70 



PACIFIC FISHERMAN 



Locating Cannery and Trap Sites in Alaska' 



Prior to the year 190S, the location, 

 approval and patenting of land loca- 

 tions in Alaska, adjacent to the main 

 fishing grounds, was not a difficult 

 matter. Subsequent to that time the 

 matter of locating new sites has each 

 year become more difficult. 



In 1908, by executive order, the Pres- 

 ident created extensive forest reserva- 

 tions in Southeast Alaska, which with- 

 drew from entry nearly all the lands 

 adjacent to the chief fishing grounds. 

 This is known as the Tongass National 

 Forest Reservation. While ordinarily 

 permits are granted to canners locat- 

 ing on this reservation on application 

 to the Forestry Bureau at an annual 

 rental of $25.00 per site, the land so 

 occupied and improved by the locator 

 can not be patented under the existing 

 laws. 



Likewise the government has with- 

 drawn by executive orders large tracts 

 of land adjacent to the fishing grounds 

 of Prince William Sound and Cook In- 

 let (East shore i, in Central Alaska, 

 under the name of the Chugach Na- 

 tional Forest Reservation. A new res- 

 ervation, very sweeping and arbitrary, 

 was created by ex-President Taft on 

 March 3, 1913, of all the islands west 

 of Isanotski Straits (False Pass), as a 

 fish, bird and game reserve. This is 

 known as the Aleutian Islands Reser- 

 vation. It is impossible to obtain a 

 lease on any portion of this reserva- 

 tion since no provision was made for 

 the same in the order withdrawing the 

 lands. Also the vested rights of loca- 

 tors already on this reservation prior 

 to its formation have not been provid- 

 ed for. When this matter is called to 

 the attention of the proper authorities 

 some provision will lie made, undoubt- 

 edly, for these locators. 



Areas Open to Location. 

 The lands, therefore, upon which can- 

 ners may locate in the present proven 

 fishing regions of Alaska, where the 

 locators may feel some assurance of 

 eventually obtaining patent, are con- 

 fined to the Alaska Peninsula as far 

 East as the West shore of Cook Inlet 

 and as far north as Bristol Bay, Kadiak 

 Island, the Shumagin Islands, a large 

 area at the southerly end of the Kenai 

 Peninsula, embracing a few harbors 

 south of Seldovia and Port Graham. 

 The method of procedure in locating 



•This article appeared in the 1914 

 Annual, but as the information con- 

 tained in it is .it' much value to the 

 fishing interests, it is published once 

 more. 



By A. H. BRADFORD 



U. S. Deputy Surveyor for Alaska 



cannery sites on these unreserved 

 areas is substantially as follows: 



(1) Application to the land office at 

 Juneau; describing the tract to be 

 entered, accompanied by sufficient 

 scrip to cover the estimated acreage 

 of the claim. 



(2) Beginning survey of location by a 

 U. S. Deputy Surveyor within 90 

 days after filing application. 



: ' I t nt application and proving up to 

 be commenced 60 days after a notili- 

 cation from the Register of the 

 Jun. iiu Land Office, based upon ap- 

 proval of the survey by the Survc •" 

 i leneral. 

 ill Granting of patent by the Govern- 

 ment, usually from two to ten years 

 after first application. 



The first application filed by the 

 locator describing the tract to be en- 

 tered must be accompanied by scrip. 

 which is the rights of a soldier or 

 sailor who fought in the civil war. 

 This is known as a Soldier's Additional 

 Homestead Claim. The locator, either 

 individual, association or corporation. 

 simply purchases the assigned rights 

 of the old veteran and makes no direct 

 payment of any kind, except a nominal 

 filing fee. to the government. This 

 scrip allows the locator as many claims 

 as may be desired on lands open to 

 entry. Thus a locator with 40 acres of 

 S. A. Homestead scrip may take up 4 

 ten acre claims, or 5 eight acre claims, 

 or one claim of forty acres or any frac- 

 tion thereof as long as the locating 

 power of the scrip as to acreage is not 

 exceeded. Claims located under the 

 Soldier's Additional Homestead Act, 

 which is tlie Act of May 14, 1898, as 

 amended March 3. 1903, need have no 

 improvements at time of survey. The 

 government provides for the survey of 

 these claims by TJ. S. deputy surveyors 

 at the expense of the claimants. 



