HISTORY OF COPPER RIVER COUNTRY
ADDISON POWELL „ „
AUvrVy
There was a four-sided contest lor
northern territory on the American
continent by right of discovery that
was participated in by Russia, Eng
land, France and Spain. The Copper
''river was first discovered by the Span
ish explorer, Cuadra, second under
command of Arteaga. The Spanish
<also discovered Cordova, Kidalgo and
4 Valdez bays in the year of 17JU).
' m Nothing was known of the source
of the Ahtna, which is now known as
Copper river, until a lone Russian ex
plorer ascended the Susitna river
from Cook Inlet in the fore part of
the next century, lie crossed over
the headwaters of the Susitna to
those of the Copper river, and buried
some copper kettles at the edge of a
lake, on the summit of the divide. It
cannot be determined if it was Tayono
lake or one of the (Sulkana lakes, hut
he descended the (Sulkana river to the
Copper and evidently lost his life near
the Taxlina river, as his diary, which
was brought out to the Mission, ended
in that vicinity.
i.in* nexi invasion 01 the Copper
river was made by *21 Russians in the
spring of IK1S. It is prol>al)U> they
were stimulated to the effort because
of tin* gold tlint then hail recently
been discovered in California. They
were very abusive to the natives, and
because of their eagerness to reach
the headwaters before the ice broke,
they eoereed the Taral Indians to as
sist in pulling their sleds. They dis
charged the Indians on the Hat where
now is Copper Center, and although
they well knew the Indians were ex
hausted for want of food, they refused
to give them a thing for their work.
After the Russians had retired for the
night, the Indiausslippcd baek under
neath the bank of the river, and with
stones massacred all but two that they
allowed to escape t<> inform other
Russians and to avoid further annoy
ance from them. One of the Russians
that escaped recently died at Tatct
lik. There are some small discrepan
cies in the relation of the incident be
tween the Indians and Russians. The
Russians reported having hecn at
tacked with hatchets, lint the Indians
claim they commit led tin* act with
stones, and they seem positive that
the number of the Russians was 21.
The Indian War
Rut a few years after this incident,
thcTanana Indians invaded the peace
of the Ahinas and at a daybreak kill
ed !'J of them. The Indians scattered
to the woods, and under the leader
ship of Taral Nieolithey waylaid the
Tananas on their return through the
Alaska range, and succeeded in kill
ing thirty of their number.
Captain West's Explorations
Prospecting forgold seems to he tin
greatest incentive of daring men to
explore unknown regions. There were
no more invasions of the Copper river
country by white men until between
1880 and 1890. It is probable that I.
N. West was the next man to pros
pect those wilds, lie was a daring
fellow of strong physique and lie had
gone from the Black Hills to South
America where he spent three years
prospecting, and failing to find rich
placers, he spent one summer in the
Cook Inlet country, Alaska, and the
/ next in that of the Copper river.
y* He employed nine Yakutat Indians
to assist him, and among them was
' one who could talk IOnglish and also
had been up the Copper river and
could understand those Indians. They
left Yakutat in hidarkics, and skirted
the coast to a point bet ween Malas
pena and Bering glaciers, and from
there, near Yagtag, they ascended
the mountain by a way that had been
known by Indians who had invaded
the interior for native copper. I wrote
a verbatim statement from West be
fore I saw Alaska, and before he re
turned there his last time. This de
scription was given before the rush of
'})«, and is conclusive evidence that he
had been in the country, in contra
diction of many exproHHcd opinions to
th<* opposite by noted Valdezians. I
will quote a few lines ast I wrote them
down while lie talked. 11 «• wild:
"It was a very impressive sight, an
I «at and rented on tin- summit of tin1
coast range, ami looked afar down on
the Pacific. We were several days
packing onr ont fit lip there. We then
crossed Home glaciers and descended
a Htreain the Indians called 'I'ana riv
er, which in their language, means
trail river. The Indians said we could
cross behind a smoking mountain,
which we eotild see, and they were
afraid of the tribe of a Nleoli Indian.
