Iditarod Pioneer
One dollar Pe^Tm^ IDITAROD, ALASKA^ SUNDAY, JULYJO, 1910. _Two B.ts Per Copy
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BUILDING
THE CITY
RAPIDLY
The sound of the hammer is heard
tn the land and the festive wire spike
is the hero of the occasion. The pine
board has become a king and e’en the
lowly slab is made a princeling. It is
the day of the builders and the carpen
ter sleepelh not.
All of which, as indicated by that
famous Italian poet, is “all to the
merry.”
Speaking of mushroom towns that
light where they listeth and spring up
in a night, Iditarod City has them all
beaten. Those hardy pioneers who
landed on her luxuriant banks on that
awful 1st of June, will remember with
a touch of pride that they stood for 21
hours in the cold, unfeeling rain and
cussed not. Then having stood 21
hours they went right on and stood 21
hours more.
That historic spot where pilgrim’s
feet first touched will be dedicated for
ever as sacred ground in "The City of
Beautiful Moss.” True it is that every
pilgrim’s foot that touched also stuck,
but that was only one of the added
novelties of the situation
Those ancient dwellings that reared
themselves about this spot at that time
are now old and sear with age. They
will shortly be used as museums where
the Iditarod Society of Historical Re
search will stow the weapons and the
relics of the first stampede.
They have served their purpose well
but in the modern and up-to-date sky
scrapers and emporiums that now grace
the city and getting ready to grace it,
is shown the true spirit of permanence
and future prosperity that shall make
Iditarod City the jewel of the land.
Building is really going on at an as
tonishing rate, and from the reports of
intentions of various citizens it is just
’■beginning to get good.
According to the intentions of T. J.
Nestor and his associates a two-story
building, lOCr feet square, is aDOUt to
begin on First avenue at the corner of
Bonanza street.
Brumbaugh, Hamilton & Kellogg,
further down the street, are laying the
foundations for their big store and
warehouse where building will begin
at once.
The N. C. Co. is erecting a large,
temporary warehouse opposite the pres
ent store and on the corner of First
and Richmond. Billy Fairbanks, gen
eral manager of the company, is ex
pected here in two weeks and the ar
rangements for permanent structures
will then be made.
East of Richmond on First there are
things doing every foot and every min
ute. F. W. Rooney is putting up a
general merchandise store 20x35 feet,
opposite Manuel’s saloon, and behind
the store he will have a warehouse of
the same dimensions. Next to him, I.
Goldstein, of Juneau, is finishing a
ladies’ and gents’ furnishing establish
ment which will be 24x35 feet. Next
to him Fay & Loussac are building a
drug store.
On Second avenue things are no less
violent! The big courthouse building
is practically completed and ready for
occupancy. Johnson & Clark are put
ting up the frame of their big store
and warehouse, while smaller dwell
ings are going up all along the line.
On the corner of Second and Rich
mond, Jack Baird is putting up a large
building 30x40 feet where his new sa
loon has been opened.
Next to Baird’s, Kemp & Co. is just
stocking shelves in newly finished quar
ters. They have a line of ladies’ fur
nishings.
Joe Smith has just moved from the
tent to his new store on the corner of
Second and Willow.
Allen & Hamilton are laying foun
dations for their sheet metal works
next to Anderson Bros. & Nerland and
buildings generally are going up along
Willow.
MAJOR ALBRECHT
VISITED SUBURBS
Hearing that the steamer Casca had
ducked herself on the upper Yukon
and soaked a lot of baggage, Major Al
brecht, local lflgal representative of
the N. C. Co., went down to Dikeman
a few days ago te view the remains,
and to tell the claimants that it was
the act of God. Bp is back now and
says Dikeman hasn’t changed a bit.
-\
' '-v Frank G. Manley il in town buying
machi'nery, boosting for a road, and
shaking bands with everyone. He is a
firm believer in the camp and his com
ing means something doing.
IDITAROD CREEKS
ARE L OOKING GOOD
Having arrived in the Iditarod and having taken a
trip over the creeks and through the thriving towns, the
invariable question is, “What do you think of it?” and the
answer is, “It looks good.”
In this is found the watchword of the new camp. It
certainly does look good. By reason thereof, optimism pre-!
vails, business advances, money is invested, plants are mov
ing, freight is storing, and everywhere is the most convinc-!
ing evidence given that people have come here to stay, for
it looks good to them.
In this article, no detailed account of what is going on
on the creeks will be undertaken. There is too much work
and it is scattered over too many creeks to permit of par
ticular mention except in pages devoted exclusively to lays
and who are working them.
