Valdez daily prospector., 1917-01-30
LOS! MINES } LURE
 Ol.D|:flMERS BACK

Northern lore IS rich in legend Of lost gold mines. The search to be undertaken by John D. DeFries is only one of many familiar quests, some of which have pointed the road to wealth and many others to discour- agement, even to tragedy. The cen tral theme of all is much the same, but there are variations in the details as there are shades of difference in human temperament. The lure of gold is old but ever new and every camp has tales of those who have fought penurious Nature for her ieal- ously-guarded secrets.
 Searching for Host mines in Alaska almost rivals in romance the hunts for the fabled treasure islands in the Pacific.
 Ilacers in the Nome district and is in- |terested in mining Eastern Oregon is the latest to join the ranks of the many who have already sought Host mines" in Alaska. He will leave Se- attle for the North in the late spring as soon as navigation opens, says the Seattle Times of recent date. De Fries foated down the Yukon river from Dawson in an open boat i in 1900. He said he then banned the Yukon river bars in several places. r;h hut ntxyin spfa n great Yukon river system, he said, carried a percentage of gold. He be- lieves that dredging operations after the government railroad is completed sc that heavy machinery may be transported more cheaply, along the Yukon bars will produce more golden wealth than has been or will be taken fr.n all the placer mining in Alaska.
 Gets Trace of Treasure. It was on the Yukon River trip that DeFries got trace of what he be- lieves will turn out to be rich placer diggiEgs. He is confident hat he hes the right dope" Two men, strangers to each other, he says, have furnished him maps of the same To- cation and one of them is going along and stake his own money.
 As the story goes, it is much like tic account of other lost mines. One parta.r died and the other finally made his way out of the wilderness with |. poke of coarse gold.
 The fact that rich deposits of gold have been uncovered in Alaska riakes the accounts of Host mines" Ill the more tempting and to the glamour of romance adds a touch Of possible re- alIty.
 One extremely rich clairi, where the gold seemed practically concen- trated from the whole surrounding district, caused the stampede to che Kantishna. The owners were forced to guard the ground to keep stam- peders from 'sniping" nuggets from the surface. Gold found in a natural the Chisana.
 Possibly in ChiSana.
 Some AlasKans now believe that possibly the Host mine" of the upper Panama basin may have had it's ori- gin in the Chisana. AS the story goes two prospectors penetrated the Tana- na wilderness before there was any white settlement. One was killed by the Indians. The other, though bad ly wounded escaped. He finally turn ed up in Chicago with strange story tand a pocketful of nuggets to verify his story. He made a rought map from memory and from that the lOca- ton was thought to be in the vicinity ot the confluence of the Goodpaster and Panama rivers. The map made by the prospector differed from the sub seuuent government maps, since the latter showed the Goodpaster flowing into the Panama from the south. The prospector's map proved correct. Many of the early government maps were in error.
 After Fairbanks had established it's reputation as the center of ,Onsid- erable placer camp. ard the country had been thoroughly staked. one of those queer characters peculiar to the Ncrthland used to come 70 town pc riodically with enough gold to keep him in liquor for several months.
 Cunning About His Find
 No matter how drunk he might be- come, however, or how much ne might suffer from lack of stimulants after his money and credit were gone he could never be made to talk about the origin of his find. He was almost uncannily cunning on this point. Even