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brought by a ditch from Burns creek, but is sufficient for a No. 2 Monitor
for only six to eight weeks in the early part of the season. A larger supply
could be obtained if a good ditch were constructed. The ground along the
present ditch is in places very porous, especially above the head of the old
China pit, and much of the water in the upper part of the ditch is lost in
the dry season by seepage. A head of about 100 feet at the hydraulic
pit is obtainable. Because of the character of the ground it is difficult
to estimate the amount of water that can be made available by ditches.
Hydraulic work at the property showed that a narrow bedrock channel
about 50 feet deep in the deepest part, 300 feet long, and 50 feet above the
level of the creek, runs parallel to the canyon. It was filled with glacial
gravels. These were hydraulicked out, mostly in 1923, except for a short
distance at the upper end. A remarkable feature is that the bottom of
the channel has a slight gradient up the valley of Devils Lake creek. The
mode of origin of the channel is not very clear. It may have been formed
by a stream flowing along the ice which at one time partly filled the canyon,
or it may be a remnant of an old rock channel formed before the canyon was
eroded to its present depth.

Gold was found in the glacial gravels in the old channel and on regular
bedrock benches above the channel. The gold on the benches probably
occurs on the bedrock and in gravels, small amounts of which occur in places
beneath boulder clay. The clay is 20 to 30 feet thick and in places extends
down to the rock. The gold is mostly fairly coarse and appears to be
very irregularly distributed. It may be that it is partly scattered through
the glacial drift. The fairly hard character of the clay, especially where
it extends down to bedrock, renders hydraulicking difficult. The deposits
overlying the bedrock, however, have no great thickness, the rock benches
may extend for some distance along the valley of Slough creek towards
Burns creek, and there are good facilities for disposal of the tailings, so that
there are some possibilities for further hydraulicking. A chief difficulty,
as already stated, is the lack of water. In 1923 about 170 ounces of gold
were obtained, but in 1924 the returns were only about 11 ounces. Water
was available for hydraulicking in 1924, however, for only about six weeks

Coulter Creek

Coulter creek (Figure 22), or Calder creek as it is sometimes called
(it is reported to have been named after Harry Calder who discovered it),
rises on the southwest slope of Island mountain and flows into Slough
creek. The creek was mined in the early days along a stretch of about
1,000 feet, beginning about one-half mile up from the mouth. Along this
stretch the depth to bedrock was only a few feet, or the creek flowed on
the bedrock. In the lower part the bedrock is deeply buried. A narrow
canyon cut in bedrock occurs about 3,000 feet up from the mouth and is
bordered on the southeast side by a buried channel which extends upstream
about 400 feet to the wide part opposite the first tributary. The channel
was mined by Chinese, by means of a tunnel started at the lower end, at
creek-level, but whether it paid for working is not known. The creek
as a whole is said to have produced comparatively little gold. Mining on

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