Evening star., 1903-11-07
Minerals of the Mt. Wrangell
District.
LATE EXPLORATIONS
OBSERVATIONS OF MEMBERS OF
THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
Patient Steps in the Subjugation OF
the Land escribed-Resources OF
the Country Mapped.

The activities OF the twentieth century
are not all prosaic There are still uncon-
ouered regions of the earth that draw to
them heroic souls that are the pioneers
literally the road breakers, or Bahnbrecher,
as the Germans so aptly call them-for the
rest of mankind Explorers and cartogra-
piers are claiming and mapping new will
dernesses no less enthusiastically and much
more effectively than in the days of Chris
topher Columbus and Richard Hakluyt.
The spirit of the age. which Is nothing If
not scientific, demands that the tale of their
achievements be told simply, but between
the lines the sympathetic reader, who can
see and judge alike the old exploits and the
new. catches the shadow Of the dramatic.
The Mt. Wrangen District.
1t falls upon him as he turns the pages Of
Professional Paper No. 15, published by
the United States geological survey, which
concerns the mineral resources of the
Mount Wrangell district Alaska. In this
paper the authors, Messrs. Walter c. Men
denhall and Frank c. Schrader have de-
scribed in plain language the chief topo-
graphic and geologic features and the min
eral deposits of that district. but the
thoughtful reader who carefully scans the
photographs of those bleak regions and the
topographic map that accompanies the pa
per will realize the difficulties and the mag
nitude of the work. This report has been
issued in advance of the contoured maps,
which will accompany a later report on the
general geology of the district. In order to
place it at an early date in the hands of
those interested the topograp aphic material
has been brought together in one hachured
map. which is confidently presented as the
most complete and accurate representation
OF the physical features of the district CEN
tering in Mount Wrangell that is now avail
able.
Subjugation of the Land.
The impression of the need for heroic
temper in work of this nature is strength
ened by perusal of the short introduction
that opens the paper. In it are recount ed
the patient steps thus far taken in the SUBJ
jugation of the land. The extent to which
this conquest has progressed is most
clearly indicated by the growth in popula-
ton and In mineral output shown by the
statistics of Alaska in the last twenty
years. Its population of 43O whites in 1881
had increased to 80. .i93 in 1909. During
the decade between 1890 and 1900 the an
nual value of its output of precious metals
rose from $I72.19 TO sS.265. 712.
Gold Discoveries.
The larger part of this growth began
with the discovery late in the autumn of
1896, of the placer deposits of Klondike
river. in Canadian Yukon territory An
important part of the general movement to-
ward Alaska that followed was directed to-
ward Copper Ever, the immigration there
first reaching considerable proportions in
the spring of 1898, Previous to this some
thing of the geography and geology of the
Copper river valley had been earned
through number of explorations conduct
ed In 1884. 1856 and 1891, mainly under the
auspices of the War Department. Except
for these surveys nothing of consequence
was done within the Copper river basin
previous to 1sssS and the Prince William
sound district had been inhabited only by
natives and those whites who We're en-
gagged IN the salmon fisheries or had es-
tablished trading stations for carrying on
fur traffic with the natives.
Crossed the Mountains.
During the season of 1898 about 400
people were landed at Valdes, about 1850
of whom crossed forbidding mountains
nearly 100 miles wide and 5000 feet high, to
reach the Copper river valley. A year later
not more than 800 of the original 4O. O re-
mained m the country. but it was they who
undertook the first real work done in the
Chistochina gold field and located the
Nikolai copper mine. The development of
the Interior advanced rapidly with the con-
struction OF the military trail directed by
Major Abercromb!e IN 1899. 1900 and 1871.
AT the same tine map work was carried on
by officers of the United States army who
made known the geographic details of that
part OF the Chugach range lying between
Faldes bay and the Klutina and Copper
rivers.
Mineral Resources Mapped.
In 1900 Messrs. Schrader. Spencer, Ger
dine and Witherspoon, all of the United
States geological survey. spent the summer
in the Copper River region. As result of
thaIy
and Chitina valleys and all their various
routes of approach were accurately map
ped. and the first comprehensive account
OF the geology and the mineral resources
OF the district from the hands of compe-
tent experts was published.
AT the same time the signal CORPS of the
United States army took up the work of
telegraph construction. line was begun
at Naldes In 1900, and during the summer
Of 1902 was completed by way of the Con-
Eagle, on the Yukon, connecting there with
the line to Dawson. thus completing tele-
graphic communication between the in
terror OF Alaska and the outside world
Recognizing the prospective Importance of
the district, the United States geological
survey In 1902 expended one-half of It's
Alaskan appropriation In dispatching to the
region two well-equiped parties to con-
tinue the work begun in 1900 until n nrac
ucaily complete map of the Copper basin
and the economically important contiguous
regions snould be made 1t was the fur
ther object of those intrusted with the
work to examine such mineral deposits of
1900 III
Treasures Of Alaska.
IL sounds matter OF fact enough: In real
ity IT is twentieth-century version of the
old Niblungen story. Treasures are there
OF gold and silver. of copper and of coal.
Heroes there are plenty. ready to do and
uare all for possession Of the hoard TO
push their way across the trackless
stretches OF that northern land. searching
Tor the places where the treasures lie is
not so difficult for the bold and hardy. hut
10 know the treasure when they see n
and to bring 1t out when they have found
n-that is the twentieth-century difficulty
10 make this work easier season after
season a special band of men, members of
The United States geological survey are
using In that distant land all the Ginning
OF their training and experience and are
writing directions for all the world OF mod
ern argonauts- The particular report
noted above. which was first announced
some months ago, may now be obtained
from the director of the geological survey
One Advantage of Barbarism.
FROM the Chicago Tribune.
But don't YOU ever throw things At rau,