The Wrangell sentinel., 1926-10-14
MINING INDUSTRY
 OF ALASKA

l
 industries, shat of mining. Wran-
 sell was the first Of the Alaska towns to feel the impetus which l comes from the stampaders in the search of gold During the late l 70's and early sos. it was the out l fitting point for thirty thousand miners who stampeded up the sa- 1 kine river and Into the Cassiar dis l trict. British Columbia. Again in 1 S97, after the discovery Of gold on the Klondike river many stan pedefs outfitted at Wrangeu think l ing they could reach this Fl Dorado l by way of the Stikine river. Tela- graph Creek and Teslin Lake. thus avoiding Che Chilkoot Pass and
 Whitehorse Rapids
 The first placer gold mined in 1 Alaska came from the Silver Bow 1 Basin, Juneau the oldest American settlement in Alaska. in 1880.
 About ghe same time the Treadwell l quartz mine was developed in small way and was later enlarged until if was second 10 no gold mine l in the world at the time of the big eayein and flooding of the major part of the workings in the spring 1 of 1917. Gastineau Channel has been the center of considerable mining activity from the time ot i the first discovery of gold in Silver l Bow Basin to the present time. l The Alaska=Juneau mine in 1929, produced one-sixth of all the gold mined in Alaska.
 The discovery of gold In tho l Klondike region. Yukon Territory. l in 1896 Was responsible for a peri cd of increased activity in Juneau turing The succeeding years when fhe stampeders were enroute Skag
 way came into being over night and in 1S97-98 was a city of some fifteen thousand inhabitants. AL though depleted in population al stands at the gateway to the Yukon Territory and Is of commercial i'm portanee for this reason
 The placer mines of the Forty Mile river district were discovered in 1887; those of the Rampant
 district in 1893 those of the Sun
 rise district Cook Inlet, in 1891; and those of the upper Koyukuk
 river in 1899. The first real stan
 pede to Alaska Territory. however,
 occurred with the discovery of pla-
 ger gold on Anvil creek near Nome
 in 1898. The stampeders arrived
 by the thousands during 1899 and
 1900 when gold In paying quanti-
 ies was discovered on the beacl
 It Nome. Following the Nome
 tampede other placer deposits were
 srened on the Seward peninsula,
 aotably at Candle Creek. Counci
 7itY and in the Kougarok country
 70 the northward After the days
 f the rush Nome's population de-
 lined until 1905, when renewed
 activity occurred for a few years as the result of the discovery of
 gold in the old beach levels on the
 tundra back of the present beach.
 The discovery of gold near Fair
 banks in 1902 created a new mecca
 for the disappointed stampeders who had visited the Klondike,
 Nome and the districts, and thou
 sands flocked to Fairbanks, which soon developed into a thriving city. For several years following the
 first discovery of gold in this sec
 tion. new finds were made on the
 creeks in the district, and Fair banks thereafter had rather pro longed period of prosperity. The
 district still holds much promise both as mining and agricultural section.
 The discovery of placer gold near
 Hot Springs on the Tanana river
 in 1906 resulted in the establish
 mtnt of a permanent settlement
 there. Iditarod is among the last
 of the large placer camps. The dis
 triet was discovered in 1909 and is
 producing approximately one-half
 million dollars in gold annually Gold was discovered on the creek back of Ruby in 1912. resulting in the establishment of a perma- nent settlement at that point. The Tolovana strike in 1914 resulted in a large influx of gold seekers to
 that section. The kantishna, Fly der and Willow Creek districts now loom large on the gold mining ho- rizon.
 In addition to the settlements mentioned as being founded largely as result of gold mining activi- ties, other minerals have played
 very large part in the development of Alaska's history and commerce. Copper was responsible for the con struction of the Copper River and Northwestern railroad, which con reets the copper mines at Kenne-
 colt and vicinity with the coast.
 Cordova, the coast terminal, sprang into existence at the time that construction on the railroad was
 begun in 1907.
 The report of the Territorial
 Mine Inspector for the year 1922 places the total mineral production
 in Alaska since 1880 at four hun dred ninety-six million, seven hun
 dred twenty-five thousand dollars.
 which is more than sixty times the purchase price of Alaska.
 Alaska's undeveloped mineral | resources are still enormous.
 Known tin deposits, principally on Seward peninsula have no equal on the North American continent.
 The coal bearing lands of Alaska
 cover twelve thousand miles ard contain billions of tons of coal.