Cfass Book^:_ COPYRIGHT DEP0S17 ALASKA, ALASKA Its History, Climate NATURAL RESOURCES / V Hon. a. p. Swineford, Ex-Governor of Alaska. WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CHICAGO AND NEW YORK: --— RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 2ndCO?V, 3029 Copyright, 1898, by Rand, McNally & Co. /<^o^ 0\-\5bfO PREFACE. The brief history of the discovery and occupa- tion of Alaska by the ^Russians, which I have inr corporated in this work, has been compiled largely from the records of the Russian- Ameri- can Company, as translated for me by Mr. George Kostrometinoff. That part relating to the purchase of the country by the United States are matters of Congressional record, which the reader can easily verify by referring to the de- bates had in the Senate and House of Represent- atives, 1867-8. The remainder, and by far the larger part of the volume, is based upon personal observation and research, made during an official residence of several years in the Territory, during which time I personally visited all the different sections referred to for the special purpose of in- vestigation and report. Concerning my estimate of the natural resources of these different sec- tions, I am wholly content to await the confirma- tion that certainly lies within the near future. It is just possible that the reader may be dis- appointed at not finding in these pages a more extended reference to the very recent gold dis- coveries which have set the world aflame, but I 6 PREFACE. consider these, for the present at least, subjects more legitimately belonging to the newspapers than to the historian. What might be written of the new discoveries, new towns and different routes of travel and transportation to the interior to-day might not be true to-morrow, and I have therefore tried to avoid any statement which, though justified by existing conditions, may be found inaccurate, if not wholly wrong, a year or two hence. In other words, I have not attempted that which the daily press may be confidently relied upon to perform, or which can more prop- erly be given to the public through the medium of publications in which corrections can more readily be made than in such a volume as this. It will be noticed that I have explained in a footnote the use of the word Creole, as applied to a particular class of native-born Alaskans. There are, in fact, no people in Alaska who can properly be called Creoles, but inasmuch as the appellation is one which has heretofore been quite generally applied to those of the Alaska people who are descended from Russian fathers and native mothers, I have not deemed it wholly improper to continue its use in preference to adopting some other term which might grate harshly upon the sensibilities of the people to whom it refers. A. P. S. ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. When, early in 1867, it became publicly known that the Hon. William H. Seward, the then Sec- retary of State, had negotiated a treaty by the terms of which Russia had agreed to cede to the United States her North American possessions for and in consideration of the payment of seven million two hundred thousand dollars in gold coin, the proposition not only failed to elicit any considerable manifestation of popular favor, but was quite generally condemned and denounced as a reckless and wholly indefensible expenditure of the public money in the purchase of what some of the leading political journals of the day m 8 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, denominated a "great national refrigerator." Many of the more influential newspapers ear- nestly opposed a ratification of the treaty by the Senate, but after a somewhat protracted debate, in which the Hon. Chas. Sumner took a leading part, it was finally ratified by that body May 28, the original agreement between the high con- tracting parties having been signed March 30, 1867. In the House of Representatives the ap- propriation necessary to the final consummation of the treaty was strenuously opposed by a num- ber of the leading and most influential members of that body, chief among them the Hon. C. C. Washburn, of Wisconsin, who regarded the pur- chase in the light of a most unwarranted and un- justifiable waste of the public funds^ in that he held the territory proposed to be purchased of little, if any, value, and one which in addition to the original cost was likely to prove a source of continual large expense to the government without adequate consideration in the way of revenues to be derived therefrom. Not- withstanding the carefully considered speech of Mr. Sumner in the Senate, in which he not only truthfully enumerated the great natural re- sources of the territory and dwelt at length upon the importance of the proposed acquisition from a political as well as commercial and industrial standpoint, Mr. Washburn entertained and held CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 9 tenaciously to the preconceived notion which has ever since, or at least until quite recently, been the prevailing though erroneous opinion of a vast majority of the people of the United States, that Alaska was, and is, a barren, desolate region of perpetual snow and ice, where nothing in the shape of agricultural or horticultural products can be grown, and in which the most useful of domestic animals can not be kept. To Mr. Washburn and those who joined with him in his opposition to the consummation of the treaty of cession, Alaska was a great terra incognita, and such it still remains to the great mass of the American people, who have either been unable or have made no effort to divest themselves of a preconceived idea, nurtured in widespread ig- norance of the subject to which it relates. It has always been a mooted question why, on the one hand, Russia was willing to accept so small a consideration for the cession of her North American possessions to the United States, and, on the other hand, what the incentive that prompted the latter to conclude the purchase. It was believed, and was probably true, that the imperial government feared that, in the event of a war with Great Britain, Alaska would fall an easy prey to that aggrandizing power, or at least could only be successfully defended through the instrumentality of an immense naval armament 10 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, provided at tremendous cost to the imperial treasury. It was but natural that Great Britain should desire to possess herself of so vast a ter- ritory contiguous to her American colonies, and that she was patiently awaiting to seize upon Alaska admits of scarcely a doubt. On the other hand, it has been urged, and is still quite gener- ally believed, that the government of the United States was prompted solely by feelings of grati- tude because of the friendly attitude maintained by Russia towards this country during the great civil war but then just ended, to relieve the Czar of his white elephant in America upon almost any terms he might be pleased to dictate. Others ascribed the purchase to the political sagacity and wise statesmanship of Mr. Seward, and that view of the matter is undoubtedly the true one, though the project did not originate in the brain of that great statesman. To him, however, is due the credit of having added to the national domain a vast region, the incomparable natural resources of which are as yet in the incipiency of their development. Prior to the convention which resulted in the cession of Alaska to the United States, the mat- ter had been agitated by Senator Gwinn, of Cal- ifornia, in the interest of certain shrewd, ener- getic business men of San Francisco, who after- wards proved to be the moving spirit behind Mr. 1 CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. H Seward in his negotiations, though it is proper to say that that gentleman was wholly unaware of the fact, and was prompted by none save the most unselfish and patriotic motives. The glory and peaceful aggrandizement of his country was his sole aim and object; self-aggrandizement was the hope and purpose of those who, having sug- gested the purchase, kept well under cover until, the treaty having been ratified by the Senate and proclaimed by the President, they came at once to the front and were most lavish of their means in a successful effort to secure from the House of Representatives the appropriation necessary to carry it into effect. It is a fact, not generally re- membered after the lapse of nearly thirty years, that though the treaty of cession was signed on the 30th of March, 1867, ratified by the Senate May 28th, proclaimed by the President June 20th, and formal and actual possession of the country taken October i8th of the same year, payment of the purchase price of $7,200,000 was delayed for nearly a year thereafter, owing to the failure of the House of Representatives to make the necessary appropriation. The appropriation was strenuously opposed by Messrs. C. C. and E. B. Washburn, Blaine, Logan, Cullom, Butler, Delano, Morrell and other prominent leaders of the party then dominant in Congress, and many members who voted for it did so under protest, 12 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, alleging that the prerogative of Congress had been usurped by the President and Senate in negotiating and proclaiming a treaty without question as to the action of the House in the matter of providing the means to carry it into effect. Mr. Banks, of Masachusetts, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, led the debate in favor of the appropriation, and in a glowing speech described the country as one possessed of great and practically inexhaustible natural re- sources, though it must be confessed that when pressed for the authority upon which he based a statement so altogether extravagant, he could only reply that he was "not bound to rely exclu- sively upon the testimony of men," and other proofs he had none that were not vague and better calculated to weaken than add strength to his argument. On the other hand, Mr. Wash- burn advanced five propositions as the basis of his argument against the appropriation, the fourth and principal one being "that the country is absolutely without value," and in his closing speech characterized the treaty as "an outrage on the rights of the American people." He de- fied "any living man on the face of the earth to produce any evidence that an ounce of gold was ever extracted from the Territory of Alaska," and was not "compelled to go out hunting, for CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 13 adventures from which to manufacture testi- mony to prove that Alaska is a vile country; no, sir, I quote official documents." It is to be, re- gretted that Mr. Washburn did not live long enough to discover his error and to know, as he now would if living, that a single mine, embrac- ing barely forty acres in that "vile country," has paid to its owners more gold coin than was embraced in the appropriation bill he so vigor- ously and persistently opposed. Whether or not the men who were instru- mental, through the means of a strong and influ- ential lobby, in securing the favorable action of Congress profited largely by the purchase may be inferred from the fact that they were the original incorporators of a powerful corporation which is still in existence, and carrying on an ex- tensive business in Alaska, and which for a pe- riod of more than twenty years subsequent to the transfer was almost as completely and abso- lutely the owner of all that part of the territory it cared to occupy as it could possibly have been if possessed of the title in fee simple. 14 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY. CHAPTER II. BOUNDARIES AND SUPERFICIAL AREA. The boundaries of Alaska as defined by the treaty of cession are: Commencing from the southernmost point of the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, and be- tween the 131st and 133rd degree of west longi- tude (meridian of Greenwich), the said line shall ascend to the north along the channel called Portland Channel as far as the point of the con- tinent where it strikes the 56th degree of north latitude; from this last mentioned point the line of demarkation shall follow the summit of the mountains situate parallel to the coast as far as the point of intersection of the 141st degree of west longitude (of the same meridian) ; and final- ly, from the said point of intersection, the said meridian line of the 141st degree, in its prolonga- tion as far as the frozen ocean (Arctic), which constitutes the northern boundary. The treaty declared it as being understood that the Prince of Wales Island should belong wholly to the United States, and that whenever the summit of the CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 15 mountains, which extend in a direction parallel to the coast from the 56th degree of north lati- tude to the point of intersection of the 141st de- gree of west longitude, shall prove to be at a distance of more than ten marine leagues from the ocean, the limit between the British posses- sions and the line of coast which is to belong to the United States shall be formed by a line parallel to the winding of the coast, which shall never exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom. The western boundary passes through a point in Bering Strait on the parallel of 65 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, at its intersection by the meridian which passes midway between the islands of Kruzenstern, 01^ Ignalook, and the Island of Ratzmanoff, or Noonarbook, and pro- ceeds due north, without limitation, into the Frozen Ocean. The same western limit, begin- ning at the same initial point, proceeds thence in a course nearly southwest through Bering Strait and Bering Sea, so as to pass midway between the northwest point of the Island of St. Law- rence and the southeast point of Cape Choukot- ski, to the meridian of 172 west longitude; thence, from the intersection of that meridian, in a southwesterly direction, so as to pass mid- way between the Island of Attn and the Copper Island of the Kormandorski couplet or group in 16 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY. the North Pacific Ocean, to the meridian of 193 degrees west longitude, so as to include in the territory surveyed the whole of the Aleutian Islands east of that meridian. The superficial area of the territory is gener- ally, and erroneously, stated at 577,390 square miles, or less. These figures are based on com- putations made at or about the time of the trans- fer of the country to the United States, when Fort Yukon, occupied by the Hudson Bay Com- pany, was believed to be within the western boundary of the British Northwest Territory, and have never since been changed by the com- pilers of school geographies and encyclopedias. Fort Yukon is at the mouth of the Porcupine River, on about the 147th meridian of longitude, and the mistake in computation of area is due to the fact that it was made before the 141st merid- ian, which constitutes the boundary line, had been definitely determined. In 1869 a party of engineers sent out by the War Department, ascertained, by astronomical observation, that Fort Yukon was within United States territory, and the Hudson Bay Company, under threat or fear of compulsion, vacated that post and re- moved to a point on the Porcupine River be- lieved to be within British jurisdiction, and which is designated on the later maps as Rampart House. Here the post remained until 1890, '\ CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 17 when Mr. J. H. Turner, of the United States Coast Survey, found it to be still twenty miles west of the boundary, and the following year it was moved up the river just far enough to place it within British territory. Thus the strip of ter- ritory lying between the 141st and 147th merid- ians, and extending over ten degrees of latitude, would appear not to have been taken into con- sideration when the computation of area as now generally stated and accepted without question was made. It is believed that a final careful and correct computation will show the total super- ficial area of Alaska to be nearly, if not quite, 800,000 square miles. 18 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, CHAPTER III. Vitus Bering — Voyages of Discovery 1728-1741 — Chiri- koff's Disastrous Visit to Cross Sound — Wreck of the St. Peter and Death of Bering — First Russian Colony, 1784 — Spanish Expeditions, 1775-9 — Cook Explores Coast 1779 — Alexander Baranoff, First Russian Gov- ernor 1790 — First Ship Built in Prince William Sound, 1794 — Agriculturists and Priests Sent Out Same Year — Russian-American Company Given Exclusive Con- trol, 1779. ThoMugh America was discovered in 1492, it was not till 1749 that Alaska was opened to set- tlement even to all the subjects of the govern- ment which claimed ownership thereof by right of discovery and subsequent conquest. Prior to the summer of 1741 no white man was ever known to have landed upon its coast, and then many years elapsed before the first permanent settlement was effected. For more than half a century after discovery no effort was made at colonization, nor indeed did Russia lay formal claim to the territory till about the year 1788, some forty years or more subsequent to the date of original discovery. In the meantime, how- ever, the islands and mainland were visited by many lawless Russian adventurers, in search of valuable furs, by whom the at first peaceably in- I CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 19 dined natives were massacred and plundered to such an extent as to provoke at their hands many- bloody, but justifiable, reprisals, when subse- quently the permanent occupation of the country was begun under sanction of imperial authority. In 1725, after the conquest of Kamtchatka, and while the effort to reduce the Tchukchees of northeastern Siberia was still in progress, Peter the Great, in his zeal for scientific exploration, and no doubt prompted by a desire to extend the dominion of the Empire which he had already created, planned a great expedition, the instruc- tions for the carrying out of which he dre\j^ with his own hand. This expedition had for its object the exploration of the seas adjacent to his newly acquired Asiatic possessions; but before any preparation had been made to carry out his in- structions, the great Czar died, leaving the ex- ecution of his plans to his widow, who succeeded him on the throne. The latter, imbued with the same spirit which had animated her illustrious husband and predecessor, ordered the immedi- ate execution of the plans devised by him, and appointed the afterwards illustrious Captain Vitus Bering leader and commander of the ex- pedition. The party organized by Bering set out from St. Petersburg on the 5th of February, and by slow, tedious and laborious stages made its way 20 • ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, to Okhotsk, where they buih two ships — the Fortuna and the Gabriel — in which they set sail on their unknown and adventurous voyage, July 20, 1728. The voyage was without special inci- dent or adventure, and wholly barren of discov- ery, though the ships passed through Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean. In truth, neither Bering nor his navigator was aware of having passed through waters across which the vision can unaided almost, if not quite, scan the shores of one continent from those of another; and the fact that they saw neither the American coast or even the Diomede Islands, is pretty conclusive proof that they did not venture far from the Asiatic coast in this their first voyage of discov- ery. A second voyage made by the same party and under the same auspices, in 1729, was equally barren of results, and the next year Bering re- turned to St. Petersburg without having accom- plished anything whatever in the way of discov- ery. Here, notwithstanding his failure, he was received with great honor by his Imperial mis- tress, and rewarded with a promotion he cannot be said to have fairly earned, and preparations were at once begun and pressed to a speedy con- clusion for another expedition under his com- mand. It was not till 1741, however, that he em- I CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 21 barked on the voyage the results of which made his name immortal. For several years he had been engaged in exploring the coast of Siberia, making an occasional voyage to Japan, and had founded the town of Petropaulovsky, so named for his two vessels the St. Peter and the St. Paul, in which, June 4th of the year named, he sailed from Avatcha on his last voyage, which was scarcely more prolific in discoveries than were his former barren and unprofitable expeditions^ ^-j ^^. With him went Wilhelm Stetter andTLouis de "^ ^^^^ Lisle de la Croyere, the first a Franconian natu- ralist, and the latter a French astronomer, both eminent scientists of the age in which they lived. On June 20th the vessels were parted by a storm, and never again sighted each other; in fact, their commanders never met again. The St. Paul, commanded by Chirikoff, reached the American coast on the 17th of July, and an- chored in what is now known as Cross Sound. Here the commander sent his mate and ten men, all armed, ashore, for the purpose of obtaining a supply of fresh water, and when, on the 21st, they had not returned, the second mate with other armed men were sent to search for them in the only remaining boat. Neither did the sec- ond party return, but the next day two large canoes crowded with natives came out towards the ship, with every indication of hostile intent, 22 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, but did not venture an attack or approach with- in range of the small arms with which the crew were provided. Having no more boats with which to effect a landing, Chirikoff was power- less so far as attempting a rescue was concerned, and on the 27th weighed anchor and set sail for Petropaulovsky, leaving the unfortunate men to their fate. He sighted numerous islands on his way back, undoubtedly those of the Aleutian chain, and on the 9th of October re-entered the harbor whence he had sailed, having lost twenty- one of his less than a hundred men, among them both of his Lieutenants and de la Croyere, the last of whom died of scurvy the last day of the voyage. The chronicler of the voyage relates that Be- ring in the St. Peter was driven blindly through fog and tempestuous seas till, on the i8th of July he found himself in calm water near shore at the foot of a low, desolate bluff, beyond which was a range of towering mountains, probably the St. Elias Alps. Here he remained only six hours, not permitting any of his people to go ashore, and then sailed westward, into Prince William Sound, where he refitted his ship, took on a sup- ply of fresh water, and then sailed through what has since been named Shelikoff Strait, on the west side of Kadiak Island, to the Shumagin group, so named in honor of one of his crew, who, having CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 23 died at sea, was buried there. In the meantime, Bering, being afflicted with scurvy, had surren- dered the command to his Lieutenant, Waxel. Soon after leaving Shumagin Island a terrific storm drove the ship far out to sea, and for weeks all on board, many of whom were suffer- ing with the disease which had prostrated the commander, endured almost incredible hard- ships. The supply of water and provisions in the meantime ran short, and the men became so weakened by hunger and disease that they were unable to manage or direct the course of the ship, which for weeks drifted helplessly under bare poles, first in one direction and then in another, until on the 4th of November a yet more vio- lent gale drove them ashore on an unknown and uninhabited coast. The vessel was completely wrecked, but those on board succeeded in saving themselves and a few articles which were after- wards found indispensable to their final escape. Pits were dug in the sand and partially covered with parts of the sails secured from the wreck, and in one of these, on the 8th of December, Be- ring breathed his last. They had been cast ashore on one of the islands of the Commander Group, so named by Waxel in honor of his com- mander, while at the same time he gave the name of Bering to the island on which he died. Here they remained all winter, subsisting at first on Ai^/vv«-'*^^ilU 24 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, the carcass of a whale which had been cast ashore, and subsequently on the flesh of sea-otters, a considerable number of which they succeeded in taking, with occasionally a sea-cow, an animal then plentiful in those waters, but now extinct. In the spring they began the construction of an open boat from the timbers of the wrecked ship, and on the i6th of August set sail for Pe- tropaulovsky, which place they reached ten days later. During the time they were on the island Steller succeeded in collecting nearly i,ooo sea- otter skins, which he sold for one hundred $ S^i roubles each. This greatly excited the cupidity of the Russian and Siberian traders and led to the fitting out of numerous other expeditions planned to secure the rich trade thus brought to their attention. In 1742 Chirikoff made a second voyage and discovered the Island of Attu, the most westerly of the Aleutian chain. Yakoff Chuproff, in 1745, visited Agatu Island, where on the slightest pretext his men killed two natives, in acknowledgment of a kind- ly reception which had been accorded him. Sail- ing thence, he returned to Attu, where a party of ten of his men went ashore and discovered several habitations, in one of which their com- mander picked a quarrel, killed fifteen of the na- tives, and then took possession of the women. LOWLAND FOREST. f] CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 35 This was the beginning of an era of brutal out- rage, murder and robbery of the at first peaceably inclined natives, which continued for more than half a century, and until they were completely subdued and made the helpless slaves of their Russian taskmaster, the Russian American Com- pany. In 1777 Grigor Shelikoff, a Siberian merchant and the founder of the first Russian colony in Alaska, sent out his first expedition. This and subsequent ventures were so profitable that in 1778 a company of Siberian merchants was or- ganized, with Shelikoff and Golikoff as princi- pal shareholders, with a view to enlarged opera- tions in the Alaska fur trade. Three ships were built at Okhotsk, and, sailing late in the fall of that year, wintered at Bering Island, whence they sailed the following June for Unalaska, stopping at some of the intervening islands. At Unalaska, the ships having been beached and repaired, they took on board interpreters and a number of Aleu- tian hunters, and, again directing their course to the eastward, on the 3rd of August, 1784, cast anchor in what has ever since been known as Three Saints Bay, Kadiak Island. Here the na- tives, remembering the brutal treatment to which they had been subjected by mem- bers of former expeditions, refused all peaceful overtures, and several bloody bat- 26 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ties ensued, in which the Russians, though far inferior in numbers, were the victors. The natives were unaccustomed to the guns with which the Russians were armed, and against which they had nothing to oppose except spears, which were wholly ineffective against the longer range of the Russian muskets. Shelikoff claimed to have killed several hundred natives and cap- tured more than a thousand prisoners before be- ing able to effect a permanent landing, but this claim was no doubt a great exaggeration. It is not disputed, however, that he captured some two hundred young native women, whom he held as hostages for the continued peaceable be- havior of their kindred. Here, as speedily as possible after effecting a landing, Shelikoff erected fortifications, built store houses, magazines and dwellings, and thus established the first permanent Russian settle- ment in Alaska, Gardens were planted, and a school opened, in which Shelikoff himself and his wife, who had accompanied him, were the teach- ers. Children and adults were taught the Rus- sian language, given the lessons of a primary education, and more especially instructed in the first principles of the orthodox faith. From here parties were sent out to explore the coast of the island. Cook Inlet and Prince Wil- liam Sound, all of whom on their return were CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 27 sent to Karluk for the winter on account of the scarcity of provisions in the settlement and the plentiful supply of salmon to be had at that place. Trading posts were established on Afognak Island, in Cook Inlet and at Cape St. Elias, and then Shelikoff returned to Siberia, taking with him a number of adult natives and children, the latter to be educated. A Spanish expedition sailing from San Bias, under command of Juan Cuadra, planted the cross at some point near Salisbury Sound — either on Kruzoff or Chichagoff Island — in July, 1775, thus assuming to take possession of the country in the name of the Spanish monarch. In the summer of 1778 the gallant and intrepid Captain James Cook, with the ships Resolution and Discovery, sailed along the Alaskan coast and gave to many of the prominent bays, capes, mountains, inlets and islands the names they still bear — Mount Edgcumbe, Cross Sound, Cape Suckling, Mount Fairweather, Comptroller Bay, Cape Hinchinbrook, Prince William Sound, be- ing of the number. He sought shelter with his ships, and to repair a leak, in what is now known as Port Etches, and next anchored in Snug Cor- ner Cove, Prince William Sound, where he held his first intercourse with the natives, whom he found rather bold and unacquainted with fire- arms, which fact he accepted as conclusive proof 28 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, that no white men had previously visited that part of Alaska. He next rounded and named Cape Elizabeth, sailed up the inlet which bears his name under the impression that he had either entered the mouth of a great river or had found the then long-sought-for "northwest passage" from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and from the East Foreland sent boats to examine Turnagain Arm and Kaknu River, and formally took pos- session of the country in the name of his sover- eign, though he must have known from the evi- dence afforded by articles of European make found in the possession of the natives that others had preceded him. This formal ceremony he repeated at the mouth of the Kuskoquim River, after having sailed from Cook Inlet south through Shelikoff Strait, past Afognak, Kadiak, and the Shumagin Islands and making his way through Unalga Pass into Bering Sea. From the mouth of the Kuskoquim he sailed northwest past Nunivak, Sledge and King Islands through Bering Strait to Icy Cape, so named by himself. From there he returned to Norton Sound, thence to Ounalaska, where he made repairs and interchange of courtesies with the Russians who were then at Captain's Harbor, thence sailing to the Sandwich Islands, where he was killed by the natives. In 1779 a second Spanish expedition, fitted CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 29 out in Mexico, entered Bucarelli Sound, Prince of Wales Island, and took formal possession in the name of the King of Spain by the planting of a cross, waving of flags and firing of cannon. This expedition surveyed and charted the Sound, but made no new discoveries of value. Subsequent to the founding of the settlement of Three Saints by ShelikofT and the establish- ment of the auxiliary trading posts, of which men- tion has been made, several expeditions sailed along the coast and among the islands, trading wherever possible with the natives, much to the annoyance and discomfiture of Shelikoff and his partners, who feared that the invasion might not only seriously impair their own trade, but finally ruin it entirely. They finally invoked the pro- tection of the imperial government and in 1788 were granted a charter giving to their company exclusive control of the islands and mainland of Alaska actually occupied by them, and in 1790 Alexander Baranoff was sent to Kadiak as their chief manager. May 2, 1788, one of Shelikoft''s vessels landed at Nuchek, where the commander erected a wooden cross, at the foot of which he buried a copper plate engraved with an inscription claim- ing the country as Russian territory. He then proceeded along the coast, erecting other crosses and burying other copper plates, the latter each 30 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, bearing the inscription: ''Possession of the Rus- sian Empire." Alexander Baranoff, who figured more con- spicuously than any other person in the history of Russian America, was born in eastern Russia in 1747, and at an early age went to Moscow, where for several years he was employed as a clerk in a retail store. In 1780 he went to Si- beria, and from Irkutsk set out in 1789, with an assortment of goods, principally liquors, which he proposed selling to the natives of Kamtchat- ka. The venture proved a disastrous one; he was robbed by the Chukchees, and, being bank- rupted and rendered desperate by his losses, was ready for any employment or venture which might be offered him, however hazardous. Shel- ikoff, having a high appreciation of the sterling honesty, indomitable courage and executive abil- ity of Baranoff, with whom he was well acquaint- ed, tendered him the position of chief manager of his company's business in Alaska, which was promptly accepted. Broad minded, liberal, en- ergetic, fearless, though he may have been, the history of his administration in Alaska justifies the belief that, officially, he was wholly unscrup- ulous. He was subject to fits of melancholy, was a hard drinker, and possessed of a violent temper. Prone to give offense, he was quick and earnest in repentance, and always sought to make atone- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 31 ment by the offer of presents and giving of ban- quets, at which last the pain he had inflicted was drowned, or for the time being lost sight of in the flowing bowl. He was hospitable to stran- gers, but reticent and wary even when in his most convivial mood. He was small of stature, with sallow complexion, but was possessed of nerves of steel and feared neither man nor beast. Baranoff sailed for Alaska August 30, 1790, but the ship in which he embarked was wrecked in Kashigin Bay, Unalaska Island, on the 28th of September, those on board barely escaping with their lives and only a small part of the cargo being saved. Here he spent the winter with his men, fifty-two in number, enduring great hard- ships and subsisting part of the time on the car- cass of a whale which fortunately came ashore and was secured. Constructing three large bid- arras;* in one of them he made his way to Three Saints, a distance of at least 800 miles, where he arrived on the 27th of June, 1791. At this time the SheHkoff Company had succeeded in estab- lishing permanent settlements on Cook Inlet and at Nuchek, while rival companies had located themselves on several of the Aleutian Islands, and at other points in close proximity to those of their chief competitor. * Open boats made of walrus hides. 32 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, In 1792-3 Baranoff removed from Three Saints to the northeast side of the island, where he established his headquarters, the original set- tlement being practically abandoned. The place to which he removed is the present site of the vil- lage of St. Paul, and still one of the principal centers of the fur trade. In the same year he established a ship-yard at Sunday Harbor, west of Prince WilHam Sound. A practical ship- builder and navigator, an Englishman named Shields, had been sent out by ShelikofT, and to him belongs the credit of having superintended the construction and launching of the first ves- sel built on the Alaskan coast. This vessel was named the Phoenix. She was launched in Au- gust, 1794, and sailed for Okhotsk April 20, 1795, making the voyage in about thirty days. The building of this first ship was attended by many difficulties. In the absence of saws nearly all the planks were hewed out of the logs, and all the iron used was collected from the different settlements, steel for the axes used being made from the same material. They tried to extract iron from ore found in the vicinity, but failed. Two other ships were built at this place. From 1790 to 1794 various hunting and trad- ing expeditions were sent out from St. Paul, some going as far east as Yakutat Bay. At the same time there was a constant clash between the i \ \ii CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 33 rival companies and traders, and not infrequently Russian was arrayed against Russian in armed conflict. This continued until Baranoff, feeling perfectly secure in his position, arbitrarily dispos- sessed his rivals of the stations they had estab- lished. This he accomplished by the assumption of governmental authority he did not possess, by threats, and a display of force the others felt themselves unable to withstand. In August, 1794, two vessels arrived at St. Paul with cargoes of provisions, stores, imple- ments, cattle, and 192 emigrants, among whom were fifty-two craftsmen and agriculturists, and eighteen priests and theological students in charge of Archimandrite Josaph. In sending priests and agriculturists to the colony, ShelikofT had no other object in view than the favorable efifect such action was certain to have on the members of the imperial family. Baranoff as- signed the agriculturists to other labor, and in no very polite terms informed the priests that he would have no drones in his settlements, and that they, like all the others, must earn their living by physical, not mental, toil. The consequence was that the priests conspired against Baranoff's authority, and in return the chief manager made them the victims of a petty persecution of which they bitterly complained in communications that 34 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, were never permitted to reach the imperial au- thorities. Most of these craftsmen and agriculturists were Siberian convicts, fifty of whom were sent to garrison a fortification erected at Yakutat in the summer of 1796. In this year the first church building was erected at Three Saints, but history is silent as to how, in view of Baranoff 's hostility to the priests, the project was consummated. Two of the latter were sent with the convicts to Yakutat, where during the winter of 1796-7 they, together with their companions, suffered almost incredible hardships, being reduced to the verge of starvation before relief could be sent to them in the spring. In 1799 the Russian- American Company was granted a charter giving it full and absolute con- trol of the Russian possessions in America for a term of twenty years. This charter was much wider in its scope than that held by the Shelikoff company, of which the Russian- American Com- pany was simply a reorganization, and by its terms the company was required to plant settle- ments, promote agriculture and other industries, propagate the established church, and extend the Russian possessions to the remotest limit possible. BaranofT was continued as manager, with the title of Governor, and as such was in- vested with a power which, owing to the improb- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 35 ability of any appeal ever reaching a higher au- thority, was practically supreme. This charter empowered the company to vest in its employes, who were, or might become, occupants of lands in the colony, title thereto, on condition, however, that the possessions of the natives should not be disturbed. Acting under this charter, the company caused dwellings to be erected for the use of its employes on lots of ground set apart for that purpose, the title in fee to the same being vested in the employe in possession when he had faithfully served out his term of service, or, having died before it end- ed and leaving a w^idow or children in the colony, the title was vested in them. This was one mode adopted by the company for taking care of its employes when by reason of old age or other dis- ability they were unable to maintain themselves, and of their widows and children after death. The term of service of these employes was fixed by the charter at five years, the company paying certain wages, which were small, furnishing nec- essary supplies, and presenting a bonus provided for in each contract at the end of the term of service. That the plan of vesting title in em- ployes was not generally carried out is proved by the fact that at the time of the transfer only twenty-one fee simple titles were confirmed by protocol, and these, it is safe to say, do not cover 36 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, an aggregate of more than three hundred acres. All the Russians and Creoles* were left in posses- sion of their homes, it is true, but of the whole number only twenty-one were successful in hav- ing their titles secured to them. To the credit of our Government, however, it can be said that they cannot now legally be distributed in the pos- session of any lands occupied or claimed by them prior to May 17, 1884. That Congress will ulti- mately, by the necessary enactment, secure to them absolute titles to their homes is not to be doubted. By a provision in the charter, or by a rule of the company, to which it conformed in all cases as to a law, an old and disabled employe while he lived in the Territory, and his widow and children after his death (so long as the chil- dren were unable to maintain themselves), were considered the wards of the company, to whom it regularly paid a yearly pension. As late as 1888 there were old employes of the company at Sitka who were still drawing these pensions, the imperial government having assumed the obli- gations of the company in that respect. * Descendants of Russian fathers and native mothers, improperly so called by local usage. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 37 CHAPTER IV. Baranoff Establishes Settlement on Sitka Sound, 1799 — Archangel Fort and Settlement Destroyed and Set- tlers Massacred by Natives, 1802 — Few Survivors Rescued and Natives Punished by English Ships — Natives Build and Occupy Fortification at Mouth of Indian River — Driven Out by Baranoff, 1804 — New Archangel (Sitka) Founded Same Year — First Ves- sel Built at Sitka, 1807 — Baranoff Superseded and Dies While on His Way to Russia — Natives Attack Sitka and Are Defeated, 1852 — Brief Review of Events, 1818 to 1867. In April, 1799, Baranoff sailed from St. Paul with two vessels, one of which had been built at Prince WilHam Sound during the preceding winter, and a fleet of 200 canoes, with a view of establishing a settlement on Norfolk (now Sitka) Sound. Thirty of his canoes were swamped in a heavy sea off Cape SuckHng, by which he suf- fered a loss of sixty men. Soon after, his fleet of canoes having landed for the night, those on shore were attacked by natives, in the dark, and here again he lost about thirty men and a num- ber of canoes. On the 25th of May he landed at what is now known as Old Sitka, near which point he found the English ship Caroline at an- chor. He found the natives hostile and inclined 38 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY. to resist his attempt at settlement, but succeeded in capturing a number of hostages, and having effected an agreement with Kattla-an, the then ruling chief of the Sitkas, proceeded at once with the building of a fortified post. The fort consist- ed of a stockade, with blockhouses over cellars, two stories high, on each corner. The other buildings were one large two-story structure, with basement and veranda on all sides, a large house occupied by the Aleutian hunters, a black- smith shop, cook house for laboring men, bath house, warehouse, and a small building on the summit of a hill, somewhat resembling that on which the castle was afterwards located in Sitka, but which was called the "ke-koor." The latter was occupied by the Governor, and history as- serts, was the most illy constructed of the lot, vBaranoff having more regard for the health and well being of his men than for his own ease and comfort. Before the party moved into the fort they lived in tents, and the exposure was such that several diseases became prevalent among them, principal of which was scurvy. The force consisted of twenty-three Russians and fifty-five natives from the Aleutian Islands, and during the months of November and December preceding the completion of the fort they experienced great hardships, being obliged to subsist principally on the flesh of the walrus and hair seal. In April, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 39 1800, Baranoff left the fort, which he had named Archangel, in charge of a Mr. Medvednakoff and returned to Kadiak, having, as he thought, firmly established his settlement and secured the friendship and good will of the adjacent natives. He then proceeded to establish settlements in Prince William Sound, at the mouth of Kaknu River, Ilyamna Lake and other points, some of which wxre immediately afterwards destroyed by the natives. In July, 1802, the fort and settlement known as Old Sitka, to which Baranoff had given the name of Archangel, was attacked and destroyed by the Thlinkets, who killed nearly all the set- tlers. At that time there was a native village at the mouth of the Indian River and another and larger one on Crabapple Island, in Sitka Sound. The natives of these two settlements were joined by many others from a distance in a well-planned surprise of the small garrison, and the attack was so sudden and unexpected that practically no de- fense was made, the vessel which had been left by Baranoff for the protection of the place being absent at the time. A letter written by Ambro- sium Plotnikoff, one of the garrison, which was found in the counting-house of the Russian- American Company after the transfer of Alaska to the United States, gives the following account of the massacre: 40 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ''In 1802, on the 27th day of July, about half- past I o'clock in the afternoon, I went to the creek to look after the cattle, for which duty I had been detailed by William Medvednakoff, our Superintendent. Shortly after my return I saw a large number of Thlinkets gathering around the house occupied by the working people. The Indian chief, Michael, was talking very loud and excitedly addressing his people, but, not being acquainted with their language, I could not un- derstand what he was saying. Shortly afterward I saw over sixty canoes coming around the Point, and I immediately started for the house. To my surprise, I found all the doors fastened on the inside, so I started back and ran into the stable, where I had always been in the habit of keeping a gun. I found there the 'wife and child of one of the employes, who at my suggestion sought refuge in the woods. As soon as she left I barri- caded the doors and windows and loaded my gun. Soon after four Indians came to the door, demanded admission, and, forcibly gaining en- trance, overpowered me, but I shortly after lib- erated myself and ran into the woods, leaving my coat and gun in their hands. After awhile, being very anxious to know the outcome, I returned to a point near the fort and found all the build- ings on fire except the warehouse, of which the Indians had possession, and from which they CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 41 were throwing the furs, provisions, etc., out through the windows and carrying them to the canoes which had been brought for the purpose of taking them away. I saw one of our men jump through a window of one of the burning buildings, only to be picked up on the fighting knives of the savages and thrown back into the fire. I also saw them cut off another man's head and throw the headless body into the flames. While I was standing there looking on I noticed two Indians running toward me, and at once took shelter behind a big tree, under cover of which I again ran into the woods. In the even- ing I again returned to take a look at the mourn- ful scene The buildings were still burning, and I noticed a little ways off some of our cattle with knives sticking in their backs and sides and en- deavored to relieve them, but was discovered by the natives, and had to retreat again into the woods, where I remained during the night. Early next morning I heard the discharge of muskets, and, being frightened, I started for the mountain, and on the w^ay met a woman and her child and a sick man, who had escaped. We all continued on to the mountain, returning to the vicinity of the fort nearly every night to lament over our departed brethren. In this w^ay, without food, we passed eight days. On the eighth day, about noon, I heard two reports of a cannon, and, re- 42 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, questing my companions to remain quiet until my return, I went to learn the meaning of the reports. As soon as I got out of the woods I saw a ship which I at first thought was our war vessel, the Katherina, but which on nearer ap- proach proved to be English. When she came within hailing distance I endeavored to make myself heard and seen, but could not succeed in attracting the attention of those on board. I was, however, noticed by some Indians in the vicinity, and felt compelled to retreat once more into the woods, where I remained until dark, when I again went down to the beach, taking a route which brought me nearer to the ship. I hailed her successfully this time, and a boat was sent for me and I was taken on board. I in- formed the Captain of what had taken place and then returned to my companions and found that another man, named Batoorin, had joined them during my absence. We then all returned to the beach and were taken on board ship. Batoorin and I asked the Captain to send a boat to the fort, which request was granted, and a boat with an armed force in command of the Captain him- self was dispatched to the shore, taking me along. The Captain and myself were the first to land, and we soon discovered several of my dead breth- ren, whose heads had been completely severed from their bodies, and whom we afterwards bur- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 43 ied. Among the ruins we found pieces of copper, but nothing else. The vessel remained three days in the harbor, and on the third a canoe came alongside, with Michael, the chief of the Sitka tribe. He inquired at once if there were any Russians on board, which inquiry convinced the Captain that they were not aware of our rescue and he replied that he had not seen any Russians since his arrival. At the same time he requested us to go below and remain, and then by kind and reassuring words he induced Michael, his nephew, and a squaw to come on board. I at once recognized the squaw as the former serv- ant of one of our men, and jumped to the con- clusion at once that she had all along been play- ing the spy and informer. Getting them on board, the Captain ordered that they should be doubly ironed, after which he informed them of our presence and told them that they would not be liberated until they had returned all the stolen furs, etc., and brought on board all the men, women and children of the settlement who had not been killed, but reserved for a life of slavery. He assured him also that in case his order was not strictly complied with he would certainly hang him (Michael) to the yard arm. While this talk was going on two more English vessels came to anchor close by, the Captains of which came on board our ship, when I immediately 44 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, recognized one of them, whose name was Abbot, and who had frequently visited Archangel. A consultation was had between the three Captains, the result of which was an order that the cap- tured persons and property be brought on board without further parley or delay, and the Indians, anxious for the life of their chief, lost no time in bringing in two women and four children, assert- ing that they had no more. After the ar- rival of the two ships referred to, it should have been remarked, canoes came out to the ship in large numbers. Having ascer- tained from those who were returned that quite a large number of others were still detained by the Indians, and they positively refusing to surrender any more, the Captain ordered his crew to fire on the canoes and their occupants. After a large number had been killed they begged for mercy, and promised to comply with the order to bring in the prisoners, when the firing ceased, and the remainder of the wom- en and children were brought to the ship. From the last comers I ascertained that they still held one man, named Taradonoff, prisoner, and I in- formed the Captain of the fact. The Indians then begged the Captain to liberate their chief, which he declined to do, informing them that they still held one Russian a prisoner, and that he too must be delivered up. Then they went off CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 45 and brought Taradonoff on board, together with a large quantity of furs, when the chief and his two companions were released, though we begged the Captain to take them to Kadiak. After securing supplies from the other ships the one which had rendered us such opportune aid sailed for Kadiak, where we all arrived after a five days' voyage, more than thankful to the English Captain who had saved our lives." On the loth day of July, 1804, the ship Neva arrived at St. Paul, where her commander. Cap- tain Lisiansky, found a communication from Baranoff asking him to proceed to Norfolk Sound, for which place he had himself sailed on the 2nd of April with four small ships and a fleet of 300 canoes, having on board 120 Russians and about 800 Aleuts. Baranoff had, on hearing of the massacre, immediately started for Sitka, but got no farther than Yakutat, where he left his trusted friend and lieutenant, Kooskoff, to com- plete an unfinished fortification and to build two ships, and then returned to Kadiak, starting again the following spring for Sitka, the two ships built by Kooskoff during the winter form- ing a part of the fleet. On the 20th of August Lisiansky, in compHance with Baranofif's request for aid in re-establishing the settlement at Sitka, entered Norfolk Sound, where he found two of Baranoff's ships awaiting the arrival of the Gov- 46 ^ ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ernor, who was engaged in hunting while mak- ing his way along the coast from Yakutat. Bar- anoff did not arrive until the 19th of September. In the meantime the natives had united their two villages and built a very strong fortification at the mouth of- Indian River. This fortification was an irregular square, with its longest side facing the bay; it was constructed of a double tier of huge logs and mounted with cannon. Finding the fort invulnerable to cannon balls, Baranoff landed a force of men with a few cannon and attempted to carry the fortifications. He was repulsed and the entire attacking party would have been killed but for the protection afforded them by a heavy fire from the ships. The next day the ships, having secured a shorter range, subjected the fort to a heavy and inces- sant cannonade, and at night the natives (Ka- loshies, the Russians called them) sued for peace, at the same time offering hostages as security for their future friendly behavior. Negotiations were carried on for two or three days, when one morning it was discovered that the natives had abandoned the fort, leaving only two old women, a little boy, and two European or American ren- egades behind them. It was believed that these renegades had instructed the Indians not only how to build the fort, but also how to use the ar- tillery of which they were in possession, and CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 47 which was probably that which had been cap- tured by them at Old Sitka. It need hardly be said here that these renegades were promptly executed by the Russians. On taking posses- sion of the fort fourteen houses were found with- in its walls, and in them a large quantity of dried fish and other provisions, and from appearances it was judged that it must have had at least 800 male occupants. It was ascertained too, that the fort had been abandoned because the Indians were without ammunition with which to con- tinue the defense. In the houses Baranoff found most of the furs and other goods which the In- dians had captured at Old Sitka, those reclaimed by the English Captain two years before proving to have been but a small part of the whole. During the fight several of the Russians were wounded, but it does not appear that any were killed. The next day after the capture of the fort a boat manned by six sailors and a midshipman was sent ashore to secure a supply of fresh water, and shortly after landing they were attacked by the natives, and before assistance could be ren- dered were killed, the Indians immediately there- after fleeing into the woods and beyond safe pur- suit. The bodies of these slain men were buried on the shore close to the bay, the place being marked several months afterward by a wooden monument erected by order of Governor Baran- 48 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, off. The remains of this monument are still to be seen. The Indian fortification having been de- stroyed, Baranoff proceeded to the erection of a new Russian fort on the present site of Alaska's capital. On the summit of the "ke-koor," on which the "castle" was afterwards built, there was then an Indian house, surrounded by a stockade, and in it lived one of the Indian chiefs. It took the Russians two days to capture this house, such was its inaccessibility and the valiant defense made by its owner. In the summer of 1805 Rezanoff, who had married Shelikoff's daughter but was then a wid- ower, was sent out to inspect and report on the condition of the colonies. He was at the time, or had been, a member of the imperial household and an officer of the Emperor's body-guard, while at the same time a principal shareholder in the Russian-American Company. Baranoff had asked to be relieved, and it was intended that Rezanoff should assume the duties of Governor and chief manager, a position which, however, he declined, after having learned by personal ex- perience the difficulties and hardships he would necessarily have to contend with. In a report to the company, made under date of November 6, 1805, Rezanoff says: "Owing to the scarcity of buildings the peo- II i CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 49 pie are confined to very crowded quarters, with which, however, they must necessarily be con- tent for the present. The building occupied by the founder of the settlement is in the worst con- dition of any, and he is deprived of all luxuries; the roof leaks badly and the wind has free ingress from all points of the compass. He is a wonder- ful man, looking only to the health and comfort of his subordinates while exposing himself to every hardship and depriving himself of that ease to the enjoyment of which his years, his valuable services to his country, and his position alike entitle him. Baranoff is, indeed, an original character — a most happy creature of nature. His name is spoken in terms of praise all over the country, even as far down along the coast as Cal- ifornia. The Bostonians have a great deal of respect for the old gentleman, and are very pro- fuse in proffering him their friendship." The Russians, up to the latest years of their occupation, always spoke of Americans as Bos- tonians, and of the natives as Americans. This was induced, most probably, by the fact that near- ly, if not quite, all the American ships that visited Sitka in those days hailed from Boston, and that name was appHed to everything, even to cloth- ing, the native to this day, when he discards his blankets and puts on modern apparel, referring to the latter as "Boston clothes." However in- 4 50 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, appropriate it may have been to refer to all Americans as Bostonians, there was certainly a good deal of sense in yielding to the Aleuts and Kaloshies the proper designation of native Amer- icans. After abandoning their stronghold at Sitka the natives built another fort on Chatham Strait, opposite the present village of Killisnoo, where they remained until the summer of 1806, when the Neva, having returned with the hostages she had carried away the year before, messengers were sent to inform their friends of the fact and invite them to return to their former place of abode. Among these hostages were three Creole boys, who were believed to be sons of three American renegades, to whom Baranoff had given Russian names. The descendants of these boys are, or were a few years since, still living in Sitka. Accepting Baranoff's invitation, a delega- tion of natives visited him at Sitka, where they were received with great pomp and ceremony. In this same year the settlement at Yakutat was destroyed and all the colonists, except the Russian commander and his wife and children and a few Aleuts, slaughtered. A contemplated attack on Nuchek was frustrated, and those of the hostile party who were not entrapped and killed by the Russians were drowned in trying to escape from the harbor in the face of a heavy gale. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 51 About the same time a party of 200 Russians and Aleuts were lost at sea while on their way from Sitka to Kadiak. A ship-yard having been established at Sitka, the first ship was launched in March, 1807. This ship was christened the Sitka, and in the follow- ing year another, called the Discovery, was launched and the keel of the Chirikoff laid. The history of the colonies during the next ten years was uneventful. In 1 818 Baranoff, who was rapidly failing, both mentally and physically, was relieved by Captain Hagermeister, a naval officer, who accepted the office upon the condi- tion that Lieutenant Yanovsky, who had married Baranoff's daughter, should, as his deputy, be the de facto Governor and chief manager. This arrangement continued until Hagermeister was succeeded by Captain Mouravieff in 1821. Mou- ravieff invited the natives to return to the old home from which they had been driven in 1804, which they did, occupying the site of the present native village of Sitka. The stockade was then strengthened, and a gate added on the side next to the native settlement at which a market place was established, but no native was permitted to pass the gate without a permit. All trade with the natives was transacted at this market place, the precautions against surprise and attack never be- ing relaxed. 52 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, In 1824 Lieutenant Chistiakoff succeeded Mouravieff, and in that year the boun- daries of Alaska were fixed as they now exist, and the long established embargo against foreign trade was removed. The Russians had assumed sovereignty over the whole of the Pacific Ocean north of the 51st parallel by proclamation issued and promul- gated in 1 82 1, in which the vessels of other na- tions were forbidden to approach within one hundred miles of the shore, except in cases of extreme distress. Against this claim of sover- eignty over a part of the high seas both the United States and Great Britain entered a vigor- ous protest, and in 1824 a convention was signed between the United States and Russia by the terms of which the North Pacific was declared open to American ships and 54 degrees 40 min- utes recognized as the southern boundary of the Russian possessions, a similar treaty being con- cluded between Russia and Great Britain the fol- lowing year. In 1832 Baron Wrangell became Governor and chief director, and by his direction the set- tlement on St. Michael's Island was established, and has ever since been maintained as a trading post and depot of supplies for the Yukon River district. In 1839 the Hudson Bay Company attempted CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 53 the establishment of a station on the Stikine River, but the Russians, disputing their right to do so, not\vithstanding that the treaty of 1825 guaranteed the free navigation of that stream, built a fort at its mouth and fired on the com- pany's vessel when she attempted an entrance. The contention was finally settled by a lease of all that part of Alaska lying between 54 degrees 40 minutes and Cape Spencer to the Hudson Bay Company. The fort at the mouth of the Stikine was transferred to the lessee company, which also built a similar post on Taku River, only to aban- don it two or three years later. KupreanofT succeeded Wrangell in 1836, and in 1840 the latter was relieved by Etholin. Dur- ing Kupreanoff's term the native villages were ravaged by smallpox, the number of those who died being estimated at upwards of 5,000. Prior to this time the Yukon had been explored a thou- sand miles from its mouth and trading stations tributary to that at St. Michael's established at two or three points, the principal of which was at Nulato. In 1851 the fort at Nulato was sur- prised by a hostile tribe and most of the inmates, including the natives living outside the stock- ades, barbarously butchered. Among the killed on this occasion was a young English ofHcer named Barnard, who belonged to the English ship Enterprise, which had been sent in search 64 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, of Sir John Franklin. He had been sent by his commander to investigate a reported murder of a party of his countrymen in that section, and an imperious demand sent to the chief of the hos- tile tribe to appear before him was responded to by the surprise and attack which cost him his life. The next year the Sitka natives, who began once more to show indications of hostility, burned the buildings at Hot Springs, near Sitka, and stripped the inmates of their clothing, the unfortunates being compelled to make their way through the almost impenetrable forest to Sitka, where they arrived after many days of intense suffering, wholly nude and lacerated almost be- yond recognition. A short time after thirty-five Stikines, who were on a friendly visit to the Sitkans, were butchered in plain sight of the town and of the Russian garrison. The savage appetite for blood being whetted by the last mentioned butchery, the Sitkan na- tives next attacked the garrison, and, gaining possession of a church which had been erected just outside the stockade for their own spiritual welfare, used it as a point of vantage from which to fire on all who dared expose themselves with- in the enclosure. After a fight lasting nearly a full day they were finally dislodged with a loss of more than lOO killed and as many more wound- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 55 ed. The Russian loss was two killed and nine- teen wounded, but the lesson was one which the natives never forgot, and from that time to the present their hostility to the whites has mani- fested itself only in muttered threatenings, with here and there an occasional cowardly and brutal assassination of some helpless victim. Tebenkoff followed Etholin as Governor; then came in succession Vouvodsky, Furuhelm, and finally Prince Maksoutoff, the last named being Governor at the time of the transfer of the terri- tory to the United States. i 56 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, CHAPTER V. Formal Transfer of the Territory to the United States — Incentive to Purchase Partially Revealed — Repre- sentatives of Subsequent Fur Monopoly Accompany Commissioners — Influx of People to Sitka — City Gov- ernment by Sufferance of Military Authority — Russian Despotism Preferred to Freedom as Exemplified by Military Absolutism in Alaska — Exodus of Russians — Governmental Neglect and Unjust Denial of Rights — Ask for Bread and are Given a Stone. The formal transfer was made at half-past 3 o'clock, October 18, 1867, with appropriate cere- monies, previously agreed upon by Captain Pestchouroff and General Lovell N. Rosseau, Commissioners on the part of Russia and the United States respectively. General Jeff. C. Davis had been appointed to the command of the military force of occupation, and the expedi- tion, consisting of the United States ships Ossi- pee, Jamestown and Resaca, with the Commis- sioners on board, together with several trans- ports carrying about 250 soldiers and military supplies, sailed from San Francisco on the 27th of September, and, touching at Victoria for coal, arrived at Sitka on the forenoon of October i8th. In his report of the proceedings to the Secretary of War, General Rosseau says: CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 57 'The command of General Davis, about 250 strong, in full uniform, armed and handsomely equipped, were landed about 3 o'clock and marched up to the top of the eminence on which stands the Governor's house, where the transfer was to be made. At the same time a company of Russian soldiers were marched to the ground and took their place upon the left of the flagstaff, from which the Russian flag was then floating. The command of General Davis was formed under his direction on the right. The United States flag to be raised on the occasion was in care of a color guard — a lieutenant, a sergeant, and ten men of General Davis' command. The officers above named, as well as the officers under their command, the Prince Maksoutoff and his wife, the Princess Maksoutoff, together with many Russian and American citizens, and some Indians, were present. The formation of the ground, however, was such as to preclude any considerable demonstration. *Tt was arranged by Captain Pestchouroff and myself that, in firing the salute on the exchange of flags the United States should lead off, but that there should be alternate guns from the Amer- ican and Russian batteries, thus giving the flag of each nation a double national salute; the na- tional salute being thus answered the moment it was given. The troops being promptly 58 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, formed, were, at precisely half-past 3 o'clock, brought to a present arms, the signal was given to the Ossipee (Lieutenant Grossman, executive officer of the ship, and for the time in command), which was to fire the salute, and the ceremony was begun by lowering the Russian flag. As it began its descent down the flagstaff the battery of the Ossipee, with large nine-inch guns, led off in the salute, peal after peal crashing and re-echo- ing in the gorges of the surrounding mountains, answered by the Russian water battery (a battery on the wharf), firing alternately. But the cere- mony was interrupted by the catching of the Russian flag in the ropes attached to the flag- staff. The soldier who was lowering it continued to pull at it, and tore off the border by which it was attached, leaving the flag entwined tightly around the ropes. The flag-staff was a native pine, perhaps ninety feet in height. In an in- stant the Russian soldiers, taking the different shrouds attached to the flag-staff, attempted to ascend to the flag, which, having been whipped around the ropes by the wind, remained tight and fast. At first, being sailors as well as sol- diers, they made rapid progress, but laboring hard, they soon became tired, and when half- way up scarcely moved at all, and finally came to a standstill. There was a dilemma; and in a moment a 'boatswain's chair,' so called, wc^§ CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 59 made by knotting a rope to make a loop for a man to sit in and be pulled upward, and another Russian soldier was drawn quickly up to the flag. On reaching it he detached it from the ropes, and not hearing the calls from Captain Pestchouro^ below to 'bring it down,' dropped it below, and in its descent it fell on the bayonets of the Rus- sian soldiers. "The United States flag was then properly at- tached and began its ascent, hoisted by my pri- vate secretary, George Lovell Rosseau, and again the salutes were fired as before, the Rus- sian water battery leading off. The flag was so hoisted that in the instant it reached its place, the report of the last big gun of the Ossipee re- verberated from the mountains around. The salutes being completed. Captain Pestchouroff stepped up to me and said: 'General Rosseau, by authority from His Majesty, The Emperor of Russia, I transfer to the United States the Terri- tory of Alaska,' and in a few words I acknowl- edged the acceptance of the transfer, and the ceremony was at an end. Three cheers were then spontaneously given for the United States flag by the American citizens present, although this was no part of the program, and on some accounts I regretted that it occurred." Immediately after the proclamation of the treaty of purchase by the President, one J. Mora GO ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, Moss visited Sitka, and entered into a verbal agreement with Prince Maksoutoff for the trans- fer to him of all the property of the Russian- American Company, as soon after the transfer as the agreement could be consummated by pay- ment of the stipulated price. This verbal agree- ment was repudiated by Maksoutofif in favor of a more liberal offer made him by one H. M. Hutchinson, who reached Sitka on one of the supply ships of the expedition, and who was the forerunner and accredited agent of those who afterwards possessed themselves of the seal mon- opoly, and, subsequently as a close corporation for more than twenty years interposed an almost insuperable obstacle to the settlement and de- velopment of a country now known to be incom- parably rich in the variety and magnitude of its natural resources — which for that period of time held the greater part of the territory, together with the rights and interests of its people, in a grasp as relentless as that of the old Russian- American Company itself. Hutchinson purchased for his principals most of the Russian-American Company's ves- sels, and much other property at Sitka and, else- where, for the sale of which the right of Maksou- toff has been seriously questioned. Among the property thus sold were the wharves at Sitka, St. Paul and Unalaska, with warehouses and build- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 61 ings, and the fort and buildings at St. Michaels, all of which, except the fort and warehouse at Sitka, are still occupied and claimed by the Alas- ka Commercial Company without the least shadow of legal right. At the time of the transfer Sitka was a town of considerable importance from a commercial and industrial point of view, with a population of about one thousand souls, exclusive of the native village. Its industries consisted of iron and brass foundries and machine shops, saw-mill, grist-mill, tannery, and a shipyard, besides the usual complement of shoe-makers, bakers, tail- ors, etc. The shipyard was located on what is now known as the parade ground, in which some of the foundation timbers of the old build- ings are yet to be seen. With the transfer, all the principal industries were abandoned, the build- ings of the shipyard were demolished, a retaining wall built, and the low ground where they stood filled up; there was ho further use for the brass and iron foundries, and of all the industries then existing only the old saw-mill remains. Up to this time schools had been maintained. They were established by Baranoff and enlarged and made more efficient by Etholin. These schools included a seminary for girls, located in the building which, since 1885, has been the resi- dence of the governor, and a high school in 62 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, which the higher branches of education were taught in both the Russian and English lan- guages. These schools were discontinued at or just before the time of the transfer, but the pri- mary school has been ever since maintained as an. adjunct of the Greco-Russian church. The li- brary, founded by Rezanoff in 1805, was supple- mented by the club initiated by Etholin in 1840, with reading, card and billiard rooms, and con- tained at the time of the transfer over two thou- sand volumes of standard Russian and English works. From the time of the transfer the newly ac- quired territory was looked upon and treated by the President, and Congress as well, as an Indian country, and the rule of General Davis and suc- ceeding military commanders was little, if any, less than absolute. Accompanying the oflficers sent to take and hold possession of the ceded territory were a number of enterprising men, who went to Sitka with a view to permanent settlement, not dreaming that it was the purpose of the government to hold the country as a con- quered province, and to frown upon and discour- age every effort at settlement and development, instead of holding out to them the helping hand which had been freely extended to every other section of our country in the years of helpless infancy. These men, finding few of the old resi- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 63 dents in the possession of fee simple titles to th-e premises they occupied, began to purchase pos- sessory rights and erect buildings, and in less than a month new stores, restaurants and saloons were opened, and with every ship came new ar- rivals, until the population of the town was more than doubled. It is not to be denied that some of these people were political adventurers, and aspirants for honors expected to grow out of the organization of a new territory; but the large majority were shrewd business men, hardy miners and adventurous prospectors, such as have ever led the advance of progress and civili- zation into new and undeveloped regions. By sufferance of the military authority a city charter was drafted and adopted by a majority vote of the people, under which a municipal gov- ernment was organized, with a mayor, who was invested with both executive and judicial func- tions; a common council, marshal, etc. Though deriving the power and authority it sought to exercise directly from the people, this attempt at municipal government proved a veritable mockery and delusion. The military authority was supreme over all, and the magistrate who sentenced a convicted person to jail was just as apt the next day to find himself an inmate of the mihtary prison, or perhaps sawing wood under guard, or performing some menial office, in pur- 64 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, suance of sentence passed upon him by the com- manding officer. There was no semblance of civil law in all the territory which "was not sub- servient to the military authority. The situation, particularly at Sitka, became worse than painful. The period of seventeen years following the transfer, with rare intervals, was one of gloom and ignominy. The people, long resident, who hailed with joy the transfer as a deliverance from half a century of oppression bordering on degradation, and who were eager to declare their allegiance to the government which by solemn treaty stipulation had guaran- teed to them "all the rights, privileges and im- munities of citizens of the United States," were treated more as conquered foes than as friends delivered from a long period of bondage. Hus- bands and fathers were dragged from their fire- sides by dissolute wretches who disgraced the uniform that Grant and Sherman wore, and for no offense whatever incarcerated in guard-house cells, solely that their homes might be the more easily and safely invaded and defiled. During that dark and bloody era, innocent white men lost their lives in retaliation for the wanton cruel- ties of those who were supposed to be the coun- try's protectors, perpetrated upon a savage race who, in the absence of civilized law to which they would have cheerfully submitted, naturally CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 65 turned to their own law for vindication, and just as naturally overstepped its license. Men who had committed no crime were arrested and impris- oned, and forced to degrading labor, without form of law or trial, with no recourse to the great writ of right, and a Secretary of the Navy did not scruple to order his subordinate to whose keep- ing the liberties of this people were at the time committed, to "keep these men in confinement so long as in your judgment the interests of peace and good order in the settlement may require their imprisonment." The ill-treatment accorded the Russian people decided a very large majority of them to avail themselves of that clause of the treaty which provided for their return to Russia within a period of three years, and the year following the transfer their exodus began, and was continued until all but a mere fraction of the whole num- ber had availed themselves of the free transport- ation provided by the Imperial government. They preferred to take their chances under an absolute despotism to the blessings of a free gov- ernment as exemplified in their brief experience of United States military rule in Alaska. In the meantime, those who had gone to Alas- ka from the States began to petition and memo- rialize Congress for a form of civil government suited to the requirements of the country and its ^Q ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, - people, and went so far as to hold an informal election, at which Mr. Sumner S. Dodge was elected delegate to Congress, a seat in which body was denied him. This was afterwards repeated by the election of Mottram D. Ball, as delegate, to whom admission was likewise denied. As a consequence, the more active, enterprising ones who had gone to the territory with bright hopes and anticipations of a grand accomplishment, de- spairing of the recognition by Congress vitally essential to its immediate and future welfare, gradually sought other and more promising fields of exploration, business enterprise and adven- ture, so that within a few years after the transfer but a mere fraction of the civilized population of Sitka remained. MiHtary garrisons were established immedi- ately after the transfer, at Wrangell, St. Paul and Kenai, but the two last were withdrawn in 1870. Those at Sitka and Wrangell were retained un- til 1877, when they, too, were withdrawn, and for nearly two years the people were left not only without any form of government, but without any protection whatever. Indeed, there were several months in 1878-9 during which the gov- ernment was entirely unrepresented by any of- ficial, civil or military. Believing that a with- drawal of the troops meant the abandonment of Alaska by the government, the natives became CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 67 arrogant and domineering, and during the whole of February, 1878, the white people of Sitka were constantly under arms and on guard, fear- ful of a surprise and attack in which the lives of all would be sacrificed. Their fears were not without substantial foundation, nor were they allayed until the arrival, on the first day of March, of the British warship, Osprey, to the command- er of which an urgent appeal for relief had been made. The arrival of the Osprey was most op- portune, for at the time she was first seen in the ofBng, Katla-an, a Sitka chief, was only a few miles away, coming with more than a hundred warriors with hostile intent. He had planned an attack on the night of February 6th, but was de- terred therefrom by the better half of the natives, who, partly by persuasion and partly by force, held him and his followers in check. This Katla- an is supposedly the descendant of the chief of the same name who planned and executed the massacre at Old Sitka in 1802, and he was still living in 1896. It was not till 1884, seventeen years after the transfer, that Alaska was accorded even the sem- blance of civil government. In that year Con- gress passed a bill entitled, "An act to create a Civil Government for the District of Alaska," which was approved by the President, May 17. And such an act was never before conceived in 68 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, the brain of statesman, whether of high or low degree. Had its author been the well-paid at- torney of the wealthy corporation which at the time held exclusive control of all that part of the territory of which it cared to hold posses- sion, he could not have compiled an organic act much, if any, more in consonance with its nefa- rious interests and designs. After the lapse of seventeen years, during the w^hole of which time the white residents of Alaska lived in a condition either of absolute civil anarchy or of military ab- solutism, their prayers for relief were answered by the enactment of an organic law in which all the more important and valued rights, privi- leges and immunities of American citizenship are expressly and positively denied to them. This organic act provides that the laws of Oregon now (May 17, 1884) in force, so far as applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States, shall be the laws of the Dis- trict of Alaska. It provides for the appointment of a governor, who shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, with power to cause them to be enrolled and to call them into active service in case of emergency^ and authorizes him to per- form the duties generally pertaining to the of- fice of governor of a territory, but expressly de- clares that nothing in the act shall be construed to put in force in said District the general land I CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 69 laws of the United States, that there shall be no legislative assembly or any delegate sent to Con- gress. It will readily be seen that very few of the laws of a state can be made applicable to a District, or territory, having none of the subdi- visions of a state, and which is without powxr to create them. There are absolutely none of the duties pertaining to the ofiQce of governor of a territory which it is possible for the governor of Alaska to perform, except that of making an annual report; he can cause the militia to be en- rolled, it is true, and call them out in case of emergency, but it will be at his ow^n expense, and he is without power to compel obedience to his call. In fact, it sets up an anomalous form of civil government; assigns laws that are wholly inapplicable, and devolves upon the officers it creates duties that are impossible of performance; a government without the machinery necessary to its operation; a form without the substance. It has but served to prolong in a lesser degree the cruel injustice of which the people were for seventeen years the helpless victims, in that it is a governmental denial to them of those ^'rights, advantages and immunities of citizens of the United States" which were not only guaranteed to them by solemn treaty, but which have been honored and ratified in every instance, to every fragment of the United States territory, to every 70 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, fraction of the American people, except in the single instance of Alaska. Even at this late date the people of that hitherto unappreciated, long neglected territorial acquisition are without voice in any legislative body by which the defects in their anomalous "civil government'* can be reme- died, and are practically without any provision of law whereby they may secure titles to their homes. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 71 CHAPTER VI. Puget Sound to Sitka — Entrancing Scenery — ^Alexander Archipelago — Metlakahtla — Wrangell — Juneau — Dyea — The Muir Glacier — Sitka — Mining and other Resources of Islands and Mainland — Origin, Habits and Characteristics of Native People — Climate. Instead of dividing what is here to be written into what many might consider appropriate chapters, and treating the various matters touched upon separately and under different heads, the author prefers to take his reader on a journey of ten thousand miles or more among the more important islands of Alaska and along the coast of the mainland all the way from the southern boundary to Point Barrow, the most northerly projection of the Continent, visiting on the way all the principal towns, villages and points of interest, taking note as we proceed of the physical features and natural resources of the different sections, at the same time giving par- ticular attention to the character, habits and con- ditions of the native people, all to be here record- ed as an altogether truthful narrative. Leaving Puget Sound, the steamer bound Alaskaward, after touching at Victoria, on the south end of Vancouver Island, proceeds on 72 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, her way northward through the Gulf of Georgia, and long before reaching Alas- kan waters, enters a long stretch of in- land passages, separated from the ocean by numerous islands, and which are broken only by the wider waters of Queen Charlotte and Mil- bank Sounds and Dixon's entrance, crossing which last the traveler finds himself in Alaska, where he enters another network of inland pas- sages extending all the way to Juneau and Sitka, a distance of not less than 600 miles. The entrancing scenery of this route a thou- sand pens have essayed to describe, but it has never yet been faithfully portrayed by even the most versatile of writers. Islands, mountains, inlets and glaciers appear on every hand, and the eye is delighted at every turn by a constantly recurring succession of pleasurable surprises in the form of natural scenery sublimely grand, beautiful and awe-inspiring. This is especially true of the passage through the Alexander Archi- pelago, with its thousand islands, mountain- crowned and clothed to the snow-capped peaks with a livery of emerald green. The islands are never out of sight, and the steamer rarely ever more than three miles from land on either side during the whole distance. The blue waters are as smooth and calm, most usually, as those of an ordinary pond. From beginning to end the CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 73 ever-shifting panorama is one calculated to defy truthful delineation by pen or pencil. The first place of importance the tourist or traveler reaches after entering Alaska is, to many persons, and more particularly to those who have faith in the civilizing influences of the home missions, by far the most interesting. A short visit and inspection of this comparatively new village can but serve to confirm the faith of such persons, for here they will find the neatest, and most orderly town in all Alaska — Metla- kahtla — notwithstanding the fact that in all its population of about 1,500 there is but one white man, and he the founder of the settlement. More than forty years ago Mr. William Dun- can, a lay member of the Church of England, with true religious zeal, alone and unaided es- tablished a mission for the natives near Port Simpson, British Columbia. The people among whom he thus ventured to take up his abode were considered the worst of all the tribes on the coast; they were the slaves of superstition, ad- dicted to cannibalism and other disgusting rites, but under his patient, courageous teaching they were finally converted to Christianity. In time he succeeded in gathering them together into one orderly, well-regulated, self-sustaining commu- nity, until finally they found themselves living in modern houses constituting a village in which ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, were included nearly, if not quite, all the com- forts and appliances of civilization. This village was situated about twenty miles from Port Simp- son, and embraced about one hundred neat and comfortable dwellings with gardens attached, two school buildings, church, public hall, salmon can- nery, saw-mill, stores, and, indeed, all the indus- tries necessary to keep the people steadily and profitably employed. Under the practical and judicious guidance of Mr. Duncan they had been reclaimed from barbarism, trained to habits of industry, and transformed into an orderly, well- behaved community. The children of savage parents had been given the advantages of schools and religious training and instruction, but on ac- count of some disagreement with the State and Church authorities, during the pendency of which the devoted missionary discovered that his peo- ple were mere squatters upon lands to which there was little possibility of their ever being able to obtain indefeasible title, he and they con- cluded to seek an asylum under the American flag. Having conferred with the authorities at Washington and being assured of the protection they sought, these people selected the site of their present settlement, which is on Annette Island, about sixty miles from the southern boundary, and at once begar the work of carving out of the CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. Y5 wilderness a new home for themselves, to which they gave the name of that which they had been compelled to abandon. On the 7th of August, 1887, Mr. Duncan landed on the island and was hailed with every manifestation of joy by the vanguard of his people, who had preceded him for the purpose of clearing up the land and pre- paring temporary dwelling places for those who were to follow. Landing from the ship, together with a hundred or more tourist passengers, im- promptu services were held in the open air, two United States flags having first been hoisted to the top of one of the tallest trees which had been left standing, and properly trimmed for the pur- pose. Here, with appropriate speeches, song and prayer, the Jiew settlement was inaugurated, the native people there and then declaring al- legiance to the starry emblem under which, for the first time, they were assembled and to which they accorded three as hearty cheers as ever came from the throats of the most loyal American as- semblage. It was a rare instance of self-sacrifice for conscience' sake, this abandonment of home by an entire population, rather than submit to an impairment of civil and religious privileges which could not otherwise be averted. Since that time Metlakahtla has grown into a village of not less than 1,500 people, the town being so laid out that every lot constitutes the 'J'6 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, corner of a square block. Though most of their property was confiscated by the British Colum- bian authorities at the time of their re- moval, these people now have about them all the industries essential to their well being and steady employment, including saw-mill, from which is furnished much of the material used by the canneries for packing their product, a salmon cannery, blacksmith and shoe shops, etc., and a general store, in which none but natives are employed as clerks. Indeed, it is the plan of Mr. Duncan not only to educate the rising generation of his people, but to keep them together by furnishing employment to all who are able to work, at good wages, thus pro- viding for their physical as well as mental and spiritual wants. There are no drones in the com- munity, all being required to perform their full complement of labor in the various industries, and all, in addition to the wages received, sharing in the profits in proportion to the value of the service rendered. A regularly constituted village government is maintained, consisting of presi- dent and board of trustees, constables, etc., all the members of which are chosen by popular vote. The public buildings are the best in Alas- ka, consisting of a commodious town hall, church and school house, and a neater, more or- derly or better contented Christian community CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 77 cannot be found in any state or territory in the Union. Nevertheless, these people being alien born, and neither white nor black, are ineligible to citi- zenship, and will so continue for all time, unless the disability be removed by an amendment of the federal constitution by the terms of which, as interpreted by the courts, they are forever pro- scribed. In the meantime, the irrepressible pros- pector has invaded the island, and the discovery of numerous rich gold-bearing quartz ledges is evidenced by the large number of claims record- ed at Sitka, notwithstanding prospectors have been warned of the fact that, the island having been set apart as a reservation for Mr. Duncan and his people, they can attach to their discov- eries no right of ownership or possession which the government can legally or properly recog- nize. There is little doubt, however, of the exist- ence of rich gold bearing ledges on the island, or that their development under such conditions as Congress shall prescribe, can long be delayed, whatever may be the effect, injurious or other- wise, upon the alien native population. From Metlakahtla the steamer plows her way into Tongass Narrows, which is a narrow pas- sageway between the islands of Gravina on the west and Revilla Gigedo on the east, stops at the village of Ketchikan, where there is a post- 78 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, office and a native population of perhaps two or three hundred. Both the Presbyterian and Episcopal denominations have established mis- sions and schools in the immediate vicinity of Ketchikan, while a few miles to the northward some of Mr. Duncan^s people operate a steam saw-mill, passing which, the steamer next calls at Loring, on Revilla Gigedo Island, where there is a salmon cannery, post-office and store, and in addition to the white residents, a native settle- ment. Some very rich discoveries of gold have been made both on Gravina and Revilla Gigedo Is- lands, and it is not impossible that in the next few years they will become the scene of great and profitable mining activity. The next point reached is Fort Wrangell, situ- ate on an island of the same name, and not far from the mouth of the Stikine River. This is a town of not only considerable present import- ance, but one which is liable to figure promin- ently in the future history of Alaska, viewed from a commercial standpoint. It was once the chief trading station of the Hudson Bay Company, under lease from the Russian-American Com- pany, and later the center of trade for the once phenomenally rich Cassiar gold diggings in Brit- ish Columbia. It was likewise a military post for several years after the transfer, and until the CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 79 troops were wholly withdrawn from Alaska. It commands the entire trade of the Stikine River, which is navigable for about 150 miles from the mouth, and it is not improbable that it may be made the initial point of a new water and rail route to the Klondike placer mines, in which event it will again become a shipping and com- mercial center of great importance. Indeed, since the late discoveries have served to open the eyes of the world to the illimitable extent of the gold deposits of Alaska and the adjacent British ter- ritory, the old town has taken on new life, and has apparently entered upon an era of prosperity the most sanguine of her people scarcely dared hope for. The industries-of the place consist of a saw- mill and cannery, and there are several general stores. As yet, there are no mineral develop- ments in the immediate vicinity, though there is a considerable trade in garnets, found near by, which, however, are of inferior quality. There is here also a native village, second in population to none of all those of southeastern Alaska, Sitka alone excepted. Some of the dwel- lings in this native settlement are quite modern in appearance, but a view of the interior discloses an utter absence of any idea of comfort in their construction. Of paramount interest to visitors are the totem poles, which are here to be seen in 80 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, perhaps greater number and variety than at any other of the native settlements. These totem poles consist of logs on which are carved figures of animals, birds, etc., in which the native reads the history or tradition of the family, the deeds of whose members they are intended to com- memorate. From Wrangell to Juneau, through Sumner Strait, Wrangell Narrows, Frederick Sound, Stevens Passage and Gastineaux Channel, the distance is about i8o miles, the course all the way after leaving Wrangell Narrows being along the coast of the mainland. Between the passages through which we have passed since entering Alaskan waters, and the ocean, lie the great is- lands of Prince of Wales, Kupreanofif, Kuiu, Bar- anofif, Admiralty and Chichagoff, the six largest of the Alexander Archipelago. On all these is- lands there are native settlements, and upon at least two of them — Admiralty and Baranoff — ■ there are numerous ledges of gold-bearing quartz awaiting only the application of capital judi- ciously directed to insure rich returns to those who shall undertake and carry forward the work of development. Juneau is the mining and commercial metropo- lis of Alaska, as well as the center of white popu- lation. The first settlement at Juneau followed immediately after the discovery of gold in what CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 81 is now known as Silver Bow Basin, in the sum- mer of 1880, by Richard T. Harris and Joseph Juneau, the latter a nephew of Solomon Juneau, the founder of the city of Milwaukee. In the fall of that year the town site was surveyed and platted, and at first named Rockwell, in honor or Lieutenant Rockwell, of the United States Navy. For a time, however, the settlement was quite generally referred to as Harrisburg; but in May, 1882, the miners held a meeting and finally decided upon the name of Juneau, the town having by that time achieved the supremacy as a trade and mining center it has ever since maintained. Juneau is situated at the base of a mountain some three or four thousand feet in height, be- tween which and the town flows Gold Creek, a stream which is fed by the melting snows of the mountains in which it finds its source. This mountain forms the background to the site, which rises gradually from the waters of Gast- ineaux Channel to a height of perhaps 500 feet, to where the ground again abruptly falls away to the creek, the area of available building space on the east being limited by a mountain of lesser height, while to the south and west lie the waters of Gastineaux Channel, with a native village in- tervening on the west. The population, now numbering some thou- 82 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, sands, can only be guessed at, in view of the great numbers of persons constantly coming and going in either direction, but it is a question if sooner or later its growth may not be brought to a standstill, because of the limited area avail- able for building purposes; be this as it may, there is no other conceivable barrier in the way of Juneau ultimately attaining rank as one of the chief cities of the North Pacific coast. It already numbers among its business establishments houses whose aggregate trade reaches well into the millions annually, and though boasting of none but frame buildings, has all the concomi- tants of a city in the way of public improvements, including water-works, electric lights, telephones, churches, schools and theaters. Across the channel, south and west, about two and one-half miles distant, is the town of Doug- las, situate on the now famous island of the same name. Here also is the great Alaska-Treadwell gold mine, with the largest stamp-mill in the world, adjoining which is the Alaska-Mexican gold mine and mill. These mines and mills are objects of great interest to the thousands of tour- ists who visit them annually, and who are invari- ably afforded ample time for inspection. Leaving Juneau, the steamer rounds the south- easterly end of Douglas Island and makes her way through Saginaw passage into Lynn Canal, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 83 and finally arrives at Skagua and Dyea. These are new towns, at the head of Lynn Canal, the limit of salt water navigation in that direction. They are the points of departure for gold seek- ers bound for the Yukon over the White and Chilkoot Passes respectively. Prior to the Klon- dike discoveries, Skagua was unknown; on the other hand, Dyea had been the point of departure for Yukoners for a dozen years or more before Skagua was publicly thought or heard of in con- nection with any overland route to the Yukon gold fields. From the head of Lynn Canal there are three overland routes to the Yukon, viz. : the Chilkoot or Dyea, the Skagua and Dalton, con- cerning the respective merits of which there is a diversity of opinion. The Skagua trail is the most easterly of the three, and crosses the sum- mit of the mountains through White Pass, the elevation of which is claimed to be much less than that which must be overcome on the Dyea route. Nevertheless, the Dyea trail through the Chilkoot Pass is claimed to be the shorter of the two, and is the one that has always been used by the Chilcats and by a large majority of the earli- est prospectors. Still further west is the initial point of the Dalton trail, which avoids the lakes, cafions, dangerous rapids and toilsome portages encountered on the others, and a preference for which is claimed on the strength of the assertion 84 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, that it is the only one upon which pack animals can be employed to advantage. The superiority of location and commercial advantage of the rival towns at the head of Lynn Canal, depends upon a final determination as to which of the three routes in question can be rendered most available, and supplied with the best means of transportation for freight and passenger traffic. Going to Skagua and Dyea the steamer is like- ly to call at Haines Mission, which is a few miles south of Skagua, on the east shore of a long, narrow peninsula lying between Chilkoot and Chilcat Inlets. From the mission Pyramid Har- bor, where there is a large salmon cannery, can be reached by a trail in a distance of about two miles, and is often traversed by tourists while waiting for the steamer to discharge or take on cargo. Within a radius of fifty miles of Haines there are seven native villages, the whole con- taining in the aggregate a larger native popula- tion than is embraced within the same limits else- where in all Alaska. If the steamship in which we are making the voyage numbers among her passengers a fair sprinkling of tourists, she will afford them an opportunity to see the celebrated Muir Glacier, either while en route to Sitka or on the return voyage, depending largely upon the state of the weather. Retracing her course from Dyea and CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 85 passing the western entrance to Saginaw Pas- sage, we sail through Icy Strait into Glacier Bay, and, though it be a day in midsummer, the ship carefully threads her way through great masses of floating ice to an anchorage immediately in front of and not more than half a mile distant from the imposing front of the great glacier. This glacier presents a spectacle the grandeur of which cannot be described — a vast river of ice, ever slowly and imperceptibly moving to the sea, and piling the enormous masses high be- tween the mountain banks until their summit towers hundreds of feet in the air. According to Prof. Briggs this vast body of ice is forty miles long, to a point inland where, re-enforced by no less than fifteen tributaries coming down as many glens from different points of the compass, it swells to a veritable sea of ice twenty-five miles in diameter. Thence it moves with resistless power, bearing rocks and detritus on its surface. Just before it reaches the bay it is compressed by two sentinel mountains into a gorge one mile in width. The frontage on the bay is about three miles in length, but the central portion from which the huge masses break off and float away to the sea is only about half that length. The height of the wall fronting the bay, above water, is from 250 to 350 feet, but careful soundings have shown that the ice is 86 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, grounded at a depth of about 750 feet; therefore, were the whole visible, this glacier would present a solid wall of clear blue ice a mile and a half long, and 1,000 feet high. The surface is riven by a thousand crevasses, and the noise of the 'huge bergs constantly breaking away and crash- ing into the water is like the constant roar and reverberation of the heaviest artillery. The view from the summit is indescribably grand — neither pen nor pencil will ever do it justice. Again retracing our course and running back through Icy Strait, we enter Chatham Strait, a long, straight channel averaging about six miles in width, which lies between the large islands of Admiralty and Chichagoff and Baranofif,and next land at Killisnoo, at which place are located the works of the Alaska Oil and Guano Company. In the meantime we have passed not far from the native village of Hoonah, on the north end of ChichagofT Island, where there is a long-estab- lished Presbyterian Mission, Funter Bay, where there are some prospectively valuable gold mines in the course of development, and the native vil- lage of Angoon, both the latter on Admiralty Island. Killisnoo is a settlement of no small impor- tance viewed from an industrial and commercial standpoint. It is located midway between Ju- neau and Sitka, on the most direct route, and CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 87 adjacent to waters literally alive with cod, hali- but and herring. It is the practice of the exclu- sively excursion steamers to stop for a couple of hours ofif Danger Point, two and one-half miles distant, and give those of the passengers who are piscatorially inclined an opportunity to exercise their skill and muscle, principally the latter, taking cod and halibut; the most ardent Waltonian finds two hours all he desires, for the reason that the fish are so plentiful that the an- ticipated sport very soon becomes hard work and a mere question of endurance. Killisnoo's only industry at present consists of the oil works, which have an annual capacity of something Hke 250,000 gallons of oil, pressed at a temperature of 12 degrees, and 1,500 tons of guano, prepared from the refuse of the herring from which the oil has been extracted. The com- pany also salts for the market codfish, salmon bellies and herring. To make a product of 200,- 000 gallons of oil involves a catch of not less than 60,000 barrels of herring, which are taken in a lagoon near by in purse nets drawn by steam tugs, from which they are lifted by means of a dip-net operated by a steam crane. Not far from the place are some coal seams, but so far the coal has been found of an inferior quality and possessed of little economic value. It is believed, however, that further intelligent research may 88 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, bring to light coal of good quality in workable veins. Less than half a dozen miles to the north- ward and immediately on the east shore of Chat- ham Strait, some most promising gold-bearing quartz ledges have been discovered, and there is every reason to believe that sooner or later Kil- lisnoo may become the center of an active, pros- perous mining industry. Entering Peril Strait, the eastern entrance to which is directly opposite Killisnoo, the steamer next threads her way through intricate channels and seething rapids to Sitka, a distance of about eighty miles. This is the end of her route, and here tourists are allowed twenty-four hours in which to view the sights of Alaska's quaint old capital, in which there are many things to attract the attention and excite the interest of strangers. Chief among them is the old Greco-Russian Ca- thedral, with its chime of bells, and rare paint- ings intrinsically worth many thousands of dol- lars independent of their value as works of art. These paintings, many of them embellished with precious stones, and draperies of beaten gold and silver, were presented to the church many years ago by Russian Princes and Princesses as marks of their devotion to the faith and regard for the devoted men who had consecrated their lives to the promulgation of that faith among a heathen people. During the military occupation follow- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 89 ing the transfer the church was broken into and robbed of many intrinsically valuable sacred treasures, which have never been recovered. The first church building in Sitka was erected in 1 817 from timbers recovered from the wrecked ship Neva, the vessels and utensils for the service being made of silver by a local arti- ficer and the robes and draperies of China silk. This church, which was the first cathedral, stood to the right of Lincoln street, looking from the wharf, in the rear of a row of buildings now oc- cupied for business purposes, the ground imme- diately above which its altar stood, and beneath which lie the remains of one of its priests, being enclosed and marked with a cross to indicate that it is regarded as sacred ground. This small lot is among the parcels of land confirmed to the church by the protocol agreed upon by the Com- missioners provided for by the treaty of 1867. The present cathedral was begun in 1846, under the auspices of Governor Michael Tebenikoff, was completed on St. Michael's day, November 20, 1848, and in honor of the day and builder was named St. Michael's Cathedral. Among its most precious relics is the painting of its patron saint, with its drapery of gold. On each recur- ring anniversary of the completion and dedica- tion of the cathedral the bells ring out their merry chimes from the rising of the sun to the 90 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, going down thereof, while the day is observed with appropriate and impressive services. Sitka is the seat of a mission and industrial school, maintained by the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, and has two government day schools, one for white the other for native chil- dren. The Greco-Russian church also maintains a school and orphans' home, in which instruction is given in both the English and Russian lan- guages. The town occupies a most beautiful site at what may properly be called the head of Sitka Sound, on the west side of Baranofif Island. It enjoys the advantage of a safe and commodious harbor, formed by the hundred or more small wooded islands which dot the waters of the sound and afiford ample protection against the prevailing westerly and southerly winds. Mount Edgecumbe, an extinct volcano, rising to a height of 8,000 feet, stands like an ever-watchful sentinel at the entrance to the sound, while in the background Mount Verstovia rears her ar- row-headed peak high above the low range of mountains, which partially encircle the town. The walk to Indian River, the most beautiful stream imaginable, over a smooth road which winds its way around the shore under an almost continuous bower of evergreens, and around the connecting trail to the falls, will impart to the CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 91 visitor a lasting impression of the beauty and grandeur of an Alaskan forest and the limpidity of Alaska's flowing fountains. A widespread popular error is entertained concerning the climate of Alaska. A person of even more than average intelligence in thinking and speaking of Alaska is very apt to associate the country with one of the states of the Union, being unaware of the fact, unless he has taken the pains to inform himself, that Alaska covers five degrees more of latitude and many more de- grees of longitude than does the whole of that part of the United States lying east of the Mis- sissippi River, the superficial area of the two sections being about equal. As well might a person ask about the climate of the United States without particularity as to propound the same inquiry concerning Alaska, expecting an an- swer not wholly circumambient. The truth is that though in a large part of Alaska the ex- tremes of heat and cold are encountered, the climate of that part of the country to which the reader has just been introduced is what might properly be termed semi-tropical in character. This is due, according to Professor Dall, to the Japanese current which sweeps across the Pacific and splits on the Aleutian Islands, the smaller portion passing north through Bering Sea and Strait, thus preventing the flow of Arctic ice 92 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, southward, while the other and larger branch, sweeping south of the islands and along the coast, brings a warm, moist atmosphere, which is responsible for the only disagreeable feature of the climate of southeastern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands — that of an unusually heavy rainfall. Zero weather is a rare occurrence in Sitka, and there have been winters when the temperature seldom fell to the freezing point. What is true of Sitka in this regard applies to all of southeastern Alaska, with slight variations, and to Kadiak and the Aleutian Islands as well. The winter of 1885-6 was characterized by old residents of Sitka as the most severe experienced in many years, and that being the last year in which an official record was kept, the meteoro- logical summary furnished by the Sergeant of the Signal Corps, United States Army, then sta- tioned at that place, to the Governor, is here re- produced: CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 93 Meteorological Summary for the Year Ending August 31, 1886, of Sitka, Alaska. [Latitude 57° 3'; Longitude 135° 19'.] MEAN TEMPERATURE. Self- registering instruments set daily at 11 p.m., 75th meridian. MONTH. 75TH MERIDIAN. 1 >> c o * 1 .sd 7.00 HM 3.00 P,M 11.00 P.M o LOCAL TIME. •s 2.59 IM 10.59 A.M 6.59 P,M s 1885-'86. September . 51 46.1 39.3 36 28.1 36 36.8 38.3 42.6 48. 6 53 7 55.3 55.3 49.8 41.5 37.6 30.4 37.9 39.5 42.9 49.5 54.5 59 59.6 52.2 47.8 39 8 36.7 29 37.5 38.2 41.4 48.7 53.8 59 58.6 52.8 47 9 40 2 36.8 29. 2 37.1 38.2 40.9 47 52.3 57.2 57.8 69 59 50 50.5 48 52.5 49 56 61 68 72 72 4 20 1 5 11 6 31 16 31 16 6 8 38.5 33.0 29.5 20 5 4 24 24 28 31.5 38.5 45 42 27 October 12 November . 23 December 31 January 5 February 13 March 16 April... 28 May 1,2,3 June 4 10 August .. 28 Sums 511.8 42.6 557.5 46.5 442.7 45.3 537.4 44.8 Annual means * Highest 72, July 6th and August 8th. + Lowest 4, January 5th. The mean annual temperature of Sitka is about that of the City of Washington, the ex- tremes of heat and cold being at the same time much less. The heavy rainfall is, as has already been remarked, the only disagreeable feature of that section of Alaska now under considera- tion. A succession of heavy showers on a dozen or more consecutive days, if not continuous, as they sometimes are, is apt to be followed by incessant drizzles, accompanied by a low, hang- 94 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ing fog, until a final summing up shows not more than sixty or seventy-five clear days during the whole year. But, when the sun does shine, na- ture puts on her loveliest holiday attire, and the atmosphere is so clear and exhilarating that a few days of fair weather more than compensates for months of rain and fog. Despite the natural in- ference to the contrary, it can be truthfully asserted that rheumatic and pulmonary com- plaints are not any more prevalent than in lower and drier latitudes, while on the other hand there are numerous hot springs, situate on the islands and mainland, which are known to possess most efficacious curative properties. One of these springs is located about fifteen miles south of Sitka, and there, up to the time of the transfer, the Russians maintained a hospital and baths, to which all who became afflicted with rheuma- tism or scrofulitic diseases were arbitrarily con- signed. Much has been written concerning the habits and characteristics of the native peoples of Alaska, and various theories speculative as to their origin have been advanced. That those of the coast and islands as far north as to where the Eskimos have their most southerly habita- tions, are a distinct race, without a drop of the blood of the American Indian in their veins, un- less it be in some instances of cross breeding, is CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 95 scarcely to be gainsaid. They are not Indians in the common acceptation of the term, but are, undoubtedly, of Asiatic origin, more nearly re- sembling the Coreans than any other people in physiognomy, stature and personal characteris- tics. They can hardly be said to maintain any tribal relations, but are divided into clans, two or more of these clans sometimes living in the same village or settlement, each having its chief, generally self-constituted as such, as is the case in Sitka, where the Kaksata and Kokwanton (Bear and Crow) families reside more or less amicably together. A member of the Bear fam- ily may not, according to their law, or custom, rather, enter into the marriage relation with an- other of that family, but the husband and wife must belong to different clans, the wife then becoming a member of the husband's family or clan. There is little difference in the native people of southeastern Alaska, as applicable to the dif- ferent sections and clans, except as to the changes which have been wrought in their habits and modes of living through civilizing influences. All, except a part of the Prince of Wales people, as far up the coast as Yakutat, may properly be classed as Thlingets, though those of each clan or village are known by a separate and distinct name, as, for instance, those at Wrangell are pop- 96 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ularly referred to as the Stikines, those at Sitka as the Sitkans; the Kakes inhabit the Kuiu Island, the Hanegas the north part of Prince of Wales, the Auks have their villages near Juneau, the Chilcats inhabit the country at and beyond the northern extremity of Lynn Canal, the Hoo- nahs infest the region around Cross Sound, and the Yakutats the district adjacent to the bay upon which their permanent village is located. The Hydahs inhabit the southern part of Prince of Wales Island, though a larger number of that people make the Queen Charlotte Islands their home. Unlike the American Indians, these people are industrious and self-supporting. They are pos- s^essed of much natural intelligence, apt in imi- tation, keen, shrewd traders, and among them are not a few more or less skillful engravers of wood and metal ornaments and utensils. From the wool of the mountain sheep they weave blankets in fantastic designs, which are better and more durable than those of civilization; from the fiber of the spruce they make baskets of pat- terns and designs almost innumerable, some of which are so closely woven as to render them impervious to water, while from gold and silver they make bracelets, rings, spoons and other articles tastefully engraved, and which are eager- ly sought after by tourists. Many of them live CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 97 in massive timber houses, in the construction of which great puncheons, hewed or split, from the spruce or cedar tree are used, though not a few, prompted by a spirit of emulation, have of late built for themselves homes wholly modern in outward appearance, but, it must be confessed, with little regard to the health and comfort of themselves and their families. From the gigan- tic trees of the forest they fashion canoes, some of very large size and capable of carrying from forty to fifty persons, the symmetry of which is such as to evoke the praise of an enthusiast in aquatic sports, and in which they skim over the sheltered waters far and near, to hunt, fish and trade. The canoe is their means of convey- ance everywhere, and to the native Alaskan the ^anoe is as essential as is the locomotive to the needs of trade and commerce among civilized people. The superstitions which formerly prevailed among these people have to a great extent been eradicated through the influence and teachings, of the Christian missionaries, and now exist only among those who have not been brought largely into contact with civilization. Formerly the shaman (doctor) exercised a most baleful influ- ence among them. He was not only doctor of bodily ills, but prophet as well, of whom all stood in awe, and whose edicts none dared dispute. 