ALASKA
(
see
1.472
). The most important events in the
history of Alaska in the ten years ending with 1920 were:?(1)
the extension of surveys and investigations of resources over
nearly half of the total area (586,400 sq. m.)
[1]
; (2) the change
in the public land policy, which no longer prohibited the utilization
of Alaska's coal, petroleum and water powers; (3) the
granting of a measure of home rule to the people of Alaska;
(4) the improvement of transportation by the construction of a
Government railway from an open port on the Pacific to navigable
waters on the Yukon river, by the construction of many
wagon roads (total roads and trails 4,900 m.) and by the
installation of many lights and other aids to navigation (total 547);
and (5) the great advance of her copper and salmon-fishing
industries, and of gold mining until 1916.
Public Land Policy
.?The political history of Alaska has
largely centred in a struggle for more liberal land laws. In early
days it had been considered for the best interests of Alaska to
transfer the lands to private ownership as quickly as possible
without too close a scrutiny of the means employed. This
policy was completely reversed as a result of the conservation
movement inaugurated under President Roosevelt. The aim
of the movement, as first defined, was to prevent waste of
natural resources; but this issue proving too academic to make a
popular appeal, it gradually veered to a protest against corporate
control of lands and resources. Though supported in the beginning
by the best element in the nation, it ultimately became
involved in the bitter struggle between the Roosevelt and Taft
wings of the Republican party. As practically all the lands of the
Territory were still owned by the Government, the withholding
of the most valuable of these from settlement and development
played havoc with her industries. Curiously enough, the most
ardent of the conservationists failed to recognize the urgent
importance of conserving the salmon and halibut fisheries. As it
was, the withdrawal of coal, oil and good timber lands as well as
of water powers left the Territory with only metalliferous
deposits and fisheries on which to base its industries. A very
important by-product of the conservation movement was the
development at Washington of a mania for the establishment of
reservations in Alaska. In this way there were set aside for
various purposes, exclusive of mineral or forest withdrawals,
some 40,000 sq. miles. For many years the Alaska conservation
issue remained at a deadlock between the executive and legislative
branches of the Government. Meanwhile Alaskan
industries languished. With an abundant supply of fuel close at
hand, she was forced to import coal and petroleum at great cost;
her pulp wood was rotting in the forest, her water powers were
undeveloped. Only gold- and copper-mining and salmon-fishing
increased. Finally during the Wilson administration a leasing
policy for coal and oil lands and water powers was established by
law. At about the same time the shortage of paper had a liberalizing
influence on the regulations relating to the sale of timber
from the national forest. In 1921 the new laws were too recent
to allow an estimate of their effect.
Government
.?The struggle of Alaska to attain representation
in Washington, lasting nearly 40 years, resulted in 1906 in the
authorization of an elected delegate to Congress. At each
biennial election which followed, home rule was the only
important issue, until finally in 1912 an Act was passed granting a
territorial government. This continued the governor as a
presidential appointee, and (unwisely, though in accord with
American tradition) provided for a bi-cameral Legislature. The
upper chamber, or Senate, consisted of two senators from each
of the four judicial districts, serving four years. Sixteen
representatives formed the lower chamber, or House of Representatives,
four elected for two years from each judicial district. This
equal representation for each of the judicial districts gave the
less-populated areas of the interior an unjust preponderance in
the Legislature, and in many instances worked against the best
interests of the Territory as a whole. Congress in the organic
Act expressly retained the right of repealing all laws enacted by
the Alaska Legislature. Furthermore, the Territory was denied
the right to enact laws relating to the excise, game, fish,
fur-bearing animals, or the existing Federal licence tax. It was
provided that the capital should be at Juneau. The first session
of the territorial Legislature was in March 1913, and the first
law passed gave the franchise to women. Since that date the
most important legislation has related to mining, hours of
labour, workmen's compensation, banking and education.
Heavy taxes were also imposed on the salmon-fishing industry,
and from these the Territory derived a large part of its income.
In 1916 the Legislature authorized a plebiscite on the prohibition
of the sale, transportation and manufacture of all alcoholic
beverages. The vote was in the affirmative by 7,958 to 4,431.
As the Legislature had no power to change the excise law, a
petition was submitted to Congress, which passed a dry law for
Alaska in 1917.
