Lost River (Bering Sea) facts for kids

The Lost River is a waterway located in Alaska, a U.S. state. It begins in the York Mountains and flows into the Bering Sea. This river is about 10 miles (16 km) west of Port Clarence and 10 miles (16 km) east of Cape York.

Exploring the Geography of Lost River

The Lost River is about 10 miles (16 km) long. It helps drain the central part of the York Mountains. Two smaller streams, called tributaries, flow into it. These are Tin Creek and Cassiterite Creek.

Tin Creek and Cassiterite Creek

Tin Creek joins the Lost River about 3 miles (4.8 km) from where the river meets the sea. Cassiterite Creek joins about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the sea. Interesting fact: a valuable mineral called tin ore has been found in both of these creeks!

Cassiterite Creek is actually the larger branch of the Lost River. It is about 3 miles (4.8 km) long. Tin Creek is a bit shorter, about 2 miles (3.2 km) long. It flows next to Cassiterite Creek for a while. Then, it turns west and enters the Lost River. It does this by cutting through a narrow valley, or canyon, in the limestone rocks of the York Mountains.

The River's Valley

The Lost River itself flows through a fairly wide valley. This valley is carved into the limestone rocks. The riverbed doesn't have a lot of gravel. Instead, the valley floor is mostly made of the limestone rock itself. The mouth of Cassiterite Creek is about 100 feet (30 m) above sea level.

Between Tin Creek and Lost River, there's a large mass of granite rock. This granite pushed its way into the limestone. It shows up on the surface as a nearly round area, probably about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) across.

The History of Lost River

The story of Lost River began in 1898. A group of prospectors, who were looking for valuable minerals, were returning from Kotzebue Sound. Their ship was wrecked a few miles east of the Lost River's mouth. They had to spend the winter camping there. They built a cabin mostly from the parts of their wrecked ship. This cabin is now known as the Kotzebue cabin. These prospectors were probably the first to call this stream "Lost River."

Early Mining Efforts

The next summer, the survivors of this group started a mining district. A mining district is an area where rules are made for finding and claiming minerals. Their main office was on King River, which also flows into the Bering Sea. The Lost River area was part of this King River district at that time.

However, they didn't find any gold. So, the prospectors left the area.

The Search for Tin Ore

In the winter of 1902, prospectors became interested in this region again. This time, they were looking for tin ore. They noticed certain rock formations, called granite porphyry dikes, near the mouths of both Lost River and King River. These dikes are like walls of rock that cut through other rocks. Many thought these rocks contained "tin crystals." They sent samples to people who test minerals, called assayers. But the results were very different from each other.

In the early summer of 1903, three prospectors named Charles Randt, Leslie Crim, and Y. J. O'Brien made an important discovery. They found minerals in Tin Creek and searched the area carefully for tin ore. They collected many mineral samples and sent them to Teller in July 1903.

They found that one small sample easily produced metallic tin when heated. However, most of their collection contained minerals that were not valuable. Still, the discovery was exciting enough to make people want to examine the area more closely. They found evidence of tin ore near a granite dike on Cassiterite Creek. They also found a mineral called stannite ore in Tin Creek.

Since this discovery, the dike on Cassiterite Creek has been called "Cassiterite ledge" in mining records. It has been clearly traced through a group of four mining claims. A trench was dug across the ledge near Cassiterite Creek. Reports say this trench showed the ledge is 100 feet (30 m) wide and that cassiterite, a tin-bearing mineral, is spread throughout the rock.