I instructed them to pack to that pass
they mentioned, while the Interpreter
and 1 prospected two weeks at the
headwaters of the ('hittinn, or Copper
river fn the Indian language. <)n "
glacier stream there I fonnd some
nugget gold, Init owing to the high
water I could not see how it could he
mined profitably.
'1We crossed a small glacier
pass, which was at the head of a riv
er they called ('hittystone, and on the
head of the| i'anana I sent back the
last. Indians, except my interpreter.
I had been Mending them hack, two at
a time, as my diminishing provisions
warranted.
"This Indian and I traveled Into the
Hnslota range of mountains, which
are nigged, but it would astonish you
to know that you can (jet right Into
tttoir midst and descend through them
to bake Hnslota. We did that and on
the east end of tills range we found
some old 'mud glaciers' where 1 am
saying I found my gold. I am com
pelled to do this, because even with
good Intentions my assistants, who
are now going with me, would tall It
I to their friends, and there would be
'■ hundreds on the ground before I got
there. Let them stampede to the
Tunanu mud glaciers if they want to
beat me out, but mind you, I have
told to you more than to any other
living man, aiul you must give me
time to get there before you say a
word.
"The Suslota Indians gave us dried
salmon and at the mouth of the creek,
on the Hlahna, they gave us a raft on
which we descended to the month of
the Chestuchena. Suslota creek
empties into the Slahna, about eight
miles up from the mouth, and not in
to the Copper, as mapped by Allen.
First Gold Discovery
There is good gold coming down the
(.'hestuehena, and we hid our raft and
spent ten days at its source. We
found gold in a small gulch, that bad
been ground-sluiced to the bedrock,
and the dirt in one pocket was very
i rich. We also found some rich gravel
I on the hillside. The Indian carried
this down to me in a canvas sack,
and I panned it out about :t00 yards
down, near the mouth of the creek.
The water was frozen at all other
! places, as it was getting late in the
; fall. The few days I panned I sue
I instead of Mentasta, as he claims, by
hit* description of ascending a hill af
ter he crossed the outlet of a lake.
Huntcri and Trappers
With the possible exception of Lieut.
Schwatka and Jack Dal ton it is prob
able that no white men looked on the
Copper river valley during the next
ten years; but at that time, 1895, Jas.
Germanson crossed from the Matan
uska to the Tazlina, but did not de
scend to the Copper river. The next
year Jack Shepherd and Bear Brown
crossed the Valdez glacier and de
scended to the outlet of Klutena lake.
From there they crossed over to the
Tonsina lake and then returned, and
later Pete J ackson visited the Indians
at the mouth of the Klutena. in quest
of furs.
The '98 Rush
The discovery of gold in 1897 on the
Klondike river in the Northwest terri
tory, caused a mad rush for the whole
northern country. In 1898 the Copper
river received a liberal portion of a
money-mad, wild stampede, consist
ing of more, than 4,000, most of whom
were helplessly incompetent to devel
op the mineral resources of a frontier.
Most every known trade and calling,
as well as profession, except that of
prospector, was represented. Possi
bly no more than one per cent could
recognize a mine if they had camped
on it a year. They brought all kinds
of machinery for '"saving gold" that
bad not been discovered, and some
brought sacks in which to put the "fil
thy lucre," although they could not
distinguish gold from copper.
Of course most of the incompetents
left the country ami but a few, with
What gives evidence of developing
into one of the greatest copper prop
ortion in the Copper river basis conn
try is that owned by the Mother Lode
Mines company of Alaska.
When Jaok Smith anil Clarence
Warner, prospecting in the Copper
River valley in ltKX). staked out the
that group of claims which since has
become famous as the "Bonanza,"
they gave to the world what expert
engineers pronounced the richest sin
gle copper deposit ever discovered—
and so it remained for six years, when
the same men discovered and located
the "Mother Lode" group immediate
ly adjoining the Honan/.a.
