USA > Alaska > Alaska, its neglected past, its brilliant future > Part 11
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This prediction was stated in our published articles many months before the present great rush to the Klondyke began.
The gold mining that has actually become estab- lished in some parts of Alaska seems to have stepped forward into the place once entirely usurped by the fur, whale and seal-oil business, which was re- cently considered the only valuable part of the pur- chase, and its decadence augured sad adversity for the struggling Territory. It was once strictly true that the fur and oil trade was the only livelihood of the
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natives, and that they depended upon the seals, whales, walruses and fish for every necessity of life; but it must be remembered that civilization has advanced with persistent energy, until the mode of living, which was universal but a little while ago, has changed, and many of the natives have joyfully accepted Christian food and clothing, as well as religion.
The result of education not only evidences itself in moral development, but in the awakening of intel- ligence that must have lain dormant forever but for the instruction and faithfulness of missionaries, who, finding most barbarous opposition, became still more determined to win the confidence of the benighted people and rescue them from the midnight darkness which has enveloped them for ages.
They never knew the value of gold or copper, coal or marble, timber, or the cultivation of the soil. But they were compelled to cultivate muscular power, while harpooning the huge prey whose uncertain coming made them wary, as well as sure-handed and strong.
They were compelled to exert a certain amount of genius in the preparation of their subterranean homes, so that they might live through the long, dismal cold of their arctic winters, or in the construction of their suinmer nests on the shores of the boisterous seas. And now this natural bent will enable them to build for themselves, and the miners, who will join them,
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such residences as will make it possible to develop the mines even of the bitterly cold and lonely regions of the Upper Yukon River.
There can be no more absurd idea than that the splendid possibilities of Alaska must be left undemon- strated because of the climate, for if the natives have been able to exist without the aid of the comforts of civilization, how much better can they live and work when they receive the needful creature benefits. Heretofore they have been forced to semi-hibernation more than half of the year, while the other half, from dire necessity, has been a season of hard toil during the fishing or hunting season, and of gormandizing and wildest revelry when swarming fish or gigantic mammals of the sea filled their empty caches and made them forget for the time that such harvests were very evanescent, depending entirely upon the instincts of the lower animals, which made them pile in countless numbers within reach of their spears and nets or bas- kets.
Those who have learned to live like Christians, rarely, if ever, return to the dismal, smoky underground dens that were once their homes. Possibly not one who has tasted the daily food of the white people would turn again with relish to the saltless fish and blubber, which was the daily food they used. And just as surely as that they have accepted thus far, will they seek to learn still farther from their enlightened teach- ers.
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Doubtless they have learned evil as well as good, but the good will predominate, and they will take pride in the development of their country as soon as they understand its importance.
The diversity of employment awaiting them is enough to overwhelm them for a time, but miners, quarrymen, and probably agriculturists and herds- men for the valleys, will be found when the light breaks in fully upon the work expected of them.
Ex-Governor Swineford told of the mining pros- pects and was ridiculed unmercifully by the press and the people. But a few years passed, and he re- turned to the territory armed with all things necessary for the development of his valuable mines.
Governor Sheakley told of the richness of the na- tural resources of the land, and he, too, received little thanks for his information but the prospects brighten nevertheless. One party boasts of his profitable little farm, from which he has abundantly reaped satisfactory harvests. Dr. Jackson gives proof of the certainty of success in the rearing of reindeer, which answers the question of transportation of men and supplies, as well as gives promise of immunity from starvation. An- other calls attention to the coal fields which await the sturdy hand with pick and shovel, while still another and another repeat the presence of marble. fine and pure as the statuary marble of Italy.
True it is that money, talent and toil are absolutely
SITKA, ALASKA, AND MOUNT EDGECUMBE.
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THE RESOURCES OF ALASKA.
necessary to the attainment of any of these treasures. but we fail to know of any place or country in which nuggets of gold or slabs of marble are lying about awaiting transportation.
