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Show Alaska's Wealth in Copper ALTHOUGH gold was the source of Alaska's fame as a mining country, copper was the first valuable metal found in that territory, and it is to copper and coal that Alaskan miners have returned for the most part, though scattered adventurers still extract a livelihood from the placer gold deposits along Alaskan rivers. Today the leading copper mine in Alaska is the Kennicott, named after the famous Kennicott glacier, past which so many thousand weary prospectors pros-pectors trudged in 1S9S. '99 and 1900. when the rush to the interior was on by way of Yaldes as well as over the Skagway pa.ss. Copper was first reported in Alaska by the Bering expedition in 1741. Before American capital began to develop de-velop Alaskan copper deposits, the natives na-tives of the Copper River country were known to have access to easily workable work-able deposits. The natives used it for arrowheods. later for bullets and qpok-ing qpok-ing utensils, and copper knives were said still to be in use when the white man firGt visited the country. The Indians obtained their copper by washing the particles out of sand along the rivers, just as the Americans Ameri-cans later obtained their gold. They did not have the means for working mines in the rock, and little of the free copper In rich nuggets that became be-came so well known In Upper Michigan has been found in Alaska. It is stated by the United States geological survpy that the copper mines of the Indians were mostly along rivers in ravines that had been freed from ice for only a few hundred hun-dred years following tlie retreat of the glaciers. This makes more remarkable re-markable the swift suread of copper articles within tlie short period after the natives discovered its value. The true extent of Alaskan copper deposits was not discovered so much by private initiative as Dy an expedition expe-dition of the United States geological survey that was sent into the Copjw-River Copjw-River country in 1S9S by the government. govern-ment. The difficulties of the aJ n-ture n-ture were too great for individual prospectors pros-pectors to attempt, especially at a time when practically all attention was turned toward the gold fields the Yukon. Prior to these explorations tlie Uaskan shore ar.d part of tlie interioi lad been visited by a long series ot xplorers, including the famous Cap-ain Cap-ain Cook and a Uwi? list of English. Spanish and Russian scientists, soldiers sol-diers and adventurers. The firsl American expedition was sent out In 1SS2. tvc. 1527. WtfaOxrn Newspaper L"nton.) |
