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TWO YEARS 
 
 IN TIIU 
 
 KLONDIKE AND ALASKAN GOLD-FIELDS 
 
 a EijriiUnfl Narratibe 
 
 2 
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 or 
 PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND ADVENTURES IN THE WONDERFUL 
 GOLD REGIONS OF ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE. 
 WITH OBSERVATIONS OP TRAVEL AND EX- 
 PLORATION ALONG THE YUKON 
 
 POKTRAYINO THE DANGERS, HARDSHIPS. AND PRIVATIONS OF A GOLD- 
 SEEKER'S LIFE; WITH A FAITHFUI- DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 Hifc antj Scenes \x[, ®olb J«ine« ant Camps 
 
 INCLUDING FULL AND AUTHENTIC INFORMATION OF THE COUNTRIES 
 
 DESCRIBED. THEIR UNDERGROUND TREASURES, 
 
 HOW TO FIND THEM, ETC. 
 
 M 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM B. HASKELL 
 
 (A Returned Oold Miner and Protpeclor) 
 
 o 
 be 
 
 V 
 
 B 
 O 
 
 Beauttfullg Illuetrateti 
 
 WITH MAXy KXORAVIMU8 FROM RKOEXT I'HOTOORAPHg TAKEN ON THK SPOT 
 
 HARTFORD, CONN. 
 HARTFORD PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 1898 
 

 f 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congrc«B, In the year 1898 
 
 By CM liarlfeMI FaMMriit eeavMV 
 
 In the Office of the Llbrtrlan of Congreea, at Washington, D. C. 
 
zTxwmr^ 
 
 from ^]pt6af ^Moeraft^s mobe effnrecBfe for f^im HIDorft, anb 
 Mi (]>uB(lB0eb (gfoewQere. 
 
 PAOI. 
 
 1. Alono the Dtba Trail, . Frontispiece 
 
 A lone Kol<l-«eeker crossing the Dyea River on hia way to the Gold 
 Field;. 
 
 2. In Camp on the Dyea Ritbr after a Oay'b March, 
 
 Facing 68 
 
 8. A Supper of Beans and Coffee, . . Facing 76 
 
 a party of gold-seekers eating their supper at the entrance to Miles 
 Callon. 
 
 4. A Tired and Dibodbtbd Party op Ck)LD-BEibKER8, 
 
 Facing 94 
 Loolcing for hotel accommodations on the Dyea Trail. The signs 
 "Hotjl," "Lodgings," "Meals," and so forth, indicate that these 
 accommodations are to be foond only in the snow-covered tent 
 
 6. A Doo Team on the Yukon Rivbr, . . . 99 
 
 On the way to the Gold Fields. 
 
 6. Rafting down the Yukon River, Facing 116 
 
 The mining ontflt of these two Klondikers, consisting of provisions, 
 arms, camp equipage, dogs, and so forth, is piled on to their nide raft 
 
 7. A LoNO AND Hard Journey ovbr the Skaoway 
 
 Trail, ..... Facing 143 
 
 Entrance to the Cafion. Two Klondikers with heavy packs making 
 their way on foot through the deep snow. 
 
 (V) 
 
 27fi(;9 
 
Yl 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 8. A Haud Place on tub Trail, . Facing 
 
 Packera tmnHporting the gooda and outflta of gold-aeeken over the 
 Skagway Trail. 
 
 9. On the Move, ..... Ibeing 
 
 A long pack train of heavily-loaded honea en ronte to the Gold Fields. 
 
 10. Testing a Stueam fob Gold, Fbdng 
 
 A ((oid-aeeker panning for gold in a amall creek in the Klclike Gold 
 Region. 
 
 11. Crossing the Skaowat River, . Facing 
 
 The bridge conaiata of the trunk of a single tree over which two gold- 
 i^dekers are making their way. This is only one of many similar places 
 •long the trail. 
 
 12. 
 
 18. 
 
 An Excitinu Time, 
 
 Arrival of the flrst Yukon steamer at Dawson. 
 
 Facing 
 
 Ready for Winter, . . Facing 
 
 A wayside cabin on the Skagway Trail, made of logs and whip-sawed 
 boards. The chinks between the logs ate filled with mud and moss. 
 
 14. After a Day's March, Facing 
 
 a party of gold-seekera Just after pitching their tent on the Skagway 
 Trail. 
 
 16. Caught on the Trail, Facing 
 
 a party of gold-seeken %:■' o failed to get over the summit in the fall. 
 Their provisions are cachv ' ^n little hut at the right. The party win- 
 tered here until spring ensbi. m to continue their journey. 
 
 16. "White Pass Hotel" on the Skagway Trail, Facing 
 
 Contrast size of the sign with that of the " Hotel." The latter conaista 
 of only a small log hut 
 
 17. A Mid-winter Camp at the Mouth of Skagway 
 
 CaAon, ...... Facing 
 
 Tents afford the only shelter from the heavy snows and bitter cold of 
 an Arctic winter. 
 
 18. Too Late. A Disappointed Pair of Gold-seekers, 
 
 Faciug 
 
 They failed to reach their destination before winter set In. Here they 
 
 cached their outfit and food before returning to civilization to wait until 
 
 spring. The trunk of a tree was erected as a landmark to guide them 
 
 to the spot on their return. 
 
 19. On the Border, .... Fusing 
 
 Canadian mounted police collecting Customs duty from Klondikers 
 at the point where the Canadian Government has established a boundary 
 line at White Pass. The huge pile of boxes, bags, and goods of all kinds 
 belong to gold-seekers en route to the Gold Fields. 
 
 PAUB. 
 
 168 
 
 186 
 206 
 
 284 
 
 272 
 292 
 
 812 
 
 842 
 
 860 
 878 
 
 400 
 
 484 
 
LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Vll 
 
 80. A Restaurant and its Proprietoh on tue Dyea 
 
 Trail Faeing 
 
 The «lgn " Meal* " to palntad on the remalni of a pair of old trouwrs. 
 
 81. A Blockade on the Skaoway Trail, Fhdng 
 
 22. A Pack Train Crosbikg the Skaowav Trail in 
 Winter, l<\teing 
 
 28. Mid-winter on the Trail, . . . Fiieing 
 
 .ent of a pair of gold-seekers pitched by the side of a corduroy 
 bridge in SIcagway CaDon. 
 
 24. A Onb-horbb Sledge Team, . . Fiieing 
 
 A pair of gold-seekers on their way to the Gold Fields. 
 
 26. Snowed in. Waiting for Better Weather, fheing 
 A gold-seeker clad in his parka, with dog and horse, near his snow- 
 covered tent 
 
 PAUS. 
 
 450 
 460 
 
 468 
 400 
 
 SIO 
 
 628 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 MY BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE -WHAT LED ME TO 
 ADOPT THE LIFE OP A G0LD-8EEKEH - WHY MY 
 EYES WERE TURNED TOWARDS ALASKA. 
 
 Boyhood on a Vermont Farm — Scanty Rewards of Toil — Forgetting 
 tlie Cows —My Fatlier Has Ambitions for Me —I Am Sent to Scliool 
 but Am Negligent in Study — The Mystery of Inheritance — Book 
 Knowledge — I Clioose a Business Career in the City — Behind a 
 Counter in a Dry- goods Store — My Unhappy Lot — Sighing for 
 the Great West — Temptation to Break Away — It Finally Over- 
 comes Me — News of Wonderful Finds of Gold — I Take My Little 
 Belongings and Arrive in Chicago — Life as a Brakeman — Falling 
 in with Gold Miners — Something about Nuggets — A Tramp's 
 Luck — The Creede Rush— Cripple Creek — Two Irish Boys and 
 Their Mountain Patch- Alaska for the Gold-Seeker, . . 88 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 HO FOR ALASKA !- EXTENT OF OUR GREAT TERRITORY— 
 GETTING READY FOR THE START — OUR OUTFIT 
 AND WHAT IT CONSISTED OF. 
 
 My Meager Ideas of the Territory — Joe Draws on His Store of Infor- 
 mation—Vast Extent of the Country — Dull and Dirty Natives — 
 
 (ix) 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 A Itacc of 8liirk8 — IlabitM of tliu Dogs — Navigation of the Yulton 
 
 — MosquitofH Tliut "Kill Beam "—Story of the Miners* SeorcU 
 for Gold on the Yukon — A Pioneer Prospecting Party — Some of 
 the Eurly Finds — Gold Everywhere — The Klondike Moose Pas- 
 ture — Despised by tlie Gold-Seekers — Coarse Gold on Forty -Mile 
 Creek -The Klso of tlie Town — Slxtj Mile — Miller and Glacier 
 Creeks — A Missionary Plcka up a Nugget — Founding of 
 Cirele City — My Partner Becomes Impatient- Making Our Plana 
 
 — We Proceed to Sun Francisco — Buying an Outfit — What It 
 Consisted of — Our 'tiedlclne CheH— Over u Ton and a Half to 
 Carry — A Peep luio the Future — Ominous Suggestions, . 4S 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 CHOOSING A ROUTE— OUR VOYAGE ALONG THE COAST 
 — ARRIVAL AT DYEA— FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH 
 NATIVES. 
 
 Departure from San Francisco — Port Townsend — Through Puget 
 Sound — Points of Interest and Beauty — A Gup In the Island Belt 
 — Few Moments of Seasickness— The Great Scenic Region — In 
 Alaskan Waters —Tide Water Glaciers — Juneau as a Metropolis — 
 A Glimpse of Totem Poles — Indian Traders — The Mines of the 
 Vicinity and their Discovery — Famous Tread well Mills — The 
 Jjargcst in the World — The Skagway and Dalton Trails — Pro- 
 ceeding to Dyeo — Dumped on the Beach — Getting Supplies 
 Together and Beyond the Tide — The Problem of Moving Ahead — 
 Approached by Indian Packers — Dangers of Bidding up Prices — 
 A Contract with the Heathen — Our First Night In Camp — Dark 
 Ways of the Chilkoots, S8 
 

 CONTENTS Xi 
 
 CHAPTKR IV 
 
 LIFE ON THE TRAIL -STHANGE SIGHTS AND 8CENK8- 
 8TOKM BOUND IN SHEEP CAMP -A WOMAN'S AD- 
 VENTURES AND EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Along the Famous Dyca Trail — Walking Twenty Miles nnd Making 
 Four — Snow, Itoiildcrs, and Glaciers -1" vhihlii, ns of (Jrif Tent- 
 ing in the Snow — A Deniocrntic Ci.-.td — Tlie \\kun Stove — 
 The So-called Gridiron — Beans nnd Baron — " it will Iw New On 
 the Yukon"- Asleep on a Bed of Boughs - What a I'lail Consists 
 of — A Crack Two Miles Long — Plensant Camp — Sheep Cam;: 
 and the Faint-Hearted — A Discouruc;ed Man and a Resolute 
 Woman — Going Over Anyhow — Not All so Bravo — Having a 
 Good Cry — My Theory as to the Fortitude of Some Women- 
 Throwing off the Fetters of Civilization- Two Weeks of Storm — 
 Monotony and Silence— An Active Glacier Entertains Us— Nature's 
 Untamed Moods — Sunshine at Last 72 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE DREADED CHILKOOT PASS — HOW WE CROSSED IT 
 - SLIDING DOWN THE MOUNTAINS AT LIGHTNING 
 SPEED — "THERE COMES A WOMAN." 
 
 A Steep Trail- Climbing the Mountain Forty Times — Some of the 
 Difficulties — Missteps that are Dangerous — Straight up over 
 Seven Hundred Feet — An Obscure Summit — Facilitating the Re- 
 turn—Trousers Fortified with a Canvas Patch — A Slide in the 
 Trench — Tobogganing Outdone — A Collision — Out of Sight in 
 the Deep Snow— " There Coni.es a Woman "—Down Like a Flash 
 
 — Runaway Sleds — An Alaskan SunbMrn- Snow-blindness — A 
 Painful Experience— On the Summit at Last— A Grand Spectacle 
 
 — Turning Sleds Loose down the Mountain — Bounding over 
 Crater Lake — Lake Lindeman — Observing the Timber — The 
 
 I 
 
XU CONTENTS 
 
 Irresponsible Indian — Signaling by Burning Trees— Ice-sledding 
 across Lindeman — Flapjaclis and Congratulations, . . 86 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 CAMP LIFE IN ALASKA— WE BUILD A BOAT TO CONTINUE 
 OUR JOURNEY— ADVENTURES WITH BEARS. 
 
 Our Camp at Lake Tagish— Building a Boat — The Saw Pit — Pre- 
 paring the Trees — Whip-sawing — Its Eflfect on Character — An 
 Accident — Almost a Quarrel — A Case in Which Angels Would 
 Lose their Amiability — Spoiling the First Log — " Work it Some- 
 how " — The Dish-Rag and the Dog — A Bargam — Adventure of a 
 New Yorker with a Bear and Three Cubs — An Excited Man — 
 He Empties His Qun and Nearly Kills His Dog — I Lend Him 
 My RiHe — The Bear Finally Gives It Up— Catching the Cubs — 
 Tough Hams — Our Triumphant Return — An Old Timer's Bear 
 Story — Face to Face with a Wounded Bear — Playing Possum — 
 Just in Time — A Narrow Escape, 100 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 A DANGEROUS VOYAGE— OVERTURNING OP OUR BOAT- 
 LOSS OF AN $800 OUTFIT — WE ESCAPE WITH OUR 
 LIVES— HUNTING FOR A CAMP THIEF. 
 
