16 GRAVEL AND PLACER MINING IN ALASKA. [bull. 263. 
Care has been taken to avoid the publication of figures which were 
accompanied by the request that they remain confidential. It may, in 
general, be said that the detailed data furnished have been used mainly 
for the purpose of compilation, and have not been herein specifically 
transcribed. 
In addition to matters relating directly to the operation of placer 
mines, attention has been given to means and cost of freight and pas- 
senger transportation. Whoever contemplates engaging in mining in 
the northwest portion of America, especially in the interior Alaska 
country, can not devote too much attention to the study of the cost of 
transportation of supplies. For the benefit of those who must depend 
on local supply points in the north for their needs, a table is given 
showing present costs, at each principal point, of the articles most 
necessary to the miner. 
As regards transportation facilities, care has been taken to collect 
and embody in this report all available data and statistics relating tq 
the construction of wagon roads in the Northwest. The neighboring 
fields of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, in Canada, have 
afforded excellent opportunity to obtain costs and methods of road 
construction applicable to the Alaska interior. Recommendation^ 
regarding the most practical and serviceable routes for road construe-] 
tion in Alaska have been made in a previous report b}^ Mr. Alfred HJ 
Brooks/' The need of these roads can not be urged too strongly, and 
the expenditure of $1,000,000, as suggested by Mr. Brooks, would be! 
man} 7 times repaid b}^ the resulting development and increased gold 
production. Already over 300 miles of wagon road have been built. 
by the Canadian government in the Yukon Territory and the Atliqi 
district of British Columbia, while over 600 miles of sled roads have 
been made in the Yukon Territory. The fact that in the summl 
wagons and vehicles of all descriptions, and even bic} T cles, may be 
seen daily about Dawson, the Klondike creeks, and Atlin, in Britishl 
Columbia, while the winter roads in Canadian territory afford contin- 
uous easy routes for horse sleds down the Yukon to Dawson, is evi-i 
dence of the success of the Canadian road-building enterprise. Obi 
the other hand, there are in Alaska less than 50 miles of well-built' 
wagon roads, and these have been constructed by private enterpriser 
No attempt has been made to give a detailed account of the topo- 
graphic and geologic conditions in the districts visited, except where* 
such conditions have a direct bearing on the method to be employed 
in working the ground. The Geological Survey has already pub- 
lished many exceedingly valuable reports and maps, most of whicl : 
are distributed free of charge. A list of the Survey publications or 
Alaska is given at the end of this bulletin. Any prospector who h 
unprovided with the reports concerning the region in which he h 
working lacks an important part of his equipment. 
a Placer mining in Alaska: Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 225, 1903, p. 57. 
