USA > Alaska > History of Alaska : 1730-1885 > Part 70
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729
THE GOVERNOR'S SUGGESTIONS.
quished to him all civil authority, his duties in that direction being now at an end. The complete organ- ization of the civil government was delayed for a time by the absence of the district judge and the commis- sioner for Sitka, the former being detained at San Francisco through illness. Meanwhile the board of Indian commissioners assumed judicial authority, set- tling disputes to the satisfaction of the parties inter- ested.27 The governor expressed the opinion that mining bade fair to rank foremost among the resources of the territory, and that within the next decade the output of precious metals in Alaska would form no unimportant factor in the finances of the general gov- ernment. This industry has languished, he says, mainly for the reason that no title to mining lands, other than that of force, has thus far been recognized. For the same reason the grazing and agricultural ca- pabilities of the territory, which he considered full of promise, were yet undeveloped. He urged that timber tracts, building-lots, agricultural areas, and mining lands be made subject to legal titles, for, with- out such titles, the progress of settlement must be slow and uncertain.
He recommended, also, that mail facilities be increased. There should be at least semi-monthly
in subjection, and afterward made a valuable official report, which has already been quoted in these pages. To him succeeded Captain Glass, an officer of marked ability, who by his firmness and humanity won the respect of the natives, and made several treaties of peace between hostile Indian tribes, maintaining a protectorate over the various settlements until relieved, in 1881, by Commander Lull in the steamer Wachusett. In the autumn of 1882 Captain Merriman, in charge of the Adams, was detailed for the Alaska sta- tion, and discharged his manifold duties as umpire, judge, referee, and pre- server of the peace, with considerable tact and discretion. Not infrequently he was called upon to save the lives of persons doomed to death for witch- craft, and to prevent the slaughter of slaves at funerals and potlatches. Mer- riman was superseded in command of the Adams by Capt. J. B. Coghlan, who, finding the Indians peaceable, devoted his leisure to a survey of the most frequented channels of the inside passage, marking off with buoys the channel through Wrangell Narrows and Peril Straits, and designating un- known rocks in Saginaw Channel and Neva Strait. In August 1884 the Adams was replaced by the Pinta. Scidmore's Alaska, 219-23; Sacramento Union, May 20, 1881.
27 The governor also reinstated the Indian police, discharged by Captain Nichols, after being carried for some years on the pay-rolls of the navy, as he considered them necessary to inspire due respect for the civil authority.
730
ALASKA AS A CIVIL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICT.
communication with Port Townsend, and a monthly mail-steamer should run between Sitka and Unalaska, touching at several intervening ports. The distance between these ports is twelve hundred miles, but as there is no direct communication, persons wishing to avail themselves of the district court tribunal estab- lished at the capital must travel by way of San Fran- cisco, and return by the same route, the entire journey being nearly eight thousand miles. The dis- tricts of Kadiak and Kenai, which were altogether ignored in the organic act, should be placed under the protection of the civil authority; for in those districts were several hundred Russians and creoles, who were peaceable, industrious, and eager to share in the benefits of American progress.
The customs service could not be efficiently carried on with the means then at command. For this purpose it was necessary that at least one revenue-cutter should be constantly employed in cruising among the chan- nels and inlets of the coast. At this time illicit traffic prevailed in many portions of the territory. The boundary line between the Portland canal and Mount St Elias should be speedily and definitely settled by a joint survey of the British and American govern- ments, for several of the highways leading into Brit- ish Columbia lie partly within the limits of Alaska, among them being the one leading to the Stikeen River mines.
On the subject of education the governor remarked that Alaska was entirely without schools for white children, the missionary schools being attended only by natives. The former were growing up in total ignorance, though their parents were most anxious to give them education, and would gladly pay for the services of teachers.