 We Name Our Boat the Tar Stater — More Handsome than Adequate 
 —Drifting amid Scenes of Wild Grandeur — Magical Vegetation — 
 Fifty Mile River— At the Mouth of the Cafion— We Conclude to 
 Pack Around— Several Boats Go Through— The Trail— An Offer 
 to Take the Tar Stater Through f or |5 — I Am Invited to Ride, 
 and Accept — A Quick Repentance — Discart'ing Gum Boots — A 
 Serious Catastrophe — At the Mercy of the Current — Clinging lo 
 an Overturned Boat — Over Again — Saved — A Four- Minute 
 

 CONTENTS 
 
 ziii 
 
 Experience — The Milk is Spilled— Loss of an |800 Outfit- 
 Recovering Our Boat — Towards White Horse Rapids — Disap- 
 pearance of the Sugar Saved from the Wreck — I Am Mad — 
 Strapping on My Gun — Looking for a Camp Thief —Sympathy 
 for Us — A Phase of Yukon Life 118 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SOME THRILLING EXPERIENCES — DISCOVERY OF THE 
 THIEF— HIS SUMMARY PUNISHMENT- PICTURES BY 
 THE WAY. 
 
 Through the White Horse Rapids in an Empty Boat — Close Shave for 
 the Tar Stater — Rough to Experience but Interesting to Watch — 
 Overtaking Three Boats— I find the Sack of Sugar and the Thief 
 — Swift Preparations for a Lynching Bee — " Say the Word and Up 
 He Goes "—I Refuse— " Nothing Less Than Fifty Lashes, Then ' — 
 I Administer Them on the Thief's Bare Back— The Victim Becomes 
 a GJood Citizen — Lake Lebarge and Tagish Indians— Eggs for a 
 Change— In the Twilight of the Midnight — Nature in Her Great 
 Work— Cutting Down Hills and Valleys — Where Eagles Nest — 
 Twisting and Turning — Five Fingers— Rink Rapids — Arrival at 
 Fort Selkirk — A Touch of Civilization — The Route Marked with 
 Graves of the Fallen — Reflections on the Journey, . . 128 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 LIFE ON A YUKON POST — OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE 
 KLONDIKE -HOW MINERS ADMINISTER JUSTICE IN 
 ALASKA — THE PLAGUE OF MOSQUITOES. 
 
 The Latest News — The Swift Yukon and Its Branches — The Upper 
 Ramparts— White River and Its Probable Sources— Stewart River 
 and the Tales of Indians — Reports of Prospectors — Sixty Mile 
 
XIV 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Creek — Passing the MoutU of the Troan-Dik or Klondike — Its 
 Various Names and How They Were Obtained — A Peep at the 
 Moose Pasture —Moose Skin Mountain — Old Fort Reliance — Forty 
 Mile and Its Institutions— Justice as Administered at Miners' 
 Meetings— A Little German's Trouble — French Joe's Experience 
 
 — A Tailor and His Bill — The Canadian Police — A Plague of 
 Mosquitoes — How They Operate and How Their Bites Work — 
 Old Pharaoh's Troubles Not a Circumstance — What Miners Suffer 
 
 — No Preventive Sufficient — Tough Miners Sit and Cry— More 
 Indian Tales — Bears and Dogs in a Frenzy — Frost Comes as a 
 Blessing, 141 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 ARRIVAL AT CIRCLE CITY — DANCE HALLS AND OTHER 
 PLACES OF AMUSEMENT — THE YUKON SLED — 
 ALASKAN DOGS AND THEIR PECULIARITIES. 
 
 Pushing on to Circle City — Some of the Yukon Creeks — Old Man 
 Rock and Old Woman Rock — A Flight of Native Fancy— The 
 Poor Man and His Scolding Wife — His Last Resort and its 
 Petrifying Results — Prospecting American Creek — Our Lumber 
 Venture — A Thunder Storm and a Wreck — Escaping on the 
 Tar Stater— kxnv'mg at Circle City — Our Reception — Some of 
 the City's Institutions— Convenience of the Saloons — No money 
 but Gold Dust— How Purchases Are Made — The Dance Halls — 
 The Relaxation of Faro- Dogs Invade Our Boat — Their Thieving 
 Propensities — Faithful Workers — Their Enormous and Indiscrim- 
 inating Appetite — Eating Their Harness — An Arctic Turnout — 
 The Dog Whip and Its Uses— The Yukon Sled — " Ouk," "Arrah," 
 and "Holt," 158 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 acv 
 
 GUARDING AGAINST EVIL-DOERS - LIFE IN A GOLD- 
 SEEKERS CABIN— HOW IT IS BUILT AND FURNISHED. 
 
 Society in Circle City — Cabin Doors Open — The Punisliment of Evil- 
 doers—Miners' Meetings— Methods of Procedure— Judge and 
 Jury— No Pistols— Our Money Runs Low — Joe Hurries to the 
 Mines — Great Demand for Log Buildings— High Price of Lots — 
 Process of Building a Cabin— Two Things to Remember— How 
 the Moss Comes into Play — Doors and Windows— The Interior 
 of Cabins — Rude Furniture — Unique Beds — Something More 
 Substantial — The Yukon Palace — Access to the Second Story — 
 How Storm Sheds are Made — Tents Good Enough for People 
 with No Gold Dust — A Man With an Axe a Skilled Workman — 
 A Bustling Scene — Logs and Chips Every whore — An Ounce a 
 Day for Some Workmen — Dreaming of a Coming Metropolis on 
 the Yukon, 178 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 WORK AND WAGES IN ALASKA — AGRICULTURAL POSSI- 
 BILITIES IN THE ICY NORTH — COST OF LIVING. 
 
 Misleading Rate of Wages — Cost of Bringing Provisions to the Yukon 
 Valley —A Sample Price-List at a Circle City Store —Value of Fresh 
 Meat— A Roast of Beef— A Woman Who Baked Bread at a Dollar 
 a Loaf —Fourteen Loaves a Day on a Yukon Stove — Monotony of 
 Diet — Ordinary Laws of Agriculture Upside Down — Difficulties 
 of Raising Garden Stuff— Plenty of Berries in the Summer — A 
 Dream of Agricultural Possibilities — Deceptive Flatlands — Nig- 
 gerheads and How They Grow— Grass That Makes Poor Fodder— 
 A Question of Transportation — Has Not Been Regarded as a Poor 
 Man's Country — Competition in the Stores — Jack McQucsten — 
 
 ■«•♦ 
 
XV i CONTENTS 
 
 A Oreat Night at Circle City — Order of Yukon Pioneers — Ai 
 Indication of the Hardships of Alaskan Life, . . . 183 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 WE REACH THE GOLD DIGGINGS — LOCATING A CLAIM — 
 HOW GOLD IS MINED— THE MINER'S PAN, ROCKER, 
 AND SLUICE BOXES. 
 
 The Trail up Birch Creek — Some of the Gulches — Great Cost of Wood 
 
 — The Process of Placer Mining — How the Prospector Works — 
 Testing the Dirt — The Miner's Pan — The Trick of Shaking Out 
 Gold— Ai' the Fascination of Gambling — Nature Holds the Cards 
 
 — Placer Mining Conditioned by the Climate — The Old Process of 
 Sun-Thawing — Soil That Resists Picks, Dynamite, and Hydraulics 
 
 — Where Fire Burning is Necessary — Burning at Night — A Long 
 Process — Sinking through the Muck — Rockers — Sluices and 
 How They are Constructed — Nature Caught in the Act — Claims 
 Regulated by the Miners Themselves — The Birch Creek Yield of 
 Gold 199 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 MY VOYAGE DOWN THE MIGHTY YUKON — INCIDENTS 
 AND EXPERIENCES DURING THE TRIP — IN THE 
 SHADOW OP THE ARCTIC CIRCLE. 
 
 Down the Yukon River — Yukon Stean...rs — Flat-Bottoms and Stem- 
 Wheels — Carrying Machine Shops Along — A Perfect Labyrinth of 
 Water— Going Wherever Its Varying Moods Take It —Barren Islands 
 — Fort Yukon — Lazy and Filthy Natives — Trading for Curios with 
 Yukon Indians — Birch and Beaver Creeks — A Sudden Change — 
 Out of the Flatlands into the Ramparts — Some Good-Looking 
 Creeks— The Munook — The Great Tanana River— Wooding Up 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 xvii 
 
 meers — Ai 
 . 183 
 
 — Indian Settlements — The Women and Children — Dogs Qulore 
 —The Inevitable Ca^he — Nowikakat — Short Cut Portages to the 
 Coast — Thrilling Journey of a Party of Miners — Almost Ex- 
 hausted and Starved — Perils of Traveling in Alaska, . . 215 
 
 . CLAIM — 
 ROCKER, 
 
 ast of Wood 
 at Works — 
 ihaklng Out 
 Is the Cards 
 1 Process of 
 Hydraulics 
 it — A Long 
 Sluices and 
 .ct — Claims 
 lek Yield of 
 . 199 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 STILL JOURNEYING ALONG THE DREARY RIVER — SIGHTS 
 AND SCENES ON THE WAY -HABITS AND PECULIAR- 
 ITIES OF THE INDIANS. 
 
 Holy Cross Miwion — Soap at Last Has Legal-Tender Value — Some 
 Domestic Scenes — Close Race with the Climate — The Sisters of 
 St. Anne — Mass in a Log Church — The Untutored Innuits — 
 Their Unpleasant Environment — Queer Heirlooms — Geese and 
 Ducks Find a Favorable Abode — The Trip to the Coast — St. 
 Michael — Why Ocean Steamers have to Anchor a Mile and a Half 
 Out — Alaska Commercial Company — Fort Get-There — A Lone 
 Government Official- The Question of Transferring Cargoes — 
 Characteristics of the Natives — Watching a Chance to Reach 
 the Yukon's Mouth — Difficulties of Getting in with a Load — 
 Breasting the Swift Current — A Hard Nut to Crack — Return- 
 ing up the River, 227 
 
 (TCIDENTS 
 -IN THE 
 
 g and Stem- 
 liabyrinth of 
 irren Islands 
 Curios with 
 1 Change — 
 Jod-Looking 
 Vooding Up 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ARRIVAL AT FORTY MILE — WONDERFUL STORIES OF 
 NEW DIGGINGS -HO! FOR THE KLONDIKE !- MAD 
 RUSH OF EXCITED GOLD-SEEKERS, 
 
 Something Has Happened — Forty Mile Almost Deserted —A Genuine 
 Stampede — The Discove / on the Thron-diuck or Klondike- 
 Henderson's Find on Gold Bottom — He Returns for Provisions— 
 Meeting Cormack's Fishing Party — He Tells of His Discovery- 
 2 
 
 »i;,^«f^^r^^4;A :Ji*i¥ «ii«- « ^*^'(r i*^*-*- i ■ 
 
ZVlll 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Cormack Concludes to Find Qold Bottom — Over the Trail — Re- 
 turns to His Fishing Camp— Prospects a Little on His Way — 
 Stumbles on a Qood Pan on Bonanza Creek — Claims for Himself, 
 Tagish Charlie, and Tagish Jim — Siwash George's Reputation for 
 Truth and Veracity — Where Did He Get the Gold ? — Tremendous 
 Excitement — Forty Mile Deserted — Old Miners Lack Faith — 
 Skim Diggings — Highly-Colored Tales — I Conclude to Go and 
 See for Myself —Poling Up Stream— Returning Prospectors Shoot 
 By Us— "It's a Big Thing, Boys " — Ne v er Mind the Blisters — 
 Tired and Footsore — A Lively Camp — Trying to Sleep — Ten 
 Dollars to the Pan 240 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 MY FIRST TRAMP IN THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS — 
 WHAT ^ PLACE FOR GOLD! — A PEEP INTO THE 
 SLUICE BOXES — I STAKE A CLAIM. 
 
 Preparations for a Start — Over the Mountain into the Swamps — A 
 Hard Tramp — Cranberries to Quench Thirst — A Mysterious Pup 
 — The Klondike Valley from the Summit — Glimpse of the Arctic 
 Rockies— "All the Goold in the Worruld"— An Old Story- 
 Hurrying On — On Bonanza Creek at Last — Calculating the Dis- 
 tance — Blowing a Little — Looking for Henry Ward Beecher — A 
 Disgusted Irishman — Too Tired to Keep On — A Look at the 
 Gravelly Bar — I form a Poor Opinion — Ready to Change My 
 Mind — Too Tired to Care — Forgetting One's Name — Chilled 
 Through -- Nuggets Fished Out with a Shovel — Washing Out 
 the Gold — Objects of Suspicion — Pushing on for a Claim — 
 Indications Do Not Count — I Stake My Claim — Starting Back 
 in the Rain — Over the Tr»\il Again — Our Tui-n to Yell, ' . 252 
 
u 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XVni 
 
 XIX 
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF ELDORADO— THE FOUNDING OF 
 DAWSON - CONFUSION AND QUEER COMPLICA- 
 TIONS OVER CLAIMS— "THREE INCH WHITE." 
 
