REINDEER AND MUSK-OX 



APPENDIX No. II 



REVIEW OF THE ALASInL^N REINDEER SERVICE OF THE UNITED 



STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AS COMPILED 



FROM THE OFFICIAL REPORTS OF THE UNITED 



STATES GOVERNMENT. 



In the summer of 1890, Dr. Sheldon Jackson, United States General Agent 

 of Education in Alaska, accompanied the revenue cutter Bear in its annual 

 cruise in Bering sea and the Arctic ocean, visiting all the important villages on 

 both the Alaskan and Siberian shores. He found the Alaskan Eskimos in a 

 deplorable condition. They were eking out a precarious existence upon the few 

 whale, seal, and walrus that they could catch, while, across Bering strait, in 

 Siberia, but a few miles from Alaska, with climate and country precisely similar, 

 were tens of thousands of tame reindeer supporting thousands of natives. The 

 flesh and milk of the reindeer furnished food, its skin provided clothing and 

 bedding, and in winter the reindeer made possible rapid communication between 



ICiiroin'aii Reindeer, Teller, Alaska. 



the scattered villages. Dr. Jackson was impressed with the fact that it would 

 be wise national policy to introduce domestic reindeer from Siberia into Alaska 

 as a source of supply for food and clothing to the Alaskan Eskimos, and on 

 his return to Washington, in September, 1890, brought the matter to the atten- 

 tion of the Commissioner of Education, Dr. W. T. Harris, who endorsed the 

 project and gave it his enthusiastic support. Pending the approval of a congres- 

 sional appropriation for the support of the enterprise, an appeal was made to 

 benevolent individuals for a preliminary sum in order that the experiment 

 might be commenced at once. The sum of $2,146 was secured, and sixteen 

 reindeer were purchased in 1891, and 171 in 1892. These deer were obtained 

 from Cape Serdqe and South Head, Siberia, and were brought over on the 

 revenue cutter Bear to Port Clarence. Siberian herders were brought over 



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