USA > Alaska > Alaska, its neglected past, its brilliant future > Part 19
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deer for sustenance, clothing and tents, as do the walrus hunters of King's Island trust to the walrus for similar purposes. The herds did not increase in the ratio hoped for by those who brought them to Alaska, but considering all difficulties, they did very satisfactorily. It will take some time and expense, however, to get the herds down to the interior from the distant North-West on the Bering Sea coast. The first reindeer station was established at Port Clarence, which is considered the best American harbor on Bering Sea, nortli of the Aleutian Chain. It was chosen particularly because it was but fifty miles from Bering Strait. The greatest difficulty at- tending its use is the presence of the whaling fleets among which whiskey is sure to find its way to the natives. The same objection is met with on the Si- berian side, where the Superintendent states that he was prevented from purchasing hundreds of deer that might have been easily procurable if it had not been for the intoxication of the herders.
The forwarders of the enterprise, however, obtained 171 deer and established the station near the point chosen for the proposed Russia-American telegraph, in 1867. The new station was named Teller, in honor of Hon. Henry M. Teller, of Colorado, to whose ard- ent efforts the success of obtaining active Congres- sional support for the great enterprise was due.
Through all adversities, in June, 1893, the herd
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numbered 222, including 79 fawns born at the station. In September of the same year, 127 more were pur- chased, 124 being safely landed, making a total of 346 deer. During that winter, Mr. Miner W. Bruce, the Superintendent of the Station, had 10 deer trained and made a trip 60 miles distant to visit the mission at Cape Prince of Wales.
According to Dr. Sheldon Jackson's report to Con- gress, every difficulty that was raised against the habil- itation of reindeer in the North-West has been en- tirely surmounted. The Siberians are not only ready to sell them, but some are found quite willing to come over and take care of them, while the deer take quite kindly to their new home and reproduce their kind. In December, 1896, there were five herds of reindeer in Alaska, the original herd belonging to the Government at Teller Station, consisting of 423 deer; one on Cape Prince of Wales, at the Congregational Mission, 253 in number; one at the Swedish Evan- gelical Mission, numbering 103; a like number at St. James P. E. Mission, the most remote mission station on the Yukon River; and one of 218 at Cape Nome; making at that time a total of 1, 100 deer domesticated in Alaska. Increase by births raised the number to at least 1,175 with no authentic reports from the more distant stations. No doubt there will be during the cur- rent year more satisfactory results. The whole progress seems to show that the question of trans-
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portation in the most remote and wintry part of the Territory is nearing a very satisfactory solution and helps to solve the problem of populating and explor- ing interior Alaska and Canada.
Fort Adams, the site of the St. James Mission, is so near the gold section of the Yukon-within United States jurisdiction-that it must in a short time give most valuable aid to the development of the mines in that region. Through the careful precau- tion of the officials managing the affairs of the herds, each mission had at least two men already well taught in the care of the deer and many more were anxiously learning the business in the hope of one day becoming proprietors. Such a prospect was made possible by the arrangements, made with the Super- intendent, wherein a part of each herder's pay con- sists of two or more deer, according to his faithful- ness, in addition to a regular salary for the year's work. After the animals were consigned to the differ- ent points, Government responsibility stopped, but each station must yet give an annual report regarding all things connected with the herds.
In this direction the developers of mining interests must look for the carriage of stores and mining para- phernalia until the capitalists have found some man- ner of constructing railroads, or at least stage roads, over the mountains. It stands to reason that no or- dinary individual can carry a pack weighing one hun-
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dred pounds across a lofty pass, rising thirty-five hun- dred feet above the level, and be equal to hard work immediately upon his arrival at the gold fields. And the mountain climbing is not all, you must add canoe- ing through dangerous shoals, portaging over marshes, shooting rapids and tramping through gla- cial deposits, all of which must be traversed for a dis- tance of not less than seven hundred miles. The task is most irksome. The reward very precarious. Yet thousands will go. The only help is to quickly pre- pare a road and then to stop over at relay villages, if they consist of nothing but frozen earth and moss abodes.