 Resting a Little — Carrying in Provisions — Promising Strilies of one 
 of the Pups— Eldorado — Joining Another Stampede — A New 
 Metropolis— Joseph Ladue and His Career— Mining in the Black 
 Hills — Attracted to Alaska — Sinking Holes without Success — 
 Faith in the Country — Grub-staking Henderson — How Ladue 
 Secured the Site for Dawson — His Sawmill — The Mines in 
 October— High Price of Lumber— Rapid Growth of Dawson — 
 Much Confusion as to Claims — Miners Appointed to Measure— 
 Fractional Claims — How They Came About — The Mystery of 
 the Rope— Hibernian Bluff — Jim White and His Attempt to 
 Secure a Fractional Claim — The Canadian Surveyor Arrives — 
 "Three Inch White"— How Claims are Staked — The Fees and 
 the Requirements 265 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 RICHNESS OF THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS -THE GREAT 
 WINTER EXODUS FROM CIRCLE CITY — FIRST RE- 
 SULTS FROM TESTING PANS — MINERS WILD WITH 
 EXCITEMENT. 
 
 Realization of the Richness of the Klondike Claims — Why old Miners 
 were Skeptical — How Tanderfeet Suddenly Became Rich — Selling 
 Claims at Low Figures— Cutting Logs to Get Provisions— El- 
 dorado All Staked — Great Stroke for Some Men — Circle City 
 Skeptical — The First Big Pans— Excitement at Circle City — A 
 Mad Stampede — Scarcity of Dogs — Dogs at $2.50 Per Pound 
 — Some Big Strikes — Grumbling Canadians — Bed-Rock on 
 Eldorado — Lippy's Bargain — Nothing Like It in the History 
 of lie World- Pans of Dirt Worth Five Hundred Dollars — 
 
XX CONTENTS 
 
 The Miners Simply Staggered — Mrs. Berry Picks up $50 in 
 Nuggets While Calling Her Husband to Supper — Scarcity of 
 Labor— Hunting up Claims— Gold Everywhere, . 280 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 WINTER IN THE KLONDIKE — CAMP LIFE AND WORK — 
 A MINER'S DOMESTIC DUTIES — CHRISTMAS IN A 
 GOLD-SEEKER'S CAMP. 
 
 Dreariness of Camp Life — Preparations for Winter — Cut Off from 
 the World — Even Labels Make Interesting Reading Matter — The 
 Only Library in the Camp — A Few Old Newspapers — Nuggets 
 for the Benefactor — Joe Arrives from Circle City — Gold, Gold 
 the one Topic of Interest — Forgetting the Day of the Month — 
 Domestic Duties — How We Kept Hou.-,e — Things That Must Not 
 Be Neglected — A Remedy that Kills or Cures — My Bread and 
 Biscuit — A New Recipe — Exorbitant Prices for Necessaries of 
 Life — Some of the Other Expenses — A Trip to Dawson — A Bit 
 of Recreation — Christmas in Camp — Story of a Christmas at Fort 
 Cudahy — No Turkey or Plum Pudding — A Klondike Christmas 
 — Presents for the Half -Breeds — How Toys were Obtained — A 
 Scene of Merriment — A Yukon Santa Claus — First Christmas 
 Party on the Klondike, 201 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 ALASKAN WEATHER -ON THE VERGE OF STARVATION- 
 HOW WE PULLED THROUGH— DANGERS OF WINTER 
 TRAVELING— PAINFUL EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The Paradox of Alaskan Weather — A Difference in Humidity — 
 Miners' Thermometers — Time to Take Care of One's self — Seventy- 
 two Degrees below Zero — Sunset and Sunrise — Dangers on the 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 3CXI 
 
 Trail — We Discard the Hut and Take to the Tent — Building 
 Fires iii tlie Morning — Hearing One's Breath Strike the Air —An 
 Involuntary Bath — Painful Experiences — Eyelids Freeze To- 
 gether—Protection against the Bitter Cold — The Parka and Its 
 Uses —An Alaskan Opera Cloak —As a Frost Protector — Care of the 
 Feet — Snow Shoes — Shortage in the Food Supply — How it Seems 
 to be without Salt — Sold for Its Weight in Gold— The Pulling- 
 Through Process— Northern Lights as a Compensation for a Win- 
 ter in Alaska — Their Brilliancy, 305 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 PREPARING FOR SLUICING — THE SPRING "CLEAN-UP"— 
 ASTONISHING RESULTS WHEN DIRT WAS WASHED 
 OUT -SOME LUCKY STRIKES -THE ROMANCE OF 
 FORTUNE. 
 
 Joe and I Have Poor Luck— Trying to Locate the Pay-Streak— Big 
 Pans in March and April — Pay -Dirt — How the Value of the Dirt 
 is Reckoned — Old Miners Begin to Speculate — Expense of Getting 
 Sluice Boxes — Some of the Fortunes — Berry and His Wonderful 
 Strike — Very Blue when He Heard of the Klondike — Takes Out 
 1130,000 — A Bird in the Hand vs. a Bird in the Bush — A Wiscon- 
 sin Schoolmaster's Experience — Worth a Million — Better than 
 Trading — Sudden Rise in the Value of Claims— Computing the 
 Value of a Bonanza Claim — Wonderful Results — The Aggregate 
 Amount of the Spring Work — Some of the Lucky Ones on El- 
 dorado Creek — Fortunes on the Bonanza — Lucky Days — " What 
 Will I Do With All That Money?" 319 
 
xxu 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 STORIES OP GREAT HARDSHIPS AND SCANTY REWARDS 
 —A ROMANCE OF THE KLONDIKE — CLAIM JUMPERS — 
 AN OLD SLAVES LUCKY STRIKE. 
 
 Gold by the Ton — The Unfortunate Ones — Alaska Mining a Lottery 
 — Deceptive Placers — Weary Men Who Show No Nuggets — Ex- 
 perience of an Old Scotchman — Mining for Forty-Two Years — 
 A "Hornet take" at Last — Poor Luck Still Followed Him — 
 Others Less Fortunate — Feeling of the Old Miners When They 
 Saw the Tenderfaet Taking Out Gold — A Little too Much — 
 Hardships of a Miner — His First Good Luck — Neal McArthur 
 and His Narrow Escapes — Scarcely Making a Living — Catching 
 at a Straw — Hard Conditions of a Prospector's Life — Troubles 
 after Gold is Found — The Massachusetts Man and His "Boy" — 
 Threatened by Claim-Jumpers — The Old Man Shot — The Boy 
 Handles the Gun and Turns Out to Be a Pretty Girl — A Heroic 
 Act — Queer People — An Old Slave from down in Georgia — His 
 Lucky Strike, 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE TRAIL — DEATH AND BURIAL OF A 
 BABY — A WOMAN'S THRILLING EXPERIENCES. 
 
 News of the Outside World — When the Ice Goes Out of the River — 
 It "Marks Time" — An Unpleasant Sight for a Hungry Man — 
 Grub at Last — Happy Incident of a Yukon Honeymoon — Mrs. 
 McKay's Story — Death of a Baby — The Little Casket and the 
 Grave by Lake Lindeman — Misfortunes of John Matthews — His 
 Troubles Over — Impression of the Trail — Strong Men Dismayed 
 at the Outlook — Trying to Look Cheerful — Learning of the 
 Klondike Discoveries — Taken for a Man — Over the Summit — 
 Ravencus Appetites of the Men — Through the Cafion and the 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 XXlll 
 
 Rapids — A Woman's Experience — Clinging to the Boat in Terror 
 — In the Presence of Death — Quick Decisions of Gold -Seekers — 
 Many Unfit for Work in Alaska — The Situation Facing the 
 Tenderfoot — Where Shall He Find Gold?— "Did You Take 
 This for a Picnic?" 888 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MONEY-MAKING IN ALASKA 
 — THE COSTLY EXPERIENCE OP TWO TENDER- 
 FEET — APPALLING PRICE OF A SUPPER — A HORSE 
 MISSING WITH $49,000 IN GOLD. 
 
 A City Laid out on a Bog — Natural Floral Displays — Lousetown — 
 A Cold Place -in Winter — Fabulous Rise in the Price of Building 
 Lots — Expense of Log Cabins — Making Money Quickly — Expe- 
 rience of a Cigar Drummer — Clearing $80,000 in Twenty Days in 
 Real Estate Options — Better than Mining — Spring Water at Twen- 
 ty-five cents a Pail — Money Brought in by New Comers — Bonanza 
 Kings and Millionaires — Alec McDonald and His Investments— 
 " Satin Bags," the Italian Bonanza King — Indulging in a Square 
 Meal at a Dawson Restaurant — " Your Bill is $52 " —How it was 
 Itemized — Pack Horses with Gold Dust — One of tiie Horses 
 Missmg — An Exciting Mystery — A Vision of Highway Robbers— 
 The Lost Horse Returns Safely —Just Stopiwd to Graze — Found 
 Deadwith$30,000 — The Strain of Too Hard Work, . . 354 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 DAWSON AND ITS INIQUITIES — GAMBLING PLACES. 
 THEIR DEVICES AND THEIR WAYS — NIGHT SCENES 
 IN THE DANCE HALLS — REAL LIFE IN NEW MINING 
 CAMPS. 
 
 Saloons and Gambling the Natural Products of New Mining Camps — 
 Strange Sights and Sounds — Gold Dust as Free as Water — 
 
u 
 
 XZIV 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 SalooDB and Their "Bruce Games" — Who Pay the Fiddlers — 
 Expensivo Society — " Stiid-Horse Poiter" and High Stalies — 
 Methods at the Faro Table — Gold Bugs in Pigiou Holes — Settling 
 Up — " Shorty's " Fatal Forgetfulncss— Few Instances of Shoot- 
 ing Now — Ruling Prices in Suloons- The "llakc Off"— When 
 "Swiftwater Bill" Breaks Looho — Losing |7,50U in nn Hour — 
 Appearance of Gambling Places — The Dunce Hulls and the 
 Women — Gallant Partners in Spiked Boots — An Occasional Free 
 Fight — Tobacco-Laden Atmosphere — Tired and Dishevelled 
 Women — More Orderly than Mining Camps in the Rockies — 
 Not a Hard, Reckless, Wide-Open Town — Harvard Vale, and 
 Vassar Graduates, . 870 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIl 
 
 A REFUGE FOR CRIMINALS -THE MINES MORE PROF- 
 ITABLE THAN SPORTING DEVICES — PURSUING A 
 FUGITIVE — A CHASE OF 25,000 MILES FOR AN ES- 
 CAPED MURDERER. 
 
 
 Too Many Sports for the Demand — The Arrest of Frank Novak, the 
 Murderer — History of His Crime — Enticing un Irish Farmer to 
 His Deuth — Searching for Novak — The Wrong Man Arrested — 
 Another Clue — It Takes the Detective to Vancouver — Searching 
 Resorts on the Coast — Every Ship's Crew Questioned — Requisi- 
 tion on the Governor of Alaska — Gone to the Klondike — Extradi- 
 tion Papers from Washington — Taken to Ottawa — Over the 
 Chilkoot in Pursuit — Pussing the Fugitive without Suspecting 
 Him — The Pursued Follows the Pursuer — Arrival at Dawson — 
 Searching the Camps — Giving it Up — Arrest of the Murderer — 
 Returning by the Yukon — A Chase of 25,000 Miles, . . 882 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 XXV 
 
 WOMEN IN THE KLONDIKE — SOME ROMANTIC 8TOKIE8 
 -EXPERIENCE OF A WOMAN ON THE TRAIL — 
 HOW WOMEN HAVE MADE FORTUNES. 
 
 A Little Home Life — Two White Women in Camp tlie First Winter- 
 Mrs. Lippy the Pioneer — Mrs. Berry's Story of He' Journey — Be- 
 ginning to Despair — Starting for tlie Klondike — A Cabin Unfit to 
 Live In — Picking Up Nuggets of Gold — Wadin? in Mud Waist 
 Deep — Housekeeping No Joke — Arrival of a Plucky Little 
 Wife — Makes Her Home on a Scow — On Terra Firma at Last — 
 An Eye to Business — One Hundred Dollars a Month for Caring 
 for Two Children — In Doubt as to the Day of the Week — Dogs 
 and Mosquitoes, " but the Gold 's all Right " — Romantic Career of 
 a Woman — Joins the Stampede from Circle City — Cooking 
 for 115 a Day — Facing Claim-Jumpers — Making $12,000 in a Few 
 Weeks — Opportunities to Marry Rich Husbands — Gallantry of 
 the Men — What a Woman Should Wear 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 A SEASON OF WILD STAMPEDES — THE CURIOUS CON- 
 DITIONS ON SKOOKUM GULCH — NEW WONDERS 
 IN ALASKA DISTRICT — MY NARROW ESCAPE FROM 
 DEATH. 
 