"Work" is the password to fortune! Can there be harder toil or greater privation than were the step- ping-stones to the world-famous millions of the As- tors? Have we not seen the great railroad magnates of our own day rise round after round upon the ladder of fame and fortune, with unremitting toil marking every step in the upward course?
Only a few decades ago a great part of Philadel- phia was thought to be an "irreclaimable" swamp. To-day great warehouses and noble residences cover these apparently once hopeless wastes. But a year or two since, formidable obstructions interfered with navigation in the Delaware; to-day, we watch them disappearing before the stroke of Governmental aid, making of this city one of the finest seaports and fresh water naval stations of the country, backed by the coal, iron and large manufacturing interests of the city and the state.
Not more impossible is the rich development of Alaska's grand and almost illimitable sources of wealth and prosperity than was the civilization and expansion of New England, for it is doubtful if even the barren, wave-swept coast of our distant province can present a more thoroughly forlorn and uninviting
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aspect than did the wild, rock-bound coast of Massa- chusetts to the Pilgrim Fathers.
If men are discouraged from attempting to find any prosperity in the far North-West; let them think of Norway, Sweden, Finland and other Northern climes, whose inhabitants, brave, industrious and in- telligent, could never be persuaded to see any land so beautiful or good as their own. The day is com- ing when the progeny of those who dare to make Alaska their dwelling-place and the promoter of their fortunes will glory in the snow-clad peaks, the mighty grinding glaciers, the smiling, dancing crystal water- courses and mountain-environed fjords, whose majes- tic beauty or peaceful loveliness are unrivalled by any scenery in the whole bright world.
It would certainly be preposterous for people who have been reared in luxury and busy idleness to think of going to Alaska except as summer tourists; such a class is not yet needed in any part of the territory. Neither need clerks and salesmen or book agents, or even traveling salesmen, hope to find work in the sparsely-settled country. But brawny frames, strong hands, brave, willing hearts and courageous, long-en- during active brains will find plenty to do, and abun- dant reward for their labor. Let such pioneer the way, and the cultivation and refinement of higher education will most certainly follow when prosperity supervenes, as it must do in the near future.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BERING SEA AND ITS SEALS-QUESTIONS WHICH HAVE TO BE SETTLED FOR THE FUTURE AS WELL AS PRESENT.
L IKE all unsettled questions, the matter of the right of possession in Bering Sea rises to the surface, even while other subjects come to view which seem to be sufficiently important to set it aside for the time.
Our average Congressmen do not appear to grasp the Alaskan question in its vast importance to the future of the United States. The statesmanship at present exercised seems to see only the surface mat- ter of the right to pelagic fishing for the seal, whose home is certainly upon the islands belonging to the United States.
It requires no powerful horoscope to see in the near future the extermination of the fur seal unless pro- tected, as we of the present generation have beheld the destruction of the great herds of buffalo that once roamed over the vast sea of prairie land in the West.
The revenue from seal skins has truly been of great moment, if only that it has helped to refund, with in- terest, the millions paid for Alaska ; but even at this time the cry is coming from the greater fishing indus-
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tries of the North-West, that the luxurious fur is not fraught with such vital consequence as to lead to the neglect of other affairs; while, like all subjects of con- tinual contentions, this deferred settlement tends to- ward a degree of carelessness, in the American public mind, almost amounting to willingness to give up in disgust the bone of contention, which the Government and the better informed citizens will never allow.
But let us pause and note an underlying current, the consequence of which must leave a lasting impres- sion upon the commercial interests of the United States; and here let us say, it looks like a peculiar act of diplomacy to ask the contesting party to aid us in the protection of our own property. The "modus vivendi," as most readers see it, seems to place the United States and Great Britain upon equal footing; indeed, it rather appears that the taking of the seals for the food of some of our own citizens is looked upon as an injury to Canadians. Perhaps there may be a more dignified side to the question, but as it stands now to the public eye it lacks the noble self assertion of an independent nation.
