The Alaska daily empire., 1921-07-16

through Juneau on his way to Ed monton. after a trip to the Fort Nor man oil fields and his return via the | EPorcupine and Fort Yukon route.
 Mcdonald returned direct to Daw. son and then came out via White horse and Skagway and left for the South to record oil land locations. While in Dawson he gave the fol lowing interesting account of condi- tions now existing in the oil fields, which were printed as follows in the Dawson News:
 Yukon Winter Route
 The Yukon as a winter route to the Fort Norman oil fields is the best for residents of the Pacific Coast and Yukon. With our good transportation and roads, travellers. after leaving the beaten track, have not more than 500 miles by trail to the Mackenzie This distance, when the trails are better known and well broken, will be gone over without undue hardships. The men going from the Yukon last winter met no difficulty except the continuous trail breaking in the snow, and all ar rived in Fort Norman in good shape. Al number of routes suggest them selves but two stand out as being most likely to be used in the future.
 The Polly Ross Nc Milan Gravel Lake is favored by the residents of Southern Yukon and the Pacific Coast But for Dawson and Mayo, the upper asStewart must always be the best. and, when steady travel sets in. I believe it will be the only to Bridge will be by Mayo Lake, thence by low pass to Ladue River to north fork of Stewart, and up Stewart River to headwaters of Gravel Lake This should offer an excellent winter mail route to Fort Norman, Fort Good Hope, Arctic Riv- or and Fort McPherson; also to points up river from Fort Norman. It has the advantage of less mileage to an already established mail serv- ice, and a good grade all the way.
 Busy Place This Summer
 Fort Norman will be the busiest spot in the North this summer. It is conservative to say freight on the Mackenzie will be 10 times that of last year.
 The Imperial Oil Company's well is 57 miles below Fort Norman. The well is 875 feet deep and is genu inc gusher. and, while dormant last winter, had steady pressure of 40 pounds. The oil is much lighter than any crude oil known and of the highest grade. It does not thicken in the coldest weather. The capacity in barrels is limited to the six-inch pipe at present there, and will in crease correspondingly when a larg- CT pipe is installed.
 Gasoline for local use by the com pany is made on the ground The employees 2 burned crude oil for cooking and heating all winter.
 About 40 arrived from Edmonton up to February Only experienced men were allowed by the police to proceed After February 19 arrived from Yukon and three from Alaska up to the time we left.
 The Yukoners were very fortunate. All of them staked under the new regulations. and had favora ble weath CT to thoroughly prospect the field, and find the choicest locations.
 New drilling plants for oil will be limited this summer t9 the carrying capacity of the present transporta- tion on the river.
 5000 Tons of Freight
 Fort MacMurray. the head of navi- gation, was busy place this spring. A letter dated in March stated 3,003 tons of freight was there, besides more at Peace River Crossing. The Imperial Oil Company alone had 700 tons and boats of all sizes and many seows were in course of Gonstruc- ton It is reasonable to believe the scenes of '98 are being repeated to- day on the Mackenzie.
 The ground located up to May 15
 
 extends from Fort Norman, on both sides of the river to 20 miles below the oil well, distance of 70 miles. and in some places about 10 miles back from the river. The river will average three miles wide all the way where located It has high banks. and the adjacent country has level appearance The Rocky Mountains are visible to the southwest, and d lower range on the northeast
 Wild Game Plentiful
 Moose and caribou are found in the mountains, but not so plentiful as in the Yukon Fish in summer are in the rivers and lakes and in. ciude icennu, whitefish, grayling. termed bluefish; pike, termed Jack, fish; herring and large trout. But. last winter there wasN none except few herring and trout hauled 100 miles by toboggan. Dog feed was scarce. The early arrivals bought everything in sight, even feeding canned salmon and sardines to their dogs, until the cost of Iced -an up to $6 per day per dog.
 Most lines were short in the