ALASKA, formerly called Russian America, is a Territory of the United States of America, occupying the extreme north-west ern part of North America and including the adjacent islands.
The name is a corruption of a native word possibly meaning "mainland" or "peninsula." The Territory of Alaska comprises, first, all that part of the continent west of the I41st meridian; secondly, the eastern Diomede Island in Bering Strait, and all islands in Bering Sea and the Aleutian chain lying east of a line drawn from the Diomedes to pass midway between Copper Island, off Kamchatka, and Attu Island of the Aleutians ; thirdly, a narrow strip of coast and adjacent islands north of a line drawn from Cape Muzon, in latitude 54° 4o' N., up Portland canal to its head, and thence, following the summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast to the r 4 r st meridian, provided that when the line runs more than ten marine leagues from the ocean the limit shall be formed by a line parallel to the windings of the coast and which shall never exceed the distance of ten marine leagues therefrom. Alaska is bounded on the north by the Arctic ocean, on the west by the Arctic ocean, Bering Sea and Bering Strait, on the south and south west by the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific ocean, and on the east by British Columbia and Yukon territory. The total area of Alaska is 586,40o sq.m., an area equal to nearly one-fifth that of continental United States or more than twice the size of Texas, the largest State of the Union.
Of the vast number of islands within the boundaries of Alaska and constituting part of its territory, only a few of the more im portant can be mentioned in the scope of this article. At the south-eastern extremity and lying close inland, is the Alexander Archipelago (q.v.) consisting of some i,ioo islands, large and small. South-west of the Alaska Peninsula there are two groups. (r) Kodiak—the largest island, of the same name, is 4om. by loom., and may be considered a continuation of the Kenai Pen insula. The group's western continuation consists of the Semidi, Shumagin and Sannak clusters. (2) The Aleutian islands (q.v.), sweeping 1,200m. or more west-south-west from the end of Alaska peninsula; west of the mainland in Bering Sea, the Pribilof islands, about 5oom. south of cape Prince of Wales, the small Hall and St. Matthew Islands; to the north toward Bering Strait, the large St. Lawrence Island, with Nunivak near the coast to the south-east. Of the smaller islands, within Bering Sea, only the Pribilofs (home of the fur seal during breeding season) are of special interest or value.
Alaska has mountains, plateaux and lowlands on a grand scale. "In a broad way, the larger features of topography correspond with those of the western States. There is a Pacific mountain system, a central plateau region, a Rocky mountain system, and a Great plains region. These four divisions are well marked, and show the close geographic relation of this area to the southern part of the continent." The orographic features of the Pacific mountain system trend parallel to the coast-line of the Gulf of Alaska. The Pacific mountain system includes four ranges. The coast range of the Panhandle attains a width of room., but has no well-defined crest line. The range is char acterized by the uniformity of summit levels between 5,00o and 6,000 feet. Continuing the coast range, with which it is closely associated—the Chilkat river lies between them—is the St. Elias Range (a term now used to include not only the mountains be tween Cross Sound and Mt. St. Elias but the Chugach, Wrangell and Nutzotin mountains), lying in the south-east of the main peninsula or continental Alaska. Among its principal peaks are: Mt. Sanford, Mt. Fairweather and Mt. Vancouver, all above r 5,000ft. and Mt. Wrangell, 14,005ft. (an active volcano) ; in the Nutzotin mountains, Mt. St. Elias, i8,008ft., and in Canadian territory, Mt. Logan, 19,85o feet. The Aleutian range, of which crest the Aleutian islands are remnants, fills out the system near the coast. In the Aleutian range, near the base of the Alaska peninsula, there occurred in the early days of June 1912, one of the great volcanic eruptions of historic times. The top of Kat mai, a mountain showing no evidence theretofore of volcanic action, was entirely blown off, and about the same time, there came into existence in the valley to the north-west, a vast number of tiny volcanic vents or fumaroles and since known as the val ley of the "Ten Thousand Smokes." The mountain and valley have since been set apart by proclamation of the president (Sept. 24, 1918) as the "Katmai National Monument." The Alaska range, which lies south of the Yukon drainage system, connects with the Nutzotin and Skolai branches of the St. Elias Range. It is splendidly marked by many snowy• peaks, including Mt. Foraker (r 7,000f t.) and Mt. McKinley (2o,3oof t. ), the loftiest peak in North America. North of the Yukon are the Baird Moun tains and the Endicott Range, an eastward extension of the Rocky mountains. Between the Pacific mountains and the last men tioned ranges lies the vast central plateau region or Yukon pla teau. Finally, between the Endicott Range and the Arctic ocean is the Arctic slope region, a sloping plain corresponding somewhat to the interior plains of the United States.
