Valdez daily prospector., 1912-01-25

side of Knik Arm (the easterly
 arm of Cooks Inletl, and is about
 t5O miles directly north of Sew
 ard. At the present time Knik
 is the gateway of the Matanuska valley, and the chief supply point for the Willow creek gold quartz camp. In the summer this town
 can be reached by boat from Sel- dovia in about eight hours, or by tI ain from Seward to mile 70 Ov- or the Alaska Northern railroad, thence by launch to Knik, taking
 about eight hours; during the winter season by trail from Sew ard. generally taking about five ln six days.
 knik is considered the ideal garden spot of Southwestern Alaska, and has been apprOpri- atrly named "Sunny Knik." The average climatic conditions all he year round are hard to beat very little rain during the spring and Tall, and not over three feet of snowfall during the winter. During the summer season there is no rain whalsnrvrr.
 \ majority of the inhabitants of knik. and the sixty odd ranch CTS and hOmrSlradcrS within d radius of ten miles thereof, raise their own garden truck and veg rlablrS, such as potatoes. cab bagr, radishcS, uiabagocS, iur- nipS, cic., while over five hundred tons of native hay are put up cv- ;"ry SraSnn to feed the 50 or more horses which are wintcrcd at that point.
 The Willow creek gold quartz camp iS located in the southwest portion of the Talkcelna noun tainS, about 30 miles directly north of Knik, two pack trains leading thereto. This coming season seventeen stamps will be
 in operation on three different
 properties in this camp, while ex-
 tcnsive development work is con- templated on three other differ cnt properties, and there are a
 number of other good prospects
 in the camp remaining undevel-
 9ped due to lack of capital. The ar rage run per day of 2i hours
 of the Gold Bullion seven-stamp
 mill last season was Si, 400. The
 Gold-bearing ore of this region is ] a cream colOred cryStallizpd quartz, free milling; the coun- try rock is granite. The mines
 so far found and developed are al an elevation of 3,OOO to I,5OO
 feet above sea level. Lack of
 proper transportation facilities
 has been one of the chief draw backs in tn" development of this
 camp in the past. but the future
 outlook of the camp is very Upright.
 \ placer gold hydraulic outfit
 has been in operation on Willow
 creek since 1898, and has been
 more or less of a producer since lhaI time. This plant changed
 hands the past year and the
 ground is to be opened up on a
 Iarg" scale the coming summer.
 During tn" past year gold
 quartz prospects have been found
 at the hcadwatrrs of Eagle river
 and Peters creek on the south
 side of knik Arm, and at the head of Khik river; while copper and
 galcna prospects have been found in the vicinity of Old Knik. on Copper creek, a tributary of Knik river; and on Moose creek, Kings
 river ana ChicalOon river on the north side of Matanuska valley. The formation on the south side of knik Arm and in the Knik riy- cr region is practically the same as in the neighborhood of Val dcz and Seward, viz: slate and Rraywack, with occasional dikes of light colorcd granite, lime and scrpentinc cutting the formation. , Tho approximate area of the , Maianuska valley is 1000 square niles 200 miles of which, ac- cordinR IO U. $. government gc- olOgists, is undcrlain wilh coal. Levi Chubbuck, a former II. S. government agricultural expert, : slated in one of his reports that hc considered the land in the : Matanuska valley the best agri-
 cultural land in Alaska, and equal If not superior to that of Norway
 and Sweden in northern Europe. The region is fairly well tim