Frontispiece.
Through
the
Yukon Gold Diggings
A Narrative of Personal Travel
BY
JOSIAH EDWARD SPURR
Geologist, United States Geological Survey
BOSTON
EASTERN PUBLISHING COMPANY
1900
by
JOSIAH EDWARD SPURR
Preface.
As a geologist of the United States GeologicalSurvey, I had the good fortune to beplaced in charge of the first expedition sent bythat department into the interior of Alaska.The gold diggings of the Yukon region were notthen known to the world in general, yet to thoseinterested in mining their renown had come in avague way, and the special problem with whichI was charged was their investigation. The resultsof my studies were embodied in a reportentitled: "Geology of the Yukon Gold District,"published by the Government.
It was during my travels through the miningregions that the Klondike discovery, which subsequentlyturned so many heads throughout allof the civilized nations, was made. General conditionsof mining, travelling and prospecting aremuch the same to-day as they were at that time,except in the limited districts into which theflood of miners has poured. My travels in Alaskahave been extensive since the journey of whichthis work is a record, and I have noted the same[4]scenes that are herein described, in many otherparts of the vast untravelled Territory. It willtake two or three decades or more, to makealterations in this region and change the conditionthroughout.
In recording, therefore, the scenes and hardshipsencountered in this northern country, Idescribe the experiences of one who to-dayknocks about the Yukon region, the CopperRiver region, the Cook Inlet region, the Koyukuk,or the Nome District. My aim has beenthroughout, to set down what I saw and encounteredas fully and simply as possible, and Ihave endeavored to keep myself from sacrificingaccuracy to picturesqueness. That my duties ledme to see more than would the ordinary traveller,I trust the following pages will bear witness.
Let the reader, therefore, when he finds tediousor unpleasant passages, remember that they recordtedious or unpleasant incidents that onewho travels this vast region cannot escape, aswill be found should any of those who perusethese pages go through the Yukon GoldDiggings.