The Alaska-Siberia Telegraph
Article #68
by Fran Pedersen
The Alaska-Siberia Telegraph (also called the Collins' Overland Telegraph or the Western Union Russian Extension) was a pioneer attempt to establish a telegraphic communications link between North America and Europe, via the Bering Strait.
The plan for the Alaska-Siberia Telegraph was originated by Perry McDonough Collins, while undertaking a commercial venture in the Amur Valley of Siberia.
Collins envisioned an intercontinental telegraph link from California, north through British Columbia, across Russian America to Siberia, via the Bering Strait, and across Siberia to Europe. Realizing the critical need for intercontinental communications-- and knowing of the repeated failures of Cyrus Field's attempts to lay the Atlantic cable-Collins proposed his idea in 1859 to the U. S. Secretary of State.
The commercial potential of the project was obvious to Collins and to the Western Union Telegraph Company, which became very interested in his plan after Congress authorized the construction of the Pacific line to California in 1860. Collins negotiated agreements between various governments and with Western Union; and in 1864 he submitted a petition to Congress asking for aid in a survey of the proposed route, a right-of-way through U. S. territory, and a subsidy in the form of contracts for the dispatch of government messages. Secretary of State Seward (of later folly fame) strongly supported Collins, and President Lincoln signed an act in 1864 permitting construction to begin in the summer of 1865.
Explorations for the line were divided into three parts: one was in British Columbia, where the telegraph line from San Francisco terminated; another embraced the Yukon River and Norton Sound areas with headquarters at Saint Michael; and the third was situated on the Amur River in Siberia. In 1866 a fourth group of about 40 men was sent to Port Clarence to build the line that was to cross the Bering Strait to Siberia.
In Russian America, little progress was made during the summer and winter of 1865. The late arrival of the construction parties, the shortage of supplies and the difficult climate all contributed to lack of progress. Despite the setbacks suffered by the Russian American division during 1866, by autumn of that year the entire route was surveyed and found suitable. Rather than suspend work for the winter season, as had been the practice before, it was decided to begin construction and to continue work through the winter. The Western Union men, most of them unaccustomed to the severe northern winters, found working in these conditions a difficult experience. They had to light fires to thaw out the ground before they could begin to dig in the frozen earth. One of the workers, George Adams, commented, "Building a telegraph line with only dogs and sleds for transportation in the frigid zone is not as much fun as it is cracked up to be."
By the spring of 1867, over 45 miles of line were completed in Russian America, and stations were built and thousands of poles were cut and distributed along the route. But that year's work didn't matter, for in July of 1866 the laying of the Atlantic cable was successfully completed and the first transatlantic message to England was sent. The men in the Russian American division were unaware of the decision to cease work until July of 1867.
Although the Collins' Overland Telegraph did not succeed in establishing an intercontinental communications link, it did bring important secondary benefits to Alaska. The telegraph expeditions were responsible for the first systematic examination of the flora, fauna and geology of the area. And in this way members of the telegraph project were able to play a minor but significant role in the purchase of Alaska by providing useful data on the valuable, but relatively unknown, new territory.
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