THE KUS&Q TIMES
A. X. Grant, Publisher, Sole
Owner and Editor.
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■Entered as secoDd-class matter August
20th, 1923,. at the Post Office at
Tokotna, Alaska, under- the
Act of March 3. 13119,
TOKOTNA, ALASKA. OCT. 18. 1924
Alaska Day; Early Ex'- r
plorations and Discov
eries by the Russians
(Note: Facts herein reprinted from
publication by Territorial Commis
sioner of Education.)
This is Alaska Day. Fifty-seven
vearsago today—October 18, lSCT^-the
brmal transfer of Alaska from Russia
to the United States took place. Brig
adiec General Lowell H Rousseau act
ed for the United States government
and i Prince Maksoutoff represented
Russia, although the actual ceremony
of the trrnsfer was performed by Cap
tain Alexei Pestchourof The Amer
ican flag used in this-ceremony now re
poses in a vault of the Department of
State. The Russian flag was lowered
by a Russian saiior.-and the Stars aDd
Stripes hoisted by George Lovell Rous
seau, a son of Brigadier General Rous
36*41.;.
What is now the Territory of Alaska
was, until 1867, a part of the Russian
empire, known as Russian America.
The name Alaska is derived from the
.Aleut word Alakshak. meaning “a
grea$ country or continent.” Credit
for the discovery of the Aiaska coast is
given to Micbail Gvoadef, “geodesist,”
or surveyor, who assumed command of,
an ojtpedition originally headed by
Ivan Gedorof and designed to secure
information concerning the “great
and” to the east of Siberia, whose ex
istence was reported by the Chukchi,
natives inhabiting Northeastern Si
beria, .Gvoadef is presumed to have
touched,the coast of Alaska near Cape
I
SHOP
*
| Machine, Black
smith and |
Sheet Metal Work I
}. j
? All Kinds of Repairs
1 f
i I Stoves Built
i
and Repaired
Robt. E. Lovvrie
Tokotna, Alaska
; {
Prince of Wales some time during the
year 1730.
Prior to this time, in 1728, Vitus
Bering, a Danish captain in the Rus
sian service, who was commander of
what was known from its starting
point as the first Kamchatka expedi
tion. bad discovered and named St.
Lawrence island and had sailed
through Bering strait, roundod East
Cape and proceeded westward far
onougb to establish the fact that the
land reparied as lying east of Siberia
, beria was not a part of the continent of
Asia. ,
i On July 16, 1741, Bering sighted and
named Mount St. Elias and a few days
later made a landing at Kayak island,
near Controller Bay. Alexei Chirikof
sighted the Alaska coast, probably at
Prince of Wales island, on July 15,
1741. Bering remained but a few days
in. the region of Prince William sound,
and then sailed westward along the
southern, coast. several
'points Be fell ffl of scurvy, which
^disease had atiaoked the ship’s crew.
On November 5th his • vessel was
wrecked on an island later called Ber
ing island. Here Bering died, Dec 8.
1741 Those who survived were suc
cessful in constructing another vessel
from the wreck and returned to Kam
chatka the following fall.
Chirikof’s crew also suffered greatly
from scurvy and other diseases. His
homeward journey was. beset with
many difficulties, including the mas
sacre of two boat loads of men by the
savage inhabitants of the country.
It was principally on the voyages of
Bering and Cbirikof that Russia based
her claim to the ownership of North
western America.
Without doubt the otter and other
fur-beariDg animals had much to do
with the further exploration and colo
nization of Alaska. _T^e discovery ex
pedition brought back flowing tales of
the wealth in furs that abounded in the
new land, and the next half cernury
witnessed a number of expeditions
which were confined mainly to the
Aleutian islands and the Alaska penin
sula and which had as their object the
acquisition of wealth. In speaking of
the part which furs played in the ex
ploration and settlement of Alaska,
Bancroft (Aistory of Alaska, 1885)
makes the following statement: “Call
it science, or patriotism, or progress,
there is this to be said about the first
Russian discoveries in America—little
would have been heard of them for
some time to come, if ever, had it not
been for the beautiful furs brought
back from BeriQg island and elsewhere.
Siberia was 3till sufficient to satisfy the
Tsar for purposes of expatriation, and
the Russians were not such zealots as
to undertake conquest for the sake of
conversion, and , tu make religion a
cloak for their atrocities; hence, but.
for these costly skins, each of which
proclaimed in loudest strains the glories
of Alaska, the great. land might long
iiave rested, undisturbed.’’
For the first twenty.years after Ber
ing discovery of AJasJsa.the fur hunters
treated the native inhabitants of the
country with extreme cruelty, and the
^istory of this period is marked by one
outrage after another. Investigations
of reported mistreatment of the Datives
revealed such gross inhumanity as to
cause the Siberian.authorities to sus
pend free traffio in'America and resort
to the system of the formation of priv
1 ~1 ~ ~~
Fora Nice Lunch
l1; or First-Class Meal
Call At
Durant’s Cafe*
Flat City
ileged companies who derived their
authority from imperial ukase. This
system, relieved the situation te a small
extent only. However, the treatment
which had been accorded the natives
resulted in numerous reprisals on their
mart, and much shedding of Russian
and Indian blood marked Russia's early
contact with Alaska.
