Alaska; its history and resources, gold fields, routes and scenery

Preface

I FIRST went to Alaska in 1889, and subsequent investigation and research so impressed me with its future possibilities that in 1893 I issued a small book on Alaska, and gave it the title The Coming Country. Viewed in the light of after developments, it seems to have been prophetic.

In 1895, I issued a more comprehensive work entitled Bruce 's Alaska, and the growing interest in that region seems to justify the publication of this volume, in which I have undertaken to give an intelligent idea of the vast and varied resources of Alaska, its past and present, and the bright outlook for its future, based upon ten years of travel and observation.

A more complete reference to what is known as Southeast Alaska than is herein contained may be found in my monograph in the United States Census Report for 1890, and a more detailed account of the Eskimos of Alaska will be found in my report to the Bureau of Education. Both may be had free upon application to their respective departments in Washington.

While the interest in this region, aroused by the wonderful discoveries of gold in the Klondike, is bounded only by the limits of the two hemispheres, the world does not yet realise the vastness and variety of its resources.

IV PREFACE

On account of its severe climatic conditions, the establishing of new enterprises and the carrying on of mining pursuits can be accomplished only with great difficulty.

I need give no admonition or advice " to go," for already the tide of emigration has turned toward this portion of the domains of the midnight sun, and the bleak hills of Alaska are swarming with hurrying thousands eager to identify themselves with this new Eldorado ; but if anyone expects to succeed there without experiencing the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, he will be disappointed.

Miner Bruce.

New York, April, 1899.

Chapter I Page

History i

Alaska — Discovered by Vitus Bering in 172S — Discovery of Mt. St. Elias — Search of the Spaniards— Capt. Cook — Vancouver — Purchase of Alaska in 1867 — Origin of Name — Geographical Extent — First Lease of Fur-Seal Islands — Organic Act — A Prohibition Country — Liquor-License Law — Smuggling of Liquor — Conventions and Memorials to Congress — Efforts to Secure Congressional Legislation — Homestead Laws Extended to Alaska — Passage of Criminal Law Code — Opposition to Territorial Organization — President should Appoint a Delegate.

CHAPTER II Topography . - 21

Elements of Grandeur — Verdant Islands — Two Great Natural Divisions — Numerous Fiords — Frozen Ground — Immense Valleys — Luxuriant Vegetation — Lakes and Tundra — Guiding Landmarks — Mountain Peaks and Volcanoes — Mt. Bogoston — Priest Rock — New Eddystone Rock — Hot Springs — Cape Prince of Wales — Diomede Islands — Bering Strait — Railroad across the Strait — Railroad from Skaguay — Railroad in Western Alaska — Inducements for Railroad Building — No Large Metropolis.

CHAPTER III Climate and Agriculture ..... 32

Japan Current — Precipitation of Coast Country — Average Rainand Snowfall — Great Diversity of Climate — Healthfulness of Alaskan Climate — Dense Vegetation — Cultivation of Root Crops — Cereals and Grasses — Wild Berries — Agricultural Experiments — Secretary of Agriculture Recommends Experimental Stations — Interior as a Stock-Raising Country — Tundra.

VI CONTENTS

Chapter IV Page

First Discovery of Gold in South-east Alaska — Great Treadwell Mine — Progress of Mining — Rich Deposits of Silver and Galena Ore — Free Milling Ore — Copper River — Cook Inlet — Russian Placer Mining in Early Days — Golofnin Bay and Neukluk River — Kotzebue Sound — Yellow Cedar — Spruce and Hemlock — Timber of the Interior — Bituminous Coal.

Chapter V

Salmon-Canning Industry — Varieties of Fish in Alaskan Waters — Capacity of Canneries — A Cannery Trust — Salmon Streams — River of Life — Development of Alaska Retarded — Cod and Halibut Fishing — Immense Schools of Herring — Oolikon or Candle-Fish.

CHAPTER VI Land and Sea Animals ...... 63

Fur-Seal Industry — Seal Rookeries — Sixty-Mile Limit — England Derives Greatest Benefit — Threatened Extermination of Fur Seal — Paris Tribunal — Lease of Islands — Hunting the Sea Otter — Brown and Black Bear — Thlinkit Legend — Home of the Beaver — The Black, Red, White, Blue, and Cross Fox — Marten — Mink — Polar Bear — Lynx — Wolverine — Deer, Moose, and Other Animals — Eagles and Humming-Birds — The Feathery Tribe — Black Whale — Whalebone — Vast Resources of Alaska.

