30 FAIRBANKS AND KAMPART QUADRANGLES. 
Some work was clone on the streams tributary to the upper Chatanika, where 
probably 30 men were at work. Some sold has been found on Faith, Hope, and 
Homestake creeks. The pay streak is thin and the values are said to be regu- 
larly distributed. 
Up to the present time, 1907, transportation to the Fairbanks 
region from outside points has been by way of Dawson, Str Michael, 
or Valdez. The Valdez route is convenient for many who desire to 
reach Fairbanks before the opening of navigation and is traveled 
extensively during the winter season. Supplies shipped in the spring 
to Fairbanks by way of Dawson reach their destination earlier in the 
season than if shipped by way of St. Michael, as the upper Yukon is 
first open to navigation. Freight rates on supplies shipped from 
Seattle to Fairbanks vary greatly according to their position in the 
freight classifications and according as they are sent 'by way of 
Dawson or St. Michael. During 1905 the rates ranged from $55 to 
$75 per ton on ordinary supplies. First-class passenger rates have 
ranged from $125 to $150. 
The town of Fairbanks is situated on a slough of the Tanana, 
near the head of easy navigation, and in 1905 had a population of 
about 2,500. During dry seasons the quantity of water in the slough 
is so small that some of the steamers have difficulty in reaching the 
town. The larger boats that ply occasionally on the Tanana are 
unable to reach Fairbanks except at high water, and their supplies 
are left at Chena. AY a g' es f° r miners are generally $5 and board, in 
some cases $6 and board, per day. 
Fairbanks has newspapers, a school system, and three banks — one 
of them a national bank with currency of its own in circulation — and 
is the seat of the court which has jurisdiction over the whole of the 
interior of Alaska. 
The town of Chena is situated about 9 miles from Fairbanks, at 
the entrance of the slough into the main river. It is accessible for 
the largest boats, but has the disadvantage of being several miles 
farther from most of the gold-producing creeks, and thus far its 
development has not kept pace with that of Fairbanks. The con- 
struction of the railroad has, however, favorably affected the growth 
of the town. 
The transportation of supplies from the towns to the creeks has 
been a source of much trouble and expense, but cheaper and better 
transportation has been gained by constructing a narrow-gage rail- 
road between Fairbanks and Chena, by extending a branch road 
from an intermediate point up the valley of Coldstream Creek to the 
junction of Pedro and Cilmore creeks, and also (1907) up Fox Gulch 
and alom>- the divide between Vault and Dome creeks to claim 15 
i & 
below on Cleary Creek, and by constructing Government wagon roads 
from the main supply points and from the terminus of the railroad 
to the various creeks. 