The Government also provides for 

 the location of lands in Alaska upon 

 unreserved areas under the Trade and 

 Manufacturing Acts of March 3, 1891, 

 and May 14, 1898, where an actual 

 trade or productive industry is being 

 carried on. Under this Act a maximum 

 area of 160 acres may be taken in one 

 claim. Payment is made direct to the 

 Government at the rate of $2.50 an 

 acre. The actual practice has been, 

 however, that the Government is ad- 

 versely inclined to large acreages un- 

 der this Act unless extensive improve- 

 ments have been made by the claim- 

 ants covering nearly the entire tract of 

 land. Only one claim of this kind is 



allowed any individual or company. 



Application for lands under the 

 Trade and Manufacturing Acts is made 

 the same as in a Soldier's Additional 

 Homestead Claim. No scrip is neces- 

 sary. The locator has to file a sworn 

 affidavit to accompany the application 

 to the effect that he is conducting an 

 actual trade or manufacture, and speci- 

 fying the value and extent of the im- 

 provements on the ground. As in the 

 other claim the survey is made at his 

 expense by a U. S. deputy surveyor. 

 Traps and Trap Sites. 



Vnder the existing fish trap laws ap- 

 plicable to Alaska, a fish trap may be 

 operated anywhere along the coast of 

 Alaska. 300 yards from the mouth of 

 any salmon stream, and along the 

 shores of all rivers — excepting those 

 emptying into Cook Inlet, the streams 

 on Afognak Island, and in Wood riv- 

 er — where the same are at least 500 

 feet wide. 



A clear water distance of fiOO yards 

 laterally and 100 yards endwise must 

 lie maintained between all traps. At 

 the present time there is no law regu- 

 lating the length of leads, the maxi- 

 mum depth of water in which the pot 

 may be driven, or the use or occupancy 

 of the trap sites. 



It has been decided by the highest 

 courts within the past year that title 

 in the upland conveys no title to the 

 trap owners who may be in front. The 

 tide lands of Alaska are not of suffi- 

 cient commercial importance as yet to 

 enter into this controversy. At the 

 present time there is no tide land law 

 applicable to Alaska affecting the up- 

 land owners or the trap site locators. 



At the present time the canner who 

 is on the ground first with piles and a 

 driver can assert his right to any un- 

 occupied trap site regardless of who 

 fished it the previous season. This, 

 however, is the exception rather than 

 the rule. As a general proposition the 

 canners respect the rights of rivals in 

 the same fishing region, and a trap 

 location once recognized as that of a 

 certain individual or company is rarely 

 jumped so long as the original locator 

 cares to maintain a trap on it. 



More definite legislation affecting 

 the present uncertainty of the fish 

 trap laws of Alaska is expected to be- 

 come operative within a short time. A 

 bill now before Congress, known as the 

 "Jones Bill," introduced in the Senate 

 by Senator Jones of this state, is des- 

 tined, if passed in its present form, to 

 definitely fix the size and ownership of 

 the trap locations. 



Some of our largest cities derive 

 their titles through the use of land 

 scrip, principal of which might be 

 mentioned Chicago, Seattle. Omaha, 

 Denver. Sioux City, Pueblo. Cripple 

 Creek, Salt Lake City, San Diego and 

 scores of other towns. 



The only logical method today of 

 acquiring title to government land is 

 by use of valid land scrip. Forty 

 years ago the homesteader and the ox 



team were inseparable; today the users 

 of land scrip— the investor, speculator, 

 promoter, lumberman, stockman and 

 the ranchman— ride in automobiles. 

 "Time is the essence of the contract" 

 these days. 



Scrip may be located by any person, 

 male or female, without reference to 

 whether they own much, little or no 

 land. There is no limit to the number 

 of acres of scrip one may locate. 



No residence or other compliance 

 with the settlement laws is required. 



Title to unsurveyed land can be ob- 

 tained in no other manner than by the 

 use of scrip, except by actual settle- 

 ment and continuous residence. 



No residence is required in making 

 scrip locations, without reference to 

 whether the land is surveyed or un- 

 surveyed. • 



