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IN Richest Alaska AND THE Gold Fields of the Klondike How they were found, How worked, What fortunes have been made, The extent and richness of the Gold Fields, How to get there, Outfit required, Climate, Together with a History of this Wonderful Land From its discove ry to the present day, a graphic description of its unh'mited mineral re* ources, its topography, animal and vegetable products, its people, government and institutions, and prac- tical information for gold seekers. Prepared under the special supervision of A. J. Munson, the well-known author, and editor of " Facts and Fiction," the leading Western monthly, and written especially By ERNEST INGERSOLL. ESQ. Author of " Knocking Round thb Rockibs," " Ckbst or ths Contimsnt," " GuiDs Book to Wbstbrn Canada/' " Thb Icb Qubbm," " Thb Silvbr Cavbs," Etc., Etc. Also an bxtensivb travbler throughout all that North- WBSTBRM RbGION FOB THB UnITBD StATBS GboLOGICAL SuRVBV AND THB Smithsonian Institution, and who has sfbnt YBARS in Alaska and thb Klohdikb rbgions, And Assisted by HENRY W. ELLIOTT, Esq. Agbnt or thb Unitbd Statbs Oovbrnmbnt fob Twblvb Ybars in Alaska. profusely illustrated THE DOMINION COMPANY, PUBLISHER 356 Dearborn Street, Chicago, U. S< A. Copyright, 1897, By The Dominion Company. LIBRARY IHUVERSiTY OF ALBERTA INTRODUCnON. When one of Baronov's Slavonian hunters stood before him in the privacy of a special meeting at Sitka, in 1^04, and took out from his pocket a handful of golden nuggets and scales, say- ing as he did so that he knew where there was "plenty more," the old Russian Governor chilled him with a fierce gesture of disgust, then said to him: "Ivan, I forbid you to go farther m this under- taking; not a word about this, or we are all undone; let the Ameri- cans and the Englishmen know that we have gold in these moun- tains, then we are ruined; they will rush in on us by thousands, and crowd us to the wall — ^to the death." V Baronov was right as a Russian fur-trader; he knew that word of Ivan's discovery, if given voice, would bring that scourge of fur-bearing districts, the miner, into the very depths of Rus- sian America instantly, and so he suppressed the news; he and his successor also, suppressed it well. But the successors of Baronov were not his equal in money- making as fur-traders and managers; they ran into debt, and these debts of the Russian American Company induced the Imperial Government to part with Alaska to the United States of America in 1867. The Russian authorities turned Alaska over to us with a good word for its furs and fisheries, and nothing else. ••• m ^236170 "^-^ iH..m^iii^si:i.a:: iv INTRODUCTION. Thousands of our people went up to investigate the natural resources of Alaska in 1867-70; they found the fisheries and the fur seals very quickly, but they were disappointed in the profitable search then for precious metals and coal; the timber and growing of useful crops were disappointments too. Matters quieted down to a common understanding that there was no particular mineral wealth in Alaska until the great Tread- well mine was opened late in the "seventies/' and the mining camp and town of Juneau became firmly established early in the "eighties;" since then the opening of one mining camp after another has steadily progressed until to-day hardy men are busy digging for gold throughout the length and breadth of Alaska. The man who "prospects" for gold in Alaska has an infinitely more difficult task than he has in California or any of the min- ing districts of the Rocky Mountain States. In the Alaskan coun- try moss, or "sphagnum," and lichens rankly grow all over the earth and rocks of the great interior, so as to completely conceal the character of it, while the strange, luxuriant growths of shrubs and ferns, grasses and vines completely cover, up to the mountain snows, the entire surface outcrop of rocks and soil of the Alaskan coast line between our foot of the "30-mile strip" at Fort Simpson, up to the confines of Cook's Inlet. Searching, therefore, for indications of valuable "mineral" in Alaska is tedious, and success is purely accidental — necessarily so, for every foot of new territory must be uncovered before the least indication of what it really is can be secured. No ranches or farms up there where the tired and hungry prospector can refit with food at any season of the year, as he can in the States; he encounters there a climate that chains him to INTRODUCTION. one place, wherever he may be, when inland, from November till the next June following. But man possesses an elastic physical organization, and there is nothing in the country of Alaska, or in its weather, that will successfully bar him out from thoroughly developing its mineral wealth wherever it is found within the broad area of that region. Life in its borders, and especially in the great interior, is disagree- able when contrasted with existence on the gold fields of Califor- nia; but that will count for nothing in the minds of men, who, seeking for gold, find it in Alaska: because, rough and unpleasant as country and climate on the Yukon and its tributaries make the life of a miner, yet it is a healthy air he breathes, and he is not troubled with sickness of any unusual form. Mosquitoes in the summer, of venomous energy, and intense dry cold of the winter within the Yukon interior do not destroy him, though they do annoy and retard his progress. Broadly speaking, yet entirely correct, Alaska possesses three distinct rones, the Sitkan and Cook's Inlet district, the Aleutian Island and Peninsular district, and the Great Interior or Yukon region. Gold has been found in all of them, but chiefly in the first and last named districts; it is the climate peculiar to these districts that separates and defines them sharply, not the land as viewed with regard to itself, but rather the lay of the land with ref- erence to the ocean. The Sitkan and Aleutian regions get the warmer influence of ocean currents setting north in the g^eat Pacific, so as to greatly modify those degrees of cold in winter and heat in summer that prevail in the Yukon region. But this modification in climate does not give those regions any agricul- tural or pastoral possibilities even — ^not an acre of the cereals ever ■*^:r... VI INTRODUCTION. if ripened in Alaska or ever will, as climatic conditions pre- vail. So, it is a country in its length and breadth which I described in detail, twenty years ago, using the following summary: "In view of the foregoing what shall we say of the resources of Alaska viewed as regards its agricultural or horticultural capabilities? "It would seem undeniable that owing to the unfavorable climatic conditions which prevail on the coast and interior, the gloomy fogs and dampness of the former, and the intense pro- tracted severity of the winters, characteristic of the latter, unfit the Territory for the proper support of any considerable civiliza- tion. ' . "Men may, and undoubtedly will, soon live here in compara- tive comfort, as they labor in mining camps, lumber and ship timber mills and salmon factories, but they will bring with them everything they want, except fish and game, and when they leave the country it will be as desolate as they found it. "Can a country be permanently and prosperously settled that will not in its whole extent allow the successful growth and ripen- ing of a single crop of corn, wheat, or potatoes, and where the most needful of any domestic animals cannot be kept by poor people? "We may with pride refer to the rugged work of settlement so successfully made by our ancestors in New England, but it is idle to talk of the subjugation of Alaska as a task simply requiring a similar expedition of persistence, energy, and ability. In Mass- achusetts our forefathers had a land in which all the necessaries of life, and many of the luxuries, could be produced from the soil INTRODUCTION. vu with certainty from year to year; in Alaska their lot would have been quite the reverse, and they could have maintained themselves there with no better success than the present inhabitants. Atten- tion should be directed to the development of its mineral wealth, which I have reason to think will yet prove to be considerablcj and efforts should be made to stimulate and protect the present available industries of the fur trade, the canning of salmon, etc."* Twenty years of intelligent and active investigation by thou- sands of our people since the publication of this analysis has con- firmed its truth beyond cavil or doubt. But the development of Alaskan mines and mining, and its salmon canneries, has prac- tically ruined ihe fur trade — these industries cannot thrive side by side. Alaskan mining for the precious metals is in its infancy: not one thousandth part of the min'^ral-bearing surface rock and soil of that region has yet been examined; that work is slow and tedious in so rugged a country, even for the hardiest and best- conditioned prospectors, and the success and the failure of these men will from this time forward be constantly in our sight. Henry W. Elliott. » A Report on the Condition of Affairs in the Territory o/AUukat hj Hemy W. Elliott, Washington, 1875 ; pi^es 18 and I9. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THB DISCOVERY OF THE KLONDIKE DIGGINGS. The first newt from the Klondike — Excitement in San Francisco on the arriral of the '< Excelsior" — The glad news carried around the world — «On to the Klondike!" — Scenes along cj ivharves of Seattle — The goldsn treas- ures of the returned Argonauts — Si aie of the first citizens of Dawson City— The women of Bonanza an 1 El Dorado Creeks — Some good claims and those who own them—** > .7 dii i, ' and where it is to be found, . . . PAGE 15 CH/P'iER II. THE YUKON RIVER, ITS PLACER FIELDS AND THEIR DISCOVERY. Crater Lake — The Yukon, Alaska's gigantic inland highway — The great rivers of the world — River craft — The rival trading companies — Hudson Bay officials the first explorers — Gold bars on the Big Salmon — The first big strikes— The tented banks of the El Dorado and Bonanza — McCormick the original Klondiker — A buckskin bag and its story — The arms of the Yukon— Thawing and freezing at the diggings 30 CHAPTER III. ROUTES TO THE ALASKAN INTERIOR. Dyea the base of supply for overland travel— The Chilkoot Pass and Lake Lindeman trail— The Stick Indian packers— Boat-building on the lakes — Shooting Miles Cafton, White Horse and Five-Finger or Rink Rapids— Sucking supplies by the way— The White and Chilkat Passes— Taku Iniet and Fort Macpherson routes — All the way to the Klondike by water — Fkoposed railway* to pierce the ^old fields, 44 .^!¥m^m'^t CONTENTS. II CHAPTER IV. THE OUTFIT OF AN ARGONAUT. PACK The qualifications of a successful miner — One temptation of the gold-digger — Provisions for the journey to Dawson City — Camping outfit and cooking utensils — ^Th tool chest of a Lake Lindeman boat-builder — What to wear in low temperatures — Supplies for a year's stay — Turnips by the pound — The Dawson City storekeeper's scale of prices — Reasons for lower prices — ^The custom houses at Dyea and Lake Bennett — ^A few pointers for pros- pectire Alaskans, . . .' 79 CHAPTER V. THE MINING CAMPS OF THE UPPER YUKON : THEIR LIFE AND LAWS. Phases of human existence in the ice-bound towns — Circle City as a base of supplies and the metropolis of the Yukon country — Fort Cudahy and the famous Forty-Mile Post — Dogs by the hundred — Homes without the Tani- ties of civilized regions — Gambling with big stakes — Liquor traffic and its evils — The boom at Dawson City — Some strange things about the mail service — A small fortune spent in delivering each mail bag — Bottles of gold the legal tender — ^The Canadian moimted police 95 CHAPTER VI. PLACER MINING. ilncient and modem methods as applied to the Klondike fields — How the riches are carried from mountain to gulch and plain — Pans, rockers, ' sluice-boxes, and other implements of the miner's craft — Watching for the yellow metal in the streams of muddy water— The wonders of hydraulic operations — ^Methods in vogue on the frozen gravels of Alaska — Opinions of experts on the present and future, 121 CHAPTER VII. ALASKAN QUARTZ MINES AND MINING. The location of gold deposits on the coast of the southeast — ^The Great Tread- well Mine on Douglass Island — The largest quartz mill in the world — Thousands of dollars a day from low-grade ores — Other mines of the section — ^The quartz veins of the Klonkike country — Large amounts of capital being gathered to work them — The rich promise of the future — The rules which the prospector must follow in his search for hidden treaanre— Methods employed in working the golden veins — Processes of the rock- Iveaker, stamp-mill, and concentrator, ....... ^ ^ «. ^ , .... , 145 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER VIII. THE MARKETING, SMELTING, ASSAYING, AND COINING OF GOLD. PAGB VHiat the miner does with the unrefined product of hb stamp-mill and concen- trator — Processes which the yellow metal must pass through before the world sees it as coin — The chlorination and cyanide operations — Acid baths to separate the baser metals from the treasure — ^The great smelting furnaces and their daily flood of, riches— Among the ingots of pure gold at the mint — The assayer's difficult task — The world's output of gold in four hundred years, 167 CHAPTER IX. MINING LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES AND NORTHWEST TERRITORIES. Early laws on the Yukon — Gold and silver mines the property of kings — ^The establishment of a gold commissioner at Fort Cudahy — ^The newly promul- gated Canadian mining regulations — Alternate claims reserved for the Crown — ^The levying of royalties — Chartering of companies in the North- west Territories — Fees for incorporation— Application of the United States land laws to A laska — ^The Mining Acts of 1866 and 1872 — The miners' meetings — Size and location of claims — llie camp recorder and his fees, 191 CHAPTER X. THE NATIVE POPULATION. Dark-skinned people found by the miner in the frozen North — Eskimo, Atha- bascan, and Thlinget — Uncertainty about the origin of the Innuits — The language and customs of a curious race — Strange modes of life near the Arctic Circle — The mysteries of the Totem Pole — Dead houses of the Stick Indians — Miners of gold who knew the Klondike field long before the white man entered the land, aaj CHAPTER XL RESOURCES OF ALASKA. President Johnson's <' ice-box " — Thirty-five years of Alaskan exports — Dense forests of spruce, cedar, and pine — United States Department of Agricul- ture's Experimental Station — Alaskan flora — Cranberries and other berries —Grain and grass growing — Bituminous coal — Marble — Big game of the interior — Bears the one-time terror of the Klc ^dike — Foxes and other fur- coated animals — ^Thedeer and their threatened extinction — Salmon six feet deep— The cod banks — Whaling, ................ 239 ^mmm^mtifimmmmimA'^..-. xu CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. The wide difference between the climate of the coast and the interior What gold-seekers will find in the way of weather— Mean temperature at various points compared — Influence of the Pacific currents— The highest and lowest points of the mercury— The topography of the country— Grandeur of scenery on mountain and plain— Remarkable tides of the ocean, . . . CHAPTER XIII. PAGE 268 CIVILIZED ALASKA. The government, trade, and cities of the oldest parts of the Northern Teiri- tory — Settlements of the coast and how they are supported — The great salmon canneries — The strong hand of Uncle Sam— The Greek Church and its work among the natives — The capital and metropolis of the territory — What the intrepid missionaries have done for Alaska, 283 CHAPTER XIV. NOTES FROM ALASKAN HISTORY. Vitus Bering, an emissarjf of Peter the Great — Discovery of Mount St. Eliafr— Fourteen lost sailors — Alexander Baranof and the inception of the Russian American Company — Spanish attempts to possess Alaska— Russian oppres- sion and cruelty — An idyll of Baranof Castle — Purchase by the United States— A blood-stained flag — The naming of the territory — Military occu- pation and civil government — Governors past and present — Proposed Inflation, 503 CHAPTER XV. THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE. Two ends of the international dispute — Mt. St Elias a settled point — ^The passage of 141st meridian through the gold fields — The Olney-Paunce- fote treaty — The evidence of old time treaties — Behm or Portland canal ? — Canadian claims to territory administerrd by the United States — Changes in Canadian map — ^The removal of the Metlakatia Indians from Canadian to United States territory — ^The possession of Juneau and D7«*» ..,*».... 320 CONTENTS. XIU CHAPTER XVI. THE PRIBYLOVy OR FUR SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. PACK Chase of the sea otter— Piribylov's discovery — ^The Seal Island — Educating the young — System of reproduction — Movements of seal herds — Male seals fighting — Killing bachelor seals — Shooting and spearing — Killing young males only — Blaine's plan — Blunders — Vain efforts at pension-^ The boundary question, 335 CHAPTER XVII. REINDEER IN ALASKA. Alaskan dogs must go — Introduction of reindeer by Rev. Dr. Sheldon Jack- son — Both food and raiment — Purchasing station in Siberia — Distribu- tion in Alaska — Fleet of foot and easily supported — Reindeer train service to the Klondike — Reindeer milk for Yukon babies — A Siberian moneymaker — Reindeer to harness — Character of the fur — Some figures on the reindeer industry in Finland, 353 CHAPTER XVIIX. THE GOLD FINDS OF HISTORY. Gold in the days of Abraham — Solomon's expeditions to Ophir — Edomites as Argonauts — Cortez in Mexico and Pizarro in Peru — Early attempts by the English to find gold in America — North Carolina an <* El Dorado " — The Geoi^an " Intrusion " — The days of the Forty-niners — John Marshall and his end — Australian and Klondike nuggets compared — The Frazer River craze — ^The " Kaffer circus *' — South African mines capitalized at $1,500^00,000— Four hundred years of gold digging — The gold kings of the world, 367 CHAPTER XIX. BONANZA KINGS. Smne of the favioos princes of the gold-mining world — From poverty to sudden riches — The miners' cabins changed for great palaces and lux- urious living — Great fortunes easily acquired and rapidly thrown away — Nuggets of pure gold picked up by chance — The best-known cases of finding lumps of the pure yellow treasure, 405 xiv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XX. Alaska's silent aTV. PAOB Anronl display during Augnit — Awe-inspiring mirages—" Dick " Willoughby's negatiTe — A splendid business venture — Prince Luigi's Tision — ^Tbemost famous mirage anywhere to be found — L. B. French's story of the Silent City — How Willoughby made his find — A stone pile for a record vault — President Jordan investigates — ^The scientific explanation of mirages — Wuen and where they occur, 450 CHAPTER XXI. t THE GLACIERS. Wonders of the northern territory — ^The great ice fields — ^The formation and action (^glaciers — What is known of the remarkable Malaspina glacier — Some freaks of nature which man studies with intense interest — Some mysteries in the frozen land which he cannot solve — ^The Muir» Guyot, Seward and other glaciers, 459 CHAPTER XXn. HUNTING AND FISHING. Wild country for the huntsman — Bi^' game in the chasms and on the mountains — Opportunities of the fishermen — Mallards and canvasback duck — I^ce of game in the Sitka market — Native Alaskans not sportsmen — Mosquitoes and the Bnuans — Suicide rather than die by the attacks of insects — mcholai Huley the hero of a fine bear story — Native huntsmen, .... 479 .;r'i '».' LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGS Sitka, Chief City of ALikSKA, 17 Steamer « Queen" and Muir GLAasR, 36 Street Scene in Dawson City, 53 Interior of Miner's Cabin, Dawson City, 53 Group of Indian Women and Pappoose, 7a Miners En route to Klondike, 89 Chilkoot-Mountain Route to Mines, 108 Mount St. Elias and Muir Glacier, 108 Old Russian Block House, 125 Hydraulic Mining in Silver Bow Basin, Near Juneau, . . 