Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-01-04
A BAD OTHER SIDE,
The Forty Mile Placers in the
Alaskan Int.rior Greatly
Over-rated.
Prospectors Express Their
Views on the Subject in the
Juneau Free Press.
PICTURED DARKLY.

Placer Mining in the New Diggings I'm the
Interior of AlasRa.
Miscellaneous Of the Alaskan gold
diggIngs have been plentifully spread
throughout the northwest during
years past aud every season sees q
crowd OF enthusiastic men from the
mining regions Of Dakota and Mon
lana ready To sacrifice any hing and
everything TO reach that far distant
land. I he situation is decidedly un'
attractive and statements have been
made by parties that have toIled
among the barren sand banks OF the
interior which sh iuld cause hesitation
on the part of many to enter into so
difficult an undertaking as placer
mining In the wilds of Ala-ka. Tn,
Juneau paper. the Free Press, pub
lished card signed by seven pros
pectors recently from the interior
from which We take the following:
After arriving at the Forty Mile
river il is found that the diggipgs are
not what they have been represented
A party Of US buated up the Forty
Mile river for over $50 miles. w.
tried every available spot, but got very
little encouragement. At the head
,pa IiunnvuraI An pnnnkar Of SmalI
lakes and extensive marshes. There
was not the slightest indication OF
gold about here, but on the bars OF
Forty Mile river some few men made
as high As q thousand dollars, but in
most cases far below that some max
ing from $500 to $500. The highest
amount being made was Sl,lOO. A
great many Of the miners made
nothing whatever. About $50 miner-
were on the river, and the man who
made the SLIGO was known as the
Bonanza King" What diggings
there was were very hard, the water
being very cold, and back from the
river but a few feet the ground l.
frozen solid, making II impossible to
did at all. The only way to do Is to
work where the water has thawed
the ground. 1t is only for about
ninety days in midsummer that it il
possible to work, the remainder oi
the year the weather Is frigidly cold
the temperature falling so low thai
for a period of seventeen days last
March our quicksilver froze solid
Brandy and other spirits also froze
An ether thermometer gave reading
of s00 below zero.
The gold Is almost all got from baI
diggings, which are very small in area
In some places as bign as one dollar
per pan has been obtained, but even
then only seven to eight dollars per
day could be made per man as this
yield was a crevssse diggings, and
was where the gold had collected.
But taking the bar on an average the
yield was poor. The pay dirt had to
be rocked and treated with the blan.
ket process. causing large amount OF
labor. 1t is also our firm belief that
these diggings are completely worked
out and not enough could be made to
even pay expenses.
10 Franklin gulch, about which
such brilliant reports were made, 1t Is
impossible to work to an advantage as
the ground is 80 solidly frozel; water
10 also very scarce, and the miners
who were working there abandoned 1t.
DO very large finds Of nuggets have
ever been made there, the largest one
being but $3.50, and 1t was more than
half quartz. Mr.. Steele brought one
Of the largest nuggets which wa:
found on Forty Mile river, and II wss
but q $50 one. Steele has tried TO rep
resent that the whole creek is remark
ably rich. claiming that good miner
could make fortune. We, rs miners,
wish 10 contradict this most emphati-
cally, as the Opposite is the case. Mr.,
Moore, too. has said that the dieging'
beat the old Cassiar dlggings In theil
palmiest dsys. Asa matter OF fact
Mr.. Moore was never within 400 mile'
Of the Forty Mile diggings.
After undergoing all the difficulties
Of the season, 1t takes from thirty-hv'
to forty days TO get out Of the digging
or at least reach Juneau, causing much
expense and hardship. In view OF oil
this, we have made this statement
which is true In all particulars, rs I
wrong impression has been mace b,
other reports.
The Press disputes the statement bu
argues only from analogy In Its al
tempt at reiutAtiop. The paper IL
however fair enough 10 say.
4 un..s -. ......la .aylaa M ... IN A.. -