16 



ALASKA. 



der conditions that try men's souls, they made 

 their way from the spot where they were landed 

 at Cape Vancouver, a long distance south of the 

 Yukon river, around the margin of the coast, till 

 they came to the missionary reindeer station at 

 Port Clarence. Here Mr. W. T. Lopp and the 

 native Eskimo Antisarlook. at the earnest en- 

 treaty of Lieut. Jarvis, turned over their herds 

 of reindeer to him, amounting in all to 437 ani- 

 mals: and the natives not only parted with 

 their animals, but volunteered to go with Lieut. 

 Jarvis to drive them to Point Barrow. After sev- 

 eral fearful weeks they reached that station and 

 gave immediate relief 'to those hungry men and 

 kept them alive until the ice-pack broke up. 

 About 100 of these animals had to be slaughtered. 

 The food that they afforded kept 200 men alive. 



The annual appropriations for the work have 

 been as follow: 1804. $0.000; 1895, $7,500; 1896, 

 $7,500; 1897. $12.000: 1898. $12,500; 1899, $12,- 

 500: 1900, $25.000: 1901, $25,000. 



The following table shows the annual increase, 

 together with the number of deer imported since 

 1892: 



only 29 deer were imported from Siberia during 

 the' summer was due to two causes first, that the 

 Bear was able to make but one visit to that coast 

 during the season, on account of the additional 

 service imposed upon it by the rush of miners and 

 others to Cape Nome; and second, that a great 

 epidemic of la grippe, measles, and pneumonia 

 swept the whole region and affected nearly the 

 whole population, and although the Bear cruised 

 hundreds of miles along the coast of Siberia, call- 

 ing at the various camps of the reindeer men, it 

 was unable to secure but the small number given 

 above. 



At nearly all of the herds .many of the herders 

 w r ere sick, a number had died, and the people 

 were in a discouraged and despondent condition, 

 so that men could not be found to drive up and 

 catch the deer and the owners were unwilling to 

 sell. 



This epidemic extended the whole length of the 

 Aleutian Islands, along both the American and 

 Asiatic shores of Bering Sea, to Cape Prince of 

 Wales and into the arctic, along the Siberian 

 coast beyond Cape Serdze Kamen, and up the 



* One hundred and eighty deer killed at Point Barrow for food, 66 lost or killed en route. 



Of the 3,323 deer in Alaska in 1900, 644 were 

 still in the possession of the Government, 1,184 

 belonged to the 6 mission stations, and 1,495 to 

 20 Eskimo apprentices. From 1892 to 1900, 997 

 reindeer were purchased in Siberia, and from these 

 3,342 fawns have been born in Alaska. In addi- 

 tion to the annual increase in numbers, Dr. Jack- 

 son emphatically states in his report that the 

 fawns born in Alaska greatly excel in quality 

 those born either in Lapland or Siberia. The 

 reindeer are developing into larger and stronger 

 animals than the Siberian deer, from which they 

 came. The following shows the number, distribu- 

 tion, and ownership of the various herds in 1900: 

 Point Barrow: Presbyterian Mission, 100; Ojello 

 (Eskimo), 37; total, 137. Point Hope: Electoona 

 (Eskimo), 50; Ahlook, 50; total, 100. Cape 

 Prince of Wales: American Missionary Associa- 

 tion, 526; Eskimos, 460; total, 986. Teller Rein- 

 deer Station: Government, 221;. Norwegian Evan- 

 gelical Lutheran Mission, 100; Tautook, 75; Se- 

 keoglook, 75; Tatpan, 64; Dunnak, 50; estate of 

 Wocksock, 75; total, 660. Cape Douglas: Mary 

 Antisarlook, 400. Gambell, St. Lawrence island: 

 Presbyterian Mission, 70. Golofnin Bay: Swedish 

 Evangelical Mission, 147; Episcopal Mission, 69; 

 Okitkon, 49; Constantine, 12,- Toptok, 13; total, 

 290. Eaton Reindeer Station: Government, 423; 

 Episcopal Mission, 80; Moses (Yukon native), 65; 

 Martin Jacobsen (Eskimo), 20; total, 588. St. 

 James Mission (Episcopal), 92. Total, 3,323. 



Of the 63 herders and their families, making an 

 aggregate of 113 Norwegians, Finns, and Lapland- 

 ers brought out in 1898 in connection with the 

 reindeer enterprise, 3 men have died ; 12 men and 

 their families, aggregating 24 people, have returned 

 to Lapland, leaving 86 of the party still in this 

 country. Of these 86, from 17 to 20 have made for- 

 tunes in the gold-mines since the expiration of 

 their term of service with the Government. That 



American side to Point Hope; also on the Lower 

 Yukon river. 



Reindeer Mail Service. During the summer of 

 1899 the Second Assistant Postmaster-General 

 gave to Mr. William A. Kjellmann, superintend- 

 ent of reindeer in Alaska, as subcontractor, the 

 carrying of the- mail on route 78110. This route 

 called for three round trips during the winter of 

 1899 and 1900 between St. Michael, Eaton, Golof- 

 nin, and Kotzebue, the latter place being north of 

 the arctic circle. The Eaton station is on the 

 direct winter route between Dawson, the Yukon 

 valley, and Nome, and its station post-office is 

 the distributing point for the mails going north 

 to Kotzebue, south to St. Michael, west to Golof- 

 nin, Nome, Teller, and Cape Prince of Wales, and 

 east to Yukon valley, Dawson, and the States. 

 Mr. Kjellmann, being required to return to the 

 States on account of sickness, gave the work into 

 the hands of Mr. David Johnsen Elliott. Mr. 

 Elliott employed Johan Peter Johannesen, a Lapp, 

 as mail-carrier. The service was successfully per- 

 formed with reindeer, each round trip being 1,240 

 miles through a wilderness without a road. 



Early in the year the Post-Office Departmept 

 concluded to give Nome a semimonthly service, 

 and the contract was given Mr. William A. Kjell- 

 mann. Mr. Kjellmann being sick and in the 

 States, instructions were sent to Dr. F. H. Gam- 

 bell to take charge and see that the mail was 

 sent through without 'delay. These instructions 

 reached Eaton in February, 1900, and on the 1st 

 of March the reindeer started from Eaton with 

 the mail for Nome. Mr. S. Newman Sherzer was 

 released from his duties as assistant superintend- 

 ent at the station and appointed manager of the 

 reindeer mail service to Nome. Five consecutive 

 successful trips were made, four of them with rein- 

 deer and sleds. The five trips completed the win- 

 ter contract. The round trips, a distance of 480 



