranks the halibut, which is found in vast quantities in the waters of the inland canal, among the more shallow waters of the North Pacific, and in some por- tions of Bering sea. They often weigh two hundred or more pounds, and one of the pleasures of tourists is catching these fish from the deck of the steamer while lying at some station.
The halibut is a staple article of diet, both fresh and dried, with the natives, and it is said that the Alaskan halibut will compare favorably, if they do not excel, those caught on the Atlantic coast.
A fishing concern in Sitka has recently put up a limited amount of smoked halibut, and it has proven a most delicious article of food. Very little effort has yet been made to force the sale, but the curing of halibut in this way may ultimately prove one of the leading industries of this country.
There are immense schools of herring in most of the inland waters or estuaries of Alaska, and they too form an important element of the food supply of the natives. The greatest supply is found at Killisnoo, on the west side of Admiralty island, where, some twelve years ago, the largest fish oil plant in the world was erected. Herring are caught by means of seins, and a single haul of twenty-five hundred barrels has been taken. After the oil is pressed from the fish, the refuse is put up as a fertilizer and shipped, principally to the Sandwich islands.
The oolikon or candle fish are also found in the inland chan- nels, and in some localities of the North Pacific coast They are a species of smelt, and are about eight inches long and almost round. They are so oily, that after being dried, they can be lighted and will burn completely up, throwing a glare like a
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FISHERIES.
candle, as their name implies. The natives use these fish in greater numbers perhaps than any other variety. When boiled, they have a delicious flavor and are tender and delightfully sweet. The oil is considered a rare delicacy by the natives, and quite an industry is carried on among those living in localities far remote from this fish supply.
Most of the varieties of fish found on the Pacific coast, together with clans, mussels, and crabs, are found in great abundance in all the waters of Alaska, but oysters do not exist, probably on account of the low temperature of the water.
The species of whale known as the beluga or white grampus is native in the deep waters and has been known to ascend some of the larger rivers. The skin of this mammal is employed by the natives in the manufacture of rope, straps and soles of boots.
The hair seal are found in great numbers in the waters throughout the whole territory, and, as is well known, constitute the principal food supply of the natives, and especially is this true in the northern waters. They delight to frequent the waters of Glacier bay, and the natives hunt them much easier among the bergs of ice than in the waters of the ocean. A white cloth is spread over the bow of the canoe, giving it the appearance of a piece of ice, and the natives dressed in jacket and hat of the same material, paddling among the ice, thus they are often enabled to get within arms length of their prey before it detects the deception.
The walrus, a native of Bering sea and the Arctic, travels in herds, and in the long days of summer may be seen in large numbers lying lazily on the ice. The skin of this animal is used by the natives as covering for their boats, and the tusks are worked up into implements of the chase and hunt, but it is fast disappearing before civilization.
Whale are found in all the deep waters, and even in the inland passages they may be seen sporting. It is not uncommon for schools of the black whale to be seen from the decks of the tour- ist steamers. While they cannot be properly considered as one of the resources of Alaska, still in the northern or Arctic region, they have formed one of the most important food supplies of the natives, but they are now becoming scarce. As on account of the high price of bone, whale hunting with steam vessels has been prosecuted with vigor, and in a few years they are destined to become extinct.
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ALASKA.
Upwards of seventy-five vessels are now engaged in the whaling business, and they must penetrate several miles above Bering strait before they encounter any of them. The business is hazardous and great risks must be run. In the summer of 1877 nearly fifty vessels were lost, and a number of crews perished, preferring to remain on the vessels rather than risk making their way across the sea to land. This catastrophe led the government to establish a rescue station at Point Barrow, the most northern point of Alaska, which is provisioned with sup- plies sufficient to last one hundred men a year. It is in charge of a government official whose duty it is to render aid and succor to shipwrecked sailors.
YUKON MINERS AT SHEEP CAMP.
Winter & Pond Photo, Juneau, Alaska.
CHAPTER VI.
ROUTE TO THE YUKON RIVER.
THE head of steamboat navigation is at Ty-a, at the extreme
northern point of what is known as the Chilkoot inlet branch of Lynn canal. The distance from salt water to the lakes or headwaters of the Yukon river, on the other side of the mountain range, is about twenty-seven miles.
The usual place for laying in supplies for a trip into the in- terior is at Juneau, where the route to the gold fields of the Yukon may be said to commence.
The quantity of supplies must be determined by the size of one's purse, but in no case should the journey be attempted without a supply sufficient to last at least two months. The fol- lowing list is about the assortment one needs: Flour, bacon, baking powder, beans, dried fruit, desiccated vegetables, butter, sugar, condensed milk, tea, coffee, salt, pepper, matches, mus- tard, cooking utensils, dishes, sheet-iron stove, woolen blankets, rubber blankets, oilskin bags, tools for boat building, such as jack-plane, whipsaw, draw-knife, axe, hatchet, pocket rule, nails, oakum, pitcli, rope, mosquito netting, rubber boots, snow glasses, and medicines.
Ty-a affords the last opportunity for purchasing supplies for several hundred miles. This point may be reached either on the mail steamer to Chilkat, and thence by small boat to Ty-a, a journey of about twenty-five miles; or direct from Juneau by sinall sailing craft or steamers that make trips as often as there are passengers to carry.
Miners generally employ natives to pack supplies across the mountain, the usual charge for this work being from $12.00 to $14.00 per one hundred pounds, and the distance is about twenty- seven miles. This great expense renders it advisable to carry only such supplies as will last during the trip.
For many years the Alaska Commercial Company have had
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ALASKA.
trading posts at Forty Mile and other points, but the emigration has been so great within the past three years that a new company known as the North American Trading and Transportation Com- pany, established quarters a half mile north of Forty Mile called Fort Cudahy, and the competition between the two companies has very much reduced the expense of living in the interior.
The most favorable time for going into the interior is before the snow melts from the mountains, which does not occur until about the middle of April. The abrupt passages and what is known as the Summit, are better accomplished by hauling sup- plies on sleds. After the summit is passed, if the journey is con- tinued before the ice breaks up, it often happens that long distances may be made by means of sails raised on improvised masts on the sled. The sledge should be about seven feet four inches long, seven inches high and sixteen inches wide, of strong but light timber, and the runners shod with either brass or steel, the former being preferable, because the sled will glide over the snow more smoothly in intensely cold weather, while steel is inclined to grind and lug very much as if it were being hauled over sand. When the weather is cold, if water is taken into the mouth and held a moment, then blown over the runner, a coating will immediately form, and if this process is repeated when it becomes a little worn off, one will be surprised to find how much smoother and easier the sled will draw. It is preferable to use the Eskimo mode of making sledges for Yukon traveling. They use no nails or bolts, binding the joints together with strong cords. There is much less danger in breaking, if made in this way, should the sled be overturned, as the joints will yield when thus tied together. After the ice has disappeared canoes are used for the first six miles after leaving Ty-a. From this point the route lies through what is known as the canyon. Quite a steep ascent is made until Sheep Camp is reached. Here a rest is taken to await favorable weather before attempting a passage over the summit, about eight miles further up the rugged sides of the mountain, and the most difficult and tedious part of the journey. From the summit to the head of Lake Linderman, nine miles must be traveled. It is down grade, and practically easy to accomplish with snow on the ground, but when bare it is quite difficult on account of rocks and boulders. This portion of the route is easily accomplished by following the canyon.
Lake Linderman, the first water reached after passing over
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ROUTE TO THE YUKON RIVER.
the summit, is one of a chain of lakes and streams called by the miners the "headwaters of the Yukon," though British authori- ties describe them as the headwaters of Lewis river.
The timber in this locality is sparse, of a poor quality, and suitable only for rafts. A raft should be constructed in a manner that will afford protection from water a foot or more above the sides, otherwise the supplies are liable to be damaged, and they should be carefully enclosed in oilskin sacks at the outset of the journey. -
From the head of Lake Linderman, on both sides to Lake Bennett, the general character of the country is mountainous, with narrow benches skirting the shore. The distance across Lake Linderman is nearly five miles, and from the foot of this lake about fifty yards of a portage is made of the one mile river. to Lake Bennett, because this stream is very crooked and full of rocks, making boat passage difficult and dangerous.
At the head of Lake Bennett, there are high mountains on both sides, but they begin to flatten out toward the foot of the lake. This journey, a distance of twenty-four miles, may be continued by a raft or by ascending a river, small in size, which enters the lake from the west. Here timber suitable for boat building is to be found. The right-hand side of Lake Bennett should be fol- lowed until Cariboo crossing is reached. At this crossing, which is really the connecting water between Lake Bennett and Lake Tagish, for a distance of two miles a trail used by bands of cariboo can be traced along the foothills, hence the name. From Cariboo crossing past the main channel to head of Tagish lake keep left- hand shore to foot, a distance of nineteen miles. Lake Marsh, or Mud lake, is connected with Tagish lake by a wide river with a slow current, whose banks are bordered with low-lying slopes, timbered by cottonwood and white spruce. The distance is six miles, and in some places the water is very shallow. The tray- eler should follow the left bank of Lake Marsh into the river connecting this with Lake Le Barge, keeping on the right-hand side, to the head of the canyon twenty five miles below. If a man is a skillful navigator he can run his boat through the can- yon a distance of three-fourths of a mile and land on the right- hand side. If not, he had better make a portage. From this point he should follow the left-hand side two miles to the head of White Horse rapids, and land on the left-hand side. Great caution should be exercised in reaching the point where the land-
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ALASKA.
ing is made this side of the White Horse. Through the White Horse one-half mile, in a low stage of water, the boat can be dropped witli a line, but if the water is high, a portage of about one hundred yards must be made, and on the last pitch of the canyon another short portage of about one hundred feet will be necessary. From this point there is an open river to Lake Le Barge.