144 Group of Miners and Indians, 161 Group of Klondike Gold Miners 161 Miner's House and Native's Totem Pole, 180 Ten Thousand Seals, - . . . 197 Klondike Indian Curios, . . . . ai6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Oldest House in Juneau, 233 Old RussiA>r Stockade on the Yukon, 25a Ikdian Burying Ground, 269 Chilkoot Coat, 288 Shooting the Rapids En route to Klondike, 305 Entering the Rapids, Overland Route to the Mines, . 324 Passing the Miners Over the Chilkoot Pass, ..... 341 Climbing the Mountain Over Chilkoot Pass, 360 FoRTv-KiLE Creek, 365 Camping Out on the Chilkoot Mountain, 376 Bonanza Creek Valley, 381 Unloading Supplies for the Miners at Dawson City, . 388 Third House Built in Dawson City, 397 Steamer "Portus B. Weare" Ice Bound at Circle City, 404 Miner's Cabin on the Klondike, 409 Klondike Gold Mining, Showing Sluice, 420 Saw Mill Owned by Jos. Ladue, 425 Juneau— -Nearest City to Chilkoot Pass, . . . . ... 432 Placer Mining — Hydraulic System, 441 XODAKERS on THE YuKON, * . . . 448 CHAPTER I. THE DISCOVERY OF THE KLONDIKE DIGGINGS. The first news from the Klondike — Excitement in San Francisco on the arrival of the *' Excelsior " — ^The glad news carried around the world — " On to the Klon- dike !"— Scenes along the wharves of Seattle — The golden treasures of the re- turned Ai^onauts — Some of the first citizens of Dawson City— The women of Bonanza and El Dorado Creeks — Some good claims and those who own them — '* Pay dirt," and where it is to be found. THROUGH the Golden Gate and into the beautiful waters of San Francisco Bay steamed the modest little craft "Excelsior" on the morning of July 14, 1897. No salvos of artillery marked her arrival, not a whistle in the harbor blew a " Welcome Home !" no dipping pennants indicated that a few hours later her name would be carried around the world and be on the lips of millions of people. As had happened many times before, the good ship made slowly to her wharf and ten minutes after she had made her hawsers fast the glad nev/s of the gold-finds on the Yukon and the Klondike had been spread broadcast over the land, from ocean to ocean, from Texas to Maine, and before long had crossed the seas to other lands. Such was the arrival in San Francisco of the forty hardy spirits who months, and some even years before, had gone out to the frozen lands of Alaska in the attempt to wrest fortune from the hands of fate, and who now re- turned triumphar", bearing with them their pots of pre- cious gold. The stories they told, many of them well 15 S:'^^mt l6 THE GOLD CRAZE OF 1897. authenticated, of fortunes made in a night, of nuggets of pure gold worth twenty double eagles, of single " pans " worth from $500 to $1000, of cities but a few months old, of rivers and lakes unknown to geography, of hardships and terrible sufferings and of the princely claims on the Bonanza and £1 Dorado — these and other stories like them flew over the land like fire over a parched prairie. The gold craze of the year of our Lord 1897 ^^^ begun I HALF A MILLION IN GOLD. This vanguard of fortune finders brought with them over a half million of dollars worth of gold. Not one of them carried less than $5000 and from th**; figure the amounts secured ran up to almost $90,0 . Some of this wealth was in the shape of nuggets the size of hazel nuts and from this went down through various sizes to the proverbial dust. It was carried loose in pockets, in tin cans, in canvas bags, in wooden boxes and some of it wrapped up in paper. Three days after the arrival of the ** Excelsior," the country was again stirred up by the announcement diat the "Portland," another ship engaged in the Alaskan trade, had put into Seattle fourteen days out from St. Michaels with another band of successful miners from the Klondike country. There were sixty in this party and they carried with them in native gold about $700,000. If the hamlets and cities of the United States were look- ing for confirmation of the stories flashed over the world earlier in the week, the arrival of the " Portland " afforded it Immediately men, and some few women, of all sorts >» tskan St. the and ,000. look- rorld irded lorts > I n 5 M n o > \ RUSH TO THE GOLD FIELDS. X9 and conditions, representing every trade and profession, from every State in the Union, those who had thriving businesses of their own and those who had none, high and low, rich and poor, weak and strong, venturesome and timid, those who had seen service in other mining coun- tries and those absolutely without experience, began the rush toward Alaska and the rivers of promise. The scenes during the past weeks along the wharves of Seattle, San Francisco and other Pacific ports baffle de- scription. So great at times has been the struggle for positions on boats going to the northern ports, that the passengers on the down trip have left the boats with difficulty on account of the press due to those seeking to take their places. The rush shows no sign of abatement and is likely to assume even greater proportions along toward the end of the next spring, when the passage to the gold fields by way of the Yukon River opens up. FIRST WHITE WOMAN THERE. Among the most fortunate of them who have thus far returned to this country bearing gold with them is Prof. J. S. Lippey, who was formerly connected with the Y. M. C. A. of Seattle, as its secretary. He brought down with him about $85,000 in bullion. , His wife accom- panied him all the while he was in Alaska, having been the first white woman to cross the great divide, and at the time she left she had the further distinction of being the only woman in camp. The Lippeys went to the Klon- dike from Forty Mile Creek, where there were quite a number of women. Mrs. Lippey is a smdl, brown. 20 LIFE IN THE KLONDIKE. haired, brown-eyed woman, tanned unul her face is as brown as her hair and her eyes. She has this to say about her experiences in Alaska : "The country is beautiful, and quite warm in sum- mer. It is different, you know, in winter. Still, even in the coldest weather, I went out every day, though not very far. I was the first white woman to reach Klon- dike Creek, and was the only one in our camp. Mrs. Berry was the only white woman I had to speak to while I was there. She was with her husband in the next camp, a mile away. *' How did we live ? " repeated Mrs. Lippey, in answer to a question. "Well, at first we lived in a tent. It was twelve feet by eighteen, eight logs high, with mud and moss roof, and moss between the chinks, and had a door and window. Mr. Lippey made the furniture — a rough bed, table, and some stools. We had a stove — there are plenty of stoves in that country — and that was all we needed. The cabin was cosy and warm. I looked after the housekeeping and Mr. Lippey after the mining." "As to eating," continued Mrs. Lippey, "well, we had no fresh meat, no fresh milk, no fresh fruit, no eggs ; it was all canned food, but still we kept in good health." RETURN OF THE FORTUNATE. William Stanley, formerly a blacksmith in Seattle, went to Alaska two years ago, and was among those who returned on the " Portland." He had with him jjii 5,- 000 worth of gold, found on Bonanza Creek, about five miles above Dawson City. SOME OF THE LUCKY ONES. 21 Henry Anderson, a Swede, who is well known in Seatde, came back with a good supply of gold dust and ^45,000 he had received for half his claim on the Klon- dike. Frank Keller, of Los Angeles, Cal., went to Alaska last year, and returned with $35,000 received for his claim. William Sloat, a former dry goods merchant of Naina- mo, B. C, has $52,000 received for his claim. A fellow resident of Nainamo, named Wilkinson, sold his claim for ^^40,000. Jack Home, a professional pugilist of Tacoma, was among the few who might be called unlucky. He brought back only $6000 worth of dust. Frank Phiscator, of Baroua, Mich., has $96,000 worth of dust and nuggets, He was one of the first to go to the Klondike. MILLIONS IN NUGGETS. Joseph Ladue, who originally came from the rural dis- tricts in the vicinity of Binghamton, N. Y., and spent most of his life working about the farms of the neighbor- hood, was fortunate enough to have staked off the claim upon which most of the present city of Dawson is located. He had been in Alaska for five years, having spent most of his time, until the gold fever struck him, running a saw- mill, cut of which he claims to have made money, notwith- standing that labor was scarce at $15. The luck of Clarence J. Berry, formerly a fruit raiser in Southern California, is the greatest thus far on record. He made a trip to the country around Forty Mile Creek 22 A THOUSAND OUNCES OF DUST. a couple of years ago, but through lack of funds was un- successful. He returned to California and after marry- ing decided to return to the gold fields with his newly- wedded wife, and it was a fortunate move for him. In five months he succeeded in removing J^ 130,000 from one of his claims, of which sum he paid out about j^20,ooo in wages to his men. In the meantime, his wife worked a little claim of her own at odd moments and made about $10,000 out of it. The couple have returned to San Francisco, where Berry has received an offer of $2,000,- 000 for his Alaskan holding. Robert Kooks brought back $14,000 in gold dust and $12,000 he received for his half interest in a claim. He has an interest in another claim, and intends to return after he has had rest and enjoyment. J. B. Hollingshed, after two years spent in the diggings, can show $25,000 worth of dust, and still possesses a claim, to which he intends to return. M. S. Norcross was one of those who were looked upon as unfortunate. He selected a claim but became ill and could not work it, so he was compelled to sell out for $10,000. Thomas Flack has only $6000 worth of dust, but he has a claim at Klondike for which he has been offered $50,000. He intends to return to work it himself Con Stamatin returned with a third share of $33,000 worth of dust taken out in forty-five days* work. PLENTY OF GOLD IN ALASKA. "I brought down just 1000 ounces of dust and sold it to the smelting works/' said William Kulju. " I sold my PROSPECTING ON THE KLONDIKE. 23 claim for $25,000. When I went to Klondike last sum- mer I had only a few dollars and a pack. Now I am going home to Finland, but I am coming back next year." John Marks, another of those who came down on the " Pofidand," had with him $1 1,500 in dust. In a conversa- tion recently, he said: — "There is plenty of gold in Alaska, more, I believe, than the most sanguine imagine, but it cannot be obtained without great effort and endur- ance. The first thing for a poor man to do when he reaches the country is to begin prospecting. As snow is from two to five feet deep, jprospecting is not easy. Snow must first be shoveled away, and then a fire built on the ground to melt the ice. As the ground thaws the shaft must be sunk until bed rock is reached. The average prospector has to sink a great many shafts before he reaches anything worth his while. If gold is found in sufficient quantities to pay for working, he may begin drifting from the shaft, and continue to do so as long as he finds enough gold to pay." Frederick Lendsseen returned with $13,000 worth of gold after two years spent in Alaska. He sums up his opiiiion as follows : — "I have had considerable exper- ience in mining, and say, without hesitation, that Alaska is the richest country I have ever seen. I have an in- terest in a claim near Dawson and am going back in the spring." Greg Stewart brought back $45,000 received from his claim and a good quantity of dust he had taken out before selling. Hollingshed and Stewart who worked as partners had $25,000 worth of dust. 24 REPORTS NOT EXAGGERATED. M il it i il: H- Mrs. Eli Gage, daughter-in-law of Secretary Lyman J. Gage, and daughter of Portus B. Weare, Manager of the North American Trading and Transportation Com- pany, returned to Chicago on July 27th from a trip to the Yukon country. Her husband represents the com- pany at Dawson, and she has been with him three months. She has returned to Dawson to spend the winter, sailing in August for the iar northland, where wealth is now to be obtained with such comparative ease. Mrs. Gage is enthusiastic about the country she has visited. She investigated its resources, had every op- portunity to see aright what the real situation there is, and declares that none of the reports regarding the rich- ness of the Alaskan land for the gold-seekers has been exaggerated, though about other matters in the Klon- dike region many false reports have reached the United States. Mrs. Gage says there is an immense amount of gold ir the Yukon district. Any man who hr^s pocket money and about $500 for "grub-staking" a claim can safely go to the Klondike region and expect to reap a liberal reward for his efforts. If he goes poo "ly equipped and supplied, he may be compelled to suffer for his lack of wisdom, but he will not find himself among hard-hearted people. He will be helped if he deserves assistance. On her way home, Mrs. Gage was compelled to hide in a drawing-room on the cars when it became known that she had just come from the Klondike country. Everybody was anxious to learn about the gold discov- h ! ARRIVAL OF THE GOLD-HUNTERS. 25 eries, Mrs. Gage says the stories of probable starvation have little foundation, the supplies taken from Seattle and San Francisco by the two trading companies being sufficient to prevent suffering during the coming winter. Here are some of the interesting things this wide- awake American woman finds to say about her future home and her experiences there : " We waited several days at St. Michael's for the river steamer for Dawson City. When the boat arrived it was loaded with the gold-hunters and their spoils. The gold was carried in bags, bottles, and sacks, and one man had his fortune in an old boot. They came tumbling on the deck of the 'Portland' in all sorts of outlandish costumes. " No one would say how much he had himself, but he very willingly made a guess at what his neighbor had. Their talk would excite the coolest head. There was nothing but gold in the Klondike. I absorbed the pre- vailing excitement and listened to the wonderful stories with a thrilling pulse. " We sailed from St. Michael's July 3d. It is wonder- ful how fascinating the life on the frontier becomes. The man or woman who gets a taste of it and succeeds and thrives by it rarely gets to like anything else. " It was most interesting to study the men and women who had taken the desperate chance and had won. Some of them had gone into the region with barely enough to keep body and soul together. They had only made the attempt as a last resort. Having failed to make a sue- 26 ABANDONED CLAIMS. cess at home, they had resolved to make one plunge and die or come out rich. " The most pathetic story of this kind was that of Mr, and Mrs. Berry. They went into the Klondike without even a grub stake. They were on their wedding tour, and when they left they told their friends they might never get back to Fresno alive. " This pair sat on the deck of the * Pordand ' fifteen months after their departure, and their plans embraced bigger things than scheming to find a man who would loan them $60 while they risked their lives trying to get over the mountains and into the placer district. They were like two children — Mr. Berry planning to buy the farm i:pon which he has been unable to make living wages, and Mrs. Berry getting ideas on the newest things in diamond rings. She had been forced to omit this feature of the ceremony when they started for Alaska, but, like all women, she was pleased that the ring could now be bought. *' The abandoned claims will make many a man, not yet on the scene, rich. There are many claims along the best known creeks that have been abandoned. The prospectors would be digging on them contentedly earn- ing big money every day. There would them come a report from some neighboring place of fabulously rich finds, and there would follow at once a wild rush. In this way claims that had paid moderately were passed in search of others that would banish poverty in a month." THREE MONTHS' WORK. 2^ William Stanley, one of the argonauts who returned on the " Portland," was formerly a resident of Seattle, and lived on Taylor Street, four blocks below Jackson. His story runs as follows : " My son and myself and two partners, whom we picked up on tne way to Juneau, had been wandering through the Yukon districts for several months with little or no success, when, in the latter part of last Sep- tember, we heard of the Klondike discoveries. At this time we were en route along the Stewart River, being bound for Forty-Mile, and were at Sixty-Mile when the news of the strike first reached us. We hastened to the Klondike, stopping first at the mouth of the stream. The day following our arrival the little steamer * Ellis,' with 1 50 wildly excited miners, who had also heard of the news, arrivM. There was a rush and a mad run for the new disco /eries along Bonanza and EI Dorado Creeks. We brought up first on El Dorado Creek, locating claims Nos. 25, 26, 53, and 54. That was about the first of October. We prospected 25 and 26 until we satisfied ourselves that we had good pay dirt in each. Then we set about making permanent improvements for the winter, such as building cabins. This done, we set to work sinking prospect holes in different parts of the gulch. We had no blankets. Good pay dirt was taken from every hole, and at the end of three months' work we cleaned up $1 12,000. In getting this much gold we did not drift over 200 feet altogether up and down the stream. Nor did we cross-cut the pay streak. We 28 AVERAGE OF PANS. I ! calculate that these two, and also 53 and 54, will run up- wards of $1,000 to the lineal foot, and I figure that we have fully $2,000,000 in sight in the four claims. There is little or no difference in the 55 and 56 claims on El Do- rado. In fact, there are no spotted claims on the creek. It is a case of all gold and yards wide and yards deep. Anywhere you run a hole down you find the pay streak. "Our pans will average $3 throughout all of the £1 Dorado claims. Many go as high as $150, and some still better. I took out $750 in five pans, and did not pick the pans, either. I took the pan against my breast and simply scooped it in off the bedrock. " To make a long story short, I think El Dorado Creek is the greatest placer proposition in the world. There has never been anything discovered on the face of the globe like it. " In my opinion, there will be a number of them, too. Bear Gulch is almost another El Dorado. There is a double bedrock in Bear Gulch, though but very few know it. The bedrocks are three feet apart. The gold in the lower bedrock is as black as your shoe, and in the top bedrock it is as bright as that found in the El Dorado. *'We own No. 10 claim below discovery on Bear Gulch, and also 20 and 2 1 on Last Chance Gulch above discovery. We prospected for three miles on Last Chance, and could not tell the best place to locate dis- covery claim. The man making discovery of a creek is TROUBLE SECURING LABOR. 