The Cordova daily times., 1919-01-28
WANT ROAD TO KANTISHNA
 FOR MINERS

taken up discussion Ot the needs or the Kantishna country as regards transportation facilities and the mat ter of much needed help in this di rection. so that the known mineral re- sources of that region may be speed fly developed. The club was fully aware of the fact that almost the en tire absence of roads and trails into the kantishna mining district and the prohibitive cost of freighting supplies into that region, discouraged pros pectors and retarded the development of the district. and with view to remedying matters as much as pos sble and helping out the prospector as far as it lays in it's power, the Commercial club. at q previous meet. ing authorized the secretary to asCer. tain of the Alaska Road commission whether any portion of the funds con. trolled by the commission for the cur rent year can be made available for road construction purposes in this district, and requesting that the needs of the Nenana district in the matter of roads be given consideration in the apportionment of funds for road build ing purposes.
 The draft of a letter to the road commission, prepared by the seCre- tary, was duly read and approved.
 bo vious meeting to report on q feas. iblc route for proposed wagon road 10 serve the needs of the kantishna miners and act as a feeder for the government railroad, then submitted it's report as well as a blue print of an enlarged geological map of the kEntishna district. which was placed in the club chamber for reference and submitted the committees report fav- bring q route for trunk road into the Mount Mckinley National Park. with branch roads into the kantishna district to serve the needs of the mining interests. The committee
  ductions on their knowledge of the fact that a survey was contemplated by the general land office Of a route for trunk road leading to the Mckinley national park. connecting with the government railroad at Riley creek; and accordingly recommended tfis route, with branch roads to the kantishna mining districts.
 J. c. NanOrsdel, who has mining interests in the Kantishna country and is familiar with the needs of the district, was of the opinion that main purpose of a road in the district should be to help the miner and pros pector, while at the same time being a feeder to the railroad The pro- posed route, he said, would necessi. tate an extra haul of about 25 miles, whereas the route favored by most of the mining men of the district would tap the richest part of the Kantishna region, shorten the haul and connect with the government road at Lienite. This road wound run from the rail road at Lignite through a gravel for lnatlon which ends near very rich antimony deposits on Stampede creek and from this point traverses highly mineralized lands in the heart or the kantishna region. and at the same time could be made to serve the needs of the Mckinley National Park. He thought that the miner should have first consideration. and the tourist, who usually had more tune to spare than the average man, should come next in the road uues. tion.
 William Taylor, another mining man of the Kantishna district who mad travelled over the route favored by Van Orsdel, agreed with that gentleman as regards the route to be chosen and was of the opinion that if would be just as easy for visitors to me park to journey thither along a road leading through the Kantiohna
 
 mineral belt Game Warden Steve roster also agreed that the route as indicated by Van Orsdel was the best so Tar as the miners were concerned, lie had travelled the regions indicat. ed and thought that the trunk road to the park would lose none of It's scenic beauty if constructed from Lignite to the park through the Kantishna min ing district. It would make the haul shorter for the coal shipments to the hantishna and the ore shipments from it. . W. A. Ryan said that if the gov. ernment had contemplated such a trunk road as outlined in the report