RARE Map Brochure Gold Fields Alaska 1901 North American Transportation Steamers

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Seller: dalebooks ✉️ (8,797) 100%, Location: Rochester, New York, US, Ships to: WORLDWIDE & many other countries, Item: 264611235152 RARE Map Brochure Gold Fields Alaska 1901 North American Transportation Steamers.
VERY RARE Original Map / Brochure  
To the Gold Fields 
of Alaska and Yukon Territory 
via - North American Transportation & Trading Co.'s Steamers 
1901
 

For offer, an ORIGINAL pamphlet with map. Fresh from a local estate - never offered on the market until now. Vintage, Old, antique, Original - NOT a Reproduction - Guaranteed !! I could not locate one of these anywhere. Quite rare. NAT & T Co., carrying U.S. Mails to Nome, St. Michaels, Port Clarence, Golovin Bay, Cape York, and all points on the Yukon River. Company's offices at Seattle, Washington, and Chicago, Illinois. Fleet and Ocean River Steamers - shows Roanoke on back. Says first sailings from Seattler - S.S. Roanoke, May 29 and S.S. Santa Ana, May 27 with others afterwards. Also gives information on Great Northern Railway, Canadian Pacific RR, Northern Pacific, and Union Pacific. Map has lots of labels "Gold" on it. See photos for dimensions - large foldout map, with steamship routs, railroads, roads, etc. Lots of other information on backs, including individual areas, mines, etc. In very good condition. A couple minor, small rips at lower edge, a few areas of small separations at fold points. Please see photos for details. If you collect American history, Americana 19th century geography, atlas, transportation, etc., this is one you will not see again. A nice piece for your paper / ephemera collection.  Perhaps some genealogy research information as well. Combine shipping on multiple bid wins! 02232

The Klondike Gold Rush[n 1] was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon, in north-western Canada, between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896, and, when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain. It has been immortalized in artifacts, films, games, literature, and photographs. To reach the gold fields, most prospectors took the route through the ports of Dyea and Skagway, in Southeast Alaska. Here, the Klondikers could follow either the Chilkoot or the White Pass trails to the Yukon River, and sail down to the Klondike. The Canadian authorities required each of them to bring a year's supply of food, in order to prevent starvation. In all, the Klondikers' equipment weighed close to a ton, which most carried themselves, in stages. Performing this task, and contending with the mountainous terrain and cold climate, meant those who persisted did not arrive until summer 1898. Once there, they found few opportunities, and many left disappointed. Mining was challenging, as the ore was distributed unevenly, and permafrost made digging slow. Consequently, some miners chose to buy and sell claims, build up huge investments, and let others do the work. To accommodate the prospectors, boom towns sprang up along the routes. At their terminus, Dawson City was founded at the confluence of the Klondike and the Yukon Rivers. From a population of 500 in 1896, the town grew to house approximately 30,000 people by summer 1898. Built of wood, isolated, and unsanitary, Dawson suffered from fires, high prices, and epidemics. Despite this, the wealthiest prospectors spent extravagantly, gambling and drinking in the saloons. The Native Hän people, on the other hand, suffered from the rush; they were forcibly moved into a reserve to make way for the stampeders, and many died. From 1898, the newspapers that had encouraged so many to travel to the Klondike lost interest in it. In the summer of 1899, gold was discovered around Nome in west Alaska, and many prospectors left the Klondike for the new goldfields, marking the end of the Klondike Rush. The boom towns declined, and the population of Dawson City fell. Gold mining production in the Klondike peaked in 1903, after heavier equipment was brought in. Since then, the Klondike has been mined on and off, and today the legacy draws tourists to the region and contributes to its prosperity.[n 2] Background Map of people and places at the time of discovery of gold in the Yukon. Yukon at the time of discovery. The indigenous peoples in north-west America had traded in copper nuggets prior to European expansion. Most of the tribes were aware that gold existed in the region, but the metal was not valued by them.[2][3][4] The Russians and the Hudson's Bay Company had both explored the Yukon in the first half of the 19th century, but ignored the rumours of gold in favour of fur trading, which offered more immediate profits.[2][n 3] In the second half of the 19th century, American prospectors began to spread into the area.[6] Making deals with the Native Tlingit and Tagish tribes, the early prospectors opened the important routes of Chilkoot and White Pass, and reached the Yukon valley between 1870 and 1890.[7] Here, they encountered the Hän people, semi-nomadic hunters and fishermen who lived along the Yukon and Klondike Rivers.[8] The Hän did not appear to know about the extent of the gold deposits in the region.[n 4] In 1883, Ed Schieffelin identified gold deposits along the Yukon River, and an expedition up the Fortymile River in 1886 discovered considerable amounts of it and founded Fortymile City.[9][10] The same year gold had been found on the banks of the Klondike River, but in small amounts and no claims were made.[5] By the late 1880s, several hundred miners were working their way along the Yukon valley, living in small mining camps and trading with the Hän.[11][12][13] On the Alaskan side of the border Circle City, a logtown, was established 1893 on the Yukon River. In three years it grew to become "the Paris of Alaska", with 1,200 inhabitants, saloons, opera houses, schools, and libraries. In 1896, it was so well known that a correspondent from the Chicago Daily Record came to visit. At the end of the year, it became a ghost town, when large gold deposits were found upstream on the Klondike.[14] Discovery (1896) Main article: Discovery Claim Photograph of Skookum Jim, one of the discoverers, 1898 Skookum Jim, one of the discoverers, 1898 On August 16, 1896, an American prospector named George Carmack, his Tagish wife Kate Carmack (Shaaw Tláa), her brother Skookum Jim (Keish), and their nephew Dawson Charlie (K̲áa Goox̱) were travelling south of the Klondike River.[15] Following a suggestion from Robert Henderson, a Canadian prospector, they began looking for gold on Bonanza Creek, then called Rabbit Creek, one of the Klondike's tributaries.[16] It is not clear who discovered the gold: George Carmack or Skookum Jim, but the group agreed to let George Carmack appear as the official discoverer because they feared that authorities would not recognize an indigenous claimant.[17][18][n 5] In any event, gold was present along the river in huge quantities.[20] Carmack measured out four claims, strips of ground that could later be legally mined by the owner, along the river; these including two for himself—one as his normal claim, the second as a reward for having discovered the gold—and one each for Jim and Charlie.[21] The claims were registered next day at the police post at the mouth of the Fortymile River and news spread rapidly from there to other mining camps in the Yukon River valley.[22] By the end of August, all of Bonanza Creek had been claimed by miners.[23] A prospector then advanced up into one of the creeks feeding into Bonanza, later to be named Eldorado Creek. He discovered new sources of gold there, which would prove to be even richer than those on Bonanza.[24] Claims began to be sold between miners and speculators for considerable sums.[25] Just before Christmas, word of the gold reached Circle City. Despite the winter, many prospectors immediately left for the Klondike by dog-sled, eager to reach the region before the best claims were taken.[26] The outside world was still largely unaware of the news and although Canadian officials had managed to send a message to their superiors in Ottawa about the finds and influx of prospectors, the government did not give it much attention.[27] The winter prevented river traffic, and it was not until June 1897 that the first boats left the area, carrying the freshly mined gold and the full story of the discoveries.[28] Beginning of the stampede (July 1897) Prices in this article are given in US dollars throughout. Equivalent modern prices have been given in 2010 US dollars. The equivalent prices of modern goods and services have been calculated using the Consumer Price Index (1:27). Larger sums, for example gold shipments, capital investment, or land prices, have been calculated using the GDP index (1:800).[29][n 6] In the resulting Klondike stampede, an estimated 100,000 people tried to reach the Klondike goldfields, of whom only around 30,000 to 40,000 eventually did.[30][n 7] It formed the height of the Klondike gold rush from the summer of 1897 until the summer of 1898. It began on July 15, 1897, in San Francisco and was spurred further two days later in Seattle, when the first of the early prospectors returned from the Klondike, bringing with them large amounts of gold on the ships Excelsior and Portland.[35] The press reported that a total of $1,139,000 (equivalent to $1,000 million at 2010 prices) had been brought in by these ships, although this proved to be an underestimate.[36] The migration of prospectors caught so much attention that it was joined by outfitters, writers and photographers.[37] Various factors lay behind this sudden mass response. Economically, the news had reached the US at the height of a series of financial recessions and bank failures in the 1890s. The gold standard of the time tied paper money to the production of gold and shortages towards the end of the 19th century meant that gold dollars were rapidly increasing in value ahead of paper currencies and being hoarded.[38] This had contributed to the Panic of 1893 and Panic of 1896, which caused unemployment and financial uncertainty.[39] There was a huge, unresolved demand for gold across the developed world that the Klondike promised to fulfil and, for individuals, the region promised higher wages or financial security.[38][39] Seattle newspaper announcing the arrival of gold from Klondike, July 17, 1897 Psychologically, the Klondike, as historian Pierre Berton describes, was "just far enough away to be romantic and just close enough to be accessible." Furthermore, the Pacific ports closest to the gold strikes were desperate to encourage trade and travel to the region.[40] The mass journalism of the period promoted the event and the human interest stories that lay behind it. A worldwide publicity campaign engineered largely by Erastus Brainerd, a Seattle newspaperman, helped establish that city as the premier supply centre and the departure point for the gold fields.[41][42] The prospectors came from many nations, although an estimated majority of 60 to 80 percent were Americans or recent immigrants to America.[43][44][n 8] Most had no experience in the mining industry, being clerks or salesmen.[46] Mass resignations of staff to join the gold rush became notorious.[47] In Seattle, this included the mayor, twelve policemen, and a significant percentage of the city's streetcar drivers.[48] Some stampeders were famous: John McGraw, the former governor of Washington joined, together with the prominent lawyer and sportsman A. Balliot. Frederick Burnham, a well-known American scout and explorer, arrived from Africa, only to be called back to take part in the Second Boer War.[49][50] Among those who documented the rush were the Swedish-born photographer Eric Hegg, who took some of the iconic pictures of Chilkoot Pass, and reporter Tappan Adney, who afterwards wrote a first-hand history of the stampede.[51][n 9] Jack London, later a famous American writer, left to seek for gold but made his money during the rush mostly by working for prospectors.[53][n 10] Seattle and San Francisco competed fiercely for business during the rush, with Seattle winning the larger share of trade.[54] Indeed, one of the first to join the gold rush was William D. Wood, the mayor of Seattle, who resigned and formed a company to transport prospectors to the Klondike.[41] The publicity around the gold rush led to a flurry of branded goods being put onto the market. Clothing, equipment, food, and medicines were all sold as "Klondike" goods, allegedly designed for the north-west.[55][n 11] Guidebooks were published, giving advice about routes, equipment, mining, and capital necessary for the enterprise.[58][59] The newspapers of the time termed this phenomenon "Klondicitis".[55] Klondikers buying miner's licenses at the Custom House in Victoria, BC, on February 12, 1898   San Francisco, July 1897. The steamship Excelsior leaves San Francisco on July 28, 1897, for the Klondike The S/S Excelsior leaves San Francisco on July 28, 1897, for the Klondike.[n 12]   SS Islander leaving Vancouver, bound for Skagway, 1897 Routes to the Klondike Route to the Klondike Routes to the Klondike (red spot). For details see appendix. The Klondike could be reached only by the Yukon River, either upstream from its delta, downstream from its head, or from somewhere in the middle through its tributaries. River boats could navigate the Yukon in the summer from the delta until a point called Whitehorse, above the Klondike. Travel in general was made difficult by both the geography and climate. The region was mountainous, the rivers winding and sometimes impassable; the short summers could be hot, while from October to June, during the long winters, temperatures could drop below −50 °C (−58 °F).[61][62][n 13] Aids for the travellers to carry their supplies varied; some had brought dogs, horses, mules, or oxen, whereas others had to rely on carrying their equipment on their backs or on sleds pulled by hand.[65] Shortly after the stampede began in 1897, the Canadian authorities had introduced rules requiring anyone entering Yukon Territory to bring with them a year's supply of food; typically this weighed around 1,150 pounds (520 kg).[66] By the time camping equipment, tools and other essentials were included, a typical traveller was transporting as much as a ton in weight.[66] Unsurprisingly, the price of draft animals soared; at Dyea, even poor quality horses could sell for as much as $700 ($19,000), or be rented out for $40 ($1,100) a day.[67][n 14] From Seattle or San Francisco, prospectors could travel by sea up the coast to the ports of Alaska.[69] The route following the coast is now referred to as the Inside Passage. It led to the ports of Dyea and Skagway plus ports of nearby trails. The sudden increase in demand encouraged a range of vessels to be pressed into service including old paddle wheelers, fishing boats, barges, and coal ships still full of coal dust. All were overloaded and many sank.[70] All water routes It was possible to sail all the way to the Klondike, first from Seattle across the northern Pacific to the Alaskan coast. From St. Michael, at the Yukon River delta, a river boat could then take the prospectors the rest of the way up the river to Dawson, often guided by one of the Native Koyukon people who lived near St. Michael.[71][72] Although this all-water route, also called "the rich man's route", was expensive and long – 4,700 miles (7,600 km) in total – it had the attraction of speed and avoiding overland travel.[71] At the beginning of the stampede a ticket could be bought for $150 ($4,050) while during the winter 1897–98 the fare settled at $1,000 ($27,000).[73][n 15] In 1897, some 1,800 travellers attempted this route but the vast majority were caught along the river when the region iced over in October.[71] Only 43 reached the Klondike before winter and of those 35 had to return, having thrown away their equipment en route to reach their destination in time.[71] The remainder mostly found themselves stranded in isolated camps and settlements along the ice-covered river often in desperate circumstances.[75][n 16] Dyea/Skagway routes Most of the prospectors landed at the southeast Alaskan towns of Dyea and Skagway, both located at the head of the natural Lynn Canal at the end of the Inside Passage. From there, they needed to travel over the mountain ranges into Canada's Yukon Territory, and then down the river network to the Klondike.[77] Along the trails, tent camps sprung up at places where prospectors had to stop to eat or sleep or at obstacles such as the icy lakes at the head of the Yukon.[78][79] At the start of the rush, a ticket from Seattle to the port of Dyea cost $40 ($1,100) for a cabin. Premiums of $100 ($2,700), however, were soon paid and the steamship companies hesitated to post their rates in advance since they could increase on a daily basis.[80] White Pass trail Dead horses on White Pass trail, 1898 Those who landed at Skagway made their way over the White Pass before cutting across to Bennett Lake.[81] Although the trail began gently, it progressed over several mountains with paths as narrow as 2 feet (0.61 m) and in wider parts covered with boulders and sharp rocks.[82] Under these conditions horses died in huge numbers, giving the route the informal name of Dead Horse Trail.[77][n 17] The volumes of travellers and the wet weather made the trail impassable and, by late 1897, it was closed until further notice, leaving around 5,000 stranded in Skagway.[82] An alternative toll road suitable for wagons was eventually constructed and this, combined with colder weather that froze the muddy ground, allowed the White Pass to reopen, and prospectors began to make their way into Canada.[82] Moving supplies and equipment over the pass had to be done in stages. Most divided their belongings into 65 pounds (29 kg) packages that could be carried on a man's back, or heavier loads that could be pulled by hand on a sled.[65] Ferrying packages forwards and walking back for more, a prospector would need about thirty round trips, a distance of at least 2,500 miles (4,000 km), before they had moved all of their supplies to the end of the trail. Even using a heavy sled, a strong man would be covering 1,000 miles (1,600 km) and need around 90 days to reach Lake Bennett.[84][n 18] Chilkoot trail Prospectors with supplies at The Chilkoot Pass. In front: The Scales. Left: Golden Steps, right: Pederson Pass. March–April 1898 Prospectors with supplies at the Chilkoot Pass. In front: The Scales, left: Golden Steps. c. March 1898.[n 19] Those who landed at Dyea, Skagway's neighbour town, travelled the Chilkoot Trail and crossed its pass to reach Lake Lindeman, which fed into Lake Bennett at the head of the Yukon River.[86] The Chilkoot Pass was higher than the White Pass, but more used it: around 22,000 during the gold rush.[87] The trail passed up through camps until it reached a flat ledge, just before the main ascent, which was too steep for animals.[88][n 20] This location was known as the Scales, and was where goods were weighed before travellers officially entered Canada. The cold, the steepness and the weight of equipment made the climb extremely arduous and it could take a day to get to the top of the 1,000 feet (300 m) high slope.[90] As on the White Pass trail, supplies needed to be broken down into smaller packages and carried in relay.[91] Packers, prepared to carry supplies for cash, were available along the route but would charge up to $1 ($27) per lb (0.45 kg) on the later stages; many of these packers were natives: Tlingits or, less commonly, Tagish.[88][92][93] Avalanches were common in the mountains and, on April 3, 1898, one claimed the lives of more than 60 people travelling over Chilkoot Pass.[94][n 21] Entrepreneurs began to provide solutions as the winter progressed. Steps were cut into the ice at the Chilkoot Pass which could be used for a daily fee, this 1,500 step staircase becoming known as the "Golden Steps".[96] By December 1897, Archie Burns built a tramway up the final parts of the Chilkoot Pass. A horse at the bottom turned a wheel, which pulled a rope running to the top and back; freight was loaded on sledges pulled by the rope. Five more tramways soon followed, one powered by a steam engine, charging between 8 and 30 cents ($2 and $8) per 1 pound (0.45 kg).[97] An aerial tramway was built in the spring of 1898, able to move 9 tonnes of goods an hour up to the summit.[97][63] Head of Yukon River Prospectors in a tent camp at Bennett Lake waiting for the ice on Yukon River to break up, May 1898 Prospectors in a tent camp at Bennett Lake waiting for the ice on Yukon River to break up, May 1898. At Lakes Bennett and Lindeman, the prospectors camped to build rafts or boats that would take them the final 500 miles (800 km) down the Yukon to Dawson City in the spring.[98][n 22] 7,124 boats of varying size and quality left in May 1898; by that time, the forests around the lakes had been largely cut down for timber.[100][101] The river posed a new problem. Above Whitehorse, it was dangerous, with several rapids along the Miles Canyon through to the White Horse Rapids.[102] After many boats were wrecked and several hundred people died, the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) introduced safety rules, vetting the boats carefully and forbidding women and children to travel through the rapids.[103][53][n 23] Additional rules stated that any boat carrying passengers required a licensed pilot, typically costing $25 ($680), although some prospectors simply unpacked their boats and let them drift unmanned through the rapids with the intent of walking down to collect them on the other side.[53] During the summer, a horse-powered rail-tramway was built by Norman Macaulay, capable of carrying boats and equipment through the canyon at $25 ($680) a time, removing the need for prospectors to navigate the rapids.