CHAPTER I.

ALASKA.

The following review of the mines of Alaska was prepared by E. R. Scidmore:

In the mining districts of Southeastern Alaska less gold was produced and less work done during the season of 1884 than during the corresponding period of the preceding year. The estimates of the yield of the placer mines, made by those best situated to know of the individual success of the miners, is $200,000.

On the 13th of May, 1884, Congress passed the act providing the skeleton of a territorial government for Alaska, but as none of the provisions could take immediate effect it added nothing to the welfare of the mining interests of the year. The governor and the civil officers were not appointed until July, 1884, and reached the country in September, at the close of the mining season. The act of Congress provides for a governor and four commissioners, a district judge, a marshal, and clerk. The governor, among other duties, is required to "make an annual report on the 1st day of October of each year to the President of the United States of his official acts and doings, and of the condition of said district with reference to its resources, industries, population, and the administration of the civil government thereof."

The clerk of the district court is "ex-officio recorder of deeds and mortgages and certificates of mining claims and other contracts relating to real estate, and register of wills for said district, and shall establish secure offices in the towns of Sitka and Wrangel in said district for the safe keeping of all his official records and records concerning the reformation and establishment of the present status of titles to lands as hereinafter directed, provided that the district court hereby created may direct, if it shall deem it expedient, the establishment of separate offices at the settlements of Wrangel, Ounalaska, and Juneau, City respectively, for the recording of such instruments as may pertain to the several natural divisions of such district most convenient to said settlements, the limits of which shall, in the event of such direction, be defined by such court, and said offices shall be in charge of the commissioners, respectively, as hereinafter provided.”

The commissioners to reside, one at Sitka, one at Wrangel, one at Ounalaska, and one at Juneau, have the jurisdiction and power of commissioners of United States circuit courts, and exercise the powers of justices of the peace, and also "the powers of notaries public, and shall keep a record of all deeds and other instruments of writing acknowledged before them and relating to the title and transfer of property within said district, which record shall be subject to public inspection." Section 8 of the bill creates the district of Alaska a land district, and, among other things, provides that "the laws of the United States relating to mining claims, and the rights incident thereto, shall, from and H. Ex. 268- -2

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after the passage of this act, be in full force and effect in said district under the administration thereof herein provided for, subject to such regulations as may be made by the Secretary of the Interior, approved by the President: Provided, That the Indians or other persons in said district shall not be disturbed in the possession of any lands actually in their use or occupation or now claimed by them, but the terms under which such persons may acquire title to such land is reserved for future legislation by Congress: And provided further, That parties who have located mines or mineral privileges therein under the laws of the United States applicable to the public domain, or who have occupied and improved or exercised acts of ownership over such claims, shall not be disturbed therein, but shall be allowed to perfect their title to such claims by payment as aforesaid: And provided also, That the land not exceeding six hundred and forty acres at any station now occupied as missionary stations among the Indian tribes in said section, with the improvements thereon erected by or for such societies, shall be continued in the occupancy of the several religious societies to which said missionary stations, respectively, belong until action by Congress. But nothing contained in this act shall be construed to put in force in said district the general land laws of the United States."

By reason of the civil officers arriving in Alaska so late in the year nothing could be done towards perfecting the titles to claims or settling the contests and embryo litigations in which every piece of property was involved. The officers had first to inspect the country and make their reports and suggestions to the officials at Washington, thus postponing all definite action to another year. Mining matters were thus at a standstill, and little beyond necessary assessment work was done on the quartz claims, and placer mining was not carried on to the extent of former years.

Gov. John H. Kinkead, in his annual report to the President, makes the following reference to the importance of the mining interest:

"This industry, in my opinion, bids fair to take front rank in value of product.

"In the vicinity of Juneau, on Douglas Island, extensive reduction works are nearing completion, one company alone having expended nearly or quite $500,000 in preparing for work. Their mine has already been explored sufficiently to insure large returns therefrom for many

years.

"It is not probable that this locality is the only paying depository of gold-bearing quartz. In the vicinity of Sitka and in the region of Prince William's Sound and Cook's Inlet, as well as in many other places-in the Chilcat River country, for instance-the promises for the future are good. The geological formation and general characteristics of most of the islands in the archipelago and the contiguous mainland are apparently the same.

"I confidently expect that within the next decade the production of precious metals in the district will be an important factor in the finances of the General Government."

