Prospecting and Mining Activity in the Rampart, Manley Hot Springs and Fort Gibbon Mining Districts of Alaska, 1894 to the Present Era
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U.S. Department of the Interior SLM-Alaska Open File Report 61 §. Bureau of Land Management BLM/AK/ST-97 /002+3800+313 s. February 1997 Alaska State Office 222 W. Seventh Avenue, #13 T Anchorage, Alaska 99513 Prospecting and Mining Activity in the Rampart, Manley Hot Springs and Fort Gibbon Mining Districts of Alaska, 1894 to the Present Era Rosalie E. L'Ecuyer Glen Gulch, Manley Hot Springs District, 1902. Author Rosalie E. L'Ecuyer has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Master of Arts in Government. In addition, after completing her Thesis Requirement with this report, the author received a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in May 1995. Open Fi le Reports Open File Reports identify the results of inventories or other investigations that are made available to the public outside the formal BLM-Alaska technical publication series. These reports can include preliminary or incomplete data and are not published and distributed in quantity. The reports are available at BLM offices in Alaska, the USDI Resources Library in Anchorage, various libraries of the University of Alaska, and other selected locations. Copies are also available for inspection at the USDI Natural Resources Library in Washington, D.C., and at the BLM Service Center Library in Denver. Cover photo courtesy Herbert Heller Collection, University ofAlaska Fairbanks, Accession Number 79-44-606N. Prospecting and Mining Activity in the Rampart, Manley Hot Springs and Fort Gibbon Mining Districts of Alaska, 1894 to the Present Era Rosalie E. L'Ecuyer U. S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Northern District Fairbanks, Alaska Table of Contents List of Illustrations ............................................................................................................................... iii Preface .................................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. vi Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... I Chapter I-Discovery Period, 1894-1899 .............................................................................................. 5 Chapter 2-Federal Government Oversight, 1900-1905 ...................................................................... 43 Chapter 3-Growth of the Hot Springs and Fort Gibbon Districts, 1906-1918 ................................... 71 Chapter 4-Between the Two World Wars, 1919-1941 ........................................................................ 89 Chapter 5-Into the Present Era, 1946-1994 ...................................................................................... 101 Maps Location Map ......................................................................................................................................... l Area Map Rampart to Eureka ................................................................................................................ 7 Area Map Tofty to Grant Creek ............................................................................................................. 8 Appendices Appendix I-Estimated Gross Production of Placer Gold in the Rampart, .................................................................. Manley Hot Springs, and Fort Gibbon Districts, 1896-1940 111 Appendix 2-U.S. Geological Survey Acknowledgements, 1906-1940 ............................................ 113 Appendix 3-Coal Lands ........................................................... ,......................................................... 115 Appendix 4-Lodes . .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 117 Appendix 5-Photographic Resources of the Rampart, Manley Hot Springs, and Fort Gibbon Districts .......................................................................................... 123 Appendix 6-Place Names in the Rampart, Manley Hot Springs, and Fort Gibbon Districts ........... 125 End Notes ........................................................................................................................ end of chapters Annotated Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 155 ii List of Illustrations All photographs listed below and included in the text are in collections held by the Alaska Archives and Manuscripts, Alaska and Polar Regions Department, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Page Figure 1. Location Map ........................................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2. Area Map Rampart to Eureka ................................................................................................... 7 Figure 3. Area Map Tofty to Grant Creek ................................................................................................ 8 Figure 4. Building boom in Rampart, 1897. Courtesy of the Vertical File, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 64-92-719 ................................................................ 9 Figure 5. George Mel Reed and John C. Powell in mosquito gear during breakup in Rampart, 1898. Courtesy of the George B. MacGowan Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 92-096-61 .............................................................. 18 Figure 6. Unidentified Rampart miners sluicing winter tailings, 1898. Courtesy of the George B. MacGowan Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 92-096-35 ......... 19 Figure 7. Sluice attached to the Arctic Boy which wintered in Mike Hess Creek, 1898-1899. Courtesy of the Merritt N. Murphy Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 64-100-103 ......................................................................................................... , ... 22 Figure 8. Coal bunkers at the Pioneer coal mine, 1899. Courtesy of the Merritt N. Murphy Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 64-100-84 ............... 25 Figure 9. Unidentified workers in the shaft house, Pioneer coal mine, 1899. Courtesy of the Merritt N. Murphy Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 64-100-38 ............... 26 Figure 10. Unidentified miners at Weare (Tanana), November 1899. Courtesy of the C. S. Farnsworth Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 72-175-61 .................. 27 Figure 11. Freighter Sam Heeter in front of the Rex Beach cabin in Rampart, 29 June 1909. Courtesy of the Francis Pope Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 66-15-643N ............................................................................................................. 28 Figure 12. The so-called $3,000 ditching gang, Glen Gulch, 21 May 1902. Courtesy of the Herbert Heller Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 79-44-606N ................... 49 Figure 13. Unidentified miners, Glen Gulch, 21 May 1902. Courtesy of the Herbert Heller Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 79-44-605N ................... 50 Figure 14. Rampart Camp No. 15, Arctic Brotherhood, send-off for the senatorial party, 23 July 1903. Courtesy of the Herbert Heller Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 79-44-620 ................................................................................................................ 56 Figure 15. John Minook and his family, Rampart, circa 1900. Courtesy of the Vertical File, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 897-2N .................................................................. 57 Figure 16. Hydraulicking on Hunter Creek, circa 1908. Courtesy of the William B. Ballou Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 72-47-5 ................................................ 75 Figure 17. Shoveling in on What Cheer Bar, 1909. Courtesy of the Falcon Joslin Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 79-307N ................................................................. 76 Figure 18. Lower end of Eureka Creek near the settlement of Eureka, 1909. Courtesy of the Falcon Joslin Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 79-41-286N ..................... 77 Figure 19. Cabin at the entrance to Sullivan Creek, circa 1910. Courtesy of the Wilson F. Erskine Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 70-28-86N ............... 78 Figure 20. American Creek dredge, 1938. Courtesy of the Earl Beistline Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 85-093-223 ............................................................ 91 Figure 21. Unidentified workers at American Creek, 1938. Courtesy of the Earl Beistline Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 85-093-246 ........................................... 92 Figure 22. Bull gang at American Creek, 1938. Courtesy of the Earl Beistline Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accession Number 85-093-574 ............................................................. 93 iii Preface I chose to write my thesis on the contiguous mining districts of Rampart, Manley Hot Springs, and Fort Gibbon in