The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1907-01-01
FUTURE OF ALASKA.
Prospect Of It's Becoming a Great
Farming District.
IL lis Believed the Country Will BE
Capable OF Supporting 10000
600 Persons In seneAhing
Lake CoHfort.

Some idea of the future of Alaska
and its almost boundless resources is
given by Harrington Emerson in the
Engineering Magazine. Mr.. Emerson
believes that Alaska can support a
population of 10000, 900 persons in com
fort, and that at no distant day 1t
will be one of the worlds richest mine
ing and farming districts. The ideas
of this explorer are expressed in part
as follows:
''The Yukon, the fourth largest river
in the world, navigable for more than
1000 miles above its mouth and rum
ming in great semi-circle from south
eastern to northwestern Alaska, forms
natural highway All this was
known long ago; but it was not known
that the interior contained 100000
square miles of farming lands and al
most limitless areas of the richest
mineral lands in the world. 1t is in
this unsubdued country that thou
sands Of miles of railroad must be
built, that great areas will open for
settlement, absorbing and keeping
busy 100000 workers as fast as they
choose to go.
1T is, however. not the agricultural
resources that will Immediately at
tract the largest influx of population
and capital. About lao miles from
Valdez in the Chittyna valley are very
great copper deposits, which during
the last season have been visited by
many experts. Some of the ores run
SIS per cent. copper, and there are many
thousand tons in sight assaying 1e per
cent.
"A great mountainslide has occurred
in this region revealing, it Is claimed
as much as 100000 tons of high
grade copper ores. Valdez bay and the
low pass north of it are the American
gateways TO the Yukon valley, and al.
ready railroad has been surveyed and
partly graded to the interior, for the
copper, though IL can be quarried like
the iron ores of Lake Superior, with
out railroad will remain worthless
The railroad itself is assured an un-
limited tonnage. i is 1Ae shortest
line to Dawson and the Yukon valley
and what is Of more Importance, il
can carry supplies delivered at Val.
dez from sailing vessels or deep draft
ocean steamers in all the months oil
the year, with only one break of bulk
at Valdez, and also reach the deer
navigable Yukon and the Koyukuk .
month earlier than by the Yukor
mouth, which is closed by Behrinp
sea ice until July l.
AS shown In the history of the
White Pass railroad, the ingoing traf
fic would in itself be sufficient to war
rant railroad, but from Dawson the
only export is gold. about 20 tons a
year, while this road will not only car
~ all the United States government
troops and supplies, for which many
hundred thousand dollars are spent
but it will have the unlimited out
bound tonnage of high-grade copper
ores, which, with freight rate of two
dollars ton from Valdez to the smell
tiers of Puget sound will scarcely bt
treated in the interior.
1T is not too much to expect thu,
improvement in transportation facili
ties alone win convert central Alaska
into as closely populated and pros
porous region as Colorado, as tn,
Black Hills, of South Dakota. as III,
rich mining region Of British Colum
bia."