Teller Reindeer Station

The idea of transporting domestic reindeer from Siberia to western Alaska was first suggested by Captain Michael A. Healy, an officer in the United States Revenue Cutter Service, as a possible solution to the Native Alaskans' food shortage problem.

[1] The station was established in 1892 by Sheldon Jackson, Commissioner of Education in Alaska and a Presbyterian minister, who named it in honor of Henry M. Teller.

[2] On June 29, 1892, Sheldon Jackson visited the head of Port Clarence, Alaska, in search of a suitable location for the establishment of a reindeer station.

In making a location, it was important to take into consideration nearness to the coast of Asia, character of harbor, position with reference to future distribution of reindeer, supply of good pasturage and water.

At the head of the sand-spit between Port Clarence and Grantley Harbor is a large lagoon, and between the reindeer station and the base of the hills on the north are about a dozen fresh-water ponds or small lakes.

At the extreme northeast corner of Port Clarence, near Grantley Harbor, and upon a small mountain creek, is the place that Jackson selected for the headquarters of the reindeer station.

[3] A few days after taking possession, the lumber and building materials for the station having been landed, Captain Healy sent his carpenters and a portion of his crew on shore and erected a substantial frame house, 20 by 60 feet in size.

[3] Jackson's greatest success figured in the 1897 Overland Relief Expedition which saved marooned whalers near Point Barrow.

[7] Owing to the murder of Harrison R. Thornton, missionary at Cape Prince of Wales, on August 19, 1893, by two Inupiat, the mission station was closed for the year.

Under the circumstances, Lopp, who had accepted the position of superintendent at the reindeer station, felt called upon to offer his services to the American Missionary Association of the Congregational church, and return to Cape Prince of Wales in the summer of 1894, if it was thought desirable.

From among this number, largely upon the recommendation of Prof. Rasmus B. Anderson, William A. Kjelmann, of Madison, Wisconsin, was selected as the next superintendent of the reindeer station.

The reindeer fund of Congress for 1894 being exhausted, it became necessary to again appeal to private individuals for $1,000, to defray the expenses of sending Kjelmann to Sápmi, and to pay the transportation of Sámi herders and their families to the United States.

During the sledge trip of the superintendent to Cape Prince of Wales, two or three times he staked out the deer in the neighborhood of villages with from 100 to 300 native dogs, and in no instance were they molested.