sTovKj COAL IN SOUTHWESTERN ALASKA. 153 
road 7 miles long, and a dock were built. Work ceased, however, in 
March, L902. 
In the summer of 1901 Chignik River was the only place in south- 
western Alaska where coal was being mined. Bunkers were being 
built at Unga, however, preparatory to increased output from that 
field. 
The production of this entire field to date may be roughly estimated 
at 10,000 tons. This does not include what the Russians took from 
Port Graham half a century ago. Coal is produced at the Chignik 
mine for about $3.75 a ton, and has to compete with better coal which 
can be bought in Puget Sound for $5 and brought up as ballast in the 
company's ships. Kachemak Bay coal has sold at the Homer dock 
for $5 and $6. Wellington coal brings $12 at Unalaska and Valdez. 
DESCRIPTION OF LOCALITIES. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The coal fields will be described in geographic order from the head 
of Cook Inlet to the Aleutian Islands. Those which have some com- 
mercial value are at Matanuska, Tyonok, Kachemak Bay, Port Graham, 
Chignik River, Herendeen Ba} 7 , and Unga. Three of these, however, 
have serious drawbacks: Tyonok coal is of very low grade, the Port 
Graham beds are at or below high tide, and the Herendeen Bay field 
is badly faulted and possibty very limited. The localities which the 
writer examined are Kachemak Bay, Port Graham, coast of Alaska 
Peninsula from Cape Douglas to Cold Bay, and Chignik Bay. 
MATANUSKA RIVER. 
Within the past two or three years prospectors have reported the 
existence of thick seams of coal on the Matanuska River. Matanuska 
River flows from the east into Knik Arm, the most northerly branch 
of Cook Inlet. Mendenhall visited the locality in 1898 and reported 
the presence of a few thin seams of bright, hard coal/' More definite 
information has been obtained from George Jamme, jr., a mining 
engineer from Seattle, who examined the field in July, 1901. 
The Matanuska coal fields lie about 30 miles beyond the head of 
Cook Inlet, on the north bank of Matanuska River, and extend in an 
easterly direction from Moose Creek for a distance of 30 miles, 
embracing an area of about 60 square miles. The coal measures occupy 
the space between the river and the hills to the north, and strike in a 
northeasterly direction parallel with the river. The dip is northward 
at angles ranging from 10° to 85°, increasing toward the north. The 
a Mendenhall, W. C, A reconnaissance from Resurrection Bay to the Tanana River, Alaska: Twen- 
tieth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, p. 324. 