 Spreading Out Over the Wild Country — Stampedes a Daily Occur- 
 rence—How they were Started — Enterprise of an Exhausted 
 Party — Returning from One Rush Only to Full in with Another — 
 The Astounding Results on Hunker Creek — Sudden Rise of Skoo- 
 kum Gulch — Hory it was Discovered— Kicking Over Boulders 
 and Finding Gold — Bench Claims — Strike on Dominion Creek— 
 An Old German's Good Luck on Sulphur Creek — Endeavoring to 
 Keep it Quiet— The News Leaks Out— Another Great Stampede- 
 Joe and I Conclude to See for Ourselves — .». Misstep and a Drench- 
 
XXVI 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 •) 
 
 f 
 
 ',> 
 
 ing in Ice Water— lD^"'-ed aud Exhausted— A Blinding Storm— 
 " Oh, for a Little Meat "—Joe Starts to Hunt for a Moose— 
 Returns and Finds Me Helpless— "I Guess I'm Done For"— A 
 Long Night aud Day — Walking in a Circle— I Revive on Moose 
 Broth— My Last Prospecting Trip 407 
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 STAMPEDERS WHO NEGLECTED TO RECORD CLAIMS 
 
 — CREEKS TOO NUMEROUS TO REMEMBER — P08- 
 SILILITIES OF- OTHER DISTRICTS — NEW GOLD 
 FIELDS. 
 
 Midnight Rush to Montana Creek — Staking by Torchlight — A Pugil- 
 ist on Hand — Locators Rested after Their Journey — Their Stakes 
 Stealthily Removed and Others Substituted — The First to Record 
 Takes the Claim — Great Stampede to All Gold Creek — The 
 Rush for Bryant Creek — Intended to be Named for William J. Bryan 
 — Result of the Slip of the Pen — Neglecting to Record for Fear 
 Something Better Would be Found — Tenderfeet Frozen Out — 
 Waiting Three Days to Reach the Gold Commissioner — The 
 Country Staked for a Hundred Miles Around — Frauds Perpe- 
 trated — Impossibility for the Officers to Measure Claims during 
 the Wild Stampedes — Wild Race down the Frozen Yukon to 
 Buy a Claim — Old Miners' Belief in Stewart River — Gold Found 
 Everywhere — Difficulties of Prospecting on the Stewart — Some 
 of the Gold-Bearing Creeks Which May Be Heard From — In the 
 Same Belt as the Klondike, 420 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KLONDIKE — THE CANA- 
 DIAN MOUNTED POLICE —CANADIAN REGULATIONS 
 
 — MAILS THROWN AWAY ON THE TRAIL — A QUES- 
 TION OF LIFE OR DEATH. . 
 
 Attention Paid the Yukon District by Canadian Government after 
 Gold Discoveries — Concerned Over Loss of Revenue — Detach- 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 XXVll 
 
 ment of Police Seat In— When the Organization was Formed — 
 Its Principal Features— Officers and Constables — The Yukon 
 Territory — Powers of the Gold Commissioner — His Word Final 
 in All Cases as to Claims — Experience of a Seattle Man — How a 
 Double Sale was Quickly Untangled — Government Rights over 
 the Yukon Region — The Proposed Royalty — Indignation of the 
 Miners — A Meeting and a Protest — Possibilities of Trouble — 
 Uncertainty of the Mails— Difficulties of a Carrier — Mail Matter 
 Taken by Returning Miners and Tlrown Away on the Trail — A 
 Matter of Life or Death, 431 
 
 OHAPTEK XXXII 
 
 THE SUDDEN RISE AND MAGICAL EXPANSION OF 
 SK AG WAY — CURIOUS SIGNS FOR THRIVING EN- 
 . TERPRISES ~ THE DEBATING SOCIETY IN MRS. 
 MALONEY'S BOARDING TENT. 
 
 Seeking un Easier Pass than the Chilkoot — Why Gold-Seekers Began 
 to Stop at Skagway — A Peaceful Scene in July — The Original 
 Promoters Quickly Overwhelmed — A Thousand Tentr and a 
 Thousand Pack Animals — Organizing the Town — Marvelous 
 Real Estate Business — How a Hotel Keeper Announced His 
 Facilities — A More Modest Announcement —" Any Old Thing 
 Bought and Sold " — Tons of Provisions Scattered on the Beach — 
 Saloons and Dance Halls — An Opening Night — The Symbol of 
 Law and Order — Herds of Gambling Men — "An Easy Graft " — 
 Greenhorns at Packing — Runaway Animals — Many Ludicrous 
 Scenes — The Serious Side — A Clergyman's Observations — The 
 Part the Women Piayed — Widow Maloney's Debating Society — 
 Respect for the Chair — Debating the Merits of Armies of the 
 World — Some Race Feeling — Mrs. Maloney Does Not Permit 
 Abuse of "Ould Ireland" — A Hundred Days of Growth — 
 " Biggest " Town in Alaska 446 
 

 XXVIU 
 
 [!! 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 DIFFICULTIES AND HORRORS OF THE 8KAGWAY TRAIL 
 — PRECIPICES OVER WHICH HORSES TUMBLED — 
 A LIFE FOR A SACK OF FLOUR AND A LITTLE 
 BACON. 
 
 An Impassable Trail — The Blockade — Stories Brought to Dawson — 
 Principal Features of the White Pass Route — Slippery Places for 
 Horses — Over Precipices into the River — Porcupine Hill — 
 Where Most of the Horses Were Lost — The Sight of a Life Time- 
 Death on Summit Lake — Efforts to Open the Trail — All Kinds 
 of Pack Animals — Scarcity of Fodder — Selling Hay and Throw- 
 ing in the Horses — The Big Marsh — Floundering in the Mud — 
 Thieving on the Trail — Looking for Pierre, the Frenchman- 
 Discovered with Stolen Goods — Appealing to Hearts of Stone — 
 Six Shots Sounding as One — The Limp Form of a Thief Hanging 
 by the Wayside — A Heap of Stones Cast on the Body — Chances 
 to Make Money on the Trail 459 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 THREATENED FAMINE — STORES OF THE TRADING COM- 
 PANIES CLOSED — STEAMBOATS STUCK ON THE 
 YUKON FLATS -THE PERILOUS SITUATION REAL- 
 IZED. 
 
 Miners Hasten to Secure Provisions — Companies Fear Speculation in 
 Food — Eggs at $4 a Dozen — Good Mining Claims Traded for 
 Provisions — Candles at a Dollar Apiece — Waiting Three Hours to 
 File an Order — The Trading Companies Confer — Doling Out 
 Provisions — The Steamboats near Fort Yukon — Fruitless Efforts 
 to Get over the Bar — Captain Hansen's Efforts — Returning to 
 Dawson — Watching the River for the Steamboats — The Situation 
 Realized — Plenty of Whisky, but Little to Eat — Police without 
 Supplies — The Warehouses Threatened — Police Contemplate the 
 
 ,i 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Necessity of Seizing Provisions— Fancy Prices for Dogs— Mine 
 Owners Threatened by Failure to Pay Debts, . . .476 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 THE GREAT EXODUS FROM DAWSON — DOWN THE 
 RIVER TO CIRCLE CITY AND FORT YUKON — SAD 
 FATE OF SOME OF THE EXILES — A BURIAL UNDER 
 THE ARCTIC SKY. 
 
 A Great Day in Dawson — Drawing Lots to Determine Who Should 
 Go— The Restaurants All Closed— Effort to Go Up the River 
 Thirty-five Miles in. Seven Days— The Party Finally Returns- 
 People Pouring in While Others Were Pouring out — Arriving 
 With Worthless Outfits or None at All — Swept By Dawson in the 
 Running Ice — Petty Larceny Becomes Frequent — Food Scarce at 
 Circle City — Men Arrive from Circle City Badly Frozen — Suffer- 
 iug on the River— Exiles Badly Frozen — Sad Fate of Young 
 Anderson — Wounded, His Friends Dragged Him on a Rudo 
 Sled — Dying within Sight of Circle City — Thawing an Arctic 
 Grave— The Funeral— Extracts from His Diary — Strong Miners 
 Weep— The Scarcity of Supplies — A Restaurant Price List — A 
 Fresh Supply of Caribou Meat — Curtailing the Work on the 
 Mines— Those Left Pull Through, . . . . . 486 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 DISCOVERY OF GOLD ON MUNOOK CREEK— THE SUD- 
 DEN RISE OF RAMPART CITY — THRILLING EX- 
 PERIENCE AND LOSS OF LIFE ON THE MOUNTAIN 
 TRAIL. 
 
 A Rival to Dawson and the Klondike — American Territory Preferable 
 — Old Munook and Little Munook— Taking a Fortune from a 
 Small Hole— Stream Prospected Before— The First Excitement— 
 
 ■'- ^»«mm'i9n^tgit(tit 
 
XXX 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 \l 
 
 Stampedes from the Arriving Steamboats — Beginnings of Ram- 
 part City — Arrival of tlie Hamilton — Crew Stampedes and Takes 
 the Knives and Forks— A Literary Woman's Rush for a Claim — 
 Settling in the New Camp — High Prices for Claims — Taking 
 out |1,500 in Five Days — The Fever of Speculation — "Wealth of 
 a Man with a House and Lot — High Price of Timber — The 
 Rough Trails — Fatal Experience of Two Yale Graduates^ 
 Spending the First Night on Hoosier Creek — Taking Food for 
 Only One Day — A Terrible Night — Tucker Falls Exhausted — 
 Running for Help — Secured at Last — Returning to Find His 
 Companion Dead — Burird in the Wild Qulch — Situation of 
 Munook— High Value of Its Gold, 496 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVn 
 
 WE DECIDE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY — INCl DENTS OF 
 A HARD JOURNEY IN WINTER TO THE COAST — 
 THE DEATH OF JOE — MY ESCAPE. 
 
 Preparing for the Winter — Our Gold Dust — Returning to Dawson 
 We Realize the Food Situation — We are Unable to Secure Pro- 
 visions for the Winter — Selling Our Claims and Counting Our 
 Fortune — Down or Up the River? — We Decide to Return for 
 a Good Outfit — Dogs an Expensive Luxury — Encountering 
 Wrecks — Difficulties at Lewis River — Picking up Tales of 
 Hardship and Suffering — Hardships of a Man with Poor Dogs — 
 A Young Man with Frozen Feet Left to Die in a Hut — A Young 
 Woman Rescued from Death — Lashed to a Sled — We Arrive at 
 the Cafion — A Cry from Joe — Into the Icy Rapids — Last of 
 Poor Joe — I Sit Down and Cry — My Awful Predicament — Pro- 
 visions, but Nothing Else — A Sad and Lonely Journey — A Tent 
 Buried in the Snow — Saved! — " Got Any Grub ? " —Kicking the 
 Dogs out of the Snow — Over the Chilkoot in a Blizzard — 
 Homeward Bound — "Poor Joe!" . . . . . 605 
 
CONTENTS XXXI 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 THE GREAT RUSH TO THE KLONDIKE AND ALASKA 
 
 — EXCITEMENT ALL OVER THE WORLD — PREP- 
 ARATION FOR A QUARTER OP A MILLION PEOPLE 
 
 — WHAT IT WILL MEAN IF ALL BECOME RICH. 
 
 At Seattle — The Stampede of 1898 — Nothing to Compare with It — 
 The Days of '49 Eclipsed — Transportation Engaged in Advance — 
 Fitting Up Vessels to Accommodate the Trade — " Klondicitis " — 
 The Topic of Conversation Everywhere — Preparing Outfits — 
 Returning Klondikers Besieged — Women and Children Have the 
 Fever — Old Gold-Seekers Aroused — All Sorts of Men Join in 
 the Rush — Great Exodus from California — Associations of 
 Women — Gold Dust on Exhibition — The Craze Reaches Jerusa- 
 lem — A Quarter of a Million of People — How It Appeared to 
 a Returned Klondiker — All After Gold — Money Spent for Out- 
 fits — What It May Mean — Doubling the Gold Production 
 in a Single Year — If All Make Fortunes Gold Will Become 
 Cheap 519 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX 
 
 RESOURCES OF THE YUKON VALLEY — POSSIBILITIES 
 OF QUARTZ mNING — COOK INLET, UNGA ISLAND 
 AND COPPER RIVER— THE FUTURE OF ALASKA. 
 
 Waiting for More Thorough Prospects — Comparative Smallness of the 
 Klondike District — Room for a Million to be Lost in — The Klon- 
 dike all Located — The Government's Gold Map — Traces of Gold 
 Everywhere — Most of Alaska Unexplored — Some Comparisons 
 with Early Production in California — Difference in Conditions — 
 Obstacles to be Overcome — Possibly a Dozen Klondikcs — Induce- 
 ments for Quartz Mining — A Belt of Rich Rock Thousands of 
 Miles Long — The Quartz Mines of Unga Island — A String cf 
 
XXZll 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Islands that May be Rich in Gold — A Test of Klondike Quartz — 
 Credit for the First Discovery — Cook Inlet and Its Mines — The 
 Benefit of Waiting a Little Longer — The Copper River Country — 
 Stories of Rich Diggings — Friendly Indians with Mineral Wealth 
 — Points of Distribution — Unforeseen Results of Our Purchase of 
 Alaska — Its Future, 534 
 
 CHAPTEK XL 
 
 ADVICE TO GOLD-SEEKERS — THE IMPORTANCE OP 
 HAVING A GOOD OUTFIT — POINTS TO BE RE- 
 MEMBERED—WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO 
 DO. 
 
