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The National Geographic Magazine 



a dog team, under ordinary conditions of 

 load and trail, is from 35 to 45 miles. 



The driver does not often ride on the 

 sled. He is usually anxious to haul as 

 large a load as possible. His entire at- 

 tention and strength are likely to be 

 needed to keep the sled on the trail, and, 

 besides, in very cold weather continuous 

 running is necessary to keep from freez- 

 ing. 



Alaska is subject to frequent mani- 

 festations of that hysterical and fre- 

 quently fatal malady — the gold fever. A 

 rumor is started that "Long Bill" has un- 

 covered a rich find on some creek on the 

 upper Koyukuk, or that "Windy Jim" 

 and his partner have sneaked into camp 

 with pokes full of dust from some mys- 

 terious creek equally far away. There is 

 at once an exodus in the direction of the 

 new Eldorado. The price of a dog goes 

 up from $40 to $100 or $150. Every kind 

 of canine that can pull a pound, from 

 Great Dane to fox-terrier, is impressed. 



At such times men start out without 

 other assistance than the stimulus of their 

 chimerical visions. What food, clothing, 



and bedding they take must be packed on 

 the back or drawn on a light hand-sled. 



Some men have traveled all the way 

 from Fort Yukon to Coldfoot, and others 

 from Circle City to the Tanana, on foot 

 and alone, with packs of 60 pounds on 

 their backs. 



Here in our home country, where 

 every one is now and then whirled along 

 in a luxurious modern railroad train, 

 and, arriving at his destination, is be- 

 sieged by hacks and cabs and baggage 

 wagons of infinite variety and number, 

 with street cars passing by and broad, 

 level streets stretching out before him, it 

 is quite impossible to realize the condi- 

 tions under which transportation is ac- 

 complished in far-off Alaska. 



Private enterprise is doing much to 

 improve the facilities, and the govern- 

 ment is permitting the people of Alaska 

 to spend their own tax money, on the im- 

 provement of roads and trails ; and Con- 

 gress would be doing little enough if it 

 would give liberal assistance to the rail- 

 roads that are struggling for a start in 

 that trackless country. 



WINNING THE WEST* 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE MARVELOUS PROGRESS OF OUR RECLAMA- 

 TION SERVICE IN RECLAIMING THE DESERT 



By C. J. Blanchard 



Enginker, U. S. Reclamation Service 



AMERICAN irrigation was old 

 when Rome was in the glory of 

 its youth. The ancient aque- 

 ducts and subterranean canals of South 

 America, extending for thousands of 

 miles, once supplied great cities and ir- 

 rigated immense areas. Centuries before 

 the venturous Norseman landed upon the 

 bleak and inhospitable shores of New 

 England, a large population dwelt in the 



hot valleys of our far Southwest. From! 

 the solid rock, with primitive tools of 

 stone, they cut ditches and hewed the 

 blocks for many chambered palaces, 

 which they erected in the desert or on 

 the limestone ledges of deep river can- 

 yons. 



These voiceless ruins, older than the 

 memory of many centuries, tell the story 

 of a thrifty, home-loving and semi-cul- 



*An address to the National Geographic Society, January 12, 1906, with photographs from the 

 U. S. Reclamation Service. 



