me< 
effo 
GOLD-BEARING    RIVER    SANDS    OF    N.   E.    WASHINGTON.  63 
not  more  than  0.00125  cent  in  value.  A  sample  of  the  richest  mate- 
rial found  was  tested  at  the  concentrating  pavilion  in  Portland, 
Oreg.,  showing  approximately  the  same  result  as  to  gold  tenor.  It 
was  estimated  that  on  this  bar  there  is  a  deposit  .of  pay  dirt  6  inches 
thick,  from  100  to  600  yards  wide,  and  2  miles  long,  which  will  aver- 
age between  1  and  5  cents  per  cubic  yard.  Some  of  the  richest  of 
this  ground  was  taken  up  by  Chinese,  who  attempted  to  work  it 
manically  with  water  pumped  from  Columbia  River,  but  their 
rts  were  abandoned  several  years  ago  for  the  reason,  as  reported, 
I  that  wages  could  not  be  obtained.  The  Columbia  at  Hell  Gate  Rapids 
is  obstructed  by  a  ledge  of  rocks  that  crosses  from  north  to  south. 
I  This  ledge  has  been  worn  down  by  the  river,  but  has  probably  always 
presented  an  obstruction  to  the  current.  The  concentration  of  the 
gold  below  the  rapids  is  probably  due  in  part  to  this  obstruction, 
an  eddy  being  formed  here  in  which  the  fine  gold  settled  from  the 
swiftly  moving  currents. 
Between  Hell  Gate  and  the  mouth  of  the  Spokane  there  is  com- 
paratively little  level  land  adjoining  the  river  on  the  Colville  Reser- 
vation. All  of  it  is  comprised  in  a  low  bench  at  the  mouth  of  White 
Stone  Creek,  containing  something  over  300  acres,  a  similar  bench 
opposite  Creston  Ferry,  and  a  bench  and  bar  opposite  the  town  of 
Peach.  The  White  Stone  lands  are  entirely  embraced  in  Indian 
ranches  and  were  not  examined  for-  evidences  of  placer  gold.  A 
portion  of  the  bench  at  Creston  Ferry  has  been  worked  by  placer 
miners,  but  the  old  workings  are  now  abandoned  and  were  not  tested. 
Opposite  Peach  there  is  a  bench  about  300  feet  above  Columbia 
River  which  extends  upstream  to  the  mouth  of  the  Spokane.  A 
number  of  placer-mining  claims  have  been  located  on  this  terrace, 
and  it  was  examined  critically.  Where  undermined  by  the  river  it 
presents  the  following  section : 
Section  on  Columbia  River  opposite  Peach. 
Feet. 
Light-col<  >n  ■(  1  sandy  loam 12 
Sand  and  gravel 1   2 
Sandy  clay,  above  which  there  is  water  seepage 0 
Open  cross-bedded  gravel,  containing  many  basalt  pebbles  one-fourth 
inch  to  2  inches  in  diameter 200 
No  colors  of  gold  could  be  obtained  by  panning  from  any  part  of 
this  section,  either  from  the  sandy  loam  at  the  top  or  the  gravel 
layer  above  the  clay  seam. 
Between  Peach  and  the  mouth  of  Spokane  River  there  is  a  large 
island  in  Columbia  River  that  is  overflowed  at  extreme  high  water. 
The  upper  end  of  this  island  was  formerly  worked  by  Chinese,  their 
excavations  reaching  a  depth  of  3  or  4  feet.  No  mining  is  in  prog- 
ress there  at  the  present  time,  and  a  part  of  the  island  is  under 
cultivation. 