"THE ORES OF ALASKA.

"The presence of ores in the district is not a new discovery. The fact of their existence has long been known, but the industry has languished and been almost abandoned, for the reason that the only title to the property of the miner recognized was that of force; not always, but still frequently enough used to discourage and measurably prevent explora

tion. This evil will be remedied by the introduction of civil law. The difficulties attending the successful prosecution of this industry are great. High and precipitous mountains, densely covered with timber and chaparral, fallen and decaying trees, the earth covered with moss and vegetation to the depth of one or two feet, seem almost to forbid the progress of the prospector.

"To compensate for this, however, there is unlimited water-power and an abundance of fuel existing almost everywhere and within easy access from the mining districts by any class of ocean steamers. The difficulties will be overcome and the natural advantages utilized slowly yet surely. The adverse conditions, indeed, do not exist even now throughout the entire country. Westward from about longitude 140, and north of latitude 60, the timber belt ceases abruptly, and on the Aleutian Islands and the shores of the mainland the country is open and free from the foregoing noted difficulties. The great interior, also, though having plenty of timber for all practical purposes, is generally well adapted to mining and successful exploration. With the development of the mining interests population will increase and other industries progress as a natural sequence.

"Coal, copper, and other minerals are known to exist in many localities in the district. To what extent they have been developed I am not yet informed, although I learn that explorations in this direction are being actively and energetically pursued."

When the court and surveyor secure right of possession to the owners of claims, much of the secresy and mystery maintained by them will be set aside, and it will be possible to obtain more definite as well as more complete statements of mining progress. The mine owners so far have nearly all been poor men, prospectors, who, having found rich claims, held on to them in the hopes of finally acquiring titles and being able to then sell for a profit to the capitalists, who had heretofore held aloof. None of them were willing to put money into mines to which there was no valid title and possession of which had to be maintained by force. For this reason prospecting has not been carried on with any great enthusiasm, and only the most general features of the geology of the country are known. The general formation is slate, with many faults and fissures, and the broken and upheaved strata dip at every angle. Quartz veins are found on all the islands, as well as on the mainland, and the multitude of narrow stringers and veins in the mountains around Juneau bave led to the belief that thorough surveys and explorations would reveal a main lode of great size. The prospectors have only touched here and there along the coast, and the Government has done nothing in the way of surveys back from the high water line. With the limited knowledge of even the probable extent of ore veins on Douglas Island, properties already claimed and partly developed there aggregate in value twice the amount that Mr. Seward paid for the whole of Alaska, and Douglas Island is but one of the eleven hundred islands of the archipelago, on all of which there are promises of mineral wealth.

The majority of the miners at work in Alaska came from Arizona and were confronted with the most opposite conditions. While the winters at Juneau are no severer than in Kentucky, and the summers are of a cool, even temperature, mining can be carried on with less difficulty and fewer hardships than are encountered in the Leadville, Cœur d'Alene, and Southern Arizona districts. Instead of thin and rarified air and bare, burning sands, the miner found himself in a region of almost perpetual rain, and in cutting his way through the dense underbrush of

the forests sank knee-deep in the spongy moss that covers every foot of soil and rock. Except in the beds of creeks and on the higher slopes of the mountains not an outcropping ledge or rock can be seen, and the mineral treasures are so hidden and enveloped in this thick cloak of vegetation that prospecting is attended with the greatest difficulties. Unsettled boundary lines.-An important question which demands immediate attention is the settlement of the boundary lines between Alaska and British Columbia, which, by the treaties of 1825 and 1867, were left vague, and are not yet determined.

Article I of the "treaty concerning the cession of the Russian possessions in North America by His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias to the United States of America," concluded at Washington March 30, 1867, is as follows:

"His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias agrees to cede to the United States by this convention, immediately upon the exchange of the ratifications thereof, all the territory and dominion now possessed by his said Majesty on the continent of America and in the adjacent islands, the same being contained within the geographical limits herein set forth, to wit: The eastern limit is the line of demarcation between the Russian and the British possessions in North America as established by the convention between Russia and Great Britain of February 28–16, 1825, and described in Articles III and IV of said convention in the following terms:

"Commencing from the southernmost point of the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54° 40' north latitude, and between the 131st and the 133d of west longitude (meridian of Greenwich), the said line shall ascend to the north along the channel called Portland Channel as far as the point of the continent where it strikes the 56th of north latitude; from this last mentioned point the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of the mountains situated parallel to the coast as far as the point of intersection of the 141st of west longitude (of the same meridian), and finally from the said point of intersection the said meridian line of the 141st in its prolongation as far as the Frozen Ocean.

