William T. Lopp

“ She knew that if her beautiful White Sox was intended for a sled deer, he would first have to be halter-broken. A herder would rope him and tie him to a piece of tundra surface that was higher than the rest of the tundra, called a “niggerhead.” Then would follow the tedious work of breaking him to harness. He would be a beast of burden in winter as long as his back-fat lasted. Back-fat is the fat that collects on a reindeer’s back in summer, when there are green grass and shrubbery to eat. Reindeer moss alone does not give the reindeer strength enough for much hard work. ”

“ The wolf is the greediest and most destructive of all our enemies,” Mother Reindeer said. “We can only defeat him when we outwit him and lead him into a trap.”
“I see!” cried White Sox. “If you had not tempted them to follow us across the sticky slough, they would have gone around one of the lakes and would still be chasing us. They cannot chase us now; their coats are too heavy. Look at them, mother! They waddle like the porcupines in the timbered country that Uncle Slim told us about. Where is the timbered country?” ”

“ He never dreamed that his mother was taking him to school. No, indeed!
“Mother,” he said, speaking a little louder, “what if we have been going farther away all the time and never find our way back to the big herd on the sea beach?”
Mother Reindeer swallowed her cud. “Nonsense!” she answered. “When the fog lifts we shall be able to see where we are. We have better moss here than down on the sea beach, and no mosquitoes to bother us. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“But, mother! it is very lonesome here. There isn’t a fox or a ptarmigan, not even an owl or a mouse,” White Sox complained. ”

“ White Sox had listened carefully to every word his mother had said. To him it was a very wonderful story. The more he thought about it, the more he wished to be like White Feet in mind as well as in body. After pondering for a while in silence, he said:
“I can see all the pictures now, mother—the careless caribou herd, the sneaking wolves, and the little band of fawns on the hill. Always the weakest of the herd were sacrificed in order that the stronger ones might escape and live a little [Pg 63] while longer. Always danger, unrest, and fear! ”

“ Now the sons are sacrificed to feed man, their protector. The sons pay the debt which enables the mothers to live in peace and safety.”
“‘In olden times the poor mothers were sacrificed to feed the wolves.’”
“Yes, my son,” said the proud mother, “and you must know that the wild caribou have decreased in numbers year by year; but the reindeer, [Pg 74] under the protection of man, have multiplied until now they form many mighty herds.”
“That proves that the new way is better, mother,” said White Sox. “Service and sacrifice for the males! That is now our law. ”

“ I see that first corral on the narrow spit, the first little sled and harness, the first little caribou serving man for the love of him. Each needed something the other had to give. The fawns needed protection. The human beings needed beasts of burden that would be a source of food, instead of those for whom food had to be provided.”
“‘Our herders watch us at night only during the season when the ground is bare and we are inclined to scatter.’”
White Sox had learned his lesson. ”

“ A driving wind that strikes us from behind or on the side gets under our hair and chills us.”
[Pg 32]
“When we face the wind we can scent wolves and Eskimo dogs ahead of us. But then wolves behind us can scent us, can’t they, mother?”
“Yes, my son; but no wolf or dog can face a blizzard like the snowstorm we passed through today and overtake a reindeer or a caribou. Our enemies like to scent us, or see us, and then sneak up as they tried to do this morning. Our wild cousins are in the greatest danger when they are resting.” ”

“ He will never injure another reindeer in that way. We must forgive him and try to forget it.”
“Mother, I can’t forget it,” cried White Sox. “These wild cousins of ours can look forward to a long life of freedom and safety. They are not the slaves of herders and dogs. I want to stay with them.”
“You are very young, my son. You have much to learn,” said his mother.
“But I know what will happen to me if I stay with the big herd,” he said. “I’ll have to draw [Pg 11] heavy sled loads in winter and carry tiresome packs in summer, if I am not killed by the butcher’s knife when I am two years old. ”

“ You have many lessons to learn,” she said kindly. “Our wild cousins do not know we are coming to visit them. They have not scented us, because the wind is blowing from them to us. They will be startled when they see us. We must move very slowly. If we rush toward them, they will run away.”
As White Sox and his mother moved toward the herd of white caribou, they left the last of the fog behind and could see their cousins quite plainly. ”

“ Many other bands of caribou came to see him. They all agreed that he was born to be king of the caribou. So much attention caused his mother to be very careful to train him in the right way. He had many, many things to learn.”
“Yes, mother. A fawn who is going to be a great leader must know more than the other reindeer fawns,” said White Sox.
Mother Reindeer was much pleased at the interest her son was taking in the story. “That is very true,” she said. “White Feet was very observing and thoughtful. He became wise while he was a fawn. ”