29 entitled by law to stake a claim and take also an adjoin- ing one, or, in other words, two claims, so you see he wants to get in a good locality on the creek or gulch. " Hunker Gulch is highly looked to. I think it will prove another great district, and some good strikes have also been made on Dominion Creek. Indian Creek is also becoming famous. " What are we doing with all the money we take out ? Well, we paid $45,000 spot cash for a half-interest in claim No. 32 El Dorado. We have also loaned $5,000 each to four parties on El Dorado Creek, taking mort- gages on their claims, so you see we are well secured. No ; I don't want any better security for my money than El Dorado claims, thank you. I only wish I had a mortgage on the whole creek. " We had a great deal of trouble securing labor in the prospecting of our properties. Old miners would not work at any price. We could occasionally rope in a greenhorn and get him to work for a few days at $15 a day. Six or eight miners worked on shares for us for about six weeks, and when we settled it developed that they had earned in that length of time $5,300 each. That was pretty good pay, wasn't it ? We paid one old .miner $12 for three hours' work, and offered to continue him at that rate, but he would not have it, and went out to [hunt a claim of his own. I am g .Ing back to the Yukon the spring, but not to work. When I threw down ly shovel and pick it was for the last time," m ^mtma wm CHAPTER 11. THB YUKON RIVER, ITS PLACER FIELDS AND THEIR DISCOVERY, Gnter Lake— The Vukon» Alaska's ^gantic inland highwaj—The great rivers of the world — River craft — The rival trading companies — Hudson Bay officials the first explorers-— Gold bars on the Big Salmon — ^The first big strikes — ^The tented banks of the El Dorado and Bonanza — McCormick the original Klon- diker — ^A buckskin bag and its story — The arms of the Yukon — Thawing and freezing at the diggings. ALMOST at the loot of Chilkoot Pass in the Kotusk Mountains there lies a little body of water known as Crater Lake. From this diminutive inland sea^there stretches away a continuous water-course to Bering Sea, a distance of almost 2,000 miles. Such is the extent of the mighty Yukon and its headwaters. What the Ama- zon and La Plata are to South America, what the Missis- sippi is to the central portion of the United States, and what the Kongo and Niger are to Central Africa, this and more is the Yukon to Alaska. It is the great natu- ral inland highway without which the opening up of the vast interior to civilization and trade would have been arduous and to a great extent impossible. The Yukon River proper extends from Fort Selkirk, at the conflu- ence of the Lewes and Pelly Rivers, in the Northwest Territory, in a northwesterly direction 400 miles to the Arctic Circle, and then to the southward 1,350 miles to the sea, its total length to Fort Selkirk being 1,750. Of this distance 1,500 miles lies in United States territory. The 360 miles of waterway from Crater Lake to Fort Selkirk are made up of a succession of lakes con- 30 i TERRITORY DRAINED BY THE YUKON. ^I nected by streams of varying length, passing finally into the Lewes River. Pelly River, which unites with the Lewes to form the Yukon, lies to the northward of the latter, and is about 275 miles in length. The firitt accurate description of the Yukon River was furnished by Dr. W. H. Dall, of the Smithsonian Institu- tion. He was a member of the expedition sent out in 1865 by the Western Union Telegraph Company to make the preliminary surveys for a telegraph line to join the old world with the new, the same to be carried over Bering Strait into Siberian Russia. While the party was at work in Alaska the Atlantic Cable was put into suc- cessful operation and the expedition was recalled. The territory drained by the Yukon and its tributaries has been approximately estimated at 33i,c)cx> square miles. Its size may be judged better by comparison with the other great rivers of the world which are esti- mated as follows : Names. Length in miles. Area drained in sq. miles. Mackenzie, 2,400 440,000 Missonri-Mississippi, 4,200 1,250,000 Amazon 4»ooo ......... 2,506,000 La Plata, 2,300 1,250,000 Hoang-Ho, 2,700 540,000 Lena, 2,550 600,000 Yang-tsi, 3,300 ......... 500,000 Kongo, 3,300 1,500,000 Niger, 4,000 1,400,000 The Yukon varies in width during the lower part of its course from one to ten miles, and its delta spreads out to a width of sixty miles. As it falls away to the 32 TRAFFIC ON THE YUKON. sea from the Arctic Circle its channel is cut up by thou- sands of islands. The current in places is strong and it is reported that at certain seasons the waters of Ber- ing Sea are fresh fully fifteen miles from the mouth of the Yukon. For the better part of its distance the river is shallow, and only navigable to light-draught boats, under four or five hundred tons burden. The stern- wheel type is the only craft used on the river, and even during the high-water season extreme caution has to be used in threading the channels. It is believed that a powerful light-draught boat of not more than one hun- dred and fifty tons would be able to pass Five-Finger Rapids and go three hundred miles further through Hootalinqua River to the head of Teslin Lake. Among tributaries of the Yukon reported navigable for light craft are the Andreafski for 50 miles, the Shagluk for 50 miles, Innoko for 50 miles, Tanana for 300 miles, Klanarchargut for 25 miles, Beaver Creek for 100 miles. Birch Creek for 150 miles, Koyukuk River for 300 miles. Porcupine for 100 miles, Stewart for 150 miles, Pelly for 250 miles, and the McMillan for 200 miles; but these estimates are largely guesswork. Traffic on the Yukon River is largely controlled by the Alaska Commercial Company and the North American Transportation & Trading Company, both companies having stations on St. Michael's Island and at various points along the river. The former company has two vessels, one of two hundred tons and the other of three hundred; the latter has a fleet of six boats, the "Weare," DISOOVERIES MADE. 33 by the erican panics Irarious as two three the "Cudahy," the "Hamilton," the "Healy," the " Power," and the " Klondike." All these steamers carry both freight and passengers. Except during ten, or, at the most, twelve, weeks dur- ing the summer the Yukon is ice-bound from its mouth to the headwaters. Some years it opens up about June I St, but usually it is nearer the middle of the month before the boats begin their trips. About September ist trafific ceases, and severe weather is experienced. The history of the development of the Yukon gold mines extends back a great many years; in fact, long before the northwestern territory came into the possession of the United States. As has been the case in other fields, the earliest discoverers of the yellow metal in the country deserve little credit, inasmuch as they failed to follow up their findings, and hence the dis- coveries have had little or no influence on the progress of the country and absolutely none on the more recent developments around the head-waters and along the valley of the gigantic Yukon. This country was originally explored by the agents of the Hudson Bay Company, in 1 840, and as early as 1 860 it was reported that gold in small quantities had been unearthed by these officials, but little was heard of it. George Holt, who, in 1878, made the trip from Lake Lindeman to the Hootalinqua River, which runs into Lewes River, prob- ably deserves the credit for opening up the Yukon gold fields. Returning by the same route, he reported having '"^m 34 MINERS AND PROSPECTORS. made finds along the Hootalinqua, which is the miners' name (due to a mistake) of the Teslintoo River, which flows down from Teslin Lake, on the British Columbia border. He never went back to the interior, but the news he fur- nished of the country caused Edward Bean to lead a goodly train up over Chilkoot Pass and down the chain of lakes which lead to the Yukon, during the early 8o's. Bean came from Sitka, and was one of the original owners of the Treadwell mine property. The party met with in- different success, finding the coveted treasure, but not in sufficient quantities to encourage them in further effort The opening was made, however, and miners and prospec- tors began going over the Chilkoot Pass in large numbers. These parties did their work for the most part on Cana- dian soil and principally along the Lewes River and its tributaries. They ascended the Big Salmon and found the precious metal on all its bars. The finds on Cana- dian soil, however, until quite recently, were none of them suf!iciendy alluring to cause a stampede towards them. FINDS IN THE YUKON DISTRICT. Up to 1886, the finds in the Yukon district were con- fined almost entirely to territory traversed by its head- waters, embracing the White, Stewart, Pelly, Lewes and Hootalinqua Rivers. In that year, what may be called the middle division of the Yukon, extending from Fort Selkirk to the mouth of the Tanana River, was first opened up by the discovery, on Forty Mile Creek, of gold in goodly quantities. This caused a general cessa- tion of operations along the nead-waters, and the largely- liners' I flows arder. le fur- ead a ainof 8o's. vners thin- lotin effort spec- ibers. ^ana- d its ound ^ana- le of ^ards con- Lead- and died Fort first k, of issa- rely- ..I!^l,<■•: .,-..,,...■ .<-ijSte,,J»; % ^ ^Hb ' THE FIRST GOOD STRIKE. 37 increased working force due to this source caused claims on Sixty Mi^ , Miller, Glacier, Birch and Koyukuk Rivers to open up in rapid succession. Forty Mile and Sixty Mile Creeks rise in the Ratzel Mountains, which divide the Tanana from the Yukon valley, and flow into the Yukon from the west. They receive their names from the fact that they were considered respec- tively forty and sixty miles from the trading-post, Fort Reliance, which, up to 1896, was the commercial centre for thlo section of the Yukon country. The real distances are somewhat greater, measured as are all these dis- tances along the windings of the river, which is the high- way of travel. UPBUILDING OF CIRCLE CITY. The first good strike on Birch Creek was made in 1893, 2ind this gave rise to the upbuilding of Circle City. This remained the most important mining camp in this part of Alaska until December, 1 896, when it was almost wiped off the map by the exodus to the Klondike, where Dawson City speedily arose at the junction of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers. J. O. Hestwood, of Seattle, who has recently returned from the gold fields, has told how gold was first found on the Klondike. "The discovery," he said, "was made by an old hunter named George McCormick, a former resident of Illinois, who is called "Siwash George," and has been I on the Yukon for eight years. He is married to a squaw and has several half-breed children. McCormick went up in the spring of 1896 to the mouth of the Klondike I ' ! I I -g NO CLAIM-JUMPING THERE. to fish, as salmon weighing ninety pounds are caught where this stream meets the Ynkon. The salmon didn't run as usual and McCormick, hearing from the Indians of rich places nearby, where gold could be washed out in a frying pan, started out to prospect. "Near what is now Dawson City, on July 9th, he struck very rich pay dirt in a side hill. As soon as news of his discovery spread, men from Circle City and Forty- Mile rushed in. The richest claims are in Bonanza Creek, which empties into the Klondike from the south, three miles above Dawson City. There are three claims in that dis- trict, each 500 feet long, exjtending clear across the creek on which it is located. No one can file an addi- tional claim until he has recorded his abandonnk n-: nf his old claim, according to Canadian law, and it must liOt be forgotten that this river is far within the Canadian boundaries. " In the adjoining Hunker district there are 200 claims. The two districts have been well prospected, but further up the Klondike is much territory which has never been even traveled over. " Old miners declared that the north side of the Yukon was worthless, so no prospecting was ^one until McCor- mick started in. There is no claim-jumping, as the Canadian laws are rigid and well enforced by the presence of the Mounted Police. THE RUSH FOR KLONDIKE. "There was a rush for Klondike as soon as the dis- covery was made known and I was among the first to PROSPECTING IN THESE REGIONS. 39 get there. I had poor luck qt first and after a few days started to leave, but I had only got a short distance down the river when my boat got stuck in the ice and I went back to Dawson City. I bought a claim and it proved one of the richest in the district. " In the region now worked there are a score of creeks, each rich in gold deposits. The creeks compris- ing the bonanza districts are Bonanza, El Dorado, Vic- toria, Adams, McCormick, Reddy Bullion, Nugget Gulch, Bear, Baker and Chee-Chaw-Ka. In the Hunker district are the Main Fork, Hun>er and Gold Bottom Creeks. CREEKS RICH IN GOLD DEPOSITS. The banks of these streams are dotted with white tents of miners, and a prettier sight it would be hard to find. Over on Dominion Creek gold has been found, and 300 miners started for that place the day we started for San Francisco. The surface prospects are quite as favorable as on the Bonanza." McCormick was not allowed to be the sole proprietor of the Klondike for a very long period. About the mid- dle of August his supplies ran low and he dispatched two Indian assistants to a settlement on the Yukon, half way between Forty-Mile and Sixty-Mile Creeks, to re- -'enish ag larder. The *'P. B. Weare," of the North American Transportation and Trading Company, hap- pened to be stopping at the settlement at the time the Indians arrived and their tales of the rich finds en the Klondike caused the entire crew of the vessel to desert and hasten away to the new El Dorado. After getting ' I I 40 THE TRAGIC TALE. a native crew together, the " Weare " pushed on down the river and spread broadcast through the mining camps the news which since has electrified the world. Among the romances which will be forever associated with the history of the Yukon none savors so strongly of the rough and ready country through which it wends its way than does the story of the founding of the North American Transportation & Trading Company. In the winter of 1892 Porteus B. Weare, of Chicago, and Captain John J. Healy met in Chicago after a separation of years. They had c companions in the fur trade with the Indians at old 1 ort Benton, on the Missouri River, in 1865. Mr. Weare had returned to civilization and taken up his residence in Chicago, but Captain Healy had penetrated to the head of Chilkoot inlet, established the trading post at Ty-a (now known as Dyea), which bears his name, and continued his traffic with the Indians until he became known as " Chief of the Blackfeet." In the course of their reminiscent talk Healy drew from his pocket a buckskin bag and displayed to his old comrade of the camp and trading post the yellow con- tents of the crude purse. Then he told the tragic tale of how the gold had come into his possession. The substance of his narrative was this : One fearfully cold day in the latter part of Decem- ber, 1 89 1, two or three Indians entered the post and offered foi barter the bag containing several hundred dollars* worth of dust. Healy eagerly inquired where ORGANIZATION OF A COMPANY. 41 and how they secured the gold. Their answer was that it had been obtained from Tom Williams, a trapper, who had made the long pilgrimage from the interior, along the Yukon, but had died before reaching the post. The Indians were able to give the trader a general description of the locality which the dying trapper had described to them as the spot where he discovered what he believed would prove to be a rich gold field. As Mr. Weare knew his friend to be a practical miner, his faith in the sagacity and the judgment of the latter was strong. The story also awakened in him the latent longing to taste once more the pleasures of frontier adventure. The result was the organization of a company which sent steamers to the headwaters of the Yukon and opened up the country. Captain Healy has been in Alaska fifteen years, and is one of the best known men in the countrv. The territory around the mouth of the Yukon is very low. In fact, the reason for the chief trading station for this section of Alaska being placed on an island sixty miles above the usual entrance to the river is that the delta for miles around is entirely covered in the late spring or early summer by freshets due to the ice melting in the river. Owing to the way in which' the Yukon spreads out as it passes into Bering Sea the water is very shallow and eight feet is about the maximum depth reached in any of the numerous channels. The two most interesting arms of the Yukon are the Lewes and Pelly Rivers, which unite to form it. The 42 CHIEF TRIBUTARY. former is all- important on account of the part it plays in the overland route from Juneau to the gold fields. Its chief tributary, the Hootalinqua, is the stream over which the Canadians expect to see carried the bulk of the inland travel. The Pelly River rises in Pelly Lakes, near the crest of the Rocky Mountains which there form the divide between the basins of the Yukon and MacKenzie Rivers. These lakes are precisely where the 129th meridian crosses the 626. parallel of latitude; and thence the river flows northwesterly over 500 miles before reaching Fort Selkirk. The country through which it passes is mountainous and wild, and has been explored but a very slight extent. The Yukon, after passing Fort Selkirk, varies from one-half to three- quarters of a mile in width. On the northern side it is bounded by an almost continuous wall of rock of volcanic origin, and on the south the bank is low and sandy. After passing the White River the course is almost due north through a mountainous country. The scenery is wild ind most picturesque. On both sides great granite cliffs rise hundreds of feet above the bed of the river, which, receiving the waters of the Stewart from the north, flows on toward Dawson City with great rapidity, sometimes as high as seven miles an hour. At just about the centre of the present mining district the Yukon changes its course to the northwest and continues in this direction for about 3CX) miles, or to a point near where the Porcupine River crosses the Arctic Circle, and empties into the parent stream. The width on the DIFFICULTY EXPERIENCED. 43 Alaskan side of the boundary line averages about one mile, but as it approaches the Circle it spreads out among islands at the mouth of the Porcupine, till it is several miles from shore to shore. A good deal of difficulty is experienced in navigating the Yukon at this point on account of :he shallowness of the water and the sandy formation of the bed, which causes the channel to shift from month to month and season to season. There is never a complete thaw of the soil which makes up the country through which the Yukon flows. In some places during the summer months the ground is soft to a depth of three or four feet, but in less favored places eighteen inches is a maximum. This layer of frozen soil extends down six or eight feet, and below that ice is rarely encountered. Various explana- tions of this phenomena have been advanced, but it is generally believed to be due to poor drainage and to the dense layer of moss which covers the entire country, and which acts as a blanket, preventing the intense heat of the midsummer sun from penetrating far below the surface, and also keeping in the cold. I I ; ; CHAPTER III. ROUTES TO THE ALASKAN INTERIOR. Dyea the utse of supply for overland travel — The Chilkoot Pass and Lake Linde- man trail — The Stick Indian packers — Boat-building on the lakes — Shooting Miles Cafion, White Horse and Five-Finger or Rink Rapids — Stacking supplies by the way — The White and Chilkat Passes — Taku Inlet and Fort Macpherson routes— All the way to the Klondike by water — Proposed railways to pierce the gold fields. THE miner or tourist who proposes penetrating the Alaskan country to the placer diggings of the upper Yukon Basin has, broadly speaking, the choice of two routes. The one which has been most generally used, up to within a very recent time, is all the way by water. Leaving Puget Sound, or San Francisco Bay, the steamer sails out to the northwest across the Pacific Ocean to the Aleutian Islands, between which a channel leads into Bering Sea. Safe in these latter waters the steamer is put on a direct northerly course to Fort Get There, on St. Michael Island, which lies on the far western coast of Alaska, about sixty-five miles above the mouth of the Yukon River. There a transfer is made to a light-draft river boat, and in this the rest of the voyage to Circle City, Fort Cudahy, or Dawson is made. It takes between four and five weeks to make the trip in this way, under the most favorable circumstances, and owing to the fact that the Yukon is frozen hard and fast during eight months of the year, this route is only open from about June I St to the middle of September. 