Evening star., 1915-02-10
A new ALASKAN WATER
WAY.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

Last spring Capt. X X Lukens OF
the coast and geodetic survey was dis
patched upon the steamer Yukon. with
party of sixteen men, to locate and
chart, II possible. a navigable channel
through the mouth of the Kuskokwim
river in Alaska. Recently the Secre-
tary of Commerce announced that the
channel had been found. And between
those two official statements there is a
story.
Alaska is one of the biggest undevel-
cped possibilities in the world, and the
kuskolwim river is a fair sample of it.
\ stream the size of the Potomac, and
itself valua bic fishery. it reaches five
hundred miles into almost unex-
plored interior. rich in mineral depos-
!ts; and yet ii was not even visited by
representatives. of the United States
government until 1898. At that time
spur and Post of the geological sur
Fcv went short distance up the river
aud made Il report upon il.
From this information it was known
that the kuskokwi i'm was 4 navigab BILE
river, which might be OF great impor-
lance commercially. and ii was also
known that it's mouth was blocked by
great submerged delta. which effec-
;ually locked the great river to all but
the smallest boats. The task of Capt.
l-Okens and his party was to discover
channel through the submerged mud
sailing directions for the benefit of fu-
. ture commerce.
They found the Kusk okwim to be q
stream nine miles wide at it's mouth,
'apering to three-quarterS of mile Il
short distance inland and flowing as
smoothly as a mill race On either side
rf II lay the great tundra, or semi arctic
prairie. Carpeted with grass, reaching
10 sDoW-capped mountain ranges just
visible in the cleareSt weather Not a
tree. a rock a human structure broke
the monotony of this great plain Lit
orally millions OF wild fowl which
breed in that latitude were seen upon
the river and herds of reindeer, some
OF them numbering a thousand mem
bers. ranged over the prairie.
The steamer Yukon of the coast and
gcodetic survey is vessel of a hun
dred horsepower
! Steamer Yukon about setenty-five
Finds Channel. MIN Of procedure
was for this little craft to feel a way
into the river, soundings being taken
as she proceeded. while by process OF
triangulation. using distant peaks as
the fixed points. the channel was To-
Gated for mapping purposes
3 II was quickly discovered that most
! Of those who had tried to navigate the
river had made the mistake of attempt
;.ins the feat at high tide, in the hope
the water would be deep enough to
. float them over the submerged flats.
q; Instead vley invariably went aground
; The investigators found that there was
. tortuous but perfectly navigable
channel which could be followed at low
tide by using as landmarks the mud
!. flats which are then visible above the
water.
= Again and again the little Yukon
y ent aground and laboriously backed
sOn for another attempt Repeatedly sne
seemed to have entered a perfect cui
;Ge sac. from which there was no escape
but always a narrow cut was found,
through which she escaped into new
channel.
Slow but certain progress was made
in this way for several days, and then
a new and unexpected difficulty was
encountered. The wide mouth of the
Euskokwim, with the open tundra OH
either side, is no more sheltered than
the open sea. A southeast storm spranS
up and buffeted the Yukon like a float-
ing chip for six days. To run aground
under such circumstances would have
been fatal. There was nothing to do
but drop anchor on the spot and wait
until the storm subsided. Several times
. the violence of the gale caused the
little boat to drag anchor, but fortu-
nately she kept her position in the
CEanneI unllt II was over
\ little way up the stream the party
found the remains of a Russian vessel,
which, they after
Finds Wrecked ward learned, had
VI been caught in 4
ioSSion ''oA similar storm at the
mouth of the Kuskokwim. and driven
aground. There was nothing left of her
but 4 rotting hull and one mast. Capt
Lukens strongly warns against the
use of the mouth of the Kuskokwim
d harbor.
n addition to this storm, the party
", greatly hampered in all of their
y 9 !. by the foggy weather. for clear
We; ;her is necessary to photographic
OBJ rvations. During the month of
July they had just one and one-half
days of weather clear enough SO that
, they could see the mountains. while in
August there were only four such days.
d. The party left the United States early
. in May. and by the middle of August
they had charted practicable channel
through the mouth of the river. Upon
z their return the weather was so thick