If the arbitration, to which our national authorities have submitted the question of their country's right over a former inland sea, has been decided against our Government, it opens Bering Sea to a nation that would have held and planted its flag upon every one of its rocky islands and would have brought a
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noble armament of vessels into its waters and defied this, or any other Government, to touch any of the coveted amphibians.
England has studied diplomacy too long not to have an eye to the distant future, toward which our states- men appear to have forgotten to look. It cannot be many years before Asia and America will be commer- cially connected in the far North. The bed of Bering Strait is rising, scientists tell us, and the intellects that have planned the most wonderful and surprising feats of intricate engineering in the world, would be able either to tunnel or bridge this strait so that there could in time and doubtless will, be a continuous line of communication between the commercial centres of Asia and the United States.
The exclusion of the Chinese from the ports of this Republic, meets with grave approval from the English Government, because it sees in the future the com- merce of China and Japan reaching the western and eastern ports of America without the long sea voyage to which it has been confined in the past. Already the Canadian Pacific Railroad is largely reaping the benefit of this English project and wise investment.
This semi-friendly contention of to-day is very im- portant to the interests of our Government, for a na- tional policy that is apparently based on international law may have far reaching, unfavorable and insidious aims toward a sister nation, that in future years may
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prove injurious to us and result in great national com- mercial disaster.
There is no doubt but that millions of our citizens would rise to defend the sacred rights of their coun- try if they were openly threatened. Will not the na- tion's strength of intellect and forethought at least try to equal in patriotism those who would give their life-blood for the Stars and Stripes? Let personal interest for a time be vested in the everlasting good of the country. Let every noble intellect strive to make a glorious victory in this bloodless war. Let us show Great Britain that the indemnity of five mil- lion dollars that was paid by this Government for her fishers poaching on the eastern coast of the British provinces was not paid in cowardice, but as a noble country's acknowledgment of justice and restitution.
If the arbitration acts justly, and secures to the United States her own property, Russia, Japan and China will be drawn into closer commercial fellow- ship with us every year. Why, then, should an act of legislation make the first breach between the latter nation and the Empire whose commerce is so valuable to the world? Why must a Christian country be the first to break the friendly peace of ages?
We will need the commerce and the friendliness of China, as well as that of Russia and Japan some day, and why be so harsh now? The good will of all three will be of great advantage to our Government
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in developing the territory of Alaska, and a personal feeling against the original coolies that were brought here by money-making schemers and companies should not allow us to thwart a broad international policy in regard to our Western and North-Western possessions.
NUMBER OF SEALS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE PELAGIC SEALERS.
YEAR
TAKEN ON PRIBILOFF ISLANDS
THE PELAGIC CATCH
1890
21,234
51,655
1891
12,07I
68,000
1892
7,500
73,394
1893
7,500
80,000
1894
12,500
60,000
1895
15,000
82,000
75,805
415,049
The total pelagic seal catch of the 54 British vessels in Bering Sea during the last year was 17,805, while that of the 12 American vessels was 2907 seals.
CHAPTER XXX.
ALASKA FUR SEAL PROTECTION.
W HILE reading of the wholesale slaughter of the fur seals in Bering Sea, and the apparent, or rather the consistent unwillingness of Great Britain to aid in their protection, the absurdity of the situation flashes upon one with great vivid- ness. The United States could have protected them by all the laws of rightful ownership if she had not been led into the net, from courtesy called " Arbitration." Too late, the warning given in the daily journals a few years ago has been heeded, and Russia and Japan are, as they would then have been, ready to do their part towards saving the seals, in which these three countries alone are inter- ested as possessors. But "arbitration " brought in another party who is unwilling under any circum- stances to lose its hold. The future of the question is plainly mapped. A year or two for this point, an- other year or two for that, while pelagic sealing in the meantime continues, and by the tinic the settlement is reached, the seals are gone and have faded away un- protected.
