40 THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. [bull.227. 
Department on the gunboat Wheeling. Four parties were included in 
the organization. Two of these commenced work at Cook Inlet; the 
other two started inland together from Skagwa}^. In the same season 
two members of the Survey were attached to the military expeditions 
operating in the Copper River country. 
In 1899 two expeditions were sent to Alaska, one to explore the area 
at the head of the White and Tanana rivers, and, if possible, to con- 
tinue the work to the Yukon River, and thus gain information in 
regard to a section of Alaska from the southern coast to the Yukon; 
the other to continue the section north of the Yukon, including the 
basin of the Koyukuk River. The gathering of the parties at St. 
Michael in the fall made possible a hasty reconnaissance of the then 
recently discovered gold fields of Seward Peninsula. An army expe- 
dition explored the valley of the Chitina River and the Skolai Moun- 
tains, and the results were published by the Survey. 
The work of the year 1900 was concentrated in Seward Peninsula 
and the Copper River country, and detailed topographic and geologic 
surveys were made in both of these regions. 
In 1901 work was continued in Seward Peninsula; the mining dis- 
trict of Ketchikan, in southeast Alaska, was investigated; the investi- 
gation of the geologic section across Alaska from the south coast, 
begun in 1899, was completed by a party which carried the work from 
the Koyukuk Valley to the Arctic Ocean, and the region westward 
from the Koyukuk to Kotzebue Sound was explored. 
In 1902 two parties were detailed to finish the survey of the Copper 
River country; the coal deposits of the Yukon were investigated; a 
reconnaissance was made of the unknown area along the western slopes 
of the Alaskan Range, and a detailed topographic survey was made of 
the mining region near Juneau. 
During the season of 1903 seven parties were sent north. Topo- 
graphic and geologic work was continued by two parties in Seward 
Peninsula; detailed studies were made of the geolog}^ and mineral 
resources of the Juneau district; the oil deposits of the Controller Bay 
region were investigated; a party was sent to secure paleontologic 
evidence of the stratigraphic succession along the Yukon, with refer- 
ence to the coal deposits; and topographic and geologic work, with 
studies of important placer deposits, were carried on by two parties 
in the Yukon-Tanana country. 
The Alaskan work has been directed primarily to an investigation 
of the mineral resources, in accordance with the wording of the act 
under which appropriations are made. With this end in view, as 
far as possible every known and reported region where mineral 
deposits occur has been visited and studied in such detail as time and 
means would permit. The surveys can be roughly grouped in three 
classes: The first includes the extension of the general exploration all 
