F909 S93 PREFACE. The brief history of the discovery and occupation of Alaska by the Russians, which I have incorporated in this work, has been compiled largely from the records of the Russian-American Company, as translated for me by Mr. George Kostrometinoff. That part relating to the purchase of the country by the United States are matters of Congressional record, which the reader can easily verify by referring to the debates had in the Senate and House of Representatives, 1867-8. The remainder, and by far the larger part of the volume, is based upon personal observation and research, made during an official residence of several years in the Territory, during which time I personally visited all the different sections referred to for the special purpose of investigation and report. Concerning my estimate of the natural resources of these different sections, I am wholly content to await the confirmation that certainly lies within the near future. It is just possible that the reader may be disappointed at not finding in these pages a more extended reference to the very recent gold discoveries which have set the world aflame, but I M309245 |