At the present time, among the Hydahs, Tsimpseans, Thlinkets and Aleuts, the so-called chiefs have very little, if any, power or influence, as such. Among the Eskimos it may be doubted if the office ever amounted to anything.
The progress of the natives of Southeastern Alaska toward civilization is steady and certain, though it must not be supposed that these people yet take high rank in learning, intelligence or morality. The educating and elevating influences of the schools and missions, though doing much, perhaps more than we should expect under the circumstances, must be continued a long time in order to effect anything like satisfactory conditions.
In some respects the physical condition of the different native tribes is alike and in others not. All are strongly built, rather short, and by their habits of living inured to hardship and endurance. The men have very light or no beards, and frequently trim the scattering hairs on their chins closely or pluck them out. The average height is less than that of Europeans. They have an Asiatic cast of features and the coast people are generally thought to have originated from Japanese stock. The Eskimos have a language very similar to the Eskimos of Labrador and almost identical with a small population upon the Asiatic side of Behring Strait. Physically they differ from the Eskimos of Greenland and Labrador, being more robust and healthy. All of the natives of Alaska have small and delicately-formed hands and feet and rather a massive head, straight black hair, dark eyes, high cheek bones and nut-brown complexion. All are to a large extent fish eaters, though the Tinnehs, living in the interior, or Ingalik tribes of the Yukon, are compelled to subsist to a greater extent upon game and land products.
Their dwellings, not so unlike originally, have now become quite different in style and manner of construction. Those residing in Southeastern Alaska have frame or block houses wholly above ground, with sleeping apartments partitioned off from the main or living-room where the central fireplace is located, like the state-rooms of a river steamboat, and many of the Thlinkets have substituted the modern cooking-stove and pipe for the fireplace and open chimney-hole in the roof.
These people are all self-supporting; the Hydahs, Tsimpseans, Thlinkets and Aleuts living comfortably with plenty of food and blankets. The Eskimos, especially those of the Arctic region, have a hard time of it to keep from starvation and death by freezing. The Tinnehs, or Ingaliks, have less of the conveniences, not to say luxuries of life, than any of the coast tribes. The last-named two tribes have small, poorly built, partly underground houses, and their winter dwellings are entirely covered with earth.
Mention has already been made of the town of Sitka, the capital of the Territory. It is beautifully situated, sheltered by a range of snow-covered mountains on the one side and on the other protected from the broad expanse of the Pacific Ocean and its storms by a numerous group of thickly-wooded islands. The waters of the harbor are singularly clear, so that in looking over the side of a vessel one can see the bottom at a depth of many fathoms. A warm equatorial current bathes this shore and bears into these Arctic regions many sponges, coral branches and other growths of warmer latitudes. The town itself lies clustered near the shore and presents a pleasing picture to the visitor as he approaches it from the sea. Its most conspicuous feature is the old weather-beaten and moss-grown castle which crowns a rocky hill. This structure is 140 feet long and 70 feet wide, and is built of huge cedar logs. It was for many years the official residence of the Russian governors and was at times the scene of splendid social gatherings. In its upper story were arranged a ball-room and a theatre, and the building throughout was as richly furnished as a palace in St. Petersburg or Moscow. Some of these rich furnishings still remain, though as a whole the building is in a most dilapidated condition. Another prominent building is the old Greek Church with its emerald green dome, Byzantine spire, fine chime of bells and richly decorated interior. It is liberally maintained, as indeed are all the other Greek Churches in the Territory, by the Russian Government. Most of the houses in Sitka are built of heavy logs, some of them being also clapboarded outside. During the winter about 1,000 Indians live there and the white population is composed of the government officials and agents, a few store-keepers and traders, and perhaps four or five hundred miners and prospectors from the inland regions. In midwinter there are only about six hours of daylight in each day, and in mid-summer there is for a time practically no night at all. Rain is the principal feature of the climate, and this abundance of moisture causes all vegetation to grow luxuriantly. There is an abundance of vegetables and some fruit, and domestic cattle are kept successfully. Nowhere outside of the tropics is a more luxurious natural vegetation to be found than in these islands of southern Alaska. Sitka is a neat and clean city, and as a rule is now quiet and orderly. It contains a large industrial school, attended by 200 native boys and girls, the course of study including nearly all useful industries. Twenty miles south of Sitka, on the same island, hot springs are to be found, the water of which is rich in sulphur and iron. For many generations these have been a sanitary resort of the natives, and it is not unlikely that in the near future they will be greatly visited by tourists from the United States and elsewhere. The temperature of the water is about 155° Fahrenheit, and the springs are surrounded by tropical vegetation.
After Sitka, the most important settlement in the Territory, is Fort Wrangell. It is beautifully situated at the mouth of the Stickhin River, where there is an excellent and capacious harbor, surrounded by imposing mountains. The town consists of rather more than 100 houses, and includes about 500 permanent inhabitants. There are two or three large stores for the sale of goods to the natives and for the purchase of furs and other natural products, as well as the quaint manufactures of the Indians. There is also a flourishing industrial school for the Indian girls. A leading native industry here is the manufacture of jewelry from silver and ivory. In this the natives are very expert, producing most elaborate patterns and copying any designs given to them with the most patient and unfailing fidelity.
When the United States took possession of Alaska a great many active and ambitious men on the Pacific coast were imbued with the idea that much that was really valuable in Alaska in the line of furs and the precious metals would be developed to their great gain and benefit if they gave the subject the attention which it deserved. Accordingly, many expeditions were fitted out at San Francisco, Puget Sound, and other points on the Pacific coast, and directed to an examination of these reputed sources of wealth in that distant country. Many years have now rolled by, and in that time we have been enabled to judge pretty accurately of the relative value of this new territory in comparison with that of our nearer possessions, and it is now known that the fur-trade of Alaska is all and even more than it was reputed to be by the Russians.
In this connection the most notable instance, perhaps, of the great value of these interests may be cited in the case of the seal islands. It will be remembered that at the time of the transfer, when the most eloquent advocates of the purchase were exhausting the fertility of their brains in drumming up and securing every possible argument in favor of the purchase, though the fur trade of the mainland, the sea-otter fisheries, and the possible extent of trade in walrus oil and ivory were dwelt upon with great emphasis, these fur-seal islands did not receive even a passing notice as a source of revenue or value to the public. Yet it has transpired, since the government has been wise enough to follow out the general policy which the Russians established of protecting the seal life on the Pribylof Islands, that these interests in our hands are so managed and directed that they pay into the treasury of the United States a sum sufficient to meet all the expenses of the government in behalf of Alaska, beside leaving a large excess every year.
Of other resources, such as the adaptation of the country for settlement by any considerable number of our people as agriculturists or husbandmen, and its actual value as a means of supplying gold and silver, coal or timber, it must be said that as yet no very remarkable gold or silver mines have been discovered, nor have there been any veins of coal worked that would in themselves sustain any considerable number of our people or give rise to any volume of trade.