Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-11-19

Copyright. 1916. by Frank G. Carpenter.)
S. S. SARAH, Yukon River.
q AN on the lower Yukon. on my way
down to Boring sea. For the past
two months I have been travel
- ing upon this mighty stream and
its tributaries. / first saw il on the
summit of the divide. within fifteen
miles of the Pacific. on the mountains
high above Skagway. AS l stood there
i could see the parting of the conti-
mental rainfall. and was able to throw
chips into two streams, one flowing
down to the Pacific ocean nd the other
by way of the Yukon to far-off Boring
sea.
The first chip had to travel only about
as far as from Washington to Mount
Vernon on it's way to salt water. The
other had to go farther than the dis
lance between Boston and the Great
Salt Lake. The most of my travels
since then have been in the tracks of
the second chip.
l followed it down the mountains
and through Lake Bennett to the town
of White Horse. in Canada. At White
Horse I got steamer that travelled
the path of the chip through the Lewes
river into the Yukon and past the
mouth of the Kiondike to the city of
Dawson. From Dawson l steamed to
the international boundary, and thence
wound my way through some of the
most magnificent scenery of Alaska, by
Eagle City and Circle City, where l en-
tered the great Yukon fats. These are
an inland sea 200 miles long and in
places 20 miles wide. They flow
across the arctic circle. and 1t was at
~ Il
the mouth of the Porcupine river. which
rises not far from the Peel. q branch
of the Mackenzie which pours into the
arctic. From Fort Yukon steamed on
to Fort Gibbon. at the mouth of the
Tanana, where the lower Yukon begins.
After leaving the fats the Yukon
twists about like a great liquid cork
screw until ii comes to Fort Hamlin.
Here il narrows and enters the Ram
parts valley with fortlike walls
rising up on both sides. Here the
course is reduced from a width Of sew
eral miles 20 one of eight or nine hum
dred feet, and the valley in places is
only half mile wide High hills COW
cred with trees and moss. rise straight
up from the river, and In some places
they are more than thousand feet
high. The current is swift. and in the
heart OF the valley the water flows at
the rate of seven miles hour. This
is near the Island Of Rocks. where 1t
is planned TO make bridge for the
new railway. II II should ever be ex-
tended to the Seward peninsula and
Nome. Beyond this the hills still
high. but they all coated with
green. Some have trees and others are
blanketed with fireweed. pink flowers
covering the slopes to the tops of the
hills, where the pink is lost in the blue
of the sky. There are many Wild fow
ers. There are bluebells. wild roses,
wild peoples and lupins. You can see
them on the sides of the hills. within
. stones throw Of the deck OF the
steamer.
The Ramparts end at Fort Gibbon.
The hills disappear and the land drops
into a great low plain. Here the Ia
mana river flows into the Yukon, and
you have another inland sea with great
islands. Turning To the south. through
the islands the steamers from Dawson
go up the winding Tanan to Fair
banks distance OF 2T5 miles. and
steaming southwark. other ships make
their way down the broad lower Yukon
The Lower Yukon is about 500 miles
long. 1t comprises one-third OF the main
stream and one-sixth or one-seventh Of
its navigable waters. The Yukon is
$500 miles long and its basin is ten
times as large the state of Indiana.
Next to the Mississippi Missouri and
the st. Lawrence, 1t is the greatest
river under Uncle Sans flag. 1t has
many navigable tributaries and its
scenic beauties are among the wonders
Of the world. The day will come when
II will be a great tourist route. and
when the Porcupine. the Pelly. the
Koyukuk. the Innoko and the lditarod
will be almost well known az the
Columbia and the Hudson are now. To-
day most of these rivers are unknown
90 the average man. In the future they
will be as much part Of our geogra-
ply as are the Delaware, the Susque-
hanna or the Potomac.
The Tanana will first become known.
The railroad il fast building toward 1t.
and homesteads are already being cut
out here and there on the banks. AL