The glaciers of the Panhandle and throughout the rest of the Pacific region are most remarkable—unusual, alike for their number and size. Thousands of Alpine glaciers from r to r 5m.
long fill the upper valleys and canyons of the mountains. Other glaciers are of the Piedmont type. The two most notable glaciers are the Malaspina, largest in the Territory, extending for 5om. along the seaward base of Mt. Elias ; and the Muir, at the head of the icy straits. The Muir was much visited by tourists prior to the earthquake in 1899, which so shattered the glacier and in creased the discharge of ice that steamers no longer find it safe to approach near the face. The condition of the glaciers of Alaska, generally speaking, appears at this time to be one of recession; many of them now have terminal moraines many miles back.
Chief among the streams of Alaska is the Yukon, more than 2,000m. in length, which practi cally bisects the main peninsula.
The principal feeders of this great river have their sources far away to the south-east in the coastal mountains along the boundary between Alaska, British Columbia and the Canadian Yu kon territory. It flows in a gen eral north-westerly direction for about one half its length, pass ing through a small section of British Columbia and through territory of the "Canadian Yu kon" till it reaches the r 4 i st meridian. Here it enters American territory and, continuing to the north-westward, passes within the Arctic Circle for a short distance in the vicinity of Ft. Yukon. It then turns south-westerly, gathering volume from many tri butaries, the principal of which are the Tanana and the Koyukuk, and finally empties its flood into Bering Sea through many mouths and over a vast bar, in longitude (approx.) 164° W. and latitude 63° N. The ocean port for the river, where merchandise is trans ferred by lighterage from ocean vessels to river boats, is a bay on St. Michael island, lying about 6om. to the north-east of the Northern or Apoon mouth. River boats, drawing from three and a half to four feet can enter the Apoon mouth and proceed without difficulty, in ordinary stages of water, practically the whole length of the river to White Horse, connecting there with the White pass and Yukon railway to Skagway. The period of navigation on the Yukon is from four to four and a half months. The second largest river in Alaska is the Kuskokwim, with its sources in the mountains of the Alaska range south of the Yukon drainage basin, and emptying into the Bering Sea about r5om. south of the mouth of the Yukon. It is navigable for about 600 miles. Out of the Alaska and Nutzotin mountains two great rivers flow southward : the Copper, practically unnavigable except for small boats, because of its turbulence and the discharge of glaciers into its waters; and the Susitna, also practically un navigable. Both of these rivers have their sources in lofty moun tain masses, and are swift and powerful streams carrying with them much silt.
The Panhandle is remarkably picturesque. The maze of islands of the Alexander Archipelago, hundreds in number, are remnants of a submerged mountain system; the islands rise 3,00o to 5,000ft. above the sea, with luxuriantly wooded tops and bold, sheer sides scarred with marks of glacial action. Through the inner channels, sheltered from the Pacific by the island rampart, runs the "inland passage," the tourist route northward from Seattle, Wash. The inter-insular straits are carried up into the mainland shore as fiords heading in rivers and glaciers. Most remarkable are the inlets known as Portland canal and Lynn canal (continu ing Chatham Strait). The first is very deep, with precipitous shores and bordering mountains 5,00o to 6,000ft. high ; the second is a noble fiord room. long and on an average 6m. wide, with magnificent Alpine scenery.
Continental Alaska in the interior is essentially a vast plateau. "The traveller between the main drainage areas of the interior is struck by the uniform elevation. Rounded hills, level meads, and persistent flat-topped ridges, composed of rocks of varying structure, rise to about the same level and give the impression that they are the remnants of a former continuous surface. In height it varies from about 5,000f t. close to the bases of the mountain systems to less than 3,000f t. in the vicinity of the main lines of drainage and slopes gradually toward the north." Geology.—Theoutstanding features of Alaska are its moun tain ranges, most of which consist of closely folded and con torted beds of sedimentary rock and underlying igneous masses, by intrusion of which the sedimentary beds were uplifted. A no table mountain chain is the Alaska range, which is nearly 600m. long and 5o to Som. wide. This range, which was elevated to its present height late in Tertiary time, marks an old line of move ment that has repeatedly been the site of folding and mountain building. In this range is the Mt. McKinley National Park, a reservation that contains 2,600sq.m. and includes the highest peak in North America, Mt. McKinley, which stands 20,3oof t. above sea-level. Volcanic products, which were poured out at intervals during an immensely long time, form a part of some ranges and make up most of the mass of many peaks. Among these volcanic peaks are the Wrangell mountains and many of the mountains on Alaska peninsula and in the Aleutian chain of islands. On the other hand, Mt. McKinley and Mt. St. Elias consist of masses of in truded granitic rock surrounded by sedimentary beds. The high relief of the larger mountain masses is due to their relatively re cent elevation, the forces of erosion not yet having had time greatly to reduce their height.
