CHAPTER X.

St. Michael's and Fort Getthere-The Great Yukon River -First Discovery of Gold-Forty Mile Creek-Klondike Only a Forerunner of what is to Come-Unalaklik River-A Remarkable Silver Mine-King Island and its Peculiar People and Habitations—Port Clarence and Grantley Harbor-Coal, Graphite, Gold and Silver-Reindeer Station-Cape Prince of Wales -Diomede Islands-Beyond the Arctic CircleKotzebue Sound-Three Large Rivers-Coast Rendezvous of Interior Natives-Their Habits, Customs and Dress.

Very little is known of the coast between Kuskoquin Bay and the mouth of the Yukon, or of the large Nunivak Island. The water is more or less shoal throughout the whole distance, and the coast unapproachable, except by vessels of light draught. Therefore, the pilgrim seeking the golden shores of the Yukon by the ocean route, may sail from San Francisco, Puget Sound or Sitka to Unalaska; hence his course will be almost due north a distance of nearly 800 miles to Sledge Island, thence east along the northern shore of Norton Sound till Cape Nome is passed, and then southeast to St. Michael's, where he will find himself within a hundred miles of the nearest mouth of the great river. This round

about course is necessitated by the shoal water, which prevents vessels of deep draught from approaching in safety nearer than fifty miles to the mouth of the Yukon.

St. Michael's, or, as it was called by the Russians, Redoubt St. Michael, is located on the inner side of an island of the same name, lying near the southeast shore of Norton Sound, only a narrow strait separating it from the mainland. It is the most northerly permanent trading station of the Alaska Commercial Company, and consists of not more than a dozen buildings, including the Greco-Russian church, and excluding the barrabaras, in which dwell from 200 to 300 natives. The company's buildings inclose the two sides and one end of a rectangular plat not more than five rods wide and ten rods long, and are all, with the exception of the log structure at the end, of modern construction; this log building is all that remains of the old Russian fort, which is said to have been a fortress of considerable strength, in and around which occurred many desperate struggles between the Russians and natives, before the latter were completely subdued.

St. Michael's Island embraces about twelve square miles, and lies in latitude about 60 degrees 30 minutes north. It is wholly timberless, save and except an occasional clump of alders and

dwarf willows, but is carpeted with a most luxuriant growth of wild grasses, embellished with a profusion of variegated wild flowers. The soil is a rich vegetable mold, and capable of producing all the vegetables that can be grown in the extreme northern states. The temperature ranges from about 45 degrees in winter to +85 degrees in summer-about the same as northern Minnesota.

Fort Getthere is the name given to the trading station established and maintained on the island by the Northwestern Transportation and Trading Company, which, the same as the Alaska Commercial Company, operates a line of steamers on the Yukon. These steamers are small, stern-wheel river boats, drawing from two to four feet of water, which is all they can carry through the upper or most northerly mouth of the great river. The river discharges its great flow of water into the sea through at least half a dozen channels, the one used at present being that which is nearest St. Michael's, though nearly 100 miles distant; above the deltas the river is deep enough to be navigated a distance of at least 1,000 miles by steamers drawing twelve to fifteen feet, while an ordinary river boat such as those employed on the Mississippi, can ascend to a further distance of 1,000 miles. In addition to this a number of its principal tributaries are

navigable by light draught steamers for from 200 to 500 miles each, the most notable of these being the Koyukuk, Nowikakat, Tananah, Porcupine, White, Stewart and Pelly. The ice breaks up early in May and forms again in October, thus giving about five months of navigation in each year.

Gold was first discovered on the Yukon and its tributaries in 1882, but the discoveries attracted little attention until 1886, when coarse gold was found on Forty Mile Creek. Then followed a gradual influx of miners and prospectors and new discoveries which culminated in the phenomenally rich strike in the Klondike district of British Columbia in 1896, and the subsequent rush to that section from all parts of the civilized world. It is yet too early to write much in detail of the gold fields of the Yukon and its tributaries; with a fuller knowledge of the prevailing conditions, with the most approved mining appliances and the cost of living lessened by at least one-half, as it is certain to be, hundreds and thousands of claims which cannot now be worked at a profit will be made to yield large returns, while the Klondike discovery is almost certain to be repeated on not only one but many of the numerous streams that flow wholly within American territory. There yet remains north of the Yukon, stretching away hundreds of miles to the

Arctic Ocean on the west and north, a vast region of territory, with numberless mountain streams, which is yet a terra incognito to the prospector, and from which much is to be expected in the way of discovery.

About forty or fifty miles northeast of St. Michael's the Unalaklik River empties into Norton Sound. There is here a Swedish mission and school, and a very considerable Eskimo settlement. This is one of the most prolific salmon streams in Alaska, and from it a large number of Eskimos draw their principal food supply. Golovin Bay and Sound is a land-locked indentation of the north coast of Norton Sound, about sixty miles north of St. Michael's. On Fish River, a stream which empties into the bay, and navigable by small steamers for a considerable distance above its mouth, is located, perhaps, the most remarkable mine in the world. It is a vein of practically pure metal, the waste in smelting being not over 20 per cent. of the whole weight. The ore is a galena carrying from 75 to 85 per cent. lead, with some gold, and from 150 to 250 ounces of silver to the ton. This is called the Omalik Mine, and is in latitude 65 degrees north, longitude, 164 degrees west, about 1,500 miles from Sitka in a straight line. So far it is the most northerly mine on the continent, and is believed to be only a beginning in the development of a