"IV. With reference to the line of demarcation laid down in the preceding article it is understood:

"1. That the island called Prince of Wales Island shall belong wholly to Russia" (now by this cession to the United States).

2. That whenever the summit of the mountains which extend in a direction parallel to the coast from the 56th of north latitude to the point of intersection of the 141st of west longitude shall prove to be at the distance of more than 10 marine leagues from the ocean, the limit between the British possessions and the line of coast which is to belong to Russia, as above mentioned (that is to say, the limit to the possessions ceded by this convention), shall be formed by a line parallel to the winding of the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of 10 marine leagues therefrom."

Russian and British trades had many disputes about the location of the boundary line on the Stikine River, and after the discovery of gold along the bars of that river and in the Cassiar district at its headwaters many complications arose. The British custom-house and Hudson Bay Company's trading post were at one time 25 miles over the American line, and mining laws and revenue laws of both countries were set at naught. In 1867 Professor Leach established the line where the 10 marine leagues from the sea-coast ended at Berry's Bar. An officer from Fort Wrangel made a running survey, and determined its posi

tion much farther inland. The gold commissioner of the Cassiar district once surveyed and located a town site at the great bend of the Stikine River within the United States boundaries, but, claiming that it was within the British Columbia line, he and others applied to the land board at Victoria for entry. In 1877 Mr. Hunter, an engineer of the Canadian Pacific Railway, made a survey of the Stikine River and erected a monument at what he determined as the eastern end of the 10 marine leagues. The American traders on the Stikine did not accept his lines as correct, and vigorous protests were made to the Treasury Department by Maj. M. P. Berry, collector of customs at Sitka. General O. O. Howard, after a special tour of inspection up the river, and the officers stationed at Fort Wrangel in command of troops repeatedly called the attention of the War Department to this unsettled boundary, but no definite steps were ever taken looking to the settlement of the question by a joint survey on the part of the United States and the Canadian Government. Frequent discussions in the House of Commons at Ottawa have shown how important the matter seemed to the members from British Columbia, while trade and mining enterprises maintained great proportions along the Stikine. Since the decay of its industries and the gradual abandonment of the Cassiar district less stress has been laid upon the matter; but the contest now bids fair to be transferred to the Takoo and Chilkat Rivers. British mining laws differing so materially from those in force in the United States, conflict will be precipitated as soon as the increasing number of miners and prospectors push further into the debatable regions along those rivers and discover new leads and deposits. All prospectors crossing by the Chilkat and Chilkoot portages to the Yukon have encroached on British territory and carried on their placer minings in violation of British laws.

Discoveries in British Columbia.-The continuity of the great mineral belt along the Pacific coast was further proven this year by discoveries of gold on Lorne Creek, an affluent of the Skeena River, distant 80 miles from its mouth. The discoveries were made in the early spring, and crowds from Victoria, Frazer River, and Alaska camps rushed to the new district. The excitement following upon the finding of some very large nuggets carried fishermen, Indians, and Chinese to the scene. Rich deposits were found on the Kitsim Kalim River, another tributary of the Skeena, in the fall, and parties were organized to go up on the ice in February and stake claims in advance of the regular mining season. This Skeena River gold is found in large coarse grains, varying from the size of peas to 2 and 4 ounce nuggets. B. W. Washburn and four men took out $3,000 in gold from one claim in a month, and others took out from $4,000 to $7,000 in the same time. Eight to ten dollars per day to the man were the average washings, and the deposit was evidently the same as that of the Cariboo, Cassiar, and Harris mining districts.

The Cassiar district.—The placer mines of the Cassiar district at the head of the Stickeen River in British Columbia were exhausted and the camps abandoned in 1884. The river steamers were taken off and the few white miners and freights were conveyed to the head of navigation by the Indians of Fort Wrangel in their canoes. When the claims were reduced to quartz veins the district had to be abandoned on account of the cost and difficulty of getting the necessary machinery up the river and over the narrow mountain trail. The white miners, diminishing in numbers for several seasons back, did not return to the diggings in 1884, and Chinamen took possession of the old claims and the rich tailings. The same conditions succeeded at all the camps along