94 REPORT ON INTRODUCTION OF 



Minneapolis, March 24, 1SD4. 

 Dr. Sheldon Jackson, 



Washington, D. C. : 



Your honored favor of the 22d is on hand, and I am sorry that my application for 

 a position came too late, and that the places have already heen filled. 



Concerning your request to send you some information on the breeding and train- 

 ing of reindeer in Lapland, I shall be pleased to tell you all I know. However, I am 

 not personally familiar with that part of the country. I am well acquainted with 

 some Norwegian mountaineer Finlauders who drive their herds on the Norwegian 

 mountain ranges, and through these I could obtain the desired information for you. 

 In mean time, I will take the liberty to write you the points known to me on this 

 subject. 



By reason of their instinct, which enables the reindeer to discover the moss even 

 underneath thesuow, the Finlauder is forced to lead a nomadic life in the mountainous 

 regions extending from the North Cape toward the southern parts of Norway. During 

 the summer the herds preferably remain in the northern parts of the country where 

 the reindeer-moss grows in large quantities, while as soon as the winter approaches 

 they travel toward the south and partly near the seashores, where the climate is more 

 temperate. The Finlanders do not keep any special watch over their herds during 

 these journeys, and their chief occupation consists in holding the reindeer together. 

 For this purpose they keep trained dogs, so called reindeer dogs, which late and early 

 surround the herds and watch them. In the winter it may be at times difficult even 

 for the dogs to advance, but then the Finlauder uses as mode of conveyance his indis- 

 pensable snow-skates (ski, pi. skier), which he understands how to manage in a mas- 

 terly way. The reindeer are, as a rule, not driven toward certain tracts, but are per- 

 mitted to go where their instinct leads them. The reindeer possesses a remarkable 

 skill in digging out the moss with his forelegs from underneath the snow. His worst 

 enemy is the wolf, which nearly always follows the herds at a greater or shorter dis- 

 tance. The dog is also in this instance the faithful assistant of the Finlauder by 

 giving him warning and keeping these beasts at a safe distance; yet it happens quite 

 frequently that the wolves take the herds by surprise, and then the herders are obliged 

 to use their rifles. The season when the reindeer cows calve is considered by the 

 Finlander the most prosperous time of the year; his foremost wishes aie fulfilled 

 whenever the number of his herds has been increased, and his prosperity depends 

 largely on the number of reindeer which he owns. 



The calves are born during the summer season, all more or less about the same 

 time; they do not seem to need any principal care except that the new-born calves 

 must be marked, as they generally are able to follow the mother cow for food imme- 

 diately after their birth. During the winter, while the Finlanders are stationed in 

 the southern regions, and especially when near a branch of the river with steamboat 

 landings, the killing of the fattest animals is undertaken. The hind legs are cut 

 into large pieces of different sizes, and these are taken to the city for sale, while the 

 rest, even the smallest parts, are made use of by the Finlauder himself for almost any 

 purpose. 



This, in short, is all 1 am able to state regarding the management of reindeer, and 

 I shall be very pleased to know that it can be of use to you. On the whole, you will 

 find that the care of reindeer is very simple. The principal duties consist in watch- 

 ing that noue are lost. 



Permit me to ask you, before I close my letter, to kindly keep me in remembrance in 

 case of any future vacancies. I have been without work for some time and would 

 be under the greatest obligations to you for employment of whatever nature it may be. 

 Most respectfully, yours, 



P. A. Lokyick, 1304 Fifth street S. 



