The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-12

is as important to white men as to the
Eskimo. A dog train on a long jour
ney will make on an average from fif
teen to twenty-five miles a day, and
in some sections cannot make the trip
at all, because the dogs cannot carry
with them a sufficient supply of food
for themselves, and can procure none
in the country through which they
travel. To facilitate and render pos
sible frequent and speedy communica-
ton between these isolated settle
mentS and growing centers of Ameri-
can civilization, where the ordinary
roads of the states have no existence
and cannot be maintained except at
an enormous expense, reindeer teams
that require no beaten roads, and that
at the close of a days work can be
turned loose to forage for themselves,
are essential. Thus the Introduction
of reindeer into Alaska makes pos
sible the development Of the mines and
the support Of the miners.
The Introduction of domestic rein
deer among the native people will
probably be accomplished through the
instrumentality of the various mis-
SionS which have been esta blished
among them. To facilitate this the
government has entered upon the
policy Of lending them small herds
with the understanding that after a
term Of years an equal number will
be returned by the missionary socle-
ties to the government AS the mis-
sion herds increase there will be a
constant supply for the establishment
of new herds owned by the natives
who have taken care of the mission
herd, learned the business and re-
ceived reindeer in compensation for
their services. For the use Of the
miners some plan will be arranged by
which parties desiring to establish
transportation routes can procure
trained deer for the purpose
The first thought of the miner in
Central Alaska is to secure a good
claim. and his next thought is the
question of food supply-whether he
can secure enough provisions from the
warehouse where they are brought by
boats and in other ways, to enable
him to work his mine continuously.
With the exception of fish and a limit
ed quantity of wild game, and linn
tied quantity of garden vegetables
there is no food in the country; all
bread stuffs and the larger portion of
the meat supply and fruits must be
brought into it from the outside
Now it should be remembered that
there are no roads in Alaska, as they
exist III OLHeE SEtIlOES OF the United
States, and that with the almost
illimitable area Of bog and swamp and
tundra and frozen subsoil, it will be
impossible to make and maintain
roads except at a cost that is prac-
tically prohibitive. In summer the
supplies loaded into small boats are
pulled up the creek or packed on
mems shoulders. In winter they are
hauled on dog sleds. This costs heav-
carrying capacity is limited-a load
is from 100 to 2i5 younds per sled per
dog, a portion of which is food for the
dogs. and il the route is a long one
without intervening stores of supply,
a dog team can scarcely carry more
than food sufficient for themselves.
SO far, they have failed in supplying
the miners with sufficient stock Of
PROVISIONS.
The only possible solution of the
question of reasonable land transporta-
ton and rapid communication and
travel between centers hundreds Of
miles apart in sub-arctic Alaska is the
introduction and utilizing of domestic
reindeer. The deer is to the far north
what the camel Is to desert regions
the animal which God has provided
and adapted for the special conditions
which exist. The greater the degree
of cold the better he thrives. Last
winter party of reindeer hauling nine
sleds made a days journey with the
temperature at 73 degrees below zero.
A deer with 200 pounds on the sled can
travel up and down the mountains and
over the plains from one end of Alaska
to the other. living off the country
where he travels. Last season an eX-
petition of nine deer drawing nine sleds
was made through Alaska lasting dur
ing the four winter months and MAX
ing a total distance of 1000 miles. dur
ing which the deer were turned out
at night after a days work to find
their own provision. which is the ma