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X Ik I- b- c 'c ^ A Personal Reminiscence and Thirtj Years After. By DeB. RAiNDOLPH KEIM, H^ar Correspotidenl with Grant, Shftmatt, Shtr- tdau, Banks. Foreign Correspovdent in Eu- rope, Asia, Africa, Australasia, Three Americas. Washington Correspondent when in the U. S., igd^-gS. Agent for the examination of Con- sulates of the (\ S., 1874-^. IVith confidential in- structions concern- ing Diplomatic Missions of the U.S.' Thb Hakriiburo Pubmshino Company. W«»hiiigton, D. C. Harrisburjf, Pa. t I YIU) Copyright i? PREFACE. TSie following itagen nbou. 3r«iter Alaska" t>f to-riatiou of the pur- cha«e money by CoiiiRroas, the negotiation of the tieatj' itaelf havinig been a nuatter of the utmost intemiational frictndshjp be- tween the United States and Russia, liaa followed each developing sbage in the Iirogress of the tprritary- The present rohime has been writteai from pet^oual n'oolWitions of precedent events a nd from the latest official ujiid ex- port autJhorities. The BAithor desire* to express hi* sense of obligation to Hon. Frederick W. Sew- ard, of Moaiitrose-on-the-Hudson, N. Y., First Assistant Secretary of State of tho United States, 1867, and the chiefs of the National Executive Departments and departmental burtoaois in touch with Alas- kan administration. Also to Mr. Amzi Smith, Superintendent of the United Statee Senate Document Room. United States Capitol. In its proper place the efficiency of de- partmental management of dotaiils in tlie absence for years of organic statutory contPolof the affairp of the teTitory in referred to si>ecifically. This is one of the most striking and encouraging feat- ures of our form of national administra- tion, where derelictions of tho leffislative may be compensated by the oxi'cutive branch of the Government. The hope that these pages might con- tribute in a popular, authoritative and coniprt'luMisive form to a better acquaint- OUR ALABKAN an9 XXVIII. Transportation— iMcn and Dogs for Burthen— Reindeer for Express 315 XXIX. Alaskan Adauinistration,. . 327 XXX. "AM Aboard"— R a i 1 r o a d Routes awl Water Way® — World- I'ound Route for American "Globe Trotteiv* 339 ILLUS7RAT/0yS. Outline Map of Alaska. Signing the Treaty. Sitka, tlie Alaskan Capital. The Author. .Tiuieau. Mount St. Elias, tho International Cor- ner Stone. UnaDaska. Salmon' Fishing Station. ThQ Glacier's Front. Bering Strtaits. Hai-poonlng the Wliale. Yukon Mining Regions. Miners En Route. Miners, Upper Yukon. A Reindeer Team. A Seal Rookery. Interviewing Secretary Seward. w ''^§ ,C-^i»- i t Vs c OurAlasb Wonderland A Series of Newspaper Letters Suggested by the Recollection of Frequent Inter- views, as a Washington Correspon- dent, Pending the Negotiations with Russia, with the Eminent Statesman, who Added to the Diadem of the Ameri- can Union its Subarctic and Arctic Gems. "'""N Copyright, 1897, by DeB. Randolph Kelm. ICE, LETTER NUMBER I. The Story of the Conrtship ot the Russian Bear and Miss Columbia. An Alliance to Bar England Out of the Commerce of the East. THE PACIFIC AN AMERICAN LAKE The War Cry of '54-40 or Fight' Fonid An Echo at St. Petcrsbarg. Some Peraonal Remlnlaceneea ot a Pro- fcMloual Mzperlnioe Oonn* lited \iritli an sTvent Which Now Thrills the World. In tm upper suite of ajxart- ments in a rambling structure near the noarthem limits of thie Natiooa.! Capital, erected for an asylum, founded under the patronage of DoMy P. MadiaoD, wife of the fourth President of the United 11 /I 1 OUR ALASKAN Statee, tor orphans of soldiers and sadl- OTO of the UnJ'' " States In the War of 1812, had been .seted, through the eb- bing? and flowi , tide of time twixt the 29th and 30th d^. a of March, in the year 1867, two statesmen of world-wide fain«. The simply-furnished and somewhat wierdly-lighted ai>artment8 had the ap- pearance of the culminating stages of some great event in the affairs of man amd nations. There were present the plenipotentiary, secretaries and attachee of a mighty empire, and the Secretary of State and his assistants of a great repub- lic. There were also present the scribes end ready interpreters of two powerful na/- tions. In wild confusion strewn over the tables was a mass of stationery, oovetred with the mystic characters of the Slavic or the simpler ehirography of the Anglo- Saxon and Latin family of languages, Ajs time sped onward toward dawn this babel of roaghly inscribed annotated sheets in Slavic and Roman characters end three tongues under the deft manipu- lation of the secretaries, assumed the ele- gance and acctiracy of engrossed parch- men*8 with great seals and other cere- monial appendages of international Stats documents attached, conveying in parallel columns the Anglo-Saxon vernacular and the French diplomatic version of thte stipulationn, "word for word," agreed upon by the high contracting pai-tieis. In the earlier part of the evening of the 29th or of date the 17th in the tar- dier notation of time Jn the imperial calen- dar, there arrived hurriedly at the por- tals of ain> historic mansion on liafayette Place a messenger wearing th^ livery of a royal master, who conveyed to the por- ter within a sealed packet embossed with, the armorial bearings of the vast empire of the North, Its contents, simple in terms and brief in detail, at once electrified not only the aged and decrepit statesman to whom, the packet had been handed, but brought forth a prompt response of acknowledg- me^ and invitation to final cotifeirenice. An hour lat^r the principals were in .12 \ WONDERLAND earnest adjustment of the finifihini; tenns of the great act. Their assistantsi were in scrupulous supervision examining and comparing the terms and pliraeinga as they would stand recorded for wir or peace so far as human agencies could malce them upon the duplicated sheets of parchment for signature, Imperial con- firmation. Senatorial ratification, mutual exchange, Presidential proclamation and as a lK>nd of perpetual friendship and moraiL union between the most powerful republic and most formidable empire of ancient or modem times. These scenes of activity and zealous negotiation at 4 o'clock on the morning of the 30th day of March, American style, in the year 1867, reached a triumphant culmination in "the treaty concerning the cession of the Russian possessions in North America by His Majesty, the Emperor of aU the Russias, to the Unit- ed States of America," concluded by the signatory powers and their agents, Wil'- liam H. Seward, Secretary of State of the Doited States, and Edouard de Stoeckl, Envoy Extraordinary and Minis- Plenipotentiary to the United States aittd Privy Counsellor to His Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias, in con- sideration of the payment of $7,000,000 for the ceded territory and $200,000 to cover contingencies and encumbrances by the associated companies in gold. The mysterious packet which had so suddenly turned exi>ectancy into realiza- tion contained the following (translation) words: • * * "by a telegram dated 16-28 of this month, from St. Petersburg, Prince GortchakofiE informs me that His Majesty, the Emperor of all Ruissias, give* his consent to the cession of the Russian possessions on the American continent to the United States for the ■tipulated sum of 7,200,000 doUojis in gold, and that BUs Majesty, the Emperor, iraveis'ts me with fuJl powers to negotiate and sign the treaty. • • • Steockl. The inceptive and pro^Tressive stages of this earliest romance of our modem sub- arctic El Dorado received from the living lips of the somewhat ' 13 OUR ALASKAN stern and summary statorman and the pladd, considerate and courtly mannered dij^lomat, nuake an interetotinir inside narrative of an inter- notional courtship which begani in the stages of Russian barbaric mer- sreance into Western civilization aind the conquered American transition from coloniali subjection into national autonomy between the two foremost powers of the earth to-day. It was not alone self but honest grlorifi- cation of republican diplomaitic methods which caused the chief officer of the American Cabinet, seated k* his "official den" to earnestly exdaim to the writer "this diplomatic event was accompUshed without precedent protocols or de- spatches and the transmission of but two brief notes between the two negotiatx>rs." The antecedent career of WirJam H. Seward in private and public affairs pointed that mon out as early as the miid- century period of the political contentions over questions of national politics as a statesman of comprehensive views upon American destiny. The growth of friendship between the United States and Russia began with tht establishment of the Independence of the American colonies and had been mani- fested more than once in times of crit- ical relation with other European powers. In the midst of the commerciali and clandestine hostility and intrigue of most of tlie European States in the earlier stages of the Rebeiliion in the Southern States against the peri>etuation of the American confederation Russia held an attitude in the very outset of substantial sympathy and solicitude for the stability of the Union. The most notable instance of this was the verbal understanding between the two governments that the United Statee would be at liberty, if it should be found necessary, to carry prizes taken on the high seas from any nation at war with it or under the insurgent flag, into Russian ports for adjudication or sale. It was also a fact often reverted to by New York's foremost statesmen to the writer that 14 WONDERLAND rouLn and on linter- the mer- sation sidon LtioiMtl remost during the enitire period of tlie Rebellion of the South when other nations— Dngland and her colonies. Germany, France aitd Spain— were engaged in sinister dallying and treating, no confederate agent was ever received, encouraged or entertained at St. Petersburg. Even difficulties growing oat of com- plaints usually traced to the active schemes of European and Confederate intriguers were adjusted by verbal ex- planation without even committal to writing. In the winter of 1863, it Is well re- membered, by those of ample years to justify such a contemporaneous recollec- tion, the visit of the Rusaian fleet to the hoirbor of New York and the roads off Hampton, the first line of maritime de- fense of the Amerioam Capital, was in- tended by the Emperor, Alexander II, and was «o accepted by the Preoident, Abraham Ldncolin, and the people of the United States as a demonstration of good will and a notice to E}nigland, France, Germany and Spain or all the nations of the earth that the ice-bound Baltic could not stay the powers of the empire in defense of the American Union. The long and steadfast courtship be- tween the Russian Bear and Columbia, the maiden of nations, was brought still closer in intimacy between the authori- ties of the two countries, by an under- standing to act in concert for the establisbment of a line of telegraph between St. Petersburg and Woishington tlirough an interocean cable across the narrow straits of Bering then within the dominion of the Emperor, to comieet with a land service across Siberia toward the East and the United States, the Brit- ish and Russian possessions toward the West. The scheme negotiated at St. Peters- burg and Washington was sanctioned by the necessairy statutory enactments of Congress. The courtship continued in December of 1864, when the President invited the Emperor Alexander II to send his prin- cipal adyiser, the Grand Duke Constan- ts rTl OUR ALASKAN 1 tine to make a visit ta the United States, to be received by the President and peo- ple as their gue«t. The condition of the home affaire of the Bmpire alone prevented the accomplislh- ment at that time of this further act of international friendship. In furtherance of this proffered token of international intimacy the American Plenipotentiary, Greneral Cassius M. Olay, of Kentucky, wes directed from Washington to bring the subject to the persoinal attention of the Grand Duke. The American Plenipotentiary was am- ply fortifled for such a delicate duty. He had been President Lincoln's first ap- podntee and h«d become a favorite eit the brilliant court of the Czar AJexander II. After little over a year -» residence he had been summarily displaced, with evi- dent signs of imperial disapprobation, in order to make room for Simon Oameron, of Pennsylranila, This veteran official having become objectionable to the Presi- dent, Abraliam Lincoln, and his Cabinet, hiad been unceremoniously dispatched to St. Petersburg as plenipotentiary. A residence of eight m/onths. made irksome by the much dampened fervor whdcfti had hitherto existed between the two coun- tries, brought this incident to a close. Genera! Clay, whose admirable tact had brought him to the attenrtion of the Emper- or and his surroundings was once more es- tablished in his old post and renewed the cordial relations whidi had been so ruth- lessly interrupted. It was evident from Mr. Seward's very oblique utterances to the writer that he was then contemplating personal over- tures for the acquiescence of the Emperor in the transfer to the United States of his vast possessions on the western ^ores of the Pacific for a consideration to be agreed upon as ample and satisfactory. In this he suggested in a deeply diplo- m'atic way a misconception of the actual conditions, which made him wish it were possible for the Grand Dnke "to come out and spend a few months in America." The Secretary persisted in withholding a 16 WONDERLAND Bpedflcation of his reasons, "as they would occur to the envoy as well as to his Imperial Highness." Which tht-y seemed not to have done when most es- sential. The rapid sequence of events whidh finally tended to the immediate negotia- tions and consummation of the traditional frien^hip of the ruling family of Ru9»'a and of the personal good will of Alexan- der II, from tlie throne of the Roman- ofl^ began not in the older and more ma- ture States of the American Union, but in the most remote and inaccessable parts of the public domain. In February, 1866, a memorial of the Legislature of the Territory of Washing- ton to the President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, called the attention of the Government to the abundance of cod- fish, halibut and salmon along the shores of the Ruscrian possessions and aoking on the part of the Government the negotia- tion of arrangements w'hich would pro- tect them in the exploration of the seas fi-om "CJortez Bank to Bering Straits." Thiss memorial was made the occasion of a correspondence with M. de Stoeckl, the Russian envoy at Washington, by the Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, having in view arrangements to enable the dar- inp fishermen of the Pacific coast to pene- trate those unknown seas in pursuit of thei'- perilous vocation. At the time these preliminary negotia- tions were under w'ay in April, 1866, an attempt upon the life or" Alexander II wad made by one Karakozow. This atro- cious act aroojsed throughout the United States the most supreme indignation. An expression of national joy upon his es- cape was conveyed to the Emperor by an oHioer of rank. Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox, as special bearer and as a demonstration of friendship. At this juncture, in October, the Rus- sian Envoy, Edouard de Stoeckl, who had served as Russdan Charge d' Affaires ad int., at Washington, as early at 1849, and again W 1854, and was promoted to en- voy and plenipotentiary near the Govern- T OVR ALASKAN Ki ment af the Republic in 1857, left for St. Petersburg as part of an understanding between. himeeJf and Secretary Sewai-d, to ptv^mote the good relaitions existing between the two countries. So effectuauy bad the preliminaries been covered ithait the following March, less th'an five months, de Stoeckl waa again at his post awaiting his final in- structions. These reaching him on the 29t!h of the same month, as we have seen, before the dawn of the day following the Russian possessions, on the Nortji American continent, so far as the con- cluded negotiations were concerned, had become an Initegral part of the American Union. We have now seen the sentimental side of this courtship of two mighty nations. There wasi an earlier and far-reaching motive involved, which had its incep>tion in the unerring and undeviating diplo- matic policy of the Empire inaugurated by the Dukes of Kief eleven centuries be- fore, continued by the Dukes of Wladi- mir, Moscow and Muscovy, consolidated by thie genius of Michael Fedorovitz,of the house of Romanoff, and amplified in its ramifications in the international rela- tions of the powers of the globe to-day by his descendants. In 1803, while returning to the diplo- matic post from which he had been so unceremoniously deposed, the re-appoint- ed American Pleniiwtentiary, General Clay, had aa a fellow passenger ou the Atlantic steamer a well-known personage in paiblic affairs during the ariministxa- tion of James K. Polk. The inaividual referred to had been that functionary's Secretary of the Treasury in the last half of the fourth decade of the present cen- tury. He had signalized his presence in the official family of the Presidential Tennessean by dr«iw~ing up and securing the passage of one of tho most grotesque and impracticable systems for raising revenue the country had ever seen, and par consequence involved Congiess and the people in the utmost political turmoil. This dai^>er and hustling little man of 18 m "n for St. itanding Sewai'd, existing ajnarios March, ckl was inal jn- on the ve seen, ollowing North the con- led, had Jnwican WONDERLAITD brains and expedients with whom the writer had a moet enjoyable acquaint- ance, is known to American politics as Robert J. "Bobbie" Walker, of Miasis- flippi. It was during the activity of tliis administrative regime in 1846, tbait the Whig surrender of 1842, which culmin- ated in the Webster- Asbburton treaty, concluded in that year relative to th© northwestern territory, began to ass-ame a warlike a«pect. It had been claimed by the United States thiat the dividiag line by previous treaty arrangement ran along the parallel of latitude 51 degrees and 40 minutes from the seia to the Rocky Mountains. The patriotism of the people was arous- ed with old-time fervor over the prospect of a war with England. A great and do>minant political party, the Democrats, in national convention of 1844 declared a." a canon of their political faith "54-40 or fight." Upon that popular cry the administra- tion of James K. Polk whirled into pow- er. The popular doctrine was sustained by the President in his inaugural address to his fellow countrymen. The people were ready for action. The Congress assembled and prepared for war, with Lewis Cass as the leader, backed by th/e Democratic press and peo* pie. The (>on^ess gave authority and order- ed notice served upon Great Britain abro- Bating' the joint occupation of the disput- ed region by citizens of the two Powers. The British recetled by pro posing' the 49th pai-allel north latitude continuing to the ocean which had previously been -suggest- ed in 1844 by John C. Calhoun, the last of the series of Secretaries of State under President Tyler. The President declined to yield. The wily Lord Ashburton, who bad be«.'n on a special mission and under- stood the sensibilities of American poli- tics, very adroitly disarmed the D«no- cratic "54-40 or fight" at one swoop by ob- sequeoiisly acknowledging the conquest of Oatiada by the Uiiited States in eveast of war, and the eLOrmous preponderance 19 '•'. i; t - ■ f: \ I ; OVR ALA8KA2? such an acquisition would give to the free States of the North over the slave-holding oligardhty of the South in the enactment of laws in CJongresis. Canada was known to be mo(re bitter in its hostility to the "institution" than were the most radical of the Stateo. This settled any further controversy, The mutterings of war with Mexico soon diverted the miartlal spirit of the pcopJe to other fields of gore and glory. In the course of conversation uiK>n> the growing trade of the Pacific, ex-Secretary Wa,''-eT somew'hat startled the American En' y by informing him that the Emper- or Nicholas I, to his personal knowledge, was willing to cede his Russian-American possessions to the United States if the United States would close up its Pacific Coast iwissessions to 54 degrees 40 min- utes. A person of the authority of Mr. Walk- er, having been a member of the official family of the President, to whom the overturea were made, gave the statement full credence in the mind of the American diplomat, and added an impetus to the efforts which followed. The ex-Secretary conceded the reci- procal feeling in the United States and the possibility of an alliance with Russia, which wcild have driven out the com- merce of England and made th« North Pacific an American Lake. He admitted that the slave-holding in- terest in its fear of such a vast acquisi- tion of free soil, surrendered the welfai^ of the nation and not onily thwarted Rus- sia in her splendid Eastern policy, but let England into the ti-ade of a great ocean. The spirit ot war having closed its wings fofr the time being, the vast possessions on the western Shiores of the North Pacific once more became a subject of diplomatic consideraition between the Empire and the Republic, During the administration of Jaanea Buchauani, of Pennsylvania, the Russian Government went so far as to take the initiative by sounding Lewis Cass, then Secretary of State at Wa8hin(gton,through 80 WONDERLAND William M. Gwinn, a Senatop from CaM- fomia, and Mr. J^hn Appleton, of Maine, then Assi8ta»t Secreitary of State, and up- on the adveait of the Liacoln regime, Ameiican Envoy at St. Petereburjr. After several in'terviews withi M. de Stoeckl at Washington, in December, 1859, a price wais suggested at $5,000,000. In 1860 Prince Gortchakoflf informed Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania, then Secretary of State, in a dispatch, that the oflfer was not what might have been ex- pected. The Presidential elections of that year, the secession of the slave States and the War of the Rebellion, put an estoppel upon further negotiation*; at that time. The importance of an European elec- tric telegraph, independent of English con- trol, once more revived the subject of American ownership of the Rusfrian pos- sessions on the Western Hemisphere. It transpired ais a fartunate cotncidenoe when the final agitation of possession be- gan in February, 1866, that the obarter of the Russian company would expire the fol- lowing June. As a complication, which threatened to involve the negotiations in a controversy with Great Britain, the Russian company had practically under let to the Bngli«h Hudson Bay Company all its franchises' on the main land from 54 degrees 40 min- utes to Mount St. Elias. The Russian Gover iment was not fav- orable to renewing the charter to the British Hudson Bay Company, but was willing to do so to an Amfrionn comp''nv. such company to pay to the Russian Gov- ernment 5 per cent, of its groa^ proceeds. The American Envoy at St. PeterabiiTg advised the American Secretary of State, on February Ist, 1867, of the efforts of the Russian company to secure a renewal for 25 or 30 years for the purpose of sub- letting to the Hudson Bay Company, al- ready enjoying the monopoly of the Brit- ish nossessions in the vast region around Hudson Bay. In order to meet this critical pass of af- fairs Mr. Seward expedited his negotia- tions so as to head off so untoward a culmi- 81 IPI^ OUR ALASKAN '% f f m) llf '^^ : i \ \\ 1 u ( natioQ of his thfus far eacceesfol efiForts. In aioticipiaition, however, of this con- tlngenicy tlie American Secretary, after several ioformail conferences, conivinced the Russian Emvoy of the importaflice of a personal visit, wthieh was made, as we haive seen> to St. Petersburg. By a prompt and timely interview of Oopnelius Cole, then a Senator from Cali- fornia., one of the promoters of the Ameri- can company, with the Russian Envoy de Stoeckl, and a siubsequemt conference with the Americoini Secretary of State, the coiwMter movement began. The Califor- nia Senator wa« a man of tall and com- manding figuire^ with a fine address, court- ly methods and a sharp eye to business and diplomacy. He speedUy won Qie in- terest and favor of the Russian Envoy. The American Secretary went so far as to inistruct the American Envoy at St. Petersburg to lay the subject of the Rus- sian company and the adverse connivance with the Hudson Bay managers at London before the Rxussian Government. Through' the success of a sharewdly mvi- nipulated intrigue the Rusirian authori- ties privateliy turned over the privileges sub-let by the Russian-American com- pany to the English Hudson Bay Com- pany to American hands. The ostensible reason for thia clever move waa to have the natives of that wild region friendly to the American interests in the exploration and consti'uction of the proposed line of telegraph, and to have thie line in Ameri- can hands in event of war between Rus- sia or the United States and Great Bri- tain. The English intriguers, who worked wonders in 1844, but utterly failed in 1867, made vigorous attempts to baulk or frustrate the consummation of the treaty. They also set adrift a court intrigue at St. Petersburg allegjng the oppoeition of every Rus«)ian sovertign from Ruric, Duke of Kief, down to Alexander II, Emperor of all the RustMas, to the ces- sion of territory to a foreign State. The British, influence with some Mitire also *- .'.wwimMiii 1 il effoits. hia coD- iry, after conivinced rtamce of ie, as we •view of roan Cali- le Ameri- Envoy de ence with Jtate, the CaJifor- and com- as, court- business )n iite in- n Envoy. so far a« y at St. the RiiK- annivance it Loadon wdly ma- authori- privilegos ican com- iay Oom- ostensihle s to have riendly to q>loration >d line of in Ameri- ireen Rus- Ireajt Bri- worked failed in to baulk a of the itrijTue at oeition of I Rurlc, ander II, the ces- ite. The itire also WONDERLAND brought up the nominal sum, received for the vast and valuable region. They were met with the Russian reply: "We know we have sold too cheaply, but it ia all in the family." The American Envoy, Mr. CJay, re- flected the motives of the Emperor and his counsellor® when he said: The Rus- sians wanted us as near their eastern possessions as possible. They regard us as perpetual friends. In the race of empire on the Pacific, in the peaceful pur- suit of Ai erican and Russian interests they expec to ultimajtely expel from the Pacific all nations to be feared." The culmination of this intemaitional courtship, covering a period of nearly a century, in the cession of an imperial do- main in supreme right and area, to the sovereignty of the American Republic began an era cf American destiny fore- shadowed years ago in the gorgeous palace of the Czars. In the recent dis- covery of auriferous and exploitation of vegetable and marine wealth there is seen abead a marvelous realization. The masterly manner in wUch the ne- gotiations were conceived, continued and completed,when wo reflect upon thiem after the whole Amierioan people and the whole world have had an opportunity to form a cold and caioulating judgment, is best characterized when we hold before the scenes we have depicted of thirty years ago, the searcliing mirror of the present. TTiere we must see in the somewhat eagle-like physiognomy en passant of a thoroughbred American eagle too, the image of one of the beet types of an American sCatesman and diplomat. The marvelous secrecy mlaintained of the details of the negotiations pending their accomplishment between the prin- cipals, William H. Seward and Edouard de Stoeckl, standis out in refreshing con- trast to methods we have sometimes had revealed in dealing with international questions where secrecy is gold and glory, and loquacity dross and disapiwiintment. We also see in our romance the connected links of international friendsliip and co- 23 i;i OVR ALABEAU liM It i ,-'' operation manifested by th« Russian rukais and Groremmeiut toward the Amer- ican people and their institutioiifl from the very be^nning of their assertion of the principle "taxation without representation it is tyranny," and the conisuimimation of their efforts to throw off allegiance to a bigoted King and laioistry. We have seen this traditional policy of the friendship of Russia for the American Republic re- newed and strengthened at every crisis in American external affairs. With siuch repeated obligations to tho friendship of Russia, it must be conceded that no oonsiderationa of a meddleso«ie sentimentaliism can or should sbake any loyal Amerioao in thouglhts of gratitude and reciprocation. We find EVancis Dana in 1780, three years before the final submission of King G-eorge III and his mindisterial satelites. to the stem exigen- cies of defeat at the gorgeous court of Catherine II. This most remarkable Em- press, of a masterful mind In civil affairs, diplomacy and war, welcomed with almost affeotioniate consaderation the plenipoten- tiary of a people then still struggling for liberty and indei)endenoe. The kind offices of this mighty Empress coerced the stupid King to negotiate a peace which had been won by arms from Lexington to Yorktown. And 80 has it been, friendship, good will, co-operation, defiance of the "con- cert" of nations, through the subsequent reigns of her sen Paul; of his son, Alex- ander I; of hiis brother. Nicholas I; of his son, Alexander II; of his son, Alexander III, and of his brilliant son, the young Czar Nicholas II, wh»> now redgns oveip aU the Russdas. 84 iiil ttimm Russian be Amer- from the *n of the sentation oation of inoe to a liaveeeen riendship [>ublic re- r crisis in IS to tllP conceded ^ddlesome hake any grajtitude B^ancifi > the final [ and his u exig«n- court of table Em- n\ affairs, ith almost lenipoten- ^gldng for ■ Bmpreea ?gotiate a inns from ihip, good the "con- ubsequent 30Q, Alex- s I; of his A-lexander the young Hgns over "i i > ?>i' 'I - j > 1 1 DeB. Randolph KEnr. \ i '■W4 ■I. rif^ WONDERLAND \ \ ■^•^, THIRTY YEIIRS AFTER ,t * . ni OVR ALASKAN * I 1 ) • 1 '« u it ff ! i I ;ii LETTER NUMBER II. An Alaskan Prophesy Becomes a Realization of Statecraft. A Three-Cornered Intrigue in the Capitals of Three Nations Frustrated. Colonization Awaits the Magic Wand of Gold— Coarse of Empire in the Ameri- can Occident -The Balance Sheet of Alaskan Trade and Commerce. Retiring from tbe Cares of Office Mr. S«w»rd Vlslta and Talka to His Fel- low Clttaens of Alaska— What He Told the ^neen's Smbjects at Victoria. It borders upon the grotesque to recall to mind Thirty Years After, the punctured sensibilities and prophetic utterances of the statesman, who secured to the do- main of the Republic, through the peace- ful methods of diplomacy, a vast region teeming with unexploited wealth and added another stride to the march of American destiny. It doea not seem credible as the magni- tude of the possibilities of that same re- 26 l! WONDERLAND land lomes a aft. 5 in the ons Wand of I Amepi- Sheet Cyffice Mr. Hl> Fel- tiat He to recall to punctured terances of to tlie do- i^ie peaoe- vast region wealth and march of the magni- Ett same re- gion become rerealed year by year, that the statesman who achieved such a triumph ol" diplomacy and by a stroke of the pen cemented a long, lasting and oft demonstrated friendship with the fore- most power on the globe, found himself forced to call for friendljf advocacy in justification then of what is now conceded to have been one of the master strokes of American stKitecrnft. "Write it up. Write it up," the Secre- tary vehemently exclaimed to the writer when the opponents £d the appropriation necessary to the closing of the terms of the treaty seemed to be gaining momen- tum. "Now is the time for the cham- pions of American destiny to step for- ward. Show them the power of the press." The "them's" were the men in public and potential private station whvj were trying to release "the rabbit" now that it had "been caught," and were opposed to "cooking it" by the appropriation of the $7,200,000 stipulated in the treaty. These were the figures of speech which the Secretary appplied to the unexpected raid which had risen up in an unlooked for quarter to frustrate the consumma- tion of the concluded cession. Mr. Seward attributed all (he difficul- ties and ob*>tructions which had been thrown in his way in Congress to the American "tools" of intrigues fomented in London. "Those English," said he, upon one oc casion, "can never be friends of America, and our people will make a mistake if they ever trust them. We have too many instances recorded in our interna- tional experiences with other nations not to feel assured of that. American des- tiny is so swift in peaceful expansion that lasting friendship i« impvissible. For my part I would rather bend my faith toward our great and good friend, the Emperor of all the Russias, than in the Queen's councillors and the British peo- ple." The Secretary putting his foot down and his hand most emphatically ai>on the 27 Ti wmtmm i 'I '^' OUR ALASKAN richly inlaid table near him simultaneous- ly observed: "Now, mark you that! Yon are young and will find it bo in your day as the interests of your country become more widely expanded and world wide, and jealousy becomes stronger on the other side." The voluminous optimistic literature of the day brought to the support of tho ces- •ion a degree of information which, af- ter a short, sharp and decisive struggle, brushed away the pessimistic "Tories," as the Secretiary was wont to designate the American champions of the Anglo- American lobby which, besieged Con- gress. The opposition, as Mr, Seward would console himself, was no worse and from the same cause, the commercial jealousy of England, than was experienced dur- ing the Louisiana purchase in 1803. At the time of the Russian cession, 1867, there was a party of "ins-and-outa" at St. Petersburg, as well as in London and Washington. In these three great capita'Ia the Secretary was forced to com- bat a powerful element determined by every means, fair or fonl, to diaoredit the American administration. The turmoils incident to President Johnson's" political projects were then at their climax and served to give the American alli<^ of the opposition a pretext for their activity. In St. Petersburg there was a strong influence among the reactionary nobility which opposed any oontracdon of the bounds of the Empire, and was antagon- istic as far as it dared to be, to the Em- peror for hiis liberal treatment of the serfs and for other marks of progressive spirit. In London the pwfessional growlers saw in the future a mighty rival in the trade of the Pacific. With the same inflexible will the Secre- tary, by the exercise of a little political finesse, carried the day in the halLs of Congress as he had done in the cabinet of diplomacy. The remaining formalities of acquisi- tion were promptly complied with by the proclamation of the treaty by Andrew 28 WONDERLAND Jolinson, President of the United States, on the 20th of June, 1867. Thr policy of th» Russian-Amerioan Company, under ita wholesale chartert'd franchises from St. Petersburjf, was the exclusion of the vast region under its pro- tection from every species of enterprise except the fieheries and pursuit of the fur'bearing animate in the sea and on the laod. The authorities at St. Petersburg w«re on this aocouot aside from the interna- tional queetiv/ns involTed even more ready to tnanafer the territory to the United States, whose people had already shown themselves to be the most aggressive competitors for the commefrcial and manu- facturing supremacy of the world. The Russian company repelled every attempt to feWi the forests and thus '^n- tract the haunts of the fur-beaxing ani- mals native to the region. The policy of the Russian govemmentt was more concerned in promoting the col- ooiEatioin of a iwpulation upon the weert- em shores of the Paclfle, which migbt in the future contribute t« the restriction of BritLahi aggression in that section of the globe. The cession of the territory to the United States was expected to fulfil an American lines these expectations. As early as April 21st, 1867, just three weeks after the treaty of cession to the United States was concluded, a meeting of citi- zens was held in Phi/'odelphla, out of which sprung an association for tlie civ- ilization of Russian America and asking the co-operation of the government. Sim- ilar movements were inaugurated in New York and Boston. The lease of the seal fis'heries and the inves'tment of capital in the catch, of cod- fish, whaling, canning and salting of salmon introduced a spirit of enterprise in that remote possession which only re- quired the magic wand of gold to give it impetus wliich wouJd make Alaska one of the finest poesessions of the Union. To have said fifty years ago tha/t thie 89 OVR ALASKAN eastern littonJ' c ' the Pacific Ocean from San Diego to C-ipe Flattery would con- tribute three spL^did common wealths to the American Urion world have been ti'eatt •! as ao idle romance. The State of California, second only to Texas in area, admitted to the Union in 1850, seven years ago (1890), with a pop- ulation of 1,204,000 ranked twenty-third in the list of States of the Federal com- pact. Ore^n, admitted in 1859, larger than New York and Pennsyirania com- bined in area, with a popu^iation of 313,- 000, ranked thirty-eighth. In thie same year, Washinigton, almost as large as Ohio and Indiana, had a population of 349,000, The tide of emigration, whicfh set in with such, vigorous diraenisiona upon the discovery of gold in Oalifomia in 1848, will find history repeating itself in 1898. The pioneers of 1897 now flocking to Alaska and adjacent territory are opening the way to a realization. The march of empire on the Western Hemisi>here has been led by the pursuit of the precious metal. The earliest ideas of the navigators, po- tentates and peoples of Europe pointed to the wealth of Cathay and Cipangi . The search for a isihorter passage to those realms of fabulous wealth became the stimulating agent in the promotion of geograrvhiaal science. The Spaniards wlho followed In the wake of Columbus, the ciavaliers who settled at Jamestown, the pioneers who opened the pathways of the plains forced the defii'ies of the Rockies and the Nevadaui and debouched upon the blue ocean of the American ooddent did in their epoch of racial' distrib- Jon what the talismanic cry of gold will again do for Alaska. The organization of the ceded regioo in 1884, but seventeen years after thie treaty, under a territorial form of gov- ernment, was in itself a signifioant as- surance of a development more progres- p've and enduring thaii had been achieved during the century and quarter whioh elapsed froKi the time that Vitus Bering anchored under the eihadow of the t>w- ao WONDERLAND oon- is to >een t-w- ering peaks of St. Enas down to the di- SJomatic achievement of William H. eward in the capital' of a nation then unboni. The march of American empire wiiich from the beginning of the republic hod taken its way westward, diverted in ita triumphiant, onward march by the waters of the Pacific has nowi fairly turned northward toward the polar axia of the earth itself. The dream of the Czara from Nicholas I to Alexanei* II of a friendly nation in the Western Hemisphere with thlemselveg in power on the opposite shores of the same ocean, now gives assurance of certain realization, A new factor of adverse interest, how- ever, in this commercial supremacy con- fronits the Empire of the North in thfe remmiisance of Oriental power fore- shadowed iu th(> progressive march in peace and war of the Imperial archipelaigo under the b'vay of the Mikado. In the meamtime American civilization, like the mp.riner's eompaiss, will point to the pole northward until Mifw Colum- bia and 'he Russian Bear extend their felicitntionis across the straits, which wed the waters of the Pacific with those of the Arctic ocean. The statesman-like forecast of manifest destiny in the distant North, which had been treated at tbe time with so much ribald comment and criticism, has now been amply vindicated. In 1892, which is the latest compiled ex- hibit cf imi/Oi'ts and exports of Alaskan I.iiIK,rtn footed up the handsome total of $2,164,000, a* the same time the exports from the territory reached the still more handsome sum of $7,759,000. An amount of over five and one-half million dollars five years ago to the credit of a region for which but a luarter of a century before $7,200,000 were paid in bulk. It may be interesting to have an item- ized exhibit of this marvelous progress on the standau'ds of trade. This would run ais follows: 789,294 cases of canned saimon, which realized $3,157,000; 186,- 31 \ OUR ALA8KAN V I I ;> ¥. 250 pounds of whalebone, a<; >'!. '•^: '''-?■, fold bullion, $707,000; sold and . .,-,-, ure, 400,000; seal skins, $755,000; furs., 4)439,- 000; not to speak of furs, &c., from Southeastern Alaska, $357,000: besides 7,500 tona of codfish, valued at $351,000; 9,000 barrels of salted salmon, TeeeHzing $81,000; 1,000 pounds of ivory, $5,000; 12,228 banrels of whale oil. $103,000, and other oil and ."ruamo, $114,000. This, in 1867, was the land of glaciere, eternicl fogs, blinding snows, intense cold, tundiia, volcanoes and every other con- ceivable offspring of Dame Nature, hos- tile to the hiabitaticn and activities of man, according to some nervspapers. The 87 trading houses, located in 60 towns and y'lTages along the coast and rivers, wild, . ? another decade or two. yield the San Franeiscos the Portlands and the Seattles of sub-Arctic States of the American Union competing for fht- mastery of the trade and commerce of the Pacific. To the eniormoi"js output of fish, furs, whalebone, ivory, oils, gold and silver bul- lion, and ores, and lumber with the in- crease of a (aind population will be added the product® of the gardens lamd the fields. Tte proximity of the Japan stream whu sweeps easitwaird along the Aleutian chain and bends southward in the bigrht under !.u,o mighty mass of St. Eliais, sweeps by the coaist of Alaska, BriliK . Oohiimbia, Washinigiton, Oregon and C- !- fornin, where it swirls westward, envel(u) ing Hawaii in itf warming waters, mak- inig all these vaist regions suited to the hwibitaitian of a large population employed in the arts and ini(l'i5«tr>? of civilized life. Taking t'e ^^n.cc lint- >f Alaska, 54 de- grees, 40 mil) «ce« noir^h ! itude, we find north of tiiat ;*araliei in -iurope the north- ern portions of Ireland, the great ship- yards of the Clyde, the textile woi'ks of Paisley and in^'uslTios of GMasgow and Edinburg, besiaes almost the whole of Scotlamd and Denmark, all of Norway and Sweden and one-half of RiiSisia. The capital of the Territory, Sitka, is 57 32 i WONDERLAND degrees, or three degrees over 200 statute miles soufh of St. Petersbm-g, the capital of the Russian Enipire, and Stockholm, of Sweden, and but one degree north of Oop- enihagen, the capital of Denmark. The city of St. Petersburg lies 15 degrees, or nearly 1,000 statute miles, areticvvard of tlie south*M"n parallel of Alaska. The glaciers so much drawn in the pen pictures of Alaska then and now are fcmnd under similar conditiona of alti- tude, if not of latitude, in the heart of Europe. The coast of the Baltic and of the North Seas teem with population and wealth in latitudes far north of the southern line of demarcatio» of Alaska. On the 12th day of August. 1869, but fire months after WirSara H. Seward had laid aside the cares of state, we find him addressing "citizens of Alaska" as "Fellow-citizens of the United Slates," in Sitka, the very capital of the posses- sion which he had won over from the Empire of Russia. He had enjoyed a triumphal progress through the Pacific States and the newly acquired possessions of his country, and was received with manifest cordiality by the subjects of Queen Victoria in the colonial dex)endency of British Columbia. In his speeches at Sitka, Victoria and Salem he foretold with prophetic vision the future of the vast region which Btretcbes from the confines of Mexico to the topmost limits of the American hem- isphere impinging on the Arctic Ocean, With an instinctive realization of op- portunity his ideal of American destiny rose to the gradeur of heroism when ex- claiming to his hearers under the flaunt- ing folds of the emblem of British do- minion at Victoria, "British Columbia must be governed in conformity with so- ciety upon the American continent. If the Government comes in conflict with the interesits of the United States we can easily see what will happen." As we review the sentiment and phras- ing of these speechow among the very peo- 33 OVR ALASKAN I! A ; m pie whjose destiny waa so intimately «fe- sociated with the future not only of their own sihores, but of the vast Alaskan sea coast, and inland aiea, they read like prophesy. It is to be said of Mr. Seward that his public career as a whole had been a sequence of logioaJi deductions from in- structive and comprehensive Americanr ism. He never failted to characterize, as did Summer, the solution of the boundary quco*ion wbich gave Vancouver and the other is:land» and. coast from 49 degrees to 54-40 to Great Britain as the baselst act of any administration' in Amerioan history. In a conversart;ion with Mr. Seward, then ex-Secretary of State, in China in 186&-70, he oould not express himself on the bungling course of the Depart- ment of State in that transaction with ad^ equate emphasis. "To yield anything on that coast to England was not only absolute blindness to the future but little ']eace- fully. As for taking it, it is. even now more possible for the American people on the Pacific, backed by the power and wealth at Washinploa, than It was for 84 , 'i WONDEBLAlfD tlie thirteen colonies with their itinerary CJongress, ill-armed, llli-clad/ and ill-fed oonitinienta:s and continental shinplasterg nearly a century ago to wrest from Eng- land, then in the height of her military aggressions, our original domain. 86 Ulaslan Possibilitlesi OurtlasbWonderland LETTER NUMBER IJI. 8 \0\ The President Watching the Course of Events. The Star of Destiny Turns Polar ward. Secretary Seward'8 Arctic Commonwealth a Probability. The Pioneer Days of '4^9 and the Growth of Kmplre Aepeatlng Itself. The President and chiefs of the Execu- tive Departments which come in direct touch with territorial affairs were early in frequent conference upon the pros- pt'ctive conditions and dim&nds of Alaska, The sudden burst of that sub-Arctic and Arctic poeaession into enticing fields for human cupidity bi-ought with it problems of administration and public economy which had to be promptly met. It was the firm belief in sdmimistra- tion circlies that the sitampede for the golden land of the North had come to stay. Its abatement on account of in- accessibility, it was thought, would prove but the temxwrary gorging of the tide wdiich would break forth again in the comiing spring with irresistible eagerness and numibens. The tales of hiarfiship and even death, coupled with the accounts of fabulous wealth acquired simply for the giathering 37 / Ml ^ti. OUR ALASKAN from the golden streams, only served to tempt the hardihood endurance ajid de- fiance of the assembling multitude. The Goverawnenrt authorities were not influ- eng a portion or the whole of the adm litrations of Johnson, Grant, Hayes, GanSeld and Arthur, was remedied in 1884 by the enactment by Congress of a law creating a district gov- ernment. This provided a governor and 38 t WONDERLAND district, court. The lawa of the State of Oregon were appHetl to the district. In July, 1897, the mineral laws of the Unit- ed States; the town site-lawa, providing for the incorporation of town sites and acquirement of title thereto from' the Government to the trustees; the law pro- viding for trade and manufactures, giving each qualified person 160 acres of land in a square and compact form were de- clared lapplicable by a decisioB of the United States G>eneral Liaod Office to Alaska. From the coal land regulations and the public-l?nd. laws, the territory of AJaska was excluded in terms in those laws themselves. The details of administration under the district form, of government have been conducted in the Department of the In- terior and executed on the ground by a governor, dork of the court ex-officio, secretary of Alaska, surveyor general, register of the land office, recoiver of the public moneys, all located at Sitfca. There are also resident commissioners at Sitka, Wrangle, Unalaska, Juneau, Kadiak, Circle City, St Michaels, Dyea and Unaga. The district judiciary under the De- partment of Justice consists of a District Judge, United State Attorney and assist- ant and United States Marshal resident at Sitka, but sitting atemately at Sitka and Wrangel. The military control under the War Department is through the Military De- partment of the Columbia, with head- quarters at Vancouver Barracks, Wash- ington. The vast region prior to 1884 was under the control of the chartered stipulations of trading companies, the operations of tihe steamship lines and divers enterprising business projects subject to the general laws of the United States. The peaceful character of the inhabit- ants rendered the occupation of the ter- ritory by a military force unnecessary. In a communication of May 20th, 1867, fifty days after the conclusion of the treaty of oeesion, Major General H. W. Holleck, then in command at San 89 OUR ALASKAN \J Francisco, recommended to Secretary of War Stanton the establishment of foiu- military postsi of one company of in- fantry each at New ArAangel, in Sitka Bay; Cook's Inlet, Kadiak, and Uralasfca. This elaborate scL^me, however, waa never car/ied out, the region being left to take its c^amices until neccBgitj' reQiiived a form of gcvernment to meet the sim- ple requirements then existing. In >a report of 1868, from General Hal- leck, one year after the cession, the popu- lation of Alaska was put down at 82,- 400. To this were added 11,900. Thlinket Indians, in a report to the In- dian Commissioner by Rev. Vincent Ool- lyer, making in all 94,300. In the cen- sus of 1880 the population was stated at 33,426, and in 1890, the first in detail', 4,298 whites, 23,531 Indians, 2,288 Mon- golians, 1,935 mixed-blood, or 32,052. The impression prevails in Government circles that the rush for gold in the Klondike region will spread into the do- main of the United States and will de- mand a more enlarged .system of govern- ment. Whether it will require the elab- orate details of a territorial form virhich has answered, the necessities of all the States in their embryotic condition will be determined by the effect which the Klondike rush will have upon the perma- nent occupation and settlement of the regions on the American side of the line and at the various trading stations. The number of the latter in Alaska in 1891 was eighty-seven, located in sixty towna and villages, stretching from Portland Canal In north latitude 54-40 to Point Bairrow on the slioros of the Arctic Ocean and from the Alaska Peninsula to Attn, at the Asiaward end of the Aleutian chain of islands. The irregular system of transportation afforded by special conveyances on shore, on the rivers and along the coasts has in- terfered with complete or even approxi- mately accurate statistical information, buit trade in general merchandise as im- ports and the varied articles of export, has enormously expanded within the past few years. 40 M ^ the enormous .stride from 93.000 in 1850, to 380,000 in- habitants in 1860. The census of 1890 gave it 1,208,130, or twenty-second in a list of forty-four States. Under the im- pulse of the discovery of gold as a stimu- lus to emigration and the deivelopment of the marvelous agricultural, mineral and forest wealth of the c^iuntry with their re- quirements of coanmercial, financial, mer- 42 L WONDERLAND canitile, profesBional and non-professional (mterprise and occupation California from the foot of the list oi' thirty-two States, in four decades, jumped to twen- tyntwo in the list of forty-four in popula- tion. But the course of empire aid not stop here?. In its poleward way along the shores of the Pacific in less than a single decade, the spirit of colonization and en- terprise spread beyond the limits of the golden mother State of the American Oc- cident into the fertile valleys of theCo- luml)ia and the Willamette, and in 1859 added Oregon as the cwentieirh State in admiSiion, the third in size and thirty- fifth in population in 1890, witli its im- mense argricntural and commercial ad- vantages, the wealth of its streams in fish of commercial value. In three decades la+er the poleward march of empire readh- e. the extreme northwestern corner of the national domain, bordering on the present British poscsessions of Columbia, where lumber, grazing, cereals and coal, and 350,000 inhabitants, in 1889, ^dd- ed the State of Washington the t ,en- ty-ninth to the "Old Thirtee?> " the twelfth in area and thirty-eighth i i popu- lation, Witli those fact* l>efore us who can predict the future of the vast posses- sions of the Republic which lie beyond the intervening strip of British posses- sions, whicli Charier Sumner in a great si)eech publicly declared a menace and a most ignominious surrender of a strategic territory by a ix)werful nation. The first rush of adventurers, followed by t'le flowing tide of emigration to Oali- toriia in pioneer days were confronted bj the toil and expense of immense dis- tances measured in miles by the thou- sands, \K)th by land and by sea, the perils of tlie unrelenting storms of Cape Horn, the death breeding miasnwis of tlie Isthmus of Darien, and th(> toilsome stretcher of plains, deserts and mountain ranges, iiiH^sted by liloodthii-nty savages, a'.l of which nmke the modern facilities of access to the very gateways to tiaa 43 . nt^a&..(iLv--*'ii,Hij:-i / ! ^'t i\ OUR ALASKAN coveted golden deposits in Alaska and the Kondike almost child's play. Witb lines of railroads from all points on the Atlantic seaboard and in the inter- oceanic States, to the seaboard cities of the Pacific, and the splendid lines of steamers from San Francisco, Portland and Seattle to points of access to thp mountain defiles or the Yukon, renders the means of reaching the mountain treasure lands of the interior one of comparative, ease. The remaining difficulties of trans- portation will also soon be overcome by modern appliances of travel. The possibilities of Alaska as a political division of the Federal Union may be the wonder of the dawn of the twentieth cen- tury. In area it is more than twice the size of Texas, and in population more than bad Oalifornia at the time of the discovery of gold. If the prospective rush of gold hunters into the Klondike and Alaska and the influx of merchants, artisans and laborers incident to the wants of a mining popu- lation shouild bo realized, these sudden ac- cessions to the resident population en- gaged in tlio indu'^tries of the sea and shore may witness in Alaska the estab- lishmenc of a territorial form of govern- ment with a legislature and other equip- ment fo • the administration of executive, legislative and judicial functions, before the close of the Fifty-fifth Congress, The territory iself would be capable in the progress of years, of contributing six commonwealths to the Federal Union, each possessing its own distinctive phy- sical characteristics, products and fields of remunerative industry. After crossing the ignominious break, as Charles Sumner characterized it, in terms of the most soveeign contempt, in tlie continuity of present empire along the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean is reached what is known geographically as Sou'theastorn Alaska. The area of this section, 29,980 square milee, lacking only 3.000 8(]uare miles of being as large as the State of Maine, com- prises the mainland from Portland Canal 44 'If i I in. 54 degrees, 40 minutes, north latitude, where Alaska begins northward to Mount St EliEiS, including the islands of the Alexander archipelago. This region is coTered with forests of valuable woods of commerce, abounds in coal and pos- sesses unexploited gold bearing quartz In this section are situated Sitka, Juneau and Dyea, two degrees in latitude south of Christiana, Norway, with 151,- 000, Stockholm in Sweden with 247,000, and St. Petersburg, Russia, with 1,100,- OOOinhabitauts. The fishing .-nd canning int ^ts are enormous and much of the soil blf>. The Kadiak division on the nor , 14.