USA > Alaska > History of Alaska : 1730-1885 > Part 68
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711
POPULATION.
mens of humanity than the Aleut, and none more hardy than the Scotch highlander.
At Sitka, though the rains are excessive, averaging nearly 83 inches in the year,34 the days on which snow falls are seldom more than thirty; and, remarks Dall, "the average of many years' observations places the mean winter temperature about 33 Fahrenheit, which is nearly that of Mannheim on the Rhine, and warmer than Munich, Vienna, or Berlin. It is about the same as that of Washington, 1,095 miles farther south, and warmer than New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore. At Nulato the mean winter temperature is 14 below zero, at Fort Yukon about 17, while at both points the thermometer reaches 100 in summer."
The census of 1880 gives the population of Alaska at 33,426,35 and this is probably little more than half the number of inhabitants living during the early period of the Russian occupation. Many causes were at work to produce this result. Slavery in its worst form ex- isted among the Alaskans. "A full third of the large population of this coast," writes Simpson, "are slaves of the most helpless and abject description. Some of them are prisoners taken in war, but the majority have been born in bondage. These wretches are the constant victims of cruelty, and often the instruments of malice or revenge. If ordered to kill a man, they must do it or lose their own life." 36 The earth huts of the Aleuts were without ovens. There was always a scarcity of wood and often of food. Sometimes
43 inches, in Bute about 46, and in the town of Inverness, in the same lati- tude as Kadiak, it was 49.9 in 1821 and 47.59 in 1822. Dall's Alaska, 445-6.
34 The average of twelve years, as given in Davidson's Sci. Exped., 481-2. The greatest rainfall during this period was 95.8 inches in 1861, and the least 58.06 in 1853. During August, September, and October, 1867, there were 52 inches.
35 Of whom 24,161 lived west of Prince William Sound, 500 near the sound, and 5,517 in south-eastern Alaska. Petroff's Pop. Alaska, 85.
36 Simpson's Narr. Jour. round World, i. 211. The custom of killing slaves at the death of a chief prevails among the Kolosh, and in late years the Rus- sians had been in the habit of purchasing the victims selected for sacrifice. Bloodgood, in Overland Monthly, Feb. 1869.
712
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, AND HOSPITALS.
their only diet was rotten fish, but those employed by the company were well fed, housed, and clad.
Among the most fatal diseases were consumption, gastric, bilious, typhus, and other fevers, syphilis, and scrofula.37 For the sick there were hospitals at Sitka and Saint Paul. In 1860 the former accommodated 1,400 patients, and was maintained at an expense of about 45,000 roubles; the latter had 550 patients, and the outlay was in a greater ratio.38 There was also a hospital for the treatment of skin diseases at the sul- phur springs near Sitka.39 The steam bath was the
37 ' In former times syphilitic diseases were very general among the Aleuts, but now they hardly exist on the islands. Now and then the disease is brought to Kadiak by crews of the company's vessels which winter there, but it is met with more and more rarely, because now the commanders of vessels are strictly enjoined to inspect their crew on arrival in port. At Novo Arkh- angelsk, on the contrary, this disease is yet very common in spite of all pre- ventive measures taken by the colonial government. It is communicated to the Russians by the Kolosh, who in their turn are infected by their coun- trymen who live along the sounds, where it is carried by foreign ships which carry on a contraband trade with the Kolosh. The Kolosh look at this dis- ease with great indifference; they believe it to be an unavoidable evil, and take no measures whatever for its cure. Nearly all the women who practise prostitution in secret around the environs of Novo Arkhangelsk are affected by this disease. At one time the syphilitic disease prevailed to such an ex- tent among the soldiers and laborers at Novo Arkhangelsk, that for its possi- ble prevention the then newly arrived administrator general (governor) felt compelled to resort to the strongest measures. He caused to be torn down at once all huts erected near the harbor, on the beach as well as in the woods, where the traffic of prostitution was secretly carried on.' Golovnin, in Materia- lui, 87. 'After consumption, perhaps the largest list of death causes will be laid at the door of scrofulous diseases, taking the form of malignant ulcers, which cat into the vitals and destroy them. It renders whole settlements sometimes lepers in the eyes of the civilized visitor; and it is hard to find a settlement in the whole country where at least one or more of the families therein have not got the singularly prominent scars peculiar to the disease.' Petroff's Pop. Alaska, 83. In 1843-4, there was another outbreak of small- pox among the Aleuts, but as most of them had been vaccinated, it was not very destructive. Simpson states that hæmoptysis was a common complaint. Jour. round World, ii. 190.
