The Nenana daily news. (Nenana, Alaska) 1918-1921, 1918-04-22
DESCRIBES TRIP
BY RAILROAD TO
MOUNT NJ 'K|NLEY

How inaccessible our newest ma
tional park, Mount Mckinley, still
remains is graphically suggested in
the account which Herbert A. Meyer,
assistant to Secretary of the In
terror Lane, gives of his last sum-
mer's trip to Alaska and printed in
the Railroad Record. He had reach
ed Alaska by the inside passage and
from Seward, the seaboard terminal
of the new railroad, had travelled a
hundred miles by rail and team to
Anchorage, the present headquart
ers, where he was still hundred
and fifty miles from the point where
the station for the Mount Mckinley
National park probably will be To-
Gated.
81 was making trip up the iine,"
said Mr.. Meyer, with the intention
of going as far into the Interior
as my limited time would permit.
We had travelled by rail until the
end of track was reached and hen
continued by blackboard and saddle
for many miles over rough corduroy
roads, crossing sloughs where the
mud and muck would be body-deep
on the horses, fording streams ard
swimming rapid rivers until finally
the bank of the Susitna river was
reached. l have no hesitation in
saying that the sight OF the rive,
boat was very pleasant after two
days in the saddle.
Toward Mckinley by Flatboat.
istreams, is exceedingly rapid and for
streams, is exceedinglyrapid and for
the most part very shallow: with
iutting rocks and eddies and whirl-
pools that tend to make navigation
difficult and dangerous. The prob
lem confronting the engineers at
this point was to find the most eff
cient and economical way by which
men and supplies could be trans
ported farther along the linz. Two
methods presented themselves-of
building wagon roads, or of utilizing
IS >e-t, I,<.tt,
even temporary roads in such a coun-
try would be extremely high. Could
the river be utilized at less expense?
In characteristic manner the enG.n-
GERS faced the question. The result
was the construction of q small fleet
of specially designed boats, each
capable of handling fifty tons.
These boats have a draft of only
eighteen inches, with length of
eighty-five feet and breadth of
twenty feet, and they nave been
found to be adequate in all respects
for the purposes intended.
eve travelled up the Susitna for
nearly three days, an unbroken wild
erness on one side of the river, and
railroad grade on the other At
times the river broadens to nearly
mile in width then separates into
numerous channels, like the fingers
of hand. The boat, toiling up the
river would now and then become
stranded on some sand bank and the
men would get out their long poles
to push it back into the ever-chang-
ing channel; at other times the river
would broaden out and be practically
bottomless. The difficulties of navi-
eating stream of this character can
be appreciated all the more when it
is stated that the speed of the boat
was never greater than five miles
an hour and for the most part did
not exceed two or three miles, Often
there were times when we stood per-
fectly still with the engines racing
at full speed. Indeed now and again
we would be overpowered by the
;current and drift back to where a
new start could be made. When
this happened it would be necessary
ito explore new channel, perhaps
the whole course of the river having
been changed since the last trip of
the boat. What had formerly been