Captain Selden replied as follows; the original letter was at once transmitted to the department: UNITED STATES REVENUE STEAMER WOLCOTT, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 24th instant, informing me of the alarming reports brought from Alaska, by the steamer California, of serious trouble with the Kolosh Indians, and wishing to know when the repairs to the Wolcott will be completed, and how long before the vessel will be ready for service, besides wishing to know the character of the vessel, armament, number of small-arms, quantity of ammunition, &c., and my views as to the fitness of the vessel for service in Alaska. The time set to complete the work by the parties making the repairs was the 10th day of August, and, judging from present appearances, it will not be completed before the 15th; all that would be necessary after that would be to coal and provision the vessel, and she would be ready for service. The vessel has one 24-pounder boat howitzer (Dahlgren), old pattern smooth-bore. The fellow-gun was thrown overboard in February, 1876, when we got ashore at Cape Mudge, to assist in lightening the vessel. In a letter to the department, dated January 31, 1877, I called their attention to this matter, and asked to be furnished with a new battery similar to the pattern furnished other cutters in the service; to that letter I never received any reply. There are 30 rounds of fixed ammunition on board for this gun. The vessel has fifteen rifles, nine Ballard and six Spencer; they are now being overhauled by a practical gunsmith, and will be in serviceable condition when finished; and there are 1,500 cartridges for these rifles, but are not reliable, as a large percentage of them we have found to miss fire. We have seventeen Colt's navy revolvers in fair condition, and we have just received, per steamer Panama, 1,000 rounds of ammunition for them. Nine cutlasses complete the small-arms. We have powder enough on hand to fill about thirty cartridges. In relation to your paragraph in regard to the strengthening the force of the officers and men, and increasing the armament of the vessel, I agree with you as to its necessity, should the department decide to send her to Alaska, but in my opinion she is entirely unfitted for that service. A vessel going to Alaska on that duty should not have less than seventy men, four broadside guns, two Gatling guns, and rifles and pistols sufficient to arm the entire crew-besides furnished with good boats and a steam launch. This launch is imperatively necessary, for often she will be required to pursue Indians into channels and inland streams, where the vessel could not go. This number of men at first may appear large, but when it is considered that frequently we may be called upon to send away boats and to land for the protection of settlers, the number left to protect the vessel would be none too great. Moreover, the vessel should be furnished with an additional lieutenant, engineer, and surgeon. In view of the facts above stated, it will be seen that the Wolcott is entirely unfitted for this service. In the first place she does not carry coal enough (only 60 tons). Secondly, she is too small to quarter the men and officers and stow provisions necessary for them. Again, with her high, long house on deck, which covers onethird of her length, and prevents her from carrying the necessary armament and effectively working it. Her quarter-deck is wholly unprotected, having no bulwarks or rail around it, exposing the entire persons of men and officers to the fire of hostile Indians, who may secrete themselves along the banks of narrow streams and pick us off. The boats belonging to this vessel are old ones, transferred from the Lincoln and Wayanda to this vessel. I quote my statement made to the department in the property return, June 30, about them: "The boats are old and seen much service, and are not considered safe for rough weather. The dingy and second cutter especially will not hold together much longer, as the wood will not hold the fastenings at present." As I am writing in a hurry, to enable me to send this to you by to-night's mail, I have to omit many suggestions that I might make, showing the unfitness of the Wolcott or any other vessel of her class for the Alaska duty. You and others might perhaps think that in raising these objections I am actuated by personal motives. I assure you it is not so. My opinion is based on my own experience in Alaska, and that of many others who have been there. If it is my luck to be sent there, I sincerely hope I will be furnished with a more suitable vessel for the service. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, J. M. SELDEN, Captain United States Revenue Marine, Commanding Wolcott. WILLIAM GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, Esq., The following telegraphic correspondence was then had: COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, Port Townsend: WASHINGTON, July 25, 1877 How soon can steamer Wolcott make cruise to the northward? Do you hear any reliable information about trouble at Sitka? R. C. MCCORMICK, Assistant Secretary. JOHN SHERMAN, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C.: Captain Selden informs me Wolcott cannot be got ready before September 1. Information brought by the master and passengers of the mail steamer from Sitka justifies the belief that the white citizens of that place are in danger, consequent upon the withdrawal of troops. HENRY A. WEBSTER, SECRETARY TREASURY, Washington, D. C.: Collector. PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON TERRITORY, July 26, 1877. Captain Selden states Wolcott in no condition for Alaskan service. I start immediately for Victoria and will forward written report from San Francisco. No cutter should be dispatched without largely increased force and medical officer. Gatling gun required. WM. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, Special Agent. WASHINGTON, D. C., M. P. BERRY, United States Collector of Customs for port of Sitka, Alaska, Morris reports danger at Sitka unless cutter is dispatched at once. Telegraph whether you are of same opinion. H. F. FRENCH, VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, July 26, 1877. Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C.: JOHN SHERMAN, Your telegram of the 24th received. It is my opinion that unless an armed vessel is dispatched without delay to Sitka and waters adjacent thereto, the people there will be massacred. M. P. BERRY, Collector District of Alaska. Before leaving Victoria I wrote this letter to the department: OFFICE SPECIAL AGENT TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Victoria, British Columbia, July 28, 1877. SIR: I have the honor to transmit certain correspondence between Capt. James M. Selden, of the revenue marine, commanding steamer Wolcott, and myself, touching the condition of his vessel for Alaskan service. On the 25th instant, the collector of Port Townsend, Wash., received your telegram asking "how soon can steamer Wolcott make cruise to the northward." At my suggestion, Captain Selden, who was at Seattle, superintending the repairs of his vessel, was telegraphed for, in order he might personally be consulted. On the 26th he made his appearance at the Port Townsend custom-house, and in reply to your question, answered, "Not before September 1st," which reply was at once telegraphed you by Collector Webster. Captain Selden then read to us his reply to my letter of July 24, and reiterated personally the views therein expressed; whereupon I sent the following telegram to the department: 66 "Captain Selden states 'Wolcott in no condition for Alaskan service.' I start im mediately for Victoria and will forward written report from San Francisco. No cutter should be dispatched without largely increased force and medical officer. Gatling gun required." Captain Selden stated to me, as I was leaving Port Townsend, he would address me another communication upon the subject to San Francisco. The situation at Sitka is now changed. A vessel stationed there may have sharp work to do. For mere intimidation the Wolcott would be an admirable scarecrow; but if there is any fighting to be done, or offensive operations to be conducted, then a vessel of a different class must be selected. My views on this subject were fully set forth in my report of April 14 last, when discussing the armament and crew of the cutter Rush. Collector Berry is very earnest in his statement of the defenseless condition of our citizens, who have been left wholly unprotected and liable at any time to be murdered by the savage tribes. He does not concur in views of the department, that "an occasional visit of an armed vessel is deemed all that is necessary," and I am constrained to agree in this opinion. A cutter should be stationed permanently at Sitka, unless it is determined to abandon that portion of the territory altogether, and she should be provided with a steamlaunch, as Captain Selden suggests. Let a vessel go there now, and possibly everything at the surface might appear to be calm, and the officer making the inspection might call those who have agitated this question "alarmists"; but this will not do. The inhabitants of Sitka are slumbering upon a volcano, as it were, and some day it will belch forth and ingulf them. It is a question of slow growth, but many of these Indians have wrongs to redress and injuries to be made good, inflicted upon them while the country was in the hands of the military. Major Berry says the destinies of the whole town are in the hands of a single chief, who, if he says "kill," not a white man will be left alive. I cannot speak from my own personal observation, but for three years past I have given this northwest coast patient study and investigation. It is my firm conviction the department does not realize the situation, and the sooner it recognizes fully the importance, condition, and responsibility of the legacy bequeathed to it by the War Department, so much the sooner will it become convinced of what is requisite to be done, and that speedily. Some sort of government must be had; and as, to my mind, the Treasury being the most proper bureau for its administration, should at once enter upon the task and evolve some kind of order out of this impending trouble and present chaos. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. JOHN SHERMAN, WM. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C. Special Agent. On August 4, off Chetko River, Oregon, I spoke at sea the revenuesteamer Thomas Corwin, Capt. John W. White commanding, en route to Alaska. This officer remained some time in those waters with his vessel, and although during his stay the Indians made no signs of violence, Í am satisfied his visit had a very healthy effect and quieting influence upon the natives, and prevented any outbreak, as portended by Major Berry. One thing must be continually borne in mind, that the Indians are not going to begin hostilities while a gunboat is lying right before their villages. They will make all manifestations of good conduct, even if they contemplate throat-cutting and blood-letting as soon as the vessel is out of sight. Major Berry continued to grow worse at Victoria, and, being at the point of death, his resignation was accepted by the department and successor appointed. When his special deputy, Mr. Harvey, reached Portland, Oreg., I had an interview with him and advised him by all means to proceed to San Francisco and make settlement with the department, and deposit his funds with the assistant treasurer of the United States. He left by the first steamer for that purpose. I advised him also to seek the advice and assistance of the accomplished auditor of the San Francisco custom-house, J. Frank Miller, esq., in the preparation and rendition of the final accounts of Collector Berry. ADMINISTRATION OF COLLECTOR BALL. This gentleman entered upon the discharge of his duties in July last, and is bringing to the task ability and judgment. My correspondence with him has been of a satisfactory character, and in a recent interview with him at this port, on his return to Alaska, I am convinced he fully understands the gravity of the position in which he is placed and the responsibilities of the office he has assumed. One great trouble in enforcing the revenue laws properly in Alaska and maintaining order is the insecurity of the term of public officials. No sooner has a man mastered our intricate customs revenue system, or at least become tolerably conversant with its practical workings and numerous contradictions, than he is supplanted, made to walk the plank, and politely invited to step out and make room for his successor. In older communities this, per se, does not invariably cause loss to the revenue or bring about the pernicious state of affairs which advocates of civil-service reform are wont to preach, for the reason, sufficient experienced clerks and deputies are retained to carry on the public business properly. But in Alaska, when the fountain-head departs, it usually results in a clean sweep of subordinates. Aside from the mere routine of collecting the revenue, the collector of customs and his deputies, as matters now stand, are the only semblance of or really the de facto law in the Territory. These reflections do not apply to the present collector, who legitimately succeeded to a vacancy caused by resignation, nor to his deputies, for reasons before given. If they prove equal to the occasion, it is to be hoped more stability than heretofore will be had in their case. THE PORT OF WRANGEL. Wrangel, or more generally known as Fort Wrangel, is situated on the north end of Wrangel Island. Illustration No. 1 will give a correct idea of the present appearance of the place. The view is presented from the harbor directly in front of the town, with the cutter Wolcott in the distance. The military post at Wrangel was established in 1867, and abandoned in 1870. This garrison cost many thousands of dollars; it had a large hospital, good quarters for officers and men, guard-house, bakery, storehouses, post well stockaded, stables, and such other buildings as are usually found at a one-company post. The erection thereof was necessarily most expensive, yet, notwithstanding the immense sums of money expended, the War Department in 1870 disposed of the whole thing for the insignificant sum of $500 or thereabouts. The purchaser was William King Lear, esq., sutler and trader at the post and village. Soon after the troops left, at the request of Mr. Lear, the deputy collector then stationed there vacated the miserable shell of a building then occupied as a custom-house and moved into one of the buildings of the fort. This building was used and occupied as a custom-house and warehouse, free of rent from the year 1870 to 1874, at which time the discovery of gold at Cassiar, in British Columbia, caused houses at Wrangel to become valuable and in demand. Mr. Lear, in consideration of the fact he had furnished for a period of four years a whole building rent free for government purposes, asked that he be allowed compensation for the use of one room. Upon the representation of Collector Berry, the sum of $30. per month was paid. In January, 1875, the War Department re-occupied Fort Wrangel and stationed troops tuere, taking possession of all the former buildings and |