44 ROUTE TO DAWSON CITY. 45 The other route, and the one which is being taken by thousands of miners and others at the present time, is part of the way overland. Having arrived in Juneau by water from Seattle, the traveler goes up Lynn Canal to Dyea, or Taiya, as the Canadians call it. This town is at the head of Chilkoot Inlet, which runs parallel to and to the east of Chilcat Inlet, the latter also emptying into Lynn Canal. At Dyea the overland journey begins, and just beyond its gates the rise to the Chilkoot Pass, 3,500 feet above the sea, commences. Lake Lindeman, twenty- seven miles from Dyea, is the first piece of water met with after making the pass. This is the first of a series of lakes, which, with their connecting streams, must be traversed before the Thirty-Mile, Lewes, and finally Yukon Rivers are reached. This, in brief, is the route to Dawson City, over which the great bulk of Alaskan gold-field travel is now making its way. There are numerous conditions which must necessarily affect a decision as to choice of routes. Perhaps the main argument in favor of the overland route as opposed to the all-water one is the difference in time required for the two journeys. The distance from Seattle to Dawson City via Juneau and the lake country is 1,459 miles, while to take the ocean course requires that a circuit of 4,200 miles must be made. The time actually required to cover the two routes is not governed altogether by the number of miles they measure. The season of the year, the size and make-up of the party, the state of the weather, the amount of baggage, and a dozen other 46 VESSELS USED. items, including luck, enter in to make the nicest calcu- lations go wide of the mark. Inasmuch as the Yukon route is out of the question until next summer's sun shall have thawed out its ice- bound channel, the greatest interest at the present time attaches to the overland route outlined above and the manifold variations to which it is subject. Both San Francisco and Seattle have been used as points of de- parture. The regular lines of vessels plying between these ports and Juneau, the metropolis of Alaska, have been largely supplemented. Craft of every description capable of living on the high seas have been drafted into the service. Barges, tugs, side-wheelers, and merchantmen, large and small, have been brought out of retirement and made to do valiant service in speedmg the bands of gold-seekers on to the newly-found El Dorado. The excitement along the wharves where Alaskan-bound vessels have been moored has been intense. As a usual thing, long before the vessels were ready to heave anchor the docks have been so packed that it became almost impossible for a person to wedge his way through the mass of people so as to get a look at the steamship. These crowds were not drawn altogether by personal interest or friendship for those who were about to take the long, tiresome, and dangerous journey into the Yukon gold fields, although many that were present doubtless were influenced by those motives. The main actuating sentiment, however, was the feverish excitement which FIRST STAGES OF THE JOURNEY. 47 seems to prevail throughout all classes of the commu- nity in regard to the Klondike. To those who could not go there was some undefined satisfaction in looking upon the more lucky ones, who were more favored by fortune, and who might possibly be the future millionaires of the Coast. The first stages of the Klondiker's journey have been more or less familiar to the American tourist for years. Leaving the terraced slopes of Seattle in the back- ground, the good ship plies her way down Admiralty Inlet, past the city of Everett, and into Port Townsend, the United States port of entry for Puget Sound. Clear- ing from this port, the course lies directly across the Straits of Juan de Fuca northward to Victoria, B. C. This city, the capital of the province, occupies a com- manding site at the southern extremity of Vancouver Island. Thence the course runs to the eastward of Vancouver Island into the Gulf of Georgia, and threads its way through narrow channels and past islands, named and nameless, until, passing out of Chatham Sound, the vessel once more enters American waters and ties up for a short while at the Mary Island wharf lor freight. The next stop made is at Fort Wrangel, which is reached on the morning of the fourth day out. Here the first real insight into Alaskan life is gained. IThe wharf swarms with Indians who e ' ^ose for sale all [manner of wares, while the crew busies itself with the idjustment of the cargo. The next stop is Juneau, "his is a seaport and mining town, and before the gold 48 DOCKING FACILITIES. excitement began its population ranged from 2,000 to 3,000 souls. It has schools and churches, three news- papers, electric light plant, water-works, two excellent wharves, mercantile establishments of generous propor- tions, good hotels, theatres, paved streets, and a well- organized fire department. The fare from Seattle to Juneau is $32, first-class, and ftiy second-class. From the same port direct to Dyea a tariff of $40 is asked for first-class and $2$ for sec- ond-class passengers. These tickets allow for 150 pounds of baggage. Anything over this up to 1,200 pounds will be carried at the rate of 10 cents per pound. Having been landed in Juneau, it is possible to take any one of a large number of small boats and continue the journey to Dyea, 96 miles further up the Lynn Canal. The fare on these boats is jjio. The average time from landing to landing is about twenty-f hours. The docking facilities at the northern port are not of a very high order, and when the waters of Dyea Inlet, which is a fresh-water branch of Chilkoot Inlet, are rough, considerable difficulty is experienced in trans- ferring passengers and freight from the boats to the shore. The present bustling town was originally an Indian village and trading post, and lies about a mile from the mouth of the inlet, in a beautiful level valley one mile wide. The traffic of the place has increased so rapidly during the past few months that the warehouse facilities are entirely inadequate to meet the demand, and by far the largest part of the freight destined for A DANGEROUS CROSSING. 49 the Klondike country has to be stacked on the low- rolling beach preparatory to its being carted further up the trail toward Chilkoot Pass. Dyea Inlet is open for canoe navigation for six miles above the town, but as the packing into boats hardly pays for the short run, it is the general practice either to pack it on horses or bring small carts in use for the trip to Sheep Camp. About half this distance is through a comparatively level valley, the surface of which is com- posed of loose glacial rocks of all sizes, which afford a very uncertain footing for either man or beast. There is so little soil in the valley after the first mile or two above Dyea that the trees and vegeta- tion are of sparse and stunted growth. Along the sides of the mountains, hov. ever, the timber is heavy. The latter half of this pack-trail is shelved along the side of a cafton several hundred feet above the stream until the last mile, when it zigzags down to the valley again. In winter it is possible to use pack horses to within a half-mile of the summit of the Pass. The distance from Dyea to Sheep Camp is twelve miles, and the rough trail crosses Dyea Inlet six or seven times in that dis- tance. The waters of this stream spring from two giant glaciers, one on either side of Chilkoot Pass. The fords constitute at times a dangerous feature of the trip, as men have been drowned crossing this furious icy tor- rent. Sheep Camp is a point just at the timber line where the streams from the two glaciers unite and form 4 50 AVERAGE LOAD TO CARRY. the Dyea. Here travelers often have to wait many days for fair weather to cross the range. It is at this point of the journey that the Indian packer is brought into service. For the actual crossing of the Pass he is absolutely indispensable. From long experi- ence in crossing and recrossing this dar.gerous defile he knows its every nook and cranny, and can make the ascent and descent loaded down with provisions for his employer with considerably more ease than that same employer can without the embarrassments of a pack. The average load for the men is 1 20 pounds, but thirty or forty pounds more is not uncommon, r\nd as an example which may be taken as about the limit, one of these men of burden has been known to carry an organ weighing 220 pounds over the Pass. Not as many squaws as men are at work, and their loads average a little lighter. Generally every member of the family — and this may be understood to include the dogs — carries a pack. Every Indian wants flour or bacon, because they constitute the most compact and easily adjusted load to carry ; but those who cannot get fiour, having no special ** pull " with the boss packer, have to be contented with camp-stoves, guns, shovels, rope, and other awkward things to carry. The dogs are loaded with from fifteen to fifty pounds, but it is necessary in some places for them to have assistance, and so their master puts down his pack and carries the dog and his load through some of the more difficult or narrow pas- sages among the rocks or across streams. CACHEING SUPPLIES ALONG THE TRAIL. 51 The Indian's personal belongings that he usually takes with him are a bag of dried fish and a blanket and pos- sibly a small bucket or a tomato can for a teapot. Dried salmon is both bread and meat to him and also to his dog, but the latter gets his share only at night. There is very little sunshine in the life of a Siwash dog. He is overworked, and it is only through a most unaccounta- ble oversight that he ever gets enough to eat. The rate which the Indians charge for packing is a variable quantity, largely governed by the demand for their services. For some years past the price has been comparatively stationary at 14 cents a pound, but dur- ing the laLt few months this has gone up to as high as $23 a hundred. And at the latter figure every packer in the district has been kept more than busy. Thousands of tons of provisions and freight are stalled at Dyea and Sheep Camp, owing to the scarcity of packers. Quite a few of the on-rushing miners have essayed the task of doing their own packing. But this involves return trips, and the work involved is very arduous to one un- accustomed to it. A striking custom which is worthy of note is that of cacheing supplies along the trail. Flour, bacon, blankets, or whatever it may happen to be are left at any point to suit the convenience of the owner, A miner leaves a certain portion of the food upon which his life depends and goes on hundreds of miles in serene confidence that he will find it again when he comes back in the fall. Sometimes a tent or fly of ducking is put up for a ahel- 52 DANGERS DESCRIBED. ter. If It is intended to leave the cache for several months, a platform on four posts is erected eight or ten feet above the ground to protect it from dogs and wild animals. Hungry Indians pass this food every day, and sometimes hungry white men, but it is rare indeed that a cache is maliciously violated. Of course there is a feeling of their dependence upon each other among these isolated men of the Yukon. If any one should come into the country without any supplies he would be received with poor grace, but should he come as the rest do, and by any misfortune lose his outfit, he is always welcome to a share anywhere he goes. The trail from Sheep Camp becomes steeper and steeper as the Pass is approached. Vast snow-fields have to be traversed, great boulders of granite have to be avoided by long circular cuts, and steep ice-covered declivities scaled with a sure foot. The trip to Lake Lindeman is described as possessing all the dangers and excitement of mountain climbing among glaciers, snow, ice, and boulders. Tvvo miles above Sheep Camp is a very interesting glacier which has no local name. Its depletion from crumbling and melting has been faster than the onward progress of the whole mass, and consequently it has receded to a point 2,000 feet higher than the creek. The front wall or face of it is 200 or 300 feet high, and has a width of a half mile. The glacier is almost unap- proachable. The great body of ice creaks and groans almost con- :l * • •,'i Street Scene in Dawson City. . 1 ^ '.1. ;;i.;v 1 1 t: ^^^M ,1 ft I "'.ill . 1 fr l^LTM INTERIOR op Miner's Cahin, pAwsojf ^iTy, ENTRANCE TO THE GOLD FIELDS. 55 tinually. At times the disturbance increases to such an extent as to make one think, at a distance of two miles away, that the whole thing was tumbling down the mountain. The color of the superficial part of the glacier is pale blue, but the fissures, with their varying depths, run from blue to the deepest indigo color. From the foot of this, which has been called Sheep Camp Gla- cier, may be had a very comprehensive general view of Chilkoot Pass. For two miles the course extends straight away and upward through fields of perpetual snow and seems to terminate at dark stone walls. The summit of the pass is not visible, as the defile turns to the left and then abruptly to the right through gateways of granite. In many of the depressions around the higher points of this part of the coast range there are ice caps or glaciers, but they are rarely visible from the valleys immediately below. Chilkoot Pass is 3,500 feet above the level of the sea. The nearest settlement to the summit is Stone House, which is 2,400 feet below, and the real struggle lies be- tween these two points. The view from the top is not an extended one. Crater Lake, 500 feet below, can be seen. It is the source of that arm of the Yukon which affords the entrance to the gold fields via Chilkoot Pass. Beyond the little lake, less than a mile in extent, is a low line of hills, and in the distance rises a range of bare mountains. A dim trail leads down the hill and across the frozen lake, disappearing into the caflon beyond. The abrupt passages near the summit are better r f i I i 56 NO TIME FOR REST. , accomplished by hauling supplies on sleds. After the summit is passed, if the journey is continued before the ice breaks up, it often happens that long distances may be made by means of sails raised on improvised masts on the sled. The sledge should be about seven feet four inches long, seven inches high, and sixteen inches wide, of strong but light timber, and the runners shod with either brass or steel, the former being preferable, be- cause the sled will glide over the snow more smoothly in intensely cold weather, while steel is inclined to grind and lug very much, as if it were being hauled over sand. When the weather is cold, if water is taken into the mouth and held a moment, then blown over the runner, a coating will immediately form, and if this process is repeated when it becomes a iittle worn off, one will be surprised to find how much smoother and easier the sled will draw. It is preferable to use the Eskimo mode of making sledges for Yukon traveling. They use no nails or bolts, binding the joints together with strong cords. There is much less danger of breaking, if made in this way, should the sled be overturned, as the joints will yield when thus tied together. From the summit to the head of Lake Lindeman the distance is nine miles. The descent for the first half- mile is steep, then a gradual slope to the lake. But there is little time for resting and none for dreaming, as the edge of the timber, where the camp must be made, is seven miles from the summit. Taking the camping outfit and sufficient provisions for four or five days, the A NEW FEATURE. 57 sleio^h is loaded, the rest of the outfit is packed up, or buried in the snow, shovels being stuck up to mark the spot. This . precaution is necessary, for storms come suddenly and rage with fury along these mountain crests. The first half-mile or more is made in quick time, then over six or seven feet of snow the prospector drags his sleigh CO where there is wood for his camp-fire. At times this is no easy task, especially if the weather be stormy, for the winds blow the new fallen snow about so as completely to cover the track made by the man but litde ahead; at other times during fine weather and with a hard crust on the snow, it is only a pleasant run from the Pass down to the first camp in the Yukon Basin. In all except the most sheltered situations the tent is neces- sary for comfort, and the stove gives better satisfaction than the camp-fire, as it burns but little wood, is easier to cook over, and does not poison the eyes with smoke. It is a noticeable fact that there are fewer cases of snow blindness among those who use stoves than among those who crowd around a smoking camp-fire for cooking or for warmth. Comfort in making a trip of this kind will depend, in a great measure, upon the conveniences of camping, suitable clothing, and light, warm bedding. Yes, upon provisions, too, though often more depends upon the^cook than upon what is in the larder. Once on Lake Lindeman a new feature of the jour- ney presents itself. Those who make the trip in sum- mer will find the ice out of the lakes, but if an early start were made they would be able to cross Lake Lindeman 58 CONSTRUCTION OF BOATS. : and the other lakes of the chain by means of ice boats temporarily constructed. After the ist of May the lake course opens up and fairly good boats are a necessity. Until the last year it was necessary for every miner to carry a whip-saw with him with which to cut the timber for his craft, and whip-sawing was one of the picturesque, although not especially inviting, incidents of the trip. But a saw-mill has recently been constructed. The only timber used in the construction of boats on the lakes is a local kind of spruce. In the first place, the timber has to be discovered, and this is not the easiest thing in the world, because the timber around the lake is nearly all burned off, and there is none suitable for boat building. After the timber has been found comes the construction of a saw pit. To construct a saw pit it is necessary to find trees so arranged as to support cross-pieces, the stumps being cut at a proper distance from the ground so as to take the notched cross-pieces in. This requires four trees about equi-distant from one another, and the cross-pieces have to be fixed very firmly in place so as not to slip, as the log which is to be sawed is likely other- wise to be the cause of an accident. Often a good woodsman will be able to fell the tree which is to be sawed in such a way that it will fall into the pit, which saves the time and trouble of skidding the log up and rolling it in place after felling, which is frequently a very difficult task. From the slabs and boards thus roughly made the flat-boats are constructed, upon which the miners DANGEROUS WATER. 