Prospecting For Gold Yields Little
Coal, Timber, Other Resources Found
By Jim Williams
Division of Mines and Minerals
Department of National Resources
State of Alaska
There are no productive mines
on Kodiak Island. For many years
certain beaches on the western
and southwestern coasts of Kodiak
Island have been worked inter
mittently for placer gold, with
Which Was recovered a r.mall pro
portion of metals of the platinum
group. No records exist to base a
reliable estimate of the total pro
duction from the Kodiak beaches,
but from available information it
appears that a total of $350,000 has
been produced.
All the beach placers occur at
localities where stormwaves have
attacked extensive deposits of un
consolidated glacial till and out
wash gravels; the gold deposits
are believed to be the result of
concentration by the waves of
large quantities of unconsolidated
material whose gold content was
small. The beaches that have yield
ed 'practically all the gold that has
been recovered so far are known
locally as the Red River Beach on
■southwest Kodiak Island; Seven
mile Beach, just We9t of the mouth
of Uyaik Bay; Miners Point Beach,
at the south entrance of Uganik
Bay; Uganik Beach, on the north
west end of Ugaaiik Island; and
Raspberry Beach, on Westen Rasp
berry Island. In all these places
some pospecting has been done to
determine whether or not the
Muffs back of the beaches con
tain sufficient gold to justify min
ing, but so far no paying ground
has been found.
Prospecting for gold lodes has
been carried on intermittently for
the last 60 years or more, some
development has been done at
many places, and at a few locali
ties mining has been carried on to
some extent. The fact that most
of the attempts to develop gold
lode mines in this region have been
unsuccessful should not be taken
to prove that workable gold lodes
do not exist here. In general, it
may be said that the gold bearing
veins of this region are similar in
type to veins found in many parts
of the world that are related in
origin to granitic intrusive rocks;
there seems reason to believe that
this genetic relationship holds for
the Kodiak group of islands. As far
as can be learned, all the gold
lodes of this region occur within
a few miles of a granitic intrusive
mass, or of dikes that are off
sltoots from such a mass.
Gold lodes have been prospected
in Uyak Bay, Afognak, Uganik,
Viekoda Bay, Tenor Bay, Dry
Spruce Island, Whale Island, Wo
mens Bay, and Kizhuyak Lode on
Larson Island near the village of
Old Harbor on Barling Bay. Tb®
lode veins prospected cootaioed
quartz, arsenopyrite, p y r i t e ,'
sphalerite, ehalcopyrite, and ga
lena, as well as varying ©mouata
Of fold Silver.
COAL
COed deposits on Sitkiaak Island,
ten miles south @f the southern
most tip of Kodiak Mand, hav®
beam known since before th® turn
of the century. The deposits have
mt bqou explored or their extent
determined. Samples from the coal
beds show the cbal to be mb
hitnimnous and preliminary ex
amination of the deposit by Di
vision of Mines and Minerals en
gineers indicates that the Sitkinak
goal field warrants a thorough ex
ploration. A total of twent-two Coal
Prospecting Permit applications
have been filed at the Anchorage
Office of the U. S. Bureau of Land
Management b y Thomas von
© • ’f?)
Scheele, Henry Nespeth, George
Cornelius and other associates.
These applications arc said to com
pletely cover the island west of
Sitkinak lagoon.
By various land orders, the Is
land of Kodiak has been divided
into two areas of restricted min
ing or oil leasing. In the area west
of a line from Viekoda Bay to
Kiliuda Bay, oil leasing is permit*
od with no mining; in die area
east of this line, mining ia permitt
ed and oil leasing prohibited. The
area West of the Viekoda-Kilinda
Bay is a Kodiak Bear refuge.
Timber Resources
The disiributon of timber in the
Kodiak group of Islands is peculiar
in that the northern part of Kodiak
Island and all the island* north of
it are well clothed With Sitka
Spruce trees up to about 1,000 feet
or less above sea level, whereas
south of Viekoda, Kichuyafc and
Chiniak Bay epruce is almost com
pletely absent. Within a mile or
so of the edge of the spruce forest
fine trees 3 to 4 feet in diameter
are common. The absence of tim
ber in many areas Where condi
tions appear favorable for it*
growth is an inheritance from the
time when glaciers completely
erased plant life from the region;
the re-establishment of the forest
is now underway but far from com
pletion. The edge of the spruce
forest has invaded the untimbered
areas to a perceptible degree and
is advancing at the rate of about
1 mile a century.
Balsam poplar trees occur with
in the spruce forest and are found
farther south than spruce, being
present along the valley floors and
on alluvial slopes as far south as
Uyak and Alitak Bays. Poplar
trees reach a diameter of 3 feet
or more.
A through study of the timber
resources of the Kodiak group is
in progress, but incomplete at
this time.
Highland Cattle
Best Says Breeder
Kodiak is slowly being recogniz
ed as a cattle country, though at
present the industry is in it’s in
fancy.
A breeder of the Scotch High
land cattle, Robert C. Rodruck, of
the R. and F. Ranch at Chehalis,
Washington, is seeking to intro
duce his fine breed of purebred
Highland cattle, stating that they
are ideal for this country. “Sum
mer or winter,” he says, “High
land cattle will thrive and prosper
where others less hardy and less
adapted breeds will fail. Western
Washington and Oregon, with
cold winter rains, is ideal for the
Highlander. They need no barng
or sheds to protect them from cli
matic conditions.”
