University of Oklahoma College of Law University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 2-20-1899 Relief of people in the Yukon River Country. Letter from the Secretary of War, making report of his action under the act authorizing him to assist in the relief of people in the Yukon River Country. Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/indianserialset Part of the Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons Recommended Citation H.R. Doc. No. 244, 55th Cong., 3rd Sess. (1899) This House Document is brought to you for free and open access by University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 by an authorized administrator of University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 55TH CONGRESS, } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. { DOCUMENT 3d Session. No. 244:. RELIEF OF PEOPLE IN THE YUKON RIVER COUNTRY. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR, MAKING REPORT OF HIS ACTION UNDER THE ACT AUTHORIZING HIM TO ASSIST IN THE RELIEF OF PEOPLE IN THE YUKON RIVER COUNTRY. FEBRUARY 20, 1899.-Referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and ordered to be printed. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, February ,20, 1899. Sm: I have the honor, in conformity with the requirements of section 2 of the act of Congress _approved December 18, 1897-an act entitled "An act authorizing the Secretary of ,War, in his discretion, to purchase subsistence stores, supplies, and materials for the relief of people who are in the Yukon River country, to provide means for their transporta­ tion and distribution, and making appropriation therefor"-to submit the following report to Congress: Conflicting reports in the summer of 1897, having been received by th~ War Department as to the condition of affairs existing in Alaska, especially relative to actual and th~eatened lawlessness, the Secretary of War decided to send an officer of the Army to ascertain the real condi­ tions and report at the earliest possible date. Oapt. P.H. Ray, Eighth United States Infantry, with an assistant, Lieut. W. P. Richardson, was therefore directed, on August 4, 1897, to proceed to Alaska for tllis purpose, with instructions to make a full and complete investigation and report the condition of affairs with such recommendations as he might consider to be in the interest of law and order in the Territory. He was directed to ascertain whether those peqple who had taken up a resideilce in the Territory were law­ abiding or otherwise; the uecessity for stationing troops in the newly discovered gold fields, and if the food supply in the country was suffi­ cient to subsist the population through the winter. He was charged to observe "carefully and accurately," not to "form hasty judgments or make hasty reports,'' but to keep constantly in mind the importance of the accuracy and reliability of all reports made to the Department 2 RELIEF OF PEOPLE IN THE YUKON RIVER COUNTRY. on the conditions he found to exist. His instructions concluded as follow : The President has sent you in confidence of your ability and as a means of information to him. You are expected to justify this confidence. In the early fall of 1897, and while Captain Ray and Lieutenant Richardson were in the Territory gaining information under these instructions as to existing conditions, the 11ewspapers, notably those of San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and New York, were directilig public attention to the danger of starvation among American citizens who had gone to the newly discovered gold regions in Alaska and chambers of commerce and other civic organizations on the Pacific coast were appealing to the Secretary of War for assistance to relieve what was believed to be great and imminent distress among those peo­ ple. (Ex. 20 to 6G, inclusive.) The Senate of the United States, on December 9, 1897, took cogni­ zance of the reported existence of the conditions herein referred to, passing the following resolution: Resolved, That the Secretary of War be directed to report to the Senate such information as be bas respecting the lack of sufficient food supplies among the American citizens who have gone into the mining districts of the Yukon River and its tributaries, and whether, in his judgment, there is danger of actual suffering from a want of such supplies unless relief is afforded by public or private contri­ bution. The response of the Secretary of War to this resolution was com­ municated to the Senate under date of December 13, 1897, and will be found in Senate Doc. No. 14, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session, Exhibit 1. It contains copies of dispatches and reports submitted by Captain Ray, dispatches from the Tacoma Citizens Committee, the Portland Chamber of Commerce, and information from three other independent sources, believed to be entirely reliable, including one person who bad just arrived from Dawson City, all tending to show a very serious con­ dition of affairs in the Klondike region, and that unless supplies were introduced into that country by the 1st of March, extreme privation and probably starvation of a great many people would ensue. The resporn~e of the Secretary of War, under date of December 13, 1897, to this resolution of the Senate concluded as follows: Although tbero are many tons of supplies at Fort St. Michaels, about 1,770 miles from Dawson City down the Yukon, it will be impossible to get any food from that point before next summer. The only possible routes by which supplies can be transported into the mining dis­ trict at the present season would be either by the Chilkoot or White Pass through Lakes Linderman and Bennett, and down the Lewis and Yukon rivers over the ice, or through the Chilkat Pass and over Dalton's 'frail, approximately 700 miles, and 550 mile , respectively, from Juneau, requiring from thirty to thirty-five days' travel from Juneau, a most hazardous and perhaps impossible trip, although it is believed 1t can be accomplished. From th~ best information that can be olJtained it is believe<1 thn,t th~ use of reind_eer will be the means by which these supplies can be ~otten through, 1f at all. It 1s therefore recommended that reindeer be purchased m Lapland to the number of 500 and permission granted to bring reindeer driYers from that country; this upon the information that it requires much skill to manage these animals. It i ~elieved that supplies taken into that country need not, to any great extent, be furmshecl as a gratuity, but that many of the miners will be able to pay the cost of such supplies. On D cember 9, 1897, a resolution was introduced in the Senate look­ ing to the relief of people in the .Alaska gold fields, aud on December 16, 1 97, a bi.11 for the ·ame purpose was introduced in the House of Representatives. Congress passed an act entitled an" An act author- RELIEF OF PEOPLE IN THE YUKON RIVER COUNTRY. 3 izing the Secretary of War, in his discretion, to purchase subsistence stores, supp1ies, and materials for the relief of people who are in the Yukon River country, to provide means for their transportation and distribution, and making an appropriation tberefor,"which was approved by the President on December 18, 1897, as follows: Be it enacted by the Senate and Hou,se of Representatives of the United States of .Ame1·ica in Cong1·ess assembled, That the sum of two hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, ont of any money in the Treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to be expended (or so much thereof as may be necessary) in the discretion and under the direction of the Secretary of ,var for the purchase of subsistence stores, supplies, and matt-rials for the relief of people who are in the Yukon River country, or other mining regions of Alaska, and to purchase transportation and provide means for the distribution of such stores and supplies : Provided, That with the consent of the Canadian Government :first obtained, the Secretary of War may cause the relief herein provided for to be extended into Cana­ dian territory. That the said snbsistence stores, supplies, and materials may be sold in said coun­ try at such prices as shall be fixed by the Secretary of War, or donated, where he finds people in need and unable to pay for the same. That the Secretary of War is authorized to use the Army of the United States in carrying into effect the provisions of this act, and may, in his discretion, purchase and import reindeer and employ and bring into the coup.try reindeer drivers or herders not citizens of the United States, or provide such other means of transporta­ tion as he may deem practicable. The said reindeer or other outfit may be sold and 4isposed of by the Secretary of War when he shall have no further use for them under the provisions of this act, or he may turn over the same or any part thereof to the Department of the Interior, and the proceeds arising from all sales herein authorized shall be covered into the Treasury. SEC. 2. The Secretary of War shall make report in detail to Congress at the begin­ ning of its next regular session as to all purchases, employments, sales, and dona­ tions or transfers made under the provisions of this act. In pursuance of the authority given to the Se0retary of War by this act, and by an arrangement with the Department of the Interior, Dr.