The Daily Alaska empire., 1951-12-29
Link Between Alaska Gold, Chicago, Told in
 NU Professcr's Book

f1OW lllTee SlllCdBU SCliOOl puiid- ings and hospital came into be- ing because of an Alaskan gold mine are told in a new book by Dr. Leland H., Carlson, professor
 of history at Northwestern Uni- versity, Evanston, Illinois.
 An Alaskan Gold Mine, The
 Story of No. 9 Above" just pub lished by the Northwestern Uni versity Press, gives the dramatic details of gold mining profits which made possible the erection of the
 Swedish Covenant hospital and
 three buildings of North Park Col lege in Chicago.
 Not a novel, the book is study
 of the great stampede to Nome and the Seward Peninsula in 1698- -1901. i, It is also narrative of the dis coveries of gold by Scandinavians on the richest stream near Nome Anvil Creek-and of one very rich
 mine, No. Above Discovery. 
 The mine got its name from the
 custom of numbering the claims staked either upstream or down. stream from the point where gold was first found.
 Story Gathered The story, gathered from rare manuscript and legal sources. re- counts the four trips of exploration and discovery, the stalking and re-
 cording of claims, and the strug- gles of Eskimos, missionaries and claim jumpers for ownership, as we'll as developments during the period from 1998-1902.
 One of the greatest legal swim
 dles ever attempted in history in- volved No. Above, and formed
 the basis of novel by Rex Beach
 called "The Spoilers, later made into a motion picture.
 The books five parts include des-
 criptions of the Eskimo lawsuit,
 arbitration commission hearings in Chicago and the tracing of the i legal history of the case.
 National Legal Battle The legal battle for ownership of No. 9 Above became nationally
 famous. The issues were argued
 before II different courts, includ-
 ing the United States Supreme
 court. to which appeal was made on four occasions. Twenty judges
 and 24 lawyers became deeply in-
 volved in the complicated legal ar-
 guments which were continued
 over period of 16 years.
 Tn preparation for the writing
 of the book, Dr. Carlson spent five years of steady research. He wis.,
 tied Alaska three times, worked through the records of the Alaska ] Territorial Library and Museum,
 and followed the complex litigation ! by Investigating the records in the offices of the clerks of the courts in Chicago and Springfield,
 H.; in Abilene and Topeka, Kan.
 in St. Louis, Mo-; in San Francis co, Calf; in Juneau, Alaska in
 the Library of Congress; in the
 Supreme Court library, and in the
 Department of Justice records in the National Archives at Washing ton, D. c.
 1 Dr. Carlson was fortunate in To-
 eating several "sourdoughs" who
 participated in the gold rushes of
 l897-1900, from whom he secured
 valuable information. He had in- terviews with two men who worked !, on No. Above in 1900, and with
 two lawyers who participated in the long legal battle, all of whom i added important details. The re- suit is careful, detailed, exhaus-
 tive, and objective study of a sub- ject which evoked strong feelings
 40 years ago.
 The book contains a bibliog- raphy, an index, and nine full- page illustrations, including two