INTRODUCTION OP' DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 13 



However, notwitlistauding all these difficulties and delays, Captain 

 Healy, with the Bear, coasted from 1,200 to 1,500 miles, calling at the 

 various villages and holding conferences with the leading reindeer 

 owners on the Siberian coast. Arrangements were made for the pur- 

 chase of animals the following season. Then, to answer the question 

 whether reindeer could be purchased and transported alive, I bought 

 16 head, kept them on shipboard for some three weeks, passing through 

 a gale so severe that the ship had to "lie to," and finally landed them 

 in good condition at Amaknak Island, in the harbor of Unalaska. 



Upon my return to Washington City in the fall of 1891 the question 

 was again urged upon the attention of Congress, and on the 17th of 

 December, 1891, Hon. H. M. Teller introduced a bill (S. 1109) appro- 

 priating $15,000, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of 

 the Interior, for the purpose of introducing and maintaining in the Ter- 

 ritory of Alaska reindeer for domestic purposes. This bill was referred 

 to the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, Hon. Algernon S. Pad- 

 dock, chairman. The committee took favorable action, and the bill was 

 passed by the Senate on May 23, 1892. On the following day it was 

 reiDorted to the House of Representatives and referred to the Commit- 

 tee on Appropriations. A similar bill (H. R. 7764) was introduced into 

 the House of Eepresentatives by Hon. A. C. Durborow and referred to 

 the Committee on Agriculture. 



On April 15 Hon. S. B. Alexander, of North Carolina, rej)orted the 

 bill to the House of Representatives with the approval of the Com- 

 mittee on Agriculture. The bill was placed on the calendar, but failed 

 to pass the House. 



On the 2d of May, 1892, 1 started for my third summer's work on the 

 coast of Siberia and Arctic Alaska in the United States revenue cutter 

 Bear, Capt. M. A. Healy, commanding, and, upon the 29th of June fol- 

 lowing, selected in the northeast corner of Port Clarence (the nearest 

 good harbor to Bering Straits on the American side) a suitable location 

 for the establishment of an industrial school, the principal industry of 

 which is the management and propagation of domestic reindeer. The 

 institution is named the Teller Reindeer Station. 



During the summer of 1892 I made five visits to Siberia, purchasing 

 and transporting to Port Clarence 171 head of reindeer. I also super- 

 intended the erection of a large building for the officers and residence 

 of the superintendent of the station, Mr. Miner W. Bruce, of Nebraska. 



Returning to Washington in the early winter, agitation was at once 

 commenced before Congress, resulting in an appropriation by the Fifty- 

 second Congress, second session (March 3, 1893), of "16,000, to be 

 expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, for the 

 purpose of introducing and maintaining in the Territory of Alaska 

 reindeer for domestic purposes." The management of this fund was 

 wisely laid upon the Commissioner of Education and was made a part 

 of the school system of Alaska. 