Generally it may be said that there are between seven
and eight miles of pay on the known pay creeks. This pay
cannot be said to be continuous, nor can it be denied that
in places it is spotted, yet some of the ground promises to
be the richest discovered in Alaska and enough has been
developed to assure a big output for next season.
Flat creek is to date the banner creek. It carries pay
from the extreme head to the mouth, a distance of four and
a half miles. Laymen are working the entire length of the
creek, but the production from Flat this year will be small
owing to the fact that most of the work now going on is
preliminary, consisting of ground sluicing and stripping,
looking to the installation of large scraping plants this fall
and winter. Boilers are being moved at the present time,
but it is doubtful if many of them will be working before
the freezeup.
At the head of the creek on the Marietta, Manley &
Price have uncovered some very rich ground. In one hole
sunk on this claim they found nine feet of pay, where pans
ran from §3.50 to $7.50, and a picked pan produced §13.50.
They figure their paystreak at least 200 feet wide, but it is
all not as rich as in the hole mentioned. *
(continued on page three.)
OUR TOWN’S URGENT NEED
*.
Immediate and Thorough Construction of a Road From
fditarod City to the Creeks
There is one thing which above all others should oc
cupy the minds of the people of Iditarod City, and engage
their immediate attention. There is one thing upon which
the very life of the camp depends—one thing that strikes
at its very existence.
The Iditarod Pioneer, in this its first issue, wishes to
go on-record as demanding the immediate and thorough
construction of a road from Iditarod City to the creeks.
The citizens as a body, must get behind the road commis
sion and Mr. Light, its representative, and put up the
money to make a good road and dc it now.
Mr. Light is doing the best he can, but he is hampered
by lack of funds. Large concerns and well-to-do individu
als are going into business every day in this city and in
vesting large sums of money, yet the chief artery that will
supply the life blood of the camp is being neglected, and is
left to struggle along as though cf no consequence.
This should not be; in truth it is suicidal.
Ninety per cent of the business of this town will be
made or will be lost acccording as the road is good or bad.
Otter City has plenty of goods and claims to have a thor
oughly practical water route to the creeks. Dikeman will
have lots of goods, and claims a winter trail to the creeks,
This city has plenty of goods and is nearer to the
mines than either of them, yet every day the officers of the
government are only getting dollars from the people by
threatening to throw them in jail.
The proposition needs no demonstration beyond the
mere statement. It is as plain as a wart on a pumpkin
that if Tditarod City cannot get freight to the creeks cheap
ly, Otter City and Dikeman will get the business. It is as
plaint black and white that a good road cannot be built
to the creeks this summer with the present available funds.
It is entirely plain that the people here will have to dig up
and dig up quick.
The draining ditches should be dug now'. There are a
hundred idle men in the camp who will go to work. They
should now be working on that road. There are 10 miles
of it and it must be built, else Iditarod City is a dead one.
A meeting has been held and a subscription list is go
ing the rounds. It is headed by some good looking sums.
The big investors are protecting their interests and the
smaller ones will come in with their proportion.
On another page we publish that list and the amounts
given and will hammer away on this proposition until the
cows come home or the road is built.
Within a mile and a quarter from Iditarod City and close to
the Flat creek trail has been discovered a coal mine. Within
30 days that coal will be burning in the stoves of the town and
gladdening the hearths of the community.
This coal deposit, so far as known through the preliminary
development, is 200 feet wide and of unknown depth. Four holes
have been sunk and more are being put down, disclosing a hori
zontal layer of bituminous coal, of good burning quality, as close
as two feet to the surface of the ground. None of the holes put
down have yet gone through the deposit itself.
The property is owned by the Eureka Coal Company, just
formed, and consists of 1,280 acres, nearly straight south from
this city and at one point not more than three quarters of a mile
from the Iditarod river. Men are now at work on the ground and
if the development of the coming week proves the deposit great
enough, a large crew will begin operations to take out a plentiful
supply for the winter.
From a transportation standpoint, the ground is a1 most ideally
situated and a tramway is contemplated at once, pending pros
pecting work. If the supply justifies the outlay, an aerial tram
way will be run, either to the river at its nearest point or to Idit
ai-od City.
The existence of this find has been known scarcely 30 days,
the discoverers being Herman Oman and Wm. Appleby. Now inter
ested in the company are Fred McFarline, president; H. L. Jaffe,
Henry Weir and C. H. McIntosh. They are enthusiastic to a de
gree and assert without hesitation that they will soon put a thor
ough and satisfactory quietus on the wood question.
