Reindeer in Alaska 



147 



over the plains without a road or trail 

 from one end of Alaska to the other, 

 living on the moss found in the country 

 where he travels. In the four months' 

 travel of 2,000 miles, from Port Clar- 

 ence to the Kuskokwim Valley and 

 back, by Mr W. A. Kjellmann and two 

 Lapps, with nine sleds, 1 896-' 97 , the deer 

 were turned out at night to find their 

 own provisions, except upon a stretch 

 of the Yukon Valley below Anvik, a 

 distance of 40 miles. 



The great mining interests of central 

 Alaska cannot realize their fullest de- 

 velopment until the domestic reindeer 

 are introduced in sufficient numbers to 

 do the work of supplying the miners 

 with provisions and freight and giving 

 the miner speedy communication with 

 the outside world. 



The reindeer is equally important to 

 the prospector. Prospecting at a dis- 

 tance from the base of supplies is now 

 impossible. The prospector can go only 

 as far as the 100 pounds of provisions, 



blankets, and tools will last, and then he 

 must return. With ten head of rein- 

 deer, packing 100 pounds each, making 

 half a ton of supplies, he can go for 

 months, penetrating regions hundreds 

 of miles distant. 



FUTURE OF REINDEER INDUSTRY 



Even if no more reindeer are imported 

 from Siberia, if the present rate of in- 

 crease continues, doubling every three 

 years — and there is no reason why it 

 should not — within less than twenty-five 

 years there will be at least 1,000,000 

 domestic reindeer in Alaska. This is a 

 conservative estimate and allows for the 

 deer that die from natural causes and for 

 the many that will be slaughtered for 

 food. In thirty-five years the number 

 may reach nearly 10,000,000 head and 

 Alaska will be shipping each year to the 

 United States anywhere from 500,000 to 

 1,000,000 reindeer carcasses and thou- 

 sands of tons of delicious hams and 

 tongues. At no distant day, it may be 



From a photograph by R. N. Hawley, M. D. 



Formerly the residence of Rev. W. T. Lopp, Congregational Missionary, Cape 

 Prince of Wales, Alaska, who for ten years labored at this settlement. Now the 

 residence of Hugh T. Lee, who in 1 895 accompanied Peary on his second advance 

 across the Greenland ice cap to Independence Bay. 



