The Nome Gold Fields 



385 



which then produced only a few furs, 

 now increases the wealth of the world 

 annually by nearly $8,000,000. A decade 

 ago the only communication with the 

 civilized world was through the annual 

 visit of the Arctic whaling fleet and the 

 revenue cutter ; now a score of ocean 

 liners ply between Nome and Puget 

 Sound during the summer months, and 

 even in winter a weekly mail service is 

 maintained by dog teams. Moreover, 

 military telegraph lines, cables, and wire- 

 less systems, and a private telephone 

 system keep all parts of the peninsula in 

 close touch with the outer world. Rail- 

 ways connecting some of the inland min- 

 ing centers with tide-water traverse re- 

 gions which a few years ago were almost 

 unknown to white men. This industrial 

 improvement is the result of the discov- 

 ery and exploitation of gold deposits." 



As there has been but one successful 

 attempt at auriferous lode mining in this 

 region, practically all the gold produc- 

 tion — approximately $37,000,000 in the 

 nine years from 1898 to 1907 — has been 

 taken from the placers, and it is the geo- 

 logic and industrial history of these 

 placers which is discussed in this report. 



Compared with the output of the Cali- 

 fornia placers, which are estimated to 

 have yielded in two years (1851 to 1853) 

 $62,000,000, and of the Klondike placers, 

 whose output in the first decade is valued 

 at $118,000,000, the production of the 

 Seward Peninsula placer mines is small. 

 A rough outline map in Mr Brooks's re- 

 port illustrates approximately the rela- 

 tive size of the gold-bearing areas of the 

 three regions and his comparison is most 

 interesting : 



"The auriferous gravels of California 

 * * * probably cover an area about 

 equal to that occupied by the auriferous 

 gravels of Seward Peninsula, but the 

 Klondike gold field is probably less than 

 one-tenth as large. The California 

 placers are not only ideally located for 

 economic exploitation, but their gold 

 content averaged no less than that of the 

 Seward Peninsula gravels. Moreover, 

 the high gravels of California are far 

 more extensive than those of the Alaska 



field. With abundant water supply, 

 steep stream gradients, heavy gravel de- 

 posits, accessibility, and salubrious cli- 

 mate, it is no wonder that the California 

 placers far outstripped the northern field 

 in the. first years of production. 



"The Klondike, on the other hand, is 

 less favorably situated than Seward Pe- 

 ninsula, and its water supply available 

 for mining is much less. It appears, 

 however, that the placers of such creeks 

 as Eldorado and Bonanza, in the Klon- 

 dike, averaged richer than any deposits 

 of similar extent yet found in the penin- 

 sula. It was the exploitation of these 

 almost fabulously rich and relatively 

 shallow gravels that brought the Klon- 

 dike gold output up with a bound, and it 

 is their quick exhaustion that has caused 

 an almost equally rapid decline of the 

 annual yield. There are still extensive 

 bodies of lower-grade gravels to mine in 

 the Klondike, but these can be developed 

 only by means of extensive water con- 

 duits or by dredging. Mining in the 

 Klondike has passed its zenith, whereas 

 in Seward Peninsula the maximum 

 yearly output is still to be reached. 



"In the comparison of the Seward Pe- 

 ninsula placer fields with others, it must 

 be borne in mind that probablv three- 

 fourths of the entire production has been 

 drawn from the region adjacent to 

 Nome and from Ophir Creek and its 

 tributaries. Therefore, though the gold- 

 bearing area is large, yet only a few 

 square miles have been extensively ex- 

 ploited * * * and it is probable 

 that it will be some time before the max- 

 imum yield Avill be attained." 



The report from which the above ex- 

 tracts are made contains, in addition to 

 papers by Mr Brooks, papers by Messrs 

 A. T. Collier, F. L. Hess, and P. S. 

 Smith. It includes several maps and 

 other illustrations. 



GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS 



THE Geographical Society of Ge- 

 neva has sent to the National 

 Geographic Society a limited number of 

 preliminary programs in French of the 