The general outline of the mountain ranges in Alaska is a con tinuation of that seen in the region to the south, in Canada, but the course of the ranges in Alaska swings around from north-west to south-west, toward Asia, and the geologic history of the coastal ranges in both continents is doubtless similar. Far to the north lies Brooks range, from the northern base of which runs a series of gently folded beds that extend to the Arctic ocean.
The details of the geological structure and of the petrology of Alaska are extremely complex, and the attempt to trace the geo logical history of the region is very difficult. The geological rec ord indicates a long series of periods of uplift and depression, of erosion and deposition, of folding and faulting and metamorphism of the beds deposited, and of intermittent volcanism that produced great areas of lava and ashes, which, like all other deposits, were shifted here and there and at some places greatly altered.
The oldest sedimentary deposits are certain pre-Cambrian rocks that lie in a broad belt in the upper Yukon valley, especially in the region between' the Yukon and the Tanana, where they in clude what is called the Birch Creek schist, the bed rock in that region. The conditions and events in early Cambrian time are unknown, but in late Cambrian and in parts of Ordovician time large areas in Alaska appear to have been submerged, for most of the beds formed during those periods are marine deposits. Evi dences of emergence, however, are found at some places. In early Devonian time there was a period of elevation, deformation, and subsidence over large areas. Toward the end of the Carboniferous period, in late Pennsylvanian or early Permian time, marine de position prevailed, perhaps intermittently, until beds of limestone that measured in the aggregate thousands of feet in thickness were laid down over parts of Alaska. The Palaeozoic beds include at many places accumulations of volcanic material, but the greatest eruptions in Palaeozoic time appear to have occurred intermit tently near its end, during the Pennsylvanian and Permian epochs. Most of the products of these eruptions lie south of the Alaska range. In late Permian and early and middle Triassic time Alaska was a land surface undergoing erosion. In late Triassic time de pression again brought the sea over a large part of Alaska. This submergence was followed by widely extended uplift, which in cluded probably all of Alaska. In early Jurassic time the Pacific and Arctic coasts were submerged and along them were deposited beds of sandstone, shale and limestone. Middle Jurassic deposits cover a somewhat wider area along the Pacific coast. In Jurassic time there was a persistent shore line near the site of the Alaska range.
In early Cretaceous (lower Cretaceous) time renewed submerg ence brought the sea over much of Alaska, including parts of the Yukon valley, most of which had been above the sea since the end of Palaeozoic time. A large part of northern Alaska, which had been land since the end of the Triassic period, was also sub merged. The deposits of this time include a basal conglomerate and overlying shale and limestone. An uplift and a change in places of sedimentation followed, in later Cretaceous (upper Cre taceous) time, during which the larger topographic features of present Alaska were doubtless outlined. Marine deposits were laid down along the Arctic and Pacific coasts and in the lower and broader parts of the Yukon and probably other valleys. Terres trial deposits were formed in embayments that stood on the sites of the larger river valleys. The submergence of the Yukon valley gradually increased and as gradually slackened, and swamps were formed in which plants grew and coal beds were laid down. The Cretaceous deposits in the Kuskokwim valley appears to be very similar to those in the lower Yukon valley. While sedimentation was in progress in the Yukon valley the rest of Alaska may have been land. During later Cretaceous time the sea invaded the sites of the Matanuska and Chitina valleys and parts of the southern coastal region. The deposits of this time in Alaska peninsula include marine shale, coal-bearing shale, conglomerate sandstone and shale, probably of mixed marine and terrestrial origin. The end of Cretaceous time on Alaska peninsula appears to have been marked by a period of mountain growth. The Cretaceous beds are greatly folded everywhere and many of them are cut by intrusive rocks and intrusive veins. Deposits of tuff laid down in early Tertiary (Eocene) time show that the diastrophic movements which began late in Cretaceous time culminated in volcanic erup tions. Among the earliest post-Cretaceous deposits are the Ter tiary coal-bearing beds. Two groups of :.oal beds that lie near the Alaska range are reached by the Alaska Railroad, one in the valley of Matanuska river, in lat. 61° 45', the other along and east of the Nenana river, about lat. 64°. Most of the coal mined is used on the railroad. Beds of lignitic coal are exposed at many places around Cook Inlet and in the lower part of the valley of the Susitna river. The coal-bearing beds, which have been at some places greatly tilted and folded, generally consist of poorly con solidated sand, clay and gravel, and at some places contain abun dant remains of plants. Many of the Tertiary rocks, however, consist of hard conglomerate and shale, and include basaltic lava and other volcanic material, as well as intrusive dikes and sills.