59 ice so as traverse the chain of lakes extending north from Chilkoot Pass. From the head of Lake Lindeman, on both sides to Lake Bennett, the general character of the country is mountainous, with narrow benches skirting the shore. The distance across Lake Lindeman is nearly eix miles, and from the foot of this lake about fifty yards of a portage is made of the one-mile river to Lake Bennett, because this stream is very crooked and full of rocks, making boat passage difficult and dangerous. Lake Bennett is twenty-six miles in length and is separated from Tagish Lake by a six-mile river. This lake is some fifteen miles long, and empties into Mud Lake through an outlet three miles long. Mud Lake is about ten miles in length, and at the foot of it open water is usually found in April. Open water will probably be passed before reaching this point in the rivers connecting the lakes, but firm ice at the sides afT .'ds good sledding; but at the foot of Mud Lake a raft or boat must be built. Dry timber can be found along the shores with which to build a raft, which will take everything to the Lewes River Canon, about forty miles to the northwest. The river cuts through high banks of cement and sand, where millions of martins have their nests. The little birds have usually bur- rowed into a stratum of sand which lies just under the crest of the perpendicular bank. For mile after mile the coping of this canon is decorated with a frieze of martins* nests. Usually there is a single line of these I I 60 PASSING THE RAPIDS. holes only a few inches apart, but somelimes it hap- pened that there are one or two lower deposits of the same quality of sand, and wherever the material oc- curs it is always utilized by the martins. For hundreds of miles down the river there is an almost unbroken throng of these little fellows, and they seemed to subsist wholly on mosquitoes. Miles Canon is the first piece of dangerous water encountered. Nineteen men have lost their lives during the last three years in the three miles of the Lewes River, which include this pass and the White Horse Rapids. The canon is about fifty yards wide with per- pendicular granite walls on either side. About midway there is an enlargement of the bed, which causes the formation of a very treacherous whirlpool. The natives believe that anything caught in this suction never re- appears. Its effect is to throw the water upon a central ride. To successfully pass these rapids one must keep his boat on top of this central crest. After emerging from the canon for about two miles the river runs through a flat country, and then it is crossed at right angles by a chain of hills similar to that at the canon, and again the river is hemmed in and is forced through a similar narrow and contracted outlet. White Horse Rapids, although in this case the water is confined for only a very short distance. At the rapids the hills do not approach very near to the river, but there is a margin, a plane of rock on either side, where one may approach and almost touch hands with those shooting A DROP TOO MUCH. 6i the rapids in a boat. It is in the apparent advantage that those projecting shelves ofter that the danger lies. In these three miles the river bed drops thirty-two feet. Two portages are made at White Horse, both of them short ones. The landing for the first is on the left or west bank. Sometimes a boat can be lowered through the first pitch with a rope, but the portage is safer. Below the portage the boat is paddled to the head of the last drop. This is " a drop too much" for any boatman to run. The channel closes in and the water goes down through with an angry roar. Fortunately, however, the portage is only about ico feet long. The rest of the river run to Lake Lebarge is clear. Lake Lebarge itself is thirty-one miles long and five miles wide. It is usual to steer straight for the island in the middle, and under its shelter work around to the east or west shore, according to the direction of the wind. From the foot of Lake Lebarge to the mouth of the inflowing Hootalinqua or Teslintoo River, the current is rapid and there are many rocks, but it is not dangerous. Below the junction with the Hootalinqua the river is large and calm, and there is easy going for about 130 miles to the Five-Finger Rapids. This is one of the two or three obstructions that interfere with the free naviga- tion of the river. A ledge of rock lies directly across the stream with four or five openings in it, that afford a scanty outlet for the congested current. The largest passage and the one commonly used is the one at the 62 SHOOTING THE RAPIDS. right shore. There is a considerable fall, but the water is not badly broken, the gateway being succeeded by several big waves, over which a boat glides with great rapidity, but with a smooth and even motion. Shooting this rapid is an exhilarating experience, but with careful management is not considered dangerous, as there is no record of any one being drowned here. It is well to have the boat fairly light before running the rapids. The run should then be made, landing on the right- hand side. Following the right-hand shore all the way for about five miles. Rink Rapids, one and a half miles in length (caused by a chain of rocks reaching nearly across the river) are reached. The right-hand side or east shore must be followed closely all the way. From this point the river is easy to navigate to its mouth. About fifty-five miles below the foot of Rink Rapids old Fort Selkirk is reached. It is situated near the conflu- ence of Pelly and Lewes Rivers. Here a trading post is run by an old-timer named Harper, and this is also a winter port for steamboats plying on the Yukon and its tributaries. The fort was pillaged and burned by coast Indians in 1852, and ruins of what were once chimneys only being seen. Continuing the journey, Stewart River is passed on the right ; then White River on the left, so named on account of its milky-looking water ; the next tributary on the same side is Sixty-Mile Creek, so called on account of its being considered sixty miles above Fort Reliance. Here the Yukon is over two miles in width. DISTANCES FROM DYEA. 5* The Klondike River and Dawson City are the next points of interest. James Ogilvie, surveyor for the Dominion Govern- ment, has made the following table of distances from Dyea or Ty-a, using ;;he Canadian name : MILKS. Headof canoe navigatiot I, Ty-a River, 5.90 Forks of Ty-a River 8.38 Summit of Chilkoot Pass, i4-7<^ Landing at Lake Lindeman, 23.06 P^oot of Lake Lindeman, 23.49 Head of Lake Bennett, 28.09 Foot of Lake Bennett, 53-85 Foot of Cariboo Crossing 5644 Foot of Tagish Lake, 73-25 Head of Marsh Lake, 78.15 Foot of Marsh Lake, 97-21 Headof Miles Caflon, 1 22.94 Foot of Miles Cafion, 123.56 Head of White Horse Rapids, 124.95 Foot of White Horse Rapids, 125.93 Tahkeena River, 139-92 . Head of Lake I^barge, * 53-^7 Foot of Lake Lebarge 184.22 •''• Teslintoo River, 215.88 Big Salmon River 249.33 • Little Salmon River, , 285.54 Five-Finger Rapids, 344-83 Felly River, 403.29 White River 499-1 1 Stewart River, 508.91 ' Sixty-Mile Creek, 530-4i Dawson, 575-7° Of all the overland routes to the Yukon gold fields the one via the Chilkoot Pass has been the most used by the miners. This is the oldest of the many routes, and jifi III ni ! 64 A NEW TRAIL. having been explored frequently by official expeditions of one kind and another vhe objections to it are pretty well understood, and many of its hardest places have been smoothed over. All along this route enterprising individuals have made improvements for the benefit of those who use it. The boarding-house at Sheep Camp, where meals are served at 50 cents apiece, and the saw- mill on Lake Lindeman, where boards are sold at jjio a thousand feet attest this fact. The trail leading up over White Pass it is believed will eventually very largely supersede the Chilkoot route. By taking this road the steej declivity just to the south of the Chilkoot Pass will be avoided. For even an Indian this is a hard bit of going, and especially when loaded down with from one to two hundred pounds of provisions. At the present time the argonauts at Dyea seeking an entrance to the gold fields are at logger- heads as to the relative merits of these two trails. Skaguay, the starting point for the White Pass, is five miles distant from Dyea, on the Skaguay River. The trail runs parallel with Chilkoot Pass, and at no great distance from it. Though the land carriage is somewhat longer by this, it appears to present less difficulty ior the construction of a practical trail or road. The distance from the coast to the summit is seventeen miles. Five miles of this are level bottom land thickly timbered. The next nine miles are in a narrow canon-like valley, where heavy work is encountered in constructing the trail. The remaining ROUTES COMPARED. 65 distance of three miles to the summit is comparatively easy. The summit has an altitude of 2,600 feet. Be- yond .the summit a wide valley is entered, and its descent to the first lake is not more than a hundred feet. The mountains rapidly decrease in height and abruptness after the summit is passed, and the valley divides, one branch leading to the head of Windy Arm of Tagish Lake ; the other, down which the water drains, going to Taku arm of the same lake. This route being over level country as compared with that over Chilkoot Pass, is much better adapted to the use of pack-horses and trains. It has been re- ported that parties with horses have been able to get all the way through to Lake Bennett. Firmly convinced that it will eventually prove the most feasible, about nine hundred miners are now working on this trail, filling in its bogs, cutting away boulders where they obstruct the path, -^nd putting things in shape for heavy travel. When finished, two days is the estimated time for the trip over this route. A couple of Englishmen have erected wharfs at Ska- guay, for the use of which they charge $2.50 a ton. Rather than pay this many of the miners take their freight from the steamers on rudely-constructed rafts and stack it on the beach. It has been reported that horses and catde are thrown overboard and made to swim ashore. The Canadians put great faith in the trail named after the Stickine River. A grant has just been made by the 66 A PACK TRAIN ESTABLISHED. 1" Dominion Government to J. C. Galbreath to cut through a distance of 1 50 miles from the headwaters of Telegraph Creek to Lake TesHn to make the route feasible. Enter- ing the Stickine River just above Fort Wrangel, this route goes up that river 175 miles to Telegraph Creek, and then almost due north along Telegraph Creek to the end of canoe navigation. From this point to Lake Teslin, a distance of 150 miles, the trail has been cut and a pack train established. The steamer " Alaska " is now carrying passengers to Telegraph Creek. The country over which the trail runs is reported to be a comparatively level plateau or tableland, and very few of the hardships to be encountered by miners traveling the Juneau route are to be met with. From Lake Teslin everything is described by members of Galbreath's party as being smooth and open-water traveling, without a break clear down through the outlet of the lake, Teslintoo or Hootalinqua River, into the Lewes and Yukon Rivers. A route from the head of Taku Inlet was explored by the Western Union Telegraph Survey thirty years ago ; and emissaries of the fur traders and occasional pros- pectors kept open the knowledge of the Indian trail. The first modern account of it, however, was given by the late Lieutenant Schwatka, U. S. A., who re-explored the route in 1891 during his third and last trip to Alaska. With him went Dr. C. Willard Hayes of the U. S. Geological Survey, two photographers, and a large party of helpers. , .:V EXPERIENCES DESCRIBED. 67 Leaving Juneau in the beginning of May of that year accompanied by eighteen natives, Schwatka went through Taku and traveled up the Taku River with his party in canoes until they reached the headwaters of that stream. Several manuscripts in which Lieutenant Schwa .ka de- scribes his experiences are extant. In one of these he says: "We reached the headwaters of the Taku fifteen days after we had started out from Juneau, taking plenty of time over our trip. We went up as far along the headwater stream as we could get, and only stopped when our frail canoes grounded on the soft gravel and could go no farther. Although I had left civilization with the distinct belief in the reports brought in to me by Indians concerning the existence of a trail over table- lands between the Taku and Lake Teslin, it was with a feeling of great relief that I discovered these reports to be correct. Each of our Indians carried 200 pounds, and we all started out with our feet wrapped in rags of moose and caribou skins. We had many strange expe- riences on this trip, coming across most peculiar changes in the contour of the country. Led by three Indians who had been with me on my trip in 1888 when I left Juneau for Lake Lindeman, we soon struck a trail, and for two days going was very light. Not knowing what we would have to encounter before we got to the end of our journey, I was content to made ten miles per day. "On the third day out, however, we found ourselves crossing such dangerous country that it was impossible 68 DANGERS ENCOUNTERED. r ■ to travel faster than five miles in twelve hours of travel- ing. The mosquitoes were terrible, and bit our ears, eyes, and all exposed parts so much that we had to stop for hours at a time to try to get relief from their bites. The Indians, with their heavy loads, suffered consider- ably in the latter part of the trip, their feet being badly swollen and galled. On the morning of the fifteenth day out from Taku we reached a mountain pass, about 5,000 feet high, and on turning down into a sharp de- clivity came in sight of Lake Tes'l Heen, as the Indians call it. It looked like a long, narrow strip of blue as far as we could see. That night we reached the water, unslung our portable canoes, and were once more afloat. The first use we made of our new position was to cap- ture ptarmigan and fish, a welcome relief from the carried canned provisions we had lived on so long." A second letter of Schwatka's, written to a friend in Juneau, and dispatched by Indians, over the tedious route he had already compassed, contained the fol- lowing : " When Naniwak starts with this letter, we will be away up the Hootalinqua River in our canoes. I will probably go on to the Thirty-Mile, come down into Lake Labarge, and then on through the Fifty-Mile River and Mud Lake into Bennett, where I will continue through Lindeman, and join you in civilization once more down my old stamping ground through the Chilkoot. The result of my exploration, so far, I am confident, will establish for the people of Juneau a route into the RESULT OF EXPLORATION. 69 Yukon country far superior to any yet discovered, far shorter and far more easy of action. As far as that old Stickine River route that so many people run wild over is concerned, I think that our trail from the headwaters of the Taku knocks it out of consideration completely. To show the difference in the time taken from the head- waters to Lake Taku by men who know this newly- discovered trail, and by men tha't don't, you ought to know that last year a party of miners took eighty days to make it, but they had no trail to guide them, and simply trusted to luck. We had the bulge on the trail, however, and did it in exactly fifteen days. They can send their exploration parties out wherever they want to, but I know enough about Alaska to be certain that the Taku route is the only way that people of Juneau will want to get to the Yukon country, when once they understand its immense advantages. I reckon that it beats the Stickine route forty days, besides being better traveling, and you must consider that even the old Stickine route beats my first run up through Lake Bennett just as much. The new Indian pass can easily be made practicable for pack-trains or wagon road, and, if necesFary, can be made to tap the Canadian Pacific Railway as well as the Yukon River country. The mos- quitoes still stay with us, and are committing terrible ravages on every one of our party. Nothing seems to keep them away." After reaching Lake Teslin, it will be noticed that Schwatka's route covers the same ground as the Stickine :o SCHWATKA'S TRAIL. trail, the great difference between the two being in the manner in which they reach the foot of the lake. There seems to be a great deal of discrepancy between the accounts given of the nature of the tablelands lying south of the lake by Mills and Schwatka. if what Mills says is correct, then the topographical features of the country must change in an alarming manner between very short points of distance, although even his roseate announcement about the conditions discovered by Call- breath's party does not obliterate the fact that their route is considerably longer than Schwatka's. After leaving Lake Teslin, no serious obstacle is en- countered, although the water toward its mouth is swift. From there the canoes run down the Lewes River, join- ing the regular line of overland travel. Schwatka returned from the Hootalinqua up through Lake Bennett, and reached Juneau safely in the latter part of 1 89 1, but stayed there only two days, leaving for the south by steamer before he had formulated any report of the new trail to Lake Teslin. He never re- turned to Alaska, dying at Portland, Ore., in Novem- ber, 1892. There is no doubt that several miners who went into the Taku River country last year followed over this path to reach Lake Teslin, guided in all proba- bility by members of the same Indian tribe as had piloted Schwatka through. A route to Dawson City, which was used some during the last summer, leads up over the Chilcat Pass, at the head of Chilcat Inlet, and thence follows what has been ng in the . There ween the ids lying hat Mills is of the between 5 roseate by Call- eir route :le is en- is swift, 'er, join- throupfh e latter leavincr ted any 2ver re- ^ovem- miners allowed proba- piloted duringr at the s been 1 1 ■ DALTON'S TRAIL. 73 ■ if dubbed Dalton's trail entirely overland to the Yukon River, just below old Fort Selkirk. It is particularly adapted for driving cattle into the interior. Quite a number of miners started for the Klondike this summer over the Hudson Bay trunk line. This line of traffic has been in use for a greater part of the way for over one hundred years. Leaving St. Paul at nine o'clock in the morning, by the Canadian Pacific Railway, the international bound- ary at Portal will be crossed at four o'clock the next morning. The following morning Calgary is reached, where the branch line of the Canadian Pacific north- ward is reached. After traveling to Edmonton, a point 200 miles from Calgary and 1,772 miles from Chicago, the rail portion of the journey ends. The railroad fare from Chicago is $53.65. A stage ride of 96 miles will bring one to Athabasca Landing. Here is to be found a continuous waterway for canoe travel to Fort Macpherson, near the mouth of the Mackenzie River, where Peel River enters from the south. From Edmonton to Fort Macpherson is about 1,816 miles. So far as navigation is concerned it would be feasible to float down these rivers and lakes to Fort Macpherson or to the Arctic Ocean. The Hudson Bay Company have long had a service of steamboats the whole distance during the short summer, and will take any quantity of passengers or freight, for which they have room. Indian canoe routes and trails lead overland from Fort Macpher- i A 74 FEASIBLE ROUTES. son to another post on Bell River, and up that stream and over a ^ass to the head-waters of Pocupine. This may be descended to Fort Yukon, or one may portage over rough mountains to the head of the Tatonduc River and descend almost straight to Forty-Mile. It is quite likely that some persons will take this route from Canada to the Yukon gold fields next year ; but at present it is too long, hazardous, and unknown to be recommended to any one. The foregoing include all the overland routes which are from present information at all feasible. The sea route from either Seattle or San Francisco is only open for three months of the year at the most. It is by far the most attractive route from a standpoint of comfort. From Seattle to St. Michael is 2,500 miles, and from St. Michael to Dawson is 2,200 more. Using San Francisco as the port of departure, the trip is lengthened by 400 miles. The cost of passage from Seattle to St. Michael, provisions included, is $165. The first boat up the Yukon in the spring reaches Circle City toward the end of June, and the last one leaves there early in September on the return trip to St. Michael's Island. Between the coming of these boats there is no communication with the outside world except by dog sledges over the mountains. The trip of 1,300 miles to St. Michael's Island can be made by dog sledge over the frozen river, but at that point the voy- ager would be but little better off than he was at Circle City or Klondike, as the ocean steamers only run in ill VARIOUS ROUTES. 