(Continued from Page 1)
(From Cordova Daily Alaskan. July 23)
* trail with pack horses, expecting to go to Chitina via the
Tonsina and Willow Creek route.
In connection with the strike, an old timer,, familiar with
almost every section of the country, expresses his belief in the
richness of the strike and tells the following story, which in
his mind proves conclusively that there is an abundance of gold
in the section about the Sushanna river. According to his
tale, Russia, long before that country sold Alaska to the United
States, confident of her inability to hold her possession in
northwestern America, offered to sell the country to Denmark,
following which proposal the Danish government sent a party
of scientists to explore the great north country and to make a
report on the resources of the country. After covering a large
part of the territory the party returned and and made a report,
which is now on tile in the archives of the Danish government.
The report was unfavorable to the purchase by Denmark, and
as a whole is of but little interest at this time. One feature of
the report, however, which may have a decided bearing on the
present strike, is that the party reported that in their travels
they came across a large river channel running between the
head of the Copper river and the head of the White river,
which appeared to have been at one time the bed of the Copper
River, and that the river at one time run north and emptied into
the White instead of into the Gulf of Alaska. This old river
bed, which was cut by numerous streams, was said to contain
gold in considerable quantities, and was believed by the party
to be extremely rich, although their facilities for prospecting
''were such that they could not determine, even had their duties
permitted.
In the stampede of ’98 to Alaska there were two or three
Germans who had come all the way from the old country, with
copies of this report, and attempted to find the old channel,
which undoubtedly runs through the section covered by the
new strike. That they did not succeed is evidenced by the fact
that until the present time no report of gold being, taken out
in quantities has ever come from that section.
It is further pointed out by the narrator that there is every
reason to believe that the Copper river did at one time run
north and empty into the White river, as a few years ago there
Avas a legend handed down from generation to generation
among the Indians, that in the early history of the natives Ihe
river run north, and that much of the present Copper river
A-alley was a huge lake, but that the iiver finally broke through
to the south at its present outlet through the coast range.
A special train left Cordova this morning bearing 20
passengers and two horses for McCarthy, together with a
number of outfits belonging to the stampeders for the new
diggings on the Sushanna. The train is being put through on
quick time, reaching Chitina at 1:30 this afternoon, where it
remained about an hour and one-half to permit the stampeders
to purchase some necessaries for the trip and leave papers for
recording with the commissioner. The train reached McCarthy,
the beginning of the trail to the new strike, about 4 o’clock.
The reports which continue to come in from the diggings
are adding fuel to the flame and it is certain that by the time
the next train for the interior leaves here, there will be a con
siderable party ready to leave. Reports from reliable sources
are to the effect that the richness of the ground has not been
exaggerated by the reports heretofore received here. Seven
hundred dollars per day is the output of two men on Bonanza
creek, working with crude appliances. Eight civeks are
reported to have been prospected sufficiently to show that they
contain a good pay streak, and that two of these. Eldorado
and Bonanza are extremely rich. There are twenty-six creeks
in the district, all of which have indications of bearing gold,
possibly some of them being even richer than those already
known to have pay, but the extent and richness of the pay
cannot be stated until they have been prospected.
Claude Stewart, who wired to C. L. Hoyt to Cordova, that
Carl Whitam had struck it rich on the Sushanna, and that he
would meet Hoyt in Chitina yesterday, arrived at that place
yesterday, as did Mr. Hoyt, who left here yesterday morning
on a motor car. All efforts to get Stewart to tell what he knows
of the strike have been fruitless. He absolutely refuses to make
any statement regarding the country, and as he is known to
have been in almost constant communication with “Bud”
Sergeant, who was one of the first men in the new camp, it is
certain that he is well informed as to conditions there. His
reticence therefore is taken to mean that the news he has is
favorable to the new camp, and his refusal to divulge it to the
public is caused by the fact that he does not desire to increase
the rush to the interior, until he has accompaished liis own
purposes, as it is known he will go to the Sushanna himself as
soon as possible, and undoubtedly has interests there now.
Every report coming to Cordova but corroborates reports
previously received that the camp is bound to be a big producer,
and there no longer remains the slightest doubt but that the
tales of the richness of the strike which were first received were
exaggerated but little, if at all.
