122 FISHERY AND FUR INDUSTRIES OF ALASKA IN 1912. 



earlier, take with them in a boat an outfit and supplies for a year, 

 and, poling up or down a stream, reach the region selected in time to 

 establish a comfortable camp and thoroughly reconnoiter the terri- 

 tory before the actual trapping season begins. If they are pros- 

 pectors, they will at the same time amuse themselves in that fasci- 

 nating vocation. It will sometimes take them a month or two to 

 reach their destination, and by the time they have built or put their 

 cabins in shape and laid out their trap lines winter will have arrived. 



The man who combines trapping and prospecting does not usually 

 succeed very well at either, the best he can hope to do beiug to catch 

 enough furs to grubstake him for his prospecting operations during 

 the next summer. 



The white trapper is usually much more successful than the Indian. 

 The Indian will regard 6 to 10 mink or marten a big catch; a white 

 man would get many more in the same region. An Indian wiU 

 trap in the same region year after year, while the white . trapper 

 will practically exhaust it in one season. 



The Indian wiU rarely set his traps more than two or three miles 

 from his camp, while the white man wiU extend his Une to 25 to 60 

 miles. He wiU require 2 to 4 days to run the hne and he must have 

 a cabin at each end, often with temporary shacks between. Many 

 trappers, especially those trapping lynxes, have small dog-teams 

 with which to make the rounds. 



The life of the trapper, while fascinating in many respects, is one 

 beset with many hardships and privations, and the financial return 

 is usually small. The average trapper does not receive more than 

 $350 for his season's catch. A few make as much as $700 to $900. 



On the lower Yukon and along the Bering Sea coast the trapping 

 is done mostly by Eskimos. There are a few squaw men who trap 

 white foxes, the actual work being done chiefly by their women. 

 The Eskimos are more thrifty, cleaner and better trappers than 

 the Indians ; some of them are relatively well off. The Indian would 

 rather hunt muskrats than go after those furs requiring greater 

 effort. Very few Indians are successful trappers and very few ever 

 learn to stretch a skin properly or to take proper care of it. 



OBSERVANCE OF THE FUR LAW AND REGULATIONS. 



In general, the law and the regulations meet with approval, 

 though there is some objection to those relating to bears and musk- 

 rats. Practically all traders behove in the protection of fur-bearing 

 animals. There are in each region usually a few trappers who will 

 not observe the regulations unless compelled to do so, but they are 

 among the lowest class of irresponsible trappers who have httle or 

 no regard for any law. The worst class and the hardest to deal 

 with are those who use poison, but it is beheved this class is decreasing. 



