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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Golden Places The History of Alaska-Yukon Mining |
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CHRONOLOGY
Highlights of Alaska-Yukon Mineral Mining History
| 1862 | Rush up Stikine River—first Cassiar discovery |
| 1870 | Gold discovered at Sumdum Bay, southeast Alaska. |
| 1871 | Stampede to Cassiar, British Columbia; Wrangell, Alaska becomes base for Stikine River route to the gold fields. |
| 1872 | Gold found at Sitka. |
| 1873 or 1874 | First prospectors go into Alaska interior. |
| 1880 | Major gold strike leads to founding of Juneau; gold found in beach sands of Yakutat. |
| 1886 | First major gold strike in interior made on Fortymile River. Several hundred stampeders cross the Chilkoot Pass. |
| 1892 | Birch Creek discovery which leads to founding of Circle City on the Yukon River. |
| 1893 | Other interior placer gold strikes on the Yukon River near Circle and Rampart and in the Koyukuk River region. |
| 1894 | First mining of beach sands at Lituya Bay. |
| 1896 | Klondike gold discovery. |
| 1897-98 | Klondike stampede. |
| 1898 | Placer gold discoveries on Porcupine Creek near Haines, Seward Peninsula, and Kobuk River. |
| 1899-1900 | Stampede to Nome. |
| 1899 | Nabesna gold strike. First gold dredge at Nome. |
| 1899-1902 | Extensive prospecting for copper in Copper River Valley. |
| 1901 | Nizina gold strike. First gold dredge at Dawson. |
| 1902 | Tanana Valley placer gold discovery near Fairbanks. Iliamna Lake (Lake Clark) gold discovery. |
| 1903 | Placer gold strikes at Kantishna and Valdez Creek. |
| 1905 | Gold discovery at Yentna; gold lode located on Chandalar. |
| 1907 | Stampede to gold placers of Innoko; start of construction of Copper River and Northwestern Railway. |
| 1908 | Gold strikes on Kuskokwim. |
| 1910 | Stampede to Iditarod |
| 1910 | Placer gold finds in Koyukuk (Hughes) and Chisna. |
| 1911 | With completion of Copper River and Northwestern Railway the first shipment of Kennecott copper is shipped to Cordova, then by sea to Tacoma, Washington. |
| 1913 | Gold found at Marshall and Chisana. |
| 1914 | Gold discovered at Livengood and Tolovana. |
| 1916 | First gold dredges operate in interior. |
| 1937 | Kennecott shuts down. |
| 1940 | Peak year of gold production. |
| 1942-45 | Most mining shut down during World War II. |
| 1955 | Peak post-World War II year of Fairbanks region gold dredging operations. |
| 1959 | Alaska becomes state. |
| 1966 | Gold mining hits low; total productions under $1 million. |
| 1968 | Fixed gold price ended. |
| 1975 | Federal ban on private ownership of gold ended. |
| 1970s | Mineral mining and exploration revive. |
| 1970s-80s | Environmental concerns affect costs and future prospects of mineral mining industry. |
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golden_places/chronology.htm
Last Updated: 01-Oct-2008