Misc. Records
Where to Emigrate and Why - Frederick B. Goddard, Peoples Publ. Co., 1869
ALASKA.
DURING the year 1867, the United States Government acquired, by purchase from Russia, all that portion of the North American continent occupying its extreme northwestern limits, and known as Russian America, or Alaska.
The territory thus acquired has an estimated area of 570,000 square miles. It is separated from Asia by Behring Straits, only thirty-six miles wide at their narrowest point, and four hundred miles long, with bluff and indented shores. Situated so far to the north, with a long shore line upon the Frozen Ocean, the popular belief respecting Alaska had hitherto been that, in its long and rigorous winters, it had received from the Almighty hand the seal of perpetual desolation, and could never become of any value to the American people.
This belief; and the fact of its ownership by a foreign power, had prevented any general interest in Alaska, arid it was only when the world was startled by the announcement of its purchase by the American Government that inquiry was stimulated respecting the resources of this vast and interesting region.
In Senator SUMNER'S speech upon the cession of Russian America to the United States, we find the most reliable and comprehensive summary of all that is known respecting Alaska. By permission, we avail ourselves of his scholarly researches, and present the following extracts from that speech :—
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
Including the Sitkan archipelago at the south, it takes a margin of the mainland, fronting on the ocean, thirty miles broad and. three hundred miles long, to Mount St. Elias, the highest peak of the continent, when it turns with an elbow to the west, and then along Behring Straits northerly, when it rounds to the east along
the Frozen Ocean. Here are upward of four thousand statute miles of coast, indented by capacious bays and commodious harbors without number, embracing the peninsula of Alaska, one of the most remarkable in the world, fifty miles in breadth and three hundred miles in length; piled with mountains, many volcanic and some still smoking; penetrated by navigable rivers, one of which is among the largest in the world; studded with islands which stand like sentinels on the coast, and flanked by that narrow Aleutian range which, starting from Alaska, stretches far away to Japan, as if America were extending a friendly hand to Asia. According to accurate estimates the coast line, including bays and islands, is not less than eleven thousand two hundred and seventy miles. In the Aleutian range, besides innumerable islets and rocks, there are not less than fifty-five islands exceeding .three miles in length; there are seven exceeding forty miles, with Ounimak, which is the largest, exceeding seventy-three miles. In our part of Behring Sea there are five considerable islands, the largest of which is St. Lawrence, being more than ninety-six miles long. Add to all these the group south of the peninsula of Alaska, including the Shumagins and the magnificent island of Kodiak, and then the Sitkan group, being archipelago added to archipelago, and the whole together constituting the geographical. complement to the West Indies, so that the northwest of the continent answers archipelago for archipelago to the southeast.
CLIMATE.
Climate is a universal master. But nowhere, perhaps, does it appear more eccentric than in the southern portion of Russian America. Without a knowledge of climatic laws the weather here would seem like a freak of nature. But a brief explanation shows how all its peculiarities are the result of natural causes, which operate with a force as unerring as gravitation.
Early navigators record the prevailing moisture. All are enveloped in fog. Behring names an island Foggy. Another gives the same designation to a cape at the southern extremity of Russian America. Cook records fog. La Pérouse speaks of continued rain and fog in the month of August. And now visitors, whether for science or business, make the same report. The forests testify also. According to Physical Geography it could not be otherwise. The warm air from the ocean encountering the snow-capped mountains would naturally produce this result.
The winter of Sitka is milder than that of many European capitals. It is much milder than that of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berne, or Berlin. It is milder even than that of Manheim, Stuttgard, Vienna, Sebastopol in the Crimea, or Turin. It is not much colder than that of Padua. According to observations at Sitka in 1831 it froze for only two days in December and seven days in January. In February the longest frost lasted five days; in March it did not freeze during the day at all, and rarely in the night. During the next winter the thermometer did not fall below 21° Fahrenheit; in January, 1834, it reached on the other hand a temperature of 50° has been noted in January. The roadstead is open throughout the year, and only a few land-locked bays are frozen.
It will be seen by this description that the winters of Sitka are relatively warm, not differing much from those of Washington, and several degrees warmer than those of New York; but the summers are colder. The mean temperature of winter is 32° 30', while that of summer is 53° 37'. The Washington winter is 38° 57'; the Washington summer is 73° 07'. These points exhibit the peculiarities of this coast—warm winters and cool summers.
