44 
FAIRBANKS AND RAMPART QUADRANGLES. 
alluvium is 319 feet deep, of which GO feet is muck. The pay streak 
was struck at 160 feet, on a false bed rock. Prospecting has been 
done on Vault Creek for several years, but it Avas not until 1906-7 
that good values were found. In 1907 there Avas a considerable pro- 
duction. The creek has been rendered easily accessible since the rail- 
Avay was extended down the side of its valley in 1907. 
OUR CHEEK." 
Our Creek is tributary to the Chatanika Avest of Vault Creek. It 
has a length of about 7 mile's and a general northerly course. This 
creek has not been visited by a geologist, but it is reported to be very 
similar to Vault. In 1907 good prospects Avere reported to have been 
found. If values are obtained in this basin it Avill sIioav that the 
gold-bearing area extends to the Avest. 
ESTHER AND CRIPPLE CREEKS." 
Esther Creek adjoins Alder Creek to form Cripple Creek, which is 
tributary to Chena Slough. The loAver part of Cripple Creek Aoavs 
through a broad flat, but about a mile from the slough the valley be- 
comes Avell defined. Its floor here is about half a mile AA T ide and is 
bounded by ridges 500 to 1,000 feet high. The Esther and Alder 
creek valleys are about one-half mile Avide at their mouths and grad- 
ually narroAv upstream. So far as known the bed rock of the entire 
basin is principally mica schist, but some granite is known to occur 
on Esther Creek. 
Esther Creek has a length of about 5 miles, and gold has been 
found about 4 miles from the mouth. The depth to bed rock ranges 
from betAA T een 120 and 135 feet near the mouth to 15 feet 4 miles 
aboA T e. The following table sIioavs some of the important features of 
the alluvial deposits. 
Depth to bed rod:, thickness of muck, and width of valley floor along E 
Esther 
Creel: 
Claim No. 
Depth to 
bed rock. 
Thickness 
of muck. 
Width of 
valley 
floor. 
Feet. 
90 
Feet. 
40-60 
25-30 
Feet. 
1,000 
2 to 4 below. _ . ______ _ __ _ _ . 
65-75 
] below. ___ . ._ _. _ _ _. ____ 
60 
55 
25 
15 
20 
15 
9-12 
3± 
700 
Discovery _ _ _ _ _ _ 
3 to 5 above _ . __ 
7 above. _______ ... 
200 
The above depths to bed rock are only approximate, as they vary 
greatly in any given cross section of the valley. For example, on 
" Based on information obtained by Alfred II. Brooks in 1907. 