By early Quaternary time the great mountain-building move ments in the south of the Alaska range had apparently ceased and the larger topographic features of this region, including the Kenai-Chugatch range, the Talkeetna Mountains and the Yukon Tanana upland, had assumed nearly their present form, although the details of the drainage may have been different, for the climate was milder than it is now. A colder age followed, in which enor mous glaciers were formed in the mountains. The Quaternary beds, which include glacial deposits, are widespread. In the Alaska range and in the region south of it such deposits constitute a large part of the unconsolidated surface material. The glaciers abraded the rocks of the highlands and carried down into the lowlands immense quantities of gravel, sand, silt and till, modifying the forms of the higher valleys and leaving thick deposits over large areas. The bluffs along Copper river, for example, consist of glacial deposits more than 5ooft. thick; and moraines, outwash gravel and thick delta fans made up of glacial material cover large areas. The glaciers now appear to be receding, but the de position of outwash from glaciers is still in active progress at many places, and the great glaciers in the Alaska range and the Wrangell mountains, and especially the glaciers of Kenai Penin sula, Prince William Sound and the coast farther south, are con spicuous features. The higher parts of the Alaska range are the gathering grounds for some of the largest valley glaciers. Five or more of these great tongues of ice are from 2 to 4m. wide and 3o to 5om. long. The present surf ace form of the mountains of this range has been produced in large part by the erosive action of these glaciers and of their much larger predecessors.
Great changes in the climate of north-western North America are indicated by the fossil plants. The flora of Alaska was at times evidently that of a temperate or a warmer region. • The uplifts in Alaska apparently established land connection between North America and Asia at several periods. Across this body of land in Tertiary time horses of early types passed to Asia from the central plains of North America, which appear to have been the first habitat of the horse. Early elephants, or elephant like creatures, on the other hand, found their way from Asia to America, where their remains have been discovered at many places.
Herring, cod and salmon abound in almost incredible numbers. Of marine mammals, whales are hunted far to the north in Ber ing Sea and the Arctic ocean, but are much less common than formerly as are also the walrus, the sea-otter and the fur seal. There are half a dozen species of hair seals and sea-lions. The number of fur-bearing land animals is equally large. Sable, ermine, wolverines, minks, land-otters, beavers and musk-rats have al ways been important items in the fur trade. There are black, grizzly and polar bears, and also two exclusively Alaskan species, the Kodiak and the glacier bear. The grey wolf is common; it is the basal stock of the Alaskan sledge-dog. The red fox is widely distributed, and the white or Arctic fox is very common along the eastern coast of Bering Sea. A blue fox, once wild, is now domes ticated on Kodiak and the Aleutians, and on the southern conti nental coast, and a black fox, very rare, occurs in south-eastern Alaska. The silver fox is very rare.
The Alaskan flora is less varied than the fauna. The forests of the coastal region eastward from Cook Inlet, and particularly in south-eastern Alaska, are of fair variety and of great richness and value. The balsam fir and in the south the red cedar occur in scant quantities; more widely distributed, but growing only under marked local conditions, is the yellow or Alaska cedar, a very hard and durable wood of fine grain and pleasant odour. Far the most abundant are coast and Alpine hemlocks and the tide land or Sitka spruce. The spruce is not confined to this part of Alaska, but is the characteristic and universal tree. The separa tion of the coast and interior flora is almost complete; only along the mountain passes and river valleys, and rarely there, is there any change of species. Timber, however, is fairly abundant along the entire course of the Yukon above Anvik (about 400m. from the mouth), along the great tributaries of the Yukon and along every stream in central Alaska. The woods of the interior consist almost entirely- of spruce. On the Yukon flats it grows in a vast forest impenetrably dense. The timber line, which in the Pan handle and along the southern coast of the continental mass runs from 1,800 to 2,400ft., frequently rises in the interior plateau even to 4,000 feet. Next in importance after spruce, in the inte rior, is birch and then balsam poplar. Thickets of alders and willows in wet places and new-made land, aspens and large cot tonwoods wgst of the characteristic spruce area (as on Seward Peninsula), are also common. Toward the Arctic Circle, the tim ber becomes, of course, sparse, low, gnarled and distorted. The willows in the Arctic drainage basin shrink to shrubs scarcely knee-high. Grasses grow luxuriantly in the river bottom and wherever the tundra moss is destroyed to give them footing. Most distinctive is the ubiquitous carpeting of mosses, varying in col ours from the pure white and cream of the reindeer moss to the deep green and brown of the peat moss, all conspicuously spangled in the brief summer with bright flowers of the higher orders, heavy blossoms on stunted stalks.
