The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-07-07
Alaska.

c1dt, OF that city, giving an interesting
sketch of Alaska, which places the Ter
ritory in more favorable light than that
in which it is generally represented. He
says:
Having spent the past nine months
at Sitka as commanding officer of that
post, and Indian agent for the Territory
of Alaska, in compliance with your re-
quest l will furnish you with some of
the details of my sojOurn in our new do
main.
"On the Sd of June, 1876, in ODE
dience to orders from the Military Divi-
sion of the Pacific, l sailed from San
Francisco with three companies of the
Fourth Artillery, on the Oregon mail
steamer Astoria, and from thence by the
steamer California to Sitka, Alaska, ar
irving on the 14th of June.
Before my departure from San
Francisco | had heard rumors of the
severity of the climate of Alaska, and
was astonished to find that the same
clothing that l had worn in California
was amply warm enough for Alaska
From the Straits of Fuca to Sitka, dis
lance of 1900 miles, the vessel passes
through channels between islands covered
with dense growth of fir, cedar, hem
| lock- and spruce, mountains rising from
1000 to 1000 feet in height, their sid&
clothed in a luXuriant growth of vegtt&
ton, while the tops of the most lofty
are covered with perpetual snow. No
more magnificent scenery can be i'm
agined than that which constantly meets
] bn oh = 10
Gus river, and the steamer is not exposed
to the open sea for but eighty out of the
1900 miles of its passage. On my arri
val at Sitka, a we'll built Russian town
of 400 inhabitants, l relieved Capt j. B.
Campbell and two companies of the
Fourth Artillery, who had been there
about TWO years. They were apparently
in as good condition as when they left
San Francisco, not having suffered many
Of the privations usual in frontier posts.
In fact Sitka is regarded as a paradise
for soldiers, few commands having gone
there without taking with them men who
had served there before and had been
transferred at their own request.
The population is principally Rus
| SLAMS and Aleuts, with a few Indian
traders of different nationalities. In the
| transfer of Alaska to the United States
the Russian inhabitants were offered the
| option of free transportation back to
/ Russia, or in lieu of this were given a
certain sum of money, and those now
there accepted the latter They have
been living upon the proceeds of this
fund, but are now reduced to the last
extremity. They are an idle, dissolute
class of people, very fond of pleasure,
especially dancing, and the men are
without exception addicted to strong
drink, which they obtain principally by
the illicit distillation of molasses into a
villainous decoction called 'hou-chi-
nou,' no alcoholic spirits being permitted
to be introduced into the Territory eX-
cept by military permit.
Game, especially venison, exists in
great abundance. The Indians, who
are the hunters, bring it to the posts reg
ularly, and during the winter months
the supply is plentiful During the
summer an abundance of salmon, trout,
halibut, founders and Goldfish are sup
piled by the same indefatigabe caterers.
| Farther up the coast salmon are of I'M
mense size. They are often found so
large that one, when dressed, would fill
a barrel. CLANS are abundant, and are
almost as tender and good to eat as
oysters.
" Fur bearing animals are not very
plentiful on the island. Furs are princi-
pally obtained from the interior tribes
| by the Indians on the islands, who are
great traders, often visiting posts in
their canoes 200 or 800 miles along the
coast, trading for blankets, ammunition,
etc. Sea-otter, seal and mink are oc-
casionally found in the vicinity of SItka,
but the great seal islands are St. Paul's
and st. Georges, in the Behring Sea, or
Sea Of Kamchatka, north of the Aleu-
tian Islands, l 600 miles west from Sitka.
Those two islands are leased by the
United States Government to the Alaska
Fur Company for term of years.
" Gold and almost every known mineral
is found to exist in the mountains of
Alaska; several lodges have been dis
| covered on Baranof Island, within
twelve or fourteen miles of Sitka.
Much of the quartz obtained is very rich,
but the mines have not been sufficiently
developed for me to be able to say
whether or not they are of very great
value.
Along the Pacific coast the temper
allure is extremely mild for that latitude,
which is 81 degrees north, the mercury
rarely falling to zero. Damp, cloudy
weather is the rule, with more or less
rain, the rainfall during the year reach
ing from seventy to ninety inches, but it
is so distributed as to be scarcely notice
able. Spells of as delightful weather as
can be found in any climate are eXpe-
rienced at Sitka; the winters are never
very cold, and the summers are always
cool and pleasant.
"Sitka is almost surrounded by high
mountains, some of which are covered
with snow, which condenses the warm
atmosphere from the ocean, creating an
almost perpetual cloud.
There is very little tillable land in
the Territory, but that little is very fer
tile. All kinds of vegetables are raised
except those requiring a great deal of
sunlight. We had no difficulty in rails
ing plenty of cabbage, turnips, parsnips,
lettuce, celery, beets, cauliiiowers, etc,
outbound the ground too wet for good DO.
tatoes. Asarule, however, the entire sur.
face of the country may be said to be
! n