[Rarebooks] FA: 1879 Alaska Report with maps, many illustrations

[Joslin Hall Rare Books, ABAA]

Endling this evening, no reserve-
<http://tinyurl.com/yl8vcb>

“REPORT UPON THE CUSTOMS DISTRICT, PUBLIC SERVICE, AND RESOURCES OF ALASKA
TERRITORY” By William Gouverneur Morris. Washington: 1879.

They called it “Seward’s folly”, “Seward’s icebox” and “Andrew Johnson’s
polar bear garden”, but it had been purchased as much to annoy the British
and to cozy up to the Russians as for its actual land value. From the
original purchase in 1867 to 1879 when this report was submitted, the
United States sole interest in the territory seemed to be the collection
of revenue, and jurisdiction over the Customs District of Alaska was given
to the Treasury Department. The vast majority of the Territory remained
lawless and unexplored.

“Report upon the Customs District, Public Service, and resources of Alaska
Territory.” consists of excerpts “deemed to be of public interest” from a
full report dutifully compiled by William Gouverneur Morris, Special Agent
of the Treasury Department, and submitted to Congress. Included are 11
plates with line illustrations of various scenes from the Territory, as
well as a fold out map titled “Map showing proposed location of Boundary
line between Alaska and British Columbia”- the boundary being a bone of
contention for the Brits, as it had not been clearly laid out in the
Treaty between the U.S. and Russia.

The bulk of the report is made up of letters and reports from Alaskan
customs agents and officers of the Department of Indian Affairs, including
letters and reports from Indian ethnographer James G. Swan and future
Alaska Governor John G. Brady. Subjects include:

- The Customs District of Alaska with a table of duties collected from
1869-1878.

-The boundary line between Alaska and British Columbia, including an
excerpt from the “Convention Between the United States of America and His
Majesty the Emperor of Russia, for the Cession of the Russian Possessions
in North America to the United States.”

-Several discussions of drunkenness among the Indians, including a line
illustration of an Indian still and the quote “The introduction of good
liquor being absolutely prohibited, we will now proceed to discuss the
vile stuff manufactured by the natives, and known as Hoochenoo or
Hootzenoo.”

- The importation of Firearms and Ammunition.

- The names and approximate numbers of the Indian tribes living in the
Territory.

- Slavery among the Indians.

- Information on timber and the timber industry

- A discussion of fish and fisheries including a list of canneries in
operation along the Columbia River and their output.

<http://tinyurl.com/yl8vcb>
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