* * * * * * * *
The prevailing dampness of Sitka makes a residence there far from agreeable, although it does not appear to be injurious to health. England is also damp, but Englishmen boast that theirs is the best climate of the world. At Sitka the annual fall of rain is eighty-nine inches. The mean annual fall in all England is forty inches, although in the mountainous districts of Cumberland and Westmoreland the fall amounts to ninety and even one hundred and forty inches. In Washington it is forty-one inches. The forests at Sitka are so wet that they will not burn, although frequent attempts have been made to set them on fire. The houses, which are of wood, suffer from the constant moisture. In 1828, there were twenty days when it rained or snowed continuously; one hundred and twenty when it rained or snowed part of the day, and only sixty-six days of clear weather. Some years only forty bright days have been counted. Hinds, the naturalist, records only thirty-seven "really clear and fine days."
The whole coast from Sitka to the peninsula of Alaska seems to have the same continuous climate, whether as regards temperature or moisture. The island of Kodiak and the recess of Cook's inlet are outside of this climatic curve, so as to be comparatively dry. Langsdorf reports the winters "frequently so mild in the lower parts of Kodiak that the snow does not lie upon the ground for any length of time, nor is any thing like severe cold felt." The Aleutian Islands, farther west, are somewhat colder than Sitka, although the difference is not great. The summer temperature is seldom above 66°; the winter temperature is more seldom as low as 2° below zero. The snow falls about the beginning of October, and is seen sometimes as late as the end of April ; but it does not remain long on the surface. The mean temperature of Ounalaska is about 40°. Chamisso found the temperature of spring water at the beginning of the year to be 38° 50'. There are some years when it rains on this island the whole winter. The fogs prevail from April till the middle of July, when they seem for the time to be driven farther north. The islands northward toward Behring Straits are proportionately colder, but you will not forget that the American coast is milder than the opposite coast of Asia.
On Norton Sound and the Kwichpak River winter may be said to commence at the end of September, although the weather is not severe till the end of October. The first snow falls about the 20th or 25th of September. All the small ponds and lakes were frozen early in October. The Kwichpak was frozen solid about the 20th or 25th of this month. On the 1st November the harbor at St. Michaels was still open, but on the morning of the 4th it was frozen solid enough for sledges to cross on the ice. In December there were two thaws, one of them accompanied by rain for a day. The snow was about two feet deep at the end of the month. January was uniformly cold, and it was said that at one place sixty-five miles northeast of St. Michaels the thermometer descended to 58° below zero. February was unusually mild all over the country. In the middle of the month there was an extensive thaw, with showers of rain. About half of the snow disappeared, leaving much of the ground bare. March was pleasant, without very cold weather. Its mean temperature was 20°; its minimum was 3° below zero.
Spring commences on the Kwichpak the 1st of May, or a few days later, when the birds return and vegetation begins to appear. The ice did not entirely disappear from the river till after the 20th May. The sea ice continued in the bay of St. Michaels as late as 1st of June. The summer temperature is much higher in the interior of the country than on the coast. Parties traveling on the Kwichpak in June complained sometimes from the heat.
The River Youkon, which, flowing into the Kwichpak, helps to swell that stream, is navigable for at least four, if not five, months in the year. The thermometer at Fort Youkon is sometimes at 65° below zero of Fahrenheit, and for three months of a recent winter it stood at 50° below zero without variation. In summer it rises above 80° in the shade; but a hard frost occurs at times in August. The southwest wind brings warmth; the northeast wind brings cold. Some years there is no rain for months, and then again showers alternate with sunshine. The snow packs hard at an average of two and a half feet deep. The ice is four or five feet thick; in a severe winter it is six feet thick. Life at Fort Youkon under these rigors of nature, although not inviting, is not intolerable.
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.
Since the establishment of Europeans on this coast an attempt has been made to introduce the nutritious grains and vegetables known to the civilized world; but without very brilliant success. Against wheat and rye and against orchard fruits there are obstacles of climate, perhaps insuperable. All these require summer heat; but here the summer is comparatively cold. The northern limit of wheat is several degrees below the southern limit of these possessions, so that this friendly grain is out of the question. Rye flourishes further north, as do oats also. The supposed northern limit of these grains embraces Sitka and grazes the Aleutian Islands. But there are other climatic conditions which are wanting at least for rye. One of these is dry weather, which is required at the time of its bloom. Possibly the clearing of the forest may produce some modification of the weather. For the present barley grows better, and there is reason to believe that it may be cultivated successfully very far to the north. It has ripened at Kodiak. There are many garden vegetables which have become domesticated. Lütke reports that at Sitka potatoes flourish; so that all have enough. Langsdorf reports the same of Kodiak. There are also radishes, cabbages, cauliflowers, peas, and carrots—making a very respectable list. The same, perhaps, may be found at Ounalaska. On Norton Sound I hear of radishes, beets, and cabbages. Even as far north as Port Youkon, on the parallel of 67°, potatoes, peas, turnips, and even barley have been grown; but the turnips were unfit for the table, being rotten at the heart. A recent resident reports that there are no fruit-trees, and not even a raspberry bush, and that he lost all his potatoes during one season by a frost in the latter days of July; but do not forget that these potatoes were the wall-flowers of the Arctic Circle.
