GREAT OPPORTUNITIES
If the idea that Alaska is the "land of ice and snow" is gradually
disappearing another idea just as erroneous seems likely to take its
place. This is that Alaska is the "land of gold." While it is true that
along her streams and in the heart of her mountains lie minerals of the
value of which no man can speak truly, the gold mines of Alaska are by
no means her greatest asset. Her farms and fisheries, her enormous coal
fields, the thousand and one opportunities to make money which do not
exist in older localities are here to be had with small effort and
little or no capital. I could cite many instances of those who have
acquired wealth in this country from almost infinitesimal beginnings.
A wealthy man of my acquaintance who now owns a four story building
covering a whole block in Seattle went to Nome when the great rush was
on. Unlike the others he neither sought for gold nor located mines. All
he possessed was a boat. He established a ferry on Snake River, which
is only about fifty or sixty feet wide. He charged twenty-five cents a
trip. As soon as he got together a little sum he bought a steamboat
which had been wrecked on the river and converted it into a lodging
house. Two years later he was president of a bank!
This is only one instance of hundreds which are a matter of personal
knowledge. I know of four sisters who came to this country after a hard
struggle in the States. They bought a few wash tubs and opened a
laundry. Two of them mended for the miners. The other two washed and
ironed. They netted a hundred dollars a day! Two of them married. The
other two opened a millinery and dry goods store. They made a fortune.
They live in the west now and could live in affluence if they so
desired. They have invested in government bonds and other safe
securities and are the best exemplification of the possibilities of the
Great North that I know.
One thing which I should like to make plain and which is an item of
value to the prospective resident is this: Alaska is a country where
unfair dealing or trickery is not tolerated. In the early days when
food was worth its weight in gold, when one was forced to pay fifteen
dollars for an oyster stew and one dollar for a cup of coffee, this
fact was made plain and nobody has tried it since to my knowledge. A
fellow who had set up an eating house was caught one day putting sperm
candles in the soup to give it a rich flavor. The miners made short
work of that man. They put him in a boat, took away the oars and set
him adrift down the Yukon! In my first years in this country the
appearance of the first boat which got through the ice in the spring
was a great event. We knew it would bring us fresh vegetables and eggs.
This was before the days when we raised crops of any kind. Cheerfully
we paid the fabulous prices for tomatoes, grape fruit, eggs and such
things. And not infrequently we ate all that we purchased at one
sitting!
In listing the business opportunities in Alaska perhaps one may as well
begin with that most important asset of any country,--the land itself.
Any of the valleys on Cook Inlet contain many acres of good
agricultural land, some of which is timbered. The coast line from
Wrangell to the Aleutian Peninsula, split by many streams, has also
many acres. The better place to locate, however, is near the large
towns. The Susitna and Matanuska valleys hold the coal fields and near
them are thousands of acres where the wild hay for cattle grows in
great abundance. There is much less loss of stock in Alaska in winter
than in Montana and the Dakotas. The coldest day on the Alaskan coast
last winter south of the Aleutian Islands was above zero. For fifteen
years (and this is as long as the records have been kept) there has
never been a week when the average temperature has been as cold as that
of New York, Washington or Philadelphia. Alaska's climate gives the lie
to her latitude.
It is, of course, the Japan current which transforms this part of
Alaska. What magic it works,--this warm, life-giving stream! It clothes
the northern isles in green vegetation, makes the silk-worm flourish
far north of its rightful locality and brings warmth and joy to the
dwellers of the Far North.
The government has committed itself to a new policy of development in
Alaska. The vast riches of this country are not to be exploited at
haphazard or at the whim or the will of private corporations or
individuals. The national shoulders have been squared to the task of
developing the country and her resources in a manner conservative,
sane, and in keeping with the magnitude of the interests at stake.
Practically all the land and natural resources of the country are still
the property of the United States.
There is a plan on foot for the creation of a Development Board, to be
appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. It includes
the voting of an appropriation sufficient to obtain men of ability who
will devote themselves to the task and _who will live in Alaska_! This
is as it should be. Alaska's interests, now batted back and forth
between the General Land Office, the Forest Service, the Road
Commission, the Bureau of Mines, the Bureau of Education and the
Secretary of the Interior, would all be handled by one body whose
_raison d'être_ would be the welfare of Alaska. All her activities are
closely related. All are a part of one huge problem and all should be
directed by one governing board.
[Illustration: "SIMROCK MARY'S" HERD OF REINDEER COMING OVER THE HILL]
[Illustration: SLEDDERS OFF FOR PROVISIONS FOR THE REINDEER HERDERS]
[Illustration: PRIBILOF ISLANDS WHERE UNCLE SAM PROTECTS THE FUR SEAL]
[Illustration: COUNTLESS THOUSANDS OF "MURRS" HAVE MADE THIS ISLAND
THEIR OWN]
There are sixty-four million acres of agricultural land in Alaska which
can be made valuable for tilling and grazing. Some of this is already
under cultivation but there is not yet an output more than sufficient
to supply the home markets. The farming area, according to the surveys
which have been made, is as large as the combined area of the States of
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, and in the opinion of the
Department of Agriculture this area ought to be capable of supporting a
population nearly equal to that supported by the farm products of these
states.
Almost every kind of a crop can be raised in Alaska, although corn
will not grow at all and the soil is not particularly good for wheat.
