■#=-■-= =—=
New Road Nome To Solomon Would Open Up Vast Area Gold
Bearing Ground And Facilitate Economical Transportation
January 24, 1939
N. W. Alaska Chamber of Com
merce,
Nome, Alaska.
* Gentlemen:
Following a discussion with
the Chamber on January 3rd,
relative to the new Nome-Solo
■non road, 1 hereby submit to
your consideration a proposal of
fthe Lee Bros. Dredging Co for
hastening the development of con
struction on this project.
First, 1 will point out the con
ditions of the present so-called
*%-oad system connecting Nome
-with Solomon, a distance of 32
miles east of Nome. The road is
fairly good for sixteen miles out
of Nome with the exception of
Cape Nome, where the road is
located so as to be always in dan
ger of rolling rocks and slides, as
it is built os the sea side of the
Cape, the Cape being almost ver
tical. Another addeo disadvan
tage of the Cape is yearly delay
* in clearing off snow from the
road which piles up from snow
storms from the north in the win
ter as deep as twenty feet. To
clear the road for traffic requires
quite a large annual expense and
a delay to the traveling public
of from two to four weeks after
other roads have been opened.
After passing the Cape and the
0. sixteen mile post, the road be
comes almost intolerable. Abso
lutely no construction and only
a trace of maintenance has ever
‘ -been done from the sixteen to
the thirty-two miles p»st. This
has resulted mainly from the im
practicality of the road location.
The entire section of bad road
extends from a little east of the
Cap£ along the sand spit which
forms the Safety Lagoon and
which continues through to Solo
jwon. The spit is composed entire
* Jy -of loose sand end grows only
a scant crop of grass with only
a very thin sod. This makes a
very poor road foundation and
when heavy loads and trucks are
placed in service the thin crust
breaks thru and leaves only the
sand. To make the thirty-two
mile trip from Nome to Solomon
Requires from four to six hours
of steady driving. Another dis
couraging factor for construction
is the low elevation from sea
level. At ho place along the en
tire stretch of spit does the ele
vation exceed ten feet above
normal sea level. During the fre
quent storms present here, the
water has often flooded the en
tire section, washing out what
ever road improvements have
been made. Because of these cir
cumstances the Government and
Territory have seen fit to spend
no money for construction of
roads along this route nor has
any serious action been taken to
re-route the road elsewhere, al
though much talk of the necessit
ies of such a road has been brot
to the attention of both territor
ial and government officials, with
no apparent results.
It would seem reasonable to be
lieve that the $5000 spent annual
ly on operating ferries across the
Port Safety Channel and Bonan
za River, for transports the
traveling public across a strip
of water that is absolutely un
protected from the sea and a dan
ger to both the public and the
equipment in use, could aid con
siderably in the construction of a
new road paralleling the present
location but built along the base
of the hills about five miles in
land. Practically every year tra
ffic is held up long after the
roads ar opened, even at the
Cape, because the channels at
the ferry crossings have not
cleared of winter ice. In the fall
of the year, shortly after cold
weather sets in, it becomes nec
essary to pull out the ferries for
the winter, thereby cutting off
road accessibility to Nome at a
time when it is usually very im
portant for mining operation, es
pecially dredging, to have the
use of a road for hauling sup
plies, equipment, etc., to carry on
late fall work. We have, very
acutely, felt the necessity of a
new road on several occasions
when emergencies arose after the
ferries; had been pulled out, caus
ing us considerable delay in op
eations and creating a large ex
pense.
Before setting forth our pro
posed plan of encouraging con
struction on a new road, I will
give you a few facts concerning
the future developments of our
company on Solomon River. As
many have learned, we have now
completed three very successful
years of dredging on some of the
property on the ri,ver that was
considered and left, years before,
as worthless. We have drilled all
the ground that we have since
dredged and have found the pro
duction value per cubic yard to
exceed the drill value by up to
25 per cent. In addition, we have
since drilled similar ground ad
joining our worked ground to the
extent of over forty million cubic
yards. We have other properties,
partially prospected, sufficient to I
outline a definite pay area, of ev
en greater extent. One dredge is
now in operation, on which new
machinery throughout has been
installed, including a new five
foot bucket line. Our plans are
now including another dredge
which only requires a bucket
line of the same capacity to place
it in operation next summer. This
equipment is arriving on the
first boat next spring. In addition
we have also outlined a future
installation of a third dredge for
our Solomon property. Our com
pany is only one of several other
operators of consequence on Solo
mon River and there are even
more in the Council district who
would be greatly benefited by
connecting the new road onto the
already constructed roadway be
tween Solomon and Council and j
which requires only repair at
some points to place it in pass
able condition. Those persons
now most interested in the Nome
Solomon and Council road are:
E. W. Quigley, C. O. Roberts,
* O. A. Margraf, Gus Johnson, Wil
bur Arnold & Gerald Royce Co.,
and Albert Matson, all hydraulic
and power operators on Solo
mon. In the quartz mining and
prospecting activities are R- W.
