THE KUSKG TIMES
A. X. Grant, Publisher, Sole
Owner and Editor.
Published Ev&rv Saturday
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Entered as secenn-elass matter Au- i
gust 29th, 1923, at the postoffice at
Tokotna, Alaska, under the Act. of
March 3, 1879.
Takotna, Alaska, October S, 1932.
HISTORY OF TELEGRAPH
COMMUNICATION IN ALASKA '
Following is the text of an address*
ielivered recently by Lt. Col. Dawson i
Qlaistead„ Officer in Charge, before
the Seattle Quartermaster Training
Conference.
The Washington-Alaska Military
Cable and Telegraph System had its
origin in 1900 and has been operated
by the Signal Corps, U. S. Army ever
since.
This paper has been prepared with
the idea of setting forth in chrono
logical order the principal facts and'
events involved in the inception and '
subsequent development of the Sys
tem from 1900 to the present time.
I desire to thank Lt. Col. Charles
Murphy, Signal Reserve, for contrib
uting much of the subject matter of
this paper. Colonel Murphy is at
present the Traffiffic Superintendent
of the System and is the only indi
vidual now on duty with, it th*t was
a member of the original construction
party assembled in San Francisco in
1900 for construction work in Alasa.
The Territory of Alaska, with an
area of approximately 600,000 square
miles, was ceded to the United States
by Russia in 1867,
United States, troops were stationed
in Alaska from 1867 to 1877. Upon
the wiaharawat otf. the. military, a
naval officer governed for. many years
at Sitka, when he also was with
drawn, leaving the Territory without
any form of government until the
statute of 1884 established civil gov
ernment. All laws were made by
Congress until 1912, when Alaska
was made an organized Territory,
with capital at Juneau..
Gold was discovered in the Klon
dike in 1897, and early in 1898 thou
sands of prospectors went from the
United States to various parts of.
Alaska. In 1899 placer gold was dis
covered at Nome and considerable
disturbance occurred due to disputed
mining claims. This condition and
the very large number of people in
Alaska at. _thai time caused the ad
ministration to establish military
garrisons there. Garrisons were es
tablished at
Fort Davis, near Nome;
Fort St. Michael, near the. mouth
of the Yukon;
Fort Gibbon, at junction , of Yukon
and Tanana rivers;
Fort Liscum, near Valdez;
Chilkoot Barracks, near Skagway.
For military purposes these gar
risons composed the Department of
Alaska, with.headquarters at Fort St.
Michael. In order to furnish tele
graphic communication between these
garrisons and Department Headquar
ters Congress authorized in 1900 the
construction of the necessary., tele
graph lings and cables for this pur
pose. It was .stipulated in the. act.
that commercial business might be.
done over these military, lines. How
ever, the primary purpose was to
provide telegraph and cable com
munication for the military forces in.
Alaska.
The construction of these" lines was-,
started in the summer .of 19.00, and
completed in 1903, although recruit
ing and maintenance work went on
after that.
They were built. by the Signal
Corps, assisted by details from the in
fantry over all kinds of country, in
all. kinds, of weather. .-. The personnel
engaged on this work withstood great
privations, suffering from extreme
temperatures in winter and harrassed
by mosquitoes in summer.
In the meantime the Canadian'
Government had. Constructed a tele- j
graph line, from Ashcroft, B, C., to
Dawson. The line was extended to
the boundary near Fort Egbertt,
where connection was established
with the Alaska Telegraph System.
A cable was laid in 1900 between
St. Michael and. Nome.
SOURDOUGH TRADING POST
McttRATH, ALASKA
Groceries
Clothing
ANYTHING FROM A NEEDLE TO AN, ANCHOR.
Except a Few Missing Links
Come and Look Things Over.
W. 3v MRDERPOOL
PROP.
A cable was. also laid, in 1901 be
tween Juneau and Skagway, where it
connected with Canadian telegraph
lines and the nOtfisitlaJ .
The cable between St. Michael and
Nome was unreliable because of inter
ruptions caused.by the, and the gap
between these points was finally
bridged by radio in 1903. It is be-.
lievtd that this was the .first point-'
to-poin.t radio channel put in service
on the American continent for com
mercial service. .
The project as- it stood, provided
comm munication from Department
Headquarter sat Fort St. Michael to
the I.Viited States over Signal Corps
lines to Fort Egbert, thence by Ca
i.aoian lines via Dawson and Ash
croft, involving some 2,500 miles, the
greater portion fpreign-owrved, and
all of which, was .lightly constructed.!
As a result, Congress appropriated
approximately |80Q,000. for the pur
chase and laying of cables, and in
1903 and 1904 cables were laid from
)
Seattle.to Sitka and Sitka to Valdez,!!
with a. connecting leg to Juneau, a[
total of about.2,000 miles. These!
cables wore laid by the cableship-l
Burnside,, which, was maintained by.:
the War Department for laying
cables in the Philippines,.
- We now.pass.over.a 20-year period!
from .190.4 to 1924.'- During that pe
riod the old. telegraph lines- were
gradually replaced by, radio.
By 1924 the original cables.-- were
about worn out and all of the mili- j
tary garrisons had been gradually1
withdrawn, except that .at Chilkoot1
Bariacks, near Skagway, which*, still
remains.
One might naturally ask why at !
this point, with all garrisons with- j
drawn save one, and the-cables being i
worn, ou.to.the Government did not dis*
continue the Alaska System. Figures
show, however, that.from its incep-:
t.ion the System was handling, an
ever-increasing amount of business,
and in the.year 1924 the value of.
traffic handled amounted to over I
$400,000. This traffic was about!
equally divided between commercial!
traffic and that of the various Gov- j
ernmental agencies
Alaska.
operating ^in
Suffice it to -say.- that, the Alaska.
Telegraph System has been .closelyj
connected with the. development , of
Alaska and has played no smalkpart
in thatdevelopment. All the major
towns and settlements from Ketchi
kan on the south to Wiseman on the
north, from Eagle on. the Canadian:
boundary to Bethel on the Kusko
kwim, were being furnished reliable
telegraphic service at reasonable
rates, so that, we see Congres»;in 1924
appropriating $1,000,000 for a new
cabit*- to replace the old.
The cableship Burnside was like.
(Continued on Page 3.)
Frank J. Guskey
Notary Public
Takotna, Alaska
Takotna General Store
TAKl©TN A, alaj+ka
We shall continue' to# handle' a: Com
pete Stock of MerehfencUses.
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J. W. Downey - - - Prop.
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!
f
BARTHS
Max Simel
[
Pioneer
Trader
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