The Kusko times., 1937-05-28
KIANA
 ON THE KOBUK

The following interesting and we'll written feature story was written by 0T'ah Dee Clark was published m the Wornau's Club Edition of the Alaska Press, published at Juneau. Miss Clark was at one time a school teach CT at the Takotna school and, during the past year. has been teaching at Kiana. in the Kobuk region.
 By oRAH DEE CLARK
 Kiana on the kobuk is a small, but in it's particular sphere, a very ln- portant town, so much so m fact, that a new S9,000 school building now which overlooks the river at this point And 42 pupils of mixed and Els Eimo blood are enrolled in the school. ' IS so important that an lndepend- ent trader and the representative of two large trading companies find It profitable to maintain trading posts here. Three stores for a white popu- Iation of less than 20 and q native population of 125 indicates some snecfaI industrial activity or some advantage of location. The latter is Kiana's. It is located at the eonflu-
 
 kobuk river.
 This northern tributary of the Ko- bulk, the Squirrel, leads to country i'm partant as a mining center, but the river Is not uavigable to the small boats which serve Kiana, requiring even smaller ones. Kiana thus be- comes a depot for supplies and q transfer point. much as is Takotna in the Kuskokwim valley. These goods are largely for the mines on Klery creek. branch of the S0uirrel where the most pretentious diggings are conducted.
 This region has been well known fo Alaskan prospectors since 1898. In 1910. there was a mild sort of stam- pede to the creek. but transportation difficulties. a severe climate with ex- tremeIy short summers, and the then known methods of handling such boulder covered ground all tended to keep even the hardest from trying to develop the countrv's mines.
 B1rt now relief afforded by airplane service newer and vastly improved methods of operating and the present prices being paid for gold, with the consequent hunting out of old pros poets long since abandoned, klery the transfer point, have all more or creek, the Squirrel river and kiana. less come into their own again, and show signs of greater activity. A company whose financial backing and field personnel are from Portland, Ore, has been actively operating there for the past few seasons. They nave six men there this winter and plan on a very busy season for this coming summer.
 There are several "old timers" here n~w who for the past 9 years have r<ade their living by pick and shovel Tn the Klery creek vicinity, for this IS placer region. The nuggets are large. one Shun0nak weighing enough to be worth $500.
 Then there are the Eskimos who live in the little village about 0uar- ter of mile up the river from Kiana, proper in their little log houses, many of which are tucked into the mouth Of 9 ravine-like opening as protection from the Arctic winds. These Es- kimos are prosperous people. There has been no relief needed, none even thought of, for this group during all the depression period, for the rest of the world. They have their reindeer herds, their hunting and their fishing to all of which industries they give good heed. There is an abundant sup ply of spruce for their houses and for fuel. and the dogs still satisfy their need for speed, and for transports rion.
 The muskrat trapping at the delta of the Kobuk river is one of the chief sources of income from furs. The na- tives live in camps during the open season for muskrats and the entire family engage in trapping and hunt ing for these furry little creatures. One 15-year-old boy got 99 with a -z2 rife. One of the local traders told me that from 10000 to 50,o0O were taken last season (1936l alone, in or near the delta of the Kobuk river
 In addition to muskrats, there are foxes, both red and silver-gray, mink of exceptional quality, land otter, and ermine, wolves, which are proving a deadly menace to the reindeer herds.