Will Have Ample Food Supply
It is hard to get an accurate
lineup on the food supply question,
but from a hasty survey it can be
safely stated that the inhabitants
of the Iditarod will be well fed this
coming winter.
Given a new camp where men
are blazing a way into a practically
unknown country where navigation
difficulties must be solved as they
are met, and you have the makings
of a large guess if you do your
guessing in the early summer.
As the basis for a guess on the
amount of tonnage that will come
into this camp this season one has
only to lake his choice of a number
of conflicting reports that fix the
shipments anywhere from 3,000 to
6,000 tons. At this writing it is
impossible to tell which of these
figures comes nearest to the actual
amount of goods on the way.
According to estimates of busi
ness men in the camp there are
now about 1,000 tons landed on
the upper Iditarod in this city and
at Otter City. There are many
tons on the way and much of the
total may still get here, though it
is generally admitted by shippers
that the larger part will stop at
Dikeman where they are expecting
to have several warehouses and
watchmen.
Boosters from Dikeman say that
it will all be left there, but on the
quiet the)’ are coppering their bets
and the mosquito fleet is putting
gasoline in the tank and getting
ready to open a bank account.
Those who have looked over the
camp have picked this city as the
sure winner. This will be the
main center of population and the
main distributing point and here is
where the freight will be brough1:
in spite of H— and low water.
If the many stories of the
strength of the Outside stampede
are true there will be 5,000 tons
brought up the Iditarod river be
fore the close of navigation. That
will support the camp in excellent
shape and bring prices within the
reach of everyone, a consumatiou
devoutly to be wished.
Job Printing—many kinds—at
the Pioneer office.
MACHINERY
MOVING TO
THECREEKS
For those wise ones and merry
scoffers who said that no machinery
would be landed on the creeks this
summer, there is a fine and inspir
ing object lesson waiting out on
Otter where he who runs may read
that there is really something do
ing the matter of taking out the
gold.
In spite of the fact that Otter
creek as a highway of navigation
did not look good to many this
spring she has made good in a
manner satisfactory to some of the
freighters, and the boilers that were
apparently doomed to rust on the
bank at Otter City are now smok
ing up at 1 above and thereabouts.
More than half a dozen plants
have been landed and things are
looking fine for a late summer pro
duction, particularly at the Bates,
Merritt & McKenzie lay, at Hens
ley’s and George Riley, all on i
above, Otter. At each of these
three laj’s three plants have been
landed within the last few days.
Bates and partners have a new 30,
Hensley and partners have a 35
horsepower boiler and hoist and
Riley has a 50 which he took out
from this city, skidding it under its
own steam.
On the Celene Fraction, a strip
just above Discovery, Tuttle has a
30 horsepower and James Dolan
has a smaller boiler which has just
been put on the ground.
On 1 beiew, Mickie McHale is
there with a new 30 and with his
partners will be scratching the
gravel on the high speed the bal
ance cf the summer.
Riley has a big piece of ground
stripped on the lower end of 1
above and from this claim it looks
as though a complete and satisfac
tory detronstratiou will come be
fore the snow flies. He will be
open-cutting here with bottomless
scrapers, and is said to be in the
money.
Usvmg to tue ueavy going up
Flat creek plants are slower getting
to the ground there than on Otter,
but even at that there will be a
number working there before the
freezeup.
Manley & Price are using every
effort to get machinery to the Mari
etta at the head of the creek as they
have ground that is touted as the
best in the country. They are con
fronted with a strenuous proposi
tion, but they are determined to
start work this summer and with
the gold in the ground wonders
can be accomplished.
It is expected that there will be a
new plant on the Bonanza half way
up the creek where Friend, Lawson
& James are said to be negotiating
for or have already secured a lay.
There are many other proposi
tions framed and framing where
machinery will be necessary, where
fore it looks as though there will
be heavy movement in all kinds of
hardware throughout this summer
HENRY WEIR TAKES
A LITTLE OUTING
Henry Weir, chief mogalof the Idit
arod City Telephone Company, is off on
a delightful outing to Dikeman City.
In order to enjoy it to the fullest he
walked to the warehouse station, pick
ing out a telephone line by way of di
version. He expected a pleasant trip
as the last man sent out lost both
horses and burned up his camp outfit.
Henry will get back when he returns.
First Flagpole
To J. A. Slippern belongs the credit
of erecting the first flagpole in the city
of Iditarod and infurling therefrom the
national colors. The town was then
three weeks old.___
Cloth signs for trail advertising
at the Pioneer office.