CHAPTER VII Reindeer 84

Importation of Reindeer — Starving Eskimos and Cause of Same — First Reindeer Station — Arctic Alaska Natural Feeding-Grounds for Reindeer — A Boon to the Eskimos — Habits of Reindeer — Manner of Driving — Reindeer for Transportation — Sledges and Harness — Reindeer Good Travellers — Congress Appropriates $25,- 000 — First Efforts Ridiculed — Failure of Reindeer Importation from Lapland — Heroic Conduct of Lieutenants Jarvis and Bertholf, Surgeon Call, and W. T. Lopp — Eskimo Dog.

CONTENTS VI 1

Chapter VIII Page

Origin of the Eskimo — Resemblance to Japanese — Extent of Country Occupied — An Eskimo Dwelling — An Industrious People — Primitive Manner of Making Fire — Slaves to Tobacco — Oomiak and Kyak — Snow-Shoes — Eskimo Traits — Ornaments and Tattooing — Artiger or Coat — Eskimo Rain Coat — Polygamy Practised — Athletic Sports — Dancing Principal Amusement — Religious Unbelief — Worthy Objects of Charity.

CHAPTER IX Alaska Indians ....... 108

Their Origin — Languages Spoken — Quass — Totem Pole — Witchcraft — Exorcising Evil Spirits — Cremation still Practised — Shamans or Doctors — Expert in Carving and Engraving — Chilkat Blanket — Atonement for Murder — Blackening Faces — Houses of

Natives.

CHAPTER X Missions and Schools 116

Russian Missionaries — A Strange Admixture — Little Progress Made — Indian Attendance at School not Encouraged — Long Neglect of Congress to Provide Civil Government — Public-School System Established — Indian Industrial Training School — Devotion of Missionaries and Teachers — Rev. William Duncan — Christian Martyrs — Evil Influences — The Remedy.

CHAPTER XI Picturesque Alaska ........ 124

From Seattle to Sitka — The Season for Tourists — Seattle — Tacoma — Port Townsend — Victoria — Nanaimo — Seymour Narrows — Chatham Sound — First Glimpse of Alaska — New Metlakahtla — Fort Wrangel — Wrangel Narrows — Taku Inlet — Juneau — Treadwell Mine — Lynn Canal — Skaguay — Dyea — Glacier Bay — The Silent City — Muir Glacier — Peril Strait — Sitka — Mt. Edgecombe — The Far Beyond.

Chapter XII

Seattle the Rendezvous — Detailed Description of Routes — The English Gold Commissioner — Forty Mile — Fort Cudahy — St.

vi n CONTENTS

PAGE

Michaels — Skaguay Trail — Stikeen River Route — New Telegraph Line — Taku Route — Dalton Trail — Dawson — St. Michaels — Skaguay — First Railroad in Alaska — Mackenzie River Route — Back- Door Route.

CHAPTER XIII Yukon Gold-Fields . . . . . . .178

Gold First Discovered — Stewart River as Early Diggings — Its Promising Prospects — Perhaps the Coming Camp — Quartz Ledges on Stewart River — Forty Mile, Sixty Mile, Miller, Glacier, and Birch Creeks — Indian River — Munook — Its Bright Prospects — Character of Gold — Koyukuk River — Kuskoquim River — Large Nugget — Prospecting for Quartz — Life of Placer Miner.

CHAPTER XIV Klondike . . . . . . . . .192

Klondike — First Discovery — Stampede from Circle City — Bonanza Creek — Hunter — Bear — Adams — Dominion — Gold Bottom — Skookum — Eldorado — Alex. McDonald — Mounted Police — First Season on the Klondike — Mrs. Lippy — Mrs. Berry — Country Back of Dawson — Character of Country — Winter Diggings — Burning off — Gulch and Bench Claims — Quartz in Adjacent Mountains.

Chapter XV

Where to Secure Supplies — Amount of Money Necessary — Letters of Credit — Certificate of Deposit — Quantity of Supplies — How to Pass over Summit — Advice to Women — Every Man for Himself — Kind of Sled Needed — How to Care for It — Arms and Ammunition — Size of Pack — Legal Boundary Post — Eye-Shades — Eskimo Boots — Food — List of Supplies.

