11 
convenient season.” Senator Gwinn from California was also 
strongly appealed to to advocate this measure conjointly with 
Secretary Cass ; to his credit be it written that then and there he 
offered the government of Russia the sum of $6,000,000 for the 
territory of Alaska. [See Hon. Charles Sumner’s speech on the 
cession of Alaska.] 
The great rebellion in the Southern States paralyzed our 
national industry, on the Pacific slope we felt its baneful influence 
in obstructing many enterprizes. At the restoration of peace 
our people branched out into new channels of industry and 
general prosperity prevailed. "Whaling vessels visiting Behring 
Sea and the Arctic Ocean took cod in more or less quantities, 
and the abundance of those and other desirable fish in the 
waters bathing the Russian possessions became known to our 
people, and some of our adventurous fishermen made occasional 
raids on those fishing grounds and in a few weeks returned 
laden with the products of those waters. 
In the spring of 1866 Captain Turner sailed from San Fran¬ 
cisco in the schr. “ Porpoisehe pursued a northerly course, 
calling at Queen Charlotte’s, Unga, and Shumagin islands; 
around the latter named group he found safe harbors, fuel, 
water and other facilities for prosecuting his business, while on 
the grounds fringing those isles he found large, plump, healthy 
codfish in such numbers as to enable him to fill his vessel in a 
few weeks. After an absence of three months this “hardy 
toiler on the sea” returned to the “ Bay City,” having performed 
a successful porpoise voyage, the honored pioneer of the north¬ 
western salt fisheries. 
In January, 1866, the aqthor, while attending the session of 
the legislature at Olympia, the capital of Washington Territory, 
determined to make another bold push for Alaska, by soliciting 
the good offices of our government for the purpose of obtaining 
a permanent foothold, and to open the prolific fishing grounds in 
those regions to our ambitious fishermen. To this end we 
penned the following: 
“ Memorial. To His Excellency Andrew Johnson, President 
of the United States. Your memorialists — the Legislative 
Assembly of Washington Territory, beg leave to show that vast 
quantities of cod, halibut and salmon of excellent quality, are 
found along the shores of Russian America. Your memorialists 
respectfully request your Excellency to obtain such rights and 