Finally, with regard to traffic in spirituous liquor, he stated that the military commander of the division of the Pacific had the right to grant permits for its introduction into the territory. Whether, or to what
731
SALE OF LIQUORS.
extent, the commander exercised that power, he was not aware; but, with or without permission, a very large quantity of liquor found its way into Alaska. The law forbade its introduction, except for certain purposes, but did not forbid its sale after it was introduced, and liquor was openly sold in all the principal settlements; though, on account of the severe penalties enforced by the naval and customs authorities, little of it was dis- posed of among the natives.28 The utmost vigilance on the part of officials could not entirely prevent this traffic, for countless devices were practised whereby the law was evaded; but in order to regulate it, the gov- ernor suggested the appointment of an executive coun- cil, with full power to act in the matter. He also recommended that saloon-keepers, tradesmen, and others should contribute, by a license, tax, or other- wise, to the support of government, paying at least enough to maintain the police and to keep the streets and sidewalks in repair.29
It will be observed that, while the governor made some excellent suggestions as to what congress ought to do, he said nothing about what he himself intended to do. As ruler of a country so vast in extent, and containing such varied and conflicting interests, he was necessarily intrusted with discretionary powers. He appears to have fully understood the needs of the country, and had he continued in power, it is not im- probable that he might have made some effort to sup- ply them. He did not remain long enough in the terri- tory, however, to frame any important measures, or at least to carry them into effect, although it was pro- vided in the organic act that he should reside within the district during his term of office.
A few weeks after the inauguration of President Cleveland, Kinkead was requested to send in his resig-
28 The governor stated that, through the efforts of the same authorities, the manufacture of hootchenoo had been almost entirely broken up in the neigh- borhood of Sitka and other parts of the archipelago.
29 The text of the governor's report, with some slight omissions, will be found in the S. F. Bulletin, Dec. 18, 1884.
732
ALASKA AS A CIVIL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICT.
nation, A. P. Swineford of Michigan being appointed in his stead on the 9th of May, 1885.
In the exploration of the interior of Alaska and the survey of its coasts, bays, and rivers, considerable progress has been made during recent years, consider- ing the immense area to be explored. Numerous expeditions have been undertaken in addition to those mentioned in a previous chapter,30 and many charts have been published, some of them valuable, and others so utterly worthless that the captain who should follow them would run his vessel at various points into the mountains of the mainland. Reports without number have been made by navigators as to the difficulties encountered among these intricate channels and dangerous harbors,61 but no reliable charts of the entire coast have as yet been made.
In the summer of 1883 Lieutenant Schwatka and six others 32 traversed the upper Yukon by raft from its source to Fort Selkirk, a distance of about five hundred miles, their object being to gather informa- tion as to the Indian tribes of that region, and for geographical exploration. The middle Yukon, as far as the junction of that river with the Porcupine, and the lower Yukon, extending from this point to the delta, had already been explored, as we have seen, by the servants of the Russian American Company, who occasionally ascended the stream from the direction of St Michael sometimes possibly as far as the present site of Fort Reliance, and thence made their way partly overland to the Lynn canal. In the summer of 1883 the lieutenant set forth to explore the river
30 See pp. 628-9, this vol.
31 Among others may be mentioned the case of J. C. Glidden, who, in the summer of 1870, was in cominand of a vessel voyaging to the gulf of Nusha- gak, between the parallels of 58° 25' and 59° 2' N. and the meridians of 158° 5' and 158° 43' w. according to Russian surveys. He reports its entrance ob- structed by bars and quicksands, which rendered its navigation difficult and dangerous, though a pilot could usually be obtained at Cape Konstantin. Trip to Alaska, MS., 1, 6-7.
32 Dr Wilson, Topographical assistant Homan, Sergeant Gloster, Corporal Shircliff, Private Roth, and a Mr Mcintosh. Century Mag., ISS5, 739, 819.
733
SCHWATKA'S EXPEDITION.
from its source to its mouth, the basin of the upper Yukon being, as he thought, a terra incognita.
Leaving Chilkat on the 7th of June with thirteen canoes towed by a steam-launch belonging to the Northwest Trading Company, he passed through the Lynn canal and the Chilkoot Inlet, arriving at the mouth of a swift-running stream, some ninety feet in width, called by the Indians the Dayay. Here he took leave of the launch, and at this point, as he claims, his exploration commenced, though in fact he was on ground perfectly familiar to the Russians, even in the days of Baranof. Reaching the head of navi- gation on the 10th, the canoes were unloaded and their three or four tons of freight packed on the backs of seventy Indians, the party reaching, the same night, the head waters of the stream, under banks of snow, and at the foot of a pass about three thousand feet in height, which the lieutenant named Perrier Pass,33 and where, he says, "long finger-like glaciers of clear blue ice extended down the granite gulches to our very level."
