The Alaska daily empire., 1915-08-25
MUD RIVER TRAVELS
 8 MiLEe AN HOUR
 COVERING KLUkWAN

Perhaps one of the most unusual slides known in tho entire history or the Territory-or even in tho history of the whole continent-occurred as a Friday the 18th event in the Indian village of Klukwan, which is 2S miles inland from Haines on the Chillzat river.
 About two and half miles back of the village there is in the very tops of the mountains, a basin such as is frequently occupied by a glacier. This bowl surrounded by mountain crests has for years been drained by small stream which passes down the noun tain side through gorge not more than ten feet wide. During the re- cent heavy rains, which lasted for three days, this gorge gradually fill ed with the backer-up waters of the stream and @ mass Of mud and rocks.
 Between two and three o'clock on the afternoon of Friday. August 18th, the natives in the village below heard a fearful rumbling and grinding. A moment later the panic stricken na- lives saw an enormous river of mud and rock ploughing its way down the mountain side. directly in line with their settlement. The slide covered the distance of 2h miles at the rate of 8 miles an hour and made straight for the village.
 Superintendent of Native Schools w. c. Beattie said this afternoon, q never have seen anything like 1t. The mud carried rocks all the way from pebbles to boulders 2 feet high, and wherever the ground was at all soft 1t gouged out a path for itself eight or ten feet deep As it ap- preached the village 1t parted into two streams. One of them dodged the school house, went around the corner of the gardens, picked up ten rlcks of wood we had piled there and went on down into the river. The other stream went around the corner of the building in the opposite direc- tion and literally enter the kitchen through a locked door. which was splintered to ldndling, and went on through the building into the dining room, leaving the rooms filled with mud and rocks for a depth of IS in- ches. As soon as the water drained of the muck began to harden, and we had to get it out with @ pick.
 The river of mud ran for about fif- teen minutes and spread for O width of 100 feet The whole path of it's progress is simply a sheet of harden ed mud and 1t is 80 hard that a shovel won't touch 1t at all. It will all have to be taken out with picks.
 Although the place was pretty well covered with rocks and mud, there was little other damage done. and the largest part of the expense of get ting things into shape again will be just plain labor-and that will cost easily S4OO."
 About S6 children are registered in the Klukwan school. which is taught by P. R. Shaver. and which will be- gin It's session September 10th. There are about 300 natives living in the village, though at the time of the slide there were not more than 70 at home, the others being out fish. ing.
 Traditions among the Indians has it that another slide of the same sort occurred many years ago and com. pletly wiped out a village which was a little nearer the mountain than the present site of Klukwan. and 1t is the impression of those who saw the slide last week that the other one was probably the means of breaking out the path for the stream which has been draining the basin of late years