The Saint Paul globe., 1898-03-04
REINDEER REACH HERE
ANIMALS FOR YUKON ARRIVE AT
MIDNIGHT
Brought Up In Two Trains and Are
Taken to the Transfer After q
Short Stop at the DeDOt-Party
of Lapps With Them-Finding
1t UncOmfortably Warm.

After ALL the people Of st. Paul were
not permitted to see the Lapland REIN
deer Yukon relief expedition, for 1t
reached this city shortly before mid
night last night, and started on the
last half of the journey across the con-
tinent at an early hour this morning.
The Great Northern officials hoped to
have the Lapps and reindeer shown
for g. few hours at the Minnesota
Transfer early this morning, but the
officers in charge Of the expedition
found 1t necessary to start before day
break, after resting four or five hours,
in order to reach the coast in the pre-
scribed time.
The expedition came in over the Mil
waukee road in two sections less than
an hour apart, and consisting Of nine
teen cars each. The first was in charge
of Lieut. J. ]. Rafferty,, a British Col
umbia miner, and A. w. Gumaer, a
Nebraska stock rancher.
Lieut.. Devore, of the war department,
was in charge of the second section,
which pulled in just before midnight.
Each section stopped a short time at
the union depot, where some meat and
other provisions were loaded on the
train.
The gentlemen in charge said that all
along the line Of the Milwaukee road
curious throngs of spectators lined the
tracks, and surrounded the trains
whenever stops were made. 1t Is ex-
pected that the coast will be reached
in three days and a half, or g. trlhe
more than passenger time.
The expedition is in charge Of DR.. Sheldon
Jackson, superintendent of education IL
Alaska who introduced the first domestic
reindeer into that territory, and now under
the auspices Of the general government Is
placing there the first colony OF Lapp set
je ,ndo direction nj
Lieut. Devore, of the war department. The
party is the first of the kind ever imported
into the United States. II consists of liS i'm
migrants 537 reindeer, 418 reindeer sleds, OIL
sets of reindeer harness and between 1900
and 1000 bags Of moss for feeding the rein
deer en- route.
The Immigrants consi t Ct forty-three Lapps
ten Finn and fifteen Norwegian reindeer herd
ers and drivers and their families, making
party of sixty-eight men, nineteen women ano
twentysix children Among them ar are aa s1s ars
before the sailing Of the steamer from the
Arctic sea. One of these couples had reached
the mature ages Of 40 and 80 years. Inc
youngest couple are 26 and g. and the young
est bride is 22 Among them Is man OF
20 married to woman of so.
This herd of deer is the largest ever brough,
across the Atlantic. They are In charge OIL
William Kjellman, a native of Lapiand, 6u,
who for some years has been In the employ
of the government as an expert IN tne care
said to be fine specimens of their kind They
stand nearly Ave feet high and from point ol
nose to tip of the tail they measure about
seven feet They weigh about $50 pounds each
One deer alone will sledge through the wild.
est passes a load of 200 to 300 pounds, and
a team will draw a heavy load. They are
used to travelling from sixty to 100 miles q
| day. though what they will be able to accom-
| plish in Alaska is matter OF experiment
The immigrants occupied four tourist cars
while six cars were filed with moss. sleds
harness and other belongings of the outht
The officials who have accompanied tne
strange visitors from the far North, say ina
| the latter slept on the deck OF the vessel az
| quarantine off New York, and have kept the
| windows of the sleepers open since leaving
| the East.
! The Lapps, they say, are not as particular
| about cleanliness as they might me, and the
presentation to them Of quantity OF bal
| soap was made the pretext for much rejoic-
ing The soap was used and relished as des-
| sert on the way West in the sleepers ,,
The Great Northern expects to denver the
expedition on the steamer at Seattle In about
three days. Lieuts. Rafferty,, Gurner and
Kelly. of the war department, will have
charge Of the deer on arrival In Alaska
where the expedition is to be divided into
three parties the first going into the inter.o OF
by Dyea, the second by Copper river, and the
third by Cook inlet, each under the ofi1cers
in the order named. m.
The trains go West on the Fergus Fails
division of the Great Northern, and the
towns along that line, Anoka, st. Cloud, Al
exandria Fergus Falls and Crookston will
have an opportunity to view them.