Butte semi-weekly miner., 1888-08-22
MING IN ALASKA.
,.,r1r,crs OF 4 n0sr4sIzs os
yUxoN's IRIBUTARIEs.

.,nv Only Possible Two Months
rI'''' Year, owing to the Heavily
Ground-A Desolate Existence
the Arctic Circle.
poolip, an old Montana miner. who
DcE aII over the West, returned this
10 plnV" Alaska, where he has been for
,'sf Go years mining on tribu-
be 49, ,be Yukon river. He was inter-
pnss%r r.sterday as to his experiences in
tsHsu northern country, and the follow
tbat ~ I've an idea OF the hardships ex-
Dg 'm i there in the search for the pre-
dOpS yaton is navigable for hundreds OF
I'm it's mouth, and Mr.. Poplin and
pOs Sner prospected on the Stewart
bs P,i,b empties into the Yukon about
bVs siles from it's mouth. There they
l%,Ss soil on the banks very rich in
b snt placer mining can only be con-
P& tor from two to three months in the
S% n takes a long time for the frost
Fh ort of the ground, and then they
W. SoIv 90 down d few feet. The place
y. 18th they made their discovery is very
:. ,bs Arctic circle about 65 degrees
''tblstitude. The first year they only
;. .bs discovery and returned dis
Sos ' If 500 miles to Nuklukhayet,
1HD" indian traders post. where
~ men named McQuistan,
~ ~ has brother in Deer Lodge, Mayo
~ y Earper have stores. Here they win
~ 'S,5 n being very kindly treated by the
I' s'rs named parties, and returned next
wv The winters there are long and in
PnI PaaIv cold and white men have to adopt |
~ sD' Ss,,e skin dresses as are worn by the |
ut srss ,% Mr.. Poplin brought several
DSurI uDIes Of these back with him as a pres
SS.D ~ DOC Reins, OF Hauser & Reins, on
q, TU,. Park street, whose store he makes his
Dl'i D'aJnnarters while here. Among the rest |
l'"U Y az sIaborately bead-embroidered moose
I y" ~ shirt which is very fine specimen of
AiE ASian work, and which he promised to
a",o rsnaso Of for the maker. The skins are
uspgIy usptIy dressed with the hair on and are
Drv' ..,v soft and warm. During their months
~ : iaIeness there is nothing to do but hunt
I. "a try 70 keep warm. and the time hangs
oo w on min rs hands until they can re-
ums work about May.
Nr Poplin and his partner returned to
heir discovery on Stewart River the fol-
ring spring, which was forty miles up
nm it's mouth. The placer diggings were
altered along the banK OF Stewart River
Ma hundred miles from where they first
Sds the discovery, being soon locate3by
dssr men who followed them there. They
wksd there for three seasons when the
rts gave out and they went down to
lE.miIe River to a camp that had been
rud there, where they remained two sea-
5 The last they were there, Mr.. Poplin
rtve men in partnership, and in forty
hdays they were there these men took
ts little over $25, 200.
H. Poplin sayssthat q man with rocker
make from $50 to $185 day. The
/ is found on bars where it is washed by
river from the banks, and these benches
the bends is where the placer mining is
iucted. The ground is never thawed
more than three or four feet from the sur
below which the frost is perpetual. For
reason mining, with the limited means
be disposal OF those who have hitherto
there, is soon exhausted. Ii it could
,osecuted with hydraulics, very profit
could be realized in a season.
e gold varies in size from mere speck
uggets over an inch in length. Mr..
10 has several with him, which are
as they came out of the gravel. The
1T is shaped like a long beam, and is
tn S26. so; another is of the shape OF q
and is valued at SIS. Besides
iSh, Ne has lot OF small ones, fiat in
ape and varying in size.
4e bad his gold assayed in San Fran. :
% where 1873 ounces we're valued at !
S67 and its fneness set down at S45h.
be average amount taken out per
during the season runs from $500 to
)00 But as already stated the season
short that it takes q pretty good !
on's work to keep a man during the
Of the year. Taking into considera-
the discomforts OF existence in that
en- region, the intense cold, and the
,nce OF civilization, Mr.. Poplin thinks
,es not pay and he would not advise
one to visit the placers on the Yukon.
there are unknown possibilities in the
Of quartz mining along the coast and
ill return to Alaska to prospect for
believing that there the chances for
ling rich discoveries are greater than
where else.