75 connection with the Yukon River boats. The last steamer for this season left Seattle for St. Michael's Island early in August, and, if there is no unforeseen delay, ics passengers will be landed in Dawson City, the tented metropolis of the gold fields, about Septem- ber 1st A number of schemes for penetrating the territory traversed by the Upper Yukon by railroads have been under way for some time, and the recent heavy travel in that direction has ca'ised work on them to be pushed in earnest. What is generally considered the most feasible of these routes calls for a mixed rail-and-water route from Sault Ste. Marie, on Lake Superior, to the Yukon River. In an air line the distance from the " Soo ** to Dawson City is about 2,100 miles, but an air line is out of the question, owing to the rugged country lying between. The projected route, wh' h is proposed in sober earnest by men of prominence and means, who have been figuring upon the matter for the last year, calls for the building of about 625 miles of railway and the utilizing of practically all of the great navigable streams of the western half of British Columbia, as well as of Hudson's Bay. The first and longest stretch of railway would be be- tween Sault Ste. Marie and Hudson's Bay, touching at the mouth of the Moose River, a distance of about 400 miles. By building the first section from Missanabie, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, Hudson's Bay would be reached by 250 miles of rail. But the intention is to build the line to the Sault ultimately, independent of the 76 NAVIGATION. Canadian Pacific, although that road may be utilized at first from Missanabie to Lake Superior. From the end of the first rail line, at the mouth of the Moose River, there is a stretch of 1,300 miles of salt water, on the bay and on Ch'jsterfield Inlet, to the head of navigable water. The season of navigation on Hudson's Bay probably would be nearly as long as on Lake Superior, the salt water counterbalancing the more severe climate. From Chesterfield Inlet, 175 miles will reach Great Slave Lake, an enormous fresh-water sea, second only to the great lakes of this ^ountry in size. The outlet of Great Slave Lake is the Mackenzie River, one of the largest streams on the continent, and freely navigable without rapids or falls to the Arctic Ocean, a distance of 1,400 miles. The delta of the Mackenzie is only fifty miles from the Porcupine River, one of the principal affluents of the Yukon, which is navigable by steamers of large draft from the point where it is proposed to reach it with the fifty-mile strip of rail from the Mac- kenzie. The distance from the point where the rails would connect the Mackenzie and Porcupine Rivers to the mouth of the Porcupine at its junction with the Yukon is about 400 miles, the Porcupine emptying into the Yukon a short distance from Circle City. Dawson City, the main settlement of the Klondike region, is about 300 miles up the Yukon. The total distance of the proposed route from Sault Ste. Marie, the outlet of Lake Superior, to Dawson City would be about 4,025 miles, of which there would be ap- DISTANCE COMPARED. 77 proximately 625 miles of rail and 3,400 miles of wa^.er transportation. This distance compares most favorably with the shortest route at present known from the great lakes, which is overland to Seattle or Vancouver, thence by water to Juneau, over the mountains to Lake Ben- nett and thence down the Yukon River on a raft or boat. The three different sections of railroad would not be especially difficult to build, with the exception of the drawbacks suffered from short seasons. It would re- quire very much less to the mile to build than the Cana- dian Pacific has cost, partly because of the cheaper methods of construction, but mainly because the to- pography of the country through wh^ch the rails are to be laid presents fewer difficulties to the road-builder. The 250-miie section from Missanabie to St. James Bay, the lower part of Hudson's Bay, would lie along the valley of the Moose River for the entire distance of 250 miles, and having rail connection at its southern end, it could be built as cheaply as any other of the roads of northern Ontario. The hills on the route of the 175-mile section, between Chesterfield Inlet and Great Slave Lake are of only moderate elevation. The fifty- mile strip to connect the Mackenzie and Porcupine Rivers would pass through an almost level country, the extreme northern spurs of the Rocky Mountains fading away 100 miles to the southward. The intense cold of Alaska and of Arctic and sub- arctic British North America would not prove the bar to the building of railways and permanent occupation and development of the country which might be thought by 78 TEMPERATURE. !l residents of more favored climes. The temperature at Fort William, the principal Lake Superior port of the Canadian Pacific, and at the northern angle of the lake, often exceeds 50 degrees below zero, and it has reached 60, while eighteen months ago, in Minnesota, a short distance west of Duluth, the temperature dropped to 67 below zero. The coldest weather reported from Alaska or the Northwest Territory is but 72. It is also proposed to run a railroad from Telegraph Creek at the head of the Stickine River, on the coast of British Columbia, to Lake Teslin. It is claimed that the building of this road would be comparatively easy, and much the shortest rail route to the navigable inland waters. It runs through a mineral country which promises great future development of quartz mining. The Treadwell mine on Douglass Island is near its western end, and in the east it taps the western slope of the Cassiars. Like conditions will doubtless be found to prevail through almost its entire length, and the development of quartz iedges along its route will give it regular and continuous traffic in addition to supplying the through trade on the Yukon, all of whose gold- bearing tributaries are in easy reach. To the Yukon Mining, Trading & Transportation Company, proposing this road, t!ie Parliament of British Columbia at its las*, session gave full power to build its line and a land grant of 750,000 acres, wnich grants were confirmed by the Dominion Parliament at Ottawa last May, with additional privileges and concessions. CHAPTER IV. 11 THE OUTFIT OF AN ARGONAUT. The qualifications of a successful miDer — One temptation of the gold-digger — Pro* visions for the journey to Dawsoa City — Camping outfit and cooking utensils — The tool chest of a Lake Lindeman boat-builder — What to wear in low temper- atures — Supplies for a year's stay — Turnips by the pound — The Dawson City storekeeper's scale of prices — Reasons for lower prices — The custom houses at Dyea and LaKe Bennett — A few pointers for prospective Alaskans. TO be well prepared is half the battle won. This is the substance of an old adage which is peculiarly adapted to the case of one starting out to the Alaskan gold fields in the search of wealth, or even of a simple livelihood. The conditions of life in any newly-discov- ered mining country are such as to place a man on his metde, to bring out everything that is in him, to make him resourceful and self-reliant. But these things being equal, it is the one who has just the right equipment who will have the advantage when the going is hard and to all appearances pretty even. To be sober, strong, and healthy is the first requisite for any one who wants to battle successfully for a year or two in the frozen lands of the far North. A physique hardy enough to withstand the most rigorous climate is an absolute necessity. With a temperature varying from almost one hundred decrrees above zero in mid- summer to fifty, sixty, and even sevtnty below that point in winter, with weeks of foggy, damp, thawing weather, 79 ' ; SI I' ] 80 GOOD JUDGMENT REQUISITE. and with winds that rage at times with the violence of hunicanes, the man with a weak constitution is bound to suffer untold hardship. No one with weak lungs or subject to rheumatism ought to think of wintering along the Yukon. In short, making the venture means, ac- cording to one who has tried it, "packing provisions over pathless mountains, towing a heavy boat against a five to an eight-mile current, over battered boulders, digging in the bottomless frost, sleeping where night overtakes, fighting gnats and mosquitoes by the mil- lions, shooting seething cailons and rapids and enduring for seven long months a relentless cold which never rises above zero and frequently falls to eighty degrees below." If a man is able to mee t these conditions he is almost sure of making a good living and takes chances with the rest in making a fortune. It is not alone to the physical side of the question that one should look. Temperament counts for a great deal in the miner's life. Men should be of cheerful, hopeful dispositions and will- ing workers. Those of sullen, morose natures, although they may be good workers, are very apt, as soon as the novelty of the country wears off, to become dissatisfied, pessimistic, and melancholy. Good judgment is also a prime requisite. Once in the atmosphere of the gold country one hears constantly of newly-found placers which are reported to be vastly richer than anything yet discovered. With each such report scores of miners leave diggings which are vastly •uperior to those which they propose to seek six, twenty, WILD STORIES. 8i or one hundred miles away. If one is constantly on the jump from claim to claim there is evidently no time left for the only work that counts, separating the gold from its containing earths. One of the returning miners on the " Excelsior " said that the hardest work he had to do in the Klondike region was to keep pegging away at his claim, which, by the way, was a very good one, and give a deaf ear to the stories of fabulous wealth being found just beyond the nearest range of mountains. These stories are often put in circulation by people who are anxious to see certain claims forsaken by their owners that they themselves may step in and become the owners. As to the outfit, both that part of it which bears on the journey proper and those things which are to form the basis of existence for the stay in the gold country, the greatest care must be exercised. To meet with the largest measure of success and in order to be in a po- sition to move and work rapidly, which amounts to the same thing, one must Jtrike a happy medium between taking too much and leaving behind some of the numer- ous essentials. Joseph Ladue, who has spent years in this country and who is given credit for having founded Dawson City, says in regard to this : " It is a great mistake to take anything except what is necessary. The trip is a long, arduous one, and a man should not add one pound of baggage to hie outfit that can be dispensed with. I have known men who loaded themselves up with rifles, revolvers, and shot- 4 lis , *'i 11 i; 82 WINTER CLOTHING. guns. This is entirely unnecessary. Revolvers will get you into trouble, and there is no use of taking them with you, as large game of any character is rarely found on the trip. I have prospected through this region for some years and have only seen one moose. You will not see any large game whatever on your trip from Juneau to Dawson City, therefore do not take any fire- arms along." In addition to the great inconvenience of carrying a great deal of luggage it is a matter of continual expense. It is said that the Indians are disposed to gauge a man's ability to pay by the amount of baggage he takes with him, and scale their prices accordingly. At 15, 20, or 25 cents a pound for packing over the Chilkoot Pass it makes considerable difference whether a man has with him a hundred weight or half a ton of freight. Then there are steamer charges, wharfage fees, and often portage expenses to be defrayed, to say nothing of cus- toms duties. One hundred and fifty pounds of baggage is all that is allowed for a passenger on the Yukon River boats and those sailing from Seattle and San Fran- cisco for Alaskan ports. The general practice as to clothing for miners who re- main over winter is to adopt the dress of the natives. Water boots are made of seal or walrus skins ; dr\ weather, or winter boots, from various skins, fur trimmed. Trousers are made of Siberian fawn and marm^. skins, while the upper garment, combined with a hood, called tarka, is made of marmot trimmed with PROVISIONS. 83 long fur, which helps to protect the face of the person wearing it. Flannels can be worn under these, and not be any heavier than clothing worn in a country with zero weather. For bedding, woolen blankets are used, com- bined with fur robes. If the former are used it is well to be provided with two pairs. The best robes are of wolf skin, but they cost jiioo apiece. There are cheaper ones made of bear, mink, and fox skins. A good, stout pair of rubber boots is also essential. The boots made by the natives sell from $2 to $5 a pair. As to provisions, it is impossible to lay down any defi- nite scheme. The first consideration is to have enough to last for the journey from the coast to the interior. Figuring on thirty days as the shortest time possible in which this trip can be made, the supply ought to be about as follows : Twenty pounds of flour, twelve pounds of bacon, twelve pounds of beans, four pounds of butter, five pounds of vegetables; five pounds of dried fruits, four cans of condensed milk, five pounds of sugar, one pound of tea, three pounds of coffee, one and one-half pounds of salt, five pounds of corn-meal, a small portion of pepper and mustard, and baking-powder. To one accustomed to camp life there are many things in the way of utensils and apparatus generally that can be dispensed with which, to the man new to such modes of living, are, or seem to he, absolutely necessary. A pretty complete outfit includes matches, cooking utensils and dishes, frying pan, water kettle, duck tent, rubber ^-0 •a I ' (I. 1' 84 GNATS AND MOSQUITOES. i1 blanket, bean pot, drinking-cup, two plates, tea-pot, knife and fork, large cooking pan, small cooking pan. A fine addition to the culinary department will be a good assortment of fish-hooks, gill nets, and fishing tackle. These ought to be graded through the medium and small sizes. Alaskan fish are for the most part gamey. Ample provision must be made for the boat, raft, and sled building, which is a feature of every journey over- land. To this end these items will be found not only useful but absolutely necessary: One jack-plane, one whip-saw, one cross-cut saw, one rip-saw, one axe, one hatchet, one hunting-knife, one two-foot rule, six pounds of assorted nails, three pounds of oakum, five pounds of pitch, 1 50 feet of rope. Inasmuch as gnats and mosquitoes abound all over the Alaskan interior, some means of protection from their assaults must be provided. Mosquito netting is recom- mended, and it is well to buy that with the smallest mesh obtainable. Snow spectacles and a simple medicine chest ought to find a place in every outfit. One man ought never to try the trip alone, and where four or five pool their interests one tent, one stove, and one set of tools will suffice for the party. After the supplies for the trip to the mines have been decided upon, the more extensive task of laying in pro- visions for the stay can be taken up. A good, safe rule is to estimate on remaining on the Yukon a full year. If one decides later to prolong the time it will be easier to send back or go back to Juneau for further supplies !« A YEAR'S NECESSITIES. 85 than to be burdened with them during the first months of life in camp, and more especially when making the first trip over the mountains. A miner who, after spending long years in the Col- orado camp, went to Alaska to tempt fortune on the Klondike, gives the following list his indorsement as containing everything necessary for one man for one year: Flour, 400 lbs. ; corn-meal, 2-ios, 20 lbs.; rolled oats, 4-9S, 36 lbs. ; rice, 25 lbs.; beans, 100 lbs. ; sugar, 75 lbs. ; dried fruits (apples, peaches, apricots), 75 lbs. ; yeast cakes (6 in pkg.), 6 pkgs. ; candles, 40; dry salt pork, 25 lbs.; cvap. potatoes, 25 lbs.; evap. onions, 5 lbs. ; butter ; bacon, 1 50 lbs. ; dried beef, 30 lbs. ; ex- tract of beef (4 oz.), J^ doz. ; baking-powder, 10 lbs.; soda, 3 lbs. ; salt, 20 lbs.; pepper, i lb. ; mustard, ^ lb, ; ginger; coffee, 25 lbs.; tea, 10 lbs.; condensed milk, 2 doz.; soap (laundry), 5 lbs.; soap (toilet), 5 cakes; matches, can of 60 pkgs. ; tobacco ; compressed soup, 3doz. ; compressed soup vegetables, 10 lbs.; Jamaica ginger (4 oz.), 2 bottles ; stove, i ; gold pan, i ; granite buckets, 2 ; knives and forks, i each ; spoons, 3 tea and 3 table ; Quaker bread-pan, i ; cups, 2 ; plates (tin), 3 ; whetstone, i ; coffee-pot, i ; picks and handles, i ; sleds ; hatchet, i ; saws (whip), i ; saws (hand), i ; shovel, i ; nails, 20 lbs. ; files (assorted), J^ doz.; axe and handle, I ; draw knife, i ; plane, i ; brace and bitt, 1 ; chisels (assorted), 3 ; butcher knife, i ; compass, i ; revolver, I ; evap. vinegar, i qt. ; rope (yi inch), icx) ft.; medi- cine case; pitch; oakum; fry pan, i. *::; 86 SCALE OF PRICES. 'i i m m As a general rule miners find it to best advantage to buy the larger part of their outfits in Juneau rather than in the United States or on the Yukon. Buying in the United States one has to pay the freight to Juneau or Skaguay, and perhaps wharfage at those points. The prices prevailing in Juneau for the necessary commodi- ties are not prohibitory at all. But the same cannot be said of the tariff in vogue among the storekeepers of Dawson City» as witness the following scale of prices : Flour, per loo lbs., $12 ; moose ham, per lb., $1 ; cari- bou meat, per lb., 65 cts.; beans, per lb., 10 cts. ; rice, per lb., 25 cts. ; sugar, per lb., 25 cts. ; bacon, per lb., 40 cts. ; butter, per roll, $1.50; eggs, per doz., $1.50; better eggs, per doz., fi ; salmon, each, $1 to $1.50 ; potatoes, per lb., 25 cts. ; turnips, per lb., 15 cts. ; tea, per lb., $1 : coffee, per lb., 50 cts. ; dried fruits, per lb., 35 cts. ; canned fruits, 50 cts. ; canned meats, 75 cts. ; lemons, each, 20 cts. ; oranges, each, 50 cts. ; tobacco, per lb., $1.50; liquors, per drink, 50 cts. ; shovels, {^2.50; picks, J^5 ; coal oil, per gallon, $1 ; overalls, $1.50; underwear, per suit, $$ to $7.50; shoes, $5 ; rubber boots, JJio to ^15 ; lumber, per 1,000 feet, $150. In some of the camps further back from the river even higher prices prevail. Some idea of them can be gained from the following: — Bacon, per lb., 75 cts.; coffee, per lb.,$i ; sugar, per lb., 50 cts. ; eggs, per doz., $2 ; con- densed milk, per can, $1 ; picks, each, $1$; shovels, each, $15. Of course, a few months will make a great difference CLOTHING OUTFIT. 