CHAPTER XVI Disputed Territory . . . . . . .214

The Boundary Dispute — Claims Made by the British Government — The Treaty between Russia and England — Line of Demarcation — Absurdity of British Claims — Ten-Marine-League Limit — Portland Canal — Language of Treaty — Why Great Britain Wants this Territory — An Outlet to the Interior.

ILLUSTRATIONS

A Dangerous Place on the " World's Cut-off," Skaguay Trail ........ Frontispiece

Totem Pole 2

Russian Block House at Sitka 5

Mount Bogoston Volcano -4

Priest Rock, Entrance to Bering Sea, near Unalga Pass . 26 Eskimo Village at Cape Prince of Wales, Western Extremity of the Continent 28

Landing Railroad Supplies near Unalaklik .... 30 Oats, Barley, Flax, Potatoes, Grasses and Clover Grown

by the Department of Agriculture at Sitka, 1S98 . . 36

The Treadwell Ledge 38

The Great Treadwell Mill . . . . . .40

Map of GoLOFNi'ij Bay and Neukluk River Gold-Fields . 48

Indian Canoes n 56

Karluk Sand Spit and "River of Life" . . . . .58

A Seal \ 63

Fur Seal Rookery, St. Paul Island 64

Killing Fur Seal, St. Paul Island 66

Seal in Water . , 67

Eskimo Village on King's Island, North Bering Sea . . 84

Herd of Reindeer Lying Down 86

Reindeer Team 92

Artmarhoke Dressed as a Japanese 96

Eskimo Twin Sisters (Artmarhoke and Zakariner) . . 98 Eskimo Boy, Eskimo Hut, Eskimo Girls, Eskimo Family,

Eskimo Spearing Walrus 102

ix

ILL US TRA TIONS

A Typical Alaska Eskimo Girl .

Indian Doctor

South-Eastern Alaska Indians and Canoes

New Metlakahtla l

Greek Church at Sitka, Exterior View .

Greek Church at Sitka, Interior View l .

Grenville Channel, on Tourist Route

Juneau

The Silent City ....

Front of Muir Glacier j

Crevasse on Top of Muir Glacier

Baranoff Castle ....

Sitka Harbour ....

Yukon Miners at Sheep Camp 2 .

Yukon Miners Sledding over Route 2

Yukon Miners Packing over Route 2

Yukon Miners and Natives Packing over Route 2

Yukon Miners at Stone House 2 . . .

Yukon Miners and Natives at Summit of Chilkoo

Yukon River through the Canyon .

Unloading Freight from Barge at Skaguay .

Winter on the Skaguay Trail ....

Map of American and Mission Creek Gold-Fields

Map of Forty Mile Creek Gold-Fields .

Map of Birch Creek Gold-Fields

Map of Munook Creek Gold-Fields

A Yukon Nugget ....

Map of Klondike Gold-Fields .

Map of Alaska ....

PAGE

Reproduced from a photograph by La Roche, Seattle, Wash. Reproduced from a photograph by Winter & Pond, Juneau, Alaska.

Chapter I

ALASKA is the name of all that portion of the north-west extremity of this continent, which, until 1867, was known as Russian America.

It is only a matter of conjecture how long this region would have remained a terra incognita had not the Imperial Government at St. Petersburg sent Vitus Bering, a Dane by birth, on a voyage of discovery. The year 1728 saw him in command of an expedition whose object was to find, if possible, new lands, and whose course led through the waters east of Siberia until he arrived in the great closed sea that now bears his name.

The object of this expedition does not appear in any degree to have been a desire to contribute to the cause of science; but the prime motives were aggrandisement and to extend the limits of trade.

During this voyage, Bering discovered that the two continents were separated by only a narrow stretch of water at the point now known as Bering Strait, and that the coast of the one was plainly visible from the shores of the other. The year following, this intrepid navigator endeavoured to find a coast-line across the waters to the eastward, but failed in his attempt.

Immediately following this cruise, and for many years after, there were rife rumours which seemed to gather impetus with each recurring year, aided, doubtless, by Bering's own record of his voyages, that a rich country lay in the " Far Beyond," and so the Russian Government was stimulated to persist in its efforts.

