RECONNAISSANCE FROM CIRCLE TO FORT HAMLIN. 129 
DRAINAGE. 
The drainage of this region is all tributary to the Yukon. Birch, Preacher, Beaver, and 
Hess creeks are the principal streams. 
Birch Creek is the largest of these streams. It heads near Porcupine Dome, (lows east, 
then north and west parallel with the Yukon for a hundred miles, emptying into the river 
about 25 miles below Fort Yukon. Over 80 miles of its course is across the flats. Albert 
Creek, a small tributary , drains the south side of the Crazy Mountains. At Twelvemile House, 
where the Fairbanks trail crosses the creek by ferry 15 miles from Circle, Birch Creek is about 
180 feet wide and 10 feet deep. The discharge at a very low si age in June measured 1,579 
second-feet. 
Preacher Creek has its source at Rocky Mountain, opposite the bead of Beaver Creek. It 
Hows north and joins Birch Creek in the flats about 45 mile's from the Yukon. At the west 
end of the Crazy Mountains, a few miles above the point where it enters the flats, this creek 
can be forded easily. Here for miles it meanders through a broad valley, its old courses 
being marked by oxbows and cut-offs. 
Beaver Creek has been a puzzle to prospectors in previous years, but its upper course is 
now located. Rising at Rocky Mountain, it flows southwest for nearly 25 miles, then west 
20 miles around the southwest end of the White Mountains and takes a northeasterly course 
to the Yukon Flats. Leaving the mountains, it flows north across the flats for 25 miles, then 
due west to the Yukon, into which it empties opposite the mouth of Hosiana River. The 
course of Beaver Creek across Yukon Flats, as of the other creeks, is very tortuous. Below 
the big bend where the creek comes through the limestone range fording places are not easy 
to find. The current is swift, and at many places horses can barely keep their feet in the 
deep water. Near the mouth of Willow Creek, a tributary from the southeast, a crossing 
was made 12 miles above the flats where the creek is 390 feet wide and from 1 to 2 feet deep. 
The discharge at this point was about 1,000 second-feet the first week in August. 
Victoria Creek is about 25 miles long and heads against Hess Creek. The upper part of 
its course is through an open valley which has a much gentler southern than northern slope. 
In the lower course the valley is deep cut and narrow. Victoria Creek joins Beaver Creek 
just below the place where the two emerge from the mountains into the flats. In August 
the discharge, measured 11 miles above the mouth, was 467 second-feet. 
Hess Creek rises northwest of the Beaver Creek loop and flows west for 75 miles or more 
to the Yukon, which it enters 25 miles above Rampart. This creek rises in a boggy country 
of low or moderate relief, and well up toward its head is so deep that horses have to swim. 
A feature of the valleys of these creeks noted in several instances is their asymmetrical 
character. In some cases the left and in others the right side of the valley slopes much more 
gradually away from the stream. Beaver Creek, both above and below the big bend, 
crowds close against the mountains on the west, making a long southeast and a steep north- 
west slope. The same feature is marked in the upper part of Victoria Creek. Benching is 
conspicuous on these long slopes. 
VEGETATION. 
A light growth of spruce timber is abundant in the valleys, with some willows along the 
streams. White birch grows in small patches at rare intervals. The timber line is about 
2,000 feet above sea level. Good grass is not always obtainable. Caribou moss, howe^ er, 
is very abundant and large herds of caribou were seen in the Preacher-Beaver Creek region. 
GEOLOGY. 
Although the geology of the region undoubtedly is complex in details, the general features 
are comparatively simple. A single formation of sedimentary rocks extends from the east 
end of the Crazy Mountains to the mouth of Hess Creek. It is intruded in three large 
areas by a mass of granite and interrupted by a narrow belt of older sediment arics. 
