Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-02
ALASKA AND TuE REISpEER
Capt Heaiys obss, vations nsistias 70 - -
terestlng Problem.


NE TurSrs TER INTRODUCTION OF Hrrpfss
WILL PzovrpH room. cLorHIso ssD TsAsS
rour.TfoN-a SEyrR-TAiiISs rood surrLf-
DEER PURCHASED IRON sIErRIsss.
Capt. \. A Realy OF The United States rev
eaue steamer Bear recently wrote the follos-
ing respecting the proposal 10 iniroiuee rein
deer in Alaska;
The three great problems % eris.once of
both natives aud whites In the territory OF
Alaska are food, clothing and transportation
They are 20 be solved In n rigorous climate. .
rough and almost .mpenetrable country and
one in which nothing as yet IL produced from
the ground. The food supply must either be
found in the iesh Of the wild animals and birds
Of the country or brought from without With
the white population the food might be sAid.to
be brought wholly from without The
enormous expense this entails has Kept this
population down 90 the narrowest limit OF
employees Of firms companies capable Of
maintaining stations there and confined these
stations 20 a few scattered well-known points
along the immense stretch OF sea coast or %
some of the principal rivers. Ne the Yukon.
The native population OF the northwest part
OF the country depend for food upon Whale,
walrus. seal, fish and what few wild animals.
such as deer ard caribou, they can kill The
whale and walrus have been 30 persiftenty
pursued by white men that they have rapidly
diminished and are now 30 scarce and shy that
their capture by the natives is attended with
great difficulty and uncertainty. This scarcity
OF their principal supply Of food is greatly feit
by the natives along the whole northwest coast
and 70 such an extent that in the short space Of
winter whole villages have been wiped out I
have seen almost the entire population Of 81
Lawrence Island lying strewn shout their
nuts dead from starvation. Aud this winter
OF ls9l-92 the same fate may DO
that of Kings Island. Upon my visit there in
September last. the seal and NaIrus catch hav-
ing Jailed them, the natives were reduced to
the dlrest eNiremitles. lhcir lArders we're eN-
hausted aud their only means of subsistence
their dogs ana the kelp and carrion cast up by
the tide. What supplies could he spared from
the vessel and what bough: at ~ Michsol's
station were given the people with the hope
that 10 would tide them over until more sue
cessful hunting. But this hope Is not without
mlsgNlng that upon my return IN the spring
shall ind many OF them whom I count as
friends cold in death. The interior natives
are dependent wholly upon caribou aud deer
and what fish come into their streams during
the short summer. Caribou and deer are rap
idly diminishing there. AS thew have in other
countries. and the fishing streams are being
taken up by white men, 30 that the lines OF ex-
istence are on all sides being drawn tighter and
tighter about these poor native Alaskans.
REINDEER SKIN CLOTHING.
Clothing of reindeer skin has been found the
best and only kind TO withstand the intense
and continued cold Of the country. These
skins are now bartered at a high price from
the natives of the Siberian coast and are
passed along the Alaskan side from village 90
village, increasing in value the farther they
go from the Boring straits The experience Of
white men and natives has been the same,
and even In our summer visits to the country
we on the vessel use reindeer clothing TO keep
from suffering.
The methods of transportation now in use in
Alaska are by dog trains and boats. BY boat it
Is impossible 10 travel nine months in the year
and during the three months of summer. when
the streams are open, they be used only
down stream. by dog trains transportation 10
limited, slow and uncertain, and tho greater
part OF the load 10 taken up with food Tor the
animals These dogs have been so closely bred
that they are now degeuerated in size, strength
and sagacity. i have Tor years been requested
by natives TO bring them larger breed to i'm
prove their dogs and the Hudson Bay Company
has imported the English mastin for use in
trains where the native dog is too slight.
Among the whites the greatest dificulty ex-
perienced by minera. missionaries, explorers
ana residents Las been the want OF n rapid and
assured means Of transportation. The history
OF every expedition that has penetrated into
the country any distance from tie coast has
been one OF suffering and oftentimes hunger
from the difficulty of travel and packing.
excepting tame reindeer, out of the Qpes-
ton, because they cannot live in the coun-
try, and it is impossible to provide food
Tor them when snow covers the ground the
larger part OF the year. On account Of
this difficulty the country except along the sea
coast and a lew of the nayigsble streams as
little known today as when t was first bought
And those great mineral deposits which Alaska
| is said TO contain remain as yet undiscovered.
WHAT THE REINDEER MIGHT DO.
To my mind the only satisfactory solution Of
all three Of these problems. important rs they
are, is the introduction Of tame reindeer into
the country. In proper numbers they will
transform the native population from a fishing
| TO pastoral people snd prove to them a never
failing supply OF food. The hiaes OF the ami
mails already furnish almost tie only clothing
| used, but at a greatly exaggerated cost And
| to the white explorers, miners, missionaries
and settlers the reindeer will prove a means Of
transportation ana packing that will enable
| them to learn and develop the resources OF .
vast country.
The natives OF Siberia have for centuries
herded and reared the tame reindeer and thus
| been safe against periodical periods of starya-
ton when the whale and walrus fail them. They
| are q strong. swift and hardy animal, tractable
| and easily broken to harness or packing, and
especially adapted. or, in fact. made for the
country and climate. In travel they are self
sustaining. The SUPP ~ OF moss upon which they
feed covers the whole of northern Alaska and
instinct leads them 10 secure Il in winter -
well as summer by burrowing through the
deepest SHOWS. Ii IS not necessary for us to
speak OF the value Of such pack animals to the
prospector. To the explorer they equally
valuable and when supplies fail are equally
valuable as food
If may revert back to the days OF the West
ern Union telegraph expedition 10 that part
OF the country, where reindeer could lie pro-
| cured FOR araughting well for food, the
| thousand and one obstacles that al lirst seemed
| insurmountable were through tine medium u
these animals easily overcome.
The natives of Alaska quite see the advantage
OF such an animal In their midst, have expressed
to me their eager wishes for them, and along
the Yukon, the most thickly settled part Of the
country, the white people are enthusiastic over
their Introduction. Tor in them they a solu-
ton OF many OF the difficulties Of existence
there.
Horses and cattle have been tried in this
section, but on account of the uuacclimzted
natures of the animals and the impossiDiiity Of
feeding them in winter, with no success.
THE sIBERIASs WILL SILL
Some writers and others have claimed that
| the Siberian nations will not sell reindeer to
white men; but DIR. Jackson and have dis
proved this by buying during the past summer
| al different points the Siberian coast ak
teen of tho animals, and securing promises TO
sell US as many rs we could take Of the COM
ing summer, should they be wanted. The six