The Yukon Territory: Extracts from the Report of an Exploration Made in 1896-97

I am very much pleased to be able to inform you that a most important discovery of gold has been made on a creek called Bonanza Creek, an affluent of the river known here as the Klondyke. It is marked on the maps extant as Deer River, and joins the Yukon a few miles above the site of Fort Reliance.

The discovery was made by G. W. Cormack [sic], who worked with me in 1887 on the Coast Range. The indications are that it is very rich, indeed the richest yet found, and as far as work has been carried on it realizes expectations. It is only two weeks since it was known, and already about 200 claims have been staked on it, and the creek is not yet exhausted; it, and its branches are considered good for 300 or 400 claims. Besides, there are two other creeks above it, which it is confidently expected will yield good pay; and if they do so, we shall have from 800 to 1000 claims on this river, which will require over 2000 men for their proper working. Between Deer River (or Klondyke) and Stewart River a large creek called Indian Creek flows into the Yukon, and rich prospects have been found on it, and no doubt it is in the gold-bearing country between Klondyke and Stewart Rivers, which is considered by all the old miners the best and most extensive gold country yet found. Scores of them would prospect it but for the fact that they cannot get provisions up there, and it is too far to beat them up from here in small boats.

This new find will necessitate an upward step on the Yukon, and help the Stewart River region.

News has just arrived from Bonanza Creek that three men worked out $75 in four hours the other day, and a $12.00 nugget has been found, which assures the character of the ground, namely, coarse gold and plenty of it, as three times this can be done with sluice boxes. You can fancy the excitement here. It is claimed that from $100 to $500 per day can be made off the ground that has been prospected so far. As we have about 100 claims on Glacier and Miller, with 300 or 400 in this vicinity, next year it is imperative that a man be sent in here to look after these claims and all land matters, and it is almost imperative that the agent be a surveyor. Already on Bonanza Creek they are disputing about the size of claims.

The journey has been made, and I would not hesitate to undertake it were things more reasonable here and dog food plentiful, but it would take at least $1000 to equip us with transport and outfit, which sum I think I can expend more in the interests of the country by remaining here and working a survey of the Klondyke of the miners-a mispronunciation of the Indian word or words " Thron-dak " or " duick," which means plenty of fish, from the fact that it is a famous salmon stream. It is marked Tondak on our maps. It joins the Yukon from the east-a few miles above the site of Fort Reliance-about fifty miles above here. As I have already intimated, rich placer mines of gold were discovered on the branches of this stream. The discovery, I believe, was due to the reports of Indians. A white man named G. W. Cormack, who worked with me in 1887, was the first to take advantage of the rumours and locate a claim on the first branch which was named by the miners Bonanza Creek. Cormack located late in August, but had to cut some logs for the mill here to get a few pounds of provisions to enable him to begin work on his claim. The fishing at Klondyke having totally failed him, he returned with a few weeks provisions for himself, his wife and brother-in-law (Indians), and another Indian, in the last days of August, and immediately set about working the claim. As he was very short of appliances he could only put together a rather defective apparatus to wash the gravel with. The gravel itself he had to carry in a box on his back from thirty to a hundred feet; notwithstanding this, the three men working very irregularly washed out $1200 in eight days, and Cormack asserts with reason that had he proper facilities it could have been done in two days, besides having several hundred dollars more gold which was lost in the tailings through defective apparatus.

On the same creek two men rocked out $75 in about four hours, and it is asserted that two men in the same creek took out $4008 in two days with only two lengths of sluice boxes. This last is doubted, but Mr. Ledue assures me he weighed that much gold for them, but it is not positive where they got it. They were new comers, and had not done much in the country, so the probabilities are they got it on Bonanza Creek. A branch of Bonanza named Eldorado has prospected magnificently, and another branch named Tilly Creek has prospected well; in all there are some four or five branches of Bonanza Creek which have given good prospects. There are about 170 claims staked on the main creek, and the branches are good for about as many more, aggregating say 350 claims, which will require over 1000 men to work properly.

A few miles farther up Bear Creek enters Klondyke, and it has been prospected and located on. Compared with Bonanza it is small, and will not afford more than twenty or thirty claims, it is said. About twelve miles above the mouth " Gold Bottom Creek" joins Klondyke, and on it and a branch named Hunker Creek, after the discoverer, very rich ground has been found. One man showed me $22.75 he took out in a few hours on Hunker Creek with a gold pan, prospecting his claim on the surface, taking a handful here and there as fancy suggested. On " Gold Bottom Creek " and branches there will probably be two or three hundred claims. The Indians have reported another creek much farther up, which they call " Too Much Gold Creek," on which gold is so plentiful, that, as the miners say in joke, " you have to mix gravel with it to sluice it" Up to date nothing definite has been heard from this creek.

From all this we may, I think, infer that we have a district which will give 1000 claims of 500 feet in length each. Now 1000 such claims will require at least 3000 men to work them properly, and as wages for working men in the mines are from eight to ten dollars per day without board, we have every reason to assume that this part of our territory will in a year or two contain 10,000 souls at least. For the coast an unprecedented influx is expected next spring. And this is not all, for a large creek called Indian Creek joins the Yukon about mid-way between Klondyke and Stewart Rivers, and all along this creek good pay has been found. All that has stood in the way of working it heretofore has been the scarcity of provisions, and the difficulty of getting them up there, even when here. Indian Creek is quite a large stream, and it is probable it will yield five or six hundred claims. Farther south yet lies the head of several branches of Stewart River, on which some prospecting has been done this summer, and good indications found, but the want of provisions prevented development. Now gold has been found in several of the streams joining Pelly River, and also all along the Hootalinqua. In the line of these finds farther south is the Cassiar goldfield in British Columbia; so the presumption is, that we have in our territory along the easterly watershed of the Yukon a gold-bearing belt of indefinite width, and upwards of 300 miles long, exclusive of the British Columbia part of it. On the westerly side of the Yukon prospecting has been done on a creek a short distance above Selkirk with a fair amount of success, and on a large creek some thirty or forty miles below Selkirk fair prospects have been found, but as has been before remarked, the difficulty of getting supplies up here prevents any extensive or extended prospecting.