38 Dok. Kom. Russ. Amer. Kol., ii. 136; Kostlivtzof, in Materialui, app., 41-2. 'In its wards,' writes Simpson, 'and, in short, in all the requisite ap- pointments, the Sitka hospital would be no disgrace to England.' It had 40 beds. Near each was a table on which glasses and medicines were placed. The diet was usually salt beef or fish, the soup made from them, mush of rice or groats, bread, and tea. Of 1,400 patients admitted into the Sitka hospital in 1860, only 22 died.
39 There were three large springs close to each other. The temperature was between 50 and 52° of Réaumer. Golovnin, in Materialui, 92-3. Dall gives it at 122° of Fahrenheit, which would be only 40 of Réaumur. Alaska, 353. The waters were impregnated with sulphur, iron, manganesc, and chlorine, 97 per cent of the mineral matter being sulphur. During a visit to Atkha in
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CARE OF THE SICK AND POOR.
great panacea of the natives, who before the Russian occupation had no medicine, nor even knew of any medicinal herb.
Sick, aged, and disabled servants were provided for by the company, one half per cent of its profits being appropriated for this purpose after 1802. In later years a tax of ten roubles was levied on each keg of liquor, and of one rouble on each pound of tea sold by the company. From the funds thus raised the deserving poor were pensioned by the government, and in 1860 there were 375 persons in the receipt of pensions, the aggregate amount of which was 30,000 roubles a year. The pensioners were lodged at the company's expense, and the needy were also supplied with food from the public kitchen. Those who wished it were made colo- nial citizens, a class composed mainly of Russians and creoles. They were exempt from taxation, and had the privilege of reentering the company's service at will.40
Creoles-by which term is always meant the off- spring of Russians or Siberians and native women, none being the children of natives and of Russian women-had all the rights of Russian subjects, and were exempt from taxation or enforced service. Many were educated at the company's expense, and were afterward employed in various capacities, some of them, among whom was Veniaminof, being trained for the priesthood.41
The churches, schools, and hospitals of Alaska under the Russian régime were supported mainly at the ex- pense of the Russian American Company. At pres- ent they exist on charity-charity so cold, that when
1873, Dall observed springs there the temperature of which was 192°. Near them were the ruins of deserted bath-houses. Rept. Coast Survey (1873), 114.
40 There were no beggars in Alaska until after the purchase. The Alents supported their own poor. On returning from their expeditions, the hunters always gave a part of their spoils to the young, sick, and aged, who were told to go and help themselves from the bidarka, the owner of which was content with what remained. It was a rare thing among them for any one to ask as- sistance. He received it as his right. Golovnin, in Materialui, 93-4.
41 Tikhmenef, Istor. Obos., app. part i. 55; Dok. Kom. Russ. Amer. Kol., i. 108-9; Yermoloff, L'Amérique Russe, 93.
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CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, AND HOSPITALS.
the sum of fifty thousand dollars was voted by congress for educational purposes, there were found none to ad- minister it. What shall we do with the people of Alaska now that they are manumitted? Let them sit and gaze seaward with a steadfast stare, awaiting the arrival of the steamer which, bearing the United States flag, brings to them month by month their supply of hootchenoo!
"Thirteen governments," wrote John Adams, in 1786, "founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind." "Your best work and most important endowment," said Charles Sum- . ner, addressing the United States senate in 1867, "will be the republican government, which, looking to a long future, you will organize with schools free to all, and with equal laws, before which every citizen will stand erect in the consciousness of manhood. Here will be a motive power, without which coal itself will be insufficient. Here will be a source of wealth more inexhaustible than any fisheries. Bestow such a gov- ernment, and you will bestow what is better than all you can receive, whether quintals of fish, sands of gold, choicest fur, or most beautiful ivory."42
42 ' If,' remarks J. Ross Browne, 'Mr Secretary Seward had accomplished nothing more in the course of his official career than the acquisition of Alaska, he would for that act alone be entitled not only to the thanks of every citizen of the Pacific coast, already awarded him, but to the gratitude of millions yet unborn, by whom the boundless domain of the west is destined to be peopled.' Report on the Mineral Resources of the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains, 598. It would be difficult, at this juncture, to find out in what respect the millions born, or to be born, have thus far been so greatly benefited by the transfer.