[104] Parallel trails Prospectors sailing toward Dawson in boat on upper Yukon River, 1898 Klondikers sailing toward Dawson on the upper Yukon River, 1898. There were a few more trails established during 1898 from South-east Alaska to the Yukon River. One was the Dalton trail: starting from Pyramid Harbour, close to Dyea, it went across the Chilkat Pass some miles west of Chilkoot and turned north to the Yukon River, a distance of about 350 miles (560 km). This was created by Jack Dalton as a summer route, intended for cattle and horses, and Dalton charged a toll of $250 ($6,800) for its use.[105] The Takou route started from Juneau and went north-east to Teslin Lake. From here, it followed a river to the Yukon, where it met the Dyea and Skagway route at a point halfway to the Klondike.[106] It meant dragging and poling canoes up-river and through mud together with crossing a 5,000 feet (1,500 m) mountain along a narrow trail. Finally, there was the Stikine route starting from the port of Wrangell further south-east of Skagway. This route went up the uneasy Stikine River to Glenora, the head of navigation. From Glenora, prospectors would have to carry their supplies 150 miles (240 km) to Teslin Lake where it, like the Takou route, met the Yukon River system.[107] All-Canadian routes Photograph of the Pelly River A tent-camp along the Pelly River a Canadian tributary to the Yukon River, 1898. An alternative to the South-east Alaskan ports were the All-Canadian routes, so-called because they mostly stayed on Canadian soil throughout their journey.[108] These were popular with British and Canadians for patriotic reasons and because they avoided American customs.[108] The first of these, around 1,000 miles (1,600 km) in length, started from Ashcroft in British Columbia and crossed swamps, river gorges, and mountains until it met with the Stikine River route at Glenora.[107][n 24] From Glenora, prospectors would face the same difficulties as those who came from Wrangell.[107] At least 1,500 men attempted to travel along the Ashcroft route and 5,000 along the Stikine.[110] The mud and the slushy ice of the two routes proved exhausting, killing or incapacitating the pack animals and creating chaos amongst the travellers.[111] Three more routes started from Edmonton, Alberta; these were not much better – barely trails at all – despite being advertised as "the inside track" and the "back door to the Klondike".[112][113] One, the "overland route", headed north-west from Edmonton, ultimately meeting the Peace River and then continuing on overland to the Klondike, crossing the Liard River en route.[114] To encourage travel via Edmonton, the government hired T.W. Chalmers to build a trail, which became known as the Klondike Trail or Chalmers Trail.[115] The other two trails, known as the "water routes", involved more river travel. One went by boat along rivers and overland to the Yukon River system at Pelly River and from there to Dawson.[116] Another went north of Dawson by the Mackenzie River to Fort McPherson, before entering Alaska and meeting the Yukon River at Fort Yukon, downstream to the Klondike.[116][117] From here, the boat and equipment had to be pulled up the Yukon about 400 miles (640 km). An estimated 1,660 travellers took these three routes, of whom only 685 arrived, some taking up to 18 months to make the journey.[118] "All-American" route An equivalent to the All-Canadian routes was the "All-American route", which aimed to reach the Yukon from the port of Valdez, which lay further along the Alaskan coast from Skagway.[119] This, it was hoped, would evade the Canadian customs posts and provide an American-controlled route into the interior.[120] From late 1897 onwards 3,500 men and women attempted it; delayed by the winter snows, fresh efforts were made in the spring.[121] In practice, the huge Valdez glacier that stood between the port and the Alaskan interior proved almost insurmountable and only 200 managed to climb it; by 1899, the cold and scurvy was causing many deaths amongst the rest.[122] Other prospectors attempted an alternative route across the Malaspina Glacier just to the east, suffering even greater hardships.[123] Those who did manage to cross it found themselves having to negotiate miles of wilderness before they could reach Dawson. Their expedition was forced to turn back the same way they had come, with only four men surviving.[124] Border control Peak of Chilkoot Pass in March-April 1898. Men wearing winter clothes with their supplies in the snow all of it surrounded by hill-sides. US-Canada border on the Chilkoot Pass, 1898[n 25] The borders in South-east Alaska were disputed between the US, Canada and Britain since the American purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.[126] The US and Canada both claimed the ports of Dyea and Skagway.[126] This, combined with the numbers of American prospectors, the quantities of gold being mined and the difficulties in exercising government authority in such a remote area, made the control of the borders a sensitive issue.[127] Early on in the gold rush, the US Army sent a small detachment to Circle City, in case intervention was required in the Klondike, while the Canadian government considered excluding all American prospectors from the Yukon Territory.[128] Neither eventuality took place and instead the US agreed to make Dyea a sub-port of entry for Canadians, allowing British ships to land Canadian passengers and goods freely there, while Canada agreed to permit American miners to operate in the Klondike.[129] Both decisions were unpopular among their domestic publics: American businessmen complained that their right to a monopoly on regional trade was being undermined, while the Canadian public demanded action against the American miners.[129] The North-West Mounted Police set up control posts at the borders of the Yukon Territory or, where that was disputed, at easily controlled points such as the Chilkoot and White Passes.[130] These units were armed with Maxim guns.[131] Their tasks included enforcing the rules requiring that travellers bring a year's supply of food with them to be allowed into the Yukon Territory, checking for illegal weapons, preventing the entry of criminals and enforcing customs duties.[132] This last task was particularly unpopular with American prospectors, who faced paying an average of 25 percent of the value of their goods and supplies.[133] The Mounties had a reputation for running these posts honestly, although accusations were made that they took bribes.[134] Prospectors, on the other hand, tried to smuggle prize items like silk and whiskey across the pass in tins and bales of hay: the former item for the ladies, the latter for the saloons.[135] Mining Of the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people who reached Dawson City during the gold rush, only around 15,000 to 20,000 finally became prospectors. Of these, no more than 4,000 struck gold and only a few hundred became rich.[30] By the time most of the stampeders arrived in 1898, the best creeks had all been claimed, either by the long-term miners in the region, or by the first arrivals of the year before.[136] The Bonanza, Eldorado, Hunker and Dominion Creeks were all taken, with almost 10,000 claims recorded by the authorities by July 1898; a new prospector would have to look further afield to find a claim of his own.[137] Geologically, the region was permeated with veins of gold, forced to the surface by volcanic action and then worn away by the action of rivers and streams, leaving nuggets and gold dust in deposits known as placer gold.[138][n 26] Some ores lay along the creek beds in lines of soil, typically 15 feet (4.6 m) to 30 feet (9.1 m) beneath the surface.[139] Others, formed by even older streams, lay along the hilltops; these deposits were called "bench gold".[140] Finding the gold was challenging. Initially, miners had assumed that all the gold would be along the existing creeks, and it was not until late in 1897 that the hilltops began to be mined.[141] Gold was also unevenly distributed in the areas where it was found, which made prediction of good mining sites even more uncertain.[142] The only way to be certain that gold was present was to conduct exploratory digging.[143] Methods See also: Mining methods of the Klondike Gold Rush Photograph of miners Mining in a shaft, 1898. Mining began with clearing the ground of vegetation and debris.[144] Prospect holes were then dug in an attempt to find the ore or "pay streak".[144] If these holes looked productive, proper digging could commence, aiming down to the bedrock, where the majority of the gold was found.[144] The digging would be carefully monitored in case the operation needed to be shifted to allow for changes in the flow.[144] In the sub-Arctic climate of the Klondike, a layer of hard permafrost lay only 6 feet (1.8 m) below the surface.[145][146] Traditionally, this had meant that mining in the region only occurred during the summer months, but the pressure of the gold rush made such a delay unacceptable.[143] Late 19th century technology existed for dealing with this problem, including hydraulic mining and stripping, and dredging, but the heavy equipment required for this could not be brought into the Klondike during the gold rush.[145][147] Instead, the miners relied on wood fires to soften the ground to a depth of about 14 inches (360 mm) and then removing the resulting gravel. The process was repeated until the gold was reached. In theory, no support of the shaft was necessary because of the permafrost although in practice sometimes the fire melted the permafrost and caused collapses.[148] Fires could also produce noxious gases, which had to be removed by bellows or other tools.[149][150] The resulting "dirt" brought out of the mines froze quickly in winter and could be processed only during the warmer summer months.[150][n 27] An alternative, more efficient, approach called steam thawing was devised between 1897 and 1898; this used a furnace to pump steam directly into the ground, but since it required additional equipment it was not a widespread technique during the years of the rush.[151] Thawing with steam, 1898 In the summer, water would be used to sluice and pan the dirt, separating out the heavier gold from gravel.[152] This required miners to construct sluices, which were sequences of wooden boxes 15 feet (4.6 m) long, through which the dirt would be washed; up to 20 of these might be needed for each mining operation.[153] The sluices in turn required lots of water, usually produced by creating a dam and ditches or crude pipes.[154] "Bench gold" mining on the hill sides could not use sluice lines because water could not be pumped that high up. Instead, these mines used rockers, boxes that moved back and forth like a cradle, to create the motion needed for separation.[155] Finally, the resulting gold dust could be exported out of the Klondike; exchanged for paper money at the rate of $16 ($430) per troy ounce (ozt) through one of the major banks that opened in Dawson City, or simply used as money when dealing with local traders.[156][n 28] Business Successful mining took time and capital, particularly once most of the timber around the Klondike had been cut down.[154] A realistic mining operation required $1,500 ($42,000) for wood to be burned to melt the ground, along with around $1,000 ($28,000) to construct a dam, $1,500 ($42,000) for ditches and up to $600 ($16,800) for sluice boxes, a total of $4,600.[154] The attraction of the Klondike to a prospector, however, was that when gold was found, it was often highly concentrated.[158] Some of the creeks in the Klondike were fifteen times richer in gold than those in California, and richer still than those in South Africa.[158] In just two years, for example, $230,000 ($6,440,000) worth of gold was brought up from claim 29 on the Eldorado Creek.[159][n 29] Photograph of mining operation Hill-side mining, showing rockers, c.1899 Under Canadian law, miners first had to get a license, either when they arrived at Dawson or en route from Victoria in Canada.[161] They could then prospect for gold and, when they had found a suitable location, lay claim to mining rights over it.[162] To stake a claim, a prospector would drive stakes into the ground a measured distance apart and then return to Dawson to register the claim for $15 ($410).[162] This normally had to be done within three days, and by 1897 only one claim per person at a time was allowed in a district, although married couples could exploit a loophole that allowed the wife to register a claim in her own name, doubling their amount of land.[163][164] The claim could be mined freely for a year, after which a $100 ($2,800) fee had to be paid annually. Should the prospector leave the claim for more than three days without good reason, another miner could make a claim on the land.[165] The Canadian government also charged a royalty of between 10 and 20 percent on the value of gold taken from a claim.[166] Traditionally, a mining claim had been granted over a 500-foot (150 m) long stretch of a creek, including the land from one side of the valley to another. The Canadian authorities had tried to reduce this length to 150 feet (46 m), but under pressure from miners had been forced to agree to 250 feet (76 m). The only exception to this was a "Discovery" claim, the first to be made on a creek, which could be 500 feet (150 m) long.[167][n 30] The exact lengths of claims were often challenged and when the government surveyor William Ogilvie conducted surveys to settle disputes, he found some claims exceeded the official limit.[169] The excess fractions of land then became available as claims and were sometimes quite valuable.[169] Claims could be bought. However, their price depended on whether they had been yet proved to contain gold.[170] A prospector with capital might consider taking a risk on an "unproved" claim on one of the better creeks for $5,000 ($140,000); a wealthier miner could buy a "proved" mine for $50,000 ($1,400,000).[170] The well known claim eight on Eldorado Creek was sold for as much as $350,000 ($9,800,000).[170] Prospectors were also allowed to hire others to work for them.[171] Enterprising miners such as Alex McDonald set about amassing mines and employees.[172] Leveraging his acquisitions with short term loans, by the autumn of 1897 McDonald had purchased 28 claims, estimated to be worth millions.[172] Swiftwater Bill Gates famously borrowed heavily against his claim on the Eldorado creek, relying on hired hands to mine the gold to keep up his interest payments.[173] The less fortunate or less well funded prospectors rapidly found themselves destitute. Some chose to sell their equipment and return south.[174] Others took jobs as manual workers, either in mines or in Dawson; the typical daily pay of $15 ($410) was high by external standards, but low compared to the cost of living in the Klondike.[174] The possibility that a new creek might suddenly produce gold, however, continued to tempt poorer prospectors.[174] Smaller stampedes around the Klondike continued throughout the gold rush, when rumours of new strikes would cause a small mob to descend on fresh sites, hoping to be able to stake out a high value claim.[175] Life in the Klondike The massive influx of prospectors drove the formation of boom towns along the routes of the stampede, with Dawson City in the Klondike the largest.[176][177] The new towns were crowded, often chaotic and many disappeared just as soon as they came.[178] Most stampeders were men but women also travelled to the region, typically as the wife of a prospector.[179] Some women entertained in gambling and dance halls built by business men and women who were encouraged by the lavish spending of successful miners.[180] Dawson remained relatively lawful, protected by the Canadian NWMP, which meant that gambling and prostitution were accepted while robbery and murder were kept low. By contrast, especially the port of Skagway under US jurisdiction in Southeast Alaska became infamous for its criminal underworld.[181][182] The extreme climate and remoteness of the region in general meant that supplies and communication with the outside world including news and mail were scarce.[177][183] Boomtowns View of Skagway, 1898 View of Skagway, 1898 The ports of Dyea and Skagway, through which most of the prospectors entered, were tiny settlements before the gold rush, each consisting of only one log cabin.[184] Because there were no docking facilities, ships had to unload their cargo directly onto the beach, where people tried to move their goods before high tide.[185] Inevitably cargos were lost in the process.[186] Some travellers had arrived intending to supply goods and services to the would-be miners; some of these in turn, realizing how difficult it would be to reach Dawson, chose to do the same.[185] Within weeks, storehouses, saloons, and offices lined the muddy streets of Dyea and Skagway, surrounded by tents and hovels.[176] Skagway became famous in international media; the author John Muir described the town as "a nest of ants taken into a strange country and stirred up by a stick".[186] While Dyea remained a transit point throughout the winter, Skagway began to take on a more permanent character.[187] Skagway also built wharves out into the bay in order to attract a greater share of the prospectors.[188] The town was effectively lawless, dominated by drinking, gunfire and prostitution.[189] The visiting NWMP Superintendent Sam Steele noted that it was "little better than a hell on earth ... about the roughest place in the world".[190] Nonetheless, by the summer of 1898, with a population—including migrants—of between 15,000 and 20,000, Skagway was the largest city in Alaska.[191] In late summer 1897 Skagway and Dyea fell under the control of Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith and his men, who arrived from Seattle shortly after Skagway began to expand.[192][193] He was an American confidence man whose gang, 200 to 300 strong, cheated and stole from the prospectors travelling through the region.[194][n 31] He maintained the illusion of being an upstanding member of the community, opening three saloons as well as creating fake businesses to assist in his operations.[196][197] One of his scams was a fake telegraph office charging to send messages all over the US and Canada, often pretending to receive a reply.[198] Opposition to Smith steadily grew and, after weeks of vigilante activity, he was killed in Skagway during the shootout on Juneau Wharf on July 8, 1898.[192][199] Other towns also boomed. Wrangell, port of the Stikine route and boom town from earlier gold rushes, increased in size again, with robberies, gambling and nude female dancing commonplace.[200] Valdez, formed on the Gulf of Alaska during the attempt to create the "All-American" route to the Klondike during the winter of 1897–1898, became a tent city of people who stayed behind to supply the ill-fated attempts to reach the interior.[122] Edmonton in Canada increased from a population of 1,200 before the gold rush to 4,000 during 1898.[201] Beyond the immediate region, cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Vancouver and Victoria all saw their populations soar as a result of the stampede and the trade it brought along.[201] Dawson City View of Klondike City and Dawson City, 1899. Yukon River left and Klondike River at upper right Yukon River with Klondike City (foreground) and Dawson City (upper right), 1899 Dawson City was created in the early days of the Klondike gold rush, when prospector Joe Ladue and shopkeeper Arthur Harper decided to make a profit from the influx to the Klondike.[22][202] The two men bought 178 acres (72 ha) of the mudflats at the junction of the Klondike and Yukon rivers from the government and laid out the street plan for a new town, bringing in timber and other supplies to sell to the migrants.[203] The Hän village of Tr'ochëk along Deer Creek was considered to be too close to the new town, and the NWMP Superintendent Charles Constantine moved its inhabitants 3 miles (4.8 km) down-river to a small reserve.[204] The town, in the beginning simply known as "Harper and Ladue town site", was named Dawson City after the director of Canada's Geographical Survey.[177] It grew rapidly to hold 500 people by the winter of 1896, with plots of land selling for $500 ($14,000) each.[177] In the spring of 1898, Dawson's population rose further to 30,000 as stampeders arrived over the passes.[177] The centre of the town, Front Street, was lined with hastily built buildings and warehouses, together with log cabins and tents spreading out across the rest of the settlement.[205] There was no running water or sewerage, and only two springs for drinking water to supplement the increasingly polluted river.[206] In spring, the unpaved streets were churned into thick mud and in summer the settlement reeked of human effluent and was plagued by flies and mosquitoes.[207] Land in Dawson was now scarce, and plots sold for up to $10,000 ($280,000) each; prime locations on Front Street could reach $20,000 ($560,000) while a small log cabin might rent for $100 ($2,800) a month.[208] As a result, Dawson's population spread south into the empty Hän village, renaming it Klondike City.[209] Other communities emerged closer to the mines, such as Granville on Dominion Creek and Grand Forks on Bonanza Creek.[210][211] Dawson after a fire, 1898. The newly built town proved highly vulnerable to fire. Houses were made of wood, heated with stoves and lit by candles and oil lamps; water for emergencies was wanting, especially in the frozen winters.[212] The first major fire occurred on November 25, 1897, started accidentally by dance-hall girl Belle Mitchell.[213] She also accidentally started a second major fire on October 14, 1898, which, in the absence of a fire brigade in Dawson, destroyed two major saloons, the post-office building and the Bank of British North America at a cost of $500,000 ($14,000,000).