The Alaska citizen., 1914-10-12

The region in central Alaska ly-
ing between Yukon and koyukuk
rivers westward from the Yukon
flats has in general been little fire.
quented by prospectors Owing to
the consequent lack of economic in
terest those parts of the region not
Immediately accessible from the
rivers have Ions remained geological!
~ uneXplored.
During the summer of 1913 a sur
yey party in charge of the writer
made a rapid reconnaissance through
the more inaccessible and geological,
" unknown parts of the region The
journey embraced two stages. the
first from Yukon river near Fort
Hamlin northwestward to Hughes.
on koyukuk river; the second from
Hughes southwestward TO the Yukon
near Ruby. II is the purpose of this
paper 10 set forth a brief summary
of the geography. sociology. and min
eral resources of the region as in
writer and of his predecessors in
the general field.
GEOGRAPHY.
The Yukon Koyukuk region en-
braces an area of about 1900 square
miles in central Alaska. lying be
tween Yukon and Koyukuk rivers
westward from the Yukon flats.
Roughly speaking it extends from
longitude 149' TO 157 W. and from
latitude s. y to the Arctic Circle.
although considerable areas within
these boundaries are not included
between the rivers.
The relief of most of the region
is low but locally elevations rise
to 5000 or 5000 feet. The main
river valleys as rule have eN-
tensive lowland plains. The plains
are set in among areas of rolling.
maturely dissected upland of mode
rate elevation that cover most of the
region. The higher elevations are
restricted to one relatively large
mountainous area and several small
er ones The larger area. occupied
in part by the Ray mountains. in
cludes about 1000 square miles in
the northeastern part of the region
and contains the headwaters of Ray
and Tozitna rivers and of a south
ern tributary Of Kanuti river. The
highest known point in the area is
about 5000 feet above sea level MI
merous peaks rise above an altitude
of 5000 feet and considerable areas
stand almost as high. Much of the
area has an extremely rugged topo2-
raphy which is largely a result of
elaciation in late geologic time.
The smaller mountainous areas lie
between Melozitna river and the Hu-
kon, about the northerly headwaters
of Indian river. and from the Melozit
ma canyon northwestward for about
% miles. The elevations within
these areas nowhere greatly exceed
1000 feet. but their features have
bold mountainous aspect owing to
the general low relief of the ad
iacent country There is evidence
of alpine glaciation in places along
the Melozitna- Yukon divide and a
few miles northwest OF the Melozitn1
canyon. The glaciers here We're
much less extensive than those in
the Ray mountains, the longest not
exceeding 2 miles in length.
The region is drained entirely by
the tributaries of Yukon and Koyu
kuk rivers
The climate of the region is semi
arid and is characterized by the
great seasonal variations in tempera
ture common throughout central
Alaska The open season. available
for sluicing and navigation, usually
extends from early in May to the
end of September. The growing
season available for agriculture us
ually lasts about 8 or 80 months.
The ground below a slight depth is
permanently frozen, in places to
known depth of $50 feet or more.
The timber line in the region is
about 1000 feet above sea level. Lo-
cally, in protected valleys, trees
grow at slightly higher elevations.
In the mountainous areas timber
grows only in the valleys and on
the lower slopes. In the Ray noun
tains the valleys are devoid of tim
Der for a distance of or 10 miles
from their heads. There are large
areas in the Melozitna basin below
timber line that apparently have
never been forested.
The principal species growing in
the region are the spruce and birch
A few scattered tamarack grow in
places and willows and alders thrive
along the watercourse and about
timber line
Except in favored situations along
the banks of streams and at the
hoode 81 yo11oyc tho GRO email