YUKON-CHARLEY RIVERS The World Turned Upside Down: A History of Mining on Coal Creek and Woodchopper Creek, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska

1 J.B. Mertie, Jr., Gold Placers of the Fortymile, Eagle, and Circle Districts Alaska. USGS Bulletin 897-C (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1938), 205-206.

2 Mettie (1930), 206.

3 Deeds, Bill/Sale, Options to Purchase, Book 1, Circle District, 1900-1906, page 149. This record is on BLM microfilm No. 254.

4 A number of historians, in writing information about Coal Creek have erroneously given credit to "D.J. Noonan." Examining the original recorder's records one finds that the middle initial is actually a "T" rather than a "J". This in turn makes it easier to track Mr. Noonan through various other gold rush records such as Filson's Pan for Gold Databases on the World Wide Web at http://www.gold-rush.org; and Polk's Alaska-Yukon Gazetteer. As an example of misidentifying Noonan, see the National Register nomination for the "Coal Creek Historic Mining District" (page 14).

5 "Notice of Location," Circle District -- Book 1, Locations, page 325.

6 Ira B. Joralemon, "Report on Coal Creek Placers, Circle District, Alaska," August 23, 1934. Located in the Charles Janin manuscript collection, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Hereafter: Janin MSS Collection. Also, J.B. Mettie, Gold Placers of the Fortymile, Eagle, and Circle Districts, Alaska, Geological Survey Bulletin 897-C (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1938), map following page 50.

7 George McGregor is best known for his cabins at the mouth of Woodchopper Creek. They are on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the "Yukon River Lifeways" thematic nomination. (See: "Yukon River Lifeways, Thematic Nomination" in National Park Service files, Anchorage, Alaska).

8 Ira B. Joralemon, "Report on Alluvial Golds, Inc, Woodchopper Creek Propetty, Circle Dist., Alaska," December 28, 1935. Copy in "Coal Creek Operating Reports," Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.

9 The dredge operated by Alluvial Golds Inc. on Woodchopper Creek was the last to operate in the Circle District. Edward H. Cobb, Placer Deposits of Alaska, USGS Bulletin 1374 (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1973), 119.

10 A.H Brooks, Placer Mining in Alaska in 1903, USGS Bulletin 225 (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1904), 56.

11 Melody Webb Grauman, Yukon Frontiers: Historic Resource Study of the Proposed Yukon-Charley National River (Fairbanks: Anthropology and Historic Preservation Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of Alaska, 1977), 436, 445, and 457.

12 James Ducker, Alaska's Upper Yukon Region: A History, Bureau of Land Management, Anchorage, Alaska, 1983), Chapter 7, pg. 14.

13 Dale Patty, personal correspondence to the author, June 25, 1998 and Melody Webb Grauman, Yukon Frontiers: Historic Resource Study of the Proposed Yukon-Charley National River (Fairbanks: Anthropology and Historic Preservation Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of Alaska, 1977), 473-74.

14 Dale Patty, personal correspondence to the author, June 25, 1998.

15 L.M. Prindle, The Yukon-Tanana Region, Alaska, USGS Bulletin No. 295 (Washington DC: GPO, 1906), 23.

16 A.H. Brooks, Report on the Progress of Investigation of Mineral Resources of Alaska in 1905, USGS Bulletin No. 284 (Washington DC: GPO, 1906), 126.

17 L.M. Prindle and J. B. Mettie, Jr., "Gold Placers Between Woodchopper and Foutth-of-July Creeks, Upper Yukon Region," Mineral Resources of Alaska: Report on Investigations in 1911, USGS Bulletin 520 (Washington DC: GPO, 1912), 208-209.

18 At the time, the price of gold was fixed at $20.67 per troy ounce. This figure was for "fine" or pure gold. In naturally occurring gold, other minerals, notably silver, are alloyed with it and decrease its value until removed in the smelting process. Therefore, the "value" quoted for gold at the creeks is often slightly lower than those for fine gold.

19 L.M. Prindle and J. B. Mettie, Jr., "Gold Placers Between Woodchopper and Fourth-of-July Creeks, Upper Yukon Region," Mineral Resources of Alaska: Report on Investigations in 1911, USGS Bulletin 520 (Washington DC: GPO, 1912), 209-210.

20 C.E. Ellswotth and R.W. Davenport, "Placer Mining in the Yukon District," Mineral Resources of Alaska: Report on Progress of Investigation in 1912, USGS Bulletin No. 542 (Washington DC: GPO, 1913), 213.

21 A.H. Brooks, "The Mineral Deposits of Alaska," Mineral Resources of Alaska: Report on Progress of Investigations in 1913, USGS Bulletin No. 592 (Washington DC: GPO, 1914), 360.

22 Ira Joralemon, "Report on Coal Creek Placers," August 23, 1934: 4-5. The original of this report is located in the Stanton Patty Collection, Ernest and Kathryn Patty Division, at the University of Alaska -- Fairbanks, Rasmuson Library.

23 A.H. Brooks, "The Alaska Mining Industry in 1914," Mineral Resources of Alaska: Report on Progress of Investigation in 1914, USGS Bulletin No. 622 (Washington DC: GPO, 1915), 50, 60-61.

24 Dredge buckets are measured in by the number of cubic feet they will dig. A 3-1/2 foot bucket has a capacity of 3-1/2 cubic feet of material in each bite. A corollary to this would be an ice cream scoop with a capacity of 3-1/2> cubic feet.

25 A.H. Brooks, "The Alaska Mining Industry in 1914," Mineral Resources of Alaska: Report on Progress of Investigation in 1914, USGS Bulletin No. 622 (Washington DC: GPO, 1915), 60-61.

²⁶William P. Beaton is the namesake for Beaton Pup, the tributary of Coal Creek where Camp No. 3 is located. His claims were located at the confluence of Beaton Pup and Coal Creek and, along with Slaven's original claims, proved to be two of the richest locations on Coal Creek.