ALASKA'S NEW RAILWAY 



571 



Mr. Riggs brought to the Commission 

 an intimate knowledge of Alaska and 

 Alaskan conditions, having lived in and 

 explored that country for the greater 

 part of 16 years prior to his selection for 

 membership on this Commission. At the 

 time of his selection he was chief of the 

 Alaskan Boundary Survey. 



THE PRELIMINARY SURVEYS 



The summer and early fall of 19 14 

 were devoted to examinations and inves- 

 tigations of the several routes from the 

 sea to the interior of the country. About 

 half a million dollars were spent in this 

 work, which necessitated the organiza- 

 tion of no less than fourteen field parties, 

 each headed by an experienced engineer 

 or topographer. These parties were made 

 up of from fifteen to twenty men each. 



Quick action and results were de- 

 manded and secured. On May 2, 19 14, 

 President Wilson directed and author- 

 ized Secretary Lane to take such action 

 as was necessary in having these surveys 

 made. On May 8 the Secretary of the 

 Interior directed the members of the En- 

 gineering Commission, who in the mean- 

 time had been selected and appointed by 

 the President, to proceed to the field. 



The Commission arrived in Seattle 

 May 22, rented offices, started the neces- 

 sary machinery in motion to complete the 

 organization, employed the additional 

 men required, and purchased and shipped 

 to Alaska the necessary supplies and 

 equipment for pushing the several sur- 

 veys. The ordinary method of carrying 

 on surveys in the interior of Alaska, and 

 the most economical, would have been to 

 transport supplies by sled through the 

 snow in winter, "caching" them at inter- 

 vals for summer use. 



It was too late in the season, however, 

 when the Commission began its work, to 

 use this method, and expensive pack out- 

 fits had to be organized to transport the 

 equipment and supplies of the fourteen 

 parties which were formed for the sur- 

 vey work. One hundred and twenty- 

 eight horses and mules were purchased 

 in the Northwestern States and taken to 

 Alaska with the survey parties. Seventy- 

 four others were bought in Alaska. 



The first party left Seattle on May 26 



for Alaska, and the entire organization 

 was in the field by a little after the mid- 

 dle of June. Two general routes from 

 the coast to the interior were investi- 

 gated by the Commission : First, the 

 route starting from Cordova, or Yaldez, 

 and extending northward by the Copper 

 River, Tonsina River, Delta River, and 

 Tanana Valley, in the vicinity of Fair- 

 banks; second, the western route, start- 

 ing from Portage Bay, or Seward, and 

 following the shores of Turnagain and 

 Knik Arm ; thence northward up the Su- 

 sitna Valley through Broad Pass, and 

 down the Xenana River to its junction 

 with the Tanana, and thence by one of 

 the suggested routes to the vicinity of 

 Fairbanks. 



APPORTIONING THE WORK 



In the division of the work to accom- 

 plish this general result, two parties made 

 a survey and valuation of the Alaskan 

 Northern Railroad, and explored alter- 

 native routes along the Kenai Peninsula. 

 Another made a careful survey in the 

 vicinity of Passage Canal, while still an- 

 other surveyed the route from the Pas- 

 sage Canal northward for probably 65 

 miles. Three parties covered the re- 

 mainder of the distance of the western 

 route to Broad Pass and surveyed a 

 branch to the Matanuska coal fields. 

 Five other parties covered the country 

 north of Broad Pass, one party surveyed 

 from the Susitna to the Matanuska coal 

 fields, one party surveyed a connection 

 between the Matanuska coal fields and 

 the Copper River and Northwestern Rail- 

 way at Chitina, and one party made a 

 reconnaissance from the Susitna to the 

 Kuskowin and the Iditarod country. 



These parties were each in charge of 

 a skilled locating engineer, topographer, 

 or reconnaissance engineer, and were 

 composed of assistant engineers, transit 

 men and levelers, chainmen, rodmen, axe- 

 men, cook, and cook's assistant. Each 

 had an adequate pack-train for transport- 

 ing equipment and supplies, and in the 

 section where game was known to be 

 abundant, hunters were attached to sev- 

 eral of the parties to keep them supplied 

 with fresh meat, both for the purpose of 

 reducing the cost of subsistence and for 



