Nome Nuggets. Some Of The Experiences Of A Party Of Gold Seekers In Northwestern Alaska In 1900

FRENCH, M. D., L. H.

Publication: Montross, Clarke & Emmons, Publishers, 1901, New York

First edition. 8vo. Pictorial gray cloth, embossed gold nuggets on front cover, titles in black & white on front cover, decorated front and rear endpapers, xxi, 22 - 102pp., frontispiece, preface, the author's preface, illustrated from photographs, appendix. A firsthand account of the Nome gold rush by Senior Major, 3rd U.S.V. Cavalry and former Spanish-American War Rough Rider, Leigh Hill French, who led an expedition to northwestern Alaska on behalf of the Cape Nome Hydraulic Mining Company. Departing Seattle in June 1900 with a massive amount of mining equipment, supplies, and machinery, French and his companions hoped to exploit the rich gold deposits along the Nome coast. They quickly discovered that the richest deposits had been worked out and their elaborate equipment proved unsuitable for the conditions. They then moved operations to Anvil Creek, where with rockers and sluice boxes they struck paydirt. French recounts the challenges of transporting heavy machinery to this remote frontier, the practical difficulties of mining in the Arctic environment, and the fortunes and frustrations of prospectors caught up in the rush. Light wear to the spine ends and corners, else a very good copy. From the library of former California State Librarian, Gary Kururz.