Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-07-17
HOW GOLD Is OBTAINED,
Not Surprising That Pay Dirt Was
Discovered Near the Yukon.


Discovered Near the Yukon.
| From the New York Tribune.
| Although the stories which have recently
| come from the upper Yukon country
doubtless exaggerate the value of the gold
| deposits recently found there. they mo-
mentarily excite interest in a region which
| is not any too well known to residents on
| the Atlantic seaboard.
Gold is usually obtained. In this and
| other countries, either in thin veins or in
| placers. In the one case the precious
| metal still remains locked I'm the crevices
F; of the rock into which, while in a molten
| state, 1t has been forced upward from
! below i'm ages past. In the other the action
| of the weather has crumbied the inclosing
walls and liberated the treasure. which
! becomes mixed with other detritus in the
| beds of streams. There ii is found i'm more
| or less rounded particles. varying in size
| from the merest dust to nuggets weighing
| half an ounce or ounce. The latter limit
| is sometimes exceeded.
| When pay dirt has heen discovered
| the separation of the gold from the sand
| ard gravel is easily effected by washing,
| IL there is good supply OF water. Costly
| hydraulic works have been constructed in
| California and elsewhere for the double
| purpose of supplying powerful water Jets
| to eat away the gravel banks and TO ex-
| tract the precious metal when once il has
| been loosened from its environment. On
| the other hand. the dirt is often cleaned
| up with the aid of a pan that can be
| nipuIated by the miner himself AS gold is
| heavier than gravel It settles toward the
F.; bottom of any bar or bank in which IL has
| accumulated. The richest part of any de-
| posit of this character, therefore. is likely
| to be found down near the bed rock.
Where PInccrs Exist.
Placers exist along the slope of the great
| mountain ranges of western North Amer
| lea all the way from central Mexico to
of+ har.n vial Iod IL
lions of dollars: in others there is hardly
| enough gold to pay for working them.
Those which have attracted attention I'm
| the extreme northwestern part of the con-
| tinent may be briefly described. Every
| school boy remembers that the territory
| which Mr.. Seward bought from Russia and
| annexed to the United States during the
| civil war consists essentially of big
| square tract lying between the sixtieth and
| SEVENTEEN parallels of north latitude, with
| a peninsula and chain of islands reaching
| away to the southwest, and a still mar
rover strip Of land reaching down south
| eastward. past British Columbia to the
| ffty-ffth parallel of latitude. Almost
| without exception, the important deposits
| of gold in Alaska, far known.
to be found in this last-named strip or
| in the adjacent Islands. Juneau, on the
! mainland. and Douglas Island, close by,
| are the NEST famous centers of production.
/ The gold is found here, however, in veins,
not in piacers. On kadiak Island. much
further to the northwest, but still on the
| south shore Of Alaska, faint. indications
of gold in veins were found about thirty
years ago, but there was not enough 10
| Fay for working the ore.
| The first piacers to be worked in Alaska
| probably We're situated near the head of
| Cooks Inlet, a big bay not many miles
from Kadiak Island. The richest deposits
were along SiX-mle creek and Resurrection
/ creek and yielded from So TO $40 a day
man for a time. These pines and the
ores further south with a few of less con-
sequence, have raised the annual OUTPUT
| of gold in Alaska from S15,00 in ISL to
| more than $l,0DoOO at the present time.
Both veins and placers We're found, i'm
| British territory, along a small river called
! the Stickine, which reaches the Pacific by
| crossing the extreme southeastern tip of
Alaska. In the southern part of British
Columbia, along the Fraser and Columbia
rivers. productive placers have been work
| ed for about forty years The first great
gold craze over this region occurred in lSlS
The kootenai region, in the extreme south
eastern corner of the province, ia
| nous few years ago. The CariboO dis
! trict. lying the fifty-third parallel of
| latitude, has proved the most steady and
! continuous producer. Still further north
| along the Peace river (Which flows east
! ward and discharges into Athabasca lake..
| piacers have been worked for several years
| Most of the old placers of British Columbia
have been worked out. however. There Was
a period, along in the sixties, when the
| annual production of that province consid-
/ erably exceeded S2,0D0.ap0; and in 1864 il
! rose to 81. 7:;I,S50 BY 1880 IL had dwfndIed
away to less than half million, owing it
| has been asserted to the exhaustion of the
| known deposits.
| The Yukon Region.
| The Yukon river, which crosses Alaska
| from east to west and empties into the
| Pacific little south of Boring strait, is
said to lie mishtier stream than the CO.
! lGmbia. River steamers navigate it hun
! dredE of miles from its mouth Passen-
! gers from Seattle usually transferred
| from ocean steamships to these vessels at
st. Michaefs Island, near the mouth of the
! Yukon. The source CT the river is in Brit
! ish territory, two hundred or three hun
dred miles south of the point where the
| stream crooks away westward into Alaska:
| In fact it may he said to drain very nearly
| the same mountain slopes as the Fraser
Columbia Peace and Stickine. 1t was nat
ural. therefore, to expect that gold would
be found along the main channel of the
/ Yukon or some of its tributaries. Explor-
! ers were sent out from two bases. One SET
went up the river from its mouth, trayers-
ing the whole of Alaska from west to east;
and another pushed up from the south
from the vicinity of Juneau, through Chill
kat Pass. The North American Transpor-
tation and Trading Company established
trading stations near the source of the.
river five or six years ago. Most of the
prospecting has been done either between
this locality and the point where the river
crossed into Alaska, or within the first one
hundred miles over the line.
Fine gold dust, in small quantities, was
found at The mouth of the Pcrcupine river
a stream that Joins the Yukon about one
hundred Ililes west of the boundary, ami
also near the mouth of Forty-mie creek
most of whose course lies in Alaska, but
which crosses into British territory before
emptying int the big river. Fort Cudahy
is situated here, and Circle City, where
there were other mining camps. is about
fifty miles further west. These places are
about eight hundred nine hundred miles
from the sea, il enc travels by steamboat
and in the winter are completely cut off
from the outer world.
The Clondyke river is not to be found, or
at least, is not easily identified. on any
existing maps, but it is probably a small