dicial divisions. The term of each member of the Senate is four years, one member from each judicial division being elected every two years. The term of each member of the House of Representatives is two years. The legislature convenes biannually at Juneau on the first Monday of March in odd years, and the length of the session is limited to sixty days, but the governor is empowered to call an extra session. The executive power is vested in the governor, who is appointed by the President for a term of four years by and with the advice of the United States Senate."A. R. Burr, Alaska, pp. 401-412.

1884-1922.-Governors of Alaska.-"After the purchase of the territory of Alaska in 1867, Lovell H. Rousseau was appointed a special commissioner to formally take possession of the region, but aside from that, Alaska practically remained without civil government until May 17, 1884, when, by act of congress, it was created a 'civil and judicial district,' with executive officers appointed by the president for four years, but without representative institutions [until 1912].-J. H. Kinkead, exgovernor of Nevada, was appointed first governor by Pres. Arthur in 1884, but he resigned the following year upon the inauguration of Pres. Cleveland, and Mr. [Alfred P.] Swineford succeeded to the office [May 9, 1885] and served for four years. He was deeply interested in the development of the territory and repeatedly urged its organization. . . . On Apr. 20, 1880, . [Lyman E. Knapp] was appointed governor of Alaska, serving until Aug. 29, 1893. During his administration the development of the material industries, mines, fisheries and other resources of the territory marked an important era. The organization of the Indian police, the local militia, a territorial historical society and library, improvement in the public buildings and methods of conducting the public business, the more rapid progress in civilization by the natives, and improvements in the laws concerning town sites and preemption of lands occupied his attention. Nearly the whole of the seal fisheries controversy occurred during his administration and he was called upon to aid in the investigations made by both American and English Government vessels. [See U. S. A.: 1889-1892.] He earnestly labored for better mail service in the territory and succeeded in securing an extension of more than sixteen hundred miles of the established mail routes. He published many reports, official and unofficial, on Alaska and discussions of important public questions, among them 'The Legal and Political Status of the Natives of Alaska,' in the 'American Law Register,' May, 1891. [See TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES OF THE UNITED STATES.] . . . [In 1893 James Sheakley became fourth governor of Alaska] . . . In 1887 Pres. Cleveland appointed him as one of the U. S. commissioners of Alaska, while the educational department made him superintendent of schools for southeast Alaska. Upon the expiration of his term as U. S. commissioner in 1892, he resigned the superintendency of the schools. . . . He was appointed governor of Alaska by Pres. Cleveland, June 28, 1893, entered upon his official duties Aug. 29, and served in that position four years. Gov. Sheakley gave every encouragement to the cause of education, assisted the missionaries of all denominations, and did what he could to protect, improve, and civilize the native Indians. The rich placer mines of British Columbia were discovered, and the great rush to the Klondike mining region began during his administration. In the fall of 1897 the San Francisco chamber of commerce sent him East, for the purpose of giving the public correct

information in regard to the Klondike mines.... [In 1897 John G. Brady was appointed fifth governor of Alaska]. In 1878 Mr. Brady went to Alaska as a missionary, with Dr. Sheldon Jackson, and later became manager of the Sitka Trading Co. On June 16, 1897, he was appointed to succeed James Sheakley as governor of Alaska. Under his administration there has been marked progress in the development of its resources, the expansion of trade and increase of population. On July 1, 1899, a new code of criminal procedure went into effect, and it has been of the greatest advantage to the territory. A territorial convention met in Juneau in October the same year, and submitted a memorial to congress petitioning for various reforms and for a delegate to that body. Gov. Brady in his annual reports has supported many of the measures asked for in the petition and has especially urged the extension of the land laws, the adoption of a code of civil procedure and the necessity for roads, telegraphs, and the erection of lighthouses upon dangerous points of the coast. His administration was so successful that on June 6, 1900, he was reappointed governor, his second term expiring in 1904."-National cyclopedia of American biography, pp. 355-356.-Governor Brady was again reappointed in 1904 and served until 1906. The governors of Alaska who have served since then are as follows: Wilfred B. Hogatt, 1906-1910; Walter E. Clark, 1910-1914: John F. Strong, 1914-1918; Thomas Riggs, Jr., 1918-1922. Scott Bone has been appointed to begin his term in 1922.

1897.-Gold discoveries in the Klondike region. See KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS.

