INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 123 



modes of life of the Eskimos must be changed to some degree from a 

 hunting to a pastoral life. 



On his return to Washington he advocated an appropriation by 

 Congress for the purpose of purchasing reindeer in Siberia and trans- 

 porting them to Alaska. The proposition was new; it took time to 

 convince Congress of the practicability of the plan, and the first bills 

 to that end failed to pass. Meanwliile Doctor Jackson, fii-m in his 

 conviction, and with the approval of the Commissioner of Education, 

 to whom likewise much credit is due for his cordial cooperation, 

 appealed to the public tluough the press — described the condition of 

 the Eskimo people and asked the aid of charitable persons to inaugu- 

 rate his scheme. "The response was prompt and generous." He 

 received something over $2,000, and b}" the aid of a revenue cutter in 

 arctic w^aters, assigned by the Secretary of the Treasury to transport 

 the deer, he proceeded to procure the fu'st reindeer from the semi- 

 savage tribes in Siberia. 



This first importation consisted of only 16 head. They were landed 

 in Unalaska in the autumn of 1891. During the summer of 1S92 he 

 made five visits to Siberia and purchased and imported 171 head of 

 reindeer. These were landed at Port Clarence, where, on the 29tli of 

 June in the same year, an institution for their breeding was established 

 and named after Hon. H. M. Teller, Senator from Colorado, who had 

 taken much interest in the enterprise. 



In 1893 Doctor Jackson purchased in Siberia and added to the 

 Alaska herd 127 deer, and 79 fawns were born to the herd already 

 imported. In the same year Congress made the first appropriation 

 for tliis work — "$6,000, to be expended under the direction of the 

 Secretary of the Interior, for the purpose of introducmg and main- 

 taining in the Territory of Alaska reindeer for domestic purposes." 

 Siberian herders were employed at fu'st, but it was soon realized that 

 the Lapps were the best teachers for the Eskimos, and so in 1894 seven 

 Lapp herders were brought over from Norway. For their traveling 

 expenses Doctor Jackson again had to call upon private beneficence. 

 He also hired a superintendent of the work, Mr. W. A. Kjellmann, 

 who proved himself most efficient. The work was now fairly started, 

 and Congress increased the appropriations. 



In the meantime there was a steady progress in the growth of the 

 herd. Some importations were made every year, except in 1896 

 and 1897. The average increase in the herd for ten years has l)een 

 42 per cent. This is not the percentage of the fawns born, but the 

 percentage of fawns wliich lived tlu-ough the year in which they were 

 born. 



This includes, among the killed for the year 1897, 180 deer driven 

 to Point Barrow to feed the starving whalemen and 66 which were 

 lost or killed on the way up there. I regret that I have no later data 