Sedges available for forage grow in the tundra. In August berries are fairly abundant over the interior; one of them, the salmon or cloud berry, preserved in seal oil for the winter, is an important food of the natives. The western timber limit is on Kodiak island. The Aleutian islands are almost destitute of trees, but are covered with a luxuriant growth of herbage. Climatic differences cannot account for the treeless condition of the coun try west of this point, and the true explanation lies probably in the fact that in winter, when the seeds of the coastal forests ripen and are released, the prevalent winds west of Kodiak are damp and blow from the south and south-west, while the spread of the seeds requires dry winds blowing from the north and north-west. Such favourable conditions occur only rarely.
The natives of Alaska have been considered to fall under four ethnologic races : the Eskimo or Innuit—of these the Aleuts are an offshoot ; the Haidas or Kaigani, found principally on Prince of Wales island and thereabouts; the Thlinkits, rather widely dis tributed in the Panhandle; and the Tinnehs or Athapascans, the stock race of the great interior country. Later studies by ethnol ogists have resulted in classifying all these except the Eskimos as remote offshoots of the North American Indian .stock. The natives have adopted many customs of white civilization, their children attend Government schools, and on the Aleutians, in coastal Alaska, and in scattered regions in the interior acknowledge Christianity under the forms of the Orthodox Greek or other churches.
Government.—TheDistrict of Alaska was terminated and the Territory of Alaska created by an Act of Congress in 1912. The Organic Act under which Alaska became a Territory serves as its Constitution. The legislative authority was vested in a bicameral body, the upper chamber or senate, consisting of two senators from each of the four judicial divisions serving four years. Six teen representatives form the lower chamber, or house of repre sentatives, four elected for two years from each judicial division. This equal representation gives the less populated areas of the interior an unjust preponderance in the legislature and has not always worked for the best interest of the Territory as a whole. Under the Constitutional Act, Congress expressly retained the right of repealing all laws enacted by the Alaska legislature. Further more, the Territory was denied the right to enact laws relating to the excise, to game, fish, fur-bearing animals or to the existing Federal licence tax. Acts of the legislature are subject to veto by the governor as well as by Congress, but a measure may be passed over the governor's veto by a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each house. The executive and administrative authority is vested in a governor and a Territorial secretary, each appointed by the President for a term of four years; an attorney general elected by the voters of Alaska, for a term of four years; a Ter ritorial treasurer, elected by voters of Alaska, for four years; a commissioner of education appointed by the board of education for four years; and a commissioner of health appointed by the governor for two years. Each of the four judicial divisions has a judge, an attorney and a U.S. marshal, all appointed by the President for four years. The judges hold both the U.S. and Ter ritorial courts. Each judicial division has a number of U.S. com missioners who are ex-officio justices of the peace, probate judges, coroner and recorders. Each town is permitted to have a munici pal court. By an act of Congress approved on June 6, 1900, towns were allowed to become incorporated municipalities. In 1936, there were 17 municipalities in the Territory. Alaska is still hampered by divided control. The various departments and bu reaus of the National Government and the Territorial Government often have overlapping duties and conflicting interests.
Finances.—Thegovernmental expenses of Alaska are met in part by the Territorial Government and in part by the Federal Government. The chief sources of Territorial revenue are: a tax on the salmon fishing industry, professional and occupation li cences, corporation fees, an insurance premium tax, 25% of the receipts of the National forests, an inheritance tax and a railway income tax. Of the Territorial disbursements about 54% were for education, the remainder being expended for roads, trails, and airports, for charitable purposes and for official salaries and ex penses. The total Territorial receipts for the year ending Dec. were $2,710,972.83. The disbursements for the same period were $2,503,215.83.
There were II Territorial and four National banks operating in Alaska on June 3o, 1938. The combined resources of the 15 banks were $17,226,299, of which $15,308,175 were deposits, $840,000 was capital, and $I,o78,I24 was surplus.
The burden of charitable relief falls on both the Territorial and Federal Governments. The Territorial Government during the fiscal year 1935-36 expended $314,854 or about 15% of the total revenue for the support of eleemosynary institutions, the care of the indigent, of children and the relief of the destitute. The insane of Alaska are cared for at Federal expense in a private institution.