But barley, oats, rye, potatoes, cabbages, turnips, tomatoes, and
nearly all the common garden vegetables have been grown successfully.
The potatoes are of the best quality and run several hundred bushels to
the acre.
Wild fruits grow abundantly. Nearly every kind of berry (except the
cranberry) can be raised here. Only two years after the terrible
eruption of Mt. Katmai, on the Alaskan Peninsula just opposite Kodiak
Island, the ash-laden hillsides were again covered with verdure. The
rich green grass grew as high as a man's head and it really seemed that
the eruption was the best thing that had ever happened for Kodiak. The
grass not only grew high. It grew much earlier than it ever had before
and the berries were much larger and more luscious than they had been
before the ash covered the land. The berry crop was enormous. Kodiak,
like Ireland, is now an "Emerald Isle." The eastern part of it is
covered with a magnificent forest of spruce beyond which lies luxuriant
grass land, the abundance and quality of which for hay and forage is
not approached by any grazing land in the United States. It is equaled
only by the "guinea grass" of the tropics. At present this part of the
country is almost entirely neglected. But one of these days the stock
raisers of the world will wake up. They will find no finer spot on
earth for the promulgation of their industry than the Island of Kodiak.
Of the berries which grow in Alaska the most important is the "Molina"
berry. In shape and appearance it is much like our blackberry, or a
cross between the blackberry and raspberry. When picked it comes loose
from the receptacle like the raspberry. These berries grew in Kodiak
before the eruption, it is true, but they were much smaller and less
palatable and the vines were much less hardy and vigorous. In one
respect they resemble the persimmon. They have an astringent taste
which disappears only when the berry is dead ripe. But they are
extremely delicate of flavor,--distinctive in that they resemble in
taste nothing else that I know and when served with sugar and cream
they are excellent.
There are two varieties of blueberries. One is known as the high-bush
blueberry and the other is known as the low-bush berry. I have always
thought it a little strange that the cranberry does not grow here.
Conditions seem good for it. But it does not.
When the railroad is completed (which will be soon), when the farmer
has an outlet for his produce and can enter the markets of the
"Outside," the future of Alaska will be secured. The government is now
selling the land at most reasonable rates. For four hundred dollars one
can buy a three hundred and twenty acre farm. Pioneers are rapidly
taking advantage of this to become independent land owners.
Time was in the United States when, beyond the Mississippi, Wilderness
was King! But this did not prevent the settler from breaking his way
through. So it is in Alaska. The trees are being hewn down for
clearings and in those clearings homes are springing up. More men each
year are locating homesteads and bringing their families with them,
secure in the knowledge that their children can be educated in Alaskan
schools, fed with Alaskan meat and vegetables, their bills paid in
Alaskan gold. There is a market for everything that can be grown and
this market will be much enlarged by the increased population which the
railroad will bring. Alaska will soon be a populous and prosperous
country and will one day ask admission to the Union. When she comes in,
bringing her six hundred thousand square miles, she will be the largest
State. Texas, so long the giant, will be a dwarf in comparison.
To sum up, then, the opportunities which offer themselves in
Alaska,--there are (1) cattle ranges of enormous size; (2) immense
salmon shoals; (3) huge tracts of farming land; (4) large forests (in
certain sections) of fine timber; (5) an almost unlimited supply of
fur. The United States has no tin mines except in Alaska. There is
enough coal buried under the soil to keep the whole world warm for five
thousand years! The coal, tin and gold must be mined. Here is a chance
for large numbers of workmen. The fish must be caught and canned. The
canneries employ large numbers of men. But the crying need of the
country is for homesteaders, because the agricultural development is of
prime importance to Alaska and to the world. The first binder operated
in Fairbanks in 1911 and the first threshing machine in 1912. In time
implement houses will be needed. Manufacturing enterprises offer a rich
field. At present (1918) there is not a single grain mill in the
country. This may be due, however, to the fact that there is not yet a
large enough amount of grain raised to justify the building of mills.
But in time there will be. There is unlimited water power for their
operation.
Mr. Michael O'Kee, a Yukon Territory gardener, is regarded as the
Luther Burbank of Alaska. He has specialized in berries and has proved
that they may be grown just as well around the Arctic Circle as in
sun-kissed California. Also, he has grown cabbages weighing eighteen
pounds with heads hard and sound.
Reindeer breeding is fast becoming an important factor, and here again
one must revert to the land. Reindeer need space, for they are the beef
of Alaska and must have pasturage. This pasturage is always to be had.
Reindeer steaks are and have been for a long time regularly quoted on
the Seattle markets. That they will one day figure conspicuously in our
meat supply cannot be questioned. Already the big packing concerns have
sent their representatives to look over the ground. There is one
drawback to this industry, however, which will have to be adjusted and
regulated before it can become profitable. The cost of shipping is now
prohibitive. Alaska has now a hundred thousand reindeer. Within the
next ten years she will have three million.
A well-known mining engineer of Los Angeles who has recently studied
the resources of Alaska has thus summed up his belief:
(1) The reindeer ranches of the Far North are destined to solve
the meat question for the United States.
(2) The fisheries of the north coast waters will be able to
furnish practically all the sea food for the entire country within
the next century.
(3) The gold, copper and other valuable mines of Alaska have
scarcely been scratched, and the next few years will see an
Alaskan boom not now dreamed of by the most optimistic business
men of the United States.