1898-1899.-Discovery of the Cape Nome gold mining region.-The Cape Nome mining region lies on the western coast of Alaska, just beyond the military reservation of St. Michael and about 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle. It can be reached by an ocean voyage of ten or twelve days from Seattle. It had long been known that gold existed in the general vicinity of Cape Nome, and during the years 1894-1898 a few adventurous miners had done more or less prospecting and claim staking throughout the district lying between the Norton and Kotzebue sounds. During the winter of 1898-1899, a large number of miners entered the Kotzebue country, while others spent the season in the vicinity of Golofnin bay. On Oct. 15, 1898, a party of seven men reached Snake river in a schooner. "Between that date and the 18th a miners' meeting was held, the boundaries of a district 25 miles square were established, local mining regulations were formulated, and Dr. Kittleson was elected recorder for a term of two years. After organizing, the district natives were hired to do the necessary packing, and a camp was established on Anvil Creek. The prospecting outfits were quickly brought into service. In one afternoon $76 was panned out on Snow Creek. Encouraged by this showing lumber was carried up from the schooner and two rockers were constructed.......... In four or five days over $1,800 was cleaned up with these two rockers. . . . The weather turned cold and the water was frozen up. As it was impossible to do any more work with the rockers the party broke camp on the 3d of November and returned to the schooner, which they found frozen solid in 2 feet of ice. They then made their way in a small boat to an Indian village, near Cape Nome, where they obtained dogs and sleds, and a little farther on they were met by reindeer from the Swedish Mission, with which they returned to Golofnin Bay.

"The lucky miners had agreed among themselves

that their discovery should be held secret, but the news was too good to keep, and soon leaked out. A general stampede commenced at once and continued all winter. Every available dog and reindeer was pressed into the service, and they were soon racing with each other for the valuable claims which had been left unstaked in the vicinity of Anvil Creek. As soon as that creek had been all taken up the stampede extended to the neighboring streams and gulches, and Glacier and Dexter creeks, as well as many others which have not proved equally valuable, were quickly staked and recorded. By the 25th of December a large party armed with numerous powers of attorney had entered the district, and as the local regulations allowed every man to stake on each creek one claim of the full legal dimensions (660 by 1,320 feet), it was not long until the whole district had been thoroughly covered, and nearly every stream had been staked with claims, which in some cases were 'jumped' and the right of possession disputed.

"The news of a rich strike at Nome worked its way up the Yukon River during the winter, and as soon as the ice broke in June a large crowd came down from Rampart City, followed by a larger crowd from Dawson. . . . Those to whom enough faith had been given to go over to Cape Nome were disgusted and angered to find that pretty much the whole district was already staked, and that the claims taken were two or three times as large as those commonly allowed on the upper river. Another grievance was the great abuse of the power of attorney, by means of which an immense number of claims had been taken up, so that in many cases (according to common report) single individuals held or controlled from 50 to 100 claims apiece.

"A miners' meeting was called by the newcomers to remedy their grievances. Resolutions were prepared, in which it was represented that the district had been illegally organized by men who were not citizens of the United States and who had not conformed with the law in properly defining the boundaries of the district with reference to natural objects, in enacting suitable and sufficient mining regulations, and in complying with any of the details of organization required by law. It was intended by the promoters of this meeting to reorganize the district in such a way as would enable them to share the benefits of the discovery of a new gold field with the men who had entered it the previous winter, and, as they expressed it, 'gobbled up the whole country.' It is, of course, impossible to say what would have been the result if their attempt had not been interfered with. . . . On the 28th of June Lieutenant Spaulding and a detachment of 10 men from the Third Artillery had been ordered to the vicinity of Snake River, and on the 7th of July their numbers were increased by the addition of 15 more. As soon as it was proposed to throw open for restaking a large amount of land already staked and recorded an appeal was made to the United States troops to prevent this action by prohibiting the intended meeting, which was called to assemble July 10. It was represented to them that if the newcomers should attempt, under the quasi-legal guise of a miners' meeting, to take forcible possession of lands already claimed by others, the inevitable consequence would be a reign of disorder and violence, with the possibility of considerable bloodshed. On the strength of this representation and appeal the army officers decided to prevent the adoption of the proposed resolutions. The miners were allowed to call their meeting to order, but as soon as the resolutions

were read Lieutenant Spaulding requested that they be withdrawn. He allowed two minutes for compliance with his request, the alternative being that he would clear the hall. The resolutions were not withdrawn, the troops were ordered to fix bayonets, and the hall was cleared quietly, without a conflict. Such meetings as were subsequently attempted were quickly broken up by virtue of the same authority. The light in which this action is regarded by the people at Nome depends, of course, upon the way in which their personal interests were affected.