There has been a proposition to employ a party of Italian women to perform the task of the Indian pack carriers, whose demands have become exorbitant, but it will not do to thus burden women or to endeavor to supplant the natives. Although it is true that there is a certain class of Italian women who are strong, hardy and inured to almost every hardship. Doubtless they or weak men would work at lower prices for a time, but it stands to reason that few, if any of them, would ever return for a second load. And it would be both un- safe and unwise to gain the ill-will of the Indians, who look upon the business as a trade belonging to them- selves.
The stories of success in the mining country are so continuously brilliant that men cannot resist the
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temptation to go, however great the risk, even if they have to pack their goods over themselves. But we see no reason why some grand scheme might not spring up to boom the coal mining districts, and to direct capitalists and individuals toward that great region so lately discovered. To obtain gold there must be mo- tive power and increased population. The whole sub- ject demands extremely quick calculation, and there is no doubt but that some wise heads are conning ways and means. Everything that tends to develop the Territorial resources brings Alaska that much nearer to an important position. That Siberia is being im- proved, however little, by the advent of the railroad, shows that the dawn of a glorious era for Alaska is coming, provided it is accepted promptly, and the nu- merous wonderful gifts of Nature are properly appre- ciated. As if in answer to the cry against the severity of the climate the certain discovery of oil and a greater vein of coal was announced. Mine the coal and keep it in the Territory for the benefit of its enlarg- ing population. Secure the oil and store it also until it is found whether there will be sufficient to offer to outside parties for sale. It would be little economy to part with the treasures until the extent of their pro- duction can be approximated. Possibly a depletion would bring disaster in the great prices that might have to be paid for the transportation of those staples from distant States. Therefore, let Alaska's products
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tend to its own markets alone, until their salable quantity is assured.
Another enormous source of wealth belongs to the Territory, and it can be disposed of in unlimited quan- tities. That is ice, of which we have spoken. With a sufficient number of vessels the whole coast population of California, Lower California and even Mexico, could be furnished with pure, unadulterated ice at prices no greater than is gladly paid for it in the East- ern and Southern States. Refrigerator cars could be arranged to contain a large number of pounds of the crystal products. Salmon and other food fishes have for a long time been frozen in solid ice blocks and dis- posed of to the markets just as the fish of the Great Lakes are served to us in a most satisfactory condi- tion. It seems that such a disposition might readily be made of all varieties of the desirable fish that abound to repletion in the cold north country. The fish, however, is said to lose much of its fine flavor by the process. If all the bountiful resources were ad- vertised as vociferously as is the gold, the railroads and steamers could not contain the emigration of men, who have so long suffered for want of work. Gold is really not for them; for it requires great ex -. pense for the outfit. Six hundred dollars is said to be the minimum, even when counted that the American Transportation Company deals quite generously with its patrons. Therefore, no one who has had his hands
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in his empty pockets for a couple of years, with no work to fill them, can possibly afford to seek for Alas- kan or Canadian gold. But some moving spirit might organize a coal mining, petroleum or ice supplying colony for the Western border, and the work would pay both capitalist and men. It must be borne in mind always, that there are but a few large towns or cities in the gold districts and they are far from being like our civilized hamlets. Every one of the towns or mining camps, between Forty Mile Creek and Chil- kat are on British soil, subject to English rule. Be- yond that the towns are few and far between. Daw- son City is one of these, and so are Fort Reliance, Fort Selkirk and Fort Cudahy. Buxton is at the mouth of Forty Mile Creek, on the boundary claimed by Canada. And this was the district so anxiously sought for. But there is gold in American territory, though Circle City, notwithstanding its size and im- portance is for the time actually forsaken, yet with less hardship its environments will probably "pan out" as richly as the other borders of the Yukon.