Fisheries.—Theproduct of the fisheries is about equal to the sum-total of all other Alaskan products. The total value of fish marketed between 1867 and 1937 was about $1,36o,000,000. In 1937, Alaskan fisberies employed 3o,331 people and marketed a product of 799,83o,000lb. valued at $51,743,22°. The commetcial catch of salmon in Alaska in 1937 was the third largest on record, having been surpassed only in 1936 and 1937. The pack of canned salmon in 1937 was 6,669,665 cases, valued at $44,547,769, a de crease of 1,767,938 cases from the record pack of 1936. A marked about eight months.
The Matanuska valley has proved particularly adapted for breeding dairy cattle. The domesticated reindeer herds in 1938 were estimated at 544,000 head, valued at $8,75o,000. It is esti mated that Alaska contains 256,000,000ac. suitable for grazing of reindeer and capable of supporting To,000,000 deer. This industry promises to be a very profitable one for the future of Alaska.
Furs.—Between1867 and 1937 Alaska produced furs to the value of about $142,400,000, of which about 55% represented sealskins taken on the Pribilof islands. Up to 1910 the Govern increase in the manufacture of herring meal and oil in 1937, par ticularly in Central Alaska, resulted in the largest volume of herring products ever recorded for the Territory. Twenty plants were operated in 1937, or 7 less than in the preceding year, al though the value of herring products for 1937 was $2,891,854 as compared with $2,o75,632 for 1936. Halibut fishing showed an increase for the same period, the value of halibut totalling $557, 911 for 1937 and $5o7,484 for 1936. Operators of this particular fishing industry are governed by a voluntary production-control ment leased the seal-catching privileges on these islands to private corporations, which killed 2,32o,o28 seals and paid the Govern ment $9,474,00o in royalties. The land killing of seal was re stricted, but pelagic sealing, which was becoming very destructive, could not be controlled by the American Government; a treaty was therefore signed in T911 between the United States, Great Britain, Russia and Japan, abolishing it and providing that the United States was to pay to both Great Britain and Japan 15,y, of the value of the catch made on the islands. Since Two killing has been prohibited on the Pribilof islands, except by U.S.
program, and by regulations of the International Fisheries Com mission. Despite the existence of cod-fishing banks from 2 2 tO 90 fathoms deep in the Bering sea and east of the Alaska penin sula, little has been done to exploit the enormous cod resources. Whale fishing has declined rapidly, although the 376 whales taken in 1937 were valued at $479,121 compared with $334,461 for the catch of 1936.
Fish and fish products worth $44,932,98o were shipped to the U.S.A. in T937.
Minerals.—Asearly as 1861 gold discoveries were made on the Stikine river; repeated discoveries, culminating in the Cassiar district "boom," were made in British Columbia from 1857 to 1874; colourings along the Yukon were reported in- 1866-67 and systematic prospecting of the upper river began about 1873.
Juneau was founded in 188o; the same year the opposition of the Indians, which prevented the crossing of the mountain passes to the interior, was withdrawn, and after 188o repeated and scattered discoveries were made on the Lewes, Pelly, Stewart and other streams of the Upper Yukon country in Canada. As early as 1883-85 there was a considerable mining excitement due to these discoveries, and a much greater one in 1887 after the discovery of coarse gold on Forty Mile Creek in American territory; but these were as nothing to the picturesque and feverish rush that followed the location of the first Klondike claim in Canadian territory in Aug. 1896.
The total value of the mineral output of the Territory from 188o through 1937, was $749,211,000. Of this $489,487,000 was for gold, $224,402,400 for copper and $13,177,000 for silver. Alaska also produces coal, lead, tin, platinum, palladium, antimony, tungsten, natural gas, petroleum, marble, gypsum, graphite, barite and sulphur. Copper mining, begun in 1901, was the chief mineral industry for many years, but in 1930 production of that ore began to fall rapidly at the same time gold production expanded. Thus while the value of the two was close in 1928, the gold output of 1937 was $20,373,000 as compared to a copper pro duction of but $4,741,000. Coal, both bituminous and anthracite, occurs in the Bering river, and the Matanuska fields, which lie within reach of the Government railway. The Territory, also, contains an abundant supply of sub-bituminous and lignite coals, which are very widely distributed. The production up to and including 1937 had a value of $11,003,50o with the output for that year standing at 131,600 tons worth $552,700.