At the time of the discovery of the
Bonanza the locators staked out claims
which they then believed entirely cov
ered all of the lead and otTshoots of
the ore-hearing body of rock in that
immediate locality. As a matter of
fact, they overlooked, for the time
being, an even greater ami richer de
posit of the same high grade copper
ore.
Returning to this district in .Inly,
11HMI, Smith and his part new were led
by certain indications to believe thai
eeeded in getting $700,fund then wo
wi'i'c compelled to return to our raft.
"This (riilc)i runs a little east of
south and empties into a ereok that
runs westerly. 1 climbed a peak to
ascertain the precise locality, and it
was in direct line of a volcano and
another mountain which I think
Lieut. Allen hassincc named San ford.
"We descended to the mouth of
Klutena river, and from there trav
eled on foot with a Copper river In
dian. lie piloted us up the Klutena
river to a large lake that is not on the
maps, and from there we crossed a
high glacier to Valdez hay. There we
rafted with the t ide to an Indinn town
about 25 or :t<> miles down the coast.
! From there they rowed me to Neu
1 click, where I boarded the whaler
I Jcanic, as she was on her return trip
S southward. I had spent $10,000 at
prospecting and was then broke, and
I I tried to get some Portland friends
j to assist me to get back to the gold I
had found, but they would not enter
(tain such a hazardous proposition,
j Since then I have been working at
liny trade, that of a mechanical engi
neer, with the hope of returning to
I my litttie Kldorado. I am now 72
| years old, and I am offering to pay
you to survey a claim or two for U.S.
patent, which I hope t«> leave for my
family."
Then- wan other conversation, too
long to be f|not<*(1 here, htlt I talked
with one of tin- officers of tin* Jeanie,
who was aboard at the time, and he
distinctly remembered West, his gold,
and that he said tie had gotten it oil a
trip through the Copper river and
| Tanana country's. Went al«o stated
that lie intended to return to a bend
Jin the lake, which was the source of
the Klutcna river, and from there he
would attempt to cross the headwa
ters of the several rivers to the source
of the Chestuchena. This he attempt
ed in the spring of iHflH, but owing to
the snow melting and an attack of
sickness, he failed, lie was brought
out and left three days before my ar
rival and afterwards died from the ex
posures of the trip. This man was the
1 cause of my coming to Alaska, and it
is recorded that I applied to be ap
pointed IT. H. mineral surveyor in
Alaska for the purpose of surveying
mining claims for I. N. West.
Military JCxplorations
In IHHI, l/ieut. now Col. VV. It. Ab
ercromble, was detailed to explore
the Copper river, but failed to ascend
above t he rapids. John Urcmner, how
ever, who was with the expedition,
ascended to a stream that Is now
known as liremncr river. He con
cluded to remain and prospect during
the following winter, as he found some
fine gold on the river bars there. Hp
lost Ills life in the attempt, and while
the Copper river Indians say he wa«"
murdered on the Tanana by the Tan
ana Indians, It is more prohab|e that
Taral Nicoll, or some Indians at hi*
bidding, committed the doedtf^
IJnnt. Henry T. Allen ascended
the Copper river the following year,
I88r>, and descended the Tanana. He
performed a wonderful feat, con
sidering the hard and frightful condl
tlons at. the time. I am inclined tc
\ 3, A-rrv* "k - *i
j fewer prospectors, Remained. Tins
^rcat rush cowered the Indians, cut a
few trails and left a good supply of
provisions in the country. The
mouldy provisions that had so fre
quently been dampened hy being
dipped in tin* rivers evidently was a
cause of the scurvy among so many
during the following winter. There
is no sadder tale than that of those
who attempted to winter at the
mouth of the Breinner.
Resources of the Copper River
Country.
While it has been said that the Cop
per river valley contains a vast agri
cultural area, yet there arc hundreds
of square miles of cold clay land 011
which it would be difficult to raise a
disturbance. There are localities that
are adapted to agriculture, and thou
sands of aeres of foothills that are
covered wit h luxuriant bunch-grasses.