98 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, He was accredited with supernatural power, by the help of which he was supposed to be able to cure all the bodily ills to which the human form is heir. In the event of the failure of the torture of incantation to cure, and the death of the pa- tient, the wily shaman then sought, and always successfully, to evade responsibility by imputing the death to witchcraft practiced by a secret ene- my, whose name, for a further consideration of blankets, he would then disclose. The additional fee being paid, the shaman would then point out some man or woman against whom he held a grudge as the person who had bewitched the patient, and upon the alleged witch the relatives and friends of the deceased would proceed to inflict summary punishment, usually tying his neck and heels securely together, and then throwing the unfortunate person into some out- of-the-way place and leaving him there to die of torture and starvation. By the united efforts of the officials of the civil government and the mis- sionaries this barbarous practice has been prac- tically broken up. Some of the shamans have been subjected to summary punishment, in cases where the law could not readily be invoked; others have been indicted and convicted, and this, together with the teachings of the mission- aries, has served to practically eradicate from CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 99 among them the chief superstition to which they were for centuries the abject slaves. Nevertheless, they are a provident people. Poverty is almost unknown among them, and though importunate beggars, there is little, if any, actual beggary. The government has never been called upon to appropriate a single penny for their support, nor is it likely to be, for the reason of their willingness to labor; though the white people have encroached upon and practi- cally taken possession of their best fishing grounds, their field of labor has thus been widened, and they are abundantly able to care for themselves. There are very few among them who have not some property of greater or less value. All have homes — houses in which they have an appreciable and admitted title to some privilege of occupation — and most of them, in the compartments which belong to them, have blankets, clothing and some kind of traps and hunting apparatus, while not a few have silver and gold coin, bracelets, and other more highly prized articles. There is not a more independent, prosperous and contented "lower class" in any country on earth than the native population of southeastern Alaska. m 100 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, CHAPTER VII. From Sitka to Cook Inlet — Yakutah and the St. Elias Alps — Copper River — Prince William Sound — Mid- dleton Island, St. Paul, Kadiak Island — Cook Inlet — Rich Gold Placers and Great Seams of Coal — A Land of Promise. Now, the reader is invited to accompany the author on a cruise extending over a period of nearly five months, and covering a round dis- tance of more than 10,000 miles along the coast and in and among the gulfs, bays, inlets and islands of Alaska, north and west of Sitka. It will be impossible to introduce him to all the native settlements, for the simple reason that they are too numerous to be embraced within a cruise limited to a single summer season. Leaving Sitka in a staunch sea-going steamer, let us say early in the evening of any day in May the reader may be pleased to designate, a run of fifteen to twenty hours will find us off the en- trance to Yakutat Bay, about 300 miles distant from the point of departure. Here we are apt to encounter schools of fin-back whales and por- poises disporting themselves in close proximity to the ship, and, if the weather is fair, as it is very apt to be at this season of the year, we get our CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 101 first glimpse of the lofty Fairweather range of mountains, designated on the maps as the St. Elias Alps. To the unpracticed eye these moun- tains appear to be not more than a dozen miles away, whereas they are in fact at least fifty miles distant. Looking landward from the ship, to the right we get a fair view of Mounts Fair- weather, Crillon, La Perouse, and other lofty peaks, while to the left majestic, awe-inspiring St. Elias rises to a height of nearly 19,000 feet, their snow and ice clad peaks crowned with halos showing all the colors of the rainbow, and the whole constituting a scene at once sublimely grand and beautiful. The elevation of these mountains above the sea level varies from 13,500 to 19,000 feet, which last is the height of St. Elias, the highest mountain in North America, unless exceeded by Mount Wrangell, which is farther inland, and the height of which is not definitely known. Lying between the base of this range and the seashore to the southeast of Yakutat is a strip of comparatively level land, perhaps twenty miles in width, which is heavily timbered and possessed of good soil. Mulgrave Harbor is a small indentation set- ting ofT to the right of the entrance to the bay, and on the north side is the native village of a dozen or more houses, in which live some two hundred people. There is also a trader's store 102 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, and a Swedish Lutheran mission and school, and of late years the population has been aug- mented by a number of white men, intent upon amassing fortunes by washing gold from the ruby sands found on the beach. These sands contain gold enough to pay good wages, but the miners are in constant dread and danger of sub- mersion by a tidal wave or heavy sea. In the olden time there was a very considerable Rus- sian settlement on an inlet which sets off from the east side of Yakutat Bay, where the Russian- American Company maintained a shipyard and built quite a nuniber of ships, among them those in which BaranofT sailed to subdue the natives of Sitka after the massacre at that place in 1802. Except a few Creole families, nothing is now left of what was once a busy and flourishing set- tlement. The natives are not unlike those of Sitka, speak the same language and live in houses sim- ilarly constructed. They maintain themselves by fishing and hunting, and are more cleanly in their persons and homes than those of most other na- tive villages. On the lowlands lying between the mountain range and the sea there is a luxuriant growth of wild grasses, and the wild strawberry, of large size and excellent flavor, abounds in great profusion. Coal of fair quality has been CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 103 found in the near vicinity, but no effort has ever been made to exploit it. The scenery in the neighborhood of Yakutat Bay, and indeed all along the coast as far west as Cook Inlet, is indescribably grand, far sur- passing in beauty and grandeur that of the in- land passages of southeastern Alaska. West of Yakutat a few miles, and seemingly forming the base upon which rests the great Mount St. Elias, the immense Malespina glacier flows down to the sea, presenting many miles of ice frontage to the unobstructed view. Yakutat Bay is itself a most lovely sheet of water, indenting the coast to a depth of perhaps fifty miles, dotted with numerous small wooded islands, its banks on either side, here and there, indented with a smaller cove or bay, while near its head an arm setting off to the eastward is very appropriately named Enchantment Bay, because of the en- chanting beauty of the enclosing scenery. Proceeding along the coast to the westward, we have for a full day at least an unobstructed view of mountain and glacial scenery, the grand- eur and sublimity of which cannot be pictured in words nor truthfully portrayed on canvas. Resting for a brief moment upon the wooded lowlands, the eye strays away to where some mighty glacier is slowly^ but surely grinding its way down to the sea, carrying everything before 104 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, it, only to revert at last to where huge old St. Elias towers conspicuously above all his fellows in regions of perpetual frost. In the presence of nature thus arrayed in all her grandeur and sublimity, but little heed is paid to the seals and blackfish and whales which disport themselves at times on both sides of the ship, and when the long day is done and night spreads its sable cur- tain over land and sea we retire, blessing not *'the man who invented sleep," but regretting that this is not for the time being the "Land of the Midnight Sun." Middleton Island lies about fifty miles south of the entrance to Prince William Sound, and is a body of land about six miles long and from one to three miles wide. Its flat surface lies at an elevation of about 200 feet above the sea, the shores being almost perpendicular, with only one or two points where a landing can be effected from small boats. It is wholly treeless, but is clothed with a rich verdure, and is said to have an excellent soil with a climate quite favorable to its successful cultivation. It is uninhabited, except for a couple of months in the summer, when it is frequented by natives from the main- land in quest of the hair seals which congregate at its south end during the breeding season. Placer gold is claimed to have been found on this CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 105 island, but if so, the question of how it got there will be a problem difficult of solution. Prince William Sound, or, as it may properly be called, Chugach Gulf, is a deep indentation of the mainland the entrance to which is like the delta of a great river, because of the many islands which block the passages. The gulf itself is like- wise crowded with islands, and its arms extend tentacular like in every direction, its entire sur- face covering an area of something over 2,500 square miles. It was first explored by Captain Cook during his last voyage, in 1778, and is a branch of the ocean difficult to navigate, on ac- count of the great number of rocks and shoals it contains, and very few of which are delineated on any of the charts. The same difficulty exists all along the coast and among the islands from Sitka to Point Barrow. There are few, if any, charts other than those embodying the explora- tions and surveys of the earliest English and Russian navigators, and these are found gener- ally imperfect, and in many cases absolutely un- reHable, while on the whole Alaska coast of main- land and islands (greater than that of all the other states and territories combined, with cur- rents stronger and more dangerous than else- where known) there is not to be found a single lighthouse, fog whistle, or other artificial aid to navigation. 106 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, Port Etches, a very snug harbor, is situated in the southwestern end of Hinchinbrook, the most easterly of the islands which block the en- trance to the gulf. Between Hinchinbrook and Montague Islands, and between the latter and the mainland, on the west, are the passages to the gulf. On the north side of Port Etches and separated from it by a narrow peninsula is a la- goon, on the farther side of which was situated the original Russian fort and settlement, where some shipbuilding was carried on and an oil and fish establishment maintained up to the time of the transfer of the post to the narrow neck of the peninsula at the head of the lagoon, where the fort commanded the approaches by boat in all directions. Here the settlement still exists, though there is no longer any semblance of fort or fortifications, the principal buildings of the old Russian-American Company, however, re- maining intact. The settlement, which is known as Nuchek, consists of five or six comfortable, hewed log houses, one of which is occupied as a store, and about forty huts, which are occupied by the natives, who are of the Innuit or Eskimo family and call themselves Chugaches, though some have improperly classed them as Aleuts. Included in the village population of about 150 souls are two or three families of Creoles (de- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 107 scendants from Russian fathers and native mothers). The Greco-Russian Church maintains a small but very neat chapel at Nuchek, though there is no resident priest, partial service being conduct- ed by a Creole member, who, in the church vo- cabulary, is denominated as "reader." A reg- ularly ordained priest who presides over a dis- trict, with headquarters at the most central point, visits as often as possible the various chapels like that at Nuchek, for the purpose of baptism and confirmation. It should be remarked right here that all the Greco-Russian churches and schools in Alaska are supported by the Russian govern- ment, at a cost of about $60,000 annually, which is paid out of the imperial treasury. It has a larger following than all the other churches in Alaska, a fact not to be wondered at, considering that its priests and missionaries have been in the field nearly 150 years. There are four native villages on Chugach Gulf, including Nuchek, with a total population of about 300. Previous to 1886 the people in these same villages numbered a little over 800, but an epidemic in the winter of that year carried away more than half of them. They are the most easternmost tribe or family of Eskimos, with whom their language, habits and customs are almost identical, though allied, by intermarriage 108 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, to some extent, with their eastern neighbors, the Thhngets. They live in small log houses thatched with grass, with the usual hole in the center of the roof for the escape of the smoke. They are an extremely dirty, filthy people in their houses, persons, and dress, and the faces of both old and young present unmistakable evidence of hereditary disease. A more forlorn, dejected, and apparently helpless set of human beings it is scarcely possible to imagine. This, too, notwith- standing Nuchek has for many years been a trading station of the powerful corporation to whose tender mercy a benign government con- signed the native people of the greater part of Alaska soon after our acquisition of the territory. Here, as elsewhere in all that part of Alaska over which this corporation was pleased to ex- ercise control for a period of twenty years or more the native people were practically robbed of their peltry. This was accomplished by fixing the price of skins at about a quarter of their actual value and paying for them on that basis in silver coin, all of which came back to the cor- poration in payment for goods sold to these help- less people at a profit of 200 per cent, or more. The native who dared to sell a skin to any other than an agent of the company was denied the privileges of the store and starved into submis- sion. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 109 At Nuchek we encounter the first bidarkas. A bidarka is a small boat made of seal or walrus hides stretched over a light wooden frame. It is made by first constructing a frame of the proper shape and desired dimensions, in which there is neither mortise, tenon, or a scrap of iron, the several parts being securely tied together with sealskin thongs, after which the seal or w^alrus hide properly prepared and sewed to- gether, is stretched tightly over it. The frame is covered completely over, except that a round hatch is left in the top center for the occupant, around the projecting rim of which he ties the lower end of a water-proof shirt, made from the intestines of the seal, and w^hich is called a kama- lyka. This kamalyka is supplied wath a hood which is drawn closely around the neck and like- wise secured at the wrists, and thus the water is prevented from wetting the occupant or get- ting into the body of the boat. They are made in three sizes, with one, two and three hatches, and by the natives are called kyaks, bidarka being the name given them by the Russians. The natives are very expert in the use of this frail craft, in which they venture thirty to forty miles out to sea in their hunt for sea otter. Leaving Prince William Sound by the west entrance early in the morning, the ship steams along all day in plain sight of the coast range of 110 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, snow-capped mountains, and the following day drops her anchor at St. Paul, on the northeast end of the great Island of Kadiak, which lies mid- way between the fifty-fifth and sixtieth parallels of latitude, and on the west approaches very near- ly to the 155th meridian, west Ipngitude. It is ninety miles long and sixty miles wide, and its area covers about 5,000 square miles. It is very mountainous, with numerous deep bays on all sides, into which a number of small rivers fall. The north half of the island is heavily timbered with spruce, which attains considerable size, and a small growth of alder, birch and poplar. The geological formation appears to consist chiefly of slate, porphyry and graystone, or basalt. The climatic conditions seem favorable to the success- ful cultivation of the soil, which, judging from the luxuriant growth of the wild grasses up to the very summit of the mountains, is capable of be- ing made to "produce and bring forth in abund- ance." At all events, there is a large acreage of seemingly the very best grazing lands, and cat- tle and sheep need only the attention bestowed in the middle and western states to insure a healthy growth and rapid increase. When it is remembered that on this island the temperature seldom falls to zero; that the winters are no longer than in Michigan or Ohio, and that an abundance of hay can be cut and cured for win- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. HI ter feed, it would be strange if cattle could not be grown and fattened as well as in those states. ^ The village of St. Paul is delightfully situated on a bay of the same name, formed by a small but high island, between which and Kadiak there is a narrow passage forming a safe harbor, in which, however, but few vessels can lie at the same time. This harbor has, of course, two en- trances, one from the north and one from the south, but is, nevertheless, difficult of access in dark or foggy weather. The plateau on which the village is built lies at an elevation of about thirty feet above tide water, the mountains be- yond, bare of timber, but covered with a rich vestment of green and a profusion of wild flow- ers, rising to a height of two and three thousand feet and forming a most lovely background. There are perhaps a hundred houses all told, some of them very neat and substantial in out- ward appearance. It is the headquarters of the Kadiak district of the Alaska Commercial Com- pany, from which all supplies are sent to and col- lected from the different sub-agencies as far east as Yakutat and north to the head of Cook In- let. There is also a Greek church with a resident priest and a government day school. There is a garden in connection with nearly every dwell- ing, in which all the hardy vegetables, potatoes, cabbage, turnips, onions, etc., are successfully 112 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, grown, though it is very evident that none of the people are skilled horticulturists. It has been claimed by the detractors of Alaska that wheat, oats and barley cannot be grown; this may be true of southeastern Alaska, but there is no evidence that the experiment has ever been tried, by a practical farmer, while, on the other hand, it is true that these cereals have been grown as far north as Fort Yukon. When prac- tical farmers and gardeners shall have settled in Alaska, and after a fair test shall have pronounced the soil and climate unadapted to agriculture and horticulture it will be time enough to accept as fact opinions based upon the mere belief of persons having no knowledge of such matters. The population of St. Paul numbers about 500, of whom not over 100 are white Americans, the others being Creoles, with a few Russians and perhaps a dozen natives. The population of the whole island is about 1,200, of which not more than 200 are whites, the large majority be- ing Creoles. Of the brave and warlike people, numbering, it is claimed, about 6,000, who in- habited the island when the Russians came, but a ie\y hundred remain, and they a spiritless, help- less set, who seem to exist because they must, not that they have anything to live for. In St. Paul there is not a single full-blooded Kanaig, as these people were called — they are now general- \ CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 113 1; but erroneously classed as Aleuts — ^the few na- tives there being Thlingets who have emigrated from Sitka. The Kanaigs met elsewhere on the island and at Afognak do not by any means an- swer to the description of that people given by Shelikoff, who founded the first Russian settle- ment among them in 1774, and who described them as "tall and strong and of such healthful habits that they lived to 100 years." It can only be said that if that were true, the Kanaigs of today cannot be considered other than most "de- generate sons of a noble ancestry," and that the descendants of the people described by Shelikoff present a sad commentary on the criminal pol- icy of forcing upon a brave but barbarous race, a so-called civilization, the principal concomi- tants of which are greed, avarice, rapine, lust and murder. It was such a civilization the Russians gave these people; a civilization that made help- less slaves of those it did not exterminate; and to its shame it must be said that though thirty years have elapsed since the transfer, our own government has done practically nothing to ameliorate their condition — to them the transfer was a change of masters, nothing more. Aside from the agricultural, horticultural and grazing possibilities mildly hinted at this great island is possessed of other resources, which will ultimately make it the center of a large com- 114 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, merce. Its salmon fisheries and canneries have for a dozen years, nearly, been turning out a product of the annual value of several millions. The salmon abound in every bay and stream, in their season, while the most prolific cod banks are within a day's sail. The fisheries alone insure a future for the island; but there is every proba- bility that within its mountains will be found gold and silver in paying quantities. In the southwest part, only a few miles from tide water, there is a known vein of copper (sulphide) very large and rich in mineral, and the geological formation of slate and porphyry certainly indi- cates with more or less certainty the existence of prolific veins of precious metals. Close by St. Paul is Wood Island, upon which there is a very considerable settlement, a mission church and school, and a post of the North American Commercial Company, successor to the Alaska Commercial Company in the posses- sion of the seal monopoly. From St. Paul the route lies through a narrow strait between Kadiak and Spruce Islands into Marmot Bay, at the head of which are situated the Creole and Kanaig settlements of Afognak on an island of the same name. At the west end of the narrow strait referred to, on a snug little indentation of Spruce Island, is the little Creole village of Oozinki. It consists of not more than CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 115 a dozen families, who cultivate gardens and have a herd of from fifty to one hundred head of cattle. Afognak appears to be possessed of a good soil, and all the houses in the Creole settlement have gardens attached in which the owners grow their own vegetables, though none of the people seem to have more than the most primitive ideas of agriculture or horticulture. Both the Creole and native residents live principally by the chase, some venturing far out to sea in pursuit of the sea otter, while others are engaged in taking and curing salmon. The Kanaigs live in log cabins little better than open sheds, and are altogether a squalid set, with no apparent appreciation of the virtue of cleanliness, though some of the women are (or^wgidd^ be Jf J^^ rins.etd) passably good looking, while the children appear natural- ly bright and intelligent. All Creoles and Kan- aigs are afflicted with an irresistible appetite for strong drink, and make from sugar and flour a beverage called "quass,'' which is sometimes made more than ordinarily villainous by distilling it into a spirit which "biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder" both the brain and stom- ach of the one who drinks it. The most intelli- gent among them will readily barter his last mouthful of food for enough of the crude ma- terials from which to make a single brewing of the vile liquor. IIG ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, The island is heavily timbered, though the trees do not grow to such large size as in south- eastern Alaska, while none of it except the spruce pine possesses any economic value, the birch, alder, etc., being small. Fish are abundant, how- ever, and that industry, together with what may be developed in the way of agriculture and graz- ing, is about all that it can boast in the way of resources. The climate, as in all parts of south- eastern and southwestern Alaska, is quite equa- ble, the temperature never falling below zero or rising above 80 degrees. Leaving Afognak, the course is north, passing inside of Marmot Island and standing in to the westward of Barren Islands, which lie about mid- way between Cape Elizabeth and Cape Douglas, the opposing headlands at its entrance, we enter Cook Inlet, and sailing northward, leave Au- gustine Island and volcano to the right, and dur- ing the day get a fair view of the Ilyamna and Re- doubt volcanoes, the former of which has been more or less active for over a hundred years, and has never ceased to emit smoke and ashes. It was in active eruption in 1883, but the Redoubt and several other lofty volcanic peaks on the west shore of the inlet are now, to all appearance, wholly extinct. Just beyond the mouth of or entrance to the inlet its waters widen out into two indentations CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 117 on the opposite shores, Kachemak Gulf and Chugachik Bay on the east, and the Gulf of Kamishak on the west. North of these indenta- tions the shores of the inlet again approach each other to within a distance of thirty miles (the distance between Capes Elizabeth and Douglas is over sixty miles) which distance it holds as far north as the East and West Forelands, where it is further contracted about one-half, holding a width of about fifteen miles to Turnagain Arm, which is in latitude about 63 degrees, and the point from which Cook turned back when disap- pointed in not finding, as he confidently thought he had, the much~sought-for northwest passage. On the east shore the mountains are not high, though several large glaciers can be seen in the distance, and there is a strip of comparatively level land, well wooded and from thirty to forty miles wide, lying between their base and the waters of the inlet. The tides in Cook Inlet are, perhaps, more rapid and violent than at any other point on the Pacific coast, frequently running at the rate of eight to ten miles an hour, with an average rise and fall of twenty-five to twenty-eight feet. The flood runs in in one vast volume and with a thun- dering noise, carrying everything before it, in- creasing in speed and violence as the shores ap- proach nearer to each other. As a consequence 118 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, the tidal currents are very dangerous, rendered none the less so by the existence of numerous conically shaped rocks rising from the bottom uncomfortably close to the surface, and which of themselves render the navigation of its waters more or less perilous. The distance from the en- trance to the head of the inlet is very nearly 200 miles, but in the absence of surveys its naviga- tion beyond Kenai is altogether too dangerous to be lightly attempted by vessels of deep draught. The district of country bordering on Cook Inlet is, perhaps, better adapted to agricultural pursuits by reason of its climatic conditions, as well as the fertility of the soil, than any other part of Alaska. There is a large acreage of compara- tively level land on the eastern shore, with a soil productive of excellent crops of vegetables as well as cereals. Though the winters are colder than those of Kadiak and the Sitkan region, the summers are warmer and drier, and, while there is no question concerning the curing of hay from the native grasses, which are abundant, barley and oats have been successfully grown, and that, too, by wholly inexperienced agriculturists. Kenai is on the east shore of the inlet at the mouth of the Kaknu River, and at the time of the transfer was still a fortified place; but the stockade and bastions have disappeared, and CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 119 when a company of United States soldiers was sent to occupy the place in 1868-9 the erection of new barracks was found necessary to their ac- commodation. It is the central trading point for all the Cook Inlet region, and was the earliest permanent settlement made by the Russians; but there are no Russians there now, only a colony of Creoles, who cultivate potatoes, turnips and other vegetables, some of whom keep cattle, and all Hving principally upon the products of the soil. It is also a station of the Alaska Commer- cial Company, and the residence of a priest of the Greco-Russian Church, whose jurisdiction ex- tends to all of Cook Inlet and the region border- ing the coasts east as far as Yakutat. There is a native village of people who call themselves Kenaitze, about a mile distant from the Creole settlement. The Creoles live in comfortable, hewed log houses; the Kenaitze houses are built of unhewed logs and thatched with native grass, and are exceedingly dirty and filthy. The total Creole and native population adja- cent to Cook Inlet is about 1,000, and prior to the advent of the miners there were not over a dozen permanent white settlers in the whole region. There are, however, several large can- neries on the inlet, at which during the summer months a large number of white men and Chi- nese are employed, and since the discovery of 120 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, gold there has been a large influx of miners and prospectors, who are scattered all along the coast, on Turnagain Arm, and on the numerous streams whose waters flow into the inlet. That there is a very considerable area of rich placer ground in the Cook Inlet region has already been proved by the large amount of gold taken out; that rich quartz veins exist in the same neighborhood is a fact equally well assured, and with its fishing industry, large area of arable land adapted to agriculture, and an abundance of coal, of good quality for domestic uses at least, there is every reason to apprehend that Cook Inlet may be- come the most thickly populated district in all Alaska. There is a settlement and cannery at the mouth of the Kussiloff River, about ten miles south of Kenai, and still further south, on the same side of the inlet, the Creole settlement of Ninilichik. The people at this latter place are descendants of a number of superannuated employes of the old Russian-American Company, who were arbitra- rily planted there nearly lOO years ago and left to work out their own temporal salvation. There are only about a dozen families, but they have quite a number of cattle, make their own butter and all are engaged in tilling the soil, from which they grow enough vegetables for their own use and a very considerable surplus, which they sell CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 131 to the traders and fishermen. They also keep pigs and poultry and constitute an altogether happy little community. The coal measures spoken of are situate on the east shore of the inlet from Anchor Point at the entrance to Kachemak Gulf, north to Kenai, and to the southward on the peninsula which terminates at Cape Elizabeth. This coal out- crops for miles in the northwesterly shore of Kachemak Gulf, the largest exposures being in Coal Bay, which lies just within the entrance to the gulf. At this place there are three distinct veins or seams, in a sandstone formation which dips to the northwest at an inclination of from three to five degrees from the horizontal. The outcrops, or, rather, exposures made by the waves dashing against the bluffs, are, at the high- est point, above high water, but the dip carries the seams under the surface of the bay in a very short distance to the north — the principal one being visible for a considerable space under the water. The seams lie one above the other, with fire clay between them, the lower one being, at the very least calculation, eight feet thick, the next one above from four to five, and the upper not more than three. Hundreds of tons of this coal lie strewn along the beach, having been detached in large blocks from the lower vein by the action of the waves. The value of this coal 122 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, for steaming purposes has been seriously ques- tioned, and, perhaps, properly so; but it is a can- nel coal of superior quality for domestic use, and the only coal yet discovered on the Pacific coast with which iron and steel can be welded. The objection to it as a steaming coal is found in the fact that, being lighter than either the bitu- minous or anthracite coals, it is too bulky to admit of a sufficient quantity being economic- ally stowed for long voyages. That these coal measures are considered of great economic value is evidenced by the fact that a large number of claimants have made application to enter lands in advance of the enactment of any law under which they can obtain title or even a prior right of entry. The existence of these coal seams was well known to the Russians, but were not worked by them, owing to the fact that they open upon the beach, and, as they could only be successfully worked through perpendicular shafts of consid- erable depth, they preferred to commence opera- tions at some other point where so large an out- lay of capital would not be required. They ac- cordingly proceeded to open a mine on the shore of a small cove known as Coal Bay, in Graham's Harbor, which lies about twenty miles to the southwest of the entrance to Chugachik Bay, and for a number of years mined from a single shaft CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 12Z all the coal they (Russian-American Company) required for use in their steamers. They made the mistake, however, of following the seam under the bay, and, cutting a stream of water, the mine was flooded beyond redemption. Sub- sequently, about the year 1851, a company was formed in San Francisco, to which the Russian- American Company was a party, for the purpose of mining coal for the San Francisco market, and a new mine near the old one was opened under the local management of a German engineer named Haltern, and from that time till the trans- fer considerable coal was mined, though very little of it found its way to San Francisco. The American partners of the firm or corporation, which was called the American-Russian Com- pany, concluded that San Francisco needed more ice than coal and the shipment of ice from Wood Island was made its principal business. With the transfer of the country to the United States, all efforts at coal mining ceased and nothing of im- portance has ever since been done looking to the practical development of the extensive coal meas- ures on Cook Inlet and elsewhere in Alaska. At Graham Harbor is the old Russian settle- ment of Alexandrofsky, where the Alaska Com- mercial Company maintains a fur trading station, and a few Creoles and some natives reside, the former engaged principally in gardening. There 124 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, is another Creole settlement named Seldovia, a few miles north of Graham Harbor, and a num- ber of others on the west shore, all of which have taken on new life since the influx of the large number of gold seekers who for the past two or three years have made the Cook Inlet region the Mecca of their pilgrimage. The natives who inhabit the Cook Inlet coun- try, save only a very small portion on each side of the entrance, are of the Athabaskan stock, of which there are a large number of tribes, clans or families in Alaska. These people are gener- ally referred to as "natives of the interior," Cook Inlet being the only place where they have suc- ceeded in obtaining a permanent foothold on the coast. They resemble much more closely than do any other Alaskan natives the red Indian of the plains; they are nomadic in their habits and occupy an area of country which embraces more than half the territory. Along the coast from Cape Elizabeth to Copper River on the east, on the islands of the Kadiak Archipelago and along the whole water front away around to where the eastern boundary line intersects with the Arctic Ocean, and on a large part of the Aliaska Penin- sula, are found the Eskimos only, the Athabas- kans being hemmed into the interior at all points save the one named. They are taller and darker than their Eskimo neighbors, but these on the CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 125 coast have to a great extent adopted the dress and customs of the Creoles, and very little differ- ence therefore between them and the coast peo- ple further south is distinguishable. History credits them, however, with having been an ex- ceedingly brave people, who were conquered by the Russians only after a great deal of hard fight- ing, in which superiority of arms and not supe- rior bravery of the invaders compelled their sub- mission. The first permanent white settlements on Cook Inlet were established as early as 1789. With these settlements came the missionaries of the Greco-Russian Church, and the Kenaitze were converted to Christianity as much from a fear of the wrath immediately threatened as from that which was-pictured to come in the great hereafter. However, they are now as good Chris- tians as might reasonably be expected from their limited understanding, and in honesty will com- pare favorably with most white communities w^hose religious professions are much more or- thodox. 126 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, CHAPTER VIII. Cook Inlet to Unalaska — Shelikoff Strait — Karluk — Native People and their Habitations — Great Salmon Canning Industry — Shumagin Islands — Unga and its Gold Mine — Coal — Beekofsky and Pavloff and Shis- haldin Volcanoes — The Aleutian Islands — Unalaska — Character and Habits of Native Aleutians — Natural Resources — Bogoslov — Volcanic Phenomena. Through Shelikoff Strait the body of water which separates Kadiak and Afognak Islands from that part of the mainland known as the Aliaska Peninsula, the western shore of which is washed by the waters of Bering Sea, lies the route to Karluk, the seat of the largest salmon canning industry in Alaska. The scenery throughout the length of the strait as viewed from the ship is indescribably grand and awe-in- spiring. The pen which failed to adequately describe the sublimity and grandeur of the Mount St. Elias Alps would fail still more in- gloriously if it attempted a word picture of scenery such as encloses this wide strait; it will make no attempt to portray that which is beyond the skill of the artist; it must be seen to be prop- erly appreciated. Karluk is situated at the mouth of a river of CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 127 the same name, on the southwestern side of Kadiak Island. There is no harbor at this point, and in case of a blow a vessel must weigh anchor and stand away to escape the danger of being dashed to pieces on the rocky and precipitous shore. Here are located half a dozen or more large canneries, the aggregate annual product of which is said to exceed half a million cases, representing 12,000 tons of the merchantable commodity. The Karluk River, a beautiful stream of clear, blue water, flowing down from a mountain lake of the same name, here pours its pellucid tide into the strait, a neck of low land lying between the salt water and where the river sweeps around the base of the steep blufifs on its way to the sea. On this neck are located the canneries, board- ing-houses, etc., while high upon the opposite side of the stream is a native settlement of people who call themselves Aleuts, but who are really Eskimos, or, as they were originally called, Kanaigs. There is another native village two miles up the river. That the fish are abundant in this stream, which is not more than four rods in width, may be inferred from the number and capacity of the canneries, together with the fact that from it some 300 natives derive their prin- cipal food supply. It must be remembered that the natives have no other idea of preserving fish • 128 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, than by drying them in the sun, and that it takes ten pounds of fresh fish to make one of dry. The amount of fish thus prepared averages about four hundred pounds to the family, equal to 4,000 pounds of fresh fish. There are in the native set- tlements at Karluk at least 150 families, whose consumption would, according to the foregoing estimate, amount to 600,000 pounds of fresh fish. There is a considerable permanent white popu- lation at Karluk, a number of stores, and during the canning season the population is augmented by as many more whites and several hundred Chinamen, who come up from San Francisco in the early summer and return thence in the fall. The population of the two native villages is in the neighborhood of 500. The habitations of the natives are called barrabaras, a Russian word, which in the singular means a hut. These dwell- ings are more than half underground. An ex- cavation of the desired size is first made, on the inside of which rows of posts of equal height are set closely together, the tops projecting not more than a couple of feet above the surface of the ground. On these rafters are placed, and the whole of the structure, including the roof, cov- ered over with sod to the thickness of a foot or more. The material used in the frame is most generally driftwood, but sometimes the ribs of A MOUNTAIN TRAIL, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 1^9 the whale are made to answer the purpose. A small opening is always left in the roof, which answers the double purpose of window and chim- ney. When not needed as a smoke escape or for ventilation, it is closed with a frame over which a thin and transparent covering of seal bladder is stretched. The entrance is generally in the shape of a low, narrow, underground passage, from eight to ten feet in length, and through which one can only pass on his hands and knees. The interior generally consists of one common apartment or living room, in which the cooking is done, and three or four small sleeping rooms, generally in the form of additions to the main hut. These latter are usually so low that a person of ordinary height cannot stand upright within them; they are lighted by a small window made of bladder, placed either in the roof or side. A village made up of these barrabaras seen from a distance closely resembles a collection of the same number of so-called houses of the prairie dog; certainly at first sight they would not be thought of as being human habitations. These native people are possessed of consid- erable natural intelligence, but are exceedingly filthy in their persons and habitations. Never- theless, they are not a bad-looking people phy- sically, and aside from their evident hatred of that virtue which is said to rank next to godli- 130 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ness, practice few, if any, bad habits, save those imbibed from the whites. They are inordinately fond of whisky, of the quaHty of which they judge by the amount of intoxication it will effect, and the nearer it approaches to hell-fire the better they like it. Again under way, we pass in due time the Semidi Islands, and rounding the Shumagin group, finally land at Unga, a village pleasantly situated on an island of the same name. This is the largest island of the Shumagin group, and the most westerly, a channel only six miles wide lying between it and the mainland. This group embraces a large number of islands, that of Pop- off, upon which the principal cod fishing stations a|*e located, lying immediately to the east of Unga and separated from it by a narrow channel. Unga is about twenty-six miles in length from north to south, and about half that in width. A range of mountains extends along the south coast, but to the north and west the land lies in a broad, comparatively level plain, which ends in a low shore on the strait lying between it and the Aliaska Peninsula. The Aliaska Peninsula is a most remarkable tongue of land, the base or inner end of which is marked by the entrance to Cook Inlet on the east and the head of Bristol Bay on the west, from which opposite points it extends in a southwest- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 131 erly direction a distance of nearly 500 miles to the Strait of Issannakh, which separates it from Uni- mak, the easternmost of the Aleutian Islands; its breadth diminishes from over a hundred miles in the north to not more than twenty-five miles in the southwest, the interior being marked by a high mountain range running parallel with the opposite coasts, which last are indented by nu- merous bays and inlets. In front of this penin- sula on the south and east lie the Kadiak, Semidi and Shumagin groups, with numerous other de- tached islands scattered all along the coast. The Island of Unga was once a very important station of the Russian-American Company, the vessels belonging to which were most generally laid up for the winter in a safe harbor at its north- ern end, while a trading station at which a great many valuable furs were collected was maintained at what is now the village of Unga, located on a snug little indentation near the southeast point of the island. The village consists of about seven- ty-five frame houses, some of those belonging to independent white hunters being of a rather neat and substantial character; the others are occu- pied by Creole and Aleut hunters. There are more white people at Unga and in its vicinity than at any other point in southwestern Alaska; aside from the white hunters of the sea otter, the cod fisheries afford employment to a consider- 132 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, able number, while in the immediate neighbor- hood of the village is the mine and mill of the Apollo Consolidated Mining Company, at which a large number of men are employed. The Apollo Company operates a forty-stamp mill, and claims to be turning out a monthly product of $35,000 in gold bullion. The white hunters are generally married to Creole or Aleut women. The law prohibits the killing of any fur-bearing animals in Alaska by any but natives, and the regulations of the Treas- ury Department recognize as natives white men who have married native women; hence, per- haps, these marriages — and these, to their credit be it said — have, at their own cost and expense, erected a very neat building for the accommoda- tion of the government school. There is no timber on the island, but there is an abundance of coal, which, though not, per- haps, of the best quality, answers all domestic purposes. Coal is also found in Pavloff and Coal Bays, on the east side of the mainland, to the southwest of Unga, at Port Moeller and Ugashik, on the west side of the Aliaska Peninsula, and at Coal Bay to the northeastward — the application of the same name to a number of these indenta- tions being suggestive of the frequent occur- rence of coal seams along the coast of the Penin- sula, as well as in Cook Inlet. Though, perhaps, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 133 not of sufficiently good quality to justify long transportation, there can be no question that these coal measures will prove of great economic value as a material aid to the future progress and development of the natural resources of the ad- jacent sections. Belkofsky is located on the ocean side of the Aliaska Peninsula, not over fifty miles from its southwestern extremity, and is a very neat, tidy little hamlet of perhaps seventy-five frame houses. It is beautifully located on an elevated plateau, back of which at no great distance is a towering range of mountains covered to the very summit with a natural vestment which