January 17, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



91 



It was, therefore, with curiosity as well 

 interest that I returned to the Territory last 

 May, after an absence of fifteen years. In 

 looking back on the summer's experiences, 

 a comparison between the Alaska of 1865 

 and that of 1895 naturally suggests itself.' 

 I was rash enough twenty-five years ago to 

 indulge in prophecy as to the future of the 

 Territory. I did not count on the inertia of 

 Congress or the stupiditj^ of officials, as I 

 might now. Nevertheless progress has been 

 made, and a summary of present conditions, 

 perhaps even a peep into the future, is not 

 inappropriate at this time. 



Since 1865 the fur-seal fishery has risen, 

 produced its millions, and declined to a 

 point where its close in a commercial sense 

 may almost be predicted. The first fisher- 

 man sought the cod in that year, and a 

 modest fleet has kept the business going 

 ever since, with more or less fluctuation in 

 the catch. The salmon canner was then un- 

 known, but has since invaded nearly every 

 important fishing site. The placer miner 

 has developed and exhausted the gold of 

 the Stikine region, and pushed on to the 

 head waters of the Yukon and its afiluents. 

 The clink of the drill and the monotonous 

 beat of the stamp mill are familiar sounds 

 on the quartz ledges, which in 1865 lay 

 peacefully under their blankets of moss. 

 The whaling fleet has laid its bones on the 

 sandy bars of the Arctic coast, while the in- 

 novating steam whaler has pushed its way 

 past Point Barrow into the very fastness of 

 the ice at Herschel island, to find, in its 

 turn, its occupation gradually passing away. 

 The imperial sea otter is on the way to be- 

 coming a memory, and the Aleuts, his per- 

 secutors, are not unlikely to follow him. 



As regards the inhabitants of the Territory, 

 a complete change is conspicuous. Some 

 thousands of white fisherman, hunters, 

 miners and prospectors are now scattered 

 along the coast and rivers, on the whole a 

 hard-working, orderly set, with here and 



there a rascally whisky smuggler or a 

 stranded gentleman. Apart from a few 

 mining camps, the parasites who live by the 

 vices of others are few. A country where 

 he who would live must work is not attrac- 

 tive to them. Cut off from direct contact 

 with the rest of the United States, Alaska 

 is really a colony and not a frontier territory 

 in the sense usually understood. As such, 

 its needs should have been the subject of 

 study and appropriate legislation, the ne- 

 glect of which by Congress so far is bitterly 

 and justly resented by the entire population. 

 Into political matters I shall not enter, but 

 must observe that among the numerous ill- 

 paid officials few are well prepared to handle 

 all the difficult questions presented in such 

 a community, and the executive, such as it 

 is, is without the legal authority or the 

 proper facilities for governing or even visit- 

 ing the greater part of the region it is sup- 

 posed to control. The state of the law is 

 uncertain, the seat of authority obscure, di- 

 vided illegitimately between naval officers, 

 the revenue-cutter service, and a powerless 

 Governor, who, whatever his wishes and in- 

 tentions, is not permitted by the law to con- 

 trol anything. If it were not for the orderly 

 character and good sense of the white popu- 

 lation, the Territory might easily become a 

 pandemonium. This condition of things is 

 disgraceful, and reform is urgently needed. 

 The change in the native population of 

 southeastern Alaska is very marked. In a 

 general way a similar change has taken 

 place aU over the Territory. The primitive 

 condition of the natives has almost wholly 

 disappeared. The turf-covered hut has 

 given way to frame shanties ; log houses 

 are rarely built ; the native dress has dis- 

 appeared, replaced by cheap ready-made 

 clothing; native manufactures, utensils, 

 weapons, curios, all are gone, or made only 

 in coarse facsimile for sale to toui-ists ; the 

 native buys flour and tea, cooks his salmon 

 in a frying pan, and catches his cod or hali- 



