The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-28
THE SUN, SUNDAY. NOVEMBER Is. isg7

creases in valuo until II renches n minimum OF
that point Il again Increases as we 20 further
down. Now, II we draw a limo through the
points oIn OF end ibstn prngioc sinwc ,S Sm these eMD
We strike Gold Bottom and bunker creeks. Pro-
jectlng them west. we strike Mi lor and Glacier
Forty Mile. from aftv to sixty miles away.
What do wo infer from this . That hero is a
across the country In this direction.
Again we find That the gold In nugIcts found,
having trayell d any distanco-in fact, tho
majority of the nuggets. are as angular and ir.
regular, n shape as though you had Just
think, leads to tho Inference that TINT mother
lode is not very distant, from where this gold is
my mind Ia, is 1t in lodesof sufficient dimensions
to pay for working by stamp mills. or is y y
t the mis oer W term "s,ringers, 80 ' scn,i sermis as ssa 10
render working them Improbable. Time alone
ihnvc been told that gold has been found Mt
the head OF Lake Lebarge on n stream flowing
into the lake from the east. Prospects, too, arc
the Yukon River. A man riding ncross the
Alsok on this trail was thrown from his horse.
which pulled out by the roots. Where he landed
he saw something shining on the rock. He
P Ebawsa it mU up thin and pd tGpn I'd i FcT, 4 cS wGS To ia ,n Ho
1896. tho amount being about 81 go. Other
prospects have also been found along the Same
trail, about midway between there anil Sclkirk.
From these circumstances md discoveries 1t
may be assumed that in all this country there IL
abundant. This zone lies outside OF a range Of
mountains which extends to the westward Of
the Rockies and has the same general trcnd.
1t consists Of crctaccous rock. rising INTO very
high peaks in some places, and crosses the
Yukon River just below the boundary.
COPPER AND OTHER METALS.
Another product of the country that demands
on the White River in great anun.
dance. although the location OF the main deposit
has has y ct to be co MADE IN NJ Mr. I msrpeF; say ny A., Z large 1So
from the vicinity OF the White River some.
where. Just where has yet to be disclosed.
silver has also been found. and lead. and. in
addition. to work these when the proper time
md facilities come, we have coal in abundance.
1t il found running along the base OF the last
Described range Of. crctaceous mountains. A
o osp tHrr 81 SSa' n q, ' two r nnin,s runs nsor ri Fort ~ i iMiIn n
crops out prominently. in one place only about
thrcc.quarters Of n mile from the bank OF. the
river Yukon. A short distance above this II
crops out again. only about eight miles from The
Yukon. md whenever the Cone Hin mine, which
work it with Is only some fourteen or fifteen
miles distant from the scene Of operations.
~ AMOUNT OF COAL
About thirty miles further up. on one of the
many small anluCnts of the Yukon. it again
crops out II few miles from the bank OF the
main river. and ut Fifteen Mile Greek and at
the head of the Throndoy there are also out:
the Stewart coal is said to occur in the drift
and again about six miles above the Five
Fingers coal crops out on the banks OF the Yukon
River. In fact. there Is any amount of coal i'll
the country with which to work our precious
minerals when we obtain tho Unnecessary facilities,
Regarding the surface of the country and the
difficulties of pi ospecting:
DIFFICULTIES OF PROSPECTING.
Passing down the river in a boat one secs q
succession of trees, ten. twelve. fourteen. and
sixteen inches in diameter, and he NATURALLY
bercd country, and so 1t is-along the margin OF
the river. But let HIM disembarE and go inland,
and he will find the ground covered with what
are locally known as "niggerheads." which con.
sist of columns OF decayed coarse grass peculiar
to this region. They are formed by the annual
growths of grasses d~ecaying and falling down
while year after year the roots of the grow
ing grasses bind this together into az
of mud. To walk across a niggerhead swamp D is
o c of the most fatiguing exercises one can take
tween them. Put your foot ON top of one OF
thcm-it sways under YOU. and down You go &c
suit is that the miners and other residents OF
that country keep rs far away from the Niger
head swamp us they conveniently can. avoiding
it as they would the plague.
For the rest of the country the surface is GOV
cred by from one foot to two OF moss, and, under
meath, the everlasting frost. On this a scrubby
growth of trees is found extending up Tho
mountain. sides to an altitude Of from ! 900 &c
pears to those passing down tho river in boats
to be q continuation Of the good timber seor
sSinsE is ss sSar Ssns and I Ms Should ia'f hu IS mt i It e ans.
fully. A great deal of our timber has alresd,
gone down the r'yer. It was our timber tina!
built. Circle City. Our timber has indeed served
all the purposes OF the Upper Yukon country
4 large amount Of timber is required for III,
river. and our Government should at once taxi
steps to protect 1t for our own use and benefit.
Above the timber line you come to the bnrS
a growth of lichen on which tho cariboo feeds
There is no timber in the way here, no moss. and
no brush. The miners consequently keep a.
much rs possible to the top Of the ridge.
GETTING TO BED ROCK.
Bedrock prospecting necessarily has to he re
served for the winter. First the moss has to bt
cleared away, and then the muck or doC,nyet
depth of two or three feet. After two or three
feet in depth has been picked out, II fire is built
In the morning the ground which has bcci
thawod by the ire is shovellcd out, and in III,
the evening another fire is built, the groGnd
thawcd by this is shovellcd ont the following
morningLand so on until, bedrock is reached:
Six, eight. ten. ana twelve feet of the surface
is cccayed vegetable matter and a!luyial deposi
OF sand in the clay. termed by the miners
ing is commenced: that is. n nan or two Of tn,
dirt is washed to determine whether it is wortl
keeping or not. as tho refuse is thrown ~
other. Near to and on bedrock the pay is found
which is generally not more than two or tire,
feet deep.
THE AGE OF THE PAY DIRT.
All the way through the so.called muck W,
find trees lying in every direction. Those trees
are OF the same kinds OF wood and present tn,
same appearances OF growth as those TO-DAY
growing on the surface. In order to detcrmin,
approximately t o age of the pay dirt | hay,
made II special study of features in this con
ncctiOn, but did not obtain sufficient data, no
was ! there long enough TO do so. I know tina,
trees are now growing on the surface from lOt
to 30 years of age. tho roots of these very Otter
cngirdling trees fully as old of the same kin
lying Immediately beneath them. Beneath
these again are othor trees. and 50 on down to
depth often OF twelve or fourteen feet.
From this VIC must infer that the gold dc
post, or pay dirt, was made thousands OF year
ago, yet in II we find the bones of animals whicl
nre still quito common in tho district, and o
others which are found further to the south.
have in my possession two horns OF the bison. o
so-called buffalo, which n few years ago roamcc
the prairles to the south and east Of this in vas
herds. These were, when | got them. in
better state of preservation than similar horn
which ono would pick ", in n journe!
other part Of our prairie region which the buffo
10 frcquented. j have also part Of the horn of
moose. part OF the head of an elk. showing tn,
brain cavity, which is as largo and we'll devol
oped MS that OF any elk which might be fount
there to-day. l have also part of what ! believe
to be the neck vCrtobrw Of the bison. AlOnl
with these are found the teeth of the mastodon