Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 78, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 December 1920 — COWBOYS WILL HERD REINDEER [ARTICLE]

COWBOYS WILL HERD REINDEER

Alaska Win Be the Scene of Roundups Like Those of the Western Plains. HERD TOTALS NEARLY 200,000 Reindeer Industry of the North Ie Growing Rapidly and There la an Insistent Call for Experienced Frontiersmen. Sa a Francisco. —From the wild North comes the call for the sons of the eld wUd West. And with his swagger and trappings the maa of the ranges la preparing to answer the call. From Montana, California, Oregon, Nevada and the Dakotas cowboys are getting ready to leave the drive and picturesque roundup to “ride herd” on the Isst frontiers •f civilisation, the subarctic barrens es Alaska. Instead of Texas longhorns they will “jhinch” the pronghorns of the Bering, the Alaskan reindeer, in place of flaring chaps and flapping sombreros, they will wear heavy boots, three pairs of sox, parkas and heuvy fur caps. They will ride behind swift Eskimo dogs or hike it on snowshoes. The call for experienced, seasoned frontiersmen Is insistent, for the reindeer industry of the north is pretty closely following the historical development of the old western range.

Horde Total 200,000. The 80 scrubby, half-starved reindeer, Imported Into Alaska from Siberia la 1902 by the government as an experiment in food supply for the natives, have grown to nearly 200,000 head at present, valued at approximately 430 each. It is expected that withia 16 yoars the herd will number between ten and twenty-five millions, the grafting capacity of Alaska. Already the industry is being considered as serious competition for the big meat packers of the United States. Last year only 1,700 carcasses were shipped; 11,000 will be shipped in 1990, it is estimated. ‘ Five eoLA-storage plants, with a capacity of 1,000 to 5,000 carcasses each, are now in operation, with more in contemplation, and refrigerator ships are to be put on between Seattle and Alaak* immediately. , Leaden in the new industry say the herds will increase 126 per cent every three years, so that, in 16 years. 1,000,000 earoMses will be shippod yearly. ,X*e meet celling now at 36 cents per pound wholesale, will then sell at 16 cents pur pound retail, according to Jafet Llnderbock, largest private owner es reindeer in Alaska. Food Upon Moes. Reindeer can be raided In Alaska at little or no cost other than their care. They feed upon the reindeer moss, and one man can care for 2,000 head. Each yeat rodeos, similar to the famous old “round-ups” of the wild West days, are held. From hundreds of miles around, natives drive in behind their swiftest reindeer, head herdsmen are chosen and preparations made for the next year’s business. For the natives and deer men are looking upon Alaska as the future Texas of the world as a meat supplying center. But if Americans wish this delicacy |bsy must prepare to outbid Europe, pays Llndurberg, who maintains that •very pound of reindeer tndat, up to the maxtsuum capaslty at Alaska, can be sold to Europeans, who are willing to phy almost any price demanded.