[214][215][n 32] The worst fire occurred on April 26, 1899, when a saloon caught fire in the middle of a strike by the newly established fire brigade.[216] Most of the major landmarks in the town were burned to the ground: 117 buildings were destroyed, with the damage estimated at over $1 million ($28,000,000).[217][218][n 33] Logistics The remoteness of Dawson proved an ongoing problem for the supply of food, and as the population grew to 5,000 in 1897, this became critical.[177][183] When the rivers iced over, it became clear that there would not be enough food for that winter.[220] The NWMP evacuated some prospectors without supplies to Fort Yukon in Alaska from September 30 onwards, while others made their way out of the Klondike in search of food and shelter for the winter.[221][n 34] Front Street in Dawson with wagon stuck in mud, 1898 Muddy street in Dawson, 1898 Prices remained high in Dawson and supply fluctuated according to the season. During the winter of 1897 salt became worth its weight in gold, while nails, vital for construction work, rose in price to $28 ($784) per lb (0.45 kg).[223] Cans of butter sold for $5 ($140) each.[224] The only eight horses in Dawson were slaughtered for dog food as they could not be kept alive over the winter.[223][n 35] The first fresh goods arriving in the spring of 1898 sold for record prices, eggs reaching $3 ($84) each and apples $1 ($28).[227] Under these conditions scurvy, a potentially fatal illness caused by the lack of vitamin C, proved a major problem in Dawson City, particularly during the winter where supply of fresh food was not available. English prospectors gave it the local name of "Canadian black leg", on account of the unpleasant effects of the condition.[228][229] It struck, among others, writer Jack London and, although not fatal in his case, brought an end to his mining career.[230] Dysentery and malaria were also common in Dawson, and an epidemic of typhoid broke out in July and ran rampant throughout the summer.[231] Up to 140 patients were taken into the newly constructed St Mary's Hospital and thousands were affected.[232] Measures were taken by the following year to prevent further outbreaks, including the introduction of better sewage management and the piping in of water from further upstream.[231] These gave improvements in 1899, although typhoid remained a problem.[231] The new Hän reserve, however, lay downstream from Dawson City, and here the badly contaminated river continued to contribute to epidemics of typhoid and diphtheria throughout the gold rush.[233][n 36] Conspicuous consumption Paying with gold dust, 1899 Despite these challenges, the huge quantities of gold coming through Dawson City encouraged a lavish lifestyle amongst the richer prospectors. Saloons were typically open 24 hours a day, with whiskey the standard drink.[235] Gambling was popular, with the major saloons each running their own rooms; a culture of high stakes evolved, with rich prospectors routinely betting $1,000 ($28,000) at dice or playing for a $5,000 ($140,000) poker pot.[235][n 37] The establishments around Front Street had grand facades in a Parisian style, mirrors and plate-glass windows and, from late 1898, were lit by electric light.[237] The dance halls in Dawson were particularly prestigious and major status symbols, both for customers and their owners.[238] Wealthy prospectors were expected to drink champagne at $60 ($1,660) a bottle, and the Pavilion dancehall cost its owner, Charlie Kimball, as much as $100,000 ($2,800,000) to construct and decorate.[239] Elaborate opera houses were built, bringing singers and specialty acts to Dawson.[240] Tales abounded of prospectors spending huge sums on entertainment — Jimmy McMahon once spent $28,000 ($784,000) in a single evening, for example.[241] Most payments were made in gold dust and in places like saloons, there was so much spilled gold that a profit could be made just by sweeping the floor.[228] Some of the richest prospectors lived flamboyantly in Dawson. Swiftwater Bill Gates, a gambler and ladies man who rarely went anywhere without wearing silk and diamonds, was one of them. To impress a woman who liked eggs—then an expensive luxury—he was alleged to have bought all the eggs in Dawson, had them boiled and fed them to dogs.[242] Another miner, Frank Conrad, threw a sequence of gold objects onto the ship when his favourite singer left Dawson City as tokens of his esteem.[243][244] The wealthiest dance-hall girls followed suit: Daisy D'Avara had a belt made for herself from $340 ($9,520) in gold dollar coins; another, Gertie Lovejoy, had a diamond inserted between her two front teeth.[245] The miner and businessman Alex McDonald, despite being styled the "King of the Klondike", was unusual amongst his peers for his lack of grandiose spending. Law and order PHotograph of NWMP men NWMPs with dogs, 1897 Unlike its American equivalents, Dawson City was a law-abiding town.[181][182] By 1897, 96 members of the NWMP had been sent to the district and by 1898, this had increased to 288, an expensive commitment by the Canadian government.[246][n 38] By June 1898, the force was headed by Colonel Sam Steele, an officer with a reputation for firm discipline.[247] In 1898, there were no murders and only a few major thefts; in all, only about 150 arrests were made in the Yukon for serious offenses that year.[248] Of these arrests, over half were for prostitution and resulted from an attempt by the NWMP to regulate the sex industry in Dawson: regular monthly arrests, $50 ($1,400) fines and medical inspections were imposed, with the proceeds being used to fund the local hospitals.[248][249] The so-called blue laws were strictly enforced. Saloons and other establishments closed promptly at midnight on Saturday, and anyone caught working on Sunday was liable to be fined or set to chopping firewood for the NWMP.[250][n 39] The NWMP are generally regarded by historians to have been an efficient and honest force during the period, although their task was helped by the geography of the Klondike which made it relatively easy to bar entry to undesirables or prevent suspects from leaving the region.[183][252] In contrast to the NWMP, the early civil authorities were criticized by the prospectors for being inept and potentially corrupt.[253] Thomas Fawcett was the gold commissioner and temporary head of the Klondike administration at the start of the gold rush; he was accused of keeping the details of new claims secret and allowing what historian Kathryn Winslow termed "carelessness, ignorance and partiality" to reign in the mine recorder's office.[254] Following campaigns against him by prospectors, who were backed by the local press, Fawcett was relieved by the Canadian government.[255] His successor, Major James Walsh, was considered a stronger character and arrived in May 1898, but fell ill and returned east in July.[254] It was left to his replacement, William Ogilvie, supported by a Royal Commission, to conduct reforms.[254] The Commission, in lack of evidence, cleared Fawcett of all charges, which meant that he was not punished further than being relieved.[254] Ogilvie proved a much stronger administrator and subsequently revisited many of the mining surveys of his predecessors.[256] News and mail Crowd in line for mail at Dawson post office, 1899 Line at Dawson post office, 1899 In the remote Klondike, there was great demand for news and contact with the world outside. During the first months of the stampede in 1897, it was said that no news was too old to be read. In the lack of newspapers, some prospectors would read can labels until they knew them by heart.[257] The following year, two teams fought their way over the passes to reach Dawson City first, complete with printing-presses, with the aim of gaining control of the newspaper market.[258] Gene Kelly, the editor of the Klondike Nugget arrived first, but without his equipment, and it was the team behind the Midnight Sun who produced the first daily newspaper in Dawson.[258][259][260] The Dawson Miner followed shortly after, bringing the number of daily newspapers in the town during the gold rush up to three.[261] The Nugget sold for $24 ($680) as an annual subscription, and became well known for championing miners and for its lucid coverage of scandals.[262] Paper was often hard to find and during the winter of 1898–99, the Nugget had to be printed on butcher's wrapping paper.[263] News could also be told. In June, 1898, a prospector bought an edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer at an auction and charged spectators a dollar each to have it read aloud in one of Dawson's halls.[264] Mail service was chaotic during the stampede.[265] Apart from the number of prospectors, two major obstacles stood in its way. To begin with, any mail from America to Dawson City was sent to Juneau in South-east Alaska before being sent through Dawson and then down the Yukon to Circle City. From here it was then distributed by the US Post Office back up to Dawson.[266] The huge distances involved resulted in delays of several months and frequently the loss of protective envelopes and their addresses.[266] The second problem was in Dawson itself, which initially lacked a post office and therefore relied on two stores and a saloon to act as informal delivery points.[266] The NWMP were tasked to run the mail system by October 1897, but they were ill-trained to do so.[266] Up to 5,700 letters might arrive in a single shipment, all of which had to be collected in person from the post office. This resulted in huge queues, with claimants lining up outside the office for up to three days.[266] Those who had no time and could afford it would pay others to stand in line for them, preferably a woman since they were allowed to get ahead in line out of politeness.[267] Postage stamps, like paper in general, were scarce and rationed to two per customer.[266] By 1899, trained postal staff took over mail delivery and relieved the NWMP of this task.[268] Role of women Photograph of actresses Actresses travelling to Dawson, 1898 In 1898 eight percent of those living in the Klondike territory were women, and in towns like Dawson this rose to 12 percent.[179] Many women arrived with their husbands or families, but others travelled alone.[269] Most came to the Klondike for similar economic and social reasons as male prospectors, but they attracted particular media interest.[270] The gender imbalance in the Klondike encouraged business proposals to ship young, single women into the region to marry newly wealthy miners; few, if any, of these marriages ever took place, but some single women appear to have travelled on their own in the hope of finding prosperous husbands.[271] Guidebooks gave recommendations for what practical clothes women should take to the Klondike: the female dress code of the time was formal, emphasising long skirts and corsets, but most women adapted this for the conditions of the trails.[272] Regardless of experience, women in a party were typically expected to cook for the group.[273] Few mothers brought their children with them to the Klondike, due to the risks of the travel and the remote location.[274] Once in the Klondike, very few women—less than one percent—actually worked as miners.[275] Many were married to miners; however, their lives as partners on the gold fields were still hard and often lonely. They had extensive domestic duties, including thawing ice and snow for water, breaking up frozen food, chopping wood and collecting wild foods.[276] In Dawson and other towns, some women took in laundry to make money.[277] This was a physically demanding job, but could be relatively easily combined with child care duties.[277] Others took jobs in the service industry, for example as waitresses or seamstresses, which could pay well, but were often punctuated by periods of unemployment.[278] Both men and women opened roadhouses, but women were considered to be better at running them.[279] A few women worked in the packing trade, carrying goods on their backs, or became domestic servants.[280] Photograph of roadhouse Roadhouse in the Klondike Wealthier women with capital might invest in mines and other businesses.[281] One of the most prominent businesswomen in the Klondike, was Belinda Mulrooney. She brought a consignment of cloth and hot water bottles with her when she arrived in the Klondike in early 1897 and with the proceeds of those sales she first built a roadhouse at Grand Forks and later a grand hotel in Dawson.[282] She invested widely, including acquiring her own mining company, and was reputed to be the richest woman of the Klondike.[283][284] The wealthy Martha Black was abandoned by her husband early in the journey to the Klondike, but continued on without him, reaching Dawson City where she became a prominent citizen, investing in various mining and business ventures with her brother.[285][286] A relatively small number of women worked in the entertainment and sex industries.[287] The elite of these women were the highly paid actresses and courtesans of Dawson; beneath them were chorus line dancers, who usually doubled as hostesses, and other dance hall workers.[288] While still better paid than white-collar male workers, these women worked very long hours and had significant expenses.[289] The entertainment industry merged into the sex industry, where women made a living as prostitutes. The sex industry in the Klondike was concentrated on Klondike City and in a backstreet area of Dawson.[290] A hierarchy of sexual employment existed, with brothels and parlour houses at the top, small independent "cigar shops" in the middle, and, at the bottom, the prostitutes who worked out of small huts called "hutches".[291] Life for these workers was a continual struggle and the suicide rate was high.[292][293] The degree of involvement between Native women and the stampeders varied. Many Tlingit women worked as packers for the prospectors, for example, carrying supplies and equipment, sometimes also transporting their babies as well.[294] Hän women had relatively little contact with the white immigrants, however, and there was a significant social divide between local Hän women and white women.[295] Although before 1897 there had been a number of Native women who married western men, including Kate Carmack, the Tagish wife of one of the discoverers, this practice did not survive into the stampede.[296] Very few stampeders married Hän women, and very few Hän women worked as prostitutes.[297] "Respectable" white women would avoid associating with Native women or prostitutes: those that did could cause scandal.[298] End of the gold rush Dawson city in 1899. Modern houses, horse carriage and telegraph lines seen in street. Hand-colored photo of Dawson city c. 1899 at the end of the gold rush. By 1899 telegraphy stretched from Skagway, Alaska to Dawson City, Yukon, allowing instant international contact.[299] In 1898, the White Pass and Yukon Route railway began to be built between Skagway and the head of navigation on the Yukon.[300] When it was completed in 1900, the Chilkoot trail and its tramways were obsolete.[300] Despite these improvements in communication and transport, the rush faltered from 1898 on.[301] It began in summer 1898 when many of the prospectors arriving in Dawson City found themselves unable to make a living and left for home.[301] For those who stayed, the wages of casual work, depressed by the number of men, fell to $100 ($2,700) a month by 1899.[301] The world's newspapers began to turn against the Klondike gold rush as well.[301] In the spring of 1898 the Spanish–American War removed Klondike from the headlines.[302] "Ah, go to the Klondike!" became a popular phrase of disgust.[301] Klondike-branded goods had to be disposed of at special rates in Seattle.[301] People leaving Dawson for Nome, Sep. 1899 People leaving Dawson City, Yukon for Nome, Alaska September 1899 Another factor in the decline was the change in Dawson City, which had developed throughout 1898, metamorphosing from a ramshackle, if wealthy, boom town into a more sedate, conservative municipality.[299] Modern luxuries were introduced, including the "zinc bath tubs and pianos, billiard tables, Brussels carpets in the hotel dining rooms, menus printed in French and invitational balls" noted by historian Kathryn Winslow.[299] The visiting Senator Jerry Lynch likened the newly paved streets with their smartly dressed inhabitants to the Strand in London.[263] It was no longer as attractive a location for many prospectors, used to a wilder way of living.[301][299] Even the formerly lawless town of Skagway had become a stable and respectable community by 1899.[301] The final trigger, however, was the discovery of gold elsewhere in Canada and Alaska, prompting a new stampede, this time away from the Klondike. In August 1898, gold had been found at Atlin Lake at the head of the Yukon River, generating a flurry of interest, but during the winter of 1898–99 much larger quantities were found at Nome at the mouth of the Yukon.[136][303][304] In 1899, a flood of prospectors from across the region left for Nome, 8,000 from Dawson alone during a single week in August.[136][303] The Klondike gold rush was over.[305] Legacy People Plaque to Skookum Jim, Yukon, 2005 Only a handful of the 100,000 people who left for the Klondike during the gold rush became rich.[30] They typically spent $1,000 ($27,000) each reaching the region, which when combined exceeded what was produced from the gold fields between 1897 and 1901.[201] At the same time, most of those who did find gold lost their fortunes in the subsequent years.[306] They often died penniless, attempting to reproduce their earlier good fortune in fresh mining opportunities.[306] Businessman and miner Alex McDonald, for example, continued to accumulate land after the boom until his money ran out; he died in poverty, still prospecting. Antoine Stander, who discovered gold on Eldorado Creek, abused alcohol, dissipated his fortune and ended working in a ship's kitchen to pay his way.[307] The three discoverers had mixed fates. George Carmack left his wife Kate—who had found it difficult to adapt to their new lifestyle—remarried and lived in relative prosperity; Skookum Jim had a huge income from his mining royalties but refused to settle and continued to prospect until his death in 1916; Dawson Charlie spent lavishly and died in an alcohol-related accident.[308][n 40] The richest of the Klondike saloon owners, businessmen and gamblers also typically lost their fortunes and died in poverty.[310] Gene Allen, for example, the editor of the Klondike Nugget, became bankrupt and spent the rest of his career in smaller newspapers; the prominent gambler and saloon owner Sam Bonnifield suffered a nervous breakdown and died in extreme poverty.[310] Nonetheless, some of those who joined the gold rush prospered. Kate Rockwell, "Klondike Kate", for example, became a famous dancer in Dawson and remained popular in America until her death. Dawson City was also where Alexander Pantages, her business partner and lover, started his career, going on to become one of America's greatest theatre and movie tycoons.[311] The businesswoman Martha Black remarried and ultimately became the second female member of the Canadian parliament.[285][312] The impact of the gold rush on the Native peoples of the region was considerable.[313] The Tlingit and the Koyukon peoples prospered in the short term from their work as guides, packers and from selling food and supplies to the prospectors.[72] In the longer term, however, especially the Hän people living in the Klondike region suffered from the environmental damage of the gold mining on the rivers and forests.[72] Their population had already begun to decline after the discovery of gold along Fortymile River in the 1880s but dropped catastrophically after their move to the reserve, a result of the contaminated water supply and smallpox.[233] The Hän found only few ways to benefit economically from the gold rush and their fishing and hunting grounds were largely destroyed; by 1904 they needed aid from the NWMP to prevent famine.[314] Places View of Skagway with cruise ships Skagway with cruise ships, 2009 Dawson City declined after the gold rush. When journalist Laura Berton (future mother of Pierre Berton) moved to Dawson in 1907 it was still thriving, but away from Front Street, the town had become increasingly deserted, jammed, as she put it, "with the refuse of the gold rush: stoves, furniture, gold-pans, sets of dishes, double-belled seltzer bottles ... piles of rusting mining machinery—boilers, winches, wheelbarrows and pumps".[315] By 1912, only around 2,000 inhabitants remained compared to the 30,000 of the boom years and the site was becoming a ghost town.[316] By 1972, 500 people were living in Dawson whereas the nearby settlements created during the gold rush had been entirely abandoned.[317] The population has grown since the 1970s, with 1,300 recorded in 2006.[318] During the gold rush, transport improvements meant that heavier mining equipment could be brought in and larger, more modern mines established in the Klondike, revolutionising the gold industry.[319][320] Gold production increased until 1903 as a result of the dredging and hydraulic mining but then declined; by 2005, approximately 1,250,000 pounds (570,000 kg) had been recovered from the Klondike area.[319][320][321] In the 21st century Dawson City still has a small gold mining industry, which together with tourism, drawing on the legacy of the gold rush, plays a role in the local economy. Many buildings in the center of the town reflect the style of the era.[322] Klondike River valley is affected by the gold rush by the heavy dredging that occurred after it.[323] The port of Skagway also shrank after the rush, but remains a well-preserved period town, centered on the tourist industry and sight-seeing trips from visiting cruise ships.[324] Restoration work by the National Park Service began in 2010 on Jeff Smith's Parlor, from which the famous con man "Soapy" Smith once operated.