Archives West Finding Aid

William Thomas Lopp was born June 21, 1864 to Jacob C. and Lucinda Trotter Lopp in Harrison County, Indiana. He worked for six years as a teacher and principal in various Indiana schools, and was a superintendent and elder in the Presbyterian Church. He earned a B.A. at Indiana's Hanover College in 1888.

In July 1890 Lopp arrived at Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska to teach at a mission school. Here he met Ellen Louise Kittredge, another trained teacher, and they married in 1892. Both dedicated themselves to learning the Eskimo languages and to understanding Eskimo lifeways. Seeing that Eskimo food sources were endangered by the encroachments of the burgeoning American and Canadian fishing industry, Lopp promoted reindeer herding among the native Alaskans as an alternative means of subsistence. In 1892 reindeer were brought over from Siberia and a Reindeer Station was established, of which Lopp was superintendent. He became known to the native whalers and fishermen of Alaska as the "Reindeer Man" and "Tomgorah," meaning "Tom-the-good-man."

In 1902 the Lopp family relocated to Seattle, although Lopp traveled between Seattle, Alaska and Washington D.C., working to improve the lives of Alaskan natives. He became superintendent of government schools (Native) and reindeer, northern district, of Alaska in 1904, and left that post in 1909. In 1910 he became chief of the Alaska division of the U.S. Bureau of Education, a post he held until 1923, after which he was superintendent of education of Natives of Alaska for two years. In 1925 he became a reindeer expert for Hudson's Bay Company. In 1936, Lopp conducted a survey of the native Alaskan reindeer industry for the Indian Rights Association.

Throughout his years working with native Alaskans Lopp encouraged them to follow and care for the growing reindeer herds, assuring them and their children adequate food, clothing, and income. He developed the "endless chain" system of apprenticing young Eskimos to older reindeer herders and then giving the younger men a percentage of the increased herd. During his career Lopp established sixty-six schools, five hospitals and sanitation systems, and increased prosperity in the coastal villages of northern Alaska. William Thomas Lopp died on April 10, 1939, survived by his wife Ellen and eight children.