32 COAL KESOURCES OF THE YUKON. [no. 218. 
The 5- ton sample, above referred to, was tested on the Northern 
Commercial Company's steamer Sarah, and is reported to have given 
entire satisfaction, as compared with the other Yukon River coals. 
Coal was discovered on Washington Creek by Mr. N. B. La Brie 
in 1897, and soon after coal claims were staked along the west side of 
the creek. Later these locations were turned over to the Alaska Coal 
and Coke Company, of which Mr. La Brie is manager. Several years 
later claims were staked on the east side of the creek by Messrs. 
Stanford, Layman, Pratt, and Jewett. 
Developments are as follows: The Alaska Coal and Coke Company 
has a drift tunnel 00 feet long and a slope tunnel 106 feet on the coal 
bed at a point about 12 miles from the Yukon. Five tons of coal have 
been mined from workings that have since caved in at a point about 
10 miles from the Yukon. A good winter trail has been opened from 
the landing on the Yukon, near the mouth of the creek, to the coal 
beds, a distance of 10 to 12 miles, along which coal can be sledded with 
horses or dog teams during the winter. Should the demand for coal 
on the Yukon justify it, a railroad can easily be built into the coal 
basin. 
Bonanza Creek. — This stream, which parallels the Yukon at a dis- 
tance of about 6 miles from it, is an eastern tributary of Charlie 
River. The coal field reported on it is probably Avithin 6 miles in a 
direct line from the Yukon, but by way of Charlie River the distance 
is much greater. The position of the creek on the accompanying 
map (PI. II) is taken from a map by E. J. Chamberlain. 
The bed rock along the Yukon consists of dark slates (Lower Cre- 
taceous), which probably extend southward for some distance, but in 
the divide between the Yukon and Bonanza Creek there are some 
rough hills, suggesting the rocks of the Rampart series. The coal- 
bearing rocks probably overlie these harder rocks, making the geo- 
logic relations on Bonanza Creek similar to those found on Washington 
Creek. 
The writer has been informed by many prospectors who have visited 
this region that extensive beds of coal are exposed, but owing to their 
distance from the Yukon no attempt has been made to exploit them. 
Coal Creek. — This stream is a tributary of the Yukon, entering 
from the south side about 45 miles above Circle and 105 miles below 
the international boundary. The coal reported is 6 miles from the 
Yukon, and was not visited by the writer. Coal Creek probably has 
a length of about 30 miles. For some distance up from the mouth of 
the creek the bed rock is slate, resembling that along the lower part 
of Washington Creek, and is believed to be of Lower Cretaceous age. 
The coal is probably contained in Kenai sandstones and conglomerates 
which overlie this slate. 
Specimens of float coal were picked up on the gravel bars of Coal 