The Wrangell group of mountains
and the Alaskan range are most won
derfully mineralized, and the latter is
especially gold-hearing. There is coal
on both sides of the Alaskan range,
but the best and most is on the Tana
I I 1
(heir former idea of the extent of tin
ore deposit was wrong, and that the
Honan/.a claims covered only about
half of the values. They therefore fol
lowed the direct!or. of the lode, near
McCarthy creek, and found that the
vein did not dip and lose itself, as
they thought in I WOO, hut that it reap
peared less than half a mile distant,
just over the ridge from the Keller
claim of the Honan/.a group.
This new discovery, covered l»y the
staking of ID claims, is the mother
lode, and is not only greater in ex
tent' than the original Honan/.a, hut
can he traced much deeper. The I
known depth of the Honan/.a lead is
28(1 foot., while on the Marvelous of j
the Mother Lode group, (lie ore shows
a depth of over 2,000 feet from out
crop down to the amygdaloid, or
greenstone, as it. is generally called.
Future development, undoubtedly,
will show that the ore bodies continue
even deeper, and, by all rides of min
ing, increase in extent in the lower
IovoIh.
Evon on the surface the mineralized
zone through the claims averages .r>o
(Iro«k Church «t KoriiiiW
na Hide. Thlfl range carrtea ledgen c»f
Hold, copper, nllver, lead, antimony
and (|ui«'kHllv(<r, but all are wailing
the magic wand of a railroad. Thin
Ih a country that cannot be developed
without the aHHintance of railroadH.
Coaalbly there nover wan a time when
the government wa« ho JuHtifled In
lending aaBlntance to a railroad by
guaranteeing ita bond* and in a way
retaining eontrol over It. We need r
road that will he a common carrier,
and not one that Ih hnllt to ita own
private propertied, and which would
allow proHpeetorH with million-dollar
propoaltlonH to die natural deathH be
canne of being a few ml^en to one Hide
of their road.
It in probable that Miller gnlch and
Hlate creek (Capt. Went'* discovery)
haw proven the boat and richest, shal
low placer dUtrlot of the whole north.
There will be numerouN hydraulic
plant* inntalled whenever a railroad
|h built, into the country.
to 00 foot wide, with ii v«*i 11 of ehalco-1
cite, or copper glance, H'x •dglit
f«»ot. wide that ylelda «w» to 7r» per cent
copper. The ore alao carrlex IH o/h.
Hllver tind h amall percentage gold.
While t.hlH outcrop in Ichh Miiiii on
the Bonanza, the difference i« more
than made up by tin* <*r proven
depth of the orea of the Mother IhhIi',
litiRlneer'a Report
Thoao proportion have been exam
ined by novoral englneera of high
landing and national reputation, and
thny report, them to he fully iih good
If not bettor than the Bonanza clalniM.
They one and all agree that the vein
whleh Ih now found on thene elaima Ih
the name a« that whleh outeropa ho
Htronpfly on the Honan/a, An extract
from one of thene report* readw:
"The Marveloun and other proper
tleH taken over by the Mother I,odc
corporation are located In the name
mountain adjoining the Honan/a
properties and the Bonanza vein. TIiIh
vein outcrops originally on the Bo
nanza claim belonging to the Cluggen
heims and dips through the Azure and
through the Keller and out into the
Marvelous property, where there is ttO
feet of an outcrop, heavily mineral
ized, in the center of which is seven
feet of chalcocite, assaying 7t> per
cent copper and a small amount of
gold and silver. The ore deposits con
sist of chalcocite, occniring as veins
or fissures in the lime, which is super- i
imposed on the nickolai greenstone.