would de- light the soul of the most enthusiastic of Erin's sons. It is an important station of the Alaska Commercial Company, and the residence of a priest of the Greco-Russian church, which has erected at this point the finest church edifice, ex- cept as to interior embellishments, in Alaska. The population embraces about an equal number of Creoles and Aleuts, there not being to exceed twenty white people in the place. The Creoles and Aleuts are principally sea otter hunters, Belkof- sky being the point from which the largest num- ber of these skins are obtained, notwithstanding the fact that the best hunting grounds lie at a considerable distance from it. The people keep a considerable herd of cattle, the adjacent coun^ 134 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, try furnishing a wide range of excellent grazing lands, upon which there is a natural growth of wild grasses, the luxuriance of which never had an equal on the richest prairies of Illinois or Iowa. Here, as at Unga, and, indeed, upon nearly all the islands of southwestern Alaska, there is a good soil; turnips and potatoes do well, and there is reason to believe that most of the veget- ables can be grown to perfection if properly planted and cultivated. There are excellent ranges for sheep as well as cattle, both of which could be kept at little expense, other than that involved in the cost of sheds to shelter them during a part of the winter months. During the run from Unga to Belkofsky, a distance of about seventy miles, the traveler is favored with a splendid view of Pavloff volcano, except that the crater is apt to be enveloped in a fleecy white cloud, through which the smoke will be seen to ascend in heavy, black puffs, giv- ing ample evidence of the fires raging within the confines of the majestic peak, which rises to a great height above the level of the sea. Skirting the east coast of Unimak Island, on the way to Unalaska, we catch an occasional glimpse of Mount Shishaldin, a volcanic peak more or less active, and credited with an elevation of 10,000 feet. This, with other mountains of lesser height, render Unimak visible for a long distance out on CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 135 the ocean, and mark the entrance to the principal eastern pass into Bering Sea. The pass lies be- tween the islands of Unimak on the northeast, and Ugamok, Tigalda and Akun on the south- west, but the most direct route to Unalaska is through the narrower and more dangerous chan- nel known as Akutan Pass, which lies between the island of that name and Unalaska. By the time he has arrived at Unalaska, the reader who is accompanying the author will have just begun to appreciate the vast extent of the Alaskan sea coast as compared with that of the Atlantic, Lake, Gulf and Pacific states. The distance across the continent in a straight line from Eastport, Me., to Astoria, Ore., is, in round figures, 2,700 miles; Astoria is in longitude about 123 degrees west, and Sitka 1,000 miles to the northward, is in longitude 135 degrees, while the 193rd degree marks the western boundary of Alaska. Sailing west by south from. Sitka, it is nearly, if not quite, 1,500 miles to Unalaska, and from thence at least 1,000 miles due west to the boundary line, though our most westerly landed possession, the Island of Attn, falls short of that distance by about 100 miles. Thus, if he cares to make the comparison, the reader will find that, should he start from the most easterly extremity of the United States and travel in a straight line to a directly opposite point in Ore- 136 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, gon, he could yet continue on 3,000 miles further and at the end of that distance still find himself at home in his own country. Traveling to the northward and passing the 600 miles of British coast, he would have to cover a distance of not less than 4,000 miles before reaching the most northerly point of Alaska. A glance at the map will disclose the fact that when at Unalaska he is very nearly in the same longitude with East Cape, the most easterly point of Asia, beyond which our posessions extend a distance of nearly 900 miles. Unimak is the most easterly of the great Aleutian chain of islands, and is separated from the mainland by the unnavigable strait of Issan- nakh, with Akun, Ugamok, Tigalda, Akutan, Avatanak, Unalga, and a number of smaller is- lands lying between it and Unalaska, and among which last are three navigable, though narrow, passes from the Pacific Ocean to Bering Sea. Extending around from Issannakh Strait to the south and west, with a curve of about three de- grees and ending in very nearly the same latitude, is the Aleutian chain of more than a hundred islands, of which, however, not more than fifty are designated on the charts. In all this distance the islands either crowd so closely upon each other, or else are separated by such shallow waters, that in addition to the passes named CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 137 there are only three channels through which a ship can be safely navigated — two of these being quite narrow and very seldom used. The largest of these islands west of Ounalaska are Umnak, Atka, Adahk, Tanaga, Amchitka and Attn, the whole embracing a geographical area of about 15,000 square miles. The village of Illiliuk, or Unalaska, as it is more generally known, consists of about sixty frame buildings, a few of quite respectable size and outward appearance, but by far the larger number being one-story ten-by-twelve wooden shells, built or purchased by the Alaska Com- mercial Company, and occupied by its Aleut hunters and employes free of rent, and perhaps between forty and fifty barrabaras, also occupied by the Aleuts. Aside from the warehouses and the company's office and store buildings, there are, perhaps, half a dozen neat frame buildings, and as many more not so neat, which are occu- pied by Creole families, most of whom are rea- sonably well-to-do, considering their isolation from the world and the small opportunities af- forded them. Most of the Aleut residents live in barrabaras, to which they give the preference over the or- dinary frame house, as being more comfortable both in winter and summer. These Aleuts are in all respects superior to any of the native people 138 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, we have thus far met with. They are a naturally bright and quick-witted people, with a Japanese cast of features, and of indubitably Asiatic ori- gin. History relates that when the Russians first came among them, in the first half of the last century, they were a brave and warlike peo- ple, not more courageous in battle, however, than kind and hospitable to strangers. They received the Russians kindly and maintained friendly and amicable relations with them for several years after their arrival, submitting pa- tiently to demands they might have justly re- sented as an infringement upon their rights, un- til the invaders, encouraged by a patient forbear- ance which was construed into a passive submis- sion born of fear and cowardice, proceeding from bad to worse, by their oppressive and outrageous conduct, finally forced them to accept the alter- native of war or absolute slavery. Accordingly, upon a given signal, the people of all the villages sprang to arms, and of all their oppressors only four escaped slaughter. But the Russians came again, and in greater numbers, and after years of bloodshed the conquest of Unalaska, and of the whole Aleutian chain, was effected, and the rem- nants of their people reduced to a state of servi- tude bordering on abject slavery. Before the conquest there were many populous villages on Unalaska Island, and both Russian and Aleut CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 139 authorities agree in the statement that in what is now known as the Unalaska district (the Aleu- tian Islands) there were 120 villages, with a popu- lation variously estimated at from 15,000 to 25,000. Now there are in the same district only ten villages and 1,000 people, exclusive of whites, of whom 300 are Creoles and 700 Aleuts. No other comment as to the treatment of these peo- ple in the past is necessary. From a brave and warlike people they have been transformed by more than a century of abuse and oppression into timid, helpless dependents upon the will of those they have come to regard as their masters. In some respects their condition is far better than under the old Russian regime; yet the dispas- sionate observeT among them will scarcely have the hardihood to aver that they are possessed of any rights which the white man is bound to respect. The Island of Unalaska is about 125 miles long, from thirty to fifty wide, and the largest and most important of the Aleutian chain. There are four villages on the island, as stated — Illiliuk (Unalaska), Makushin, Kashiginsk and Cher- noosk, the first in the north, the second two on the west side, and the last at the south end. They are all inhabited by sea otter hunters, their ag- gregate population, exclusive of thirty or forty white men, numbering only 450 persons. There 140 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, are three separate groups . of mountains on the island — the Makushin group of two chains, run- ning parallel with each other between the bay of the same name and Illiliuk Harbor, and in one of which is a volcanic peak 5,000 feet in height, and the Otter and Kashiginsk Mountains, ex- tending through the central and southern sec- tions of the island. The highest peaks of these mountain ranges are never without their caps of snow,though their sides are covered as with a car- peting of the richest colors. The Makushin vol- cano stands about twenty miles north of the vil- lage of Unalaska, and is almost a perfect cone in shape, with the crater located in the apex. No flames or lava have been emitted by this volcano within the memory of any of the resi- dents of the island, but smoke still issues from its crater at brief intervals, frequently accom- panied by subterranean noises, as if in premoni- tion of an earthquake held in reserve. The geo- logical formation consists of granite, porphyry, slate and basalt, while there are on the island several hot springs, the waters of which are said to possess great curative properties. There is no timber on the island, but the deficiency in that respect is offset by a wealth of nutritious wild grasses in the valleys and on the mountain slopes, sufficient to the sustenance of as large herds of sheep as could be maintained elsewhere CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 141 on an acreage equal to the whole area of the island. The winters are not nearly so severe as those of the cattle growing states of the north- west, the temperature rarely faUing as low as lo degrees, and the fair inference is that cattle and sheep could be kept at less expense and with lower percentage of loss than in either Montana or the Dakotas. There is an abundance of fish in the bays and rivers of Unalaska Island — salmon, cod, halibut, and a species of mackerel predominating. For- merly, in the fall of the year, large numbers of young seals found their way into the harbor, and were killed as much for their flesh as for their skins, the meat of the young seal being con- sidered rather more of a luxury than a staple article of food by the Aleut people. There are no fur-bearing animals of conse- quence on the island, but Unalaska is, neverthe- less, the center of the fur trade from the Shum- agin Islands on the east to Attn, the most west- erly of the Aleutian chain. It is the port of entry for all of western Alaska, and is supplied with wharves and other commercial facilities, being the headquarters of a church district. Nearly all the valuable furs — sea otter, black, cross and red foxes — secured on all the islands west of Kadiak are collected here for shipment to San Francisco, the business up to a few years ago 4ii 142 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, being exclusively controlled by the Alaska Com- mercial Company, which had a lease of the seal islands, and by reason thereof a monopoly of the entire fur trade of all Alaska. The best sea otter hunting grounds is at Sannahk Island, over a hundred miles northeast of Unalaska, though there are other islands and reefs frequented by the hunters. To Sannahk principally, however, ^jUli the Aleut hunters are conveyed by one of the company's vessels, with their bidarkas, and there they are left to practice their craft during an entire season. The company supplies them with provisions, and to make certain of all the peltry secured, a sub-agent is left with the party, who receives the skins as fast as they are taken, and ^imii iot which settlement and payment is made when the party returns to headquarters. By such pre- caution the company succeeds in getting all the skins, even those designed by the hunters for the priest or church, for which last they merely pay the priest instead of the original owner. The native Aleuts being practically a civilized people, there is little to be said concerning their customs and habits. They are all followers of the Greco-Russian church, and are Christians by profession, whatever they may be in practice; but it is fair to say that, leaving their one beset- ting vice of drunkenness out of the question, they are neither better nor worse than an aver- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 143 age white community of the same size — certainly much better than some of the latter which might here be designated. Through long intercourse with the whites, they have imbibed artificial tastes, and acquired artificial wants; instead of the bird or seal skin parkas of their ancestors, the men now affect broadcloth coats, starched shirts and calf-skin boots, while the white ladies of eastern cities are not more intent upon secur- ing the latest Paris fashions than are the dusky maids and matrons of Unalaska on the alert for the latest styles from San Francisco. And what is true as to dress is equally true in regard to their physical tastes and wants, which have been en- larged just in proportion as they have become more and more civilized; having adopted the style and dress of white men and women, they feel that they must live like white people, eat what white people eat, and drink what they drink, especially if the white man gives whisky the pref- erence over water. In consequence of all this, the men are compelled to earn more than would have insured to their fathers a comfortable and happy existence. So the majority of them go down to the sea in their frail bidarkas to hunt the sea otter, the most valuable of all the fur- bearing animals in Alaska. OhiAj^ ma'^^^Aa^ The geological phenomena of most the islands and mainland of southwestern Alaska afford Ill 144 - ALASKA: ITS HISTORY. abundant evidence of volcanic origin or eleva- tion. The records give definite information of volcanic activity on no less than twenty-five of the Aleutian islands, and enumerate about sixty craters, all told, in the mountain peaks and ranges of Alaska. Some of these are still smok- ing, and two or three in occasional eruption. From Mount Wrangell, which is believed to be the highest mountain in North America, if not in the western hemisphere, and which is on the mainland, in longitude 145 degrees, to the Com- mander Islands, beyond our western boundary, there is a continuous chain of volcanoes, each and all of which have been active at some period since the advent of the Russians in 1743. One of the ablest Russian scientists, in a treatise of the volcanic character of this region, advances the theory that this long extended chain of vol- canoes proves the existence of a subterranean channel of lava, which finds its outlet first through one crater and then through another. However this may be, there are frequent volcanic disturbances, indicated by a rumbling and quak- ing of the earth, more or less startling, and it must be admitted that there is no more exten- sive theater of volcanic activity known than that of the Aliaska Peninsula, the west coast of Cook Inlet, and the Aleutian Islands. One remarkable occurrence which history re- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 145 cords as having taken place in 1796, taken in connection with what has since happened, would seem to fully confirm the theory of the Russian scientist, that there is a subterranean channel between the long line of craters referred to, the overburden of lava flowing in which sometimes forces for itself a new outlet. To the westward of Unalaska, and not more than a dozen miles from the northeast end of Umnak, is located the small island of Bogoslov. History has it that on the 1 8th day of May, 1796, a Russian trader named Krukof was stopping temporarily on the northeast end of Umnak, being detained there by thick and stormy weather, accompanied by indications of volcanic disturbance. On the morning of the 19th the storm abated, the clouds cleared away, and he saw at some distance off a column of smoke arising out of the sea. To- ward evening a black object was visible under the smoke, and during the night flames ascend- ing heavenward were of such volume and bril- liancy as to convert night into the light of day. At the same time an earthquake, with thunder- ing noise, shook the whole island, from which the trader was observing the, to him, unaccount- able phenomenon, while rocks were occasionally thrown across the sea, a distance of ten or twelve miles from what afterwards was found to be the crater of a new volcano. On the morning of the 10 146 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, third day the earthquake ceased, the flames sub- sided, and a newly created island loomed- up in the shape of a cone. A month later the trader found the peak considerably higher and still emitting fire and ashes, but very little flame; later the flames died out altogether, and vol- canic action was confined to the emission of smoke and steam. In 1800 it had ceased to smoke, but eight years after its first appearance some hunters, visiting its shore, found the waters of the sea immediately surrounding it still warm, and the solid rock formation too hot to permit a landing. A few years later, however, its rocks and cliffs had cooled sufficiently to attract a large number of sea lions, with whom it was for a long time afterwards a favorite resort. It con- tinued to gradually increase in both height and circumference until 1823, when it had attained a height of a thousand feet or more. From and after that year it gradually diminished in height, and seemed to be sinking back into the depths of the sea, until a few years ago, when it raised another commotion by firing up anew, and in a single night disappeared altogether, another islet of about the same circumference making its appearance about two miles distant from where the original Bogoslov had stood for three- quarters of a century. The new Bogoslov is gradually rising, but as yet presents a compara- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 147 tively flat surface, at an elevation of not more than 200 feet above the sea level, and from it there is a constant emission of steam and smoke. This volcanic phenomenon, in the opinion of many scientific men, is indicative of the fact that most of the Aleutian Islands owe their origin more to gradual elevation than to violent erup- tion, but neither the old nor the new Bogoslov resulted from the latter cause — the piling up of lava and debris thrown out through craters — the first one rising slowly and gradually until it attained its greatest elevation, a history which is being repeated by its successor. Indeed, it is a question if the whole eastern half of Bering Sea is not steadily decreasing in depth, owing to a gradual elevation of its bottom; that is the theory advanced by some, while others claim that its lessening depth is wholly due to the de- position of sediment brought down by the great roaring floods of the Yukon and other rivers emptying into it. To whatever cause it may be ascribed, the eastern part of the sea appears to be gradually shoaling, with every prospect of its ultimately becoming an archipelago or a part of the mainland. The large islands of St. Mathew and St. Michael, the first named lOO miles off the mainland, afford conclusive evi- dence of having been formed by accumulations of lava during eruptions, as do also the Pryb- 148 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ilov group, and some others, the large majority of islands, however, having come through the process of gradual elevation. The western part of the sea has a uniform depth of loo fathoms or more, the bottom gradually shelving upwards until in the eastern half there are but few places where it is safe for a vessel of ordinary draft to approach nearer than fifty miles to the shore. The question of when a large portion of Bering Sea will be dry land would seem to be one of not more than a century of time at most. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 149 CHAPTER IX. The Seal Islands — The Rookeries — How the Seals are Killed — St. Paul Village — Nushegak River — Home of the King Salmon — Prolific Fishery — Fort Alexander — Eskimos, Their Habits and Customs — The Kas- hiina — Physical Character of Nushegak Region — Lux- uriant Vegetation — The Kuskokwim — Inviting Field for Mineral Exploration, Assuming that we have the permission of the government, or of the agent of the corporate monopoly created and fostered by it, we may now make a visit to the Prybiloff, or, as they are more generally styled, the Seal Islands. There are four islands in this group — St. Paul, St. George,' Walrus and Otter — St. Paul being the largest and most northerly, and distant from Un- alaska about 230 miles. It is upon this island that the seals have heretofore been wont to con- gregate in by far the largest numbers, and upon which the lessees have taken more than two- thirds of the skins obtained. The lessee Corpor- ation — North-American Commercial Company — has its headquarters at Dutch Harbor, near Unalaska, where it has erected wharves and sub- stantial buildings, including a coaling station, from which government steamers are supplied 150 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, with fuel when cruising in Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. The Island of St. Paul is, at its greatest length, from southwest to northeast, thirteen miles long, about six miles wide at points of greatest width, and has something over forty miles of coast, about one-half of which is, or was at one time, occupied by the seals. It is evidently of vol- canic origin, one or two extinct craters marking the highest ridges, which rise to a height of 600 or 800 feet in the interior, the grounds upon which the seals land being a volcanic tufa, thickly strewn with blocks of lava. There are no harbors in the island where ships can lie in safety during a storm, except it be at the village, where the anchorage, about a mile off shore, is compara- tively safe, except when there is a strong blow from the south. The same disadvantages exist at the other islands of the group, even to a greater extent. The village of St. Paul lies on the south slope of a hill which drops from an elevation of 100 feet or more gradually down to the beach^ along which there is a single terraced street running east and west, upon which the houses are placed, all facing to the north, the upper row fronting upon the rear of the one below. There are be- tween eighty and a hundred native houses, all one-story frame buildings, set sufficiently far CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 151 apart from each other to insure safety from fire, all presenting a neat, tidy exterior, and all well and cleanly kept on the inside. These houses were built by the company for the use of its na- tive employes, by whom they are occupied with- out other consideration than that they shall be kept clean. In addition to these there are ten or twelve company buildings, large and small, in- cluding the agent's residence, company's store, salting house, workshop, etc. Then there is the Greco-Russian church, a very neat structure, with well-kept grounds; the priest's residence, the office and residence of the treasury agent, and last, but not least, the best appointed school house in the territory, with one or two excep- tions. The village as a whole is a very pretty one: the streets are hard and dry, and the sani- tary conditions are better than those usually en- forced in regularly incorporated well-governed eastern towns and cities. The resident inhabitants of St. Paul and St. George are Aleuts. When the islands were first discovered by the Russians in 1786, they were uninhabited; for the purpose of killing the seals and curing the skins, Aleuts were imported and settled at several points, both on St. George and St. Paul, of whom some of those still residents of the islands are the descendants. By far the larger number, however, were taken there by the 152 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, Alaska Commercial Company after it obtained the lease of the islands, a few others being car- ried up every spring from Unalaska and returned home again when the killing season is ended. What has been written concerning the natives of Unalaska will apply equally as well to their brethren in the Seal Islands. They are practi- cally a civilized people, not in the sense of being fully educated, but in that they are converts to the Christian religion, and have adopted civil- ized ways in the matter of dress and mode of liv- ing. Quite a number among them can speak the English language fluently, while a few can both read and write in Russian. They are devout members of the Greco-Russian church, and very polite and civil. Prior to the depletion of the seal herd, which led to a limitation of the number of seals allowed to be killed annually to a mere fraction of the maximum limit, the few people on St. Paul and St. George earned larger wages than are usually paid to the same number of skilled mechanics in the States, and the more provident among them had very considerable amounts standing to their credit on the company's books, upon which they were allowed interest at the rate of four per cent. They were paid 40 cents for each and every seal killed and flayed, at which rate, prior to the limitation of the number allowed to be CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 153 taken to less than 100,000, gave them an aggre- gate of $40,000 for not more than three months' work. The permanent population of St. Paul, exclu- sive of the few white men employed by the com- pany, the priest and government agents, does not exceed 200 men, women and children, that of St. George being less by at least one-half. Not more than one-fourth are adult males. There is no business other than sealing transact- ed on the islands; no commerce, no trade, ex- cept that carried on by the company, and which extends only to supplying the few residents with food and supplies, at much more reasonable prices than have as yet obtained anywhere else in Alaska. The natives draw cash for their labor, and pay cash for what they buy at the store, the only restriction being that each and every one is required to leave with the company a sufficient amount of his earnings to insure sub- sistence through a long period of idleness. If the sealers do any extra work, they are paid for it; there are a great many blue and white foxes on St. Paul, of which they are permitted to trap not to exceed 500 during the winter, and for the pelts of which the company pays them each forty and sixty cents respectively. There is no gar- dening, though some parts of the island are cov- ered with a heavy vegetation, and there is a soil 154 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, in which some kinds of vegetables might be grown, and nowhere can a greater profusion of wild flowers be seen than on some of the grassy slopes of St. Paul, but there are no trees, not even a shrub. The seals begin to arrive at the islands about May I, a few bulls constituting the advance. These do not land at first, but swim idly about for some days, as if inspecting the land which they desire to preempt, or possibly waiting for the arrival of reinforcements. From the date of the first arrival, if the weather be clear, until the first of June, the number is not materially in- creased; but if the summer fogs set in earlier, then the bull seals begin to come by the thousand, and lose no time in selecting and locating upon suitable grounds, which they guard and hold against all new comers till the cows arrive, from two to three weeks later. Those that come first locate immediately upon the water line of the breeding ground, and between themselves and the new comers there is a constant fight for pos- session; those that come latest, being the fresh- est and strongest, generally driving those that preceded them further back. This continues till the cows arrive, every bull having in the mean- time been obliged to fight a dozen or more bat- tles in order to maintain the ground he has chosen, the weaker ones having been driven from CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 155 place to place until all have been located. These seal claims, or preemptions, may be said to cover a space from six to eight feet square, and the pre-emptor, unless driven off by a covetous bull stronger than himself, never leaves his claim for a single instant until the end of the rutting sea- son, which continues from the ist of July to the 15th of August. From the time he hauls out in May, and certainly not later than June i, he fasts continually until the breaking up of his harem in August; weighing from 400 to 600 pounds when he comes out of the water, he goes back into it a mere skeleton, and very seldom returns to land during the same season. The cows begin to come in numbers about the 20th of June, and before the middle of July the harems are filled, each bull taking to himself all the way from, ten to forty cows. The female seals give birth to their young soon after their arrival, bearing a single pup each. By the middle of September the rook- eries are entirely broken up, the young seals have learned to swim, and by the end of November they have, as a rule, all departed from the island. Whence they come and where they go is a mooted question. • The killing of female seals is prohibited by law, and of the males those of the age of from two to four years are considered the most desirable, the three and four-year-old ones having the 156 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, thickest and finest fur. The male seals who take and hold possession of the rookeries are never less than six years of age, the younger ones be- ing wholly excluded from the breeding grounds. As a consequence, the young male seals are com- pelled to haul out in places wholly separate and apart, sometimes miles away from the rookeries. It is these seals that are doomed to slaughter; those on the breeding grounds are never dis- turbed. During May and June large herds of the young "bachelor" seals haul up on land, not very far from the water's edge, when a number of na- tives quickly and quietly run along between the surf and the sleeping seals, who, being startled and seeing their retreat to the water cut off, turn and scramble as rapidly as they can further back on the land. The Aleuts then walk leisurely on the flanks and in the rear of the drove thus se- cured and drive it possibly a mile or more to the killing grounds. If the weather is cool, they can be driven at the rate of half a mile an hour, only three or four men being required to control the movements of as many thousands. These drives are always made early in the morning, and if the drive is a long one the seals are frequently per- mitted to halt and rest; heating them injures the fur. The killing grounds are located near the salting houses, which have been built at points most convenient for handling and shipping the CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 157 skins, and all the killing is done upon them so as not to disturb the other seals, as well as to save labor. The driving is the first operation, the seals suitable for killing being, in the man- ner already stated, readily collected into droves by getting between them and the water, when they are driven as easily, though not so rapidly, as a flock of sheep. When on a drive, the seals move in a clumsy gallop, raising their bellies entirely from the ground upon their flippers or legs, and, strange as it may seem, they can get over the ground with a celerity almost equaling that of a greyhound. Great care is taken, how- ever, not to hurry them, for if driven too fast they are apt to crowd and bite each other, thus injuring the skins, if indeed they are not over- heated, which is equally as bad. After reaching the killing grounds they are allowed to rest a sufficient length of time to cool off, after which the killing commences. The seals in the drives vary in number, according as there may be few or many upon the hauling ground from which they are driven — there may be 500 or there may be as many thousands. In every drive there are invariably some seals that are either so large or so small that their skins are not desirable, and all these are singled out and permitted to escape back to the water. The drive having arrived at the killing grounds and the herd having had 158 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, time to cool off sufficiently, the killing and skin- ning gang at once begin the work of slaughter. A number of men, each armed with a stout hick- ory club five or six feet long, and, perhaps, three inches thick at the heaviest or outer end, and half that where held in the hand, step into the herd and drive out from it from fifty to 150 seals at a time, as may be most convenient, and driv- ing them apart from the main body, form what they call a "pod." Circling around this pod they narrow it down to a huddle, until the seals are within reach of their clubs. Their practiced eyes tell them at a glance which of the seals, if any, have been bitten, or which are too old and which too young, and in less time than it takes to write it every desirable seal receives a blow which stuns if it does not kill outright. It sometimes requires more than one blow to effect the desired purpose, and occasionally an ineligible seal receives a glancing blow which sends him galloping around the pod in either a frantic effort to escape, or with a desire to get at his assailant. All the de- sirable seals having thus been clubbed to death or into insensibility, those that have been spared are urged away, if they do not immediately go of their own accord, and, as a matter of course, make their way back to the water at the nearest point. Almost before the clubs have ceased to fall on the heads of the seals in the first pod, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 159 another gang of men begin to drag the insensible bodies out from where they are lying, one on top of the other, and, placing them on their backs so that they do not touch each other, another follows with a knife, which he drives into the heart of the animal; this spreading out and "sticking" of the seals without delay being done not only to prevent a "heating", which causes the hair and fur to peel off, thus rendering the skins worthless, but to insure the men against being bitten by seals that have only been half killed, and which, being given time, are apt to rouse up and snap viciously at the hands or legs of the person who attempts to take hold and turn them over. The men are frequently bitten in this way, but never with any serious result. Close after the bleeding comes the skinning, and the celerity with which a practiced Aleut disrobes a seal is really marvelous. The Aleut who is unable to flay a seal in less than three minutes is not considered an expert, and is classed third or fourth in the division of earnings. A drive having thus been disposed of, the skins are taken to the salting house, which is parti- tioned off into large bins called kenches, into which they are placed, fur side down, with a layer of salt between, and where they become sufficiently cured in a week's time. They are then taken from the kenches and piled up into 160 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, what are called "books," with the addition of more salt, and then finally prepared for shipment by rolling them up and tying them into com- pact bundles, each bundle containing two skins. At the close of the season they are shipped to San Francisco, and thence to London, where they are dressed, plucked and dyed, and the larger part returned to this country, a skin, the actual cost of which at the islands cannot ex- ceed $15, having been increased to a market value of not less than $75. These are to be seen in the beautiful garments worn by wealthy and fashionable ladies, the policy of the government in giving to a single corporation an absolute r^ionopoly of the fur seal business having placed the price of such luxurious outer garments be- yond the reach of ordinary well-to-do people. The Nushegak is one of the great rivers of Alaska. It has its source in a lake of the same name, and empties into Bristol Bay, a not very deep triangular indentation of the coast on the west side of the Aliaska Peninsula. This river, at its mouth, and for forty to fifty miles above, is at least twenty miles in width, beyond which it narrows down to ten and then to six at the settlement of the same name, but which is desig- nated on all the maps as Fort Alexander. The river is full of sand bars and difBcult to navigate by pilots not familiar with its intricate channel. m / CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 161 which hugs first one bank and then the other. Heavy draft vessels do, however, make their way as far as Nushegak, and some distance be- yond, in all about one hundred miles above the mouth. Nushegak, or Fort Alexander, is a station of the Alaska Commercial Company, and the head- quarters of the Kuskokwin district of the Greco- Russian church, and was, during the Russian regime, a fortified post of considerable import- ance. It was the point at which all the furs ob- tained from all that large part of the territory lying between the sea coast on the south and west, Cook Inlet on the east and the Yukon river on the north, were collected, and to which the mails were brought overland during the win- ter from St. Michael's, and thence sent to Sitka by sea. From here regular winter communica- tion was kept open with most of the interior na- tive settlements, and it was the center of trade for a large area of country, which yielded an abundance of the most valuable furs, such as the sea otter, black, blue and silver gray foxes, etc. Though the natives still go out to hunt the sea otter, and the foxes, bear, beaver, etc., are no less plentiful, the establishment of trading sta- tions in close proximity to many of the native settlements, from whence came the bulk of its trade, has robbed Nushegak of a large share of u \ 162 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, its importance as a trade center; but another in- dustry not thought of by the Russians, or if thought of never undertaken by them, now more than counterbalances its loss of the fur trade. There is no longer any fort, nor is there need of any; the warlike spirit of the natives was long ago completely crushed; they were offered the cross, with the sword as an alternative, and after a fierce struggle, in which they were worsted, they accepted the first and became nominally good Christians, though it is plain they have never been prevailed upon to adopt the one vir- tue which ranks next to godliness. The settlement consists of the trader's store, the church and parsonage, a few fairly neat log buildings occupied by as many Creole families, and from thirty to fifty subterranean houses very similar in construction to the barrabaras already described. There are a number of other native settlements scattered along the banks of the river. The natives are Innuits, and a description of their customs, habits and peculiarities will suffice for all the people living along the coast west and north as far as Point Barrow; all are practically the same people, and there is little difference noticeable either in their dress or pecu- liar customs and mode of living. They call themselves Nushegagmuts. They are of medium stature, light brown complexion, with black hair, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 163 and, except as to dress, do not differ to any ap- preciable extent in personal appearance from their southern neighbors, the Kanaigs. Their dress consists principally of a parka made of squirrel or reindeer skin, the fur of which is turned inside during the winter and worn out- side in summer, with drawers or trousers of tanned reindeer skin, having no opening except at the waist, so that they answer the purpose of stockings as well; and boots made of the skin of the hair-seal or reindeer. Their boats are the kyaks, or bidarkas, already described. The men hunt the sea otter, in search of which they must venture a long way from home in these frail boats, and they take some seals during the sum- mer, but the walrus, upon which they once re- lied for a large part of their food supply, and which were valuable for their skins and ivory, have become scarce, though Bristol Bay was not many years ago a favorite resort of that animal. They are, moreover, skillful carvers in ivory, out of which they make many useful and ornamental articles, such as paper cutters, salad forks, salt spoons, watch chains, etc., some of which are very pretty and hardly to be excelled either in style or finish. They are, however, exceedingly filthy in their houses, persons and habits, so much so that a person whose olfactory nerves are the least bit sensitive is inclined to make his visit 164 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, among them as brief as possible. Walking around among their subterranean abodes, one will notice here and there small excavations in the ground about the size and depth of ordinary post holes, from which emanates a stench which would drive a civilized dog to seek refuge in a tannery. Reveling in these holes will be seen seething, wriggling masses of maggots. On in- quiry, the stranger will ascertain that they are holes in which the natives bury and rot their fish from time to time in order to save the trouble of cooking. This is but one of their filthy habits. In every Eskimo village there is a common or public house known as the Kashima, construct- ed after the style of the subterranean dwellings, but of much larger dimensions. To enter these you first climb down into a hole in the ground five or six feet, then crawl ten or fifteen feet through a low tunnel to where you ascend to a level with the roof of the tunnel and find yourself in a large room twenty feet square, probably. A raised platform extends all the way round the four sides, leaving room in the center for the fire-place, which is simply a bare, square spot of earth some three feet below the surrounding platform, upon which an open fire can be built. The platform is on a level with the top of the entrance tunnel, the end of which last can be opened at will so as to permit persons to pass HI CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 165 under the platform to the fire-place. When the fire-place is not needed, it is covered over with planks even with the platform, so that there is no break in the floor. In this house the men do all their domestic work, such as the construc- tion of bidarkas, the manufacture of sleds, etc., and in it all public meetings or councils are held, and all public business transacted. It is also open at all times as a shelter for guests or visitors, who are there entertained instead of being taken to this or that private habitation. It is the sleeping place for unmarried adult males, and is Hkewise used as a bath house, though it must be said that the personal appearance of the natives met at Nushegak is not such as to warrant even a sus- picion of their having ever indulged in a cleans- ing process of that kind. The Kashima also answers the purpose of a theater, for mask dances, and representations; and in the matter of scenic representations these natives, if not up to the mark of a later civilization, are at least not a whit behind the Chinese. Both male and female take part in scenic performances, in which there are combats between men who shed whole bladderfuls of seal blood for effect, where stuffed animals are moved about by hidden strings, devil's masks with movable eyes introduced, and wooden birds made to flap their wings. In these representations the actors enter through the 166 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, fire-hole, like those who bob up through a trap- door in the stage of one of our theaters. The store houses, of which there are perhaps as many as there are dwellings in each village, J|p|| are set upon posts ten to twelve feet high, in order to protect their contents against the dogs — an Eskimo dog is ever ready to devour any- thing he can get hold of, especially if the thing is decayed and smells bad. The store houses are perhaps eight or ten feet square, and look more like so many pig sties on stilts than anything else they can be compared with. The only door is a small, square hole on one side, which is reached by means of a notched stick of wood set on end, and which serves as a ladder. In these they keep their arrows, spears, snow-shoes, meat, berries, rotten fish, salmon heads, fish roe, beluga blubber, oil, etc. There is no recognized form of chieftainship or form of government among these people — and they cannot properly be called a tribe, in the common acceptation of the word. This is true of all the so-called tribes of Alaska; none of them have any distinct tribal organization, other than that in each settlement one man, by reason of his wealth or superior skill and bravery, is recog- nized as a sort of leader, and as such his advice and counsel, if not sought, is more or less re- spected. In none of these settlements, however. IjiliL CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 167 can be found a so-called "chief" who has been invested with any authority by his people, or one whose will is recognized as law, though in some instances a chief may be found assuming and exercising arbitrary power and the people yield- ing a very reluctant obedience. In the latter cases, however, the people are simply living in a condition of terrorism. As a general thing the shamans (medicine men, who pretend to cure by incantation), have more influence with and ex- ercise more power over these people than the self-constituted chiefs. They are the directors of all the festivals, dances, etc., in which old and young participate almost continuously during the winter months, and by their sorcerous pre- tensions acquire an influence over their fellows equivalent to absolute power. Persons accused by them of witchcraft are not infrequently tied by them hand and foot and thrown into some out of the way place and left to starve; so it may be said that their power is one of life and death, to be exercised at will against any and all who incur their displeasure. On the other hand, no such power in the chief is recognized; when their one great law of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" demands that a life shall be taken, the judgment is pronounced not by the chief but by the popular voice, and each and every adult male becomes a self-appointed executioner. 