386 RKI'ORT OK OKKH-K <•!. ?:XI»ERIMENT STATIONS. 



W liilr Mil cxpciiiiiciit station imist he iiuiiiitiiiricd in the Copper 

 Kivcr \';ill('\ . the present locution of the station ni:iy not ))e found to 

 be the most th'sirahle. When railroads are built (hrou<ih this country 

 the station shoidd be moved to the railroad so as to be acciissible. Two 

 companies ha\ c tiled plans with the land ofiice showinj^- the lines they 

 have projected throujj;h this ]):irt of the interior, but i( will be- wisest 

 not to select a permanent site for a station until one or the other of 

 these railroads is actually built. 



EQUIPMENT OF THE STATION. 



A team of hors(>s was seciu'ed last fall from th(5 V. S. Geolot^ical 

 Survey through the kindness of Mr. F. C Schrader, the chief of a party 

 which had ])een operating in the Copper River conntr}'. This party 

 used a numl)er of horses, which were discarded at the close of the sea- 

 son, and Mr. Schrader turned two of the best over to Mr. Neal. These 

 horses were fed in Valdez until trail work be«,''an in the middle of Janu- 

 ary'. Mr. Keal then started to haul out the station ('({uipment, consist- 

 ing^ of two plows, a snioothinj>' hai'row, a disc harrow, a mower, a light 

 wagon, a grain drill, a complete set of carpenter's tools, hand tools, 

 spades, shovels, mattocks, hoes, rakes, scythes, forks, axes, etc.; also 

 tents and camping outfit, feed for the horses, seed grain, provisions, 

 and household effects for himself, aggregating about 4 tons in weight. 



To move this outfit 105 miles over a rugged mountain chain through 

 a country where there are no roads and where the snow was in places 

 15 to 20 feet deep, or even more, and the temperature ujost of the time 

 from 10 to 30 degrees below zero was a formidable task, the hardships 

 of which it is difficult to appreciate. 



METHOD OF TRANSPORTATION. 



A brief description of the present mode of hauling supplies into the 

 interior is therefore pertinent. The snowfall on the Valdez side of 

 the mountains aggregated 78 feet in depth last winter. It ma\' readily 

 be comprehended what it means to make a road through such a depth 

 of snow. No one man with a team could make any progress at all, but 

 by joining forces with man}' others it is made possible. All who have 

 goods to move Ix^gin at the same time and cooperate. A force of men, 

 with as many horses as are available, is sent ahead to break the trail 

 each morning. They go as far as they can and return to camp b}^ noon. 

 They ma}' make 7 or 8 miles or they may make 3 or 3, depending upon 

 the depth of the snow and the nature of the ground. In the afternoon 

 they hitch to their sleds and pidl their goods over the l)roken trail until 

 nightfall, when they make camp, and next morning the procedure is 

 repeated. They cooperate in breaking trail, l)ut the trail once broken 

 each man hauls his own goods. 



