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The Russian American telegraph also known as the '''Western Union Telegraph Expedition''' and the '''Collins Overland telegraph''' was an $3,000,000 undertaking by the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1865 - 1867 , to lay an Electric Telegraph line from San Francisco, California to Moscow, Russia . The route was intended to travel from California via Oregon , Washington Territory , the Colony Of British Columbia and Russian Alaska , under the Bering Sea and across Siberia to Moscow, thus creating a line of communication with the rest of Europe. Abandoned in 1867, the Russian American Telegraph was considered an economic failure, but history now deems it a "successful failure" because of the many benefits the exploration brought to the regions that were traversed. PERRY COLLINS AND CYRUS FIELD By 1861 the Western Union Telegraph Company had linked the eastern United States by electric telegraph all the way to San Francisco. The challenge then remained to connect North America with the rest of the world.1 Working to meet that challenge was Cyrus Field 's Atlantic Telegraph Company , who in 1858 had laid the first Undersea Cable across the Atlantic Ocean . However, the cable had broken three weeks afterwards and additional attempts had thus far been unsuccessful.2 Meanwhile, entrepreneur Perry Collins visited Russia and took note that it was making good progress extending its telegraph lines eastwards from Moscow over Siberia. Upon his return to the States, Collins approached Hiram Sibley , head of the Western Union Telegraph Company with the idea of an overland telegraph line that would run through the Northwestern states, the colony of British Columbia and Russian Alaska. Together, they worked on promoting the idea and obtained considerable support in the US, London and Russia.3 PREPARATIONS On July 1st, 1864, the American President , Abraham Lincoln granted the company a right of way from San Francisco to the British Columbia border and assigned them the Steamship ''Saginaw'' from the US Navy . The ''George S Wright'' and the infamous ''Nightingale'', a former Slave Ship 4 were also put into service, as well as a fleet of Riverboat s and Schooner s.5 To supervise the construction, Collins chose Colonel Charles Bulkley who had been the Superintendent of Military Telegraphs. Being an ex-military man, Bulkley divided the work crews into "working divisions" and an "Engineer Corps". Edward Conway was made the head of the project's American route and British Columbia sections. Franklin Pope was assigned to Conway and given the responsibility for the exploring of British Columbia. The task of exploring Russian America went to the Smithsonian Naturalist Robert Kennicott . In Siberia, the construction and exploration was under the charge of Russian nobleman Serge Abasa. Assigned to him were Collins Macrae, George Kennan and JA Mahood. Exploration and construction teams were divided into groups: one was in British Columbia, another worked around the Yukon River and Norton Sound with headquarters at St. Michael, Alaska , a third explored the area along the on the Amur River in Siberia and 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.6 ]] The colony of British Columbia gave the project its full and enthusiastic support, allowing the materials for the line to be brough in free of Duties and Tolls . Chosen as the British Columbia terminus, New Westminster gloated over its triumph over its rival, Victoria , and it was predicted in the ''British Columbian'' that "New Westminster, traduced and dreaded by its jealous neighbor, will now be at the center of all these great systems". The surveying in British Columbia had started before the line reached New Westminster on March 21, 1865. Edward Conway had walked to Hope and was dismayed by the difficulty of the terrain. In response to Conway's concerns, the colony of British Columbia agreed to build a road from New Westminster to Yale where it would meet the newly completed Cariboo Road . The telegraph company's only responsibilty would be to string wires along it. ROUTE THROUGH RUSSIAN ALASKA In Russian Alaska, work began in 1865 but initially, little progress was made. Contributing to this lack of success was the climate, the terrain, supply shortages and the late arrival of the construction teams. Nevertheless, the entire route through Russian Alaska was surveyed by the fall of 1866. Rather than waiting until spring, as was the usual practice, construction began and continued through that winter. Many of the Western Union workers were unaccustomed to severe northern winters and working in frigid conditions made laying the line a difficult experience. Fires had to be lit to thaw out the frozen ground before holes could dug to place the telegraph poles. For transportation and to haul the supplies, the only option the work crews had was to use teams of Sled Dogs . When the Atlantic cable was successfully completed and the first transatlantic message to England was sent in July of 1866, the men in the Russian American division were not aware of it until a full year later. By then telegraph stations had been built, thousands of poles were cut and distributed along the route and over 45 miles of line had been completed in Russian Alaska. Despite the fact that so much progress had been made, in July of 1867, the work was officially ceased. ROUTE THROUGH BRITISH COLUMBIA in 1865]] When that section of the line reached New Westminster, British Columbia in the spring of 1865, the first message it carried was of the April 15th of Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.7 In May of 1865 construction began from New Westminster to Yale and then along the Cariboo Road and the Fraser River to the road's terminus at Quesnel . Winter brought a halt to construction, but resumed in the spring with 150 men working northwest from Quesnel. In 1866, the work progressed rapidly in that section, fifteen log telegraph cabins had been built and line had been strung 400 miles from Quesnel, reaching the Kispiox and Bulkley River s. The company's sternwheeler, ''Mumford'', traveled 110 miles up the Skeena River from the Pacific Coast three times that season, successfully delivering 150 miles of material for the telegraph line and 12,000 rations for its workers. The line passed Fort Fraser and reached the Skeena River, creating the settlement of Hazelton when it was learned that Cyrus Field had successfully laid the transatlantic cable on July 27. NOTES |
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