Everything under 

 the midnight sun 



i HE first American ship to reach Alaska, 

 after its purchase from Russia in 1867 for 

 $7,200,000, was the cutter Lincoln. The 

 flag flying from her mast and from cutters 

 subsequently sent there was for many years 

 the outward symbol of government in that 

 remote region. 



More than symbols, though, cutters per- 

 formed many functions of government. 

 For the Department of Justice they en- 

 forced the law, apprehended criminals, 

 and transported "floating courts." For the 

 Navy Department they gathered military 

 mtelligence. For the Post Office Depart- 

 ment they carried the mail. For the De- 

 partment of the Interior they carried teach- 

 ers to their posts and checked up on sani- 

 tation, guarded timber and game. For the 

 Department of Commerce they made sur- 

 veys of the coast and of regional industries. 



Medical and dental care reached isolated 

 villages, brought by cutters carrying Public 

 Health Service doctors and nurses. Mar- 

 riages were performed by the commanding 

 officers of cutters. And though today 

 Alaska has its local Territorial govern- 

 ment, many of the foregoing functions are 

 still carried out by cutters of the Bering 

 Sea Patrol. In addition, they discharge the 

 normal duties that the Coast Guard per- 

 forms everywhere. 



One of the notable Alaskan cutters was 

 the Bear which served 41 years on the Ber- 

 ing Sea Patrol, carried Byrd to the Antarc- 

 tic and still came out fighting in World 

 War II. In the winter of 1897, she volun- 

 teered to go to the aid of whaling ships 

 frozen in near Point Barrow. After sailing 

 as far as she could, the Bear sent a rescue 

 group mushing nearly 2,000 miles across 

 the ice, driving a herd of 400 reindeer 

 before them for food. They set out Decem- 

 ber 17, 1897; they reached the whalers 

 March 29, 1898. For 4 months they kept 

 order and staved off starvation among 500 

 natives and 300 marooned sailors until the 

 Bear got through in July. 



The cutter Bzat, arctic veteran. 