Thus it appears that the vegetable productions of the country are represented practically by trees. The forests which overshadow the coast from Sitka to Cook's Inlet are all that we can show under this head out of which a revenue can be derived, unless we add ginseng, which is so much prized by the Chinese, and perhaps also snakeroot. Other things may contribute to the scanty support of a household; but timber will in all probability be an article of commerce. It has been so already. Ships from the Sandwich Islands have come for it, and there is reason to believe that this trade may be extended indefinitely, so that Russian America may be on the Pacific like Maine on the Atlantic, and the lumbermen of Sitka may vie with their hardy brethren of the East.
MINERAL PRODUCTS.
IRON.--It is not entirely certain that Iron has been found in this region, although frequently reported. * * *
SILVER also has been reported at Sitka by the same Russian engineer who reported iron there; and, like the iron, in "sufficient quantity to pay for the working."
LEAD was reported by the Russian explorer, Lieutenant Zagoyskin, on the lower part of the Kwichpak; but it is not known to what extent it exists.
COPPER is found on the Copper River in masses sometimes as large as forty pounds. * * * Traces of copper are also found in other places on the coast; also in the mountains near the Youkon, where the Indians use it for arrow-heads.
COAL seems to exist all along the coas ; according to Golowin, "everywhere in greater or less abundance." Traces of it are reported on the islands of the Sitkan archipelago, and this is extremely probable, for it has been worked successfully on Vancouver's Island below. It is also found on the Kenaian peninsula, Alaska, the island of Unga, belonging to the Shumagin group, Ounalaska, and far to the north at Beaufort. At the latter place it is "slaty, burning with a pure flame and rapid consumption," and it is supposed that there are extensive beds in the neighborhood better in quality. * * *
Gold has been found, but not in any sufficient quantities reasonably accessible. Nature for the present sets up obstacles. But failure in one place will be no discouragement in another, especially as there is reason to believe that the mountains here contain a continuation of those auriferous deposits which have become so famous farther south. The Sierra Nevada chain of California reaches here.
The same writer, who reports iron at Sitka, also reports, that during the last year he saw a piece of gold as large as a marble, which was shown by an Indian. But the Russian engineer, Doroschin, furnishes testimony more precise. He reports gold in at least three different localities, each of considerable extent. The first is the mountain range on the north of Cook's Inlet, and. extending into Alaska, consisting principally of clay slate with permeating veins of diorite; the latter being known as a gold-bearing rock. He observed this in the summer of 1851. About the same time certain Indians from the Bay of Jakutat, not far from Mount St. Elias, brought him specimens of diorite found in their neighborhood, making, therefore, a second deposit. In the summer of 1855 the same engineer found gold on the southern side of Cook's Inlet, in the mountains of the Kenay peninsula. Satisfying himself, first, that the bank occupied by the redoubt of St. Nicholas, at the mouth of the Kaknu River, is gold-bearing, he was induced to follow the development of diorite in the upper valley of the river, and, as he ascended, found a gold-bearing alluvion gradually increasing, with scales of gold becoming coarser and coarser, instead of being scarcely visible as at first.
FURS
Furs have at times vied with minerals in value, although the supply is more limited and less permanent. Trappers are "miners of the forest," seeking furs as others gold. * * * *
Sir George Simpson, the governor-in-chief of the Hudson Bay Company, who was at Sitka in 1841, represents the returns of the company for that year as follows: 10,000 fur seals, 1,000 sea otters, 2,500 land otters, and 20,000 walrus teeth, without including foxes and martens. There is still one other report for the
year 1852, as follows: 1,231 sea otters, 129 young sea otters, 2,948 common otters, 14,486 fur seals, 107 bears, 13,300 beavers, 2 wolves, 458 sables, 243 lynxes, 163 moleskins, 1,504 bags of castoreum, 684 black foxes, 1,590 cross foxes, 5,174 red foxes, 2,359 blue arctic foxes, 355 white arctic foxes, and also 31 foxes called white, perhaps Albinos.
Besides these reports for special years, I am enabled to present from the Russian tables of Captain Golowin another, covering the period from 1842 to 1860, inclusive, being as follows; 25,602 sea otters, 63,826 "otters," probably river otters, 161,042 beavers, 73,944 foxes, 55,540 arctic foxes, 2,283 bears, 6,445 lynxes, 26,384 sables, 19,076 muskrats, 2,536 ursine seals, 338,604 marsh otters, 712 "pairs of hare," 451 martens, 104 wolves, 46,274 castoreums, 7,309 beavers' tails. Here is an inexplicable absence of seal skins. On the other hand, sables, which belong to Asia and not to America, are mentioned. The list is Russian, and perhaps embraces furs from the Asiatic islands of the company.