- fllO square miles or 2,500 square milos Larger than the State of Maryland, in- cludes the south side of the Alaska Pen- insula with the Kadiak group and other islands. It is mountainous, rising to 12,- 000 feet, intersected by glaciers, but abounds in valuable forests which are also the hauts of valuo.ble fur-bearing animals. Coal and gold have also been found in paying quantities. The Aleutian division, 14,610 square miles, as large as Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Oonnecticut, takes in the western side of the Alaska Peninsula, aud with the chain of islands, including the Probilof group, the breeding place and i-esort of the valuable fur-boaring seals reaches out to the mid-Pacific speck of land known as Attn, which stands like a sen- tinel of the mighty deep gazing out ujwn the Knmtchatkan shoros of Asia. Advancing poleward we next reach the Kuakokwim division, e nbracing 114,975 square miles of area or the size of Ari- zona, including the extensive interior Alaskan plains and mountains drained into Boring Sea by the Kuskokwim and Tonana Rivers in the latitude of Central Sweden a^d Norway and northern Russia, The salmon fisheries are large and valuabk', but the ii'-oducts of the soil are limited. The Yukon division, known from the mighty river and valley of that name, 4S *«»«■»»» J*"*"- "»"■ OVR ALASKAN oomprises 170,715 square miles or an area almost eqnal to California, extending alon^ P Tin'jr Seji toward the straitii. The trade of the Yukon and its tributaries in lumber, fish and the supply of the gold buoters with the necessities and even comforts of life will develop to extensive proportions. AJong the Arctic circle and beyond ex- tends the vaiait region embracing 125,245 square miles, about the size of New Mexico, which covers the entire north- western corner of the North American Heniisi[>heir«? aolnff the Btriii^ straits and the Arctic Ocean in north latitude about 00 degrees. The most northerly American settlement at Point Barrow, about 72 degrees, at the highest poinit of the mainland, jutting into the Arctic Ocean, isi the rendezvous of fleets of sail- ing craft of all kinds engaged in whaV ing, hunting and trading. A brisk traf- fic is aliso carried on with the hardy inhabitants along the Arctic Alaskan, coast and the u(>ighboring shores of Asia. The policy of Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia, when he proposed the cfisision of this sanivj territoiT to the United Stat<^ as early as 1844, in this day has the ring of true statesmanship. It may also have in the shortsightedneiss of some of our own statesmen ere wo know it the glory of war. The campaign yell of "54-40 'r fight" may be a serious reali- zation unless oircumventtMl by the peace- ful annexation of a region which must others ise remain a slander upon Ameri- can diplomacy and power and a thorn Ib the side of the American people. II was a perennial source of interest to the eminent statesman who secured by his skill in diplomacy this valuable du- mai'Di, to picture an ideal Arctic conamon- wealtli revellin*? in the al)Uii(lanit rlclies of the Alaskan seas and rivers, vallies and mountains. The time seems approach- ing when the fervid fancies of William H. Seward oft portrayed i'o his lucid flow of imagery and words to the -writer may become a magnificent realization. 46 1 |an area tending I straits, jutaries fhe gold even tten»ive lond ex- [125,345 New north- It is noit imixmsible that Amt^rican citi- zens living to-day may witness in the growth of population and enrtei-prise in the United States a line of American commonwealths extending northward aod facing upon the very axis of this mundane sphere itself. -i; ■saasa T t w UNFURLIIIGIHEFLAG ! i r ne OurAlasb Wonderland LETTER NUMBER IV. How Alaska Was Transferred from Russian to American Dominion. A Pictnresqae Scene of Interna- tional Ceremony and Salnte. "Old Glory" Floating fifom Tropical to Arctic Lands. During the icy grasp of winter, whioh had comiineQctHi to overspread the gloomy denies. which pierce the mountain ramparts of the coast and penetrate the glistening vales of the Upper Yukon, the whole coun- try counted the dreary days which must elapse ere sunshine and warmth could break the myterious silence and tell the world of the fiate of six thousand fellow-countrymjen tempted into the frigid jaws of the Arctic in pursuit of golden, wealth. The tension to which the Secretary of State felt hina»elf subjected pending the negotiation of the treaty of cession of the Russian- Amei-ican territory to the United Stiutes of America was unmlsitakable. The crafty stateaman .saw bis opportunity in 49 OUR ALASKAN \ the petition of the enterprising citizens of Washing|ton Territoi-y. They asked for trading facilities. He aslied for Empire. The initimacy which had long ago spnnvg up between the veteran Edouard de Stoeckl, the Russian Envoy, and William 11. Seward, the Secretary of State, was almost brotherly. They were much to- gether in off-dtity personal soeiabilitie? and enjoyed frequent outings, piacatorial- ly, conviviallly and otherwise. De Stoeckl began his diploimaitic career in Washington years before Mr. Seward appeared nixm the scene. He was charge d'afFairs ad int. in 1849, under the envoysliip of that other genial Russian diplomat, Alexander de Bodisco. The latter married one of Washington's charming subuirban ma id- ens, thereby becoming fllso the hero of one of the prettiest of our capital roman- ces of love at first sight and a happy life after marriage. It was de Stoeckl who succeeded Bodis- oo in 1854 and continued his most jsatis- factory caireetr at Washington until 18G9. He rexjresented successively two Bmjx'r- ors, Nicholas I and Alexander II, and held diplomatic initeroourse with seven ad miuisitrationis, beginning with Zaehary Tayloi- and ending with tJ. S. Grant. He waia Envoy when the proffer of the Rus- sian possessions was made to Pierce and was declined by that Executive imbecile and again to the Buchanan, administra- tion. This might have been a success had not secession; its aJttempted political dissolu- tion of the Union and real war sprumg nixm the coiratry. The glory of that diplomatic achievement might have fallen to Lewis Ca»s, who had been one of the foremost ehampions of "554-40 or flght" in 1844, and was then at the head of the De- partment of State, or to Jeremiah S. Black, his ante-Rebellion successor. The unfortuinate strife was over, tlie Union was unbroken and at peace. The men for the occasion were in ix)wer; the deed was done. , The success of the negotiation which had so often missed fire afforded a great relief to Mr. Seward. His happiness over 50 M V 1 WONDERLAND itizens Iked for lire. sipnnig ard de illiam e, was ch to- bilitip.o atorial- [Stoeekl ington d iHKiii irs ad of that xaadoT one of maid- ero of ronaan- >py life the event even exalted him to a degree of hilarity which he did not hide from h!i friends. His first thouglut was of obliga- tion toward his friend de Stoeckl. whom he embraced several times and affection- ately called my deair Stoeckl. Although the paynienit of the sura agreed upon became involved in tlie re- construction, patronage and impeach- ment contentions between the Preaideot and Conigress, after a long and bitter parliamentary struggle, the amount was voted and the transaction closed. The possibility of so much delay did not enter the thoughts of the Secretary of State. In fact it was evident from hia conversation at the time that he would not have given any attention to them if they had. There never was a time when William H. Seward shrank from the courage of Ms convictions. He realized that he was a conspicuous object in the differences be- tween the executive and thie legislative branches, but undeterred by the uncer- tainties of his own official future or that of the administration, he went ahead with the acquiescence of the Emperor's Gov- ernment to complete the cession by the transfer of the territory to the United States. The special session of the Fortieth Oon- gress, which had convened in March, 1867, had shiown no disposition to provide the purchase money stipulated in the treaty with Russia. Mr. Seward at once realized the situa- tion. After waiting fully a month, in an interview as to th.e- probable course of Congress, the Secretary said with much emphasis: "Stoeckl understands our politics and the heated, harmiless contentions which sometimes spring up in the administra- tion of affairs. But we will carry out evei-ything to the letter." xi.*^ ^^^%^ notified Minister de Stoeckl that the President has named General Kousseau to receive the ceded territory." It 19 possible the Secretary observing a look of incredulity remarked: "I know 51 11 OUR ALASKAN 1/ W ^ i\ the treaty baa not been ratified by the Senate, but that will come along." The appointment of General Rousseau was announcd to the Russian Minister May 13th, but the ratification did not oc- cur until the 28th of the same month, 1867. "We will hoist th» American flag over the territory. If by any act of au- thority from any source it should be haul- ed down the men who thus dishonor their country will be doubly dishonored before their constituents und the people and the world." The appropriation of tlie money was not miade by Congress until fourteen months after. But that did not deter the Presi- dent of the United States from exchang- ing ratifications on June 20th, 1867, and the proclamation of the treaty by the United States on the same dsv. The Government having beeJ notified, Captain Pestchouroff, the Russian Com- missioner to formally deliver the territory to the United States, soon arrived et Waahington with the necessary instruc- tions. When the handsome Russian ca- yaJ captain with his warlike trappings appeared with the minister at the de- partment to pay his respects and show his credentials the Secretary afterward re- marked: "You see, the proceedings arc going forward. We would hke to have the money first, tut the ceremony will go on. It will take some time to arrange the details, but they will go on." In the early days of the autumn month of October, 1869, the United States steam sloop Ossipee, Captain George P. Em- mons, escorted in her historic voyage by the United States vessels of war Rcsaca, Captain Bradford, and Jamestown, Gav- tain McDougal, proudly bore north- ward, into the solitudes o^ the Alaskan Gulf, the colors of the Republic to be raised in token of dominion over the vast domain north of Portland dhannel. Her commander, a native of Vermont, had devoted much of his active seafaring life to the Pacific seas. He had been in the Wilkes exploring ex- pedition in the Antarctic and Pacific I WONDERLAND >y the iiaseau nister aot oc- onth, ■in flag of au- hiaul- r their before nd the Oceans, 1838-41. He had commanded a survoying cruise in the Pacific islands, having frequent engagements with the natives. He led a successful exploration of the regions south of the Columbia to the hePtdwateis of the Sacramento and throur^h CaJifovnia to San Francisco, in 1841, having had numerous conflicts v.-itfa the savages, and performed heroic sea and shore duty in Uppt>r and Loweo" Oaliforuia during the war with Mexico. Also on the vessel was Brigadier Gen- eral Lovell H. Rosseau, the American Commissioner. That officer, a Kentuck- ian by birth, had settled in Indiana and soon after entered the Ix\!risilatuTe. In the wefe with Mexico, in the b«ttle of Buena Visita, he lost one-third of the men of hia company, but falling back to the hacienda held the position, thus contribut- ing largely to that brilliant victory. Upon hia return he was elected to the Indiana Senate, but removing to Kentucky, be- came a staunch friend of the Union. He was chosen coloneil of the Fifth Kentucky VoJunteers and rose to Brigadier Greneral in Buell's army. He fought gallantly at Shiloh and was promoted to major gen- eral for bravery at Perryville in October, 1862. AftrT the close of the war, having been elected to Congress as representative from Kentucky in July, 1866, he became involved in a knock-down encounter on the floor of the Hou^e with a fellow-mem- ber, Josiah B. Grinnell, of Iowa, for which he was publicly censured, and re- signed. Having enlisted the friendship of An- drew Johnison by testifying in his behalf in the impeaohlment trial, he was made Brigadier General und Brevet Major Gen^ eral in the Unite? conMiioiiiy of transfer was iirranK*''!. The 18th f wan one which \v«' miffht expect in the same month in tlie latitude of New England. Tlio temi>era- ture stood at 54 flcpre'.*. The littf" cap- ital Sitka stretdied in isoliiteil patchtns along the low strip of land on the west, with Mount Edgecumbc, the landmark of the bay, towering nbove to the dizzy height of 8,000 feet. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon the troops from the Ninth United States n- fantry, naval officers, seamen and mat- iues, in full uniform, in launclios fiMiii tho three men-of-war iK'gnn to movi' in nmrtial airay toiward the slioro. (Jen- rral Davis, with the gnard of honor, twenty TJnited States soldiers from the Second Artillery, bearing the United States flag, took the lead. In the meantime the Russian garrison of 100 men umlrr Captain Ilcrotistz. in dark blue uniform, red facings and tli^t glazed caps, marched to the Governor's houisp and formed on the right of the Government flagstaff. The Uniteil Statin trooiw from the landing took position on the left of the Btaff, the Russians present- ing arms as they passed. The Ru.s*or moment Captain Pestchouroff signalled to lower the Rus- sian flag. As soon as tlic Imperial <>ivl- ors began to descend tho roar of a gun from the United States warship 0»isii>ee reverberated across the water. It was immediately answereotli nations prt'»«'ivtiin>; arniM. Captain r«Htchouroft', •tepping forward, addreMicd tlie Am«Tican Commia»ionor; "By tlie nutlioiity of Hi* Majesty, the KmiKTor of nil the Rusninfl, I transfer t« you as apent of the United States the territory and dominion now poMeised by Hi-t Majo.sity on tiw contin*'!)! (^f Ainciici and on the adjacent islands accordinj; to the treaty made between the two jroveni- monts." General Ro^l■•ea.u, respondinif. said: "I accept from you as agont of His Maj- esty, the Emperor of all the Russia*, the territory and dominion which you have transferred to me as Oommissioncr on the part of the Unitefl State* to receive the same." Tlie Star Simnjrled Banner of iho !{<•- public was bent to the Tialyarda by two American sailors. A midshipman of the United State* and the 15-yoar-oM son of the American Oommiasioner bejyan to raise the ensiicn «\)wly to the top of the staff. As it beg'an to rise and unfurl its folds a giioi boomed forth from the Rus- sian batteries. A moment later back echoed a responsive roar from the United States vessels-of-war. Thuis jiltf^rnatinK. gun for gun, the flag of the Republic was raised aloft unjtil 2\ were fired by cuh in ratification of the jurisdiction of the Constitution, laws and treaties of the United States over a region as vast in area mt France, Germany and Spain com- bined. It was amo»g the incidents of the occa- sion to note the heroic composure of the Princess MaksoutofE during the cere- nonies. After the flag of her Emperor had dis- appeared for ever from its place of maj- esty and dominion on the American Con- tinent she retired to her apartments and wept bitterly, TThe Russian oflficia! household and civil and military personnel returned to their quarters to prepare for their retura to their home and country across the broad Pacific. The Undted States troops estab- 55 ■1 rrr 1 i OUR ALASKAN lished themaelTes in the vacated de- feiuwe. Ever since, sunrise revielle in that far nortb'^rr land ha.g prreetcd the unfurling flag of the Rejniblic as the emblem of American dominion. With thie marcli oi oniterprise the region has been opened to industries an land and and watei-. The liag of the Republic now waves from Portland chanael to Point Barrow, on the Polar Sea. American vessels of war, revenue and commerce now traverse Alaskan Avatei-a. on established lines of duty and traffic. Thie people, not only of the UnltPd Staites, but of the civilizetl world, now await the marvelous revelations which the future twelve months may bring forth. 1 / '< ( 11 m *nt?raWir.y^KiTC^ twp*:'." WONDERLAND cated de- i that far unfurling mblem of the region : land and nblic now to Point American aeree now stablished le UnitPd ■)rld. now which the : forth. Tart Tactics, wasm OUR ALASKAN luf I LETTER NUMBER V. A Parliamentary Battle Royal for Alaska. How the $7,200,000 Purchag* Money Was Won. While a Minority Qalbbled for Extra-Con- stitational Prerogatives the Limitation Expired. All Might Have Been I WONDERLAND irland V. loyal for Purchast Extra-Con- mitation w It Iy Andivw nnseverod construct etl dtuent as- ople, com- noovp CMilths nornvealths of the Re- s then ter- twenty-six fast in the ad seceded and were wot yet admitted to representa- tion, and three States partially so by ac- tion of the House, judging of the quali- fications of its own members. The perplexing subject of reconstruc- tion of the Union so far as the restora- tion of the represenitatioin of the seceded Sta4;es in Congress was concerned still largely engrossed the attention of both: Houses. With at least four-fifths of the person- nel I had a personal acquaintance aod recall vividly their characteristics and physioal appearancea, foibles and capabili- ties. This fact seemed to impress itself with noticeable force upon the adroit man «t the helm j)f international relations during the most intricate and dangerous period .since the time of English arrogance and French a«sumptions in the beginning of the century. It constituted a leverage of closer acquaintance and a certain amount of freedom of conversation whiidi otherwise might not have existed, even with the prestige of a foremost metropoli- tan journal at my back and a natural pief- erenee for nntivity and residence. It was not difficult to gratify the in- quisitorial methods of conversation of th.e great Secretary, but to receive informa- tion in return was more so on account of his instinctively secretive habit. It was not umaisual to find myself the interviewee instead of the intorviewer, and to leave his interesting presence but little wiser than I went and with a self- eonsciou.s:>ess of having been well "pumped." Upon these occasions the Secretary, however, never wavered in his confidence of ultimate success. "I have aU faith, said he, "in the honor of the American people. Public seoitiment will demand the carrying out of the pecuniary consid- erations of the cession. No one of im- partial judgment can honestly question the exclusive right of the Executive to negotiate and the Seuote to ratify treaties with foreign powers. There can be nothing left in honor for the House but to appropriate the money. It having 59 OUR ALASKAN received the vise so to speak of thie upper House acting in an ladvisory and con- senting capacity with the Executive." As I have already mentioned, the con- vention for the ocssiou of the Russian Dependencies in North America to the United States of America was concluded Marclh 30th, 1867. The Senate, part of the treaty-making power under the na- tioioal Constitution, was summoned inljo executive session by the Presideirt to con- sider that convention and to take suchi ac- tion as its judgment might determine. One of the foremost champions of rati- fication was Charles Summer, a Senator of the United States from Massachusetts. His speech on the ceded territory from an international, strategic, political, ->ivH and economic point of view, will ever stand as a lasting tribute to his g'ory as an orator, a statesman and a patriot. The convention having been ratified, tlie nec- essairy two-thirds of the Senators pres- ent concurring, a quorum being present, the ratiticationis were exchanged June 20thi, 1867, and the convention was pro- claimed on the same day. The sixth article of that convention stipulated "in consideration of the ces- sion" the United States agreed "to pay at the Treasury in Washington ten months after the exchange of ratifica- tions" * * "to the diplomatic representa- tive or other agent of His Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias, duly auithor- izfvd to receive the isame. $7,200,000," &c. The first session of the Fortieth Con- gress after sharing in the eontentioua spirit which had arLsien between the Ex- ecutive and Legislative departments of the Government on March 30th, the day of tlhe conclusion of the Russian conven- tion, adjourned to July 3d. After a con- tinuation of the same tactics with in- creasing tension during this fragment^yf the session on the 20th of the sanxe month, tb** Congress adjourned to No- vember 21st. Ul>()n assoinblinig again for the third time in eight moniths, C. C. Washiburn. of WLsieousin. who always reminded nn' of am over-gi"own school boy, drew the lines 60 r< WONDliJRLAND hie upper md oon- ive." the oon- RuHsian . to the soaclud'cd part of the na- )n!ed into it to con- suchi ac- emuiiio. 8 of rati- , Senator ichiisetts. from on Tivil and per stand (ry as an lot. The , the nec- to.rs pres- g present, iged June was pro- •onvenition f the ces- d "to pay igton ten • ratifiea- epn^enta- ijesty, the ilv authoir- 1.000," &c. tieth Con- ■ontenitioua n the Fjx- ■tmenta of li, the day i.n cjonven- tter a con- i wHh in- 'apmentjyf the snnie ed to No- the third iifshiburn. of ded me of V the lin«?s i of a contoist on a resolution that In the "Present finanicial condition of the coun- try any more purchases of territory f;,re inexpedient and this House will feel itself under no obligation, to vote money to pay for any isuch pm'chiaises unless there shall be more urgent and pressing necessity than now exists." Although the i"iCtful chairman of the Committee on. Foreign Affairs, Gen. Na- thaniel P. Bank.s, a man of the people, objectetl, the resolution wais paiased by a decisive vote. Its author, however, disclaimed any npi)lication to "Walrussia," as he termed that region in bis antiquated n^menicla- ture, but to the pending negotiations with Denmark for St. Thomas and the group of the Virgin Isles. He sihouted that he would serve notice om Denmark that we would not pay; 9fcill louder be served "notice on the world thiat we would not pay for acquisitions not demanded." No doubt the wotrld heard and made "note on't." This final fragment of the firsit (sx>ecial) .session of the Fortieth Congress seemed to have caught the idea of American des- tiny, which was so realistically brought forwani in the Russian asquisition and the proposed purchase of St. Tliomas. On the »ame day George F. Miller, of the Harrisburg district of Pennsylvania, introfluced a joint ntsolution to annex Mexico to the United States. Earlier in the session Gen. Banks, chair- man of the Committee on Foreign Af- fairs, introduced a joinf resolution "re- garding ;vitb solicitude tlw projiosed con- federation of the Provinces on the North- ern frontiers of the Unitefl Stfltes from ocean to ocean without consulting the peo pie to be united uixxn monarcliial ^ritv ciples in contravention of the traaitions and principles of this Government tending to incrcVJse the embarra.'»sments already exis-tii'g between the two Governments." Aft.^r an interesting colloquy the joint re>S';iution pnssed without a 'ii\'sion. Mr. Wa^burn, of "Wisconsin, took time 61 - - OVR ALASKAN :i| If 1 M it! I ill -m to oppose a resolution in favor of the Irialh Fenians. Mr. Miller, of Pennisylvania, again took lip the parliamentary cudgels in a joint resolution on the day of final adjoiimment of this "extraordinary" seission for "th« purchase amd annexation to the United States, of British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, provided it could be ac- complished upon such fair and honorable terms as might be satisfactory to both na- tions." This "J. R." by reference, found its way into the parliamentary catacombs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, but ita resuscitation in the prospective develop- ments of that quarter of the hemisphere, in touch with American institutions and American citizens, may be found nearer at hand than now appears in the proces- sion of events. I have already had occasion to allude to t!he views of William H. Seward himself, expressed three years later in th« clxief city of that very region. The very red-faced, rotund arls/to- craitic patriot of the Democratic persua- sion, John V. L. Pruyn, gave the Badger 8t4ites)main one under the chin, figuratively speaking, in a suggestion that if the ma- jority had listened to the snggostion of the minority (his party associates in the House) the Treasury "would have saved fifty times enough, to pay for Russifani America, St. Thomas and all other pur- chases of foreign territory contemplatetl This enlightened gentleman of the old school thought national honor, national by the Government." position and natiomal strength demanded it, but he also desired to extend American institutions over the whole continent. Aftei" all these gloi-ious pyrotechnics "on the floor" we find him dodging tlio vote when the passage of the appropriation was reached. Thiere resulted miioh parliamentary sparring on a proposition of the stately Wood, Fernando, of New York, on the reservation to the House of "the right to judge of the necessity acd propriety of 62 < 1 WONDERLAND »r of thie fain took a joint Imminent I for "the United incliHling lid be ac- lonorable botai na- d its way « of the but ita develop- mi sphere, tionis and id nearer le proces- allude to d himself, th« chief -d aaisfto- ic persua- le Badger gniratively if the mn- tion of the tes in the ayo saved r Russiaiii other pur- Ltemplatetl of the old •, nationial demanded American continent, shnics "on r tlie vote iatiou was iamentairy le stately •k, on the i(> riffht to opriety of making disbuirsements of the public money without reference to any action of the President and Seniaite in the acquisi- tion of territOTy under that clause of the Oonstitution which vests in them the power to make treaties with foreign na- tions." The second session of the Fortieth Con- gress ssembled on December 3d, 18G7. In the referenice of the President's message to the committees that portion calling at- tention to the payment of the amount sipulated in the convention with Russia, gave rise to a parliamentary quibble in w^hich Gen. Ben F. Butler, of Massachu- setts; E. B. Washburn of Illinois, and G. C. Washburn, of Wisconsin, were notori- OtOB, Mr. Washburn, of Wisconsin, opened in a studied effort, designed to be funmy at the expeiuse of Secretary Seward and the Ruissian convention, and also over the negotiations with Denmark for the Vir- gin Isles for a naval atationt "Thiad" Stevens, a man of xwwerful physique, with a sledge-hammer method of logic, the undisputed leader of the Re- publican side, hobbled down the aisle on his club foot and threw a bomb among the factious spirits by declaring that the treaty had been negotiated anid confirmed by the Senate and therefore the House had no alternative but to vote the money." The satme doctrine was held by Mr. J. V. Ij. Pruyn, of New York, a leader on the Democratic side. At this juncture that long and lank (Specimen of an East Tennesseean, Horace Maynard, President Hayes' Post- master General three years latea*, befogged the querulous Washburn by rt-imarking that "no doubt England seeing the embar- rassment would take the bargain off our han-la and pay both Russia and us a bonus. He vvouM inquire from the gentleman from Wisconsin whether he would be will- ing to see such an eventuality." 'i'^he gentleman from the Badger State, not to be badgered on his own preserves, gazed in silence upon the loaded Guger of 63 OUR ALASKAN scorn ixtinted at him by the gentleman frcwn Tennessee. The same Waishburn took another sinoh in his windsiail, complaining that the treaty wais conducted in secrecy— that the country was surpi'ised when it was an- nounoed — that no man (including his opaque self of course) had asked for it- no public sentiment was in its favor (which was untrue)— no newspapers sup- ported it (wihich was unti'ue; the New York Herald, of which I was a represen- tative, was one of its foremost chiaimpions of the preisis, and so were many others). He then paid his respects to the Sec- retary of State for "having exhausted the regions of ice and snow now tuminp: hia attention to tlie tropics," all of whidh branched out into a rigmarole which some- what impeached bis own knowledge of the geography of his own hemisphere. The cihtairman on Foreign Affairs hav- ing called him down on his information concerning the contents of a confidential Senate document, he tried to explain that he came by it honestly, from, which he branched into an account of how the new IK>sisession8 were visited by Russian ex- ploi'ers, all of wlhioh wais unknown to him- self and consequently to the people of the United States till discovered by the Sec- retary of State. He referred to Jay's British treaty in the House in 1794 and to Jefferson as admitting that the Louis- iana purchase had no warrant in the Con- stitution, but he justified it by imperious necessity. The iwJdtieal confusion in Congress be- tween the Executive Mansion and the Capitol, growing out of the President's "My Policy" programme, which had threatened as early as the Thirty-ninth Congress an effort to impeach, was rapidly hastening to a crisis. On January 30tb, 1868, the ten months limitation in the pecimiary stipulations of the convention of cession terminated. It was apparent that Secretary Seward had anticipated delay not so much on ac- count of any peal danger of defeat when the vote was reached, but owing to the 64 I! WONDERLAND leman sittoh the t the aiir his ■r it- favor sup- New resen- rplona rs). Sec- ed the as his whicib some- of the temper of Ooogress toward the Presidenit. To meet this emergency he had asked an extension of time, which was granted by the Russian Emperor. The controversy with the President cul- minated in the House on March 2d, 1868, when the House of Representativea ex- hibited artiolies of impeachment in the name of themselves and loIl the people of the United States against Andrew Johji- sou, President of the United States, in maintenance and support of their im- peachment lagainst him for high crimes and misdemeanors in office. Thesie proc<>eding8 began on March 13th, and on May 26th foililowing the President was acquitted by a vote, not guilty, 35; guiJty, 19; or three Itess than the neces- sary two thirds. Pending the sessionsi of the High Court of Impeachmeoit in the upper wing of the Capitoil, General DanJks, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, on May 18th reported in the lower wing a bill, H. R. 1096, making an appropriaition of money to carry into- effect the treaty of March 30th, 1867 with Russia, with the majority report and asked permission for the minority to submit their report, also the correspondence granting an extension of time by Ruissia, The debate began on June 30th, 1868, in committee of the whole House, James A. Garfield in the chair. General Banks, clmirmau of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, opened the discussion in behalf of the bill'. After mnch speaking on both sides the vote was taken on July 14th, af- ter a fortniglit's parliamentary man- oeuvring and talk. During this period divers proiwsitione by way of amendmeni asserting cer- tain uneonstitutionol claims of the tnu-ely Tegisiative branch of Congress were submitted by an unthinking minor- ity. It would be a waste of time to enumerate these whereases and resolves which were purely superei-ogatory. Thaddeus Stevpirs, of Pennsylvania, took occasion to read a sharp lecture to the infringers of the Conatitution. Said (id :.h' 1 I 'J •'I. iJl ,.( OUR ALASKAN ll .| I !i(. '^ h«' in his sententioua way aad in that po- culiiar rasping voice: "Every provision of the constitution is perfect— one depart- ment cannoi; encroach upon another — the President and Senate make troaitiea with no reference to o^her powers in the Gov- ernment. When the Senate ratify and it is ppoollaimed it it a treaty and perfect. * * * When was the Hous« to be called upon to intervene, when they first began? That wa» never heard of. When the terms were offered? That was never heard of. When the terms were agreed upon and it went before the Senate for ra'tifieation, was this body then to be call- ed in to State their objections? Such a thing was never heard of. We are to do certain things and Russia undertook to do certain other things. She has done them land we have not. Shall we re- pudiate our part of the obligation. That, sir, is the whole question." The effect was conclusive. The vote on the passage of the bill stood yeas, 113; nays, 43; not voting, 44. On the «arne day the bill was received in th« Senate from the House. On July 17th Oharles Sumner, chiair- man of the Committee on Foreign Rela- tions, moved to take up the House bill. The Senate having stnick out most of tlie House form substituted the simple words: "That there be and hereby is ap- propriated * * $7,200,000 in coin to ful- fill the stipulations contained in the sixtlh articlie of th« treaty with Russia, con- cluded at Washington," etc. The substitute passed without a di- vision. After several attempts to reconcile the differences in conference, on July 23d, General Banks, presenting the report to the House, demanded the previous ques- tion, whiclh was ordered 74 to 48. The quibblers for the unconstitutional interference of the House were on their feet yelling for recognition, Washburn, of Illinois, and Butler, of Massachusetts, shouting in unison, "an entire surrender of the House." Paine, of Wisconsin, 66 l^S WONDERLAND ^ po- sion >art- -the nth l«ov- lid it * tiled bin? thie moved to lay the report oa the table, whidh was defeated. In the midst of the uproar on agreeing to the conference report the vote stood yeas, 91; nays, 48; and not voting 77. On July 25th, 1808, the Senate hav- ing concurred, the PresidPMi pro tern, of the Senate, bluff old lienjamin P. Wade, of Ohio, aind the Speaker of the House, "all - nilofi" Schuyltea: Colfax, of Indiana, haviiij; signed the bill it was promptly approved by the President. It will be interesting later to throw the search-lights of subsequent events upon the personality of this remarkable par- liiamentary struggle. I 67 i. y ii |!i As In a f. LETTER NUMBER VI. A Pretty Kettle of Fish From the Alaskan Parliamentary Locker. Banks, Bontweil, Dawes, Garfield, Samnel 6. Randall, Thau dens Stevens, Windom and 106 Others Said Yea. T^ Allison, "Ben" Batler, Covode, Delano and 39 Others Said Nay. James O. Blaine, AVm. D. Kellejr and l^i Othen Were Artftil Dodgers. It '■« iostnictive in the light of events to take u look back to the eircuuistanoins and results whidi attended the course, through, tiie 4()th Congriiss of the Uniu-d Stales, of the bill to api>rox)ria.te the purehose money for the vast i-egioiiis along the western shores of the We&tern Hemi- sphere north of laititude 54-40 degi-ees north and v/est of teui marine leagues along the ooaist northward to Mount St. Bliais amd lontgitude 141 degrees west, 69 OUR ALASKAN I I: arm<'re, a State, remarkable to say, wuich did not casit a single vote in favor of the treaty, now lauded withi such wide-world honor, appai-ently a Representative in the Portietlh. Congress, siaiid that "no man .Tis'ked for the treaty." William H. S^nvard, a citizen of tiie United States, occupying an official post of high trust, sued for it on behalf of the welfare of his countiy then and now and hereafter, and in the name of the whole people possibly, excepting the pent-up Da Crosse ci-ooker. "Tliat there was no sontinieut in its favor." There was sufficient to carry tiie appropriation through the lower Houise of Congress, despite his machinations by a majority of seventy votes over these vot- ing and a clear majority of twenty-six over the combined strengthi of the uu- piitriotic nays and the dodgers. Among the thirty States then repre- sented twenty-five gave it the solid or ma- jority support of their respective delega- tions voting. That the treaty was "conducted in se- crecy" was correct. All of them aie. That it was "a surprise" as alleged by the gentleman from La Crosse follows as a logical sequence of his firsit proposition. With the exception of the genitknnan from La Crosse and forty-three others in the body of which he w.ss a riembei', by the time a vote was reached on the ap- 71 I i lij ( .,■.' OVR ALASKAN propriatioin, nearly sixteen months nfter, there w&» manifested a public .sentiment vvihiichi niiist have sftaggered the obtuse champion of iuternatioiiial dishonor. In fact to siieh an extent that the gentleman from La Crosse found himself among the dodgers when, the ci'isis was reached. And now as we have heard from tiie gtMi- tlemaii from I^a Cros«e, let us take a glance at the view« of a gentleman of thp Unitetl Sta+es of America, in the sai-it- Congress from Findlay, then representing; a distinct aind the State of Ohio in senti- ment. Thiis gentleman, a jouraalivsit, a soldier, a legisilator and a patriot in order "•to ease the apprehenisionis" of the gentleman from La Oi'osse made, on the floor of the House, a propositioip "to pay within tweuity days after th** assent of Congress was given to the purcihiase. to the Governmeit $10,000,- 000 in gold for the territory of Alaska in fee simple, leaving the right of eminent domain in the United St^itea." In regard to the allegations of virTh- lessness, sterility, bairenness and huLJdi- ty, he had official reports "to siiow that they were wholly unsustained." He re- minded tlhle geoitlomaui from Wisconsin that some of his pessimistic friends before him said thaiL California was worthless, could not .sustain a population, and now he wais reiteraiting that stock argument. The Golden Commonwealth answered for lileirself. By accepting the treaty we caged tho Britiwh Lion on the Pacific Cotust, we erli>pled t.lnat great, and grasping monopoly the Hudisoni Bay Company which con- trols the fur trade of North America, "en- riching themselves and the British Gov- ernment at the exi)ense of what ought and justly does belong to the Anaerican ix'ople." California sends out millions, he said, of rthiining gold "every year and enornioiuH clips of wool. Potatoes aud flour were brought from Chili in 1852— California in 1867 feeds a large iWTtion of the i>opula- tion of tliie Pacific Coas^t anTe (Wamhinpton) to t'du- carte the coloired man, but thoy canoiiit give a few dollars for a territory with gi- gantic forests, rich in ^ivineral resource'i, inexihiaustible fisheries, beds of hnj-d cf :!, and which will furnish homes and occupation, competence and wealth for millions of our i)eople for ages to come." The patriotic gentleman, continuinig, »aid: "The Russian diplomiats are fax- soeing and shrewd. The" know, Rs does every one who is a close observer of his- tory, that the muse'es of the British lion are weakening. His growl or roar is not so terrible as formerly. The governmenit of that country is on the wane. Russia would be onr firm ally in a war with England — Englajiid's star has passed its zeaith. Russia will one day, and that at no distant period, control! England's Asi- atic possessions. When that happens, «s a natural consequence the United States will take possession of the Bahama and all the British West India Islandis, Cana- da will fall in our liap like a ripo apple. Spain's possessions oc the continent must be ours. Tlie two great powers' on the parth will be Russia and the United States." Tii"' observations of the gentlemian of the United States from Findlay had their weight in completely ob'dtoratiug thie Alaskan horoscope of the gentleman frcm Ija Cross. After years of progress in the worhi''^ affairs they have the force of prophecy. There were other speeches of deep ii>- terest and weight in support of the mia.s- terly diplomatic achievement ot William H. Seward in his official ^lapaicity 9"d there were others very windy and noisy on the other side. Those which I have given were regarded at the time tus fair- ".ty representing the pros and eons of the quesl^iou. 73 i T .■^■^»'**f"^!**W»*< 4 f OVR ALASKAN The call of the roll of the House of Representatives of the Fortieth Ooi>gres8, arranged by States and clasisified accord- ing to the usual geographie^l sections, for the yea« and nays on H. II. 1096 appro- priating $7,200,000 for the purchase of Alaisba, presents some singular reve- lations of the short-sightodness of inen even of ability, who bubble up to the suir- f,ncr> of public aff.'iirs. We begin with New England and the State of Maine, which occupies the east- ern ais Alaska does the westorn extremity of the national jurisdiction. TTie New England States, 5; rotes, 27; yeas. 17; nays, 7; not voting, 3. Mnin'o, Representatives, 5; nays, 4; not voting. 1. New Hanapshire, Representatives, 3; nays, 2: not voting, 1. Vermont, Representatives, 3; yeas, S. Massachusetts, Representatives, 10; yeas, 9; nays, 1. Rhode Island, Representatives, 2; yeas, 2. Connecticut, Representatives, 4; yeas, 3: not voting, 1. It will doubtless surprise most citi- zens at this day to contemplate such a progressive section with the heritage of Lexington and Ticonderoga casting any- thing but a solid aflirmative vote on a question of niational honor and desitiny. It is to the credit of Massachusetts that her only negative vote was that of ?. well-known demagogue. B. F. Buiieir. wihile on the side of national expansion, were found such names as Samuel Hoo^)- er, Nathaniel P. Banks, George S. Bout- well, John D. Baldwin and Henry L. Dawes. Vermont and "Little Rhody" cast their soMd mites for their country's glory. Maine's favorite son, James G. Blain/e, dmlged the issue by not voting. Tlie Middle x\^tlantic States, 4; votes. 61; yens. 33; nays, 13; not voting. 15. Nev\ Yorl, Represpntwtlves, 31; yeas, 18; nays, 4: i ot ^otinig, 9 New Jersey, Representatives, 5; yeas, 2; nays, 1; not voting, 2. 74 1 • ■i* T^ WONDERLAND ■«;l Pennsylvania, Represen'tatiTe*, 24; yeas, 12; nays, 8; not voting, 4. DtMaware, Representatives. 1; yeas, 1. The foremost Commonwealth of the Uniion with her vast commercial interests stood well by tli4' sliip of Stnfo. Tlic foremost manufacturing Oommon- woalth with her interost in the expansion of markets for her abundant and varietl metallurgical and other products of me- chanical indnstrj', with Illinois, cast tihe largest negative vote. lyittle Delaware, like all her sisitor Rtatos, of Florida. K^insa.s. Nebrasika. Nevada ami Oregon, which then had but one vote each, cast their mites on the side of the future greatness of their country. The Middl^e Western States. 5; votes, 50; yeas, 25; nays, 18; not voting, 12; not recorded. 1. Ohio. Represent a tiveiS', 19; yeas, 10; nays. 5; not voting. 4. Indiana, Represontativt^, 11; yeas. 5; nays. 3; not voting. 2; Schuyler Oolfax, Speaker, not rx'corded. Illinois, ReprosentatiT-es, 14: yeas, 3; nnys, 8; not voting. .3. ^liehigan. Representatives. 6; /eas, 4; not voting. 2. Wwconsdn. Repfv^sentatives, 6; yeis, 3; wiys. 2: not voHiiir. 1. It is remarkablf^ that sucli great Hom- monwe ilths a>< the five ^^numerated slonld have ]>eeo pliar*^ on nvurd l<^<.s credit.ibly than their enterprise and piibMc spirit in pitace or war would warrant. The n.ntiiral sense of their own welfare with the Mis.s- inwiippi Riv^r ami the Great I>akes a •e •if uiiiliniitcd • ■ 'i'i;i';ilif Ruch men as Robert C. Scbenck, AVilliam Mnngen and .IanK"«i .V. Onrtirld. of no ef- fect HI keeping off rh<> n'ht4'.t voting, 1. Virginia, 8 districts; unreconstructed. North Carolinia, 8 districts; Representa- tives, 5; yeas, 4; not voting, 1; not elected, 3. South OaiTolIna, 6 districts; unrecon- wtructed. Georgia, 7 distridts; unreconstructed. Florida, Repreaent'atives, 1; yeas 1. Alabama, 7 districts; unreconstructed. 76 WONDERLAND Missisfcippn, 5 districts; uttreoonStPucted. lyoiiisiana, 4 districts; unreconstructfid. Texas, 2 districts; rnreeonstructed. The Southern Border State®, 4; votes, 23; yeas, 17; iiiays, 1; not voting, 4; not elected 1. Weist Virginia, Representatives, 3; yeas, 2; not voting, 1. Kentucky. 9 districts; Representatives, 8; yeas, G; nay«, 1; not voting, 1; not eleoted, 1. Tennewseie, Represonltatives, 8; yeas, 7; not voting, 1. Arkansas, Representatives, 3; yeas, 2; not voting. 1. It has been the traditional policy of our fellow citizens of the South so far as hi*- tory records, to favor territorial expan- sion. This laudable public sentiment ui'ny be the natural offspring of the patriotic spirit and local interest which moved tlieni in our niational wars with Spain iu Florida and Mexico in Texas, and th-e pdacefui acquisition >f Louisiana by pur- chase from France. In the two former the security of the Southern border was menaced. In the latter the commerciaJ autonomy sr.'S welfare of the vast region covered by tlue Miseisisippi and its tribu- taries wais at stake. The total vot# cast for th» bill appix)- ppiaiting $7,200,000 for th« purchase of Alaska was 200, of that number 113 were for the appropriation, namely: Republi- eana, 80; Democrats, 33. Tlie number op- posed to the appropriatioin was 43, name- ly: Republicans, 41; Democrats, 2. Those not vating, Republicans, 32; Demo- crats, 12. Of the 87 not recorded in the affirmative including the dodgers, 73 were Republicans and 14 were Democrats. It is not difficult to draw conclusions from •uch an object lesson. It is sui>posable in the light of precedent that had the un- reconstructed States of the South been in position to vote, the great diplomatic achievement of William H. Seward, Sec- retary of State, in securing to the Union an acquisition imperial in extent and un- exploited wealth would have been ratified by an even moire overwhelmittg support 77 .1 )'I4 ; 1i|l ■i '11 ll : i ' .1 OVB ALA8KAN »{ the Repreientfttive* of the aovemjpn people of the whole Union. The following table will show at a glance the attitude of the States as well ais of polLtif^al partieg toward this great event in the munifest destiny of the United State*. Not Ye«(i. Xuys. Votlngr State. R. D. B. D. It. D. To al Aliabama,* - - - Arkamsas, 2 . . Oalifomia, 1 2 Connecticut 1 2 Delaware, 1 Florida, 1 Georgia,* Illinois, 1 2 Indiaim, 4 1 Iowa, 1 . . Kausas, 1 . . Kentucky, (5 Ijouiaiana, * Maine, Maryland 1 3 Massachusetts, . . D . . Michigan 4 . . Mlnmnsota 2 . . Mi«8i.s8ippi,* Missouri 2 . . Nebraska, 1 . . Nevada, 1 . . New Hampshire, . . . . N»w Jersey, 2 New York, 12 6 8 3 2 1 4 1 2 4 1 4 North. Carolina. . 4 Ohio, 9 1 41 Oregon, 1 Pennsylvania, . . 8 4 8. Rhode Island, . . 2 South Carolina,* Tennessee, 6 1 . . . 1 Tezas> * Vermont, 3 Virginia,* West Virginiia, . . 2 1 Wisconsin, 2 1 2 . 1 3 3 4 1 1 14 a 10 6 1 8 o 5 10 6 2 2 2 9 1 1 8 5 31 5 19 1 24 2 8 8 6 Total, 80 33 41 2 32 12 200 *Unreconfltmcted. a S«huyler Colfax, Speaker, not i-eoord- ed. >wo«*iniHiUi wondebla:sd I! Of the original thirteen States, ten Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia be- ing un represented, cast yt^oa, 55; nays, 16; not voting, 19. In the Senate, the ti'^aty having been ratified by tliat Iwdy by the requisite two- thirds vote, in executive seaaion acting in its constitutional advisory capacity with the Executive department of the Goverament, the discutusion of the House bill was naturally very brief. Charlefi Sumner, of Ma£i»achu»etts, chairman of the Commiittee on Foreign ReFations, had charge of the treaty and made a speech in its support which was not only a most able and exhaustive ef- fort, but conclusively disproved the alle- gaition of Representaitive Washburn, of LaCross, Wisconsin, tliat nothing was known of the region except possibly by Mr. Washburn himself. Upon the receipt of the bill from the House, it was in the us al routine referred; reported back to the Senate with a snbstitute, went back to the House, was disagreed to; went to conference; was adjusted after mutual concessions and the conference report was concurred in by the Houses. Thence it went to the President, by whom it w'as promptly approved. The money was then paid in the Treasury De- piartment and the first chapter in the great intern ait ional transaction closed. The wonder of the world seems destined to view w'hat follows. n Alaskan DiscovefVi F OurHlasb Wonderland ' ifi LETTER NUMBER \II. ^' A Story of the Frigid Zone. From the Amorons Pair on the Euphrates to the Fierce War- riors of the Amoor. MID-OCEAN GRAVE OP VITUS BERING The Croakera Kefruln and a Stateaman's Phlloaopliy. There were no questions of expediency nor of physical or atrategic advantages to accrue from the Ruasian-Ajnerican ces- sion which had not received the closest scrutiny and investigation from William H, Seward before he entered into nego- tiations. And yet from the tempest of the contemporary croakers it might have been concluded that the treaty was the merest haphazard affair, entered into to strengthen the tinanoial condition of the Russian excliequer and to gratify a cer- tain degree of sentimentalism which had sprung up between the two naitions. It was even hinted that Mr. Seward, having become entangled in the meshes of "my policy," propoimded by President Johnson, having thereby lost many of the politiaal friendSiips of Ji lifetime, resort- ed to this bold stroke of diplomacy to di- vert pubiic opinion and retire from public 81 n \i b "isS T IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 !fi 2.5 I.I us II 20 1.8 1.25 1.4 Photographic Sciences Corporation 1.6 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 i/l OUR ALASKAN station with a name foremost among the etotesmen of his day. There were eroaJkeis in the Fortieth Congress n» there had been in Washing- ton's day and ever since, and always will be. The "chief croaker" as he was termed in cabinet circles, at the time to which I refer, was General Oadwallader O. Washburn, who occupied a segment of that family circle in that Congress. The General, a m«.n of ponderous build, had been in Grant's army and reached the grade of Major Greneral, although no si>ecifications are given as to why so high a rank. His burden of complaint, al- though he dodged the vote on the passage of tht bill, H. R. 1096, was that the treaty had been negotiaited in secret and was a surpriise to him and to the whole country. "Me and the whole country," was about the size of the doughty General's meas- ure of his relation to public affairs. Secretary Seward, doubtless having in mind one of the Wisconsin Washburn's diatriibes, one day remarked in his oft practical diplomatic irouy: "Friend Wash- burn seems to think tiiat treaties are ne- gotiated with trumpets also, and shawms," laughingly adding, "and with loud instruments which make a noise." Upon one occasion referring to the frigid girdle of mother earth's waist Ir. Seward again demonstrated the profundi- ty and detail of his .esearch, at this time, ettinologically cpeaking with reference to Alaskan latitudes. He grew quite varied and eloquent in showing what these same regions in Europe and Asia had done for the human family and pro- gress. The accepted idea of the geneological accent of man halts at the primitive pair supposed to have had their Edenic ex- periences in the Valley of the Euphrates, about 34 degrees north, in latitude with the north coast of Africa, Wilmington, North Carolina, and Los Angeles, Cali- fornia. Another popularly accepted event, the racial distribution of man, took blace from the grounded ark on Ararat's iT.OOO- 82 } WOyOEBLAND foot summit ou the line of latitude 40 de- grees north, which pflJ9sing through the Bay of Naples, takes in PWladelphia on the Atlantic amd Cape Mendicino, Califor- nia, on the Pacific littorals, in its endr- eling tour of the globe. Accepting these vague narrations as every day facts, it will possibly shake such popular teachings to assert that Alaskan latitudes of the same mundane sphere have fumislied the progenitors of some of the best and some of the fiercest tjT)e» of the humian family. It was in the Siberian regions of the northeastern corner of Asia, along the ■■-Kkhotsk Sea, and the Kamtchiatkan pen- insula, the eastern shore of that sea being our own Alaskan littoral, whence issued the hordes of warlike Mongols which, under Jenghis Khan Batu and Tamer- lane reared an empire stretcihing from the Amoor to the Danube and the Arctic to the Indian Ocean. The irruptions of the Scythians from the frigid regions of Europe and Asia long before the age of Christendom, into milder zones, oft humbled and finally destroyed Rome' herself. Thie Norsemen of Scandinavia, the pro- genitors of men like Gustavus Vasa and G-u»tavus' Ado'.phus wrested Normandy from France and placed one of their Dukes upon the throne of England. The same race sent its daring vikings into the waiters of North America five centuree be- fore Coluflnbuis and sailed from Labr.irior to Florida. That no settlements were made signifies nothing. After Columbus over a century elapsed before a permanent foothold was made on the main land, even in an age of high civilization and the exploring fad of European moamrchs. The Norsemen op.Tne in search of adven- ture. The Spaniards followed Colum- bus for rapine and accomplished nothing but ruin and crime wherever they stayed their blighting hand. It was the An^Io- Saxon w'ho came for colonization and civilization. A people living beyond the north wind was the theme of prose and poesy from 83 li I il ~J OUR ALASKAN li the highest antiquity. The Epics of Homer descant upon inlha^bitants beyond the liorth wind, who enjoyed a mild climate, a sort of unconscious mythical reference to the far end of a northwest passage, and who experienced 1 oqO years' duration of life. Tlie orac'e of Deloe wrougiht unto Greek legends the mythical beings of the icy North. Hecataeus of Abdera, a his- toriaiQ of the age of the conquering Alex- ander, wrote upon the Hyperlwreans. Later Virgil and Horace, in the days of Pompey, Ora«sus and Ceaser, spoke of the Hyperborei Campi. These were Alaskan latitudes, a verita- ble land of romance exceeding twenty- nine centuries ago as it does now any other portion of this mundane sphere in thrilling interest. The fabled glittering opulence of the orioait aroused buiman avarice. The science of navigaition hiad been sufficiently devel- oped to U'ndel^si^alnd the proximity of these Eastern treasures by a route less cir- cuitous than had been marked out by the Portugese pioneers of maritime discov- ery. The search became the objective point of the most costly maritime ven- tures. Pardoning apparently irrelevant par- ticulars but as parallel to the mysterious future of our Alaskan posseecdons, it may be mentioned that as early as 1585 the "Fellowship for the discovery of the northwest passage" was formed in Lon- don. The Anglo-Saxon greed of oriental riches was thus speedily aroused. For neariy four centuries this combat with the forces of nature had been kept up throug'h human skill, endurance and money, until Sir John Fra>nklin and hJs companions in 1845 sailed down Peet and Vic':oTia Strait*, thus achieving the discover V of the "northwest passag*." The northeast passage, leas frequently asserted, was attempted as early as 1553, but was only successfully reached in 1850 by an English expedition in search of Pranklin. discovering Baring's Xskuid, Prince Albert land, and the connecting strait named Prince of Wales, which 84 . "I'^rfh-iilPi*! ^M#-lh WONDERLAiSD completed the connection between the two great ocean*. A more successful accompliBhnient of the northeast passage waa by the Nor- denskjold expedition of 1878-9, from the Atlaintic to the Piicific. starting at the Yenesi August 6th, 1878, passing through Behring Straits July 18th, 1879, and reaching Japan September 2d, 1879. It is one of the probabilities that the rush of population and the arts and in- dustries of established ciyilization into Alaska in the immediate future will stimulate a spirit of exploration which may yet solre the mystery of a summer northwestern water communication be- tween the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is known that there exists a water route starting at New York, sailing to Hudson Straits 20 degrees, a distance of about 1,400 miles, thence through Fox Chanel to the Gulf of Boothia in latitude 70 degress, thence into Victoria Strait 69 degrees, traversed by Sir John Frank- lin in 1845, thence through the broad channel which enters the Arctic Ocean at Oape Bathurst and thence 30 degrees in narrowing longitudes to Point Barrow, the American Arctic whaling and trading station. The discovery and exploration of his distant Eaistem possessions was a i)et di- version of thait great monarch, Peter the Great, of Russia. During his visit to England and Holland in 1097, in search of Western ideas of civilization, the mari- time nations were still sadly tapping their revenues in the race for empire in undis- covered rogionis. A conspiracy of the Sitrelitz, the Imperial guard, the following year, compelUed Peter's return to Mos- cow. Having completely wiped out this often seditious body of soldiery, beheading many with his own band, he b«>gan his wonr'orful career of dynastic, military and civic reforms. In 1702 he laid the foimdation more completely of modem Russian greatness by the building of a new capital on the Neva, which beajis his name. About 20 miles distant h© reared great fortifica/tiooa and a harbor at Oronstadt on an arm of 86 1 1 OUR ALABKAN the Gtilf of Finland, which he called his look-out upon EJuTope. In the midst of these tolls of state and war his imperial curiosity was aroused by extended dominion alon« the distant shores of thie Pacific. The Siberian pos- sessioms had been added to the Imperial dominion nearly two and a half centuries. The house of Ruric, which had reigned for over 700 years, then still sat upon the throne. The new ruling house of Romanoff had addeutemplate the fatigues and dangers of waiter and land which beset the California pioneers of 1849-50 and contrast their toils, privations and sacrifices of health and life to disease, storm and tomahawk, with the humane efforts being made by the Grovernment of the United States, and the projects in operation or proposed by the enterpris- ing commercial spirit of the age for the convenience of the Alaskan and Klondike gold hunters of 1897-98, we have no dif- ficulty in reaching the conclusion that civilization, wealth and humanity have advanced substanitially in that large share of the earth's surface which belongs to the old "thirteen" of 1776 and the added galaxy of thirty-two oommonwealtha of 89 "V ssusm' *.