Many take interest in this great river only because of the present excitement. But they do not know its extent and importance. It bears noble compari- son with the Nile of Africa, the Amazon of South America and the Mississippi with which we are all familiar. Rising in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, and in the Coast Mountains of Alaska,
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flowing northwesterly it takes in the waters of the Pelly, the Lewis, the Stewart, the Klondyke, and a number of other important rivers and creeks on its eastern side, when curving into the Arctic Cir- cle it receives the icy waters of the noble Por- cupine River. From the northeast, also flow the Koyukuk and the Selawik. The Tanana is a grand river, which enters the Yukon from the south, while numerous other streams enter the Yukon from the south and west. As yet, some have been named num- erical creeks, evidently according to the distance trav- ersed in their discovery. One authority states that they are numbered according to their distance from Fort Reliance. Thus there is the White River, a tributary of Sixty"Mile" Creek, which is 60 iniles from Dawson City, and likewise the rich Forty Mile Creek. Then Bear Creek, Last Chance Creek, Gold Bottom Creek, Bonanza Creek, Eldorado Creek, and a number of others tell of their naming, while the enormous production of gold and fish from them is enough to render men wild with enthusiasm to ob- tain a portion of the output.
The promise of a greater number of vessels, proper fortifications, and careful legislation is doing more for the Territory than any transitory excitement possibly can do. The gold yielding rivers will be forsaken for a time when the placers have run out, because of the expense of the machinery for carrying out the true
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form of mining by blasting, milling and stamping. But the improvements that have followed the "boom" will remain and the more steady and advantageous development of the country will continue.
A serious drawback to the security of these enor- mous fortunes that are gathered in a short time is the advent of the gambling fraternity, whose open demor- alization has been legalized-as it has been reported by the current press-by receiving license on the British side of the boundary, and therefore on the vessels governed by that Dominion, upon which many Amer- icans must sail. How many United States citizens will yield to the wiles of these sharpers and find their fortunes diminished, if not entirely lost, is hard to say. But we sincerely hope that our Government will not only refuse to license them, but keep a lookout for their detection. The laws of Alaska against intoxi- cants and the taking in of fire arms and ammunition, will help the miners more than they imagine although the cry has been against strict surveillance. Without spirits, arms and gambling, Alaskan mining camps may become models for those of other states and countries, as it has been remarked that the men who are entering the Klondyke to-day are of the better class, who will not degenerate nor injure the reputa- tion of white people among the swarthy natives.
That the miners of to-day will find mining in Alaska a peculiarly difficult work, there can be no mistake,
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but there is one thing very greatly to their advantage as contrasted with the pioneers of California, Colorado, Nevada and Montana-in these States tribes of hos- tile and viciously inclined Indians were ready to fight them at every step-in Alaska the Missionaries have paved the way until only peaceful greeting is given the weary travelers after fortune.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
SUPPLEMENTARY DATA. - THE FOOD RESOURCES OF ALASKA.
T HE fact so universally known that the natives of Alaska have to a very great extent been de- pendent entirely upon the whale, walrus and seal for nearly every necessary comfort, and that these and salmon have been their exclusive diet, with the addition of cakes inade of salmon-berries, and the succulent stalks of Angelica and one or two other herbaceous plants, has caused a great deal of anxiety regarding the future food supply, be- cause of the near extermination of the whale and walrus, and the threatened depletion of the seal herds. Thus far the scarcity has caused little real distress, but places known to be the hereditary honies of the Siwash have been vacated for a greater part of the year, and sometimes altogether, because of the failure of the great animals to appear. That there must either be some other natural supply, or that commerce must make up the deficiency is more ap- parent as the value of the country becomes better known. For the natives alone much anxiety need not be felt, for their natural condition has compelled them to depend upon their own exertion, and they have patiently followed wherever their game and fish have
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led. A very serious view has been taken of the dimi- nution of the seals particularly as connected with the food and clothing supply of the Aleuts. Now the danger of an equal falling off of the salmon, halibut, oolachie, or candle fish, and other important food fish, upon which the natives of the interior rivers have been likewise dependent, is causing some alarm. The great food and hide animals of the Western In- dians are gone, still, trade and commerce flourish, the white people, and even the Indians, do not starve, the reason being that immediately some other resource is found, and the passing away of the buffalo is more a matter of regret than of real disaster. Modern ap- pliances, particularly modern vessels, and man's greed for gain, have truly taken the huge water mammals from Alaska, as they threaten also to remove the seal. The rush for gold will eventually act the same way toward the fish that yet swarm in the streams of the more inland country, and it is plainly to be seen that some other source of food must be discovered. Be- sides the class of people who are now rushing into the Territory from all directions-those, to whom, indeed, we may look for the future population of the valuable land, cannot exist solely on fish. They must have the variety to which they are accustomed.
