RECONNAISSANCE IN THE MATANIISKA AND TAL- 
KEETNA BASINS, WITH NOTES ON THE PLACERS 
OF THE ADJACENT REGION. 
By Sidney Paige and Adolph Km 
INTRODUCTION. 
In the following pages are presented the salient features of the 
geography and geology of a roughly quadrangular area lying adjacent 
to and northeast of Cook Inlet. The features of direct economic inl cr- 
est will be emphasized here, but the more complete discussion of the 
geology will be reserved for a fuller report now in preparation. The 
detailed report will contain a topographic map on a scale of 4 miles 
to the inch. This same province has been the subject of investiga- 
tion by Mendenhall, a who explored the Matanuska Valley in 1898, 
and by Eldridge/" who explored the Susitna Valley in the same year. 
In 1905 Martin' made a brief study of the Matanuska coal field, which 
contains the most important of the mineral resources of the province 
thus far developed. Appended to the present report is a brief account 
of the more important developments in the placer districts of the 
adjoining regions. 
GEOGRAPHY. 
The area studied (see fin;. '2) lies partly within the Talkeetna Moun- 
tains and partly within the valley of Matanuska River. The Tal- 
keetna Mountains are separated from the main Chugach Range, of 
which they may be considered a part, by the Matanuska Valley 
The Chugach Range trends westward from Mount St. Elias, turns 
southward at the Matanuska, and forms the eastern mass of Kenai 
Peninsula. Within the region of the Talkeetna Mountains the peaks 
rise to a general elevation of 5,000 to 6,000 feet, though altitudes of 
8,000 to 9,000 feet are reached in the center of the range. 
a Mendenhall, W. C, A reconnaissance from Resurrection Buy to Tanana River, Alaska, in I898J 
Twentieth Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1900, pp. 265-340. 
b Eldridge, G. H., A reconnaissance in the Sushitna basin and adjacenl territory, Alaska : Twentieth 
Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1900, pp. 1-29. 
c Martin, G. C., A reconnaissance of the Matanuska coal held. Alaska: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survej Nog 
289, 1906, 34 pp. 
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