Solomon River is a
waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
, near
Nome.
Geography
It heads close to the
Casadepaga River
Casadepaga River (also Koshotok and Koksuktapaga) ( Inupiaq: ''Qaqsruqtaq'') is a waterway in the U.S. state of Alaska, near Nome. It is the largest southern branch of the Niukluk River. It has a length of about and a general northeasterly cours ...
, from which it is separated by a low divide, and, flowing southward for , empties into Port Safety Lagoon about east of
Nome. The placer mines of the region are accessible from the settlements of
Solomon and
Dickson, at the mouth of the river. Dickson is the terminus of the
Council City and Solomon River Railroad. Solomon River discharges into the inlet of Port Safety Lagoon. For above its mouth, Solomon River flows across the coastal plain in a broad trench. Its gradient here probably does not exceed to the mile. Above the coastal plain, the river occupies a comparatively broad valley and the gradient increases to at least to the mile. In the floor of this valley, the river is entrenched, leaving a system of gravel terraces from above the water. Gravel bars from wide, only partially covered at ordinary stages of the water, fill the river bed.
The long wooden bridge, IRR:Nome-Council over Solomon River Bridge, which is owned by the State Highway Agency, crosses the river at Mile Point 41.0.
History
The river was named by Pierce Thomas, who staked Discovery claim in June, 1899. In the same season, the river and its tributaries were prospected, and in 1900 probably $10,000 worth of gold was mined in this district.
The successful operation of a large dredge on Solomon River in 1905 furnished the final proof that dredges were to play an important part in the mining industry of Seward Peninsula; other dredges had been tried with more or less success, but this was the first to be operated in a large way.
[Paige (1907), p. 36]
Tributaries
Its more important tributaries, Shovel Creek, Big Hurrah Creek, East Fork, and Coal Creek, enter at right angles and flow approximately east or west. Nugget Creek, a tributary of Solomon River, contained no trace of either gold or silver. Jerome and Manila creeks are two short western tributaries of Solomon River within a few miles of the coast, heading within the coastal plain. Shovel Creek flows into Solomon River from the west about 4 miles from the coast; mining operations in the Shovel Creek basin were confined to three small tributaries—Mystery, West, and Kasson creeks.
* Nugget Creek
* Jerome Creek
* Manila Creek
*
Shovel Creek
* Mystery Creek
* West Creek
* Kasson Creek
* Big Hurrah Creek
* Little Hurrah Creek
* Coal Creek
* Penny Creek
* Lion Creek
References
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Rivers of the Seward Peninsula
Rivers of Alaska
Rivers of Nome Census Area, Alaska
Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska