purington.] GRAVEL AND PLACER MINING IN ALASKA. 217 
ROADS AND ROAD BUILDING IN ALASKA. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The means of getting- from one part of the Territory to another and 
from the various towns and supply points to their tributary mining 
camps are very bad. The data concerning road construction, which 
were courteously furnished me b}^ officers of the Canadian government 
based on Klondike experience, indicate that road building on an exten- 
sive scale is entirely feasible in the northern latitudes, and that roads 
can be constructed and maintained at moderate cost. In all proba- 
bility Alaska is worse equipped with those improvements which con- 
tribute to progress and prosperity than any other area of like size 
lying in the domain of a civilized people. 
Highway construction in Alaska is of the highest importance to the 
development of the Territory. The product of the gold-bearing grav- 
els which have been already exploited is sufficient to support a consid- 
erable number of persons and to maintain towns of important size. 
The gold mining which has been done in the interior of Alaska has 
been conducted in spite of difficulties of transportation which would 
hardly be credible were they not substantiated b}^ figures obtained in 
man}^ parts of the Territory from responsible men. 
It must not be assumed that the ordinary miner of Alaska is of a 
provident disposition. Many men of great energy, to whom is due 
the credit of having developed and opened large portions of this hos- 
tile country, are little disposed to take care for the future; yet they 
possess pluck and determination which is deserving of the highest 
praise. Outside of geologic and topographic exploration and making 
of excellent maps, and the furnishing of postal and telegraphic service, 
the miner, until the present session of Congress (1905), has been very 
little assisted. 
An act of Congress was passed April 27, 1901, authorizing the 
appointment of road overseers and the creation of road districts in 
the Territory of Alaska, but this proving impracticable after a year's 
trial Congress has met the urgent demands for road building by the 
recent enactment of a statute which in two of its sections provides for 
the limited building and maintenance of wagon roads and trails. Fol- 
lowing are the first two sections of the said act: 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That all moneys derived from and collected for liquor 
licenses, occupation, or trade licenses outside of the incorporated towns in the dis- 
trict of Alaska shall be deposited in the Treasury Department of the United States, 
there to remain as a separate and distinct fund, to be known as the ; 'Alaska fund," 
and to be wholly devoted to the purposes hereinafter stated in the district of Alaska. 
aAn act to provide for the construction and maintenance of roads, the establishment and main- 
tenance of schools, and the care and support of insane persons, in the district of Alaska, and for 
other purposes. 