The ascent was a difficult one and not unattended with danger. In places the mountain side appeared almost perpendicular, and a few stunted juniper roots protruding through a thin covering of snow afforded the only support. The footsteps of the guides were turned inward and planted deep, thus giving a firm hold, and the remainder followed in their tracks, some of them using rough alpen-stocks, for the least slip would have dashed them down the precipitous slope hundreds of feet into the valley below. Arriving at the summit without mishap, the party found them- selves in a drifting fog, such as many of my readers may have observed hanging in summer for days at a time over Snowdon or Ben Nevis, both of which mountains are but three or four degrees south of the
33 Why he so called it he does not state. I do not find the pass named or even marked in any of the maps published before 1883, though it is certain that the lieutenant was not the first white man who made the ascent of the Dayay River or portage.
734
ALASKA AS A CIVIL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICT.
point where they now stood. Descending the pass, the lieutenant afterward came in sight of two large lakes connected by a channel about a mile in length, and which he named lakes Lindermann and Bennett.34
On the shore of the latter he built his raft, some fifteen by forty feet, with decks fore and aft, space being left for oars at the bow, stern, and sides, so that when laden it could be pulled in still water at a rate of more than half a mile an hour. Behind the for- ward deck was hoisted a nine-foot mast, a wall-tent serving for a sail, and for a yard its ridge-pole, while the projecting logs that supported the deck were used as belaying-pins. In this strange craft, built in the ice-cold water of the lake, the lieutenant launched forth on the morning of the 19th of June on his ex- ploration of the upper Yukon.
The outset of the voyage was by no means propi- tious. The wind at first blew gently from the south, and hoisting sail, he made from two to three miles an hour; but the wind freshened into a gale and the gale increased to a cyclone, threatening to carry away the mast, while the waves swept the frail bark fore and aft, deluging all on board, so that rowing became im- possible.
On the following afternoon the party reached the northern end of Lake Bennett, and thence, without special adventure, made their way, by the route known as the Indian portage, to a point which Schwatka terms the grand cañon of the Yukon, where are rapids some five miles in length, in places shoal and dangerous even for the navigation of a canoe. At first the waters pour in troubled foam between basaltic pillars, about seventy feet apart, then widen into a basin filled with eddies and whirlpools, and again pass through a second cañon, almost the coun- terpart of the first. Thus the river flows onward for several miles, after which it narrows almost into a
34 Both of these lakes, which form a part of the Indian portage, are marked on the U. S. Coast Survey map of 1869.
735
DOWN THE YUKON.
cascade, less than thirty feet wide, and with waves running five feet high. So swift and turbulent is the stream at this point, that, as the lieutenant relates, its waters dash up the banks on either side, falling back in solid sheets into the seething caldron below.
Stationing a few men below the cascade to render assistance, as the raft shot past them, Schwatka turned its head toward the outlet of the grand cañon of the Yukon, through which he passed.35
The party had now overcome their greatest difficul- ties. Repairing the raft, on the 5th of July they passed the mouth of the Tahkeena River,36 and thence, without further incident worthy of note, voyaged down the stream to Fort Selkirk, completing the journey mainly by raft down the middle and lower Yukon, and thence proceeded to St Michael, where they were met by the revenue-cutter Corwin.37
In 1884 and 1885 several expeditions were under- taken by order of General Miles, then in charge of the department of the Columbia, which includes Alaska. In February of the former year Doctor Everette set forth from Vancouver Barracks for the purpose of exploring a portion of the Yukon, and the section of territory near the head of Copper River. Procuring Indian guides at Juneau, he proceeded to Chilkat, and there remained for three months, study- ing the language of the tribe. Thence, reaching the head waters of the Yukon by way of the Lynn canal and the Dayay River, following about the same route as was taken by Schwatka's party in 1883, he voyaged down the stream, in a boat of his own construction, as far as the first fur-trading station. Here he awaited the arrival of the steamer from the Bering Sea, and being abandoned by his pack Indians, and unable to obtain a supply of provisions for winter use, he had no alternative but to complete his journey on board that vessel, arriving at St Michael during the
33 The lieut christened his craft the Resolute.
36 Now usually called the Tahk.
87 Century Mag., Sept. Oct. 1885, 739-51, 819-29; Scidmore's Alaska, p. 120.
736
ALASKA AS A CIVIL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICT.
autumn, and reaching San Francisco on the 29th of August, 1885.