[325] Skagway also has one of the two visitor centres forming the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park; the other is located in Seattle, and both focus on the human interest stories behind the gold rush.[326] By contrast, Dyea, Skagway's neighbour and former rival, was abandoned after the gold rush and is now a ghost town.[327] The railway built for prospectors through White Pass in the last year of the rush reopened in 1988 and is today only used by tourists, closely linked to the Chilkoot trail which is a popular hiking route.[328] Culture Main article: Cultural legacy of the Klondike Gold Rush Charlie Chaplin eating a boot in his film The Gold Rush Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush, 1925 The events of the Klondike gold rush rapidly became embedded in North American culture, being captured in poems, stories, photographs and promotional campaigns long after the end of the stampede.[329] In the Yukon, Discovery Day is celebrated on the third Monday in August as a holiday, and the events of the gold rush are promoted by the regional tourist industries.[330][331] The events of the gold rush were frequently exaggerated at the time and modern works on the subject similarly often focus on the most dramatic and exciting events of the stampede, not always accurately.[332][333] Historian Ken Coates describes the gold rush as "a resilient, pliable myth", which continues to fascinate and appeal.[334] Several novels, books and poems were generated as a consequence of the Klondike gold rush. The writer Jack London incorporated scenes from the gold rush into his novels and short stories set in the Klondike, including The Call of the Wild, a novel about a sled dog.[53][335] His colleague, poet Robert W. Service, did not join the rush himself, although he made his home in Dawson City in 1908. Service created well-known poems about the gold rush, among them Songs of a Sourdough, one of the bestselling books of poetry in the first decade of the 20th century, along with his novel, The Trail of '98, which was written by hand on wallpaper in one of Dawson's log cabins.[53][336][337] The Canadian historian Pierre Berton grew up in Dawson where his father had been a prospector, and wrote several historical books about the gold rush, such as The Last Great Gold Rush.[338] The experiences of the Irish Micí Mac Gabhann resulted the posthumous work Rotha Mór an tSaoil (translated into English as The Hard Road to Klondike in 1962), a vivid description of the period.[339] Some terminology from the stampede made its way into North American English like "Cheechakos", referring to newly arrived miners, and "Sourdoughs", experienced miners.[340][n 41] The photographs taken during the Klondike gold rush heavily influenced later cultural approaches to the stampede.[342] The gold rush was vividly recorded by several early photographers, for instance Eric A. Hegg; these stark, black-and-white photographs showing the ascent of the Chilkoot pass rapidly became iconic images and were widely distributed.[343] These pictures in turn inspired Charlie Chaplin to make The Gold Rush, a silent movie, which uses the background of the Klondike to combine physical comedy with its character's desperate battle for survival in the harsh conditions of the stampede.[344] The photographs reappear in the documentary City of Gold from 1957 which, narrated by Pierre Berton, won prizes for pioneering the incorporation of still images into documentary film-making.[345] The Klondike gold rush, however, has not been widely covered in later fictional films; even The Far Country, a Western from 1955 set in the Klondike, largely ignores the unique features of the gold rush in favour of a traditional Western plot.[346] Indeed, much of the popular literature on the gold rush approaches the stampede simply as a final phase of the expansion of the American West, a perception critiqued by modern historians such as Charlene Porsild.[347] Appendix Maps, charts, tables and lists See also Australian gold rushes Colorado Gold Rush Witwatersrand Gold Rush Yukon[7] (/ˈjuːkɒn/ (About this soundlisten); French: [jykɔ̃]; also commonly called the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It has the smallest population of any province or territory in Canada, with a population of 35,874 people. Whitehorse, the territorial capital and Yukon's only city, is the largest settlement in any of the three territories.[8] Yukon was split from the Northwest Territories in 1898 and was originally named the Yukon Territory. The federal government's Yukon Act, which received royal assent on March 27, 2002, established Yukon as the territory's official name,[7] though Yukon Territory is also still popular in usage and Canada Post continues to use the territory's internationally approved postal abbreviation of YT.[9] Though officially bilingual (English and French), the Yukon government also recognizes First Nations languages. At 5,959 m (19,551 ft), Yukon's Mount Logan, in Kluane National Park and Reserve, is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest on the North American continent (after Denali in the U.S. state of Alaska). Most of Yukon has a subarctic climate, characterized by long, cold winters and brief, warm summers. The Arctic Ocean coast has a tundra climate. Notable rivers include the Yukon River (after which the territory was named), as well as the Pelly, Stewart, Peel, White, and Tatshenshini rivers. Gold mining in Alaska, a state of the United States, has been a major industry and impetus for exploration and settlement since a few years after the United States acquired the territory from Russia. Russian explorers discovered placer gold in the Kenai River in 1848, but no gold was produced. Gold mining started in 1870 from placers southeast of Juneau, Alaska.[1] Gold is found and has been mined throughout Alaska; except in the vast swamps of the Yukon Flats, and along the North Slope between the Brooks Range and the Beaufort Sea. Areas near Fairbanks and Juneau, and Nome are responsible for most of Alaska's historical and all current gold production. Nearly all of the large and many of the small placer gold mines currently operating in the US are in Alaska.[2] Six modern large-scale hard rock mines operate in Alaska in 2008; four of those are gold-producing mines (an additional gold mine suspended production in late 2007). There are also some small-scale hard rock gold-mining operations. Alaska currently produces more gold (in 2015: 873,984 troy oz from hard rock mines, and 74,360 troy oz (five-year average) from placer deposits) than any state except Nevada.[3] In 2015, gold worth $1.01 billion accounted for 37% of the mining wealth produced in Alaska. Zinc and lead, mainly from the Red Dog mine, accounted for 53%; silver, mainly from the Greens Creek mine, accounted for 8.5%; and coal accounted for 1.5%. Alaska produced a total of 40.3 million troy ounces of gold from 1880 through the end of 2007.[4][5][6] Active mines The following are active gold-producing mines and advanced lode exploration or development projects. Lode (hard rock) mines The Fort Knox mine is located within the Fairbanks North Star Borough, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Fairbanks. The mine site is located primarily on State of Alaska and the Mental Health Trust lands. The mine is a wholly owned by Kinross Gold Corporation. The mine opened in 1996 and in 2015 produced 401,553 troy ounces (27,535.1 lb; 12,489.7 kg) of gold. Fort Knox is an open-pit operation using carbon-in-pulp, heap leach, and gravity processes to recover gold. At the end of 2015 there were reserves of 162.4 million tons at 0.012 ounce of gold per ton (0.37 g/t), sufficient to carry the mine plan into year 2020, within a total identified resource of 284.4 million tons at 0.013 ounce per ton (0.40 g/t), containing 1,900,000 troy ounces (59,000 kg) of gold. Total 2015 employment at Fort Knox was 657 full-time-equivalent positions.[4] The Pogo underground gold mine is owned and operated by Northern Star Resources Limited, on State of Alaska-owned land 38 mi (61 km) northeast of Delta Junction in the Goodpaster district. In 2018 it produced 227,901 troy ounces (7,088.5 kg) of gold from stacked, shallow-dipping quartz veins up to 65 ft thick (20 m). Pogo had 640 employees on site in 2018.[7] The Kensington underground gold mine, owned by Coeur Mining, is located 45 air miles north of Juneau and 35 air miles (56 km) south of Haines, located in the Berners Bay mining district. Access to the mine is by air or sea. The ore deposit consists of multiple mesothermal quartz, carbonate, and pyrite vein swarms and discrete quartz–pyrite veins hosted in Cretaceous diorite. Ore is processed in a flotation mill that produces a gold-bearing concentrate. In 2015 128,865 troy ounces (4,008.1 kg) of gold were produced from 21,829 tons of concentrate that were shipped to an off-site refinery. The December 2015 Proven and Probable Reserve was 2.8 million tons of ore at 0.198 ounces of gold per ton (6.16 g/t) with 560,000 troy ounces (17,000 kg) of contained gold out of a total identified resource, inclusive of the Proven and Probable Reserve, of 6.7 million tons at 0.263 ounces of gold per ton (8.18 g/t). There were 332 full-time-equivalent employees at Kensington at the end of 2015.[4] The Greens Creek mine is a silver-lead-zinc mine owned and operated by Hecla Mining, located on private and federal land in the Admiralty mining district, 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Juneau. The Greens Creek deposit is a polymetallic, stratiform, volcanogenic massive-sulfide deposit that opened in 1989. In 2018, Greens Creek produced 51,493 troy ounces (1,601.6 kg) of gold. The mine also produced 7,953,003 troy ounces (247,366.0 kg) of silver, 55,350 tons of zinc and 18,960 tons of lead. As of December 31, 2018 Hecla reported proven and probable reserves of 9.3 million tons of ore at 11.5 ounces of silver per ton, 2.80 g/t (0.09 oz/t) of gold, 2.8 percent lead, and 7.6 percent zinc. The estimated measured and indicated mineral resources were 7.47 million tons at 13 ounces of silver per ton, 0.1 ounce of gold per ton, 3.1 percent lead, and 8.2 percent zinc.[8] There were 418 full-time-equivalent employees in 2015.[4] Advanced gold-bearing hard rock exploration projects of note The Donlin Gold project, in the Kuskokwim Gold Belt, contains a Proven and Probable Reserve of 33.8 million ounces at a grade of 2.09 g/t (using a gold price of US$975/oz), within a Measured and Indicated Resource of 39 million ounces of gold at 2.03 g/t.[9] Donlin is one of the largest known undeveloped gold deposits in the world. If developed according to plans published in spring 2009 it will be one of the largest gold mines in the world.[10] A large and robust series of felsic sills and dikes hosts the gold in association with small-scale quartz (and lesser quartz and/or carbonate) veinlets. The sills intrude a thick sequence (5000+ feet) of non-metamorphosed, folded, graywacke, sandstone, and shale. The deposit occurs on private land owned by native corporations Calista Corporation and The Kuskokwim Corp. Donlin Creek LLC, equally owned by Barrick Gold and NovaGold Resources, holds a lease on the land and operates the project. Donlin Gold is expected to be a conventional open pit, truck-and-shovel operation. Production is expected to occur over 27 years.[11] Pebble Copper, discovered in the mid-1980s, is one of the largest known copper-gold porphyry deposits in the world. It is located on State of Alaska-owned land. The deposit contains measured+indicated+inferred resources of 72-billion pounds of copper, 94-million ounces of gold, and 4.8-billion pounds of molybdenum, within 9.1 billion tonnes of ore.[12][13] Nixon Fork mine in the McGrath Mining District. First exploited in 1907, this underground operation exploits high-grade gold skarn ore bodies along contacts between Cretaceous granitoid and metamorphosed Paleozoic sediments. The mine, after decades of inactivity, returned to production for several years in the mid-1990s, and again in 2006 and 2007, when a significant variation between actual and predicted headgrades occurred. An updated resource evaluation is pending further work. The Niblack prospect, a zinc-copper-silver-gold VMS deposit on southeastern Prince of Wales Island, in the Ketchikan Mining District. Ore occurs as massive sulfide bodies hosted in a local rhyolite belt within a package of deeply deformed and metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. In the last ten years, significant underground and surface exploration occurred at this early-1900s minesite. A recent estimate reports a near surface indicated resource of 4073 kg of gold, 59,424 kg of silver, 14,810 metric tons of copper, and 30,474 metric tons of zinc contained in 1,424,000 metric tons of ore; and deeper inferred resources of 3,919 kg of gold, 55,295 kg of silver, 31,235 metric tons of copper, and 106,192 metric tons of zinc within 1,893,000 metric tons of ore.[14] Further exploration is planned. Many significant exploration efforts for gold, across the state, contributed to the total of over $310 million spent on mineral exploration in Alaska in 2007. Placer mining Placer mining continues throughout Alaska. Placer mine production during the 5 years to 2014 has averaged 74,360 ounces of gold or 8 percent of the total gold produced in Alaska annually. All of these operations are seasonal, none employ more than a few dozen people. Many are family operations with roots reaching back several generations. The 2015 estimate of 120 full-time-equivalent jobs attributed to placer gold mining as reported by the Mine Safety and Health Administration is underreported and is considered a minimum estimate.[4] Historical lode and placer gold mines Southeast Alaska Porcupine district Over 81,000 troy ounces (5,600 lb; 2,500 kg) of placer gold came from the Porcupine district near Haines. Porcupine Creek, about 20 miles (32 km) north of Haines, is the site of an 1898 gold discovery; the creek has been intermittently placer mined ever since. Outside of the Porcupine basin only a few other creeks – Glacier, Nugget and Cottonwood – produced significant gold. The area around Reid Inlet, in modern Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, hosted several hard rock gold prospects, including the LeRoy mine, which exploited quartz veins for about 10,000 ounces of gold production. The district, which includes Skagway and Haines, is bordered to the north and east by Canada. To the west is the Pacific Ocean and the Chichagof District lies to the south. The Discovery Channel series Gold Rush Alaska takes place in this region. Juneau district Main article: Juneau mining district In 1880 a local inhabitant, Chief Kowee, revealed to prospectors Joe Juneau and Richard Harris the presence of gold in what is now named Gold Creek in Silver Bow Basin. The city of Juneau was founded there that year. The strike sparked the Juneau gold rush which resulted in the development of many placer and lode mines including the largest, in their time, gold mines in the world: the Treadwell complex of lode mines on Douglas Island (across a narrow sea channel from Juneau) and the AJ lode mine, in Juneau itself. Over 7 million ounces of lode gold and 80,000 troy ounces (5,500 lb; 2,500 kg) of placer gold have been recovered from the Juneau district. Admiralty district Main article: Admiralty mining district Most of the gold recovered from the Admiralty mining district (which consists of Admiralty Island) is a by product of silver and base metal mining. The Alaska Empire underground lode mine recovered gold from quartz veins in metamorphic rocks. Discovered and staked in the 1920s, production of about 20,000 tonnes of 0.25 ounce-per-ton gold ore occurred in the mid-1930s. The Funter Bay underground lode mine produced about 500 thousand tonnes of copper-nickel-cobalt ore, without gold, from a Mesozoic gabbro-norite pipe. No significant placer mining was done on Admiralty. About 500,000 ounces of gold, almost all from the currently operating Greens Creek lode silver mine, have been recovered from the Admiralty district. Chichagof district Chichagof mining district Alaska Mining District Chichagof mining district is located in AlaskaChichagof mining districtChichagof mining district Coordinates: 57°30′N 135°30′W Approximately 800,000 ounces of gold have come from the Chichagof district. Chichagof, Yakobi, Baranof and smaller islands comprise the district.[15] Numerous lode and placer prospects and mines exist in the district. Major production came from underground lode mines exploiting gold-in-quartz veins. Apex-El Nido mine The Apex-El Nido produced perhaps 50,000 ounces of gold from a mile of underground workings exploiting polymetallic quartz veins.[16] Hirst-Chichagof mine From 1922 to 1933 the Hirst-Chichagof produced 133,000 ounces of gold and 33,000 ounces of silver from polymetallic quartz veins assaying nearly 1 ounce of gold per ton. There are over a mile of underground workings, reaching 2,000 feet (610 m) below the surface. Significant reserves remain, which have attracted exploration efforts in the 1980s and 1990s.[16] Chichagof mine The Chichagof mine opened in 1905 and by 1942 had yielded 660,000 ounces of gold and 195,000 ounces of silver from quartz veins assaying over 1 oz gold per ton. There were several miles of workings on 5 levels. Six shafts reached a maximum of 2,750 feet (840 m) below sea level. Between 1981 and 1988 several thousand feet of new workings were dug, and engineering and environmental studies were done, but the project was abandoned.[16] Petersburg-Sumdum district 15,000 ounces of gold from placers, came from the Petersburg-Sumdum district which consists of; Zarembo, Etolin, and Wrangell Islands, and the mainland between the Juneau and Ketchikan districts. Many small lode deposits were located in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The most significant lode producer was the Sumdum Chief, which was discovered in 1889 and operated until exhausted in 1903. 24,000 ounces of gold were extracted from two quartz veins averaging ore of about 0.39 ounces per ton of both gold and silver. The mine reached a depth of 1,200 feet (370 m) and had a ten-stamp mill. In Windham Bay, a cluster of mineral claim holdings were consolidated in the 1920s; the Jensen mine was the most productive of these, producing about 50 ounces of gold. Several aerial tramways, thousands of feet long, connected various adits and mills.[17] Ketchikan district Ketchikan mining district Alaska Mining District Ketchikan mining district is located in AlaskaKetchikan mining districtKetchikan mining district Coordinates: 55°19′N 131°40′W Approximately 58,000 ounces of lode gold and 4000 ounces of placer gold have come from the Ketchikan district, consisting of Dall, Prince of Wales, Revillagigedo, and smaller islands, as well some mainland, in the southernmost-part of Alaska.[15] Numerous historical lode mines and prospects for base metals, uranium, rare earth elements (REE's), iron, and platinum group elements (PGE's), as well as gold exist in the Ketchikan district. Major gold production came from underground lode mines exploiting: gold-bearing quartz veins in metamorphic rocks (such as the Gold Standard, Sea Level, Dawson, Golden Fleece, and Goldstream mines); skarns (at the Jumbo and Kassan Peninsula copper-gold mines); zoned mafic-ultramafic plutons, as at the Salt Chuck silver-gold-copper-PGE mine; and VMS deposits such as Niblack. A high-yielding mine in Ketchikan District is the Golden Fleece Mine, located about 0.2 mile north of the north end of James Lake on Prince of Wales Island, latitude: 55.152179, longitude: -132.056635. The mine was most active from 1901 to 1905.[18][19][20][21][22] Interior Alaska, north of the Yukon River Chandalar District Chandalar mining district Alaska Mining District Chandalar mining district is located in AlaskaChandalar mining districtChandalar mining district Coordinates: 67°40′N 148°30′W The Chandalar district is the area around the upper drainage of the Chandalar River, includes some southern foothills of the Brooks Range, and extends to the crest of the Brooks Range. Discovery of placer gold in 1906 was quickly followed by lode discoveries. Most of the placer-producing creeks drain the area of lode mineralization.[23] The district produced about 48,000 ounces of placer gold and 17,000 ounces of lode gold. Little Squaw Creek Little Squaw Creek drains an area cut by many auriferous veins. Some of the placers in the basin are exceptionally rich. By 1916 most of the shallow placers were playing out so miners shifted their interest to the placer drift mines (underground operations). The most notable of these is the Little Squaw Bench, including the Mellow Bench. Approximately 29,000 ounces of gold were recovered averaging 1.0 oz/cubic yard of gold in the gravels with spikes of up to 4.6 oz/cubic yard. Some individual nuggets were over 10 ounces.[24] In 2010, gold production resumed with mining of the placer deposits by the Gold Rich Mining Company. Little Squaw and Mikado lodes In 1909 to 1915 development and underground gold mining occurred at the Little Squaw, with a few hundred feet of workings built and a few dozen ounces of gold recovered. The nearby Mikado mine enjoyed similar efforts around 1913. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s additional work was done. These later efforts probably recovered more than 10,000 ounces of gold.[24] Significant efforts resumed in 2006, and are ongoing, to explore the Little Squaw placer and lode deposits.