The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1898-04-28


and the Malaspina sea of ice." In the
interior heavy snow storms are not un.
common as early as September, and
may come at anytime as late as the
middle of May, and though the snow
fall usually is not heavy in the valley
of the Yukon, it reaches a great depth
at times in thesmountains and passes
and woe to 1.-The wayfarer unlucky
enough to get caught by them.
The duration of daylight and dark
ness in the northern region presents a
striking contrast with our more favored
latitude. In June the observer may
see the sun reflected from a snow
capped mountain peak at two o'clock
in the morning, which does not disap-
pear in the blue waters of the Pacific
until 10 o'clock at night; while on re-
turn of the winter solstice, the mid
winter sun, rises at 10 o'clock in the
morning and sets at two o'clock in the
afternoon, leaving but four hours of
daylight, the sun for that brief time
appearing just above the horizon and
often obscured by frozen mists, which
help to intensity the dreariness and
deathlike solitude of long Arctic
night. The mean summer tempera-
ture of the middle and lower Yukon is
from 60 to 70, mercury often reaching
80 and IS in midday.
Vegetation for brief period makes
most marvellous growth. Wild flow
ers bloom, and for a brief period the
appearance of the country almost
leads one to think he is back again in
the land of temperate zone. l sup
pose these are dry and uninteresting
details but they are surely necessary
to clear understanding of the situa-
ton in this new country called "Our
Alaska Wonderland"
1t was at Circle City, in this hyper
borean region, near the confluence of
Birch Creek with the Yukon, that gold
was discovered in small quantities in
1898, which was largely developed in
1894, and about which great excite
ment prevailed in 1895. Gold bad, in
the meantime, been discovered at
Forty Mile and Sixty Mile Creeks,
both tributary to Circle City, and in
Alaska, though entering the Yukon on
the British side of the boundary line.
In 1896 Circle City claimed a popula-
ton Of 1900 people, town lots we're
selling for as high as $4,000 each. The
reported output of gold was 81, 100000
for 1896. There were all the evidences
Of civilization looked for in such a
place-dance houses, faro banks and
rum shops. The city had a postmas-
ter who claimed the high distinction
of being the only representative of the
U. S. authority in a region as extern
siye as the Middle States. With all
this growth and new discoveries con-
stantly being made the whole town
pulled up stakes and moved 200 miles
higher up the Yukon, almost in a
night, on hearing of the rich discov-
cries in the Klondike region across
the international boundary line. No
object lesson could more forcibly ex-
emplify the disposition of a placer
miner to leave good thing and run
after something promising larger re-
turns. The quartz miner cannot do
this. He has brought in machinery and
erected his plant at a large expense,
and cannot move as long as he can
operate at a profit.
1t is claimed that this region will
finally prove to be as rich in the yell
low metal as the Klondike, the conten-
ton being that though no great fields
have been discovered the presence of
gold in more moderate quantities is
more general than in the highly ia
vored region. That is to say that in
prospecting the miner will draw fewer
blanks when he has reached bed rock,
though he cannot expect to find the
dirt as rich.
The Porcupine river, which empties
into the Yukon at Fort Yukon, just
inside the Arctic circle, is reported to
be good field for the explorer, and
the Tanana, which takes it's rise near
the head of the Copper river, is also
reported as good gold territory, both
of which rivers will probably be pros
pected pretty thoroughly the coming
summer. O. B. TURRELL.