The object of furnishing food alone must then lead to a greater and better mode of transportation. At the same time the possibilities of the soil of the coun-
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try might be tested. There was a time when Minne- sota, Dakota, Manitoba, and other districts in the United States and Canada, included in the same geo- graphical latitude, were written and cried down as cold, flat, barren and useless. To-day we behold in them the vast granaries to which the world turns in time of need. Alaska may never become a wonderful cereal raising country, but there are large areas of valley lands that will produce the rapidly developing vegeta- ble products upon which we depend so much in sum- mer and autumn. A very great advantage toward the cultivation of the succulent tubers, beets, potatoes, carrots and parsnips, for instance, will be found in the long summer days, which in the northern part of the Territory do not close in cool, dark nights, but continue for weeks with only a softening of one day's light to meet the brilliant glory of the next. Beans and hardy peas could also be grown and cultivated to yield their increase for the benefit of the inhabitants. If the arid plains of Arizona can be persuaded to blossom into rich fruition, so may the virgin soil of Alaska, notwithstanding the vast difference in their localities. Irrigation has solved the problem of the sections once so close to the arid desert that they were re- garded as utterly beyond cultivation. But far beneath the parched earthy soil lies abundant moisture. Irri- gation starts the seeds and tubers and keeps them alive until they grow sufficiently deep and strong to reach
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down and draw increasing life and vigor from the hid- den water. Still the artificial supply from the irri- gating ditches above assists the growth by preserving the foilage in fresh verdure, and the leaves receiving the welcome moisture retain their freshness.
The irrigation softens the baked soil, and the water soaks into it and not only softens the surface earth, for vegetable growth, but extends on down to the moisture laden strata, then the uprising moisture by capillary action meets the former and with the assist- ance of the intense heat the growth is forced to pro- duce phenomenal results in large and luscious fruitage. There is no need, however, of irrigation for the Alaskan valleys, the glacial streams and melting snows sup- ply ample moisture. But it will be said the summer is too short to admit of any valuable harvest; not until a greater change has visited the region can grain or any important commercial farm-produce be raised. But the summer, though short, is very hot, and, unless reason is greatly at fault, we see a prospect for supply- ing such desirable vegetables as we have mentioned for the benefit of the residents of the country. The plan we would suggest is for men who understand the business to go to the newly settled regions and build green houses, or forcing houses, furnishing themselves with the best and hardiest seeds and tubers. There being immense quantities of sphagnum and other mosses in the Territory, it will be an easy
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NEW ICEBERGS.
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matter to get a supply. Using this to bind the earth together there could be small beds made for the seeds, a tiny cup like receptacle for each seed or each cut- ting of potato. These could be started as the tender plants are established for our own gardens. Then when the heat of the Alaskan summer permitted, the firmly rooted plants could be put in the ground with- out in the least disturbing their mossy nurture-envel- opes; the roots would soon reach out to the heated soil, and the growth would be rapid in the continuous warmth of Alaska's long summer days. We can see nothing to then prevent an abundance of the delicious vegetables that go far toward giving health and strength to the human frame. With proper tools and other appliances, suitable conveyances and excellent legislation, the land tilled to its utmost capacity of production, cattle and sheep pastured on the rich grass of the plains in summer, to be slaughtered and preserved for winter use, we can see prosperity and happiness following swiftly the present difficulties and trials of pioneering into the very heart of the marvel- ously beautiful and wealthy "Land of the Midnight Sun."
