174 



The National Geographic Magazine 



URGENT NEED OF RAILWAYS IN COPPER 

 RIVER DISTRICT 



Whatever the future may bring forth 

 leading to a demand for railway connec- 

 tion with Seward Peninsula, it is certain 

 that there is at the present moment an 

 urgent need for railways between the 

 Gulf of Alaska and the inland region 

 lying to the north. Only by such rail- 

 ways can the copper and gold deposits of 

 the Sushitna and Copper rivers and the 

 placer fields of the Yukon reach their full 

 development. Here is an are! about 400 

 miles square, bounded on the east by the 

 international boundary, on the north by 

 the Arctic Circle, on the west by the 

 154th meridian, and on the south by the 

 Pacific, which contains, as has been 

 shown, valuable copper deposits, the best 

 of the known Alaskan coal fields, as well 

 as extensive areas of auriferous gravels. 

 Good grass land is abundant and cattle- 

 raising can probably be profitably car- 

 ried on to supply the local market, which 

 is sure to arise with mining develop- 

 ments. The agricultural values, though 

 of interest to the economist, will prob- 

 ably be disregarded by the capitalist, who 

 will look to the development of mines for 

 returns on his venture. Certainly with- 

 out the ore and coal deposits there 

 would be no railways, and without these 

 there will be no agriculture until more 

 accessible regions are settled. 



Though now the annual mineral out- 

 put of this province is only about 

 $10,000,000 in gold, there appear to be 

 great possibilities in the way of mining 

 developments, provided it can be made 

 accessible to commerce. 



The mining districts of the Sushitna- 

 Copper River province are only access- 

 ible by an overland journey of 100 to 300 

 miles, for the rivers which empty into 

 the Pacific are for the most part tor- 

 rential in character and but few are navi- 

 gable. All the supplies for these dis- 

 tricts have to be sledded in during the 

 winter months, at a cost of 10 to 20 cents 

 a pound. The charges for summer trans- 

 portation by pack-horse are from 30 

 cents to a dollar a pound. 



PRESENT LONG WATER-ROUTE TO FAIR- 

 BANKS DISTRICT 



In the Yukon Basin conditions are 

 somewhat more favorable, because of the 

 extensive system of navigable waters 

 (see map, page 164). Before the freight 

 reaches the Yukon, however, it has to 

 make a circuitous route to the mouth of 

 the river, open to navigation only from 

 the end of June to September. During 

 summer months Yukon River steamers 

 can deliver freight to points 20 to 100 

 miles distant from the placer districts. 

 This freight must await the winter snow 

 before it can be finally sledded to its 

 destination, unless the summer charges 

 of 20 to 25 cents a pound are to be paid. 

 Under these conditions, freight which is 

 moved by the cheapest form of trans- 

 portation (by steamer in summer and 

 sleds in winter) costs the miner from 

 5 to 10 cents a pound, delivered at his 

 mine. Translated into terms more fa- 

 miliar to the average man, this means 

 that the mine operator may have to pay 

 a rate on all his heavy machinery equiva- 

 lent to the charges for express between 

 New York and San Francisco. In fact, 

 I have known mining enterprises to be 

 carried on in localities to which the trans- 

 portation charges were greater than 

 letter-rate postage. Under such condi- 

 tions it is evident only deposits of extra- 

 ordinary richness can be exploited, and 

 that most extensive mining operations 

 must await the reduction of costs that 

 can be brought about only by the con- 

 struction of a railway. 



GEOGRAPHIC CONTROL 



Having set forth the facts which go 

 to indicate that the resources of central 

 Alaska are sufficient to warrant the con- 

 struction of a railway, it is in order to 

 consider the question of geographic con- 

 trol of routes. It has been shown that 

 the present demand for transportation 

 facilities is in the province lying between 

 the international boundary and the 154th 

 meridian, and this district will here alone 

 be considered. The rugged mountain 

 mass skirting Alaska's southern border 