 Some Advantages in Not Being in a Hurry — Not a Poor Man's Country 
 
 — Good Advice from a United States Government Expert — A 
 Place for Strong Men and Those Who Can Afford to Lose — 
 Expenses Which Have to Be Met — The Cost of Cabins and Facili- 
 ties for Working Mines — One Thousand Dollars for Sluice Boxes 
 
 — The Advantage of Having Partners — Unwise to Take Less 
 Than a Year's Outfit — Suicide Cheaper in Lower Latitudes — It 
 Takes a Week to Dig a Grave — Times When Every Man Looks 
 the Picture of Distress — Sail North Only in Good Vessels — How 
 to Mark Packages — Trunks an Inconvenience — Sugar and Salt as 
 Hard as Quartz — Tobacco as Good us Jloney on the Yukon — As 
 to Furs — Shot Guns Better Than Revolvers — Jack Dalton's Rules 
 for the Trail — Possibilities of Losing a Toe or a Foot, . 548 
 
TWO YEARS 
 
 IN 
 
 THE KLONDIKE AND ALASKAN 
 GOLD FIELDS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 MY BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE — WHAT LED ME TO 
 ADOPT THE LIFE OF A GOLD-SEEKER — WHY MY 
 EYES WERE TURNED TOWARDS ALASKA. 
 
 Boyhood on a Vermont Farm — Scanty Rewards of Toil — Forgetting 
 the Cows — My Father Has Ambitions for Me — I Am Sent to School 
 but Am Negligent in Study — The Mystery of Inheritance — Book 
 Knowledge — I Choose a Business Career in the City — Behind a 
 Counter in a Dry- goods Store — My Unhappy Lot — Sighing for 
 the Great West — Temptation to Break Away — It Finally Over- 
 comes Me — News of Wonderful Finds of Gold — I Take My Little 
 Belongings and Arrive in Chicago — Life as a Brakeman — Falling 
 in with Gold Miners — Something about Nuggets— A Tramp's 
 Luck — The Creede Bush— Cripple Creek— Two Irish Boys and 
 Their Mountain Patch— Meeting Joe — Alaska for the Gold-Seeker. 
 
 THIS is the plain story of one who began life in a little 
 township of Vermont about thirty-two years ago, 
 and who, several times during the past two years, 
 has been dangerously near losing it in a search for gold 
 along the glacier-bound coasts of Alaska, in the frozen 
 regions of the Yukon, and in the rich gulches of the Klon- 
 dike. 
 
 It is of the observations, adventures, and experiences of 
 
 the last two years that this story is Avritten. That of the 
 
 first thirty may be briefly told, for it is commonplace — 
 
 the story of a country boy upon whose future career his 
 
 8 (88) 
 
Ij 
 
 I 
 
 34 
 
 BOYHOOD ON A NEW ENGLAND FARM 
 
 
 struggling parents built great expectations only to be cruelly 
 disappointed. That is usual enough, for parental fondness 
 always indulges extravagant hopes in a youth whose own 
 more moderate expectations are seldom realized, even after 
 his hardest struggles. If at last there comes a time Avhen, 
 in some measure, their fond anticipations are realized, they 
 may be sleeping in their narrow graves. My parents were 
 industrious and poor, a combination of circumstances of 
 which life aifords many instances, especially upon remote 
 and somewhat stubborn New England farms. A boy grow- 
 ing up in such surroundings could not fail to be impressed 
 with the scanty rewards of the most unremitting toil. 
 
 But any boy finds sources of delight in his surroundings, 
 be they never so poor and unpromising, and, though early 
 enlisted in some of the necessary work of the farm, such as 
 replenishing the wood-pile and churning the cream, my 
 inclinations were always to wander in the woods or over the 
 meadows, chasing the squirrels, or endeavoring to drive 
 the woodchucks from their holes; so that many times when 
 sent off on the mountainside after the cows, I often entirely 
 forgot my errand in the pursuit of some chance game or 
 childish fancy. The admonitions of my father on such oc- 
 casions never seemed to do any good. Seldom was I able 
 to enter with persistence and interest into tmy useful piece 
 of work. 
 
 But for one thing, however, I should probably have re- 
 mained there on the farm like so many others, who, not 
 having looked beyond their own narrow horizons, settle 
 down to think their little world is like all the rest. Though 
 very poor, my father entertained high ambitions for me, 
 and he determined, at whatever sacrifice, to provide me with 
 an education. He never ceased to regret what he himself 
 
YOUTHFUL DREAMS 
 
 30 
 
 lacked in this respect, and fondly hoped that, if I were 
 blessed with a little learning, I would fill a place in the 
 world of which he would be proud, and that his declining 
 years would be years of happiness and contentment- 
 
 So at the age of fifteen I was sent away to an academy 
 in Massachusetts, and immediately my ideas began to 
 imdergo a marvelous change. I became possessed by a de- 
 sire to break away from the limitations of a routine life and 
 rush into the great world of which I thought I saw a 
 glimpse. But I had no definite purpose. I had not the 
 least idea of what I should do if 1 entered the world which 
 my imagination so brilliantly pictured. My disposition re- 
 mained the same. It was simply let loose in a wider field, 
 like an unbroken mustang. Anything like hard study was 
 out of my line, and I seldom engaged in it. I Avould sit for 
 hours and hear the city boys tell stories, would read tales of 
 wonderful adventure, forgetting entirely to go to bed. 
 Little by little my taste in reading improved, and I wan- 
 dered about aimlessly in the fields of literature, not neglect- 
 ing the great masters. But I never studied the lessons 
 staked out by the teachers like so many narrow garden plats. 
 I knew that my low marks were a severe trial to my parents, 
 and it was painful to me, when I ci^me to think of it and 
 realize Avhat a sacrifice they were making in my behalf. At 
 times I would resolve to do better, and would try to study 
 hard, but it was no use. My mind quickly fled away into 
 more congenial fields. 
 
 It seems to me that it is unkind to hold a man too rigidly 
 responsible for the mixture he finds in his nature. We are 
 largely controlled by inherent qualities of which it is dif- 
 ficult to rid ourselves. These innate characteristics make 
 us what we are, and I suppose that is why we are oblivious 
 
1 1' 
 
 36 
 
 A father's .ambition thwarted 
 
 to our own faults. I know now that my disposition has 
 always been that of a wanderer, though I cannot under- 
 stand why I should have inherited such a nature from my 
 parents. Possibly it may be explained upon the principle 
 that the chemical union of substances results in combina- 
 tions surprisingly different from the originals. It may be 
 that a person can inherit a nature widely different from that 
 of either parent, and still be the natural combination of their 
 natures. 
 
 Notwithstanding my neglect of prescribed studies, I 
 managed somehow to squeeze through the curriculum, and 
 I was declared to be fitted for college, but really I was fit for 
 nothing which had any definite aim in it. I had extracted 
 from the books I had so diligently read a certain amount of 
 information which, for the right ])erson, would doubtless 
 have been more useful than all that the hardest students had 
 extracted from their text-books and teachers, but it was ap- 
 parently of little use to me. My fsither had hoped that I 
 would develop a determination to enter the ministry. He 
 sat in his pew every Sunday, looked up to the minister and 
 imagined me in the pulpit, eloquently holding forth upon 
 decrees and judgments, while the people hung breathlessly 
 upon my words. But I had no more taste for theology than 
 for politics, which I entirely ignored. From my reading 
 I had formed the opinion that a wise Providence would con- 
 trol the world in its own way, without regard to systems of 
 theology, and that our civil government would somehow 
 " run itself," no matter which party was in power. I was 
 quite willing to let others expound theology, or struggle for 
 political prizes. My nature was different, and my purpose, 
 or lack of it, might be summed up, as nearly as it could be 
 summed up at all, in the words " aimless adventure." 
 
DULL DAYS IN A DRY GOODS STORE 
 
 87 
 
 So I adroitly begged off from going to college, explain- 
 ing to my father that, even if I had any inclination in that 
 direction, I knew that he could not afford it, and that it 
 would be better for me to go into business. I had no ambi- 
 tion in that direction either, but I had the unpleasant real- 
 ization that I must do something for a living. 
 
 Thus it happened that at twenty-two I was behind a 
 counter in a big dry-goods store in Boston. It took very 
 little time for me to discover that there was no romance in 
 the life of a dry-goods clerk. The requirements were alto- 
 gether too definite to suit my nature. All my inclinations 
 were to drift about, to find adventure, to see life in its 
 various phases, and there I was day after day for long hours 
 in a crowded corner of a great store, answering myriads of 
 questions, some of which I thought the women who asked 
 them knew better how to answer than I, and calling for a 
 cash boy Avho loitered until my customers had become im- 
 patient and upbraided me. Variety, there was none. I 
 made my board, and a little more, because I paid very little 
 for my board and received accordingly. 
 
 My Sunday respites brought me little consolation, for 
 though they afforded me temporary delight in wandering 
 off into the country, they only served to sharpen my appetite 
 for greater freedom. I used to wish that a war would 
 break out so that I could enlist and give my nature vent in 
 an atmosphere of gunpowder. Often I thought of joining 
 the recruits to the regular army, but upon investigation I 
 concluded that there was little for a soldier to do except to 
 waste his time in a dull routine. 
 
 To a spirit like mine the possibilities of the great West 
 naturally appealed. I had very little idea what any part 
 of it was like, and that is (^'^ubtless one of the reasons why I. 
 
38 
 
 AN ENGU088IN(» SUBJECT 
 
 / ; 
 
 ■ '■f: 
 
 longed to see it for myself. Tt made no particular difTerenco 
 to what part of it I went, nor was it essential that 1 should go 
 for any well-defined purpose. That would take care of 
 itself; indeed, 1 disliked to be hamjiered by certainties. I 
 knew I was not in my right place. What business had J, a 
 big six-footer, built on Vermont lines, broad, nuiscnlar, and 
 tough, dallying behind a dry -goods counter! stuck up in a 
 corner like a house plant when I sighed for the free open air, 
 the winds, and the storm. 
 
 I clung resignedly to my nnpleasant work, however, 
 saving all I could at many a bitter sacrifice of my inclina- 
 tions, for I had sufficient wisdom to realize the risks of rush- 
 ing empty-handed into regions of whicii I knew little, and 
 where no one knew me. I was sick and discouraged at 
 times over the monotonous routine of my daily duties. 
 
 In such papers as I allowed mvself to buy I always read 
 with great interest and care every scrap of information or 
 news about the Great West, and like many others, even with 
 a disposition less restless than mine, I was deeply impressed 
 with the stories of rich strike:^ in the mining regions and the 
 fortunes made in what seeineil an incredibly short time. I 
 began to read all I coum! lay my hands on relating to mines 
 and mining, and to study, Avith a zeal which I had never 
 shown before, the science of that great industry; thus acquir- 
 ing a store of information that woidd l)e very valuable if 
 ever a time should come when it could be brought into con- 
 nection with practical experience, but worth little without it. 
 
 In the spring of 1889 came the stories of the ex- 
 citement caused along the Pacific coast by the discoveries 
 in Lower California. During March an average of six hun- 
 dred men a day nished to the mines in the Santa Clara dis- 
 trict, about one hundred and twenty miles south of San 
 
 [i 
 
MAKING MY WAY WESTWARD 
 
 ^•w 
 
 Diego. One of the first worker?*, so the stories ran, washed 
 out four thousand dollars' worth of gold in four hours, and a 
 Mexican digger took out one thousand five hundred dollars 
 in two days in a space eight feet stjuare. 
 
 As I read these and similar talcs, the temptation became 
 too great for me to resist. I had as yet saved only a small 
 amount of money, but I had enough to take me a part of the 
 way, and then, I thought, I might secure employment 
 further west, and a little nearer the region of the Pacific 
 Coast. So, after one of my hardest, most e ^asperating days 
 behind the counter, I resigned my position, and for the first 
 time in many months walked to my boarding place with a 
 light heart. After receiving what was due me at the store, 
 and buying a ticket for Chicago, I packed my small belong- 
 ings in a valise, and with my accumulated capital, about 
 thirty dollars, in my pocket, westward I took my unde- 
 termined way. 
 
 Considerable time was lost in an unsuccessful search for 
 employment at Chicago, and gradually my small capital 
 became greatly reduced. I avoided the dry-goods stores 
 and of course knew little about any other line of business. 
 My eyes were still turned westward, and quite naturally I 
 haunted the railway depots and offices until destitiition 
 finally compelled me to engage as a brakcman on a freight 
 train on one of the leading lines nmning West from 
 Chicago. It was a hard life, and yet 1 enjoyed some 
 features of it. Even my imagination had not portrayed the 
 Great West as I found it, with its broad stretches of prairie, 
 its busy cities and towns, its teeming harvests, and thrifty 
 homes. 
 