■ OVR ALASKAN 1898, tmder tho appellation, Th« United States of America, Aa 900U as the discovery of gold across the Alaskan bordw — louf^iiude of 141 degrees west, on foreign soil became an assured realization in the golden evidences brought back by the piooieei's, the Gov- eroment at Washington sent out its agents in search of facets and data to meet anv emergency of international re- lations or domestic administration which might arise. The most rea'istic labom of the Gov- ernment in reducing to a minimum, the mysteries of access to the golden region in that remote comer of this hemisphere has been accomplished by the United States Coast and Gwdetic Survey under tho direction of W. W. DuflBeld, superiia- lendent, verified by O. H. Tittmann, as- sistant in charge of the offif'o, and H. Q. O. Colby and E. D. Taussig, Ueutimant commanders U. S. N., hydrgraphie in- si)ector8 in a most interesting and vaJua- ble aeries of charts. Tlie Englishman, cooped up in his eight- by-ten isles, finds his head all awnirl when he steps ashore in the United States and begins bis strugg'Je with some of the magnitudes upon which everything American from the hands of nature or man is scaled. Not many years ago a party of brisk young beef-eaters, as the TranB-Atlantic steamer was approaching the American shores, informed the writer that "they woiUd take it a great honor if he would join them in a day's laik around New York City to take a sight at the savage Indians." They also proffered all need- ed conveyances and a "neat lunch with beer, if they haave it," so that they might be out all' day seeing these interest- ing sights. One of the party vouchisafed the information that he always took a deep interest in the American Indians. He intended when he got back to old Bngisnd to write a book about America, and wished to introduce a chapter about the beastly savages which thi»y write so much about in histories of the States. When, informed that it would take 90 I WONDERLAND three or four 6a.ym by ateam railroad t* ■rot a »ijfht of t'Vf n a "tame" Indian, they Joined in ehoru»: "You Americans g^-t happy when you can guy a-n Englishman about America." A few aays later, on the streets of New Yorlc, one of th^Mse same beef-eaters oaJling himaelf the son of a Briti«h noble- man, which number not stated, supple- mented hin aboriginal stupidity on Amer- ican aflfairf • t'his, don't you Icnow, is a blasted laru'e country. This here ciiy of N'-'v Yorli, he added, with the patron- izing manner of a flunltey, "i» a big town. Been wa'Jking all day and not strucic the end of it. Not as big as I^onnon, but duni founded big, all the 8anu>." "You will find it big enough. But how about your lark out into the Indian coun- try around New York?" "Don't mention it. Don't mention it, my dear boy. "^That's done for, you know. Too much out of town, you w'e." Although I wish to make no compari- Boiiis, it might almost b<> said that the ideas of the average citizen of the United States, with his familiarity with square miles of area by the millions and straight milies heavenward, interoeeanward, ^ilf- ward or lakeward, by road, rail or river, by the thousands, all within American jurisdiction, can hardly realize the enor- mous extent of these A'^askan terrestrial magnitudes until he taki>s of them an "official" cartographic view. , Where we have counted intervening HlMiees by the old-fashioned methods of uieo'Puremenits laid down by statutes in feet, y«irds, rwls, poles or perches and acres or miles in the sturdy old United States in new-born Alaska these ele- mentary systems of 8ui>erficial notaition cease and degrees of longitude ai]d de- grees of latitude take their place, whether cut off in units of geographical of nauLi- oal lenigtths of 60 miles at sea or by act of Congress in statute lengths of 60Vi miles on land. In a genral way the superficial area of Alaska 577,390 squaire miles is equal to the combined domain of the Gorman and Austro-Huugairian Empires and France. 91 Hm n !■• i (I i ^IF i j OVR ALASKAN It has 26,000 miles of »ea coaist or nearly two aaid one-half times the sea coast of all the remaining portions of the United States. It cover* seventeen degrees of latitude from 54 degrees 40 minutes the southei-u- most point of Prince of Wales Island to about 73 degrees 22 minutes on the shjores of the Polar Ocean, about 1,200 mUes in a geodetic line due north. lis boumdaries fringe the waters which roll in icy folds toward the northern axis of the earth, where all longitudes unite on the point of 90 degrees. The northern, pole itself lies within 18 degrees and a frac- tion of Alaskan Siliores. In westing it extends from longitude 130 degi-ess along Portland chiann+ii, one of the beautiful inland water ways of the coast, CO the 56 degrees of latitude. Thence it follows the trend of the ijiuumits of the mountains ten marine leagues, or about 30 miles inland and parallel to the wind- ings of the coast forming the line of demarcation between Amei-ica and present British soils until it reaches that towering corner-sftone of present American Empire in the northwestern coi-ner of the Western hemisphere, Mount St. Ellas, rearing 18,- 010 feet heavenward at longitude 141 de- grees. Thence climbing northwaird over the curva>tui-e of the bosom of Mother Earth along this degree in the aiscending number of latitude at 62 degrees, it ci-oscsee the White River tributary to the Yukon near the mouth of the Donjel. A little be- yond 63 degrees the international lino crosses the Ladue before it reaches the White River, which a short distance be- yond empties ics waters into the Yukon at those wonders of Nature, the Upi)ex Ram- parts. At latitude 64 it ci'osees Sixty-mile Greek but fifty miles due east of which, between longitudes 139 and 140 we enter the heaii't of the region which now re- ■ouuds through the world with the magic cry of gold and Klondike. In tarrying here we find Dawson on the northi bank of the Klondike River at its confluence with the Yukon. We also find 92 I, UL WONDERLAND the gold-bearinig tributary creeks all from the south as Too Much Gold, Gold Boittom. with its branches; Hunker and Last Chance, then Beair and Bonan- za creeks with several minor tributaries. Retuminij? to the internaitional longitude about 64-40, we cross Forty-Mile Creek, which enter the Yukon 14 miles east of the American line on British soil, with Forty- Mile on the south and and Cudahay on the north side of its junction. Thence northwiard the international line crosses the Yukon. At this point we find the river ontvfourth mile wide, with a cur- rent in mid-stream two to three miles per honr. Just beyond, tm the American side at the mouth of Mission Creek, is Belle Isle. In latitude* 65 degrees the Tacoudu River enters. From this point the Yukon cleaves the international line and pursues the remainder of its course through American territory, taking in a northeast- erly direction Fort Yukon in the forks of the Yukon end the Porcupine rivers on the Arctic circle in latitude 66 degrees 31 miinntes, and thence southwesterly until it ennipties its volume of suib-Arctic and Arctic drainag-e into Bering Sea. There falling back to the same latitude 63 at which it began under its geo^jraphical name at the junction of the Lewis and Pelly Rivers at the old ruined Hudson Bay Company, a'f Fort Selkirk. Thence pursuing the international line It intersects the Porcupine River in lati- tude 67 degress "iO minutes, at Rampnrt Ho, within the Arctic circle and four de- grees ea«t of its <-i>nfluence with the Y'nkon Thence inteirseirit ing Tanzies Peak sur- mounting Davidson's Range 7,000 feet high in latitude (>0 degrees, we debouch upon the shores of the Polar Ocean at Demarcation Point ii 60-30. having tra- versed ten degrees of latitude. In longitude fnrim 130 degrees these vast possctssionis swoop westward to a limit de- fined as a point on rhe parallel of 65 de- grees ""0 minutes noith at its intersection by the meridian which passes midway be- tween the iBilends of Krusenstern or Inga- 93 OUR ALASKAN look and the islands of RatmanofE or Nooaarbook in the middle of Bering Straits between the continents of America amd Ajsria and proceeds due north without limitation into the Fxozen Ocean. Thus aill lands, whether ioe-capped and only fit for naming on nautical charts or geo- graphical maps, coming within this limit to the point wihiere longitudes 141 and 169 degrees at 90 degrees unite at the Northern Polar axis of the globe will be under the juirisdicttion of the United States. Then beginning at the same initial point in Ber- ing Straits midway between the Capes Prince Wales on the western and Nuni- amo on the eaatern hemispheres crosses the Bering Sea in a nearly southiwesterly couiFJse, passing midway between Caipe Ohibukak, the northwest point of the isl- and of St. Lawrence amd the southeast point of Ctepe Chonkotski, on the main land of AiSia. In Baatern Siberia to the meiridian of 172 degrees longitude west, Thence continuing we cross the watery solitudies in a southwesterly direction, paj3isiing midway hetwe^ the Island of Attn, the onpost of the oceanic insular juriediction of the United States and Cop- per Island of the Comandoi'ski group, where the bones of Vitus Bering rest, in the Northern' Pacific Ocean to the meridian of 10 degrees east longitude. This in eludes the Aleutian chain of islands which juit up in mid-ocean like steppinig-stonea from the western extremity of the Alas- kan Peninsula through. 25 degrees of longitude we«tw^ni'd to within 10 degrees of the Russian Kamtchatkan coast of Afria, a disitance of but 300 miles in the latitude 54 degrees. These lineis of treaty stipulation also have a geographical import m ai-ranging between the two most powerful nations on the glolje the scientific line of oceanic demarcation between tihe Western and the Eastern hemi«pih«*re», the Aineriean and Asiatic continents and the American and Ruflisian xiossessionsi on the Pnrific. It is also interesting to note the follow- ing distances taken from the "Route Map" issued (September, 1897,) by the 94 ' I ^^_l_|||||||||| WONDERLAND United States Coast mid Geodetic Sur- vey from Juneiau, tlie ataiting point, for thie Klondike gold regions, inland on American territory, in latitude about 58 degrees, longitude 134 west, to Porcupine River, also on American aoil in latitude 67 at longitude 143 degrees. Distances from Juneau to thie mouth of Porcupine River at Fort YuJson in statute miles. Via OMlkoot Pass— Juneau to Dyea 118 Dyea to CMlkoot Pass, 13 Ohilkoot Pass to head of L/ake Jjh- barge, 130 Total, "261 Via White Pass— Juneau to Sbagway River, 114 Sbagway River to White Pa»», .... 18 White Pass to head of Lake Labarge, 129 Total 281 In Chilkoot Paw near Lake Linderman and in White Paiss between Summit and Bernard Lakes the mountain Suimmit line of demarcatibn between American and Britisih territory at 59-40 latitude passe* at an elevation of about 4,000 feet. From that point the infa.tu'ated wayfarer i» on Briti8ih> soil until he passe® Forty Mile and Oudahay at the mouth of Forty Mile Creek and reaches latitude about 64-40. Juneau lartitude 58-20 degrees, to head of Lake Labarge, by way of Chilkooit, 261 Juneau, lartitude 58-20 degrees, to head of Lake Labarge, by way of White Pass, latitude 61 degrees, 261 Head of Lake Labarge, latitude 61 de- grees, by way of that lake and Thirty Mile River and Lewis River, to Port Selkirk, in ruins, at the junction of the Lewis and Pelly Rivers, about lati- tude 63 degrees, 224 [The current of the Lewie River is swift. Between Nordenskiold and Tntchin Rivers from Five Fingers to Rink Rapids steamers can work throngh. About two miles below the rapida the current is about six miles an hoair. 95 Mil ill H«M»' ^ H- 'i| >> W> ; . OUR ALASKAN Thence to Fort Selkirk the current is five miles per hour.] Fort Selkirk to Daw«on ou the Yu- kon 160 [Fopt Selkirk to the Upper Ramparts at the mouth of White River there are numeirous islands and gravel bars in the stream. The current is four miles an hour and depth over six feet] Juneau to Dawison, the busineM »e*tle- ment of the Klondike region, by Way of the Chilkoot or White Passes, 645 Dawson to Forty Mile Oreek, 48 Forty Milei Greek to Belle Isle, 46 [In thiia sitreitch the initemutionaJ longd- tudie of f^r-ma-poation, 141 degreea, is cross- ed and we return to American soil.] Belle Is'^ to Circle, 126 CiPde to Fort Yukon, 83 Juneau to Fort Yukon, 948 Water tt>utes from Seaittle computed in statute males. By way of Chilkoot Pas»— Seattle to Dyea, 1115 Dyeia to Dawson (Klondike), 527 Seattle to Dawson (via Cliilkooit Pass 1642 By way of Stikine River in siatute milee. Seaittle to Wrangel, 854 Wrangel to Telegraph Creek, 140 Telegraph Oreek to head of Tealin Lake, 227 Head of Teslin I^ake to Daweon, . 525 Seattle to Dawson via Stikine Rivex, 1746 By way of St. Michael's and the Yukon River. Ocean distances computed in statute miles. San Francisco to Dutch Harbor, . . 2345 Seiatve to Dutch Harbor 19.55 DiBtch Harbor to St Michaels, .... 750 St. Michaels to mouith of Yukon, . . 97 Fr»m San Fraiioitco to moiith of the Yukon 3192 96 " ! f 1 WONDERLAND Tram Seattle to mouth of the Yu- kon 2802 Yukon River distances, in statut*' mile«. St. Michae'-B to Dawson, 1260 Si:. MichaeJfl to Stewart River, . . . 1321 St. Michaels to. Fort Selkirk 1425 St. Michiaels to Five Finger Rapids, 1491 St. MichaeJs to Teala River. 1612 St. Michaels to White Horse Rap ids, 16»T These i^apids in Fifty Mile River are situated about thirteen miles south of Lake Labargo on the Ohilkoot Pass route back -to Dyea and Juneau, The Fifty Mile River connects I^ke Ijabarge and Lake Marsh and a group of lakes beyond, southward, which extend to the inland, foot of Ohilkoot and White Pacses, drain- ing toward the Yukon, wliile Skagway and Dyiea Rdvems, on the western slope« of these «ame pasases, drain into Dyea Inlet and thence through Lynn Oanai and its outlets into the Pacific Ocean. The White Horse Rapids tlhree-eigtiis of a mile in length are dangerous for boats. The total fall in the canyon is 32 feet. The current ^through the canyon is about fifteen miles an hour. The canyon itself is a mile long and lOOfeetwide. The mountains attain elevations in thi« region of 6,400 feet. A light draft river boat of good power, it is mentioned oflSciaJly, ^ould be' able to juiiviffate the Yukon aoi far as Wbite Ho .3 Rapidis, a distance of 1,600 mUes. Tlie fiingerboards of sdenee ftud survey have now pointed to the curious world and the impatient actors in the thrilling soenos the way to the golden vales of the Yukon. Upon tlie returns of the golden liiarvest will rest the occupation of the vaia regions which have had no existence in the affairs of this busy sphere of to-day exfiept in lines from the expert hand of the engineer ajxd dmuglvtstmui. :/ W )^ I M I 97 ; HOW im LOOKS K\mH^ OurJUasbWonderland '■ii LETTER NUMBER IX. s Some Interesting Studies in Alas- kan Physical Geography. A Network of Waterways on a Gi- gantic Scale. Saltwater Thoronghfares and Fresh Water Lines of Travel and Trade. An Aquatic Comnionvirralth In Kmbyro. TJiere is a novelty and niewnesB in the creiitions of na/tiu'e, tliat gives an origi- nality and interest to the physical geo- giraphy of Alaska, whioh we do not find La any other region of the earth. Its configiu'ation' in itself is a siii'prise. Its enormous airea strikes us with aeton- iahmenit. Ij/ ist over twice as large ais Texas, which would yield to the Union six States as big as New York or Penn- sylvania, The singularity of its contour impresses ua with interest. Its immense campaot central body occupios the uttermost upper western comer of the Northern Continent of the New World. Its dimensions are more than imperial, being over twice the size of the dual Empire of Austria and HungaJT and also more than double the 99 1(1 i\ OUR ALASKAN ■. '. surfaoe of the Bmixire of Grermany, iu- ohidin^ Prussia amid its twenty-five ais- sociated kingdoms, principaJitiea and duchies. It is double the combined area of the united sub- Arctic kingdoms of Nor- way and Sweden, with a population o' 6,800,000 inihabiita Siwo, the gulf stream of the Pacific, the tempering waves of the Alaskan Gailf.. On the east, beyond the longitude of demarcation, nnmberod 141 degrees west on the iwielb of meridiains amd parallels woven by science about the globe, it sweeps away towiai'd the waters of the Atlantic on the other side of the va.s't frozeo region notted on contemporary maps as British possessions. In one direction, toward the southeast, it reaches out its giant arms throughi 500 miles of naiTow strip of aiuriferous moun- tain main land fringed by scores of isl- andls bathed by the warming waters of the AlaiskaD Gulf, until suddenly anrested on thie confines of a strange land which severs it from contiguity to the govern- ing iK>wer to which it owes allegiance. In the other direction, toward the southwest, it reaches nearly 2,200 miles 1 100 WONDERLAND across tlie Pacific in a chain of peninsu- las, suhmarine moom tains and towering island peaks by tlie hiundreds, until halted in mid-ocean by treaty stipulations, al- most in sight of the rugged shores of the Kamtchatkan regions of tlie mighty Rus- sian Empire in Aisia. The ignominous compromise, so charac- terized by American statesmen when ac- cepted and since, of the northern bound- ary of the United States at 49 degrees north, iiiistead of carrying to a tinish the eairlier caimpaign ory of "54-40 or tight," necessitates a voyiage of about 500 miles from Dixon Entrance along the coaat of British Ck>]!Uimbia, before again entering United States juriadiction in the straits of Fuica in the American Sitate of Wash- ington. The physical features of this land,which now occupies so much of the public atten- tion on account of its unex.plodited, but known ti-easuires of gold and other re- soui-ces of commercial value, are not only most remarkable, but in many respects are aimong the natural wonders of the world. The main land of southeastern Alaska, which occupies the shore strip as we have shown 500 by 30 miles, is made up of an almost unbroken chain of mouuitains from 3,000 to 5,000 feet high, at points, like Fairweather, rising to 15,292 feet and St. Etiaa 18,010 feet, which completely hema in the miapped Britishi possessions. These immense heights are broken here and there by vallej's and limited a;r»>as of level land oovetned by dense forests of spruce, hemlock and cedar trees and an almost impeneti'able undergrowth. The same general configuration, with some exceptions, cooitiuues from St. Eliais to the westenn extremity of the AlaiSkan Peninsula at Issanotski S'trait. The inland regions of Alaska are com- posed of vast planes and low hills, withi no conspicuouis mountains stretching away to the Bering and Polar Seas. A most novel physical feature of the region is the immenise number of isJands lying off the coast and stretcjbing nearly 101 Pacific N. W. History Dept. PROVINCIAL, LIBRARY VICTORIA, B. C. OUR ALASKAN 'I h <1 .;. ■ aoross the Pacific Ocenn, some as large as the smaller Commonwealths of the Union. In Soiitheastem Alaska Prince of Wales Island is iftrg^T than Connecticut; Baran- off as largo as Delaware; Adniinilty iis lacge as Rhbde Island, with Chicihajfof, Kupreanotf, Kiiiu, Itovillagigedo almost as large. These Alaskan, islands, from a few acies to hundrotls of square mihis in area, uuin- beir eteven hunclred aggregately, constitut- ing in leingth the furtherest outstretched and in area the largest archipelago in the world. AnotheiT peculiarity is the innumerable deep sea channels which, occupy the waibery interstices of this succession of archipelagoes and penetrate far into the m'ainJ'and. The most prominent of these are Portland Canail, Behm Canal, Clar- ence Str^dt, Sumner's Strait, Chathiam Sitrait, Prederick Sound. Stephen's Pas- wage, all of which., also having oceian out- lets, converge inland at Lynn Canal. The town of Jnneau on the right is reach- ed by Stephen's Passage, while Dyea, ChSlkat and Chilkoot, the base of supplies and starting point of the cross-cut route inland to the navigable waters of the Upper Yukon for Klondike and Alaskan gold fields, occupy the head of Lynn Canal. At the entrance to Lynn Canal, to the left, extends Icy Strait, leiading up to Glacier Bay, one of the wonders of Al'aska, and through Cross Sound into Fairweaither ground of the Pacific Ocean to Western Alaska. On the main ocean cofiist are a number of bays, sounds and entrances and other indentations, the largest being Iphigeuia Bay, off IMnee of Wales IsQand, through which the waters of Sumner Strait reach the ocean; Christian Sound, which also receives Chlatiiam Strait down between Admiality and Baranoff. Then Sitka Sound on DaranofE Islands, on the shores of whiich stands Sitka, the little capital of tliis imperial region. Thence northward to Cross Sound, the upper end of the in- side passages on the coaat, bounded by 102 '^ wBrnmim "891 WONDERLAND ?l'aciaJ and mountain wonderi. Then akutat and Diaendia.ntnient Bays, wMdh penetrate the Titanic niouutadn nest with St. El:ia43 and the va«t ice sea of Maltispiua on the noirth and Fairweather'a mouutaim giants, morainal depusits, buriiod forests aud snow masses on. the south. Then we reach Prince William's Sound, wTiich receives the drainage of much of the famous Copper River regions. Th«n Cooks Inlet, wMch gaithers up the waters of the auriferous regions of the Sushitoa River. Then HelekofE Strait on the south and Bristol Bay on the north side of the butt end of the Alaska Peninsula, larger than the peninisuJa end of Florida. Thus leaving the Gulf of Alaska by a single stride across into Bering Sea, we ivach Kiiskokwim Bay, which receives the waiters of that greait stream. Just be- yond is Etolin Strat, with Nunirvak Island like a soliitiary ocean sentinaJ, guarding the approiach to the deltoid mouUi of the mighty Yukon. And thence to Norton Sound with its little island of St. Michael, miles beyond, affording the only safe harborage for the fleets of steamers and oither craft frr th* auriferous regions of the Upper Yukon. Thence we prroceed through the narrow ocean pontlals of Bering Strait, with Big Diomede Isdand in mid-current, like a stepping-stone between the two conti- nenits of America and Asia. Theucfei passing within the regions of icebergs and floes, the home of the right w'hiale, we enter Kotzebue Sound, a safe Hnehorage for whaling fleets which resort thiither. Rounding Point Hope and Cape Lisburne and climbing over the cap of the earth, sighting Icy Gape, the terror of the Arctic whalers, we reach the northern tip of the continent at Point Barrow, the Amierlcan refuge station of wliale ships and the northemimost point where the flag of the Republic waves in territorial jurisdiction. Under the caption of Alaskan Posaibil- Ities, I referred to the six grand geograph- ical divisions of the territory. It is an- other feature of tlhe reigion that each of 103 PI 1 |^ST:;«n ««*t~*.iiii.,-i'-i.-^ ;i OUR ALASKAN tlhiMe sections hns iita distinctive river By»« tern. The niimermw ino-rine waiter ways, straits, r^tuails, i^tissageci, bays, sounds vmd e«tiiari(>9 along the o(Mi»t, mostly of great depth, rcM^ivo from the miaiinland th« waters of a Inbyrintihine notwork of rivers. Some of tbom are of Hufficient depth to float for many milra steamers of ocean and river draft. AH of them to the very base of t'h'e lofty mountaioa can be utilizved by the l>aidarrii, t)he mooseskioi oano« and »th9r water conveyances of ebe niatives. Were it not for these convenjipncea of nature tlie mountainous confignratkm of the country, combined with the sphagan- oiis or moas-coivprod boggy surface of the lower lands, would render travel extreme- ly difficult land in same pants impractica- ble. The Stikine River, Jong famous for the gold taken from its banks across the Britisih border, is the first stream of im- poPtiance we fincoainter In ascending the Alaskan crtast from the south. Although abou't 250 miles in length its ooitlet near Wrangel Lsland and but 30 miles of its course lie in the United Staitea .inrisdic- tioin. In the spring it is navigable, but the rast of the year only for native boats. One branch, the north fork, aboui; 40 miles in length, rises on the east side of Bald Mountain, almost side by side with the headwatens of tSie Yukom, which rung many hundreflis of miles of meandering coume l>eforo it reaches tlie sea. The Takn, which empties lt« watere into G'Jader Arm of Stephen's passage, is only fit for native boats beyond the frontier. The Ivynn ■Canal, whir'h is aiu ocean inland water course, receives at its head several small streams on the east, the Shkagway with a mountain 7,400 on its eastern shore and is the route of travel for gold hunters from Shkagway, by the White Pass, to the chain of inland lakes and water courses, notably Fifty-Mil« River, which wdth the Teslin, makes the Lewis River one of the two mala head« 104 itiWimii if. R "7 1 •msimmamsim 1' masasi ]. 'WOVDERLAND water rivers which uaite to make the Yukon. Nearby ia the Dyea River, a amall Btream wWeh also empties into the Dyea Inlet, and from the town of the same name is available for loative boats to the foot of Ohilkoot PaiS.*, which also de- bouches on the transnwun'tiain side into the same system of mi>untam lakes and outlets which eater tho Yukon through; the Lewis. • A short distance to the west ia Ohilkait Inlet and River, the third of the throe streams which, spread out fanlike M the head of Lynn Oaraal'. This river, from Klukwaar, approaches the Ohilkat J^ass and on the other side, through Lake Arkell and Tahkheena River, unites in Fifty-Mile River with the two other transmountain routes to Lewis River and the Yukon to the Klondike region. After a stretch of six degrees of ocean longitude in latitude 60-20 north we reach the d^^lta of the famoua Copper River, 30 miles in' Ihmgth and 5 miloo in width. The CVypper and the Ohittyna, its maiin tributary, are streamfl of leading rank in the river system of Wostem Alaska, although of no vahi" for navigation by larger craft and only with difficulty by the nfltive cunoea. The Copper or Akna River, aeoi'ding to Liente.iant Henry 'l\ Allen, Second Unit- ed States Cavalry, one of its explorers, makes a de»'ent of 3.^00 feet in 330 milies. Its chief trading town and start- ing point of expeditions is Niichek, on Hinehinbrook Island, 432 miles west of Sitka, and 50 miles west of its mouth. The region is exceedingly mounrtainons and shows positive Bigns of large mineral weialth, esoeeiailly in copper From Niii;Ii».k to the entrance of the Chittyna River on the left is a distance of 101 miles and to Lake Sus'ota, a res- ei'voir of the Slana River, tributary of the Copper, from the sea, is 403 miles. From the Midnoosky Creek, entertng on the right of Ohittyna River, 11 miles from the mouth of the latter, is the •tart- 105 OUR ALASKAN ^1 ;! Ing point of trail by way of Lake Sral- ota, 241 miles to Nnchek, & distance of 403 miles by river. The CJopper and the Tanana, a trilni- tary of the Yukom, have their fountain sprlnjrs al'raosrt side by Bide and closely parallel each other for many males until they divide and find tiheir outlets, the one in the Gulf of Alaska, south, and the other in the Bering Sea, north of the Alaskan Peninsula. The Suishitna finds its mitlet in Cook Tn- tet and form* a convenient inland water course for communication by trnil with the Tanana on thn north and the KuiS-kok- ■wim on the west. On the western shore of Cook Inlet, opposite the opening into the ocean and west of the active volean of Ausrustin* runs a small water eoure by which a short portape is made to Lake Ilinminn, a Bheet of water 80 by 25 miles or about one-third the size of Tvakp Ontario, and thenico by the Kvichak outlet into Bristol Bay. As an object lesson of the value of these easy portapes by water and trail from one river system to another it should be said that by the Tliamna Lake, a dis- tance of not over 100 miles, mostly by boat, saves at least 800 miles of soa voy- age around the Peninsula of Alaska. This striking instance of the almost incompre- henfilble va^ue of the network of Alaska-n rivers and commtinicating lakes is the same as if a natural water channel exist- ed acrosa the head of the Fl/'iioa Pen- insula from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico. The Nuvihagak. 150 miles long, which enters the same bay. has communication by lakes and rivera with the Kuskokwim. The Kuskokwim, the second largest river of Alaska, after penetrating a little- explored region for fiOO miles, takes its rise I'm the same cluster of glaciered peaks which also contribute waters to the sources of the SiTshitnn. whose outlets in the ocean are 400 miles apart. The course of the stream is said to be across a vast plateau. There Is a port- age route between fMU stream immit the 106 WONDERLAND tPftddttg station of Kalmftkvolsky and the Yukon. This portion of the valley hias g'ood soil and a fine growth of forest trees, ahrubs and herbs. There are also iiDdicationa of oommer- elaJ qualities of cinnabar, antiniony and silver-bearittg quartz. The region also abounds in beaver, nuarten and foxes and the rivers in salmom, upon, which the na- tives subsii^. About 300 miles beyond the Kuskok- wim the deltoid moiuth of the mighty Yu- kon, the great river of Alaska, and one of the great rivers of the world, empties its immense volume of drainage into the Nortmn Sound estuary of Bering Soa. The importance of this commanding artery of our Alaskatn dominion will be well worthy of a place by itself in our sitirring story of Wonderland Alaska. The Arctic division, largely consisting of frozen' moors and low hills has a num- ber of streams useful only for draimmg the iirterior hillsides of their summer melt- ing« of snow and ice tand afford fad'ities for summer canoe or winter sled transpor- taition for the hardy Eskimo natives and explorers of the seal^ed volume of nature inland. The Colvillo, whiaddle ouir own canoe," the mamstay of ti'avel and traffic in Alaska, for a dis- ta.nce of 10 milea to the head of canoe navigMtioiD. Thence we take to the loco- motion of last resort a pair of stout limbs, with pack, staff and rifle, and pi-ess still onward two and one-third miles to tbe mouth of a minor atream najmed Nouxse. We have now ix>ached the pm-tals of a defile in the Kotuah Mountain named Per- rier by Schwatka, after an erudite meon- bcT of the Fi-ench Geographical Society. lu this pass we cross the ten marine leag^ue line of international demai'cation between the United States mainland and British territory. Mounting to an eleva- tion of 4,240 feet and ti'aversing a dis- tance of eleven miles in crostiing the di- vide, we descend om the eastern side by rapid declivities to a platean. About six-tenths of a mile, to be scientifically correct, off the pathway of the passt, nestled in the frozen elevations, lie tht remains of a volcanic vent in the noouii- tain mass now filled with ice and snow, which received from. Schwatka the name Oi-aitei" Lake. At this point, within 40 miles of ocean navigation, we atand upon the glaciiil masses which murtttpe the infant Yukon. Let us now return to the bounding bil- lows and instead of putting our prow to the starboard bear it liard to th« port. Passing through Icy Strait and Oi'oss Sound we enter the broad Pacific. Tak- ing a southwesterly coui'se 28 degrees of narrowing meridians and 3 of parallels, nearly 1.500 statute miles, we pass through the narrow waters of Isanatski Strait at the western (.-xtTeuiity of the Alaskan Peninsula in Bering Sea, and thence shaping our course a trifle west of north round Oape Bomanzof about 470 miles, and about 150 miles moi-e to the noatheasterly brings us off the deltoid mouth of the Father of sub-Arctic waters. Thus we complete an oceanward senu- circle, a distance of about 2,120 miles, oarpesponding to a similar aemJ-dme 110 WONDERLAND on the mainland from Crater Lake to the mouth of the Yukon, a distance of 2,044 miles. In a line from Oater Lake, the source, to Aphoon, mouth of the Yukon, as the sea gull flies, the distance would be 28 meridians of longitude on the parallel of 60 degrees, making about 1,000 miles just one-ihalf the course of the river oi* of the ocean, with the Alaskan Peninsula in the way. It is another singular fact that the Yukon, rising near the parallel of 60 de- grees, debouches in Bering Sea near the parallel of 62, after making a crescenit- like sweep of 784 miles on British and 1,260 miles on American territory. This mighty river, ranking among the longest in the world, draiuis about 600,000 square miles and discharges through its many mouths one-third more watei" into Bering Sea every hour than does the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico. The Yukom district under British-Oa- nadiani jurisdiction comprises 192,000 square miles, of which 152,768 are within the watershed of the Yukon. On the eastern side of the divide lies the vast basin of the Mackenzie River dipping into the Polar Ocean. We will now return to Perrier Pass and descend the mighty fluvial highway, noting as we proceed some oi its more important physical chai'acteristics. The pass itself is covered with snow, bounded by glaciers and fringed with juniper and dwarfed spruce. At the summit of the piss upwards of foui' thou- sand feet, a trail to the north descends rapidly several hundred feet to one of those numerous mountain expanses of wat"^ for which Alaska is celebrated. Tuj8 bowl of snow and water, about one hundred acres in extent, sun-ouudetl by bare granite hills has all the charac- teristics of an extinct crater. Far beneaih its icy surface' tJie gurgling waters make their way amid the snow massea in the mountain gorge, through which the Yukon trail finds its way, to HI OVR ALA8KA2/ canoe navigation upon the bosoim of tributary lakes and streams at its foot. The accounts of the early explorens re- fer to the immense suaow arches, beneath which these fountain waters find an out- let, frequently collapsijig and being carri- ed off in the rushing stream beneath, leaving walls 20 to 25 feet high on either side. In the warmer sea»ons the emlew and the swallow, the nimble mountain goat and the brown bear may be seen in the midst of this wild grandeur of mountain and water. After a distance of twelve miles tiiese leaping currents spread out upon the placid bosom of Lake Lindeman about 10 by 1^ miles in area, named after a dis- tiuiguished member of the Bremen Geo- grapbical Society. On its watei's may be seen drifting with the current the greeiirwinged teal, gulls, Arctic Tern and Harlequin Duck, on its sihoa-oa the grouse, the bear, the cari- bou laj'.d mountain goat peaoefuUy feed- ing. The hundred lakes of Alaska, from mere drops of water to sea-like ai-ea**, which are among the attractions of mountain and plateau beauty, ai-e hei-e met in all their placid grandeur. There are no less than ten of these sheets of water connected by three distinct systeona of outlets which finally unite in Thirty- Mile Greek and join the Lewis River. This sti'eam by S^hwatka was accepted as the continuation of the Yukon beyond the Pelly River confluence to the head- waters La the Kotush Mountain. Although the Pelly is of greater length it is of leas volume than the Lewis. The Crater Lake outlet, alter leaving Lake Lindeman on the Ohilkoot Pass route, thence enters by a s^mall stream. Lake Bennett, a river-like body of wabe^r with a large arm on the north, extending northeast 25 miles and then turns south- east into Tagish Lake, which also re- ceives the watei-s of a chain of lakes which connect with the trans-mountain outlet of Wihit© Pass from Shkagway on Dyea Inlet. 112 I ^ WONDERLAND rs This entire group of lakes empties through Lake Maxah bouiuled oa either side by elevations of 5,500 to 6,500 feet. The next outlet, in which the daiDgierous WMte Horse Rapids of Fifty-Mile River appear widens into Lake Labarge, 30 mileis long, and thence through TMrty- Mile River, 40 miles inito the Lewia or Upper Yukon. The total faJl in the White Horse Can- yoni, five-eighith mile long and 100 feet wide, according to the United State Coast SuiTey charts, is 32 feet, with a cui'rent of 15 miles an hour. Before reaching Lake Labargwer Ramparts about 64 miles jn latitude 64.07, longitude 152.08 we«t, tJie river receives the flow of the Tanana, its largest tributary, from, the east. At its mouth stands Tanana and a short dis- taaioc below St Jiaones' Misdon, raider 116 - JVONDERLAyO 4 the auspices of the Pretefltaint BpisoApal Ohtirch. The Tanaina "RiTer of the ^loiintaina" enters the main «tream 30 miles below th« Ramparts, 684 miles from the sea, 250 mill's in len^h and as much miore tbrouffh headwaters to its souroe in the divides which also contrnbute tVe fountnin waters of the White and the Copper Rivers. About 17 miles below, on the right bank, is the village of Tukluky^t, A short distance farther on are the Palis- ades, a beautiful stre+eh of scenery. It is aleo the starting point of several trails. Still descending, wo pass Nowifcakat, aia- other of the river trading post. TJience, after a stretch almost due south, receiving a number of important tri'butaries and passing Nulato, on the we«t bank, and ot^her villages, we reach Anvik, one of the United States river weather 8tat!oins. Another stretch south and the great river makos a sharp cuirve to the west, until it reaches the blufRs of Andreafski, where the magnificent mountains whiich limed the great stream from its souroe so many hundreds of miles begin to dis- nnpeair and are lost completely below Kusilvak. 20 miles further on at the di- verging point of the five larger and a Inbrrinth of smaller outlets of the river, 100 miles from the se^. The mowotonoiis alluvial level of the deilta. 70 miles on the sea front, here begins. The river now distributes its waters through a web of tidal outlots, channels and marshes and finially reaches the open watensi of the lake-like sea of Bering, hemmed in by the AleutiaTi ohnin. The immense amount of siilt borne down by the reddish current is ghoTvn by the great area of shflriow water nnd muddy bottom of the vast de'ta.. The coast survey cliarts make a line of sound- ing 100 miles off the shore from Onpe Dyer to St. Miehael, consrnntl'y rangin^f from 9 to 18 feet, amd as far out in the open sea as St. Lawrence Island. 160 miles, due west not to exceed 210 feet end would not averaige half that depth. 117 >; K OUR ALASKAN This entire upper portion of che Ber- ing Sea between the Yukon delta to the Gu)]if of Anadir, on the Eastern Siberia coast of Asia opposite and nortJh to Ber- ing Strait will hardly show a greater av- erage depth. The vast deposits which have been car- ried down from the interior, and the toI- oanic and glacial action of liiis same quar- ter of the globe is but part of the sublime handiwork of nature, which has been going on from the remote solitude of ag*?«, in the growth of the north westera comer of the North American continent. The Yukon to Alaska is what the Mis- sissippi and Missouri axe to the United State', "he Rhine and the Danube to C3er cPal and Southern Europe; the Volga and the Dneiper to Russia ; the Yaug^tse- Kipng and Hoangho to Cliina; the Nile, th'? Congo and the Niger to Africa; the Amazon and Parana to South America; eaxi numerous lesser fluvial ar- teries to the States, principali- ties and nations through which they take their course. With these great- est rivers the Yukon aJiSio takes its rank in length and leads them all in volumes of water and miajestic grandeur of scenery. The inconceivable amount of water which the river discharges would be even greater particularly in the absence of any material evaporation were not the melt- ingB of glacier fronts and snows of the lower elevations and the torrents of the summer rains percolating down through cracks, crevices and canyons of the mighty mountain masses partially held in check by thie Arctic tundra mosses which grow in such profusion on the freezing e«rth beneath. The general and pi. vsioal featui-es of ihe river are pecn'iarly interesting. Tlie_ fa- cilities of navigation of any w*ater high- way being equal to its shalloweBt point, the Yukon from its mouth to its larger headwaters n'raost its entire distance is available for boats drawing three and one half feet of water. Six feet is claimed to Fort Selkirk. These boats, flnt-lKVtcomed and de- signed to meet the requirements of tiie 118 ■Mm WONDERLAND ■ { river, will carry a maximum of 500 tone. Even in high water Hhe river ia not suit- able for ooean-going craft. Owing to the shiallowneasi of the waters ontside and in- side of the mouth and inland the great lines of ocean, steamers discharge thedr passengers and freight for transhipm aShiade and delicacy of fragrance indigenous to sub-Arctic temperature. Amid the scant foliage of low trees ti]t birda of all sizes, plumage and •ong. The indigenous animals seen at different points along its lengthened shores are the grizzly and the brown bears, moose, caribou, mr.^ ox, mountain sheep, wild goat, .ibbitfi Arctic hares, musk rat and the "fretful" porcupine. On the bovsom of its current are seen geese, ducks and other aquatic fowl and henea.th dwell the toothsome salmon, grayling auKl trout. ThiQ unlucky moose herds making their 119 I 1 '■' OUR ALA8KAN way across the river are often niihlesaly alauighitered by a fusihade from a passing steamer. And still higher in the eitemal soditade* of nature's icy laboratories measured by miles in elevation may hi seen the ever- repleniS'hed, ever-deseending aiod nevejv dieetolTinig' glaciers. Thus fpo«i the dtck of the craft of man may be aeen from Aliaskan waters at th.e same tiiiK? eternal fires from the bowete of the earth atnid the sea, the strttuige gloriesi of the land and the resplendency of ice-capped mountains. Nor is it all a peaceful suirvey of nla- ture. The ubiquitous and irrepressdhle mosquito vying with its insect k'ndred of New Jersey iis just as tenacious of its attentions to the unooTeied i»u|)erficde8 of animal life. Not only man, but the cattle of the field and animals in mountain haimts are the objects of these inseetiver- ous assaults siipplemenited by the per- eLat^t attentions of gnats and the vicious gouging effect of the nippers of % variety of hoi«e-3y, which renders "a .iimgdom for" a mosquito net not aa extravagance. The archaelogical interest of the great river is as greajt as its more recent rela- tione to mundane affairs. On its banks, es- pecially near it» headwaters, the femmr and te^th of the mastodon have been fonnd to remind the geologist that the shores of tliei Yukon in the mysterioius ages of the miocene and pliocene periods of natures buUding of the planet we in- habit must have been the haunt and houne of that extinct monster race of the ele- phant family. The scenery of the entire river for over two thousand miles is of unexampled grandeur. It begins in the glacier of Orater Lake in the Kotush and continues in the Upper RaimiKixts just below Fort Selkirk. In this weird region it passes through the heart of tlie golden lands of Alaska and Koudike, the intrittito ehan- rfJs of tbiu T'housa'ad Islos ami by h^v- toric Fori, Yukon until fully r .on huc- dred miles away in am over widb.iing lake- like and narrowing chioam-Iikr; chaniioi 120 1 •: 1 p f :! if ee ■r. 'a re c o -*— R 6t •y. o I re a, X I ( ■a « E :/: o • (■■ ■♦-' n -♦- •y; C O E a. 4l» WOIiDERLATifD and with an ever accelerating and abat- ing current it passes seaward through the porta Ijs of the Lower Kamparts until it is lost in the mighty watea's of the Pacific Ocean. The Kwichpak, which was the earlier name of the Yukon, as it approached the sea, has been abandoned. Tbe entire length from source to mouth is generally known as the Yukon, although the head- water tributary above the mouth of the Pelly is still miapped as the Lewis and retains its local name. In 1833 tbe Fort St. Michael, which ooutrols the trade of the river, was buiJt on the island of the same name, one of a small cluster on the souLh ^Ide of Nortooii Sound, about 73 miles northeast of the Aphoou mouth of tlie rivt". In 1835, with a view to the extension of trade up the Yukon, the Russians made am exploration of the mouth of the river, A few years later, their operations hav- ing extended considerable distance, a fort named Nulata, between the G4th and 65th parallels^ was built, but it was almost immediately abandoned and burned by the natives. In 1841 the Russians made another attempt to occupy the post, but the natives proving less docile than their kindred on the sea coiast, after a trouble- some occupation of ten years were again dispossessed. In 1859 it was rebuilt and held. In 1843 tbe occupation of the river was extendixi to Nowikakat, just below the Palisades, in latitude 65 degrees. In 1847 the confluence of tbe Yukon and the Por- cupine, an impoi'tant strategic point was occupied by the construction of Fort Yu- kon, afterwards abandoned. Since that date explorations have kept pace with the advance of ti-ade until the entire maiu river is well known. ■ ll 121 Mountain Monarchs. f) m ^ iS. LETTER NUMBER XI. ^'Fighting'' John Rodgers on Onr Alaskan Possessions. The Himalayas, Alps, Andes, and Mountains of the Moon Thrown in the Shade. A SabmarinA Range of Moantains Mightier Than the Masses of the Himalayas. An Aroblpclago Greater Than Imperial Japac-Anclent Venice Ontdone. At 3 P. M., December ITiai, 1870, the lamMJh of the United Startea steam frigate Oodoiradio, flag- elhip of the Asiatic fleet, droppwi away from the landing at the quay of Shangliai. The admiral of the fleet, "Fightinjg" John Rodgers, was on board. I was his guest. Owing to her draught, the flagship lay at ainchor outside the bar at Woosung, about twelve miles below the chief seaport of the celestial Empire, The wind was howling, sleety and cold. The launch plowed its way toward the sea with the spray flying, hustling, hissdng haste of such sprightly little orait. 123 OVB ALASKAN MhI fl P^ ►B M ; 4 Th,e Odopado v^as an old-timer. Frown- ing through the port holes of her black wooden walls were 45 savage-looking guns of large calibre. She was 4,700 ton® displacement. The United States Navy then could boast of but two ships her equal and but two surpasing her a trifle in displacement, carrying respectively but 39 and 12 guns. Ajad these were pushed along at a snail's pace by a sin- gle screw. This oomstituted the entii-e list of warships of the United Statea Navy of the first class at that time. It seems almost ridiculous to con- template the public ladmiration bestowed upon these antiquated "tubs" and then bring our minds up to the staodJard of ooir present sea^goiinig armored bat- tleships, with displacements ranging from 6,315 to 11,525 tons, and racing the laighty deep at a velocity from 15 to 17.04 knots an hour. And back of them fleets of armored cruisers and the whole list of modern war craft by the scores from monitors down to surface and sub- marine torpedo boats propelled with the speed of the wind at 18 to 30 knots, no- tating many more statute miles an hour. The Admiral, who had been in the navy since 1828, was as tough as the knarled live oak ribs of his war-like craft. He was a Marylander, blonde and handsome, even after 42 years buffeting the storms and terrors of every sea. He wias of the siame stuff which, in the days of the Revolution and 1812, humbled England on her chosen element. After a distinguiahed career as a subaltern, in 1862, commanding three gunboats on the James River, he silenced the Oonfedei-ate batteries up to the ca.se- mated Fort Darling, and failed to reach Richmond, he said, owing to sunken ves- sels in the channel. The fight at Fort Dading was a fine exhibition of American heroism, both by the defenders of the fort and by the gunners of the fleet. The Galena, the flagship of Rodgers, was hit 129 times by the Confederate shot, and only with- drew after evei-y shot amd slhelli in her miagazines had been fired and two-thirda 124 |||^ WONDERLAND of her men were killed or wounded. ThUi wa« a sample of the daring which gave John Rodgera the sobriquet, "Pigliting John" of the American Navy. He also kept the Weehiawken head on in a ter- rific gale, he aaid, "to teat the sea-going qualities of monitors," when every of- ficer on board urged him to make for the breakwater of the Delaware. In 1863 h« fought a naval duel with the terrible Confederate irono'ad ram Atlanta in Warsaw Sound, Greorgia. In fifteen minr utes after firing five shots from IJhe Wee- hawker the Confederate struck her col- ors. The old "salt" of the Weehawken •aid he was "just settling in hig own raind the merits of the new 15-inch gun^" He also sailed the monitor Moniadijock around"the horn" to San Francisco. On hi« way he witnessed liie bombaidment of "Valparaiso by the Spanish fleet. The Admiral laughed heartily over this experience. He remarked: "I couM have taken my monitor Monadnock, bat- tered and beaten as she was, by the rough weather off the Horn, and in one hour have whipped the whole Spanish fleet. Their sftiots were wild. They could not hit a barn at close range." During my delightful sojourn on the flagship my companionable hero-host in- vited me to an inspection of one of the vessels of his fleet. There were eight in all. The Alaska, the one selected, was an old fashion screw vessel of 2,400 ton« displacement carrying 12 guns. She re- called to his mind after our return to the flagship the accession of the Alaskan ter- ritories to our national domain. "I feel quite at home," said he, "in China and Kamtchatkan and our own Alaskan Bering and Pacific Seas. In the fifties, for three years, with the United States steamer John Hancock, I had charge of surveying and exploring expe- ditions in these waters and therefore ought to know something about them." "I recall," added the Admiral, "my feel- ings when the conclusion of the Russian treaty was announced. A few days later I was then in command of the Bd«- toa Navy Yard, I penned a letter of 125 & ^ IW P OUR ALASKAN ooinigTatul«,tirsioa, and huTMJpeds are largier than the Isliant" of MoJta, in the Mcddternainean. In all i,- 100. 1 This picturesque sweep of manne beauty is interwoven with a network of innumerable navigable water courses with the physical capabilities of an im- perial Venice of the remote west, com- pared with which the ancient and pow- erful Italian republic was the merest speck. We can readily imagine how with the occupation of these insular sites by aJi enterprising population, these highways of water will be the municipal thoroughfare* of fleet steamers of travel instead of rail- roads and trolleys, boats of burthen in- stead of driays and freight trains and gay gondolas in place of the pleasure vehicle* of men of leisure and ladies of fashion on their social rounds. Indeed an Ameri- can Venetian commonwealth in the dis- tant Alaskan waters of the North Pacifia The Ai:.akan mountain system is reared upon a scale as miagnifieent as the grand- est of the mountain monarchs of th« eartWs oruist. Its three important ranges grouped un- der the Coast, the Rocky and the Alaskan, vie in miasis and altitude with the im- menae groups of the Himialayaa in the heart of Asia, the Alps in the heart of Europe, the Moon on the continent of Africa, the Rockies in the heart of North America and the Andes along lie littotral of South America, Mount St. Gothard, the nucleus of the 127 *■ OUR ALASKAN T Swiss Alpine mountain system, covered with perpetual snow, presents an array of peaks rising to its preatest elevation in Mount Blanc, 15,732 feet above the sea, with glaciers and lakes embosomed in mountains and drained by torrent streams. It extends from Oape Fini»- terre to the Black Sea, 1,800 miles. The Himalayas, "the abode of snow" in the native tongue, the most elevated above the sea on the globe, with a length of 1,500 miles from the Yangtse to the Indus, with a m€*an e'evadon donble the Altw, presents foa-ty peaks exceeding 20,- 000 feet and culminated' in Mouiit Dhawtalaghiri at 28,000 feet. The mountains of ithe Moon, which stretch from Gai>e Gnardafui 1,800 miles in the Zanzibar and Mozambique regions of the African continent, culminate in Kili-Madjaiaro at 19,000 feet. The Andes, che most remarkable of th* physical feahires of the globe, find their fitting culmination and tennination in our Ala-9kan Wonderland. Beginning as they do in the precipitous and rugged heighfts of Oape Horn, on the isle of Terra del Fuiego, they puttrae their course of grandeur the entire length of the continent of South America, a di»- tance of 4,500 miles. Then, under dif- ferent names, following the slender cord, the Isthmus of Darien, Which unites the two great Americas, branch out to form the lofty sub-tropical regions of Central America, and traversing Mexico, penetrate the United States, crossing its entire area, and thence through British Columbia enter Alaska. In their course of 130 degrees latitude, or about 9,000 statute miles, in Terra deJ Fuego, the land of fire, they reach alti- tudes from 2,000 to 7,000 feet; in Pata- gonia 8,000; in Chili, in the volcano of Artuco, 10.000, eulminatinig in the mighty prophyritic mass of NcTada of Aconcaqua at 24.000 (which I gazed at in wonder from Valparaiso). The Peru- vian Andes reach 11,000 feet. The Ecuadorian Andes at Quito, 9,600 feet, are surrounded by the most magnifloent 128 i WONDERLAND i group of volcanoes in the world, among them the famed Gotopaxi, 19,000 ft-et with its masses of flames thrown heaven- ward 3,000 feet, and- mighty Ch.imborazo, 21,425 feet. In the Sierras of Mexico we find lofty Popooatapel pouring forth its volumeis ohE lava and flames when nature demands. In the United States, in Ariiona we find Mt. San Francisco, 13,000 feet; in Cali- fornia, Mt. Whitney, 15,000; in Nevada, Mt. Wheelei-, 13,000; in Oregon, Mt Hood, 11,225; in Washington, Mt. Rain- ier, 14,444; in Idaho, Hyndnaan Peak, 12,073; in Wyoming, Grand Teton, 14,- 150; in Utah, Mt. Emmons, 13,694; in New Mexico, Cerro Blanco. 14,269; in Colorado, Blanca Peak, 14,464; in Mon- tana, Mt. Douglass, 11,300, and to cap the climax of this array of American mountain grandeur we ascend to the Coast Range of our Alaskan Wonderland, rifling to 18,010 at that sublime corner- stone of international jurisdiction be- tveen American empire and British oc- cupation. Mount St. Elias. Yet from this altitude we still gaze heavenward at the glistening eternal snow-clad summit of Mount Logan at 19,- 500 feet with Fairweather 14,500 feet and Vancouver, Hubbard and Pinta rear- ing their lofty snm'mits aroumd^ Nature, not yet ended in the grandeur of Alasknin mountain tops, overhangs the current of the Oi>T>ner River with a trrnnp in which are Mounts Samborn, 13,000 feet; Drum, 13,300, and higher still Mounts Wrangel aind Black ait 17,500 each. From the lower elovation of the .Tade Mountains, 3,500 feet, overloolung Kotz- bue Sound and the Tanana hills the north- em lands drop away amooig unniamed peatos of 3,000 to 5,000 feet to the low, sandy shores of the Polar Sea. And with all these woudrouis works of naiture in Wonderland Alaska tht Coast range of California and the Rocky Moumr tains unite and sweep away from the oonitinontal mass across the Kenai and down the Alaakan Peninsula to sini be- 129 m J^ » i ji If 1' » i; OUR ALAHKAN uetuth tlie waters of iJhie Pacific. In these nKysteriouB depths they now forni a de- Pined suibmairine chain of mouaitains, ex- tending through 34 d^'Kr^es of longitude 0^ ocean or 1,700 miles Asiaward from, the nmin lamd at the extreme tip of the Alas- kan Peninsula. Thus elongated tongue of land itself juts into tlie ocean 9 degrees of Ib'Digitude of 450 miles before the sulbma- rime range begins "Kiia distinct aaiid connected submaxine i-ange receives the name of the Aleutian Islands above thie waters and the sub- merged foundation lost beneath the wave»— the Pacific Ocean. Where they rise above the surface they form five mid- ocean archipelagoes with a thousand lofty suimmits known as the Fox, Four Mountains, Anoireano, Rat and Near Isliajndis, thie 'atter the largest of the At- tn, forming tho last outpost of the juirls- diction of ttie United States toward Asiia. These peaks ru^e in tlip Fox Islaiida to 8,900 and Andreanof Isilands to 5,000 feet, almost sheer height above the sea from mighty submarine masses in defined moun- taiiu measurenienits below the waters. To the eouthtward of the Fox Islands Wiihin 120 males, the mig'hty ocean shows sound- ings of 3,620 fathoms (21,720 feel) or four miles from the btxl of the ocean to the sky- ward summits of the Alaskan Aleutian flubmnrine mmintain chaini. The Shishaldin volcano on the Unimak laLand, the first ot the Fox group in the Aleutian submarine mountain chain, pro- trudes 8,{)52 feet above the waves of the Pacific. The measured depths of its foun- drxtionis, 120 miles distanit, below the waves by the fathom line 3,620, or 21,720 statute feet, makes from its submairine base on the bed of the great deep a recognizable altitude of 30,672 feet or about six mUes of clear eievation or 3,600 feet greoiter height than the Hima- layas. Nor does tihiis mnrveloais work of the Mflster Architect of the Universe end here. On thip same island Pogrumnoi volcano lifts its rurged head 5,523 feet Above t'je surface ot the sea at its bass. 130 i < WONDERLAND 1 If exposed to view from the (south w« wouM itblen conteimxylafte a moumitaia huum 27,243 feet in height. And fltiH f uirthier penetrating the mJghity Pacific we find going Asia ward in the Fox Islamd grouip M ikuishin rising 5421 feet out of thie waves. In the Islamdn of the Four Monimtainis Vesividof 8,000, Yon- aiska 2,864, Anrnkta 3J38, Sequam 2,092. In the Andireamof the Great Sitkin 5,033 and Toniaga 6,975. In the Rat Islands, Little Sitkin 3.585 and Kyaske 3,700, with Attn with its five peak« of the Near Inland BujpTOunded hy sheer depths of 2,463 faith- oms from the sonfii, 1,447 on the north, 4,007 on the soTit'jwest and 2,237 to the east, all to be multiplied by six fee^t to a f aithom before tonchinig the bottom. And away to the northwest of the Fox Islands 3 degrees distant in the Beriu* Sea, the cape of the flamoiuis Pribilof Islands, St. Paul, with its three poakw '133 feet. Walrus, Otter and St. Greorge jntLiug out of tiiie ahiallow bed of the Beaing Sea from 200 to 500 feet, the reaort of the valuable fm' seaJ, otter and walrus. The Alention snbmame range making a cre«cent shape, iholds in the hollow of ltj» encircling en r. the waters of Bering Sea and forr.is an American and BuBi»ian lake 073x2 Y60 statute miles compai-ed with which the MediteiTaneari, 250x2,500 fltflttute miles is a pond. The great Russian and American ex- plorers and scientiats of thiiS vaat region of physical marvels have united in admir- ing its unfolding details and so will their sucoessons with even greater enthiisiaam. No one can conceive, even after a person- al Inspection as the writer enjoys, of all the greatc«t moutain masaee of the earth except one.anything grander than the land snmmits of Alaska. But greater than all are the scores of AlPjskan peaks rising to sheer heights a« lofty as 8,000 feet out of the indigo waters of tlie Pacific. Theee find no equal in an/ ocean of thi* terres- trial spheiu i 181 i^'^pr^*^ wswpPt'sw .'