But one Senator proposes the annihilation of the fur seal by the United States authorities, the pro- ceeds of the furs to be spent upon the native Aleuts,
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who in all honor and justice are the true owners and the people first to be considered. The proposition is met with a cry against its cruelty, and the hand of the Government is stayed. But let us pause and examine the question of cruelty in all its phases. If the Gov- ernment should adopt the plan of consistent extermi- nation, it will require the death of all seals in all stages. A force of natives and practiced sealers would watch for the incoming of the herds, and as they landed each animal would be dispatched with the usual merciful blow so well known by the natives, a swift blow at the base of the brain, always successful. A pitiful sight no doubt would be presented by so many slaughtered, motionless seals: the objects of the skin- ning, fat rendering and drying or packing of the meat would not be beautiful to look upon, but there would be no sounds of distress from the inanimate creatures. This is the cruelty against which those who side with Great Britain cry out in anxious protest.
There is another side of the question: With a few exceptional cases it is the female seals that are killed by pelagic sealers. By positive statements from those who have made careful study of the animals, the adult males do not leave the rookeries at all during their stay on the Pribylov Islands, and the young seals remain either on land or very close to shore. The reason is easily explained. When they come to their home they are all fat and contented, but the fe-
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males, who go out to sea, are nursing mothers-not only nursing but brooding mothers-for the seal car- ries its young a year. Each pup, or infant seal, be- longs exclusively to its own mother, notwithstanding the peculiar sameness in appearance, and no mother will nurse other than her own offspring. These nursing mothers require food for the support of them- selves and their young, and that is why they leave the rookeries for a season; they simply go in search of food. Consequently when they are killed the pups unborn die also, making a ratio of three lives taken for one skin obtained. Let those who speak of cruelty carry their minds and sympathies to the spot and hear the bleating of the hundreds or thousands of little seals that must linger in the tortures of hunger before death ends their misery. They bleat like lambs or young calves. Can the imagination picture the help- less little creatures writhing and crying for hours be- fore succumbing to death? Can it paint the loss as well as the torturing inhumantiy as the myriads of little bodies are tossed in by the incoming breakers, or left to decompose on the sandy beaches? Which cruelty is the worst, to destroy them all at once, or continue to have so many suffer innocently by these marauders? The mode in use and defended now will certainly lead to the end proposed by the Senator at last, and when the sentiment turns upon "cruelty" the whole community may demand the swift, organ-
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ized annihilation, rather than the high road of slow, torturing destruction by literal starvation. But we believe in actual positive protection of our seal prop- erty. In this we have not discussed the compara- tively valueless pelt of the adult female seal. By and by the purchasers of seal skin garments will discover that the fur is neither so beautiful, soft nor durable, as that obtained by legitimate sealing, wherein only the two or three years old bachelors are killed and the perfection of pelts obtained without the least dan- ger of either exterminating the species or causing the untimely and painful destruction of the tiny seals.
In referring to the great question of the arbitration treaty, and for the correct boundary lines which have agitated the country, acting, as it were, as counter- irritants to its deplorable financial condition, we think it would be wise to call public attention to the literal meaning of the word which has been echoing from every direction for months. Arbitration means the act of settling a doubtful question.
Now there is no shadow of doubt about the pur- chase of Alaska, nor has there been at any time. Therefore, there can be no possible question of right to its possession by the United States. The real dif- ficulty is the exact marking of the location of the boundary lines. As Russia mentioned the limit in its treaty of cession, the question is not for arbitration, but for an honest survey under the literal interpreta-
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tion of the treaty. Why such an undertaking should require so much disputation is hard to comprehend. And why the United States Government and its Eng- lish aid in competent surveyors, do not equip a suffi- cient number of reliable men under proper pay, to settle the line definitely, according to the purchase, cannot be satisfactorily explained. Economy is com- mendable as a general thing, but in a case of this kind, which to a very great extent involves our Na- tion's honor, the idea of a limitation in the direction of expense is not to be considered at all. It must be remembered that for many years the line now claimed by the United States, was acknowledged by England, and her subjects paid annual rental to Russia for that which now figures upon a recent Canadian map as British property. No arbitration in the world can ad- just that without the owners have their proper geographical measurements ready for inspection.
