Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-04-22

Copyright, 1917 by Frank C. Carpenter.l
F1HE United States IS to have a
national park ii Alaska 1t is
to be known as Mount Mckin-
ley" and it will contain the
highest peak on the North American
continent The actual area of the park
is to be more than 1.40S,000 acres. 1t
will almost equal 5000 quarter-section
farms, and will cover space twice as
large the state of Rhode Island. 1t
Will be two-thirds as large as Yellow
stone National Park, twice as large as
the Yosemite and the Big Tree reser-
walton of California combined. and FIVE
or six times the size of the Rocky
Mountain Park. which Congress Gre
ated last year. Moreover. there is a
mountainous region to the south Of it
which is SO wild and rugged that it
can never be used for anything else ex-
cept as a tourist resort or national
hunting ground. so that altogether the
park will be as large as, if not larger
than, any under Uncle Sans flag.
X X
Heretofore this region has been prac-
tically inaccessible to the ordinary
traveller. 1t is situated far back OF
the coast across a great range of noun
tains. and the usual way of reaching it
has been to land at Sitka, a thousand
miles north of Seattle, and take the
railroad which goes from there to the
headwaters OF the navigation of the
Yukon at White Horse. in Canada.
From there steamers will take you in
about Il week down the Yukon to the
mouth of the Tanana, ana you can as
cend that stream to the mouth of the
Nenana, where a big railroad town Is
now building. You can go up the Ne
mana river by a several days voyage
on boats of one kind or another. and
YOU VIII then be not far from the edge
of the park. In the past the only
other means of access has been by
crossing the kenai peninsula from
Seward. or steaming around through
Cook inlet to the site of Anchorage,
and then making your way up the
Susitna and over the coast range to
the foothills on the northern slope or
the mountain. The southern slope IS
so rough as to be almost prohibitive.
and the mountain can be climbed only
from the north.
BY the building of the new railroad
the region has become quite as easy to
reach as any of our national parks.
The engineers are now working on
line north and south of the mountain,
and they have laid out the route so
that a great part Of it Will be in sight
trains will pass within fifteen miles of
the park. Moreover the foothills of
the northern slope OF the mountain are
such that roadways can be easily made
up one little valley after another. so
that wagons or automobiles viii take
the tourist right to the foot of the
mountain, and that through one of the
greatest wild game preserves OF the
continent.
/ have seen Mount Mckinley from the
hills of the Tanana valley near Fair
banks. 1t is visible in many parts OF
Alaska and when the new railway is
completed it will become as well known
as Fujiyama, Mount Blanc or Pixies Peak.
1t will rank as one of the scenic Won
ders of the world and will be known
as the grandest mountain on earth.
Mount Mckinley is the highest peak on
the North American continent. IT you
will take an aeropiane and shoot
straight up for four miles. you will be
on level with it. and when you stand
on its slope at the end OF the road
where the automobile will land you
after leaving the cars you will have
a mountain view whlch cannot be
eaualed in the Alps. the Andes or the
HimalayaS 1 have Travelled through
ali of these regions They each have
their own features of scenic grandeur,
but none can show the s.upehdous
height of Mount Mckinley. The north
side of the mountain rises almost pre-
cautiously and standing on the north
ern foothills, it gives an unoDStructed
view of seventeen or eighteen thousand
feet Measuring from the line of per-
petual snow, you can see more Of 1t
than any other great mountain, and Its
height is not dwarfed by other noun
tains between the peak and your eye.
have seen most of the greatest
mountains of the world. Take Aeon
aqua, the giant of the Andes. IT actu-
ally is a half mile higher above the sea
than Mount Mckinley, but the best
views of it are to be had only When you
are a mile and a half or two miles above
the sea- and then you see it over other
peaks which dwarf its altitude. One or
the best places to see Mount Everest is
iayas. saw it from Tiseg Hill not tar
1som1 DaxjnlinEs whore sSuasseb ouf-as