k bed
on the bed rock, but there are a few good bench diggings.

Perhaps the most interesting reading in the _Mining Record_ is the
letters written by men in the Klondyke to friends in Juneau. Here is one
from "Casey" Moran:

DAWSON, March 20, 1897.

"FRIEND GEORGE: Don't pay any attention to what any one says, but come
in at your earliest opportunity. My God! it is appalling to hear the
truth, but nevertheless the world has never produced its equal before.
Well, come. That's all. Your friend,

"CASEY."

Burt Shuler, writing from Klondyke under date of June 5, says:

"We have been here but a short time and we all have money. Provisions
are much higher than they were two years ago and clothing is clean out
of sight. One of the A.C. Co.'s boats was lost in the spring, and there
will be a shortage of provisions again this fall. There is nothing that
a man could eat or wear that he cannot get a good price for. First-class
rubber boots are worth from an ounce of gold to $25 a pair. The price of
flour has been raised from $4 to $6, as it was being freighted from
Forty Mile. Big money can be made by bringing a small outfit over the
trail this fall. Wages have been $15 per day all winter, though a
reduction to $10 was attempted, but the miners quit work.... Here is a
creek that is eighteen miles long, and, as far as is known, without a
miss. There are not enough men in the country to-day to work the claims.
Several other creeks show equal promise, but very little work has been
done on the latter. I have seen gold dust until it seems almost as cheap
as sawdust. If you are coming in, come prepared to stay two years at
least; bring plenty of clothing and good rubber boots."

Thus far little attempt to mine quartz has been made in the interior of
Alaska and the Northwest, although many quartz croppings have been seen.
It would cost too much to take in the machinery and to build a plant
until transportation facilities are better. In time, however, quartz
mining operations will commence, for the placer mines were washed down
from the mother veins somewhere. If the washings have made the richest
placers in the world, what must the mother veins be? One dares hardly to
imagine.

This is a brief description of the gold region in the Northwest.

For further and more detailed information on Routes and Distances,
Transportations, Mining Laws, How to Stake a Claim, Where to Register
Your Claim, Modes of Placer Mining and Quartz Mi