CHAPTER XXXI

THE CANADIAN KLONDIKE

THIS famous gold-producing district owes its development to the discovery of rich placers on Bonanza Creek in August, 1896, by G. W. Cormack, and by Henderson on Gold Bottom Creek.

The extreme richness of the ground attracted immediately thousands upon thousands of gold seekers, whose tragic toils, sufferings, and endurance made historic the mountain passes of Chilkoot, Chilkat, and White, as well as the lakes and rapids of the upper Lewes and Yukon, through which they descended by rudely built boats to Dawson, at the confluence of the Klondike and the Yukon.

The construction of the White Pass Railway, 1898 to 1900, from Skagway to the foot of the dangerous White Horse Rapids, and the establishment of a connecting line of steamers thence down the Yukon, make the journey of to-day one of delightful pleasure surrounded by modern comforts, through regions of picturesque beauty, and past many incipient settlements where hunting, fishing, and agriculture are the principal means of subsistence. Trains run between Skagway and White Horse, over the White Pass Railway, every week-day throughout the year, and well-furnished boats leave White Horse for Daw

son about three times a week, from May to September. The traveller usually passes a night at White Horse, a thriving frontier town.

The journey is made from Seattle to Dawson in about 8 days in summer and 12 days in winter. The downward voyage from White Horse is made in less than 2 days, and the upward trip from Dawson in less than 4 days. Winter travel between White Horse and Dawson is by four-horse sleighs over a well-built trail of 300 miles, and is made in 6 days, travel being by day only.

Dawson is the capital of Yukon Territory, and is the social, financial, and trade centre of the Klondike and other adjacent mines. It passed long since from the status of a mining camp to that of a modern city. It has churches, schools, libraries, hospitals, banks, clubs, assay offices, telephones, electric lights, power plants, newspapers, and water-works. The commissioner, governor by courtesy, here supervises the executive functions of government, the judiciary administers justice, and the well-known Northwest Mounted Police efficiently preserve the public peace, enforce the laws, and arrest the criminals, of whom, contrary to oft-expressed opinions, there are few and those of the minor order.

The Klondike mining district includes the basins of the Klondike, Indian, and McQuestion Rivers, an area of about 800 square miles. The mines in the Bonanza precinct, distant from 12 to 15 miles from Dawson, are reached by stage or by the Klondike Mines Railway.

The very rich placers are practically exhausted, and the low-grade gravels have very largely passed under the control of large corporations, which are adopting the most efficient and economical systems of exploitation. Extensive ditches have been constructed, the best modern machinery imported, and systematic, carefully planned methods of placer mining are now in operation. The practical wisdom of such policy is evidenced by the increase in the output for 1908, which materially exceeded that of 1907. Dawson has decreased in population in late years, and but for systematic mining with machinery its decadence would have been much greater and it would have speedily culminated in a deserted district. It now looks forward to an era of moderate prosperity.

The days of extraordinary bonanzas, whereby the laborer of yesterday became a wealthy man of to-day, have passed, and the Klondike is no longer a poor man's country.

Of Klondike mining, Brooks said several years since:

It was the exploitation of these almost fabulously rich and relatively shallow gravels that brought the Klondike gold output up with a bound, and it is their quick exhaustion that has caused an almost equally rapid decline of the annual yield. There are still extensive bodies of lower-grade gravels to mine in the Klondike, but these can be developed only by means of extensive water conduits or by dredging. Mining in the Klondike has passed its zenith, whereas in Seward Peninsula the maximum yearly output is still to be reached.

The Canadian Government has endeavored to re

store the early prosperity of the Klondike by aiding in building ditches, railways, and otherwise.

The Canadian Yukon Mineral Production

The most productive district has been the Klondike, where the aggregate value of gold mined to include the mining year ending March 31, 1923, has been since 1898, $179,532,134.

The output by years was as follows: 1898, $3,072,773; 1899, $7,582,283; 1900, $9,809,465; 1901, $9,162,083; 1902, $9,566,340; 1903, $12,113,015; 1904, $10,790,663; 1905, $8,222,054; 1906, $6,540,007; 1907, $3,304,791; 1908, $2,820,162; 1909, $3,260,283; 1910, $3,594,251; 1911, $4,126,728; 1912, $4,024,237; 1913, $5,018,412; 1914, $5,301,308; 1915, $4,649,634; 1916, $4,458,278; 1917, $3,960,207; 1918, $3,266,019; 1919, $1,947,082; 1920, $1,660,450; 1921, $1,246,486; 1922, $1,125,705; 1923, $1,240,806.

It will be noted that the introduction of modern methods of hydraulic and dredging machinery reached its maximum in 1914, since which year there has been an almost uninterrupted decrease.

Copper Mining

The development of rich copper deposits in the Whitehorse district was very promising, and the annual products for the years 1912 and 1913 approximated $300,000 in value, but with decrease in prices the output fell to $92,000 in 1915. Under stimulus

of war demands the product attained values of $764,000 in 1916 and $668,650 in 1917. Low prices and increased cost of mining have temporarily stopped production.

Silver and Lead

The total silver product of $1,700,000, up to 1920 averaged about $80,000 annually, though varying largely from year to year. The placer mines produced about 90 per cent until 1920. In the year 1921, the output of $246,288 was the maximum to date. This increase was due to the development of the rich high-grade silver-lead ores in the Mayo area, north of the Stewart River. This area is the most promising mineral district of Canadian Yukon. The region is reported to be rich in gold-placers, gold-quartz, and galena ore carrying high values in silver.

The population of the Yukon Province fell from 8,512 in 1911 to 4,157 in 1921, but is said to have since increased. Fisheries are becoming of importance and the trade in furs exceeds $300,000 annually.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Canada: Mineral Production, Annual Reports, Department of Mines, Ottawa.