. Alaska and the Klondike. rked on the British side at a moderateprofit which could not be worked at all if the expense ofliving there were as great as on the American side. Thereis nothing in the natural conditions, however, which shouldgive greater impetus to the mining development on theBritish side than on the American. On the contrary, asidefrom a few rich claims in the Klondike which can be easilymatched on the Seward Peninsula, the attractions for theminer on the American side in such districts as Fairbanks,Forty-Mile, the Upper Koyukuk, the American Creek,Nome and Council City district
. Alaska and the Klondike. rked on the British side at a moderateprofit which could not be worked at all if the expense ofliving there were as great as on the American side. Thereis nothing in the natural conditions, however, which shouldgive greater impetus to the mining development on theBritish side than on the American. On the contrary, asidefrom a few rich claims in the Klondike which can be easilymatched on the Seward Peninsula, the attractions for theminer on the American side in such districts as Fairbanks,Forty-Mile, the Upper Koyukuk, the American Creek,Nome and Council City districts, and probably others,are just as great as on the British side. In fact, outsidethe Klondike region itself the British Yukon has nothingas yet to offer equal to any of the districts named on theAmerican side. As is generally understood, the ocean front of Alaskafrom Portland Channel to Cooks Inlet, west of Valdez,is mountainous. The coast range throughout that entiredistance of 1,200 or 1,500 miles, is high and rugged and. 22 8 ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE difficult of penetration. The White Pass road, however,has surmounted the difficulties of railroad passage throughthe mountain barrier and gov-ernment surveys and privateexplorations have found a route on American territorythrough Keystone Canyon and over what is known asThompsons Pass, northeast of Valdez, over which it issaid to be entirely practicable to build and operate a rail-road. The testimony is practically unanimous on thispoint, including that of Senator Nelson, who while ourparty halted at Valdez, in company with LieutenantBarker and Assistant Engineer McMillan, of the Mc-Culloch, rode on horseback twenty-five miles up the Gov-ernment trail to Thompsons Pass. Once over the rangeno serious difficulties present themselves in crossing theCopper River valley or the valley of the Tanana, and theentire feasibility of building a railroad from Valdez toEagle, so far as the engineering problems are concerned,is not seriously d
Size: 1304px × 1916px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidalaskak, booksubjectalaska