§ m f I '•I H' 1 PLUIOmC FIBES, < f LETTER NUMBER XII. Mountain Stacks Send Forth Smoke, and Explosive Vapors From Vulcan's Workshop. The Acconchement of the Sea and an Island Rises. Thermal Springs, Hot Marshes and Fountains of Health. A Poison Island, Boiling Pools and a Lakoof Sulphnr. A Comgeiklal Ketreat Vuder the Amerloatt Flaf( fur aat«.u uuti Alls Imp*. One of the stock arffinnoints of the op- poneuta of the Kuasiaia Aiiierican pur- chase in the Fortieth Congress was that it was a land of volcanoes, glaciers, eter- nol snows, boiling springs and other phy- •ieal ailinenta of Mother Earth. The good tliimigs which liay upon that por- tion, of her nurturing boaom wei:« never even surmised. I well remember upon one oocasdoQ one of the negative curators pei-aistently be- rated Russiaa America and the Secretary of Staite with liei-y zeal to the utiuoirt limit of h&a sparse vocabulary. 133 .1 OUR ALASKAN h n U II. i., •V The groat Secretary always deriredi a fund of amiiflement from the denedty of ignopanoe or malevolteixre manifested by this line of statesmen (?). "There is uaefulness in Tolcanioes, gla- cders, thennal ®pringa," aaid he one diay, "and other wonderful t!hini;s la na- ture. They hare even an economic Talue if, besides reliievinig Mother E^th ot ab- norm>f information that the resource® of land lamd sea with exploita- tion would eventually be worth a hundred times more than the purchase money. It must Tw>t be orerlooked, however, as I have already d< nionstrated, that the inceptive cause of <^"^ negotiation whidh dat^ far back of Secretary Sewaaxi's era was intei'nntion.al friendship cwi the part of Russia and territorfal possession and commercial ascendancy on llie pflrt of the United Starfies on the wester a shores of the American Oontinen't and on the Pacific Ocean unobstructedly toward the Oontinent of Asia. It may be interesting to preface the Alaskan volcano bone of cointention in the Foirtieth Congreaa b> a 1 sw generalities on those terril. <> agents of mundane internal relief, to tdiow thlat our eminent hero had not c< mered the market on those and other physical ter- psstrial' monstrosities as alVged "on the floor of the National Hoviae of Repr^ Our Alaskan and Aleutian possessions have never been the exclusive centre of the volcamic ulceration of the earth's 134 4 WONDERLAND boflom. These sarface sores are fomiid in every zone of our mundane sphere. Tlhey exist in every great o^'ean, their eternal fires haivinig a logloaJ prorximlty to tJhe wateors of the great deep. The Pacific Ocean has a perfect circuit of them, be- gimuoig in our own Alaskan and Haiwaii- Bo possessions. Taking in its Asia.lc diores and islands of Oeeanica they ex- tend lip the Andean elevations of thie Western Hemisphere back to Alaska^ There is method in their terrific mad- ness when fully aroutsed. If it were not for these great vents of relief to tOie pent np inlestmial disturbances of thie earth we might some fine day find our ol'liring globe blown into a billion fragmenits Ifhrough the realms of space. Agreeing with, our diplomatic hero, even volcanoes have their uses. They have been known to exist since the moat re- mote periods of human history and are distributed and operated by immntable physical laws. In fact, the entire face of this sphere is pock -pitted with their ex- tinct remains. It is true that onr Alaskan wonderland has a goodly share of them as it has of many other wonders of whidh I have yet to speak in justice to out marvellous ac- quisi1:ion from our 'jreat and good friend," Alexander II, Emperor of all the Russias. Tliere is contemporary Ruissaan authori- ty that there have existed since their oc- cupation of the region no less than sixty aiotive volcanoes. The known' extinct volcanoes would justify flii® numiber with- in the range of Slavic knowledge and a great many more previous to that period of recorded history. On the official' au- thority of Lyman E. Knapp, Governor of Alaska in 1891, at least twelve have been in operation since the acquisition of the territory by the United States, five of which were seen "in a high staJte of activity," by that functionaiy with his own eyes. For this reason I am disposed to ac- cept that official's nairration As has been shown, the bold elevations which form the coast line of Alaska and 135 OVR ALASKAN v»weep away oceamvard through the Alaskan Peninsula and the under aoid over ocennic masisea of the Aleutian IsIpis art a eontinuatioa of the Andes and. the Rockies, aind find their own continuation in the Commandorski Tslpg toward Knint- shaltka and in the Kurile and Japanese apchipelagos toward the Chinese mainlflJid of the double contiiueDt of Asia and Europe. The Alaskan and Aleutian volcanic Tent* constitute the most nnmerous in a given area on the globe, but unliike their counterparts elsewhere the seiftinatio disturbainees so prevaJent in Jnpnn, the Mediterranean and Andean centres are not knowm in Aiaskan lands or waters. Penetrating the mainland of Alnskia, between loneitude 150-154 degrees we«t. latitudes 59-61 degrees north, is on© of the many indentations of the coast known as Cook Tnlct. Along the woistorn miar- gin extends n range of lofty peaks of the rugged terminal masses erf the Rockies and the coast range, which continue* down the southeastern miargin of the Alaskan Peninsula and tOTver above the ocean billows fromi the mighty sub- marine foundations of the Aleutian range. ITie sight from the navigable waters of Cook Inlet on the west and toworinir orer the narrow strip between the inlet and Lake Ciflrk inland is the ever active volcanic summit of Redoubt Mountain, the first in the line of these wondroiiis exhibitions of nature. About forty miles southwest is Illiainnn. lirrinc 12.(X)a, on the southeastern shore, rear» the m'ajestio Pavlof, neai Belkopsky Bay. Over 4,000 feet Id ir>6 ■A St- J^ a o U V o R c re o C-l c K 0; Il'' \ WONDEBLAim hejglit, it cian be approadied to its yery ba«e at Bear and Favlof Bays by t«h sels. From the bay at intervals of a half minute can be seen issuing puffs of dense volumes of black smoke from the fissure on the craggy mountain side about 1,000 feet below its pointed summit, as if fed from the everlasting fires of the mighty enginiry of nature in tlie seethinig boweLa of the earth. After a fall of snow a blackened mountain side to the waters edge at its base is the visible signs of the volf->!no's terrible work. ' OSS Isanatski Bay and Strait, which sei,, riarte the uttermost point of Alaska Peninsnla from the first island link in the Aleutian cliain, li^ the cluster of smok- ing and steaming peaks wliich forms won- derful TJniimak. A beautiful cone of most perfect pro- portions, rising to the dizzy height of 8,958 feet above the sea, whose rolling waters dash and foam at its very base, Shishaldin, is the queen of the plutonic family circle of Unimak. Its wintry mantle of snow glistens ui>on the azure canopy against which its symmeti'ical out- lines are seen, while from the rugged ori- fice at its pointed apex issues 8moke,st6am and aishes. Less than forty miles distant, near the western end of famed Unimak, stands Pognunanoi, a lofty cone of 5,523 feet above ttie sea, at its base, whose fixes once so active lie banked and silently awaiting a fresh awakening froju its pr«s- ent lethargy. About sixty miles onward and south- westward of &€ary Unimak, rise« sarvage Akutan on the island of the aani« nam*, violently puffing at intervals of but a few seconds its dense black and white smoke from the monster-like mouth at its top. And still forty miles farther on, as we penetrate the mysterious blank of waters, we come to Makuishim, another of these mysterious vents of steam and whit« smoke on the Island of Unalaska^ which can be seen fifty miles at sea. Due west of Unalaska 100 miles, jutting out of the blue waters of Bering Sea from a measiiic«d depth of 725 to 1,263 fathoms, 137 I OVR ALASKAN 7- \ •■J ' ' >: oqr six times that in feet depth of water, is the terrible Bogoslof. This infant islnjid of the miigtty deep rising 600 feet above the billowy anrface. emits columns of smoke and steam Mth alarming force from in- mimeirable fissures in the surface, of broken rocks and friable matter. And the still more wonderful record of thia mysterious islet is that the accouchement of the sea has brought this smokinp steam- ing, stDl uplifting progeny from the bed of Beriuig's waters within the recent recol- lection of man. On the Island of TJnimak, forty miles souths stands silent Tulik and Vsevidof, 8,000 feet in height, whose farmer ac- tivity now remains quiescent. Farther pursuing our ocean course eouthwestward abmiit sixty miles on the easternmost of the Islands of Four Moun- tainis, which stretch still southwestward toward the Pacific limit of United States jurisdiction 18 degrees away, rises th« Island of Kagamil. A low mountain near the water's edge, it sends forth from nu- merous opening's jets of sulphur- ous steam and raephitic gases. So powerful, it is recorded, are these noxious emissions that the exploring steamer Elsie in 1874 was compelled to stamd off shore to avoid fatal consequen- oes. So feaiTcd is this seat, where in truth Ms Satanic Majesty might reign in suit- able mundane suTroraidings, that naviga- tors very rarely visit it. At this point the Alaskan and Aleutian volcanoes disappear to rise again in vapor from sub-mainne volcanoes south of Nipon of the Japan Islands 2,500 miles to the south-west OT from the summits of Mauna liOa on our latest territorial possessions, the isles of Hawaii, 2,250 miles to the southw , , It is an interesting feature of the Hawaiian acquisition that the tie« of po- litical strategic and economic interest* be- tween the mid-Pacific archipelago and the United States were not alone a logi- cal outgrowth, but their seema to be a possible relationship of their volcanic energiee. The famous Kilanea ia known 188 WONDERLAND to haive eruptive periods of aboiit nine yeairs. The scientific concluaion of thia ia that it requires that space of time to fill the crater to a depth of 400 to 500 feet before an outbreak can occur. In 1808 there happened an interval of eighteen years which led to the inference that the intervening eniption was Buh-marine. Scientific inquiry will doubtless now draw its own conclusions upon thie rela- tion and tendency of the volcanic ener- gies which are so numerous and constant on the islands and shores of the Pacific Ocean. How instructive to contemplate, these mighty upheaving subterranean fires standing for countless ages like seretinels over the solitudes of the Polar, the Ber- ing and the Pacific Seas, now dawning into comimercial and industria'.i activity and importance under the Aegis of the young and stalwart Republic of the West. Of thfc 'dthor volcanic vents to which it may be i -iitoresting to refer in connec- tion with our own wondrous equipment in Alaska, Aleutia and Hawaii, the first of commanding interest whi( h we en- counter, is Popocatapetl, in the Sierras of Mexico, lifting its flames heavenward to great height and pouring out its over- flowing lava in streams when active. Then comes in our soutbwardi course terrific Cosequina, in Nicaragua. This energetic outlet at brief intervals fi'ls the air with ashes and darkness for days for a radius of thirty-five miles. Its dread deposits cover an area of 270 geograph- ical miles va diameter a depth of ten feet, nnd its ashes have been carried in the upper air currents as far as Jamaica, 700 miles distant. Then, .southward, comes the mountain giaimts, Chimborazo and Ootopaxi, of the Kcuadoronn cluster, the latter by the dynamic force of its subterranean gases hurling 200-ton blocks of stone nine miles. Then the famed Antuco, of the Chilian sy^tera^ sending stonies thirty-iix miles away, and Acoiicnqua. of the name s'vs- tem, rising proudly in view from Val- paraiso. Then, in mid-Pacific, the famed 139 m OUR ALASKAN Sioa, of the Friendly lB!e«, Tofue, in tlie Moluccas, whidi, erince the earliest knowledge of the Western navipatorii of those mysterious seas never ceased tci il- lumine their dangerous way. Theace, northward, to the seismic focus of the Japan Island, thence westward to the Mud volcanoes, 400 feet in height, on the lower Indus and westward the same up- heavals, over 1,000 square miles, on the banks of the Caspian. We now reach enchanting Stromboli, in the Mediterranean, by which I haive sail- ed both by day and by night. Tills mar- velous handiwork of nature has lighted with its eternal fires within the range of human know.''edge the galleys of an- cient Phoenecia, Greece, Rome and Carthage as it does the ocean greyihounds of to-day. It is the barometer of the sturdy fishermen of the Lipari and n^l- jacent isles, the condition of ita eternal fires indicating the changes from oalln to storm. In this vicinity are enthroned those volcanic Titans, Vesuvius, in Na- ples, and Etna in Sicily, the former the resort of thousands of American tourists, besides its uses in nature a godsend pecu- niarily to the inhabitarots of those sterile sihores, as I can testify from personal knowledge of both. Then to the dust- distributing Arctic monster, Skaptar Jo- kul'l, of Iceland, wective events is likely to make our fellow-citizens more familiar with our Alaskan Wonderland than they have been. 141 ICY UBORIIORIES, U/MM^'. LETTER NUMBER VIII. The Glacial Theory of Continent Bnilc''ng in Operation. s, Ice Cakes of Europe Compared With Ice Torrents and Ice Seas of Alaska. A Bond of Frozen Rivers from Fririd Aerial Solitudes to Melting Sea Levels. Cold Storage f<«r Pacific CommouTrealtfas The amny of "clobe trotterfi" of the United States and the scoutii);^ parties of touirists oL England and the Continent in the past have satisfied their lovo of tiie wonderful in the higher altitudes of the eai-th'a ci'ust in the little Alpine Republic of Switzei-'and, with an occasional diver- sion in tbe direction of the higher lati- tudes of Norway, where the marvellous accumulations and fantastic forms of ice and snow constitute an impor'.aiit fea- ture in the landscape. There ore other mountain giants in tlie world which rear theii- majestic heads high up into the skyward strata of the 'vlmospihiere from which we draw our life 143 'if' \\ il m J 01722 ALASKAN breath, but in none of them do we find to a cO'Eii)arable extent those remarkable frozen maisses known to physical geo- graphy as glaciers, as in out own Alaska. It may not be amiss to say by way of detail to the vague view that many en- tertain of the real significance of a glacier, that it iB a river of ice slowly de- Bcendins the mountain side. It originates as a frozen mass of snow in the hollowis of the mountainis above the line of peTpetunl cougealation. It then becomes conisolidated and hardened by a pressure beyond the range of human conception in tons and is further com- pacted and solidified by freezing water. It descends from its birthplace of everlasting solitude and ice through the valleys Ln the mountain till it reaches in its de«icent the line of temperature where melting begins. In its frozen course, with a movement in Alaskan glaciers of 20 to 30 feet a day, it brings down earth, stones and rubbish, generally termed moraine. These enormous transported deposits mark the limit of the glaciers mighty march. Sometimes abnormal con- ditions forcing the ice mass beyond its previous limits, shoves foi-ward the turf, uproots trees and overwhelms everything in its path/way. This is the glacial pi'o- cess of continent making. These catastrophies ai'e not uncommon in Switzerland and Norway. The lower ends, through melting, as^ sume many famtastic forms and reflect grismatic hues from the effect of sun- ght. The antipodal products of Nature's Alaskan laboratorieer grow more replete with wonder as we pursue our course of fact and narration. The volcanic fires of Unimak and the isles and mainland of Alaska, the thermal waters of Barauoff, the hot marshes, boiling pools, sulphur- o\m ponds and limpid lakes have passed before our wondering fancies. Now we ascend to the heavenward silence of great mountain tops to contem- plate what we find there to add to the long category of Nature's handiwork in our Alaskan Wonderland. 144 WOTifDERLATJD The atealmero which ply in Alaskan waters, taking their depairture from San Francisco, Portland or Seattle, or from oitr cross border foreign city of Victoria, afteir skipping the gap in our western littoral occupied by British Columbia from latitude 49 to Dixon entrance at the famous latitude "54-40 or fight," again enter the jurisdiction of the United States. Then thick- 147 Vi 1 \] '0 OUR ALASKAN I I I : neaa of the ice at the glacier's end ia 900 feet The Grand Pacific, western end, is 8,- 200 feet broad and has 135 to 190 feet height of ice front. The John Hopkins, Hugh Miller, Oarroll, eike, Charpentier, Grand Pacific (eastern end), and Rendu range from 3,000 to 6,600 feet in breadth to 200 feet ice fixmt, and some of them 700 feet thick. Another novelty of the shores of this bay are tie buried forest, which show a heavy growth of trees on the c'lays of the bay 50 to 75 feet above tide, which, in the irresistible process of nature by flood and ice, were bnried in places 20 feet in sand and gravel' brought down in the ice streams. In the Muir Inlet the ice was 8,000 feet thick and at the upper end 1,000 thicker. These great masses were described by Vaoeouver 100 years ago and have not materiaJily chatmged. The retreat of the glaciers, it is com- puted, began about 150 yearn since, judg- mg by the morainal deposits and ravines and descriptions of contemporary navi- gators. The retreat and increase of the inJets is still going on i)ercept?b'.y to sci- entific research. The region around the bay trending northeast and sonthwest is declared by eminent authorities like H. Fielding Reid as marking the direction of the growth of the western part of the continent we inhabit. CJontinuing our course through Cross Sound, into the open ocean, skirting the forest-fringed rshore, where lofty moum- tains and gliateniag glaciers form the background, in 59-40, we reach Ocean Cape, rounding which we enter Yakutat Bay, a aipacimis inlet on the northern i^ore of which and stretching landward and oceanward. is the mightiest monarch of the compact ice miasses of the g'.obe south of the Arctic Circle. There is no region more replete with the wondrous handicraft of nature than this. On the one side of the head of Yakutat, which bears the name Disem- dhantment Bay, a Wind extension of the former are weird forests, gigantic moum- 148 I WONDERLAND md is is8,- feet »pkins, entier, Rendu peadth them tains piled up to 10,000 feet amd filled with glaciers. On the other side, sweei>- ing from 139-30 to 142 degrees in longi- tude and astride latitude 60 degrees north along the north shores of Yakntat and along the ocean shore to Icy Cape, lies that vast mass of ice knowm' on the charts as Malaspina Glacier. This physical wonder, fed by mighty tributary rivers of Ice from the eternal solitudes of the mountain crests of the Augusta Range, St. Eliaa and Logan, receives the immense frozen flood whidh makes its way between two distinicit ranges througrh Seward Glacier. From Icy Bay, where Yahtse River empties its frigid torrent into the ocean the escarpment of the Chaix Hills lies like outworks to the lofty elevations beyond. After i)eDetrating a few miles of tangled forest and a barren moraine is reached, the vast field of ice. The mighty ice body, whidi introduced, to science thie type of Piedmont Glaciers, is formed^ at the foot of the mountain by the uniting and expansion of ice streams from ad- jacent heights. The ice sheet extends in an unbroken compact mass from Yakuitat Bay, 70 miles westward with an average breadth of 25 miles, about 1,800 square tni'es or one-eighth the whole area of Switzerland, a land of glaciers. It is a vast horizontal plateau of ice about 1.500 feet high about 5 miles from its water border. The center is free from morainal' dirt but dangerously fis- sured with crevasses. It may be com- pare less they exist in the Antarctic Circle, which extend into the sea and break off, floating away in the ocean currents as icebergs. The Rhone and Aar glaciers; the glacier of the Bernese Oberland; the Grindwald with it.«t Mer de Glace; Jung- frau, queen of the Bernese Alps; the Eiger, Wetterhom, and the glacier of Bonsons at Chamoiuii are the finest types of the Swiss group. The Alpine heights of Austria^ France and Italy also have thier icy wonders. The largest Alpine glacier is the Grosi Aletsch in the Bernese Oberland, fifteen miles long, with a maximum breadth of little over a mile, its basin being 50 squai-e miles. This even is but a huge cake of ice compared with our own Alaskan Mal- aspiiia, which is nearly five times pa long and nearly twenty times as broad and thir- ty-sdx tinios the area. In Noivvay, about the siame latitude, are some interesting exhibitions of snow masses, the larges.t of which are Justedal and Folegejou, but neither bear any com- parison to our own Alaskan monarch, Malaspina. The Alaskan glaciers of Glacier, Yaku- tat and Disenchantment Bays have the advantage of being seen at close range frtsm the decks of luxurious steamers which are even now largely patronized by summer tourists to our Alaskan Wonder- land. 151 i ^1 ■I OVR ALABKAN gladers in sigbt from Lynn Oamal alone, which do not take into account the im- mense ice masees of Glacier and Yakutat Bays and Flairweather and St. Elias mountains. Poesibly as the mysteries of the inland are revealed they wUl be num- bered by hundreds instead of by scores. The interested peoples of the world have been entertained since science and narrwtion became an art with exhaustive tnatises on -the glaciers of Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Norway end other portions of the globe where such manifestations of n'ature appear. The study of our own AJaskan product will show thiem to be the most extensive and interesting of any on the globe south of the Arcrtie or north of the Antarctic Circles. There is no region of glaciers compara- ble to that from OWlkat Inlet, longitude 135 degrees, to Cook Inlet, 152 west and 60 degrees north, nearly 700 miles. This icy stretc'h embr'aces the groups of Glacier and Yakutat Days. From Yakutat Bay to Copper River, a distance of about 250 miles, is almost an unbroken ice sheet Whidi embraces the mighty Malaspimi, "Bering, Miles and Childs landlocked soaa of ioa Science clearly demonstrates thiat before the period of recorded narraition of this region there existed a mighty ice wall along this coast wiith cnonnous cav- ernous ioe depths like cystal caves, througli which the inland torrents of the mountains forced their irresistible way into the great ocean. But all this grandeur of ice scenery in our own Alaska possesses an economic as well as scenic value. The vast stretch of ocean shoire from the Tropic of Capricorn on the south to Cancer and even to 50 degrees latitude on the north, over 70 degrees, about 5,000 statute mUes, is without a home supply of ice for domestic and commerciail pur- poses. The few remote localities in the highest altitude, where it does form, are inacces- sible and unsuitable. In Alaska on the liarger isands are numerous limpid lakes with water of the purest health imparting 152 WONDERLAND il alouie, the im- Yakutat ;t. Elias terieis of be num- scores. le world mce and ihnustive tzerland, jvay and ere such 1 product extensive >be south A.nitarctic coonpara- longitude wesit and lea. This of Glacier Lutat Bay about 250 ice sheet lalaspinia, icked seaa rates thlat .rraition ot li^hty ice mous cav- al caves, >nt8 of the itible way There are official reports of over 60 quality and convenient to navigable water in winter w icb; axe even mnv being utilized as an ice supply for our own States and other seiaside cities along th« Pacific cxMBt into and beyond ae Amori- oan tropical zone. $ scenery in L economic iboire from Le south to les latitude ibout 5,000 >me supply lercial pur- the highest ire inacces- iska on tlie impid lakes h inii>arting 153 t ! ' W W 1 [i ift LETTER NUMBEJl XIV. Mercury on the Jump from 80 Below to 87 Above Zero. Annual Mean Climatic Scale 44 at Sitka to 7.7 at Point Barrow. The Scandinavian Kingdom in the Same Latitude With Seven Millions of People, and No Golden Sands. Inflneuoe of the Mld-Oceau Rlver^ tbe Klro Sl^vo. The extremes of moimtains of fire and aeas of ice on land find their counter part in the extremes of temperature in the at- mosphere of the coast and the interior. TIhe common Imowledge of the climatic conditioD* of Alaaka are mosrtly deriYfd' from whaling logs and the desultory tales of the h*rdy "salts" who have toased (about upon those tempest aoue seae har- poaning whales or catching and can- nlnig salmon and gathering other abundant marketable products of Alaskan waters. It therefore blew hot or cold, aocordin|r to the tempwal environments and experi- oncea of the individual in evideiooe. 155 1^1 l< ' ' ii! OVR ALABE±7!f The dimatology of Aliaska, however, derives its scienitific and official* sources of authority from Russian records com- menced as early as 1827 at Unalaaka, 1828 at Sitka, from incideotaJ soureca at Point Barrow 1852, Fort Yukon 3863, Fort Wrangell 1868, Kadiak 1809. and from United States Signal Service sources at Unalaska 1872 and Sitka 1881, aind since at tho»e and other pointi. Th* gulf stream of the Atlantic which makes the British Issles and northera (jrormany in the laititudes of Southeaetem Aliaska, and Norway and Sweden in thie still higher latitudes of Western Alaska, the centres of lar^e i>optilation and the highest advances m intelleetua]' and in- dustrial expansion, find* it counrteipart in the Kiro Siwo or Japan stream of the Pacific. That mighity mid-ocean river of waann waters, beginning in the tropical seas of China and the Phillipines sweeping: off the south coiaat of Japan follows the Aleu- tian chain imtil it "impiajrotP." oltioially speaking, "on the coast of British Ool- umbia, one branch Sowing ijoiihward to- ward Sitka and thence westw vrd to the Kadiak and Shumagin Islands, off the Alaskan Peniiisula, the othei curving (southward and westward toward Haw- aii." This current, di-viding on the eastern end of the Aleutian chain of islands, ex- tends northward, which wiM explain the absence of ice drifting southward, as we find it comim? down Davis Straits from Greenland. It is also the moist airs of this same warm eurront drifting landwaivl Which causes the enormous amount of fog and precipitation in the form of rain. The liumerous islands which lie off Ij'nie Alaskan mainland from Dixon entrance to the northward and the corresponding coasi: line to the western extremity of Alaska enjoys a salubrious climate. In this region the meam temperature at Sit- ka, the capitaJ of Ala.ska, is 44.5 degrees Fahrenheit or about the same as Wash- ington, the Capital of the Unr.^d States. These favorable conditio: j* ii,re not alone confined to Sdtka, «('>ted on an 156 I P J '<«, WONDERLAND I' isliffiCfd in more imm'ediate contact with, these atmosphere moderating currenits, but Killisnoo and Juneau at the gea side base of the coast range enjoy nearly the aame mild temixerature during che winter months'. The official data shows that the temper- ature changes from month to month m Southeastern Alaska do not exceed 25 degrees from midwinter to midsummor. The records show that the July average, the hottest month, rarely reaches 55 de- grees and the maximum for a single day *eldom resiches 75 degrees. As we go north of the Aleutian Islands the winter coast climQite is more rigorous, but in summer the difEerence m not bo great. At St. Michlaela, about 73 miles above the mouth of ^he Yukon, the me(an suim- mer temperati.:*^ is 50 degrees, but 4 degrees cooler than at Sitka, about 480 miles further south. At Point Barrow, the most northerlly point in the United State®, the mean in STiimmer is 36.8 degrees, about the temper- ature of the air flowing across' the sumr mit of Pikes Peak, (Colorado. The difference between the genial tem- peratiiresi along tlie cons't iiml on tlic ele- vated plateaus of the interior are about aft mai'ked figunatively as the volcanic firoe of the Aleutiaim chain and the Malaspina isea of ice. The United States Ck>ast and Geodeiie Siirvey. Mke the United SHates Weather Bureau, which may always be relied upon for perfection of instruments and accur- acy of reading, gives the following ob- servations for «ix months. October, 1.S80- April. 180r taken on the Yukon, near the site of tlie gold discoveries land rush of 1897, in»an temperatnre. October, pirns 33: November, plus 8: December, minus It; .January, minus 17; February, minus 15; March, plus 6; April, plus 20 degrees. The daily mean temperature fell and remained below the freezing point, plus 82, ;'!om November 4th, 1889, to April 21st, 1890. f .!1 ;i 1 1 157 w ! IT I 1 N *' • I 'r The fallowing shows the severest cold regi»t«>red during the same period, all be- low zero: November, 32 degrees; Decem- ber, 47; January, 59; Febnmi*y> 55; March, 45; April, 26. During Febniary the cold remaiTied minus 47 five consecu- tive days. A severer degree of cold has been experienced, in "the States" but not for any length of time. In the Alaskaai interior snow storms set in in September «.nd may occur until May in the mountains and passes and woe to the wayfarer caught in their fierce em- brace. The mean summer temperature ranges between 60 and 70 degrees according to elevation, the highest in the middle and lower Yukon. These possibly djry but supremely im- portant details, in a complete general knowledge of our Alaskan Wonderland may be varied by a few authoritative points concerning the rains of Alaska. ITie rains and clouds of our Northern possesscions, like many other objects in na- ture, "beat the record" ait large. Tho average number of clear days is 66. A view of this Wonderland on one of those aixty-si.-r suniihiny days, as viewed through "official" eyftsr, wiil reveal "the atiniosiphere remarkably clear, the scenic effects magnificent, ntid all nature seeming to be in holiday attire." The scene, however, may change ?n "the twinkling of an eye." "The sky becomes overcast, tht winds increase in force; rain Ix'gin.s to fall: the evergi-eens sigh omin- ously, and utter desolation and loneliness prevail." The durations of daylight and dark- ness, varying with the mimmer and the winter solstice, again present the wonder- ing contrasts which we find in our Alas- kan Wr-nderland on the land, on the sea, under the sea and in the atmosphere. In May the orb of day shows its .nmiling disc onl the lofty mountain tops at 3 o'clock in the morning, and embosoms itself behind the blue waves of the Pa- cific at 9 o'clock in the night. In .Tune it greets thie everlasting snows of the moun- tains at half past one o'clock in the morn- 158 WONDERLAND est cold all be- Decem- ary. 55; 'ebrnary consecu- oid has but not orms set atil May- woe to ?rce em- e ranges )rdiiig to 3dle and nely im- goneral Tiderlanid iorita1:ive laaka. Northern ets in na- • days is on one of 18 viewed voal "the he scenic e seeming s:e in "the r becomes orce; rain igh omiii- lonelinesfl ind dark- [" and the e wondor- oiir Alfls- n the sen, lihei'O. its smiling tops at 3 embosoms f the Pa- fn Jnne It the monn- the morn- li34? amd disappeairs at half-past ten o'clock in the evening, leaving but four hours of resplendent twilight. The rhapsodies of the poetic imagination over the land of the Midnight Sun finds its counteiiMirt within our own domain by simi'ly shifting the scene from North Gape, at the |)eak of the Scandbiavian Peninsulia s round the cap of the globe to ouir own Point BaaTOw in "Wonderland Alaska on the same parallel of 71 degrees 22 minutes, from 25 degrees longitude east 156 degrees longitude west or almost ; ecisely one-half of the circuit of ihe globe within 19 degrees of the northv^/n polair axis of the earth, and yon will find yourself gazing ax that self-same Midnight Sun, which the illustriouis traveler, Bayard Taylor, so vividly deacril)ed from North Cap? in Norway, when our Alaskan Won- land was unknown and Russian Americ. almost a myth. He thus portrays ai midnight scene: "The headlands of this deeply indented coast lay airound us • * * but all with foreheads touched with super-natural glo(ry. Far to the northeasit wais Nord- kye, the most northern point of the main- land of Europe, gleaming rosily and faint in the full beams of the sun, and just as our watehes denot<^ midnight the north appeared to be westward, a long line of purple bluff presenting a vertical front of 900 feet in height to the Polar Ocean." "Midway between these two magnificent headland* stood the Midnight Sun shin- ing on uis with subduetl fires and with the gorgeous coloring of an hour for which we have no name, since it is neither sunrise nor sumset, but the blended love- liness of both, but shining at the same moment in the heat and splendor at noon- day on the Pacific Isles." That same noonday reigned in the soli- tudes of that same polar shore whiohi to- day has for its topmost place of human habiitaition on the American mainland Point Barrow in our own Alaskan Won- derland. With these conditions reversed on the upi)er Yukon in the vicinity of our own 169 n 't^V it. OVR ALASKAN Alaskan gold rcgionfl and Klionidiktt aeighbcnr, the mid-winter sun rises at 10 o'clock in thte morning and s«ts at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, leaTinig but four bours of daylig'ht. The sun for that brief dura- tion appearing but a few degrees above the horizon and moet of the time obsonre''^ by driving?, frozen mists, we have all the dreariueas, solitude and death^like salence of tba long, long Arctic nighit. The climate of Alaska, compiled by A. J. Henry, Chief of Diviaioa of llecoa-dH and Meteorological Data, in mon,thdy and annual mean tempei-aiture in degrees, Pahreniheit is given in the following com- prehensive table: STATIONS. •a s o / 56 30 57 03 1 "Si a o a 1 t V Q Annual. Coast. Fort Wrangell.. Sitka* Hitkaf o / 132 28 136 17 o 58.2 55.4 54.4 51.8 56.6 54.7 50.6 49.6 6:16 38.1 o 32.8 33.3 36.0 30.0 29.3 30.5 mi 32.8 4.8 -15.4 -2.1 -19 9 o 43.0 43.3 44.6 KlUlsnoo .TiitiesLii -. *57 22 134 29 58 19 134 28 39.8 40.9 Kadlak 57 48 53 53 53 54 63 28 71 22 62 87 65 10 66 an 65 W 64 10 152 19 l(i6 82 166 24 161 48 156 16 160 08 152 45 145 18 142 38 139 25 40.6 Unalaska* Unalastiat Bt. Mlchaei!> Point P«rrow.. INTKBIOR. Anvlk 38.7 39.3 26.1 77 Nukiubayet Krtrt. Vnkon Tchatowklln.. Fort Reliance .. Camp Waviflpon "60.3 —15.0 —21.4 —15.6 —17.4 "22!9 •..'t1 '0. *RuBHlan series. tU. S. signal service. *i The following gives the extremes of temperature at the Interior stations named: 160 H WONDERLAND Iioi]idik» I at 10 o'clock r boura yf dura- above ibscnire-* all the ailejice u « ^ o ^ a o8 « a e a Q < o o 82.8 43.0 as,3 43.3 36.0 44.6 m.C) 39.8 2f).3 40.9 3().5 40.6 30.1 38.7 32.8 39.3 4.8 26.1 -15.4 77 -2.1 -19 9 ••••■' -Ifj.O -21 A -15.0 22.0 -17.4 Extremes of Teniperiiture-Maximnni • l4 ja ti a a a o m a g a >-> p AnviK«B'^4«« •••' 35 46 06 25 Wubluhayet .... ;« 40 ' 72 17 Tcbatowklin . 17 56 78 39 Fort Reliance.. 20 45 07 34 Camp David on 2.5 38 87 66 17 Dump Ccionna 17 33 85 17 Extremes of Temperature— Minlmnin. Anvlk Nuklukayet.... Toliatowklin .. Fort Reliance.. Camp Davidson Camp Coionna —76 -75 -80 -00 —49 —38 - 50 -36 -46 -48 "'35' 36 12 8 18 14 -68 -08 —09 -49 -43 In the missing extremes of tomperature l'io figuros resj)oetivel.v in ilt'gT( «'.s are An- vlk, maximum, May, 67; August, it>5: Nuk- lukayet respectively 72 and 79; Tcliat- owklin, 82 and 80; Fort Reliance, June, 70. The extremes of minimum iu degrees as far as recordi-d, were Nuklukayet May, 11; Augusit, 28; Tcbatowklin M.ny, 10; August, 30; Fort Uolianci' May, 1»;. Montjina is the coldest State iu the Union. A temperature of 63 d'^rees be- low zero was recorded at Poplar River, Montana, in January, 1885. This is the lowest point over reached in the United State-s and recorded. Wi;s:o>o*in, Michi- gan and Minnesota also experience very low temperatures in winter. At Sit. ^ficiiaol'^. on N'>rti>n Ss Signal Office, the buya are frozen over duiing the"*last week in Octobea* and i-emain ck«n'd imtil the laTter part ot June, although it is possible to enter the Sound by the middle of Jane. 161 ; It' n r I ^(T i I Mi OUR ALASKAN The winter mootihia will average Beven, October to Mav, and the smnmer moutbia the remaining? five. Friom observationa taken on board the TJ. S. S, Pinta at Sitka and other places in Southeaetem Alaska July 1, 1890, April 30, 1891, the following average tempera- ture of tid'ail water is recorded: 1890, July, 60.5 degrees; September, 54; De- cember, 42.8; March, 41.09. The larg«3t number of fair days was seventeen in August and seventeen in February, and the least number two' in February. Of cloudy dayia during the same period there were fifteen in July and thirteen in June. Of day* of rain or snow, twenty-three, with thunder and lightning on the 26th and 27th in September, and 24 in Janu- ary. There was thunder and lightning on December 5th and 6th. For the en- tire twelve months of that period there were fair 125, cloudy 82, rain or sno/w 158 days. Total 365 days. The climatic conditions of Norway reg- i»ter somewihiat higher than the same lat- itudes in Alaska owing to the immediate vicinity of the Atlantic equatorial cur- rent, the Gulf Stream. Norway lies be- tween the ^Mirallels 57 degre<>«, 59 min- utes and 71 degrees and 21 miuntes. At Hammerfest, 70 degrees, 20 minutes, the liighest town in Norway, the warm cur- rent follows that shore into the Polar Sea around. It is this same tempering influence which even modifies the rigors of Spitzbergen in the latitude of 80 de- grees and Nova Zemblia in 75 degrees, five and ten degrees farther north than Hamanerfest and in the same polar segment: of the earth. At Hammerfest, the most northern town in Europe, the winter mean is 22.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which is three de- grees higher than Christiiana in tempera- ture and over ten degrees nearer the frozen pole in latitude. At the American whaling station, Point Barrow, in the latitude of Hammerfest, the winter mean is about— 15. It should be remembered that this point is not ©vein remotely affected by any of the 162 I t wo:ndebland 1 • mjinthis oard the r places 50, April tempera- 1: 1890, 54; De- e largest nteen in ary, and ary. Of iod there in June. ity-three, the 26th in Janu- lightning p the en- iod there or snofw rway reg- sam>e lai- tnmediate >rial our- y lies be- 59 min- lutes. At nutes, the mrm o(ir- he Polar tempering Jbe rigora of 80 de- > degrees, >rth than ne i>olar northern m is 22,6 three de- tempera- uer the on. Point nmerfest, It should t is not r oif the warm current* of th« ocean, which do not pass northward of the Aleutian chain. Inland in Norway the mercury freeze* (40 F.), fi-nd the temperature does not ma- terially differ from inland Alaska in the same latitudes. The rainfaJl on the coast is from 40 to 70 inches, while in the in- terior 12 to 16 inches, or not materiaJly different from Alaska. In the midst of these frigid oonditiona Norway ranks among the kingdoms of the earthy beinig 124,445 squaie miles in artia, or lews than one-fourth the size of Alaska, and has a population of over 2,000,000 inhabitants. The whole area of Norway is about three and one-third degrees, or 230 miles, north of tL'? southern bounouiry of Soutihi- eastern A'aska. The temperature of Southeastefli Alaska, affected by the Pa- cific equatorial current, is more moderate than Norway, the winter mean at Sitka, Alaska's capital, being over 33 degrees, aa ah'a'nfit about 19.6 degrees at Ghria- tiana, iNorway's capital. As for the Swedish wintg of the twin kingdom of the Scanffliniavian Peninsula, the difference between the winter and summer temperatures, coast and inland, ranges 49.7 degrees in llhe north, where the lakes are frozen 220 days, and 30 de- grees in the south, where the lakes are frozen 90 days in the year. And yet Sweden, 173,000 square miles in area, about one-'third the size of Alas- ka, has a poyuJation of 4,800,000. It furnisihed some of the most brilliant military leaders of modern times and has been abreast of the rest of continental Euroi^e in enlightened government and progress in Lhe arts of peace. Its capital, Stockho''xii, lies in latitude 59.40, or about two and one-half degrees farther north than Sitka, the capital of Alaska^ In Ruwria, with the United States the greatest p<>wer on the face of the globe, tl»e average temperature in January is below freezing. The rivers from Decern ber 1st remain frozen 100 days in the Bouth ; 150 to 167 days in the north. Only beyond the parallel of 62 does the July mean fall below 62 degree*. 163 1* i ) I rf r ! 1 I: I t, I 41 J ! 1 1 •( i OUR ALASKAN WONDERLAND In Siberia, reputed to be the coldest country in the world, melons grow on the steppes of Minu»ink and about Irkutsk, latitude 62 degrees north, barl-sy is sown in May and reaped in August. And yet at Verkhoyansk and Yakutch, latitude 621^, the cold pole of the Eastern Hemi- sphere, the tliermometor^-75 to 85 de- grees — is 5 to 10 degrees colder than the extreme at Fort Reliance in Alaska. St Petersburg, the capital of powerful Russia, on the northern parallel of 60 degrees, is three degrees north of Sitka, our Alaskan capital, and 21 degrees, or 1,460 statute miles, north of Washing- ton, the capital of the United States. The capital of Aliajska, Sitka, is 18 de- grees of latitude, or 1,^0 statute mileB, north of the capital of the United States. That it is cold in Alaska no one ques- tions. That it is, mean, colder in the United States from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains along the paral- M of boundary between the United States and the present British posseasiona north of the 49th parallel, than many parts of Alaska, will also be found es- tablished by scientific data. The unexploited wealth of Alaska as exploration, research, science and indus- try brin^ it into marketable value will in dollars laa the best portions of the United States and probably greater than in some sections under the nationlaJ juris- diction. Tlie adaptability of the Ameri- can citizen to aJl conditional of climate and soil has and if it pays now wiU speedily solve the problem which is so largely entering into the anticipations and calculations of the officiial and un- official world not only in the United States but within the bordere of our northern neighbor. 1 i 164 D s coldest iW on tihie Irkutsk, ' 18 sown And yet latitude m Hemi- 85 de- than the 1 ska. IXKwerfuJ lei of 60 of Sitka, iSrees, or Washing- tates. ia 18 de- iite mileB, >d States. one ques- er in the he Woods the paral- ! United ossessions lan many- found es- llaska aa md indus- ?alue will 8 of the ;ater than onal juris- he Ameri- )f climate now will ieh is 90 ticipations 1 and un- £> United J of oxir I Wtt m>.\ .1 w '} ■ i, ARCTIC EDEN LETTER NUMBER XV. Something About Cur Fellow Citizens from Alaska. Walrus, Salmon and Moose Instead of Apples— Sea Otter and Seal Skins Instead of Fig Leaves. H'ttntl Shan, of China, Dlsconnts Blorne, of Scandinavia Five, and Colnm- bm. the iltallan, firom Spain Ten Centuries. Itt the hiMTy of current and prospective eyeats witiiiiii the aa-ea of "Our Golden Wonderland of AUtska and Ktondike neighiboTj" and in view of the vast acces- sions to lis popuilaJtion under the alluring prospects of a golden road to wealth, it W'll be initeresting and instructive to taary for a moment in our narrative to tal:e a Quick glance at the native races whi'^ pajssed under the jurisdictiom^ if not into full fellow-citizenship, of the United States of America, when the great Secretary accomplished the cession of the vast regions which they inhabited. In the progressive development of Alaska these native occupants of the soil aire not likely to figure very extensively in the immediate future at least in either the arts of peace or war, being few in nnm- bers, peaoefal and inoffeinflive in spirit, 167 n I il 4 )< IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) !.0 I.I 1^128 2.5 2.2 I: iifi M 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" ► PhotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^4 ^ ^ " course with tlie former Riuwian possos- jors of the country they liave become Itaswiaii in laiwrimffe, rehcion, modes of «fe a«h; and fishinp. The total enumeration of the AUi^kau races ir 1890 wan 23.274. Theii rumber w.i.s approximateil at a much hijjiier tiffiire in 18('»8, the year after the ce.«*sion. In a military reiKirt in tlHiit year they were piven at 82,40(), and to that the »;ime year in a rejwrt to the Commissioner of Iiidinn Affaii-s 11. ThlinpketB were added, which would make an aggregate of 93,400. An exag- geration. The tenth oen: uh (1880) fixed their miml)eis at 33.42(». which showwl a di*- cide«l differonee. The reix)Tfa are not re- garded as wholly ix»liable. The eleventh ceu«im (1890.), which waa the first as far a.*» it went, giving the enumeration of the occui>ants of the counti-y in detail, stited the native raec« 23,532, or males 12.100. females 11,42(5. A consensus of oflieuil conclusioiifl in- dicates a slow deerea«v in the native ra«^. The>' now seem to tend to the common fa;( of the wild i)eoi>k>s of the CVmtin^'rt aft«T a brief contact with the white imiyulation. Thanc•ies. The same environments of nature and difficulty in obtaining a subsistence will explain the low mental and moi«J condi- tion of these races. It will also explain the lingual diversity which exists. Where two races come in c^mtact there is a mix- ing of dialects which in the course of time ifl liable to supercede Iniith of the originals. If these native ix><>ple survive the imi)act of a period of aggressive exploitation of Alaskan resoiirces. which 8c«ie<) to be ITO rel 7 ' WONDERLAND the promise of the future, the American tongue and Araerienix modes of life mil Buperccde. Tlie native races of late yewrs have manif^wtcd an incliiwUiun U> aban- don their pnicarious and isolated ways of miaintainJnte their faniilios and are gath- ering alMHit tlie 8<''ttlt'nu'nt»^ where tlje men can find oceapotions or tliieir fam- ilies may be protoetetl w-hile fhey ore ab- sent on foniys foi* game or employment in the many enterpriBL>» which are springing up thponghout the Torritorj'. TIhe ajjparenl; apathy which reigned in the mational executive and legislative branches o^f the Covemmenit in every- thing i)ertaining to Ahuska for seventeen yeans at least after tlie acquisition of the Territotry, was brought to an end through the recommendations of the United States Army, Navy, IlevciuK* Marine anil Sci«'n- tific Surveys in Alaska on official duty. The Uucssiian (ireek Gliurch intere8te(^ itself in the work of bettering the condi- tion of the natives with some results dur- ing the BmiKTor's jurisdictioiu Since the iiuiu*riiration of the United States dominion over the iHJuntjy many of the letading religious denouunations have come on the ground and liave done noWy in the amelioration of the nativi's in the enlargement of tlieir spliero of dt>- mestic comfort and intelligence and in their «daptatiou to the rcquirtMnents of civil and religious life. In the organic act of 1884 the Secretary of the Interior is directcil to m«.kc iieeilful and proi)er provision for the education of the child n>n of school age in the Territory of Alaska without reference to race, unitil such time as pennnnent pmvi«ion shall be made for the same." The Bureau of Education at Washing- ton cit.v, thrmigh its representative, ift. Sheldon .Tackson, and others, has done mimt effective work. This arahle field of ollicinl civilizing hibor, as I have said, had l>een alloiwerl to remain in its primi- tive stage for seventeen yeairs before the neeeasjiry legislation could be obtained. Tlie work since has been sagacioaisly man- aged. The rising generation will sperJt, read and write the American remacuJar. 171 T I ■ I K' i>' OUR ALASKAN The primary schools wMch answered the elemeutaa'y stages of the work are now being suppleniiontod by those of a higher grtade. The explodtation of physical resources; the expansion of industry; the enlarge- ment o.' odiMM.tional and pellgious instruc- tion; the extension of mall facilities and intercourse, not to apeak of the marvel- ous output and prospects of gold, spring over our Alaskan Wonderland an arc of promise which may be a fitting introduc- tion to the dawn of a new century of home and nAitional progress. The Government, after many years of apathy, has beeomng, when the inhaWtawts will be called upon to exercise the fuU privileges of citizenship under a terri- torial organic act the native of Alaska ■not in a wild or uncivilizod' state will have cilaim to the inalienaible privilege of every American citizens the right of suffrage. In transportation of goods over the terrible passes they are a'jready large- ly occupied. 174 ; V WONDERLAND y In- gold large jorta- It is not necemary to enter into an eru- dite ethnological disquisition upon tlie ori- gin and expajwion of the native inliablt- ants of Alaska. It is not essential to the miarveloius awakening wiiieh seemo to be awaiting the immediate future to determtoe in what degree the aborigi> al Alaskan is a primate through the remote pedigree of an Hvit'liii-opoidal ape. Nai is it our duty »f (in ope, as sdeutists are wont to de- clare themselTPs and their kLnsmen and civilissed friooids and relations, to attempt to bring ouir Alaskan fellow-citizena witn- iii that apLsh categorj'. Nor would it increase our intelligence or quiet our pride to attempt to determine whether they ap- proach * •» humai. species in regular scientafic sequence, from the most remote claiimicd amicestors of our scientific authori- ties the gibbons, the oranira. the chim- panzees and the gorillas. With the last of these anthroijoidal gentlomen one might infer from their earnestness that they almost claim ties of consanguinity. AU we iniorentially know is that these native races of Ataska, as many also be- lieve of our American Indians, are of Mongolian origin. Some say the American Indians are descendants or the real and only lost tribes of Israel. Tlie latest by way of Chi- cago authority i» that Adam was a China- man. That probably might account for Oain seeking refuge in the land of Nod after the Edenic fratricide. I can say from personal observation in Mongolia that the Tartar peoples m-A with in that isolated region have many ohnracteristics, habits and cus- toms »trikingly in common witli our own aboriginal Indian. William Penn re- fers to this strange coincidence in his de- scription of his Province. Others have noted it. The writer having been among the Mongolians of Mongolia amd the American Indians of the American plaims, can t(>3tify to the coincidence if not to the absolute fact of some remote contact between these two *'.erce nomadic andi wiarlike races. When we contemplate the inquisitive 175 I OUR ALASKAN pair on the banks of the Euphrates en- joying tlio loviMiJpoueing temperatnres of Eden and hiding their fort)idden knowl- edge behind such primitive garments an fig leavoft we have but to turn onr gaze north westerly to the other side of the same world and contempliate an Arctic Eden in the remote paat inhabttlE^d by fierce warriors dad in the skins of beoats amd nurturing their hardy bodies upon the flesh of animals a» wIKl ami savage 9J» themselves. In opening interconrse withi the inbablt- ants of the earth swbjeet to the NoaJiic racial distribution after so many cenc turies of time the hardy "Vikings of the frozen latitudes of Europe or the b'ood- thirsty Spaniards of Andalusia and Oas- tiie were not the first to make the ac- quaimtanoe of the peoples of the new world. We liave "celestial" authority for the colobrated coa.stiiiiR voynRe of Ilwui Sliaii. about 458, from the mainland of Oliima, the land of Nod in Edenic days on the EJuphrates, around the Peninsu'a of Oorea, through the Straits of Hakodate, in the land of "the hairy men" (Japan), along the Kurile Archipelago and the Kamtehaitkan Peninsula, striking out into the Paicific for B(»rini>r Isle and thoiicc from island to island of our own 'otng Aleutian chain -"rvd down our Alaskan foa«t to th oomitry of "painted bodies" alonfe . ar western sihiores of Washington, Oregon and California, to the country of silTcr. which we call Mexico, and into the "country of women" whieh stronmfly suggests that Amazonian race of femininity of which we read nar- rations. The feasibility of such a nautical ven- ture can be traced on our ordinary school atlasses. Of the sea-going qualities of the craft of that day we know nothing, but my own experience has seen demonstrated the seaworthiness of the junks of the modern Ohineee in the enormous river coast and ocean trade of that ancient empire. It is aJso reported that the "celestial" navigators left the mainland of Asia at 176 i j WONDERLAND ^^ 1 Avatche, the aamie harbor from which Vitus Bering saiJcd about twelve cen- turies later on his voyage of discovery. There is also a degree of oircumatan- tdality about the narrative In fb'j Chinese text quoted by Vining in his "Inglorioua Oolumbuls." "In the first year of the reign of the Ts'i Dynasty • ♦ • 499, a Shnuwii Ituddhist priwt, Hwui Sliaii. came to Kiiigehoni from tlmf country imuI told the following story regarding tlie country of Fu Sang Kwoh." • • » The voyage of the daring Buddhist, Hwui SIkui niul hi.s iMirty (y( nuMHJiciiiit Buddhist monks originally from Afghan- istan "far in the heart of Asia" in tlie fiffh centuiy was quite as possible on the other side of our continent as the now accepted ventures of the daring Norsemen of Scandinavia five and six centiirii-s later were on this. Of the diaring voyage of Columbus, 1,- 000 years after Hwui Shan and about 500 y^ars after the Vikings, we know" by past history and current resujts. 177 i ESKIMO-JIMEBICIilS, i 1 1 s. LETTER NUMBER XVI. How Oar Native Alaskan Fellow Citizens Live. Their Iglns and Families ; Domestic Economy and Customs ; Indus- tries and Diversions. A Life of Souc In m tAtltade of Silence. It is not necessary to struggle up to "Greenland's Icy Mountajno," neither to winwler oCf "To India's Ooirol Strand," nor "\VlK«re Afric's sunny fountains — I'oU down tlieir golden sands," in order to find subjects for the ethnological collectioiu compoeitely Icnowu as thio American peo- ple. We have them all gathered within the expansive fold of the Republic in one hap- py family of races and n^ionaliticsi. The Anglo-Saxon, Latin, Germftulc, Dutch, ScandimaTiiaii, Slavic, Aryan, Isttaelitiah, Ishimaelltiish and other brandhos of the Gauidasian group; the Mongoliota repre- sented by the Japanese and Chinese, the Polynesian in the Hawaiions and Waifs of the South Sea Isiles; the African, who traces his lines of ascent to the duslfv oc- cupants of the valleys of the Niger and the Congo, and the aboriglinal Indian, all together making an "American cooicert" of peoples vieinig with each other in the arbs of peace and war if need be in de- fense of free institutions and all the Americas for Americans. 