http://picasaweb.google.com/bnjontheroad/AlaskaTrip6thAlbum?authkey=Gv1sRgCN6Fw9jlq-LKvAE#
Today we continued our adventure around the Dawson City, Yukon
Territory area. We have found that there is more to see around here
than we thought. We will have to spend an extra day or maybe two.
Took another ride across the big Yukon on the ferry, I think they are
getting to know us. Back to the Visitors center for Wifi connection
and more information. We can park and leave our car there as we walk
the town for the different attractions. We went to the Palace Grand
Theater, were we saw a movie of the return of the stern wheeler, Keno,
a boat that worked the river in the early days. The Palace Grand is
mostly original and has served the town for over a 100 years. It is a
theater and ballroom. It still has the movable wooden chairs with a
large operational stage.
We walked the town and looked at more of the the historic store fronts
and read about the early days of gold mining. That gave us the bug to
maybe stake our own gold mine and do some panning for gold on the
historic Bonanza Creek. First we visited the Dredge #4, largest of
the wooden hull dredge in the world. It is a Canadian Parks site now
and they preserve it as a preserved but non working site. It was used
until the early 1960s', than abandoned in place. We enjoyed the guided
1 hour tour with the guide and just Barbara and me. Unbelievable the
amount of engineering and "big iron" that went into the building and
use of this monster. Google dredge #4
Then off to stake our gold claim... Now you will have to use your
imagination and ride along with us. We are driving on a gravel road
along the Bonanza creek, the same spot as the "big find" in 1897.
There are huge mountains of rock large and small. We are thinking
that these are just large rock formations, and then we see the pattern
to them, these are the worm like telltale dredge tailing from long
ago. They big dredge would eat through the creek and river beds and
then deposit these tailings in a woven wormlike formation. The last
of the big dredges operated till the 1960s.
Note, The term "placer" is a Spanish word, meaning "a place where gold
can be recovered from gravel." As this suggests, placer mining is the
technique of recovering gold from gravel. Placer deposits occur in
several areas in the Yukon, though historically, most of the mining
has taken place near Dawson City. This area is particularly favorable
for placer deposits because it is in the unglaciated part of the
Yukon.
This is an area that look much like a gravel pit with bulldozers,
tractors, and drag buckets. In addition there are long trailer
mounted trommel. A trommel is composed of a slightly-inclined
rotating metal tube (the 'scrubber section') with a screen at its
discharge end. Lifter bars, sometimes in the form of bolted in angle
iron, are attached to the interior of the scrubber section. The ore is
fed into the elevated end of the trommel. Water (often under pressure)
is provided to the scrubber and screen sections and the combination of
water and mechanical action frees the valuable minerals from the ore.
The mineral containing ore that passes through the screen is then
further concentrated in smaller devices such as sluices and jigs. The
larger pieces of ore that do not pass through the screen can be
carried to a waste stack by a conveyor.
Each persons claim is marked with a bare tree or post standing 4 feet
or more. It is tagged with The claim name, the owners name, and the
date. The owner takes this information to the "mining recorder" for
records search and approval. All the land along these creeks and other
places that are property of the "Crown" are for open claiming, but the
big problem is that ALL that land is claimed. To maintain your claim
that is valid only for one year , one has to work or spend money to
the tune of $1000 per square mile supported by affidavit. The cost of
the lease is $25 and and the renewal is also $25. Claims can be
bought and sold with the permission of the Commissioner. Just as in
the early days, claim jumpers are still a problem. One claim holder
told me yesterday that the claim he was working, was the scene of a
murder a few years back.
I have written about the big mine operators, but the small time pick,
shovel, and pan operator is still here in big numbers. And yes, they
are finding gold, enough that many of them keep the claim for life an
come each year during the warm months. The population doubles during
the summer and most of the increase are miners. Last year, over 44
million dollars came from this area in gold.
Tomorrow, the 28the will be our last day in the Dawson area. My
travel guide and navigator, Barbara thinks that we need to move on.
Yesterday was another action packed adventure into Dawson history and
the exciting world of the early days when gold was king. In 1898,
60000 people lived in Dawson and in 2006 the population was only
1,800.
We've had a good time in Dawson so it is somewhat hard to say goodbye.
John
No comments:
Post a Comment