Elsewhere I have given a brief bibliography of Alaska up to the year 1867. After the purchase there are no complete records. The United States government documents and a number of publications have been consulted for the closing chapters of this volume. Among the newspapers, the San Fran- cisco Bulletin, Call, Chronicle, and Alta, the Portland West Shore, Bee, Her- ald, Oregonian, and Deutche Zeitung, and the Alaska Herald may be specially mentioned. Among the government documents that furnish information is the report of William Gouverneur Morris, late collector at Sitka. The report is somewhat biased, and contains inany errors, of which I will quote one. 'The Russians exercised over the inhabitants of Alaska despotic
715
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
sway, and held them in absolute subjection. They treated them as brutes, and flogged them unmercifully for theft and petty misdemeanors. They punished crime promptly with severe corporal chastisement or imprison- ment, and regarded the Indians as not more than one degree removed from dumb beasts. They held the power of life and death over their subjects. They had over two thousand soldiers, employés, and retainers ready to do the bidding of the local supreme authority. Ships of war were always at hand to bombard the villages into submission.' p. 126. The reader will re- member that no Russian vessel of war appeared in Alaskan waters until the year 1850. p. 584, this vol. Notwithstanding errors, the report is very able, and many were sorry to hear that the decease of William Gouverneur Morris occurred early in 1884. The report of Vincent Colyer on the Indian Tribes and their Surroundings in Alaska Territory furnishes valuable information, as do those of L. A. Beardslee on the Condition of Affairs in Alaska, in Sen. Ex. Doc., 44th Cong. 2d Sess., 105, and of Bryant and McIntyre, in Sen. Ex. Doc., 41st Cong. 2d Sess., 32. Henry W. Elliott's Report on the Seal Islands of Alaska in the Tenth Census of the United States is probably the most reliable publication on the Pribylof Islands, notwithstanding the abuse that has been freely bestowed on that gentleman. From Davidson's Coast Pilot of Alaska, Sheldon Jackson's Alaska, and Missions on the North Pacific Coast, and Hit- tell's Commerce and Industries of the Pacific Coast, items of interest have also been gathered. Among the most valuable works published on Alaska during recent years are those of Alphonse L. Pinart, including the Voyages à la Côte Nord-Ouest de l'Amérique; Voyage à la Côte Nord-Ouest d' Amerique d'Ounalashka à Kadiak; and Notes sur les Koloches. As their contents are of a scientific nature, no use has been made of them in this volume.
For further references to authorities consulted for the last five chapters, see Morris' Rept. Alaska, 4-7, 10-19, 21-30, 36-41, 55-6, 59-63, 83-4, 90-4, 103-32; Colyer's Rept. Ind. Aff., 537-9, 542, 554, 556, 568-9, 572, 590; Bryant and McIntyre's Rept. Alaska, 2-41; Elliott's Seal Islands, Alaska, 20-2, 24-7, 105-8; U. S. Sen. Doc., 40th Cong., 3d Sess., Nos. 42, 53; 41st Cong., 2d Sess., 67, 68; 42d Cong., 1st Sess., 12; 44th Cong., Ist Sess., 12, 33, 48; 44th Cong., 2d Sess., 14; House Ex. Doc., 40th Cong., 2d Sess., 80, 105; 41st Cong., 2d Sess., 36; 41st Cong., 3d Sess., 108, 122; 42d Cong., 1st Sess., 5; 42d Cong., 2d Sess., 20, 197; 44th Cong., 1st Sess., 43, 83; 45th Cong., 2d Sess., 155, 217; 45th Cong., 3d Sess., 146; Senate Jour., 40th Cong., 2d Sess., pp. 1097, 1221; 42d Cong., 2d Sess., 1224; 43d Cong., 1st Sess., 933; 44th Cong., 1st Sess., 1047; House Jour., 41st Cong., 2d Sess., 1334-5; 42d Cong., 2d Sess., 1166; 43d Cong., 1st Sess., 1362, 1427; 44th Cong., 1st Sess., 1561; 45th Cong., 2d Sess., 1508-9; Sen. Repts., 41st Cong., 2d Sess., No. 47, pp. 228-30; House Comm. Repts., 40th Cong., 2d Sess., No. 37; 40th Cong., 3d Sess., 35; 44th Cong., 1st Sess., 623; House Misc. Doc., 40th Cong., 2d Sess., Nos. 130-1, 161; 42d Cong., 1st Sess., 5; Mess. and Doc., 1867, i. pp. 475-88; 1868-9 (abridgment), 852-8; Coast Survey Rept., 1867-8, pp. 41, 187, 264; 1872, 49; 1873, 59-60, 122; 1874, 42; 1875, 5-6, 64-6, 78; Agr. Rept., 1868, pp. 172-89; Fin. Rept., 1868, pp. 391-4; Sec. Int. Rept., 44th Cong., 1st Sess., i. pp. 704-7; Post. Rept., 44th Cong., 2d Sess., p. 41; Land Off. Rept., 1869, pp. 201-7; Rept. on Ind. Aff., 1868, pp. 308-17; 1869, 41-2, 105-9; Educ. Rept., 41st Cong., 3d Sess., pp. 336-7, 345; 43d Cong., 1st Sess., 424; 44th Cong., 1st Sess., 463-6; Cong. Globe, 1867-8, app., pp. 567-8; 1868-9, i. 100, 340-3; 1869-70, app. 558-9, 675; 1871-2, app. 695; 1872-3, app. 274; Hansard's Parl. Deb., ccxv. 1487-8, ccxvi. 1157; Sumner's Cess. Russ. Amer., 8-13, 28-48; Seward's Our N. Pac. States, 3-16; Zabriskie, Land Laws, 874-84, 887; Petroff's Pop. Alaska, 15-86; Davidson Scient. Exped., 471-7, 481-2; Smithsonian Rept., 1867, 43-4; Whymper's Alaska, 86-8, 103-6; 253, 258, 274-5; Jackson's Alaska, 15-24, 41-6, 49-50, 129-30, 140-327; Dall's Alaska, 56-7; 102-5, 181-2, 192-3, 204, 226, 251; Hittell's Com. and Ind. Pac. Coast, 330-6, 375-6; Browne's Mineral Res., 597-604; Rouhaud, Les Régions Nouvelles, 6; Brockett's Our Western Empire, 1271-5, 1277, 1279, 1281; McCahe's Our Country and Its Res., 1081-2; Pierrepont's Fifth Avenue to Alaska, 149-217; Niebaum's State-
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CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, AND HOSPITALS.
ment, MS., 3-18, 23-5, 44-61; Berry's Devel. in Alaska, MS., 2-13, 16-17; Bancroft's Library Scraps, 19-21, 25-9, 36-7, 55-63, 65-6, 72-3, 86, 125, 128, 134-45, 191-2, 196, 198, 211, 229, 232, 266-7; Honcharenko, Scrap-book, i. 10, 14, 26, 34, 43, 45, 47, 51-4, 60, 74-6, 80-1, 86-8, 99-101, 145; ii. 2, 8, 10-14, 23-4, 32-7, 112-13, 115; Army and Navy Journal, May 1, 1869; Har- per's Mag., July, 1867, 170-85; N. Y. Forest and Stream, July 24, Aug. 14, Dec. 18, 1879, Mar. 4, 18, Apr. 22, May 13, June 24, July 8, Aug. 29, 1880, Jan. 6, 20, 27, 1881; Alaska Herald, June 1, 15, Aug. 1, 15, Sept. 1, Nov. 1, Dec. 1, 15, 1868, Feb. 1, Mar. 1, June 15, July 1, 15, Sept. 1, Oct. 1, 22, Nov. 