Education
.?The white schools of Alaska were in 1920 under
territorial management and were supported by local taxes. Even
most of the small settlements had schools, and five of the larger
towns supported high schools. The Territory founded an agricultural
and mining college at Fairbanks in 1918, but as funds were
appropriated only for the erection of a building, the school had
not been opened up to 1920. In 1919 there were 62 white schools
in the Territory, with 147 teachers and 2,713 pupils. The
education of Alaskan Indians and Eskimos was in the hands of
Federal agencies. In 1919 there were in the Territory 70 Indian
schools, too few to accommodate the children of the 25,000
natives. The Federal Government also made some provision for
medical service for the natives, and maintained six small hospitals
for the purpose. In addition to the Government schools, about 35
sectarian missions were maintained by various churches for the
benefit of the natives. Many of these had boarding-schools and
a few had hospitals.
Population
.?In 1920 the pop. was 54,899, a decrease of 9,457,
or 14.7%, from 64,356 in 1910. The whites numbered 29,000, as
against 36,400 in 1910; the Indians and Eskimos 25,000, as
against 25,331 in 1910; and the balance was of Mongolian and
other races. Juneau, the capital and an important mining centre,
was the largest town, with a pop. of 3,058. Ketchikan, the most
important fishing centre, had 2,458. Anchorage and Seward, on
the Government railway, had respectively 1,685 and 652.
Cordova, the coastal terminus of the Copper River railroad, had
955. Fairbanks, the chief mining town of the interior, had 1,155.
Nome, on the Seward peninsula, had 852. The white population
of Alaska steadily increased until 1915, when it exceeded 40,000.
Subsequent losses were due to: (1) enrolment in military service
of about 3,500 men, few of whom returned; (2) high wages in the
States; and (3) decrease in the gold-mining industry. While in
1915 about 9,600 men were employed in Alaska mines, there were
only about 3,000 in 1920. In addition to the permanent residents
of Alaska, between 25,000 and 30,000 men annually visit the
Territory to find employment, chiefly in fishing, but also in
mining. There were also 2,000 or 3,000 tourists each summer.
Mountaineering
.?The mountain ranges include a number of the
highest peaks on the continent, which have exercised a fascination
for the mountaineer. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to
reach the summit of Mt. St. Elias (18,024 ft.) before the Italian Duke of
the Abruzzi finally succeeded in 1897. Mount Wrangell, Alaska's highest
volcano (14,005 ft.), was ascended by Robert Dunn in 1908;
and in 1912 Dora Keen climbed Mt. Blackburn (16,140 ft.).
Several attempts were made between 1903 and 1910 to climb Mt.
McKinley, the highest peak in North America. William Taylor and
Peter Anderson, prospectors, reached the summit of the N. peak
(20,000 ft.) in 1910, and Hudson Stuck and Harry P. Karsten the
summit of the S. peak (20,300 ft), in 1912. Katmai volcano, in the
central part of the Alaska peninsula, had been entirely dormant
for more than a century previous to 1912. On June 6 of that year,
without previous warning, the top of the volcano blew off and
ejecta were thrown for at least 1,500 m., while the fine volcanic
dust encircled the world in the upper atmosphere. Though one of
the greatest eruptions in historic times, it caused no loss of life,
because the ejecta fell chiefly on the sea and in uninhabited regions.
Railways
.?At the close of 1910 there were 371 m. of railway
in Alaska. This included 20 m. of the White Pass Railroad (narrow
gauge) which ran inland from Skagway across the international
boundary to White Horse in the Canadian Yukon (110 miles). This
line, while primarily serving Canadian territory, gave access during
the open season of navigation to the settlements on the lower Yukon.
The Copper River & North-Western Railroad (standard gauge),
extending from Cordova on the coast to the Chitina copper belt
(196 m.), was completed in 1910. Another line, the Alaska Northern
Railroad (standard gauge), was built for 71 m. from the town of
Seward, and then went into bankruptcy. A narrow-gauge railway
45 m. in length, connecting the town of Fairbanks with the
goldmines, was completed in 1904, and was later purchased by the
Government. About 130 m. of railway were laid in various parts
of the Seward peninsula and subsequently abandoned. In 1912
Congress authorized a special commission to report upon the Alaska
railway situation. The commission recommended that 733 m. of
railway be built, estimated to cost $35,000,000. The project included
two lines: one to extend from Cordova to Fairbanks, using the
Copper River railroad, with a branch to the Bering River coal-field;
the other to run from Seward (utilizing the existing stub line)
through the lower Susitna valley to navigable waters of the Kuskokwim
river, with a branch into the Matanuska coal-field. In 1914
authorization for not more than 1,000 m. of railway construction,
the cost limited to $35,000,000, was granted by Congress. A new
commission was then appointed, and after extensive surveys
confirmed in general the former estimate of cost. In 1915 the administration
announced the selection of a railway route from Seward to
Fairbanks. The estimated cost of this was about twice as much as
for the route from Cordova to Fairbanks. Railway construction was
begun in 1916, and by 1920 383 m. out of a total of 467 m. had
been completed. The entire system was to be finished by 1923. The
choice of the more expensive route and a policy of using only
construction of the highest type brought the cost, at war prices, up to
$52,000,000, with a probability that it would cost several millions
more.
