INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 25 



each having charge of one division. To separate the herd it was 

 found advisable to build three corrals; thereby the work was 

 done in less time and with much more accuracy. During the vcar 

 Doctor Lind made an extensive tour of inspection of most of the 

 herds. The round trip from I'nalakleet to Bethel, Kuskokwim, 

 lasted from November 9 to December 23. The deer finished the 

 trip in excellent condition, onh' one being lost. During the winter 

 an opportunity was unexpectedly presented to demonstrate in a 

 more special wa}' the utility of the reindeer to the white population 

 of Alaska. A contract was taken to haul 7 tons of freight from the 

 Fish River to the Innuchuk country-, over 100 miles distant. The 

 freight was carried safeh' to its destination in spite of a heavy 

 storm which was raging at the time. Some men traveling with dogs 

 arrived thirty-five hours later, thus proving conclusively the supe- 

 riority of deer over dogs. 



The Unalakleet herds did very well during the year. The deer 

 have had good pasture and w^ere seldom prevented from getting at 

 the moss b}' an icy crust forming over the snow. Although the two 

 herds were never less than 20 miles apart, the herders had consid- 

 erable difficulty in keeping the deer from strolling from one herd 

 to the other. During the fawning season the weather was most 

 beautiful and the death rate among the fawns in both herds 

 exceptionally low. 



The health among the herders has been excellent. All the appren- 

 tices have done very well in their work and are liighly thought of 

 by the chief herders. At Unalakleet there are at present not less 

 than 30 Eskimos who live wholly by the deer industry, and fully 

 half that number are indirectlv benefited bv their relatives havins: 

 deer. 



Bethel, Kuskokwim Valley. — It will be remembered that on Feb- 

 ruary 5, 1903, two herds of reindeer in charge of Nils P. Sara and 

 Per M. Spein were sent from Unalakleet to strengthen the herds 

 in the Kuskokwim Valley, and that owing to a combination of cir- 

 cumstances Messrs. Sara and Spein with their reindeer were detained 

 with their herds for ten months in the neighborhood of Andreafski 

 on the Yukon River. 



November 7, 1903, Dr. C. O. Lind, accompanied by Nils Bals, 

 a Lapp, and Nallogoroak, an Eskimo, left Unalakleet with reindeer 

 teams for the herds at Andreafski, reaching the reindeer camp of 

 Messrs. Sara and Spein on the 23d. 



On November 26 a start was made with the families and herds 

 of Sara and Spein for the Kuskokwim Valley (southwest Alaska), 

 which was finally reached December 3. 



Messrs. Sara and Spein were at once given charge of all the herds 

 in the Kuskokwim Valley, taking the places of Messrs. N. P. and 

 P. N. Bals, who had left the Ku:5kokwim for L'nalakleet. 

 S. Doc. 61. 5S-3 3 