"The great discontent which actually did exist at this time found sudden and unexpected relief in the discovery of the beach diggings. It had long been known that there was more or less gold on the seashore, and before the middle of July it was discovered that good wages could be taken out of the sand with a rocker. Even those who were on the ground could hardly believe the story at first, but its truth was quickly and easily demonstrated. Before the month was over a great army of the unemployed was engaged in throwing up irregular intrenchments along the edge of the sea, and those who had just been driven nearly to the point of desperation by the exhaustion of all their resources were soon contentedly rocking out from $10 to $50 each per day and even more than that. This discovery came like a godsend to many destitute men, and was a most fortunate development in the history of the camp.

"Meantime the men who were in possession of claims on Anvil and Snow creeks were beginning to sluice their ground and getting good returns for their work, while others were actively making preparations to take out the gold which they knew they had discovered. More sluice boxes were constructed and put into operation as rapidly as possible. A town site was laid off at the mouth of Snake River, and on the 4th of July a postoffice was established. The town which has sprung so suddenly into existence is called 'Nome' by the Post-Office Department, but at a miners' meeting held February 28, it was decided to call it 'Anvil City,' and this is generally done by the residents of the district, as well as in all official records. At a meeting held in September, however, the name was again changed to 'Nome.'"-United States, 56th Cong., 1st sess., Senate Doc. No. 357, PP. 1-4.

1900.-Explorations in the north. See ARCTIC

EXPLORATION: 1900.

1903. Settlement of boundary question with Canada. See ALASKA BOUNDARY QUESTION.

1904-1911.-Coal-land controversy.--Cunningham claims.-Ballinger vs. Pinchot.-The development of the coal deposits in Alaska has been retarded by the lack of transportation facilities and the controversies over the administration of the coal lands. The two issues at stake in the coal land controversy, which aroused considerable discussion from 1904 to 1911, were the fate of the principle of conservation and the rapid economic development of Alaska. Some of the claims entered previous to 1906, when the Alaska coal fields were withdrawn from entry by executive order, were charged with fraud because monopoly interests (especially the Alaska, or Morgan-Guggenheim syndicate) were supposed to be getting control of the coal lands. The investigation of the notable Cunningham group of claims dragged on in the Department of the Interior for several years and eventually gained publicity, resulting in a heated dispute between Chief Forester Pinchot and Secretary of the Interior Ballinger. Pinchot was removed by President Taft for insubordination

and Ballinger, accused of collusion, although upheld by a congressional investigating committee, resigned in 1911. Soon after, the Cunningham claims were cancelled, this acting as a precedent for the rejection of most of the remaining claims. The opening up of 12,800 acres of coal land withdrawn from the Chugach National Forest in October of 1910 raised again the fear of monopoly by the "Morgan-Guggenheim Syndicate," through its control of terminal facilities. President Taft and Secretary of the Interior Fisher defended this executive order by stating that the territory opened was guarded from monopoly by the reservation of 80-rod strips between the better claims.-See also CONSERVATION: 1910; 1910-1912.

1906.-Election of a delegate to Congress.— An act to authorize the election of a delegate to Congress from the territory of Alaska was approved by the President May 7, 1906.