Commerce
.?The value of the total products of Alaska from the
annexation in 1867 to the close of 1920 was more than $1,000,000,000.
In 1919 Alaska produced minerals, furs, fish, etc., to the
value of $71,000,000. During the same year the value of her imports
was $38,925,000, of which $1,449,000 was for merchandise from
foreign countries. In 1919 25 American vessels (tonnage 32,444) and
5 Canadian vessels (tonnage 4,870) were operated as common
carriers to Alaska ports. These carried 295,490 tons of freight and
32,803 passengers northbound, and 278,200 tons of freight and 31,717
passengers southbound. In the same year a total of 370 private
vessels (tonnage 118,169), chiefly engaged in fisheries, were operated
in the Alaska service and carried a total of 465,000 tons of freight
(north- and southbound). Nine river steamers were operated on the
Yukon in the summer of 1919. These carried a total of 9,690 tons
of freight and 1,370 through-passengers. One steamer was operated
on the Kuskokwim river in 1919.
Mining
.?From its small beginning at Juneau in 1880 up to the
close of 1920 Alaska mining yielded a total value of $460,000,000.
Of this 96% is to be credited to gold and copper deposits. But the
mines have also produced silver, platinum, palladium, tin, lead,
antimony, tungsten, chromite, coal, petroleum, marble, gypsum,
graphite, barite and sulphur; and development work was done on
deposits carrying nickel, iron and molybdenite. The value of the
total annual mineral production rose from $16,890,000 in 1910 to
$22,000,000 in 1920. Alaska mines have produced $320,000,000
worth of gold, of which $220,000,000 is to be credited to the placers.
The largest gold production of any one year (1906) was $22,000,000.
Since 1916, when the value of the gold output was $17,200,000,
gold-mining has steadily declined, being only $8,000,000 in 1920.
This decrease was due to the world-wide stagnation of gold-mines
caused by the economic conditions brought on by the World War,
and to this primarily is due the loss of population already referred
to. In the past about 60% of Alaska's population has directly
or indirectly been supported by the gold-mining industry. The
U.S. Geological Survey estimated the value of the placer gold
reserves of Alaska to be at least $360,000,000. This was in addition
to the gold in vein deposits whose value could not be estimated.
Auriferous lodes have been found in many parts of Alaska and
developed in a small way. The only large gold lode mines were in
south-eastern Alaska. Before the war there were near Juneau a
number of large gold-mining enterprises operated at a lower cost
than any others in the world. The small profits per ton were offset
by the very large tonnage of ore. With the increased cost of
labour and supplies mining greatly decreased at Juneau. Alaska
copper-mining began in 1901, and up to the close of 1920 had
produced 308,000 tons of metallic copper, valued at $127,000,000.
Stimulated by the war demand and high prices, the mines made their
largest output of copper in 1916 (59,900 tons). In 1920 the Territory
produced 35,000 tons of copper, chiefly from four large mines.
Copper ore's are widely distributed in Alaska, but most of the
deposits are as yet inaccessible. The richest copper-mines thus far
developed were those of the famous Kennicott group in the Chitina
district. There are high-grade bituminous coals and some anthracite
in both the Bering River and Matanuska fields, the latter within
reach of the Government railway. All Alaska coal lands were
withdrawn from entry in 1906, and patent was refused to all but a few
claims previously entered. This interdict lasted until 1913, when a
coal-leasing law was enacted. Coal-mining was still in the development
stage in 1921, the entire production up to that time being
only 300,000 tons. The output of 1920 was 70,000 tons, chiefly
taken from a Government mine in the Matanuska field. The total
estimated reserves of coal in the surveyed fields of Alaska were
19,590,000,000 tons, of which 12,610,000,000 tons were lignite. Oil
seepages were found at four localities on the Pacific seaboard:
namely, Yakataga, Katalla, Iniskin Bay and Cold Bay, and also at
several places near the N. Arctic coast. Only at Katalla, 60 m.
