Iditarod pioneer., 1913-11-22
MORE DETAILS OF THE
 STRIKE AT NELCHlNA
Seward Gateway, October 4)

The very recent discovery of another pay creek in the Matanuska gold district is i'm portant in tn at it indicates the wide area of the gold bearing belt in the new camp. This creek, or rather it should more properly be called gulch, enters Crooked creek from the opposite side from that which Albert flows into the larger stream It also lndl- cates that Crooked creek, into which flow these goll. bearing streams, may possess gold in commercial quantities.
 The gulch called by the discoverers Poor Mans, was located by the Christofferson party, comprising four men, which returned to knik week or so ago This party bed r cked the gulch at one point, getting coarse gold and good prospects. Bedrock was struck at six feet.
 Christohersons party covered forty miles of territory in the new diggings. The mem bers say that the formation, wash, etc, on other creeks look similar to that existent on Albert creek, where a paystreak has been revealed. This is another good indication.
 Just why this new gold-bearing district has been passed up until this time Is OK
 lained by the fact that the ground is par tally frozen, rendering prospecting much more difficult than in unfrozen camps. True, various prospectors have been in this region from time to time, but unless they | ,,+a country they could do but little in deter mining whether or not gold existed in pay ing quantities.
 It is pretty well substantiated that ! Getclell and Olscn who found the pay streak on Albert creek, struck pay through continuing to bedrock an open cut which had been dug by Jack Tansy and others of Valdez some three years ago. The Tansy 1 party got down to false bedrock of clay and quit in disgust. Getchel and Olsen went through the clay which formed layer | about eighteen inches in thickness, and en- countered a four foot paystreak lying above the true bedrock The richness of the ground may be judged when it is authori tatively said that the discoverers took out 65 ounces of gold dust from an open cut within radius of 34 square feet And on neither side of the creek has the rim been touched. The ground shows more values cn the left hand side of the cut.
 Henry Bahrenburg of Bahrenburg & Budd mining men of the Cache creek coun- try, made a prospecting trip through that region in the year 1898. AS he himself says, in those days the steam thawer for gold mining was unheard of outside of the klon- dke and when he found that the ground was frozen he quit the district.
 1 Nowadays, however frozen ground pre- sents no difficulties to the mining man. In fact, he rather likes it, as it means that he will have to handle only the paystreak lying on bedrock, in the case of deep dig gings eliminating the working of lot of valueless overburden. Then again, it means winter as we'll as summer camp, and that's what the miner wants. | George R. Vause of Susitna, who passed through Knik en route here, and who talked with members of the Christofferson party brings the latest news of the camp to Seward He thinks so we'll of the new district that he proposes to go there at an early date.
 Mir Vause says the Gateway's articles concerning the district have not been at all exaggerated and have not overstated the facts regarding the camp