ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 61 
Yukon, after pursuing for a few miles a southerly course, bends 
squarely to the west and sweeps in a deep channel past the hills 
which bound the south side of the rather open valley. A narrow- 
terraced slope between these hills and the river is picturesquely 
occupied, along the w T ater front and the hillside in the background, 
by the irregular collection of buildings that forms the town. There 
is an air of importance about the place, and it possesses, also, a kind 
of dignity which the pervasive majesty of the great river and the 
vast loneliness of the country through which it flows have conferred 
upon every one of these small isolated outposts of civilization. 
Conditions in the Rampart region during 1906 a were as follows : 
The total gold output of the Rampart district for 1906 is estimated to have a 
value of $270,000. The writer is indebted for valuable information to Messrs. 
H. F. Thumm and E. H. Chapman, of Rampart. Mr. Thumm stutes that about 
33 claims were worked during the winter of 1906 and 17 during the summer, giv- 
ing employment to about 100 men in winter and about twice as many in sum- 
mer. New creeks not producing last year are Boothby and Skookum. 
Three hydraulic plants were operated during part of the summer, one each 
on Hoosier, Ruby, and Hunter creeks. The Alaska road commission has begun 
the construction of a highway from Rampart up Big Minook. This when com- 
pleted will materially reduce the cost of all mining operations. 
• Another road has been built from Baker Hot Springs to Glenn Creek, a dis- 
tance of 24 miles, by Thomas Mauley, a large owner of mining property. This 
road affords a natural outlet to Tanana River for the Glenn Creek region. Mr. 
Manley has also surveyed a ditch line from Hutlinana Creek to Thanksgiving 
Creek, a distance of 15 miles. If the scheme is carried out and there is suffi- 
cient water it will lead to extensive mining developments in the Glenn Creek 
region. It is of interest to note that the same operator has imported a churn 
drill for prospecting, the first in the district. 
Baker Hot Springs, on a slough about 6 miles from the Tanana, 
was rapidly developing during 1906 as a supply point for the creeks. 
Since all the common vegetables can be grown there it has become a 
productive center of supplies for both the Fairbanks and (he Ram- 
part regions. Twelve acres were under cultivation in the vicinity of 
the hot springs and about 50 acres had been prepared for cultivation. 
Although the most favorable conditions for cultivation prevail in the 
vicinity of the hot springs, on what is called the warm ground, where 
a large variety of vegetables can be grown, there are large areas of 
cold ground where the common vegetables like cabbage, beets, rad- 
ishes, and potatoes can be grown in abundance. 
There is a station of the Government telegraph line at Rampart 
and another at Hot Springs, and these afford communication with 
other portions of Alaska and the outside at rates which are low in 
comparison with the advantages which may thus be secured. 
The total production of the Rampart region, including that of 1906, 
is approximately $1,582,000. 
° Brooks, A. II., Bull. U. S. Geol. Survey No. 314, 1907, pp. 37 38. 