E. of Cordova, was there any considerable drilling; here there was
some oil production from the only petroleum claim to which patent
had been granted. The withdrawal in 1911 of oil lands from entry
stopped all development. In 1919 an oil leasing law was passed,
and the development of producing fields was expected to follow.
The total Alaska oil production to the close of 1920 was 60,000
barrels. Meanwhile, the Territory was consuming about 5,000,000
barrels of imported petroleum products annually. The only considerable
production of tin in North America was from the York
district on Bering Sea, near Cape Prince of Wales. A total of 1,000
tons of metallic tin had been mined since operations began in 1900.
Alaska had produced in all about 9,800,000 oz. of silver and 5,000
tons of lead. This had practically all been won from gold and copper
ores, for no large deposits of silver and lead had been developed.
The mining of platinum and related minerals began in 1916, since
which time about 1,500 oz. of those minerals had been produced.
Demands of the World War led to the mining of some antimony,
tungsten and chromite ores, but with the decreased value of these
metals after the peace these operations ceased. Quicksilver mining
had been carried on in a small way for many years. There were in
south-eastern Alaska extensive deposits of high-grade marble which
had been quarried on a large scale.
Fisheries
.?The total value of fish products which had been
marketed (1867-1919) was $418,000,000. In 1919 the output of the
fisheries brought in $50,282,000, of which $45,000,000 was for salmon.
Two small salmon canneries were built in Alaska in 1879; by 1919
the number had grown to 134. The fishing industry in 1919
employed 28,500 persons, of which 3,875 were Indians. Ninety per cent
were engaged in salmon canning. The canneries can be operated
during only from two to four months of the year, and much the larger
part of the labour is imported. About 90% of the salmon caught in
Alaskan waters are canned. In 1911 a total of 44,000,000 salmon
were caught in Alaskan waters. This was increased in 1918 to
101,500,000, but fell to 58,000,000 in 1919. The enormous catch of
1918 was due to the stimulus of the war demands, and was undoubtedly
in excess of the number that can be taken without permanently
impairing the industry. In the early days of the salmon-fishing
there were no restrictions, but, beginning in 1902, laws were passed
to regulate the fisheries. The latest law (1906) was a great improvement
on those preceding, but is by no means adequate. As an
additional precautionary measure, hatcheries were established. There
were five of these operated in 1919, at which were hatched and liberated
95,580,000 young salmon. In theory this should suffice to
provide for the annual catch, but in practice only a small part
survive as adult fish. The importance to the nation of conserving the
Alaska salmon fisheries is indicated by the fact that in 1919 a total
of 133,680,000 lb. of salmon were shipped from the Territory. The
halibut fisheries are being depleted even more rapidly than the
salmon. About 14,000,000 lb. are caught in Alaska and adjacent waters
each year. The industry employs about 900 men and 90 small
vessels. The halibut is all shipped fresh; much of it to the E. coast
markets, and some to Europe. The number of cod on the Alaska
cod banks is enormous, but as yet they have been little exploited.
The total annual catch is between 10 and 11 million pounds, and the
number of men employed is only a few hundred. Herring are found
in great abundance as far north as Bering Strait. Whale-fishing
along the coast, once a very important industry, is now limited to a
few shore stations, where the catch is chiefly utilized for making
fertilizer. There has been some canning of crabs and clams. The
Alaska crab, which is the same species as that found in the Pacific
waters farther south, is especially delicious.
Forest Products
.?The national forests of Alaska include all the
best timber lands (total area 20,000,000 acres). These are estimated
to contain 77,000,000,000 ft. (B.M.) of timber suitable for lumber
and pulp. Up to 1921 these forests had been used almost solely for
local use, though some spruce had been exported for the manufacture
of aeroplanes and other articles which require great toughness
of fibre. It was officially estimated that these forests were capable
of furnishing 2,000,000 cords of pulp-wood annually. A pulp-wood
industry was developed in south-eastern Alaska in 1920.
