VOL 8.
TRAIL CONDITIONS
FROM SEWARD TO
NELCHINA DISTRICT
IIY KKVNK
1 have "been asked mv the n
Commercial Club to write a d***4 «*l
account of a recent ieconnoi*Mi'c« trip
made by tuvself from SewanJ to th«
scene of the Mataouaaa Nelehn •
placer strike, located at tht* he ul*#** •
of the Matanuska river, above the U »*•
eminent coal camp on the t live saloon
river.
At the time that the news of th^
strike reached Seward in September,
there were conflicting stories a> to the
richness of the find, the fot malion of
the country, and the various trails or
routes into the new diggings.
Tbq business men of Seward were
daily receiving inquiries along these
lines and it was in order to get this in
formation first hand that l was sent in
My brother and myself left Seward,
on the afternoon of September 28th, on
the Alaska Northern oar, arriving at
mile 20 the same afternoon, where w e
spent the night. In the morning we
left for Sunrise, taking the govern
ment wagon road via mile 24. 1 he
trail is good all the way to Sunrise,
where we arrived at 7 p. m. that eve
ning* after a good dav *s travel. At that t
time there were no road houses be- j
tween mile 211 and Sunrise, hut now j
Robert Michaelsou is conducting a*
comfortable road house at mile 22 on
the trail. We arrived at Sunrise just,
in time to miss the boat and were j
forced to wait over for three days un- j
til the launch returned from Knik.
There are good roadhouse accommoda
tions at Sunrise.
\Ve left Sunrise on the morning of i
of Ov3tot)3r first in the lauucn* making
Fire Island in time for lunch and ar
riving at Knik the same evening at 5
p. m. VVe had planned on Idl ing
horses at Kuik to take in our supplies,
at least as far as C'hickaloon, but upon ;
our arrival learned that the U. Cieo*
logical Survey outfit were going to sell
their herd on the morning of the 4th
of Octol»er and decided to wait over j
for the sale and buy a pack animal at
that time. The second and third of
October we spent in getting trail out* j
fits together and on the morning of
the 4th I bought a horse at the sale, j
We left Knik on the morning of the
5th, taking the government wagon
road. It is a fine graded road such as '
one would expect to find in the stales. (
Owing to the late start we only wem
as far as mile 14 the first day and
camped near the road. Itaere was
plenty of wood and water as well as
small game. On the sixth, went a
short distance beyond mile 2f>, where
the government trail leaves the wagon
road for the coal fields. That night
we camped on the banks of the Little
Susitna river, finding good horse feed,
wood and water. We left the wagon
road the next morning and had lunch
eon at Moose creek, passing over a
Pabsts blue ribbon beer at The
Branch. ___
I buy Gold Nuggets and pay
full value and a premium if extra
good speciman.
George, the Jeweler
i
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fur ||tr n|;h* hff VI# |I I
llir r^luf#*1 !ft #tv4#4H *t lb* T#nf k
fhr Iriii frmtt K*r i N I In# ( I-** * * '■**»
\% flnr »ml her / **4 * vv-rit»4 < i **i
rni^ grille* canto* *»* • X% *
whiter do/ team* h * **4 •# *~f <*>*♦•
the di*t«tncr of W| i c**i v« ** * *■** •
er.>ily.
leaving the rump * * fob#i#f
morning* «r ford«*d IN * %
Mtiall river or creek ti thtttuo# It*
veur i**unbly a foul in 4l#p*f * 1
oJimtKrU the grade to ibt fU; t**w
river. From the •u»Mi**l where #«
encouutei vd our In *t snow ou*1 c**n *r«
the mouth of Boulder creek. on«uf tt»#
routes to the new digging*. Wr tutu
ulK)Ut 12 mih*» that any on * good trail
and went into camp early OH»t»Mir the
mouth of Boulder creek. Tlie *r*il
here is good, no hard grade* at ad and
iiIk)u: six inches of snow. From ’in*
mouth of Boulder the xrutl winds
through a Hit down io ( aim or Otter
hike. Here the trail forks* the left
fork going in via Hicks creek and the
right fork to the Matanuska rivev. ,
We had been advised hy Mr. Martin
of the U. S. G. S., to take the Mata
nuska trail on account of the abund*
ance of horse feed and aiisence of hills
and followed his advice and were sflad
that we did. 1 here is a line blazed
trail from Otter lake to the Maianuska;;
the last half mile is pretty steep as one
iroes down the river from the benches. I
From the point where the blazed trail 1
toils the Matanuska the route is up
on the bars and it is good going, of
course on a water grade. We covered
about twelve miles that.day and camp
ed on the banks of the river that night.
The next day we passed the Matanuska
glacier that comes in on the left limit
of the river and after covering approxi
mately 15 miles, camped. I have
seldom been in a better small game
country thau we were passing through ,
at tills time. There is an abundance of
birds and rabbits and prospectors are
sure of fresh meat daily. About three
miles aoove our camping place the
river forks and according to direction
we took the fork leading to the left
and circling Sheep mountain. This
fork led us np an easy climb to a big
plateau, containing a chain of small
lakes and in sight of Squaw creek.t
According to instructions the divide or
pass from this plateau is the seventh
draw or creek coming out of the range
of hills that separates Squaw creek
from Crooked creek. We camped that
night on the plateau after a day’s mush
that covered about 12 or 14 miles and
at noon went into camp in the last tim
ber on the right limit of Squaw creek.
Three of the party went over the divide
and down Crooked creek as far as Dis
covery that afternoon, returning to
Meet mje at the Bcknon.
I sell Gorham ' Silver Goods.
Leave your orders.
George, the Jeweler.
a
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slot ies concrndr#* f t Im> 4hi *-f u *
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tliiti time lliarr t*©1* «***^ ho • b *i
riH’kiil In the «rnlirfp camp aid Uui
was on Discovery \ibm crpft
the pay sill nteraife U*n cvui* lu Um
pan aud the pi> k'***'^ U from fhr <
mid one half to four and «hit half IsCPTf
in UiirknesH. Phen* is an over burden
of muck, gravel and M^linienl *'p vr
this pay rau/tnif in llucanrsa fr>’n
three to >ev*»n feel. I’m* overnuni n
contains frozen sf-aiiis hut in the mam
is thawed, as is ttie grave! that carries
the pay.
Regarding routes for winter or sum
mer travel, 1 am of the opinion that
the Matanuska trail is the e:isie>t way
to reach the diggings. Parties going
in from ttie coast towns or outside can
taKe in limit loads in from sesen to
ten days from Knik to Discovery on
Albert creek, the destination of most
of the stampeders, and a central point.
Leaving Knik, the trail as far as
Chickaloon, or for more than half way,
will be kept open this winter by ttie
teams that will haul 800 tons of coal to
Oid Knik from Chickaloon, insuring
(pushers an open trail for more than
half of the distance to the new dig
gings. From that point, the trail
takes to the Matanuska and follows
the bars to within ten miles of Discov
coverv, Albert creek, the heart ol the
new camp. It is not necessary to
cross this river at all, as there are al
ways bars between the bunas and the
stream, if one cares to go around. It
is a water grade all the wav, with no
hills or swamps to cross, and pienty of
timber and game all the way. This
winter, I predict lhat dog teams will
make the run from Discovery, Albert
creek, to Knik in three days, and do it
easily.
Regarding other routes, I met two
prospectors the last day 1 was in the
camp who had just arrived from Val-;
dez. They stated to me that they had
been 21 days on the trail and that they
had their outfit cached all the way in.
They started with seven horses and
arrived with two. This statement was
made in the presence of William
Elliott, Thomas Ripetto and Frank
Continued on page 3
Twenty-gauge, 1913 model shot guns
at J. L. Graefs. t
-^
For reliable ipforraat on write Can
non, Pioneer hotek Knik, Alaska, t
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bhhi mm
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MEN OF ULSTER
MAKE READY
PmIi' in. Vnv* 1 TH* * •' * r *t*
tonal Hi* ir* it i*
liou Cor{M. tWhoai* U hr U +
pof^K of ilmfHftaittoe li’ff‘4t*iPf is
t» half of li e n*ter
nroh drvUr** the con** «i ltw a%*d hi
a revolution.
I
Bubonic Plague Hills an Editor
Manila, Nov. I Kditor Croiier « f
the Manila Bulletin, died iwre jester*
day, .a victim of the bubonic tdafrve.
Several others have died from the
same cause. To stamp out tin* dread
malady, a war on rats ha* be^uo.
Promises to Probe the'Trusts
Atlantic City, Nov. I—Commissioner
of Corporations Davies, who has lately
assumed office, says he plans au ex
tensive and far-reaching inquiry ,into
the trusts.
- . ... ;-,
Catholic Services--Sunday
Communion, 8:30 a. m.
Mass. 10:30 a. ra.
Rosary, sermon and benddiction,
7:30 p m. William A. Shepherd, S. J.
The steamer Admiral Sara peon
reached port last night and several
hours later sailed for westward points.
%
The steamer Dora sailed from Uoa
laska last evening, enroute to Seward.
Finch’s Golden Wedding rye at the
Branch. _______ #
Long distance telephone booth at the
I Branch. * *
RAZORS! RAZORS! RAZORS!
Th$ Finest in the Land! Where?
AT GEORGE. THE JEWELER’S