The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1898-01-22
IN THE ~GOIDFIELDS.
oMlR MARS WRITES OF THE PROS
Poets NEAR DAWSON CITY.
The Chances Remaining For Newcomers
In the .klondike Country-Great Rush
Expected In tho Early Spring-Eawson
City's Future-Wastefui Mining

City's Future-Wastefui Mining Methods
Has 4 late ~ to the klondike >
good chance TO acquire q mine:
l have ~propounded this question to
old timers. to the Oldest of the miners,
who have spent years on tie Yukon. /
have asked half seasoned ch~eecharkos,
and without prejudice have put the
question to men who have only been in
Dawson q week and who already know
all about the country. / have had very
little satisfaction ont of any or all of
them. The sold commissioners Office is
thronged every day with men waiting
to make entry on mining claims. Some
Of them are of the pioneers, but more
often they have been in the camp less
than a month. \ strange thing is that
some of those who have been on the Yu.
kon for years have failed to get claims,
due usually to an excess of caution.
The quartz men arrived OH the field
late last fall and have done little pros
pecting. \ few locations have been
made in the country along the head Of
FL Dorado. Next summer will see such
: search among the rugged hills that
lie particularly between the klondike
On one side and Indian creek and Stu.
art river on the other that will almost
insure some wonderful discoveries.
The best OF the new creeks that late
fall work has developed is Sulphur,
which lies over a divide from Bonanza.
The discovery claim on Sulphur is about
an .~,l,, $,@.~ 49,.
pie make the trip over there and blindly
stake claims without knowing whether
tkey are good or not. Previous location
of a claim on klondike does not bar
one from using his privilege on Sulphur.
as it Is in a different district. being a
tributary CT Indian creek.
The mere fact of being Oh the ground
il this country is a small fortune in it.
self. The right to locate Il claim on the
hlondike is worth now about $50 and
cannot every day be purchased at that
price. Not many sales Of the privilege
are made on q cash basis. but there are
many assignments or transfers Of claims
and interests. For instance. a man dis
covers Il valuable overlooked claim or
fraction on q we'll known creek. He at
once hunts UP some man who has not
used his right as G miner Cnder the
Dominion law. The ~discCverer describes
his find and offers anything from 25
pounds Of -four to a half or three-quar-
ters interest. and the entry is made.
All locations Of claims on the klon-
dixie that have been made from tie dis
covery up to the present time have been
made hastily. At first there was a rush
to get in near the discovery at the
mouth Ct the FL Dorado. There was no
time fer digging holes to see if the gold
was really there. \ man had to make
his decision at once and abide by it.
Ten or a dozen claims were staked in
the first rush, both above and below dis.
covery on Bonanza and as many probably
on FL Dorado. Then it was thought that
possibly the limits Of the field had been
reached. and the owners Of the outer
claims put little value on their proper
ty, some CT them selling as low as $500.
Development followed slowly. The ear
ly numbers were opened by and by and
found to be even richer in some cases
than discovery. and then the later To-
caters alphabetically went to work to find
what they had. When it was found
that the limit was not yet reached, an
other brief excitement ensued, and more
claims were staked. So the field has
widened. There are ten claims to the
mile on the first creeks opened. The dis
covery claim On Bonanza is nearly IL
miles above the mouth. Mile after mile
tho vra1,l ,,-ao y,nac,roJ ond c1ainn1
but up to the last days Of September
there was still a mile Of the lower creek
open to location. Then with a rush the
rest was taken in aday. Now the Klon-
dixie is claimed for many purposes al
most to the limits Of Dawson City.
Bonarza creek enters the klondike
only a nile above the mouth of the lat
ter vt tie junction Of the two streams
is "a c,rcIldr basin a half mile across
tefl 4 : .o-Eoir Ct small lake an axe
tx, '.- ..t!y found by erosion nr
c%ii,tr - outlet to the Yukon. 1t
l: H.. +. i. I sHacc partly taken up by
l. L.gana u..rtiy t7 old channels and
LCH..&. ,s.&AGs. which are not 20
surroau1ya IL water. Every creek that
has teen prGsuectcd Of the number that
contribute to the inflow Of this basin is
literally lined with gold, and for ages
it would seem this place has been a
catch pit for the metal that finds it's way
down the klondike. Recently ID claims,
which constitute the entire basin, We're
entered in one day as a hydraulic en-
terprise, and it has been named the
KlOndike Bonanza Reservoir group.
Every one looks forward with inter
est not unmiYed with dread to an i'm
mense crowd Of people this year at
Dawson. Opportunities for making
money may not be so numerous as they
have been in the past, but no one can
say definitely whether they will be in
creased or exhausted by the accession Of
people.
The feeling prevails now that Daw-
son will be a city. remember express
sions something akin to that last year
in regard to Circle City, which is now
almost deserted, but of Dawson it can
- ..:l 49, - ~~.<.11, 1~.oAzl