THE MONARCHS OF ALASKA 



619 



haunts among the jagged spurs along 

 the canyons. The Copper River Rail- 

 road is being steadily advanced against 

 the most difficult of engineering obsta- 

 cles. It follows the valley of the river, 

 crossing it twice to the present point of 

 its construction, and another crossing 

 will be made. If the present rate of 

 progress continues, the road will soon 

 reach the base of the Wrangell Moun- 

 tains and thus make it possible to develop 

 the copper deposits of that field. About 

 two hundred miles to the west of the 

 Copper River from Resurrection Bay 

 northward through a low pass in the 

 Kenai Mountains, the Alaska Central 

 Railroad Company has commenced to 

 build a line to the coal fields of the Mata- 

 nuska Valley, and is contemplating an 

 extension up the valley of the Susitna 

 across a low pass in the Alaska Range to 

 Fairbanks, on the Tanana River, and the 

 center of a large placer district. 



Alaska's highest mountain 



The Alaska Range stretches from a lit- 

 tle-explored region in the vicinity of Lake 

 Clark, west of Cook Inlet, northward for 

 one hundred miles or more, then trends 

 gradually eastward, increasing in altitude 

 until in Mount McKinley it attains the 

 remarkable height of 20,300 feet. It is 

 broken by gaps 2,400 feet and 3,000 feet 

 above sea-level at the head of the Yentna 

 River, and by one at the head of the 

 Susitna River, 1,500 feet above sea-level. 

 The eastern end of the range rises again 

 until at Mount Hayes an elevation of 

 13,800 feet is reached. 



Words fail to express one's impression 

 of the Alaska Range when viewed under 

 favorable circumstances. In 1906, while 

 making a trip through the Talkeetna 

 Mountains, the writer had such an oppor- 

 tunity as is rarely experienced. His view 

 was from an elevation of about 2,500 feet 

 on the foothills on the western slope of 

 the Talkeetna group. The day was per- 

 fect ; not a cloud could be seen in the 

 heavens. Below lay the broad, level val- 

 ley of the Susitna River, beautifully 

 carpeted in the deep green of the conif- 

 erae, while here and there a shining patch 



of light, outlining a lake, broke the 

 monotony, and through the center of it 

 all the Susitna wound like a silver trail. 



Across the valley, 50 miles away, the 

 foothills of the Alaska Range rose, 

 rugged, angular, and formidable, their 

 cold, gray, serrated peaks often resem- 

 bling clusters of spires; while back of 

 them, dwarfing to the height of mere 

 foothills in comparison, Mount Dall, 

 Mount Russell, and Mount Foraker stood 

 like white-clad guardians to their chief, 

 Mount McKinley, towering grand, su- 

 perb, indescribable, 20,300 feet above the 

 sea. A sweep of the horizon from the 

 south to the northeast, where the view 

 was cut off by the adjacent mountains, 

 gave the grandest panorama imaginable. 

 Far away in the distance could be seen 

 the volcanoes Iliamna and Redoubt, on 

 the western shore of Cook Inlet, while 

 at the other extremity Mount Hayes 

 towered high above everything about it. 

 Between these two extremes the waving 

 crest-line of the range was now painted 

 in the green of a river valley, now cold, 

 steel gray, as it outlined the lower 

 peaks, gradually becoming whitened as- 

 it reached its crest, and then on through 

 the same transition until lost to view — a 

 memory which can never be taken from 

 me. 



Under favorable conditions, Mount 

 McKinley can be seen for a distance of 

 150 miles, a huge sugar-loaf mass, tower- 

 ing high above everything about it. To 

 the Russians it was known as "Bulshaia," 

 while the natives of Cook Inlet called it 

 "Traleika," both meaning "big moun- 

 tain." The present name was given it 

 by W. A. Dickey, who in 1897 ascended 

 the Susitna River for a short distance, 

 and was the first to call attention to the 

 great height and the location of this 

 magnificent peak. He made a bold guess 

 at its altitude, which was confirmed three 

 years later by Robert Muldrow, of the 

 United States Geological Survey. 



Just south of McKinley is Mouth Diss- 

 ton, a triple peak, following it a close 

 second in height. Farther south along 

 the range are Mount Foraker, 17,000 

 feet, Mount Russell, 11,300 feet, and 



