REINDEER IN ALASKA. 621 



Arisartook, ;i nativ(\ iuid several herders, they pushed on throuoh 

 the storms and ])itter eold of an arctic winter, driving- the deer before 

 them. After a journey of three months and twelve days, on March 

 29, 1898, they reached the destitute whalers, just in time to save them 

 from great sutfering- and death. 



In heroism, pluck, and endurance the journey of these men has 

 rarely been equaled. Congress voted its thanks to the gallant res- 

 cuers and awarded them special medals of honor, but in the excite- 

 ment aroused throughout the countr}' ])y the rapid succession of events 

 of the Spanish- American war their work was almost unnoticed. 



Since that time a reindeer herd has been kept at Point Barrow, so 

 there is no longer danger of ice-imprisoned whalers perishing from 

 starvation. The experience also showed the faithfulness of the 

 Eskimo. Mr. Lopp had left his wife at the station, the onh^ white 

 person among lOo natives, but during* his absence of nearly five 

 months she received nothing but constant courtesy and kindness from 

 them. 



DEVELOPMKNT OF ARCTIC AND SUBARCTIC ALASKA DEPENDENT ON THE 



REINDEER. 



The original motive in bringing the reindeer to Alaska was purely 

 philanthropic — to give the native a permanent food supply. 



Since then the discovery of large and valuable gold deposits upon 

 the streams of arctic and subarctic Alaska has made the reindeer a 

 necessity for the white man as wqU as for the Eskimo. Previous to 

 the discovery of gold there was nothing to attract the white settler to 

 that desolate region, Init with the knowledge of valual)le gold deposits 

 thousands will there make their homes, and towns and villages are 

 already springing into existence. 



But that vast region north of the arctic circle, wdth its perpetual 

 frozen sul)soil, is without agricultural resources. (Iroceries, )>i'ead- 

 stuft's, etc., must be procured from the outside. Steamers upon the 

 Yukon can bring food to the mouths of the gold-bearing streams, but 

 the mines are often many miles up these unnavigable streams. Already 

 great difhculty is experienccnl in securing sufficient food ))v dog-train 

 transportation and the packing of the natives. The development of 

 the mines and the growth of settlements upon streams hundreds of 

 miles apart necessitate some method of speedy travel. A dog team on 

 a long journey will make on an average from 15 to 20 miles a day, and 

 in some sections can not make the trip at all, ))ecause they can not 

 carry with them a sufficient supply of food for the dogs, and can pro- 

 cure none in the country through which the}' travel. To facilitate 

 and render possible frequent and speedy communication between these 

 isolated settlements and growing centers of American civilization, 

 where the ordinary roads of th(^, States have no existence and can not 



