18 



for -work animals, it appears to ho highlj^ desirable that an experiment 

 station should be started at this jioint. I recommend that this reser- 

 vation be set aside as an agricultural experiment station, and that 

 work be begun, even though it be on a small scale, during the year 

 190G. if possible. 



THE TANANA VALLEY. 



The Tanana River is a stream of majestic proportions. It takes its 

 rise in the high mountains in about latitude 62° X., near the Canadian 

 boundary, and runs in a northwesterly direction until it joins the 

 Yukon in latitude 65°. Including the bends and turns in the river, 

 it is about ()00 miles in length, though that portion of the valley 

 adapted to agriculture is but about 400 miles long. The river carries 

 a large volume of water, and in places it spreads over a large area. 

 It is navigal)le to river boats of good size from its mouth to Fairbanks, 

 a distance of 267 miles. For a distance of some 60 miles upstream 

 from Fairbanks the river is divided into a number of shallow chan- 

 nels through which the water flows with great rapidity. In this por- 

 tion it is navigable only by small and very powerful boats, strong 

 enough to stem a 12-mile current ; but beyond this area it is navigable 

 again for more than 200 miles. 



The valle}" inclosing this river has an average width of about 25 

 miles and consists in the main of a rolling country, densely wooded 

 Avith spruce, cottonwoocl, and birch. At a rough estimate the valley 

 contains 15,000 square miles, most of which can be utilized for agri- 

 cultural or grazing purposes. 



The principal settlement is at Fairbanks, 267 miles from the 

 Yukon. The town itself has a population of perhaps 3,000 people, 

 but it is estimated that there are some 10,000 or 12.000 people in that 

 region scattered among the creeks and in the mining camps which 

 have sprung up on the various creeks. Chena, some 12 miles farther 

 down the stream, is a prosperous little town with a fine townsite. 

 There are a few white settlers at Xenana (PL I, fig. 2). Kantishna, 

 Tolovana, Baker Creek, and at the famous Hot Springs. At the 

 mouth of the Tanana is Fort Gibbon, where some 200 soldiers are 

 stationed, and a town is springing up in the neighborhood. Above 

 Fairbanks are a few small mining camps, the principal one being at 

 Delta. 



HOT SPRINGS, TANANA VALLEY. 



Some 80 miles from the mouth of the Tanana, a so-called slough, 

 i. e., the stagnant water in an old closed channel, joins the Tanana. 

 Following this slough for a distance of 6 miles one reaches the famous 

 hot springs of the Tanana. The agricultural conditions here are so 

 unique that, although they were mentioned in last year's report, the 