 Gradually I worked my way westward, constantly shift- 
 ing from one division of the railroad to another, each tend- 
 
40 
 
 "PELLEKS AS STRUCK IT RICH" 
 
 
 K 
 
 ing still farther west than the last, till one evening I found 
 myself in Colorado Springs. Seeking out a moderate- 
 priced hotel, I entered and found myself in an eating-room 
 where a number of men were drinking and smoking, most 
 of them engaged in earnest conversation. Seating myself 
 at a vacant table, I ordered as good a meal as I thought was 
 warranted by my rather scanty funds. 
 
 " Yes, thar's some mighty big stories 'bout fellers as 
 struck it rich," I heard the old man who sat at the next table 
 say to his companions, who were ail considerably younger, 
 " but I'm only tellin' what I've seen to be true. One day, 
 when I was in Shasta county, 'bout fifteen years back, three 
 fellers that looked like Frenchmen druv into town, and 
 droppin' into a hardware store to get soraethin' or other, 
 asked the proprietor whar was a likely place to mine. They 
 looked tenderfoot like, and I guess they was. The pro- 
 prietor kinder careless like, ye know, p'inted north, and 
 said * Oo over to Spring Creek.' Wal, sir, they went, and 
 after prospecting around they located a claim a little ways 
 up the stream, an' in a few days one o' them durn'd French- 
 men picked up a nugget wuth over six thousand. 
 
 " You don't find sech nuggets as them in these days," 
 chimed in one of the younger men as he took out a roll of 
 bills and beckoned to the waiter. He had a swaggering 
 manner, and it was easy to see that the others regarded him 
 with a degree of deference. 
 
 " How big d' ye say yourn was, Sandy? " asked the old 
 man. 
 
 " Only forty-eight ounces, but it was enough, so I sold 
 the claim for big money to the Denver parties." 
 
 *• "iVal, ye say, Sandy," resumed the old man, " that big 
 strikes ain't made these days, but it ain't so long ago when 
 
A BIG NUGGET 
 
 41 
 
 li 
 
 I was clown on the Gila that I heard of a lucky find a little 
 way off the Southern Pacific in Califomy. Two fellers 
 tranipin' up the coast got put off a freight train at Calliente, 
 and they started to hoof it to Bakersville. In two days, 
 back they came to Calliente with a lump of gold and quartz. 
 The boys thought they might have robbed a camp, and 
 p'raps killed the miner to get it. But they told how they 
 was goin' 'bout in the drj' bed of an old stream not far from 
 the Bealev'Ue placer camp, '"n search of wood for a fire, and 
 stumbled on the gold. They had offered-to sell it to a rail- 
 road man before they came back to Calliente, but he sus- 
 pected the strangers, and wouldn't bargain. Wal, sir, that 
 lump was sold afterwards in Los Angeles for two thousand 
 seven hundred and fifty dollars. It weighed 116 ounces. 
 The boys rushed into that old stream but they never found 
 any more big nuggets." 
 
 I forgot my supper, hungry as I was. The effect of 
 such conversation upon a tenderfoot with but a little silver 
 in his pocket, and who .vas impatient to send comforting 
 news to his faraAvay home in Vermont, may be imagined. 
 " Roughing it,"' and "striking it rich," was just my ideal 
 then. I liad tried roughing it somewhat, and all I needed 
 was to strike it ricli. 
 
 " Excuse me, gentlemen," I said, slowly turning my 
 chair, and somewhat nervously facing the group, " but I am 
 down this way U) see v^^hat I can do in a mining co'intry, 
 and I am interested in your talk. Is there any chance any- 
 where around here for a fellow like me to strike in? " 
 
 They looked at me critically fi>r a moment, and the 
 young fellow who seemed to be speeding the money, said: 
 " Stranger, you look all right, and I guess you are. Say, 
 stranger, where you from? " 
 
43 
 
 FIRST RUSH TO THE GOLD-FIELDS 
 
 I told them that I came from Xew England, and they 
 glanced at my clothes, which, notwithstanding the rough 
 wear of the past few weeks, were not at all bad. At this 
 the man whom they called " Sandy " informed me that he 
 had just sold one of his claims, but he had another that could 
 be bought for fair money, and his companions also began t • 
 expatiate upon the value of claims they would dispose ol 
 I had to confess, sorely against my inclination, that my 
 capital did not permit me to buy claims, but I would like to 
 get work in a mining region, and tiust to my luck. 
 
 It seems that Sandy had recently come in from the wild 
 regions about Willow Creek, and a rush was then just begin- 
 ning toward the place where Creede made his discovery. I 
 listened eagerly to the stories of fabulous fortunes and sud- 
 den wealth narrated by these prospectors. To my over- 
 wrought imagination it seemed easy to become rich where 
 gold was so abundant. The result was that the next day I 
 started with a party of a dozen others on my first rush to 
 gold fields. Thus it was that I began to supplemc nt my 
 store of book information about mining with the details of 
 practical expevience. These details wore not unlike those 
 of others in the mining districts of the Rockies, and the 
 story has often been told. I worked in the mines till I 
 secured a good understanding of mining as it was there con- 
 ducted. I was grub-staked and spent much <jf my time 
 wandering over tlie mountains, along creeks and streams, 
 and through gulches. It was on tho whole an agreeable 
 life, but I failed to make a strike. That is also a stor 
 which lias often been told. 
 
 Not long afterwards came the rush to (^ripple Creek, 
 where a cowboy had found in Poverty Gulch oro 'A'hich, 
 when taken to Colorado Springs, was to"n'.i to yii'l^ two 
 

 i 
 
 FINDING PAY-ROCK 
 
 43 
 
 hundred and forty dollars to the ton. Those going in early 
 found ore of even higher value. After the Buena Vista 
 mine was sold, the attention of the entire country was at- 
 tracted to Cripple Creek, and the great rush to that now 
 famous district began. They poured in over the mountain 
 tops and through the gulches, and claims were staked in all 
 directions, regardless of the character of the rock. Many 
 hardships were endured in the early days of the opening of 
 this district, but a rough life proved not at all distaste- 
 ful to me, though I met with no marked success. Still, 
 there was always the chance, and, in some notable cases, 
 men, after prospecting and suffering many hardships with- 
 out success, had, when on the point of packing their trap3 
 and returning to their former employments, stumbled upon 
 ore that made them rich within a few months. 
 
 One of the notable discoveries coming some little time 
 after the rush was that of the Portland mine. Two Irish 
 boys from Portland, Me., owned a small patch of poor land 
 which they did not know exactly what to do with. One 
 day a miner of some experience came along and asked what 
 they would give if he found pay-rock for them. They 
 offered a third. The miner found it that afternoon, and in 
 time that tliird int< rest became worth millions. 
 
 I kept on prospecting, always buoyed up by the hope of 
 making a groat fliscovery that would eclipse all others and 
 yield me a princely fortune. 
 
 In the fall of IS 0.5 I fell in with another prospector 
 about my age, named Josepli Meeker. There was a certain 
 compatibility in our dispositions and tastes, and we soo)i 
 became fast friends. Joe had originally come from I^orth 
 Carolina, but he had spent a year in Alaska, and had been 
 mining for several years in Colorado, but with no better sue- 
 
 ill 
 
44 
 
 A STARTLING PROPOSITION 
 
 cess than had attended my efforts. He never grew tired of 
 talking ahoxd Alaska. It had a strange fascination for him, 
 and he would return to the subject again and again. We 
 were s^ ' tt^ close to the fire in the cabin one night when Joe 
 suddenly red how much money I had. 
 
 " I've Si; . ad about eight hundred dollars," I replied, 
 wonderingly. " Why? " 
 
 " I've got 'bout seven hundred dollars," he said, " and 
 I'll tell you why I ask. You are strong and hearty. You 
 ought to stand it, and I know I can. The only place to 
 hunt for gold now is in Alaska'. I was up there two years 
 ago, worked in the Treadwell mills awh Je and in the sum- 
 mer crossed over to the upper Yukon. There's gold there 
 in river banks, but the ground's frozen twenty feet deep, 
 and the climate is beastly in the winter. I got caught on 
 the Yukon late in tue fall, and had a hard time getting back. 
 I didn't have any outfit, and when I came out I was as near 
 dead as I could be. But I believe that's the place for us, 
 and if we put our money together it will be enough to buy 
 a good outfit and pay our way to Alaska, and next spring we 
 can go in all right. How does it strike you ? " 
 
 The proposition startled me. Alaska was a long way 
 off, and it was comparatively an unknoAvn country. I was 
 already far from home and kindred. Besides I was not so 
 sanguine of success as my companion appeared to be, and 
 mining in a coimtry where the ground was " frozen twenty 
 feet deep " did not at first impress me as a particularly at- 
 tractive scheme. I hesitated, but only for a few moments; 
 for, impelled by my restless and unsatisfied love of adven- 
 tiire, and the alluring posvsibilities in a new land from 
 whence rumors of gold had already come, I said, " I'll go." 
 
 ^;k 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 HO FOR ALASKA ! — EXTENT OF OUR GREAT TERRITORY— 
 GETTING READY FOR THE START — OUR OUTFIT 
 AND WHAT IT CONSISTED OF. 
 
 My Meager Ideas of the Territory — Joe Draws on His Store of Infor- 
 mation — Vast Extent of tlie Country — Dull and Dirty Natives — 
 A Race of Shirlis — Habits of the Dogs — Navigation of the Yukon 
 
 — Mosquitoes That "Kill Bears"— Story of the Miners' Search 
 for Gold on the Yukon — A Pioneer Prospecting Party — Some of 
 the Early Finds — Gold Every where — The Klondike Moose Past- 
 ure — Despised by the Gold- Seekers — Coarse Gold on Forty-Mile 
 Creek —The Rise of the Town — Sixty Mile — Miller and Glacier 
 Creeks — A Missionary Picks up a Nugget — Founding of 
 Circle City — My Partner Becomes Impatient — Making Our Plans 
 
 — We Proceed to San Francisco — Buying an Outfit — What It 
 Consisted of — Our Medicine Chest— Over a Ton and a Half to 
 Carry — A Peep into the Future — Ominous Suggestions. 
 
 ALASKA was about the only country of the world into 
 which my venturesome imagination had not taken 
 me. I knew that the United States bought it of 
 Russia in 1867 for less than half a cent an acre, but I had 
 never figured from the total purchase price how many acres 
 it made. It was something of a revelation to me, there- 
 fore, when Joe, who was an exceedingly well-informed man 
 in many ways, and particularly upon Alaska, convinced me 
 that this territory was nine times the size of New England, 
 twice the size of Texas, and three times that of California; 
 that it had a coast line of over eighteen thousand miles, 
 
 (48) 
 
46 
 
 OUR WONDERFUL TERRITORY 
 
 ) 
 
 I 
 
 greater than that of all the rest of the United States, and 
 that, measuring from the most eastern point of Maine to 
 the most western point of the Aleutian Islands, which ex- 
 tend over into the eastern hemisijhcre, the half-way point 
 of the United States would be a little west of San Francisco. 
 Joe had a fimd of general information concerning the 
 country. While I had been dreaming vaguely of the Great 
 \Vv>st, he had been looking with quiet determination to- 
 wards that land from which he had with so much difficulty 
 only recently escaped, and in spite of that severe experience 
 he had been working hard to save money enough to enable 
 him to return and prospect mth safety on the Yukon. 
 While it was generally known that the first lease of two 
 tiny islands returned to the United States Treasury a sum 
 equal to the purchase money, and that the salmon industry 
 had yielded a like sum for the first six years of its establish- 
 ment, the outside world had as yet heard very little about 
 its gold resources. Summer pleasure-seekers had turned 
 back at the Muir Glacier, which is over a thousand miles 
 south of Point Barrow, and had rarely ventured as far as 
 the Aleutian Islands, which stretch to a point two thousand 
 miles west of Sitka. A few explorers had wandered over 
 some of the rough Indian trails, and had nearly lost their 
 lives in climbing the snow-capped mountain peaks. For 
 several years poorly maintained trading posts had been col- 
 lecting furs from the Indians, and here and there over the 
 vast region were mission stations which had produced little 
 effect on the dull and dirty natives. Dogs and Indians 
 were the beasts of burden, the dogs being far superior, for, 
 though bom thieves, they wonld work under the lash : but 
 the Indians were lazy, and, after exacting the most extrava- 
 gant prices for packing over the trails, were quite likely 
 
VORACIOUS INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES 
 
 47 
 
 to throw down their packs and return home, leaving the 
 exj^lorer helpless in the desolate regions. As all contracts 
 with these Indians includetl their keeping, and as no one had 
 had ever discovered a limit to their appetites when others 
 provided the food, the poor explorer usually found that the 
 Indian packers w> aid eat up all they could carry before go- 
 ing far into the interior. At home they would live frugally 
 on nothing but fish, some of it very ancient, for most of 
 them were too lazy to catch any till driven to it by gnawing 
 hunger. When carrying a pack for a white man they were 
 rarely able to lift an ounce till they had eaten two or three 
 pounds. Then they would trot along mth a pack that no 
 white man could stagger under. 
 
