Technology, Transportation, and Scale in the Koyokuk Placer Mining District 1890S - 1930S
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Michigan Technological University Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open Reports 2013 Technology, Transportation, and Scale in the Koyokuk Placer Mining District 1890s - 1930s Jessica Sarah Peterson Michigan Technological University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etds Part of the History Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Copyright 2013 Jessica Sarah Peterson Recommended Citation Peterson, Jessica Sarah, "Technology, Transportation, and Scale in the Koyokuk Placer Mining District 1890s - 1930s", Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2013. https://doi.org/10.37099/mtu.dc.etds/673 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etds Part of the History Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons TECHNOLOGY, TRANSPORTATION, AND SCALE IN THE KOYUKUK PLACER MINING DISTRICT 1890s – 1930s By Jessica S. Peterson A THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In Industrial Archaeology MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Jessica S. Peterson This thesis has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Industrial Archaeology. Department of Social Sciences Thesis Advisor: Dr. Patrick E. Martin Committee Member: Dr. Fredric L. Quivik Committee Member: Dr. Paul J. White Department Chair: Dr. Patrick E. Martin Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... 6 Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Project Overview ....................................................................................................................... 13 Previous Research ...................................................................................................................... 16 1. Landscape and Mining History of the Koyukuk Region ........................................................... 20 Environment, Landscape, and Climate ...................................................................................... 20 Geology and Geography ............................................................................................................ 21 Topography ................................................................................................................................ 23 Contextualizing the Koyukuk Mining District within Alaskan History .................................... 24 An Overview of Early Mining in the Koyukuk District ............................................................ 28 Mining in the Koyukuk Mining District’s Eastern Placer Location .......................................... 31 2. Political Influences..................................................................................................................... 46 The Political and Economic Pulse of 19th Century Expansion .................................................. 46 The Gold Conflict ...................................................................................................................... 51 The Homestead Act and Alaska as the Next and Last Frontier ................................................. 53 3. Technological Influences ........................................................................................................... 57 Introduction to Technology ........................................................................................................ 57 Technology: 1890-1915 ......................................................................................................... 60 Technology: 1915-1930 ......................................................................................................... 66 Transportation and Infrastructure .............................................................................................. 68 Shipping Costs ........................................................................................................................... 75 Staking a Claim .......................................................................................................................... 76 The Catch-22 .............................................................................................................................. 76 4. Inventory of Koyukuk Mining ................................................................................................... 80 Locations in the Koyukuk Mining District Surveyed in 2012 ................................................... 82 Tramway Bar ......................................................................................................................... 82 Gold Creek ............................................................................................................................. 84 Gold Bench............................................................................................................................. 85 Ironside Bar ........................................................................................................................... 87 Myrtle Creek .......................................................................................................................... 87 3 Twelvemile Creek ................................................................................................................... 90 Porcupine Creek .................................................................................................................... 91 Minnie Creek .......................................................................................................................... 92 Hammond River and Jennie Creek ........................................................................................ 93 Prospect Creek, S.F. Koyukuk River ...................................................................................... 95 Scale Disparity: Large and Small Scale Mining Operations ...................................................... 96 Galesburg-Alaska Mining and Development Company ......................................................... 97 Detroit Mining Company ....................................................................................................... 99 5. Comparisons with Other Mining Districts ............................................................................... 105 The Hot Springs and Chisana Mining Districts: a National and Regional Study in Context .. 105 Montana’s Hot Spring District ............................................................................................ 106 Chisana Mining District ...................................................................................................... 109 The Progressive Era: The “Modern Man” and the decline of Mining on the Frontier ............ 113 Money and Politics: Alaska’s Urbanized Cores and Rural Mining ......................................... 116 6. Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 119 Documenting the Koyukuk Mining District ............................................................................ 119 End Product: A Combined Koyukuk and Fairbanks Survey Geodatabase .............................. 121 The Merits of Digital Data and the Construction of a Geodatabase ........................................ 122 References: ................................................................................................................................... 124 Appendix A .................................................................................................................................. 132 Middle Fork Koyukuk River Sites: .......................................................................................... 133 Gold Creek ........................................................................................................................... 133 Myrtle Creek ........................................................................................................................ 138 Twelvemile Creek ................................................................................................................ 140 Porcupine Creek ................................................................................................................... 142 Minnie Creek ....................................................................................................................... 146 Larson Creek ........................................................................................................................ 150 Hammond River ................................................................................................................... 151 Jennie Creek ......................................................................................................................... 156 Tramway Bar ....................................................................................................................... 157 Linda Creek .........................................................................................................................