Highland cattle were grazed be
fore the Shorthorn Wes known,
•*d the A&erdeen-Afigus unheard
of.
The hair of the Highlander is a
sort of coat fnd vest arrangement.
The undercoat is Soft and very
'thickly planted, the outer coat
is long. With a suggestion of glos$.
This arrangement prbvid m the
utmost protection against cold,
■snow, sleet and rain.
NEW YORK UP — And, in Mech
anicville. New York, basketball is
going to be good, clean fun. A
bar of soap was the price of ad
mission tonight to see pre-season
scrimmages between Mechanicvllle
high school basketball players. The
coach explained the players need
the soap for their showers.
Fishing and Hunting Unequalled
Kodiak as a sportsman’s para
dise, rs perhaps most famous for
it's bear. But for the sportsman
who does not limit his field of ac
tivity to trophy hunting, there is
an almost unlimited field in which
to follow his favorite outdoor sport.
Be«ar are numerous, of course,
and make an enjoyable hunt. They
attain weigihts upward of 1,200
pounds. The world record was kill
ed by a local resident in the Kodi
ak area with a burrowed rifle. Hun
ters from all over the world nsaike
“trips here annually in tifewir wisest
for bigger trophies.
wm to ttoe rewiik Mnr fkt
ie not m a tpwgfhy, brat
in meat that he can put or the
table, Elk hurting that is huttw
than average anywhere in the U.
S. is his on nearby Afognak Is
land. The Fish and Wildlife in
troduced these fine animals as an
e&pprmmiit eeme years ago and
the herd k«* grown to approximate
ly eeven hundred mad fifty animals.
Sitkan deer are prevalent now,
aloe having been introduced by the
Fish and Wildlife Service about
X) year# ago. These are mnall com
pared te the mule deer but make
excellent table fare. Goat and rein
deer are premnt on the Island but
are protected and cannot the hunt
ed et this time.
Ptarmigan, duck, geene and
<atlmr wildfowl are plentiful mid
afford every type «f shooting for
the shotgun enthusiast. Trapping
for commercial purposes includes
otter, heaver, muskrat, said fox.
Rhhhite are generally plentiful.
Salman are plentiful clone te
shore and in thn streams Salmon
are plentiful close to shore and in
the streams at certain seasons.
Black sea bass are plentiful and
tasty. For the lake and stream
fishermen there are ateelheed,
rainbows, and at certain seasons
dolly varden trout. Many fisher
men find a veritabe para
dise in a spruce protect
ed stream in the summertime.
Many a lightrod man finds a true
challenge in the steelhead Which
may be found near the stream
mouth at certain seasons.
In the waters off Kodiak are the
finest halibut banks in the world.
The halibut, big cousins of the
flounder and the sole, attain
weights of several hundred
pounds. They are fished both com
mercially and by sport fishermen.
An annual Halibut Derby is staged
by the Kodiak Outdoorsmen, a lo
cal sportsman’s club. Also in deep
Water will bo found codfish.
Prizo staoiog feo steBfMl is
ftwad tho king crab, a gie®t crust*
which may mmmre six feet
ia jprassA m& obtain a Woifht ©if
thirty or osmre pound*. King ©rate
Uas<s area m supplied t© dis
cerning gmtrmaU ft-am San Fn?n
cieco to Naw York.
Other denizens of the <k»op in
clude «aal, porpoise, «ea lion, killer
whale and sperm whale.
There are many edible form© of
sea life Vhieh can he obtained at
low tide. Crab such as dungeness
can be picked’up or dug out from
beneath Qhe sand. Purple mussels
are obtainable. Cockles lie just
under the sand at low tide, butter
and little neck clams are somewhat
deeper, and the razor clam is larg
est of all and lies deepest. Shrimp
may be taken in traps or by net
in tidal pools. The latter are taken
commercially in large quantities.
For the true sportsman who
hunts or fishes for his table, Kodi
offer® a combined means Of
besting && tfettt and providim
Wintor-lrmg eating. As someone
said: “The years I lived in Kodiak
were Ifeo being m a fhfr-rfMiwt
vwc*ti#».”
Miller’s ,.«***•»
High Life «»* <’“>
—- " ■' ■ 1,1 )
Powciog Cocktails j
Club Casino
Kodiak's Cocktail Lc—o
•f PtaHartloa
•
lecturing
ufur jo— ft
I Ifll aWiligDliuBS
Rachel Rogers Ue Franklin
Now Available
To Cattle Ranchers
In the Kodiak Area
*5' ‘ t A,.'. .. .r': . • ' .. *Ji .....
Registered Purebred
Scotch Highland Cattle
A number of heifers and bulls are being offered from (he prise Stock Of the R
and F Ranch at Cbehalis, Wash.
The hair arrangement of this fine breed of cattle provides the utmost protection
against cold, snow, sleet and rain.
For Particulars, write
R & F RANCH
Robert C. Rodruck P.O. Box 565, Chehallis,
Washington
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