179 ♦ I OUR ALASKAN We who enjoy the conveniences of cdy- ilization in its hdgheist forms mnist not imagine thart we know it all. If we were c'ast iipon the shores of our Bering or Arctic Sea possessions, we would doubt- less die in the attempt to live. The club- num, too, of Nuwuk and Utkiavwin would doubtless succumb undesr the fierce "rafkets" of the clubman nearer hom& The Komeoe and Juliets under tlie sunny skies of Italy find the'r counterparts in the wierd twilight of the arctie night of North^^rn Alaska, Amid such antitheses of surroundings it will be interesting to take a hasty view of the racial traits and modes of living of our indigenous fellow citizens of Alaska, about whom so little is yet popu- larly known. There seems to be little room to doubt the generalt conclusion that they are of the Mongolian atock which found its* way to our shores from the mainland of the mother continent, Asia, in the mythical ages, of which we have, as to primitive man, but the silent and unsatisfactory testimony of the different stages of de- velopment of the earth's crtiist. The most numerous of onr Alaskan races are thie Polar people, who live with- in the Arctic Circle from the tributary wiaters of Kotzebu© Sound to the frigid shores of the Arctic Ocean and have their chief resorts for trade at their villages of Nuwuk and Utkiavwin, ov Point BBar- pow, at Beecher*s Point and at Wain- right Inlet, 75 miles to the southwest and Demaroation Point, the polar land ei;d of the international meridian, 350 mUes to the east. The Eskimo- Americans are of medium height, robnst and muscular, rarely ex- ceeding 5 feet 8 inches. They seldom be- come corpulent, ranging in weight from 126 to 204 pounds among the men, and 100 to 192 pounds among the women. Their hands and feet, particularly of the women, are small and delicate, the same OS represented of the Greenland proto- types by the ear'liest explorers. They htELve a broad, flat face, high cheek bones, 180 } WONDERLAND 1 a short nose, narrow forehead, ho-rizcxntal eyes of shades of brown, and a light yel- low i^ brown complexion, soimetimes Ir the women being almost fair. The Hebrew cast of counitenanoe is not unusual. The hair is black, straight and tliiok, that of the men rather ooai«e, and of the women long and gUky, Thie beard in the uion is scant. The men are generally graceful and erect in their carriage, walking with ex- panded dhests and lirin tread, the picture of Arctic dignity. The women step with a sftiiuffling, half trot, toes in and body forward and ai'ms dangling. Both sexes possess great endurance. They have been known to make unbroken journeys of twenty-four hours over the rough ice, and 50 to 75 miles a day wltliouit haJting to sleep. The women bear no dhildren before 20 years of age, and are not as prolific aa the daughters of the races of the more salubrious and tropioa.1 climes. The American-Eskimos, like their Yan- kee fellow countrymen, are quick witted. They not only have capacity to learn the art», but are particularly adept in me- chanical appliances. They are chieerfui in disposition and have the American faculty of humor and. jokes even practical. Tliey are also honest, especially when Helf interest is at stake, and truthful. They show great affection among themselves and for their children, though they are stolid in sorrow for the dead, 'ilieir hospitality is universal. They als«. siiow great curiosity. They were some- times in the beginning inclined to be Ln- iSflent, but their natural inclinations and ji^ood sense turned them to friendliness. Th"y are not warlike, but for heroism on tue sea, in pursuit of the monsters of the deep which find those frigid watona congenial to their hiabita, they cannot be surpassed. Thiey have no tribal organization. They call themselves Inuin or Inuits "People," which term they apply to the white man as well as to the Indianis. The term Eskimo, as I have said, means 181 I * I ^1! OUR ALASKAN "raw fiish eaters." It wiae at fitat used in deriaion, as "Tankee" toward the patriots of Oontineiital diaye, iiow thie syaooym of tiJie grandest maniiood of the worid. They fa'ave terms indicating people of certain loeaJities. Their viltagee seldom mimber over 150 souls, and deaitilm often largely exceed the births. Point Bairrow is to the Eskimo-Ameri- can whiat New York, Philadelphia or any of the numerous cities, ^reat and small are locally to the inhabiituinits of the mir- rounding regions. There they coingreg'ate in winter for barter wiith the traders and >\'*h'alers, and enjoy "the social season" with their amuaemeuts. In summer they also do as their more luxurious and opulent fellow citizens in "the States." They remove to their sum- mer camping grounds Where mountain and river game is abundant, and hunt and dance and trade among tnemselves and with tlie ships anchored in the aiheiltered nooks of the coast. They barter furs of animials, large and small, land and water, and other naitunal products of tlie country, for breech-load- mg arms and ammunition, iiiistend of ilintlocks, formerly sold tham by the British Hudson Day Oompany, metal utensils and diver® articles used in their limited range of the mechanic arts, also beads, tobacco and not uufrequently rum if they can get it. The textiles of more temi>era.le zones are of little value, though bright (jolorod handkerchiefs and blankets are sought by the women. It is well e9tal>lished that they prefer to purchase all articles of American manu- facture. Tlieir dealings in early times with, the British Hudson Bay monopoly were doubtless not experienc<>s of pleasant memory. Some idea of their primitive methods of barter, as ancient as man, may l)e foirm3d of their scale of values in kind. A large brass kettle is "(j noted" at three wolverine, three black and five red fox skiius. An Eskimo- American "new woman" carried on a remunerative trade by seeur- 188 WONDERLAND of ing fram the Whale and other sMpe, even rowing out in the waves in her kaiak to gather them in the anchorage of the ves- sels, all their castaway tin cans, Whieh slie eald to her native customers at one fox skin apiece, and then bartered them to tlie trader at another profit. The food of these polar citizens is also in a transition stage. They formerly muA still largely dei>end upon the 8eayed, and odl putrid, to Chicago beef dreased, corned or otherwise, genenilly the latter— from the ships. The entrails and contents of certain anrimals which are considered delicacies have great value iu their native dietary arramgemients as powerful anti-scorbutics. A sort of native tripe. This Ls particular- ly so of the rabbdt entrails. The necfssity of enormous quantities of fat in cold cli- raiates is an exploded theory. As a nile the Eskimo-Americans cook their food chiefly by boiling, but not un- like many more civi'ized people, do not object to takiuK it rare or even raw. The latter in the Po?ar regions is a mat- ter of convenience and often of necessity. They eat when they are hungiy and eu- >Qj rfcord-breakiivg cubical and digestive capacity. It is reiJorted that one house- hold not very large ate two reindeer in twenity-four hours. It may be added as a compensating condition that the same hou>iehold doubtless survived imich longer without eaiting. The women' prepore the food, but that monster son of Adam always tikes the l>esit cut and 'eaves the rest and the refuse for hip family. Tlie stirplus food is buried in the gravel near camp and dug up when want- 183 1 i i i \ fl S OUR ALASKAN ed for winter u«e, although it tniglit be a little "gamey." The blubber is always savea for domes- tic and commercial uses. The chief drink of out EJskimo felk>w- counftirymen and women is water in enor- mous quantities and very cold. In win- ter a lump of elean snow is ahvays kejrt on a rack near the lamp with a tub bEv neath to catch the meltings, an examp!e for their more civilized countrymen. Even when the men are enjoying their (ipen-air clubs in the summer the V€«€iel of water with drinking bowls occupies the centre of the circle. In traveling the women often carry seal skin pouches filled with snow next to th<»ir bodies, the warmth of which causes it to melt. Their strong drink, when they get it, comes ex- clusively from civilized sources. Their tobacco, also, which they smoke in anthT ETwi stone pipes with wiHow stems, they carry in beautiful' wolverine, deerskin banded pouches. The men, women and children unite in prolonged domestic "smokers" when they can get the weed from the traders or ships. The domicile of the Eskimo-American for winter use is the iglu. square and built of rudely fashioned wood and cov- ered with earth to exclude the tempera- tures outside when far below the fro7en mercury. From the outside it resr^^bles n mound of e«.rth. It is entered by an ximderground passBige. 25 feet long. 4 feet wide, 4*4 feet high, closed in winter or in nbaence, with wolves' hide. This passage oiwms into the main room, which is about 14x10 feet. The floor, wal's and roof are made of thick plank, dressed and neatly fitt<'d edge to edge, with a sloping roof. A hole covered with the membraow of strips of the seal entrails sewed together and stretched over a frame, is the only aper- ture for light. Often the rafters are of whale jaws and rilw. Across the rear of the room is a plat- form 30 inches from the ground and 5 feet wide, which slopes toward the outer 184 it be imes- Mow- enoT- win- koi>t b b(v mp'.e their 'oseel upies p tlie iches ». the rheir >s ex- rheir intler they ■rskin ite in they rs or rican ^ and eov- ipera- ro7«'n rsWea ronnd *nce, <>I)0Tli8 14x10 mndo fitt<>d ^hole >9 of ond aper- ire of plat- and 5 outer '. /' n ■ 1 "' V 'ij W' m m 1 m> W • Mi ■ lli'i ||l i ft (i U^ '1 c 'u I 1} - ' c 'u ■*■.■ i WONDERLAND w&li, w!hie-Jlami>s or oil-bumeirB for heating and ligliting ■ from 6 by 8 inchefi to 3 by 2 feet in .' and shiaJlow. The oil ia burned tbrou . wieka of mose fibre arranged around tlie edges and is euppMed by the drippings of a lump of blubber held on the point of a stick in the wailji over the fiame. Two of these lamps yield but little smoke and a flame, say explorers, sufficient to read and write by and give 50 to 60 degrees of heat in the coldest weather. In their clothing theee of our peop!e need no advice from tlieir more "^^epantly dressed fe]ilorw-citissen» of lower latTtndies. With the mercury frozen and the temper- ature running riot away down to the eigh- ties belofw zero they evidently know their business. The skinsi of the reindeer in divers stages of pela^ from fetal to full grown, mountain shee^, white and blue foxes, wolf, dog, emune and lynx skins are used for the hooded ooata or piarkas; eider duck for underdo theis, deer skin for knee breeches and boots, inside stockings and slippers. Under such conditions these exceed cheviots and cloths, doe skin and beaver. The women's dress is very similar to that of the men with the exception of a Socket at the nape of the neck for the ead of their offspring, which they snuggle away on their backs in their fur frocks. The chjldresn also dress as their elders. The mittens worn are generally made with the fur inside. The wooden or bone snow goggles are also an indis- pensable article. The clothing is sometimes attractively ornamented with bamdls of furs of other shades and often with belts of wover^ feathera, wolverine toes and porcupine quills, with ivory fasteners. The tatooir^ of the women, generally on the chin, is by way of ornamimt. Among the men it is a*mairk of distinc- tion for the number of whales taken or other acts of heroism. The hair is usu- ally banged in front and worn long on the eddes. The mem wear head band^, 186 i ] in li riM i iaa ii iHHirr i riiwiri i •nitm t WONDERLAND eonnngs and labrets, a stud shape lip orna- ment of bone or soapetone, usually one at each end of the mouth. The womien woar neck ornaments and bracelets of beads or amber picked up on the beach, finger rings and comibs of varied deugnr. wrought out of walrus, ivory or reinde.(r antlers. They are just as fond of and faacinat- ing in these exterior decorations as are the daughters of Bve. The earlier mechanical, building and skin, working implemients in use were made of »Jate, flint and whalebone, with wood'Cn or bone bafts held by sinew or raw Mde thongs, amtler chisels, deer sca- pula saws, bone bow drills and bores and flint reamers. The natives knew nothing of metialis until brought into the country by the early explorers and whalers. They are now in use when they can be hiad in barter. f 187 I 1 kouiiTic um i 'i t IS LETTER NUMBER XVII. A Continaed Story of Eskimo- imerican Arctic Life. The Fierce Athabascan Hunters of the Yukon and Daring Thling- ket Fishermen of the irchapelago. A K«tlTe People Mcrgtng Into Cltlxen- ■hip. Our fellow-countrymen from the Arctic zone of the urisdietion of the United States still cling to one of the oe".ebrafted historical methods of slaying enemies. Their chief weapon, rivalling Samson's famous "new jaw bone of an ass," iia the jaiw bone of a walrus, also dlaggers of bear's bone, hand clubs of whale bone, bows of sinew-backed spruce, with flinb- ed and feathered arrows, seal skin quiv- ers, darts, harpoons, lances of seal, wnalie or walrus bone, and six-balled bGila;9es of ivory for throwing at birds. All their weapons are used in the vo- cations of pctace and thus far never in war. The use of firearms was commenced af- ter 1837, and are now common both for hunting on land and whale, seal, waltuis, fishing? on the sea. They have various native appliances als decoys and floats for the chase and river 189 i*n OUR ALABKAN ' I fishing. Also a fox and wolf trap whiich is takinigr not a very fair advantage of Rerniard and his earniverous "pal, the wolf. It conslsta of a piece of bent whale bone frozen in blubber. The voracioiiB animnt siyiy bolting the morseX in the course of warmth «nd digestion suddenly experi- ences the sensations of having swallowed an uan'brella or to that efifect. The griz- zly bear, brave in romaoice and cowardly in fact, takes a smart pnir of limbs to catch him over the ice and whines moum- fuWy if caught in the water. The bowhead wlia'e of the sen rivals the reindeer of the land in usefulness to the comfort and convenience of the Eski- mo-Americ«n. It furnishes food and oil for domestic uses and skin, sinews and bone uiseful in their domestic arts. The pre-eminence of the whale in Eski- mo economy and glory is showi. by the gire«it drumming, singing and incantation which attends the consocration of the whaling outfit to its thrilling uses. For making fibres they use ivory shut- tles, netting needles, mesh sticks, "swords;" for feather weaving, bone needles, cases, ivory thimbles and trin- ket boxes of walruis tusks. Their basket weaving is quite artistic. The principal means of locomotion and Iransportaition is the kaink, a skin-covei'- ed canoe, 19 feet long and 18 inches wide, decked over except an o|>ening in the middle for the man paddling it to sit In. Every Eekimo-Americam man or boy owns one of these indispensible craft. The umiak, another water conveyance, is a lairge open skin boat, used by the Eskimos, Aleuts and Silxn-inns in travel- ing, hunting or fiahing. The whaling Timiak is made of the l)cairded sealskin. The women, who are as daring as the men, usually steer the boat, and display great skill and courage. They also fre- quently assist in whaling and also in wal- rus hunting and sealing. Thie land journeys of the Eskirao- Amei'ican in winber are made with light and heavy sleds, the former for smaller articles and the latter for heavy freight. 100 WONDERLAND ] They are made of drift-wood, »hod with strips of whaJe jaw. Some have ivory riimieTa. I'*he men and women travel on foot, '.y»in)? snoW'SliooH where necessary. The sledH are drawn by dogs, ten making a larjfe team, hameased by means of stont raw-hide collar bands and stripe. It is the practice for women to go ahead to en>p, with a handle, and beaten by a piece of ivory alternately on cither side. The men. women and young people join in the dolefu? din, going through all the motions of hunung. The men, disguised as aaimals, crawl on all fours, swinging their beads to the tune. Suddenly stand- ing erect, they jump about frantically. They are not given, hoAvever, to orgies in their festival diversions. The toys consist of whirligigs, spinning tee totems, buzz-wheels, and whizzing sticks. Many of their toys, like dolls, drumi players and kaiak paddlers are me- chanical and ingenious. The women are exceedingly dexterous in cam' cradle, making the most difficult figures like the reindeer. They are also expert in tossing up three balls and skipping rope. The mnsical manifestations of these interesting fellow-coimtry men and wo- men consists of a minor chant-like mooi'- tony of sound in common time, usually sung in refrain. The voices of the young women are naturally soft and both -sexes shiow a fondness for music. Marriage is for companionship and gen- erally arranged by the parents. The courtship i.«t usually done in song. The hoineyTnoon is i>a.sss at the head, the Shamans or Medicine Men next and the V.v^.iJs la.st, which has a rude rois<.mblance to the e.iirlief feudal system of the Old World. The Alents still cling to many of the manners, customs and appliances in com- mon with the other native races, but have ndvancetl so far toward Russian methods ideas and lajiiguage that they are not likely to revert to their former ways of life. They are a brave sea-faring people, adapted to the life of thoir mid-ocean island homes. The Athabaiscams, the interior Indian race, which lives on hunting and fishing, are allied by racial chairacteristics to our own Apaches and Navajoes of the planes 194 J t the J t WOTUDERLAJfD and, Rockies, except their blood-thirsty in- stincts for wnr ntid cmelty. They are known in, tlieir native ton^e as Tinneli. They are a tal\ finely de- veloped, eowrapeoii'S and proud race and display many of the characteristics of the bettor tyi^e cf their kiaasmen across the Amerioan border. They are chiefly enpaged in fisbinj? and hnntinp. They consider it a disgrace to kiU a black bear, the fiercest of the fami- ly, with powder and bnll. When they en- counter "Mr. Bruin" in the forest, they acoordiniffly boldly attack liim with a knife. These deeds of prowess are great- ly esteemed among their people. The AthSbawcans are a polygamous race having several wives. Infanticide is aliso very common. They deposit their dead in boxes above the ground. Thedr habita and miodes of life partake more of the barbarous than uf the savage state. They have had for years more or less contf.ct with the stations of the Hudsoo Bay Company and latterly with the gold miners of the Yukon and its American and Britj.'^hi tributaries. The Thlimg^kPts and their kindred, the Timpseans and Haidas aie coini^risoil in ten tribes and dwell on the islainds and main land of Southeastern Alaska. They are a vigorous, athletic, indus- trious and slirewd people. Their primitive h^abats are gradually giving way to Amcri- cam modes of life. Their chief employ- ment in their native state is hunting and fishing. They have long lived in a mde wfly after the manner of the Ruiasian, former possossions. They seek oocupatioM in d«ii!y employment. As packers th(^y are of grrat va'ue to the prospectors and miners ii* the present stampede over the severe const range portage to the Yukon route to tbe glitter- ing tributary streams in Alaska and Klon- dike. In the early days of thcnr known his- tory they were of a warlike spirit. Their name then was a terror alike to the half- civilized Aleut and the predatory Tinneh. 195 ;3 -J ill !l TIME'S SCORE LETTER NUMBER XVIII. A Chronological Narration of Alaskan Events. The Rivah;/ of Nations for the Wealth of the Arctic. An Ignominioa<) Snrreiider Which Time and the People Will Amend. Tlie Alaskan Step to the Muiilc of tbe Union. During the earli«iS't period of discovery and exploration (1492-1500) on the At- lantic and Gulf coasitsof thoNoa-th AiiKH-i- can continent, Jasper Coitereal (1500) siailed into the Hudson Bay, thus entering the northwesf^o-u water passage between the oastem and western aliores of Nortlh America. BaJboa (1513) ventui'ing inland upon what happened to be the narrow stretch of territory which oonnec'ts the three Americasi unexpectedly sighted the Waters later known as tine Pacific. Magellan (1520) pasaed from ocean to ocean in the exti-eme sonth, through the striait whidi bears his noone. Oortez (1521) fresh from his conquest of Mexico, under the directions of his im- perial master, ventured across the Pacific to the Indies and discovered for Spain the archipelago of the Phillipines. The alluring fields of the Asiatic orient OUR ALASKAN i: ( I diverted attention from tlie lesg inviting regions along the opposite shores of the Pacific. CJabriJlo (1542-3) explored California and other parts of the Pacific Coast. Drake (1578-80) aleo visited the northern waters of the same ocean. The harvest of trade in the east and the attempts at colonizatioin in the west so completely absorbed the atteaition of the maritime nations of Europe that the waters of the North Pacific were left in solitude for nearly two hundred years. The aotivity of Peter the Great of Rus- sia. (1724) and liis imperi'al widow, Cath- erine, (1725) aroused fresh interest and rivalry in that region. The policy of Peter and Catherine then has been thie statesman-like policy of the Russian ruleiis since. I have spoken of this in the intemlational story of "An Alaskan Romianee," and the thrilling ex- lieriences of Vitus Bering 1728-30 and 1732-1741 in the narrative of "Alaskan Discovery." The immense value of the fur trade of tihe region which found a profitable mar- ket in China and Russia and other coun- tries of Europe, stimuiated Russian occu- poition of the territory greatly to the un- easiness of Spain and her colonies along the Shores of the South Pacific from Terra del Fuego to Mexico. England, then a fomiidable competitor for supremacy in the ooanmeree of the high seas, also dis- pJayed concern. It was this uneasiness which sent Cap- tain James Cook (1776-8), an Englishman, to the Pacific, visiting our own Hawaiian Islands, the coast of our own Oregon and northwoird along our continental shores to Mount St. Mias, and around the pres- ent Alaskan peninsula into Bering Sea and through the Sitrait to Icy Cape, term- inating his adventurouis career in a fatal quarrel with the natives of Hawaii. The voyiage of Cook unfolded to geo- graphicoil science the vastnesa of what is now Alaska. The Ruasians, the rightful possessors by title of discovery, were not slow to 198 )\ n '. WONDERLAND avail themselTes of the knowledge Uma acquired. The furs and fish of the Aleu- tian Islands had long engaged the aitten- tian of their traders. The more systematic methods now pro- posed led to the organization (1781-3) of a trading company with their cr to occupy the mainland. T5ie Spaniards made a reconnoiissamce from their Mexican colony the following year (1788) touching at Kadiak and Un- alaska and not only reported many set- tlements in New Rassia, but advanced pre- tentions to the exclusive jurisdiction of the western shores and islands of the Pa- cific. In reply to a remou»tranoe the Spanish Government was reques'ted to mind its own business, as the Russian traders were acting under imperial orders. Although War was threatened the atten- tion of Simin was diverted in a new di- rection. The Spaniards, dissatisfied with the Nootka settlement by the EfUglish instead of the Russians', captured (1789) the Brit- ish ships and traders at that point. A general war was averted by a convention (1790) according free commerce to both nations. 800 m 4' I Nipi ill n I ml' WONDERLAND The re^om ea«t of the present interoa- tianal longitude 141 west waa brought within the bounds of geographical knowl- edge by the explorations of Alexamder Mackenzie (1787-91-92) from Atlamitio waters to the mouth of the great Polar river whidh bears hi» name and also am overland journey to the Pacific. The infant Republic of the Wesit aa w© have seen early entered actively into the rivalry of nations for the valuable trade of eriaJ Government: the compiany bearing his name was; granted a monopoly of the trade. It was not long (1792) before Alexander Baramoff, who had been iai' charge on KadJak Island under DelarefiF, the pre- viouai chief, found himself ait the head of alTairs. This energetic functionary be- came a.a much of ajn autocrat of all Alas- ka- as the Emperor himiselif wias autocrat of aU the Russias. An attempt to form a settlement of convicts aaad monks on the mainlamd' near Mount St. Ellas ivroved a failure. Two years later (1795) another attempt was miade on Yakutat Bay, The impeidaJ government aibout the same time chjarteredi the Russian Ameri- can Company fbr 20 years with exo'nsive franchises north of the parallel of 55 de- grees north. This snperaeded the former Shelikoff Compainiy. Banunoff was placed in control of the Russian Oompiany. 201 Pacifi-t'.^*'.' IhtoryDept. PROViNC'AU LIBRARY ' VICTORIA, B. C. OUR ALASKAN 3 m This eiDterprifiing official erected (1700) a fort on a 'sbeltered bey on the oceam front of the island in Sontheafrtem Alaska, which to-day perpetuates his name. This iK>rt he niamed in honor of the archan^} Gabriel. The trump of trade soon attracted American' and English vessels to the new post. The gi«at convenience of the lo- cation, geogpaphioally, a few years lateir (1804), led Baranoff to transfer the head- quarters of the colony from St. PauOi, on Kadiak Island, to the new settiement, to wihdch he gave the name of New Ardhr angel. The difficulty of eommamicatioii with Buseda, which required tnin8i>ortatio!n thousands of miles acroew Siberia by the slow lapplianceis of travel then in vogue and many more miles by ocean by the lagging sailing vessels of the day led the quick-witted Baranoff (1810) to make an arranigement to obtain food supplies from on American settlement at the mouth, of the Columbia now in Oregon, establij^hed in that year, which received the name Astoria. This settlement, under the aula- pioes of John Jacob Astor, of New York, was renowned in those days of the fur trade. A short time after Baranoff acquired a tract of land in California then owned by Spain, on Bodega Bay, north of the rite of San Francisco Bay. There he erected a fort and stationed a colony of agrdculturists to raise cattle, «n«ain and vegetables for the Russian- American set- tlements. After a long period of active service, Baranoff having retired, a new governor of the Ckrman name Hagenmeister waa placed over the affairs of the Russian Company. The Russdan-American poasesaians now began to assume sufficient importance to atti!act more of the attentiom of the Gov- ernment at home. The mantigement of the company under the somewhat hig'h.- haxuded methods of Baranoff led to re- forms which, however, were short Mved. At this time (1819) there were four or five stationisi on the Aleutian Isles and 202 WONDERLAND aevea on the ran in land and i»iaiuls on Cook InJet, ChiiKacli Gulf and BaranofE Island^ the latter being the capital. Dunng the governorship of Muravieff, which beg'an in (1820) the Imperial Gov- ernment in 1821 issuetl a ukase not otnily claiming all the region north of the 50tli parallel, hut extended the francliises of the convuny for another term of tweinity yearn. The extension of the Russian boun- dary BO far soii*h called for action on the part of the United States, which Govern- ment had acquired that coast from Spain in the purchase (1820) of the Territoi-y of Filorida. That region had very rambling lines of boumdary. Beginning on the At- lantic and Gulf of Mexico, it sti'etehed across the continent and was only limited by the Pacific Ocean in the far northwest at the mouth of the Columbia River, now in Gregooi. The difference, however, was peaceful- ly adjusted, as had mid always has been the fact in negotiations between the grent Republic, of America, and the great Em- pire, of Europe and Asia. The divisional line between the Russian and American posseaaions on the Pacific by treaty (1824) was located at 54 degrees 40 minutes. Tinder this instrument both nations hiad the freedom of trade along the entire coast. The treaty of 1825 betweem Russia and Eng'iand made the same arrangement ais to boundary and trade. The strip between the Spanish Florida purchase by the United States aind the Russian possessions gave rise to a. long and acute controversy between the United States and England. This culminated for the time being (1846) in a disgr'aceful and univeraailly condemned, patched-up arrangement be- tween the United States and Bnglajnd es- tablishing the 49th paraKiel north as the northern limit of the United States, instead of permitting England to enjoy the assumption! of the line of 54-4() as the northem limits of her possessSons in thiajt quarter toward Russia. One of theaWest statesmenof the United 203 ^ti ■^1 1'luf* m ' i'f. "I rli f^ PI m 1 11 i ■ill Nl ; 1 ■ llij i f 1 ^1 '1 1 j f'f 'i 1 n\ ii ill r 01712 ALASKA?'^ States chfliracterized thdis make-shift as the most ignominious eompromi*? that has ever diisgracrd the anmails of Amerioan diplomacy. This infamous snrrendier coift- tnary to the oft-repeated ffienKily intima- tions of the aiber and more far-seeing Emperors and »tatesmen of Russia to the United States to close np its XKX^sessiooai to 54-40, having fixed the line at the 49tih paraUtil left am open cause of intemia- tional irritaition which sooner or later ini the development of the United States' Padfic comimonwealths wi'll unless ad- J*u3ted lead to a third war with Eng- and, with more disastrou» resultsi to the latter power than it experienced in 1776 and 1812. The chief director, Ohi«trkoff (1825) aibandoned New Anshiamgel as the capital and retnmpd to the original headquarters of Russian operations at St. Paul, on Ka^ diak Island. Baron WrangeJ^ (1831), the new gover- nor, however, restored New Archiangel to th<^ dignity of the seat of acTmaniwtrative authority. The Russdan-Amerioan possessions also ceased (1833) to be the dumping ground of criminals and convicts, the territory being thrown open to all Russian sub- jects for colonization. The affairs of the Russian possesslona in America gave increasing disisatis- faction to the Government. In the mean- time the region was being explored and mapped atixi trading stations were erected at convenient i)oint8. The whale fisheries in those Arctic waters, which wei-e innuguirated by the Americains in 1848, at once assumed as- tounding dimensions and increased the ti'lctlon growing out of the management by the Russian company. At leng'th affairs assumed a crisis which resulted (1S62| in the Emperor refusing to continue the charter, which, Laying been renewed in 1844, would expire 'n 1864. In thda condition matteiis went along in a state of official suspended animation un- til Mafcsutoff, having been named (18G4) 204 » ^ WOJJDERLATfiD Imperial Governor, arrived in the colony and assumed dii'ection of affairs. This efficient officer was still in the ex- ercise of hiis duties when the Imperial and United States Commissionieirs and. troops arrived at the little cajpital, New Archangel, in October, 1867, to consiim- mate the treaty of cession by the trans- fer of the territory. The interesting story of this event in told in this volume under the caption "Uni- furling the P"'lag." Upon the acquisition of the territory by thie United States the capital on Bar- anoff Island, under its Russian occupants known as New Archangel, became Sitka in name, and continued in the distinction of being the seat of Government under the new jurisdietf-j'ji. Having thus succinctly traversed the long period of Russian' history, it ma^ be added in oo Unit' J States Govemment, after the transfer, stationed a detachment of United States troops at New Archangel, then named Sitka, and retained as the capital. After repeated efforts on thfe part of the Americans in the territory to secure a form of civil government in 1881, the contention of Juaeau sent its representa- tive, M. D. Ball, to the NationaJ Capital to urge its claims to prox)er legislation. It was not, however, until May 17th, 18Skt, that the bill presented by United States Senator Benjamin Harrison, be- came a law and the organic act of Alaska. T'^ district was provided with a few necessary administrative privileges, in- cluding civil, judicial and customs offi- cers and a resident commissioner for eaciii of the chief tovsms, all appointed by the President amd confirmed by the Senate, The former Russian capital, N^nv Arch- angel, was continued as the capital under 205 3*?rr pi & '\ .i •n i s? i- (I i ' 1 ' t,'i IP ! !( f ■ OUR ALASKAN WONDERLAND the iiame Sitka. The laws of Oregon, administea-ed by an Oregon judge, were declared the law» of Alaska. There were also many details protect- ing th" vast timber and Tninerft) laiJs from apoiliation, regulating f' '^ r^ ^v of jseals killed under the terc •; ;'; ;- tract with a private company, tDni ySi>- bibiting the sale of spirituous liqaois. In 1888 the precedent of admitting' delegates from Alaska to seats in national political conventions was established by the Democrats, v/hich was also adopted by the Republican party. The Jimeau convention of Republicans of 1889 chose Minor W. Bruce to present the claims of Alaska to more elaborate organic legislation to Congress. The censnis of 1890 showed a white Indian, Mongoli'nm, mixed' bliood total: i>op- ulation of 32.043. The expansion of in- dustry also presented further claims to consideration. Nof:wi'thst{»"<;ilng the rapid development of the seal, s* mon and other Ashing, and gold and other mining industries, the growing trade in articles of export and import and the consequent influx of popu lation, naturallv some of a very restive character, Congress continued its policy of neglect and ir.difference to the affairs of Alaska. The year 1897 found an abnormal con- dition of affairs in the rush to Alaska and Klondike gold fields, the latter on foreign, soil. Th!e lEW-»'biding, orderly in- stincts of the American citizen alone <: abled civil government, industry and trade to purwue their primitive way with- out a reiteration of the scen^eis of lawless- ness which attended the first flush of VJ:.; gold craze in California. The exigencies of the new condition ' f things were met as far as practicable by departmental orders, acting under iixecu- tive authority. The demands <>i' "G'*t;'»ter Alaska" are being met ' i the p«*.\)ed book of th« mysterioiTs uture op "'j^ its pages to a wcndei'ing vorld. 206 Oregoa, e, were protect- j la -iJs .Tin] iiX\>' ucrs. imitting national shed by- adopted ^blicans ( present ilaborate 1 white otal: pop- ►n of in- laims to elopment ling, and riles, the port and of popu V restive ts policy le affairs -mal con- ) Alaska atter on rderly in- alone t^ 3try and v^ay withr f lawless- ish of >. . adition f ticfible by er iJxecu- aska" are k of the ages to a 1 ~ U '''' ; SITKA, i if il!' !- t i OurAlasbWonderland LETTER NUMBER XIX. The Quaint Russian Capital of Oof y^^st Alaskan Domain. The Growing Towns of the Fntnre Archipelago 'State" of South- eastern Alaska. Am "lojr WUdcmeas" In Debate Trmns- formed Into » Realization ot Hnman Habitations and Increasing ^nrealtb. The logical arrangement of the distimc- tive ^hymcail charactenstlcs of Alaska, into SIX geographical areas., smggosted by Ivan Petroff, United States Treasury ex- pert in that region, has been described un- der the caption "Alaskan Pos8ibdIitie«." I shall now obsei've the same arrauge- menit in thei grouiping of Alaska towns and trading posts. The official maps of Alaska portray an amount of geogxaphioal detail which must surprise even an otherwise well-po«ted Amerioan citizen. Alaska is not the vast unknown wilderness which many of our people aire even at this remote day in the habit of unthinkingly believing, from the contemporaneous talk of inglorious croak- ers of the Fortieth Congress, the pro- British Lnfluenee and lobby of political bummers then so rife. The term "Alaska," in the vernacular of the early naitive races, means "Grreat 209 i If r i! 1' ■ ii : ^i !:« U i' If ) :|if'! OVR ALASKAN Land." And so it is, but there is before us in this age of progress and utilitarian enterprise a "greater Alaska." That vast region is dotted with located settlements and native hamlets from the fightinig par- allel 54 40 to Point Barrow and from the 10 marine league line and 141 meridian west, to the extremity of the Aleutian Islands, where the west is transformed, by coisimic science, into the east. Our concern in this connection ia with communities and minor settlements estab- lished in the interests of civilization and its varied activities. In Southeastern Alaiska, desci'ibed under "Alaskan Possibilities," Sitka was not only the earliest Russian station in that mysterious portion of the globe, but it is to-day the American capital. If it were possible to look in upon the Battery end of the Island of Manliattan at the time when that fa.mou9 puffer of pipe smoke, Wouter Van Twiller repre- sented tiidr "High Mightinesses the States General" 'j; the gubernatorial office of New Ne 'nierlamds, we would find ourselves in the midst of a town which would in a measure suggest the Sitka of to-day. The earlier community was the capital of the Dutch possessions in North Ameri- ca which then included both the North (Hudson) and South (Delaware) rivers as Sitka is the capital to-day of the North- western comer of the North American continent, a much more vast region in ex- tent under the Dominion of the United States, then imbom, and which now has jurisdiction over all. It is not said that the commercial and political metropolis of Alaska will rival in population or wealthi the great metropo- lis of New York. But I do say that over two and a half centuries of pro,vress pro- diTces great changes in towns as well as in human affairs generally, and that Sitka now is more important than the "Knick- erbocker" capital was in the age of Van Twiller, or even the redoubtable Stuyves- ant. 210 III i| WONDERLAND Indeed, we may look upon Alaska as an object lessofn in the small beginnings of the maternal "Thirteen," in the middle of the sixteenth century and with possibilities no leas remaii-kable in undeveloped natural wealth. Our miniature sub- Arctic capital, nearly 6,000 miles away from the seat of na- tional Governmenit, was located at the heart center in the anatomy of a region then aspired to by at least two nations of Euroi>e besides being held by its rightful possessor, Russia, It was also a large field if American enterprise when the mighty Republic of the West was in its s^waddling clothes. The original settlement of \rhich Sitka of to-day is the American successor, was located by the sagacious first Governor of the Ruisisian-American Fur Company, Alexander Baranof, after the abandon- ment of the previous ShelikofE Trading Company, which (had established ita headquarters at the town of St. Paul in the northeastern corner of Kadiak Island. It began as a Fort with a name sugges- tive of fuiturlty and fame no other than Archangel Gabriel. This was erected in 1799 on a picturesaue harbor on the west- em or ocean shore of an island, which to- day pei-petuates the name of Baranof himself. This island is one of the score of ro- mantic spots of terra-firma which int up on picturesque supexfice of Mother Earth's bosom above the indigo waters of the encomiMuasing deep, and constitutes one of the grouT) known as Alexander Archi- pelago, after that Emperor of glorious memoiy. The island itself is 100 miles from north to south along Chatham Strait, on the land and the Pacific on the oceanward Bide and 20 miles in width. This would give it an area within 50 square miles of the size of the State of Delaware. The American and English vessels which traded in that quarter of the globe conducted a profitable business in food supplies, for the post, which consumed a 211 OVB ALA8KAN great length of time in reaching them from home'. la 1804 Arohanigel Gabriel, that is the Fort, expanded into a settlement wihich received the appellation. New Archangel. The all-powerful Baranof then abandon- ed St. Paul on Kadiak Island a« the chief offi'oe of the company ajid capital of New Ruesia, amd located both at the new town in Southeaastfiii^ Alaska. It ia interesirjg to know that the Ameri- can Fur Trad^f settlement, Astoria, at the mouth of t'ue Columbia River in the pres- ent Amf-ricaci State of Oregon, which re- ceived its name from John Jacob Astor, of jNew York, its sponsor and proprietor, was in intimate commercial relations with the Russian colonial capital. An agree- ment had been arranged between the As- toria settlement and the Russian Gover- nor to fuirnish the posts of New Russia with food supplies. With a similar tnd in view the Russians acquired a tract of land on thie Oajlifornia coast, about 45 miles north of the present city of San Francisco, named Bodego Bay. They built a fort called Ross and there raised cattle and cultivated grain and vegetables to supply their posts. It might be added that this tract was eold in 1841 to 6en>. John A. Sutter, who had made sevenaJ cruises in Alaskan waters. It was also on this tract thaft gold was discovered by General Sutter in Sep- tember, 1847. In 1817 Baranof resigned. In 1825 the seat of oolonial authority was restored to St. PaAil. There it remained until 1831, when Baron Wranigell returned it to New Archiangel, which since has remained the residence of the Russian and laiter, under another name, of the United States Gov- ernors. Upon the transfer of auithority from Russia to the United States the form'al ceremionies took pilaoe at New Arch- angel, and were heralded to the world through the trumpets and guns of the Archangel Giabiiel— fort. Thenceforward Ardiangel Gabriel became but a memory and Sitka became its successor in name "12 WONDERLAND and authority by act of the Congress of the United States, 1884. The sturdy little capital, nestling at the base of bold miountain heighits, occupies a stretch of low level land on the western shore of t)he islajid looking out upon Sitka Sound. Moomt Edgeoumbe, appar- ently not many ages ago a partici- pant in volcanic activity, rears its rugged crest opposite the town on the small iBiand of Kruzof, 2,800 feet. United States Ooast Survey meiaaiuirem)ent above the ocean at its base. The little capital itself lies on parallel 57.0S North, longitude 135.17 West. The harbor is one of the finest on this ocean front of North America. With lofty Edgecumbe as its landmiark it is easy of approach and entrance by mar- iners. At the time of the transfer the United States came into possession of a number of log structures occupied by the Rus- sians for official and domiciliary purposes. A log building erected in the great Bar- anof's day of early Russian occupancy, knowna as "Baranof's Oastle," about which were associated so many scenes and incidents of the wierd years of isolation from the outer world, occupied a com- manding bluff overlooking the quaint old Russian town. This Russian "castle," a relic of im- perial days was destroyed by fire March 17, 1894. It had just been repaired by the United States Government at an expense of $10,000 for a court housi, and would have been, but for this disaster, an in- teresting relic for yeans to come. The other early buildings which have survived the tooth of time and tongue ocf flame are still utilized and are interesting on account of their quaint architecture. Besides being the seat of district gov- ernment, and therefore the residence of the Governor and other chief officials, it is also the chief port of entry of the cus- toms district of Alasika, with a number of sub-ports of entry tninsacting official business with the department at Wash- ington through it. 213 (. OUR ALASKAN I I It has a post office, as have all the white settlements in Alaska, mth extensions to keep in touch with the advance of civiliza- tion and spread of development. It is also a money order office amd a station of the United States Weather Bureau ser- vice. It has two government scfhools, with over 200 natife scholars. It has been an important center of evangelical missionary labor, especially under the Presbyterian denocnination since 1878. The Cathedral of St. M'jhael, of the Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostollic Orie^^ital CJiurcli and the Church of the Remir.iection (the Kalocihian) are inter- esting lolics of the imperial dominion. It is one of those admirable traits of American womaaihood that the mothers, wives and daughters, like their Conti- nental mothers of old, in tbeir sphere of influence take an actiye part in the re- sponsibilities of American civilization and institutions. During the days of American military occupauicy the ladies of the families of the officers on duty at Sitka gave their time to teaching' in extempoiriz> /'. <) . t OUR ALASKAN River route to the Alaskan and Klon- dike-Yukon go\& fields, the details of which wiUl be reiiched in the orderly pro- gression of our emitertaining' narraitiooi. It has a money order po^t office, two Governm .'lit schools and is a sub-port of emtry. The dty of Juneau is one of the most "up to date" of our pioneer Alaskan cities. In 1895 it made decided strides. Many fine buildimigs were erected, wharves ex- tended, hotels built and munidpal' coi>- veniences of water works and electric lights introduced. In 1890 it had 1,253 inhiabitants, being the largest town in the Wiiwle reg'ion. It has also kept pace with the rapid increase which is going on in the population of Alaska. It has also been honered by several ter- ritorial conventiciffl, notably one in 1881 to secure a civiH government for the dis- trict and in 1889, which eent a delegate to Washington to secure from Congrese additional legislation. Ic has a Presby- terian and Ronian Catholic mission. In every sense Juneau seems destined to keep pace with the inevitable devel'op- ment which awaits Alaska in the near future. The well grown vi'3age of Douglas on the island of that name, opposite and a few miles below Juneau, had a popula- tion of 402 souls when heard from offi- cially in 1890. It is an international post office where mails brought in on the decks of steamers from the ocean or on the backs of men and dogs or sleds from the inland are distributed for their for- eigtni and domestic destinations. It has a G-ovemnitnt schoo! and a Quaker mission. The main importance of the place is the celebrated Treadwell gold mine located «t this point. The quartz mill in use is said to be the largest in the world. The company are keeping pace with modem town* improvements as their enterprise extendi. Hoonah, on the icy i^. trait coast of Chichagof Island, is a p'tece of trade with the Hoonyah natives. In 1878 a Presby- terian missionary visitation was made 218 \ WONDERLAAD ind Klon- detailB of rderiy pro- narratioii. oflBce, two ub-port of f the most ' Alaskan les. Many- fa a rves ex- iclpal' con- nd e^'ectric had 1,253 own in the ; pace with oing on in several ter- ne in 1881 'or the dis- a delegate a Congrrp«e a Presby- ission. Qs destined >le devd'op- dj the near Douglas on f>oslte and id a popirla- i from offi- ational post ti on the wean or on sleds from p their foT- s. oo! and a importance 1 Treadwell Krint. The • the largest are keeping 'vementa as t coast of ' trade with 8 a Presby- wae made among them by F-ev. John G. Brady. It became la permanent establishment as Boyd in 1881. There i« also a Govepn- ment school' of 150 scholars. In the vicinity are exceUent springs of healing waters. Tiieii inaccessibility aJome has been the drawfback to their en- joyment by invalicie. With the increase of facilities for travel the hot springe of Hoonah are likely to be heard fron".. An- other small station, Haines, situaiid on the west shore of Ohiikoot In'et, a con- tinuation of Lynn Oflnal, on the right, has a Government school and a Presby- terian miasion among the Ohiikoot na- tives. A Ghdlkoot village is on the same shore ten miles above to the I^ft. Shkagway, or Skaguay for short, as its orthography is fast being Ameri- canized, at the confluence of the Dyea Inlet, the continuance of Ohii- koot Inlet and Shkagway River, and Dyea, further up on the Dyea Inlet, at the mouf^i of Dyea River, less than ten miles distant, are situated at the starting points of the traders and miners for the Alaskan and Klondike-Yukon gold fields by way of the two most used portage routes from tidewater to the head tribu- t»'rit of the Yukon. The route by Dyea leads into the ChU- Jcoot and that by Skaguay into the White Passes, both coming together ovei- the coast range in TagLsh Lake on the other side about fifty mi'.es from either startio.,; point. Leaving Ohiikoot Inlet on the right lUid passing up Chilkat Inlet on the left, we reach Katkwaltu on the right and Kluk- waar five miles above at the mouth of Ohnlkat River. These are the starting points to the Chilkat Pass, Lake Arkell and Tahk- heeoa RiY£r route, which joins the Ohii- koot and White Pass routes beyond the coast range at Fifty-Mile River on the wny to the Lewis-Yukon Rivers. The Lynn Oanal leads up to aW these point? above Juneau. The Presbyterians established in 1881 a mission among the Hydah native vil- lages on Prince Wales Island and an- other in 1882 at Howean (Jackson) on tie 219 1., •ft I h 4- 1 fi ) OUR ALASKAN WONDERLAND south e»d of the same island. This native settlement is near the initial comer miairk of the internationial "fighting" 54.40 boundary paraKel, asnid the first American territory reached aifter leaving the strait of Fuca in the American extreme north- western State of Washington, The scenery Is mountainous ailong this entire coast and remarfcab'.y grand. On the left of the entrance to Lynin Oanal' is Icy Strait, leading to the womder- ful Glacier Bay, less than fifty miles acrosr couotry from Lynn Cana^li, directly over Snow Dome and the famous Muir Glacier which I have described. Between Glacier Bay and the ocean coasit, not over forty miles distamt, are the four Fairweather Range peaks. Fair- weather, Lituyia. Orillon and La Perouse from 10,740 to 15,900 feet in height, ris- ing majestically in sight from the ocean on the west and Glaicier Bay on the east. The most northern isett'empnt of South- eastern) AJasika is Yakutat, on the south- em shore of the bay of that name in the very heart of the marvels of glacial ac- tion. In 1890 the settlement hiad 308 in- habitants. It has a Swedish Evangelical mission and a Government school. The station was first establishfMi by the Bussiane in 1795, and w^as one of the ear- liest occupations of the main land. Across the bay is the celebrated Malas- pina ice sea, with Mount St. Elias, the birthplace of glaciers and one of the eter- nai corner points of international boun- dary, about iscTonty n'les due noiiih. In the backgrovind of Yakutat on the same side of th'* bay rises the towering St. Eilias range of mountain® and the vast sweep of nioraimniV dejiosit-liuriod forcRts and other piacial wonders of Alaska. The region is now the resort of summer tourists and will be more so as com- munication is increased and cheapened. An American Alpine chalet accessible from the steamers and equally so to the wonders of Malaspina and St. Elias, for the accommodation of daring mountain dirobors and wonder-seeking summer tourists a few years ago an idle dream a few yetairs hence will be a remunerative realization. 220 I I VD "his native rner miark g" 54.40 Ameiican the strait me north- EUlong tlids md. to Lynn e WKWider- 'ty milea I'l, directly loiis Muir the ocean stamt, are aks, Fair- a PeroTise eig'ht, ris- the ocean k the oast, of South- the soufh- me in. the plaK'ial ae- id 308 inh V angelical )ol. ip-d by the *t the ear- ind. ed M'aJas- Elias, the f the eter- nal boim- lorth. In the same 'ering St. the vast fd foreRta (iska. jeyerSets. A Hid-Ocean Strategic Key to Three Seas. St. Paul the Early Rossian Outlook on Pacific and Polar Waters. other Alankait Towna With Large In- teresta. The vast range of langiitude c, jred by United States dominion may be judged by the astronomical fact that when the sun is setting at Attu, our ■westernmost island in the Aleutian! chain in the Pa- cific, it is rising over Deer, our eastern- most island off the Atlantic shores of the State of Maine. It can be said that the sim never sets, but always smiles upon the soil of the United States. If my highly resi>ected readers have hitherto thought that the many localities noted on the recent maps of Alaska are simply for embellishmenit and stand for nothing beyond the merest specks of hitman habitation in a mighty wilderness, they might prepare themselves to revise that impresaion. I have spoken of the possible common- 223 I m OUR ALASKAN k{ w^n IP i: * wealth of Southeaatern Alaiska and the guainit capital, Sitka. We mil now pro- ceed on our ocean voyage, on paper, 1,278 miles due southwest. At the end of our journey we find onr- ^Ives at the Aleutian metropolis, Un- alaska, locally known as Iliiuliuk. We have reached the capital of the mid- ocean member of the group of probable Alaskan Commonwealths of the next de- cade or two. This interesting locality lies in the midst of that succession of insular step- ping-stones under United States domin- ion, known aa the Aleuitian Archipelago, which extends across the head of the Pa- cific Oceam almost to within sight of the Kamtchiatkan Coast of Rnssia. The Aleutian outstretched geographical division is not only one of the most won- derful, but one of the most promising sec- tioujs of Alaska. Its woiuleis are the sub-marine range of mountains, lofty vol- canoes and lakes of sulphur, which I have described. Its enormous wealth is in the valuable fur seal, salmon and ccher fisher- ies, gold, forests, coal, mineral's and metals, wWch I shall ;3oon recount. There are many settlements on the dif- ferent islands. The inhabitants, the Aleuts, are an aquatic race, their indus- tries being entirely in pm'suit of tbe sea otter and other far-bearing animals of the deep. One of the largest of these islands is Unalaska. Its chief town, also called Unalaska or Iliuliuk. is situatod on the northeastern or Bering Sea side of Iliu- liuk harbor. It lies at tlie northern out- let of Akutan Pass, which, with Unalga Poiss, unites the waters of the Pacific Ocean on the south and Bering Sea on the north. On the east side of tliese passes is Akutan Island. This pass is one of the water routes through the Aleutian chain from the Pa- cific Ocean to the Pribilof Fur Seal Isl- ands, which lie within the 100 faithiom curve to the northwest. The seeneiT is magnificent. The Ma- kushin Mountain lifting its summit 5,500 feet out of the blue ocean in si^ht on one side and Akutan, 3.900 feet high on the 224 WONDERLAND md the ow pro- r, 1,278 nd our- Un- in the other. They stand like two mighty seatl- nela at the portals to the Bering Sea. The safest passes, hiowever, through the islands are Unimak, 80 miles to the north- east and Amukhta, 280 miles to the southr west. The natural stronlghold com.miaiidinig these passes is, therefore, Unalaska, the strategic position of our vast aub-Arctic possessions. It not only controls the ocean gateways to the Bering Sea, which is piractically am American and Russian lake, but it holds the same relation to the northern waters and shores of the Pacific Ocean. Its admirable geographical position, BtrategicaMy considered, is better appre- ciated when we look at its central loca- tion in miles with reference to the widely extended areas of our North Pacific pos- sessions. It is 1,278 statute miles southwest of Sitka, the chief point in Southeastera Alaska. It is 1,346 miles south of Point Barrow, the chlief point in the Arctic di- vision, and 900 miles east of Attu, the extreme western island of the Aleutian chain. It is 2,369 miles from San Francisco and lesis from Portland and Seattle on our Pacific Coast. With respect to Alaskan points, it is 770 miles southeast of St. Michael, hold- ing the key to the commerce of the Yukon; 484 miles sonthweist of Mt. Cnrmal, on Bristol Bay - dists baye establiehed a misisi(Kn and the Government a scho^ol. At BeIko(fski, on the bay of that name on the southwestern end of the Atasban Peninsula, is a vil- Jiage of 300 inhabitants and a Greco- Ruasian church mission. At Protasaof is a village of 100 souls. There are warm sulphur springs and ponds nearby. On Unimiak, of the Pox Islands, the seat of two of the loftiest voloanoea in Alaska Shishaldin and Pognimnoi i» a settlement of 127 inhabitants at Nikoleky on the south side. On the east end of Atfcha, one of the AmdriQanof Islands, is Naaan, a thrifty set- tlement of 230 natives. On the Island of St. Paul, of the Pribilof group, is a settlement of 298. This is in the midist of the immensely valuable fur seal rookeries. Still farther to the eastward' lie the Island of Kadiak and Peninsulas of Kenai and Alaska, which constStute the KadiaJc geographioaJ division. This is one of the sections referred to, which possess ex- traordinary "Alaskan possibilitiPs." St. Paul, on the northeastern end of Kadiak Island, was founded by the Rub- sian government in 1781 aa a point of ob- Bervajtion upon the vessels of other na- tions reeOTting to the North Pacific seas on pretext of exploration anl trade. It wais made the capital of New Ruissia and was the headquarters of the Sheldkoff Trading Company organized in 1790. The RusssiaiD-Ameriean Company chartered in 1799 with the famous Alexander Baranof as chief director and ex-officio Governor, also had its chief office there until Gover- nor Baranof built Port Archangel Gabriel on Baranof IsJand in Southeastern Alaska which five years later he made Ms capital. The seat of government upon the retire- 226 WONDERLAND ment of Baranof returned to St. Paul, but after twenty-one yeairs was agadn removed to New Arohamigeili. It waa a^ain taken to New Archangel in 1831 and has re- mained there since. Tlie population of St. Paul in 1890 was 1,100. The trade of St. Paul is not alone con- fined to the enormous output of canned salmon, but is also largely in furs. The central location of the town with respect to botlh these va'-uable industries gives it great importance in that region. The Island of Kadiak, of which St. Paul is the metropolis, is 90x45 miles, or 4,050 square miles' in area or neaTly as large as the State of Connecticut. It lies east of the main land end of the Alaskan PeiiinsTila, 40 miles distant. Its sh.ores lie along the famous 100 fathom curve, which begins near the Alaskan Gulf Ooast at St. Elias Range and sweeps westward to the Fox Island in the Aleutian diain. Midway ini the succeesioni of imanense- ly vaMable fishing grounds are the Port- lock Bank on the north and Albatross Bank immediately east of the island, with Shumag'in, Sonnak and Davidson; Banks in succession to the westward. The«e banks rival the celebrated fishing banks of New Foundland in productive value. On the inland are some of the most ex- tensive salmon canneries in the world. Karluk, on Shelikoff Strait, on the western shore of the island which sepa- rates it from the Peninsula of Alaska, was established in 1887. The pack in the first year was 13,000 cases of salmon. In 1888 101,000 cases of forty-eight pounds each were turned out, represent- ing a catch of 1,200,000 blue backs or red salmon. In 1889 more than thirty new canneries were established at this one point, turning out that year 350,000 cases of red salmon, representing 4,000,- 000 fish. This wi'H convey some idea of busy Alaskan towms, even if their populia- tions are small. Karluk at present has the largest oau'- nery in the world, and yet the population is but 1,123. At Kadiak another fishing station on the island there is a population of 495 Bouls, also largely engaged in salmom 227 • li OUR ALASKAN packing. It also bas a thriving Govemi- ment sclhool. Alitnk, in tbe south of the ialand, on the bay of the same oame, has a popula- tion of 420 also engaged in fisbiug and canuikiig. There are other fislhing villages on the ien the super- anmiiaited employes rndcr the Russian regime. They have established a large trade in turnips and potatoes and are equally suc- cessful in raising pigs and poultry, which, however, are unpalatable on account of foeding upon the refuse of the sea. The Kuskokwim geographical division 229 m ',0 « OUR ALASKAN WONDERLAND b!