IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 87 



pany group, Cunningham group, Chezum group, Wardell group, Hart- 

 line group, Alaska Petroleum and Oil Company group or Davis group, 

 Willoughby group, the claims of the Portland Alaska Anthracite Coal 

 Company, the Alaska Anthracite Coal Company, the McKenzie Anthra- 

 cite Coal Company, the Carbon Mountain Anthracite Coal Company, and 

 the Alaska Hard Anthracite Coal Company. 



Almost all the field was located prior to November, 1906, at which 

 time these coal lands were withdrawn from entry by the government. 

 According to law each entry of 160 acres must have been made by an 

 individual, or, at most, 640 acres by four individuals and in the inter- 

 ests of the entrymen. By an act of 1908, entries made in good faith 

 under the previous law were allowed to be consolidated into single hold- 

 ings not exceeding 2,560 acres of contiguous land. Many of the claim- 

 ants have done considerable development work, have had their lands 

 surveyed, have paid in ten dollars an acre to the government which is 

 the requirement by law, and are now awaiting their patents. 



The chief literature which has appeared on the Bering River field has 

 been published in bulletins of the United States Geological Survey. A 

 complete list of the articles which have been written by members of the 

 survey and by others may be found in the bibliography of Bulletin No. 

 442 of the survey by Dr. A. H. Brooks. Of all the published reports 

 that by Dr. G. C. Martin in Bulletin No. 335, entitled "Geology and 

 jMineral Resources of the Controller Bay Region," is the most exhaust- 

 ive. Accompanying this report are very satisfactory geologic and topo- 

 graphic maps. In an article by George W. Evans in the March, 1910, 

 issue of Mines and Minerals, and also in an article by L. W. Storm in 

 the Engineering and Mining Journal. Vol. 90, page 273, may be found 

 maps showing the surveyed railway lines and the names and locations 

 of the groups of claims which have been applied for in this field. A 

 good Coast and Geodetic Survey chart of Controller Bay and adjacent 

 parts of the coast is Chart No. 8513. 



The Geography op the Region. 



The topography of the area embraced by the known coal outcrops is 

 rugged for a region of moderate relief. The elevations vary from a few 

 feet above sea level at Bering Lake to somewhat more than 4,000 feet at 

 the northeastern end of the field. The general trend of the ridges and 

 mountains is northeast and southwest. A striking physiographic feature 

 is the presence of broad valleys filled with alluvium and now occupied 

 by comparatively small streams, except in times of flood. The numerous 