Important oil seepages have been found at five places on the Pacific seaboard, and at two places in the Naval Petroleum Re serve No. 4 on the North Arctic coast. The withdrawal of all oil lands from entry in 1911 stopped development until 1919, when an oil-leasing law was passed and operations begun in several localities. The production of petroleum, however, was confined to the Katalla field; and when a fire destroyed that refinery in production was entirely discontinued. About 16,500,0000z. of silver and 18,000 tons of lead have been produced. Almost all the tin output of North America comes from Alaska, chiefly from the New district in the Seward peninsula; but though over $1.450,000 worth has been produced since 1900, the recent output has been small. The mining of platinum and related minerals be gan in 1916, and has expanded till the 1937 output reached 8,131 oz. worth $397,600. Quicksilver mining is carried on in a small way and in south-eastern Alaska high-grade marble is quarried.
In 1938 minerals, furs, fish, etc., were exported to the value of $56,o44,728, and the value of imports was $42,676,441. During that year 2,381 vessels entered Alaskan ports and 2,214 vessels were cleared. Coastal Alaska was served by several passenger and freight steamship lines which during 1938 operated 33 steam ers carrying 73,209 passengers.
About the time the American colonies were making their strug gle for separation from the mother country, England was begin ning her part of the exploration of this north-west coast. Three names stand high in the record of these explorations: Cook, Vancouver and Mackenzie. Cook's expedition sailed from England in July, 1776. In the personnel of his expedition were men from the American colonies, and Vancouver, then a midshipman, was of the party. The work begun by Cook was continued by Vancouver during the years 1791 to 1794. Dall expressed the view generally held concerning Van couver's work in the statement that : "The explorations which he carried out have not been excelled by any other navi gator and were faithfully and thoroughly performed." The Hudson's Bay Com pany was meanwhile advancing its trade and extending its influence westward from the interior of Canada. In Alexander Mackenzie crossed the conti nent by land to the Gulf of Georgia, re turning by the same route. This expedi tion, although little known, may well be compared with that of Lewis and Clark, in respect both of the difficulties encountered and of its value to his company and Government.
The excesses committed by private traders and companies, who robbed, massacred and hideously abused the native Indians, caused the Russian Government in 1799 to confine the trade and regulation of its American possessions to a semi-official corpora tion called the Russian-American Company for a term of 20 years, afterwards twice renewed for similar periods. Alexander Baranof, chief resident director of the American companies (179o-1819), and one of the administrators of the new company, became famous through the success he achieved as governor. He founded Sitka (q.v.) in 1804 after the massacre by the natives of the inhabitants of an earlier settlement (1799) at an adjacent point. The headquarters of the company were at Kodiak until 18o5, and thereafter at Sitka. In 1821 Russia attempted by ukase to ex clude navigators from Bering Sea and the Pacific coast of her possessions. This led to immediate protest from the United States and Great Britain. The outcome was a treaty with the United States in 1824 and one with Great Britain in 1825, by which the excessive demands of Russia were relinquished and the boundaries of the Russian possessions were established. In the convention with Great Britain, it was agreed that Russia should have the narrow strip of coast north of 54° 40' and the peninsula and islands westward of the I41 st meridian.
The last charter of the Russian-American Company expired on Dec. 31, 1861, and Prince Maksutov, an imperial governor, was appointed to administer the affairs of the territory. Authority was granted to an American company in 1864 to make explora tions for a proposed Russo-American company's telegraph line overland from the Amur river in Siberia to Bering Strait, and through Alaska to British Columbia. Work was begun on this scheme in 1865 and continued for nearly three years, when the success of the Atlantic cable rendered the construction of the line unnecessary and it was given up, but not until important explora tions had been made. Much of this information was made public in 187o by W. H. Dall in his book Alaska and its Resources.
The first official overtures by the United States for the purchase of Russian America were made by Senator Gwin of California (1859) during the presidency of James Buchanan. This move ment, however, was checked temporarily by the Civil War, which soon followed. The fishing interests of north-western United States were next to manifest an interest in the territory to the northward. In 1866 a memorial was adopted by the legislature of the Washington Territory, "in reference to the cod and other fisheries," and delivered to President Johnson. By a treaty signed on March 30, 1867, the purchase was consummated for the sum of $7,200,000, and on Oct. 18, 1867, the formal transfer of the territory was made at Sitka.
The struggle of Alaska to attain representation at Washington 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 in 1912 an Act was passed granting a limited Territorial government. The first Territorial legislature was convened at Juneau on March 3, 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.
The agitation over prohibition dated from 1868 ; the Act of that year organizing a customs district forbade the importation and sale of fire-arms, ammunition and distilled spirits ; the Or ganic Act of 1884 extended this prohibition to all intoxicating liquors. Smuggling flourished; juries steadily refused to convict offenders and treasury officials regularly collected revenue from saloons existing in defiance of law. In 190o the sale of liquors was authorized under a high licence law. In 1917 Congress re sponded to a Legislative petition by passing a dry law for Alaska.