87 In these matters. Already the steamboat companies doing business on the Yukon are making plans to send thousands of tons of food supplies and clothing to the gold fields when the ice breaks up next summer. Their efforts will be largely supplemented by private enter- prises of one kind and another, so that it is confidently expected that the exorbitant rates which now obtain on the Klondike will be materially reduced next summer. A good clothing outfit for a year's stay is this:— Two pairs heaviest wool socks, one pair Canadian lara- gans or shoe packs, one pair German socks, two pairs heaviest woolen blankets, one oil blanket or canvas, one mackinaw suit, two heavy flannel shirts, two pairs heavy overalls, two suits heavy woolen underwear, one pair rubber boots (crack proof preferable), one pair snow- shoes, heavy cap, fleece-lined mittens. To the prosperous mechanic or business man this list may look a little scant as to some of its numbers. For the enlightenment of those who would be thus critical be it said that it is the custom among miners to resort to fre- quent washings and mendings rather than to carry along a great variety and large number of the various articles of apparel. The situation in Alaska as regards the collection of customs duties is, to say the least, a little complicated at the present moment. Acting under orders from Secretary Gage, the newly-appointed collector for the territory, Mr. Ivey, of Oregon, has established a sub- port of entry at Dyea. Of course, after the machinery I I' 88 TREATY PROVISIONS. of this new custom house has become sufficiently clock- like in its workings, goods from the United States des- tined for the Klondike, will be inspected, tagged, and sent in bond over the passes to the Canadian custom house to be established on Lake Bennett in just the same way as it is done with baggage belonging to passengers on Michigan Central trains going from Buffalo to Chicago. Twelve Canadian customs officials have started for the interior where they will set up an office on the portage between Lakes Bennett and Tagish, a point by which all Yukon or Klondike travelers must pass if they start from Dyea or Skaguay. The rate of duty will average about JJ30 on the average outfit of a Yukoner. The officers are well armed, and will have the assistance of the mounted police to enforce the collection of duties. Further down the river will be stationed guards to in- tercept any one who might elude the vigilance of the officers. ' American miners who have investigated the ques- tion, assert that the treaty between Russia and Great Britain provided that the Yukon, Porcupine, and Skeena Rivers should be free for commercial purposes and ex- empted from the imposition of customs duties. The Canadians evade the point at issue by claiming that prospectors crossing the mountain ranges to the lakes or headwaters of the Yukon do not go into the terri- tory ma any of the rivers mentioned, but that they cross Canadian territory, and before they can reach the Yukon the duty is exacted. ^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // : ^ >. ^/ .4^ V :^ 8» "'^ c**'^>^ 1.0 ^lifi 1^ V lU 12.2 I.I urn 1.25 1 ''^ '-^ ^=^ 1 ^ ^ // ^1 w "X 75 V2 / Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 VvSST MAIN STREET W2BSTE* N.Y. MSSO (716) k73-4S03 ^ w CACHE OF PROVISIONS. 91 The Canadian officers are taking with them a full year's supplies, and with the assistance of the mounted police propose to maintain an official monthly mail service, for official purposes only, between the Klondike and Ottawa. In conclusion, here are a few pointers dictated by ex- perience for the benefit of the Klondiker. For the most part their observance will involve but little trouble, and, on the other hand, will add vastly to one's comfort while in the frozen lands : Don't waste a single ounce of anything, even if you don't like it. Put it away and it will come handy when you will like it. If it is ever necessary to cache a load of provisions, put all articles next to the ground which will be most affected by heat, providing at the same time that damp- ness will not affect their food properties to any great extent. After piling your stuff, carefully heap heavy rocks over it. Take your compass bearings, and also note in your pocket some landmarks near by, and also the direction in which they lie from your cache — i, e.t make your cache, if possible, come between ex- actly north and south of two given prominent marks. In this way, even though covered by snow, you can locate your "existence." Don't forget that this may be the proper name for it at some future time. Shoot a dog, if you have to, behind the base of the skull ; a horse between the ears, ranging downward. Press the trigger of your rifle. Don't pull it. Don't 92 IMPORTANT POINTS. [ I catch hold of the b-^rrel when thirty degrees below zero is registered. Watch out against getting snow in your barrel. If you do, don't shoot it out or the gun may and probably will burst. A little dry grass or hay in the inside of your mittens, next your hands, will help retain the heat, especially when they get damp from the moisture of your hands. After taking off your mittens, remove the hay ond dry it. Failing that, throw it away. If by any chance you are traveling across a plain (no trail) and a fog comes up, or a blinding snowstorm, either of which will prevent you from taking your bear- ings, camp, and don't move, no matter what any one may urge, until the weather becomes clear again. Keep all your draw-strings on clothing in good repair. Don't forget to use your goggles when the sun is bright on snow, A fellow is often tempted to leave them off. Don't you do it. Travel as much on clear ice toward your goal as pos- sible in the spring. Don't try to pull sledges over snow, especially when it is soft or crusty. If you build a sledge for extreme cold don't use steel runners. Make wooden ones, and freeze water on them before starting out. Repeat the process if the sled begins to drag and screech. In building a sledge use lashing entirely. Bolts and screws rack a sledge to pieces in rough going, while lashing will "give," Take plenty of tow for packing possible cracks in your POINTS CONTINUED. 93 boat, also two pounds of good putty, some canvas, and, if possible, a small can of tar or white lead. Establish camp rules, especially regarding the food. Allot rations, less while idle than when at work, and also varying with the seasons, a man requiring less food, or at any rate less of certain kinds in warm than in cold weather. Keep your furs in good repair. One little slit may cause you untold agony during a march in a heavy storm. You cannot tell when such a storm will overtake you. No man can continuously drag more than his own weight. Remember th s is a fact. Be sure during the winter to watch your foot-gear care- fully. Change wet stockings before they freeze, or you may lose a toe or foot. Keep the hood of your kooletah back from your head if not too cold, and allow the moisture from your body to escape that way. If your furs get wet dry them in a medium tempera- ture. Don't hold them near a fire. When your nose is bitterly cold stuff both nostrils with fur, cotton, wool, or anything else soft enough. The pain will cease. Don't try to carry more than forty pounds of stuff over a stiff climb, at least the first day. In cases of extreme cold at toes and heel, wrap a piece of fur over each extremity. Keep your sleeping-bag clean. If it becomes inhab- ited with vermin freeze the inhabitants out. t i^m ip ' I 94 POINTS CONCLUDED. Remember success follows economy and persistency on an expedition like yours. White snow over a crevasse, if hard, is safe ; yellow or dirty color, never. Don't eat snow or ice. Go thirsty until yc i can melt it. Shoot a deer behind the left shoulder or in the head. Choose your bunk as far from tent door as possible. Keep a fire hole open near your camp. The man who knows little now will come back know- ing more than he who knew it all before starting, - CHAPTER V. THE MINING CAMPS OF THE UPPER YUKON : THEIR LIFE AND LAWS. Phases of Human Existence in the Ice-Bound Towns — Circle City as a Base of Supplies and the Metropolis of the Yukon Country — Fort Cudahy arid the Fairious Forty-Mile Post — Do^s by the Hundred — Homes Without the Vanities of Civilized Regions — Gambling with Big Stakes — Liquor Traffic and Its Evils— The Boom at Dawson City— Some Strange Things About the Mail Service — A Small For- •tune Spent in Delivering Each Mail Bag — Bottles of Gold the Legal Tender — The Canadian Mounted Police. NOWHERE else on earth will the student of hu^nan nature find more to interest him than in the mining camps of the frontier. In no other spot will he find the conditions which surround the existence of man so strangely varied. The sudden gathering of all classes, races and ages, widely separated in birth and breeding, character and customs and tongue, confronted by the greatest hardships, surrounded by the extremes of human joy and human sorrow, brings about a situa- tion that forms a basis for many startling chapters in the book of life. The ice-bound camps of the great Yukon have not been very different in history from those which have ex- isted elsewhere in other times, but some of the phases of life familiar in the outposts of civilization, where the greed for gold has been the great factor of the day, have been accentuated by the isolation and the peculiar hard- ships which the men who lived there encountered. There has been a notably small amount of the more important 9S Wr f rd 96 tAWIyESSNSSS. forms of vice. The people seem less indifferent to the rights of their neighbors, less careless about the sanctity of human life than in other mining camps. This may be because the inhabitants of the ice bound camps feel that the great distance of the places from outside help, makes It necessary that they should, by simple laws of their own, keep in check the dangerous tendencies of such com- munities, or it may be because the red record of other mining towns has taught humanity a lesson that is not to be soon forgotten. Lawlessness there is, and probably always will be where men are gathered under such cir- cumstances, but the verdict of the best authorities seems to be that Dawson City is morally a better place in 1897 than Leadville was in 1879, or Cripple Creek was in 1895 and 1 896. In the scramble for treasure, the sordid selfish- ness of humanity has not covered up the tenderness and sympathy and generosity that is in the hearts of nearly all men, and there are many cases in the annals of the Yukon country which go to show that the sunny side of life shines quite as brightly sometimes in the arc- tic regions of the United States as it does in the metrop- olis of the nation. Circle City was up to the time of the Klondike dis- covery the most important town of the Yukon country. It was a base of supplies for hundreds of prospectors, and in its palmiest days was a lively town. Until last winter the miners spent most of their time in the town, as they had not learned the trick of working the frozen ground. This made different forms of amusement popu- lar, and the town boasted in addition to its gaming and .,,,'')'■• CIRCI^E CITY. 97 small dance halls, two variety theatres. Circle City stands ou a level plain near the most northern bend of the Yukon River. It obtains its name from its proxim- ity to the Arctic Circle. In the back-ground is the low range of hills, across which runs the now well-known portage of six miles to Birch Creek. Circle City is a log town. Four hundred buildings constructed of roughly hewed logs line the streets. The style of architecture is unvaried. Whether the building is large or small it is low and square with wide project- ing eaves and a roof covered with dirt. The cracks be- tween the logs are chinked with mud, moss, paper and old clothes. The smaller cabins can be built by a couple of men in a few days, and when completed, they rent for $15 or Ji20 a month. The lots on which they are built can be bought for $2.50 from the town clerk, and the house and ground together bring from $300 to $500 ac- cording to location. The building logs are rafted down the river froii* some wooded islands twenty miles above. Some simple methods of sawing have now been adopted, and by paying a good price, crude boards can be ob- tained. It was once said that there were more dogs in Circle City to each inhabitant than in any other town in the world. There were so many that no attempt was made to feed them all, and as a result, in their foraging for food, they became a nuisance. So ravenous were many of them that even miners* boots, brushes and other valu- able articles were torn in pieces and devoured by them. Every available dog has been hurried off to the Klondike V m I id * '-a ^i: i IE mmmmrmu mijili ^ . 98 BSKIMO DOOa as a beast of burden, and no doubt, more than one of them will have fallen a prey to the appetite of man before they see Circle City again Robert Krook, the Swedish Klondike miner, says that Eskimo dogs will draw 200 pounds each on a sled, so that six dogs will draw a year's supplies for one man. He, however, puts in the proviso that the sleds should not have iron runners, because the snow sticks to the iron and increases the friction so much that the dogs cannot haul more than 100 pounds apiece. With brass runners this drawback is obviated. Last winter Eskimo dogs cost from $y$ to $200 apiece, and he does not think the price will increase materially, because when the de- mand is known the supply from other parts of Alaska will be plentiful at Dyea and other points along the Yu- kon. Sometimes the feet of the dogs get sore and then the Indians fit mocassins on them ; as soon, however, as the tenderness is gone from their feet, the dogs will bite and tear the mocassins off. In speaking of the dogs, he said that they need no lines to guide them and are very intelligent, learning readily to obey a command to turn in any direction or to stop. They have to be watched closely, as they will attack and devour stores left in their way, especially bacon, which must be hung up out of their reach. At night, when camp is pitched, the moment a blanket is thrown upon the ground they will run into it and curl up, and neither cuffs nor kicks suffice to budge them. They lie as close up to the men who own them as possible, and the miner cannot wrap himself up so close that they won't get under his _l "_W QtSER tBAMS. 99 blanket with him. They are human, too, in their disin- clination to get out in the morning. Where sleds cannot be used, the dogs will carry fifty pounds apiece in saddlebags, slung across their backs in pannier fashion. Nature has fitted these dogs for their work, and mastiffs and St. Bernards are not as serviceable. The two lat.er breeds cannot stand the intense cold so well, and though at first they will draw the sleds cheerfully, their feet cannot resist the strain, and begin to bleed so freely that the dogs are useless. The pads under the feet of the Eskimo dogs are of tougher skin. • " Circle City came into existence when some half- breed Indians discovered gold in considerable quantities on Birch Creek, several years ago. Supplies from down the Yukon River began early to pass through the town and over the portage to Birch Creek. The cost of transportation is JJ45 for 100 pounds and upwards, which high rate is felt severely by the miners. Once on Birch Creek the supplies are sent up the stream by boats, which are propelled by the slow poling process. One of the queer teams, until recently, engaged in the supply traffic to the creek, was composed of a moose, which had been caught when a calf and trained, and a mule. The moose, which was the pride of its owner, a Circle City merchant, was shot one day by a tenderfoot, who had heard many stories of Alaska game, and believed the animal had wandered into the town in search of food. The theatres in Circle City are not supplied with th^ ;: 111 i!:4f r> 100 THEATRICAI^. best talent in the land, but there is frequently a "show" at one or the other, and if the scenery and surroundings are not of the most pretentious, the result is not seen in a small audience. One of the theatrical troops which visited Circle City last winter was composed of six young women and five men, who walked something like 500 miles in the course of their journey for the purpose of amusing the miners. They were all dressed in Mackinaw suits with trousers. The present conception of the popular taste in Alaska seems to be that the public wants a strong show, and in the attempt to meet the demand the managers cannot find anything up to the standard in books and are driven to the point of inventing new features. ** The man from Douglas Island " was an original drama that was offered to the people of Juneau. The title had local significance, as Douglas Island is just across the channel from the town. It was a very successful play. The hero was a barkeeper named Charlie, and the hero- ine, to use the hero's own words, was a " perfect lady," who had a desire to see something of the town with a fancy, rather unusual in a person of that description, for incidentally "hitting the pipe." There was a bootblack, a Chinaman, an Irish policeman, a dude and a number of sports and "ladies " in the piece. After the requisite amount of adversity and bad luck had been ground out, the hero, with the help of the bootblack, triumphed over the dude, got a "pull" with the policeman, married the heroine and otherwise attained brilliant success as the proprietor of the "finest joint in the town," to quote his own language again. DISTRIBUTINO UAH. 101 Up to within the last few months it was the custom in Circle City for the postmaster, upon the arrival of the mail, to stand upon a shoe-box before the assembled populace and read off the address on each letter. Each fortunate man would step up as his name was called and get his letter, and be envied by his lucky fellow citi- zen. There were some touching scenes on these occa- sions. Many of the men had not heard from home and friends for many months, some of them not for years. There were many surprises in the letters. Some of them brought joy to the hearts of those who read them, but there were others to whom the missives meant only disappointment and grief, and so smil s and tears mixed in the motley gathering. There are three or four doctor and as many lawyers, though briefless ones, for the days of litigation have not v^ome, and nearly every walk of life is represented for better or worse in this arctic city. Nobody bothers about free or any other kind of coinage. Dust is the legal tender and it is passed about in bags and bottles, big and little, with the same freedom that the Philadel- phian exchanges his coins for pins and potatoes. Of course, much of the dust which has cost so much to gain in labor and time and hardship goes easily and rapidly over the bars in the saloons, and into the pockets of the men who shuffle dirty cards for a living, and into the hands of painted-faced women, who dance very badly for the amusement of their motley audiences. When a Circle City man has been there long enough to acquire a quantity of p-old dust, in the absence of a I'm 1 ' . ii < 'll I02 BUCKSKIN GOI^D BAGS. bank, he takes it around and puts it into Jack McQues- tion's or Capt. Healy's safe ; that is, those who do not care to keep it themselves. Miners are susceptible to the fascination of the dance hall and to the click of ivory chips, and they know it is better not to have their gold too convenient. They are much addicted to tossing their nuggets over the bar and saying : *' Here, Mack — never mind the change; I'll dance it all out !" \So they take their buckskin bags and hand them over the counter. Some are long and slender, with more room than dust in them, while others are bulky and well-filled like shot bags '; but the striking thing about it is that there is no account taken of them. The owner's name is generally written on the bag, but the dust is not weighed, nor is any entry made or receipt given for it. In their relations to each other these men are much like a big family. In one safe were nuggets and dust to the amount of something over $100,000. Fort Cudahy and Forty-Mile Post are on opposite sides of Forty-Mile Creek at the point where it joins the Yukon. Being in British territory where they are under the eyes of the Canadian police, law and order are pre- served with somewhat less difficulty than at Circle City. The latter town suffers much from the constant influx of undesirable characters who escape across the border in search of safety on the American side. Forty Mile is the most important of the two settlements, and the indi- cations point to a prosperous future for it. There are some 250 cabins there and the number is being con- stantly added to. No animal save man and dog was AI4ASKA COMMERCIAIv COMPANY. 