From a competent source I learn that the value of skins at Sitka during the last year was substantially as follows: Sea otter, $50; marten, $4; beaver, $2.50; bear, $4.50; black fox, $50; silver fox, $40; cross fox, $25; red fox, $2. A recent price―current in New York gives the prices there, in currency, as follows: Silver fox, $10 to $50; cross fox, $3 to $5 red fox, $1 to $1.50; otter, $3 to $6; mink, $3 to $6; beaver, $1 to $4; muskrat, twenty to fifty cents; lynx, $2 to $4; black bear, $6 to $12; dark marten, $5 to $20. These New York prices vary from those of Sitka. The latter will be the better guide to a comprehension of the proceeds at Sitka, which of course must be subject to deduction for the expenses of the company. Of the latter I say nothing now, as I have considered them in speaking of the existing Government.
The skins, it appears, are obtained in three different ways: first, through the hunters employed by the company; secondly, in payment of taxes imposed by the company; and thirdly, by barter or purchase from independent natives. But with all these sources it is certain that the Russian company has enjoyed no success comparable to that of its British rival; and still more, there is reason to believe that latterly its profits have not been large.
FISHERIES.
Here, as elsewhere, in the endeavor to estimate the resources of this region, there is vagueness and uncertainty. Information at least is wanting; and yet we are not entirely ignorant. Nothing is clearer than that fish in great abundance are taken everywhere on the coast, around the islands, in the bays, and throughout the adjacent seas. On this head the evidence is constant and complete. Here are oysters, clams, crabs, and a dainty little fish of the herring tribe called the oolachan, contributing to the luxury of the table, and so rich in its oily nature that the natives are said to use it sometimes as a "candle." Besides these, which I name now only to put aside, are those great staples of commerce and mainstays of daily subsistence, the salmon, the herring, the halibut, the cod, and behind all the whale. This short list is enough, for it offers a constant feast, with the whale at hand for light. Here is the best that the sea affords for the poor or the rich; for daily use or for the fast days of the Church. Here also is a sure support, at least to the inhabitants of the coast.
Salmon exists in unequaled numbers, so that this fish, so aristocratic elsewhere, becomes common enough. Not merely the prize of epicures, it is the food of all. Not merely the pastime of gentle natures, like Isaac Walton or Humphrey Davy, who employ in its pursuit an elegant leisure, its capture is the daily reward of the humblest. On Vancouver's Island it is the constant ration given out by the Hudson Bay Company to the men in their service. At Sitka, ships are supplied with it gratuitously by the natives. By the side of the incalculable multitudes swarming out of the Arctic waters, haunting this extended coast, and peopling its rivers, so that at a single haul Portlock took not less than two thousand, how small an allowance are the two hundred thousand which the salmon fisheries of England annually supply.
Herring seem to be not less multitudinous than the salmon.
* * * * * * *
The Cod is perhaps the most generally diffused and abundant of all, for it swims in all the waters of this coast from the Frozen Ocean to the southern limit, and in some places it is in immense numbers. It is a popular fish, and when cured or salted it is an excellent food in all parts of the world. Palatable, digestible, and nutritious, the cod, as compared with other fish, is as beef compared with other meats, so that its incalculable multitudes seem to be according to a wise economy of nature.
Behind all these is the Whale, whose corporal dimensions fitly represents the space which he occupies in the fisheries of the world, hardly diminished by petroleum or gas. On this extended coast and in all these seas he is at home. Here is his retreat and playground. This is especially the case with the Right Whale, or, according to whalers, the "right whale to catch," with its bountiful supply of oil and bone, who is everywhere throughout this region, appearing at all points and swarming its waters.
Mr. SUMNER concludes his speech as follows:—
An object of immediate practical interest will be the survey of the extended and indented coast by our own officers, bringing it all within the domain of science and assuring to navigation much needed assistance, while the Republic is honored by a continuation of national charts, where execution vies with science, and the art of engraving is the beautiful hand-maid. Associated with this survey, and scarcely inferior in value, will be the examination of the country by scientific explorers, so that its geological structure may become known with its various products, vegetable and mineral. But your best work and most important endowment will be the Republican Government, which, looking to a long future, you will organize, with schools free to all and with equal laws, before which every citizen will stand erect in the consciousness of manhood. Here will be a motive-power, without which coal itself will be insufficient. Here will be a source of wealth more inexhaustible than any fisheries. Bestow such a Government, and you will bestow what is better than all you can receive, whether quintals of fish, sands of gold, choicest fur, or most beautiful ivory.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.