20, 1869, Feb. 1, Oct. 1, 1870, July 15, Aug. 18, Oct. 20, Nov. 1, 1871, Feb. 15, July 24, 1872, Oct. 24, Nov. 25, 1873, Mar. 1, May 28, 1874, Jan. 15, Mar. 15, Apr. 1, Oct. 1, 1875; Sitka Times, Apr. 30, May 14, June 4, July 30, Aug. 13, Sept. 1, 11, 25, Oct. 23, Nov. 13, Dec. 4, 1869, Jan. 15, Mar. 5, Apr. 16, June 11, 1870; S. F. Overland Monthly (1869), ii. 175-86, (1870) v. 297-301; Com. Herald, Apr. 14, 1868, Jan. 30, Apr. 30, 1869, Apr. 22, 29, 1870, Nov. 5, 1874; Mining and Sci. Press, Apr. 20, 1872, Jan. 18, June 28, Aug. 2, Sept. 20, 27, 1873, July 27, 1878; Alta, June 1, 27, July 2, 14, 20, Aug. 1, Oct. 18, Nov. 3, 14, 16, 25, 29, 1867, Jan. 14, Mar. 27, Aug. 9, Oct. 20, Dec. 18, 1868, Feb. 25, 27, Mar. 19, Sept. 1, Nov. 17, 1869, Mar. 22, 24, Oct. 9, 1870, July 3, 1871, Aug. 6, Sept. 5, 1873; Feb. 2, 1874, June 21, 1875; Bulle- tin, July 13, 1867, May 2, 18, Aug. 1, 27, 1868, Jan. 30, Feb. 2, Apr. 13, Dec. 10, 21, 1869, Jan. 6, 1870, Jan. 26, Feb. 20, June 15, Oct. 5, 12, 1871, Aug. 1, 1872, Nov. 3, 1873, Feb. 16, 1875, June 22, 1877, Sept. 5, 1878, Mar. 18, Apr. 10, Oct. 30, 1879, Jan. 10, Feb. 2, Mar. 23, 1880, July 13, 21, 25, Aug. 11, 16, 26, Sept. 23, 26, 27, Oct. 1, 25, 27, 31, Nov. 25, Dec. 21, 1881, May 11, 23, 24, 27, 1882, Apr. 20, May 3, Aug. 1, 2, Oct. 6, Nov. 28, Dec. 29, 1883; Call, Nov. 14, 1867, Mar. 19, Aug. 17, Sept. 25, Oct. 17, 1869, Feb. 16, 1870, Mar. 25, 1871, June 9, Sept. 25, 1877; Chronicle, Sept. 2, Nov. 25, 1868, Aug. 6, 1872, July 21, 1873, Nov. 19, 1874, Sept. 15, 1875, Sept. 28, Dec. 14, 1877, Jan. 26, 1878, Dec. 31, 1879, Nov. 17, Dec. 21, 1880, June 26, 1881, Oct. 30, 1882; Post, Mar. 13, 1872, May 2, 9, 24, 28, July 1, 1873, Jan. 2, Sept. 24, Nov. 18, 1874, Feb. 26, Apr. 22, 1876, Feb. 14, Oct. 31, 1877; Sacramento Union, May 6, Nov. 25, 1867, July 17, 1868, Mar. 27, Apr. 14, Oct. 18, 1869, July 9, 1870, Sept. 9, Oct. 5, 24, 1871, Apr. 11, 1879; Sacramento Bee, Feb. 2, 1874, Feb. 22, 1879, Aug. 21, 1880; Portland West Shore, May, June, 1876, June, 1878, Oct., Nov., 1879, Jan., 1880; Deutche Zeitung, Feb. 6, 1875, Feb. 22, Mar. 1, 1879; Oregonian, Sept. 28, 1877, Feb. 22, Mar. 22, Apr. 19, July 19, Aug. 23, 1879, Dec. 3, 1883; Telegram, Feb. 6, Mar. 17, 20, May 5, July 9, 10, 16, 1879; Olympia Courier, Mar. 24, May 26, Aug. 11, 18, 1882; Stand- ard, Jan. 6, Nov. 24, 1877; Seattle Intelligencer, Feb. 7, Apr. 24, Dec. 4, 1880; Port Townsend Argus, Mar. 13, May 22, July 31, Sept. 4, 1879; Victoria British Colonist, Jan. 8, 29, Feb. 12, 1879.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
ALASKA AS A CIVIL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICT.
1883-1885.
THE ORGANIC ACT-A PHANTOM OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT-PROPOSED INDIAN RESERVATIONS- EDUCATIONAL MATTERS- APPOINTMENT F UNITED STATES OFFICIALS-REPORT OF GOVERNOR KINKEAD-HIS SUCCESSOR APPOINTED-SCHWATKA'S VOYAGE ON A RAFT-EVERETTE'S EXPLORA- TION-STONEY'S EXPEDITION-MINING ON THE YUKON AND ITS TRIBUTA- RIES-THE TAKOO MINES-THE TREADWELL LODE-FISHERIES-COM- MERCE AND NAVIGATION.