&» a few native settlements wMch are visited each season by th/e traders. Tha region is comparatively low and consists of extensive Filpins. The interior has xuyt been thoroti^hly explored. The naturai resources are therefore iu>t known. The river abounds in salmon. At Quinnehlaha a\ the head of Knslok- wim, at Betliel, at the mouth of the river and at A[t. Carmel, at the mouth of the Nusihag-ak River in Bristol Bay, the Mor- avianis have established missionary sta- tions among the natives. At Bethel and Carmel there are also Government schools. Higher up the Kuskokwim th Ruseian and Roman Churches have mis- sions among tJhe natives. In 1818 the Russian Korsakoff made an overland journey from Cook Inlet to the moaitli of the Kuiskokwim. The same year he built a fort (Alexander) at the mouth of the Nushagak, on Bristol Bay, and two years after more fully explored the Kuskok- wim. 230 m ■'as mi \ )\ t < olar hub of our re- volvuig globe. The Yukon geographical section is the most exteuksive in area and important in present and prosi>ective development in Alaska. It possesses in itself among the greatest of "Alaskan Possibilities" not- with';teriutendent at St. Michael fm-nishes him with his allotment of goods suitable to the trade white or native in the region w hich he cov- ers. These hecarries back with nim in sail- boats or biadarkas (mooseskin boaus) to his post and are supposed to cover a year's supply. Frequently several trips ai-e made during the open season of about four monthfi. The enormously enlarged demands of the rapidly increasing population of gold miners and prospectors along the coast has changed this tedious primitive meth- od of distributing supplies along the Yukon River srtations. The fleets of steamboats constructed for Yukon naviga- tion are now utilized. The vessels with supplies from the home houses owing to floating ice in Nor- ton Sound and in the straits between St. Lawrence Island off the mouth of the Yukon delta, are una.ble to reach St. Michael befoa^ the end of June. There is also a shorter route which some day may have its line of trolley or steam railway from St. Michael direct to the Yukon not only saving the circuit- ous route but the discomforts of 73 miles on Norton Sound in a river steamer before entering the mouth of the river. By this cross-cut route a boat from St. Michael along the south shore of the inner Norton Soun-i' would convey passengers or merchandize 55 miles to the mouth of Unalaklik River to thetown of that name, where a Swedish Evangelical Mission has been e.stablished. Thence ascending the river 14 miles to Ulukuk village; thence by trail 32 miles to Autokakat River; thence down that stream thxee miles to 234 WOIiDERLAliiD and . the Yukon, makes a total of 104 miles, which is 392 miles from the mouth of the Yukon. The distance from St. Jlichael to the same point by Norton. Sound and River is 465 miles. It is not difficult to determine what may hapijen there when trade becoanes per- manently etjiblishetl. Lieut. Allen, United States CaTalry, durinja: his recoun- noissance of Akska, made the overland journey and reports it "officially," feas- ible. The Yukon is 2,043 miles long througb the Lewis and 3.200 through the Telly head tributaries and is n.i,vl^:able 1,(500 miles, and by canoe the entire distance. The naTipable waters of the main streaim and its tributaries are approxi- mated, not extravagantly, between 4,000 and 5,000 miles by light draft steamers and double that for canoes, which are the popular conveyance of the country. The Lewis River, which is the water and transportation outlet of the chain of lakes at the inland end of the Chilkat, Chilkoot and White Passes, represents 375 miles of canoe navigation and the Pelly 550 miles. The entire Yukon sys- tem, fl's I have said, drains 600,000 square miles. The emporium of the Yukon River trade, St. Mic'bael, was erected as a fort of that n.imt> in 1833 by Tebeneff, who bad made important expeditions on Nor- ton Sound a« a base of future opera- tions and trade. Thiscopal Church. Nnlialto, 467 miles from the sea. whicihi had been built dniring the direetor^ip of Kufpreanof , was held for a year but was abandoned and destroyed by the natives. In 1S41 it was again built but was cap- tured and bnmed in 1S.51. In 18."9 it was retbnilt. It is now* a Roman Cathblic sta- tion. At this point the river turns almost east to Nowikakat. nearly 200 miles far- ther, whidh. wasi first located in 1843. Nuklakayet, the next trading post, is 201 miles above Nulato in the depths of the Yukon regioHL The region aibounds in huckleberries in summer. After passing Tnklukyot, Tanana and the Ix>wer Ramparts the steamer enters the Thousand Isles' of the Yukon, whidh 236 ""^^"""^^ Hi WONDERLAyo is there 10 miles wide. Oraseing within the Arctic Circle on tluit lino at rlic cunHu- ence of the PoTcupine River stands Fort Yukon, 960 miles from the sea and 73 miles fnrthfyr from St. Michael. The post has had an interesting history. It was erected in 1847-8 by McMiDrray, oi the Hudson Bay Company, who supposed the site to be on Britisli territory. The Por- cupine River was also explored by him. During tbe goveniorsliip of Furujehn, which bogan in 1800, Major Kennicott, 1861, completed the exploration of the Yukon, having made the descent of the Btream. In 1865-7 the Western Union Te:egrapJi Company completed a series of surveys to locate a telegraph route between the United States and Euroi>e through Alaska and Siberia.. Though the project was never consummated, these explorations were of great value. They covered the length of the Yukon, In 1866 the entire length of the river from the lakes to tll<^ forks of the Yukon and Porcupine were re-explored by Kennicott.Lebarge, Ketch- um, Lukeen and others. In 18G9 Captain Raymond, U. S. A., locatpbs of steep banks of clay, gravel and pebbles, witih every indication of glacial drift. There are frozen rivers wlhich drain the siunmer meltings of ice and snow and frozen lagoone. The thiawing before the frozen ocean cuts some mighty and fan- tastic figures in the efforts of the great volume of unloosed waters to break their borean bounds. Near Cape Smyth a cliff 25 feet high and rising beyond a broad lagoon, Isiltkwa, spreads an elevation but 12 feet above tihe frigid waves of the sea. In former days it was the site of a village. To-day 240 I. WONDERLAND Icy the ivrid- hy r as the ox- Ber- in those frozen winds borne down from the northern pole of the earth flouts the flap of the RciMiblic over the United States signal S'tation of Ooglaamic, which we Americanize as Point Barrow. The region ponnd atKMit is desolate in the extreme, consisting of vjist reaches of beach, lagoons, sand Hi»its, bays and a few turf covered knolls. Upon one of these kno's stan^ls the United States Eskimo Arctic town of Nuwiik. The populntion numbers alwut 250 souls. The country for ut least 50 miles around is filled witli fresh water lakes, and then rises into increasing monntnin heights un- til we reach southward and inland the lofty summits of the Yukon and the Por- cupine, cross country 300 miles distant. The landscape around Point Barrow is reported "officially" as very closely re- sembling the treeless drift hills of Cape Cod. The ground never thaws beyond two feet. Beneath thiat the ice king holds the earth in his perpetual grip for an un- known depth. In the vicinity of this iiolair United States "official" and nati' ,' settlement are several rivers of considerable dimensions ami a great fresih water lake, Tasyukpun. The climiaite of this region is entirely arctic, being in meian temperature 8 de- grees, Fahrenheit, witii a rauge from minus 65 to plus 52 degrees as extremes. Tlie usual winter temperature is minus 20 to 30 which merees insensibly into sum- mer in .Tune with "cold snaps" and frosts b.v the beginning of September. This is our land of the Midday Night and the Midnight Sun in all their soditude and glory. At point Barrow for 72 days in the winter, beginning November loth, the sun is entirely below the horizon and is only visible by refraction a few days at the beginning and ait the end of this period. The same interesting phenomena in the procession of seasons of altema.ting sol- stice darkness at noon and sunlight at midnight, also exists at Hammerfest, Norway, the northernmost town in 241 \\ ij. 14 OVR ALASKAN 1' is; Europe, and hias been referred to ia "Climatic Alaska." The srun at Point Barpow, as at Ham- raerfest, being just below the horizon, there is a wierd twilight from 9 A. M. to 3 P. M., which is utilized for outdoor employTnent. In the suniimer t!hepe is an equal period when the sun continually abovi' the hori- zon never sets, and foir a month before and after this period there is twilight suffi- ciently bright to extinguish the visibility of the heavenly planets. The winter snow fall is light, profcably a foot on the level, but owing to the ter- rific winds ia piled up in grc^t drifts, which begin to melt early in April. The grass begins to show its verdant color in June and the arctic flowers are abloom. The winter weather is usually clear and excessive cold is seldom accompanied with hig'h winds. Gales have occurred with winds 100 miles an hour. The moat enjoyable portion of the year is "officially" reported to be from the mid- dle of May to the end of July, when the sea opens and before the foggy and cloudy weathier sets in. The fresh water ponds freeze about the end of September, when the natives be- gin their sledge journeys and fish through the ice of the inland rivers. The sea is permanently closed from the middle of October to the end of July. It is also covered with floating masses all summer. The grounded heavy ice forming about 1,000 yards from the shore causes a "bar- rier" or "landfloe" of high broken hum- mocks, inshore the sea freezing smooth. The heavy pack has been known, under the pressure of westerly winds, to be pushed very suddenly over the "barrier" Tind high up on the beach. Outside of the land-floe the ice is broken pack, with hummocks of old and new ice driven about by every wind, the interven- ing open Wa/ter freezing 6 inches in 24 hours. These drifting mfusses sometimes move 242 \ } I 4 WONDERLAND fcway with the pack, while portions crush in, cioiiublinjc the new ice into atoms. The 8ei>amtlon between tlie fixed land- floe and the moving pack variee from 4 to 8 miles. After the gialee the motion of the pack ceases unitil the middle of April, when the easterly winds cause leads to open. As the sun rises in the hcyrizon in July the whole ice scene moves off with the pack. In the midst of all this scene of icy des- olation an annual fair is held by the Es- kimo in summer at the mouth of the CJoI- ville River, about 200 miles east of Point Barrow, which is attended by the native races for hundreds of miles along the shores of the Polar Sea and the interior of Western Alaska. It is the United States Arctic i-endez- vous where our hyperborean fellow-citi- zens of this mundane hub gather to bar- ter their goods and exchange the news of the North Polar civele and oC the ef- feminate zones of the crust of the earth. iU I 843 ,'S P^ F' ! 1 ' i ill LETTER NUMBER XXII. A "Howling Wilderness" Dawn- ing Into Millions of Wealth of Soil and Forest. The Reindeer Herders of Arctic Plateaus Rjval the Cowboys of Western Plains. ''OtBcial" Anticipations of An Eruption of 200,000 Fortune Seekers. A Xntd- Winter IT. S. MlllltaiT Reindeer Relief Train for Polar Shores. Thio arability of any given portion of tbe eaiTtii's surface does not necesiiarily mean success in the culture of the staple pro- ducts of cereals, cotton or cane. If that be the interpretation of •^:;A\:al- tui-e th«n the Isew England States are a waste. In thfl'ee of these States, Masisachosetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, the quan- tity of wheat raised is not even sufficient to be made a matter of (Statistical com- putation. In the other three, with a popu- lation of 3,400.000 inhabitants, the total of bushels in 1895 was but 317,000. Penn- sylvania alone, with all 'ner mines and manufactures, raised 21,000,000 bushels. In corn and oats the New ''Sngland aggre- 245 IHlHi I OUR ALASKAN gate is larger, but still comparatively small. Nor are the Rocky M'^untaioi States, &a the saying goes, "iix it." When you come to wool, tobacco, apples and suitable products New England takes a front rank. Thei-e are but ten States in the Union wliich raise cotton, and yet the output per annum exceeds 10.000,000 bales. There are other things m Alaskan agri- culture not dreamed of in the pessimistic echoes of the Congi-essional croakers ai their friends of 1867. The Church has stood in the advance in efforts to exploit the country and amel- iorate the condition of the native. Nicholas Rezanof, writing from Kadiak in 1805, officially quoted by John G. Brady, Governor of Alaska, in his report of 1897, m'^ntions experiments in 1795 by monks on oDions.turnips, carrots.mustard, poppy, tobacco, potatoes, cabbage, cucum- bers, watermelons, radishes, beets, i)eas, beans, corn, sun and other garden flow- ers. Out of this toothsome array of esculents and succulents, the i>otatoes, rarlishea and turnips, the latter sometimes wt th- ing ten pounds, produced fine crops. The others gi-ew rapidly, but did not mature owing to early frosts. In 1804, 4 pounds of barley seed realiz- ed 60 i)Ounds. During these same years lai'ge quantities of potatoes raised by the natives of Killisnoo, Hootznahoof and Kake, on the Islands of Soutlieastern Alaska, were used at the Russiain posts. On the Kenrti Peninsula ax the earlier sietlement of that name, the Creole or half-caste Russian inhabitants, since the United States jurisdiction, have been cul- tivating potatoes and tui-nips on a large scale. About 30 miies below, along the coast a settlement of "Colonial citizens," an empty distinction accorded the superannu- ated former Russian subjects, was estab- lished by Imperial orders about 18.S7. The descendants of this remnant of Russi'aji rule established at Ninilchik, are raismg sufficient potatoes and turnips for them- selves and to supply at good profits the traders and fishermen. 246 . ■' WONDERLAND These people have even ventured with success into an incipient dairy industry. The Alaskan cattle, fed on the g^rasses of the Cook inlet shores of this expansive peninsula, afiford rich milk, out of which the native women make butter by the simple process of shaking the cream by hand in bottles. They are also successful in raising pigs and poultry. These four-footed and feathered representatives of farmyar-a in- dustry keep sleek and fat on clams kelp and fish bones yielded by the fi-uitful tidal waters of AJhska, which, ho»vever, does not improve the flavor of tbo flesh. The cultivation of potatoes and turnips on the Alexander archipelago, the shoies of Cook Inlet. Kenai Peninsula, Kadiak Island, Bristol Bay and Afogmac Island is a fixed industiy, tracts as large as 100 acres being planted. The usual planting season, begins in May and gathering in October. Rear Admir'al Beardslee, U. S. N., during his cruising in Alaskan waters, said officially that whether due to the clearing away of the forests or improved methods, he was not prepared to .'jay, but he could say as to results that in the neighborhood of Sitka and Wrangel excel- lent vegetables were being raised and their cultivation was increasing. He reported two seasons in succession when he saw growing around Sitka varie- ties of lettuce, cabbage, a yard across in leaf, and with heads 8 and 10 inches in diameter; cauliflower, weighing from 10 to 15 pounds; early rose and peach- blow potatoes from 3 '■o 30 ounces each, and hills yielding over half a bucketfull, each; turnips, cress, radishes, green peas of excellent qualities, radishes and goose- beiTies. Lieut. Allen. U. S. A., reported "offici- ally" that lettuce, radishes, turnips, beans, peas, potatoes, carrots and pos- sibly buckwheat and barley can be raised in favored localities on the middle Yul on and Tanana. The short suirtmers ,'ire hot, reaching a know.i temi)eiatnri- at times of 112 to 115 degrees. The humidi- ty, however, is not so great as on the coast. 247 'i:' ?i I W^IS OUB ALASKAN ki^.l , '», .i ' r The soil of Westera Alaska does not thaw in summer below a depth of two feet, which, however, does not necessarily interfere with the j^rowth of certain ci'ops, provided the surface conditions are correct. It is tlie ereneral conc'nJsion of exi>erts that with the loosening of the ground by cultivation and prooer drainage, this dei)th) of thawed surface will be greatly increased. The topography of the arable parts of Alaska consists of rolling and rather rocky hills, and extensive jilains, often marshy along the rivers. The character of the soil in some places is clay, especial- ly in the colder latitudet^ where sphag- num grows host. A large expanse is also light and sandy. Othier vast expanses at the moutlis of thie river are the richest alluvial of mud, vegetable .deposits and sand to great depth. The belt of frozen sub-soil does not ex- tend below S feet. The raising of live stock has been a more pen>lexing problem. There is an abundance of nutritious pasturage in Southeastern Alaska, on the Kenai Pen- ninsula and Kadiak and other Aleutian Islands upon which cattle have grown fat. The climatic conditions of excessive humidity, protracted and depressing, cloudy and foggy weather, prolonged winters and the prevailance of storms of sleet and snow and cold from October to May, causes havoc among live stock, not- withstanding ample quantities of food. The Alaskan mutton is prized by com- petent judges for its hne fl.'ivor, but long confinement under close shelter in sleety weather causes sweating and other diffi- culties conducive to disease or decline in fat. Alaskan cattle and sheep, however, will constitute an important factor in the an- nual food supply of the Pacific shores. It is a practice which has beeui growing from year to " ear to ship cargoes of cat- tle and »he<'p from California and pasture them uix)n ilie fattening grasses ">f the Aleutian Islands ..nd Kadiak and beyond, 248 o 0/ 1^. ,7 , d^ _5iy' i WONDERLAND ~ until fall when the sleek animals are slauprhtercd and Jressed for the Pacific Coast markets. By the middle of October the animals are in prime condition. The American hop also thrives. The transfer of the "concert" of Eur i-oije into die "bedlam of Asia" will give rise to an immense demand for agrici 1- tuiral products from agricultural Alaska and our Pacific shores as well. The horse, so much reduced in prestige by steam and electricity in settled parts of the country, finds his rival in th»r canoes and native biadarkas of the waters, the backs and muscles of men and dogs and in the immediate future vastly more "o in the invaluable reindeer. The "noble animal" has no economic value in Alaska, This may also be said of thie "facetious" mule. AH attempts at their utilization have been unsuccessful. The most interesting and important problem in the pastoral branch of Alaskan agrictilt.ure is in the introduction of the European and Asiatic reindeer as a food supply and an ad„'vjot to inland travel and transportation during the long winters. This problem, which will play such an imjiortant part in the United States' share in the development of the regions along the North Pacific littoral, presents an- other object lesson of the sovereign people being in advance of their representatives in Congress. The destruction of the food supply of the Eskimo-Americans by the infernal appliances of wasteful destruc- tion incident to modem enterprise, neces- sitated a speedy substittition foT whales, seal, salmon, oil, blubber and game and other sources available in barbarous days. The Protestant, Russian and Roman mdssionaries. in the absence of considera- tion fiv)m the servants of the people in Congress, promptly took the matter into consideration. Dr. S'heldon Jackson, United States General Agent of Education, acting under the Office of Education at Wasli- ington. D. C, first "oflicially" suggested the experiment. After vainly endeavoring to interest the 349 m Cii mm OUR ALASKAN I *i' /, I Fifty-firat Congress in giving the utiliza- tion of the reindeer a trial as .i food sup- pdy for American citizons deprived by the mnch vaunted enterT>ri8e of the day of their moanfl of support, this gentleman ap- pealed to the generous heart of the Uin- paid sovereigns of the land tlirough die missionary boards and public press. The Scandinavian pretss embarked hieartily in the progect. The Mail and Ex- press, of New York; the Transcript, of Boston; the Ledger, of Philadelphia; the Inter-Ocean, of Oliicago; the Star of the city of Washington, and the leading re- ligious papers of the land al-K> extended a supporting hand, until $2,156 were speed- ily raised as a free-will offering to com- mence the expeiriment. This fund was converted into merchan- dise for barter with the natives of Siberia, notably: Guns, Ammunition, Traps, Hardware, Flour, Provisions, Cotton Good®, Tents, Dishes, Beads, Trinkets and Tobacco. Thirougli the assistance of the Scandina- vian papei-s of the United States a suita- ble person, William A. Kjelmann, of Mad- ison, Wisconsin, was secured to take charge as superintendent of stations. A native of Finmarken, Mr. Kjelmann had herded reindeer in his native land until 22 years of age. Afterwards he was em- ployed as an expjert in buying and selling reindeer and reinideer products, a most important item of commercial and eco- nomic value, of which we citizens will learn with interest in the future. In 1891 a small herd of reindeer, pur- chaised in that year, were liberated on the Aleutian Islands of Unalaska and Amak- nak. They not only prospered, but were often spen on the mountain sides fat and contented. There were 20 reindeer pur- chased in that year at $180.90. In 1892 Dr. Jackson visited the head of Clarence Bay to find a suitable station for future operations. The chief points of consideration were proximity to Siberia, the source of originiaJ supply, safe har- borage for landing and communication, centrality for distribution of supplies and 250 IV: -A. WONDERLAND > utiliza- ood 8up- d by the • day of ;man ap- tbe uju- >ug'h the >ss. imbarkcd and Ex- jcript, of phia; the ar of the ading re- ctended a ?re speed- r to com- merehaa- )f Siberia, 1, Traps, ;, Cotton Trinkets Scandina- 39 a suita- n, of Mad- (d to take itions. A mann had land until e was em- ind selling s, a most , and eoo- tizens will are. ideer, pair- ited on the md Amiak- , but were les fat and Indeer pur- the head of station for ' points of ■^to Siberia, , safe har- municatiou, iipplies and « herds, abundance of sphngnnm pasturage and fresh wniter. These requisites were found in the old Russian Bay, Kaviaijak, but a few hours steam from Siberia, explored by lioechy, an English navail officer, in 1827, and named Port Clarance, after the Duke of that name, afterward George IV, King. The bay, 12 by 14 miles, affords the best harbor on the American side of Bering Sea. It is the rendezvous of tlie w^haling fleet in the beginning of July to take in supplies of fresh water and to await the provision ships from "the States." The region in the vicinity also affords nutri- tious grass resembling blue joint. At the extreme northeastern comer of the bay, upon a small mountain stream, headquartei"8 are located. The flag of the United States was unfurled to the arctic breeze and a rifle salute was fired in its honor on June 29th, 1892, at 10 A. M. A few mileis east hiad Ivoen the head- quarters of the Russian-American tele- g'lph expeditions of 1865 and '(!7. x'be station was named after Henrj' ^I. Teller, of Colorado, Secretary of the In- terior, NVho in 1885 authorized the fstab- lishmenit of the common scl'ool system of Alaiska provided for by tlie United States Congress and for his vigoirous support of the reindeer problem. In 1892, 171 reindeer were purchased from the natives along the opposite coast of Siberia for .$623. The firet herd was pairchased by the Government from these private funds. It was proposed to distribute the herds among the missionary (Stations, giving 100 head each to the Congregationalists at Oape Prince of Wales; the Swedisih Evan- gelical Church at Golovin Bay; the Pres- byte'"ianis at St. Laurence Islands, and Romanists on the Yuk«>n. With the in- crease of the herds other religious de- nominations were to be similarly supplied if they so desired. This i>olicy has been carried out among the arctic religioais stations and has been attended with great success, both for food, domestic use and transportation. 251 11 OVR ALASKAN Sil ■ The laniliiiff of those liords onr- riod on the swift win}?» of hyi)orl)oreun breezes brought eskimo iiativcis from as far as 500 miles to see tlie strauge aui- mals. Tliej' promptly besought herds for themselves, offering to pay for them in barter. It is proposed to distribute the aiiiuvaJs among the natives as soon as practicable. Parties were also sent to Lapland to contract for Lapps with their dogs trained to herding the I't'indeer, to be used as in- struetons of the Eskimo-Americans. After the experiment had been made an assured success Cb'Ugress in 1893-4 appro- priated $0,000 for the purchase of rein- deer, erection of buildings, socuring ai>- pliances and employment of necessai'y trained men and apprentices. The rein- deer experiments in Alaska have received national recognition by the hurried pur- chase of foreign animals and the equip- ment of a large military i*eindeer sledge train for the relief of the sailors of the arctic whaling fleet caught in the ice of the Polar Sea beyond our Arctic Alaskan possessions. By no other method known to human ingenuity could have been ac- complished or even made possible the humanitarian movement in the depth of au arctic winter. The reindeer may now be accepted as an established factor in Alaskan economy and enterprise. The long fibrous white moss covered plains of Alaska will noiw be brought within the realms of economic value. The explorations show an inex- haustible supply of reindeer food, superior to that found in Siberia. On the basis of the reindeer statistics of Norway or Sweden, it is estimated that fully 9,000,000 of these acimals can flour- ish in Arctic and Sub-Arctic Alaska. This would furnish fot>d, clothing and transportation for 250,000 inhabitants. As to the economic value of the reindeer compared with any one of our domestic animals, it might be said in the language of the day that the latter ire "not in it." The flesh is a delicacy wJiether fi-esh or cured and suiimsses veuisou or beef. The 252 ^ i !■ WONDERLAND untannod skin furnishes the best clothing for low wiutiT temperatures. When tan- ned it is unsunmssed for the book binder, upholsterer and gloveuiaker, l>ciag soft and stronjf. The hair is unequalled for life saving apimratus, being buoyant. The honis and hoofs, converted into glue, is th'e best iu the market. It is noit improbable tha-t Eskimo aTul other Americans will ere long develop a reindeer industry which will rival in mil- lions, proportionate to the area utilized, the enormous cattle raising induaitry of Texas and the plains. Saddles and haunches of Alaskan rein- deer, with winter temperature and quick transportation, will be for sale in the mar- kets of tlie larger cities of the States. As to the reindeer itself, it is found iu the arctic and sub-arctic regions of Asia, Europe and America. The American reindeer seems incapable of domestica- tion. The fur is a seal brown. Some have large white spots among the deep brown. To the Laplanders the reindeer repre- sents weialth. Its value is that of the horse, cow, sheep and goat of mild laititudets combined. A full grown animal can dr'aw 500 pounds on a sled. As a "roadster" it will surpass any horse ever known, a hundred miles a day not being an unusual journey o^er the deep snow, and at the end it will pick up its own food aad find its own shelter from the winds. Its hoofs, deeply cleft, adapt it to travel inthe snow. In winter it digs for it;9 moss food be- neath the snow or feeds on lichens, which grow on the trees. A full grown reindeer at three years is 4^/2 feet high and 7 feet from nose to tail, and oYz feet in the girth. In average con- dition it will weigh 250 pounds. The male and fenmle are about eciuaJ weight. The honis sitand 2% feet from tip to tip, with sometimes a fan shaped horn extending from the inside of one or thm other about a foot. 253 r :i f( IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET {MT-3) 1.0 LI i Ui 112.0 m 1.25 1.4 II 1.6 M 6" ► PhotDgraphic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY MS80 (716) 873-4503 I OUR ALASKAN Thi« luvm is used in clearing aw'ay the snow from the mcuss beneath. The hoims are about two inohes thick and covered with a fuzzy for. It is estimated that the Bskimos kill 15,000 wild reiudeer every year in the chase. Thus will be utilized a vast region un- united to agriculture or cattle raising. This branch of farming industry was projected, prosecuted and perfected under the auspices of the Office of Educaition, In November, 1897, a party of 12 Lapps who had been herding reindeer in Alaska under contract with the United States Grovernment, embarked at New York for their Ijapiand home. Their services were an entire success. Their cantrymen will be further utilized in the most wonderful economic triumph of the dose of the Nine- teenth century. In smmll fruits and berries Alaska can- not be excelled, either for flavor or abun- dance. Tlie cranberry, that luscious con- oomitant of Yuletide turkey and tarts, thrives best where the sphagnum grows. Thie berry ia now exported to Europe. The Alaskan cranberry will also have a share in this profitable trade. The varie- ties of berries on the 1 wer latitudes of the Yukon include whortie, buckle, black, salmon and strawberries, besides black and red currants, the latter at 2% cents a pound by the natives and several varie- ties of wild berries, which are edible and will sooner or larter be introduced to civil- ization as among the Alaskan products in the Ani^riean markets. The Depai-tment of Agriculture, during the summer of 1897, completed a "reconr nodssance" of Alaska from an agrdculturai standpoint. The reports of W. H. Ev- ans and Benton i^^illdxn, the commission- ers^ cover the ground very carefully. They visited Southeastern Alaska, Oopper River and other arable sections of the more temperate cEmatic readings. They officiaV ly reported the soil of those regions ridh if properly drained, that grasses grow to great perfection, "red top" being the most 254 I WONDERLAND ■ oommoTi, witlh timothy fivo feet in height; the coTinlry is pre-emdnently the land of BmaM fruits and berries, some of which might be introduced into the United States; the earlier and hardier vegetablea thrive; the field at cereals is limited and uncertain; flax is a success; stock raising in certain localities is poe- ble; there is need for legislation to secure ixpoprietary rights in the soil' before developmettt can be expected; popii'ation is pouiring in and may be 200,- 000 in 1898; the fooc' supply for this onor- raous and magic increase must be sfhiipped from outside owing to lack o/ Tiome sup- ply; the climatic condition>» of the coast are like Scottemd. The report favors preparation of (?oil, adaptation of culture methods, stock raiie- inig. silo making, adaptation of vegetables and crops to the region amd donwstioa- tion of nature fruits and grasses. If any permanent stations which thjey do not recommend should be establiished, ■fflie commissioners advise the vicinity of Sitka or Kndiak. They prefer a gtmeral fund for expenditure in the discrefion' of the Secretary of Agriculture, the act of Mardi 2d, 1887, being inapplicable with- out further legislation. In a separate report to the Secretary, native grasses are said to grow luxuriant- ly an inch a day as soon as the thnber is removed : the finest grass they have ever seen was in the Copper River Delta. White clover and Kentucky blue grass «ire becoming indigenous. Vegetation proceeds rapidly iii the long days of .Tuly. The humidity and length of winter and not coldnesB is an obstacle. It may be said, without exaffgerntion. that the agrip^iltural future of Alaska as popula- tion increases will eclipse the realisationB of many estabished "States." The forest branch of agriculture consti- tutc« another immense source of the natural wealth of soil' of Alaska. The timber belt follows the coast line from the "fisrhtine paraller* of 54-40 to north of the mouth of the Yukon and in- land 100 to 1.'>0 mi!'S. The northern and western spruce limit 255 ,» M OUR ALASKAN exteiM'c from the Unalalik River on Nor- ton Sound, eaat and northeastward, just north of the Yukon, Kuskokwim and Nu8h«Kek Rivei'S. across the Alaskan Peninsula to the -VAcinity of Orlova Bay, on' Kaidiak Island'. The forests are almost wholly evier green, Ijhe spruee being largely ia, sxcgbb of ail; other vairieties. Of the deciduous trees the aldor and willow exteojd on the low lands far beyond the northern and western spruce limit. A variety of poplar, closely resem'blinig the eottonwood, which grows to enor- mous size, also thrives in the timber re- gions south of the Arctic Circle. On the Alaskan side of the 141 internar tional meridian timber does not grow at hipher altitudes than 1.000 feet The varieties of woods of commercJal value are yellow cedar, known by the Russians -as dusknik (scented wood), one of the most valuable on the Pacific coast. It is excellent for cabinet work. It is found mostly on Alexandier Archipelago. The Sitka spruce is the most prevalent of the Alaskan timbers. It grows to enormous size on the Aliexander Archi- pelago and the shores of Prince Wiilliaim Sound and to less size in the ralleys o of the seal nothwithfttamdJng their polygamouis nature by wholesale and n»- restrained slaughter, led to wise regula- tion of the drafts uipou the herds. By the establishment of a native protection over them and the taking only of the surplms males (kholostiaks or "bachelors" as the Russians designated them) the numbers were rapidly restored. The system of for- bidding the slaughter of fenuileis and young and limiting the s'aughter to a fixed nixmber of males under certain ages so>cn pestored a natuiral equilibrium governed by natural laws. This system in working order in 1845 had operatod so wisely that wihen the people of the United States be- came v«(9ted with the proprietajy right in the entire territory the numbers were even greater than had ever been known. The seal herds were also known to exist on Falkland and other isles In the vicinity of the southern latitudes of the American Hemisphere, but were practic- ally exterroinated by indiscriminiate Slaiughter. ■• -^n with the exercise of needful juri '- •'♦don these herds have not yet been rest^.'ed to their former num- 'bers. In the face of this exfperience the peo- ple of the United States have through their oflicial servants been led into trifling dlplomaAiy in defiance of an inalienable rigtht of property and jurisdiction at first enjoyed by the majestic and delightfully autocratic Empire of Russia and later transferred intact to the United States of America. To allow thnis right to be ques- tioned by a weak and superoilions depend- ency of a power, at no time since her se- vere double thrashing in war sincerely friendly towaird the United States, is aa absurd as it is humilialing to American manhood and sense of right and power. The first year of Ameriean production was charaoterized by enterprises in the 262 ii i WONDERLAND ipoiliaitions. a by sum- 7 protected imandorskl coast e PribUtof aed extine- idJng their lie amd «»• rise reguln- pde. By the teetion ovor the Burp'.ins ore" as the le numbers Btem of for- amilpis' and er to a fixed a ages soon oa governed in working wisely that a States be- ietary right niibers were )eeaii known. known to isles In the udes of the 'ere practic- (iiscrimiimate exerciise of ds have not ormer mum- ice the ppo- ive throug'hi into trifling inalienaWe rtiou at first delightfully a and later ■ed States of to be ques- ious depend- since her se- ar sincerely States, is aa to Anoericani inid power, a production ttises in the absence of defined law which resulted in the slaughter of 240,000 of these valna/ble (sources of eommerciali value. The «dop- tioin of the Russian method of pr(>''jotlon alone prevented the destniction of the herds at that time. The United States Govei-nment also resorted to the universal panacea of all national ills, legiskftion^ be* ginning in 1870. Thae was made more stringent in 1873 by makhig it a criminal offense to kill a female sea) or to take seals except in eonformity with the authority and regulations of the United States. Also seizure and confiscatioin of vessels was made a penalty. This (dl>owed a larger number than the Russian draft, 30,000 to 40,000 seals each year, which was increased to 70,000 durmig Russian regime. The sueoeiss of the enforcement of leg- islation enabled the United States to take 100,000 a year fromi the beginning of its iurisdidtion till the year 1890, or about 23 years, when there were indiciations of diminution. The practice of leasing thie islands to a responsible private corpooution for a term of twenty years in consideration of a reve- nue tax and a gross sum of $60,000 rent and other comviensntion, properly watch- ed was also a protective measuie held at first for years by the Alaska CommercdaA CJomjvany. On May 12th. 1890. the Secretary of the Treasury for the United States under aiithority of law entered into a compact with the North American Commercial Companv for another term, panting them the exclusive riirht of takmg fur seal's upon the Prlbilof Is'ands, St. George and! St. Fan! in Alaska from May 1, 1890, for a period of twenty yeoirs. in consideration of an annual rental of $60,000; also an additional revenue tax or duty of $2 laid upon eaich fur sealskin taken and shipped by it from said islands; also the furtlier sum of $7.6214 aniece for each and every fur sealskin taken and shipped from said islands, and also to pay 50 cents per gal- lon on oil sold by it made from said seals, all guaranteed and payable to the treas- urer of the United States. 263 ii; i\ OUR ALASKAN J 1 'ii r They also covenanted to fiu-iilsh the in- habitants of said inlunds annually with dried salmon and salt oaid barrels for pre- serving their noceHisary 8iij)[>ly of meat; also 80 tons of coal annually; also a suf- ficiemt nximber of (1.wei:i!iiigs kept in proper repair, and school houses; aJeo to maintain aeuools for the education of the childivn ei^rht months In the voar by competent tearbers. all to be paid by the company under the su-Derv'sion of tlie Secretary of the Treasure. Ihey were also required to maintain a home of religiouB worship, a physician, medicines, to care for widows and orrnhans end the aged and infirm, all free of coflt to the said inhabitants and to the satlsfactiofn of the SecretaJiy of the Treasury. The number of seals allowed to be kill- ed each year must not exceed sixty thou- sand. The profits to the lessees were also large. The product was also valuable to commercial enterprise and also built up and maintained a lucrative manufacturing industry in a foreign country — England. Instead of these skinis being finished and fmt on the markets of the world by Amer- ean citizens, thousands of subjects of that foreign state were thus employed in remunerative occupation. The luxurious wants of modem civilizn- tion. and the devastations by the natural enemies of seal life, the whales and other marine monsters were supplemented in their destructive warfare by the practice of pelagic sealing adopted before civiliza- tion entertd the field by the natives for food and clothing. In 1876 the piratical fleets of British Columbia entered the fields of pelagic sealing. It was not, however, until 1883 that tEese corsairs entered the Bering sea in proseeutiom of their illicit devastations upom the seal herds of the people of the United States, thus more directly invading the inalienable rights of property and jur- isdiction by the United States, whether the herds were ashore or passing through their feeding migrations. The relaxed methods sometimes in vogue in matters of administration and the indifference of the lesses having over- 264 h it WONDERLAND ilsh the iu- lually with via for pre- y of iiK'at; also a Buf- )t in proper to mainliaia he childixMi competent le compaiay lecretnry of JO required as worship, for widows ind iufirm, inhabitants SecretaJT of 1 to be kill- sixty thou- were also valuable to so built up nufacturing r — England, iniahc^ and d by Amer- subjects of smployed in ?(m civilizfl- the natural niKl other men ted in le practice >re civiliza- natives for of of British pelagic until 1883 Bering sea evastations >ple of the y invading ty and jur- whetlier Qg through oetimes in ration and iving over- looked the entrance within the Bering Sea of one of these piratical crtift, its success- ful catch was a bid to others. By 1886 these piratical invasions became a menace. The Government having commenced operations by a rigorous enforcement of the statutes of the United States in refer- enrw .>* seizure and confiscation by in- BULi.:ion8 to commanders of American cruisers in that year three British and some American craft were taken in thil piratical occupation and condemned. The United States authorities now per- mitted themselves to be inveigled into a spun-out dinlomiitic correspondence, and finally in a treaty signed at Washington oo February 29th. 1892. with England. This instrument consists of a long rigmarole of diplomatic verbiage in xv articles provid- ing a very cumbersome and high-sounding arrangement in the 8hai)e of international arbitration with the United States, Eng- land, France, Italy, Sweden and Norway, to name the umpires, in all seven, the same to be jurists able to speak the "Eng- lish" language. There were other details. The result of this unfortunate diplomatic compromise of an unquestionable and ex- clusive right and authority of the people of the United States over their own prop- erty, was the tribunal of arbitration at Paris, France, February 23d, Auguart 15th, 1893, between the United States and Greet Britain which resulted in a highly didactic and compromising array of five propositions with reductio ad absurdum progression of technicalities and phrasings and finally a general surrender of national honor and proprietary right. This ar- rangement conceded the right to Great Britain of practical exemption from ac- ceding to these humiliating surrenders ex- cept it suited her convenience and required special concurrence by that power. Upon the United States it was obligatory. They wound up their labors in a scheme of concurrent regulations outside the jur- isdictional limits of the respective govern- ments. The humiliating proceedings were ''rub- 265 \ I jl I rotect the sealinpr industry- stands in marked contrast bo the supercil- ious course of an inferior dependency, thus far calmly submitted to at Wash- ington. The American people wiU sooner or 266 WONDERLAND a graund of .1 sead poacb* f wbiidi wtfis .n^Bt 15tli, eted by anjr i operationa in contiimed iperty of the mstated nil- part of the >I>eratistauitiala at issue, one of the immensely valuable productive industries of our Alaskan possessions will soon bave been wiped out. The iuoreaised value of this industry to Amerio.'»n citizens and their Govemmoiiit, will have been observed by a comparison of the .^'ost value realized from the furs shipped from Alaska for 122 years under Russian dominion and 23 years under the United Stateis. the latter aggregate being four million dollars more than for the five times !■ act^r period. Also besides the immensely valuable sea ott<'r whose ordinary pelt in the rough will bring $100 and a white one .$1,000 each oui- Alaskan Dossessions contribute a large PT>d valuable supply of land furs. The names and relative value of these may he realized by the following classi- fied list, which covers tlie entire period from the Riiissian discovery year, 1745, to the United States cersus year, 1890. 267 OUR ALASKAN I ,f 145 yeara: Sea otter. $36,365,400; fur seal, $47,005,750. and in round numbers land otter, $1,532,000; black foxes, $2,471,000; C1-086J foxes. S48G.000: red foxes. .'i;327,000; blue foxes. $1,289,000: beaver, $2,608,- 000 and marten or fiuble, $966,000. These figures may be reparded as far below the actual catch and capture on ac- count of skins ruined and abandoned by imperfect methods of treatment for pres- ervation, the inducement to false returns to avoid the heavy tax on furs and the encourafiremeut to smuffgling and direct shipments to Obina. The official fiirures since the census tak- ing of 1890 are not accessible in compiled form, but the fur industry, it is claimed, has maintained a fair average until withr in the past two or three years, when the indiscriminate pelasric slaughter of the fur seal by British pirates has been creat- ing Kreot hiavoo. The best market for Alaskan furs during the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- turies has been Europe and China, to which the United States on a large scale may now T)e added. Under the Russians the Siberian ports of Okhotsk.Bolsberetsk and Petropovlovsk were the first marts of furs from the islands and coasts of the American continent. The comparative cost vnhie of these skins in unjireiwred condition in the best markets in 1880 wore: Sea otter. $100.00; fur seal, $15.00; land otter. $5.00: black fox, $25.00; cross fox. $2.00: red fox. $1.00; blue fox, $5.00; beaver. $5.00. and marten, $3.00. It will also be intei'esting to note that the number of Alaska fur sealskins sold in London from 1868-90 aggregated 2,- 411.099. distributed as follows: Salted Alaska Commercial (the Government conr tract) Company. 1.861.052; other traders, 412.254: dried. 50.288; dressed, 87,505. The fur seal skins Innded at Victoria, British Columbia, in 1890, from official sources was 35.462. During the four years. 1863-7, preced- ing the sessions of Conurress in which the shoi't-sighted unpati'iotio pessimistic shouters were demonstrating their ignor- ance, talking about Alaska as a barren waste, icy wilderness and the like, that 368 iHMfltt ■MM 00; fur seal, mbers land $2,471,000; 3. $327,000; er, $2,608,- ,000. :cleil as far )ture on ac- audoned by nt foi' pres- ilse returns irs ami the and direct census tak- in compiled is claimed. until vvith- i, when the Iter of the been creat- skan furs *teenth cen- China, to . large scale le Russians Bolsheretsk first marts oasts of the comparative unpreiwired fts in 1890 seal, $15.00; 25.00; cross ( fox, $5.00; }.00. note that [ilskins sold ;regated 2,- vs: Salted rnment conr her traders, d, 87,505. it Victoria, rom ofladal 3-7, preced- 1 which the pessimistic tneir ignor- 8 a barren i like, that WONDERLAND very region produced $3,618,717 cost value of unprepared fuiPS, sea and land, alone. During the two veara 1868-70, pending and immediaitely succeeding the acquisi- tion of the territory, the output in these same line of products, was $3,743,206, or over one ihialf the whole purchase money. The art of pluckine and dyeing the seal skin was invented by the Chinese fur- riers, and was reported to the Okhotsk agents of the Russian Company as early as 1799. The Enclish demand for seal skins be- gan early in the nineteenth centm-y. In 1850 direct shipments to New York and London beeran and continued at about 40.000 skins a year, until the cession of the territory to the Unitec' States. The darinir Aleuts, for their services of la.borious hardship in taking the ani- mals, received but 20 to 30 cents a st-tl skin for killine and skinning, while the skins in crude condition realized from $5 to $20 in the Chinese market. The price paid to the Aleutian hunters living on the islands of St. Paul and St. George, under the terms of the Govern- ment lease and their agreement with the lessees, ha's been 40 cents for killing and flklnndng each seal'; laiborers receiving $1.00 a dav. The sea otter is found from Japan Along the Kuriles Kamtchatka, the Aleutian Chain, the Alaskan Peninsula and estuaries and islands southward as fair as Oreeon. and formerly as far as the California Coast. The sagacious pro- tective methods of the Russian authori- ties saved this valuable animal from ex- tinction. This may be continued by the some wise heroic dealiog with trespa»> sers. The land animals nroducing furs of com- mercial value, are distributed vea'y gen- erally throughout Continental Alaska and to_ within the Arctic circle. They com- prise the land otter, beaver, brown bear and black bear. The red fox is found from the fightinc parallel of 54-40 to Point Barrow, and to the last of the Aleutian Islands. Its pelt realizes $1.00 each. There is also the black, silver and cross foxes found in the mountain fast- 269 I ..I,., A— fTTT OUR ALASKAN WONDERLAND nesses of the Coast Ranjfe in Southeast- em Ala^kfli and along the Yukon, Taniania and Kuskokwim rivers and their U'ibiir taries. aJoane the shores of the sounds and on the islands of the coast and the Aleu- tian Chiain. The pek of the black or sdl- ver fox realizes fi'om $10 to $15, and often nearer the coast $40 to $50 in coin for a sinsrle skini. The skins of the silver fox forms a lu- crative trade in the Yukon Valley. The Arctic, or blue and white foxes, are found north of the Kuskokwim. They are veiT numerous. Their skins aire larsrelv used by the Eskimo-Ameri- canB for clothSne:. The mink and marten are also widely distributed, their limit generally beins the artas of standing tim- ber. The pelt of the marten or sable, a corruption of sobal. the Russian word for marten, since the transfer of the ter- ritoTA' through the freaks of fashion, has gone up in first price from^ 10 cents to $6. mi price. The other fur animaJiS, polar bear, lynx, wolves, erey and white, muskrats, rabbits, marmots' and wolverines are largely used for food and clothing by the natives. In 1889 the value of the fur seal pelts was $1,077,478. reiwesenting 102,617 skins; 1890, $267,750, representing 21,- 000; 1891, $217,408, representing 13,588 ekins; 1892, $107,537, representing 7,175 skins, and sea otter pelts $2,220, repre- esenting 18 skins. It is thrilling to contemplate the hero- ism, darinur. hlairdship. exposure and sac- rifice of health and life associated with this widely snread industry. The folk- lore of the natives hianded down on inscrib- ed ivory tablets.and oral tales recount the deeds on sea and land which attended the purauit and oaiotuire of these valuable denizens of the depths of waters and of the solitudes of forests. 270 AND n Southeast- kon, Tamana their ti'ibur . sounds and id the Aleu- black OT sdl- to $15, and ► $50 in coin forms a lur t^alley. Thie js, are found Their skins kimo-Ameri- and marten their limit itandin^ tim- L or sable, a jissian word r of the ter- fashion, has cents to $6. [K)Iar bear, e, muskrats, verines are thing by the or seal pelta ng 102,617 isenting 21,- ating 13,588 enting 7,175 2,220, repre- te the hero- lire and sac- jiciated with The folk- n on inscrib- recount the attended the 'se valuable iters and of : ; ■ Our Alaskan Iquarium LETTER NUMBER XXIV. One Half the Salmon Pack of the World From Our Alaskan Waters. Wealth of Salt and Fresh Water Products Computed by Millions. A imali Storjr Founded on Flgmvcs. To hiave entered a bill of partieulaps in reply to the croakers of the Fortieth Oongreea that within a qnarter of a cen- tury their i>arliamentary "statistics" would receive "official" repudiation iu the development of wealth in Ala»ka waters would not have been more than was said in a prophetie way by the pa- triotic champions of the payment of the purchase money for the valuable territory brought under the jurisdiction of tie Unit- ed States by its greatest of up-to-date di- plomats and statesmen^ WiUiam H. Sew- ard. I have spoken of "si>ot cash" milliona in furs. I shall now give a few figures on fish, in which dollars are again count- ed by millions. The va'ue of the fisheries of Alaska were known from Russian aod native sources years before the croakers of Con- gress expended their loquadfy in efforts to mislead the better sentiment of their 273 I. T i I .1 leading faotor Jommonwealths !S of the Pacific rl OUR ALASKAN aasooiateA, their constituen'ts and the peo- ple, by ignoramce or misrepresentation. In 1892, from the carefully gathered and compiled statistics ^--r United States specialists we find Alas with our occidental coa in the commercial fish\. Ooa«t and waters. This branch of Alaskan indoBtry hiad its birth near Sitka in 1878. The follow- ing year the attempt was renewed at Klawak, on Prince of Wales Island, amid was a success. The honor of first bringing to official no- tice the amazi'Bg fishery resources of th« "icy wilderness" of A'a^ska is due to Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, of the Unitfe'l States Fish Oommission, in 1880. Mr. Bean's report seemed to the singn- larly slow-minded public odm Alaskan af- fairs as incredulouis as the accounts which wpre carried to Euroi)e two and a half cenituriea before of the fish ofE our New England coast. These ofl^cia! reports, were, however, soon verified by the enterprising spirit of OUT fellow-citizens of the Pacific coast. It will cause sairprise to know that in the value of plant and cash' capital em- ployed in the fisheries of the Pacific coast of the United States Alaska leads the list. In 1892, not the best year, the official figures showed totals of value of shore property, vessels arid apparatus and cash capital. Alaska, $2,609,650: California. $2,526,746; Oregon, $2,272,351, and Washington, $1,593,567. In persons engaged in this industry in 1892, while Oalifornia led. in vessel fisher- men, Washington in shore or boat fisher- men, and Oregon in factory hands, our Alaskan pearl of Pacific waters led in the number of «flioresmen when all iba can- neries were in operation. In 1891, the highest number of persons employed in Alaska ini vessel aiid shore fififlieries and canneries was 4,947. In the same year the value ofp'ant and cash capital aggregated $4,185,825. The aggregate investment in the fisher- ies of Alaska was greater than any of the 274 -35^ wonderla:sd id the peo- sntation. gathered ted States ling faotxnr onwea'itha he Pacific ustry hiad Tie follow- aewed at jland, amd official no- ces of the lue to Dr. la.' I States the singii- laskan af- ■ acoonnts rwo and a jh off our howeTer, ? spirit of ic coast, w that in ipitaJ em- ^fie coiast leads the he officiaJ of shore I and cash California, 351, and id ustry in ispl fisher- oat fisher- ands, our led in the 1 its can- )f peTsona iwid shore 7. p'ant and 25. bhe fisher- my of the Americaa Pacific Omwnonwealths, owinsr to the relatively expensive canneries lo- cated there. If the strange diplomacy wihich has been permitted to pass on the fur seal piracy condoned by the Britiiah govemment in behalf of a dependency is allowed to con- tinue the valuable industry of the Pribilof Islands wi'l' speedily take a second rank. Within ten years, 1890, the salmon pack alone of Alaska was mot only one-half that of the United States, but nearly one-haJf that of the whole world. The canning industry may a'so be thus summarized for 1892, Calif omia led in the number of persons employed, 1,510, with Alaska a close seconid. 1,399; Wash- ington, 851, and Oregon, 222. The same re'.ation existed in the number of can- neries and ralue. In cash capital Alaska was far in advance. $1,067,500. with Ore- gon a close second, $835,000; Washing- toin a distant third and golden OaMfomia $40,000, barely recognizable in the race. Total investment, Alaska, again in ad- vance, $1,560,900, with Oregon pressing dose up, $1,433,000; Washington, not a close second, $889,750, and Oalifomia, $135,000. These figures would be even larger but for the wastefu' methods of canning, us- ing but the choicest part of the fish and discarding large qnantities of product which, outside of Alaska, would be util- ized. Also the quantities consumed by the employes and natives would add largely to the aggregate. The hig'h water mark of salmon canning in 1891, causing a glut, will account for the reduced returns of the pack of 1892. The pooling of the interests of the firms and closing in 1892 of 18 out of the 33 canneries of 1891 in Alaska, restored the equilibrium' of demand and snpply. In 1896 there were 29 canneries and 14 salteries in operation. The bneat Alaskan canning salmon are the red-meated fish, averaging 7 pounds, and the Ohinook or king salmon, averag- ing 30 pounds each. A case contains 48 275 t'l f. <} ^^ V }' OVR ALABKAH one-pound cans. Th^ere aire alBo five other varieties of salmon. The salting of saJmon is also enormoue. The salteries in 1893 consumed 5,871,000 pounds of raw material in the production of 19,572 barrels of ^t &elh worth $156,- 576. This branch of the aalmon industry also hud a valuation of plant and cash capital in 1891 amounting to $3,734,403. The in- dustry is conducted largely by steamers, but ships of over 1,000 tonnia^e are also employed. The coast of Alaska is one of the bettrt in the world for the spawning and growtJi of salmon. The estuaries along the coa0t leading into swift runnin>g streams fed by large fountain lakes answer to perfeo- tion the habits of tMs toothsome repre- sentative of the finny creatures. The relentless destruction of the soiurces of salimon supply in Alaskaji waters led Congress by an act, March 2d, 1889, to prohibit, under penaHlty of not less thAa $250 a day, tbe erecting of dams, baril- oades or other methods of preventing the (Ntlmon ascending streams. As this law was a failure. Confess enacted a more stringeoit one, which was approved June 6th, 1896, with inspectors to see that its protective provisions were carried out. Many of the smaller red salmon streams had been rendered unprofitable by the de- structive methods used. In 1896 the pack reac9ied 949,641 cases, with four dozen one-pound cans to the case, and 9,314 borreis of ealted salmon aggregating in v«Jue $2,383,757. emptoy- ing 5,600 men. The weight of the fish as taken from the water was 69,270,000 pounds. There were two Grovemment hatcheries, at Karluk and Eto'.ine, where respective- ly 5,500,000 and 2,000,000 eggs were se- cured. It is due to some of our fellow citizens, at least, who have embarked their capital in these enterprises, to say that seeing the necessity of maintaining the supply , are establishing hatcheries at suitable points in hopes of returning to th.^ waters as 276 WONDERLAyO > five otfaer enormous. 