Klondike Goldfields

Bonanza Creek Road
Km 13 - Fox Gulch

Steam Thawing

Miners had to thaw the frozen ground before they could work it. Initially they used wood fires or hot stones, but eventually steam thawing superseded these methods. Steam was passed from a small boiler through a rubber hose, which had perforated, pointed steel tubes about four feet long (called steam points) affixed to the end. The steam points were driven into the frozen gravel and steam was forced through them for six to eight hours. The points were then taken out and the thawed ground excavated.

Each steam points required steam power equal to one horsepower and thawed from one to three yards of gravel at a time. Steam thawing was a huge improvement in technology: It was clean, fast and used one third less wood than open fires. Ground thawing for the dredges was done using the same concept but on a larger scale, involving large boilers and dozens of steam points.

The Yukon Ditch crossed the Bonanza Valley at Fox Gulch via the Bonanza Siphon. Water went upstream to Gold Hill and downstream to the hydraulic operations on King Solomon Hill, Monte Cristo Hill and American Hill.

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