ALASKA. 77 
that year, including United States and British territory, is esti¬ 
mated at $1,400,000. 
Professor Spurr says: 
The Yukon districts lie in a broad belt of gold-producing rocks, having a 
considerable width and extending in a general east and west direction for sev¬ 
eral hundred miles. Throughout this belt, occur quartz veins which carry gold, 
but so far as yet found out, the ore is of low grade, and a large proportion of 
the veins have been so broken by movements in the rocks that they can not be 
followed. For this reason, the mines in the bed rock can not be worked, except 
on a large scale with improved machinery', and even such operations are impos¬ 
sible until the general conditions of the country in reference to transportation 
and supplies are improved. 
Through the gold-bearing rocks, the streams have cut deep gullies and can¬ 
yons, and in their beds the gold which was contained in the rocks which have 
been worn away is concentrated, so that from a large amount of very low-grade 
rock there may be formed in places a gravel sufficiently rich in gold to repay 
washing. All the mining which is done in this country, therefore, consists in 
the washing out of these gravels. 
In each gulch, prospectors are at liberty to stake out claims not already taken, 
the size of the claims being determined by vote of all the miners in each gulch, 
according to the richness of the gravel. The usual length of a claim is about 
500 feet along the stream and the total width of the gulch bed, which is ordi¬ 
narily narrow. When a prospector has thus staked out his claim, it is recorded 
by one of the miners, who is elected by his fellows in each gulch for that pur¬ 
pose, and this secures him sufficient title. The miners’ laws are practically the 
entire government in these districts, for the remoteness prevents any systematic 
communication being carried on with the United States. All questions and 
disputes are settled by miners’ meetings, and the question in dispute is put to 
popular vote. 
In prospecting, the elementary method of panning is used to discover the 
presence of gold in gravel, but after a claim is staked and systematic work 
begun, long sluice boxes are built of boards, the miners being obliged to fell the 
trees themselves and saw out the lumber with whipsaws, a very laborious kind 
of work. The depth of gravel in the bottom of the gulches varies from a foot 
up to 20 or 30 feet, and when it is deeper than the latter figure, it can not be 
worked. 
The upper part of the gravel is barren, and the pay dirt lies directly upon 
the rock beneath, and is generally very thin. To get at this pay dirt all the 
upper gravel must be shoveled off, and this preliminary work often requires an 
