32 THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. [bull.227. 
the two following years, and in 1898 it was increased to $25,000. 
Systematic work along both geologic and topographic lines was then 
begun and the investigation of all the mineral resources commenced in 
earnest. The work developed rapidly ; the appropriation was increased 
to $60,000, and, in accordance with plans approved by the Secretary of 
the Interior, on July 3, 1903, the division of Alaskan mineral resources 
was established. At the same time the administration of the work, 
which at first had been a subordinate function of the geologic branch 
of the Surve}^, and later was placed in charge of a committee consist- 
ing of a geologist and a geographer, was vested in a single geologist. 
The appropriations for this Alaskan work up to the present time aggre- 
gate $252,089.60. 
Previous to 1898 the investigations were largely of a preliminary 
character. At first they were undertaken in cooperation with other 
organizations and necessarily without a comprehensive plan. The 
first opportunity came through invitation of the United States Coast 
and Geodetic Survey, in May, 1889, "to send a representative with 
the boundary survey parties for the purpose of making geological 
observations in Alaska." This was accepted. In 1890, and again in 
1891, the Survey combined with the National Geographic Society in 
the investigation of the Mount St. Elias region. In 1891, also, a geol- 
ogist from the Survey accompanied an expedition organized by a 
syndicate of newspapers to explore the area lying north of the St. 
Elias Range. In 1892 an expedition under private auspices explored 
Glacier Bay, and the results were published by the Survey. In 1895, 
with a Congressional appropriation of $5,000 for the investigation 
of the gold and coal resources of Alaska, the Survey was placed in a 
position to send an independent expedition to Alaska to prosecute 
work of an economic character along the southern coast. In 1896, 
under a similar appropriation, work was commenced in the interior 
by the investigation of the placer gold-producing areas along the 
Yukon River. 
As the field season of 1898 approached, previous conditions had 
greatly changed. This portion of North America had been brought 
prominently before the world through the discovery of the rich gold 
deposits of the Klondike region, in Canadian territory, and, following 
popular demand, Congress, by an act dated January 28, 1898, appro- 
priated $20,000 for surveys in Alaska. 
Here was a great region of the national domain, the interior of 
which was largely unknown. The general conditions were to be 
ascertained and described, the geography studied, the topograph}^ 
mapped, the character, distribution, metamorphism, and mineralization 
of the bed rock investigated, and the relation of the mineral deposits 
to the bed rock, and their character, value, and distribution, so far as 
possible, made clear. All these various kinds of information were to 
