The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-09-02
AMERICANS were
NOT AWARE OF
ALASKA WEALTH

humous article by Andrew J. Stone,
distinguished explorer and naturalist
of boreal America, published in the
September issue of The Century Mag
azine.
-. He recalls the early objections to
the acquisition of Alaska, how it was
accepted without pleasure, without
even cordiality,', mainly to prevent
any other nation acquiring it, and
quotes some of the comment Of the
time.
while the treaty of purchase was
still under discussion, Benjamin F.
Butler of Massachusetts, said, IF we
are to pay this amount for Russia's
friendship, desire to give her the
81 zoe, 900 and let her keep Alaska
Benjamin F.. Loan of Missouri said
that the acquisition of this inhospi-
table and barren waste would never
add one dollar to the wealth of our
country or furnish homes to our peo-
ple.'"
In general, the people of the United
States-as all can remember whose
recollection antedates the gold rush
resigned themselves trifie bitterly to
the expensive necessity of playing
dog-fn-t he-manger with country of
snow and ice, fit only for Eskimo and
polar bears"
That this attitude of mind was care
fully fostered. for interested reasons.
Mr.. Stone fatty states. He declares:
THE fur trade. was largely reSpon-
sfble for this conception. 1t was enor-
,mously profitable, and the only way
that the company could contain con-
troll of the fur business was by keep
ing white men out of the country; so
for the first % of the 50-odd years
that we have owned ALASKA, the Amer
lean people heard only of territIe cold
and desoh, ton and of g, fur business in
the control of one concern-a Situa-
ton in no way inviting to the white
man 80
'-But little by little information re-
1ating to the possibilities of wealth in
Alaska leaked to the States. Little by
little the imaginary wallis cr11rud,led.
A mere handful of prospectors and
adventures crossed over the coast
range of mountains in the southeast
and plunged into the mighty wilder
ness beyond. Others followed; more
and more ventured into the great val
ley OF the Yukon. BUT they came with
no thought of Alaska as a country in
which to live and establish homes.
They came with no thought of devel
opinS the wonderful wealth that sur
rounded them. Gold, not furs, was at
the bottom of this new raid, for that
is what it amounted to-a raid. And
the raiders cared only to loot the
country and again abandon it to ma
and thousands of inteIhg gent men found
their way through magnificent forests.
surrounded by beautiful scenery and
did not see. They did not think of
Alaska opportunity, but rather
as a source of unearned riches"
Mr.. Stone was probably better in
formed than is any living man on the
subject of Alaskan nature1 resources;
but he is chiefly concerned, in this ar
1tfcle, with setting forth the little
known truth about Alaska as a. region
of the utmost graciousness, fertility,
grandeur and beauty.
From the eleven hundred islands of
the Alexander ATchipelaSo-some of
Them as large as the largest New
England States, some heavily forest
ed, some Srandly mountainous-to the
FNairweather Range on the mainland
which. he says, is lone of the most
beautiful spectacles on the face of the
EARTH, and over the matci1less hin
terland, Mr.. Stone finds endless beiau-
ty- He speaks of the wonder of the
glaciers. and the idea that these mean
barren cold
"Once more" he says, "the popular
conception is incorrect; for these
fields of ice are not indications of
intense cold and great desolation
Huge forests. magnificent ferns as
high as ones head, and luxuriant
Towering plants of many varieties,
elbow them in all the lower attitudes,
and in some instances are found
growing on the very surface of the
glaciers themselves, often forming a
veritable jungle, and with trees
sometimes three feet in diameter and
from eighty to one hundred feet
high In fact, virtually all of Alaska S
3o,000,000 acres of heavy forest are
within the area of greatest glaciers,
in the foothills of the mountains
on their coastal side, and in the low
lands bordering the coast, and on
the innumerable islands.
"A writer and traveller describes
a climb up an easy slope and
through knee deep lupin beds. over
acres of bryanthus, buttercups, for
get-menots, violets, bluebells, gen
tians, gums, asters, and golden-rod.
Ptarmagin, a beautiful grouse, ran
beside us. Marmots whist1ed on every
SIDE, and the terrace reached by us
was favorite pasture for wild goats
from which the hunters kept our
larder we'll supplied
Indeed, Mr.. Stone makes it clear
that the grandeur of the land is not
purely spectacular. useless, and for
bidding to the resident:
The rich farming lands OF the
valleys and the upland and sparsely
wooded ranges represent nearly one
tnlrd or the territory, a Tar greater
percentage of arabic lands than Is
possessed by many of the States
Added to this. very large part OF
the Kenai Peninsula will some day
be devoted to agriculture and graz
ing, and most of the larger of the
Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Archi-
pelago will also be devoted to graz
ing.
Moreover. Alaska has more thar
Hx-l A1.N n mil Of -i,-oh -
beautiful rivers. The incompatible
and famous Yukon, rushing through
magnificent scenery, is navigable fol
twenty-one hundred miles in one
stretch. The Hudson pa1es before it
Its tributaries, too, hold forth an in
vitation to vessels carrying cargoe!
and sight-seers. The Tanana ha.
been navigated for seven hundred
miles; the Chisana is navigable b!
light draft for seven hundred ant
fifty miles. And so it goes, com
fort and beauty together"