The evening times., 1899-03-17
TO Bring SIBERIAN
REINDEER TO ALASKA
Steamer Thetis Commission ed
to Make the Transfer.
Failure of the War Departments
Previous Expedition.
Remnant of the Herd Reached the
Gold District Too Late to
Be of Service.

|
to the effect that an expedition will soon
sail from San Francisco under the direc-
tion of the Treasury Department to dis
cover what has become of the herd of rein
deer shipped from there a year ago to as
sist in rescuing the suffering Klondikers.
| The story said that hundreds Of reindeer
have been sent to Alaska within the last
! five years, and that there is no official
knowledge of the growth of the herds or
where they may be found This story was
entirely inaccurate
| The steamer Thetis has been commits
: stoned to go to Siberia for the purpose of
Transporting more reindeer to Alaska The
Navy Department yesterday made formal
! transfer of the steamer to the Treasury
Department. The Thetis carried the Gree
! ly relief expedition through the Arctic
Sea.
| So far as the reindeer are concerned
/ there is official knowledge of the growth
/ of the herds in Alaska, and there is ac-
curate information as to where they may
! be found.
The first importation of reindeer from
t Siberia into Alaska was made in 1891.
| There are nov two thousand OF these ami
mails distributed in five herds in the vi
cinity of Point Clarence in western Alas
| ka These herds are under the supervision
of the Bureau of Education, Department of
| the Interior.
| The second reindeer enterprise was the
| importation of a herd of five hundred fro
| Lapland About one hundred and twenty
| five of these animals are now near Circle
| City. This enterprise was conducted by
the war Department. Three hundred and
| seventy five of the reindeer died before
| reaching their destination. Starvation was
| the cause of death. During the trip from
/ Lapland to Seattle, involving a transit OF
the American continent by rail, on one
I of the animals died. The losses were sus-
tanned in the timber belt of western Alas
| ka. This belt is said to be between thirty
and forty miles wide, and in this terri
tory the moss on which the reindeer feeds
| is not found. The herd was not driven
through this timber land fast enough.
! Those that reached the clear moss grown
lands beyond the forest belt thrived.
Dr. Sheldon Jackson OF the Bureau of
! Education, tells of the reindeer expedition
under the direction OF the War Department
| as follows:
| The Seminole left Seattle at midnight
| on March 10 in tow of the steam tug Sea
Lion, and reached Haines Mission on the
afternoon of the 27th. There were ro
| barges at that place. and these were OBJ
| tanned from Dyea. The reindeer and s eds
| were landed on the beach during the 2oth.
Brigadier General Merriam, commanding
| the Department of the Columbia, had sent
| instructions TO the commanding officer at
| Dyea for tents and camping outfit, TO be in
! readiness for the Lapp drivers who were
| expected to proceed from Hanes, on tie
coast, to Circle City. on the Yukon, dis
| tance OF over one thousand miles, the lon
ger portion of the way being through an
unknown region.
Owing to the irregularity and unrelia-
bility of the mails in that region, the in
structions which were mailed at SkagWay
did not reach the office at Dyea, miles
distant, for nearly week after they We're
due. This compelled the holding of the
reindeer at Haines Mission for nearly
week. and as there was no moss at that
point they were fed Oh dried alfalfa. the
only forage to be had, and this weakened
them.
''On March 90, two days after the arrival
of the herd at Haines, an unusually early
thaw set in. taking the ice out of the Chill
kat River, rendering the trail to the moss
fields on the head waters of the Thleheena.
a tributary of the Chilkat, where ii was
proposed to pasture the reindeer prepara-
tory to driving them across the country
TO the Yukon Valley. for the time being
impracticable."
If transportation had been ready at Sc
attic. as expected, thus saving nine lays
loss at that place, and the necessary pro-
visions had been waiting their arrival at
Haines, the reindeer herd could have been
driven without any great loss either TO
Dawson or to Circle City. But the delays
were disastrous. With unsuitable food the
deer grew weaker and weaker, until,
March 81, three days after the arrival,
they began to die. On the Sd of April the
Lapp attendant found some moss On a
mountain above the timber line. l. miles
south of Haines. and on April the whole
herd was driven to pasturage, reaching it
on the 9Th ten days after the arrival at
Haines. Eight died on the road
On the 18th the herd was gathered to-
gether and an effort was made to drive it
slowly north up the Chilkat Valley toward
the abundant and permanent moss fields
at the head Of the river. They were so
weak, however that many Jagged behind,
and the herd became scattered along the
L miles between the camp and Haines.
Only remnant of the herd reached the
gold districts and then all danger to the
miners was passed. The failure of the ex-
pedition is attributed to the mismanage-
ment on the part of the War Department.
r-0r rTrrcErE TIT A unTET