Why Krags were on Alaska's Fur Seal Islands

[butlersrangers]

Recently 'Knute1' posted a link to a 1200+ page publication that was prepared for a U.S. Congressional committee in 1911.

In the Department of Commerce and Labor documents, spanning 1904 to 1911, was a neat inventory list containing 60 Krag rifle serial numbers. Also listed, were Krag accessories, three .30 cal. Gatling Guns and five 1.65" Hotchkiss mountain guns.

I got to wondering: why so much ordnance at a non-military post - (Two little islands, 240 miles north of the Aleutians, and 300 miles S.W. of the Alaskan coast)???

Well, I'm reading through the collection of documents!

There's Sex (seal sex), pirates, poaching, lawyers, inter-agency rivalry, bitchy dueling environmentalists, the fur trade, corporate greed, 'target practicing' Natives, the Russian Orthodox Church, alcoholism, a company store, the San Francisco Earth Quake, and Teddy Roosevelt.

I'm 2/3 of the way through .... God, finding the buried gems is boring! Lots of deceit, rivalry, ego, and hidden agendas.

It kind of starts in 1904 with the responsibility for administering the Pribilof Islands of Alaska passing from the Treasury Department to the Dept. of Commerce & Labor. Young assistant agent, Walter I. Lembkey, while stranded in the Aleutians at Dutch Harbor, is "promoted" by his Bosses' death ...

The 1904 ordnance inventory:

[butlersrangers]

Things 'heat up' defending our borders .... er, rookeries.

Japanese poachers are shot at, some killed, and some apprehended, July 16 & 17, 1906, on St. Paul Island.

[butlersrangers]

The Congressional committee was likely looking at things in 1911 because: the fur seal population was still declining, the North American Commercial Company's (fur trade) 20 year lease was expiring, pioneering environmentalists had caught people's attention, and an International agreement was needed to preserve the fur seals.

The 1911 ordnance inventory happened to beincluded because all correspondence was requested. The spare parts list suggests the 'Alaska Seal Island Krags' had model 1901 rear-sights.

[butlersrangers]

Page 306 - The 1911 inventory likely reflects the request for more Krag rifles and other equipment, following the illegal sealing raids in 1906.

[butlersrangers]

Following the Japanese Sealers landing on St. Paul Island in July, 1906, Solicitor Edwin Sims (of the Department of Commerce and Labor) was dispatched to the Alaska Fur Seal Islands.

Edwin Sims did an investigation and wrote a rather concise report covering the U.S. Sealing operations, the poaching threat to the industry, the decline of the fur seal population, and recommendations for action.
Mr. Sims' report was critical of the actions of the U.S. Revenue-Cutter Service in the Bering Sea.

The Solicitors' report went up the 'chain of command' to the White House and 'Teddy' Roosevelt.
The President reacted and was ready to send in the Marines!

Scathing rebuttal letters and objections came from the Revenue-Cutter Service, (which was under the Treasury Department).

(IMHO - It does appear, however, cooperation, performance, tactics, and aggressiveness of the Revenue-Cutter Service would be much improved in 1907, with the seizure of a number of violating vessels).

Many of Solicitor Edwin Sims' recommendations appear to have been acted upon, especially, in regard to increased ordnance on St. George and St. Paul Islands.

[butlersrangers]

FWIW - The U.S. Revenue-Cutter Service and U.S. Life Saving Service were merged in 1915 to form the U.S. Coast Guard.

Neat postcard from the Bering Sea showing a short lived volcanic island and landing party of Revenue-Cutter Service men.
(This newly-formed volcanic island is mentioned in the 1200+ pages of documents, 'knute1' posted the link to access).

BTW - The U.S. Revenue Cutter "Perry" ran aground on St. Paul Island, Alaska, in a fog while patrolling in 1910. The crew of 60 was saved, but, the ship was not salvageable.

[Knute1]

I know that there was a lot of money at stake along with the environmental concerns. Thanks for condensing.

[butlersrangers]

The revenue, from just the fur seal industry of the Pribilof Islands, paid-off the purchase price of Alaska in about a dozen years.

A Good Deal!..... But, a grotesque industry and cruel exploitation of wildlife. It is depressing to read about it.

[Knute1]

You can go to YouTube and find vintage videos on seal hunts that will depress you, also. There were some mighty tough men that worked in this trade, body and mind.

[butlersrangers]

The Natives of the Pribilof Islands were descendents of people brought from the Aleutian Islands (probably by force) by the Russians, when the fur seal Rookeries were discovered in the late 18th Century.

The Natives became 'Wards' of the U.S. Government with the purchase of Alaska. The Natives are recorded in various Island Censuses and lists of pay-scales. They have Russian sounding names and belonged to the Orthodox Church. The native people subsisted on marine mammals, fish, wild fowl, and food items bought from the company store. Employment and survival revolved around the Fur Seal.

The population of the Pribilof Islands consisted of native families (who selected their Chiefs), company employees & families (managers, store keepers, teachers, doctors), Government Agents & families and Clergy

The private companies, that leased the Fur Seal harvesting rights from the Government, did so for 20 year periods. The leasing company had complicated obligations toward the native population, including housing, providing a school, maintaining a store, maintaining the Church, and supplying coal.

There was a tremendous demand for the 'skins', oil, and other byproducts of the Fur Seal. It was a lucrative, but, gruesome and exploitative industry.

The Pribilof Islands are remote and seem rather desolate, but, they are an essential natural habitat for Fur Seals and numerous bird species.
As a place for humans, it requires food, fuel, and numerous goods be supplied by boat from the outside World.

No one lived there before the Russians discovered the remote Fur Seal Rookeries on Islands often hidden in fog.