1911. First territorial legislature and its work. "The more important legislation is summarized as follows: An act revising and making additions to the territorial licenses and taxes, and an act creating a territorial treasury and providing for the appointment of a treasurer; an act making important and comprehensive amendments to the general mining law as applied to Alaska; an employers' liability act; a poll-tax law, the poll taxes to be applied exclusively to the construction of wagon-roads; arbitration of labor disputes; a miners' labor-lien law; two acts limiting hours of labor, the first prescribing eight hours in all metalliferous lode mines, and the other placing the same limit on all labor in connection with public works for the territory; regulating banks and banking, and providing for examination; enabling municipal corporations to extend their boundaries; quarantine law and a simple sanitary code; compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths; compulsory school attendance; providing for incorporated towns of the second class; extending the elective franchise to women. The first two named are the most important of all, because of their fundamental nature, but I would not be understood as implying that the measure which I have mentioned last is, in my opinion, of least importance. In respect to the general tax and license measure, the difficulty was encountered at the beginning of its consideration, of raising revenues in a territory whose population is small and whose developed resources are already taxed under federal laws. The new revenue law is somewhat unequal as to the various taxes imposed, but it is not a vicious or very burdensome measure. It is roughly estimated that it will yield about $240,000, per annum. The appropriations authorized by the legislature amount to about $60,000 per annum for the next two years."-Alaska's first legislature (American Review of Reviews, v. 48, PP. 492-493).

1912.- Eruption of Mount Katmai.- "This volcanic ridge, a great fissure or vent it is supposed to be, extends on down the Alaska Peninsula where its most famous peak is Mt. Katmai. The eruption of this mountain in June, 1912, was the most tremendous volcanic explosion ever recorded. . . . The explosions and the shocks threw men and horses to the ground four hundred miles away. It was felt to the shore of the Arctic Ocean. The ash fell nine hundred miles away, and according to scientists the fine dust went into the higher regions of the atmosphere over the whole world and affected the weather for the summer, being the cause of the cold, wet season of that year. Professor Robert F. Griggs, who was the leader of the ion sent by the National Geographic

Society to Katmai after the disaster, computes that the ashes that fell, buried an area as large as the State of Connecticut to a depth varying from ten inches to more than ten feet. . . . Fortunately, the disaster did not occur in a settled district. Kodiak was the chief sufferer and its green beauty became a gray desert. Though one hundred miles away, the island was buried under ash. The roofs of the houses were broken in by the ashes that settled on them. The land was a land of darkness and stifling fumes and all the water was poisoned. A vessel that happened to be in the harbor of Kodiak took the people on board and supplied their needs as best it could until a weird, gray dawn at last broke and they returned to their homes and began the task of rehabilitation. Many of the cattle on the island perished for there was neither food nor drink. The government experimental station shipped its herd to the States until vegetation again appeared. But the greatest desolation was wrought on the Alaska Peninsula in the immediate vicinity of the mountain. The little village of Katmai though five times as far away as Pompeii from Vesuvius or St. Pierre from Mt. Pelée was a barren waste. The roofs were sunken in on the houses and the buildings were filled with pumice. The church stood in a sea of liquid mud. Trees were dead. Pumice was everywhere. To add to the destruction, if this were possible, a lake that had been formed by rubbish that had gathered across a stream and dammed it, broke and a flood swept down bringing boulders and trees and leaving a great plain of sticky mud. For several years after the explosion columns of steam a mile high and a thousand feet in diameter poured from other volcanoes of the group. New volcanoes came into existence at the time. Katmai itself really blew its head off and is to-day but a stub of what it was before the explosion. The force of the explosion right at the peak was so great that rocks were literally blown to pieces and the lava was so charged with gas it became steam."-A. R. Burr, Alaska, pp. 176-178.

1914. Coal lands opened up by Congress under limitations.-Law passed to build a Federal railroad in Alaska.-By a law passed in 1914, the Secretary of the Interior was permitted to lease coal lands in blocks of forty acres or multiples to 2,560 acres. A royalty was fixed of not less than two cents a ton. In the same year a bill was passed authorizing a bond issue of $35,000,000 for the purpose of building a Federal railroad in Alaska. The bill was vigorously opposed by the Guggenheim interests. "The government aims, Secretary Lane says, will be not merely to construct a railroad from the sea to the interior, but to select a route that will develope both the agricultural and mineral resources of the country 'so that we may have a road that will tap large coal fields and have other freight to carry."-Independent, March 23, 1914.

1915-1918-Important legislation.-In 1915 a workmen's compensation law was adopted which surpassed that of other sections in its liberality. The following year the Mount McKinley district was set aside as a national park. The year 1917 was marked by two laws of note: an eight hour day law and a land law. In accordance with this latter law, homeseekers are allowed to secure titles though they are not residents on the land. In 1918 the prohibition law was passed.

1918.-Part played in the World War.-The territory furnished over 3,000 men for the service, and outranked all sections in purchase of war stamps. It was also a liberal subscriber to bonds.