MAPS THE GENERAL MAP AND MAPS 2, 3, 4, AND 5 ARE FROM THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. MAPS 6 AND 7 ARE FROM THE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. MAP 1 IS FROM THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT. No. 5. Distribution of Timber in the Tanana-Yukon 93 101 No. 7. Distribution of Caribou and Mountain Goats. 192 CHAPTER I GENERAL DESCRIPTION It is unnecessary to narrate here the history of Alaska, especially as existent conditions in the Territory are entirely disassociated with the past as to material interests and as to its administrative, judicial, or religious methods. However, Table No. 1* gives such matters of historical interest and dates of occurrence as are of special importance. It is difficult to give an idea of the geography of Alaska that shall be brief and adequate, or satisfactory, owing to its vast area and its divergent conditions. All are familiar with the accurate but misleading statement that Attu Island, Alaska, is farther west of San Francisco than that city is west of Eastport, Maine. The Alaska known to the tourist is a strip of coast and fringe of islands of about 425 miles by 100 miles, extending from Ketchikan north to Mount St. Elias-in fact, about one-twelfth of Alaska. The main Territory just begins at St. Elias, stretching northward about 700 miles to the Arctic Ocean and the same distance to the westward to Bering Sea, its total area being given by Gannett as 590,884 square miles. Perhaps some idea of its great extent may be had from the statement that its area is one-third * See end of volume. |