The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-07-02
The Miner as Pioneer of Civilization
10y T. A. Rikard)

treasure of the region. But they prov
ed abortive. A malaria shore and a
dense jungle blocked the passage of
the white man. Nevertheless, during
the earlier half of the nineteenth CEN
fury the export Of gold is estimated to
have averaged c35oOO0 pounds, or
$,750,000 per annum all of it the
gleanings of native workers. Not un-
til 1880 did real mining begin. on the
initiative of an intrepid Frenchman.
Marie Joseph Bonnat An orphan,
first a shoeblack and subsequently a
chef in Paris hotel, he met there
two ivory hunters to whom he offered
his services for one year without pay.
He was engaged, and went with them
to West Africa, When they retired
from business, two years later they
bequeathed their equipment to him
Thereupon he went into business on
his own account On one of his ivory
! hunting journeys he was captured by
the Ashantis and remained a prisoner
in the kings kraal for three years, un-
til released by Sir Garnet Wolseley. in
1874, on the occasion of the Coomas-
sic campaign While a captive he saw
the kings treasures of gold and heard
of the diggings on the Tarkwa range
When liberated, he obtained con-
cession from the king of eastern Was
sau, and returned to Paris, where. In
1877, company called the Cote dor
was organized by him to operate the
mines now known as the Taquah and
Abosso. Forthwith other traders OBJ
tanned concessions and took them to
London where two or three companies
were formed. But these early enter
prises did not prosper AS was the
case in Rhodesia at first the lack OF
transport the scarcity of supplies, and
sickness among the pioneers crippled
operations Bonnat himself did not
live to see the fruit of his labors; he
did at Taquah in 1881 His was GAL
liant spirit worthy to rank among the
best of the heroic forerunners of civil
ization.
AS a sequel to gold mining in West
Africa came the clearing of the bush,
the training of the natives, the build
ing of a railway, and the introduction
of sanitary reforms. Then followed
the finding of tin on the highlands
east Of the Niger. where now thirty
ing industry is established. This. in
turn, has admitted light and air into
the tropical jungle, facilitated the es-
Establishment Of cocoa, rubber and cot
ton culture, and brought dark cor
ner of the earth within touch of the
yitalizing forces of industrial pro-
gress.
The Story Of the Yukon.
And now. for our last Illustration
we go to Canada. The story of the
Yukon is so recent as only to need re-
calling. That remote corner of the
North American continent was slow to
be unveiled The mountains guarding
the coast discouraged the Russians
who crossed the sea from kamchatkai
the main range barred the way of the
English fur traders and French voya
geurs who come overland. In 1S4S the
Russian Zagoskin assembled the Yukon
as far as the Tanana, and about the
same time Robert Campbell, an agent
Of the Hudson Bay company de-
scended the river to its confluence
with the Porcupine. But the only OBJ
ject Of these ntrusions into the in
hospitable wilderness was the trade
in furs. No whisper Of gold was
heard
The first gold to come from the Yu-
kon consisted of two nuggets obtain
ed from an Indian in 1880. Small
parties of prospectors began to test
the creek bottoms. Encouraging dis
coveries were made, but none of them
was remarkable; moreover, the pre-
carious food supply and the shortness
of the season checked enthusiasm. in
1896 the annual output of gold was
about 100000, Of which only $780,
600 came from the Canadian TERRITORY.
for the more productive diggings were
on the Alaskan or American side Of
the boundary which is about 80 miles
below Dawson, where the waters OF
the Klondike mingle with those OF the
Yukon. Up to that time this vast wa
tershed was of no particular conse-
uuence as a mining region. Then sud-
denly. out of a clear sky, came the
tremendous shout 81 Ia great gold dis
covery.
The First Gold.
On July IA, 1897. the steamship En-
celsior arrived at San Francisco bring
ing miners laden with sacks of gold.
They told stories of new Eldorado.
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