, Notwithstanding the favorable reports coming here, it is
rumored that there has been sent to the outside papers reports
that there is absolutely nothing to the strike. These reports,
however, are said to have been sent out by parties operating
mines in the interior, whose men have deserted to go to the
strike, and this means is being taken to stop the stampede. Such
reports, however, it is believed, will have little or no effect upon
the inrush of prospectors, as the contrary reports are so over
whelming, and from such reliable sources that all attempts to
belittle the,extent and richness of the Sushanna district cannot
but meet with failure.
(From Cordova Dai ly Alaskan, July 24)
The first gold from the new strike on the Sushanna river
was brought to McCarthy today by Robert Reilly, William
Courdon, George Veredis and a man named Brown. They had
been working for wages on Eldorado creek and had received
their pay in dust. The gold is all coarse, with nuggets ranging
from $5 to $35 each, and runs between $18 to $19 to the ounce.
The arrival of the gold caused considerable excitement, and,
aside from the story told by the miners, was all that was
necessary to remove the last doubt that remained in the minds
of anyone, that there would be a big camp on the Sushanna.
Reilly and his partners came out to outfit for a long stay in
the country and will return as soon as possible. They confirm
the stories that have been told of the richness and extent of
the field, and declare that it is one of the greatest finds of recent
years in Alaska. They say that everything has been staked
on Eldorado and Bonanza creeks, but that there is plenty of
ground on the other creeks.
Yesterday’s train brought numerous letters from parties
in the interior to Cordova people. One of these from McCarthy
says: “It is sure enough a stampede. At least 150 men have
i left here in the last 48 hours. It seems George M olf made the
strike, and it is said that he was grubstaked by Brady Howard.
Howard got a letter from Wolf and started for the Sushanna
at once, lie was out on the line scaling timber when the letter
was given him and he borrowed the boots and shirt Jesse
Forrester was wearing and started without returning to camp.
It is claimed that Wolf is taking out $2,500 per day. It is a
sight to see the stampeders starting out. Seventy-five came in
on this train and are going out, as fast as they can get away,
with packs on their backs.”
A letter from Paul Range states that the best claims so far
opened are on Eldorado, where, with a short string of boxes,
with three men working, there is being taken out from $250 to
$1,500. Good pay has been struck on six creeks, but no reliable
data has been received as to values, but reports are to the effect
that the ground runs as high as 75 cents to the pan on some of
the claims now being prospected. The creeks on which pay
has been found are Bonanza, Eldorado. Ready Money, Chitenda,
Shamrock and Beaver, and some prospecting indicates that five
other creeks have good pay ground. All of the ground is
shallow and unfrozen. Such ground as has been opened is
sufficiently rich to warrant the belief that a big camp like
Dawson is probable. The total area of the gold bearing gravel
is varying, and probably in some cases not reliable, but it is
believed to be large.
It is necessary to do some work on the trail over the glacier
to make it possible to freight in winter. The distance from
McCarthy to Bonanza creek, which will probably be the
permanent camp, is about 110 miles. With $5,000 worth of work
on the trail the freight will come via Cordova.
B. W. Elliott, writing from Blackburn, says: “It is the
greatest strike ever made in Alaska as to richness and extent.
A friend of mine, who has been in and staked some claims, says
| that he panned a number of pans of gravel, none of which went
below $2.00. The diggings are shallow, it being but from 1 to 5
feet to bedrock. The wash is porphyry-slate, with no boulders.
The creeks head on a red porphyry mountain. Pay has been
found on Bonanza, Eldorado, Coarse Gold and Johnson creeks.
The country is rolling, with small hills, just like the Dawson
country. The country is large and 1 would not be surprised to
hear of a number of other good strikes as soon as the
prospectors get to work. I saw the gold and it looks good to
me. It is pretty well worn and smoth. Wages are $10 a day
and board. The distance from White Horse to the Sushanna
is 400 miles, but the Canadians have built a trail for a good
part of the distance. Uncle Sam should get busy.”
Of the stampeders who have left Cordova, but few got
across the Xizina river until this morning, owing to the
extremely high water. Of the first bunch which went out.