In 1 741, Bering again set sail with two vessels. Severe weather and heavy fogs caused them to drift apart ; one of them attempted a landing at Cook Inlet, but the Indians attacked and killed a number of the party, and caused the remainder to put to sea and make their way homeward as fast as possible. illfe^*' Bering, however, sailed farther easttotem pole. ward, and sighted an island near Cape St. Elias now known as Kayak Island. There appears to have been no extended exploration at that time ; for, ere long, we are told, Bering also turned the course of his vessel westward, and, being beset by violent storms, was stranded east of the Gulf of Kamtchatka, upon the island which now bears his name ; and there shortly after, being overtaken by disease, he died and was buried.

u

To this fearless explorer belongs the honour of discovering and naming Mt. St. Elias, which, towering 18,000 feet heavenward, stands a weird and grandly beautiful monument to his memory. This snowy shaft marks the southern point of the boundary line separating South-east Alaska from the great region, extending many hundred miles northward to the frozen ocean, known as Western Alaska; an august sentinel, clad in robes of white, there it stands, forever keeping a silent vigil over the waters of the mighty Pacific.

The Spaniards, in the prosecution of their search for the supposed passage to India, which was the great objective point of their early navigators, were gradually extending their explorations northward from the South American and Mexican coasts. In 1592, Juan de Fuca reached as far north as the strait that now bears his name, and in 1775 we find that Spanish explorers had reached Sitka.

The Russians, in the meantime, had arrived at Unalaska.

Nor had the English forgotten to send representatives to this new field of exploration. Captain Cook, one of the most daring navigators of his time, justly shares with Bering, who preceded him, as does also his young lieutenant, Vancouver, who followed him, the glory and honour of navigating the waters of Bering Sea and the North Pacific. It was on his return voyage that Cook was treacherously killed, and, it is believed, eaten by the natives on one of the Sandwich Islands.

The uncompleted work of Captain Cook fell upon the shoulders of a worthy successor, and the surveys which

Vancouver commenced about 1792 covered his name with glory. The remarkable care and ability with which he executed the work begun by his old commander are, even in this day of improved facilities of maritime science, held in honour; for his charts are closely followed and in the main found reliable.

From the time of the planting of the Czar's flag upon the soil of this great unknown country, its honour was sullied by acts of oppression and cruelty. The Russian- American Fur Company had securely planted its trading posts throughout the new territory, but its rule was characterised by the most barbarous conduct, and it became so notorious that at the expiration of its charter in 1862 the Government was forced to deny further franchise.

Three years later, in 1865, the Western Union Telegraph Company proposed to construct a line from San Francisco northward through the Pacific States and Territories to connect with the Russian line at its then terminus, Amoor, Siberia. Many miles of line were built, but the route failed of completion because of the successful laying of the Atlantic cable, and after an expenditure of over $3,000,000 the enterprise was abandoned.

The path of the proposed route can yet be traced for many miles in the North-west Territory by the poles that are standing with wires stretched between them. The outpost of the party engaged in its construction reached a point and made its winter quarters within sixty miles of the extreme western limit of the continent, and the remains of two members of the party lie buried in graves dug in the icy shore, two miles east of the United States reindeer station at Port Clarence, Alaska.

The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, paying the sum of $7,200,000 for it. At the time of the purchase this was generally looked upon as an extravagant expenditure; but ridicule at the action of Secretary Seward in this transaction has been changed

RUSSIAN BLOCKHOUSE AT SITKA.

to a sentiment that credits him with shrewd diplomacy in thus securing this great territory.

Conjecture is never idle, and various reasons have been assigned why Russia disposed of her vast possessions on this continent.

It has been said that the United States commenced the negotiation to remunerate Russia, under the guise of purchase, for her friendly attitude toward us during the civil war. Many also believe that Russia sought to dispose of this territory to the United States that England might not, in some way, absorb it, and so strengthen her already powerful hold on this continent. The most reasonable solution of the question, however, is, that she wished to be relieved of the care and protection which her subjects so constantly required of her in maintaining the semblance of a government on this continent, so far removed from her own shores. This view is also strengthened by the fact that Russia at no time from the earliest acquisition of the territory manifested any special interest in its development, and that the motives that actuated her in holding her possessions were largely influenced by the Russian-American Fur Company.

While the name " Alaska " has been a synonym for a bleak, inhospitable waste of ice and snow, its literal interpretation will permit of no such construction. The aboriginal word is " Al-ak-shak," and means a great country.