From the head to the foot of Lake Le Barge is a distance of about thirty-one miles and it averages five miles wide. The boat should be headed right straight for an island near the center of the lake and, if the weather is favorable, cross from island to right- hand side of lake. From the island, the traveler should cross to the left-hand side of the lake if windy, and it is better to follow close to the shore. From the foot of Lake Le Barge to the mouth of the Hootalinqua river, about thirty miles, the water is very swift with many rocks, and extreme caution should be observed in navigating this portion of Thirty Mile river. From this point it is clear sailing for one hundred and thirty-three miles to Five Fingers, so-called because of five columns of rock which partly obstruct the river, and whose outline resemble the fingers of the human hand. Five or six miles before reaching Five Fingers, the current becomes much swifter, and high hills hug the shore. The right-hand bank should be followed closely ; otherwise, the bend curves so sharply that Five Fingers would be reached and a landing could not be effected. This landing should be made twenty yards above Five Fingers in an eddy, and if the boat is heavily loaded it should be lightened before attempting to pass. The run should then be made, landing on the right-hand side. Following the right hand shore all the way for about five miles, Rink rapids, one and a half miles in lengtli (caused by a chain of rocks reaching nearly across the river), are reached. The right hand side or east shore must be followed closely all the way. From this point the river is easy to navigate to its mouth. About fifty-five miles below the foot of Rink rapids, old Fort Selkirk is reached. It is situated near the confluence of Pelly and Lewis rivers. Here a trading post is run by an old- timer named Harper, and this is also a winter port for steain- boats plying on the Yukon and its tributaries. The fort was pillaged and burned by coast Indians in 1853, and ruins of what once were chimneys only being seen.
From old Fort Selkirk the river has a uniform width, contains
YUKON MINERS SLEDDING OVER ROUTE.
Winter & Pond, Photo, Juneau, Alaska.
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ROUTE TO THE YUKON RIVER.
many islands, and the country through which it runs is well tim- bered for some distance. The White river, a large stream hav- ing a ten or twelve mile current, comes roaring down from the west ninety-five miles from Selkirk. This river gets it name front the appearance of its waters which are of a muddy white hue. It is supposed to have its source in a number of high mountains and lakes to the west. Near its source, the Indians say, there is an active volcano which they call Smoky Mountain.
The Yukon rapidly widens after being joined by the White river, and becomes a mile wide, islands dot its surface at frequent intervals, and the valley, too, becomes broader as if in sympathy with the river. Ten miles below the White, the Stewart river enters from the east. Its waters dark and deep are bordered by rugged hills which here and there assume the proportion of mountains. Miners are found on many parts of this river and its hundreds of miles of tributaries and gulches, many of which are unprospected It is probably four hundred miles in length.
About seventy miles below the mouth of Stewart river, Sixty Mile creek, the next place of note, comes in from the west. It has a trading post and a sawmill, and is the headquarters of some five score miners who generally spend the winter months there. It has a swift current, and is filled with rapids, and is therefore not easy of ascent. Below Sixty Mile creek the Yukon becomes placid and the number of islands increase. The valley narrows, and the hills become more abrupt, while on every hand abundant evidence of quartz croppings can be obtained.
The next stream of note is the Forty Mile creek which flows into the Yukon a few miles west of the boundary line.
At the junction of Forty Mile creek with the Yukon, is located almost within the shadow of the Arctic Circle, the Alaska Com- mercial Company's station, Forty Mile. It has been for a num- ber of years under the control of a man known by every person who has passed through the valley of the Yukon as "Jack" McQuestion. Of marked ability, and a man of the world, he has been the mainstay, the guide, the philosopher and friend of the miners, and is held by them in high esteem. Many an unfortu- nate prospector is aided by him, and seldom does he refuse an appeal for credit. A genial, friendly disposition, with a heart "as big as an ox," he is ever ready to extend a helping hand,
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ALASKA.
and all that is necessary to get a supply of food is to show a disposition to work. The town has a population of five or six hundred, and besides the Alaska Commercial Company's store, which, at the opening of the season carries a stock of goods valued at $125,000, there are restaurants, billiard halls, several saloons, an opera house, barber shops, and the town boasts of the finest residence in a region embracing three hundred thousand square miles of territory. It is a two-story building owned by Joseph Cooper, an old Colorado miner, and cost $3,000.
The price of restaurant board is $12 per week, and whisky costs $9 a gallon, or fifty cents per glass over the bar. "This town on the Yukon," says a recent writer, "is an ideal '49 inin - ing camp ; its saloons, gambling houses, concert halls, etc., give it an air of bustling activity, from which, however, the element of outlawry is almost entirely eliminated. Miners' law prevails, and justice is fairly and impartially administered. The entire Yukon valley bears an enviable reputation for peace and mor- ality. Simple, but effective self-adopted rules of goverment are found amply sufficient to insure order, and they are universally respected."
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