DEVELOPMENT EDITION
THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
T
NENANA, ALASKA, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1919.
The Alaskan Railroad;
A Development Project
General Review of Big Government Enterprise, Conceived by Alaskans, Which
Is Now Nearing Completion, Under the Direction of a Federal Appointed |
Commission—Railroad Wrill Tap Vast Mineral and Agricultural Areas and '
Solve Transportation Problem of Interior Alaska—Nenana Division Head- %
quarters.
%
Under the powers granted him
^ by act of Congress, approved March
12, 1914 (which authorized the lo
cation, construction and operation
of railroads in the Territory of
Alaska), President Wilson, on May
2d of the same year, directed the
secretary of the interior to proceed
with the surveying of the railroads,
h and conferred on him the power
and authority to do any and all
acts necessary thereto.
The Alaskan Engineering Com
mission was created by presidential
appointment, the members named
^ for service thereon being William
C. Edes, chairman; Frederick Mears,
and Thomas Riggs, Jr.
On May 8, 1914, Secretary of i
the Interior Franklin K. Lane for- i
mally authorized the Alaskan En- j
gineering Commission to select and !
appoint its assistants for the work i
in hand, to purchase the necessary j
supplies, etc., and to proceed to the I
* field at the earliest practicable date. ]
Work Planned for 1914 Season.
In order to accomplish the ob
jects set forth in the act of Con
gress, it was necessary to investi
gate two general routes from the
coast to the Interior of Alaska.
These were known as the Eastern j
and Western routes. I
The Eastern route was to be com
menced at Cordova or Valdez and
extend northward via the Copper ■
river, Tonsina river, Delta river, i
and Tanana valley to the vicinity
of Fairbanks. The Western route
was to commence at Portage bay
or Seward and follow along the
shores of Turnagain and Knik
arms, thence northward through the
Susitna valley and over Broad pass
and down the Xenana river to its
junction with the Tanana river, and
thence by one of several routes to
the vicinity of Fairbanks.
It was practically impossible to
make detailed surveys over the two
routes in one season, especially as
the members of the commission had
to give much of their attention to
the field work. It was therefore
decided that the commission should
^ devote its energies for the season
of 1914 to making a careful pre
liminary survey and estimate of
the IVestern route, with a branch
therefrom to the Matanuska coal
fields; to a survey from Chitina to'
the Matanuska coal fields, and to
a reconnaissance from the Western
* route into the Kuskokwim and Idit
arod districts, as this region had
never been covered with railroad
construction in view. It was also
decided to make an examination to
determine the most feasible plan of
getting the Bering River coal to
the coast and to investigate the
various harbors proposed for ter
minals.
To expedite the work, the West
ern route was divided into three
f districts, each under the general
administrative supervision of a
member of the commission, who
was to locate the several field par
ties on his section and give them
directions how to proceed with their
work.
The first district covered the re
gion south of Knik arm. the second
f extended northward to Broad pass,
and the third covered the section
north of Broad pass. This last
§ named section, of which Nenana is
the permanent division headquar
ters, is known as the Fairbanks
division, and was under the super
vision of Thomas Riggs, Jr., mem
I ber of the commission, and covers
the territory from the Broad Pass
summit to Fairbanks.
With these objects in view, or
ganization for the work was begun.
Organisation.
The members of the commission
arrived in Seattle May 22d, and
realizing that the working season
in Alaska was very short and that
it was necessary to move quickly,
the necessary machinery was imme
diately set in motion to accomplish
the desired results. A large amount
of work had been laid out for the
summer, and eleven parties, each
under the direction of a competent
| engineer, were organized. A great
; many men were examined as to
; their qualifications, and from a
j large number of applicants the re
1 quired number was selected. Par
j ties Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and
10 were locating parties each under
a skilled locating engineer; party
No. 2 was under a skilled top
ographer, and party No. 11 was un
der the charge of an engineer of
large experience in reconnaissance
work. The parties varied in size,
but, in general, were composed of
from fifteen to twenty men. With
the exception of party No. 10 and
two parties later organized, and
many of the axmen who were hired
in Alaska, these parties were large
ly made up in Seattle. Party No.
10 was to be entrusted with the
work of making a survey from
Chitina to the Matanuska coal
fields, and had a large territory to
cover. As the commission was able
to secure the services of a locating
engineer of large experience at Val
dez, it was deemed advisable to
organize the party there and to
purchase the supplies and necessary
pack animals for its use. This was
duly accomplished and the party
left Valdez for Chitina on June 1,
1914, preparatory to taking up the
work assigned it.
Supplies for party No. 10 were
I also purchased in Alaska, as this
(Continued on Page Five.)
Government Power Plant
Will Speed Development
i
z
2
Electric Energy Generated at Coal Fields Near Nenana, Will Supply Power to
All Principal Mining Districts in Interior Alaska—Project Involving Expendi
ture of More Than Six Million Dollars Has Backing of American Mining
Congress—Low Priced Power Will Insure Development of Large Areas of
Gold Placers.
