| Summary: | Caption on image: Revenue Cutter service, in Bering Sea, photo from deck of mail steamer, Dora. Copyright 1911 by Thwaites, J.E. PH Coll 247.186 The Revenue Cutter Service, designated as the Revenue-Marine Division from early 1871 until mid-1894, was created by a law passed in 1790 which authorized the construction and equipment of cutters to enforce the payment of customs charges and tonnage duties on vessels. The authority of the service was later extended to include aid to vessels in distress, removal of wrecks, and other obstructions to sea navigation, and the enforcement of immigration and neutrality laws. The Revenue Cutter Service in Alaska began soon after 1867. The activities of the Service in Alaska included: enforcing the regulations concerning the killing of fur seals and sea otters; regulation of traffic in firearms, ammunition, and liquor (until 1884); protection of salmon spawning grounds and their access rivers; protection (jointly with the Navy) of Alaskan fishing grounds from alien encroachment; and protection of Alaskan game. In 1915 the Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the Treasury Department's Lifesaving Services to form the Coast Guard.
|
|---|