1 5,871,000 production orth $156,- dustry blao aah capital 3, The in- steamers, ;e are alao yf the best Lnd growth ? the coast Teams fed to perfec ome repre- the sources waters led a, 1889, to : less than imsi, barri- renting the s this law ed a more foved June lee that its ;arried ouit on streams by the de- >,641 cases, ana to the ted salmon >7, emplby- the fish as 69,270,000 hatcheries, respective- ;s were ee- w citizens, leir capital : seeing the apply , are ible points waters as much young fish life aa they take out in a matured state. The United States Fish Oommiaalon is also doing its share in the imi>ortant work of fish liatching in these splendid Alaskan watera Next to the salmon the cod industry takes rank in Alaskan fisheries. Since the beginning in 1865, during ttie Russian rule, the total number of fish taken is 25,723,300, representing $12,861,650 in value. In 1890 the catch was 1,138,000 fish, valued at $569,000. It should also be daid that the San Francisco cod fishing firms take their sup- ply from the Alaskan banks. These fig- ures rightfully belong to Alaska. These totals would not onily have placed AJ'aska in Ihe lead, but also with double the values. The State of Washington also derived her figures from the same source, so that really there is little or no cod in- dustry on the Pacific coast except what is derived from the valuable banks of the Alaskan Peninsula and our Aleutian Islands. About midway in the glacial front of the St Elias range, between Cross Sound and Yakutat Bay, about 50 miles off shore may be seen upon the oflBcial charts the commencement of what is known to navi- gators as the 100-fathom curve. This line at varying distances from 50 to 150 miles off shore follows the western and southern coasts of the mainland, the Kenai and Alaska Peninsulas and the Aleutian chain. After rounding The west- em end of Umnak and returning along the north shores of the same islands as far as Unimak Pass in the Aleutian chain, it strikes northwesterly across Bering Sea until it curves coastwise southwardly along the Asiatic continent off the Siber- ian Oape Navarin. Within this curve shoreward the depth of waters never exceeding 100 fathoms or 600 feet lie the valuable submarine banki or plateaus, which constitute the favorite resort of the cod and the fishing grounds which add so largely to this branch of Alaskan industry and also the 277 ■Mi 'at OUR ALASKAN i< \'. i ( United States fur seal rookeries of the PribUof Iftlands. From the starting point off tb« Alaskan shore to the Silieriun coast this Kae traverses 40 dejfrees of longitude and of- ter deeceuding from latitude 59 to nearly 52 ascends to nearly 62 degrees nortib, making a southerly and northerly sweep of 17 degrees of latitude. The New Foundland and New England banks so famous in the history of the fil- ing industries of the world at the time of the discovery and exxJoration of the northwestern shores of the Atlantic are the merest submarine sandbnjs compared with the scope of the fishing banks off the mainland and islands of Alaska. In 1896 the Aiaskan lieri'iii.ii fih-hcrH's at Killisnoo on tlie Admiralty shore of Chat- hajn Strait, including salting and the mannfncture of oil. footed up 2i'),750 bar- rels. 90.650 irallons of oil, 55( tons, of guano, i-enresentine a total value of $35,- 000. These sanie operators, with an in- crensing ronrket. DTOa>ose an output of 200.000 eailons of oil and 1.200 tons of •gxiano. The liieb water mark of 1892 yielded 500 half and 1.000 whole barrels of salt heorinie. 316.000 gallons of oil and 700 tons of eruano. The oil sold at 25 to 30 cents a Ballon, realizing $85,000, and fertilizer at $30 a ton. or .$21,000. The Alaskan herring appear in the still waters of the bavs and inlets by millions from Aujrust to September. It is rich in oil and finelv flavored. Besides being a food and oil fish, it is largely used as bait for halibut aind othler large fish. The na- tives Uise quantities for food. The Atka oi* Alaskan mackerel is one of the best of the Alaska food fishes. Its favorite resort, although found in other Alaskan waters, is in the vicinity of Atka and at the extreme island limit of United States Aleutian inri«wliction. The nrirae quality of this fish yields about $20 a barrel. The halibut is common to all the coast waters of Alaska. They range from 15 to 250 Dounds in size and are particularly niumertma near Sitka and are largely caught bv the natives. 278 .^' WONDERLAND ries of the The river fi«h. the white fish, losh and graylin,un(l« in 1887, and for ivory 74.000 pounds in 1877. The atrjrrecate output, 1874-90, was f^00,030 baii-relf* of oil, $2.8.-vi,357; 402.- 43 pounds of bone, $8,204,0(57; 4,284,395 pounds of ivorv. $147,047, making a to- tal of $11,204,465. It was during the governorshin of Wolwodsky, 1848. that the United States whaling interests began in these waters. An American whaler, Captain Ravs. having passed into the Arctic Ocean, was so successful in his venture that the snread of the newis along the New England co.a8t sent about 14() American whalers into that same sea within the vear following. In the total of mairket fish ndigeneoua to Alaskan waters. 1892, Alaska furnish- ed cod 2.219.835 pounds, value $55,562; California 2.274.565 pounds, value $56,- 8(J4; Oregon none, and Washington about one-fourth the Alaskan amount. Herring— Alaska 18.700,000 pounds, value $32,900: California 4,486,887 Wunds, vali.e $55,796; Oregon none, and ashington about one-thirtieth the yield of Alaska. Salmon— Alaska 42.231,500 pounds, value $1,219,973: California 4.862.408 pounds, value $179.aSl; Oregon 25,.563,- 701 pounds, value $781,000; Washington 21.684,211 pounds, valine $5i>1. 546. The valuation of the tin plate used in canning was ,$311,454, which paid $93,- 456 duty and wouJd have paid $116,700 under the act of 1897. The registered tonnage of steam and other veaseLs emnloved is 37..S9S. A single association expended $103,804 for boxes and labor performed by white and native residents of the territory. 379 fl TT! GOLD! GOLD! V Dl i|*, 1 OurAlaskan Wonderland Y.r mm LETTER NUMBER XXV. What the Lifting Veil of an Arc- tic Winter Revealed. Alaska Not Overshadowed, but Ex- panded by the Lnck of Klondike. Ck>al, Copper, Platiumn, Iron, Lead, Au« tlimouy. Marble, Petrolenm and Maybe Jema Stoied In Onr Distant Treaaare LAnd. The ring of Klondike gold rekindJed in tlie United States and the rest of the world a degree of enthusiasm rivaling in ftrvor the greeting wIMch met the as- tounding disoovery of aurifei-ous wealth in California precisely one-half century before. The revelations of the future are not only impatiently awaited, but on the faith of the wonderful stories which have been told, an army of men and women from every section of our broad land are bending th'edr steps toward the new re- gions of glittering wealth in sub-arctic lat- itudes. The pioneer steamer Excelsior, which arrived at San Francisco on June 15th, 1897, by the substantial evidence of $2,- 000,000 value of sihining gold verified the rumors which had been wafted down the coast of fabulous new discoveries of the precious metal on the upper Yukon. On the very crest of this first wave of 281 ;.( i r\U I VII; OVR ALASKAN excitement whlich swept across the United States and beyond the Atlantic, followed a month later the arrival of another treas- ure ship from AJaiska, at Seattle, the Port- land, with nearly a million and a half more of the yellow metal in masses fi-ora dust to nuggets from pin headis to hen's egga The scene at the moorings of those Alaskan, and Klondike gold laden craft was oaleulated to arouse the world. The weather-beaten arctic seasoned hieroes of golden Hands staggering dowiw the gang'ways from the decks of the steiamers to terra-firma under the burden of their glittering haiTest waa pictured on the swift wings of electricity to the utter- most parts of the earth. Thisi wias the thrilling sequel to the drama which bad been played so com- pletely behind the impenetrable veil of an arctic winter. While goil'd discoveries are not solely an occurrence of modem times, the most valuiable known fields have eome to light in recent years. The earliest of the an- cients of history used gold according to ac- counts, in. falnilou'S quantities. We are told that in the time of Herodotus nearly five centuries before Christ, the ratio be- tween silver and gold was ton to one. Almost twenty-four centuries after the people of a great republic repudiated 16 to 1. The presence of gold in commercial quantities exists in many parts of the world, but the great centers of production during the latter part of the Nineteenth century have been O'alifomia. 1847; Aus- tralia, 1851; South Africa, 1868; Alaska, 1873; Klondike, 1897. This latest discoveiT^ which so electrified the world was but another step in the growing cumulative product of gold in the remote regions of the uppiU' Yukon. During the census decade 1880 to 1890, the Alaskan fields contributed $4,004,500 value of gold and $27,340 of silver to the stock of the world. An enormous wealtli of gold in Alaska has Iwen a fixed fact for many yearn, but M- WONDiniLAKD tie United LC, followed otber treas- e, the Port- . and a half lasses from da to heu's ?9 of these laden ci-aft world. J seasoned ering dowi^ ks of the the burden 1 pictured on to the utter- ■quel to the ^ed so coBi- le veil of an lot solely an s, the most ome to light t of the an- ording to ac- ?s. We are dotus nearly the ratio be- teu to one. s after the jpudiated 16 commercial narta of the f production V Nineteenth 1847; AuH- 868; Alaska. so electrified step in the »f gold in the 'ukon. .880 to 1890, d .$4,004,500 silver to the Id in Alaska ly years, but the magnetic iwwcr of more roc^-ntly found "poor man's" placer mines of fabu- lou'!» richness on Birch and other streams within United States and on the Klondike and tributaries of the Yukon within British jurisdiction has given an incentive to a rush which may astound the world. The first "show of color" officially le- portod from Alaska was in 1873, in a guld- bearing quartz vein on Slate Creek, two miles from its mouth, on Silver Bay, 10 miles northeast of Sitka. In 1879 a 10- stamp steam water power mill was built, but in. 1880 suspended. The claim was re- located in 1883. In 1880 another com- pany began working in the siame district. The oiKcers a-^J men of the United States army nu' ed with the civilians in their interest in ihe gold deveJopraenfcs of the Allaskan coast. Many of the men in the ranks had had experience in the mines of California and Nevada. An instance is mentioned of two privato soldiers of the Sitka garrison in 1873 hav- ing seen some of the samples brought back from the Silver Bay region, obtained a few days leave of absence, visited thfe ledge and by means of two blasts return- ed with .$300 worth of fine gold quartz specimens. Further investigations established the "show of color" in sufiieient commercial quantities to entitle the event to the rank of the first real discovery of the yellow metal in Alaska. The work of prospecting in this region continued with favorable results until January 30th, 1877, when the Alaska Gold and Silver Mining Company, the first in this Alaskan indxrstry, was incor- l)orated at Portland, Oregon. Tlie work of development began with a ten-stamp mill in 1879. The next year however, owing to mismanagement, these works were closed. This turn in affairs led to even more ex- tensive prospecting tours in 1880, the most famous of which were made by .Joseph Juneau and Richard T. Harris. These men were outfitted by parties inter- ested in the suspended mine. They start- 283 f OUlt ALASKAN M \ cd from Sitka in a canoe in the direction of Taku River. The same autumn run- ning out of provisions they returned with 150 pounds of sample gold quartz of great richness and 13>^rainis of dust. The stampede which followed to the "re- gions." was unprecedented in the annals of quaint Sitka. Every variety of craft from a canoe to a steamer was impressed into the service of the wild "nish." The pioneers Juneau and Harris, fol- lowed by a motley crowd of toughs and "tendei'feet," struck out again for the golden shores of the Taku. The graveJs on the mountain 8ilop«s ran 15 to 30 cents of "color" to the pan, Jimeau and his companion gave shape* to their operations by locating the Silver Bow Basin district. At the same time they staked off their choice of placer ground and 18 quartz claims. Having organized the Silver Bow Basin mining district they adopted local rules for Its government and marked out a "city" at the mouth of Gold Creek. This infant metropolis they named "Har- ri'sburg, after Harris, Juneau's prospect- ing companion. The shipment of a cargo of 9G0 pounds of quartz realizing $14,000 back to Sitka added to the excitement. Against tlie rigors of the approaching winter, 1880-1, the motley gathering of miners and prospectors built cabins on the town site. General merchandise stores were opened and saloons, dancing shan- ties and gaming haunts sprung into life with mushroom growth. At the same time the population kept growing by contributions from other Alaskan centers of human habitation and over the border from British Columbia. Their "city" was renamed Rockwell af- ter the executive officer of the Jamestown, the United States vessel in Alaskan waters. Finally a miners' meeting, May, 1882, fixed upon Juneau, whidi name stuck, and to-day localizes the most go ahead up-to-date community in Alaska, and possibly the fourth of the United States oitiea of the Pacific coast of the future. 284 WOSnERLA:SD u le direction itmun run- urned with rtz of great a tothe"re- the annals ty of craft 3 impressed ■usb." aarris, fol- toughs and in for the Phe gravels to 30 cents au and his • operations sin district, id off their 18 quartz the Silver ley adopted aud marked Sold Creek, imed "Har^ 's prospect- 960 pounds ick to Sitka approaching athering of abins on the idise store* ncing shan- n^g into life alation kept from other bitation and Columbia, iockwell af- Jamestown, n Alaskan i' meeting, leau, which ses the most y in Alaska, the United :oast of the It was facetiously mid by tbe camp wag of Juneau during the first winter that the miners liTer ton being $1.08, the methods applied be- ing concentration, roasting and chioriua- tion. The product of this mine from its open- ing, 1882 to 1891 was $3,109,164. Tlie yield per ton, was $3.70 and operating profits $1,493,208. That the outlook continues favorable may be judged by the erection of a pro- posed mill of twice the present capacity. Another mine in the siame locality known as the Alaska Mexican Gold Min- ing Company, under the same manage- ment, has also produced wonderful re- sults. This mill crushed 101,702 tons of ore or 285 I i m ilV ?lf r OVR ALASKAN ih l\ 3.57 tous iM^r stamp per dfiJ' of 24 hoars, at a cost of $0.3491 i>er ton. Tlieee somewhat diy details, to the lay- man will show to what extent the me- chanical prodiiotion of gold is already under way in our Alaskan Wonderland. It will, as now foreseen, remain one of its permanent and profitable in<^usti-ies, whatever may be the outcome of the placer opoTatioUkS on the Yukon. The Beriiers Bay JJininp and Milling Company on Lynn Canal, 55 miles above Juneau, at a town nanietl Sywaixl, after tlie great Secretary, incorporateil in 189G, is conducting woiik on a large scale. The entire region within an extended radius of Juneau, is already well stocked with gold quartz mining €nteii>rises. In the distribution of the work of the Uniited Staites Geological Survey for 1895- 0. investigation was made of the gold de- )>osits an Greek Basin, across the di- vide, on the siajne vein extended, fine re- sults were obtained and only awaited de- veloiwnent. About .55 miles southeast of Juneau Sun Dmn, Chief and Bald Eagle veins were yielding good bullion, at the rate of $48 to $55 a ton. At Seward City, near Bemei's Bay, 50 mile.<» north of .Tunean, rich veins were yieldinig gold. On Admiraity Island, at i^'unter Bay, abonit 30 miles from Juneau, liiey fonuid proiraisiiTug veins worked by tiie Boston-Alaska Gold Mining Com- 1 any. Near Sitka, along Silver Bay, and ill the connitry to the southeast, were niu- uiei'ous veins, some yielding a little gold. At Yakutat Bay. ea.st of Mt. St. Elias 28G WONDERLAND vy 21 hoars, the lay- the me- already uderlaind. in one of n^usti'ies, le of the d Milling les above xnl, after 1 in 1890. ivle. extended 11 stocked l>risea. rk of the for 1S95- e gold de- near the of South- inity of he Trend- avoragetl ed a kirge sive work- liree miles rich gold in a 400- )rocess by S9 the dl- d, fine re- vaited de- mean Sun eina were ite of $48 9 Bay, 50 einis were Island, at n Juneau, orked by ing Corn- Bay, and were nu- ittle gold. St. Elias and along the west shore of Kadiak Isl- and, the yield of beach mining was large where pay sti-eaks were found. In Uyak Bay, on Kadiak Island, gold quartz veins were found two feet thick. Stream gravels were also being worked on Turn Again Arm. at the head of Cook Inlet, yielding $120,000 value of gold in 1S9G. Rich gravels were discovered fur- ther up the iidet. A working on Beaver Creek yielded an average of $5 a day. On the Island of Unpa, in the Shiima- gin archipelago, near Delaroff Bay, about 1.000 miles west of Sitka, the Apollo Con- solidated Mining Compajij', one of the most extensive in Alaska in 1895-G, was yielding $360,000 a year, the ore averag- ing about $9 a ton, much of the gold be- ing free. This company had $375,000 in- vented in plant alone. Even on Kotzobue Sound within the Arctic circle, gold is stirred ui> by canoe paddles in summer. These reports say nothing of the fabu- lous wealth of the gold-bearing districts of inland Alaska. If all the companies' and their opera- tions in this region were enumerated in detail, the list wowld be a long one and would add to what my fellow-citizen read- ers in "the Stjates" have by this time realized — that they have been very much misled respecting tbe intrinsic and unde- veloped wealth of our Alaskaai Wonder- land. Even a London exploration com- pany i^ "in it," and capital m exploitation and profitable opera tions is not limited to owneT«hip aimong the veteran gold opera- tons of the Pacific Staites. It 18 singuJar that in these ores but very littJe ailTer ia found, the Sheep Creek vein being the only one. Rich silver ore is found north of GrOlovin Bay, above Noi'- tocQi Sound, but the low value of silver is an obstacle to ■working. When, we contemplBJte this established and steady flow of gold supply to assist in meeting the ever increasing demands of the world's financial operations, we are not so much overcome by the fabulous and possibly capricious yields of the placer mines of Klondike. The existence of gold In the Yukon dis- 287 \l I <^!: I ^V OUR ALASKAN tirict had been mentioned as early as 1860, but the hostile attitude of the Chilkoot oc- cupants of the naoiintaiii fastnesses of thai; accessible portion of the coast raiigQ thwarted an expedition fitted out in 1878. It was, however, in the same year that one George liolt accomplishetl the jour- ney from tide water to the Lake Linde- man headwaters of the Yukon, accorapani- ed by a few Indiams and following tho Ohilkoot Pass This daring pioneer was afterwards murdered by the natives. In 1882 other parties made the rugge international boundary fine placer mine^ and 300 miners at work. In the same year othei* parties took the Yukon route in a small steamer. Winter- in*? at Nuklukayet they prospected dur- ing? the next season, findmg coarse gold everywhere. The bairs on Stewart River and tribu^ taries, on British soil, entering the Yukon above the Klondike, gave a tine show of color prior to 1885. The discoveries of coarse gold on Forty- Mile Greek were made within United States jurisdiction in 1886. Alithoiigh this stream enters Britisih ten-itoi-y 2.3 miles above its monthi and Sixty-Mile Greek, also crosses into British jurisdic- tion, the best of these diggings are on the Unite^l Statels side of the boundary. In 1887 l.'O miners were at work at differ- ent points. In 1893 gold was found on Birch Creek juiid its forks. This stream, flowing north, is wholly within United States jurisdic- tion and enters the Yukon from tho south on the Arctic Gircle just below oM Fort Yukon, at the confluence of thu Porcupine. The mining town of Circle City, on the west bank of thie Yukon, founded in 1894. was the outcome of this rush^ From it is a portage of about 20 miles to the headwaters of Birch) Creek, where the gold lies. In 1896 Circle City had a iwpulation oi 1.800 people officially reported to the. Post Office Department. Town lots wore 288 WONDERLAND selling for $2,000 each and $1,000,000 of «o'd Axist was turned out from the Birch Greek district. The "city" was "officially" dceribed in 1896 to toe departments at Washington as having a postmaster, who was the only representative of the majesty of United States authority in a region almost ais ex- tensive as the Middle States. It ateo had aJl the con<>omit.anta of "civilization"— dance houses, faro banks and rum shops. Upon the receipt of the news of the Klondike discoveries almost the entire susceptible population of Circle City "pulled up stakes" and disappeared like a Sight of birds passage in a single nigfait. A few weeks after they turned up in the new regions about 200 miles higher up the Yukon! The "poor man's diggings" in the placer fields of the Yukon, are in their infancy. The impetus given by the lat- est discoveries in the Klondike across the international boundairy line has vastly en- larged the field of prospecting and hx..s intensified the spirit of adventure and praspecting to an amazing degree. The field has been broadening. The milling of gold in the .Tuneau and Sitka regions is an established indiisti"y. The placer regions of the Yukon on both Unit- ed States and Britishi soil also point to a liarge yield before exh'anisted. Then re- sort to the unlocked treasures of the lodes which must remain of the source of glacial nroduction of the placer supply will be had bv mean® of machinery. The difficulties in obtaining supplies and the expense of transportart^ion, which has, thus far been the drawback to opera- tions on a large scale in these remote re- gions, are now being reduced to a mini- mum. The substitution of steamboats for ca- noes and biadarkas and reindeer for dog teams will at once solve the problem. The approximate distributioo of gold production in the United States estimated by the Director of the Mint was: Alaisfcai, 1894. 02,047 fine ounces, valued at $1.- 282.623. giving Alaska the eighth rank in production. In 1895, 78,140 ounces, val- 289 ih '.M / OUR ALAHKAN lied at $1,015,300, advancing to the sixth in pauk. lu 1890, 99,144 ouucos tin«. valued at $2,055,700; silver, 145,300, coinage value, $187,803. In 1807 gold. valu*?d at .'j;2.5()0,(HK). The Dirt'ctor^' es- timate of gold from Klondike, British territory, 1807, is $2,500,000. In 1807 Alaska was fifth in rank in gold produc- tion in the United States, the valuation being aijproximated $20.07 per fine ounce. The Yukon placer production of Alas- kan fltieam® in 1800 was npproximiaitely $50,000; 1801. $100,000; 1803, $108,000; 1804, $-100,000: 1805, $709,000 for the Yu- kon and $00,080 for other streams. The same yoar the Ivaarle Creek discoveries were made and Klondike fol'owed^ The total gold and silver production of the United States in 1800 was: Gold, $53,088,000: silver. $30,055,000 commer- cial value, $70,000,000 coining value. Before taking a survey of the situation over the line on the foreign soil of our Klondike neighbor it must be said that gold is not the only mineral wealth of our Alaskan wonderland. The census monograph on Ala8.ka, 1800, anxi ♦■be military and geographical recon- iioistiiiices since enumerate gold, silver, copper, iroTi> lead, antimony and platinum a 3.onig the metals and coal, coal oil, mar- ble and soapstone among the other hiid- den resources of the soil. The value of gold ami silver production I have men- tioned. The native accounts speak of fabulous quantities of copper on the Copper River, auid samples of bullets made of the metal su^ained their statements. These repeal have been verified by scientific and other visitors to tlie mouth of that stream. Not- witinstandins? the reconnoaseances the "mountain of copper" has not yet been revealed. The representatives of copper producers have already taken locations orted intx> Alaska. It now vastly exceeds that quantity. The supply as late as 1895 came from "Vancouver Islard, Br'tiA Columbia, mines. Capitalists fromi the United States, both Eastern and Western, have been prospecting with the best results. The most extenisdve works were estab- lished on Kachekmak Bay, Cook Inlet. The area there is ro'ported about 25 by 80 miles and oomes down to within 1,800 feet of the water. The 'aTgest seam, near Coal Point, was seven feet thick, resembling lauthracite. In 1894 the North Pacific Mining and Transportation Company, with $3,000,000 capital stock, began explorations on the bay. The Alaiska Coal Compiainy a^so be- gan operations in this region in 1889 with capital stock of $2,000,000 in $10 shares. Each company expended about $50,000 in preliminary work and buildings and plant. The sparking of the coal' was its draw- back fAr railroad purposes, according to tests on the Southern Pacific Railroad. There are indication® of large quanti- ties of iron ore in different parts of Alas- ka. In the race for gold the less rapid but equally remunerative sources of nat- ural wealth have been passed by. ^ A va'unble quiality of marble from wh'ch Mme of superior quality has been ma,de by the Russians at Sitka exists on Halleck Islami 14 miles distant. This valuable source of industry is !><'- ing investigated and wUl be addenl to the list. The existence of petroleum has alis-n b(>en known for years. The surfaoo of The waters in the viciinity of Prince Wil- liam Sound have shown it in floatinc quantities !*ufl5cient to attract not only at- tention but exp'oitation with a view to investment and development. 292 If M' ■ lOHB f WONDERLAND I cannot but recall the confident words of Secretary Seward and tha stirring oara- tory of Senator Sumner before the Sen- ate of the United States ttmd of the patri- otic champions of the Alaskan purchase in the House of Representatives upoo the mineral wealth of Alaska. The outlook of 1898 is that another few years will develop that the Union pos- sesses no single Oomimonwealth outsihiinr iog in mineral wealth our Alaskau Wonderland. And who knowis, except the omnisoent architect of the universe, what yet unspoken treasuires of gems and met- a!i9 and baser things of commercial value may come from our Alaska. I )|i| "i: 29b ■J* ! ^ f" bbor. LETTER NIMBEIl XXVI. Glittering Treasure Frozen Yukon Sands. m Off on a Honeymoon and Back With a Fortune. Dawaou, the City of Placers—A "Slwash" Flaherman'a Luck Startles the World —The Goia u< Alaaha and H lon> dike the World's Supply of th>; Future. The oft spun tale of one George W. Carnmoli, of the State of llliuois, by birth, in a state of native inotrimouy by condi- tion and a state of indigence by circum- stances, epitoimizea the discovery of tlie golden treasures of the Klondike. He Was not the first to go in, but was the firat to come out with luck on. his side. He had married a Stickeen woman and lived with her tribe near the Tagisb lake. While on a salmon curing expedition for his winter supplies, having camped at the month of the Klondike, a miner's soften- ing of- tlve Indian Throndiuk (water full of Ssh) during the summer of 1896, eked out the rest of the season panning the blars of tbat stream. Making a domestic affair of hif» sudden road to fortune, with the aid of hi« wife and Indian bi"o the rs -in-law, in eight days 205 Ml Mtl n OUR ALASKAN in the month of August, working against every disadvantage, the family paity pan- ned $14,200 on Bonanzo Or nek and estab- lished the reputation of tttmaiL tributary aa "a payer." The first gold excitement beyond the northern limits of "the States" in the far northwest occurred in 1858, in the Koote- nai district in the southeastern corner of British Columbia. This area extends across the United States border into the States of Washington, Idaho and Mon- tana. This was followed by further disoover- ies in the Carriboo and Praser River re- gions, also in British Columbia. There were also discoveries along the head- waters of Peace River, which descends from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Monn^^ins and finds its outlet throngh Athabasca and Great Slave Lakes and Mackenzie River into the Arctic Ocean on British Canadian soil. In the earlier part of the excitement these placers turned out $2,000,000 cul- minating in 1864 at $3,800,000, which in 1890 fell to less tlian one-seventh that an- nual output. In 1863 placers were located in the Stickeen River yielding $10 a man per day. These mines were about 20 miles across the eastern line of Southeastern Alaska, the Stickeen River itself entering tide water near Wrangel, in Alaska. In the more distant British-Canadian interior gold in small quantities was found near the junction of the I^ewis and Pelly Rivers of the Yukon, at Port Selkirk. In 1869 the United States Western Union Telegraph expedition also found gold on the Upper Yukon. But it was not until George Holt, an experienced prospector, in 1875, brought down substantiated reports of gold on the Lewis that the "rush" for the interior be- gan. In 1881 gold was reported the whole —length of the Big Salmon, one of the up- per tributaries of the I^ewis-Yukon. In the same year a party of prospector* ascended the Yukon from St. Michael on 296 g against >arty pan- ud estab< butary as yond the ia the far tie Koote- corner of I extends r into the md Mon- disoover- River re- . There the head- descends le Rocky ■t through iiake» and tic Ocean xcitement 0,000 oul- which in h that an- ed in the man per ; 20 miles itheastem f entering aska. •Canadian n'laa found and Pelly !lkirk. In :n Union d gold on Holt, an i, brought t>id on the iterior be- :he whole ot the uP' con. ro specter* ichael on hi^^atfi WONDERLAND a small steamer which they had pur- chased. Wintering at Nuklukayet, the following season they found gravel bars on the tributary creeks of the great «tream yielding about $12 a day to the man. These were the first gold discover- ies and the vales carried it on the wings of the wind. Before the end of August the same monthi in which Carmack made bis "find," claamia were being filed. With- in thirty days over 200 men, as if they had risen from the very eai'th, sprung upon the scene and began the scramble for locations and the golden treasura be- neath. The word Klondike less than a brief twelvemonth later wais the world round, synonym of fabulous' riches in fine gold. The United States Geological Survey, ever alive to the developments of the vast interior regions of the public domain, promptly dispatched a scientific expedition under J. E. Spurr, assisted by H. B. Goodman, into the field of these recent discoveries. Prom this official authority the area of the gold producing sources of the Yukon placers have been located. The belt of auriferous rocks is placed at 50 to 100 miles in width and extending on both sides along the Yukon about 500 miles. The eastern or up stream limit lies in BritishrCanadian territory and crosses the Lewis and Pelly tributary sources of the Yukon just above their junction at old Fort Selkirk. The belt following the course of the Yu- kon on both sides crosses into United States territory just before reaching the United States trading post Belle Isle, about 220 miles in a direct line and much further by the windings of the river. 298 WONDERLAND in 1895 with t af "payers, its share. In credited wrth b the Birch ke in the sum- ose at Birch motion, a region with- e means of es- and where the nse, is a mys- >uld seem as if mountains and e wings of the )f August the mack made bis g filed. With- >00 men, as if ry eai'th, sprung .n the scramble lem treasure be- is than a brief lie world round, es in fine gold, ^logical Survey, lents of the vast public domaJii, jntific expedition isted by H. B. of tliese recent official authority ucing sources of ,een located. The is placed at DU nd extending 0^ ukon about oOU earn limit lies in ry and crosses jutary sourc^ of ;ir junotion at oia ckjuxsie of the Yu- jes into United fore reaching the post Beile Isle, ect line and much of the river. Within this stretch of British soil on the west side enters tlie White River, above the rock bordered chiannol, mapped as the Upper Ramparts, and excepting its head- waters, entii-ely on British-Canadian soil. Abwit 10 miles below on the east side enters the Stewart River. This stream and all of those inflowiup on this side as far as Bel.e Isle are entirely on British Canadian soil. The Stew^art River was an important factor in the gold production of that region in the earlier operations, but lost prestige after the later discover- ies. About 20 miles down stream outers Six- ty Jlile River. Although the intenia- tio'iial line is but a lew miles in a due west direction from its mouth, winding down from the north about 90 miles of its course is on foreigu soil. The gold producing headwaters but 10 miles by portage from the gold yielding head forks of Forty Mile River, are in Alaska. About 40 miles below we reach on the east side the mouth of the Klon- dike River, the sensation of the day. About 50 miles lower down the Yukon we arrive at Forty Mile River from the west, with, the British frontier customs lK)sts of Forty Mile on the south and Cudahy on the north side of its mouth. About 15 miles of this stream in a straight line is on British-Canadian soil, the most valuable placer portion, however in the forks are wholly in Alaska. The Yukon, after a sinuous course, though less than 25 miles cross-coumtry, nasses under United State® jurisdiction and terminates the Yukon BritiJ^h-Cana- dian gold area.«f. About 110 miles a little west of north in a direct line and further by the river lies the Birch Creei< Uniteil States mining metropolis of Circle City named in honor of the Arctic circle. Paissing over the break, "ignominiouisly surreudei-edj" as Senator Sumner chaa-- acterized it m the continuity of our Pacific Coast posisessions we find that the terri- torial bounds of British Comnbia, by which this tborn in the side of the people of the United States is designated, inter- sects the 10 niariiip league eaistern Intei*- 299 ! i I !I It ,' OUR ALASKAN n.atioiuil boiiiKlarj' of Soiitheastorn Ala»- ka at tlie sixtieth parallel. North of thia line and east of Western Continental Ahmka lies the vast frigid repion known as the British Northwest Territory. The first news of the Klondike discov- eries wafted across the United States border in the direction of the Birch Rivtyr mining town. Circle City, about 300 miles lower down the Yukon, although mid-winter with the mercury frozen in the bulb, and the tf mperature at 60 de- grees be'.6w zero, set in moti-n 540 men for the new field.^ The ^toi'ies of the winter's work and the haro ships overcome seem incredible. The Klondike approaches the Yukon from the southeast and has four princi- pal tributaries from the south. The Bonanza, the largest, enters three milea above the mouth, aird has six tributary ci-eeks of its own, the richest being Eldo- rado, about thirty miles long, with sev- eral small branc'iios. Ten miles higher up the Klondike is Bear Creek: al>ove that Hunker. Five miles above is Gold Bot- tom, and twenty-five miles above that Too Much Gold. It is claimed that these streams and tributaries are holding out as rich as the first discoveries. The equipment of a Yukon miner, what he can buy foT a song, consists of a pick, shovel, gold pan, whip-saw and axe. What he cannot buy for all the riches of Klon- dike but must have, is a constitution of iron, a body of steel and a will of both, m order to endure almost the utmost limit of cold, relentless exposure, the coarsest of food and the rudest of habitation. There is naturally no end of tales told of the fabulous wealth of the Klondike, and there is no reason to doubt them. The proof of the pudding being the eating thereof the scene on the wharves of Portland and Seattle was suflficient to satisfy the most incredulous. The Barney Barnato of the Klondike is eiven as Clarence J. Berry, a Fresno, Cal., fanner, hopelessly in debt and in love with a pretty maid whom he wished to marry. She loved him. They were married and took their honeymoon to the Klondike. 300 WONDERLAND hoastorn Altis- North of this 1 Continental region known rerritory. loudike discov- United States »f the Birch e City, about ukon, although ;ury frozen in ture at 60 de- oti.n 540 men er's work and »m incredible. ea the Yukon 1,8 four princi- south. The irs three milea } isix tributary ?ist being Eldo- ong, with sev- niles higher up ?k; aJ>ove that e i» Gold Bot- ps above that med thiat these re holding out ;ries. )n miner, what sists of a pick, and axe. What •iches of Klon- constitution of a will of both, [le utmost limit e, the coarsest habitation, d of tales told lib of the 3 no reason of the pudding le scene on the I Seattle was »t incredulous. :he Klondike is •rry, a Fresno, ti debt and in horn he wished 1. They were leymoon to the The br'de bore her share in the toils and trials a.nd they won together. For luck Berry was without a rival. In 30 bos lengths, 12x15 inches to the box, he took out $130,000,one length, yielding $10.- 000. A single nugget of 13 ounces, worth $17 an ounce, the camp standard, realized $221. This was one of the returning miners who carried his gold in sacks, two of which he sold for $85,000 as soon a« be landee reached. If my readers will imagine a liole in the eround and from the top look into its denths, after removing nature's top dreas- ine of moss, soil and muck, next will be «^en a layer of gravel and sand possibly 12 to 15 feet from which a small yield of eold is taken. Next is met a layer of 3 or 4 feet of coarse gravel, in this crse yielding from $1 to $5 a pan. As we enter the "pay streak" the 1 or 2 feet of gravel becomes finer and these mines have aver- ngt»d upwards of $100 a pan. Below thds is a "pay streak" of black sand, very fine usually accompanying placer go'd. which here has yielded from $30 to $50 a pan. Below tbis is the bed rock. A pan, as I have said, means about two quarts of "dirt" and ten minutes shaking the pan with the "dirt" and water. To reach this depth is m itself a hur- culenn task and can only be accomplished inch by inch by means of immense fires built on the spot to be worked with wood carried a mile or more and renewing the ooeration as the film of surface is thawed Roft enooigh to be detached from tlie rest. When too great a depth is reached it is necessary to hoist the loosencHl earth to tho surface by means of a wiiwllass, 303 WONDERLAND ether in Ala«- •ely from the his is largely IS which en- ras a.s the in- nder Canaxii- e stream aud either bank m 80 to 100 is necessary )eneath. This e fro-'-^n con- iu^ KXt of of soil u'liiuer tem- y\v zero can k. sometimes Through thia necesisiary to dirt" which he bed rock, a hole in the look into its e's top dress- next will be ^and possibly imall yield of 't a layer of in this crse As we enter eet of gravel is have aver- Below this : sand, very placer gold. 1 $80 to $50 bed rock. A i about two iites shiaMng i water. itself a hur- iccomplished fflmense fires i with wood enewing the •e is thawed iHn tlie rest. 1 reached it sened earth a windlass, which requires additional labor at $1.50 an bour. It does not always follow that the pay fitreak" will "pan out ridi" when it is reached. That is the chance. Nor does this toil end hero. After reacbin^ the streak it becomes necessary to drift or tunnel into the still frozen soil. Fire ia again resumed. This time by stacking the wood at the bottom of the ehaft against tbe face of the proposed drift aind. placinig over it a roof-like arrangement o* boards resting against the side of the s^haft above the wood on one side and against the bottom of tbe shaft below It on the other. As the wood bfoxeath bums the thawing earth above falling upon this extemporized roof retains the heat under- neath sufficiently to soften the pay streak so that the earth may be removed. This is hoisted to the top by means of a windlass and placed in a pile for pan- ning or sluicing in the spring and sum- mer. The sluice box is a stripped bottom re- ceptacle into which the "dirt" is thrown. The particles of hi^avicr gold fall when loosed from the "dirt" in passing througlh the box by means of running water. Tbe gold is held in check by the strips, into which it has settled. This process, with an abundance of water. indispomsaWe in STOld mining, greatly facilitates the opera- tion of separating the gold from the sand aiid gravel which carries it. It also in- creases the amou'nt bandied from ten to fourteen pounds to the pan to hundreds and thousands in the sluice boxes, and witb a proportionate yield from^ ounces to pounds, that is. "if it's there." The ruling rate of labor at $10 to $15 a day while excessive to home ears is usually met by a few pans worked at the close of the day. In winter nanning or sluicing is impos- 55ible, but the "dirt" made ready for that operation during the frozen weather is panmed with the first thaw of sum- mer. As the sub-Arctic day at its height is fully 20 to 21 hours long no time is lost during the ten or twelve weeks it lasts. The mercury, thawed out, crawls up to 303 -S-/J OUR ALASKAN w > 90 degrees above instead of taking a frozen sleep iu the bulb at 40 bplow, with the tempera turp running 20 tc 25 degrees irore omt of Bigbt. There is doubtless a vast storo of golden wealth on both sides of the Yukon in the gold belt I h (ve described and with the multitude of prospectors pouring into the country some of it will be found. There are already current stories of gold quartz on the streams near Cone Hill, discovered by an American, and reputwi to be more vahmble than the famous Troadwell Mines in Southeaistern Alaska. TTie suddenness vi'itli wliich towns have sprung up under sucb severe coinditions is a marvel equal to the disv-losnres of the hiddec wealth of the "dirt'' upon which they are founded. Joseph La Due, a name familinr in the Twkon region's as a pioneer, trader, miner and saw mill operatoi, was at Sixty-mile Oreek trading post about that many milm above the Klondike, sawing luiiTber. Hear- ing of the reports from below he rafted his entire saw mill down to the monlh of that stream^ and Inid the foundation of a "city," which became the famou*i Daw- son of the Klondike, after the leader o.^ the first Canadian International Boun- dary Survey of 1887. This wiiv individual was overrun with orders at $100 and more per 1.000 souare feet for lumber which cost him nothinsr in the rough. Tlii* him1>er was* punted or curried to the miming tributaries. Before the sprinsr of 1897 1.300 men we''e reported at Dawson. The "eiiy"' also began to show manifest signs of growth and civilization. Some live the "American plan," whatever 304 II WONDERLAAD that may be; possibly the web and woof style made by contract and cut off to suit Burcbasers. Town lots cu main Sphagnum paved thoroughfaxes brought $1,01>0 to $2,000 each. The "City" of Da.wsoii is from 5 to 50 iiules frcM the immediate scene o* the ejift^r gi^me of chance being playei with Mother Earth by thousands of enduring and toilinig men. The British Canadian City, popu'i> ed almost wholly by citizens of the United States, is still heralded as a saintly ren- dezvf»us rt the d«"ring adventurens. It does lack tht old fashion vivacity of Unit- ed States mining towns, wnere miners carriot' p femall arsenal about thoir per- sons and iuOulged in an ocasionai' fus.I- ade for pastime. There are also other ways of gettini? gold Lco;dc3 t^^ toi:some Ijbor fvi t-t- poBure of the gulch and tne shaft. The mining laborer is va demand at $1,50 an hour, the carpenter $1.0*> au tiour, and other manual and mecJanical occupations at the same rate. The credit of being the first woman iu the Klondike region iis given to Mrs. ThoiTias Lippey, who lived in a tent and took *- n' chances with the rest in toiling at the .vi'ndlass. in the pit or at the paou A story is told, of an Irish cook having left her employer in San Francisco, started for the Klondike by the Yuko'n route. She had upwards of a bundrec offers of marriage before she reached f".'.. Michael. Finally she accepted a bnn/ boy of her own ould Ireland, who had the grit in hiin. In one season she was back in San Francisco with a fortune and, taking farewell of her employer, was off for Eiriu. AnotJier woman, opening a laundry, made a small fortune in a single season. There is work for all who come, as long as the "color" lasts, at laborers' wages as "rich" ailttiost as the yield of the "pay dint" vts-^Jf. The l-oor man's" mining, there has always been an easy limit. Then the field will' open to expensive machinery. The future will' reveal the rest. The placer mines of Klondike, 50 to 100 miles east of the Alaskan border, are but part of the same gold beariug area the greater i>ortion of which lies within the United States' jurisdiction, and will prove of equal richness. It is claimed that the Klondike placers are the richest in the world to-day and will be the richest ever known while they last. The mysterious happenings in the race for liidden gold will decide, but to-day it looks as if the Yukon mines will' be the foiemost source of supply of the increas- ing demand of *^he stock of gold required by tibe financial liransaction of the world. There is roora in tlie Klondike region alone for thoust nds of mining claims, the most desirable of which have been fileil and there is room for thousands of men to work them. There is a chance for thousands more io make their own "stake" by prospecting and luck in Alaskan and Klondike golden fields. The mining laws of tSie United States requiring citizenship or declaration of in- 306 ive and six art of pop- 1. this region Its may be claims stalk- xpectations, r aod Gold Mile River ine, and es- Tliere are about 19 3 to 8 feet $100 a ton, on a stream range and id of Alsek e Klondike ib!e quartz [>l'acer, "the las always e field will' rest. iike, 50 to border, are sarinig area lies within n, and will like plaeera to-day and while they in the race lit to-day it will' be the the inereas- >ld required :he world, aike regioai claims, the been filed ids of men *andH more prospwtin^ dike golden ited States titiou of in- WONDERLAUD tention to become such, and beyond that are of the utmost liberality to the miner. The Canadian, law is the reverse. As soon as tlie citizens of the United States opened the country for them they hur- ried ou't their surveyors, mounted police, goJd commissioner, customs officers and took poesession. They also establislhed a license fee of $15 for each miner, be- tiides $100 annual rental on each claim, a royalty of 10 per cent, on th.e gross pro- duction of all mines yielding over $500 a month and 20 per cent, above that. They reserve each; alternate claim for tbe Government. How long tliese exactions upon a sov- ereign people at home will be submitted to remains to be seen. Ex-Secretary of State WilJiiam H. Seward gave a forecast of that in his speeches in Alaska, Britisih Columbia and Oregon, in 1869. 307 CROCIBLE TESTS, 'AtJMi'lH iflf SIS, :^ LETTER NUMBER XXVII. "Uncle Sam" a Spot Cash Buyer of Millions at the Mints. What Becomes of Alaskan and Klondike 6old. From Daat and Hnggcts to American Eaglca~Ho^v It U Done—Gold "Officially" Speaking. Th<& suggestion frequently arises iu the popular mind, even if the question be not asked, as to what disposition ig made of the accumulatiom of crude gold which \a brought K.ck to the "States" from das- kan and Klondike placens by the men who toiled and sacrificed for its posses- sion through a long Arctic winter hurried spring ami 'smap-shot" siummer. The answer is simple. A large portion finds its way out of the hands of its orig- inal possessors in payments to the trad- ing compaiaies or merchants for food, clothing and supplies of various kinds; much of it goes into the pockets of saloon keepers on the spot; and a share too of- ten vanishes at the gambling tables and still more changes owners in large sums through various forms of dissipation. The average mini^r in the end has lit- tle of his hard-earned spoil of the golden gravels left. He starts ahead again to test fortune for another supply- In "the region" every one carries a 309 (■! OVB ALASKAN pair of small scales and payments are made by weight at $17 per Ti'oy ounce of dust or nuggets. The Troy otni'ce is the unit of value. Those miners who reach "the States" ■with their buckskins, valises, oil cans» and other receptacles full of the precious metal usually convert it into coin by sales through brokers, often at enormous diiscourvts and excessive commissions and other manufactured charges. The oflScial method, which is the most remunerative to the original owner, and that which is employed by the broker, is to present the yellow metal at a United States mint or assay office in San Fran- cisco, PhiJiadelphia or other point where such a Government institution is located, and hftve it pronerly assayed and paid for in United States codoi In order to be exact in the narration of a routine which is exactness itself, I will a/vail myself of the routine officially described to me by Mr. Herman Kreitz. the superintendent of the United States Mint at Philadelphia. Superintendent Kretz says: "The rules governing the receipt of de- posits from the general public are very simple. "Gold is received in tlie following forms, viz.: Bars, grains, lumps and dust in their native state, free from eiarth and stone, or nearly so; amalgam with the quicksilver expelled, jewelry, dentist's plate, gold leaf from bookbinders' waste, clean fillings, etc. In a word., all bullion suitable for the operation of the mint and one hundred dollars in value and up- wards will be received at the mint. (Ixfss value than one hundred dollars may be refused). "To produce a value of one hundred dollars would require in native gold from six to eig'ht ounces Troy weight. For jewelry 750 (18 karats) down to 333-i^ M. (8 karats) from seven to fifteen ounces would be required. Eighteen karat gold is worth $15.50 an ounce. An ounce Troy of pure gold (or 24 karat) is worth $20.67. Standard or coin gold (21.19 karats) is worth $18.60 a TSroy 310 h' i WONDERLAND aynients are Ti'oy ounce roy oumce is "the States" ses, oil cans* the predoTia into conn by at enormous missions and 1 is the most 1 owner, and the broker, is I at a United in San Fran- • point where ion is located, I and paid for the narration tness itself, I ttine officially erman Kreitz, United States ys: receipt of de- iblic are very llowing forms, ( and dust in om eiarth and gam with the i.Tj, dentist's Huders' waste, )rd, all bullion y of the mint value and up- he mint. (I>ess o'ilars may be ? one hundred Ltive gold from r weight. For [own to 333-^ m to fifteen red. Eighteen • an ounce. An or 24 karat) is or coin go-d $18.60 a Troy ounce. (Deposits of uncurrent or mutilat- ed gold and silver coins of the United States, when presented in sums of three dollars and upwards will be received and paid for as standaH metal). Such bullion (as mentioned above) is delivered by the individual to the deposit weigh room, (nensons at a distance can employ the express companies or their business correspondents to deposit for tihem). The deposit is then weighed by the weigh clerk, in the presence of the depositor or his agent, and the weight ver- ifiedi by the registrar of deposits. For the weight before melting a receipt is given to the depositor- The name of the depositor, the number and date of each deposit, kind of bullion, carefully obsen- ing character of metal, is entered in the respective books of the weigh e'erk and registrar. "The deposit is at once placed in a cop- per box, locked and sent to the deposit melting room. After being melted it is returned to the weigh room and re-weigh- ed and carefully record'^d in the books of the weigh clerk and registrar. The weigh clerk then delivers to the assayer from each parcel of bullion a sufficient portion for assay. "As soon as the weight aftex- melting and after deduction on base bullion of which the alloy contains substance other than copper, the weigh clerk transcribes the date of the deposit, name of the de- positc^ir, description of bullion, weight af- ter melting and deduction upon a b'ank called the assayer's report. This is tak- en to the assayer. He inserts the fine- ness of the gold and silver contained in the deposit. He also inserts in his rejyort the charges to which the deposit is sub- ject. (The charges for working are only the actual cosit). He then returns the report to the abstract clerk for calcuila- tioin to determine the value of the deposit. The correctness of the calculation mnst be verified by the assayer. A wairrant of the net value of the de- posit is made in the name of the de- positor, which the depositor receives v?hen he surrenders' bis receipt the second or 311 I OUR ALASKAN I it I ■ • li ; *f ^ i 1; C1 1 i f In 41 1 ! 4i, third day after he has made his deposit. Accompanying the warrant, which is cashed by the cashier, is a detailed mem- orandum, giving the loss in melting fine- ness of the bullion, ehairges iimposed and the net value of the bullion. Silver bullion is not purchased at the mint, excepting the small quantities con- tained iin gold deposits. Silver bullion can be received only on deposit payable in fine bars." There have been small quantitiee of Alaisikan and Klondike gold presented at the Philadelphia Mint, but the great mass of precious metal from those regioins finds its way into thp mint at San Francisco. The United States has its mints at Philadelphia, Pa.; San Francisco, Oal.; New Orleans, La., and Oarson Oity, Nev., and assay oflices at New York Oity, Denver. Col.; Boise, Idaho; Helena, Montana; Charlotte, N. C; St. Louis, Mo., and Deadwood, South Dakota. The coinage operations, however, have been discontinued at New Orleans and Cnrson, work being limited to assaying. All foreign gold received at the United States mints and assay ofiices is melted and assayed before payment is made in United States gold coin. The Bank of Eineland and Bank of France purchase United States gold coin by weight and carry the amount as part of the bank's gold assets. When gold is required for export to the United States' these banks sell us gold coin. The quantity of preefous metai!s oper- ated upon in the United States raimts and asisay offices in 1897 exceeded 627 tons of go"d and 3,147 tons of silver. The original deposits of frold aggregated 4.676.429.404 standard ounces, valued at $87,003,337.71, and of silver 8.138,216.99 standard ounces, at a coining value in standard silver dollars of $9,470,623.26. The oflUcia! report of R. E. Preston. Director of the Mint, shows coinage of :.566.290 pieces of gold, value $71,646,- 705, and 34,104.150 pieces of silver of the face value of $24,327,786.65. The total product of the miinea in the United States in 1896 was, gold, $53,088,- 312 le his deposit, t, which is detailed mem- i melting fine^ I imposed and n. chased at the limntities con- Si' ver bullion jposit payable quantities of presented at he ^"eat masa J regioms Snds II Franclsoo. its mints at ancisoo, Cal.; Oaraon Oity, t New York daho; Helena, . : St. Ixmas, Dakota. lowever, havo Orleans and to assaying, at the United ces is melted it is made in The Bank of mce purchase y weight and of the bank's ( required for i' these banks metal's oper- Statee raiints exceeded 627 of silver. I'ld aggregated ?es. valued at r 8.138,216.99 ling value in ►,470,623.26. B. Preston, s^s ooinnge of ilue $71,646,- f sJUver of the 15. miinea in the rold, $53,088,- ;! WONDERLAND u* lot *■ JV 000; silver, oommercial value, $39,656,< 000; coining value. $76,069,000. Im both gold and silver tne United States pro- duced more than any other nation on the globe, the next in rank beinig Australia and Africa in gold, and Mexico and Aus- tralasia in silTer. The total coinage of the United State*, 1897, was, gold, $71,646,705; silver stanidr ard dollars, $21,203,701; subsidiary m\- ver, $3,124,085.65; total, silver, $24,327,- 786.65; nickel and bronze was $984,509.- 59. or a total' of new coins struck off by "Uncle Sam." $96,959,001.24. The to- tal coinage of the worid in 1896 was, gold, $195,899,517; silver, $153,395,740. In this liat the United States again seti the pace of nations and distances by al- most one-half the combined efforts of all comi>etitors in tihe race. 313 I' H ! > • I u LETTER NUMBER XXVIII. A Perplexing Problem in the De- velopment of Vast Alaskan Resources. Ocean Steamers, River Steamboats and Canoes for 8nmmer--Bein- deer Express for Winter. Obstacles to Travel and Traffic Throngh nonntaln PasBcs and O-rer^Spbag- nnm Areas. The pliysical conditions of Alaiska ixre- semt featuires wbicb make thie meana of trayel and transportation a i>ei'ploxin{? problem. Lying upon both, sides of the Arctic circle, reaching over 1,000 statute nulea to the south, and nearly 500 miles to the north of it, its climatic conditionis ranee from excessive humidity to almost the limits of frigidity. Its coast is fringed with islands, between which winds an al- most incomprehiensible net- work of tidal water ways. Its interior, much broken by loftv mouutaius, is separated from ocean service by a coaitimiatiou of the same towering range, which begins at the ut- most ant-Arctic point of South America in the Andes, and unites in the Rocky Const and St. Elias ranges, in Alaska. The inland is alBo traversed by innumer- able rivers, some ranking among the larg- est in the world. The surface of Cotnti- uental Alaska is covered with a heavy 315 OUR ALASKAN W \l growth of Arctic moss and beneath this is a erust frozen fast the year round to an unknuwn depth. Even in the height of summer .hese conditions are not i"eleaa- eu below a depth of two fpet. In the face of such an array of physical facts raih'oad building and operating, ex- cept by some yet uninvented method, would be ditHcult. No doubt these ob- stacles might be overcome by the ingeniii- tv of the American mind, but pending de- \elopment in population and iodustry less expensive methods must be intro- duced. 1'Tie horse, the mule, the ox, the llama, or nnv of the l)eaists of burden of milder latitudes are unsuited. Even the dog, which hais hitherto been the chief reliance oc laud of u.