In the list of early explorers a num
ber of namts stand out prominently.
Grigor Ivanovich Shelikof, after whom
Shelikof strait was named, explored
the Aleutian, islands, Kodiak island,
the Alaska-peninsula* Cook inlet and
Prince William sound during the years
1783-86.
Alexander Baranof was the first of
the explorers and traders to visit
SoutBeastern Alaska. His voyage was
made in 171>9. Baranof island bears his
name.
Otto von Kotzebue commanded an
expedition which had as its object the
discovery of the northeast passage to
Europe. The expedition sailed from
PhlropavInvsk, Siberia, in the suimue' i
of 1816 Hud proceeded through Bering
strait, thence eastward until the shal
lows made further progress impossible,
although open water yet appeared to
the eastward Kotzebue sound, the
body of water whiah was navigated,
bears the name of the leader of the ex
pedition.
In 1822, Etholen and VasSilaief made
a detailed survey of Bristol bay, west
ward to the mouth of the Kuskokwim
river.
In 1833 Andrei Glazanof, a creole
(person with Russian father and Aleut
mother), conducted an overland expedi
tion from Norton sound to the Anvik
river, thence dov/c it to the Yukon
river, where some time was speut ia
exploration. The expedition finally
proceeded down the Yukon to itf I
mouth. Glazanof subsequently explored
much of the delta region of the Yukon,
which was at that'time densely popu
lated. He also crossed the portage to
the Kuskokwim river. From this point
be attempted to cross to Cook inlet, but
shaped his course too far to the north
and was forced to return to the Ku'ko
kwun. thence to the Yukon, from
which point he proceeded to the Rus
sian post at Nlikhaielovsk, on Norton
9ouod.
The first permanent settlement of
the Russians was established at Three
Saints Bav, Kodiak island, in 1783, by
Shelikof, who is credited with having
opened the first, school in Alaska at
this place in 1765. A second permanent
settlement was established in 1786 in.
Cook inlet at the mouth of the Kasilof
river, near the present, site of Kenai.
The earlv settlements in Alaska,
however, center around Alexander
Baranof. At first an independent
trader, then agent for the Shelikof
companv, and later the originator, and
for nineteen vears manager, of the Rus
eiao American Com pan , which exer
cised practically absolute dominion
over Alaska for 67 £i'ars, or from the
PROFESSIONAL
Albrecht and Taylor
lditarod, Alaska.
LAWYERS
Practice in all Courts.
Leon G. Loomis
Notary Public
Tokotna, Alaska
Mrs. Jean McLean
Notary Public 5
Tokotna. Alaska
limn of its creation and charter in 1799
to 1866 the year preceding the transfer
of Alaska to the United States. He
visited Alexander archipelago in 1709
»Dd founded Sitka, which was head
quarters for Russian activities in
Alas sa for the greater part of the Rus
sian occupation.
Bancroft! in his ‘ History of Alaska,”
pays this tribute to Bararmf: “To him
was due. more th in 'o all others, the
success of the Russian c< lonies in
Americt; by him they had been found
ed and fostered, and hut for him they
would never have bee i established, or
would have had, at best, a brief and
troubled existence. Here, amid these
wintrv solitudes, he had raised towns
and villages, built a fleet of seagoing
ship-, and 1 ud a basis of trade with
American and Asiatic ports. All this
he had acc-onplished while paying reg
iii v Uiv.dends to shareholders; and
i ’>is old age he was cast adrift
ailed to render an account as an
lit fa.; iiful Steward.”
There it; a town in Sweden which
levies a tax on all citizens over a fixed
weight.
A late estimate gives more than 13,
000,000 automobiles in use throughout
the country.
Blackburn
6c Eldridge
McGrath, Alaska
Fresh Goods
Provisions, Notions
and Hardware
Hood’s Rubber Goods
The best Shoe Pac. They stand
the wear.
Fish Netting
fur Bought and Sold
Brins' us your fur to be made up.
We represent a good and
reliable house.
TOKOTNA
1. H. McLEAN -
We Have the Best
Swift’s Premium Hams and Bacon
Golden State Butter
Star Ham 45c Bacon 50c
All Fresh Goods
Geo. W. Hoffman
Pioneer Trader of the Kuskokwim Valley
Napamute, Alaska
New Goods Have Arrived
One of the best stocks ever brought into the
Kuskokwim Valley. Prices are right.
Good Prices for Your Fur
Larson Roadhouse
(Formerly The McLean, Tacotna.)
Best of Home Cooked Meals. Prompt Attention
New Dog Houses
Mrs. Frank Larson - Proprietor
ALASKA RIVERS NAVIGATION
COMPANY
Operating Light Draught Steamers
On the Kuskokwim.
Capt. Wallace Langley, Manager.