The Alaska-Siberia Telegraph, Alaska Science Forum
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Alaska Science Forum
October 25, 1977
The Alaska-Siberia Telegraph
Article #68
by Fran Pedersen
This column is provided as a public service by the Geophysical
Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, in cooperation with the
UAF research community.
The Alaska-Siberia Telegraph (also called the
Collins' Overland Telegraph or the Western Union Russian Extension)
was a pioneer attempt to establish a telegraphic communications link
between North America and Europe, via the Bering Strait.
The plan for the Alaska-Siberia Telegraph was
originated by Perry McDonough Collins, while undertaking a commercial
venture in the Amur Valley of Siberia.
Collins envisioned an intercontinental telegraph
link from California, north through British Columbia, across Russian
America to Siberia, via the Bering Strait, and across Siberia to
Europe. Realizing the critical need for intercontinental
communications-- and knowing of the repeated failures of Cyrus
Field's attempts to lay the Atlantic cable-Collins proposed his idea
in 1859 to the U. S. Secretary of State.
The commercial potential of the project was
obvious to Collins and to the Western Union Telegraph Company, which
became very interested in his plan after Congress authorized the
construction of the Pacific line to California in 1860. Collins
negotiated agreements between various governments and with Western
Union; and in 1864 he submitted a petition to Congress asking for aid
in a survey of the proposed route, a right-of-way through U. S.
territory, and a subsidy in the form of contracts for the dispatch of
government messages. Secretary of State Seward (of later folly fame)
strongly supported Collins, and President Lincoln signed an act in
1864 permitting construction to begin in the summer of
1865.
Explorations for the line were divided into three
parts: one was in British Columbia, where the telegraph line from San
Francisco terminated; another embraced the Yukon River and Norton
Sound areas with headquarters at Saint Michael; and the third was
situated on the Amur River in Siberia. In 1866 a fourth group of
about 40 men was sent to Port Clarence to build the line that was to
cross the Bering Strait to Siberia.
In Russian America, little progress was made
during the summer and winter of 1865. The late arrival of the
construction parties, the shortage of supplies and the difficult
climate all contributed to lack of progress. Despite the setbacks
suffered by the Russian American division during 1866, by autumn of
that year the entire route was surveyed and found suitable. Rather
than suspend work for the winter season, as had been the practice
before, it was decided to begin construction and to continue work
through the winter. The Western Union men, most of them unaccustomed
to the severe northern winters, found working in these conditions a
difficult experience. They had to light fires to thaw out the ground
before they could begin to dig in the frozen earth. One of the
workers, George Adams, commented, "Building a telegraph line with
only dogs and sleds for transportation in the frigid zone is not as
much fun as it is cracked up to be."
By the spring of 1867, over 45 miles of line were
completed in Russian America, and stations were built and thousands
of poles were cut and distributed along the route. But that year's
work didn't matter, for in July of 1866 the laying of the Atlantic
cable was successfully completed and the first transatlantic message
to England was sent. The men in the Russian American division were
unaware of the decision to cease work until July of 1867.
Although the Collins' Overland Telegraph did not
succeed in establishing an intercontinental communications link, it
did bring important secondary benefits to Alaska. The telegraph
expeditions were responsible for the first systematic examination of
the flora, fauna and geology of the area. And in this way members of
the telegraph project were able to play a minor but significant role
in the purchase of Alaska by providing useful data on the valuable,
but relatively unknown, new territory.