[25] Koyukuk-Nolan district The district encompasses the upper Koyukuk River basin including the Alatna and Kanuti rivers and the village of Bettles. The district extends from the southern flank of the Brooks Range to the northern Ray Mountains, and is directly west of the Chandalar district. Much of the district is now in Gates of the Arctic National Park. Gold was discovered in placer deposits in the district in 1901. About 350,000 ounces of placer gold have been won from the area, perhaps 85% of it from near Wiseman. Mining continues today in the district. Much of the district is underlain by bedded Paleozoic rocks, a schist belt extends along the southern foothills of the Brooks Range. Cretaceous plutons intrude metamorphic rocks in the southern part of the district. Pleistocene ice sheets from the Brooks Range and cirque glaciers in the Ray Mountains covered much of the higher elevations. Glaciers are now restricted to the highest cirques of the Brooks Range.[26] Nolan Creek Miners produced 235,000 ounces of gold from Nolan Creek between 1904 and 1999. Some of the placer gold is mined by underground methods in frozen gravels. A 42-troy ounce nugget, Alaska's twentieth-largest, came from Marys Bench on Nolan Creek. Placer mining activity continues, with a reserve of 214,760 ounces of gold reported in 2000. Hammond River Mining occurred on the Hammond River, a tributary of the Koyukuk River, from about 1900 to at least 2000. Exact production is unknown, but is estimated at about 80,000 ounces. A rich, deep channel was struck beneath the Hammond River in 1912, and during the following 4 years, over 48,000 oz gold were produced, including a 138.8-oz nugget. (Pringel, 1921; T.K. Bundtzen, written communication, 1999) Much of the gold was coarse: the third (146 troy oz.), fourth (139 troy oz.), 14th (61 troy ounces), and 17th (55 troy ounces) largest gold nuggets in Alaska were found on the Hammond River between Discovery claim and Vermont Creek a distance of 4 miles. Only the richest ground was possible to mine as the Hammond River was one of the most remote placer districts in North America until 1975 when the Dalton Highway for the Alaskan Pipeline project was completed. Historically the Hammond River is one of the largest gold producers in the Koyukuk district. Gold was discovered on the Hammond River, just above the lower canyon mouth, about 2 miles upstream from the Koyukuk River. In the early years, attempts were made to mine the modern stream gravels. At the mouth of Swift Creek a wing dam was built to divert the river for mining, but numerous cobbles and small boulders made the venture unprofitable. Approximately 500 ounces was recovered with pick and shovels in Summer of 1902. Later, shafts sunk 66 feet to bedrock at the discovery site were reported to show the presence of gold in paying quantities. The majority of the gold production on the Hammond came out of the deep channel as early miners were unable to deal with the water and cobbles in the present river channel. The Hammond River contains deep channel, bench, and modern stream placers. Much of the Hammond River gold is of the coarse nugget variety. Several nuggets weighing from 45 to 59 oz were found in the early days. In 1914 a 138.8 oz nugget (fourth largest in Alaska) was found in a mud-filled crack on bedrock near Gold Bottom Gulch (Engineering and Mining Journal, 1915, p. 1021; T. Bundzten, personal communication, 1999). In 1914,on No. 4 Above, Hammond River (Goldbottom Gulch), J. C. Kinney and partners picked up nuggets from bedrock valued at about $20,000; one nugget, the second largest ever found in Alaska, was worth $2600. The rest of the dump when sluiced yielded a little less than the value of the "pickings." (Engineering and Mining Journal, 1914, p. 1062 Vol. 98 No. 24. (Gold at $20.00 per ounce.) Placers on Slisco bench, an ancient buried channel of Hammond River near Vermont Creek on the west side of the present Hammond River contain a measured resource of 31,099 oz gold with grades of up to 0.3 oz/cy. Inferred resources on the same bench range from 50,000 to 150,000 oz. (2002) . Other benches of Hammond River between Discovery Claim and Slisco Bench have similar potential but have not been systematically prospected with modern technology. U.S. Department of Interior BLM-Alaska Technical Report 50 Mineral Investigations in the Koyukuk Mining District, Northern Alaska Maddren USGS Bulletin 532 1913 Hughes District The Hughes district includes the basin of the lower Koyukuk River (below the Kanuti). Much of the area is a swampy, lake-studded lowland, from which rises rounded hills to elevations of several thousand feet. Placer mines in the Zane Hills on Bear Creek, a tributary of the Hogatza River, are the biggest source of gold from the district. Placer deposits clustered near the village of Hughes and Indian Mountain are the other significant source of placer gold from the district. The district has produced about 245,000 ounces, with traces of copper, lead, zinc, tin, silver and platinum.[26] Melozitna District On the northern side of the Yukon River, between the Melotizna and Ray rivers, most of the district is rolling ridges with highest elevations over 5,000 feet (1,500 m), where now-gone Pleistocene cirque glaciers developed. Placer gold was discovered in 1907, but activity was sporadic and poorly recorded. About 10,000 ounces of gold, with significant by-product tin, was won from placer deposits by the 1960s.[26] Interior Alaska, south of the Yukon River Kaiyuh District Kaiyuh and Ruby mining districts Alaska Mining District Kaiyuh and Ruby mining districts is located in AlaskaKaiyuh and Ruby mining districtsKaiyuh and Ruby mining districts Coordinates: 64°00′N 156°00′W Illinois Creek Mine The mine is located in the remote Kaiyuh Mountains of west-central Alaska about 40 miles (64 km) south of the Yukon River village of Galena. The Illinois Creek lode gold-silver mine exploited a shear-hosted gold deposit which was partly expressed as color anomalies visible from aircraft. Located on State of Alaska land, it was discovered in the 1980s. In February 1996 a feasibility study was completed, with the deposit estimated to contain about 350,000 ounces of gold and 2,500,000 ounces of silver. Construction began the next month, but was halted by winter conditions in November. By then, with the development uncompleted and six-million more than the total mine construction-and-operating budget of 26-million dollars already spent, USMX, the mining company that owned Illinois Creek, was millions of dollars in arrears on invoices and short on cash.[27] New financing allowed construction to resume in 1997; the mine poured its first gold in June 1997. In 1998 the company entered bankruptcy. In 1999 the State of Alaska assumed control of the mine. A mine-to-reclaim arrangement between the state and a newly involved mining contractor resulted in the reclamation and closure of the mine by 2005. A bond is in place to provide environmental monitoring for 30 years.[28] Ruby-Poorman District Main article: Ruby-Poorman mining district The Ruby-Poorman District lies south of the Yukon River. The district produced nearly a half million ounces of gold, all from placer mines. The largest gold nugget ever found in Alaska (294.1 troy oz) was recovered from Swift Creek in 1998.[29] The placers are mostly deeply buried, and most were originally worked with shafts and drifts. Dozens of creeks in the district were mined, many more bear gold prospects. Cassiterite, platinum, scheelite, allanite, and native bismuth have been recovered along with gold from placer mines in the district.[30] Hot Springs District This district, which produced about 576,000 ounces, includes placer mines at Manley and Eureka. Rampart district Nearly 200,000 ounces of gold was recovered from placer mines in the district. Circle district Circle mining district Alaska Mining District Circle mining district is located in AlaskaCircle mining districtCircle mining district Coordinates: 65°00′N 144°00′W Over 1 million ounces of gold have been recovered from placer deposits in the Circle district. Uplands with thousands of feet of generally mild relief are underlain by a complex metamorphic terrane intruded by a broad range of igneous rocks. Many gold occurrences are known, but no gold lodes are identified. Placer mining has been reported for every year since 1894.[26] Eagle district This small district includes the village of Eagle on the Yukon River, and borders Canada. About 50,000 ounces of gold, all from placer deposits, has been recovered from the district since gold was discovered in 1895 on American Creek and the Seventy-mile River.[26] Tolovana-Livengood district Livengood is about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Fairbanks on the Dalton Highway. In July, 1914 Jay Livengood and N.R. Hudson discovered gold on Livengood Creek. Hundreds of people arrived in the district the following winter. A post office existed at Livengood from 1915 to 1957. Only a few dozen people live at Livengood today, some only seasonally. A variety of creeks in the district were mined. Many gold lode occurrences are known and exploration continues for open pittable lode deposits. Over 500,000 ounces of gold have been recovered from placers in the district.[31] Early development and production was from relatively shallow pay in tributaries of Livengood Creek. By 1939, large, deeply buried (80 to 110 feet), thawed, bench placer deposits on the northwest limit of Livengood Creek valley were defined. The pay streak varied from 100 to 1,000 feet (300 m) wide and was at least 6 miles (9.7 km) long. Gold reserves of over 1 million ounces were defined by drilling prior to 1940. A dredge operated near the town of Livengood in 1940, 1946 and probably other years.[32] Alaska's 12th-largest (73 troy ounces) and 16th-largest (56 troy ounces) nuggets were found in the district, on Dome Creek. Fairbanks district Main article: Fairbanks mining district Placer mining began near Fairbanks in July 1902, after Felix Pedro (real name Felice Pedroni), an Italian immigrant and Tom Gilmore discovered gold in the hills north of the Tanana and Chena Rivers in 1901. The district was and is a major producer of gold from both placer and lode deposits: placers have produced over 8 million troy ounces (250 tonnes) of gold, lodes have yielded over 4 million ounces.[33] Goodpaster district Only a few thousand ounces of gold from placer mines, and a few hundred ounces from lode gold mines were produced from the Goodpaster district before the discovery of Pogo. The district is east of the Fairbanks and south of the Circle district. Pogo mine (operating) Teck’s Pogo underground gold mine in central Alaska. The Pogo mine is located on a hillside above the Goodpaster River, about 85 miles (137 km) southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. The deposit was discovered in 1995 by Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corporation on land owned by the State of Alaska. A private 49-mile (79 km) gravel access road and power line connects the mine to the Richardson Highway near Delta Junction. The mine is an underground operation that exploits two large (several meters thick) and high-grade gold-bearing quartz veins. Approximately half of the tailings are returned underground, the rest is interred in a dry stack tailings facility on the surface. The mine was developed, and originally operated, by Teck Cominco. Sumitomo Metal Mining (a non-operating partner and part-owner of the Pogo deposit since discovery) bought Teck's share of the mine in 2009.[34] Sumitomo sold the mine to Northern Star Resources in 2018.[35] The mine was permitted in 2003 and the first gold ore bar was poured on February 12, 2006. 340 company employees and more than 200 contract employees were employed at the mine in 2018.[7] The mine has estimated indicated and inferred mineral resources of 4.15 million ounces of gold at a grade of 14.7 g/t (JORC).[36][37] Fortymile district Fortymile mining district Alaska Mining District Fortymile mining district is located in AlaskaFortymile mining districtFortymile mining district Coordinates: 64°00′N 142°00′W The 1886 discovery of gold on Franklin's Bar on the Fortymile River touched off Interior Alaska's first gold rush. The mining boom ushered in a wave of settlement that forever changed the place, not only for its new residents but for the Athabascan Indians who occupied this region long before them. The miners who prospected nearly every creek in the region eventually extracted more than a half-million ounces of gold from the Fortymile, including a 56.8 troy ounce nugget, Alaska's 15th-largest.[38] Reports of starvation and lawlessness among the miners resulted in the Army sending troops to the Eagle area to provide law enforcement in 1899. Soldiers soon began work on a trail from Valdez to Eagle.[39] Gold was first discovered in the Chicken Creek drainage in 1896, 10 years after the gold discovery on the Fortymile River. The F.E. Company, a subsidiary of the U.S. Smelting Refining & Mining Co., acquired most of the claims during the 1940s and dredged 2 miles (3.2 km) of the creek from 1959 to 1967. Since then, several family operations have mined on the creek. It is estimated that over 100,000 ounces of gold has been produced from the Chicken Creek drainage. The beginning of the end of the Fortymile Gold Rush came in August 1896 when George Carmack reported the first gold strike along the Klondike River in Canada. Within a few years the once-booming towns in the Fortymile region were abandoned and forgotten. Some of the original Fortymile miners returned to the area after the Klondike Gold Rush passed. From 1887 to 1890 the Upper Yukon region was the richest and most productive mining area in the region. During those three years the area produced 1,200,000 ounces of gold, accounting for 5 percent of Alaska's total gold production.[40] Chisana-White River district Gold production from this area is balanced between 78,000 ounces of placer and 66,000 ounces of lode gold. Directly south of the Fortymile district, the Chisana district includes headwaters of the Nabesna and White rivers, and tributaries of the Tanana River; it includes parts of the Wrangell Mountains and the Alaska Range. Difficulties of location, lack of water, and small deposit size limited placer activity. The Nabesna underground lode mine produced gold-copper-silver ore between 1930 and WWII.[26] Kantishna district The Kantishna Gold Rush began soon after The Nome Nugget printed the headline “FOUND HIGH GRADE GOLD” on September 9, 1903. Located on the north flanks of Denali (Mt. McKinley), the District was a hard place to operate a mine. Nevertheless, some of the largest gold nuggets found in Alaska have been found in the area, including the 9th largest (92 troy ounces). 92,000 ounces of placer gold and 8000 ounces of gold from lode mines has come from the district.[38] Today, the district is located within Denali National Park and Preserve.[41] Southwestern Alaska Kuskokwim Gold Belt The Kuskokwim Gold Belt (KGB, also known as the Kuskokwim Mineral Belt) is a broad loosely geologically and geographically defined swath of country arcing for approximately 300 miles (480 km) across southwest Alaska. It lies northwest of the Alaska Range and is roughly centered on the Kuskokwim River basin. Geologically it is dominated by flysch of Cretaceous-age Kuskokwim Group sediments and a variety of igneous rocks. It also includes a variety of exotic terranes. In 1913, Alfred H. Brooks described it as, "a more or less broken belt of gold-bearing rocks which stretches northeastward from Goodnews Bay parallel to the lower course of the Kuskokwim, toward the Iditarod District, and a number of streams traversing this belt carry auriferous gravels."[42] The KGB lies mostly within the southwestern part of the Tintina Gold Province or "Golden Arch" which lies roughly between the Denali-Farewell and Kaltag-Tintina fault systems and arcs up from southwest Alaska, through central Alaska, and down across the Yukon Territory to British Columbia.[43][44][45][46] The KGB includes all or parts of the historic Aniak/Tuluksak, Anvik, Bethel, Goodnews Bay, Iditarod-Flat, Innoko, Marshall, McGrath, Ruby, and Tolstoi mining districts, as well as newly realized gold-rich areas.[47] Over 3.2 million ounces of gold have been recovered from the belt.[48] The first mineral discovery by the Russians in Alaska (a cinnabar-stibnite deposit) occurred in the Aniak district in 1838. Pay gold was found in 1901 on tributaries of the Kuskokwim River in the Aniak district.[43] Marshall-Anvik District The Marshall and Anvik districts produced about 124,000 troy ounces of gold (8,500 lb; 3,900 kg) and minor amounts of platinum, mainly from Wilson Creek. The district has the Bering Sea to the west, the Yukon River to the south, and the Iditarod and Kaiyuh districts to the east. Aniak District Aniak mining district Alaska Mining District Aniak mining district is located in AlaskaAniak mining districtAniak mining district Coordinates: 61°00′N 159°00′W About 220,000 ounces of gold produced, mainly from the Tuluksuk River (where the town of Nyac is located) and Crooked Creek basins and with lesser production from Wattamuse and other creeks scattered around the district. Mining continues at present, but reserves are not known. Cinnabar (mercury sulfide) occurs in many of the placer mines in this district, most notably at Cinnabar Creek. Donlin Creek (feasibility stage) Placer mining began on benches and tributaries on the east side of Crooked Creek and its tributary Donlin Creek in 1910; a family-scale placer-mining operation continues today. Granitic dike swarms cutting the shales and sandstones of the Kuskokwim Group rocks in the hills east of upper Crooked Creek were recognized by USGS geologists in 1915 as the probable source of the placer gold.[49] In the 1970s Calista Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation, as part of its land grant under ANSCA selected the land east of Crooked Creek, based on its mineral potential. In 1986 modern hardrock exploration of the Donlin area began with WestGold's efforts, which were abandoned after two years, due not to the lack of gold, but to the refractory (technically difficult to extract from the rock) nature of the gold. PlacerDome signed a lease with Calista and began exploration at Donlin in 1995. That effort continues today, having evolved to a 50:50 partnership between Barrick Gold and NovaGold Resources, in cooperation with Calista, the landowner. Over 150 million dollars have been expended on exploration, engineering, and environmental studies. If eventually exploited, the mine will be an open pit several miles wide. Latest estimates (April 2009) report that Donlin contains 29.3 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves (calculated at a gold price of $750) and an additional 10 million ounces of gold resource.[10] The gold occurs within the crystal lattice of arsenopyrite associated with other metal sulfides in veins, veinlets, and disseminations mainly in the felsic dikes, but also in less common altered mafic dikes and in the sediments.[43] Iditarod District The Iditarod district lies between the lower Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers: the Aniak district abuts it to the south. A gold rush followed the discovery of gold on Otter Creek in 1909. Over 1.5 million ounces of placer gold and a few thousand ounces of lode gold have been recovered from the Iditarod area, making it one of the more important gold-mining districts in Alaska. Much of the gold-producing ground in the district was consolidated by the Morgan-Guggenheim consortium. Tolstoi District The drainage basin of Tolstoi Creek, a north-flowing tributary of the Dishna, roughly defines the district. The district lies between the Iditarod and Innoko districts. Placer gold and platinum were discovered by drifting in frozen gravels 35 feet deep on Boob Creek in the winter of 1915–1916. A gold rush occurred in the district the following winter. Historic production of 11,000 ounces of gold, as well as some byproduct platinum, is recorded for the district.[50] Innoko District The Aniak district lies to the south, the Tolstoi district to the west. Almost 3/4 million ounces of placer gold has been won from Innoko River and its tributaries in the district. Lode gold production of 150 ounces is also recorded. Cripple, Colorado, Yankee, Games, Ophir, and Little Creeks had prominent placer mines: a third of the districts production came from Ganes Creek. Gold-bearing porphyritic intrusive rocks adjacent to the Ganes Creek and Colorado Creek placers are similar in composition and age to the dike swarms at 29-million ounce Donlin Creek. Ganes Creek The property is located approximately 40 km west of McGrath, and 440 km northwest of Anchorage. Ganes is famous for producing spectacular gold nuggets including the 5th (122 troy ounces) and 13th-largest (62.5 troy ounce) in Alaska. The presence of cobble-size quartz with sulfide boxwork and coarse gold suggest that the placer gold is primary, originating from bedrock sources. Historical production figures from Ganes Creek are in excess of 250,000 oz. gold; an additional estimated resource of 736,000 oz. of placer gold exists on patented claims.[51] McGrath-McKinley district Almost 200,000 ounces of lode gold and over 130,000 ounces of placer gold have come from the district. The district lies on the northeast side of the Aniak district. The Nixon Fork mine (operation suspended) The Nixon Fork mine is an underground lode gold-copper mine located 32 miles (51 km) northeast of McGrath, Alaska. Placer gold was discovered nearby in 1917, by 1918 hardrock mining was underway, and continued intermittently until 1964. Ore consists of shoots of massive sulfides and native gold found with skarns along the contact of sedimentary rocks and the Mystery Creek quartz monzonite stock. The mine was reopened for exploration, permitted, and developed by Nevada Goldfields, Inc. in 1995 and operated until 1999. In 2005 resource and exploration development resumed. Gold production occurred in 2006 and 2007, production is currently suspended. Production has totaled 187,000 ounces of gold, 2,190,000 pounds of copper, and at least 11,000 ounces of silver.[52] Two small ore bodies have proven and probable reserves of approximately 126,400 tonnes, containing 133,730 ounces of gold. An additional 116,000 tonnes of existing mill tailings are reported to contain 30,200 ounces of gold.