Keystone Canyon is a gorge near Valdez in the U.S. state of Alaska . Situated at an elevation of 307 feet (94 m), its walls are almost perpendicular. It measures 3 miles (4.8 km) in length, connecting the upper and lower valleys of Lowe River .
31-416: In Keystone Canyon, the mother rock of the country shows up to good advantage. It is all slate. Its cleavage is nearly vertical and easy to drill, except where small seams of quartz exist. The slate rock on the south side of the summit is firm and solid as a rule, but on the north side it is very much disintegrated. The bed of the canyon varies from 100–500 feet (30–152 m) in width. The vegetation growing on
62-775: A road between Prince William Sound to the Yukon River . Shortly after his expedition, gold discoveries in the late 1880s to mid 1890s north of the Alaska Range, such as in the Fortymile Mining District , at Birch Creek near Circle , and in the western Yukon , put pressure on the US Congress to explore Alaska. In March of 1898, the US Department of War funded three expeditions to explore Southcentral Alaska. Edwin Glenn led
93-679: A turnout at about 4 ⁄ 10 mile (0.64 km) north of Horsetail Falls. This is also the trailhead for the "Valdez Goat Trail", a section of the Trans Alaska Military Packtrain Trail , founded during the Klondike Gold Rush . The canyon was part of the proposed route of a railroad to access the minerals of Interior Alaska . Nine different companies hoped to complete a railroad to the interior of Alaska. The only remaining sign of these efforts in Keystone Canyon
124-463: Is a short section of hand-cut tunnel. A feud developed and a gunfight ensued, after which the effort was abandoned. The silent movie The Iron Trail is about this era. 61°03′29″N 145°54′50″W / 61.0581°N 145.9139°W / 61.0581; -145.9139 Richardson Highway The Richardson Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska , running 368 miles (562 km) and connecting Valdez to Fairbanks . It
155-417: Is easily provided for by small culverts, with the exception of Waterfall Creek. This little stream forms a cascade with falls of several hundred feet in height, and finally buries itself in the loose rock at the base of the canyon wall. For a quarter of a mile, about the middle of the canyon, narrows are formed by the side walls being nearer together; there are abrupt walls 50–75 feet (15–23 m) in height. At
186-737: Is marked as Alaska Route 4 from Valdez to Delta Junction and as Alaska Route 2 from there to Fairbanks. It also connects segments of Alaska Route 1 between the Glenn Highway and the Tok Cut-Off . The Richardson Highway was the first major road built in Alaska. Indigenous trade routes existed in the region going from Prince William Sound to the north of the Alaska Range into the Alaskan Interior starting at least 5000 years ago. The majority of
217-575: The Pacific Coast Ranges . The mountains act as a high barrier to the flow of moist air from the Gulf of Alaska northwards, and thus have some of the harshest weather in the world. The heavy snowfall also contributes to a number of large glaciers , including the Cantwell , Castner , Black Rapids, Susitna , Yanert , Muldrow , Eldridge , Ruth , Tokositna , and Kahiltna Glaciers. Four major rivers cross
248-460: The Tanana Valley and finally unto Fairbanks. Most traffic using this route was during the winter with pack trains or sled dogs, since animals would tear up moss if it wasn't frozen, hampering travel. Travel to the area during the summer was via riverboats. The new traffic also enticed many to build roadhouses along the route, although many faced difficulty keeping them profitable. Along with
279-643: The Tok Cut-Off from Gulkana Junction to Tok, Alaska via Mentasta Pass . The Alaska Pipeline parallels the Richardson Highway . A part of the Alaska Highway is situated on the northern slopes of the eastern section of the range. The name "Alaskan Range" appears to have been first applied to these mountains in 1869 by naturalist W. H. Dall . The name eventually became "Alaska Range" through local use. In 1849 Constantin Grewingk [ de ] applied
310-600: The 1920s. To finance continued maintenance and road construction, the Alaska Road Commission instituted tolls for commercial vehicles in 1933 of up to $ 175 per trip, which were collected at the Tanana River ferry crossing at Big Delta . When the tolls were further increased in 1941 to boost business for the Alaska Railroad , disgruntled truckers nicknamed "gypsies" started a rogue ferry service in order to evade
341-677: The Alaska Range, including the Delta and Nenana Rivers in the center of the range and the Nabesna and Chisana Rivers to the east. The range is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire , and the Denali Fault that runs along its southern edge is responsible for many major earthquakes . Mount Spurr is a stratovolcano located at the northeastern end of the Aleutian Volcanic Arc which has two vents,
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#1732855623936372-509: The Alaska Range. The first recorded expedition was in the Eastern Alaska Range led by H. T. Allen in 1885. His team went from Suslota Lake to Tetlin Lake and unto the Tanana River via Miles Pass. He noted that it would be possible to build a road from Prince William Sound to the Yukon River . Six years later, Frederick Schwatka and Charles W. Hayes crossed the extreme eastern end of
403-635: The Richardson Highway in Fairbanks is built to freeway standards. [REDACTED] Media related to Richardson Highway at Wikimedia Commons Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska , from Lake Clark at its southwest end to the White River in Canada 's Yukon Territory in
434-521: The Tanana River crossing would be more cost effective. The senatorial party also met with Judge James Wickersham and Fairbanks resident Abraham Spring, both pushing for government led roadbuilding, opining that the miners could build feeder roads if a central road was built. In early 1904, Congress passed legislation to build roads throughout Alaska. After surveys by the Army Corps of Engineers during
465-661: The Tonsina River. By 1901, the pack trail was completed, and provided an "all-American" route to the Klondike gold fields. The total distance of the road was about 409 miles (660 km). After the rush ended, the Army kept the trail open in order to connect its posts for communication at Fort Liscum , in Valdez, and Fort Egbert , in Eagle. One way message times were generally around 6 months from
496-776: The Yukon to Washington, D.C. By 1904, the completion of the WAMCATS allowed near instantaneous communication from Fort Egbert to the US Capitol using an all American telegraph system. The Fairbanks Gold Rush in July of 1902 drew attention away from the Klondike region, drawing prospectors to Fairbanks. These new travelers would follow the established Valdez-Eagle Trail until the Gakona River , and then utilize Ahtna trading trails through Isabel Pass to
527-543: The expedition ordered to explore from Prince William Sound to Cook Inlet for routes between the Susitna and Copper rivers then northward to the Tanana River . Attached to the expedition was geologist Walter Mendenhall from the USGS . They would eventually cross Isabel Pass , who were also the first recorded non-natives through that route, but fell short 15-20 miles from the Tanana River. This pass received very little attention at
558-414: The head of the canyon the river, dashing against a perpendicular wall of rock, is sharply deflected to the left for 600 feet (180 m), and then gradually assumes its general direction, which it follows closely to the mouth of the canyon. Horsetail Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are located within the canyon, as is the Richardson Highway . The Valdez-Eagle Trail passes through the canyon's south end. It
589-596: The highway from Fairbanks to Valdez. Richardson Highway is part of the unsigned part of the Interstate Highway System east of Fairbanks. The entire length of Interstate A-2 follows Route 2 from the George Parks Highway ( Interstate A-4 ) junction in Fairbanks to Tok, east of which Route 2 carries Interstate A-1 off the Tok Cut-Off Highway to the international border. Only a short piece of
620-463: The last remaining gap, was built as part of the Alaska Highway project. The southern end was only open during summers until 1950, when a freight company foreman who lived near the treacherous Thompson Pass plowed the snow himself for an entire season to prove the route could be used year-round. The highway was paved in 1957. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System , built in 1973-1977, mostly parallels
651-412: The low bottoms, consisting of grass, brush, and trees, indicates that, as a rule, the water does not rise more than 4 feet (1.2 m) in nearly the whole length of the canyon. Keystone Canyon is entered by going through a low pass in a spur divide, which forms the west side of the mouth of the canyon. The east wall is more abrupt than the west wall. There is but little side drainage to the canyon, and this
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#1732855623936682-602: The name "Tschigmit" to this mountain range. A map made by the United States General Land Office in 1869 calls the southwestern part of the Alaska Range the "Chigmit Mountains" and the northeastern part the "Beaver Mountains". However, the Chigmit Mountains are now considered part of the Aleutian Range . Starting in the mid 1880s to early 1900s, early non-native explorers traversed various sections of
713-578: The previous gold discoveries, the Fairbanks Gold Rush prompted the US Congress to send a senatorial party in 1903 to Alaska to hear testimony. At Eagle, Lieutenant William Mitchell told the party his estimated $ 2 million cost of building a road between Eagle to the Tanana River crossing, near Tok , then onto the Chena River confluence with the Tanana River. He suggested a route from Copper Center to
744-796: The southeast. Denali , the highest mountain in North America , is in the Alaska Range. The range is part of the American Cordillera . The Alaska Range is one of the higher ranges in the world after the Himalayas and the Andes . The range forms a generally east–west arc with its northernmost part in the center, and from there trending southwest towards the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands , and trending southeast into British Columbia and
775-535: The summer of that year, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Major Wilds Richardson as the head of the Alaska Road Commission to supervise the construction of a wagon road from Valdez to Fairbanks starting in 1905. Richardson suggested dividing the trail into 3 sections, the first from Valdez to Copper Center along Abercrombie's route, the second from the mouth of the Delta River to Fairbanks, and
806-473: The summit and nearby Crater Peak. Parts of the Alaska Range are protected within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve , Denali National Park and Preserve , and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve . Several highways cross through the passes of the range: the George Parks Highway from Anchorage to Fairbanks via Windy Pass, the Richardson Highway from Valdez to Fairbanks via Isabel Pass , and
837-448: The third connecting the two from Copper Center to Isabel Pass. Although Richardson contended with low funds and difficult construction, the road was finished in 1910. During the construction, the government hired failed gold prospectors as well as regular construction workers. The income from this work allowed many of the prospectors to leave Alaska. The rise of motorized travel led the road to be upgraded to automobile standards in
868-591: The time. Concurrently, Captain William Abercrombie was ordered to explore from Valdez northward to the Copper River and tributaries of the Tanana River. By 1899, the Army ordered Captain Abercrombie to build a military road from Valdez to Copper Center then onto Eagle . Before winter of 1899, they had completed a 93 mile trail suitable for packhorses through Keystone Canyon and past Thompson Pass to
899-505: The toll. The Alaska and Glenn highways, built during World War II , connected the rest of the continent and Anchorage to the Richardson Highway at Delta Junction and Glennallen respectively, allowing motor access to the new military bases built in the Territory just prior to the war: Fort Richardson in Anchorage, and Fort Wainwright adjacent to Fairbanks. The bridge at Big Delta,
930-630: The trade was facilitated by the Ahtna , but also included the Eyak and Sugpiaq to the south, and the Tanana Athabaskans to the north. The route of the Richardson Highway primarily follows part of this old trade network. In 1885, Lieutenant Henry Allen's party crossed the eastern Alaska Range from the mouth of the Copper River to the Tanana River via Suslota Pass, the first non-natives to do so. In his report, he noted that it would be possible to build
961-489: Was named by William R. Abercrombie after the "Keystone State" of Pennsylvania . There are numerous small waterfalls in the canyon, and two more spectacular ones: Horsetail Falls is a picturesque 328 feet (100 m) waterfall that flows into the Lowe River. The waterfall can be seen and photographed from a road turnout along the Richardson Highway 13 miles from Valdez, Alaska . Bridal Veil Falls can be viewed from