Silver and Louis Lane Co., both
on Solomon. In the Council re
gion, those interested are: Glass
Dredging Co.. North Star Dredg
ing, Fred Dent (dredging), Hugh
Pearson (dredging), Tom Shaw
and Hans Larson (dredging), and
Chester Milligan. It is notable
that the freight rate via Niukluk
River from Golovin to Council at
present for every type of com
modity, fuel and supplies is $30
per ton. This amount could be re
duced to less than half by freight
ing from either Solomon or
Nome. It can readily be supposed
therefore, that a new road is not
only feasible, but one of the
most necessary on Seward Penin
sula, not entirely to facilitate
developments on Solomon, but in
all the country intervening be
tween Council and Nome that
has hitherto been completely neg
lected.
Our plans for encouraging con
struction are very simple, yet
would be effective and valuable.
Our field engineer, Mr. Wallace
Rogers, a graduate of the Uni
versity of Melbourne, and exper
ienced in many years of railroad
and highway construction in
many parts of the world, is to
run a preliminary survey of the
entire route, under our direction
and pay. We propose to start
about the middle of May, or
at the time when the snow
has disappeared generally and
before the deep drift* are
gone. That way it is possible
to run the road course so
as to avoid unnecessary snow
handicaps and road clearing each
year. We will mark the first sur
vey with flagged stakes which
will be clearly visible at a later
date in' the summer when we
shall again rurv a-survey, relative
to ground conditions as to road
foundation and for construction
material locations, of which there
is more than sufficient require
ments. We have personal know
ledge of the existance of these
material deposits and requires
only a survey to establish their
definite respective locations.
From each deposit we will take a
sample and indicate its location
on the survey plat with approxi
mate body of material.
Accompanying this report is a
general map of Seward Penin
sula on which is imposed a gen
eral outline of our proposed road,
beginning at mile six of the pres
ent road and running thence
inland along the foothills to
Solomon River, twenty-five miles
additionally.
It is our expectation and hope
that the officers and members of
the Northwestern Alaska Cham
ber of Commerce take active
measures, in consideration of this
report and offer, to adopt a reso
lution to be presented at this
session of the Territorial Legis
lature, that actual progress can
be started, as soon as our survey
and reports have ibeen consider
ed, by appropriating $50,000 to be
directed in care of the Alaska
Road Commission for construc
tion of the new Nome-Solomon
road.
Respectfully submitted,
Richard E. Lee
Resolution
WHEREAS, the Northwestern
Alaska Chamber of Commerce,
in consideration of the report of
January 24th from Lee Brothers
Dredging Company prescribing
the construction of a new road
linking Nome with Solomon Riv
er via the inland route with an
offer to mark, map and survey
said route at their own expense
and using the company equip
ment does, hereby, and with the
unanimous support of its officers
and members, endorse the propos
ed plan submitted by said Lee
Brothers Dredging Company as
being beneficial to the Territory
of Alaska and to the Second
Division and is worthy of con
sideration and progressive action
that the Chamber has. for a num
ber of years, realized the neces
sity and emphatically urged con
struction of an inland route to
Solomon River to shorten the dis
'tan<3e, reduce transportation
costs and open up a large well
known prospecting area, now en
tirely inaccessible, and assist in
the development of mining prop
erties, both proven and unprov
en; that the new route crossing
the inland territory would pre
sent to tourists and beauty lov
ers a scenery that should be
worth mudh consideration as
well as providing a sportsman’6.
hunter's and fisherman’s para
dise.
