The San Francisco call., 1899-08-02
MAY DETERMINE THE
ALASKAN BOUNDARY
MONUMENTS BELIEVED TO CON-
TAIN POSITIVE RECORDS.
John Zachert, Mining Expert, Offers
Information That May Prove OF
international Importance.

r,br zacherf 2 mining expert, residing
at C59 Grove street, claims 70 possess IN
formation which he believes VIII nave an
,rnnortant bearing on the Alaskan bound
ar., dfe~,u.e Zachert declares that the
aid Russian boundary is defined By monu-
rnentg placed at short intervals, ana tnat
fnclosed In each is a chart Of the RUSSIAN
possessions. He is Of the oeleL that me
duplicates Of the charts are on NE At 0t'
Petersburg Zachert says tnal an "a
dftion would have little trouble IN hhdlhg
and following up this boundary Ilne OF
monuments, and that the charts would
prove Of fnestfrnable value IN settllng the
dispute between this country ana Canaoa-
Seventeen years ago, while prospecting
in the southern part Of Alaska sald S1E.
Zachert yesterday, u happehe0 70 CaIip
In an unfrequented place where, 10 my
establishment, found a worn-our Russian
inscription carved on rock. Being Ia
miHar with the Russian language
learned from the inscription that IN I835
Russian topographicaa expso4fLloh S fae4 fr6r3 M
that rock the Indians indicated 70 me
monument and told me that the russians
built II. Thinking that some valuable
documents were buried under il, l was
about 10 dig them out. but the 1ndlans
prevented this. They thought that the
monument might cover grave, ana
their superstition would not permit them
to delve into mans last resting place.
After that came back 10 Sitka, inyeS-
tigated among the Russians the value Of
my discovery, and found that the spot az
which I had stopped was on the line Of
demarcation Of the Russian possessions,
and that the monument marked the place
where documents defining that demarca-
ton were buried. l tried to induce Gov
ernor Morris, the collector Of the Alaskan
customs to investigate; but in those days
1t was not worth the trouble 70 bother
about the Alaskan boundary. No action
was ever taken.
Il believe that If an expedition were
sent to the north IL could without great
trouble find this line Of demarcation. The
point at which l made my discovery was
about thirty miles southwest from Ju-
neau. have learned through the author
ity of Tichmanoff, who published two vol
unnes constituting Government reports on
Alaska that the Russian Government or
dered several copper boxes MAGE 70 IN
close the documents defining the BOUNDARY
in accordance with the treaty OF ls23. and
that il was the intention 10 bury these
boxes at intervals along the boundary
preserving duplicates 10 be filed at St Pc
tersburg Probably twenty such RECORDS
are buried in the southwestern part OF
Alaska. The letters found on the rock
were four or five inches long and cnlseIeq
out The monument was four feet nlgh
and built Of slab stones II was aDout
100 feet from the rock. 1t is proba bic there
are other monuments at Prince OF w aIes
Island and Fort Wrangel-
LAS I understand il. the boundary dis
pute hinges on a difference of opinion as
TO where the crest of the mountain range
is located. These records may determine
where the Russians considered the crest
of the mountains 70 lie"