 What means of navigation existed on the Yukon were 
 exceedingly primitive. Running two thousand miles 
 across Alaska and into the Northwest Territorv, into which 
 the head tributaries stretched five hundred miles further, 
 navigation could hardly be attempted before July, and 
 towards the last of September the river generally began to 
 freeze. The quickest way to reach the headwaters of the 
 Yukon was overland from the coast, but one could do little 
 more than take his life in his hands, to say nothing of pro- 
 visions, if he ventured from the trails, which were full of 
 dangers, while in the summer the mosquitoes, Joe em- 
 phatically said, had been known to " kill bears." In five 
 months the country receives as much sunshine, or rather 
 daylight, as California receives in eight, and in seven 
 months as much night as California receives in nearly a year 
 and a half. 
 
 " But there's gold therc," said Joe. " And I know it." 
 
 It was the gold that he was thinking of, and though I 
 
 was not unmindful of it either, I could not help but weave 
 
48 
 
 ALASKA'S FIRST PK08PECTORS 
 
 fanciful pictures of life in a little-known country reputed 
 to be full of dangers, and hence attractive to one of my dis- 
 position. To me it was a pleasant picture to contemplate. 
 I knew nothing about the reality. What little was known 
 of the mineral possibilities of the country in the fall of 1895 
 was fairly well known by my partner, who had industri- 
 ously sought information from every possible source. 
 
 It is a curious fact, though an experienced miner will 
 not recognize it as such, that the Yukon and the streams 
 which flow into it have been prospected for years. The 
 reader must not supix)se that all one has to do is to come to 
 the right spot to find gold staring him in the face. Expe- 
 rienced prospectors traveled many times over some of the 
 nchest rocks in Colorado before their treasures were discov- 
 ered, and the conditions along the frozen banks of the Yukon 
 are even more misleading, as will be seen later. But 
 as early as thirty years ago, even before the seventies, gold 
 was known to exist in the beds of the streams which empty 
 into the Yukon. Only a few prospectors ventured into 
 these forbidding regions and they found small returns for 
 their hardships and drudgery. It appears that the first real 
 prospecting was done by George Holt, who crossed either the 
 Chilkoot or the White Pass in 1878 and found coarse gold in 
 the Hootalinkwa river. In 1880 a party of twenty-five, 
 headed by Edward Bean, found bars yielding $2.50 a day on 
 a small tributary of the Lewis. In subsequent years gold 
 was found on the Big Salmon, Pelly, Hootalinkwa, Lewis, 
 and Stewart rivers. When Lieutenant Schwatka made his 
 trip down the Yukon in 1883 he made the acquaintance of 
 Joseph Ladue, who was years after to become famous as 
 the founder of Dawson. Ladue was digging about persist- 
 ently, but he fpund little in the holea which he sunk with 
 
FAILURE AND DISAPPOINTMENT 
 
 49 
 
 the greatest difficulty. Schwatka also heard of others who 
 had been prospecting many seasons with poor results. Still 
 there were traces of gold almost everywhere, and a miner 
 knows that where there are traces of the precious metal 
 a source of supply must exist somewhere. 
 
 Early in the seventies there were miners working at the 
 headwaters of the Pelly River, near the Cassiar Mountains, 
 and, as will be seen by the map, near where some of the 
 feeders of the Pelly and the Mackenzie approach each 
 other. Some of them had learned of the existence of a 
 large lake beyond the Cassiar and made an effort to reach 
 it, but failed and returned disgusted. In 1872, two Irish- 
 men named Harper and Hart; Fitch, a Canadian; Kanselar, 
 a German; and Wilkinson, an Englishman, believing that 
 gold existed on the Mackenzie because it had been found 
 in some quantities on some of the principal streams, started 
 on a prospecting trip. At Laird River they fell in with 
 two men named McQuesten and Mayo, who were also pros- 
 pecting. Wilkinson determined to try his luck there, but 
 the others continued, and finally by way of Bell's River and 
 the Porcupine came to Fort Yukon, an old supply point 
 at the junction of the Porcupine and Yukon and close to 
 the Arctic Circle. There they found an Indian who had 
 some native copper which he said had come from White 
 River, 400 miles up the Yukon. 
 
 They determined to work their way up there, and did 
 eventually, but were stopped near the White River in Sep- 
 tember by ice. They built a cabin and during the Avinter 
 prospected for the copper, but found none. By spring 
 their provisions had run out and they started down the river 
 again, prospecting as they went. They found indications 
 
 of gold near the mouth of Stewart River, but could take 
 4 
 
T 
 
 60 
 
 SOME EARLY PIONEERS 
 
 no advantage of this till thay had obtained provisions. 
 They had to make their wp.y nearly 2,000 miles to St. Mi- 
 chael, near the mouth of the Yukon, and on their way back 
 met McQuestin and Mayo, who had meanwhile gone into 
 the service of the Alaska Commercial Company. 
 
 When about 400 miles up the river and near the mouth 
 of the Koyukuk they encountered an Indian having some 
 gold which he said had come from the mountains in that 
 vicinity. So they spent two years prospecting in that re- 
 gion, but with no results. Meantime, McQuestin and Mayo 
 had gone up the Yukon and established Fort Keliance, six 
 and a half miles from the stream which is now known as the 
 Klondike. Harper and his companion joined them a little 
 later and formed a trading partnership. The region near 
 this stream was known only as a fishing and hunting ground, 
 and no one thought of prospecting there then, for the beds 
 were formed of uninviting dirt and nothing but surface 
 prospecting was done. Harper had written concerning 
 the traces of gold to some of his old comrades in British 
 Columbia, where he had mined for years, and some of them 
 made their way to the new diggings. Early in the eighties 
 gold was found in the Stewart River, and it was about this 
 time that rich quartz fields were discovered in the vicinity 
 of Juneau, on the coast, and the attention of the outside 
 world was mainly directed towards them. In 1886 Har- 
 per erected a trading post at tlie mouth of the Stewart for 
 the benefit of the thirty or more miners who had been in- 
 duced to go into these regions, but in tlie same year coarse 
 gold was found on Forty Mile Creek. Coarse gold is the 
 miner's delight, and as soon as the discovery became known, 
 the Stewart River diggings, the product of which in 1885 
 and 1886 was estimated at $300,000, were deserted for 
 
SLUICING WITH A STEAMBOAT ENGINE 
 
 01 
 
 Forty Mile Creek, and Harper moved his trading post to 
 that point ; this was the beginning of the settlement of that 
 The same year the Klondike stream, which then 
 
 name. 
 
 appeared on the maps as Deer Kiver, was prospected for 
 several miles, but no gold was found. On the other hand, 
 gold was found nearly the whole length of Forty Mile 
 lliver and in all its gulches. The news of this discovery 
 was brought out by Tom Williams, who died at Dyea from 
 the effects of cold and exhaustion endured in crossing the 
 Chilkoot pass. His information caused several hundred 
 men to go to Forty Mile from the Pacific Coast. 
 
 The only mining done on the Stewart was on the bars 
 of the river. The bench and bank bars were all timbered 
 and frozen so that to work them it was thought would en- 
 tail a resort to hydraulic mining, for which there was no ma- 
 chinery in the country. During the fall of 1880 tln-ee or 
 four miners combined and got the owners of one of the 
 little river steamboats to allow the use of her engines to 
 work pumps for sluicing with. The boat was hauled up 
 on the bar, her engines detached from the wheels and made 
 to drive pumps manufactured on the ground, thus supply- 
 ing water for a set of sluice boxes. With this crurle ma- 
 chinery the miners cleared $1,000 in less than a mo iti.. and 
 paid an equal sum to the owners of the boat as their share. 
 
 But scarcely anything was heard of these discoveries 
 by the outside world, though the Canadian agent reported 
 them to his government. Few miners were there, the sea- 
 son for work was short, and the little gold which came down 
 attracted no attention, while many rich mines were being 
 discovered in Colorado and California. 
 
 Not long after the discovery of gold in Forty Mile 
 Creek a few miners crossed the narrow divide which sep- 
 
S2 
 
 A MISSIONARY PICKS UP A NUGGET 
 
 arates the headwaters of Forty !Mile from those of Sixty 
 Mile and discovered gold on Ikliller and (ilacier creeks, 
 Tlie former had already been prosjMJcted three different 
 times and given up as worthless, but it turned out to be the 
 richest creek in tlie region and enjoyed that reputation for 
 years. In 18ttl gold was found on the headwaters of Birch 
 Creek, which flows into the Yukon about forty miles below 
 Fort Yukon. According to the story which came down 
 the coast, this discovery was due to Archdeacon Macdona' ' 
 a Canadian missionary on the Peel River, who in connec 
 with his missionary labors traveled over much of i...^ 
 country. In coming from the Tanana River he picked up 
 a nugget in one of vhe gulches of Birch Creek. He told 
 some of the miners and a party made a search. While they 
 failed to find the place answering the missionary's descrip- 
 tion they found gold. This was the beginning of Circle 
 City, on the banks of the Yukon, about 200 miles below 
 Forty Mile and only a few miles by portage from Birch 
 Creek. During 1893 the Klondike stream was again pros- 
 pected, but no'. ling was found. But Circle City attracted 
 to it many of the old miners who had had poor success on 
 other creeks and most of the newcomers. These, however, 
 were very few until 1894. 
 
 My partner had learned the story of some o\ these dis- 
 coveries while at Juneau and during his unsucv'essful ven- 
 ture inland. He returned to California in ^he hopes of 
 providing a good outfit, but was obliged to prospect and 
 work in the mines, trusting to luck to raise the necessary 
 money. Attracted by tlie stories which came down, several 
 hardy miners from California went up to the Yukon regions 
 in 1894, but Joe remained behind and worked hard to se- 
 cure the means which he had learned by observation and 
 
PLANNING A NEW ENTERPRISE 
 
 68 
 
 experience were required to prospect in such a wild country. 
 Late in the summer of 1805, a lot of gold came down to San 
 Francisco from the mouth of the Yukon, and for the first 
 time Alaska began to attract a lively attention in the min- 
 ing camps of the Rocky Mountains and along the Pacific 
 Coast. Joe was greatly excited but knew it was too late 
 that year to venture safely into the new El Dorado. When 
 we became fast friends he saw the ad antages of forming 
 a partnership with me in the enterprise. 
 
 It was then November, and we wished to be ready to 
 start by the first of March. He said it would be no use for 
 us to try to start earlier, for owing to the difficulties of travel 
 before the Yukon broke up no time would be gained, while 
 a good deal of needless Imrdship would be incurred. It 
 was fortunate for me that I had a companion who knew 
 something of tlie route and what to expect. It would have 
 been just like me to start in with little thought of pro- 
 visions and with an inadequate outfit of clothing and sup- 
 plies. We worked along till the end of the year making 
 our plans, and early in January we bade good-bye to Colo- 
 rado and started for SaJi Francisco to secure our outfit and 
 passage. 
 
 I have seen many statements of the outfit a man needs 
 in going into the Alaska mining regions, but I have never 
 seen one that enumerated all the things which a man wants 
 after he is there. It must be borne in mind that he is going 
 to a place which is practically cut off from the outside 
 world for the greater part of the year and which is very 
 little better, as far as supplies are concerned, at any time. 
 All this may be remedied some time, but I was going in 
 l>efore the attention of the commercial world had been 
 greatly attracted to the region. While one with money 
 
54 
 
 A year's provisions 
 
 'n 
 
 enough in his pocket can travel all over the United States 
 and want for nothing, when he crosses the mountain passes 
 or goes up the Yukon to the interior of Alaska he needs to 
 have with him all that he is likely to want for a year. He 
 may want it very badly and in vain, and still have any 
 amount of go^'' in his pockets. 
 
 We secured a cheap boarding place near the wharves 
 in San Francisco and soon sec to work to collect such articles 
 as Joe's experience and the best information we could ob- 
 tain from every ix)ssible source convinced us would be 
 necessary. After taking out of our capital what was 
 needed for passage, living expenses till March, and qiiite 
 a sum for expenses on the way, we concluded we 
 might with the remainder purchase enough cloth *ng 
 and provisions for a year, or more, besides the necessary 
 hardware. 
 
 I have a list of some of the things we purchased and 
 others I have supplied from memory. The following is 
 about what we took in the way of provisions: 
 
 
 Flour, 
 Com Meal, 
 TtoUed Oats. 
 Pilot Bread, 
 Baking Powder, 
 Yeast Cakes, 
 Baking Soda, 
 Rice, 
 Beans, 
 Split Peas, 
 Evaporated Potatoes, 
 Evaporated Onions, 
 Beef Extract, . 
 Evaporated Apples, 
 Evaporated Peaches, 
 Evaporated Apricots, 
 
 . 800 lb' . 1 
 
 . r,o 
 
 
 . 80 
 
 
 . 50 
 
 
 . 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 . 100 
 
 
 . 200 
 
 
 . 50 
 
 
 . 50 
 
 
 . 20 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 . 50 
 
 
 . 50 
 
 
 . 50 
 
 
 Bacon, 
 Dried Beef, 
 Dry Salt Pork, 
 Roast (^ollee, . 
 Tea, . 
 Condensed Milk, 
 
 800 
 60 
 50 
 50 
 25 
 50 
 
 lbs. 
 
