Gold In Tenderfoot - Richardson, Alaska
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 64° 16.818 W 146° 18.838
6W E 533218 N 7128428
Marker giving the history of mining in the area located along the Richardson Highway.
Waymark Code: WMB9BQ
Location: Alaska, United States
Date Posted: 04/22/2011
Views: 4
Gold in the Tenderfoot
After the Klondike rush, prospectors searched many other places for gold. They made rich discoveries near Fairbanks and many smaller discoveries in the upper Tanana Valley. The Tenderfoot discovery near here in 1905 led to a small stampede.
Making the Discovery
Two miners from the Fortymile District found gold flakes on Tenderfoot Creek in 1888. The site was too far from a supply camp, so they abandoned it. Seventeen years later, after gold was discovered near Fairbanks, prospector E.H. Luce found gold on Tenderfoot Creek. New of his discovery attracted about a thousand people to the area. Between 1905 and 1995 the Tenderfoot Mining District produced 120,770 ounces (3.77 tons) of placer gold. Its most productive years were 1905 to 1916.
Gold is Tough to Get
The gold bearing gravels in the district were 40 to 100 feet below the surface. Miners spent their winters in drift pits, bring gold bearing gravels to the surface. Water, necessary for sluicing the gravel, was often in short supply in the summer. Many miners got discouraged and left. Their unworked gravel piles were later used by the Alaska Road Commission to improve the Richardson Highway. This led to a story that the road was "paved with gold."
Town of Richardson
Riverboats brought supplies from Fairbanks to the Tenderfoot District A town at the mouth of Manner Creek, about a mile west of here, became the area supply depot. It was named for Wilds P. Richardson, head of the Alaska Road Commission. In 1907, the town had 500 people, four stores, four hotels, four saloons, a sawmill, a post office and a telegraph station. Tanana River bank erosion forced residents to move the town twice. Mining declined during the 1920s and the town slowly died. The Richardson Highway now cuts through the former town site.