These deposits vary in width from
seams an inch thick to seven feet or
more in width, aiul ten to several hun
dred feet in length, outcropping at a
distance of fit) feet in some places to !
several hundred feet apart in others,
along the dominance over a linear
distance of liMK) feet on tin* Marvelous
claim and several hundred feet on the
Hero. On the side of the main fissure (
are smaller o"tcroppings, varying
from small seams and lenses to bodies
two feet in thickness. Other large
bodies of glance and bornite occur in
the underlying formations in the
amygdaloid. These deposits so occur-]
ring within the various properties are t
heavily segregated particles of copper
mingled in the form of nodules within
the am\ gdaloidal cavities in the green
stone matrix. The smaller mineral
ized zonbs or crosscuts vary in dimen
sion from three to ten feet in width
IWIP.I 111 more leel 111 ICIIgtll. Ill most
ciisrs ihcsi1 deposits art' partly cuv
ered l>y tin* Arctic moss of tin- region
or l»y slides of limestone and dot rot i
ous from tin* overlying greenstone
aliovo. Tho fissures in xvliioli tho
largest and most valuable deposits of
ehalcoeite occur ran oasily he traood
from the portal of tlio tunnol on the
llonaii/.a claim, which crosscuts the
fissure a hove mentioned, directly to
the large outcrop on the Marvelous
and Itcgal claims."
The company owns lit claims: The
Marvelous, Hero, Leviathan and Ue
gal Numbers One and Two, immedi
ately adjoining the Bonanza group of
the (Suggciihcims; the Monarch group
of three claims, and tlic four claims
in t lie Allcghan,\ group. The remain
ing seven are placet' claims on Mc
Carthy creek. All these claims are
eon(igiious, and therefore develop
ment work done upon any oneof t hem
will apply as assessment work for the
entire property. There is also a mill- ,
site of live acres on McCarthy ci't'ek.
In addition to the ahovc the com
pany owns the Valdcz group of six
claims on Dryer hay. Knights Island,
immediately adjoining the property
of the Itusscll - Hall Copper Mining
company, one of the best mines on
(lie island.
Knights Island ClainiH
The group of six claims on Knights i
Island has an ore laxly of an average
width of ten feet running the entire
length of the claims, with indications
of much greater widt h in many places.
This ore will run from H to 15 per cent
copper, and carries a large quantity
of iron and silica, sufficient not only ,
for its own lluxing, hut enough to Mux j
other ore in addition. By combining
this ore with that from the Mother
l<ode, which is rich in lime, in ship- 1
incuts to the smelters, the company
will have what will he practically self
fluxing ore.
At present the development of this
property consists of a tunnel on the
Marvelous of 105 feet, driven so as to
crosscut the lode at a depth of 1(H)
feel. It is estimated that a verysniall
amount of additional tunneling will
open up the vein. There are also tIn
roads, trails, houses, etc., necessary
for the preliminary prospecting of the
iti'ooerl v.
IJy I In* iw pi'inl it lire of a very few
thousand dollars on- will he ready to
ship an hood and as fan) as tin* rail- .
road can handle il. Then* arc thous
ands of tons on the surface that do j
not need any hnt the most primitive
mining. Home dynamite and sacks
are about all that is needed to make |
it ready to ship hy the trainload.
On tin* 1 *20 acres of placcr claims ,
owned hy this company there is a line I
hody of llr and spruce that will run at
least three million feet, of lumber,
more than siifllcicnt for all timbering, i
buildings and fuel for many years to
come.
McCarthy creek, upon which the |
millsite is located, will supply all the
power that can possibly be used for
any purpose. This stream carries a >
large hody of water the year round,
being fed by the inexhaustible lea
ders of the Copper river ranges.
Ample transportation facilities will
be provided hv the Copper lllvcr A
Northwestern railroad, now being
built hy the Guggenheimx from the i
coast, about IftO miles, and which will
run to the bonanza within 2100 feet
of the property.
The ofllecrs of the Mother bode
Mines company are Clarence I,. Warn
er, one of the discoverers, president;
J. I). Meenach, general manager of
the Kllamar Copper Mining company, i
vice president; .lames J. Godfrey, of
McCafTery & Godfrey, attorneys, sec
ret ary and treasurer. The trustees
are Charles (J. Hubbard, general man
ager of the Hubbard-KM lot mines; J.
J. Godfrey, John Miller, discoverer of |
Miller gulch; Clarence Warner and |
J. I). Meenach.
The Apollo mine at I'nga, which
han been cloned down for several
years, has again started operations.
It has produced over $3,000,000.
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