103 seen in its streets until recently, and there is not a wheel- ed vehicle in the place. The Alaska Commercial Company has a two-story building for its agents' office, and there are others ; a few saloons and stores and the Pioneer Hotel, but there is one form of architecture that seems to fill all the re- quirements of the climate and of taste. It is a log house twenty feet square, with a perfectly flat, dirt- covered top. The top of the house is a hanging gar- den, which, if the structure is more than a year old, is covered with a rank growth of weeds. When the town begins to take some note of its appearance the mowing of the roof will be one of the householder's regular duties. It would be hard to find anything else than dirt that would keep out the cold. In building such a house there is a groove cut in what is to be the underside of each log, that it may fit down snug to the timber just beneath it, and there is a packing of moss put in all the joints between the logs to fill all possible inequalities. Moss is the best non-conductor of heat or cold that the country affords, and it is put to a variety of uses in building. To make a roof a course of stout poles is first laid across, and after that a thick coating of moss ; then the flower garden is put on — that is, about a foot of dirt. There is no floor, except the natural one, and the furni- ture is an after consideration, made to suit the require- ments of the occupants ; a bedstead made altogether of poles, as is usually the table also, chairs of great variety of design and finish, a moose-skin rug or two, and the ; I'iJl M- ■] i» M m ( ,: ^ U I04 FORTY MILE HOUSE. invariable Yukon stove. The latter is made of sheet- iron, and weighs about twenty-five pounds. There are no vanities of any sort about a Forty Mile house. It is made primarily to keep out the cold. It has a single door — extending no higher or lower or wider than is necessary for getting in or out — and a single window of four small panes of glass. In winter another sash is put in to make a double thickness. forty Mile suffers, as do all the towns of the Yukon country, because of the uncertainty about supplies. Each boat on tlie river carries goods to its utmost capacity, but even that is not enough, and when the next boat happens to be a week of two late the price of provisions rises as rapidly from day to day as does wheat in the pro- duce exchange in biill times. Arrangements are, how- ever, being perfected to do away with this difHculty, and human ingenuity will undoubtedly succeed at this task. The great man of Forty Mile is at present a Swede named Johnny Miller. He has been in Alaska eight years, and hope had nearly failed him when last winter he started a hole in the ground out of which he took within a few weeks more than 250 pounds of the yellow metal, and he is still taking it out. The gold diggings of the Yukon are graded according to their depth as winter and summer mines, a classifica- tion that has been recognized only within the last two years. Until within that time the miners considered it impracticable to do any work in the winter, and so they hibernated for eight long, dark months, consuming what they had earned during the short summer season. Win- WINTB& WORK. 105 ter was a time for gambling and dissipation, and they all collected at Forty Mile, and whiled away the long night of self-imposed imprisonment. Though the people of Forty Mile still expect quite a muster from the mines at the approach of cold weather, there is a very radical change from the old order. They have discovered that they can accomplish more in winter than in summer, and as a consequence the working year is three times as long as it used to be. And here comes in the utility of classifying the diggings according to their depth. If the gold lies only from two to six or seven feet from the surface it is necessary to remove all the worthless ground, throwing it to one side until after the pay dirt is taken out, after which it may be piled where it was originally taken from. The difficulty of such min- ing is increased threefold by the fact that the ground is frozen. Every foot of it, either in sinking or drifting, has to be thawed by small fires. The shallower mines — the whole process being in the open air — are worked in summer. In the other kind, where the gravel is more than seven feet from the surface, they sink a shaft for a beginning, and then burrow or drift under the superficial part, removing only enough dirt to allow space to work in. These operations being under ground, where the miner is protected from the weather, are better adapted for the cold season. So the miner builds his cabin at the mouth of his shafts gets in a supply of wood to the most accessible place, and tranquilly views the approach of cold weather. If he is of provident habit it is not necessary for him to " IN io6 DAWSON CITY. expose himself greatly. He must bring to the surface and dump possibly a ton of "dead" ground in a day, and also carry and leave in a safe place a few hundred pounds of pay gravel. There is no necessity for being out of doors more than a minute or two at a time. If one is prepared, for them, the winters at the mines are not billing bad by any means. Seventy degrees be- low zero is about the coldest, but that is not of frequent occurrence. There is a good deal of dry, still weather, with the thermometer from io°to 30® below, and as much probably, early and late iii the season, when it hardly falls below the zero mark. August and September are the months for preparing for winter and also for prospecting. During that time a great many of the men hunt for awhile and endeavor to lay in a supply of fresh meat. West of tfie Klondike River at its junction with the Yukon and on the north bank of the latter is located the now world famous camp called Dawson City. It is the metropolis of the Klondike country and if not the largest city in the world, it now takes first rank among the live- liest and most thriving. For months thousands have turned their eyes toward it longingly. Hundreds have arrived there within the last few weeks and hundreds more are striving with all the energy and persistence man is capable of to get there. Unless something un- forseen occurs it will have many thousands within its fold before another year has passed. In the meantime; all isbusde. Homes, ofHces, stores, churches and all the other requisites of a big town in the way of buildings are Ml' y-- mppqinf Piwpp rikce day, dred >eing lines i be- uent ther, nuch irdly mng nea jr to I the I the 3 the •gest live- bave liave reds ence un- 1 its timf; [the (are Chilkoot Mountains — Route to Mines. Mt. St. Elias and, Mum Glazier, BUSINESS HOUSES. 109 being hurried to completion for present and future uses and hundreds of busy hands are delving in the gulches and canons and mountains and streams beyond for the yellow treasure that brought Dawson into existence. Dawson City is in the character of its buildings and inhabitants much like its sister camps. There are at present two stores. One of the Alaska Commercial Company, the other of the North American Transporta- tion and Trading Company. On these two establish- ments everyone who goes to Dawson without provisions must rely mainly. Even those who have a good outfit will find it often necessary to patronize one or other of the stores. Prices are on an average three times as high as at Juneau or St. Michaels and four to five times as steep as in San Francisco. When the winter is nearly over and supplies begin to run short prices are, as a consequence, raised. Toward the close of last winter before the new supplies came up the river prices were doubled. All through the winter men arrive at such mining towns as Dawson City, bringing with them from one to two tons of food and clothing. They go up the streams and peddle their goods, taking care to lose nothing for their time and trouble. There is but one blackirmith shop and to this place all the miners for miles around must go to have their tools repaired or for the purpos'j of getting implements made to order which the stores cannot supply. Dawson City can boast of two good practicing physi- cians — Police Surgeon Wills and another doctor who went from Circle City tc Dawson last year. They carry c I lif.iiyi» " » — ap IIO WAGES PRBVAIUNO. ■■■ I.; their own supplies of staple drugs and medicines, so as to be able to compound their own prescriptions. Ordi- nary remedies are to be obtained at the two trading stores. There was one lodging-house in Dawson last winter, though the name lodging-house is a courtesy in this case. It was a low, log house and is now being re- placed by a better one. Laborers in the mines and handicraftsmen fare about the same, though carpenters last winter obtained $20 a day, whereas miners got $15. The difficulty is to find men willing to work at their trades. The cost of living at Dawson for a man living alone varies from $5.00 to $10.00 a day. Single m 's have been costing $1.50. There are two assayers nd fifty will be there by next spring probably. Overalls cost $3.00 a pair; stockings, $1.50; coats and trousers, $10.00 each and upwards ; shoes, $8.00 a pair ; shirts, JJ5.00; flour, $12.00 per hundred; pans, $2.50; picks, $7.00, and so on. Joseph Ladue, one of the most celebrated of the Alaska bonanza kings, was the founder of Dawson City and the owner of the site. He has done much to insure the future prosperity of the city by encouraging the building of a school house and promoting other institu- tions. While there has been much of the usual excite- ment of the mining camp at Dawson, considering the character of the population very litde trouble of any kind has thus far been reported. Gambling for high stakes is to be seen on every side, but the Canadian government is making a desperate effort to curb the NO I^IQUORS. Ill liquor traffic and its consequent evils. The law against carrying fire arms is as strictly enforced as is possible, and the result of this is noteworthy. Collector Ivey, who has gone to Alaska to assume charge of the customs district of that Territory, it is understood, has specific instructions from the Treasury Department to enforce to the letter the executive order restricting the importation and sale of liquors in Alaska. Under the laws governing the Territory of Alaska, no liquors, malt or vinous, can be imported, manufactured, or sold there, save by a special permit, allowing their use for medicinal, mechanical or scientific purposes. Despite this regulation, there are now in Alaska fi\ ^ breweries in operation, and 142 other places where liquors are sold. Alaska is in the internal revenue dis- trict of Oregon, and during the year 1896 there were 147 special taxes collected from persons engaged in sell- ing liquor. There are numerous saloons in Juneau, Sitka, and other Alaskan towns where liquor is obtained for the asking, and no attempt is made to conceal the fact that this business is being carried on. The special tax which every one in the liquor business is forced to pay is not issued as a license, or to afford any protection to the holder, as it is expressly stated thereon that the same shall not be in conflict with any municipal, county or State laws concerning the regulation of the liquor traffic. The sale of liquor in Alaska is only allowed under the Executive order for medicinal, mechanical or scientific purposes, by persons who obtain a permit to do so from i'i r w 112 8PBCIAL RBGUI^ATIONS. the Governor of the Territory. Before the permit is issued the applicant has to make an affidavit and furnish a bond in not less than $500 that he will not sell intoxi- cating liquors to any person not known to him, or duly identified, nor to a person in the habit of becoming in- toxicated, nor on his premises, and that he will make full returns of the disposition of liquor he is permitted to have. Every person under the regulations who secures a permit from the Governor to sell liquors for medicinal, mechanical and scientific purposes is required to secure from the Collector of the Oregon district a special tax receipt as a liquor dealer. Two of the breweries pay a special tax on the manufacture of 500 barrels of beer or over, and the remaing three on less than 500. The other special taxes are issued to druggists and retail liquor dealers. Just ho y five breweries and 142 other places can find it a paying business to sell liquors only for medicinal, mechanical and scientific purposes is the question that Collector Iv^y has to wresde with. It is understood that he has explicit instructions to enforce the regulations against liquor in his district, and, if he does, the law, hitherto more honored in the breach than in its obser- vance, is likely to become odious, and be followed by a strong effort to secure the removal of the present re- strictions. On the American side the only laws which are en- forced to keep order in the camps are such as the peo- ple themselves have made. Lynch law and the regula- tions of the Vigilantes, who are organized in the larger MOUNTED POUCS. "3 towns, are the only codes really effective, as the forces of the American government do not at present extend beyond the older settlements of the coast. But on the Canadian side the case is different. Here and there among the mass of matter that has been written concerning the wonderful Klondike mines, brief allusions have been made to the fact that a little body of mounted police has been patrolling the district ever since the excitement began, keeping perfect order and preserving among the constandy swelling popula- tions of the various camps as peaceable conditions as can be found in the heart of any highly civilized commu- nity. And in all the speculation concerning the future of the locality, its probable immense growth and the fear of starvation, sickness and death, no fear has ever been expressed that anything in the nature of lawlessness or crime may get the upper hand and run rampant, or that property rights and safety of the person will be in the least danger. * Though the excellent British mining laws, or rather, laws founded by the Canadians on British precedent, are in the main responsible for this feelin^ of security, the men who undertake their enforcement are, after all, en- titled to a great share of the credit, for good laws, illy enforced, are worse than useless. The Northwest Mounted Police of Canada, a body whose wonderful dis- cipline and bravery have given the Dominion food for most of her later literature, are the officers in whose hands has been placed the carrying out of these laws, and at this time, therefore, something concerning that 114 INDIAN TROUBI^ES. organization and. its internal workings should be of interest. The Northwest Mounted Police, whose scarlet tunic is the symbol of law and order in the Northwest, were organized when Alexander Mackenzie was Premier, and were one of Sir John Macdonald's inspirations, and after his return to power, in 1878, they always remained under his own eye. The nucleus of the force was got together at Manitoba in 1873. They originally numbered 300, and by their coolness and pluck, at critical periods, they accomplished much in reducing the Indians and lawless whisky traders to a state of order. The police built posts and protected the white setders and the surveyors, who had already begun parceling out the country and exploring the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1877, nearly the whole of the little force was concen- trated on the southwestern frontier to watch and check the 6000 Sioux, who sought refuge in Canada after their defeat and massacre of Custer and his little command on the Little Big Horn. It was through the efforts of the Mounted Police that the Sioux were finally induced to surrender peacefully to the United States authorities in 1880-81. After the outbreak of the half-breeds under Louis Reil, in 1885, the force was increased to 1000 men, their present number. The Mounted Police, like the Royal Irish Constabu- lary, on which it was modeled, is in the eye of the law a purely civil body. Its ofificers are magistrates, the men are constables. But so far as circumstances will allow, its organization, internal economy and drill are those of POI^ICE ORGANIZATION. "5 a cavalry regiment, and when on active service in a mili- tary capacity the officers have army rank. The affairs of the force are managed by a distinct department of the Government at Ottawa, under tlie supervision of a Cabinet Minister. The executive command is held by an officer styled the Commissioner and ranking as Lieu- tenant-Colonel. The Assistant Commissioner ranks with a Major, and after three years' service as a Lieu- tenant-Colonel. Ten superintendents, with captains' rank, command the division:^, with about thirty-five in- spectors as subalterns, who correspond to lieutenants. The medical staff consists of a surgeon, five assistant surgeons and two veterinary surgeons. The non-com- missioned officers are as in the army, while the troopers are called constables. The rank and file are not excelled by any picked corps in any service. A recruit must be between twenty-two ad forty-five years old, of good character, able to read and write English or French, active, well-built and of sound constitution. The physique is very fine, the aver- age of the whole thousand being five feet nine and a half inches in height, and thirty-eight and a half inches round the chest. There has always been an unusual proportion of men of good family and education in the service. Lots of young Englishmen who came out to try their hand at farming la the far west have drifted into the police, as also many well-connected Canadians, Waifs and strays from everywhere and of every calling are to be found in the ranks. The roll call would show many defaulters if ? 1 T ii6 POSTAI« FACIUTIBS. no man answered to any name but his own. There is at least one lord in the force and many university gradu- ates. The officers' pay is not large, ranging from $2400 a year to the Commissioner to $1000 to the inspectors, with, of course, quarters, rations, fuel, etc. The Klondike is even more squeamish on some points than some older diggings, like Gotham and Paris. Bloomers don't go. Capt. Constantine, of the Canadian mounted police says so, and from his words there is no appeal. The new women can straddle Chilkoot Pass in bloomers if they like, but in the chaste and refined so- ciety circles of Dawson and Cudahy, skirts are "en regie " — even if ** de trop." No one ever locks a cabin door. You can leave a few thousands in gold dust lying around loose, and on one will steal it. This forbearance is not so remarkable as it seems. If a thief did steal when there is nothing to break through he couldn't spend his money or leave the country unsuspected. It will be of interest to know that there are post office facilities for the gold fields of Alaska, and the Northwest territory, for many persons have started for that region and their friends will naturally be anxious to hear from them. Additional contracts for the delivery of mail have been made in the Post Ofifice Department in view of the influx of Americans there. Since July ist contracts for mail over what is known as ''the overland route " from Juneau to Circle City have been made by the department. The round trip over the VARIOUS PLANS. 117 Chilkoot Pass and by way of the chain of lakes and the Lewes river takes about a month, the distance being about 900 miles. There will be a mail carrying party to leave regularly on the first of each month hereafter. The cost is about $600 for the round trip. The Chilkoot Pass is crossed with the mail by means of Indian carriers. On the previous trips the carriers after finishing the pass built the boats, but they now have their own to pass the lakes and the Lewes river. In the winter, transportation is carried on by means of dog sleds, and it is hoped that under the present con- tracts there will be no stoppage, no matter how low the temperature may go. The contractor has reported that he was sending a boat, in sections, by way of St. Michael, up the Yukon river, to be used on the waterway of the route, and it is thought much time will be saved by this, as in former times it was necessary for the carriers to stop and build boats or rafts to pass the lakes. In addition to this for the summer season, contracts have been made with two steamboat companies for t