Background
In 1892, the government began a project of importing reindeer from Siberia to Alaska, and teaching the natives how to raise the animals in order to have a steady and dependable food supply. The reindeer were obtained by Captain Michael Healy, who was known and trusted by the Siberian natives. Sheldon Jackson, the General Superintendent of Alaska, used his influence in the United States Congress to raise funds to purchase and care for the animals, and was placed in overall charge of training the herders.
The project started with seventeen reindeer. From 1892 to 1906, cutters would cruise up the Siberian coast and barter with Chukchi for reindeer, which were then transported to a station at Port Clarence, near Nome, Alaska. In 1897, eight whaling ships were trapped in an Arctic ice field surrounding Point Barrow, the northernmost point of Alaska. The owners of the ships were concerned that the 265 men of the ships' crews would starve during the winter. They appealed to President William McKinley to send a relief expedition. McKinley asked the United States Treasury Department to organize an expedition, and they sent the USRC Bear, returned from Bering Sea Patrol, to undertake the expedition.
Read more about this topic: Overland Relief Expedition
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