16 ALASKAN MINERAL RESOURCES IN 1905. 
Resurrection Bay, on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula, is an excellent harbor and 
ample wharves have already been constructed. The town of Seward is in a good location 
near the west end of the bay, about 1,400 statute miles (1,250 nautical miles) distant from 
Puget Sound. This part of the Kenai Peninsula is well timbered and the valley floors 
include some arable land. Beyond the first divide the railway skirts the eastern margin of 
the Sunrise placer district. About 100 miles inland the main line approaches within 30 or 40 
miles of the Matanuska coal field (see pp. 88-100), the immediate objective point of the rail- 
way. An extension of the coal-field branch could be carried to Copper River by crossing a 
divide about 100 miles from tide water and about 2,500 feet high. (PI. IX, A.) This proposed 
branch would tap the area and resources mentioned in connection with the proposed Copper 
River railways. 
A discovery of placer gold is reported on the western side of the Sushitna basin, and if it 
proves of value will give additional business to this railway. The route will also traverse a 
small coal field lying in the headwater region of Cantwell River. This coal, though of a 
lignitic character, might find a market at Fairbanks, from which it is only 60 miles distant. 
(See pp. 112-1 13.) One important feature of this route is that it traverses the Sushitna basin, 
which has an area of about 8,000 square miles and is generally conceded to be the best agri- 
cultural land in Alaska. This province will no doubt be the first to attract settlers and a 
railway will therefore be an important factor in assuring a permanent population to the 
Territory. In common with the other routes it traverses the Tanana Valley, which con- 
tains much grazing and arable land. It will afford communication with the Fairbanks 
placer district and by branch lines can be made to afford an outlet to the Birch Creek and 
Rampart districts. Moreover, at the Tanana it reaches navigable water and will have 
steamboat connection with much of the Yukon River system. 
The Sushitna route appears to have the advantage over a number of others in the matter 
of grades, for it traverses the mountains by a pass only 2,000 feet in altitude and that is about 
200 miles inland. It also passes through a region better timbered and having greater agri- 
cultural possibilities than some of the other routes. It can, however, be made to reach the 
copper districts only by a branch whose mileage would be greater than a # direct line to this 
field from Valdez or Orca. A Resurrection Bay-Fairbanks railway can therefore not be con- 
sidered a direct competitor with those projected from Prince William Sound. In the opin- 
on of the writer the opening up of untouched mineral wealth should result in business 
enough for a railway from Resurrection Bay, as well as one from Prince William Sound. 
ROUTES FROM COOK INLET TO YUKON RIVER. 
This paper concerns itself primarily with railways whose purpose is to open up inland 
Alaska, but it will be well to consider oriefly the routes from Cook Inlet to Yukon River. 
(See map, PI. II.) It has been proposed to build a railway to Seward Peninsula from the 
western side of Cook Inlet. Though little is known of the region which would be traversed 
by such a railway, it is certain that there are no mountain ranges to cross. The distance to 
the lower Yukon is about 450 miles and to Nome about 300 miles farther. The lower end of 
Cook Inlet is free from ice throughout the year and there are several bays which could be 
used as coastal terminals. So far as known, the first divide to be traversed within 20 miles 
of Cook Inlet is said to be only 800 feet above the sea. A second divide, about 100 miles 
beyond, between Bristol Bay and Kuskokwim waters, is probably less than 2,000 feet high. 
Little is known of the resources of that part of the Kuskokwim basin which would be trav- 
ersed by this route. There is, however, a fair grade of bituminous coal on the lower Yukon, 
and Seward Peninsula is one of the great centers for placer mining in the Territory. It must 
be born in mind, however, that during the open season water transportation would come in 
direct competition with any railway built to Nome. 
