Greely's Comments

In view of current events and recent trends in Alaska, it is interesting to look back at what some early observers of the northern scene had to say about resources, people and events of the time.

One early observer was General A. W. Greely, the U.S. Army's Chief Signal Officer who oversaw early communications in the Territory. His Handbook of Alaska, first published in 1909, gives much information about Alaska and northwestern Canada and it reveals some of his personal views.

Of Alaskan agriculture he said, "Agriculture as a whole is valuable in Alaska solely for the purpose of supplying the local market, and that in part only." Obviously, General Greely would have been no fan of the Alaskan Delta barley project that has grown up around the fort named for him.

Greely must have liked Juneau. He remarked, "With good hotels, indifferent variety shows, excellent restaurants, well-stocked curio shops, Indian basket peddlers, and a hospitable community, the town affords all comforts and many luxuries. In ten visits there have been experienced no importunity by beggars, no affront from the mythical border ruffian, and no offensive drunken scenes or street disorders. In short, Juneau is a well-governed, intelligent, thriving, self-respecting town."

Of Fairbanks he had less to say, "Fairbanks is a well-built town, especially within its fire limits."

General Greely said that practically all of Alaska's good trees were in southeastern and Southcentral Alaska, but he did admit to what was then a healthy forest industry in Fairbanks. "The lumber industry is so extensive that large capital, about 250 men, and five sawmills are steadily engaged in handling [trees] which in great quantities are rafted to Fairbanks from the upper Tanana and Chena Rivers."

However, he noted problems elsewhere in the interior. "As a matter of practice, it may be said that all lumber for permanent use, even in Alaskan coast regions, is imported from Puget Sound, local sawmills being unable to compete, price and quality being considered. While there are enormous areas densely wooded in the Tanana Valley, yet the timber near the mining camps is rapidly disappearing Several years since, an army contractor had difficulty in obtaining within seventy- five miles of the fort [Fort Gibbon at Tanana] a not very large number of sizable logs."

At times General Greely seemed a little defensive about the views others held of Alaska and Alaskans, "Contrary to the oft-expressed opinion, the Alaskans are neither reckless, dissipated, nor lawless."

He had a not-so-subtle remark on economic development of the North. "The development of the resources of Alaska has not been unmarked by corresponding benefits to the United States in general, and to the Pacific Coast in particular."

General Greely also wanted to make sure that no one would suspect that the money taken in by the Army for telegraph tolls was being misused. "It is not infrequently said that corruption is rife in the public service, especially in Alaska. Let it be noted that these telegraph tolls, of nearly a million dollars, have in their entirety passed through the hands of American soldiers--enlisted men--and the total loss by embezzlement is but $361.69." [One sergeant deserted with this amount in hand.]

General Greely was a railroad fan as well, but he could not then have known what the future would bring and that there would only be one railroad in Alaska by 1981. "There can be no stronger evidence of the permanency of the population and industries of Alaska than the construction of railroads. Twenty-seven railways, four trams, and several wagon roads have filed articles of incorporation. Ten corporations have built railroads."

On the treatment of native peoples, General Greely said, "This is not the place to tell the story of the Alaskan natives, which in its totality can only be viewed as disgraceful to the nation claiming to be civilized, humanitarian, or Christian."

If he could have been alive when the Native Land Settlements was finally accomplished, General Greely would have been pleased. Sixty years before the event, he said, "What if anything, does the General Government owe the natives of Alaska, and in what form shall the payment be made? It is a problem great in its moral as well as its practical aspects. Having largely destroyed their food supplies, altered their environment, and changed their standards and methods of life, what does a nation that has drawn products valued at $300,000,000 owe the natives of Alaska? Will this nation pay its debts on this account?"