Novel Russian Town
This short article about Ninilchik was printed in the November 28, 1908, issue of the Seward Daily Gateway newspaper. We apologize for the poor quality of the photocopy, which is how we received it. So we have retyped the words so they can be legible. Note the spelling of "Nenilcheck" used for Ninilchik. This is only one variation of the spelling of the name of our village which has appeared in print over the years.
The hand printing at the top of this article leads us to believe that the title of the article was "Novel Russian Town".
Settlement 100 Years Old is Noted
for its Small, Hardy Breed
of Cattle.
At the village of Nenilcheck, in Cook inlet, is a herd of what are the smallest cattle in the United States. These cattle are from three to four feet high and weigh from 300 to 500 pounds when full grown. The ancestors of these cattle were imported from Russia about seventy-five years ago by the early Russian settlers and were large fine cattle. From inbreeding they have become quite small. They are a very hardy little animal and live outside nearly the entire year, and would seemingly rather stay under the trees than to go into a warm stable. The cows give a small amount of very rich milk, and are very gentle and kind. The calves when first born weigh about twenty pounds. An effort will be made to get a number of these cattle for exhibition at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific exposition.
Nenilcheck is a settlement of Russian creoles about seventy-five miles north of Seldovia. It was settled nearly a hundred years ago by the Russians. There are about 100 people in the village and each family has a few head of cattle, chickens and geese. They all have gardens, and raise many vegetables.
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