THE little that is to be said as to the action of con- gress concerning Alaska during the opening years of the present decade, and for several previous years, may be summed up almost in ten words. Appropria- tions were made for the salaries and expenses of agents at the fur-seal grounds,1 and, as will presently appear, these salaries and expenses were voted with no nig- gard hand. Yet, during the long period that had now elapsed since the purchase of Russian America, petitions without number had been presented to con- gress, asking for some form of civil government. At one time the few Russian residents still remaining in Alaska were about to petition the tzar to secure for them the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, as guaranteed by the treaty. On another occasion the commander of a Russian man-of-
1 On the 3d of March, 1881, the sum of $8,000 was appropriated for the repair and preservation of public buildings. U. S. Stat., 46th Cong. 3d Sess., 436. In 1882 a few postal routes were established, as will be mentioned presently. With these exceptions, nothing was done in congress concerning Alaska, the salaries of the agents passing among the appropriations for the miscellaneous civil expenses of each year.
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718
ALASKA AS A CIVIL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICT.
war, stationed on the Pacific coast, had determined to visit Sitka in order to inquire into the condition of his countrymen, to whom had been granted neither protection nor civil rights of any description. Each year the president of the United States called atten- tion to the matter, and almost every year resolutions and bills were introduced in the senate for this pur- pose, but without result. Most of them were tabled; a few were passed to committee, and all were rejected. It was admitted that, as an abstract proposition, the
Russians and creoles of this Ultima Thule were entitled to protection; but abstract justice was now somewhat out of date in congressional circles. Moreover, there were many conflicting interests to be considered, some parties desiring that settlement should be encouraged, and others wishing to retain as much of the mainland as possible for a stock-farm, and being therefore op- posed to any legislation that would cause an influx of settlers, as was the case some thirty years ago with the Hudson's Bay Company in Vancouver Island and New Caledonia. Meanwhile the outside world knew nothing of Alaska. During this interregnum, if we may believe Major Morris, dozens of letters were addressed to the "United States Consul at Sitka," and many gov- ernors of states and territories sent copies of their thanksgiving proclamations to the "Governor of Alaska Territory," years before that country enjoyed the presence of any such official.2
At length, on the 4th of December, 1883, Senator Harrison introduced a bill to provide a civil govern- ment for Alaska, which, with some amendments, passed both houses, receiving the president's signa- ture on the 17th of May, 1884. Thus, after many years of waiting, this long-mooted measure took effect.
By the provisions of what we will call the organic act, Alaska was organized as a civil and judicial dis- trict, its seat being temporarily established at Sitka. A governor was to be appointed, who should perform
2 Scidmore's Alaska, 228.
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CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
generally such duties as belonged to the chief magis- trate of a territory, and make an annual report to the president of his official acts, of the condition of the district with reference to its resources, industries, and population, and of the administration of civil govern- ment therein, the president having the power to con- firm or annul any of his proceedings.3 A district court was to be established, with the civil and crimi- nal jurisdiction of United States district and circuit courts, the judge to hold at least two terms in each year-one at Sitka, beginning the first Monday in May, and the other at Wrangell, beginning the first Monday in November-together with special sessions as they might be required for the despatch of busi- ness, at such times and places as were deemed neces- sary. The clerk of the court was to be ex officio secretary and treasurer of the district, recorder of deeds, mortgages, certificates of mining claims, and contracts relating to real estate, and also registrar of wills.4 A marshal was to be appointed, having the general authority and powers of United States mar- shals, with the right of appointing four deputies, who wero to reside respectively in the towns of Sitka, Wrangell, Unalaska, and Juneau, and to perform the duties of constables under the laws of Oregon.
There were also to be appointed four commission- ers, one to reside in each of the four towns above mentioned, and having the jurisdiction and powers of
3 It was also a part of the governor's duties to inquire from time to time into the operations of the Alaska Commercial Co., reporting thereon to congress, and mentioning all violations of the contract existing between the company and the United States. How the governor was to inquire from time to time is not explained in the text of the act, but on this matter he remarks in his report to the president: 'The fur-seal islands are 1,500 miles to the westward of Sitka. To reach them the government must furnish transportation to enable the governor to make such inquiries .... The United States ship now at this station might be detailed for the purpose, carrying such officers of the civil government as might be necessary to gain the required informa- tion.' S. F. Bulletin, Dec. 18, 1884.
4 He must establish offices at Sitka and Wrangell for the safe-keeping of all official records. Separate offices might also be established, at the discre- tion of the court, at Wrangell, Unalaska, and Juneau, for the recording of such instruments as pertained to the several natural divisions of the district, their limits to be defined by the court.
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