MORE ABOUT , . .
Story of Sewarc!
(Continued rrom Page 1)
All of this is important in
understanding government poli
cy toward Alaska during the
period of American ownership.
It had never been the serious
intention of the U.S. to develop
Alaska in the same manner as
California and the Pacific North
west, by means of vast govern
ment subsidies, such as grants
of land to railroads; establish
ment of large military and naval
facilities; and the extension of
governmental services to settlers
wherever they might choose to
locate. Alaska was, and in many
respects still is. a field for future
rather than present develop
ment. In fact, the Federal Gov
ernment has actually fought
against most attempts to devel
op Alaska, preferring to channel
economic expansion to other
parts of the Pacific area. Had it
not been for tlie discovery of
gold and the Spanish-American
War. it is very doubtful indeed
that a place like Seward could
have begun at all, and this same
thing was true of most other
AiasKa towns.
In the course of the Spanish
American War. the United States
liad acquired a southern bastion
for the Pacific rim. as well as
other island possessions formerly
in the hands of Spain. Pacific
commerce increased by leaps
and bounds, guarded by the U.S.
Pacific Fleet, which had played
a major role in the victory, and
thereby maintained a major in
fluence in the coastal waters of
the Orient. Meantime, Imperial
Russia, the first world power to
attempt Pacific Rim coloniza
tion and commerce, had gradu
ally retired, starting with the
abandonment of Fort Pass in
California, then the sale of Alas
ka, and now, the humiliating de
feats of the Russo-Japanese war.
Very briefly, that was the in
ternational aspect of the Pacific
in the early 1 POO's when Seward
founded. Reading between th
lines, it is possible to compre
hend why the United States was
playing for far larger stakes
than the dev lopment of the Ter
ritory of Alaska. Number one
priority, naturally, went to the
building of the Panama Canal,
and the quickest possible expan
sion of the ports of California
and Puget Sound. Alaska could
come later!
Yet the Spanish - American
War itself provided a big boost
to the growth of the Territory.
Thousands of discharged officers
and enlisted men, having had a
brief taste of travel and adven
ture, found the old home town
pretty tame and pretty bare of
opportunity. Spanish-American
war veterans by the hundreds
spent their savings in one-way
tickets to Alaska. Public lands,
otherwise jealously guarded,
were opened to limited home
steading by these ex-soldiers. It
will be remembered that one
v teran, ex-Major John Ballaine,
used his Homestead Scrip to ac
quire a lion’s share of the pres
ent townsitc of Seward.
As to the discovery of gold in
Alaska, it should be recalled that
the phenomenal success of hy
draulic and stamp mill opera
tions at Juneau and Douglas en
couraged early development in
the Kenai Peninsula. An early
stampede, junior size, brought
about the settlement of Sunrise
and Hope, and made Cook's In
let a busy waterway, several
years before the famous Klon
dike strike. After that, at least
one major strike annually kept
things humming in Alaska.
Roughly, the years are as
follows:
1896-97 Cook Inlet
1898-99 Klondike
1900- 01 Nome
1901- 02 Tanana.
Between the major stampedes
were scores of minor discoveries,
each of which produced new
mov ments of men and supplies,
and developed new routes of
commerce and new sources of
local trade. Peaceful little trad
ing posts, Indian villages, and
cannery sites grew almost over
night into roaring gold run":
Skagway. Dyea. Valdez, Din
son. St. Michael, and Nome bus
tied and boomed. The political
demand for a year round, all
American route to the gold-fields
grew aoace. and prodd cl Con
gress into action, it would never
otherwise have taken. Explora
tion parties were dispatched:
military posts established: rniii
tary roads and trails begun:
lighthouses wer built: nautical
charts were brought up to date.
New judges and other F. deral
officials were appointed to Alas
When in Senard It\s
The New Seward Note!
Osce?r Dchl, owner
OnSTUUIS& Line
Al
so’.V nr d
rs CHARLES CHECKER
Lv. Seattle
Arr. Seward
SS JOHN W. EURGESS
Lv. Long Beach
Lv. San Francisco
Lv. Portland
Lv. Sealtlc
Arr. Seward
ANCHORAGE
223 Central Bldq.
P.O. Box 592
Ph. 3-4401
George Hutton
District Mgr.
FAIRBANKS
SEWARD
Dist. Freight Agt.
Jameson Eng. Bldg.
Captain T. Bie
Operating Mgr.