168 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, The country bordering on both sides of the Nushegak River presents the appearance of a high rolling prairie covered with a rich verdure. fllH A more luxuriant vegetation or a greater variety jPpP of wild flowers than is to be seen growing along the banks of this noble stream — wild timothy, red top and blue joint grasses waist high, as far back as the eye can reach, is seldom found anywhere. The ground is mostly covered with a deep layer of moss, but in places with a veget- able mold, beneath which there is a good soil. In dry weather, this moss and mold could very easily be burned off. Vegetables are successfully grown and the climate is not inimical to the growth of at least rye, oats and barley. From the river, the ground rises abruptly to an eleva- tion of from twenty to fifty feet, and thence grows gradually higher until far away in the dis- tance it becomes merged in the foot-hills of a lofty mountain range. No western prairie before cultivation ever presented a more inviting aspect. to the vision than does this wide stretch of tree- less country with its almost boundless billows of waving grass, thickly interspersed with wild flowers of almost every hue and variety. To the beholder the idea that a soil and climate capable of producing such a wealth of vegetation cannot be successfully cultivated must appear supremely r-y !i ridiculous; and yet that is the beHef which has pip CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 169 been studiously instilled into the public mind by those who have selfishly discouraged any and every effort at settlement and development in Alaska. There are four large salmon canneries on the Nushegak, which give employment during the fishing season to about 150 white men and 300 Chinese. The fish taken in this river are mostly what are known as the king salmon, some of which weigh over a hundred pounds, and two of which will make a barrel of the salted commodity. The market value of the annual output of these canneries is about $750,000. The smaller rivers and lakes of this section teem with food fishes of various kinds, principal among which is a white fish very similar to that of Lake Superior. Trout similar in size and ap- pearance and fully as fine-flavored as those of northern Michigan and Wisconsin, are quite plentiful; indeed, there is scarcely any limit to the food supply which can be drawn from this particular section of Alaska — and what is true here applies with equal force to all that part of the mainland bordering on the coast, and the islands lying in front of it, from the southern boundary to Kotzebue Sound. Though there is no timber for a hundred miles above the mouth of the Nushegak, except here and there a small grove of trees popularly known 11 *\ 170 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, in the States as Balm of Gilead, beyond that limit there are heavy forests of spruce, and a small growth of white birch, while the formation as exposed along the high banks of the river for some distance above and below Fort Alexander indicates the existence of a vast coal field, the conditions being precisely the same as those observable at the coal veins in Cook Inlet. A few miles above Fort Alexander is the Moravian Mission and school, called Carmel, and beyond that, up the river and scattered along the sea coast, there are a considerable number of Eskimo villages which are seldom visited by white men. The Kuskoquin is another great river empty- ing into a bay of the same name, of which last Capes Newenham and Avinoff are the oppos- ing headlands. This river rises in the mountain range which lies to the north and west of Cook Inlet, and in its long course to the sea approaches so near the Yukon that a portage between the two could be made in a distance of not much, if any, more than thirty miles. It is not improb- able that in time to come the disadvantages of shallow water at the mouth of the Yukon will be overcome by the construction of a railway across this portage, provided a sufficient depth of water to float large vessels is found in the Kus- koquin, a matter concerning which there may b^ some doubt. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 171 There are a large number of Eskimo villages, and a Moravian mission on the Kuskoquin, but less is known of the section they inhabit than of almost any other part of Alaska. It is fed by numerous tributaries having their sources in mountain ranges which present a most inviting field of research to the hardy and intrepid ex- plorer. 172 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, CHAPTER X. St. Michael's and Fort Getthere — The Great Yukon River — First Discovery of Gold — Forty Mile Creek — Klon- dike Only a Forerunner of what is to Come — Una- laklik River — A Remarkable Silver Mine — King Island and its Peculiar People and Habitations — Port Clarence and Grantley Harbor — Coal, Graphite, Gold and Silver — Reindeer Station — Cape Prince of Wales — Diomede Islands — Beyond the Arctic Circle — Kotzebue Sound — Three Large Rivers — Coast Ren- dezvous of Interior Natives — Their Habits, Customs and Dress. Very little is known of the coast between Kus- koquin Bay and the mouth of the Yukon, or of the large Nunivak Island. The water is more or less shoal throughout the whole distance, and the coast unapproachable, except by vessels of light draught. Therefore, the pilgrim seeking the golden shores of the Yukon by the ocean route, may sail from San Francisco, Puget Sound or Sitka to Unalaska; hence his course will be almost due north a distance of nearly 800 miles to Sledge Island, thence east along the northern shore of Norton Sound till Cape Nome is passed, and then southeast to St. Michael's, where he will find himself within a hundred miles of the nearest mouth of the great river. This round- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 173 about course is necessitated by the shoal water, which prevents vessels of deep draught from ap- proaching in safety nearer than fifty miles to the mouth of the Yukon. St. Michael's, or, as it was called by the Rus- sians, Redoubt St. Michael, is located on the inner side of an island of the same name, lying near the southeast shore of Norton Sound, only a narrow strait separating it from the mainland. It is the most northerly permanent trading sta- tion of the Alaska Commercial Company, and consists of not more than a dozen buildings, in- cluding the Greco-Russian church, and exclud- ing the barrabaras, in which dwell from 200 to 300 natives. The company's buildings inclose the two sides and one end of a rectangular plat not more than five rods wide and ten rods long, and are all, with the exception of the log struc- ture at the end, of modern construction; this log building is all that remains of the old Rus- sian fort, which is said to have been a fortress of considerable strength, in and around which occurred many desperate struggles between the Russians and natives, before the latter were com- pletely subdued. St. Michael's Island embraces about twelve square miles, and lies in latitude about 60 de- grees 30 minutes north. It is wholly timberless, save and except an occasional clump of alders and ,R1/ 174 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, dwarf willows, but is carpeted with a most lux- uriant growth of wild grasses, embellished with a profusion of variegated wild flowers. The soil is a rich vegetable mold, and capable of pro- ducing all the vegetables that can be grown in the extreme northern states. The temperature ranges from about — 45 degrees in winter to + 85 degrees in summer — about the same as northern Minnesota. Fort Getthere is the name given to the trad- ing station established and maintained on the island by the Northwestern Transportation and Trading Company, which, the same as the Alaska Commercial Company, operates a line of steamers on the Yukon. These steamers are small, stern-wheel river boats, drawing from two to four feet of water, which is all they can carry through the upper or most northerly mouth of the great river. The river discharges its great flow of water into the sea through at least half a dozen channels, the one used at present being that which is nearest St. Michael's, though near- ly 100 miles distant; above the deltas the river is deep enough to be navigated a distance of at least 1,000 miles by steamers drawing twelve to fifteen feet, while an ordinary river boat such as those employed on the Mississippi, can ascend to a further distance of 1,000 miles. In addition to this a number of its principal tributaries are lili CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 175 navigable by light draught steamers for from 200 to 500 miles each, the most notable of these being the Koyukuk, Nowikakat, Tananah, Por- cupine, White, Stewart and Pelly. The ice breaks up early in May and forms again in October, thus giving about five months of navigation in each year. Gold was first discovered on the Yukoji and its tributaries in 1882, but the discoveries attract- ed little attention until 1886, when coarse gold was found on Forty Mile Creek. Then followed a gradual influx of miners and prospectors and new discoveries which culminated in the phe- nomenally rich strike in the Klondike district of British Columbia in 1896, and the subsequent rush to that section from all parts of the civilized world. It is yet too early to write much in detail of the gold fields of the Yukon and its trib- utaries; with a fuller knowledge of the prevailing conditions, with the most approved mining ap- pliances and the cost of living lessened by at least one-half, as it is certain to be, hundreds and thousands of claims which cannot now be worked at a profit will be made to yield large returns, while the Klondike discovery is almost certain to be repeated on not only one but many of the numerous streams that flow wholly within Amer- ican territory. There yet remains north of the Yukon, stretching away hundreds of miles to the 176 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, Arctic Ocean on the west and north, a vast region of territory, with numberless mountain streams, which is yet a terra incognito to the prospector, and from which much is to be expected in the way of discovery. About forty or fifty miles northeast of St. Mi- chael's the Unalaklik River empties into Norton Sound. There is here a Swedish mission and school, and a very considerable Eskimo settle- ment. This is one of the most prolific salmon streams in Alaska, and from it a large number of Eskimos draw their principal food supply. Go- lovin Bay and Sound is a land-locked indentation of the north coast of Norton Sound, about sixty miles north of St. Michael's. On Fish River, a stream which empties into the bay, and naviga- ble by small steamers for a considerable distance above its mouth, is located, perhaps, the most remarkable mine in the world. It is a vein of practically pure metal, the waste in smelting be- ing not over 20 per cent, of the whole weight. The ore is a galena carrying from 75 to 85 per cent, lead, with some gold, and from 150 to 250 ounces of silver to the ton. This is called the Omalik Mine, and is in latitude 65 degrees north, longitude, 164 degrees west, about 1,500 miles from Sitka in a straight line. So far it is the most northerly mine on the continent, and is believed to be only a beginning in the development of a \ 1 CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 177 district unusually rich in the character and extent of its mineral deposits. The next point of interest in our progress to the Arctic is King, or Ukivok, Island, which lies perhaps twenty-five miles southwest of Cape Spencer, at the entrance to Port Clarence. This interesting island, except as to height, is a mere speck on the surface of the sea, being not over a mile long and half a mile wide; its shores, how- ever, rise almost perpendicularly from the water's edge to a height of from 500 to 700 feet, presenting an altogether forbidding aspect. Along the whole of its coast line there is neither bay, cove nor sandy beach, and it is therefore wholly inaccessible except by small boats, and then only when the sea is calm. There is an Eski- mo settlement on the south side of the island, at the only point, apparently, where it would be at all possible to construct habitations of any kind. This village is located on a rugged slope very difHcult of ascent, at a height of at least a hun- dred feet above the sea, and at the base of which a landing cannot be effected even from small boats without a good deal of difficulty. The vil- lage is the most remarkable feature of the island, upon which neither tree nor shrub is to be seen, and but little vegetation of any kind. The set- tlement contains a summer and winter village in one — the summer houses, if such they can prop- 12 I'^S ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, erly be termed, being constructed of walrus hides almost perpendicular cliffs by lashings and guys of walrus thongs. In constructing these singu- lar habitations the ends of two or more poles are fitted into niches cut in the cliff, the outer ends being supported by others standing on end, and to which the horizontal ones are securely lashed — the perpendicular poles extending far enough above the horizontal ones to form the nucleus of a frame work upon which the hides enclosing the whole are stretched and fastened, the floor and roof being of the same material as the sides. There are, perhaps, fifty of these summer houses, with as many winter habitations, in which live about 400 natives of all ages and sexes. The winter house consists of excavations in the face of the cliff, the fronts being walled up with stones, chinked with moss, and leaving an entrance just large enough to enable a person to crawl in and out. The denizens of this northern Gibraltar live almost entirely upon the flesh of the walrus and seal, though there is some kind of plant indige- nous to the island which constitutes a small part of their food supply. They carry on a summer trade with the natives of the Alaskan mainland, and also with those on the Siberian coast, with whom they exchange the skins of the seal and walrus for those of the reindeer and other furred CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 179 animals not found on their island. They are a naturally bright and intelligent people, all things considered, but exceedingly filthy in their per- sons and mode of living. The men are very ex- pert hunters, using only the Kyak (bidarka) in their pursuit of the walrus and seal; the imple- ments used in killing these animals are spears made of ivory, which they throw with great pre- cision. They very rarely venture far out to sea, how- ever, in a single kyak, but usually lash two to- gether so they will float side by side and cannot easily be overturned. For long voyages they lise the oomiak (bidarra, or open skin boat), which is often large enough to carry from forty to fifty persons. In the construction of these boats no other material than wood and walrus hides are used, if we except the whalebone or sinew with which the skins are sewed and the frames fastened together. In the absence of timber on the island the people are obliged to depend upon what little driftwood they can pick up for fuel, and when that fails they resort to the use of seal and walrus blubber, the foul odor of which while burning is distressing even to the not oversensitive olfac- tory organ. The King Island people have no history or tra- dition other than that their ancestors came there a great many years ago, but from whence they 180 ALASKA; ITS HISTORY, came, or what the cause or inducement, they have no knowledge. It is most probable that they are the descendants of a people who, being driven from their homes by an enemy more pow- erful than themselves, fled to this island and lo- cated in a position from which it would be next to impossible for all the other natives of the coun- try combined to dislodge them. It would be ex- ceedingly hazardous for an enemy to attempt a landing in front of their village, or anywhere else on the island for that matter; it is only when the sea is perfectly calm that they can launch their own oomiaks. When the sea is ruffled and one of their number is desirous of putting off from shore in his kyak, he seats himself in the hatch, and a number of others, taking hold of its ends, toss both boat and occupant over into the water, thus giving him a fair start on his way. So dex- terous are they in the handling and maneuver- ing of these little skin boats that one of them, his person being protected by a kamalyka (skin shirt with hood all in one), the hood of which is closely tied under the chin and the skirt securely fastened around the protruding rim of the hatch in which he sits, will turn himself over sideways in the water, bringing the kyak bottom side up, and then come up smiling, after having described a circle, half in the water and half in the air, ready 1 CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 181 and willing to repeat the operation for a paltry consideration. Port Clarence is a capacious bay formed by a long, low, semi-circular point, projecting out from the mainland to the west and north some fifteen or twenty miles. Grantley Harbor is an inner basin not nearly so large, but connected with it by a narrow channel, presenting in itself more the appearance of a lake than an arm of the sea. It is surrounded by high cliffs of slate, and a river of very considerable size flows into it from the mountains which form the water shed of the large peninsula lying between Norton and Kotzebue Sounds. There is a permanent native settlement on the south shore of Port Clarence, and a summer village on the narrow strip of land which lies between the inner and outer basins. This summer village is made the rendezvous dur- ing the hunting and fishing season of the people living in the adjacent interior and on the Dio- mede Islands, who here make their winter supply of salmon and hunt the beluga (white whale). At this place the natives will be found in pos- session of large and numerous specimens of graphite, apparently nearly pure carbon, which they make into rude ornaments, having no other appreciation of its value. It is asserted by them that there are large deposits of this mineral in the banks of the river which falls into Grantley 182 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, Harbor, that great seams of coal are to be found at a distance that can be covered in a journey of two days from the mouth of the river, and insist that gold and silver veins abound in the moun- tains not far away. That they do not err in the last assertion is evidenccjd by the development in the Omalik mine, already referred to, and which is located scarcely a hundred miles to the eastward of Port Clarence. .jMLj There is a coaling station at Port Clarence fli! from which government vessels and steam whalers are supplied, and here is located the lji||K principal reindeer station established by the gov- "^™' ernment with a view to providing for the neces- sities of the native people. In view of the fact JHH * that hundreds of thousands of reindeer roam the wilds of Alaska, the propriety of importing the domesticated animal for the benefit of a people • not possessed of sufficient acumen to emulate the example of their neighbors by utilizing the wild herds they are wont to improvidently slaughter, has been seriously questioned; but aside from the benefit likely to accrue to the natives, who must be watched to prevent them from slaugh- tering the domestic herds, the domesticated reindeer seems certain to play an important part JHIi in the future history of Alaska; so much so, in- deed, as to more than justify the expense of their introduction. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 183 Cape .Prince of Wales is a projection of the mainland at the lower or southern end of Bering Strait, and the most westerly point of the con- tinent. The settlement is the largest on the coast north of the Aliaska Peninsula, consisting of nearly, if not quite, one hundred barrabaras, which, though the surroundings are more or less filthy and odoriferous, present cleaner and tidier interiors than those of most of the Eskimo vil- lages. The men and women are rather good looking, as compared with the generality of Alas- kan natives; the men are well built and muscu- lar, and both men and women are the keenest and shrewdest of traders. The women wear long hair, but the men, like those of King Island and all the Arctic coast settlements, shave the upper two-thirds of their heads, leaving a bare crown, surrounded by a fringe of hair about two inches in width. They hiaintain a multitude of dogs, and the number of sledges and snowshoes to be seen leads to the beHef that they are accustomed to long winter journeys. Their houses are a near approach to the barrabaras heretofore described — more than half cave — the upper part being a rude frame constructed of driftwood or whale's ribs, and covered with earth. Cape Prince of Wales is in latitude 65 degrees 30 minutes, and longitude 165 degrees 50 min- utes, and Hes nearly opposite to East Cape, the r 184 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, most easterly point of Asia. It forms tfie south- east headland of Bering Strait and is a long, low neck of land which rises abruptly into a range of high hills not far back from the coast, the latter stretching away to the northeast along the south coast of Kotzebue Sound. The small area of land lying at the foot of the narrow western slope of these hills, as well as the slope itself, is covered with a rich verdure, and, surprising to say, a dozen different varieties of wild flowers of as many hues embellish the landscape. Pleasing to the eye, they are, however, totally devoid of fragrance, as, indeed, is the case with most of the wild flowers indigenous to Alaska. Here also the natives will be found in posses- sion of graphite ornaments, which mineral they say, can be found in great abundance not more than two or three miles from the settlement. Passing Fairway Rock, a huge, conically shaped pillar, which stands like a sentinel about midway of the south entrance of Bering Strait, the Diomede Islands, between which lies the boundary line between the United States and Russia, a few hours' steaming brings us into what the treaty of cession denominates the Frozen Ocean. The Diomedes — Kruzenstern and Ratzmanoflf — are both inhabited, the people of the first owing allegiance to the United States and those of the other being Russian sub- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 185 jects. These islands lie but a few miles apart, and it is a fact not generally known that only half a dozen miles intervene between the landed pos- sessions of the United States and Russia at the point of their nearest approach to each other. Crossing the Arctic circle, latitude 66 degrees 32 minutes, astronomically determined, our ship bears away to the eastward for Cape Blossom, in Kotzebue Sound. Here is experienced a marked difference in the temperature, as compared with that below the strait, the weather in August be- ing about that of a crisp October morning in the temperate zone — neither too cold nor too warm for comfort, clothed in ordinary spring or au- tumn apparel. We are now in the land of the midnight sun; there is practically no night, only four hours of twihght intervening between the rising and setting of the sun, the declination of which is about two degrees. One can see to read ordinary newspaper print at midnight, without the aid of artificial light, and there is no dark- ness to hide from observation any object which might be seen from a distance at high noon. Capes Espenberg on the south and Kruzen- stern on the north constitute the headlands of Kotzebue Sound, and at both these points there are native villages of perhaps twenty houses each. From the entrance between these head- lands, which are about forty miles distant from 186 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, each other, the trend of the opposing coast lines is to the east, southeast, from' Kruzenstern and almost south from Espenberg, the south and in- ner indentation being known as the Bay of Good Hope. Directly opposite to Cape Espenberg and nearly due east from it is Cape Blossom, a south- ern projection of the narrow peninsula lying be- tween the Sound and Hotham Inlet. About four miles northwest from the extreme outer point of Cape Blossom, and not far from the en- trance to the inlet, there is a small native village which forms the nucleus of a large summer ren- dezvous for the interior natives, who annually congregate there to trade with their brethren of the coast and to catch and cure a supply of sal- mon for the winter. This summer village or tem- porary encampment, when occupied as a rendez- vous, consists of a long line of tents and partially inverted oomiaks. The oomiak is not only used as a means of transportation and travel from place to place, but is made to serve as a shelter or temporary abode during the summer months. When night or a storm overtakes a traveling party the oomiak is drawn out upon the beach, tilted over into an inverted position — one side being propped up just high enough above the ground to enable a person to crawl under, the space thus left open being covered with skins in the way of curtains — and under the shelter thus CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 187 provided the party lodges not infrequently for weeks at a time. At this place the natives assemble every sum- mer to the number of three thousand or more. The author, landing at this encampment on one occasion, was carried in state all along the front of the long line of tents and inverted oomiaks, seated in a bidarra tracked by half a dozen dogs, and finally greeted with an altogether too dem- onstrative welcome from the assembled thou- sands of both sexes, all ages and sizes, among whom there was not any perceivable distinction of unwashed condition. He was most hospitably entertained by the local chief, who accompanied him on a round of calls upon all the visiting chiefs, by whom he was successively received with much native dignity, coupled with an air of pleasurable satisfaction none of them made any effort to conceal. Exchanges of presents were made — a plug of navy tobacco or a paper of needles on the one part and a skin of some kind or piece of carved ivory on the other. An exchange of presents is considered by these peo- ple a pledge of friendship on both sides not light- ly to be disturbed. The people who annually assemble at the en- campment are more or less representative of the entire population of all that vast and practically unknown region lying between the Yukon River 188 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, and the Arctic Ocean. They are not only friend- ly but pressing and insistent in their proffers of hospitality. They are kind and affectionate to- ward their children, a trait characteristic of all the natives of Alaska. The husbands appear to be very obedient to their wives, instead of vice versa, as is supposed to be the rule among un- civilized people. The wives and daughters are not treated as mere beasts of burden, as are the dusky women and maidens of the forest and plain who live and have their being much nearer the centers of civilization; the husband always consults and generally accepts the advice given by the wife in all business transactions; he fol- lows the chase and provides the means of sub- sistence ; she makes the parkas, the boots and the skin clothing generally, besides doing the cook- ing. The clothing of these interior bands (they have no tribal organization) like those inhabiting the coast, consists of furs, the skins of the rein- deer being more extensively utilized for that pur- pose than those of any other animal. A full suit of Eskimo clothing consists of a parka, panta- loons, boots, and sometimes includes a fur cap, but except during the short season of intolerable summer's heat, the average Innuit scorns anything in the shape of a cover for his head. The parka is usually made double, CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 189 SO as to provide a garment with fur on both sides; the men wear one pair of pantaloons in summer with the fur inside, but in winter af- fect an undergarment, generally of tanned rein- deer skin; the women wear two pairs of panta- loons, one made of tanned reindeer-fawn skin, worn with the fur inside, and the other of coarser material, with the fur outside. The boots for winter wear are made mostly of the skins of rein- deer legs and reach about half way to the knees; those for summer use are made of hair-seal skin, with tops reaching above the knee, the soles be- ing composed of the thick hides of the old bull seal. Some of these boots are elaborately, even richly, trimmed with the fur of the marten, wol- verine or fox, especially those worn by the wom- en. The winter parka is provided with a hood, trimmed around the front edge with the fur of the arctic wolf, the warm, protecting fringe of which almost completely hides the face when the hood is drawn over the head. The coast natives are essentially a trading people and occupy the position of middlemen be- tween the interior people and the whites not only, but the Chukches of Siberia as well; from the latter the most valuable of their garments, especially their parkas made from the skins of the tame reindeer, are thus obtained, and a more comfortable garment for outdoor winter wear 190 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, it would be hard to devise, , even for the use of refined people, were the skins first properly tanned; but the Eskimo process of tanning im- parts to the garment an ineradicable odor at once vile and unendurable. Among the coast people the skin of the wolf is prized above all others for the trimming of garments, yet they are ready to barter even that for the skin of the beaver, which last is in great demand among the Chuk- ches, on whom they rely for the greater part of the material from which their clothing is made, and with whom they drive a brisk trade every summer. Simple as is the costume he habitually wears, the Eskimo affects a good deal of style in his footgear— more than in any other part of his dress. His trousers, as has already been ex- plained, are a combination of pantaloons and stockings in one garment, and usually fit his per- son without a wrinkle, they being so nicely made. But in the matter of footgear he gives a wider range to his skill and ingenuity. He affects a much greater variety in that regard than might naturally be inferred; and here is to be seen the deference shown even by the untutored Eskimo to the gentler sex, if such a term may be con- sidered applicable in this particular case. The women's boots are made almost invariably of the skin of the reindeer fawn, the fur of which CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 191 is pure white and fine and soft, while those for men's wear are made of the skin of the hair- seal or adult reindeer, neither of which are any more to be compared to those worn by the wom- en than are a lady's kids in keeping with a pair of cowhide brogans. The men's winter boots, whether of seal or reindeer skin, always have the hair or fur outside; for men's summer wear the boots are made of tanned sealskin from which the hair is wholly removed; these are impervious to water and preferred as being cooler, though the statement may provoke a smile of incredu- lity. There are, perhaps, no people anywhere who suffer more from the heat during a certain short season of the year than do those who in- habit that large section of Alaska which lies north of the arctic circle. But, as to the matter of boots: Some of them extend no higher than the ankles, others half way to the knee and others above the knee; some are fancifully ornamented with tufts of different kinds of fur, others trimmed at the top with a fringe of wolf or wol- verine; some are snow white, others white and red, others all red, and others still a dull black, which is the color of the sealskin after being tanned by the Eskimo process. All are supplied with thongs, attached low down on each side of the heel, and which in tying are first passed up across the instep and then clear around in the 192 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, hollow of the foot, back to the instep, where, crossing each other, they are wound once or twice around the ankle and then tied. By this means, no matter whether or not the boots fit, they are prevented from sloshing around on the foot and running down at the heel, as they other- wise would. Barring the disagreeable odor, an arctic belle's winter boots would be just the thing for the fashionable ladies of the northern states who affect snow-shoeing as a healthy winter recreation; they are very light, very neat and nothing can be warmer. A very simple device to prevent these boots, the soles of which are of the same thickness from heel to toe, from slip- ping on the ice or hard snow, consists pf a piece of ivory or bone about an inch wide and a quarter of an inch thick, which is shaped to fit into the hollow of the foot, and the outer surface of which is so cross-grooved as to give a jagged surface certain to imprint a firm hold in either ice or crusted snow. To protect the eyes against the snow blasts of winter on the one hand, and against snow blindness on the other, they wear wooden spec- tacles, or goggles, without glasses; in the bowl which covers the eye there is simply a narrow slit, through which the wearer is afforded a wider range of vision than would be thought possible from a mere inspection of the rude contrivance. MADONNA AND CHILD. From Painting in Greek Church, Sitka, ^Wi! CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 193 They wear no hats except in the extreme hot weather of July and August — and, though the mercury never aspires to any great height on the coast, there is abundant evidence to substantiate the assertion that in the interior of northern Alaska during those two months the heat be- comes well nigh unendurable. Their sun hats are carved out of single blocks of wood, with broad oval brim in front, and are generally orna- mented with strips of ivory set on edge, and upon which is carved the totem or tradition of the fam- ily of which the owner is a member. And it can- not be said of the interior Alaskans, as it was of the party in the song, that they "wear no socks." These they do wear, but not of any pattern to be found on the shelves of a well stocked hosiery store; they are made of the grasses indigenous to the section in which they live, closely and neatly braided, and preferable to any other, in that climate, summer or winter. These interior natives, as well as those on King Island, Cape Prince of Wales, and the coast gen- erally, shear the crown of the head tonsure style and sport labrets, some of the latter being of enormous size, though these fashions are con- fined principally to the males. In southeastern Alaska the labret is worn in the center of the lower lip, varying in size, according to the age 13 frarf i'i u \ 194 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, of the wearer, and in proportion to the gradual enlargement of the perforation. But among these northern people a single perforation is not deemed exactly the proper thing, and every male of any consequence must have two slits through the lower lip, one at each corner of the mouth, in which he wears a pair of labrets about the size and shape of an ordinary cuff button. These are generally made of a kind of mottled stone some- what resembling gray granite, of jade, of ivory, some being round, some square, some oblong, the largest flange of which is always worn out- side. Some of these labrets are the size of a half-dollar and others at least an inch square, the making of which must involve a great deal of patient labor. They are not worn with any other object than that of personal adornment, any more than the stone and ivory ear trinkets are by the women. Three large rivers, the Noatag, Kowak and Selawik, flow into Hotham Inlet. Very little is known of either of these streams, except the Kowak, which was explored by Lieutenant Stoney, U. S. N., in 1885-6. Lieutenant How- ard, also of the navy, accompanied Stoney on his expedition up the Kowak, and from its head waters traversed the portage to the head waters of the Colville, which river he descended to its mouth, and thence made his way along the coast CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 195 of the Arctic to Point Barrow. The reported dis- covery of gold at the head waters of these rivers would seem to confirm the opinion expressed by both these intrepid officers in their reports to the war department. i 106 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, CHAPTER XL Kotzebue Sound to Point Barrow — Immense Coal Veins — Point Barrow — Native Villages — The Whaling In- dustry — How the Whales are Taken — Country not Devoid of Means of Human Subsistence — The Arctic Eskimos, Their Mode of Living, Customs and Habits. At Point Hope, which is the most westerly projection of the mainland north of Cape Prince of Wales, and probably the most barren, deso- late place imaginable, there is the largest Eskimo settlement to be found on the Arctic coast. There are, however, smaller villages scattered all along the coast as far as Point Barrow, but most of these latter consist only of summer habitations of parties engaged in fishing and hunting. Beyond Cape Lisburne, which is in longitude about 167, the coast trends to the northeast until Point Barrow is reached, and thence south of east to and beyond the 141st meridian. Be- tween Cape Lisburne and Point Sabine the coast is more or less rugged, high, almost perpendicu- lar sandstone bluffs enclosing a narrow, sandy beach, in front of which the water is too shoal to permit close approach except in small boats. In these blufifs, looking from the deck of the ship. m CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 19^ at a distance of two miles, can be seen large seams of coal which have been exposed by the action of the waves dashing against and breaking or wearing away the face of the cliffs. Some of these veins are more than thirty feet thick, while the coal has been pronounced by competent judges a semi-bituminous — fully as good as the celebrated Cardiff coal. For miles upon miles along the water front these immense coal seams can be seen protruding from the nearly perpendic- ular sandstone cliffs facing the sea and indicating the existence of a coal field the extent and value of w^hich, were it but within easy reach of the centers of trade and manufacture, could scarcely be overestimated. But there is no harbor any- where in its near vicinity, and if there were, the coal could not be shipped by water during a sea- son of more than three months in each year. A railroad 250 miles in length would cover the dis- tance between the mines and the most feasible shipping point on Norton Sound, but would add only about one m.onth more to the season during which shipment could be made l)y water to San Francisco and other ports on the Pacific. There- fore, however extensive these coal measures may be, they will never be utilized to any appreciable extent until the railroad, which, it is predicted, will sooner or later girdle the earth, is completed to Bering Strait, when they can be reached by 198 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, branch lines of no greater length than many of the roads which now carry millions of tons of coal from the mines of Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states to the great cities on the lakes and the Atlantic coast. Point Barrow is a low, flat sand-spit, that projects about eight miles to the northward from the main coast line, the latter terminating at Cape Smythe, thence turning eastward for about the same distance, and, together with a stretch of sand banks lying in front of it, forming what is known as Elson's Bay. The coast between Point Barrow and the eastern boundary is in- dented by numerous bays, and several large rivers are supposed to flow into the Arctic on the Alaska side of the boundary line, though Httle is known of any of them, except the Colville, which was partially explored by Lieutenant Howard, U. S. N., in 1886. There are two native villages on Point Barrow — Ooglaamie, at Cape Smythe, and Noowook, at its extreme northern end. The latter is the larger of the two, having a population of perhaps 250 people, the former not over half that num- ber. On the Point, midway between the two vil- lages, there is a summer rendezvous at which the natives gather during the months of July and August to shoot eider ducks, myriads of which are wont to collect in a lagoon which connects CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 199 on the east side with Elson's Bay. Point Bar- row is the summer rendezvous of the Arctic whaHng fleet, which usually consists of about forty vessels, including a few steamers. Here, having made the acquaintance of the master of one of the whaling ships, we may be afforded the opportunity of seeing a whale taken, and possi- bly be permitted to join in the chase. We will find the whaling captains an unusually intelli- gent, generous and jovial set of men, whom it would be a pleasure to meet anywhere and under almost any circumstances. If we do not care to go on a cruise with one of them to the whaling grounds we will at least be shown the implements with which the huge cetaceans are killed and glean much interesting information concerning the manner in which they are used, and the dis- position made of a whale after he has been taken. The whales are generally caught near the ice" pack, along the edge of which the ships cruise for hundreds of miles north and east from Point Barrow from July to the last of August, and later to the westward as far as Herald and Wran- gell Islands. The ships are obliged to flee the ocean, however, as soon as the new ice begins to form. When the whales migrate to the south is not certainly known, but they are supposed to follow close after the ships, as they are obliged to seek open water. In taking them the old-fash- 200 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ioned harpoon is no longer used; it has been su- perseded by more modern implements called the harpoon-gun and the bomb-lance. Whether it be the harpoon-gun or lance, if the whale is struck he is reasonably certain to be secured unless the line to which the missile is attached parts, in which case he either sinks or escapes under the ice. The fight with a whale is always at close quarters; the boat rushes upon him when he rises, and the shot is fired or the lance thrown from a distance of not more than fifteen to twenty feet. Contrary to the generally pre- vailing impression, the bow-head (the only spe- cies sought in the Arctic) very seldom shows fight, and when one is wounded all that is neces- sary to the safety of the boats is to keep clear of his flukes. He can only see straight ahead, a fact which enables those in pursuit to stealthily ap- proach and deal him a mortal wound before he is aware of the presence of an enemy. The boats are not infrequently rowed squarely across his back as he rises to spout, and the thrust given or shot fired from a position immediately over him. The size of the bow-head varies, in whalers' parlance, from seventy-five to one hundred bar- rels. His maximum length is about sixty feet and approximate weight about twenty-five tons. The head constitutes about one-third of his length; the girth in the largest part is from thirty CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 301 to forty feet, and the tail from fifteen to twenty feet wide, from tip to tip, and correspondingly thick. His principal value is for the bone, which is the first thing secured when one is taken; the oil alone would not pay the expense of the voy- age, evea though all a ship could carry might be secured. The bone of a loo-barrel whale is worth all the way from $7,000 to $12,000, the oil not much, if any, more than one-tenth as much. The country adjacent to the Arctic coast is en- tirely barren of timber, save here and there a patch of dwarf willows. Viewed from the deck of a passing ship, the land as far as the eye can reach presents the appearance of a vast stretch of high rolling prairie, clothed with a rich ver- dure; but on landing it is found to be nothing more than an immense tundra — practically a morass overlying a solid field of ice. By Au- gust of each year the surface of the ground has thawed out to a depth of not more than twelve to eighteen inches, and the vegetation which looks so luxuriant from a distance is just enough to hide from sight the numerous holes filled with water, which render locomotion extremely te- dious and laborious; beautiful and attractive to the eye when viewed from afar, the Arctic land- scape proves itself a delusion and a snare the moment you set your foot upon it. The Arctic Eskimos, like those in other parts 202 . ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, of Alaska, subsist principally upon animal food, and whatever may be said or written to the con- trary, there is enough of that, independent of the fish in the streams and lakes adjacent, to supply the wants of all the people, civilized or uncivil- ized, who are likely to ever inhabit this otherwise inhospitable region. The waters of the bays are literally hidden from view in the summer months with countless numbers of water fowl, while on the land, in addition to the herds of reindeer, the ptarmigan, a game bird of fine flavor, abounds, while fish of many varieties can nowhere else be found more abundant. The Eskimo whaling season opens as soon as the ice begins to open and break away from the shore in the spring, or early summer; during the fall and winter they hunt the walrus and hair seal. The seals are taken through the ice, the season beginning as soon as the waters ad- jacent to the shore are frozen over in the fall, and lasting until the ice is driven off shore in the spring. They have two ways of taking seals — with spears and nets. The reader will wonder how it can be possible to use nets in waters cov- ered with from three to seven feet of ice, but the Point Barrow people take more seals in that way than with the spear. The seal must have air, and either makes for himself and keeps open an air hole or seeks one already made. When the na- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 203 tives discover one of these air holes they proceed to set their nets, which are made of whalebone, with meshes large enough to admit the head of a seal without permitting the passage of his body; these nets are perhaps thirty feet in length and about half that in width. They are set by dig- ging holes through the ice about the length of the net distant from each other, through one of which a walrus hide thong (one end of which is attached to the net and the other weighted with a stone) is dropped, and by means of a long pole with hook attachment drawn up through the other. The net is by these means pulled under the ice and into the desired position, its bottom edge being weighted with stones, which cause it to hang taut and perpendicularly in the water, the thongs at either end being secured to stakes set in the upper surface of the ice. In this way the air hole is practically surrounded by nets. The seal, making for his breathing place from any direction, encounters the net, usually with such force as to loosen one of the lines from the stake, and in his struggles to get clear entangles him- self in the net and drowns, when he is drawn out through the other hole. Another plan is to sus- pend a single net a few feet under the ice, with a line attached to each corner so as to hold it in a horizontal position, thus completely covering the approach to the air hole. Later in the season 204 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, a great many are speared at the air holes, but as is the case in netting them, a great 'deal of silent, patient watchfulness must be exercised. Finding an air hole, the native who prefers the spear to the net places in it what might be termed an in- dicator, which forewarns him of the coming of the seal. The indicator consists of a small feather fitted into the upper end of a thin strip of bone or ivory, which is set upright in a bar across the hole, into which it projects a foot or more. These air holes are quite small at the surface, and the spear must be thrown with unerring aim to be effective. The feather indicator set, the native stands patiently by and awaits the coming of the seal, and rarely misses his aim. The spear is made of ivory, with toggle-joint, and so fastened to the shaft that it detaches itself when the blow is delivered, a stout line of walrus hide, however, to which it is securely attached being the means by which the seal is secured after he is struck. The watcher at one of these air holes frequently lures the seal out, or hastens his coming, by occasion- ally scratching on the ice with a set of seal claws fastened on a wooden handle. Having fastened a seal with his spear, the native then sets about getting him to the surface, which he does by en- larging the hole, a task involving considerable labor. This is done with an ivory pick, attached most generally to the shaft of his spear, the ice ■ CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 305 as fast as loosened being removed by means of an ingeniously contrived scoop or dipper made of walrus thong and having a long handle. They venture many miles out on the pack in pursuit of seal, remaining for days at a time, their food be- ing carried to them by the women and children. While thus engaged, the seal hunter is some- times confronted by a polar bear, for which con- tingency he is always prepared, though with this dreaded animal he always, if possible, eludes en- counter. These animals grow to enormous size as compared with black, cinnamon and other bears, and are generally found on the ice or in its immediate vicinity; the skins are of little value except when taken from the animal in winter. It must not be inferred, however, that all the natives of the Arctic coast engage in sealing dur- ing the winter months. A part of them, espe- cially those who are supplied with guns, go far south and east into the interior to hunt the rein- deer, trap wolves and foxes, and to trade with the people there, returning in time for the whal- ing season. Season after season passes without a whale being taken by them at perhaps half the settlements, yet they persevere, and as regularly as the season rolls around the whaling parties are fitted out and the oftener than otherwise unsuc- cessful hunt for whales is renewed. Discouraged with their want of success, some go off to the m 206 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, east, others to the south, to barter seal oil and blubber for reindeer and other skins; others scat- ter along the coast or into the interior to hunt and fish, so that in the summer months the prin- cipal villages are quite deserted. Those who are too poor to own firearms eke out a miserable ex- istence by catching young reindeer and taking water fowl. In taking the latter an ivory spear with a long and slender shaft, the latter having three or four long ivory barbs in the middle, is used. It is thrown from a hand board with great force and precision a distance of twenty-five to thirty yards, and if the spear itself misses, the middle barbs are almost certain to catch and either kill or disable the bird. Another contri- vance for taking the birds consists of a number of slender thongs of equal length tied securely together at one end; on the opposite side of each thong or cord a stone of perhaps two or three ounces in weight is securely fastened; grasping this implement at the united end of the cords, the native hurls it into a flock of birds and rarely fails to secure one or more. If the bird is not killed one or more of the cords is almost certain to twine itself about its neck, and the weight of the stones prevents him from flying away, or if struck when on the wing is sure to bring him to the ground. They adhere largely to the use of bone, stone and ivory implements, and still retain the CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 207 art of chipping flint and shaping it into spear and arrow heads. There is no material difference in the charac- ter, habits and customs of the native people who inhabit the Arctic coast, all being Innuits or, as they are commonly known, Eskimos. And it is a significant fact that their language, if not alto- gether the same, is very similar to that of the Eskimos who live on the eastern side of the con- tinent — a fact that would seem to indicate not only the same origin, but that these people, great as is the distance between them, have more or less direct intercourse with each other. The Arctic Eskimos are, to all appearances, a healthy, robust people, in complexion and fea- tures not unlike the natives of southeastern Alaska — copper colored yet Hghter than the typ- ical North American Indian — with brown eyes and straight, coarse, black hair, but generally beardless. The younger women are not at all bad looking, but on the whole rather symmet- rical in form and feature; their hands and feet are small, and they are altogether graceful in their movements. They are kind and gentle in disposition, exceedingly hospitable, very af- fectionate towards their children, but not imbued with a very high appreciation of the virtue of chastity. There is no marriage ceremony among them, but they enter upon the marital relation 208 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, at a very early age, and the wife has an equal, if not controlling- voice in the direction of domestic affairs. She is invariably consulted when a trade is on the tapis, and the husband never closes a bargain, however trifling, without the wife's as- sent. In some respects at least they are a most amiable and accommodating people. A tempor- ary exchange of wives is an established custom, to which the wives themselves make no objec- tion. A man whose wife is not sufficiently strong and robust to accompany him on a hunting ex- pedition effects an exchange for the wife of an- other who is better able to endure the fatigue and hardships of the contemplated journey and when the chase is ended each wife returns to her own topek or igloo. Though short in stature, both the men and women, generally, except those of advanced age, are very strong and possessed of great powers of endurance; were it otherwise, they could not live and dress as they do and long exist in so rigor- ous a climate. They have no religion, no form of worship, believing in but one form of spirit, and that an evil one, to whom they ascribe their every misfortune, and whom they are wont to frequently exorcise by incantation. They have no means of keeping a record of their ages, but it is safe to assume that because of the hardships and exposures they are obliged to undergo in CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 209 their hard struggle for existence, none ever at- tain what would ordinarily be considered old age among a more favored people. They have, necessarily, summer and winter habitations — the latter being almost entirely un- derground, and habitable only when the earth is sohdly frozen; in warm weather, when the ground thaws on the surface, the water takes and holds undisputed possession of their tenements; as soon as the ground freezes in the early fall, they are cleared of the ice and water, and the topeks, which have afforded them shelter in the meantime, are abandoned till the summer comes again, when they are driven by the water from their igloos like rats out of their holes. Except that they are a little more subterranean these winter houses are very similar to the barrabaras of the Aleuts. The name of their underground dwellings in their language is "igloo." They one and all consist of a single room not more than ten by twelve feet in dimensions, some not so large, and into such narrow compass a dozen men, women and children (the latter are comparative- ly few in number) are wont to live during the long winter months — from October to June. The topeks are constructed of reindeer skins stretched on a framework of driftwood or the ribs of the whale, and rude and worthless as they appear, can be set up only at the expense of a 14 210 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, great deal of time and labor. Years elapse dur- ing which a Noowook native is engaged in col- lecting sufficient driftwood and whale ribs with which to construct his topek; then the reindeer skins for the covering are only obtained by long journeys into the interior, principally in the win- ter months, and involving much labor and great hardships. Altogether the lot of the Arctic na- tive, contented as he appears, is not one to be envied by even the lowest and meanest of human beings who live in almost any other part of the world. Nor can a more filthy people be found existing elsewhere on the globe. Men, women and children all chew and smoke tobacco, and a complete collection of their differ- ent styles of pipes, of wood, stone and carved ivory and bone, would fill a fair-sized case in one of the eastern museums. Some of these are most ingeniously constructed of empty cartridge shells, and others have bowls made of the necks of ordinary glass bottles. The ivory pipes, which are generally most elaborately carved, have a flanged bowl from one to two inches in length, with a base not more than sufficiently large to hold tobacco enough for two or three whiffs at most. The stems are most generally made of two pieces of ivory fitted and lashed closely to- gether with seal thong or sinew, the contact sides first being grooved, though some of the stems CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 211 and bowls consist of a single piece of ivory, through which holes have been drilled from end to end, by some means no white visitor among them has been able to discover. What those good people who regard smoking as a pernicious habit as practiced by the white people would say could they see an Eskimo indulging in his or her pipe would be interesting to hear. The Eskimo smoker first fills the bottom of the bowl with reindeer hair and on top of that places a bit of tobacco no larger than a buckshot, and then set- tles down for a single long-drawn draught, which completely fills the lungs with bad-smelling smoke from the combination of hair and tobacco. He or she holds this smoke in the lungs until the smoker must either let go or suffocate — and it is not suprising that, as the Eskimo uses tobacco, a single whiff should constitute a whole smoke. Tattooing is one of the fine arts, so to speak, among these people; it is practiced among all the people from St. Michael's to Point Barrow, though confined almost exclusively to the fe- males. It extends no further, however, than to the indelible stain of from one to three stripes, extending from the mouth to a point under the chin, and has no significance other than of mere fashion. That they are very sociable in their habits may be inferred from what has already been said. 212 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, They never strike or inflict upon their children corporal punishment of any kind, and, unlike the natives of some other parts of Alaska, are exceedingly careful of and zealous in providing for the wants and comforts of their aged parents or other relatives. On the other hand, they neither bury nor cremate their dead; the bodies of deceased persons are merely carried out some distance from the village and laid on the tundra, in which it would be difficult to dig a grave, with no other ceremony than a procession of rela- tives and friends to and from the place where the body is left. If the dead person be a man, his sled and hunting gear are broken to pieces and laid on the body; if a woman, her sewing kit and perhaps some household utensils she has been accustomed to use are placed at her side, after having first been broken or rendered useless. No attention is afterwards paid to the bodies, which are usually devoured by the dogs. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. ^13 CHAPTER XII. Natural Resources — Future Great Gold Mining Field of the World — A Prediction not Long Ago Ridiculed Now Being Verified — Every Known Mineral in Alaska — Rich Soil and Luxurious Vegetation — Climate not Inimical to Agriculture and Horticulture — Large Areas of Tillable Lands — Wide Ranges and Nutritious Grasses for Cattle and Sheep — Interminable Forests of Valuable Timber — Fish Enough to Feed the Continent— All the Material Elements of Wealth Essential to the Building Up of a Great and Powerful State. But what of 4he natural resources of this vast public domain, aside from the wealth of precious metals found in the golden sands and gravel de- posits of its innumerable streams and gulches, and the incomputable millions held in the "mother lodes" which almost everywhere tra- verse her shaggy-breasted mountains? What, if any, are its other resources, the utilization of which may be depended upon to add in greater or lesser degree to the prosperity and wealth of the nation? To such inquiries the truthful an- swer can be made, that, while Alaska is by no means a country overflowing with milk and honey, that though her climate is inimical to the successful cultivation of tropical products, no 214 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, government on earth is anywhere possessed of an outlying province nearly so rich in the extent, if not variety, of its natural resources. In what he shall say of other than the mineral resources of Alaska, the author is perfectly well aware that he will subject himself to the ridicule of un- believers, the name of whom is legion; but he is perfectly content to await the developments of the future in the perfect confidence that they will prove the truth of all he asserts. He is not a stranger to such ridicule. He was made a recip- ient thereof when, in 1886, in an official report to the Honorable Secretary of the Interior, speak- ing of the mineral resources of the territory, of which he was then the chief executive, he used these words: "How long Congress may continue to deem it wise and consistent to so legislate as to hinder and retard rather than encourage and promote natural resources that may be made to contrib- ute untold millions to the public wealth I may not be permitted to venture a guess, but I do hazard the prediction that Alaska is the coming great gold and silver mining field of the world, and that the history of her progress and develop- ment during the next twenty years will most positively refute the theory of those public men who seemingly base their every official act, so CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. ^15 far as her interests are concerned, on the mis- taken belief that she is at best but a frigid waste." That prediction, already partially fulfilled, is on the eve of a certain perfect realization, and the author can afford to look to the future for a com- plete and perfect vindication of the truth of that which he is about to write concerning the other than mineral resources of the territory. Concerning the wealth of Alaska in precious metals enough, perhaps, has been said in the pre- ceding pages. It is simply beyond computa- tion. In the sands of its every stream and gulch is found at least the color of gold, while almost everywhere in its mountain ranges, on island and mainland, from the extreme south to the far- thest north, are found the quartz ledges which constitute the original sources of supply to gravel deposits than which none others ever yet discovered have been more prolific of golden treasure at the same stage of development. And yet, it may be truthfully said that scarcely a scratch has been made in the mountains which encompass her multitudinous gold-bearing ledges, while not more than one in a hundred of her streams and gulches have as yet been fairly or even partially prospected. In regard to quartz mining it may be said with equal truth that there have been no failures not directly chargeable to mismanagement, insufficient capital, or lack of 216 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ordinary prudence in the selection of property coupled with injudicious expenditure in carrying on the work of development. Very little has been accomplished, or indeed attempted, in the way of agricultural develop- ment in Alaska. There are no practical farmers in the country, though here and there a "ranch" has been started for the growing of root crops, while in nearly all the towns and settlements are to be found carelessly cultivated gardens, in some of which many of the vegetables are grown to perfection at the expense of very little labor. No one has ever gone to Alaska with the idea or be- lief that either its soil or climate is in the least degree adapted to agricultural or horticultural pursuits, but invariably with a view to engaging in other business. Consequently there are no experienced farmers or gardeners in the country, and hence it cannot be said that anything like a fair test of the adaptability of the soil and climate to the growth of farm and garden products has ever been made. While it is undoubtedly true that the proportion of arable land in southeast- ern Alaska is comparatively small, it is, neverthe- less, possessed of a rich soil, in which most ordi- nary garden vegetables can be grown to matu- rity, though owing to the excessive moisture the seasons in which grain might be expected to ripen would necessarily be few and far between. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 217 This, however, is a condition prevalent only on the islands and immediate coast of the southeast- ern section, and perhaps a few of the Aleutian Islands; it does not obtain in the interior, where there are large bodies of arable lands with a lux- uriant growth of wild grasses, nor along the coast to the north and west of Sitka. It is not generally known, yet nevertheless true, that, while the winters in all those parts of Alaska lying beyond the influence of the ocean currents are excessively cold, the summer's heat is corre- spondingly intense. So, along the coast to the north and west of Sitka, noticeably at Cook Inlet, though the winters are colder than in the south- eastern section, the summers are much warmer and drier, thus affording climatic conditions far more favorable to the growth of farm and garden products. Careful personal observation and inquiry will serve to convince any unprejudiced person pos- sessed of ordinary intelligence that there is not only a large area of tillable lands in the territory, with a cHmate not at all inimical to successful gardening, but that in many localities all the cereals, except corn, can be grown to perfection and probable large yield. Barley and oats have been successfully grown in the Cook Inlet coun- try, where there is a large acreage of compara- tively level land, while the more hardy vegetables 218 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, do well on Kadiak and the Aleutian Islands, and even as far north as St. Michael's, which is in latitude 63 degrees 30 minutes, it has been dem- onstrated that some products of the garden can be successfully grown. It is hardly to be sup- posed that a soil and climate in which the wild timothy, blue-joint and red-top grasses grow to a height of from four to six feet, maturing and casting their seed as early as the middle of Au- gust, as they do in the interior of Alaska, cannot be made to produce wheat, oats, rye and barley, or that in a climate where nearly, if not quite, a dozen varieties of wild fruits grow and ripen in great profusion, domestic fruits may not be suc- cessfully grown. Among the wild berries re- ferred to may be mentioned the red and black currant, the gooseberry, cranberry, whortleberry and strawberry, which last grows to unusual size, and is found in many parts of the territory, even within the shadows of the great ice-clad Mount St. Elias. But it is not here assumed, however fertile the soil, that Alaska will ever attain agricultural dis- tinction in the way of a production more than sufficient to the support of a large population within her own borders. It is safe to assert, how- ever, that as her population increases through and by reason of the development of her other great natural resources, her agricultural and hor- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 219 ticultural capabilities will come to be recognized, and made to yield an abundant food supply for all her people, even to the million. The condi- tion for the successful growth of the cereals, in a very large part of Alaska, are identical with those of the great wheat-growing sections of Russia, and, indeed, of some parts of the States and Canada. Though in the sections referred to the winters are very severe, the summers are cor- respondingly hot, and when the seed is sown the frost, which is never entirely out of the ground, is certain to supply all the moisture necessary to a healthy growth, and there can be no failure because of a drouth. Why may not the history of Russia and the southern-central prov- inces of Canada, in the matter of agricultural pro- duction, be made to repeat itself in that large part of Alaska where precisely similar conditions as to soil and climate prevail? There is no good reason why the growing of cattle and sheep in Alaska may not be profitably engaged in on a large scale, provided a market for the surplus increase can be had. There is, in many parts of the territory, especially on the principal islands, a luxuriant growth of grasses which continue green and succulent for at least nine months of the year, and the winters of south- eastern Alaska, of Kadiak and the Aleutian Islands being very much milder than those of 220 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, Montana and the Dakotas, it is safe to assert that cattle and sheep can be permitted to run at large and subsist themselves the whole year with less loss than in the states named. The few cattle in the territory thrive and do well on the native grasses and there is sufficient pasturage for in- numerable herds on the islands, where there is an abundance of water, and where they can be grazed without expense for either fencing or herding, with not so much necessity for winter protection and feeding as exists in some of the great cattle-growing states. When the United States Government pur- chased Alaska it did not pay more than a mere fraction of what the territory would be actually worth were every other natural resource than its cod banks wiped completely out of existence, to say nothing- of the salmon fisheries, which every year yield a product the market value of which is nearly, if not quite, equal to the whole amount of the consideration paid to Russia. The cod banks are of immense extent. They are found around the whole southeastern shore and in the numerous waterways of the Alexander Archi- pelago, and along the shore for 600 miles north- west of Sitka. They abound in Cook Inlet, Bris- tol Bay, and all along the Aleutian chain, the Shumagin banks alone being of sufficient extent to afford employment to as many vessels and CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 221 fishermen as those employed in cod fishing on the north Atlantic coast. The whole eastern part of Bering Sea is a submarine plateau, where soundings of not more than fifty fathoms are found over an area of at least 50,000 square miles, and here, too, the cod abounds. In fact, the whole coast frontage of Alaska, from Dixon's Entrance on the south to Bering Strait on the north, including the waters adjacent to the Aleu- tian Islands, is one grand and inexhaustible reser- voir of food fishes, principal among which is the cod. The banks are all within easy reach of safe and commodious harbors, while they are not more distant from San Francisco and Puget Sound ports than-are those of the north Atlantic from Boston and Portland. The time is coming when the fishermen of the east will turn their at- tention to the safer and more prolific waters of the North Pacific, and when, with low freights to the east, the cod fisheries of Alaska will bid successfully for a market as far east, at least, as Chicago and St. Louis. Another excellent food fish found in great abundance in Alaskan waters is the haUbut. They are found and can be taken in great numbers all along the southern coast, the size ranging from the "chicken" halibut to those weighing from three to four hundred pounds. They are of fine flavor and excellent quality, and there can be no 222 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, good reason why they may not ere long take a prominent place in the list of exports from the territory. They now form a very important and desirable part of the domestic food supply. The herring, which resemble those of the North Sea of Europe, are not less plentiful than the cod and salmon. They are found all along the southern coast, arriving sometimes as early as the middle of April, and remaining several months. They come in incalculable numbers and throng the waters to such an extent that the na- tives not only take all they want by the simple means of an oval-shaped stick with three or four sharpened nails in one end, but likewise secure tons upon tons of the roe without killing the fish. Herring roe is to the native Alaskan what the shad roe is to the dweller on the Susquehanna and the Potomac — it is a very important part of their winter diet, as well as a luxury, and their mode of securing it is very simple. Lashing a lot of hemlock boughs to lines of suitable length, one end of a line is made fast to the prow of a canoe and the other to the stern and given suffi- cient slack to bring the boughs two or three feet under water. Thus equipped, the native paddles out to the herring grounds, which are coexten- sive with the whole of the inland passages, drops his line of boughs over the side of the canoe, and, whiHng away an hour or two, possibly dreaming CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 223 what the harvest will be, pulls them up coated an inch thick with the coveted spawn. Taking the boughs ashore, they are hung up or spread out in the sun for the roe to dry, after which it is stripped off by the women and put away in oil for future use. Reference to this native mode of securing the roe is only made as being indica- tive of the abundance of herring in Alaskan waters. Professor Bean, of the Smithsonian Institu- tion, is authority for the statement that there are no less than seventy-five species of food fishes to be found in Alaska. The whitefish abounds in the rivers and lakes, where the salmon trout is also plentiful, while the fresh waters are literally alive with pike, grayling, speckled trout and blackfish. Even an enthusiast to whom the truth is known runs no risk of exaggeration when writing of the extent and value of the Alaska fisheries. Another important and natural resource of Alaska will be found in her vast and seemingly interminable forests, in which the spruce-pine, hemlock and red and yellow cedar predominate. The trees, especially the spruce, grow to large size, particularly so in the valleys and along the banks of the creeks and rivers of the southeastern section. The fact that the trees growing imme- diately on the coast of the mainland and of the 224 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, islands are generally small and low-limbed, leads the casual observer, looking at the country from the deck of a passing steamer, to the natural con- clusion that there cannot be any really good tim- ber in the territory; but a very short walk back from the shore will serve to disabuse his mind in that regard. He vv^ill see spruce pines from five to eight feet in diameter, perfectly straight, and without a limb below a height of from fifty 'to seventy-five feet, and hemlocks and cedars near- ly, if not quite, as large. The spruce makes ex- cellent lumber, very similar to the southern pine, while the yellow cedar is specially adapted to the manufacture of the finer grades of cabinet ware. But, were it otherwise, were these great forests practically worthless from a lumber producing point of view, they will yet be found of inestima- ble value in connection with the mining indus- tries of the territory to the successful operation of which a cheap and abundant supply of timber is a most important essential. They are, how- ever, of otherwise great prospective value, and will sooner or later be made to furnish a large part of the lumber needed to supply the home demand. Aside from the fur trade, which is on the de- cline, and the whaling industry, Alaska is pos- sessed of all the material elements essential to the growth of a great and powerful state. If not the CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. ^25 granary of the nation, she is fast coming to be recognized as the great storehouse of that which is the standard of value all over the world, and which will readily purchase all that which she cannot herself produce. In her vast mountain ranges are stored away gold and silver not alone, but nearly every other kind of mineral in the least adapted to the wants of commerce or the uses of mankind. With her wealth of precious metals, her great seams of coal, mountains of iron and veins of copper, her illimitable forests, wide area of grazing lands, fisheries from w^hich the world's millions might be fed, to say nothing of the possibility, even probability, in the way of agricultural and horticultural development, who shall undertake to either definitely estimate or fix a limit to the value of Alaska's undeveloped resources? 15 \ APPENDIX. The act creating a civil government for Alaska, approved May 17, 1884, created a land district and put in full force and effect the gen- eral mining laws, but expressly declared that nothing contained in said act should be con- strued to put in force the general land laws of the United States. The act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat., 1095; Ap- pendix 42, p. 193), provides for the survey and entry of lands for trading and manufacturing purposes and for town sites only. To carry into effect the provisions of this act the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to prescribe the necessary rules and regulations, which are as follows : I. Applications for surveys must be made in writing, by the person entitled to purchase land under said act, or by the authorized agent of the association or corporation so entitled. The ap- plication must particularly describe the charac- ter of the land sought to be surveyed, and, as ac- curately as possible, its geographical position, with the character, extent, and approximate value of the improvements. If a private survey had previously been made of the land occupied by the applicant, a copy of the plat and field notes 227 228 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, of such survey should accompany the applica- tion, which must also state that the land con- tains neither coal nor the precious metals, with reasons for such statement; that no part of the land described in the application includes im- provements made by or in possession of another, prior to the passage of said act; that it does not include any land to which natives of Alaska have prior rights, by virtue of actual occupation; that it does not include a portion of any town site or lands occupied by missionary stations, or any lands occupied or reserved by the United States for public purposes, or selected by the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, or any lands reserved from sale under the provisions of this act. These statements must be ©verified by.affidavit. 2. If, upon examination, the application shall be approved by the ex officio surveyor-general, he will furnish the applicants with two separate estimates, one for the field work, and one for ofhce work, the latter to include clerk hire and the necessary stationery. The ex ofBcio sur- veyor-general will be careful to estimate ade- quate sums in order to avoid the necessity for additional deposits. 3. Upon receiving such estimates, applicants may deposit in a proper United States deposit- ory, to the credit of the Treasury of the United States, on account of surveying the public lands in Alaska, and expenses incident thereto, the sums so estimated as the total cost of the survey, including field and office work. 4. The original certificate must in every case CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 229 be forwarded to the Secretary of the Treasury, the dupHcate to the ex officio surveyor-general, the tripHcate to be retained by the applicant as his receipt. 5. The triplicate certificate of deposit will be receivable in payment to the extent of the amount of such certificate, for the land pur- chased, the surveying of which is paid for out of such deposit, as provided in section 2403 of the Revised Statutes. (See par. 9, post.) 6. Where the amount of the certificate or cer- tificates is less than the value of the lands taken, the balance must be paid in cash. But where the certificate is for an amount greater than the cost of the land, and is surrendered in full pay- ment for such land, the United States Marshal, ex officio surveyor-general, will indorse on the triplicate certificate the amount for which it is received, and will charge the United States with that amount only. There is no provision of law authorizing the issue of duplicate certificates for certificates lost or destroyed. 7. Where the amount of the deposit is greater than the cost of survey, including field and office w^ork, the excess is repayable, as under the provisions of section 2402 of the Revised Statutes, upon an account to be stated by the ex officio surveyor-general, who will in all cases be careful to express upon the plats of each survey the amount deposited as the cost of survey in the field and office work, and the amount to be refunded in each case. No provision of lav/ exists, however, for refunding to other than the depositor. 