pbindle.]       GOLD    PLACERS    OF    FAIRBANKS    DISTRICT,    ALASKA.  7l 
and  down  to  2  feet  in  the  bed  rock.  It  is  mostly  of  a  bright  color, 
and  that  found  at  the  head  of  the  creek  is  very  rough  and  angular,  and 
feels  gritty  in  the  handling.  It  has  the  appearance  of  having  traveled 
but  a  short  distance. 
On  the  main  creek  considerable  work  has  been  done.  The  depth  to 
the  bed  rock  of  mica-schist  and  quartzite-schist  varies  from  18  to  40 
feet,  including  from  -1  to  30  feet  of  muck,  "  chicken  feed"  gravel,  and 
pay  dirt.  The  pay  dirt  here,  as  in  the  other  localities,  contains  the 
yellowish  clay  which  often  has  to  be  scraped  from  the  rock  fragments 
in  order  to  save  the  pay.  Nuggets  have  been  found  up  to  a  value  of 
$19.  Some  of  these  have  considerable  quartz  attached  and  some  are 
black  in  color.  Most  of  the  development  thus  far  has  been  on  the 
west  side  of  Cleary,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Wolf  Creek.  The  method 
employed  here  is  drifting,  and  a  plant  has  been  installed  consisting  of 
a  6-horsepower  boiler  and  accessories,  capable  of  thawing  bj7  5 
steam  points  about  300  eight-pan  buckets  in  ten  hours,  and  at  least  one 
sluice  head  of  water,  or  about  50  miner's  inches  is  required  for  sluic- 
ing. During  the  past  summer,  for  a  few  days,  the  stream  was  running 
less  than  that.  In  the  early  part  of  September  from  3  to  1  sluice 
heads  were  available. 
The  bench  to  the  left  of  Cleary  is  being  prospected,  but  the  depth 
to  bed  rock  of  over  30  feet  renders  this  a  slow  process. 
Fairbanks  Creel'. — The  valley  of  Fairbanks  Creek  lies  just  over  the 
divide  to  the  east  of  Wolf  Creek.  Its  upper  portion  lies  between 
the  drainage  areas  of  Pedro  and  Cleary  creeks.  It  flows  in  an  easterly 
and  southeasterly  direction,  a  distance  of  about  9  miles  to  Fish  Creek, 
a  tributary  of  the  Little  Chena.  In  its  upper  portion  it  is  narrow  and 
V-shaped;  lower  down  its  unsymmetrical  valley  is  bounded  on  the 
south  by  a  steep  slope  with  short,  abrupt  spurs,  and  on  the  north  by 
broad  spurs  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length,  sloping  gradually  from  the 
ridge  1,100  feet  above  the  valley  to  the  creek  bottom.  The  creek  is 
small,  carrying  only  a  few  sluice  heads  of  water,  and  flows  through  a 
willow-covered  flat  100  to  300  feet  in  width,  with  a  grade  of  about  100 
feet  to  the  mile.  For  the  last  two  or  thi;ee  miles  it  meanders  across 
a  broad  flat  to  Fish  Creek.  The  spurs  to  the  north  are  thickly  covered 
with  a  growth  of  small  spruce  and  some  poplar.  A  very  small  pro- 
portion of  the  spruce  is  large  enough  to  saw  into  8-inch  boards. 
Moose,  Crane,  Alder,  Walnut,  and  Deep  creeks  are  the  main  tribu- 
taries from  the  north.  They  are  about  li  to  2  miles  in  length  and  are 
separated  by  the  broad  spurs  from  the  main  divide.  Those  from  the 
south  are  short  and  flow  in  narrow  canyons. 
Fairbanks  Creek  is  still  in  the  prospecting  stage  of  development. 
Some  work  has  been  done  and  pay  has  been  found  over  several  miles 
of  its  course.  The  bed  rock,  so  far  as  known,  is  mica-schist,  quartzite- 
schist,   and   gneiss.      These   are  covered  with   a  thickness    of  11  to 