Thus, as he claims, Doctor Everette made a running survey of the entire stream, from which, and from the information furnished by fur-traders, he prepared charts of the river, of his route, extending over twenty-six hundred miles, of the Yukon Lake system, of the greater portion of the Tennanah River, of the entire Kuskokvim River, and of many smaller streams in a region which had not yet been explored except by fur-traders, together with itineraries on a tabulated scale, accompanying the charts and showing every point of interest between Chilkat and St Michael. The doctor also states that he collected statistics concerning all the explorations made on the Yukon since the year 1865, together with a mass of in- formation setting forth the name, occupation, date of arrival and departure of every missionary, miner, and trader who had been on the Yukon since the date of the transfer. Finally, he collected the dialects of all the leading tribes in Alaska, from Chilkat through the interior to St Michael, thence north to Kotzebue Sound, and from that point south ward to the Aleutian Archipelago.38
In the summer of 1885 the Corwin was again em- ployed in explorations on the Alaskan coast, and it was proposed that her trip should extend as far north- ward as Kotzebue Sound. At Hotham Inlet Lieu- tenant Cantwell was sent to explore the Kowak River as far, if possible, as its head waters, and a second expedition, in charge of Engineer McLenegan, was ordered to explore the Noitak. In the spring of 1885 Lieutenant Stoney, Ensign Purcell, Engineer Zane, Surgeon Nash, and some ten others, set forth to explore the Putnam River on board the schooner Viking, a steam-launch, having been built for that purpose at Mare Island. Procuring Indian guides
38 S. F. Chronicle, Aug. 30, 1885. The statement published in this issue was pronounced to be correct by Dr Everette, who called at my Library a few days later.
737
LATE EXPLORATIONS.
and dogs at St Michael, where they arrived after a tedious voyage caused by light and contrary winds, they proceeded to St Lawrence Bay, and there ob- tained a supply of furs and warm clothing. The season was an open one, St Michael being clear of ice at the end of May, and it was hoped that at least two hundred and fifty miles of the stream could be ex- plored before the expedition went into winter quarters about the 1st of October, after which the work of exploration was to be carried on by means of sledges. When the launch could proceed no farther she was to be employed in conveying provisions for the winter camp, and her engines and boilers were afterward to be used in running a saw-mill, by which timber could be cut for the construction of frame houses. In May 1886 Captain Stoney proposed to descend the river, returning to San Francisco in the autumn of that year.39
During recent years frequent explorations of the interior have been made by mining prospectors, espe- cially in the direction of the Yukon River and its tributaries. In 1878 and 1880 parties left for the head waters of that stream, and through the influence brought to bear by Captain Beardslee of the James- town were kindly received by the Chilkats, who, being assured that they would not interfere with their fur trade, guided them through their territory, indica- tions of gold and large gravel deposits being dis- covered. In 1882 a band of forty-five prospectors from Arizona left Juneau for the same point, and returning in the autumn, reported discoveries of gold, silver, nickel, copper, and coal in the district be- tween the Lewis and Copper rivers. During this year three prospectors proceeded to the mouth of Stewart River, which they ascended in canoes for two hundred miles. They found navigation somewhat
39 S. F. Chronicle, Feb. 5, 1885; S. F. Call, Aug. 26, 1885. News of the progress of this expedition was brought by Lieut Purcell, who returned to San Francisco Aug. 23, 1885, being disabled through sickness. HIST. ALASKA. 47
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ALASKA AS A CIVIL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICT.
easy, there being stretches of 100 miles where no portage was needed, and none of the portages exceed- ing half a mile. During their trip they examined more than a hundred streams, in all of which gold was discovered, though the ground and even the beds of streams where was running water were frozen. Hence, they said, it was impossible to work the deposits; but the fact that one of the party proceeded to San Francisco to purchase a schooner and load it with miners' supplies for that quarter would seem to indicate that this was not the case. Between 1880 and 1883 more than two hundred prospectors visited the Yukon district, the Chilkats keeping control of the travel, and charging six to ten dollars for each hundred pounds of baggage conveyed over the port- age between the river and the lakes.40
The maps of the upper Yukon district made since the purchase have not changed materially the charts made by the Russians. Among them is one prepared by a native named Kloh-Kutz“ for Professor David- son, which has been made the basis for an official chart. From the maps and publications of two doc- tors of the names of Krause, belonging to the geo- graphical society of Bremen, who recently explored the neighborhood of the Yukon portages, the coast survey has gathered information of considerable value.
