

KLONDIKE, TIIK. 



took place in 1887, when Forty- mile creek was dis- 

 covered and coarse gold was first found. News of 

 this was brought o,,t by Tom William-, a messen- 

 ger. Who brought letters for the | ami 



.-.. .1- : . :. : al Ishipi 



of the journey. In the spring of 1888 mum 



$380, t<> the pan was taken. A pan i- 



and while miners consider <lirt containing 

 : the shovelful, if three feet deep, is rid 

 in these creeks $1 to tin- pan i> thought MIKI! 

 nugget worth $583.25 was lound on I'.l.i 



Dominion land surveyor, QSlI 



uile creek began, and now nearly all aoces- been making a topographical survey of the r.nhsl 

 sible gold has been got out. but n main 



worked when there are greater facilities. 

 Birch creek has, next to the Klondike, the ri 



yet found in that region, and con- 



diggings 



,,-t , th,.worl,l. These 

 weW first worked, in 1M : ami Mastodon. < , 



Independence, Dead wood, and Eagle creeks, 



all trttMtarlSS of the Hm h. promise rich rewa- 



hi fa.-t. th,- whole valley of the Yu- 



kon and its affluent* * a gold-bestrewed region. 



Gen. PumVld. of the I nited States Coast ami 



Geodetic Survey, says : "The gold has been ground 



tin- quart/ by the pressure of glaciers, which 



lio and imivp along the courses of th- -mams, ex- 



, at all times a tremendous pressure. The 



Miit t. a more appreciable extent in 



Alaska than elsewhere ; and I U-lieve that, as a 



OOOSequrtice. more placer p. Id will be found in thai 



:i in any other part of the world. When 



i: -ink-: it dors not float far 



downstream. It is then- fore to U- looked for along 



the small creeks and aln.ut the head water- of the 



larger tributaries of the Yukon. There is no rea- 

 son iy not be made oil the 



American side of the line as in the Klondike re- 

 It i* true that the small streams are the 

 found to IK- rich in gold, which is generally at the 

 bottom of thick gravel deposits. Hut the ground is 

 not of equal richness, and the gold of this northern 

 region has in combination more of the baser im-tals 

 in-n. silver, and lead than the gold of Califor- 

 nia. Yukon gold In-ing worth $17 to $18 to the 

 ounce, while that of California is worth $1 more. 



After Williams'* news there was a rush made for 

 Gastinaux channel. Claims were staked put on 

 Gold creek, and a town was established which was 

 named Juneau after one of the men who first ex- 

 plored the regi 



Co< '".'Hi miles west of Sit ka, was rumored 



to be a gold region, and in 1895 many persons 

 searched there in vain for wealth. Later, rock ami 

 gold placers were reported to be in the same vicini- 

 ok's inlet became again the resort of 

 liners. Few of these work for wages, and some 

 claims yield $10 to $40 daily. 



The Klondike distriet consists of the valley of 

 vcTof that name, which flows westward into 

 Yukon, and extend- :MI miles south to Indian 

 al- flowing into the Yukon. Midway be- 

 Klondike and Indian rivers is a hill call.. 1 

 the Dome, and streams flow into them from the 

 height of land between. Bonanza, 23 miles I.M_. 

 and Hunker creeks are tributaries % of the 

 Klondike. Kldorado of Bonanza, and (iol.l 

 torn of Hunker. (Quartz creek. No Name, an 

 minion flow into Indian river. More than 500 

 locations have been made on this n \. r. hut it has 

 been found very difficult to take J.P,-. > : . ... up to it 

 The head waters of the Klondike are unknown, 

 thong m have aw-.-ml.-d it 150 mile-, 



find it there still larger than a brook. The t 



untamous and rery nigged, and is covered 

 with a heavy growth of spruce, birch, and poplar. 



The earliest reports of the wealth of the Klon- 

 dike were from Indians and a white n 



irmack, located the first claim in August, 1896, 

 on Bonanza creek. Here three men washed out 

 $14/200 in eight days. Later one claim yielded 

 $8180 to the pan. On Eldorado $100, an'd then 



-n the Klondike. A celi-lls ma 



him of the production show- that ",M da:- 



"Mi. He estimates that if?!'. 1 



produced I iy Bonan/.a. Eldorado, and Hunker creeks 

 in three y 

 After Carmack's d 



mile creek am: p for th< 



fields. \\a- api-aivnl I) m-l so ^ i, ul I 



for there an <>n the Klmidikr ll..r 



be Worked by sluicing, as thr gohl-l.eann.i; strata 



lie from " i under ground. ' 



Ont miners, dissatisfied with i , which ap- 



pearcd to him iin|.rlitablr. sold it for $s.'i. I 



rn sol,} fir $:n.(NK). and when worked l>\ t he 

 I owner it yielded $i:H),(MH) [| 

 claim on the Kldorado wa- -old f.i 

 to be paid on the day of sale. $l."i.(KMia month 

 and the remainder 'to he dm- 



! payment. The second payment wa- : 

 four days early, and the third ten day-. One miner, 

 who considered that he had done " pretty well.' 

 drifted a plat 24 by 14 feet, making $8,000 n 

 result of two months and a half of Ial> 

 No. 9 on Kldorado has immediately above bed rock 

 3 or 4 inches of almost pure p>ld. An oil 

 $1,000,000 was made for 10 adjninin n this 



. lint was declined. A claim is .">OO fed long, 



measured in a straight line in the direction , 



valley, and is the width of the Itottom. Bench 

 Claims on Kldorado run 200 to 300 feet up the 

 mountain. One'of t lies,- paid $<;o<) a day, wit 

 man taking out material and one 

 prospects have Keen found -KK) and 500 feet above 

 the liar. 



The ground here freezes solid, and onl 

 of it thaws in summer. The miners huii 

 the area where they wish to excavate, and when 

 these have burned about twenty-four hoi. 

 the softened muck, and then light fires again. In 

 this way they sink a shaft to bed n-ck, and then 

 tunnel by the same process. This method of min- 

 inu r is expensive, and not all claims are richer 



to pay the cost. Where the bed rock is smooth tin -re 



is DO gold, but where it is rough the gold is |o 

 often t he shafts do not strike a pay streak. Unless 



vound yield- J*l."i a day to 'a mai, 

 prolitahlr to'work it. miners' wages being $1.v 

 liour. and the d.> -evm hours |oi 



' 



a shaft yields no't more than 10 cents to the pan it. 

 is abandoned. About I >awson City the bed ! 

 a soft shale, and this is often worked to a depth of 

 :{ feet. The material taken out i- left in a. 

 heap until spring, when the torrents are flowing, 

 and it is then panned and cradled. 



In the summer of 1H!)? there were only two trav- 

 eled routes into the gold region- one |,y Lynn 

 Canal, Taiva pass, and descend ing the Yukon: the 

 other by St. Michael, Alaska, and ascending the 

 Yukon. There are now six principal rout- 

 which to reach the Klondike: The second al- 

 mentioned : the Dalton trail from Main. 

 to Fort Selkirk- the Dyea, via Dyea to Lake Lin- 

 demann : the Skagway, via Skagway to Lake Lin- 

 rlemann, or Lake: Bennett : the Taku river from 

 .Juneau to Lake Teslin; and the Stickn to Lake 

 i. by way of Fort Wrangel. The Dalton i- ;i 

 fair trail' for horses and cattle. Th ' hil- 



koot pass has always been used by the C'Ju'lkat Indi- 

 ans, and all the early explorers entered the North- 

 west Territories by this pass. It is very hard to get 