I
!
i
•X-X-K-X-W-VW.W-t-'.
The need for a Centra) Power
Plant, capable of supplying cheap
power to the mining claims in the
Interior, and thereby aiding the de
velopment of this most important
industry and increasing the gold
production of the territory, had
long been thought of and discussed
by commercial and mining men of
the Tanana Valley at various times.
The establishing of such a plant
was advocated even before the bill
creating the Alaskan Engineering
Commission and authorizing the
construction of the government rail
road, had been framed.
In the summer of 1914, the mat
ter of the establishment of a cen
tral power plant was first brought
to the attention of the miners and
the general public by the Fairbanks
Times, owned and managed by the
present owners of The Nenana Daily
News.
The Times continued to keep the
matter before the public for some
time, adopting “A Central Power
Plant for the Interior” as its slo
gan. It was discussed by Cummer
| cial clubs and other civic bodies in
a general way, and advocated
through the columns of The Nenana
Daily News, soon after the found
ing of Nenana.
Then came the big world war
and the participation of the United
States in it. Prices began to soar
and the pinch began to be felt in
the Northland, where the cost of
gold production was materially ad
vanced. The value of the gold re
mained fixed while production costs
mounted. The governmept needed
gold and needed it badly, various
| schemes were suggested and dis
cussed to encourage and aid miners
to increase the production of the
precious metal and a bonus of a
certain sum per ounce to bona fide
producers was advocated by mining
men of the States as a desirable
j solution.
Then the power plant loomed
I large on the mental horizon of those
1 who really had the welfare of
1 Alaska at heart, interest in the
\ project was awakened, and it was
I hailed by the majority of Northern
“« * • ♦ ••*♦•*••*•”••**•**•»**•**«•*• «***|**#**«**»**«,*«* M.4*,***»**» ••• ••••••••••••••«•••«•« * • • • • "«
NENANA MINING DISTRICT
HAS PROMISING FUTURE
Large Area Adjacent to Nenana Rich in Minerals Which Have Been Made Accessible by Government Rail
road—Mining and Prospecting Now in Progress Throuhgout Tntire Region—Gold Placer Streams Prom
ise Large Production—Opportunities Alike for Large Companies and for Men of Limited Means—Nenana
Natural Distribution Point for Entire District.
I Within a few miles of the gov- ]
ernment railroad south of Nenana,.
I .
i prospecting and mining for gold
■and other minerals has been sue-!
cessfully undertaken for Some time:
i
' past, and with the extension of the'
: road beyond Nenana Crossing, there-:
i by affording a means of transporta-1
i tion for the necessary machinery
and supplies, the mining industry1
has received quite an impetus an 1;
many men with limited means, who
were either unwilling or unable to;
do any prospecting hitherto, owing
to the transportation difficulties, are j
now devoting their attention toward
the development of the rich depos
; its of placer gold, quartz, and other
j valuable minerals known to exist in
j the region adjacent to the govern
■ ment railroad, in the full assurance
that their needs can now be more
i readily supplied.
Placer gold was first discovered
jin the Nenana district in 1903 and
1904, by prospectors from Fair
! banks, which at that time was the
! supply center of the region. Addi
! tional discoveries have been made
ifrom time to time on creeks that
: were not closely examined during the
| first period of prospecting, and it is
quite within the probabilities that
| still other localities of gold-bearing
gravels may be found in the future.
In a report on the gold placers
| near the Nenana coal field. Mr. A.
G. Maddren, of the United States
geological survey, says: “The lo
calities where placer gold is known
to occur are distributed throughout
the district, in the drainage areas
of all the trunk streams. In the
Nenana valley, gold is found in the
basins of three eastern tributaries
of the main river—Moose, Hose
anna or Lignite, and Healey creeks.
In the Totatlanika basin, gold oc
curs in California creek and its
tributaries — Rex, Eva, and Elsie
creeks—at a number of points along
the main course of the Totatlanika
above the mouth of California
creek, and in Daniel, July, and
Homestake creeks, and McCuen
gulch, tributaries to its upper
course. In the Tatlanika basin,
productive mining has been done
on Grubstake and Roosevelt creeks,
and gold is reported to be present
in Hearst creek and along the bed
of the main stream for several
miles.
“In general, placer-mining claims
have been staked and restaked from
year to year on practically every
stream of any size in the district,
and prospecting has been done at
hundreds of points along these
| streams by digging open cuts and
| shallow holes.’’
Moose Creek District.
Moose creek, which is about ten
miles south of the northern border
of the foothill belt, crosses the gov
ernment railroad at a point about
•thirty-eight miles south of the town
i of Nenana. Big and Little Moose
; creeks, each about two and one
1 half miles in length, rise on a grav
i el ridge, 3,000 feet in altitude,
.that divides them from Eva and
'■Wilson creeks, which flow eastward
; into California creek. The Moose
I creek basin comprises about twenty
square miles on the eastern slope
of the Nenana valley. About two
miles below the confluence of Big
and Little Moose, Cody creek en
ters the main stream from the east,
and two miles farther downstream.