Henneke, Sullivan and Johnson got across the river, Sullivan,
it is reported, nearly losing his life in the attempt, having been
carried olf his feet in the swift current, and but for the efforts
of his companions would probably have been drowned. Of
those who started later, only Deputy Marshal Joe Brown, of
Chitina got across the river. He tackled the stream yc -tcrday
I morning and succeeded in swimming across after a hard battle
with the current. The remainder of the stampeders remained
on this side of the river until this morning, when a decided
fall in the stream allowed them all to cross and they are now
pushing on with all speed to overtake the advance guard.
The trail to the new camp, particularly that section
between McCarthy and the Xizina river, and the glacier trail,
is in bad shape and if the travel is going by way of Cordova
some work should be done on it to make it easier to traverse.
M. Finkelstein, who went out to Kennicott last Saturday, was
the first to call attention to the condition of the trail and the
i necessity for something to be done in improving it in a
telegram to the Chamber of Commerce last Sunday. In response
to the telegram the chamber at once took up the matter with
\ ice President Baxter, of the Copper River & Northwestern
Railroad, and it was tacitly agreed that some work in this
direction should be done as soon as it was ascertained just
what was needed, though no definite plans were made, nor can
they be arranged until a reconnaissance of the country has |
been completed and a report made on the work necessary. This
will be done, it is believed, within a short time, and further
steps taken to make a good trail from the railroad to Scolai
pass. The glacier, over which the trail passes, is extremely
difficult to cross this year, on account of the high ridge in the
center, with a steep slope on either side, making it extremely
difficult to take horses over, even when sharp shod. The work
required at this point would not be extensive and would take
but a few days. The glacier has the faculty of changing its
shape almost every season, and at times is easy to cross.
(From Cordova Dai ly Alaskan, July 25)
News from the new strike on the Sushanna still continues
to be encouraging, and only bears out what has previously been
said regarding the richness of the strike, and the extensivness
of the territory.
All the stampeders from Cordova and along the railroad
line are now on the way to the diggings, the last bunch having
crossed the Nizina river yesterday about noon.
The following telegram received last night affords some
new details and confirms former reports:
BLACKBURN, July 23.—Gustave Priesner today read a
letter about town received from George Zavoretz and dated
July 17 at North Fork Island which reads:
“I just arrived here from the gold strike on Bonanza creek
which is about 35 miles north of here, and can say that the
strike is O. K. Nine of us left here and we have all located
claims near the discovery. I panned one pan on discovery
which belongs to William James and got about $20 in coarse
gold out of the one pan. They are working on bedi’ock which
is about three feet below the surface, and with only two lengths
of sluice boxes took out 205 ounces of gold in less than five days.
Our party were among the first to ariive, but while we were
SuioS sopand pudAes ;aiu oav pus ‘auioa upload aaoui j£ubiu eueqj
in as w were on the way out.
There are several mining men and experts in here and they
all say that the strike and surrounding country look good
enough for a big stampede. We went in light, and had to come
right out again for more grub, but are going back again tomor
row. I panned a little on my own claim and got several colors
on the surface, but have not done any work on it as yet. The
largest nugget found in there, up to the time we left was worth
about $20. lint they had a large number of nuggets ranging
from $2.50 up to $8, as all the gold is coarse, they expect to find
larger ones before long.
'fhe main strike is not on Johnson creeks as was first
reported, but is on Little Eldorado, about 200 yards from where
it empties into Bonanza creek. Bonanza empties into Chatenda
and several good pans have been taken on the surface of its
creek bed. We got caught in a combined snow and rain storm
coming back and there wasn't a blanket in the crowd, so we
nearly froze that night. We started on the trail again next
morning in wet clothes, but they soon dried and everything was
O. K. again.”
On the Victoria, which arrived here this morning, were
several parties from Fairbanks, who came out by the way of
Nome, who are bound for the new strike by the way of
McCarthy. They state that it is almost impossible to reach the
new diggings from Fairbanks by the way of the Tanana. anil
that the only way to reach the Suslmnna is via the government
road to Chitina, or by steamer down the river to St. Michael
and thence by way of Cordova. A few have started by the way
of tlie trail to Chitina, and some have attempted to ge up the
Tanana, but the latter are bound to have a long and hazardous
trip, even if they succeed in reaching the Suslmnna, which is
thought extremely doubtful.
