REINDEER IN ALASKA, 615 



$6,000 to continue tlie work. Later the appropriation was increased, 

 and durino- the last severat years has amounted to $25,000 annually/' 



The Siberians were at Hrst unwilling to part with any of their rein- 

 deer. The}' were superstitious and, above all, afraid of competition 

 and loss of trade across the strait. In 1891 Capt. M. A. Healy, Revenue- 

 Cutter Service, commandino- the U. S. S. Thetis, was instructed to 

 convej' Dr. Sheldon Jackson to Siberia and furnish him every possi))le 

 facility for the purchase and transportation of reindeer from Siberia 

 to Alaska. 



In carr^'ing- out these instructions Captain Heal}^ was obliged to sail 

 from village to village for 1,500 miles along the Siberian coast before 

 he found an owner willing to barter his reindeer for American goods. 

 None would sell the deer for cash. Of recent years the Siberians 

 have been but little less reluctant to part with their deer, though they 

 could easily spare many thousands from their vast herds without 

 knowing it. 



The first deer brought over were from the Chukches herds— a tough 

 and hardy breed. Two yenvH ago Lieutenant Bertholf, Revenue- 

 Cutter Service, was commissioned to go to Siberia and to purchase some 

 of the Tunguse stock, which are larger, stronger, and sturdier. Start- 

 ing from St. Petersburg, after a long journey across Sil)eria, nuich of 

 it bj^ sled, he succeeded in purchasing several hundred Tunguse rein- 

 deer near Ola, hired a steamer, embarked the reindeer at Ola with 

 2,500 bags of reindeer moss, and iinally landed 200 of the animals in 

 good condition at Port Clarence. His experiences during his remark- 

 able journey were most interesting, and are admira])ly described in 

 his report to Dr. Sheldon Jackson, published in 1902.'' 



« Congressional appropriations for the introd notion into Alaska of domestic rein- 

 deer from Sil)eria arc as follows: 



1894 10, 000 



1895 7, 500 



1896 7, 500 



1897 12, 000 



1898 12, 500 



1899 32 500 \ '^'"^^' ^*^^' ^^"^'^ 



1900 $25, 000 



1901 25, 000 



1902 1^5, 000 



1903 25,000 



Congress intrnsts the general charge of the work to the Bureau of l'>(lucation, of 

 which Dr. William T. Harris is the distinguished head; the formulation of ])lans and 

 their execution is intrusted to Dr. Sheldon .Jackson, general agent of education in 

 Alaska. Dr. Harris, in his annual reports to Congress, has vigorously urged the 

 importance of the work, and U> him credit is due for a large share of its success. 

 Capt. M. A. Healy, and the many officers of the Re\enue-Cutter Service, whose vessels 

 have, year after year, carried the agents of tlie Bureau hack and forth and hrought the 

 reindeer from Siberia without ciiarge, have also contril)uted to the success of the 

 reindeer enterj)rise. 



^"Report on the Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska," hy Sheldon 

 Jackson, LL. D., 1901. Appendix, Kx])e(lition to Silieria, re|)orf of Lieut. K. I'. 

 Bertholf, Revenqe-Cutler Service, pp. 130-108. 



