The Nenana daily news. (Nenana, Alaska) 1918-1921, 1919-10-04
The Alaska Railroad;
A Development Project
CONTINUED from Page One)

party started operations from Chit
ina before supplies from Seattle
could reach them. The supplies for
all the other parties were secured
in Seattle.
The advance guard of the Al
a-kan Engineering commission S
forces, composed of five men, with
twenty horses, lumber and supplies,
left Seattle on May 26th, on the
steamship Dirigo, to establish head
STARTERS at Ship creek. They ar
rived at their destination on June
9th, and with some local help pro-
ceeded to erect some wooden build
ings for the use of the commission,
and corrals for the horses. Con-
Siderable land had to be cleared for
this purpose.
On May 29th, party No. 2 left
Seattle on the steamship Alameda
for Passage canal, arriving at their
destination June 9Th. On the same
steamship was the assistant master
of transportation and two packers,
in charge of eighteen horses des-
tined for Fairbanks via Skagway
and Whitehorse.
On June Sd, a member of the
commission, with 81 men, left Sc
attic on the steamship Dolphin for
Fairbanks and vicinity, via Skag-
way This comprised the nucleus
of parties Nos. Z, 8, and 9, which
were to cover the country north of
Broad pass. They arrived at the
mouth of the Nenana river, or the
Tanana river, on June 18th. Par
ties Nos. z and were unloaded j;
party No. 8 disembarked at Fair
banks June 18th. The parties were
recruited to their full strength, and
necessary additional horses to the
number of forty-four were pur-
chased locally. Party No. z left
Eenana for Broad pass as soon as
fully supplied with men. horses,
and provisions, on June 10th. Par
ty No. was in the field June goth.
To survey alternate routes from
Nenana to Fairbanks, two addi-
tional parties were organized and
put in charge of assistant engineers
promoted in the field. One route
to be surveyed was from the Tan
ana river crossing near Nenana up
Goldstream to Fairbanks. The 9TH
er route followed along the south
side of the Tanana river from Ne
mana to the upper Tanana crossing
near Cinema. These two parties were
organized and equipped locally in
Fairbanks. They were at work on
June Esd. A pack-train of eleven
IlOISSS NdS iii Gu lp1 lllC NOldSIi S1iil
party, while the party south Of the
Tanana was served by launch. A
50-foot power barge, with her
freight barge, the Midnight Sun,
was lent to the commission for the
season by the commissioner of the
Alaska boundary survey. The boat
and barge were used for transport
ing supplies to camps on the Tan
ana river. i f.. " Ill. i.
On June 5th and 9th, the re
naming six parties, viz, l, 3, 4, 5,
6, and II, with ninety-one horses
and a large amount of supplies fo-
the headquarters camp at Ship
creek, left Seattle on the steamships
Admiral Sampson and Northwest
ern. Accompanying them were two
members of the commission. Party
No. 6, consisting of thirteen men
and thirty-eight horses, disembarked
at Cordova on June 18th for the
trip to Broad pass. Party No. l,
consisting of twenty-five men, dis
embarked at Seward en- June 18th.
This party was divided into two
sections, one taking mp the valua-
ton of the Alaska Northern rail-
road, and the other making surveys
looking to possible grade reductions
on that line. Parties Nos. 3, 4, 5,
and IL continued On to Ship creek,
where they disembarked on June
18th. The next two days were
spent largely in setting supplies