The Cordova daily times., 1921-07-21

the breeding place of countless water fowl and alive with grayling and pickerel.
 On the morning of July Fourth the major and his party arrived at Ia mana crossing. a missionary post and Indian village on the headwaters of the Panama, which Is navigable for river steamers up to this point A mission. conducted by MT. Mcconnell and his wife. three traders, and one prospector comprise the population of the post, with about l50 natives. Considerable difficulty was expert enced here in crossing the Tanana before reaching the village and a whole afteroon and evening was spent in forcing the horses into the swift current. All were finally got ten over safely, and that night the big event was celebrated in the na. tive village by giving the visitors 1 potlach and squaw dance, about thir- ty aboriginal maidens from sixteen to sixty engaged in the terpsichorean revelries The party continued on the wide, dry bench along the river. and a camp was made just before reaching the Tok river Next day with rather soft going the Tok was | reached and successfully negotiated, and Mantasta pass entered and camp made near the summit.
 "In the past six months | have crossed all the principal passes in the Alaska range, including Broad 1 Pass, Isabel. Rainy and Mantasta, and from my observations I believe that Mantasta pass is the best of them all. It has so gradual an as cent from either side that the sum. init can scarcely be detected. and is , covered with a heavy growth of spruce timber. It is the gateway ties in mining and grazing We visited Mantasta village and in spected the fox farm of Lawrence ! Dewitt Considerable difficulty was encountered here in crossing the Slana river. after which we made camp near by. The next day turned out to be a twenty-four hour day in which 52 miles were covered by the party, Chistochina roadhouse being our objective. which was reached that night After crossing the Indian river and Chistochena river, a won derful view was had of the upper Copper river valley. at the junctionn of the Slana and Copper rivers. The country stretched out below us was one of the most beautiful I have seen in Alaska and at some future time will undoubtedly be developed. The forced march of 52 miles was made necessary by the horses getting into our feed cache and eating up all our provisions including the sour q beans and rice Continuing Kakona |, was made on the tenth and the Ga. kona river crossed. and Gulkana reached on the eleventh. Here We left our stock with instructions to move to Meier's roadhouse and be in readiness to leave for Broad Pass on the Fist. I came on from Gul. kama to Valdez. reaching here on thirteenth. exactly one month from the day l left Juneau on my long trip. The trip from Eagle to Val
 dez, a distance of 4S0 miles by the route travelled. was made in four. teen days, which was extraordinarily good time considering the many ma tural difficulties encountered. The old Eagle trail was found to be in a , remarkably good state of repair the worst obstacles to travel being the swift and turbulent glacier streams, one of which. the Gakona. will be bridged in the near future Slate creek has about thirty men working on the different properties. the sea. son being a good one from a mining point of view.
 The district through which I passed has wonderful possibilities as a mineral and grazing country. There are vast prairies of good graz ing land and good timber everywhere. It is really an unprospected country, as the two hundred men who went over the pass in 1898 and 1899 en route to Dawson were not familiar with prospecting and were intent on 1 rnn nnhiurr tLn n..uif.-..... Al, :.