GOLD MINING IN THE UNITED STATES ' 185 



Creek, Eldorado, Himker, Gold Bottom, Dominion, Siilphur, Gold 

 Run, Quartz and other creeks, were found. 



The richest of the Klondike placers were exhausted in a few years, 

 the production began to fall and people predicted the end of mining 

 there, especially as no very important gold-bearing veins had as yet 

 been discovered; but in recent years, with the introduction of more 

 modern and economical appliances, the immense areas of low-grade 

 gravels are being successfully worked, and the Klondike will probably 

 be an active gold producer for many 3'ears to come. 



In 1898, at the height of the Klondike excitement, gold was found 

 at Cape Nome on the Alaska Coast of Behring Sea, north of the mouth 

 of the Yukon. The first discoveries were made on Anvil Creek, a few 

 miles back from the beach, and during the following year in the beach 

 sands themselves. Again a stampede started to the north, and though 

 not so many people went there as to Dawson City, yet the number was 

 considerable, and large quantities of gold were quickly produced by 

 those who were fortunate enough to escape shipwreck and other dis- 

 asters on the way. 



The result of these far-north gold discoveries was the exploration of 

 that country many years before it would otherwise have taken place, 

 and in a very short time the region, up until then little known, except 

 in spots, became familiar to all. The whole of it has since been overrun 

 by the prospector, and many other gold districts than those mentioned 

 have been found, but the chief producers to-day are the Klondike, 

 Cape Nome and the Fairbanks regions, the last being on the Tanana 

 River, a tributary of the Yukon in Alaska. The production of Alaska 

 in 1910 was estimated at $16,987,990, while that of the Yukon terri- 

 tory of Canada, which includes the Klondike, was estimated at $4,550,- 

 000, a decrease from the maximum of $22,275,000 in the boom year of 

 1900.^ 



The Goldfield. district in Esmeralda County, Nevada, was another 

 discovery that followed after the fall in price of silver, and here from 

 1902 to 1904, and later, were found great deposits of gold-bearing 

 quartz that have made the region one of the most important gold dis- 

 tricts of the world. The Goldfield Consolidated Company to-day is the 

 largest single gold-producer in the United States, its output in the year 

 ending October 31, 1910, being $10,866,752. The region is not far 

 from the Comstock lode, and many an old prospector of the latter 

 region doubtless trod over it without realizing the value of what was to 

 be discovered over forty years later. Other districts in Nevada, such as 

 Silver Peak, Rawhide, Bullfrog, Round Mountain, Delamar and many 

 other places, also became important gold-mining centers ; and Nevada, 



= " Mineral Industry," New York, ]910, p. 266. 



VOL. LXXX. - 13. 