NOW THEREFORE, be it re
solved that the Northwestern
Alaska Chamber of Commerce
petition the Alaska Road Com
mission and the Territorial Road
Commission to allocate $5,000 to
examine said project; that said
allocation be expended on ap
proving a survey conducted by
Lee Brothers Dredging Company
routing the proposed road where
best suited, that upon comple-1
tion of approval, remainder of
said money be expended on pre- ■
liminary road preparation for
tractor traffic until such time as
further construction is made pas
sible; that copies of this reso-1
lution and statement be sent to
our delegation at Juneau, re-1
questing them to use their best!
efforts with the Alaska Road
Commission and the Territorial
Road Board to favorably consid
er this project for immediate ac
tion; that copies also be sent.
Territorial Engineer Hesse.
This resolution passed and
adopted at a regular meeting of
the Northwestern Alaska Cham
ber of Commerce held at Nome,
Alaska, on February 7, 1939.
Guy E. Mish,
President
A Polet
Secretary
DREAM THEATRE
IOO% TALKING PICTURES
x-—^> MANAGEMENT C.H.CODE
*—*-\ Pontiust VtcrJtuiHSteSvr) IhzaXsA iv\ U.§.]
| ONE SHOW: FRIDAY, 7:30 P.M. Adm. 554 & 254
“TEXAS RANGERS”
with FRED MacMURRAY, JEAN PARKER, JACK OAKIE
An Epic Picture of the Southwest
j also Chapter 2 “MYSTERIOUS PILOT” and “RADIO RASCALS"
ONE SHOW SATURDAY 7:30 P.M. Adm. 554 & 254
BY POPULAR DEMAND
“SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS”
and “ST. HELENA”
TWO SHOWS: SUNDAY 7:15 & 9. Adm. 554 & 254
“SWORN ENEMY”
with Robert Young, Florence Rice, Nat Pendleton, Lewis Stone
Savage, Daring, Relentless—He was the Sworn Enemy of Society
and “GANG FOLLIES”
;*+++ +++++++++++ ++4*++++++++++*++++++++++++*M‘-i-+++'»
•fr ♦
■§*
+ Northern Light X Power Co. +
t AND X
| ' , I <‘lt>})lmiip X Telegraph Co +
+
'•■in?ut Avenue anrl Lane's Way
T "t*
- ’ POWKR AND ELECTRICAL SUPPLIES
+ +
| v. .VI* i «INC. DISTANCE TEI EPnONE SERVICE |
J •»
+ + ^*E + + *f*+ + + ++ + + + -I-+4- ++ +**•+■•+'I* a
4444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444
f 4
;; '' * K> v MERCHANTS BANK of ALASKA |
;• NOME. ALASKA. J
■ • +
1! ESTABLISHED IN 1904. t
.. • •
:: <• nERAL BANKING BUSINESS CONDUCTED V.
..
nerkmg Accounts Carried For Those Who
Prefer Paying By Check.
..
•merest Paid On Time Deposits
Gold Dust Purchased
w K SOLICIT YOUR BUSINESS
' 4.4.44. 111111 n >i4ii' 1 him lift 11 n 1'
r" " ....
GOOD BRUSHES
Hair Brushes, Nail Brushes, Bath Brushes,
Shaving Brushes, Tooth Brushes etc are atnoug the
necessary personal belongings and
THEY HAVE GOT TO BE GOOD
NOME DRUG STORE
Brush Headquarters
S 1, -- ■■ -..- ■ ■■ d
BEST WINE IN NOME SERVED OVER BAR
also Beer, Soft Drinks, etc.
i
I
Cigars, Cigarettes and Candy •
ARCTIC BEER PARLOR
Jack Solomon, Proprietor
Our Aim—Satisfied Customers
BOILER, MARINE. TRACTOR, ACETLYNE AND
ELECTRIC WELDING
MATERIAL STOCKED: SHAFTING, STEEL. BRONZE,
BUSHING, BABBITT, ACCESSORIES.
Prompt Attention to Local and Out of Town Work
Telephone Black Ilk
NOME MACHINE SHOP
W. L. SLACK AND SON. PROPRIETORS
THE BOARD OF TRADE
NEW LOCATION
|
*
(Opposite The Dream Theatre)
Subscribe For The Nome Nugget Now
Dart Aaaojr Taw MalgMMt Br Borrowtn* Bk *«or
a