30 ALASKAN MINERAL RESOURCES IN 1904. [bull. 259. 
Two outfits were working in 1903 on Discovery Fork of Fortymile 
River, and in 1904 excellent results were being secured here by the 
use of an automatic dump gate. 
Prospecting was active and during the winter of 1903-4 holes had 
been sunk on an island in Yukon River opposite the town of Eagle. 
Favorable prospects were reported, but as water had been struck 
below the frozen ground the work had been discontinued. 
The placers of Wade Creek, Walker Fork, and Chicken Creek were 
said to have yielded well, and Chicken Creek alone is said to have 
produced $100,000. No work was being done at the "kink' 1 on the 
North Fork, where a large enterprise had been entered upon. 
According to current reports a plan has been formulated to work 
the placers of the entire Chicken Creek basin by hydraulic methods. 
It is proposed to bring water by a ditch from the upper part of Mos- 
quito Fork, and it is claimed that thus 200 feet of head can be secured. 
If this plan is successful it will undoubted^ be followed by others of 
similar character. 
Gold Run, a tributary of Slate Creek about 4 miles long, located in 
the Fortymile basin about 75 miles southwest from Eagle, was the 
scene of some activity. The bed rock is schist; the depth of the 
gravels is about 12 feet. Open cuts are used, and the dump gate is 
the favorite method of ground sluicing the gravel. Some of the 
ground is reported to average $30 to the box length. Although no 
large values have been found, the discovery is of importance in show- 
ing the presence of gold in the remote central portion of the Yukon- 
Tanana count ry. 
KOYUKUK DISTRICT. 
The Koyukuk district, though within the Yukon basin, is isolated 
from the other camps. Its difficulty of access has made it possible up 
to the present time to mine only the richest placers, but the distribu- 
tion and occurrence of these indicate that this field will continue to be 
a gold producer for some time to come. With freight at $90 a ton, 
not including a sled haulage of 100 miles or more, and wages conse- 
quently at $8 or $10 a day, it is manifestly impossible to undertake 
any extensive operations. 
Reports have been received of the discovery during the last season 
of workable placers on Wiseman Creek, an eastern tributary to the 
Middle Fork of the Koyukuk. Here 20 men are said to have made 
good wages. Rich placers are reported to have been found on John 
River, nearly 100 miles to the west, as well as on Wild Creek, in 
between. These facts indicate a wide distribution of the placer gold 
in the Koyukuk district, for the alluvial deposits have been found 
scattered over an area 50 by 100 miles in dimensions. The last season 
was less favorable for operations than the previous one and the out- 
