DOMESTICATED REINDEER INTO ALASKA. 167 



Scandinavians if they have ever met a Laplander in the United States, bnt the 

 answer so far has been, "No." As I said in my previous letter, I think you will bav< 

 to bring them from Norway and Sweden; and I will say they might be hired foi 

 about 40 crowns (] crown equals 27 cents) a month if hired direct from the oh 

 country; hut, as I have said before, they are a funny, suspicious people, and there 

 may be some difficulty in inducing them to emigrate to a foreign country, but they 

 would be a good example for the Eskimo they would come in contact with, as they 

 arc t nisi worthy, and combine a greal deal of reaped for religion with high morality. 



Hoping soon to hear from Dr. Jackson, I remain, 

 Yours, truly, 



C. Tangkx. 



W. Hamilton, Esq., 



Washington, D. C. 



Ortonville, Minx.. February l .', 1894. 



DEAR Sir: In my last letter I promised to write you something about how the 

 Laplanders take care id' the reindeer and make them useful. 



The reindeer generally travel twice a year, spring and fall. In the spring 

 they come down from Lapland to the seacoast of Northern Norway. When the 

 weather is warm they always go up in the highest mountains, and when it is 

 rainy and cloudy they come down in the valley and lowland. Toward fall they 

 start to travel back to Lapland, where they live in the heavy-timbered valleys in 

 the wintertime, and they live on moss. When the deer are traveling the Laplanders 

 have to follow them and keep them together in Hocks. They have to be watched by 

 night as well as by day to keep the wolves away from them. They also have them 

 marked on the ears. In the summer time they have big yards, where they drive them 

 into, where they catch and milk them, and where they also catch the calves and 

 castrate them. They have a peculiar way of doing this. They never use a knife. 

 They use some other remedies. The deer are very easy to break for driving and for 

 pack animals. A Laplander never strikes or pounds his animal. He simply throws 

 him to the ground, jumps on him with bauds and knees, and punches him around 

 till be gets up. 



The Laplanders are very saving people. They make use of every part of the ani- 

 mal, even the horns. The skin they nse for bedding and coats; the skin of the fore- 

 head is used for moccasins; the skin of the legs is used for leggins and pants, as 

 well as many other articles, mittens, and soon. All the tools a Laplander needs 

 wherewith to take care of the flock are a good lasso, a good dog. and a good, strong 

 walking stick, and any man that takes care of reindeer must have the same three 

 things — dog. lasso, and cane ; the dog for helping keep tin; Hock together and driving 

 them where be wants them, the lasso to catch an animal when it is necessary, and 

 the cane when one is traveling in the mountains. 



I think I have told you the principal things, except as to feeding places in the 

 winter time. They must be herded in places where there is moss, because in the 

 wintertime they are fattest, the meat is best, and the hide is best for butchering. 



Hoping to hear from you as soon as possible, 1 am, 

 Yours, truly, 



LORENTZ M. LORSON. 



Mr. Sheldon Jackson. 



New London, Minn.. Februaw .?. tS94. 

 Mr. Sheldon Jackson: 



Your last letter, of February L'T. 1894, lias been received, and [observe thai you do 

 not need my services, the Government having engaged the men necessary for Alaska. 



You request me to give you some particulars concerning reindeer in Lapland, and 

 it affords me great pleasure to be able to do so. However, 1 must call your attention 



