GOLD  PLACERS  OF  THE  FAIRBANKS  DISTRICT,  ALASKA." 
By  L.  M.  Pkindle. 
INTRODUCTION. 
In  the  report  of  the  Peters  and  Brooks  expedition  of  1898,5  the 
conditions  in  the  Tanana  country  were  described  and  prospectors  were 
advised  to  investigate  the  streams  tributary  to  the  Tanana  from  the 
north  and  heading  opposite  the  gold-producing  creeks  of  the  Fortymile 
and  Birch  Creek  regions. 
In  July,  1902,  gold  was  discovered  on  a  tributary  of  one  of  these 
streams  by  Felix  Pedro,  and  the  creek  was  named  after  him.  The 
neighboring  creeks  were  staked  during  the  fall  and  following  winter, 
and  some  development  work  was  done.  Stampeders  came  in  over  the 
ice  from  Dawson  and  other  points  on  Yukon  River,  but  the  momentum 
with  which  they  came  carried  them  beyond  and  out  of  the  country 
with  only  an  unfavorable  impression  of  it.  Some  were  caught  by  the 
springtime  on  the  Goodpaster,  were  obliged  to  wait  till  the  breaking 
up  of  the  ice,  and  finally  reached  the  region  by  water.  During  the  I 
summer  of  1903  prospectors  were  coming  and  going,  and  about  200  men 
were  working  on  the  various  creeks,  most  of  them  handicapped  by  the 
high  prices  of  all  supplies  and  the  lack  of  money  for  the  development  of 
their  claims.  Notwithstanding  the  unfavorable  conditions,  this  district 
produced  from  $30,000  to  $35,000  during  the  summer  of  1903. 
GEOGRAPHIC  POSITION. 
On  its  way  to  the  Yukon  the  Tanana  receives  several  tributaries 
from  the  north.  The  most  important  of  these  from  east  to  west  are 
Volkmar,  Goodpaster,  Chena,  and  Tolovana  rivers,  and  Baker  Creek. 
They  all  head  far  back  in  the  Yukon-Tanana  divide,  and  flow  in 
westerly  and  southwesterly  courses.  The  area  to  be  considered  lies 
between  Chena  and  Tolovana  rivers  and  is  drained  by  their  tribu- 
taries. It  is  140  miles  southwest  from  Circle,  200  miles  in  a  straight 
line  west  from  Eagle,  and  perhaps  200  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
Tanana   River.     This  region  forms  a  portion  of   what  is  known  as 
a  Abstract  of  a  more  complete  report  in  preparation. 
b Brooks,  AliK .I    ||.,    \  reconnaissance  in  the  Tanana  and  White  river  basins,  Alaska,  in  1898: 
Twentieth  Ann.  Rept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pt.  7,  1900,  p.  488. 
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