[53] Goodnews Bay District Goodnews Bay mining district Alaska Mining District Goodnews Bay mining district is located in AlaskaGoodnews Bay mining districtGoodnews Bay mining district Coordinates: 59°20′N 161°00′W The district is in extreme southwestern Alaska, and borders the Bering Sea. About 600,000 ounces of platinum (plus some iridium, osmium, ruthenium, palladium, and rhenium) and 27,000 ounces of gold were won from placer deposits in the Salmon River from 1934 to 1976. Present reserves are unknown, but are the subject of ongoing exploration. The source of the platinum-group elements appears to be in the Red Mountain and Susie Mountain ultramafic rocks. Extensive geochemical and geophysical surveys during the past several years have identified areas with as much as 0.1 ounce per ton platinum in the soils, but no reserve has been demonstrated. Seward Peninsula Surveyors belonging to the 1865 Count Bendeleben expedition exploring a route across Siberia, the Bering Sea, and Alaska for a communications cable reported gold in the Fish River area of the Seward Peninsula. But it was not until the 1898 $1500-to-the-pan strike on Anvil Creek that gold-seekers came to the region.[54] Nome (Cape Nome) district Main article: Nome mining district Placer gold deposits on Anvil Creek and on the Snake River, a few miles from the future site of Nome, were discovered in 1898 by Jafet Lindeberg, Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson, the "Three Lucky Swedes". Word of the strike caused a major gold rush to Nome in the spring of 1899. Over 3.6 million ounces of gold have been recovered from the Nome district, almost all of it from placer deposits.The Rock Creek mine, owned by Bering Straits Native Corporation, was constructed in 2007 by NovaGold Resources. The mine began producing gold in September 2008, but permanently ceased in November 2008 due to difficulties with the ore crushing and grinding circuit. It is now in closure and reclamation mode.[55] Council-Solomon District Council mining district Alaska Mining District Council mining district is located in AlaskaCouncil mining districtCouncil mining district Coordinates: 64°40′N 164°19′W Over a million ounces of gold are reported recovered from the district.[6] Fairhaven Inmachuk District The Fairhaven-Inmachuk district lies north of the Solomon District and extends north to Kotzebue Sound of the Chukchi Sea. The district (including Candle) produced about 600,000 ounces of gold with minor amounts of chromium, copper, lead, platinum, bismuth, tungsten, mercury, molybdenum, silver, and rare-earth elements.[56] Kougarok district The district is the central part of the Seward Peninsula, draining into the Imruck Basin. Gold was discovered in 1900 and production from placer mines continues to this day. 177,000 ounces of gold have been recovered from the Kougarok district. Koyuk district 84,000 ounces of placer gold came from the district, the southeastern part of the Seward Peninsula. Major producers were; the Ungalik River and its tributary, Bonanza Creek, which produced significant by-product tin, and Dime Creek, which also produced significant platinum. The district encompasses the basins of the Koyuk, Inglutalik, Ungalik, and Shaktoolik Rivers, all draining into northeastern Norton Sound. Port Clarence district Mainly a tin district, the westernmost Seward Peninsula, 42,000 ounces of placer gold have been recovered, much of it as a by-product of tin mining. Southcentral Alaska Resurrection Creek Resurrection Creek was the site of Alaska's first gold rush in the late 1890s,[57] and placer mining continues today. The Resurrection Creek watershed drains 161 square miles (420 km2) on the north side of the Kenai Peninsula, and the community of Hope, Alaska is located at the mouth of Resurrection Creek.[58] Charles Miller located the first claim on Resurrection Creek; then leased it to others for working. By 1893, about a dozen miners were working claims on Resurrection Creek. In 1894, more claims were established on Resurrection Creek.[59] Valdez Creek Gold was discovered near Valdez Creek on August 15, 1903. Valdez Creek, a tributary of the Susitna River, is located in central Alaska northeast of milepost 81 on the Denali Highway. A 52-troy ounce nugget (Alaska's 18th-largest) came from Lucky Gulch, a tributary of Valdez Creek. Cambior's Valdez Creek Mine recovered over 75,000 ounces of gold annually, making it the largest placer operation in North America in 1992. Produced 459,162 ounces of gold from 1984 to 1995. Substantial reserves remain upstream of the active mine.[60] The mine has been shut down and the site reclaimed, but other small-scale placer and lode deposits remain nearby.[61] Chulitna-Yentna Mineral Belt The Chulitna-Yentna mineral belt extends northeastward for 100 miles (160 km) or more along the southern flank of the west-central Alaska Range. The belt shares tectonic or compositional features comparable with some well-known mineral belts of the western Cordillera, including the Juneau gold belt. Chulitna District Golden Zone Mine Golden Zone Mine. (Copper, gold, silver, arsenic, zinc). Pipe-like body produced 1,581 ounces of gold, 8,617 ounces of silver, and 21 tons of copper. Recent work indicates reserves of the Pipe, Bunkhouse and Copper King deposits as 13.3 million tons grading 0.095 ounces per ton of gold.[62] Yentna Cache-Creek District Main article: Yentna Cache-Creek Mining District Gold was discovered in the Yentna District (also known as the Cache Creek District) of the upper Susitna Valley in 1898, soon followed by claim staking. Placer mining was reported in the Cache Creek drainage of the Dutch Hills by 1906. Quaternary glaciofluvial deposits, alluvial deposits, and Tertiary conglomeratic white quartz-breccia units have been mined in the Dutch Hills. About 200,000 ounces (6.2 tonnes) of gold has been produced from these placer deposits.[63] Willow Creek Mining District Main article: Willow Creek mining district Independence Mine in Hatcher Pass is now a State Historic Park Gold was first reported in what would become the Willow Creek Mining District (also known as the Independence Mine/Hatcher Pass District) by Robert Hatcher. Hatcher discovered and staked the first lode gold claim in the Willow Creek Valley in September 1906. Through 2006 the district produced 667-thousand ounces of hard rock gold and 60-thousand ounces of placer gold.[6] Northwestern Alaska Drainage basins emptying into Kotzebue Sound of the Bering Sea, including the Noatak River and Kobuk River, define the Kiana, Shungnak, Noatak, and Selawick districts. The Noatak district is now within the Noatak National Preserve, only tiny gold placer production was recorded from some tributaries near the Noatak headwaters. The Selawick district has one creek where gold was produced by a 2-man operation for ten years during the 1950s and 1960s. Kiana and Shugnak mining district Alaska Mining District Kiana and Shugnak mining district is located in AlaskaKiana and Shugnak mining districtKiana and Shugnak mining district Coordinates: 67°00′N 159°00′W Kobuk River district Main article: Kobuk River Stampede In 1898, placer and lode gold were discovered on several of the Kobuk River's tributaries. This gold strike (which by some accounts was false) attracted nearly 2,000 people to Alaska, though only 800 actually stayed to find gold. Although mining has continued to take place in this area, little gold has been discovered. Kiana district Placer gold was discovered on Klery Creek in 1909. Almost all of the gold, over 40,000 ounces, from this area has come from tributaries of the Squirrel River. Mining has been nearly continuous in this area since discovery. Nephrite jade also occurs in this area. Shungnak district All of the 15,000 ounces of gold recovered came from streams draining the Cosmos Hills, a low range along the Kobuk Valley. Gold was discovered on Dahl Creek in 1898, which was the major producer. Copper, chromium, cadmium, and silver, were also recovered with the gold. Recreational gold mining in Alaska Recreational mining, i.e., small-scale prospecting and mining using gold pans, sluiceboxes, rockers, suction dredges, and metal detectors, is enjoying a resurgence in Alaska. Miners working a sluice on Lucky Gulch, Blue Ribbon Mine, Alaska There are many commercial ventures that charge fees to recreational miners located on historically rich placer ground, some are road-accessible, many are in remote fly-in locations, most offer lodging and a complete suite of services. Some State and Federal lands in Alaska are open to recreational mining with specific regulations. Popular areas include; areas of Chugach National Forest,[64] areas within Alaska State Parks such as Chugach State Park, Kenai State Parks, and Independence Mine State Historical Park,[65] and along the Dalton Highway.[66] The Hatcher Pass Public Use Area is located approximately fifteen miles north of Palmer on the Little Susitna River. The area is open to a variety of recreational activities, including recreational mining. A fact sheet provides details on recreational mining within the Hatcher Pass Public Use Area.[67] Near Fairbanks, both the Pedro Creek area (about 15 miles north of Fairbanks and the site of the original Fairbanks gold discovery by Felix Pedro in 1902) and Nome Creek[68] area within the White Mountains National Recreation Area (approximately 60 miles north of Fairbanks). Gold mining on Nome Creek began in 1900 and was followed by a gold rush. The Petersville State Recreational Mining Area [69] See also flag Alaska portal Natural resources of the Arctic Gold mining in the United States Alaska (/əˈlæskə/ (About this soundlisten); Aleut: Alax̂sxax̂; Inupiaq: Alaasikaq; Alutiiq: Alas'kaaq; Tlingit: Anáaski; Russian: Аляска, romanized: Alyaska) is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of the United States West Coast, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east and southeast. Its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia (Chukotka Autonomous Okrug) to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest U.S. state by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015[4]—is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. United States armed forces bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy. On March 30, 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire for 7.2 million U.S. dollars, or approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km2). The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.[5] Etymology The name "Alaska" (Russian: Аляска, tr. Alyaska) was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the Alaska Peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut-language idiom, which figuratively refers to the mainland. Literally, it means object to which the action of the sea is directed.[6][7][8] Geography Main article: Geography of Alaska Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States and has the most easterly longitude in the United States because the Aleutian Islands extend into the Eastern Hemisphere.[9] Alaska is the only non-contiguous U.S. state on continental North America; about 500 miles (800 km) of British Columbia (Canada) separates Alaska from Washington. It is technically part of the continental U.S., but is sometimes not included in colloquial use; Alaska is not part of the contiguous U.S., often called "the Lower 48". The capital city, Juneau, is situated on the mainland of the North American continent but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system. The state is bordered by Yukon and British Columbia in Canada, to the east, the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the south and southwest, the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea to the west and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Alaska's territorial waters touch Russia's territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian Big Diomede Island and Alaskan Little Diomede Island are only 3 miles (4.8 km) apart. Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined.[10] Alaska's size compared with the 48 contiguous states (Albers equal-area conic projection) Alaska is the largest state in the United States by total area at 663,268 square miles (1,717,856 km2), over twice the size of Texas, the next largest state. Alaska is larger than all but 18 sovereign countries. Counting territorial waters, Alaska is larger than the combined area of the next three largest states: Texas, California, and Montana. It is also larger than the combined area of the 22 smallest U.S. states. Regions There are no officially defined borders demarcating the various regions of Alaska, but there are six widely accepted regions: South Central Main article: South Central Alaska The most populous region of Alaska, containing Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and the Kenai Peninsula. Rural, mostly unpopulated areas south of the Alaska Range and west of the Wrangell Mountains also fall within the definition of South Central, as do the Prince William Sound area and the communities of Cordova and Valdez.[11] Southeast Main article: Southeast Alaska Also referred to as the Panhandle or Inside Passage, this is the region of Alaska closest to the rest of the United States. As such, this was where most of the initial non-indigenous settlement occurred in the years following the Alaska Purchase. The region is dominated by the Alexander Archipelago as well as the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States. It contains the state capital Juneau, the former capital Sitka, and Ketchikan, at one time Alaska's largest city.[12] The Alaska Marine Highway provides a vital surface transportation link throughout the area, as only three communities (Haines, Hyder and Skagway) enjoy direct connections to the contiguous North American road system.[13] Officially designated in 1963.[14] Interior Main article: Alaska Interior Denali is the highest peak in North America. The Interior is the largest region of Alaska; much of it is uninhabited wilderness. Fairbanks is the only large city in the region. Denali National Park and Preserve is located here. Denali is the highest mountain in North America. Southwest Main article: Southwest Alaska Grizzly bear fishing for salmon at Brooks Falls, part of Katmai National Park and Preserve Southwest Alaska is a sparsely inhabited region stretching some 500 miles (800 km) inland from the Bering Sea. Most of the population lives along the coast. Kodiak Island is also located in Southwest. The massive Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, one of the largest river deltas in the world, is here. Portions of the Alaska Peninsula are considered part of Southwest, with the remaining portions included with the Aleutian Islands (see below). North Slope Main article: Alaska North Slope The North Slope is mostly tundra peppered with small villages. The area is known for its massive reserves of crude oil, and contains both the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field.[15] The city of Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow, is the northernmost city in the United States and is located here. The Northwest Arctic area, anchored by Kotzebue and also containing the Kobuk River valley, is often regarded as being part of this region. However, the respective Inupiat of the North Slope and of the Northwest Arctic seldom consider themselves to be one people.[citation needed] Aleutian Islands Main article: Aleutian Islands More than 300 small volcanic islands make up this chain, which stretches over 1,200 miles (1,900 km) into the Pacific Ocean. Some of these islands fall in the Eastern Hemisphere, but the International Date Line was drawn west of 180° to keep the whole state, and thus the entire North American continent, within the same legal day. Two of the islands, Attu and Kiska, were occupied by Japanese forces during World War II. Natural features See also: Wildlife of Alaska Augustine Volcano erupting on January 12, 2006 With its myriad islands, Alaska has nearly 34,000 miles (55,000 km) of tidal shoreline. The Aleutian Islands chain extends west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians and in coastal regions. Unimak Island, for example, is home to Mount Shishaldin, which is an occasionally smoldering volcano that rises to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above the North Pacific. It is the most perfect volcanic cone on Earth, even more symmetrical than Japan's Mount Fuji. The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr, west of Anchorage on the mainland. Geologists have identified Alaska as part of Wrangellia, a large region consisting of multiple states and Canadian provinces in the Pacific Northwest, which is actively undergoing continent building. One of the world's largest tides occurs in Turnagain Arm, just south of Anchorage, where tidal differences can be more than 35 feet (10.7 m).[16] Main article: List of lakes in Alaska Alaska has more than three million lakes.[17] Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover 188,320 square miles (487,700 km2) (mostly in northern, western and southwest flatlands). Glacier ice covers about 28,957 square miles (75,000 km2) of Alaska.[18] The Bering Glacier is the largest glacier in North America, covering 2,008 square miles (5,200 km2) alone.[19] Land ownership Alaska has more public land owned by the federal government than any other state.[20] According to an October 1998 report by the United States Bureau of Land Management, approximately 65% of Alaska is owned and managed by the U.S. federal government as public lands, including a multitude of national forests, national parks, and national wildlife refuges.[21] Of these, the Bureau of Land Management manages 87 million acres (35 million hectares), or 23.8% of the state. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It is the world's largest wildlife refuge, comprising 16 million acres (6.5 million hectares). Of the remaining land area, the state of Alaska owns 101 million acres (41 million hectares), its entitlement under the Alaska Statehood Act. A portion of that acreage is occasionally ceded to organized boroughs, under the statutory provisions pertaining to newly formed boroughs. Smaller portions are set aside for rural subdivisions and other homesteading-related opportunities. These are not very popular due to the often remote and roadless locations. The University of Alaska, as a land grant university, also owns substantial acreage which it manages independently. Another 44 million acres (18 million hectares) are owned by 12 regional, and scores of local, Native corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Regional Native corporation Doyon, Limited often promotes itself as the largest private landowner in Alaska in advertisements and other communications. Provisions of ANCSA allowing the corporations' land holdings to be sold on the open market starting in 1991 were repealed before they could take effect. Effectively, the corporations hold title (including subsurface title in many cases, a privilege denied to individual Alaskans) but cannot sell the land. Individual Native allotments can be and are sold on the open market, however. Various private interests own the remaining land, totaling about one percent of the state. Alaska is, by a large margin, the state with the smallest percentage of private land ownership when Native corporation holdings are excluded. Climate Main article: Climate of Alaska Köppen climate types of Alaska Climate zones of Alaska The climate in Southeast Alaska is a mid-latitude oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb) in the southern sections and a subarctic oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc) in the northern parts. On an annual basis, Southeast is both the wettest and warmest part of Alaska with milder temperatures in the winter and high precipitation throughout the year. Juneau averages over 50 in (130 cm) of precipitation a year, and Ketchikan averages over 150 in (380 cm).[22] This is also the only region in Alaska in which the average daytime high temperature is above freezing during the winter months. The climate of Anchorage and south central Alaska is mild by Alaskan standards due to the region's proximity to the seacoast. While the area gets less rain than southeast Alaska, it gets more snow, and days tend to be clearer. On average, Anchorage receives 16 in (41 cm) of precipitation a year, with around 75 in (190 cm) of snow, although there are areas in the south central which receive far more snow. It is a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc) due to its brief, cool summers. The climate of Western Alaska is determined in large part by the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. It is a subarctic oceanic climate in the southwest and a continental subarctic climate farther north. The temperature is somewhat moderate considering how far north the area is. This region has a tremendous amount of variety in precipitation. An area stretching from the northern side of the Seward Peninsula to the Kobuk River valley (i. e., the region around Kotzebue Sound) is technically a desert, with portions receiving less than 10 in (25 cm) of precipitation annually. On the other extreme, some locations between Dillingham and Bethel average around 100 in (250 cm) of precipitation.[23] The climate of the interior of Alaska is subarctic. Some of the highest and lowest temperatures in Alaska occur around the area near Fairbanks. The summers may have temperatures reaching into the 90s °F (the low-to-mid 30s °C), while in the winter, the temperature can fall below −60 °F (−51 °C). Precipitation is sparse in the Interior, often less than 10 in (25 cm) a year, but what precipitation falls in the winter tends to stay the entire winter. The highest and lowest recorded temperatures in Alaska are both in the Interior. The highest is 100 °F (38 °C) in Fort Yukon (which is just 8 mi or 13 km inside the arctic circle) on June 27, 1915,[24][25] making Alaska tied with Hawaii as the state with the lowest high temperature in the United States.