J\Indent (sOfl'tzcisf meant ship Transportation
OFFERING FREQUENT FREIGHT SERVICE BETWEEN
CALIFORNIA—OREGON—WASHINGTON—ALASKA
SS TARLETON ERC ,VN
Nov 18
Nov. IT
Nov. 22
Nov. 23
Nov' 28
Dec. 3
Dec. 8
Dec. 13
M. J. (Bill) Wilcox ARR Depot
Main 164
ka. New private enterprises,
some of them sizable, followed
all this. None were as big, how
ever, as the Alaska Central Kail
road project.
Then came talk of huge quan
tities of copper, coal, and oil,
and plans for their private ex
ploitation. Is it any wonder that
people in Alaska said to each
other “this is it?” Is it any won
der that they thought the lid
was off, that the Territory would
now be developed to the same
extent as the Pacific Northwest7
Certainly the time was ripe,
and all signs pointed toward
Alaska Unlimited. In Katalla,
lor instance, oil and coal pros
pects plus railroad plans brought
about a new town, complete with
bank, newspaper, hotels, stores,
saloons, and shops. At Valdez,
the location of the military post,
cable: office, and division court
swelled the population to several
times its present size. At La
touche, right at Seward’s back
door, workable copper deposits
were discovered’, and a town was
founded, with talk of a huge
smelter to work the ore, possibly
a smelter located at Seward! In
the Susitna River Valley, scores
of important gold strikes kept
prospectors and boomers coming
through on every boat. More re
motely related, but still pointing
to territorial prosperity, was the
change from commercial cod
fishing to modern salmon can
ning. and the immense growth
of the world market for canned
Alaska salmon, which in 1880
had been practically unsalable
for human food.
Is it any wonder that thou
Telephone Polk 166
McRae Concrete
Products
P.O. Box 521
SEWAFD, ALASKA
TANNING
Send us your furs and skins lo
be tanned. Quick, efficient, re
liable workmanship. We return
your finished skins immediately.
Valcauaa Fur Co.
National Bldg. — Seattle, Wash.
CLAM
GULCH
CAFE
Clam Gidch, Alaska
BARGAINS
?;1
1243 Chrysler 4-Door Sedan.
Radi;> and hr; ier.
1210 Plymouth 4-Door Sedan.
Radio and boat or.
1343 Chevrolet Coupe. R&II.
1943 Chevrolet Suburban.
Radio and heater.
1347 Ford Coupe. R&II. \
1941 Chevrolet 4-Dcor Sedan. j
1S46 Ford 1'2-ion Dump Tr. |
These Cars are in
A-l CONDITION
Priced right for quick sale.
One-third down and
monthly payments.
Peet's Garage
3rd & D
Seward
sands of ambitious Americans,
with a few dollars of savings and
a flair for pioneering, were led
to stake everything they owned
on Alaska townsite properties?
Although most of these boom
towns soon became skeletons or
ghost towns, Seward out-lasted
them all, and consequently drew
large numbers of disappointed
men and women from Nome,
Hope., Sunrise, Valdez and Ka
talla. In fact, some of Seward’s
old-timers can boast of being
i-—
part of every one of the g
booms. As hopes faded for
gold camps, Seward’s stock w
up accordingly; and, strang
enough, even after new c
struction on the railroad i
been suspended, small invest
still dribbled into Seward,
seemed a good long term inv
ment . . . just as the purchase
Alaska itself had seemed to
town’s,namesake, back in 15
(Next week: Seward as a C
mercial Center.)
CLAM GULCH STORE
GENERAL MERCHANDISE
Gas - Oil - Cold Beer • Groceries
PER OSMAR p ielorS
FRAN OSMAR p
Clam Gulch|
Postoffice
HEART OF KENAI
KENAI JOE'S BAR
Cocktails
Lunch Room
Cabins - Gas - Oil
matanuska valley lines bus stop
JOHN CONSEIL, Proj
FREDDIE MILLER
WHY send Outside for
YOUR PRINTING NEEDS?
SEE YOUR HOME TOWN PRINTERS FIRST FOR—
• Letterheads
® Tickets
© Envelopes
• Checks
© Statements
SEWARD SEAPORT RECORD
Madiscn 168 336 Fourth Avj
• Ruled Forms
• Announcements
© Posters
<8 Placards
• Booklets
So vard and return nch Thursday. Time cf deparlv
will depend on arrival of vessels at Se^/ard.
The passenger train Aurora leaves Anchorage fo^
Fairbanks each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:3(
a m. after September 2 4. It departs Fairbanks fo^
Anchorage on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8:3(
a.m.
Ride the safe and dependable
way this winter—
THE ALASKA RAILROAD
FOR INFORMATION CALL MAIN 153