CHAPTER ONE THANK YOU GEORGE WASHINGTON After the United States won its independence from Great Britain smugglers continued to run the coastlines not paying taxes on the goods they were carrying and selling The young United States was losing millions of desperately needed dollars But Alexander Hamilton had a plan to stop smugglers and send the lost dollars right into the U S Treasury In April of 1790 Hamilton asked Congress to build maritime vessels to combat smuggling and regain lost tax dollars By August of 1790 George Washington signed the Tariff Act With Washington’s signature on this historic act ten vessels were built to enforce the nation’s tariffs and collect revenue Coast Guard Cutters The first ten vessels were called cutters and the early Coast Guard was called the Revenue Cutter Service It was renamed the Coast Guard in 1915 George Washington 1732-1799 4
After the American Revolution the United States was 75 million in debt Alexander Hamilton the first Secretary of the Treasury wanted to pay off the debt as quickly as possible He believed The debt of the United States was the price of liberty The Coast Guard did not stay close to American coasts Their duty was to patrol and protect the high seas from smugglers and pirates Vessels traveled to remote and dangerous places such as Paraguay Mexico and the far reaches of Alaska Coast Guard cutters represented the law in lawless lands and the open seas Alexander Hamilton 1755-1804 U S Revenue Cutter Bear circa 1890 on Patrol off Alaska 5
CHAPTER TWO THE DARING BERING SEA PATROL After the United States purchased Alaska in 1867 Coast Guard cutters had to tackle the treacherous conditions of the icy Bering Strait Why did the United States need a patrol in the frigid Arctic Zone One of their main duties was monitoring and enforcing the hunting of fur seals The Bering Sea Patrol had other important duties in remote northern waters When whalers and steam ships got stuck on ice or stranded at sea it was the Bering Sea Patrol to the rescue The Bering Sea Patrol operated many life-saving expeditions They even carried food and medical supplies to remote Alaskan villages The ship’s doctor would help sick or injured natives in Alaska or Siberia Great Britain and the United States almost went to war over seals in the 1890s The seal pelts were a huge source of revenue for companies around the world However the United States wanted to protect the seals breeding grounds from hunting The Revenue Cutter Service policed the frigid waters off Alaska to make sure no one was hunting the seals illegally 6
The infamous Overland Relief Expedition during the winter of 1897 required the Coast Guard’s bravery and skills Eight whaling ships were trapped in thick ice fields around Point Barrow Without a way to get free from the ice the whalers would starve to death On December 16 1897 the rescuers began their dangerous voyage using skis snowshoes and dog sleds pulled by reindeer They fought sub zero temperatures blinding blizzards and thick Arctic darkness Then on March 29 1898 the rescuers made it to Point Barrow The expedition brought food to the starved and stranded whalers in the form of 382 reindeer HERO HIGHLIGHT Captain Ellsworth Price Bertholf was the first commandant of the Coast Guard Congress awarded him the Gold Medal of Honor for his part in the Point Barrow-Overland Relief Expedition Captain Ellsworth Price Bertholf 1866-1921 7