The Takoo mines, and especially those in the neigh- borhood of Harrisburg, or Juneau,42 and the quartz
40 Dr Everette's opinion as to the mining outlook in the Yukon district was unfavorable. 'First, he believed that no mother vein exists in that region, while the placer diggings contain only fine flour gold which it is very difficult to save. One party from Juneau obtained about $2,000 from a bar on the upper Yukon in 1884, but they exhausted the diggings, and were later pros- pecting on the White and Stewart Rivers. Second, the ground only partially thaws during the brief summer of interior Alaska, the ice opening in May and closing in again during October. Third, it is impossible to procure provisions sufficient for the winter at the fur-trading posts, while freight via Chilkat to the head of the Yukon is $20 per hundred pounds. S. F. Chronicle, Aug. 30, 1885. The doctor claims to be versed in mineralogy, and to have had practi- cal experience in the placer mines of the Black Hills and the quartz mines of New Mexico.
41 The father of Klohkutz, a chief fur-trader, was among the band of Chilkats who burned Fort Selkirk in 1851, in consequence of the interference of the Hudson's Bay Company with their trade. Scidmore's Alaska, 121.
42 The name Juneau was formally adopted at a meeting of miners held in
739
ALASKA GOLD MINES.
veins on Douglas Island, have attracted the most at- tention within recent years, and are the only districts that require further mention. The bars and shores of Takoo River have been searched for miles beyond the Takoo Inlet, and in most of the adjacent streams fine gold has been discovered, carried down by the glaciers that now lie amid the ravines and fiords of this region.
In 1879 Professor Muir expressed his belief that valuable quartz leads would be found on the mainland east of Baranof Island, and that the true mineral belt would follow the trend of the shore. His prediction was soon verified. In the following autumn a pros- pecting party left Sitka in charge of Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris, and encamping on the present site of the town of Juneau, followed up a large creek which discharges into the channel near that point. Here they found rich placers and several promising ledges. On their return to Sitka, with sacks full of specimens, a rush was made for this district, and dur- ing the winter a camp was established, which after- ward developed into a town, among its inhabitants being a number of miners from Arizona and British Columbia. From the placers in this neighborhood it is estimated that about $300,000 had been obtained up to the close of 1883.43 The correct figures, how- ever, cannot be ascertained even approximately, for, on account of the heavy express charges, many of the miners, proceeding to Wrangell, Victoria, San Fran- cisco, or wherever they pass the winter, carry with
May 1882, though both are still used. In 1884 the town contained about 50 houses, and there was an Indian village on both sides of it. Scidmore's Alaska, 82-3.
43 As an instance of the little that is known in Washington concerning the resources of Alaska, it may be mentioned that for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, the total bullion product of Alaska was estimated by the director of the mint at $6,000, and for the ensuing year at $7,000. House Ex. Doc., 47th Cong. 1st Sess., xiv., p. 269. In Scidmore's Alaska, 85, the product of the placer mines in the Takoo district alone is given for 1881 at $135,000, for 1882 at $250,000, and for 1883 at $400,000. These figures are doubtless too high. During the seasons of 1881-3 there were probably some 200 miners at work in this district, and estimating their average earnings at $800 each per season, we have a total of about $500,000 for the three years.
740
ALASKA AS A CIVIL AND JUDICIAL DISTRICT.
them their own gold-dust. In 1884 the surface deposits showed signs of exhaustion, and many of the claims were abandoned, though some that were still partially worked yielded fair returns. Mean- while prospecting was continued, and tunnels, run a short distance into several quartz ledges, disclosed a moderate amount of low-grade gold ore, but noth- ing that, under existing conditions, would pay for working.
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