, 1886-08-19
Cur Alaska letter.

FT. WRANGLE, Alaska, Aug 7th, 1856.
EDITOR ARGU5:-The editor OF the San
Francisco -4rgOHGUt, IN his attacks on
Governor Swineford and Alaska, falls
into. the same error which he finds 50
grieyous IN the governor, viz: of talking
about Alaska on very slight acquaint-
ance. AR. PIxley made an exerreion on
the idaho IN May oi this year and since
his return he has written several
editorials in the ArgOHdut. pitching into
the steamer company and ienOunclng
Alaska as great fraTd. He characterizes
the Alaska "bCom" as part of the
interested missionaries, dead head pas
seugers and idle government officials.
He scores Gov. Swineford for writing an
| official report praIsing Alaska only ten
days sitter his arrival at Sitka ard with
no previous acquaintance with the
country. In So far as Mr.. PiZley IS
phllanthrophic in seeking to warn set
tiers and miners not to be gulied into
going to the territory, he is discharging
public trust, but his own lack Of
acquaintance with the country does not
justify him in the rash statements that
he now makes after flying trip, in
which, as he says, he took no notes and
made few Inqmries-Which one can
readily believe. Between the caricature
OF Alaska Mr.. Pixley gives us, and the
"boomed" Alaska OF the excited tourist,
there IS real Alaska that Is worth more
than was paid for II, and which. as
reserve territory, will every year improve
in value. The time is not vet ripe for
opening up the resources of the country.
A settler who would pass over the fertile
territory unsettled in the state proper
to come to Alaska is indeed poor Judge
In mineral way the most hopeful have
reIinqulshed the most extrayagant claims
50 often put forth, and Mr.. PiXley does
well to warn miners and Others that
private interests are back of the reckless
statements we run across every day of
the wonderful promise of Alaska.
The sustaining power of the soil as
regards population is undoubtedly |
equal to that of the North Countries |
III Europe. l have been told by Swedes, |
Norwegians and Danes here IN the terri
tory that living in Alaska is Injurious |
compared to what their own country |
offers. Agriculture can never he very |
protitably carried on, on account of the |
thinness of the soil aud the difficulty of |
clearing land, but fish fertiizing refuse |
Is abundant, and for the consumption Of |
the territory enough could easily be |
raised to sustain a large population. |
Garden truck flourisbe5 and some years |
hay can be cured in large quantities, |
with now and then failure. The ques- |
ton OF cattle has been settled long ago |
They can be kept easily but not in large |
numbers. The supply of food fish is
unequalled. The timber is inferior in |
every way to that of Oregon and Wash
ingIon Territory, but that does not |
imply that it is worthless. Mr.. PIxley |
says he did not see decent piece of |
timber in the trip. He could have seen |
1t. but nos in such abundance as need |
make the lumber ndustrieS OF the Sound |
tremble for fear of competition.
In the matter OF dog fish and shark |
liver oil, porpoise and whale oil, the |
possibilities are enormous. The question |
OF other fish is n question of demand and |
of the cost of freight to market. The |
prospect of Il surplus of agricultural pro- |
ducts for export from this territory need |
not alarm the farmers OF the Pacific sea
board.
Mr.. Pixley says he saw DO level plot of |
ground in the territory large enough for |
a garden. The Idaho passes Zorembo
Island four times on 4 trip north. 1t is
about ten miles from Wrangle. There |
is a well watered level tract of land in
the centre of the island containing about |
six thousand acres, and is easily seen
from the mail steamer. The norlh end |
of the Prince of Wales Island is COM
paratively level, and there are numerous
small tracts of land. AS compared with |
the North countries, Alaska is a fertile |
and promising land.
Another one of the over doomed in
dustries of Alaska is the exploring expe-
ditioD. Lit Schwatka promises to reap
n rich harvest of discoveries for the New
York Times. His letters to the Times
outline his scheme of operations. As
matter of fact, most of his route is over
rather we'll known ground. His famous
trip down the Yukon was made years
before he made it by some miners, just
as miners have previously been pretty
much all along the coast north OF Sitka.
The Yukutat Indians are we'll known,
and Schwatka will find rather a barren
field ethnologically. The ascent of Mt.
st. Elias is feat that will require all
the ability, nerve and push of the very
we'll equipped party, and il they fail, as
there Is great possibility, they are as
worthy of praise as il they succeeded. 1t
is newspaper advertising scheme at the
bottom, and there is not the field for !.
discovery that is claimed by the adyer- .
using prospectus. That is why | say
that tie expedition lover booms" Alaska
in the exploring way.
There are some very amusing accounts
of the trip of the famous dude" st.
Allen. in his Copper River expedition.
He followed beaten ground most of the
way after leaving Copper River, get he
wore a fringei buckskin suit and
sloueh hat until several days after bis
arrival in San Francisco. Here, in AL
aska, he Travelled with an arsenal about
his person that made the average miner
and Indian smile. When a nan arranges
such hippodrome, he must expect to
reflect discredit on the hdrdsIips OF
trip out of sight of civilization.
u