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Island Sheep Raiser
Tells First Experiences
(Editor’s note: Harvester is
land is located near the mouth
of Uyak bay on the west side of
Kodiak island. In the following
article Lloyd Swan tells his ex
periences there in his first at
tempt at raising sheep locally.)
I left the town of Kodiak in
September, 1943 for Harvester
island, eighty miles away, where
I had taken over a ranch with 82
sheep.
There was a small house and
other old buildings when I arriv
ed and during the winter I put
up new buildings for the spring
lambing and div ded the fields
with new fences. I put up the
buildings alone and also built a
dock. I worked as much as one
whole day getting in one piling
■as it all had to be handled by
hand and brought up from the
beach. It took four months to
put in the dock, a necessary ad
junct to develop the sheep ranch
to enable getting in supplies and
taking off produce from the
ranch.
I took the s’ock over with no
feed for the animals and ran
them all winter on practica ly
nothing. I had 18 bales of hay
which was shipped in and used
during lambing time but the
stock carried themselves through
the entire winter, an average
one, without serious loss. I be
lieve we lost 2 sheep, possibly
from freezing, which is practical
ly no loss at all.
The first Iamb came on April
18 and we were entirely through
with the band on May 12. After
running all winter without feed
the lambs and ewes were the pic
ture of health. We lost about 12
Iambs during lambing season but
turnei out every* ewe with a
lamb, with four extras
Climatic conditions on Kodiak
island are mild, being less severe
than Wyoming, Montana and
high parts of Texas and other
sheep raising places in the States.
After every snowstorm the snow
is blown off the higher places,
leaving open feeding ground
shortly after the storm. The only
times we had to feed w hat little
hay and grains we had was dur
ing the times a storm was on and
it was difficult for the sheep to
get out. After each storm, which
usually lasted only two or three
days, the sheep went out on their
own.
Harvester island is separated
by a strait from Kodiak island,
and there are no predatory ani
mals on it to bother the sheep.
They were not bothered by fox|
wolves, eagles or crows. We had
some doubts as to the dangers of
eagles, so we experimented.
As the first lambs arrived, we
shot a few crows and hung them
in the various lambing pastures
Whether the crows did the trick
or not we don’t know but the
eagles did n'ot come near the
lambs. We saw many eagles fly
over the mountains but they
were never near the lambing
pastures.
The sheep came through the
winter in excellent shape with a
good, husky crop of wool, as
much as 8 pounds, in some case,
others less, but averaging six
pounds per pelt.
Tare, which is an estimate of
the amount of dirt, silt and for*
eign matter in the wool, and for
which a percentage deduction is
made, amounts to very little. Al
aska wool has less tare than any
other wool, amounting to about
two or three per cent, while in
places in the States it runs as
high as forty per cent.
There is plenty of good, clean
grazing country in this region,
almost free of ticks. We do have
a very few wood ticks, but there
are not enough to warrant dip
ping the sheep.
So far there has been no sign
of any of the diseases that ordin
arily affect sheep in more South
ern sections
Just four months after the first
day of the lambing season we sel
ected a medium-sized lamb at
random, butchered it, and when
dressed it weighed 44 1 2 pounds.
The meat from this lamb was the'
most delicious and tender I have I
ever eaten. i
The climate is such that we
have plenty of time to put up all
the available hay. A large part
of the country can be hay land
and I believe with a plow and
mower the amount of hay would
be limited to what could be
handled with the machinery. I
had to cut ours with a scythe in
a very crude way and it ran a
bout two tons to the acre.
I went to Harvester island in
the face of the criticism of man}
skeptics, who maintained weath
er conditions were not favorable
enough for sheep raising and it
was purely a new experiment.
But after seeing the situation
through for an entire year it has
been proved to me it can be
done, and done cheaper than in
Montana, Idaho, Wyoming or
Texas. Here the crop of wool is
bigger, cleaner and longer and
stock i3 fatter.
I believe Kodiak island, in
general, has vast possibilities and
decidedly more economical ad
vantages than some of the sheep
ranges in the States, especially
in regard to quantities of feed
needed over the winter season,
which amounts to less here
With a cold storage plant in
Kodiak, for which plans are now
being laid, the town could be a
central point for butchering and
shipping The only disadvantage
is the 1200 mile distance to rail
head entry into the United
States.
For a man looking for econom
ical freedom; for a place where
he can call his life his own, there
is no port’on of Alaska that holds
greater possibilities than Kodiak
island. If the advantages can be
brought before enough people
who are interested in stock ranch
ing, I see no reason why Kodiak
could not become, in short order,
“The Dodge City of the North”.
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