230 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, 8. Before transmitting accounts for refund- ing excesses, the ex ofBcio surveyor-general will indorse on the back of the triplicate certificate the following: *'$ refunded to -, by account transmitted to the General Land Ofifice with letter dated ," and will state in the account that he has made such indorsement. Where the whole amount depos- ited is to be refunded the ex ofificio surveyor- general will require the depositor to surrender the triplicate certificate, and will transmit it to this office with the account. 9. The provisions of section 2403 of the Re- vised Statutes, as amended by the act of March 3, 1879 (20 Stat, at Large, p. 352), relating to the assignment of certificates by indorsement, ar^ not applicable to certificates of deposit for surveys in Alaska, under said act of March 3, 1 89 1, for the reason that the former statute con- templates the use of the certificates, after assign- ment, by settlers under the pre-emption and homestead laws of the United States and not otherwise. Therefore, these triplicate certifi- cates can only be used by the respective deposit- ors in payment for lands in Alaska. 10. The amount shown on the face of the certificate to have been deposited for "office work" will be placed to the credit of the ex officio surveyor-general, and, upon his requisi- tion, an advance will be made to him from the Treasury Department to pay the expenses of said "office work." He will render quarterly accounts of such funds to the General Land 1 CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 331 Office upon blanks furnished him for that pur- pose. 11. The amount deposited for "field work" will be placed to the credit of said work, and will be expended in the payment of the surveying accounts of the deputy surveyors, when the sur- veys are accepted and the accounts adjusted in this office, and transmitted to the First Comp- troller of the Treasury for payment from said deposits. 12. The contract system is not deemed ap- plicable to the class of surveys contemplated by the said act of March 3, 1891, owing to the small amounts which will doubtless be involved in many of the surveys, and particularly in view of the great distance between this office and that of the ex officio surveyor-general, and the conse- quent inconvenient delays in correspondence. The ex officio surveyor-general will therefore appoint as many competent deputy surveyors as may be necessary for the prompt execution of the surveys, who will each be required to enter into a bond in the penal sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), for the faithful execution, according to law and the instructions of the Commissioner of the General Land Office and the United States Marshal, ex officio surveyor-general of Alaska, of all surveys which are required of him to be made in pursu- ance of his appointment as United States Deputy Surveyor, and for the return of said surveys to the United States Marshal, ex officio surveyor- general, as required by law and instructions. The bonds, in duplicate, will be forwarded for accept- 233 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, ance by this office. Upon appointment the deputy must take the oath of office required by section 2223 of the Revised Statutes. 13. When the duplicate certificates of deposit of the amounts estimated for field and office work shall have been received by the ex officio surveyor-general, the requisite instructions for the surveys, and making returns thereof will be issued to the deputy surveyor who may be desig- nated to do the work. The amount of compen- sation to the deputy surveyor must be stated in the instructions, and the same must not exceed the amount deposited for the field work. The land to be surveyed under any one application cannot exceed one hundred and sixty acres, and it must be in one compact body, and as nearly in square form as the circumstances and config- uration of the land will admit. 14. The instruments used in the execution of these surveys should be the same as those required for subdivisional surveys of public lands (see paragraph 6, page 18, of Manual), or an engineer's transit of approved make, and must be registered and tested at the ex officio sur- veyor-general's office, previous to the deputy commencing work, as directed in paragraph 7, page 19, of Manual. 15. The surveys will be numbered consecu- tively, beginning with number one. The true magnetic variation must be noted at the begin- ning point of each survey, as well as any marked changes during the progress of the work, and at the end of each line of the survey the character of the soil and the amount of timber, etc., must CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 233 be noted at the end of the record thereof. The requirements in the "summary of objects and data required to be noted," as set forth in the in- structions for the survey of public lands (Revised Manual of Surveying Instructions, dated Decem- ber 2, 1889, pages 44 and 45), must be observed by the deputy in these surveys. All corners must be marked by stone monuments, containing not less than 1,728 cubic inches. At the beginning point upon the outboundaries of each tract sur- veyed, a corner must be established with two pits (when practicable) of the size required for stand- ard township corners, one upon each side of the corner on the line, and six feet distant. Upon the side of such corner facing the claim the stone will be marked "S. No. — " (for Survey No. — ), and immediately under the same, the letters ''Beg. Cor. I" (for Beginning Corner One). These marks must be neatly and deeply cut, for the sake of legibility and permanence. From the beginning corner the deputy will pro- ceed to survey the several lines of the tract, in accordance with the instructions of the ex officio surveyor-general, marking each corner on the side facing the claim with number of the survey, and "Cor. No. II," "Cor. No. Ill," etc., with pits of the size hereinbefore prescribed, upon the lines closing upon and starting from each corner and six feet distant. Such other marks, in addi- tion to those above described, will be placed upon the corners, as may be required by the ex officio surveyor-general in his special written instructions. As far as practicable, bearings and distances must be taken from each of the corners m m i i Pi. i'i|i 234 ALASKA; ITS HISTORY, to two or more trees, or prominent natural ob- jects, if any, within a convenient distance, in the same manner as required in the instructions for the survey of pubHc lands, and such trees or ob- jects must be marked with the number of the survey and underneath the same the letters "B. T." or "B. O." as the case may be. 1 6. Where a tract to be surveyed fronts upon tide water, the front or meander line of the tract will be run at ordinary high-water mark, and the side lines of the tract will terminate at such high- water mark, thus excluding from survey and dis- posal all lands situated between high and low water marks. At the corners marking the ter- mini of lines at high-water mark one pit only will be dug, of the size prescribed in the Manual for meander corners, on the side toward the land and six feet distant. At all corners where pits are impracticable, a mound of stone (consisting of not less than four stones, the mound to be at least one and a half feet high with two feet base), must be constructed, and in cases where pits are practicable, if the deputy prefers raising a mound of stone, or stone covered with earth, as more likely to perpetuate the corner, he will be per- mitted to do so. For a mound of stone "covered with earth" the height and base will be the same as required by the Manual for a mound of earth for township corners. Boundaries or portions of boundaries of previously established surveys, which also form a portion of the boundaries of the claim to be surveyed, will be adopted so far as common to both surveys. 17. The proper blank books for field notes CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 235 will be furnished by the ex officio surveyor-gen- eral, and in such books the deputy surveyor must make a faithful, distinct, and minute record of everything officially done and observed by him- self and his assistants pursuant to instructions in relation to running, measuring, and marking lines, and establishing corners, and present as far as possible a full and complete topographical description of the tract surveyed. From the data thus recorded at the time when the work is done on the ground, the deputy must prepare the true field notes of the surveys executed by him, and return the same to the ex officio surveyor-gen- eral at the earliest practicable date, after the com- pletion of his work in the field. The true field notes are in no case to be made out in the office of the ex officio surveyor-general. The true field notes and the transcript field notes for this office must be written in a bold, legible hand, in durable black ink, upon paper of foolscap size. Each survey will be complete in itself. The first or title page of each set of field notes is to. de- scribe the subject-matter of the same, the locus of the survey, by whom surveyed, the date of the instructions, and the dates of the commencement and completion of the work. A general descrip- tion of each tract must be given at the end of the field-notes of the survey of the same, which description must embrace a brief statement of the main features of the tract surveyed, charac- ter of the land, timber, and other natural growth, whether there are any indications of mineral, characteristics of mountains, streams, etc.,, and the extent and character of the improvements. m m I 236 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, All facts relative to the present occupancy of the land must be particularly noted. In preparing the true field notes of the survey, the form pre- scribed in the Manual will be followed as nearly as practicable. The names of assistants, with du- ties assigned to each, and the preliminary and final oaths of assistants, and final oath of the dep- uty, must be attached to the field notes of each survey. The deputy surveyor must return with the field notes a topographical map or plat of the survey. As far as practicable all objects de- scribed in the field notes and the main features of the tract surveyed, including location of build- ings, streams, mountains, etc., must be protract- ed upon such plat as accurately as possible. The course and length of each line will be expressed upon the plat. The deputy will note all objec- tions to his survey that may be brought to his knowledge, and the ex officio surveyor-general will promptly report to this office all complaints made to him, and send up all protests filed in his ofBce, together with a full report thereon. i8. From the plat and field notes submitted by the deputy surveyor, the official plat will be prepared in triplicate, the original to be retained in the office of the ex officio surveyor-general, the duplicate to be forwarded to this office, and the triplicate, after notice of approval by the Commissioner, to be filed in United States Dis- trict Land Office. All plats of these surveys must be made upon drawing paper of the best quality, and of uniform size, 19 by 24 inches (the size used for township plats of public land sur- veys). Upon each plat will be placed an appro- CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 237 priate title and the certificate of approval by ex officio surveyor-general. The title will be placed upon the upper right-hand corner of the plat. Immediately below will be placed the ex officio surveyor-general's approval, with sufficient space on the lower right-hand corner for the Commis- sioner's approval. In all cases where the tracts are bounded in part by meanders, a table of the courses and distances of such meanders will be placed upon the plat. When the claim ap- proaches one hundred and sixty acres in extent, the plat may be protracted upon a scale of five chains to one inch. For surveys of smaller ex- tent the scale may be suitably increased. A clear margin two inches in width should be left upon all sides of each plat. The magnetic declination must be indicated upon the plats; also the scale of protraction. The use of all fluids, except a preparation of India ink of good quality, must be avoided by the draughtsman in the delinea- tion of these surv^eys. All lines, figures, etc., must be sharply defined. All lettering on the plats must be clear and sharp in outline and de- sign, and ornamentation of any kind is prohib- ited. 19. One copy of the instructions to the dep- uty must be forwarded with the returns of sur- vey, and one copy must accompany the account of the deputy. The returns and account will be forwarded with separate letters of transmittal. 20. The survey having been approved, it shall be the duty of such person, association, or cor- poration, within SIX months after notice thereof, to apply in writing to the United States Court m m 238 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, Commissioner, ex officio register of the Sitka land office, to make proof and entry, in due form, reciting the name of the party who will make the entry, the name and geographical location of the land applied for, the place and date of making- proof, and the names of four witnesses by whom it is proposed to establish the right of entry. This notice will be published by said commissioner once a week for six consecutive weeks at the ap- plicant's expense, in a newspaper published nearest to the land applied for. Copies of said notice must be posted in the office of the ex officio register, and in a conspicuous place upon the land applied for, for thirty days next preced- ing the date of making proof. The required proof shall consist of the affidavits of the appli- cant and two of the published witnesses, and shall show: First. The actual use and occupancy of the land as a trading post or for manufacturing pur- poses. Second. The date when the land was first so occupied. Third. The number of inhabitants and char- acter and value of improvements thereon, and the annual value of the trade or business con- ducted upon the land. Fourth. The non-mineral character of the land as prescribed in said act. Fifth. That no portion of the land applied for is occupied or reserved for any purpose by the United States, or occupied or claimed by any natives of Alaska, or occupied as a town site or missionary station, and that the tract does not I CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 239 include improvements made by or in possession of another person, association, or corporation prior to the passage of said act. Sixth. If the entry is made for the benefit of an individual, he must likewise prove his cit- izenship or file record evidence of his declaration of intention to become a citizen. Seventh. If the entry is made for the benefit of an association, that and the further fact that over 20 per cent, of the stock of the association is not held by aliens, must be established by the certificate of the secretary of the association. Eighth. If the entry is made for the benefit of a corporation, that must be established by the certificate of the secretary of the State of Ore- gon, or any other officer having custody of the record of incorporation, and the further fact that over twenty per cent, of the stock of such incorporated company is not held by aliens must be established by the certificate of the secretary of the company. Ninth. Proof of publication of notice for the required time, consisting of the affidavit of the publisher to that effect accompanied by a copy of the published notice, together with the certifi- cate of the ex officio register as to the posting of the notice in his office and the affidavit of the party who posted the notice upon the land ap- plied for, reciting the fact and date of posting said notices and that the same so remained for the specified time hereinbefore required. 21. When the proof has been examined and found satisfactory to the said ex officio register and surveyor-general, and the certificate of pur- 240 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, chase and receipt for the purchase price respect- ively issued by them, all the papers will be for- warded to this office, and if found to be complete and the entry to have been made in accordance with these instructions, patent will issue in due course. '22. If upon the day appointed for making proof and payment for any tract of land by a person, association, or corporation, any other person, or the representative of any association or corporation, should appear and protest against the allowance of the entry, such protest- ant should be heard and permitted to cross-ex- amine the claimant and his witnesses, and the complaint and the facts thus developed will be duly considered by the ex officio register and sur- yeyor-general and such action taken as they may deem proper. Should the protestant desire to carry his action into a contest so as to introduce the testimony of witnesses either for the Govern- ment or in his own behalf, he should be required by said officers to file a sworn and corroborated statement of his grounds of action, and that the contest is not initiated for the purpose of harass- ing the claimant and extorting money from him under a compromise, but in good faith to pros- ecute the same to a final determination; and this affidavit being filed, the said officers will imme- diately proceed to determine the controversy, fixing a time and place for the hearing of the re- spective claims of the interested parties, giving each the usual notice thereof and a fair oppor- tunity to present their interests in accordance with the principles of law and equity applicable CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 341 to the case as prescribed by the rules for the conduct of such cases before registers and re- ceivers of other local land offices. At the close of the case or as soon thereafter as their duties will permit, said officers will render their decision | in writing, give due notice to all parties in in- | terest thereof, and at the earliest practicable date forward the papers to this office, together with any appeal that may have been filed from their decision. Appeals from the action of this office will lie to the Secretary of the Interior, as in other matters of like character. 23. All town-site entries in said Territory are to be made by trustees, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, according to the spirit and intent of section 2387, United States Re- vised Statutes, which section provides that the entries of land for such purposes are to be made in trust for the several use and benefit of the oc- cupants thereof, according to their respective in- terests, and at the minimum price, which in these cases shall be construed to mean $1.25 per acre. When the inhabitants of a place and their occu- pations and requirements constitute more than a mere trading post, but are less than one hun- dred in number, the town-site entry shall be re- stricted to one hundred and sixty acres; but where the inhabitants are in number one hundred and less than two hundred, the town-site entry may embrace any area not exceeding three hun- dred and twenty acres; and in cases* where the inhabitants number more than two hundred, the town-site entry may embrace any area not ex- ceeding six hundred and forty acres. It will be 16 y 24^ ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, observed that no more than six hundred and forty acres shall be embraced in one town-site entry in said Territory. The system of public surveys not having been extended over any portion of the Territory of Alaska, and no provision being made in said act for the payment of the cost of officially making a special survey of the exterior Hues of the town sites to be entered thereunder, it becomes nec- essary for the occupants of any town site in said Territory, as a prerequisite to having an entry made of the land claimed by them, to proceed in the same manner and form to secure the spe- cial survey of the land, as above prescribed for applicants for lands in said Territory for trade and manufacturing purposes. To that end the rules above set forth and numbered one to nineteen, inclusive, are hereby made applicable in manner, form, and detail, to such occupants or their agent in applying for and securing the execution of the special survey of the outboun- daries of such town sites, the occupants or agent to be reimbursed for the money thus expended as hereinafter provided. 24. The fee-simple title to certain real estate in the towns of Sitka and Kadiak was conferred under Russian rule upon certain individuals and the Greek Oriental Church, and confirmed by the treaty concluded March 30, 1867, between the United States and the Emperor of Russia (15 Stat, at Large, 539); other real property is now held and occupied by the United States in several of the Alaska towns for school and other public purposes; while it is perhaps desirable that still I CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 243 Other lots or blocks in those towns that take ad- vantage of the provisions of said act should be reserved to meet the future requirements for school purposes, or as sites for Government buildings; therefore, the governor, judge of the district court, and marshal of the Territory of Alaska are constituted a board and it is hereby made a part of their official duties, as soon as notified by the United States Marshal that the duplicate receipt for the money deposited to de- fray the costs of a special survey of the exterior lines of such town site has been received by him, to go upon the land applied for and inquire into the title to the several private claims held there- in under Russian conveyances, and to fix and de- termine the proper metes and bounds of the same, as originally granted and claimed at the date of our acquisition of said Territory. Such board will duly notify the present owners of said private claims both of their right to submit tes- timony and documents, either in person or by attorney, in support of their several claims and of their right, within thirty days from receipt of notice of the conclusions of said board, to file an appeal therefrom, with said board, for trans- mission to this office. Should any one of such parties be dissatisfied with the decision of this office in such a case, he may still further prose- cute an appeal to the Secretary of the Interior upon such terms as shall be prescribed in each individual case. Proper evidence of notice should be taken by said board in all cases, and a record of all testimony submitted to them should be kept. If an appeal is taken, the same, to- 244 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, gether with the decision of the board and all papers and evidence affecting the claims of the appellant, should be forwarded direct to this of- fice. Should no appeal be taken, the report of the board should be filed with the United States Marshal, ex officio surveyor-general, for his use and guidance, as hereinafter directed. It shall also be the official duty of said board to approximately fix and determine the metes and bounds of all lots and blocks in any such town site now occupied by the Government for school or other public purposes, and of all un- claimed lots or blocks, which, in their judgment, should be reserved for school or any other pur- pose; and to make report of such investigations to the ex officio surveyor-general, for his use and guidance, as also hereinafter directed, should no appeal be filed therefrom. Should an appeal from the action or decision of such board be filed in any case, no further action will be taken by the ex officio surveyor- general until the matter has been finally decided by this office or the Department. But, should no appeal be filed, the ex officio surveyor-general will proceed to direct the survey of the out- boundaries of the town site to be made, the same in all respects as above directed in the survey of land for trade and raanufacturing purposes, except that he will accept the report and recom- mendations made by said board and exclude and except, by metes and bounds, from the land so surveyed, all the lots and blocks for any pur- pose recommended to be excepted by said board. The execution of the survey of the lots and CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 245 blocks thus excepted, shall be made a part of the duties of the surveyor who is deputized to survey the exterior lines of the town site; the survey of such lots or blocks shall be connected by course and distance with a corner of the town- site survey, and also fully described in the field- notes of said survey and protracted upon the plat of said town site; and the limits of such lots or blocks will be permanently marked upon the ground in such manner as the ex officio sur- veyor-general shall direct. In forwarding the plat and field-notes of the survey of any town site for the approval of this office, the ex officio surveyor-general will also forward any report that said board may have filed with him, for ap- proval in like manner. 25. When the plat and field-notes of the sur- vey of the outboundaries of any town site shall have been approved, and not before, by this office, the Secretary of the Interior will appoint one trustee to make entry of the tract so sur- veyed, in trust for the occupants thereof, as pro- vided by said act. The trustee having received his appointment, and qualified himself for duty by takingand subscribingthe usual oath of office and executing the bond hereinafter required, will call upon the occupants of said town site for the trip- licate receipt for the money deposited to meet the expenses of the survey thereof, and for the requisite amount of money necessary in addition to pay the Government for the land as surveyed, and other expenses incident to the entry thereof, keeping an accurate account thereof and giving his receipt therefor. And when realized from as- 246 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, sessment and allotment, he will refund the same, taking evidence thereof to be filed with his re- port in the manner hereinafter directed. He will then file with the United States Court Com- missioner for Sitka, who is ex officio reg- ister of the Sitka land office, a written notice, in due form, reciting the name of the party who will make the entry, the name and geographical location of the town site, the place and date of making proof, and the names of four witnesses by whom it is proposed to establish the right of entry. This notice will be published by said commissioner once a week for six consecutive weeks, at the appHcant's ex- pense, in a newspaper published in the town for which the entry is to be made, or nearest to the land applied for. Copies of said notice must also be posted in the office of the ex officio register and in a conspicuous place upon the land applied for, for thirty days next preceding the date of making proof. The required proof shall consist of the affidavits of the applicant and two of the published witnesses, and shall show: (i) the actual occupancy of the land for municipal pur- poses; (2) the number of inhabitants; (3) the character, extent, and value of town improve- ments; (4) the non-mineral character of the town site; (5) that said town site does not contain any land occupied by the United States for school or other public purposes, nor any land to which the title in fee was conferred under Rus- sian rule and confirmed by the treaty of transfer to the United States, nor any land for which patents have been issued by the United States; CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 347 (6) and proof of the publication and posting of notices for the required time, the same in all re- spects as is required by the ninth subdivision of paragraph 20 hereof. The proof being accepted and the certificate of entry issued by the ex offi- cio register of the Sitka land office, the purchase price of the land should be paid to and receipted for by the clerk of the district court, who is ex officio receiver of the Sitka land office, after which all the papers will be forwarded to this office, and, if found to be complete and made in accordance with these instructions, patent will issue without delay. Cash certificate of entry (No. 4 — 189) will be used by the ex officio reg- ister in allowing all entries authorized by the law and these regulations, and said entries will be numbered consecutively beginning with num- ber one. A protest against the allowance of a town-site entry will be heard, and the same per- mitted to be carried into a contest, in the same manner and under the same conditions as here- inbefore provided in the matter of applications to make entries for the purposes of trade and manufactures. 26. It is also made my duty to provide rules and regulations for the survey and platting of the town sites in Alaska into streets, alleys, blocks, and lots, or for the approval of such surveys as may already have been made by the inhabitants thereof, and for the conveyance of the lots and blocks to the occupants of said town sites, ac- cording to their respective interests. To accom- plish the latter provision necessitates the careful consideration of a somev/hat difficult problem, 248 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, involving the right of the natives of Alaska, who constitute the larger part of the population of all the towns in said Territory, but who are not cit- izens of the United States, to receive title from the Government to the lots severally occupied and claimed by them. Although the political status of these people remains yet to be determined by legislation, still, the fact that they are held amenable to all the laws made applicable to said Territory in which they have lived at peace with the white settlers for ages, that they far outnumber the citizen and foreign-born population of all those towns in which white men have settled, and that many of them have invested their earnings in property in those towns and are exercising peaceable and undisputed occupancy and right of possession over the same, I therefore deem it proper, in order to further encourage them in adopting civ- ilized life and accepting and following the in- struction and example of the teachers, mission- aries, and all other right-thinking people who come among them, and equitable and just and within my power, to construe the language of section 2387, United States Revised Statutes, under which town-site entries are made ''in trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof, according to their respective interests," in the most liberal and comprehensive sense, and to the advantage of these natives. Therefore, the trustees of the several town sites entered in said Territory shall levy assessments upon the prop- erty either occupied or possessed by any native Alaskan the same as if he were a white man, and . -,^-, I^Ik^ ^4^^^H|^Hp|||BIHB|^^ <^a||^ *'■■' ^ i H^idp '¥■< Sti5^"' Ai jBii <%,. i Avi' B9^r^ ^ ^^ J 5^>^ \ CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 249 shall apportion and convey the same to him ac- cording to his respective interest, without regard to the question of citizenship. But, in case of white settlers, or associations or corporations, the trustees shall require the same evidence of citizenship or the right to hold real estate, as the case may be, as is required above of purchasers of land for purposes of trade or manufactures. 2j. The entry having been made and for- warded to this office, the trustee will cause an actual survey of the lots, blocks, streets and alleys of the town site to be made, conforming as near as in his judgment it is deemed advisable to the original plan or survey of such town, mak- ing triplicate plats of said survey and designating upon each of said plats the lots occupied, to- gether with the value of the same and the name of the owner or owners thereof; and in like man- ner he will designate thereon the lots occupied by any corporation, religious organization, or private or sectarian school. When the plats are finally completed, they will be certified to by him as follows : "I, the undersigned, trustee of the town site of -, Alaska Territory, hereby certify that I have examined the survey of said town site and approved the foregoing plat thereof as strictly conformable to said survey made in accordance with the act of Congress approved March 3, 1891, and my official instructions." One of said plats shall be filed in the land office in the district where the town site is located, 250 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, one in the office of the Commissioner of the Gen- eral Land Office, and one retained for his own use. The designation of an owner on such plats shall be temporary until final decision of record in relation thereto, and shall in no case be taken or held as in any sense or to any degree a con- clusion or judgment by the trustee as to the true ownership in any contested case coming before him. 28. As soon as said plats are completed, the trustee will then cause to be posted in three con- spicuous places in the town, a notice to the effect that such survey and platting have been com- pleted, and notifying all persons concerned or interested in such town site, that on a designated day he will proceed to set ofif to the persons en- titled to the same, according to their respective interests, the lots, blocks, or grounds to which each occupant thereof shall be entitled under the provisions of said act. Such notices shall be posted at least fifteen days prior to the day set apart by the trustee for making such division and allotment. Proof of such notification shall be evidenced by the affidavit of the trustee, ac- companied by a copy of such notice. 29. After such notice shall have been duly given, the trustee will proceed on the designated day, except in contest cases, which shall be dis- posed of in the manner hereinafter provided, to set apart to the persons entitled to receive the same, the lots, blocks, and grounds to which each person, company, or association of persons shall be entitled, according to their respective interests, including in the portion or portions CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. ^51 set apart to each person, corporation, or associa- tion of persons the improvements belonging thereto, and in so doing he will observe and fol- low as strictly as the platting of the town site will permit the rights of all parties to the property claimed by them as shown and defined by the records of the clerk of the District Court of Alaska, who is ex officio recorder of deeds and mortgages and other contracts relating to real estate in said Territory. 30. After setting apart such lots, blocks, or parcels, and upon a valuation of the same as here- inbefore provided for, the trustee will proceed to determine and assess upon such lots and blocks according to their value, such rate and sum as will be necessary to pay all expenses in- cident to the town-site entry. In those cases in which there appears more than one claimant for any lot or block, the trustee will require each claimant to pay the assessment, and upon the final determination of the contest as hereinbe- fore provided for, the unsuccessful claimant or claimants will be reimbursed in a sum equal to the assessment paid by them, such reimburse- ments to be properly accounted for by the trus- tee. In making the assessments the trustee will take into consideration: First. The reimbursement of the parties who deposited the money to pay the costs of survey- ing and platting the outboundaries of the town site and who advanced such money as was nec- essary in addition to pay the purchase price of the land. 252 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, Second. The money expended in advertising and making proof and entry of the town site. Third. The compensation of himself as trus- tee. Fourth. The expenses incident to making the conveyances. Fifth. All necessary traveling expenses and all other legitimate expenses incident to the ex- peditious execution of his trust. More than one assessment may be made, if necessary, to effect the purposes of said act of Congress and these instructions. Upon receipt of the assessments the trustee will issue deeds for the uncontested lots, blank forms of convey- ance being furnished by this office for that pur- pose. 31. His work having been completed to this point, the trustee will then, and not before, in cases where he finds two or more inhabitants claiming the same lot, block, or parcel of land, proceed to hear and determine the controversy, fixing a time and place for the hearing of the re- spective claims of the interested parties, giving each ten days' notice thereof, and a fair oppor- tunity to present their interests in accordance with the principles of law and equity applicable to the case, observing as far as practicable the rules prescribed for contests before registers and receivers of the local offices; he will administer oaths to the witnesses, observe the rules of evi- dence as near as may be in making his investi- gations, and at the close of the case, or as soon thereafter as his duties will permit, render a de- cision in writing. If the notice herein provided CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 253 for cannot be personally served upon the party therein named within three days from its date, such service may be made by a printed notice published for ten days in a newspaper in the town in which the lot to be affected thereby is situated; or, if there is none published in such town, then said notice may be printed in any newspaper published in the Territory. Copies of such notice should also be posted upon the lot in controversy and in at least three other con- spicuous places in the town wherein said lot is situated. The proof of such publication and posting of notices to be filed with the record, may be made as provided in these rules and reg- ulations in other cases. The proceedings in these contests should be abbreviated in time and words or the work may not be completed within the limits of any reasonable period of time or expense. Before proceeding to dispose of the contested cases the trustee will require each claimant to deposit with him each morning a sum sufficient to cover and pay all costs and expenses on such proceedings for that day. At the close of the contest, on appeal or otherwise, the sum depos- ited by the successful party shall be returned to him, but that deposited by the losing party shall be retained and accounted for by said trustee. 32. Any person feeling aggrieved by the de- cision of the trustee may, within ten days after notice thereof, appeal to the Commissioner of the General Land (Dffice, under the rules (except as to time) as provided for appeals from the opin- ions of registers and receivers, and if either party 254 ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, is dissatisfied with the conclusions of said com- missioner in the case, he may still further prose- cute an appeal within ten days from notice there- of to the Secretary of the Interior, upon like terms and conditions and under the same rules that appeals are now regulated by and taken in adversary proceedings from the Commissioner to the Secretary, except as modified by the time within which the appeal is to be taken. All costs in such proceedings will be governed by the rules now applicable to contests before the local land offices. 33. The trustee shall receive and pay out all money provided for in these instructions, subject to the supervision of this office, and he shall keep a correct record of his proceedings and an accu- rate account of all money received and disbursed by him, taking and filing proper vouchers there- for, in the manner hereinafter provided; and be- fore entering upon duty he shall, in addition to taking the official oath, also enter into a bond to the United States in the penal sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), for the faithful dis- charge of his duties, both as now prescribed and furnished by the Department of the Interior. 34. All lots remaining unoccupied and un- claimed when the trustee shall have made his al- lotments and assessments will be sold at public outcry, for cash, to the highest bidder. The pro- ceeds of such sales, together with any balance remaining in the hands of the trustee to the credit of the town-site occupants, to be expend- ed, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for the benefit of the town. CLIMATE AND RESOURCES. 255 35. All payments by the occupants of any town site for any of the purposes above named, except the survey of the outboundaries of the land so entered, shall be in cash, and made only to the trustee thereof, who shall make duplicate receipts for all money paid him, one to be given the party making the payment, and the other to be forwarded to this of^ce with the trustee's papers and accounts. Said trustee shall also take receipts for all money disbursed by him, and be held strictly accountable by this office, under his bond, for the proper handling of the trust funds in his possession. 36. The trustee of any town site in said Ter- ritory will be allowed compensation at the rate of $5 per day for each day actually engaged and employed in the performance of his duties as such trustee, and his necessary traveling expenses. 37. The trustee's duties herein prescribed having been completed, the account of all his ex- penses and expenditures, together with a record of his proceedings and a list of the lots to be sold at public sale, as hereinbefore provided, with all papers in his possession, and all evidence of his official acts, shall be transmitted to this office to become a part of the records hereof, excepting from such papers, however, the subdivisional plat of the town site, which he shall deliver to the clerk of the District Court, to be made of record and placed on file in his office as ex officio record- er of deeds, mortgages, and other contracts re- lating to real estate in the Territory of Alaska. ALASKA: ITS HISTORY, It will be observed that this law does not con- template, nor provide, for the survey and entry of lands for agricultural, horticultural or grazing purposes. It was enacted wholly in the interest of the salmon canning companies, who have sought to possess themselves of the exclusive ownership and control of all the best harbors and fishing grounds. They have been estopped from doing so, however, by a ruling of the Depart- ment, which limits entries under the act to the amount of land shown by the required proofs to be actually necessary to the business for which the lands may be occupied and claimed. The general mining laws of the United States are in full force and effect in Alaska, but there is no law under the provisions of which title to coal lands, or even the preferred right of purchase, can be secured. i >0 • \ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: OCT m QQRKEE^ PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, LP. 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066