222 GRAVEL AND PLACER MINING IN ALASKA. [bull. 263. 
SOUTH COAST PROVINCE. 
Wagon roads, while extremely useful in this portion of Alaska, cost 
so much that it is not likely they will be built except as heretofore, by 
private enterprise, to accommodate individual mining properties or 
groups of mines. The province is likely to prove in the future, as it 
has proved in the past, more important from the standpoint of quartz 
mining than of alluvial mining. The construction of roads is none 
the less desirable on this account, and should any large area capable of 
producing mineral be found at a point remote from the coast, a high- 
way to it over which freight could be handled all the year round would 
be highly desirable. Winter conditions are exceedingly severe in the 
higher mountains. In the construction of the White Pass and Yukon 
Railway, 110^ miles in length, 1,500 men were employed for twenty- 
six months. Train service is maintained throughout the winter under 
considerable difficulty, both heav}^ winds and heavity drifted snow 
being frequently encountered. Rotaiy snow plows have to be run 
daily, encountering drifts from 15 to 35 feet in depth. The average 
cost of handling snow for a season is $75,000. Characteristic South 
Coast province topography is illustrated by PI. XVI, A, p. 114. 
ATLIN DISTRICT AND YUKON TERRITORY. 
In the Atlin district of British Columbia, which was visited during 
the present investigation, the topography is comparatively favorable 
to road construction, and it will be noticed from the table that the 
cost is low. PI. XXXVIII, B, p. 220, shows a characteristic view of 
an Atlin road. 
The Yukon Territory of Canada offers the most instructive lesson in 
practical highway construction in the north, and affords a striking 
contrast in this respect to the adjacent American domain. The officers 
of the department of public works of the Yukon Territoiy, notably 
Mr. S. A. D. Bertrand, the superintendent, and Mr. W. Thibaudeau, 
the Territorial engineer, were kind enough to place at my disposal the 
data relative to the building and maintenance of the public roads. 
The following summary can not fail to be of interest in this connection: 
The longest road in the Territory is from Dawson to White Pass, 
342 miles. Its history dates from 1899. 
Prior to 1899 all freight from Dawson was transported to the min- 
ing creeks by pack animals in summer, and sledded either with dogs 
or horses over the ice and snow in winter. 
