brooks]  FLACER    MINING    IN    ALASKA  IN    1903.  57 
The  writer  would  make  the  following  provisional  suggestions  for 
the  location  of  Government  roads  to  develop  the  placer  fields  as  they 
are  now  known:  (1)  A  road  from  Eagle  to  the  Tanana,  the  Chistochina, 
and  to  Yaldes,  on  the  coast,  a  distance  of  approximately  400  miles.  This 
probably  should  follow  the  present  well-established  trail,  which  is  used 
as  winter  and  summer  mail  route.  The  most  important  part  of  the  road 
would  be  that  between  Eagle  and  the  camps  of  the  Fortymile  region. 
An  alternate  route  would  be  to  Fairbanks,  on  the  Tanana,  from  Copper 
River  by  way  of  the  Delta  River  Valley,  a  distance  of  about  300  miles. 
(2)  A  road  to  extend  from  Circle,  on  the  Yukon,  through  the  Birch  Creek 
and  Fairbanks  district  to  the  Tanana,  a  distance  of  about  150  miles.  (3) 
Rampart,  on  the  Yukon,  to  be  connected  with  the  mouth  of  Baker 
Creek,  on  the  Tanana,  by  a  road  which  would  open  up  the  Minook  and 
Baker  districts,  a  distance  of  less  than  50  miles.  (1)  A  hundred  miles 
or  so  of  road  to  be  built  in  the  Koyukuk  region  to  connect  the  gold- 
bearing  creeks  with  the  head  of  steamboat  navigation  on  Koyukuk 
River.  It  is  believed  that  these  roads  would  form  a  system  of  main 
arteries  by  which  most  of  the  placer  fields  could  easily  be  reached,  and 
that  the  production  of  the  mines  would  thereby  be  so  much  increased 
as  to  fully  justify  the  expense.  In  case  a  railway  were  built  to  the 
Yukon,  this  plan  should  be  somewhat  modified, 'but  there  would  still 
remain  an  urgent  need  of  roads. 
During  the  year  1903  work  steadily  progressed  in  the  Fortymile 
district,  though  the  dry  season  made  the  output  less  than  it  would  have 
been  had  there  been  ample  water  supply.  On  Chicken  Creek,  one  of 
the  oldest  of  the  district,  work  was  extended  to  an  examination  of  the 
benches  and  was  rewarded  by  finding  good  pay  gravel  275  feet  above 
the  water  level.  Much  work  is  being  done  by  drifting  with  steam 
thawers  in  the  frozen  ground,  a  method  now  carried  on  throughout 
the  year.  Use  is  being  made  of  both  steam  and  horse  hoists.  On 
Wade  Creek  a  steam  hoist  is  in  operation,  and  bed-rock  drains  have 
been  put  down  on  several  claims  to  enable  working  by  the  open-cut 
system  rather  than  by  drifting.  On  Walker  Fork  a  steam  scraper  and 
bucket  conveyor  are  being  used  on  one  claim.  Most  of  the  claims  are 
worked  by  open  cuts.  Some  winter  work  is  being  done  on  the  bar  at 
the  mouth  of  Franklin  Gulch.  At  the  so-called  "Kink,"  an  ox  bow 
meander  of  the  North  Fork  of  Fortymile,  and  about  50  miles  in  an  air 
line  from  the  Yukon,  a  strong  company  is  engaged  in  turning  the 
course  of  the  river,  so  as  to  leave  exposed  about  2f  miles  of  its  bed. 
This  it  is  proposed  to  mine  with  a  steam  shovel. 
On  American  Creek  a  large  plant  has  been  installed,  including  a 
flume,  giving  a  150-foot  head  and  power  to  work  two  lrydraulic 
elevators.  Scarcity  of  water  prevented  the  extensive  operation  of  this 
plant.  On  Seventymile  River  two  hydraulic  companies  were  prospect- 
ing in  the  past  season,  but  no  sluicing  has  been  done.     A  small  hydraulic 