A number of Cordova men are preparing to go to the
Suslmnna, and will leave on the train for McCarthy tomorrow
morning. • -*.-<• ’■
The stampede to the new diggings from the outside has
already commenced. The steamer Northwestern, which arrived
from Seattle this afternoon, had a number of passengers bound
for the Suslmnna. Some of them were from Seattle and a
number took the boat at Juneau, where the news of the strike
has created no little excitement, and it is expected that the
next steamer from Seattle will pick up quite a few prospectors
at Southeastern Alaska ports who will go to the diggings via
Cordova. » i
7 - . _m*. ja ,
—- - .... .. ■■ * » . A. . n
News from the Sushanna still continues to hear out the
claims that the diggings are extremely rich, and that the camp
will become a second Dawson.
John Moon and Gus Larson, two men from the new placer
camp, arrived at McCarthy last evening, bringing with them a
quantity of gold. They will outfit and return to the diggings
as soon as possible. They state that the ground so far worked
has proven very rich, and that the discovery on Bonanza is
yielding large returns. They claim that Jennings, who is
working on the claim, took out $8,000 in eight days, two men
shoveling into the crude sluice boxes. They also state that they
saw men take out $125 per day from the claim above discovery
with ordinary tin plates, such as they were using to eat from.
That the field is extensive is denoted by the report brought
out by these men that gold in paying quantities had been found
30 miles from discovery, and while all tlie ground on Eldorado
and the benches have been staked, there still remains a large
area of promising country to be prospected, and which may
prove as rich as any yet found.
Moon and Larson brought out considerable dust, ail
coarse. Breedman & Church have purchased $100 worth of
nuggets from these men and will send them to George Dooley,
for exhibition in Cordova, on the next train leaving McCarthy.
These men claim to have made the trip from the diggings
to McCarthy in three days, and to have passed a number of men
on the way bound for the Sushanna.
The latest reports regarding the stampeders from Cordova
and Copper river points is that about seventy-five men are at
Scolai pass, and are having a hard time crossing, having been
caught in a snow storm. This news was brought out by a man
from the diggings who arrived at Blackburn a day or two ago.
He reports the trail ratther difficult, and that it took him five
days to make the distance traveling light with a horse. He
estimates that with a pack it will take a man and horse at least
seven days to go from McCarthy to the Sushanna.
The news of the strike is creating a considerable stir
throughout the territory. Southeastern Alaska, which was cut
off from cable communication during the early reports of the
strike are just beginning to get the news, and the Daily Alaskan
is in receipt of telegrams from Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau
and other towns in that section asking for full details of the
strike, the distances from McCarthy, conditions of trail and
other details, stating that the news has caused a number of
people to prepare to go to the Sushanna if the reports already
received can be corroborated.
Nome will send a large contingent through Cordova if
the steamships can be prevailed to touch here on the way south
from that port. Fairbanks has contributed a fair quota to the
stampede, most of whom are coming over the government road
to Chitina, and other's are leaving the Tanana metropolis daily.
Bob Ford, with his automobile and two passengers, left Fair
banks for Chitina this morning, and if he succeeds in making
the trip in good time will make regular runs between the two
points.
Inquiries received from Seattle indicate that the people
of the Spirit City are becoming interested in the strike, and
that the first inclination to disbelieve the reports is giving way
to a belief in the genuiness of the strike.
Every report from the new diggings strengthens the belief
that the strike is an exceedingly rich one, and from the reports
coming in there is no doubt that for the next few weeks there
will be a large influx of people to Cordova from the states and
from different sections of Alaska, headed for the Sushanna.
WASHINGTON, July 28. — The
state department received advices to
day that President Huerta of Mexico
had ordered the immediate release
of Bissell and McDonald, the two
American miners held prisoners by
the federal authorities at Chihuahua.
VICTORIA, B. C., July 29.—Dr.
A. T. Watt, superintendent of the
Williams Head quarantine station,
committed suicide this morning.
Grief over the death of his brother, *
which occurred recently, was th«
[cause of the deed.