The General Geography of Alaska 



193 



trast this with Sitka, where 90° is the 

 extreme range record. 



The rainfall in the interior is light, 

 ranging at various places and in differ- 

 ent years from 10 to 25 inches. With 

 the cold climate and consequent slight 

 evaporation, it is probably sufficient in 

 the majority of years for agricultural 

 requirements. Differing radically from 

 the coast climates, this climate is bright 

 and sunny. There is little dull, cloudy 

 weather and practically^ no fog. There 

 is more sunshine here in a month than 

 at Sitka in a year. 



FORESTS 



The coast, as far to the westward as 

 Cook Inlet, is densely forested up to the 

 timber line, which ranges with the lat- 

 itude from 3,000 to 2,000 feet above sea- 

 level. The timber is mainly, indeed 

 almost entirely, Sitka spruce. There is 

 some hemlock at higher levels, and in 

 the southern part a little cedar also, but 

 these are of little commercial impor- 

 tance. Red or Douglas fir, which forms 

 the bulk and principal value of the for- 

 ests of Washington, disappears in Brit- 

 ish Columbia. The spruce is large and 

 fine, as judged by eastern standards, but 

 as compared with the timber of Oregon 

 and Washington, which is the standard 

 on the Pacific coast, it is inferior, and 

 little use is at present made of it, most 

 of the timber needed being brought from 

 Puget Sound. On Kadiak and the ad- 

 jacent islands there is little timber, and 

 farther west on the Alaska Peninsula 

 and the Aleutian Islands none whatever, 

 nor are there any trees on the islands in 

 Bering Sea. Why the timber should 

 thus suddenly disappear on the penin- 

 sula and islands is an open question. 

 The rainfall is ample, and the climate 

 little more severe than at Sitka and less 

 severe than about Prince William Sound. 

 The suggestion that high, cold winds 

 prevent tree growth is negatived by the 

 fact that such winds occur all along the 



coast, in forested as well as non- forested 

 parts. Moreover, the forest-fire fiend 

 has not been here. 



The interior of the Territory is for- 

 ested mainly with spruce, as far north 

 as the valley of Koyukuk, and as far 

 westward as the delta of the Yukon. In 

 this enormous region there must be an 

 almost fabulous amount of coniferous 

 timber, sufficient to supply our country 

 for half a century in case our other sup- 

 plies become exhausted. 



POPULATION 



The population of Alaska in 1900, 

 according to the Twelfth Census, was 

 63,592, having nearly doubled in the 

 preceding ten years. Of the total in- 

 crease, 31,540, about three-fourths was 

 acquired by that portion of the Territory 

 lying north of the Yukon River, and 

 only one-fourth by that portion south 

 of that river, including southeastern 

 Alaska. Half of the increase in north- 

 ern Alaska consisted of the people of 

 Nome, which had a population of 12,486, 

 by far the largest aggregation of people 

 anywhere in the Territory ; the remain- 

 der were scattered widely over its great 

 area, but mainly in the valley of the 

 Yukon and along the coast north of the 

 mouth of that river. 



In southern Alaska the population 

 increased almost everywhere, but not 

 by any means at as rapid a rate as in 

 certain localities in northern Alaska. 

 Skagway had a population of 3,117; 

 Sitka, 1,396; Juneau, 1,864; Douglas, 

 825 ; Wrangell, 868, and the Indian vil- 

 lage of Metlakahtla, 465. 



Of this total population about 25,000, 

 or a little more than two-fifths, were In- 

 dians, Eskimos, or mixed bloods, the 

 remainder being whites. The increase 

 during the past ten years probably con- 

 sists entirely of whites. 



The population is in high degree a 

 floating one, with the slightest possible 

 attachment to. localities, and subsequent 