Covering a country eight hundred miles north and south by about seven hundred east and west, containing six hundred thousand square miles, or an area equal to one-sixth of all the rest of the United States, it seems an empire in itself.

It was Charles Sumner who, at the time of the purchase, suggested the name " Alaska," and it was as a compliment in return for his warm advocacy of the purchase that Secretary Seward sanctioned the suggestion.

In 1890, the lease of the fur-seal islands to the Alaska Commercial Company expired, and at that time Alaska may be said to have emerged from a mantle of gloom and desolation. By this we mean that the great barrier in the way of its development was removed when this industry passed into other hands.

The day that marked the lowering of the Russian flag at Sitka and the hoisting of the Stars and Stripes realised the conception of a plan between a few shrewd men who saw in the fur-seal industry a great opportunity to make money. For many years, under the Russian regime, these islands had been made to yield a large revenue to those who controlled the business, but it remained for the men who formed this new combination to make it one of the richest private enterprises that ever thrived under this or any other Government.

Quietly, and before the vastness of the undertaking became known, it had passed into the hands of men who knew how to manipulate it, and for a period of twenty years, millions of dollars were made and many men became millionaires. Nor did the avarice of the combination stop here. Trading posts were established all along the southern coast, and within a short time, upon the banks of every stream of any importance that pours its waters into Bering Sea, a trading post was stationed, and a sharp, shrewd frontiersman, in the employ of this company, was there to trade his wares to the natives in exchange for furs.

It is reasonable to suppose that a combination which had the foresight and tact to secure from a great Government the monopoly of so rich a franchise, would also be able to absolutely control all the territory it sought to encompass from the encroachments of competition. During the entire time that the company held possession of this lease, it took care that the impression should prevail that Alaska was good for naught save the production of fur-bearing animals. In doing this it used the strategy which other business corporations would be likely to use to protect their own interests.

But the eyes of an adventurous world are never long blinded, and during the last years in which they controlled this lease the company was charged with every conceivable crime, and was constantly obliged to defend itself against charges of mistreatment of natives. Investigation, however, always exonerated them, and showed that the complaints were the outgrowth of petty malice on the part of discharged employees or of jealousy among rival fur dealers who were not in the combination.

By the terms of the lease it was liable at any moment to be annulled for neglect or mistreatment of natives, and this would " destroy the goose that laid the golden egg." Knowledge of the business methods of these men will effectually dispel any suspicion that they would, by word or deed, commit an offence that would destroy the source of so vast a revenue.

But there came a time when the grip that this company held upon Alaska must be relaxe^and the spring of 1890 saw the lease of the fur-seal islands pas^s into the hands of the North American Commercial Company.

The whole southern coast was invaded by the pie*^ combination, which established trading posts at every point that promised business with the natives. With the advent of the new company, a monthly mail route, for seven months of the year, was opened from Sitka to Unalaska, and post-offices were established at different points, thus affording an opportunity to reach sections of the country that theretofore had been practically unknown.

While the extension of the mail service has not yet resulted in the building up of any considerable towns or villages, the effect has been to open communication between the southern coast of Alaska and the outside world.

The census of 1890 gave the white population at 4300, but during the last nine years these numbers have been largely augmented, and it is safe to say that the white population will now aggregate 20,000. Since that date, also, the mining interests of the Territory have largely increased, especially in the interior, and with the recent discoveries of gold in the Yukon region the country has grown with great rapidity.

The government of Alaska, covering the period from its acquisition to the year 1884, was more of a military form than otherwise. The only officers stationed in the Territory were those belonging to the customs service. It was their duty to see that any infringement of the laws, as, for instance, smuggling liquor into the Territory, or selling the same to Indians or white men, was corrected ; and, if necessary, they invoked the aid of the military or naval force.

About the year 1880, the white residents of South-east Afeska began to discuss the feasibility of securing some sort of civil government for the Territory. And in the summer of 188 1 a convention was held at Juneau, which resulted in the selection of Mottrom D. Ball as a delegate to Congress. The following winter he appeared in Washington, presented his credentials, and asked to be recognised as a delegate from the Territory of Alaska. Further than to attract some attention to the condition of its affairs, Mr. Ball's visit to Washington was of no great value, for he was not permitted to take his seat. Still, the wedge had been applied to the encasement of the difficulties that encompassed Alaska, and the light of intelligent investigation was dawning on her horizon. During the next session of Congress, various bills were introduced looking to the passage of laws that would give to Alaska some semblance of a civil government.

