Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/327

ALASKA. early settlement of Alaska, and until recently her principal commercial resource. Wastefulness, competition, and the degradation of the natives have greatly reduced the output; yet large numbers of skins of foxes, martens, ermines, beaver, and similar furs are still collected; and on several of the Aleutian Islands blue foxes are being reared in semi-domesticity for the sake of their pelts, so that a regular industry in that direction is arising. The annual market value of the fur product of Alaska was estimated in 1880 by Petrov, United States Census Agent, at $2,250,000.

The fisheries of Alaska were naturally unexcelled by those of any part of the world. Cod, halibut, and other valuable deep-sea fishes inhabit the waters off the coast in seemingly inexhaustible quantities, and a beginning has been made of a regular fishery by vessels from San Francisco. The anadromous fishes are numerous and of the finest quality. Every stream, from the farthest north to British Columbia, is crowded with some species of (q.v.), herring, whitefish, smelt (see ), or other fish, ascending them to spawn. Without these hordes of river fish no Indian could long exist in the more northern portions of the territory, and the natives catch and preserve vast quantities for winter use. The salmon have long been the object of extensive civilized industries along the southern coast, and for years the output of salmon has exceeded 600,000 cases, and in 1898 reached almost 1,000,000 cases. In 1899 the canners employed 1298 white men, 830 natives, and 1859 Chinese. The industry is of little service to the territory, however, as nearly all the labor and the material used are extraneous, comparatively none of the wages earned is paid or spent in Alaska, and the fisheries are being conducted in a recklessly wasteful manner.

. Alaska is too far north to be of any importance as an agricultural country, yet the southern coast, the Kenai Peninsula, and the Aleutian Islands possess possibilities of a limited agricultural development. The soil is very fertile, but the expense of preparing it for cultivation is enormous. The census of 1900 returns only 159 acres of farm land; but the cultivation of this showed that the hardier, quick-growing vegetables, such as turnips, rutabagas, potatoes, carrots, beets, etc., could be very successfully raised. Grasses of highly nourishing qualities grow luxuriantly, furnishing excellent grazing facilities. The climate does not admit of the ripening of oats or the curing of hay, but grass can be stored in silos for winter. Two enterprises which have been encouraged by the national government are worthy of note. One is the development of fox farming, the foxes being bred for their furs, as heretofore noted. This industry promises to become of considerable importance in some of the western islands. The other is the introduction of the reindeer into the far northwestern region. The latter is discussed more particularly elsewhere (see ); but it may be said here that about 3500 reindeer are now in use in Alaska, of which only about one-sixth belong to the Government, the remainder being owned by missions and natives. They thrive upon the moss, but are in danger from dogs, wolves, and reckless prospectors and hunters. They are used as draught animals mainly, and have been of great service in carrying mails in winter, and in transporting provisions, rescuing lost or starving parties of miners and soldiers, and in various other ways. Their introduction seems to be a success. The annual appropriations for their care and for new importations from Siberia have been recently $25,000 annually.

. The coast ranges of the southern extremity of Alaska are granitic in character, and their elevation was comparatively recent, geologically, being probably at some time between the Triassic and Cretaceous eras. The archipelagoes belong to them in geological character and history, and everywhere there is evidence of great glaciation. Much more recent than this, even, and probably the youngest mountain range on the continent, are the St. Elias Alps, which Russell considers to have been elevated, with tremendous disturbance of the strata, since the close of the Tertiary period, when the rocks of the Yakutat series were deposited. The peninsula of Aliaska, the Aleutian chain, and the hills along the border of Bering Sea are mainly of volcanic origin, including several volcanoes which have been active within historic times or are now subject to frequent eruptions. (See .) Hot medicinal springs are numerous, and might be of great hygienic importance to the skin-diseased natives if they could be induced to utilize the waters. The line of volcanic upheaval and activity along the south coast is as long as the distance from Florida to Nova Scotia, and the whole of Alaska and the Bering Sea basin are steadily rising. The mountains of the southeastern interior and along the Canadian border consist of an ancient granitic axis overlaid by schists, quartzites, and other stratified rocks, which have been uplifted and greatly disturbed and altered by dikes and other igneous intrusions and overflows, and are substantially a part of the northern, mineral-bearing Rocky Mountain system traceable southward into central British Columbia.

Coal has been found in many places in Alaska. Its deposits near Cape Lisbourne and elsewhere along the Arctic coast have long been known and occasionally utilized by whaling steamers and revenue cutters. It also occurs on the Yukon, in the Aleutian Islands, near Kadiak, on the Kenai Peninsula, at the head of Prince William Sound, and elsewhere. Costly experiments have been made in mining and using it on the south coast, but it is everywhere found to be only a lignite, frequently good enough for domestic use, but poor for steam-making, because so full of sulphur, etc. This poor quality, together with the competition of imported coal, has prevented its serious use thus far. Petroleum, somewhat exploited, iron of poor quality, copper, and many minerals, earth and building stones (marble, etc.) are known, but are not yet commercially valuable. Silver ore has been found in alloy wherever gold occurs, and some galena ores are known, but little profitable working has been undertaken. The total value of the silver product in 1899 was estimated at $181,000. Gold, however, is widespread, and is now the chief source of attractiveness and wealth in Alaska.

Gold Mining.—The presence of gold in the sands of interior rivers and on the southern beaches was known to the Russians and to the fur-traders long ago, but prospecting was discouraged. About 1870 prospecting began, and resulted in discoveries of auriferous placers and