-'tive, trader, prospector and miner, does not meet the requirements of the now rapidly exijanding situation. This is due not only to his minimum oa;i>acity, bnt is also owing to the large share of transDortation, in itself veiT limited, ex- pended in carrying the animal's own food. The dog is useful only in winter for Bletlge travel. No pack or draught ani- miil can traverse Alaska ovei* the soaked mosis-covered land surface in summer. The wooden canoe and biadarka of mooseskin are the sole meaiis of interior travel and transportation during the two or three months of summer and the dog or man sled has been the only n. ans available during the nine months of win- ter. Since the menacing diminution of the marine and land food supply of the na- tives, the demands of the increasing population engaged in gold and other in- dustrial development, and the conseple and Government of the United States. 316 WONDERLAND nd beneath this a year round to n in the height IS are noit i-eleaa- feet. .rray of physical id operating, ex- ivented method, douibt these ob- ; by the mgenui- but i>einding de- I and industTy must be intro- le OS, the llama, •UTden of milder Even the dog, he chief reliance , prospector and requirements of g situation. This aimum ea.]>acity, > large share of revy limited, ex- imal's own food, y in winter for or draught ani- ovea" the soaked ce in suoiimer. id biadarka of leans of imterior L during the two ner and the dog the only n^.anis months of win- mimition of the ipply of the na- the increaising ►Id and other in- i the conseTjuenit traffic, the only I v.'hif'h can meet the utilization of Jr. Thl.i experi- the auspices of ! fostered and ex- nt, has been one i saitisfactory so- oblen yet undeir- Govemment of The reliance of the Government in the future for military, mail and other official purposes and of the inhabitants, native or exotic, in winter for their convenience and supply isi the reindeer. The charac- teristics and econ^nuic value of these Arc- tic sphagnuim-eating iinimals, have been given in the chapter on "Bskimo-Ameri- canis." In summer the fleet steamers, great and small, convey passengers and merchandise along the ocean coast, tidal bays, inlets, canals, pas'sages and straits. The skin kyaek and biadarka and wood- eu canoes of the country, paddled and pimicd along the riveu-s, have been supple- mented by the river steamers on the navigable streaims. The rivers are the roads of the eoun- +■>. It is not likely that there ever will De aaiy oUx^r on ten-a-firma except in mountain pa^es on mountain sides and over shoit jwrtagcs over the divides be- tween the different water systems. Among the most interesting features of the topogi-aphy is the extensive s.ystem of inland water highways and .short portages, saving sometimes scores upon scores of miles in reaching disitaut point.<». This is forciby illustrated in South- eastern Alaska where a portage of 2;^ miles will cairiy traffic or travel from tide- water at Dyoa to the \vi\d of eanue navi- gation acro-ss th<' Chilkoot Pass in the Coast range at Lake Lindeman at the headwat<-rs of tlie Yukon, .\hont KKS miles tnrther on tanoes will reach Lake Labairge below the dangerous White Horse Itapids. Thence small river ciaft, paddle or steam, car, proceed with siafety '0 the sea nearly 2,0(X) miles distant, pass- ing en route the rich Upi>er Yukon placer regions of Klondike and Alaska. The oceani and Yukon route for the trinsx>ortailon of travel and merchandise is by far the best, at present at least. Starting at Sin l<>an.'isco it is 2.3ri9 miles to Unnl.rskn; 770 miles to St. Mich- ael; .^)0() miles on tl;e Yukon to Circle City, the meitro]M''iis of the Ui ited States Kircli Oeek mi' . s; ,350 miles t(> Forty-.Mile, and 50 miles to Dawson^ the netroiuilis of the Klondike nlacers, or a total of 4.030 miles. The distance from Portland 317 ijj|t^»r - t;ii ft ill r OUR a.LA8KAN would lie shortor, ami from Seattle 414 miles 8lu>iter than from Sail Francisco. Tlio Ynivoii route, except from June to September, is not fea'*il)le. But during that period it is decidetlly the umat com- fortable and convenient, and all things considered, by far the cheapest. Tlie cabin and second-class rates of fare are reasonable, and will doubtless be cheaper in view of comiietition. The al'.owaJice O'f baggaare, outfit and supplies fret> is liberal. Extra supplies ia any (luautity can be taken, if paid for as freight. Also a large quantity of sioires will always be found on hand, not only by the trading companies but by mer- chants engaged in the ordinaiT walks of trade. There is no doubt that St. Michael, if the placers of the Upper Yukon be suc- ceeded by the discorery of the gold lodes from wliichi they derived their supplies un- doubtedly hy glacial action, will bwome a "city" of considerable population and extensive trade, ocean, coastwise and in- land. It is aln-eady the motropolis of the Arc- tic regions of the westei-n side of the American liemiisi)here, and is destined to be till' most important, if not the only community of any size on the northern cap of the globe. In the winter, even though sihut off from ocean communication on account of ice, thcrS" will be maintaiueil reindeer communication down the coast with steamer points. The.«»> fleet and hardy animals, driven by United Stales Eskimos in light ser- vice, make their 80 to 100 miles a day and fceil tlKMUselves. For freighting a singli' animal can draw on a sled 300 to .^)00 iHvunds. The same months of "closed season" at St. Michael finds the Coast rang« pass routes difficult and danger- ous if not impassable for even travel for more than small par- ties and even for them the trip is fool- hardy on acwunt of the terrifi'^ blizzard;* which sweep for dsiyv. at a time over thi se passes carrying with tlieni enoriuoiH 318 .J WONDERLAND m Scattk 414 111 FraiM^isco. ; from June to But during the moat cora- nu\ all things lost. •u rates of fare doubtless be tion. ire, outfit and Extra supplies eu, if paid for ! quantity of I on hand, not es but by mer- naiy walks of ?t. Micliael, if t^ukon he suc- the gold lodes ir 8U7)i>lies lui- I, will bwome opulatlon aud stwise and in- is of the Arc- 1 side of the is destined to not the omly the northern ugh s'hut off m account of iuetl reindeer coast with iinals. driven in light ser- in iles a day freighting a a slid 300 to ^d season" at oast rango lid danger- for even small par- trip is f(>ol- ifi' blizzards a time over [Mil cnuriuouij falls of snow which drive in great masses. In the spring and siummer months the miners go in, but their return gold ladeu or "busted," as the umpire fortune has decreed, is down the cuirrenit of the Yukon to St. Michael with, the ice in spring or the flood in summer. The introduction of an adequate river steamer service will at once open the great valley of the Yukon to development in the lines of industry to which it is adapted by nature, gold lending thie way. In the earlier days the different points of the interior were connected by trails which were used by the bardy hunters and traders. The Dalton Trail, one of the moist famous, began at the Chilkait River at the heiad of that inlet of Lynn CanaJ, about 60 miles weist of Dyea, and after travensing over three degrees of latitude, about 225 miles, struck the Yukon at Foi-t Selkirk at the junction of the Lewis and Pelly rivers. The Rivers Copper and Tanian.a,a braiueh of the Yukon; Copper a.nd Sushitna; Tan- ona and the White, and Sushitna and. Kuskokwim,aind the Kuskokwim and Yu- kon, thie latter only six miles apart, are connected by short trails by means of which the natives caiU portage their biadarkas and effects from one river sys- tem to the othei' during their summer pur- suit of game. The most remarkable of the portage routes of Alaiska which would be prompt- ly utilized should the development of tbfe region north of the Alaskan PeniuisuJa de- mand quicker facilities of intercourse, is »ne of 25 miles from Cook Inlet, oi)po8ite the active volcano of Augustine Island to Lake Iliamna and thence into Bristol Bay on the nwth side by the Kvicpak River, a distan<*e of about 1.50 miles. The journey do".-n the peninsula alone to the usual p&ss for vessels through the Aleu- tian Islands, is not less than 450 miles. It is easier, however, for the gold seek* era of "the States" to reach the placers of the Upper Yukon either by the coast range passes or St. Michlael, than it was for t^e "Forty-niners" to reach the placers of California in their day. It is I 319 ;1 ,f' 7-3= }"\ I ^ OUR ALASKAN infiaitely lees dangerous, as there are no savage, scalping enemies, nor isthmian fevers to he encountered. The only dan- gersi aiP© those incident to an arctic win- ter, which can be overcome with suitable clothing and ample food. The cost of the necessaries of life in all cas»es is measured by the oo»t of produc- tion and handiling plus the cost of trans- portatioo to point of consvmiptiou. The iwices at Sitka, Juueau or other points ac- cessible to steamers at aU seasons ountain paasea Prom 10 to 25 le conditions is an important jacking routes lavigation over e much fo«fl 'kers will then reliefs. This 5 to 30 cents a e waters over tih the improve- be feasible in s only, but not in the open ansporb 200 to [1 of which will tself and will an a man in a ortages. : 33 pounds for unds all day iu summer on very little food. The species is about 20 inches high and somewhat re- sembles the "Spitz" breed. The dog industry has been the subject of interesting olficial communication with the United States Dei>air!tment of State by the United States Oonsnl at. Van- couver, British Columbia, who has report- ed the arrival before Januairy, 1898, of over 300 trained draught dogs, purchased h]y enterpirising individuals in Belgium, Hoiiand, Newfoundl'aud and at other points where this faithful animal is used a«9 a means of trtansportation. They broiugbt from $15.00 and upwards a dog, and were sihipixsl to Dyea and Skajfuay Pass routes. Their food oonsists of bis« euits or dried salmon, and not in large quantities. The reindeer cannot be utilized in sum- mer. In wirater where-ver moss grows one of these valuable animals, combining all the quailities of man, horse, mule, ox and dog for burden, and clean animals for food flesh and milk and clothing, will transport on a sled at one time more than man, mufe and dog combined, will traverse from three to five times the dis- tance, will feed and care for itself at the end of the journey and in an extremity will furnish food, which sometimes con- stitutes the last thread of re.ief and safety. The utilization of the reindeer as a means of tranisportatioa wUl also be adapted to the transportation of the mails and will therefore be of immense value to trade and commerce. The increasing number of whalers which winter at Herschell Island, oif the British-Cana- dian Ai'ctic coast, about midway between Mackenzie Bay on the east and the in- ternational boundary toward the w:s1:, the United States stations at Poin^ Bar- row, and the mines of the Upper Yukon can thufi be brought into mail communi- cation with the outer world during the long aictie winter, moaning thousands in money to the trading and other com- panies of the "States" interested in Alas- kan induistriai operations, 321 '■ ,' I 1 OUR ALASKAN The feasibility of tlie scheme is un- doubted. Tlie reindeer mail and light transportation frv>m the whaling fleet to the Fort Yukon, 500 miles, takin« in the settlements on the way and thence about 8(H) mlliis along the Upper Yukon to Selkirk and tlienco ouAvanl over the Coast range to the open ports of South- eastern! Alaska, aci-^wsible by ocean sfeauiera. would constitute ouio route. From Point Barrow along the coast to the southward, at intervals of 200 to 500 miles are trading, fishing and nois- sionary stations. The Point Barrow United States Whaling, Refuge and Sig- nal Stations, Presbyterian Mission and Government schools could be brought into communication by reindeer exiwess, 300 laiies to Point Hope, north of Kotzebue Sound, also a whaling station and Epis- copal Mission; thence southeast 500 mites to Nulatoon the Yukon as a central point. The Bering Strait's Reindeer Express might es'tablish intercourse from Cape Prince of Wales, the Congregational Mis- sion, the central reindeer station of Port Clarence, the Golovin Bay Swedish Mis- sion, to Nttlato, on the Point Barrow route. The i-eiiidoer trunk route proceeding thence on its southward route could pick up the mails at a number of trading po«ta and mission stations, creasing the Penin- sula of Alaska to Katmai, on Shelikoff Straits, a distance of 500 miles, where it would connect witli the regular steam- ship line to San Francisco. Another route taking its start at Nusha- gak or Carmel, on Bristol Bay, a Mora- vian Mission and school, a Russo-Greek Mission and location of several large can- neries, might take on tlie way the Mora- vian stati'on at Quinehaha and salmon canneries near Bethel, a Moravian Mis- .«»ioa and trading station 400 miles distant. Theno(> up tlio Kuiskokwim taking in sev- eral missions and thence across to the Yukon at Ikogmuto. thence up the Y'ukon touching severai points by way of Anvik, to St. Mioliao: ;ind Uniilaklik. to Xuiato, about 500 miles from Bethel. ;;22 ISA 1 WONDERLAND scheme ia un- all and light phaling fleet to les. takin« iu ■ay and thence ■ Upper Yukon vanl over the [)orts of South- l)lc by ocean ! oiw route, ug the coast to 'al9 of 200 to shing and mis- Point Barrow :efiige and Sig- n MissJon and be brought into H" exiwess, 300 ;h of Kotzebue ition and Bpis- beast 500 mifes a central point, indeer Express se from Cape regational Mis- statiou of Port r Swedish Mia- Point Barrow ite proceeding 3Ute could pick )f trading posts ling the Penin- i, on Shelikoff miles, where it regular steam- start at Nusha- Bay, a Mora- a Russo-Greek reirai large can- way the Mora- and salmon Moravian Mis- miles distant. 1 taking iu sev- a cross to the 3 up the Yukon way of Anvik, :lik. to Nulato, hel. m This would maJke Nulato the central re- ceiving and distributing point for the reindeer system from Point Barrow, Oape PrSnce of Wales, Carmel and the Yukon trunk lines. Thence it would continue to JSt. James' Epi'scoi>al Misision, 200 niilew up the Yukon, thence to Fort Yukon, 250 miles, connecting with the line from the whaling lleeit, thence to Circle (Mty, the Alaskan and Dawson, City, the Klon- dike mining stations, thence to steamer point on Lynn Canal in Soutlheasrtern Alaska. T^e trunk line with branches wouJd give a reindeer route of 4,000 miles. The Katmai and Nutcheck routes 1,000 miles more. With ocean and river steamers in sum- mer and reindeer routes iai the winter, the transportation question iu Alaska will be shorn of many of its complications and hardships. There are reconnoisauees now being made iu expectation of finding an over- land route entirely on United States soil to the United States gold mines on Forty Mile, Birch and other rivers in order to minimize the length and cos^t of land transportation. The Cook Inlet route by the Sushitna and portage to the Tanana is supposed to afford such a route. Tlie distance across doos not exceed 300 miles. From the lake in which the Sushitna rises to the nearest point on the Tanana does not exceed 50 miles. The Tanana enters the Yukon at St. James' Mission, many miles above its mouth. T^e Copper River also affords a route with a short portage to the Yukon. A route from the coast near Mount St. Eiias to the White River tribu- tai-y of the Yukon above the Klondike is being explored. If possible it will be the shortest distance from the coast across couniti-y, not exceeding 300 miles. The absence of a harbor would be an objec- tion, but the route wonld save enormously in transiK)rtaitioin iu limited amouJits. Y'akutat Harbor niig'ht be utilizedj al- though a little east. The War Department has organized a military expedition up the Copper River to map out the topography of the river 323 I'i \\ iir^ OVR ALASKAN now little known and to finally establish the value of that route to the gold field of Alaska and Klondike. It will always be necessary for indi- riduals or trading companies to carry at least one year's supply of food in the Yu- kon region, or, in fact, any portion of Alaska north of Unaiaska until other facilities of communication are introduced for intand water transporta'tion. This may be accomplished only by reindeer carrying companies in wirater. The question of outfit is a leading one. This at present can be accomplished at any of the points of departure of steamer lines from "the States." The almost in- surmountable obstacle is tihe means of its tranexKwtation to destination. In every direction efforts are being made to solve, as much as possible, by ap- pliances on land this difficult problem. The brevity of the seasom of inland river navigation alone stands in the way. If the future development of the Yukon and other regions justify it a sufficient ac- cumulation of food and merchandise at St. Miehiaeli for the winter reindeer dis- tribution on tihe Yukon from all the year round ocean ports on the coast south of the Alaskan Peninsula for the Copper and White River overland winter reindeer routes to the Yukon mining towns and camps now being explored, would im- mensely simplify the situation. Th« coast range pass routes for winter trans- portation can hardly be utilized, not only on account of the terrific and prolonged storms of wind and snow in the passes themselves, but n\m on account of the impassible condition of the rivers beyond except in summer. The tunnelling of the passes would be feasible, but would hardly be justifiable as a business pn>position until population and industry were permanently establish- ed in the region. At present more time and money is con- sumed in trnvpl and transiportntion of outfits reduced to the lowest limit from the coast at .Tuneau, Dvea and Skaguay over the Ohilkoot and White Passes. 130 32-1 ir WONDIHRLAND aally establish the gold field ssary for indi- ies to carry at 'ood in the Yu- my jwrtion of ca until other are initrodud, would im- iiation. Th«( winter trans- lizpd, not onJy and prolonged in the passes coount of the rivers beyond sses would be be justifiable itil population ntly cataWish- mi'.es to the head of Lake Labarge, at the head of possible stream navigation on the Upper Yukon, than is required from the Atlantic to the Pacific coaM and thence by steamer to the ocean ports named on Lynn Canal. And still beyond Labarge is a stretch of river transpoi'tatiou of 247 miles from Selkirk and 3U5 miles moore to Circle City. There is no question with the problem of transportation brought up to the same capacity as the facilities of the open water and a corresponding economy of toil and cheapness of rartes, the Chilkoot White Pass and St. Michael water routes would absroir»b practically the etrutire Upper Yukon trave; and traffic. Oapt. P. H. Ray, representing the War Department, reported from Alaiska, 1898, that the greater part of the Yukon gold l)elt is in United States territoa-y in thie Upper Raimpai't Range and along the Tanaiua River, Minook Birch, Forty Mile oreeks. United States Courier Wells adds Sixty and Seventy Mile creeks, the Coi>per and Suishitra rivers, the latter prominent through Cook Inlet placers. On the Kus- kokwim explorations will also develop im- mense minea*al wealth, judging from na- tive reports and surface indications. Capt. Ray suggested that a railroad from the head of Cook Inlet or Prince William Sound to the mouth of the Tanana, thence by steamer in summer on the Yukon and tributaries and Reindeer Express in win- ter, would solve the problem of an all- winter route to open ocean connections, aind would control the entire trade of the region against Canadian competition. [For Official Table of Distances See Page 352.] money is con- tsportn+ion of limit frOin the ind Skaguay e Passes. 130 325 a m B ^ /;, I 11 (!' (!■■ ^V h I Alaskanlldminlslration OurtlaskanWonderland LETTER NUMBER XXIX. While Government Lagged, Vasi Wealth Advanced Apace. Departmental Efficiency and Mis- sionai'v Zeal. A Maasacre Averted 'Mirongh the Lo^al- ty of a Native Cblef. In our story, "Unfurling the Flag/' the pomp and cireumstance of territorial transitioa from Russian to United Sbatea jurisdiction was portrayed in detail. ThjC' little army of occupa'tiom consisit- ing of 256 officers and men of tlio Second United States Artillery and Niiah United States Infantry, under Brevet Major Gen- eraJ Jefferson G. Davis, colonel Twenty- third United States Infantry, left Sna Francisco, California, September 24lih, 1867, for New Archlangel, the seat of Rus- sian government and was ftfllowed by the United States Steamer Osajpee, bearing the comimiseioners and a representative of the Russian Fur Gompany, wliich then held a tnading license from the imperial goveminent On October 29th, the troops, which had retvimed to the transport to await the de- parture of the Russian officials and sol- diers, ag«in landed and the post of Sitka was established with General Davis in ooonmand of t!he district of Alaska. The natives, sullen and hostile, ait first, under the firm oouise of Generail' Davis, sustained by the menacing guns of the battery goon dhanged their attitude to frieudsihip and submission. 327 OVR ALASKAN tl ') Jl 'i' pi In the apring of 1808 a new site for the Sitka past was locaited on Adtnirality laliand. Another post was established on the southeustem end of Tongass Island, near the fighting line of 54-40, called Fort Tongas», to prevent smiiggliug, and a third on the northwestern extremity of Wriamgel laland, near the mouth of the Stickeen River, called Fort Wrangel, to prevent illicit trade with the Indians and to preserve the peace between the Britiah and American tribes trading or fishing in the vicinity of tihe frontier channels. In 1868 four moaie batteries of the Sec- ond Artillery were sent to Aliaska and diis- tributed among the posts. In the same year Fort Kadiiak waa establi-rfied at St. Paul on the northeastern poii-c of Kadiak Island, wliich, however, was reduced in April, 1869, for the old Russian fort, St. Nidholas, an the Oook Inlet side of Kenai Peninsula, wihieh received the name Ke- nai. A sm'all'l detachmemt was also dispatched to tlie Pribilof fur seal islands of St. Paul and St George, which had been made a public reserve by resolution of Congress. The act of July 27th, 1808, waj the first move of Congress toward cdvil administm- tion by making Alaska a customs collec- tion disitriat, prohibiting the "sale of fire- arms, ammunition and distilled spirits" and applying to it the laws of Oregon. The United States ship Saginaw and •evepal revenue cutters patrolled the Alaskan Gulf and Bering Sea. In 1870 the troops at Tongass, Wrangel, Kadiak, Kenai, Srt. Paul and St. George were Called in. On October 7th, 1870, the garrison at Sitka alone represented the army im Alaska, and the Department of Alacska was discontinued. For the next five years there was little duty for the army. The Treasury Departmenit waa now in control, maintaining a customs and reve- nue collector at Sitka. TTie discovery of gold in 1875 along the Stikeen River attracted thitheir a rush of miners and a thouisaiud Indians of the val- ley. These inharmonious elemenits led to 328 new site for the on Admirality 18 established on TongaSiS Island, .4-40, called Fort muggliug, and a •n extremity of le mouth of the 'ort Wrangel, bo the Indians and ween the Britisih ling or fishing in >r channels, eries of the Sec- * Ailiasika and diis- s. In the same atabli'jhed at St. IXkii^c of Kadiak vaa reduced in [iussiaai fort, St. let side of Kenai id the name Ke- is also dispatched lands oif St. Paul lad been made a ion of Congress. J68, waj the first civil admlnistm- i cuistoms coUec- the "sale of fire- distilled spirits" ivs of Oregon, ip Saginaw and s patrolled th« 5 Sea. jngass, Wrangel, and St. Greorge tober 7th, 1870, lonie represented the Department led. » there was little lenit waa now in istoms and rev©- n 1875 along the thither a ruBh of idians of the vaJ- i elemeuts led to W I w )'\ Pi i ^1 i r I 11 . ■'« rr \i > > , T WONDERLAND th*^ re-establishment of Fort ,\'mng«l in that year. The outbreak of the Nez Peroe ludiana "in the Sbites" in 1877 caused the htirried departure of the garrisons at Sitka and Wrangel in June of that year. The labor riots Mev and the inadequate numbers of the ^rmy terminated the mili- tary occupation of Alaska. For nearly a year after this enormoaifl territory, hiaving an area equal to tei\ average States of tihe Union, was govern- ed by the United States Treasury Depart- ment through a deputy collector, supported by a small amiamenit of two oases of rifles and two Cuses of ammunitiot;, TT'hich had been shipped to the Sitka office. In July, 1878, a collecto.. ' f customs lii- T' sted with the additional functions of probate judge put in an appearance. In 1879 the Sitka natives, noticing th« neglect of the Waslhirgton Govemiment armed and organized for a raid on the waite settlement for murder and plunder. BuL .brthe friendly aid of a native leader, Onnahootz and his Kokwaton followers, the blocdy intent of the Sitka tribes would doubtless have been carried out and the blood of the unioffending victi as would kive been upon the Congr^ ss of the United States. The Washington autbcrities now for a short time reduced United States citizens on their own soil to the humiUating atti- tude of seeking and acepting foreign protection until the Unitetl States Steam- er Alaska came to their relief. After this experience Alaska was prac- tically in the oustody of the Nary Depart- ment. These officers were active in re- pressing the natives and particularl'y in suppressing the manufacture of a fighting and murdeirous rum called Hoo-chi-noo; freeing those held in bondage and putting fix end to the atrocities of the natives against the so-ealled witches. Tlie naval regime was also characterized by the officers assi*ting and encourxging the Protestant missionaries who began their liabors as early as 1877, by the es- tablishment of religious worship, chuiches and schools. 329 M' ,M 4 OUR ALASKAN Uurler tlie naval regime tliorf was a feeling of security wbicjh soon eiicouraged the prospector to start iu search of rich placers in the interior, w'lhile others were developing quurtz lodes near Sitka. The fidb, industry also began to show sigud of enterprise. Altiiongh the army was never officially released from duty in Alaska, the peace- ful condition of affairs did not demand its preseace until the discovery of gold on the upper Yukon, and more recently or ^ Klondike, requiring the return of a ; la.i force for operations on the American bn.'- of the line. To the inertness of Congress is entirely due the many obstacles which have been encountered in the development of the inarvelcus resources of Alaska. This was imrtieularly the caise with respect to the public lands in early years. The attempts of citizens of the United States to secure preemption rights to landij at Sitka tnd elsewhere were ignoi'^d. The valuable forests accordingly were being despcJed and agriculture without tenure in the soil was paralyzed. In looking back over the period since Alaska first came under the jurisdiction of civilized govei-nmetat we find a steady progression of events beginning with 1728-41— Discoveries of Vitus Bering and others. 1781-8— St. Paul on Kadiak Is:aml es- tablishtyd and made the seat of govern- ment of Ne\p Russia. 1787 — Mainland occupied. 1790— Shelikof Trading Company creat- e-Obri^tak- 1836-Kaprea^no^ ,'i>i\vodsKy. 18G0 Rur'siau-Amerioan r. "nno Makustkof , Priuce I ^^KS coltetiom district established with a co'lcctor ia charge. ^ 1879— The United States Navy Depart- ment in control through commanders of vessels. ^„„ 1884— John H. Kinkead, Nevada. 188» - i. P. Swineford, Michigan. 1889— Ly- man E. Knapp, Vermont. 1893-^7ames Sheaklev. Pennsylvania. 1897— John G. Brady, Alaska. United States Governors. It was not until May 17th, 1884, eev- ottteen years after the cos^sion and seven ypiars after the withdrawal of the army that an organized civil vovernment was ratab'.ished under a specific act of Con- gre-". The leading details of this primitive form of "district" government I have given under the title, "Alaskan Possibili- ties." Under the act the Gove nor appointed by the President administered the law under the Department of the Interior and made a report each year upon the admin- istrative and (economic condition of affairs in the "district." A disti'ict judge tried cauvses and commissioners at different points exercised civil and judicial func- tions. Beyond this the executive departments have token an active part within their respective lines of official duty. Under the Ti*easurv Department the customs district of Alaska was established wi'^^h tlie i)ort of entry M Sitka anil sub-ports at St. Michael, Unga, Juneau, Unalaska. Mary Island. Kadink, Wran- cel, Circle City, Cook Inlet, Kanik and Dyea. Under the same department the United StatevS Coast and Geodetic Survey portrayed both Alaskan .seas and Alnskar. coasts in a series of excellent charts anc' mai>s. The channels, bays, liarboits and coasts as the interests of commerce require, have l)een buoyed and beacoiied. The beaming rays of the light-houses at salient iKjints on tidal waters stand forth like the oti- flamme of civilization, i>oioting the way in a portion of the jrlolie a few years ago wrapped in solitude. LCI \ n t^'f, ;■ iJ ,■ t \t\ OUR ALASKAN The Revenue Marine Service combined oflicient official duty with equally effici«at research. The War Department, through the army and the services of such soldierly as well as scientific officers as Raymond, Schwatba, Allen, and others, have con- ducted extensive military reconnoissancea of Alaska, as to the topographical, ethno- logical and physical resources of the coun- try. The officers of the army on duty durins: the military occupatioin not only contrib- uted much valuable scientific and practic- al information concerning their immedi- ate vicinity but the ladi'js of their fami- lies were the very fort^most in efforts to Obristianize, educate and civilize the ehi'dren of the uatives in barrack Sun- day, secular and sewing schools. The Navy Department, through its ves- sels of war, besides patrolling Alaskan waters, extended a helping hand to in- fant settlements aind in opening the seal- ed book of Alaska and its many wonders. The Department of Justice weighed fairly the rights of individuals, business ami society in the adjudication of causes. The Post Office Department extended the convenience of its mail facilities wherever the growth of the country or the interests of the inflowing population demanded, whether along the ocpan front, on the islands of the sea or on the banks of the Upper Yukon or other streams penetrating the interior. Over the Alaskan and Klondike mining route a letter mail was established, leav- ing the first of each month and returning, carried by dog trains in winter, boats, canoes and on the backs of native carriers in srmnier from .Tuneau by Dyea. Alaska, 100 miles; Dawson City (Klo^ndike), 575 miles: Fort,T-Mile, 52 miles, and Fort Oudahy. 1 mile, in Canada, to Circle City, on the Yukon in Alaska, 240 miles, mak- ing a to*^al of d6H miles, eacli way requir- ing thirty days, for which the contractor receives $6,9'.^) a year for one round trip a moiiith, not including Canadian offices. There are other inland routes. There are also ocean icmtvs from "the States" to WOXDERLAND rice combined [ually efficiwat through the such soldierly as RaymoDid, !is, have con- >connoi88ancea iphical', ethno- 3s of the coun- >n duty during : only contrib- ie and practic- their immedi- of their fami- lost in efforts id civilize the barrack Sun- :hools. hrough itg vg«- lling Alaskan ig hand to in- ening the seal'- many wonders, iistice weighed duals, business ition of causes, ment extended mail facilities the country^ or ring population he ocean front, 'V on the banks other streams londike minini? tablished, '.cav- and returning, winter, boats, native carriers r Dyea, Alaska, IClondike), 575 cs, and Fort , to Circle City, >40 miles, mak- ich way requir- the contraictor one round trip anadian oflSces. ton. There are tho States" to Sitka and i.itermediate ;oints, 1,100 miles, five timt'S a month in summer and twice a month in winter. $18,000 a year, and Sitka by way of Yakutnt. Nutchek, Hom- er. Kadiak, Kaluk. Sandpoint, Unga aind Belkof.sky to Umalaska, 1,516 miles, four- teen days and back once a month from April to October in each year at $4,9G6 a year. There are also local' routes among tne coast stations. During the previons times at Circle City the large number of gold miners concentrated there dei>ended upon chance to send out letters which cost .$1.00 eadi to the coast. In 189(5 the Government carriers on this route carried more than 1,000 letters on a single trip. Tlie s.nme year the deDartraent made two despatches by steamer of newspapers And parcels from Seattle to i>oints on the Yukon by way of TJnalaska and St. Michael and two from San FraincLsco. In 1897, for the convenience of interior settlements an interchange wa.s estab- lished between Dy a, A'aska. and Dawsoiji City, Canada, and a joint arrangement was made !>etween the United States and Canada for tho trans|x>rtatioaii of ihe mails between those points, one roumd trip once a month. In winter these mails mus' be transported hy dog teams and sleds j.nd is attended with a de..Tee of hairdslrp a >d endurance and often snPFc-ring. prob.aWy unequalled anywhere in the world. Under the Department .^f th<» Interio,^ the office of education out of th<» Gov<»m- ment appropriations ranging fpom $15,000 to $50,000 since 188G has maintained 20 day schools !n ■IfTerent parts of the entire district, with ^rnnit L.'^OO p«piK It also intrfxlnceil ami enrried to .i suc- cea«!fnl solmiou the rein-letT problem as n food supply and means of Arctic traus- Dortation. The United States Geologinl Survey nrodnced throrigh its coriw of wientific «»r*-^-iflJ5st.'». many valuable j*pt>rs ujkmi the ph\"pienl r^ araf'teristics. resounds and wonder.* of Alaskan land*. The United State's Commission of Fish and Fiis'tierie- " 'I'v investiK.''.ifd OUR ALASKAN ; .', <\>i O'i aad oxploitt'd the enormous existing ami ever roplonishiug wealth of the rivers and seaa in fisii. The Dei>artment of Agriculture insti- tuted examinations and reported u[K)n the aarricultuiral i>o»sibilitie3 of Alaska. The Smithsonian Institute, tbe very first in the field of scientific inqnii-y, evolved out of itfi early researches fresh acquisi- tiou« to tlio realms of knowledge from Alaskan fields. In every branch of departmental ser- vice in the absence of legislation our vast nortliorn. Pacific possessions have be<^n managed with efficient administration and scientific zoal. And prominent in our summary of civil- izing influences must be mentioned ihe missionary work of the divers religi'"u.*> faith*— Greco-Russian, Evaingelical and Roman. Tie Evangelical denominations carried a gospel religion consonant with the alle- Eriance and i)rinciples of a true citu^en of the Republic of the United States . ito the iglus anil villiiges of native races, which had never kiu>v,'n any form of re- ligion. Tlicy c'llaliHslied religiousi sta- tions and churches, Sabbath, day, sewing and industrial schools. They co-oi>erated with and supi^lenicnted the efforts of the (Tovcniimcnt Office of Education by the olficos of religion in olcratiiig the intel- lectual, economic and social condition of the ab' I'igiual i>t- >j».e. The succi*ssful labors of the Russian Bishop Veniaminof among the Aleuts are ai>parcnt in the higher standard of that aduatic race. In 1877, ten years after the cession of the territory to the United States, the light of the gospel first began to iiene- T.rate the Alaskan darkness. The depth-, of human depravity manifestiHl in exor- cising incantation.?, tortures, witchcraft, have been lesisencd largely through mis- sionai"j^ effort. The rising generation of natives in South- eastern Alaska along the Upper Yukon, anil even in the frozen Arctic circle, are rapidly acquiring the language and read- ing' and writing of the United States. 334 WONDERLAND s existing atul the rivers and ieulture insti- orted uixm the Alaska. , the very first qiiiiy, evolved fresh acquisi- Lowledge from artmental sei-- lation our vast nis have been administration nmary of civil- mentioned ihe livers religirus angelical and lations carried with the alle- true cituen of ed States- . ito native races, ny form of re- religioiis sta- th, day, sewing jey co-oix'rated ? efforts of the iication by the itiiiiflr the intel- al condition of ►f the Russian the Aleuts are aiidard of that the cession of etl States, the l>egan to pene- is. The depth"; fesftcvl in exor- •es, witchcraft, y through mis- atives in South- Upper Yukon, re tic circle, are uage and read- lited States. As a race, tiio natives of Alaska, un- like our other aboriginal popuJatians, are eager to learn, live and labor like the civ- ilized white man. Their UTidoubtetl Mongolian origin hav- ing boiii in them habits : ml ideas at var- iance with the methods ami customs of American citizens, particularly the sak' of daughters by their parent*, such prac- tices have been/ vigorously combatted by the representatives of Chri«ti;in influence. The press, the guiiding light of modem pi\>gi"ess, bais alread.v taken its idaee aloug the frontier linio of advancing civilization. The cupi.tali Sitka bas its^ weekly Alas- kan and monthly North Star; Juneau bias its weekly Alaska Mining Record, Alaska Ser.i'^h Light and Alaska Miner, aind Fort Wraiigel itsi montlily Nortlieru Light, Donbtless in tbe not remote future we will hear the sliiouts of Poinit Barrow Aurona Boa'^ialLs by Esikimo newsboys. Tlien it will be about t'me to unfurl the star spangled banner of tbe Republic from th^ Nor til Pule. S ipyress Canada in her irritating policy, aia bid defiance to the world in the progress of peaceful arts. A consensus of opinion in otiicinl and nnoilioial copulation in a rt^ion im- preparod by a home supply of food and raiment, will present a f^roblem more seri- fms and perplexing than the Government and local conditions have ever confronit- ed in the United States, That Congresa having failed to afford adequate means OUR ALASKAN WONDERLAND I t' ,'i' of admiudatration for such numlK>rs will be broug'ht fnee to face with a jjrave crisis is apiJOTont. That so'-^e of tlie elo- meats of tlhiis great mass of humanity, ir- ritated by disappointment, if not crazed by hunger and expended funds, will re- sort to diaonler and force, is natiual to BUTJpose. A solitai-y Governor and a lone .iud^e undofr sueh conditions is likely to emphasize the past apathy of the national law-makers. The population, by the census of 1800, stated at 32,052, has l)een largely aug- mented owing to the discovery of valu- able mines and development of other re- Bonroes. The new towns and villages wihidb have sprung up; the extension of trade and the starting of new industries, led to the act of June 4th,, 1897, making temporary proyisions for the emergency by the creation of fonr additional Com- missioners. On June 24th, same year, a surveyor general was provided for and an additional land office created. The Seci'etairy of the Interior, in his re- port for 1897 i"eeommended the extension of the public land lawTs to the district, the creation of additional land offices, the granting of rights of way for railroads, telegraphe and telephones, the cotnstruo tion of roads and trails, the incorporation of muinJcipalities, the holding of elections. the definmg of the legal and political status of tble natives and the establish- ment of complete territorial government, with repreaentation in Congress. The Secretary also sugigested the divi- sion of Alaska into two teiTitories, the coast country from the southern bouind- ary to the mouth, of the Yukon, including the islands*, to form one government, and the pemaining portion the other. J=, ,-; > 336 w RLAND nmnbors will with a jji'ave i^iQ of the ele- £ humanity, ir- if not crazed funds, will re- , is natural to nor and a lone na is likely to of the national ensus of 1890, a largely aug- overy of valu- Qt of other re- ? and Tillages e extension of lew industries, , 1897, making the emergency iditional Com- :h, same year, ovided for and eated. ?rior, in his re- l the extension ;he district, the ad offices, the for railroads, the comstruc- e incorporation tig of elections. and political the establLsh- aJ government, ngress. ested the divi- territories, the >uthern bouind- ikon, including >vernmeat, and other. kLi i h\ I i (' 1 . ii\' m h, 4 \ 'I'll! ? I / ^ "ILL HBOIieD, II WMj^^ \ -o — i- K^^i N \A I U -Si X t Id LETTER NUMBER XXX. R a i Iway-Ocean-R iverRoates U Coast Range Portals and Yukon Gateways to Alaskan and Klondike Gold Fif'lds. The New Centnry World-Ronnd Journey for American "Olobe Trotters"— From Washing- ton to St. Petersburg, Paris and London via Alaskan Ronte. The Ponnsyl'vania Railroad, like the Streat Commonwealth from which it takes its name, is the Keystone of the magnifi- cent system of railways which connects the metropo'itan cities of the Atliaatic seaboard with the lines extending still westward fi-om the Great Lakes and the 'Mississippi River to the shores of the Pa- cific. It may well be accepted as the standard railway of America. It is the most central of the Eastern truLk lines to Chicago and St. Louis, where the journey across the continent actually begins and over its own lines and through those co-operating with it al- most any portion of the American Con- tinent, ill railroad or steamer touch with the rest of the world, may be rp*ached. 339 IMAGE EVALUATrON TEST TARGET (MT-S) i 1.0 I.I 1.25 |50 ""^ 2.5 22 2.0 WUu U 111.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 I />< ' I' ) ' m ^\ i ' OUR ALASKAN A g'ance at th<» outline map will show the imimenae facilities of intercourse open to the trave'.er. From the Atlamtic seaboard metropolis, New York, it requires four tracks to ac- commodate its esionu/ous business. At Priladelphia, the manufacturing metrop- olis of the Union it has accommodatioins for travel and traffic unrivaled in the world. Its route also lies through the most populous, wealthy and. scenicaHy pic- turesque CJommonwealths. Starting a I New York, it traverses New Jers'^.v, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and IlUnoia. It also passes through some of the finest cities. Its service and the speed and safety of its trains are unrivalled in' the world. It is equipped lateet and best coaches and sleeping and buffet cars designed. The Pennsylvania Limited is . without a peer in the railway train® of the world. It is composed exciuMvely of Pullman vestibule, diugh the most w?enicaMy pic- Starting at New Jers-».v, la and Illinoi». le of the finest e speed and irivaUed ia the ith the finest 1 rails; all the block elgaaU bas the largest and thi^ late£t )ing and buffet ted is . withooit ly trainis of exolurively of ig-room, state- loking and ob- niature palace to Chicago ia St. Tjoaie, 30 dinsr Railiway, railways built iigh its Bound ia and thence uiichea througthJehiein via y lento wu, via her place com- illey Railroad, oninections are id Trunk (Ca- ke Shore and STork, Ohicapo Ceotral Rail- Test. Through WONDERLAND sleeping cars for Buffado and Chicago leave '^e Reading Terminial, Piii'ladel- phia, twice daily. At Karrisburg it aJso has connections with the vast Pennsylvania system above described. The road is double tracked with steel rails, stone ballast, and has the latest equipment iu fast locomotives and pas- senger, parlor and sleeping cars. At Ohioago and St. Louis there is a choice of lines, wdth all of which the Penusylvania system has direct connec- tions and selk through tickets with Pull»- man service irom New York, Philadel- phia and 'at a'.l the principal statioois. Prom Chicago the Chicago & Northr western and Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul have a service to St. Paul and Min- neapolis on the Mississippi aind to Omaiha on the Missouri. St. Louis, over the Missouri Pacific, also has a service to Kansas City, 283 miles, and Omaha, 488 miles. At St. Paul and Minneapolis there ia also a choice of twj main routes, the Great Western to Seattle, 1,823 miles; to Portland, Ore., 1,925, or by way of the Northern Pacific to the same poimts and San Francisco. From St. Louis, by way of Kansas City or Omaha, the Union Pacific carries through passengers to Kansas City, to San Francisco, 2,093 miles; Portlamd, 2,- 050 miles; Tacoma> 2,196 miles; Seattle, 2,214 miles. From Omaha to San Francisco, 1,867 miles; Portland, 1,824; Seattle, 1,987. The St. Louis aiid San Francisco "Frisco Line" has through service from St. Louis over its own and conmecting lines to San Francisco, 2,460 miles, and Portland, 3,104. The Southern Pacific, from New Or- leains, has a service via El Paso, 1,194 miles; Los Angeles, 2,006 miles; San Francisco. 2,489; Portland, 3,261. The Canadian Pacific Railway, from its United States connections, also reaches ou'tfitti'-'? steamer ports of the United States on the Pacific. From the Pennsylvania system a coo- 341 OUR ALASKAN .; ■!l {■ nectioD is made at OhJcaxo for St. Paul. From St. Paul, at Pocrtal, on the frontier line 'between the United States and Assdnibola, Canada, a diBtmice of 560 miles, a through connectlan is made with the Oanadian Pacific ©ystem to Vamcouver, Britif^ Oolumibia, 2,906 miles, a»d United States points; Seattle. 3,000 miles; Portland., 3,185 miles; San Francisco, 3,957 miles. The approximate average Sipeed of tran£»entrast between ted wilderness Ins, tbe Rockies same region: to- Stateg and Ter- Union and tra- im high^^ys of like gold seeker e ground in one IPS. parlors and Grace than did of 1849 and n their buMock- ' or on hoTse or o California in to dark. i of Saoii Fraii- and Seaittle are outfitting posts 9 of Alaska and Is reach Juneiau iP pass routes. n the middle of . During this own transport- themselvofl ovor ailing dates by WONDERLAND announcement ai-e from San Frandsco, Cal.; Portland, Ore.; Tacoma and Seat- tle, Waab., U. S., and Victoria, Britisb Columbia. The first-class railway fajre from Chicago to these poinfts is about $62 on any of the direct lines, first-clase^ and $52 second-class. The Pacific coast steamship company single fares ran^^ from San Francisco, first-claes, to Wranjgel, $37; Juioean, $44; Sitka, $52; Paget Sound portb, Wrangel, $25; Juniean, ^; Sitka, $40. Steerage, a trifle over one^balf nrst-ciaas rates. MealR and berths or 'bunks included. Freight rates, general merchandise and minens' oxdiuary supnlies, Ska^uay, Dyea. and Sitka, about $12 per ton^ The same rates approximately apply to Tdya (Dyea), and Skoguay. United States mail steamer conaiectiou 8ail«i from Sitka to UnoLa^ka. The North American Transportation and Tnading (the Goyemment fur seal contract) Company steamers sail from Seattle to St. Michael, fare aibout $125 to $150. Thenice their Yukon fleet of liver boats depart at short intervals for the trading stations and gold fi^ds of the Upi>er Yukon. At Weare, at the junc- tion of the Tanana; Rampart, near Min- ook Creek; Fort Yukon, at the mouth of the Porcupine; Circle City, at the port- age to the Birch Creek Mines, and Belle Isle in Alaska (United States); Fort Oud- aihy; Fortjr Mile and Dawson City, North- west Territory, Canada, fare about $100 to $150 from St. Midhael, and about $50 less for second- from Sitka to The round trip forth Pacific to xmt $90, subject >des meals and begins in May iuiring the three s the all water o by way of Un- le shipping port thence to txad- ;enter», along the miles from Port- ) miles from St. 350 miles thence miles thence to accomplished by rs between June aable rates and ition of supplies or trial to the in- nd summer route Norton Sound to (There there is a Swedish Mi&sicm, and thence by way of Utukuk and the Autokakat or Kaltag rirers to the Yukon, a distance of 104 iniles. which makes a leeseuiing of 861 miles in the distance to the mining cities an the Upper Yukoui, as compared with the steam route. This cut-ofP will doubtless be utilized, if developments wnrrant, as it will escape the ice gorge at the mouth of the Yukon ainid makes a difference of sevuval weeks nnd Dossibly a whole season in the ascent of the river. These lines from San Francisco, Port- land and Seattle run in conmection with tie three moet used and accessible coast range passes to the headwaters of the Yukon and thence to the gold towns and oamps. The Ohilkoot Pass over the coast range is the shortest. The traveler starts at Dyea and tramps over the gravel of a broad valley to the foot of the Gbilkoot Pass; thence up the uarrowing valley to Sheep Oamp, five miles. There the asceM begins over rocky and sometimes boggy mountain sides with glaciers in view; thence over ereat ma'sses of rock and boulders tiixee iniles to the sunumt of the pass. About 1.000 feet of the last part of the dis- tance stands at an angle of 45 degrees, then 800 feet more not so steep. The hand sleds ai'e often pulled up by the miners splicing their ropes and the end to a windlass. The heighit of the pass sum- mit is 3,800 feet. The descent to Lake Lindemann on the inland side maltes a fall of 1,300 feet in 9 miles. The paas is unsuited to the use of ani- mals of burden other than the Ohilkoot Indians, who charge from 30 to 40 cents a pound, each packer carrying 100 notmds. They requii-e two days going and one returning over this distance, 24 miles. Some idea of the trials of this portion of the journey and the patience requir- ed m/ay be formed when It ia known that a l.OOO-pound outfit of a single man re- 345 OOB ALASKAN S €-^ )ll),' h' ; I Ml)' nu'ires fully 30 (lny« to move over the nasa on account of the lack of truiisiwrta- tlon. It is cuatomai-y for the lueui to cany their ow» gooda in detaehnienits, about overy hmndred poimds reqiiirin^r a trip. Daring the winter this, as weJl a« othei* nam rotites, is practically impoKsablc on ncoount of aaow and fierce stoions Inst- intr for weeks.^ Once ODi the other side the partiee build their boats out of the wood they cut in the neigcbborhood airte unates with the GhUkoot and White Pass routes and contimies down the Yukon. This line is withoiuit heavy grades. Sleds oan be drawn over it in winter. The distance from Juneau to the helad of canoe navigation on the Taku is 91 males. Portage to Lake TeaILn 48 miles; thence to the Lewis by wiaAer 170 miles. The Sitickeen route has been greatly im- proved by the Canadians. That govern- ment having been granted free transit over that inortion of tie Stickeen River lying witMn United States jurisdiction in consideration of slmilair privileges to the citizens of the United States navi- gating the St Lawrence. British-Cana- dian steamers make Wrangel, at the month of the Stickeen, their destination for this rout<\ Thence passengers and 347 0£7B ALASSiS III i^i. •I m merchandise are transforred to stern- wheel river steamers, which ascend the river 150 miles to TelegMpli Creek. Thenoe the oJd trail leads 150 miles to Lake Te«lin, where the Hootalinqiie or TeelMi River, navigable foir amaJl steam- ers, oommunicates with the Upper Yukon through the same water channels as the Chilkoot and Whiiite Passes. Owing to the swift current of the Stickeen it requires two weeks to aecend and but two days to descend, being often capstnined onie way and going setem fore- miotat the other. The voyage is both novel and exciting. The Teslin enters tlie Lewis Yukon through. Th".rty-Mile River and below the dangerous rapids. At Calgtory the Oaniadian Pacific has a branch to Edmonton, in Alberta Canada, from which poinit a portage route extends to Athabasca, landing at the head of the river and into the laJke of that name via Ports McMurray, Obippeway and Smith. Thence through Sto.ve River into Great Slave Lake at Fort Resodution; thence across that lake to Port Providence; thience down the Mackenzie River, pass- Lng Ports Simpson, Norman and Good Hope, within the arctic circle to Port MacPherson near the bend of the Mac- kenzie Delta; thence by a short portage io the head of the Porcupine; thence infci the Yukon, below the Klondike. This, however, ia a long and circuitous route. T^re is also a trtiii from Ashcroft on the Canadian Pacific to Telegraph Greek, B. C, the Stickeen River route to tihe Yukon mtines'. The Governor of Alaska, a man of long exi)erience in Alaskan life and re- gnirements, in his official report for 1897, ^es an outfit of food, utensils. tools, impJeuDentB, etothlng w^-apons, ammuniti<>n, boat, sleepii^g articles, rub- bers, tent, etc., for two men for fourteen months at Sitka prices, the total of which i0 $372.60. All these routes pass into British terri- torrity at the ten marine league line from the coast of Souitheatstem Alaska. It must not be overlooked that all pros- 348 WOyOERLAND pectOTS, minens nnd others crosain^ the Oajaadian frontier must pay a duty of from 10 to 35 per cent, ad valorem on articles not purcbaj*ed in CanAdn. During 1896-7 the Canadian Govern- ment allowed free entry of miners' blanket», pearsonal clothing in use, cook- ing uteiisils in use, and 190 pounds of food for eoidh person, charging duty on the excess. This has been superceded by levying duty upon everything the miner possesses except the clothes on his back. Tliis ap- plies to artides bought not ouily in the United States, but Engliaiud or anywhere outside of Canada. As minens going in are not as a rule overstocked with fundis, some heroic measures on. their part may be anticipat- ed sooner or later for which the Govern- ment and people of the United States will be compelled to find a solution, if the ruslhi continues and popuilatioa incrense:). It is claimed tlioit these rigorous dutiois are exacted in order to make the neces- sary civil establishment guards and trans- ports for godd in the region self-support- ing, and which will be of great service to the miners. The Canadians hastily established a post at Ivake Lindemauii on the trans- mountain foot of Chilkoot and beyond Summit Lake foot on the White Pass routes, not to mention the Chilkat, Taku aaoxJ Stickeen routes over other por- tions of the CWst range to the head of eanoe navigation toward the Yukon. At TagLsih Lake a detadhment of the Canadian moTinted police is stationed. About 18 miles beyond on the Chilkoot and 32 miles by the White Passes is the 60th paraUel, which marks the northern boandary between British Goltimbk and the northwest territory of Canada. This may force the irrepressible con- flict between Briifcishi occupation and United States manifest destiny on the Pacific shores of the North American continent so emphatically upheld by Sen- ator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts and William H. Seward, of New York. 349 OVX ALASKAN '2/» m 1 j' ami niauy other 8tati>isuK>ii givat and HrmUI. It is true similar custoiQs obstructiouH arti met wiith by iiersons onteriiiff UnJted StaJtas territory frotn tbe British Oaia- •lito or Oodlumbia jurisdiction, but not vo tlic jHuue deerrec us the articles purchased i)i tlie United Sta,tcR 'and btv)ugbit bock would not be dutiable under the law an<1 godd is free. "Whj can tell the limits of the d'^mands of tb^ "American Globe Trotter." Aieepy Europe. Modbuiul Asia and Darkest Africa in all their coatiirieci of hunmn Itabi'ation were satisQed with birth> ma- turity, procreation and death within the Itent up limitia of tlieir own pertty {mtch of MoiUuT EaPth. Tlie American n'ants the earth and he gets it becausi' ho prnys for what he geits The Amjcricau tourist roultt-H now eu>- lirace the globe fiMui Cancer to Gapri- cam, the Tempera tp zones, niud even in- vade the icy solitudcia of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. With sudhi facts e«rta>blisched it would not be an extrawngance to aay that the ies puirchttsed l>wughit b«ck ' the law ann the d ^mands tter." oi«ep>' uid Darkest 10 uf human ith birth, ma- th within the potty iwtch of can wants the »> ho iwys iov MiltcH now em- leor to Oapn- , jiaid even in- the Arctic amd Ifthed it would o say that the nitury wiU wit- ke Trotter" oii erlcaa Eagles istanoe on this rid-round rout«> ver the Pacific le capital of the le capital of the thcnaoe to tht> iome again, al- American Globe the cap of th* vstem in opera- U. S. A. Milea- 808 75 va.),' ' 3,183 ific Ferry— 45 m.).- • 5,528 ^.■..'■^. 7,868 •ay, nearly oom- Vladivostok via Omfsk: Kha- barovka; Sretonsk My '.; IrkwtBk; Obi TohellnhlD ic UraJ Moumtain, frontier i>/" RiiBsia, 7,112 versts or 4.71'» miles 14.980 Rnropean Railway nyster a operation— To St. Petersbur)? via .»lo«cov (1,353 m.) 10.333 Berlin (l.(H2 m.) 17,37f. Parts (008 m.) 18.073 liondon via Oalais (277 tn).. . . 18.350 IJv.'npool (202 ra.) 18,.'j62 U. S. (5cean service .\tlantic Ferry- New York city (3,100 m.) 21,052 U. S. Railway system in ()peratiou— Washinirton, D. O. (228), total.. 21,870 This ronlte may be made available in the year 1900 with the lines uow in opei'a- tioo and the Trans- Siberian Railway, the larger portion completed. The rest being pushed with vigor. A possible but not probable within the near finture all rail route is outlined from Ponthind via Soaittle, U. S., Vancouver and Dawson, B. O., Circle City, Capo Prince of Wales, U. S., Bering Straits. in Lat. 05 N.; East Oape, about 3, Stewart River, r., 1374 ) Mo. Pelly, Ft. : 1425 JTE8, CHILKOOT. Dyea 118 , Canoe Nav,, . . 6 nmitPass, ... 114 . h. Lindeman, . 123 )t I,. Lindeman. 127 . I,. Bennett, . . 12S L. Bennett, ... 153 ■ibou Crossing, . 156 LakeTagish, . 173 . I,ake Marsh) . 178 Lake Marsh, . . 197 . of Canyon, . . 223 of Canyon, ... 224 d. White Horse t 225 hkeenaR 240 ke Le Barge, . . 266 HE White Pass. oSkaguayR., . n; lite Pass, .... is Hd. L,.l,e Barge, 129 fvss Routes Unite. Hd. L. Le Barge, 284 (tallnqua R., . . 316 ssiar Bar, .... 342 ? Salmon R., . . 34'? :tle Salmon R.. . 3S5 ve Finger Rapids, 444 nk Rapids, ... 450 [lyR.,j?t. Selkirk, 503 hite R 5-9 ewart R., .... 609 iwson (Klondike), 67S irtyMile, .... 728 idahy, ..... 728 rcle, Alaska, ... 898