Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/329

ALASKA. of the Yukon district in Canada which passed through Alaska for exportation. One hundred and eighty-six American and one hundred and twenty-seven foreign vessels entered Alaskan ports during the year.

. The natives of Alaska consisted of several different peoples. The bulk of northern Alaska and its coasts were originally occupied by people of Eskimo stock. These were in contact with the Athabascan Indians, who occupied the mountains eastward, the valley of the Yukon, and the south coast region as far west as Cook's Inlet, beyond which the Aleutian Islands were possessed by an entirely separate people, the Aleuts. The coast and islands from Yakutat Bay southward to Puget Sound were held by the advanced and skillful tribes of the Thlinkeet race. The numbers of all these, when first encountered by the Russians, can only be surmised. The first careful census was that of 1880, which gave 31,240 as the total native population of unmixed blood. The census of 1900 reported 29,536. More than half of these are Eskimos. The natives of Alaska have shown a greater willingness to adopt a civilized manner of life than most of the other native American tribes. Whole communities have taken up the vocations of white men. The native shows a willingness to work, which is quite unusual among people of his race. The United States has not forced the reservation system upon him, and he has always been self-supporting. However, his present status, in many instances, is most pitiable. Fishing companies, in disregard of the rights or interests of the natives, have depleted many of the streams of their supply of fish, thus destroying the Indian's principal source of a livelihood. The destruction of fur-bearing animals does him similar injury. The denial of citizenship, which he is eager to assume, prevents him from locating mining claims, acting as pilot, and enjoying other privileges which are granted as a matter of course to his intruding white neighbor. Other influences toward his decrease and degradation are the ease with which he may obtain or make intoxicating liquor, despite prohibitory laws, and the spread of syphilitic diseases. For an ethnological description of the natives, see articles, and.

The white population for many years after the departure of the Russians consisted only of fur-traders and similar wanderers. In 1880 only 430 white persons and 1756 half-breeds were to be counted in all Alaska. The subsequent discovery of gold caused an influx of population, and the census of 1900 reported a white population of 30,507, only one-tenth of which was female. The increase was mainly in the valley of the Yukon and on the Norton Sound Coast, and later accessions to the Nome district probably added 25,000 to this during 1901 and 1902. The largest town is (q.v.), near Cape Nome, on the northern shore of Norton Sound, which in 1902 had a population of about 40,000. Anvik and many other settlements and mining camps are near it, where a large part of the population spend the brief summer at work, gathering in Nome for the winter. Eagle City is at the point where the Yukon crosses the Canadian boundary, and has a customs and military garrison (Fort Egbert). Circle City, near the Arctic Circle, is the river-port for the gold diggings in Birch Creek and in the central Tananá Valley, and has a fluctuating population

of from 500 to 1500. There is a military post (Fort Liscomb) at the mouth of the Tananá. Sunrise City, at the extreme head of Cook's Inlet, is the supplying point for a group of placer diggings on the Kenai Peninsula, and contains from 1000 to 2000 people. Settlements are found on Kadiak Island (St. Paul's or Kodiak) and on Unga. Valdez, at the head of Valdez Bay, an inlet from Prince William Sound, is of permanent importance as the port of entry for the Copper River Valley, to which a wagon road leads eastward, since it has been made the military and surveying headquarters of the Government, which has erected a garrison there, and the village contains several hundred people. Sitka is one of the oldest settlements on the northwest coast, and was the Russian headquarters. (See .) It is now the judicial and official centre of the territory; but owing to its distance from important mines, fisheries, etc., had a population in 1900 of only 1396. Larger and more active is the gold mining town of Juneau, at the entrance of Taku Inlet, which is the centre of a fairly permanent population of about 3000, At the head of Taku Inlet is Skagway, the seaport of the White Pass Railway, with a population of about 1500. Fort Wrangel, a settlement formerly of importance, but now in decline, and scattered fishing villages, occupied chiefly by Indians, complete the list of towns. Seventy-eight settlements altogether were reported in the census of 1900.

. Alaska is an unorganized Territory, there being no general legislative body. Alaska is controlled by laws passed by the United States Congress, and its administrative and judicial officers—governor (residing at Sitka), surveyor-general, attorneys, judges, and others—are appointed by the President of the United States. Towns of a certain size are allowed to incorporate and elect governing bodies. Legislation in 1900 divided Alaska into a judicial district, with three courts, at Juneau, St. Michaels, and Eagle City. These judges are authorized to appoint commissioners throughout Alaska, who are to act as justices of the peace, recorders, probate judges, and perform other duties civil and criminal. A new criminal code for Alaska was adopted in Congress in 1899, and a new civil code the following year. As yet, it is impossible for settlers to acquire title to the public lands. In 1898 Congress extended the operation of the homestead law to Alaska, but has failed to provide for a survey of the land and thus render settlement possible.

Much trouble has grown out of the working of the mining laws. The right to locate claims by power of attorney granted by these laws results in extensive districts being staked and then abandoned, awaiting such developments as will give the holdings a speculative value. Much “claim jumping” has been practiced; indeed, there have been but few paying claims that have not been involved in litigation. It has been impossible to anticipate the emergencies which have arisen from the sudden addition to the population, and oftentimes civil order has been disrespected and legal justice has been extremely tardy. This was conspicuous at Nome; but the evils there were corrected in 1901, and proper laws put into operation. Military force at times has had to assert its authority, and a considerable force was maintained in the territory from 1899 onward. On the whole, however,