The Washington herald., 1908-01-26
UNCLE SANS REINDEER INDUSTRY
Millions of Dollars Are Now Invested Business Which Was Started as
Philanthropy for the ESkimOS in Alaska

/ Eie"s iu abundance. and which forms the
sole subsistence Of the reindeer
The orIgIla. motive iu bringing the
/ reindeer t0 Alaska was purely pHfIau-
+ lAiople-io give The native permanent
/ food supply
since then the discovery OF largo and
+ valuable gold deposits upon tile streams
/ OF arctic and sgharctic Alaska has made
. 'ie REINDEER necessity for the white
man as wsH as for the Eskimo Pre-
/ f-ous to the discovery OF gold lHfr- W..
/ u''Hin5 lo attract the White settler to
F That desoigto region. bat with the kuoyI-
edge of valuable gold d-uasirs rra--z9r,s
T nave there made their homes. and TOWNS
7 ana villages are already spr.lging into
existence
/ But that vast region north Of tb. Arc
/ uu Circle. with .ts perpetual frozen sub
soil, is without agricultural resources
groceries. ugtaGstgus DC. must De ura-
cured from iae outside. Steamers uuqr
the Yukon can bring food to the mouths
'f the go.d-DelrluE streams. but the
mines are often many miles uu these
NaHaFlga1lfs streams. Already great
e.fheuity is experienced i1 securing suf-
+ ae'ent food by dog train transportation
and The packing of the natives.
superior 20 Dog Teams.
The development Of the mines and The
growth OF settlements upon streams hum
dreds Of miles apart necessitat. some
method OF speedy travel 4 dog team ON
"a long journey VIII make on an average
from fifteen to twenty miles a dav and
in some sections cannot make the trip nj
al, hgcaus. they cannot carry with them
. "a sufficient supply Of food for The dogs.
and can procure none .u the country
through which they travel
To facilitate and render possible fro
QueHt and speedy communications be-
. tween these isolated settlements and
growing Ceutcrs of American cfr.Ifz.-
tion. where the ordinary roads of tho
states have no existence and cannot he
maintained except at an enormous ex-
pensa. reindeer teams thar rrgrfrs -o
beaten roads. and that at the close of q
days work can br turned loose f0 for
age for themselves. are essential The
introduction of reindeer into Alaska
makes possible the detalanmert ns rEa
mines and support of million miners
The reindeer IS 20 the far north what
the camel is TO desert regions. tHa animal
which GOD has provided and adapted for
the peculiar special conditions which
exist. The greater The de1gaa Of cold
Tile better the reindeer tlrives. Last
winter O. party with q reindeer team
made "a days journey with the temne--
ature at % degrees below zero on II
long journey through au uuinralItr5
country dog team cannot haul sufi-
cigut provisions % feed themselves.
deer with 200 pounds 0u rHe sled cam
travel up and down the mountains and
over the plains without q road or trail
from one end of Alaska TO the other.
living on the moss found iu tie country
where hp travels
In the four months travel OF 1000 miles.
from Port Clarence TO the Kuskpkyvfn
Valley and back 10y Mt W A. Kfeu-
mann and two Lahps. with nine sl5dz.
1885 o, tne deer We're turned out at night
TO find their own provisions. except upon
"a stretch of the Yukon Valley below
Anyib, q distance Of forty miles.
The great mining interests of Central
Alaska cannot realize their fullest de-
volopemcnt until The domestic reindeer
are introduced in sufficient numbers TO
do the work or supplying the miners
with provisions and freight. and giving
the miner speedy communication with
the outside world
Future of the Industry.
The reindeer is equally important to
the prosgaetor. Prospecting at q dis
tance from the base Of suppIies is now
impossible. The prospector can 50 only
as far as the 100 pounds of provisions.
blankets. and tools VIII last, and then
he must return. With ten head of rein
deer, which he can manage single hand
cd packing 100 pounds each. making
half n ton of supplies ne can 40 fo-
months. penetrating regions hundreds of
miles distant
Even if no more reindeer are imported
from Siberia, if the present rate of in-
crease continues, doubling every three
years-and there is no reason why it
should uot-within less than twenty-five
years there will be 1T least 1000 900 do
nestle reindeer in Alaska
This is conservative estimate and al
lows for the deer that die from natural
causes and for the many that will b.
for food. In thirty-fve years
the number may reach nearly 1o.W3 900
head and Alaska viii be shipping each
year To the uited States anywhere from
5000o0 to 1O000)J reindeer carcasses and
thousands Of tons OF delicious hams and
tongues.
At no distant day. it may be safely
predicted, long reindeer trains from arctic
and subarctic Alaska will roll into Seat
tie and our most western cities Ike the
great cattle trains that now every hour
thunder into the yards Of Chicago.
Before the end of the present century /
Alaska VIII be helping to feed the 20l001.- /
l00 men and women who will then be liv- F,
ing within the present borders of the
United States.
Copyright, 1905, by RothYn Wallacsl