In 1883, Senator Benjamin Harrison introduced a bill, which became a law the following summer. It is called

The Organic Act of Alaska," and provides for the appointment of a governor, district judge, clerk of the court, marshal, collector, and four United States commissioners, one of whom is to reside in each of the principal towns of the Territory, the other officers to reside at Sitka, which, by this act, was made the temporary capital ; and all these officers were to be appointed by the President.

This act, though very defective when viewed by the light of the past fourteen years, was still a step in the direction of a civil government.

Alaska is essentially a prohibition country. It prohibits the cutting of timber, and the exporting of the same out of the Territory ; it prohibits the killing of fur seal, except under certain restrictions, which give to a company the exclusive control of the same; and until the passage of the law of March 3, 1899, it prohibited the sale or manufacture of whiskey in the Territory, though previous to that date it could be had in almost any village or hamlet within its borders ; and notwithstanding this

HIS TOR V 1 1

absolute prohibition, the Government saw fit to collect an internal-revenue tax from all persons having it for sale. The governor was permitted to use his discretion as to whom he would grant a license.

The attempt on the part of the Government to restrain this traffic in Alaska proved to be a ludicrous farce, because of the wholly inadequate means at the disposal of the officers whose duty it was to execute the laws.

This condition of affairs culminated in the passage of a law on March 3, 1899, providing for the selling of intoxicating liquors in Alaska, and a license to be granted to any person by order of the district judge when a majority of the white male residents over the age of eighteen years, within two miles of the proposed saloon, shall have signed a petition therefor; but the license shall not be issued for a period to exceed one year at a time.

The fee for a wholesale license shall be $2000 per year ; for a retail license when the population is over 1500, $1500 per year; in settlements of 1000 inhabitants, $1000; and in those of less than 1000 inhabitants, $500 per year.

Druggists may keep liquor for sale and for compounding of prescriptions without paying a license, but can sell only upon a prescription of a reputable physician.

As there is but one district judge in all Alaska, who is located at Sitka, and as liquor cannot be sold until after a license has been issued, it is plain to be seen that an applicant for a license for carrying on business in the western part or interior of Alaska may not secure the same for several months after application is made. Indeed the period of the year for which it may have been granted is liable to have expired before it reaches him. As a fine and imprisonment are the penalty for selling liquor without a license, the revenue arising from the business is apt to prove insufficient to compensate him for any infraction of the liquor law.

From the earliest settlement of Russian America down through the years since the purchase by the United States, the liquor question has overshadowed every other, and the sturdy miners and those following other pursuits, and especially the missionary people, have been in constant anxiety as to the effect unexecuted liquor laws would have upon the native population.

The visit to Alaska of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Hamlin, in 1894, resulted in sending into the waters of South-east Alaska additional revenue cutters for the purpose of suppressing the smuggling of whiskey from British Columbia, and although they have patrolled the waters diligently and sent officers ashore for the purpose of intercepting cargoes of liquor known to have been shipped into the Territory by small sloops, the vigilance of the search has as yet been rewarded by the capture of but a very small portion of the amount smuggled.

The nature of the country is such that its many intricate and winding channels afford most favourable opportunities for the smuggling of liquor into the territory, and it is doubtful if any rules could be adopted, even to the regular patrolling of its waters by Government vessels, that would prevent the traffic.

The impossibility of suppressing this traffic became so apparent that the best and most respected citizens of the Territory united in the opinion that the only way to regulate the trade was to have a license law. Such being now the case, the men who pay for the privilege of carrying on the business will see that only those who are legally authorised are permitted to do so. This will suppress the dangerous element known as " boot-leg " venders, who sell liquor by the pint or quart to the natives, and many such evils which formerly existed will by this means be effectually suppressed.

In 1888, the Democrats of Alaska formed a party organisation and sent two delegates to the Democratic National Convention. These delegates were permitted to take their seats, and this was the first representation of the Territory by her citizens.

In the fall of 1889 the Republicans organised and held a convention at Juneau, and adopted a memorial to be presented to members of Congress. The author of this book drafted the memorial, and was delegated to proceed to Washington and present it to both houses of Congress. He was also chosen a member of the National Republican Committee from Alaska.]

The memorial referred to represented clearly the condition of affairs in the Territory, and is here given in full, as follows :

To the Republican Members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives :