ALASKA. 1899. COPPER RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION

First edition. 8vo. Senate, 56th Congress, 1st Session, Document No. 306. Quarter red leather and marbled boards, titles stamped in gilt on the spine, marbled front and rear endpapers, 169 [1] pp., plus 168 pages of photographic plates, one large folding map tipped in at the rear of the volume, all edges are marbled. This informative and lavishly illustrated account of the expedition led by Abercrombie, in order to establish an overland route from Valdez on Prince William Sound, toward the gold fields of the Yukon. Conducted in 1899, the expedition sought to identify practical routes through this largely unmapped wilderness while assessing the region's geography, natural resources, and potential for future settlement and development. The resulting report documents the brutal hardships encountered by the expedition and by the miners and prospectors who flocked to Alaska during the gold rush era, including treacherous glaciers, swift rivers, severe weather, and the threat of scurvy. It also describes efforts to construct a military trail into the interior, the difficulties of transporting supplies across rugged terrain, and the experiences of gold seekers struggling to reach the mining districts. Covers rubbed, internally clean and tight, else a very good, bright and tight copy.…