MT. ST. ELIAS.
Many unsuccessful attempts have been made to ascend Mt. St. Elias, since it was first seen by Bering on St. Elias' day, in 1741, but at last it has been ac- complished by an Italian Prince named Luigi and his four attendants. Being the first to reach the
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summit of this mountain, they have placed side by side the standards of the Mediterranean Kingdom and the American Republic.
Such mountain climbers as Schwatka, Topman and Prof. Russel, failed to make this ascent. and Prof. Bryant, of Philadelphia, who started a short time be- fore the Prince, was obliged to give up without reach- ing the top.
Its height is now ascertained definitely to be 18,060 feet. This mountain has always been considered to be the highest peak upon the American continent, but from recent observations, Mt. Logan and Mt. Wrangel are claimed to be a little higher.
The ascent, which was by no means an easy one, was made without an accident or even an important incident occurring until they reached the base of an ice cap. Then many hours were spent, cutting steps in the almost perpendicular side of the ice cliff, and the party had an extremely difficult experience climb- ing the last one hundred feet.
The Prince says that owing to the favorable weather, the trip was much easier than it would other- wise have been, although many times they were obliged to sleep in winter sacks in the snow and were threatened with water famine, the weather being so cold, water froze almost as soon as it was melted.
After unfurling the Italian and American banners amid many hearty cheers, the proud explorers made
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scientific observations and explorations, remaining on the summit about two hours. The Prince discovered a new glacier there and named it "Colombo."
Upon examination Mt. St. Elias was found not to be a volcano, as many have supposed it to be.
The Prince and his party claim to have seen the mirage known as the "Silent City." This subject I in- vestigated years ago when writing the "Legends of Alaska," now in its third edition.
Having written to personal friends, one a United States officer at Sitka, at the time, to ascertain the truth of this story about the city seen in the clouds, I learned, through him and his family, that it was al- together mythical, being only a mirage, having been vaguely thought to be somewhat like a city, with towers and minarets. Evidently some photographer invented this combination effect as a method of creat- ing notoriety.
The slopes of the mountains near Mt. St. Elias were covered with brilliant flora, novel wild flowers being in great abundance, with some shrubbery, but no trees.
Very little bird life was seen, while the mosquitoes were extremely abundant near the coast.
A novelty that has never before been observed in Arctic explorations, was a black worm, about the length and size of a match. It was found in countless numbers in the snow, accompanied by swarms of small fleas.
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OTHER DATA.
The Stars and Stripes were first raised in Alaska on June 21st, 1868, at St. Michaels, by a company of American Traders.
The area covered by the Gold country extends over about-as far as can be calculated-50,000 square miles, including both Canadian and American terri- tory, estimated to be three hundred miles long and of irregular width and enormously rich in ore. Siberia doubtless has a rich undiscovered belt likewise.
Gold was discovered in or near Sitka in the begin- ning of the century. Baron, or Governor Baronoff, compelled the secret to be kept, under threats of the Russian knout.
In 1872, gold was discovered in a stream near Sitka by two soldiers of the garrison, named Haley and Doyle.
"Shucks," a mining camp seventy miles south of Juneau, was the scene of the first placer mining in Alaska.
Gold has been found in largely paying quantities on the line between Minnesota and Ontario. Canada claims it for British Territory, but the lines here should be very clearly laid down and known at this late day.
Gold has been found in largely paying quantities on the American side of the Upper Yukon district. Some of the American miners will settle on this side and avoid the Canadian taxation.
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The stories concerning the gold around Cook's In- let are being renewed. It only needs some one to start a boom, to divert much of the rush, in this di- rection.
Gold is most plentifully found in the middle of the beds of the shallow placer mining streams and their tributaries. The Stewart River has lately been re- ported as having rich placer mines along it.
The glaciers must certainly have been the original miners, for it is in the streams in their tracks that most of the placer mining is found so successful. The real fissure gold quartz veins, in the mountain ranges from which this gold is broken, are yet undiscovered, but prospectors are seeking them anxiously.
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