The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1898-01-01
STORY OF THE
GOLDEN YUKON.
Continued from First Psge.)

is found extending up the mountain
sides to an altitude Of from 1000 to
1900 feet above the river. 1t is this
which appears to those passing down
the river in boats to be a continuation
Of the good timber seen along the banks.
Timber that is fit for anything is scarce,
and we should husband it carefully. a
great deal Of our timber has already
gone down the river. 1t was ou timber
that built Circle City. Our timber has
indeed served all the purposes Of the up
per Yukon country. A large amount OF
timber is required for the development
of our own nj OH the upper river.
and our government should at nee take
steps to protect it for our own use and
benefit.
Above the timber line you come to
the bare rocks-the crests bare save
where clothed with a growth of lichen
on which the caribou feeds. There is no
timber in the way here, no moss and no
brush. The miners consequently keep
as much as possible to the top Of the
ridge.
Bedrock Prospecting.
Bedrock prospecting necessarily has
to be reserved for the winter. First the
moss has to be cleared away, and then
the muck or decayed vegetable mold
has to be picked away for a depth of
two or three feet. After two or three
feet in depth has been picked out a fire
is built in this ''hole,' as it is termed.
in the evening. In the morning the
ground which has been thawed by the
fire is shoveled out, and in the after
noon wood for another fire is procured.
In the evening another fire is built, the
ground thawed by this is shoveled out
the following morning, and SO on until
bedrock is reached.
Six, s, 10 and - feet of the surface
is decayed vegetable matter and allu-
vial deposit of sand in the clay, termed
by the miners "muck.' AS soon as
gravel is struck prospecting is COM
menced-that is, a pan or two Of the
dirt is washed to determine whether it
is worth keeping or not, as the ref
use is thrown III II side Of the hole
and the pay dirt on the other. Near to
and on bedrock the pay is found, which
is generally not more than wv or three
feet deep.
All the way through the so called
muck we find trees lying in every direc-
ton. Those trees are Of the same kinds
of wood and present the same appear
ances of growth as those today growing
on the surface. In order to determine
approximately the age of the pay dirt l
have made a special study of features in
this connection, but did not obtain
sufficient data, nor was I there long
enough to do SO. l know that trees are
now growing Oh the surface from 100
to $50 years Of age, the roots of these
very often engirdling trees fully as old
Of the same kind lying Immediately
beneath them. Beneath these again are
other trees, and SO OH down to a depth
often of IL or ii feet.
From this we must infer that the
gold deposit, or pay dirt, was made
thousands OF years ago, yet in it we find
the bones of animals which are still
quite common in the district and of
others which are found farther to the
south. / have in my possession two
horns of the bison, or so called buffalo,
which a few years ago rOamed the prai-
ries to the south and east Of this in vast
herds. These were, when l got them, in
a better state of preservation than SINH
lar horns which one would pick up in a
journey from. say, Calgary to Mcleod,
or any other part of our prairie region
which the buffalo frequented. I have
also part of the horn of a moose and part
of the head Of an elk, showing the brain
cavity, which is as large and we'll de-
veloped as that of any elk which might
be found there today. l have also part
of what | believe to be the neck verte-
bra Of the bison. Along with these are
found the teeth of the mastodon, several
of which were picked up on the claims
of Bonanza and Ell Dorado last winter.
In one of these claims a piece of a rib
was found in the pay streak, to which
some 0; the frozen flesh still adhered.
1t crumbled away, however, almost i'm.
mediately on exposure to heat and the
air. This piece Of rib was not more than
W. inches in length, and from it's size
very probably belonged to one Of TIE
smaller animals. such as the mountain
sheep or goat. l did not see or hear Of
any evidence Of the existence Of man at
any depth in those creeks.
Manner of Getting Out the Dirt.
Now, a few words on the manner of
getting out the dirt in this region. AS
0 as the ground is frozen sufficiently
to enable VI to prosecute our work with
out interference from water we sink a
hole to bedrock, as 1 have before de-
scribed. The time this takes is measured
by the depth Of the hole, one foot per
day heing counted fair work. Should
we reach bedrock without finding pros
poets another hole has to be sunk in the
same way, and this process continued
until the pay is struck.
One claim holder may locate pay at
the very first hole. The man adjoining
may have to sink many. I know of one
instance in which II holes were sunk
across the valley without anything be-
ing struck in any Of them. In fact, the
valley was almost crosscut, as it is
termed, yet a miner in the vicinity paid
this unfortunate man So, 500 for a half