Chicken creek, the largest tributary
of Moose creek, flows into it from
the Northeast. Placer claims have
been located and worked on Big
and Little Moose creeks and along
the main stream for about a mile
below their junction. In the sum
mer of 1909, about 100 ounces of
gold was mined from a gravel
bench near the mouth of Big Moose,
and since then several fairly big'
cleanups have been made by miners
in this region. Automatic dams
which had been constructed for
sluicing purposes were washed out
during the high water in the spring
of 1916, and in some measure set
back mining on nearly all the
claims in this region.
There are from ten to fifteen
men engaged in prospecting and
mining in the Moose creek region,
and the yield of placer gold during
the period 1909 to 1916 is stated
to have averaged the equivalent of
;good wages, or about $7 a day to
the shovel. The value of the total
output of gold to date is estimated
to be about $30,000.
It must be remembered, however,
that the men working in the region
were severely handicapped for want
of transportation facilities and were
forced to work shorthanded, owing
to the difficulty of procuring and
hauling the needed supplies and
equipment to the ground. They
were also obliged to whipsaw the
lumber for constructing sluice
boxes and lost much valuable time
in the preparatory work necessary
to successful mining. All supplier
and materia! had to be hauled by
dog teams hitherto—a slow and
costly method.
With the building of the rail- i
road and the establishing of the
town of Xenana with its sawmills
and supply depots, the outlook for
the mining industry has brightened
considerably. Men in increasing]
numbers are going out into the1
hills adjacent to the railroad, and I
the N'enana mining district bids fair!
to develop into one of the richest!
of its kind in Alaska.
As a further encouragement and i
incentive to prospectors and miners,
the Xenana Commercial Club has I
been instrumental in having the i
boundaries of the Xenana mining'
district redescribed to include sec- j
tions that had hitherto been inelud-j
ed within the boundaries of the
Fairbanks mining district, thus n.ak-1
ing it easy for prospectors and |
mining men to record their loca-!
tions without having to go to Fair-i
banks to do so.
Material and supplies of all kinds
for the use of the men who are
striving to develop the mineral re
sources of this district are now
hauled to various points on the
government railroad at an almost
nominal rate of freight, the short j
haul from the railroad to the dig
(Continued on Page Two.)
mining and commercial men a? a
permanent and certain means of
relief. The commercial clubs of
Nenana and Fairbanks got busy
immediately and the question of re
questing Congress to appropriate
the necessary money and to author
ize the building of a suitable plant,
was discussed at length. The Alas
ka Chapter of the American Mining
Congress, organized in April, 1918,
took up the power plant question
at one of its regular meetings, and
with the enthusiastic support of
the commercial clubs of both Ne
nana and Fairbanks, this great
project, which means prosperity to
Interior Alaska and an increase
of revenue for all Alaska, was fairly
launched.
For the purpose of giving the
project publicity and disseminating
knowledge of the details of the pro
posed power plant to the miners
who are more directly interested iit
its establishment and to the gen
eral public, the Nenana Commercial
club arranged to hold a smoker,
at which Superintendent Davis, of
the Bureau of Mines, was the honor
guest. He was also invited to out
line the details of the proposed
plant for the benefit of the resi
dents of this district.
The entire membership of the
Nenana Commercial club and many
guests of the organization, included
among whim were numerous pros
pectors and miners of the neigh
boring districts, gave evidence of
their interest in this important
movement by responding to the in
vitation of a special committee to
gather at Labor Union Hall, on
Saturday evening. January 11.
Introductory
Chairman R. S. McDonald of the
Commercial club explained the pur
pose of the smoker. The Nenana
Commercial club, he said, was now
directing its efforts in co-operation
with the Fairbanks Commercial club
nnd the American Mining congress,
toward the establishment of a cen
tra! power plant at Lignite, of suffi
cient capacity and power and having a
ledius of action of at least one hun
dred miles, which would enable it
to supply much needed power, at
a cheap rate, and make possible
the speedy development of a great
many mines in this and neighbor
ing districts; and also by reason of
the cheapness of the power sup
plied, make it possible to work
the innumerable low grade placer
mining claims throughout the Tan
ana valley, which are now lying
fallow because of the prohibitive
cost, principally of power.
The Lignite country, he said, was
selected as the location of the pro
jected power plant because an un
limifed quantity of coal which will
enter largely into the production of
power is available and can be
readily obtained.
John A. Davis, who is in charge
of the Bureau of Mines at Fair
banks, he said, would outline the
plan of action adopted for the pur
pose of taking the matter up with
Congress and requesting the neces
sary appropriation for the building
of the power plant.
Chairman McDonald then intro
duced Mr. Davis, who had made a
special trip to Nenana at the in
vitation of the Commercial club, to
(Continued on Page Four.)