Conceded then, that this, as a peace-loving nation, deems it wisdom to submit to arbitration, why must this question between two great nations be adjusted by a third party who has not studied the boundary. Why not refer our claim to Russia, as a power, and fully familiar with all the facts? Or why may not France, o11r sister Republic, have the power to decide, if arbitra- tion is deemed the best mode, with a third power for decision? How can a vast country under whose ad- vanced government each citizen is a sovereign, bind
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itself to abide by the decision of one man, though he be a chief sovereign of another country, when the real trouble is not one of geographic position, but the presence of a precious metal whose value has aroused the farseeing interests of other nations that are in- volved!
The arbitration for boundaries if needed, and special arbitrations for individual cases that may arise, is far preferable for both England and America, than an arbitration treaty that is certain to be mis-interpreted and misunderstood by other nations. And in this case the matter can readily be laid over until the proper survey is made.
CHAPTER XXXI.
RECENT ROUTES TO THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE YUKON RIVER, AFTER REACHING ALASKAN PORTS.
A FTER careful study of the topography of the country each side of the boundary line between Alaska and British Columbia, there can be no doubt but that thus far the easiest and best summer route, for Americans at least, is by water up the Yukon River.
This means that the traveler having reached Puget Sound by whatever train or waterway he may have found most convenient, will take the steamer, which fits out at Seattle. He will find the vessel all that can be desired for comfort, but not a palatial craft. The first part of his voyage might as well be one of un- interrupted pleasure, unless he is subject to qualms of nausea attendant upon a sea voyage, for the North Pacific Ocean is oftentimes very boisterous. From Seattle the vessel steams through Puget Sound, pass- ing on the south, Port Townsend, (an important Amer- ican city near the exit of the Sound), and on the north, Victoria, the beautiful Canadian capital city of Vancouver Island. Through the Straits of Juan de Fuca it reaches the Pacific Ocean. After leaving the Straits the course is northwesterly toward the Aleutian
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Islands, whose snow-capped peaks and extinct volca- noes uplift themselves from the treeless land, whose only vegetable products are a sort of rank grass, hardy poppies and a few other wild flowers, rich carpets of vivid green, or pale gray moss, and creeping lichen. Rounding the islands, the first stopping place is Dutch Harbor, a coaling and supply station for all ocean steamers of the North- West, as well as for the sealing and whaling fleets of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Leaving Dutch Harbor or Unalaska, sometimes spelled Oonalashka, with its line of houses painted white, possibly to make them more conspicuous in the fog that so often nearly obscures the land from view, the course is about due north until St. Michaels is reached, passing within view of the Pribylov, or Seal Islands, St. Paul and St. George, of which so much has been said in recent years. The sailing is then to Cape Mohican, on the west coast of Nunivak Island. St. Matthew and Hall Island are passed far to the westward. Then to Cape Romanzof on through Norton Sound until the ship stops at Fort Get There, on the Island of St. Michaels, or passes on to old Fort St. Mich- aels. This island was once a strong Russian fortifica- tion, but now it is a central point for freight and pas- sengers going to and from the gold fields and the missionary and business settlements of the Yukon River. At this point all goods and passengers are
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transferred to large, light-draft steamers, which ply the waters of the mighty river from the first opening of the ice during May, till the waters are locked in solid ice in September. There the Alaska Commercial Company and the North American Transportation and Trading Company are engaged in the traffic of the middle and lower Yukon. During the short season of navigation these companies carry on an extensive bus- iness, making three and four round trips to different trading posts and mining towns. Here also is a mis- sion station of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Other missions have been established along the coast of Alaska at different points by other denomi- nations as spoken of elsewhere.
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