Two events of international interest growing out of Alaska were the Fur Seal Arbitration of 1893 (see BERING SEA ARBITRA TION), and the Alaskan-Canadian boundary dispute, previously mentioned, settled by an international tribunal of British and American jurists in London in 19o3. The boundary dispute in volved the interpretation of the words in the treaties of 1825 and 1867 defining the boundary of the Russian (later American) possessions, and also the determining ownership of the Portland canal and the question whether the coastal girdle should cross or pass around the heads of the fiords of the coast. The award of the tribunal made in Oct. 19o3 was arrived at by the favour able vote of the three commissioners of the United States and of Lord Alverstone, whose action was bitterly resented by the two Canadian commissioners; it sustained in the main the claims of the United States.
Very little was known about the interior of Alaska previous to 1896, when the gold discoveries in the Klondike stimulated pub lic interest regarding it. Since i895, however, the exploration of the United States geological survey and the Department of War, as well as those of individuals, have established the main features of its physiography and a rather accurate knowledge of its re sources. The highest peak of Mt. McKinley (2o,3ooft.) was conquered in 1912 by Hudson Stuck and Harry P. Karstens. Alaska was chosen as the objective of the Amundsen polar ex pedition on the journey from Spitsbergen over the North Pole in 1926. The Wilkins expedition selected Point Barrow as a base for its aeroplane explorations during 1926, 1927 and 1928; and it was from this point that Wilkins and Eielson made their suc cessful aeroplane flight across the Arctic to Spitsbergen in April 1928. A projected flight by Wiley Post and Will Rogers (q.v.) ended in their fatal crash near Point Barrow, Aug. 15, 1935.
An important recent development has been the colony planted in the fertile Matanuska Valley by Federal relief authorities. Al though pioneering even at this late date has not been free from mistakes the families that have accepted the government's proffer of 4o acres and materials for a home are making a good start.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-For bibliography see the Monthly Catalogue of Bibliography.-For bibliography see the Monthly Catalogue of United States Public Documents; Library of Congress, "List of Refer ences on Alaska" (1923) ; Katherine B. Judson, Subject Index to the History of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska 0913); James Wicker sham, A Bibliography of Alaskan Literature (1927); and U.S. Geolog ical Survey bibliographies. For general information: Annual Report of the Governor of Alaska (1910 seq.); National Resources committee report, "Alaska, Its Resources and Development"; A. W. Greely, Handbook of Alaska (1925); J. P. Nichols, History of Alaska (1924); E. S. Harrison, Nome and Seward Peninsula (r9o5); M. I. Davis, Uncle Sam's Attic (193o); and H. W. Clark, History of Alaska (193o).
For administration see the governor's Annual Report, the Reports of the -various territorial officials and G. W. Spicer, The Constitu tional Status and Government of Alaska (1927). On population and occupations, see United States Census Bureau Information about Alaska (1923); S. C. Bone, Glimpses of Alaska (1935); Ketchikan Journal, Facts about Alaska (1935) ; A. H. Brooks, "The value of Alaska," Geographical Review, vol. xv. (1925) ; W. H. Dall, Alaska and its Resources (187o); U.S. Department of agriculture, Experi ment Stations, Reports; and various government reports on the seal and salmon fisheries and other industries. The native population is treated in the Annual Report of the U.S. National Museum (1896) and by F. Knapp and R. L. Childe, The Thlinkeets of South-Eastern Alaska (1896). For various scientific aspects, see C. H. Merriam et al. (eds.) Harriman Alaska ExPedition (19oi—os) ; H. McCracken, God's Frozen Children (193o) ; W. W. Atwood's article in U.S. Geo logical Survey Bulletin 467 (19II). For physiography, climate see United States Geological Survey, Annual Reports since 1897; U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Bulletins and maps; I. C. Russell, Glaciers of North America; The Canning River Region, Northern Alaska (U.S. Geological Survey, 1919) ; and Mountain Exploration in Akska (1914)• John Muir, Travels in Alaska (1915); J. A. McGuire, In the Alaska Yukon Game Lands (1921); F. G. Carpenter, Alaska, Our Northern Wonderland (1923); E. S. Blount, North of Fifty-three (1924); E. Rossman, Black Sunlight (1926) • B. R. Hubbard, Cradle of the Storms. (1935); M. Miller, Fog an'd Men on the Bering Sea (1936) ; and Merle Colby, Alaska (1939). (E. GRIT. ; X.)