The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-12-14
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THE STORY OF GOLD DISCOVERY IN THE
YUKON DISTRICT Told BY One Who Has Spent Years in Work
Surveyor Along the Yukon River Tributaries.


| isfied with the prospects there, and de-
! termined to return and prospect the
! creek now known as Bonanza from its
head downwards, as it lay in the drec-
tion of his way home.
STRIKING 1T RICH.
lie found nothing of note until he
! came down about midway, where from
a little nook in a bend of the creek he
panned out a good prospect. This en-
| couraged him to try again. He did so,
and in a few moments panned out
$l275, which he put in an old cart
ridge shell and corked with a piece of
stick. This was on Aug. 10, 1896 The
next day he staked discovery claim and
No. l below for himself. No. 2 for Ia
gish Charlie, and No. above for Ia
gish Jim. He then made his way down
the creek as fast as possible and went
down the river for a supply of pro-
! visions.
on the way he met several miners
and informed them of his discovery. At
! first they would not believe him, as his
reputation for truth was not above par.
! These miners said they could not tell
when he was telling the truth, if he
ever was, as he was the greatest liar
| this side ola great many places.
| Some of them came to me and asked
! my opinion. l pointed out to them
! that there was no question about the
man having the $l2.75 in gold. The
| only question: then, was where did he
! get it? He had not been up the Sixty
Mile, nor yet the Forty Mile. and he
| must have got it somewhere near
where he was engaged fishing, and
| that was right at the mouth of the
| Klondike.
EXCITEMENT BEGINS.
Then followed the excitement. Boat
! load after boatload of men went up
| from Forty Mile. They went up any
| how and any way, starting at all times
of the day and night. Men who had
| been drunk for weeks and weeks, in
! fact, were tumbled into the boats and
! taken up without any knowledge that
! they We're travellers. One man, indeed.
was so drunk that he did not realize
! that he had left Forty Mile until he
was more than two-thirds of the way
! to the Klondike. And yet he owns one
/ of the very best claims in the Klondke
| district today.
The whole creek for a distance of
! about twenty miles, giving in the
| itlSl lJOl llObl VI -uv Nlttllll9, NoS SlclNtu
| in few weeks El Dorado Creek. seven
| and q half or eight miles long, provid-
! ing eighty claims, was staked in about
the same length Of time Boulder, Ad-
ans, and other gulcEes were prospect
| e5, and gave good surface showings,
| gold being found In the gravel in the
| creeks. Good surface prospects may be
| taken as an indication of the existence
of very fair bedrock.
1t was not until December, however,
| that the character of the diggings
| was established. Twenty-one, above
! Discovery, on Bonanza, was the one
| which first proved the value of the
! district. The owner of this claim was
| in the habit of cleaning up a few tub
| fuls Of dirt every night, and paying his
| workmen S.50 an hour
WONDERFUL PANS.
Claim No. 3 III Dorado, next pro-
! duced a pan of $57. This was succeed
| cd by one of upward Of $50. Then came
:, one of SIP. Soon after claim No. l6
| showed up a pan of $2l2, and this it
was that caused the intense eVcitement
| in that country. | believe the excite
! ment outside was even greater than
it was there, but of that you will know
more than |, fer you saw it and | did
| not.
The news went down to Circle City
early in December, and it at once emp
tied itself and came up to Dawson.
| The scenes of the Forty Mile rush were
repeated The miners came up any
way they could, at all hours of the day
and night, with provisions and empty
! handed. On their arrival they found
! that all tho creeks had been Stdked
weeks before. \ good many Canadians
and others who at Circle City had out
! Americaned the natural, native-born
| Americans in their protestations and
| professions of Amerlcanism, came up
TO our territory in this rush with GER
| tain expectations of realizing some
thing in the new finds by reason of
| their nationality, and in Canada made
! loud professions of loyalty cursed their
! luck, and declared it strange indeed
that a Canadian or a Briton could not
| get a foot of ground in his own cOun-
! try.
HOMBSTAKERS NUMEROUS.
Bonaza and El Dorado creeks afford
! between them 27S claims; their several
! afluents will yield as many more, and
nearly all of these claims are good. 1
have no hesitation i'm saying that about
| a hundred of those on Bonanza will
| yield upward Of $50 900, and about
| thirty on the FL Dorado will yield ST.
! 100000 each. These two creeks will, l
! am quite confident, turn out from $780,
| OOO,O 600 to $4,000 900, and l can safely
! say that there is no other region in
! the world that has afforded so many
| hOmestakes-that Is, fortunes enabling
| the owners to go home, and enjoy the
! remainder Of their days at their ease
! considering that the work has had to
be done with very limited facilities, the
! scarcity of provisions and of labor,
! and that only the crudest appliances
are as yet available, When / tell you
! that to work properly each claim ten
OF twelve men are required, and that
only 500 were available that season, it
will give you an idea Of the difficulties
which had to be contended with
On Bear Creek, which joins the Klon-
! dixie about seven or eight miles above
! that, good claims have been found; and
| also on Gold Bottom, Hunker, Last
! Chance, and Cripple creeks. On Gold
Bottom as high as $15 to the pan has
! been taken, and although we cannot
| say that they are as rich as Ell Dorado
or as Bonanza, they are richer than
! any other creeks known in that coun-
| try Then, thirty-five miles higher up
| the Klondike, -Much-Gold Creek
| was found. 1t obtained it's name from
! the fact that the Indians who saw mica
| glttering in its sand mistook it for
| gold and so named it.
| WORLDS RICHEST GOLD FIELD