“ Their bodies are more slender than those of the reindeer in our herd. Their legs and necks are longer. They hold their heads higher. There are no spotted or white ones among them.”
“Very true,” said Mother Reindeer. She liked to have White Sox find out things for himself. “The spotted and white ones are found only in the herds that live with man and serve him. Come, we will go to our wild cousins now. They are frightened. ”

“ Mother Reindeer would have told this story to White Sox long ago, but she had wanted him to meet his wild cousins first. White Sox was different from the other fawns, and—well, you’ll understand after you have heard the story.
They had traveled about ten miles when a northwest breeze sprang up. The air soon became full of flying snow. Mother Reindeer changed her course so that they almost faced the wind. It was a terrible wind. White Sox had never faced a blizzard before. ”

“ But the reindeer is one of man’s very necessary domestic animals; it affords a means for reclaiming vast sub-Arctic regions that now lie waste; and in Alaska the government of the United States has introduced reindeer and encouraged the raising of them, till now they are a source of wealth to the territory. ”

“ White Feet knew that the old mothers were usually the weaklings of the herd. Their death saved many fawns from being caught. Then it came to White Feet that the death of these mothers might be the means of saving his own little band of fawns. The hunter and his family would now have plenty of caribou skins for the coming winter. They would not need his and Blackie’s and those of the doe fawns. ”

“ Mother Reindeer answered, “but sometimes they are cunning enough to outwit sleepy reindeer mothers and kill their newborn fawns.”
“Do the owls ever get caught by our other enemies?”
“Sometimes. Among our lesser enemies the lynx is said to be wiser than the wisest owl. The lynx eats rabbits, mice, and birds. He studies the habits of these creatures. He knows that the owl is always watching to swoop down on some helpless field mouse. ”

“ Even when we have no horns, we can close one eye and turn our head so as to protect the other. Until you have learned this trick, you must always crowd in on the lee side of a big reindeer for protection when in a blizzard.”
“I’ll remember that, mother. But I’m very sleepy now. May I rest awhile?”
“Yes. We’ll go to the top of that little knoll over yonder. You may sleep while I am chewing my cud.”
When they, had reached the place, Mother [Pg 33] Reindeer selected a nice bed of moss covered with a clean sheet of freshly fallen snow. They needed no blankets other than their thick, warm coats. ”

“ If you wish to know where White Sox was sleeping, you must get your geography and turn to the map of Alaska. Now find the seventy-first parallel. North of that you will notice a little point of land jutting out into the Arctic Ocean, called Point Barrow. Just southwest of that point is Barrow, the village to which the big herd belonged.
The little knoll where White Sox was sleeping was on the seventy-first parallel, away up at the top of the North American continent. The freshly fallen snow stretched eastward and westward, [Pg 35] northward and southward, from this little knoll ”

“ Some reindeer mothers are so poor when their fawns come that until the grass grows they don’t have milk enough for them. There was a starvation moon after your sister was born, and consequently her growth was stunted. Luckily for you, last winter and [Pg 31] spring were what is called ‘open.’ The herders moved the herd back a day’s journey each moon. Your mother was in good condition and had plenty of milk. You grew fast and strong.”
“‘Your mother was in good condition, and you grew fast and strong.’”
White Sox nibbled awhile ”

“ Besides, you knew nothing about the ways of caribou and wolves before we came on this visit to our cousins. In the big herd the reindeer sleep long and sound; they have no fear of enemies. The Eskimo herders and the collies watch over them. ”

“ A book containing a vast amount of information relating to insect life—the life story of the spider, the fly, the bee, the wasp, and other insects—told by one who was at once a lover of nature, a great scientist, and a most entertaining writer. ”

“ It was the beginning of a new kind of service to man. As I told you before, the hunter was away. He came home while the children were sledding on the snow. He stepped from his boat and watched them in great surprise. And oh, how he laughed when the sled upset! He patted White Feet and spoke kindly to him, and he [Pg 57] nodded his head upward and downward several times. Then he put the harness on Blackie and tied him in front of the little sled.
“White Feet told Blackie to watch for the signal and go very carefully. Dainten’s brother drove him. Blackie did good work. ”

“ A small book bringing out in a simple and interesting manner the principles of conservation of natural resources has long been wanted, for there has been little on the subject that could be placed in the hands of pupils. ”

“ To tell the story of the reindeer in our northerly territory is the purpose of the present little volume. Mr. William T. Lopp, the author, has been concerned with the government’s work in giving the reindeer to the natives of Alaska since the work was begun in the ’90’s, and it was he who drove a herd of reindeer seven hundred miles for the relief of the whalers at Point Barrow in 1897. This story of White Sox is, then, the work of an authority on the reindeer; and the publishers feel that it is worthy of its place in Animal Life Series beside Matka, Dr. ”