Primary Name: Porcupine Mining District

Filed as: Porcupine Mining District

Also known as: Porcupine Creek Gold Discovery

Occupation / Association: Placer gold mining district

Associated places: Porcupine Creek, Alaska; Haines, Alaska; Dalton Trail; Rainy Hollow District, Canada

Keywords: Porcupine Mining District Alaska, Porcupine Creek gold discovery, Jack Dalton, Mix Silva, Edward Findley, Perry Wiley, EB Hanley, John Malony, Porcupine Trading Company, Dalton Trail mining, Haines Alaska mining history, Rainy Hollow mining district, Alaska placer mining, hydraulic mining Alaska, Alaska gold rush mining districts

Biography

In 1898 prospectors Mix Silva, Edward Findley, and Perry Wiley, who had been grubstaked by Jack Dalton, discovered placer gold on Porcupine Creek north of Haines along the Dalton Trail. The discovery quickly attracted attention and the Porcupine Mining District was formally organized on October 22, 1898.

On November 5, 1898, Dalton and the three prospectors located the Discovery Claim. Additional claims were soon located by Dalton and his business partners E. B. Hanley and John Malony. The district experienced a mining rush in 1899 as prospectors arrived and began working nearby creeks and surrounding areas.

Prospectors soon discovered gold in nearby creeks and both gold and copper deposits in areas as much as sixty miles distant, including the Rainy Hollow district in Canada. First-year production from the Porcupine district was reported to be worth approximately $50,000, with about $40,000 coming from Dalton’s Discovery Claim.

The gold deposits in the district were rich but fairly deep, requiring significant infrastructure to mine profitably. Miners constructed miles of ditches and flumes to deliver water to hydraulic mining systems. Hydraulic lifts, sometimes called gravel elevators, were used to raise gold-bearing gravel for processing.

Commercial support for the mining district came from the Porcupine Trading Company, organized by Dalton, Hanley, and Malony on August 1, 1899. The company imported mining equipment and provided supplies and credit to miners working in the district.

In 1900 Dalton and his partners shipped approximately 300 tons of mining equipment and supplies into the area. Mining operations continued profitably until around 1905, when a major flood destroyed much of the mining infrastructure. Recognizing that much of the easily recovered gold had been extracted, Dalton, Hanley, and Malony sold their interests in the district in 1907.

Sources

Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.