THH CAPH NOMh" GOLD DISTRICT 



B}^ F. C. ScHKADEH, 

 United Slati's Gcohgical Survey 



On arriving at St Michael late in .Sej^tember, LS90, at the close of 

 the field season's work in the Yukon countr}', we found that ocean 

 transi)ortation from St Michael to Seattle could not be obtained before 

 about October 10, when the N. A . T. & T. Company's steamship Roanoke 

 would sail. The interim of a cou})le of weeks' waiting was accordingly' 

 improved by repairing to Nome for tlie ])ur]iose of collecting sucii 

 geologic and topographic data of tiiis new district as time, circum- 

 stances, and climate would ])ermit. 



As our boats, tents, and camping outfits had been left in the Yukon 

 countrv,our ])arty was dependent for such accommodations at Nome 

 or from the miners on the creeks and in the gulches. The topograph v 

 was in charge of Messrs T. G. Gerdine and D. C. Witherspoon, while 

 the geology and topograi)hy were done by Messrs Brooks and Schrader. 

 The latter, with knajisacks of slee))ing bags and ju'ovisions, made a 

 several da3^s' trip into the mountains and gulches to examine the 

 formations and gold diggings. On account of the snow, cold weather, 

 and freezing u[) of the creeks, most of the gold claims had been closed 

 down early in October and the operators had departed. Wliercver 

 tlie miners were found to be still present, however, their hospitality 

 was generously extended, notably by Mr F. P. King, meml)ers of the 

 Pioneer Company, and other miners on Anvil Creek. 



The Cape Nome district is situated on the northwest coast of Alaska, 

 on the northeast arm of Bering Sea, at the entrance of Norton Sound. 

 It is the southern promontory of a large peninsula, extending west- 

 ward toward Siberia betweijn Kotzel)ue and Norton Sounds, and 

 largely separates Bering Sea from the Arctic Ocean. Westward this 

 ])eninsula terM)inates at the Ki.Stii meridian in Cape Prince of Wali-s, 

 the most westward extension of the American continent, which is here 

 separated from Asia by Bering Strait, about (iO mih's in width. 



The promontory on which the Nome district occurs has long been 

 known on nearly all Alaskan maps by the name of Cape Nome. The 

 district lies about 100 miles northwest of St Michael, and just outside 