Agriculture
.?Alaska contains extensive farm lands adapted to
raising the hardier varieties of wheat, oats, barley, rye, potatoes
and other hardy vegetables, and forage crops. The most promising
agricultural fields were in the Tanana and Susitna valleys, both
tributary to the Government railroad. Tests in this region showed
that sugar beets can be matured that contain a high percentage of
sugar. Extensive areas of agricultural land are also found in other
parts of the Yukon basin, and smaller patches here and there in the
Pacific coastal region. The best-developed farming area was in the
neighbourhood of Fairbanks, where about 2,000 acres of land were
under cultivation. Here a hardy variety of wheat was matured
during five successive years, and part of the flour for local consumption
was made in a small mill. There is an abundance of good
grazing land in the interior, but the period of winter feeding is about
eight months. Up to 1921 the only cattle introduced were small
herds used for dairying. The Government recently began the
experiment of introducing yaks into this region. The domesticated reindeer
herds numbered in 1920 92,933 valued at $2,238,562 against
22,107 in 1910. This was the natural increase from the original
1,200 imported by the Government between 1892 and 1902. About
70% of the herd was owned by the Eskimo, for whose support the
animals were first imported. Some reindeer meat had been
exported, and the amount promised to increase.
Fur Industry
.?Between 1867 and 1920 Alaska produced furs to
the value of $90,400,000, of which $53,000,000 represents seal skins
taken on the Pribilof Is. in Bering Sea. Up to 1910 the
Government leased the seal-catching privileges on the Pribilof Is.
to private corporations, which killed 2,320,028 seal and paid the
Government $9,474,000 in royalties. The land killing of seal was
properly restricted, but pelagic sealing by vessels of various nationalities
destroyed an additional 976,000 seal. Pelagic sealing, being
on the high seas, could not be controlled by the American Government;
therefore a treaty was signed in 1911 between the United
States, Great Britain, Russia and Japan, abolishing it and providing
that the United States was to pay to Great Britain and Japan
each 15% of the catch made on the islands. Since 1910 killing has
been prohibited on the Pribilof Is. except by Federal agents.
Thanks to these provisions, the seal herd has increased from 215,000
in 1912 to 524,000 in 1919. In the latter year the Government sold
19,157 dressed seal skins, for which $1,501,600 was received. The
value of all furs shipped in 1919, besides the seal, was $l,500,000, of
which over half is to be credited to the fox. Fur farming increased
rapidly during the World War owing chiefly to the high value of
furs. Most of the successful farms are on small islands, and practically
all are devoted to the raising of foxes, though attempts have
been made to raise both mink and marten.
See Maj.-Gen. A. W. Greely,
Handbook of Alaska
(1909);
Annual Reports of Governor of Alaska
(1910-20); Reports of 13th
and 14th Census;
Report of the International Boundary Commission
between the United States and Canada: Arctic Ocean to Mt. St. Elias
,
with atlas (State Department, Washington, D. C., 1918);
Railway
Routes in Alaska: Report of Alaska Railroad Commission
(1913);
Report of the Alaska Engineering Commission
(1916); Alfred H.
Brooks, “The Development of Alaska by Government Railroads,”
Quarterly Journal of Economics
, vol. xxviii. (1914);
Information about
Alaska
(Interior Department, 1917); J. L. McPherson,
Alaska: Our
Frontier Wonderland
(Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 1921); Alfred
H. Brooks,
The Mt. McKinley Region
(U.S. Geological Survey,
1911);
Mountain Exploration in Alaska
(American Alpine Club,
1914); Hudson Stuck,
The Ascent of Denali
(Mt. McKinley)
(1914);
A Winter Circuit of our Arctic Coast
(1920); Ernest de
K. Leffingwell,
The Canning River Region, Northern Alaska
(U.S.
Geological Survey, 1919). See also the reports of U.S. Geological
Survey of U.S. Department of Agriculture, of Commissioner of
Fisheries, Annual Report of Commissioner of Education, Reports
of Governor of Alaska (Washington, D.C.), and of Commissioner
of Education for Territory of Alaska (Juneau, Alaska).
- (
A. H. Br.
)
- ↑
Most of the inland surveys and investigations, as well as a part
of those made along the shore line, were done by the U.S. Geological
Survey, which between 1910 and 1920 mapped about 50,000
sq. miles. The Coast and Geodetic Survey charted the general
features along the entire coast-line and covered about 10% of it
in detailed surveys of important harbours and principal routes of
navigation. In 1913 the International Boundary Commission
completed the survey of the Alaska-Canadian boundary.