[26][27] The lowest official Alaska temperature is −80 °F (−62 °C) in Prospect Creek on January 23, 1971,[24][25] one degree above the lowest temperature recorded in continental North America (in Snag, Yukon, Canada).[28] The climate in the extreme north of Alaska is Arctic (Köppen: ET) with long, very cold winters and short, cool summers. Even in July, the average low temperature in Utqiagvik is 34 °F (1 °C).[29] Precipitation is light in this part of Alaska, with many places averaging less than 10 in (25 cm) per year, mostly as snow which stays on the ground almost the entire year. Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected locations in Alaska[30] Location July (°F) July (°C) January (°F) January (°C) Anchorage 65/51 18/10 22/11 −5/−11 Juneau 64/50 17/11 32/23 0/−4 Ketchikan 64/51 17/11 38/28 3/−1 Unalaska 57/46 14/8 36/28 2/−2 Fairbanks 72/53 22/11 1/−17 −17/−27 Fort Yukon 73/51 23/10 −11/−27 −23/−33 Nome 58/46 14/8 13/−2 −10/−19 Utqiagvik 47/34 08/1 −7/−19 −21/−28 History Main articles: Prehistory of Alaska and History of Alaska Pre-colonization Main article: Alaska Natives A modern Alutiiq dancer in traditional festival garb Numerous indigenous peoples occupied Alaska for thousands of years before the arrival of European peoples to the area. Linguistic and DNA studies done here have provided evidence for the settlement of North America by way of the Bering land bridge.[31] At the Upward Sun River site in the Tanana River Valley in Alaska, remains of a six-week-old infant were found. The baby's DNA showed that she belonged to a population that was genetically separate from other native groups present elsewhere in the New World at the end of the Pleistocene. Ben Potter, the University of Alaska Fairbanks archaeologist who unearthed the remains at the Upward River Sun site in 2013, named this new group Ancient Beringians.[32] The Tlingit people developed a society with a matrilineal kinship system of property inheritance and descent in what is today Southeast Alaska, along with parts of British Columbia and the Yukon. Also in Southeast were the Haida, now well known for their unique arts. The Tsimshian people came to Alaska from British Columbia in 1887, when President Grover Cleveland, and later the U.S. Congress, granted them permission to settle on Annette Island and found the town of Metlakatla. All three of these peoples, as well as other indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, experienced smallpox outbreaks from the late 18th through the mid-19th century, with the most devastating epidemics occurring in the 1830s and 1860s, resulting in high fatalities and social disruption.[33] The Aleutian Islands are still home to the Aleut people's seafaring society, although they were the first Native Alaskans to be exploited by Russians. Western and Southwestern Alaska are home to the Yup'ik, while their cousins the Alutiiq ~ Sugpiaq lived in what is now Southcentral Alaska. The Gwich'in people of the northern Interior region are Athabaskan and primarily known today for their dependence on the caribou within the much-contested Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The North Slope and Little Diomede Island are occupied by the widespread Inupiat people. Colonization Main articles: Russian America, Department of Alaska, and District of Alaska Map of Russian America in 1860 Some researchers believe the first Russian settlement in Alaska was established in the 17th century.[34] According to this hypothesis, in 1648 several koches of Semyon Dezhnyov's expedition came ashore in Alaska by storm and founded this settlement. This hypothesis is based on the testimony of Chukchi geographer Nikolai Daurkin, who had visited Alaska in 1764–1765 and who had reported on a village on the Kheuveren River, populated by "bearded men" who "pray to the icons". Some modern researchers associate Kheuveren with Koyuk River.[35] The first European vessel to reach Alaska is generally held to be the St. Gabriel under the authority of the surveyor M. S. Gvozdev and assistant navigator I. Fyodorov on August 21, 1732, during an expedition of Siberian cossak A. F. Shestakov and Russian explorer Dmitry Pavlutsky (1729–1735).[36] Another European contact with Alaska occurred in 1741, when Vitus Bering led an expedition for the Russian Navy aboard the St. Peter. After his crew returned to Russia with sea otter pelts judged to be the finest fur in the world, small associations of fur traders began to sail from the shores of Siberia toward the Aleutian Islands. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1784. The Russian settlement of St. Paul's Harbor (present-day Kodiak town), Kodiak Island, 1814 Between 1774 and 1800, Spain sent several expeditions to Alaska in order to assert its claim over the Pacific Northwest. In 1789 a Spanish settlement and fort were built in Nootka Sound. These expeditions gave names to places such as Valdez, Bucareli Sound, and Cordova. Later, the Russian-American Company carried out an expanded colonization program during the early-to-mid-19th century. Sitka, renamed New Archangel from 1804 to 1867, on Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago in what is now Southeast Alaska, became the capital of Russian America. It remained the capital after the colony was transferred to the United States. The Russians never fully colonized Alaska, and the colony was never very profitable. Evidence of Russian settlement in names and churches survive throughout southeast Alaska. On March 30, 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire for the sum of $7.2 million. It was another six months before the commissioners arrived in Sitka and the formal transfer was arranged. The formal flag-raising took place at Fort Sitka on October 18, 1867. The original ceremony included 250 uniformed U.S. soldiers, who marched to the governor's house at "Castle Hill". Here the Russian troops lowered the Russian flag and the U.S. flag was raised. This event is celebrated as Alaska Day, a legal holiday on October 18. William H. Seward, the United States Secretary of State, negotiated the Alaska Purchase (also known as Seward's Folly) with the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million. Alaska was loosely governed by the military initially, and was administered as a district starting in 1884, with a governor appointed by the President of the United States. A federal district court was headquartered in Sitka. Miners and prospectors climb the Chilkoot Trail during the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush For most of Alaska's first decade under the United States flag, Sitka was the only community inhabited by American settlers. They organized a "provisional city government", which was Alaska's first municipal government, but not in a legal sense.[37] Legislation allowing Alaskan communities to legally incorporate as cities did not come about until 1900, and home rule for cities was extremely limited or unavailable until statehood took effect in 1959. Alaska as a U.S. Territory Main articles: Organic act § List of organic acts, and Territory of Alaska Starting in the 1890s and stretching in some places to the early 1910s, gold rushes in Alaska and the nearby Yukon Territory brought thousands of miners and settlers to Alaska. Alaska was officially incorporated as an organized territory in 1912. Alaska's capital, which had been in Sitka until 1906, was moved north to Juneau. Construction of the Alaska Governor's Mansion began that same year. European immigrants from Norway and Sweden also settled in southeast Alaska, where they entered the fishing and logging industries. U.S. troops navigate snow and ice during the Battle of Attu in May 1943 During World War II, the Aleutian Islands Campaign focused on the three outer Aleutian Islands—Attu, Agattu and Kiska[38]—that were invaded by Japanese troops and occupied between June 1942 and August 1943. During the occupation, one Aleut civilian was killed by Japanese troops and nearly fifty were interned in Japan, where about half of them died.[39] Unalaska/Dutch Harbor became a significant base for the United States Army Air Forces and Navy submariners. The United States Lend-Lease program involved the flying of American warplanes through Canada to Fairbanks and then Nome; Soviet pilots took possession of these aircraft, ferrying them to fight the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The construction of military bases contributed to the population growth of some Alaskan cities. Statehood See also: Alaska Statehood Act, Admission to the Union, and List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union Statehood for Alaska was an important cause of James Wickersham early in his tenure as a congressional delegate. Decades later, the statehood movement gained its first real momentum following a territorial referendum in 1946. The Alaska Statehood Committee and Alaska's Constitutional Convention would soon follow. Statehood supporters also found themselves fighting major battles against political foes, mostly in the U.S. Congress but also within Alaska. Statehood was approved by Congress on July 7, 1958. Alaska was officially proclaimed a state on January 3, 1959. In 1960, the Census Bureau reported Alaska's population as 77.2% White, 3% Black, and 18.8% American Indian and Alaska Native.[40] Kodiak, before and after the tsunami which followed the Good Friday earthquake in 1964, destroying much of the townsite Good Friday earthquake Main article: 1964 Alaska earthquake On March 27, 1964, the massive Good Friday earthquake killed 133 people and destroyed several villages and portions of large coastal communities, mainly by the resultant tsunamis and landslides. It was the second-most-powerful earthquake in the recorded history of the world, with a moment magnitude of 9.2. It was over one thousand times more powerful than the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. The time of day (5:36 pm), time of year and location of the epicenter were all cited as factors in potentially sparing thousands of lives, particularly in Anchorage. Discovery of oil The 1968 discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay and the 1977 completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System led to an oil boom. Royalty revenues from oil have funded large state budgets from 1980 onward. That same year, not coincidentally, Alaska repealed its state income tax. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in the Prince William Sound, spilling over 11 million U.S. gallons (42 megaliters) of crude oil over 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of coastline. Today, the battle between philosophies of development and conservation is seen in the contentious debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the proposed Pebble Mine. Alaska Heritage Resources Survey The Alaska Heritage Resources Survey (AHRS) is a restricted inventory of all reported historic and prehistoric sites within the state of Alaska; it is maintained by the Office of History and Archaeology. The survey's inventory of cultural resources includes objects, structures, buildings, sites, districts, and travel ways, with a general provision that they are over 50 years old. As of January 31, 2012, over 35,000 sites have been reported.[41] Demographics Main article: Demographics of Alaska Historical population Census Pop. %± 1880 33,426 — 1890 32,052 −4.1% 1900 63,592 98.4% 1910 64,356 1.2% 1920 55,036 −14.5% 1930 59,278 7.7% 1940 72,524 22.3% 1950 128,643 77.4% 1960 226,167 75.8% 1970 300,382 32.8% 1980 401,851 33.8% 1990 550,043 36.9% 2000 626,932 14.0% 2010 710,231 13.3% Est. 2018 737,438 3.8% 1930 and 1940 censuses taken in preceding autumn Sources: 1910–2010, US Census Bureau[42] 2018 Estimate[4] The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Alaska was 737,438 on July 1, 2018, a 3.83% increase since the 2010 United States Census.[4] In 2010, Alaska ranked as the 47th state by population, ahead of North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming (and Washington, D.C.). Estimates show North Dakota ahead as of 2018.[43] Alaska is the least densely populated state, and one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world, at 1.2 inhabitants per square mile (0.46/km2), with the next state, Wyoming, at 5.8 inhabitants per square mile (2.2/km2).[44] Alaska is by far the largest U.S. state by area, and the tenth wealthiest (per capita income).[45] As of November 2014, the state's unemployment rate was 6.6%.[46] As of 2018, it is one of 14 U.S. states that still have only one telephone area code.[47] Race and ethnicity Map of the largest racial/ethnic group by borough. Red indicates Native American, blue indicates non-Hispanic white, and green indicates Asian. Darker shades indicate a higher proportion of the population. According to the 2010 United States Census, Alaska, had a population of 710,231. In terms of race and ethnicity, the state was 66.7% White (64.1% Non-Hispanic White), 14.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 5.4% Asian, 3.3% Black or African American, 1.0% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 1.6% from Some Other Race, and 7.3% from Two or More Races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 5.5% of the population.[48] As of 2011, 50.7% of Alaska's population younger than one year of age belonged to minority groups (i.e., did not have two parents of non-Hispanic white ancestry).[49] Transportation Main article: Transportation in Alaska This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Alaska" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The Sterling Highway, near its intersection with the Seward Highway Roads See also: List of Alaska Routes The Susitna River bridge on the Denali Highway is 1,036 feet (316 m) long. Alaska Interstate Highways Alaska has few road connections compared to the rest of the U.S. The state's road system covers a relatively small area of the state, linking the central population centers and the Alaska Highway, the principal route out of the state through Canada. The state capital, Juneau, is not accessible by road, only a car ferry; this has spurred debate over decades about moving the capital to a city on the road system, or building a road connection from Haines. The western part of Alaska has no road system connecting the communities with the rest of Alaska. Alaska welcome sign on the Klondike Highway The Interstate Highways in Alaska consists of a total of 1082 miles. One unique feature of the Alaska Highway system is the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, an active Alaska Railroad tunnel recently upgraded to provide a paved roadway link with the isolated community of Whittier on Prince William Sound to the Seward Highway about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Anchorage at Portage. At 2.5 miles (4.0 km), the tunnel was the longest road tunnel in North America until 2007.[95] The tunnel is the longest combination road and rail tunnel in North America. Rail An Alaska Railroad locomotive over a bridge in Girdwood approaching Anchorage (2007) The White Pass and Yukon Route traverses rugged terrain north of Skagway near the Canada–US border. Built around 1915, the Alaska Railroad (ARR) played a key role in the development of Alaska through the 20th century. It links north Pacific shipping through providing critical infrastructure with tracks that run from Seward to Interior Alaska by way of South Central Alaska, passing through Anchorage, Eklutna, Wasilla, Talkeetna, Denali, and Fairbanks, with spurs to Whittier, Palmer and North Pole. The cities, towns, villages, and region served by ARR tracks are known statewide as "The Railbelt". In recent years, the ever-improving paved highway system began to eclipse the railroad's importance in Alaska's economy. The railroad played a vital role in Alaska's development, moving freight into Alaska while transporting natural resources southward (i.e., coal from the Usibelli coal mine near Healy to Seward and gravel from the Matanuska Valley to Anchorage). It is well known for its summertime tour passenger service. The Alaska Railroad was one of the last railroads in North America to use cabooses in regular service and still uses them on some gravel trains. It continues to offer one of the last flag stop routes in the country. A stretch of about 60 miles (100 km) of track along an area north of Talkeetna remains inaccessible by road; the railroad provides the only transportation to rural homes and cabins in the area. Until construction of the Parks Highway in the 1970s, the railroad provided the only land access to most of the region along its entire route. In northern Southeast Alaska, the White Pass and Yukon Route also partly runs through the state from Skagway northwards into Canada (British Columbia and Yukon Territory), crossing the border at White Pass Summit. This line is now mainly used by tourists, often arriving by cruise liner at Skagway. It was featured in the 1983 BBC television series Great Little Railways. The Alaska Rail network is not connected to Outside. (The nearest link to the North American railway network is the northwest terminus of the Canadian National Railway at Prince Rupert, British Columbia, several hundred miles to the southeast.) In 2000, the U.S. Congress authorized $6 million to study the feasibility of a rail link between Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48.[96][97][98] Alaska Rail Marine provides car float service between Whittier and Seattle. Marine transport Many cities, towns and villages in the state do not have road or highway access; the only modes of access involve travel by air, river, or the sea. The MV Tustumena (named after Tustumena Glacier) is one of the state's many ferries, providing service between the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island and the Aleutian Chain. Alaska's well-developed state-owned ferry system (known as the Alaska Marine Highway) serves the cities of southeast, the Gulf Coast and the Alaska Peninsula. The ferries transport vehicles as well as passengers. The system also operates a ferry service from Bellingham, Washington and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, in Canada through the Inside Passage to Skagway. The Inter-Island Ferry Authority also serves as an important marine link for many communities in the Prince of Wales Island region of Southeast and works in concert with the Alaska Marine Highway. In recent years, cruise lines have created a summertime tourism market, mainly connecting the Pacific Northwest to Southeast Alaska and, to a lesser degree, towns along Alaska's gulf coast. The population of Ketchikan may rise by over 10,000 people on many days during the summer, as up to four large cruise ships at a time can dock, debarking thousands of passengers. Air transport Cities not served by road, sea, or river can be reached only by air, foot, dogsled, or snowmachine, accounting for Alaska's extremely well developed bush air services—an Alaskan novelty. Anchorage and, to a lesser extent Fairbanks, is served by many major airlines. Because of limited highway access, air travel remains the most efficient form of transportation in and out of the state. Anchorage recently completed extensive remodeling and construction at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to help accommodate the upsurge in tourism (in 2012–2013, Alaska received almost two million visitors).[99] Regular flights to most villages and towns within the state that are commercially viable are challenging to provide, so they are heavily subsidized by the federal government through the Essential Air Service program. Alaska Airlines is the only major airline offering in-state travel with jet service (sometimes in combination cargo and passenger Boeing 737-400s) from Anchorage and Fairbanks to regional hubs like Bethel, Nome, Kotzebue, Dillingham, Kodiak, and other larger communities as well as to major Southeast and Alaska Peninsula communities. A Bombardier Dash 8, operated by Era Alaska, on approach to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport The bulk of remaining commercial flight offerings come from small regional commuter airlines such as Ravn Alaska, PenAir, and Frontier Flying Service. The smallest towns and villages must rely on scheduled or chartered bush flying services using general aviation aircraft such as the Cessna Caravan, the most popular aircraft in use in the state. Much of this service can be attributed to the Alaska bypass mail program which subsidizes bulk mail delivery to Alaskan rural communities. The program requires 70% of that subsidy to go to carriers who offer passenger service to the communities. Many communities have small air taxi services. These operations originated from the demand for customized transport to remote areas. Perhaps the most quintessentially Alaskan plane is the bush seaplane. The world's busiest seaplane base is Lake Hood, located next to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, where flights bound for remote villages without an airstrip carry passengers, cargo, and many items from stores and warehouse clubs. In 2006 Alaska had the highest number of pilots per capita of any U.S. state.[100] Other transport Another Alaskan transportation method is the dogsled. In modern times (that is, any time after the mid-late 1920s), dog mushing is more of a sport than a true means of transportation. Various races are held around the state, but the best known is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a 1,150-mile (1,850 km) trail from Anchorage to Nome (although the distance varies from year to year, the official distance is set at 1,049 miles or 1,688 km). The race commemorates the famous 1925 serum run to Nome in which mushers and dogs like Togo and Balto took much-needed medicine to the diphtheria-stricken community of Nome when all other means of transportation had failed. Mushers from all over the world come to Anchorage each March to compete for cash, prizes, and prestige. The "Serum Run" is another sled dog race that more accurately follows the route of the famous 1925 relay, leaving from the community of Nenana (southwest of Fairbanks) to Nome.[101] In areas not served by road or rail, primary transportation in summer is by all-terrain vehicle and in winter by snowmobile or "snow machine", as it is commonly referred to in Alaska.[102] Data transport Alaska's internet and other data transport systems are provided largely through the two major telecommunications companies: GCI and Alaska Communications. GCI owns and operates what it calls the Alaska United Fiber Optic system[103] and as of late 2011 Alaska Communications advertised that it has "two fiber optic paths to the lower 48 and two more across Alaska.[104] In January 2011, it was reported that a $1 billion project to connect Asia and rural Alaska was being planned, aided in part by $350 million in stimulus from the federal government.[105] Law and government State government Main article: Government of Alaska The center of state government in Juneau. The large buildings in the background are, from left to right: the Court Plaza Building (known colloquially as the "Spam Can"), the State Office Building (behind), the Alaska Office Building, the John H. Dimond State Courthouse, and the Alaska State Capitol. Many of the smaller buildings in the foreground are also occupied by state government agencies. Like all other U.S. states, Alaska is governed as a republic, with three branches of government: an executive branch consisting of the governor of Alaska and his or her appointees which head executive departments; a legislative branch consisting of the Alaska House of Representatives and Alaska Senate; and a judicial branch consisting of the Alaska Supreme Court and lower courts. The state of Alaska employs approximately 16,000 people statewide.[106] The Alaska Legislature consists of a 40-member House of Representatives and a 20-member Senate. Senators serve four-year terms and House members two. The governor of Alaska serves four-year terms. The lieutenant governor runs separately from the governor in the primaries, but during the general election, the nominee for governor and nominee for lieutenant governor run together on the same ticket. Alaska's court system has four levels: the Alaska Supreme Court, the Alaska Court of Appeals, the superior courts and the district courts.[107] The superior and district courts are trial courts. Superior courts are courts of general jurisdiction, while district courts hear only certain types of cases, including misdemeanor criminal cases and civil cases valued up to $100,000.[107] The Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals are appellate courts. The Court of Appeals is required to hear appeals from certain lower-court decisions, including those regarding criminal prosecutions, juvenile delinquency, and habeas corpus.[107] The Supreme Court hears civil appeals and may in its discretion hear criminal appeals.[107] State politics Main article: Politics of Alaska Further information: Political party strength in Alaska and Alaska political corruption probe Gubernatorial election results[108] Year Democratic Republican 1958 59.6% 29,189 39.4% 19,299 1962 52.3% 29,627 47.7% 27,054 1966 48.4% 32,065 50.0% 33,145 1970 52.4% 42,309 46.1% 37,264 1974 47.4% 45,553 47.7% 45,840 1978 20.2% 25,656 39.1% 49,580 1982 46.1% 89,918 37.1% 72,291 1986 47.3% 84,943 42.6% 76,515 1990 30.9% 60,201 26.2% 50,991 1994 41.1% 87,693 40.8% 87,157 1998 51.3% 112,879 17.9% 39,331 2002 40.7% 94,216 55.9% 129,279 2006 41.0% 97,238 48.3% 114,697 2010 37.7% 96,519 59.1% 151,318 2014 [a] 45.9% 128,435 2018 44.4% 125,739 51.4% 145,631 Although in its early years of statehood Alaska was a Democratic state, since the early 1970s it has been characterized as Republican-leaning.[109] Local political communities have often worked on issues related to land use development, fishing, tourism, and individual rights. Alaska Natives, while organized in and around their communities, have been active within the Native corporations. These have been given ownership over large tracts of land, which require stewardship. Alaska was formerly the only state in which possession of one ounce or less of marijuana in one's home was completely legal under state law, though the federal law remains in force.[110] The state has an independence movement favoring a vote on secession from the United States, with the Alaskan Independence Party.[111] Six Republicans and four Democrats have served as governor of Alaska. In addition, Republican governor Wally Hickel was elected to the office for a second term in 1990 after leaving the Republican party and briefly joining the Alaskan Independence Party ticket just long enough to be reelected. He officially rejoined the Republican party in 1994. Alaska's voter initiative making marijuana legal took effect on February 24, 2015, placing Alaska alongside Colorado and Washington as the first three U.S. states where recreational marijuana is legal. The new law means people over age 21 can consume small amounts of pot—if they can find it. (It is still illegal to sell.)[112] The first legal marijuana store opened in Valdez in October 2016.[113] Taxes Taxes are collected by the Alaska Department of Revenue – Tax Division.[114] To finance state government operations, Alaska depends primarily on petroleum revenues and federal subsidies. This allows it to have the lowest individual tax burden in the United States.[115] It is one of five states with no sales tax, one of seven states with no individual income tax, and the only state (except New Hampshire) that has neither.[116] The Department of Revenue Tax Division[117] reports regularly on the state's revenue sources. The Department also issues an annual summary of its operations, including new state laws that directly affect the tax division. While Alaska has no state sales tax, 89 municipalities collect a local sales tax, from 1.0–7.5%, typically 3–5%. Other local taxes levied include raw fish taxes, hotel, motel, and bed-and-breakfast 'bed' taxes, severance taxes, liquor and tobacco taxes, gaming (pull tabs) taxes, tire taxes and fuel transfer taxes. A part of the revenue collected from certain state taxes and license fees (such as petroleum, aviation motor fuel, telephone cooperative) is shared with municipalities in Alaska. Fairbanks has one of the highest property taxes in the state as no sales or income taxes are assessed in the Fairbanks North Star Borough (FNSB). A sales tax for the FNSB has been voted on many times, but has yet to be approved, leading lawmakers to increase taxes dramatically on goods such as liquor and tobacco. In 2014 the Tax Foundation ranked Alaska as having the fourth most "business friendly" tax policy, behind only Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nevada.[118] Federal politics Main article: Politics of Alaska See also: Arctic Policy of the United States A line graph showing the presidential vote by party from 1960 to 2016 in Alaska Alaska regularly supports Republicans in presidential elections and has done so since statehood. Republicans have won the state's electoral college votes in all but one election that it has participated in (1964). No state has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate fewer times. Alaska was carried by Democratic nominee Lyndon B. Johnson during his landslide election in 1964, while the 1960 and 1968 elections were close. Since 1972, however, Republicans have carried the state by large margins. In 2008, Republican John McCain defeated Democrat Barack Obama in Alaska, 59.49% to 37.83%. McCain's running mate was Sarah Palin, the state's governor and the first Alaskan on a major party ticket. Obama lost Alaska again in 2012, but he captured 40% of the state's vote in that election, making him the first Democrat to do so since 1968. The Alaska Bush, central Juneau, midtown and downtown Anchorage, and the areas surrounding the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus and Ester have been strongholds of the Democratic Party. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the majority of Fairbanks (including North Pole and the military base), and South Anchorage typically have the strongest Republican showing. As of 2004, well over half of all registered voters have chosen "Non-Partisan" or "Undeclared" as their affiliation,[119] despite recent attempts to close primaries to unaffiliated voters. Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of July 3, 2018[120] Party Number of Voters Percentage Unaffiliated 299,365 55.25% Republican 139,615 25.77% Democratic 74,865 13.82% AKIP 17,118 3.16% Libertarian 7,422 1.37% Other 3,436 0.36% Total 541,821 100% Because of its population relative to other U.S. states, Alaska has only one member in the U.S. House of Representatives. This seat is held by Republican Don Young, who was re-elected to his 21st consecutive term in 2012. Alaska's at-large congressional district is one of the largest parliamentary constituencies in the world by area. In 2008, Governor Sarah Palin became the first Republican woman to run on a national ticket when she became John McCain's running mate. She continued to be a prominent national figure even after resigning from the governor's job in July 2009.[121] Alaska's United States senators belong to Class 2 and Class 3. In 2008, Democrat Mark Begich, mayor of Anchorage, defeated long-time Republican senator Ted Stevens. Stevens had been convicted on seven felony counts of failing to report gifts on Senate financial discloser forms one week before the election. The conviction was set aside in April 2009 after evidence of prosecutorial misconduct emerged. Republican Frank Murkowski held the state's other senatorial position. After being elected governor in 2002, he resigned from the Senate and appointed his daughter, State representative Lisa Murkowski as his successor. She won full six-year terms in 2004, 2010 and 2016. Alaska's current statewide elected officials Mike Dunleavy, Governor   Lisa Murkowski, senior United States Senator   Dan Sullivan, junior United States Senator   Don Young, United States Representative Cities, towns and boroughs See also: List of cities in Alaska by population, Alaska locations by per capita income, and List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska Anchorage, Alaska's largest city Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city and by a significant margin the largest city in Alaska's interior Juneau, Alaska's third-largest city and its capital Bethel, the largest city in the Unorganized Borough and in rural Alaska Homer, showing (from bottom to top) the edge of downtown, its airport and the Spit Utqiagvik (Browerville neighborhood near Eben Hopson Middle School shown), known colloquially for many years by the nickname "Top of the World", is the northernmost city in the United States. Cordova, built in the early 20th century to support the Kennecott Mines and the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, has persevered as a fishing community since their closure. Main Street in Talkeetna Alaska is not divided into counties, as most of the other U.S. states, but it is divided into boroughs.[122] Many of the more densely populated parts of the state are part of Alaska's 16 boroughs, which function somewhat similarly to counties in other states. However, unlike county-equivalents in the other 49 states, the boroughs do not cover the entire land area of the state. The area not part of any borough is referred to as the Unorganized Borough. The Unorganized Borough has no government of its own, but the U.S. Census Bureau in cooperation with the state divided the Unorganized Borough into 11 census areas solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation.[citation needed] A recording district is a mechanism for administration of the public record in Alaska. The state is divided into 34 recording districts which are centrally administered under a State Recorder. All recording districts use the same acceptance criteria, fee schedule, etc., for accepting documents into the public record.[citation needed] Whereas many U.S. states use a three-tiered system of decentralization—state/county/township—most of Alaska uses only two tiers—state/borough. Owing to the low population density, most of the land is located in the Unorganized Borough. As the name implies, it has no intermediate borough government but is administered directly by the state government. In 2000, 57.71% of Alaska's area has this status, with 13.05% of the population.[citation needed] Anchorage merged the city government with the Greater Anchorage Area Borough in 1975 to form the Municipality of Anchorage, containing the city proper and the communities of Eagle River, Chugiak, Peters Creek, Girdwood, Bird, and Indian. Fairbanks has a separate borough (the Fairbanks North Star Borough) and municipality (the City of Fairbanks).[citation needed] The state's most populous city is Anchorage, home to 278,700 people in 2006, 225,744 of whom live in the urbanized area. The richest location in Alaska by per capita income is Halibut Cove ($89,895).[citation needed] Yakutat City, Sitka, Juneau, and Anchorage are the four largest cities in the U.S. by area. Cities and census-designated places (by population) As reflected in the 2010 United States Census, Alaska has a total of 355 incorporated cities and census-designated places (CDPs).[citation needed] The tally of cities includes four unified municipalities, essentially the equivalent of a consolidated city–county. The majority of these communities are located in the rural expanse of Alaska known as "The Bush" and are unconnected to the contiguous North American road network. The table at the bottom of this section lists the 100 largest cities and census-designated places in Alaska, in population order. Of Alaska's 2010 Census population figure of 710,231, 20,429 people, or 2.88% of the population, did not live in an incorporated city or census-designated place. Approximately three-quarters of that figure were people who live in urban and suburban neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city limits of Ketchikan, Kodiak, Palmer and Wasilla.[citation needed] CDPs have not been established for these areas by the United States Census Bureau, except that seven CDPs were established for the Ketchikan-area neighborhoods in the 1980 Census (Clover Pass, Herring Cove, Ketchikan East, Mountain Point, North Tongass Highway, Pennock Island and Saxman East), but have not been used since. The remaining population was scattered throughout Alaska, both within organized boroughs and in the Unorganized Borough, in largely remote areas.[citation needed] No. Community name Type 2010 Pop. 1 Anchorage City 291,826 2 Fairbanks City 31,535 3 Juneau City 31,275 4 Badger CDP 19,482 5 Knik-Fairview CDP 14,923 6 College CDP 12,964 7 Sitka City 8,881 8 Lakes CDP 8,364 9 Tanaina CDP 8,197 10 Ketchikan City 8,050 11 Kalifornsky CDP 7,850 12 Wasilla City 7,831 13 Meadow Lakes CDP 7,570 14 Kenai City 7,100 15 Steele Creek CDP 6,662 16 Kodiak City 6,130 17 Bethel City 6,080 18 Palmer City 5,937 19 Chena Ridge CDP 5,791 20 Sterling CDP 5,617 21 Gateway CDP 5,552 22 Homer City 5,003 23 Farmers Loop CDP 4,853 24 Fishhook CDP 4,679 25 Nikiski CDP 4,493 26 Unalaska City 4,376 27 Utqiagvik City 4,212 28 Soldotna City 4,163 29 Valdez City 3,976 30 Nome City 3,598 31 Goldstream CDP 3,557 32 Big Lake CDP 3,350 33 Butte CDP 3,246 34 Kotzebue City 3,201 35 Petersburg City 2,948 36 Seward City 2,693 37 Eielson AFB CDP 2,647 38 Ester CDP 2,422 39 Wrangell City 2,369 40 Dillingham City 2,329 41 Deltana CDP 2,251 42 Cordova City 2,239 43 Prudhoe Bay CDP 2,174 44 North Pole City 2,117 45 Willow CDP 2,102 46 Ridgeway CDP 2,022 47 Bear Creek CDP 1,956 48 Fritz Creek CDP 1,932 49 Anchor Point CDP 1,930 50 Houston City 1,912 No. Community name Type 2010 Pop. 51 Haines CDP 1,713 52 Lazy Mountain CDP 1,479 53 Sutton-Alpine CDP 1,447 54 Metlakatla CDP 1,405 55 Cohoe CDP 1,364 56 Kodiak Station CDP 1,301 57 Susitna North CDP 1,260 58 Tok CDP 1,258 59 Craig City 1,201 60 Diamond Ridge CDP 1,156 61 Salcha CDP 1,095 62 Hooper Bay City 1,093 63 Farm Loop CDP 1,028 64 Akutan City 1,027 65 Healy CDP 1,021 66 Salamatof CDP 980 67 Sand Point City 976 68 Delta Junction City 958 69 Chevak City 938 King Cove City 71 Skagway CDP 920 72 Ninilchik CDP 883 73 Funny River CDP 877 74 Talkeetna CDP 876 75 Buffalo Soapstone CDP 855 76 Selawik City 829 77 Togiak City 817 78 Mountain Village City 813 79 Emmonak City 762 80 Hoonah City 760 81 Klawock City 755 82 Moose Creek CDP 747 83 Knik River CDP 744 84 Pleasant Valley CDP 725 85 Kwethluk City 721 86 Two Rivers CDP 719 Women's Bay CDP 88 Unalakleet City 688 89 Fox River CDP 685 90 Gambell City 681 91 Alakanuk City 677 92 Point Hope City 674 93 Savoonga City 671 94 Quinhagak City 669 95 Noorvik City 668 96 Yakutat CDP 662 97 Kipnuk CDP 639 98 Akiachak CDP 627 99 Happy Valley CDP 593 100 Big Delta CDP 591 Education The Kachemak Bay Campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage, located in downtown Homer The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development administers many school districts in Alaska. In addition, the state operates a boarding school, Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, and provides partial funding for other boarding schools, including Nenana Student Living Center in Nenana and The Galena Interior Learning Academy in Galena.[123] There are more than a dozen colleges and universities in Alaska. Accredited universities in Alaska include the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Alaska Southeast, and Alaska Pacific University.[124] Alaska is the only state that has no institutions that are part of NCAA Division I. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development operates AVTEC, Alaska's Institute of Technology.[125] Campuses in Seward and Anchorage offer one-week to 11-month training programs in areas as diverse as Information Technology, Welding, Nursing, and Mechanics. Alaska has had a problem with a "brain drain". Many of its young people, including most of the highest academic achievers, leave the state after high school graduation and do not return. As of 2013, Alaska did not have a law school or medical school.[126] The University of Alaska has attempted to combat this by offering partial four-year scholarships to the top 10% of Alaska high school graduates, via the Alaska Scholars Program.[127] Public health and public safety See also: Dentistry in rural Alaska The Alaska State Troopers are Alaska's statewide police force. They have a long and storied history, but were not an official organization until 1941. Before the force was officially organized, law enforcement in Alaska was handled by various federal agencies. Larger towns usually have their own local police and some villages rely on "Public Safety Officers" who have police training but do not carry firearms. In much of the state, the troopers serve as the only police force available. In addition to enforcing traffic and criminal law, wildlife Troopers enforce hunting and fishing regulations. Due to the varied terrain and wide scope of the Troopers' duties, they employ a wide variety of land, air, and water patrol vehicles. Many rural communities in Alaska are considered "dry", having outlawed the importation of alcoholic beverages.[128] Suicide rates for rural residents are higher than urban.[129] Domestic abuse and other violent crimes are also at high levels in the state; this is in part linked to alcohol abuse.[130] Alaska has the highest rate of sexual assault in the nation, especially in rural areas. The average age of sexually assaulted victims is 16 years old. In four out of five cases, the suspects were relatives, friends or acquaintances.[131] Culture See also: List of artists and writers from Alaska A dog team in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, arguably the most popular winter event in Alaska Some of Alaska's popular annual events are the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome, World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, the Blueberry Festival and Alaska Hummingbird Festival in Ketchikan, the Sitka Whale Fest, and the Stikine River Garnet Fest in Wrangell. The Stikine River attracts the largest springtime concentration of American bald eagles in the world. The Alaska Native Heritage Center celebrates the rich heritage of Alaska's 11 cultural groups. Their purpose is to encourage cross-cultural exchanges among all people and enhance self-esteem among Native people. The Alaska Native Arts Foundation promotes and markets Native art from all regions and cultures in the State, using the internet.[132] In early August of 1897, the North American Transportation and Trading Company ordered a fleet of 15 ships to provide transportation to the gold strikes in western Alaska at the turn of the nineteenth century -- which required ocean-going vessels that could sail the Bering Sea -- further stimulated the shipbuilding industry in Seattle. The Klondike stampede boosted Seattle's shipping to the Far North considerably. According to a newspaper report, Seattle's fleet tripled in size between 1897 and 1898, in part due to the "Alaskan business." So pressing was the demand for steamships in the late 1890s that some vessels of marginal quality were placed in service. Seattle's shipping "never was so entirely engaged," explained one reporter in 1897. "Not a single vessel seaworthy and capable of use" was overlooked.
  • Condition: Very good condition. See description for details.
  • Original/Reproduction: Antique Original
  • Canadian Province: Alaska
  • Format: Folding Map
  • Year: 1901
  • US State: Alaska
  • Date Range: 1900-1909
  • Country/Region: United States of America

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