 Butter, hermetically sealed, 40 
 
 Salt, 40 
 
 Ground Pepper, . . 8 
 
 Ground Mustard, . . 2 
 
 Ginger, .... 2 
 
 Jamaica Ginger, . . 3 
 
 Evaporated Vinegar, . 12 
 
 Matches 25 
 
 Candles, 2 boxes containing 
 
 240 candles, . . 80 
 
A GOLD seeker's OUTFIT 
 
 55 
 
 Dried. Raisias, . 
 
 . 20 lbs. 
 
 Laundry Soap, 
 
 . 15 lbs. 
 
 Dried Figs, 
 
 . 20 " 
 
 Tar Soap, 
 
 . 5 " 
 
 Granulated Sugar, . 
 
 . 150 " 
 
 Tobacco, . 
 
 . 30 " 
 
 In tte hardware line our outfit was of a more miscel- 
 laneous character and as complete as we knew how to make 
 it, and everything came in handy. We purchased as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 1 Hand Saw. i 
 
 2 Sliovels. ! 
 30 pounds of Nails (assorted sizes). ' 
 
 i dozen assorted Files. 
 2 Handled Axes. 
 
 2 Draw Knives. 
 1 Jack Plane. 
 
 1 Brace and 4 Bits. 
 
 3 Chisels, assorted . 
 
 3 Butcher Knives. 
 
 2 Hunting Knives. 
 2 Pocket Knivos. 
 
 2 Compasses. 
 1 Set Awls and Tools. 
 150 feet of finch Rope. 
 
 1 Medicine Case. 
 15 pounds of Pitch. 
 20 pounds of Oakum. 
 
 Pack Straps. 
 
 2 Gold Pans. 
 
 4 Galvanized Pails. 
 
 1 Whetstone. 
 
 2 Picks and Handles. 
 2 Prospector's Picks. 
 2 Grub Bags. 
 
 2 Hatchets. 
 
 1 Whip Saw. 
 
 2 Scissors. 
 
 Fish Lines and Hooks. 
 1 Gold Scale. 
 1 Chalk Line. 
 
 1 Measuring Tape. 
 
 2 ]Vf juey Belts. 
 
 2 Cartridge Belts. 
 
 2 Gold Dust Bags (buckskin). 
 
 2 Pairs Snow Glasses. 
 
 OToA'els. 
 
 1 Caulking Iron. 
 Knives and Forks. 
 Table and Teaspoons. 
 
 2 Large Spoons. 
 2 Bread Pans. 
 
 Granite Cups. 
 
 Granite iates. 
 2 Coflfen Pots. 
 2Fryi, g Pans. 
 1 Stove (Yukon). 
 4 Granite Buckets. 
 1 Camp Kettle. 
 
 I have no exact record of the wearing apparel that 
 formed an imjwrtant part of our outfit, but it was ample. 
 There la nothing in the following list which will not come 
 in very handy if a man intends to move around in the rain 
 
I: 
 
 
 I 
 
 66 
 
 GARMENTS FOR ARCTIC WEATHER 
 
 Storms of summer and in the frigid weather of an Alaskan 
 winter: 
 
 3 Suits Underwear, extra heavy. 
 2 Extra heavy double-breasted 
 
 Flannel Overshirts. 
 1 Extra heavy Mackinaw Over- 
 shirt. 
 
 1 Extra heavy all-wool double 
 
 Sweater. 
 6 Pairs long German knit Socks. 
 
 2 Pairs German knit and shrunk 
 
 Stockings, leather heels. 
 1 Mackinaw Coat, extra heavy. 
 1 Pair Mackinaw Pants. 
 
 4 Pairs All-Wool Mittens. 
 
 I 2 Pairs Leopard Seal Waterproof 
 
 1 Pair Hip Boots. [Mittens. 
 
 2 Pairs Rubber Shoes. 
 2 Pairs Overalls. 
 
 1 Waterproof, Blanket-Lined Coat. 
 
 2 Pairs Blankets. 
 1 Fur Cap. 
 
 1 Wool Scarf. 
 1 Pair Leather Suspenders. 
 1 Extra Heavy Packing Bag. 
 1 Suit Oil Clothing and Hat. 
 1 Doz. Bandana Handkerchiefs. 
 1 Canvas Sleeping Bag. 
 
 
 r. I 
 
 Any woman who thinks of going to Alaska can read 
 this list intended for a man and govera the selection of her 
 garments accordingly. 
 
 Our outfit, which altogether we estimated would weigh 
 about 3,200 pounds, embraced other little odds and ends, 
 personal effects, and so on. We each had a rifle, and we 
 also provided ourselves with revolvci's. We haunted gro 
 eery stores and clothing houses for over a week, and as our 
 purchases were delivered I began to get a dim realization 
 of what Joe was preparing for. Still I was often surprised 
 at the wholesale manner in which he bought. One day 
 he bought a medicine chest, which looked like a miniature 
 (h'ug store. It had been recommended to him by a phy- 
 sician. It took up a lot of room and it was about the only 
 thing that we did not use in our subsequent wanderings. 
 The trouble was that we did not know how to use it. Some 
 of the remedies might have been for blisters or cramps or 
 any other human ailment so far as \ve knew. We managed 
 
IHI 
 
 GRIT MORE THAN HALF 
 
 57 
 
 to sort out a few remedies with which we had some famil- 
 iarity. We found that a few stock remedies, such as most 
 persons are accustomed to use, are ahout all that it is worth 
 while to carry over Che mountain trails and long voyages 
 by water. In winter a hot drink of tea did us more good 
 than anything else, and in summer a few quinine pills were 
 taken as bon-bons. 
 
 ' " Over a ton and a half," I said when the collection was 
 completed. 
 
 " You will think it weighs five times that before you get 
 it on tlie Yukon," remarked Joe. " But it's a mighty good 
 outfit, and I hope we shall get it there all right." 
 
 Joe was sometimes vague as to the details t)f some of the 
 difficulties for which he was so co'' fnlly providing; and 
 though a faint suspicion would no then arise in my 
 
 mind when he confined himself to general 8tat<'ments in 
 answer to some of my questions, I quieted ni\ misgivings. 
 I think even he had no clear conception of the magnitude of 
 some of the dangers and hardships we were destined to en- 
 counter. " It'll be the roughest roughing it you ever saw," 
 he would say. " But you've got grit, and that's more than 
 half." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 CHOOSING A ROUTE— OUR VOYAGE ALONG THE CO AST- 
 ARRIVAL AT D YEA— FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH NA- 
 TIVES. 
 
 
 ) 
 
 
 Departure from San Francisco — Port Townsend — Through Puget 
 Sound — Points of Interest and Beauty — A Gap in the Island Belt 
 — Few Moments of Seasickness — The Great Scenic Region — In 
 Alaskan Waters — Tide Water Glaciers — Juneau as a Metropolis — 
 A Glimpse of Totem Poles — Indian Traders — The Mines of the 
 Vicinity and their Discovery — Famous Treadwell Mills — The 
 Largest in the World — The Skagway and Dalton Trails — Pro- 
 ceeding to Dyea — Dumped on the Beach — Getting Supplies 
 Together and Beyond the Tide — The Problem of Moving Ahead — 
 Approached by Indian Packers — Dangers of Bidding up Prices — 
 A Contract with the Heatlien — Our First Night in Camp — Dark 
 Ways of the Chilkoots — We Decide to Do Our Own Packing. 
 
 AT the time we started for Alaska there were but two 
 general routes from the Pacific Coast of the United 
 States to the gold regions of the Yukon. The first 
 was by the way of the Yukon River, and that means a jour- 
 ney of about four thousand five hundred miles, all by water, 
 at such times as the sand bars do not obstruct navigation. 
 This voyage can only be made between the middle of June 
 and the first of September, and if usually requires forty 
 days to reach Circle City. The other way, which is shorter 
 and quicker, if conditions are favorable, can be undertaken 
 much earlier in the year, and is l)y the way of Juneau, Byea, 
 and the mountain passes to the lakes and upper waters of the 
 
 (58) 
 
OAST- 
 
 [TH NA- 
 
 gh Puget 
 sland Belt 
 gion — In 
 tropolis — 
 nes of the 
 [ills — The 
 ills — Pro- 
 Supplies 
 y Ahead — 
 p Prices — 
 np — Dark 
 eking. 
 
 ! but two 
 le United 
 The first 
 ns a jour- 
 by water, 
 ivigalion, 
 3 of June 
 res forty 
 is shorter 
 idertaken 
 au, Dyea, 
 ers of the 
 
 r. 
 
 > 
 
 c 
 
 X 
 K 
 
 C 
 
 > 
 
 K 
 

BEGINNING THE VOYAGE 
 
 61 
 
 Yukon. The fare from San Francisco by way of the 
 Yukon is about three hundred dollars, and a charge of ten 
 cents a pound for freight over the amount allowed for per- 
 sonal baggage. From San Francisco tx> Juneau the fare is 
 fifty dollars, and the freight charges amount to but little. 
 After reaching Dyea the charges for packing and ferrying 
 are extravagant. One can spend as much as he likes. 
 There is no limit to what the Chilkoots will try to make out 
 of a person disposed to give. 
 
 We were too impatient to get into the country to wait 
 for the water route, and I should have dreaded its monotony. 
 I looked forward to the overland route with pleasure, 
 especially that part of it supposed to impose the obstacles at 
 which Joe had so vaguely hinted. 
 
 We sailed out of San Francisco harbor on Mi^rch 15th. 
 We were not the only gold-seekers aboard. Still, we were 
 not crowded, and our quarters were comfortable. Port 
 Townsend, the " Key City of the Sound," is the port of 
 entry for the Puget Sound customs district, and point of 
 departure of the mails for Alaska. Here we transferred to 
 the Alaska steamer which came from Tacoma and Seattle, 
 and fell in with a few more Alaskan adventurers. 
 
 The voyage from Port Townsend, which we left on the 
 20th, to Juneau, is one of the most varied and delightful that 
 any coast line affords. I do not believe there is another 
 journey on the face of the earth, the first half of which is so 
 enjoyable and the second half so dismal, as the journey from 
 Port Townsend to the Yukon via Juneau and the passes. 
 For two thousand miles the vessel steams through land- 
 locked channels, straits, and passages. The landscape is 
 wonderfully beautiful all the wav, and the traveler never 
 ceases to wonder at its variety. 
 
62 
 
 PAST SNOW-CAPPED SUMMITS 
 
 1 i 
 
 ^! • 
 
 'I 
 
 ! 
 
 i ' 
 
 All the upper end of the Puget Sound is dominated by 
 Mt. Baker, an extinct volcano over ten thousand feet high. 
 We crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca, close-walled on the 
 southern side by the Olympic range, and touched at Vic- 
 toria on the southern point of Vancouver Island, We 
 then skirted the shores of San Juan Island through Active 
 Pass, and entered the Gulf of Georgia, which is a great 
 inland sea with the snow-capped mountains of Vancouver 
 Island continuously on one side, and the Cascade Peaks on 
 the other. Rounding Cape Mudge, we entered Discovery 
 Passage, which is, at points, less than half a mile wide. At 
 Queen Charlotte Sound there is a forty-mile gap in the 
 island belt, and the swell of the outer ocean is felt. Those 
 subject to mal de mcr disappear for a time, but that is the 
 only place in this salt water voyage of two thousand miles 
 where any discomfort need be expected. We soon entered 
 the narrow way again, steaming through Lama Passage, 
 which is beautifully wooded, revealing here and there 
 glimpses of the aborigines and their totem poles. Having 
 crossed Millbank Sound we entered the great scenic regions 
 of the trip. The shores, which are seldom more than two 
 miles apart, rise abruptly for over a thousand feet, rugged 
 promontories underneath whose shadows limpid mirrors lie ; 
 while above them rise the snowy ridges, glistening with 
 glaciers and cascades. 
 
 After passing Fort Simpson we entered Alaskan waters. 
 The coasts continued mountainous and the scenery became 
 more grand. A little above Fort Wrangel \^e reached the 
 region of tide-water glaciers, whose bergs sparkling along 
 the sound, and on. every foot of the shore on both sides, is a 
 suggestion of the wonders of this mighty land of the north. 
 Mountains rear their snow-capped summits far into the sky, 
 
ARRIVAL AT JUNEAU 
 
 68 
 
 and, peering through the clefts once riven by some great 
 shock of nature, we see other ranges, over-topping ranges, 
 frowning darkly or standing with a ghost-like whiteness; 
 and, nearer, the mighty glaciers glow in all their varied 
 tints. We passed inlets, where 
 
 . . . " the channel's waters spreading 
 Turn toward the hind, and find it 
 80 entrancing in its fairness, 
 So stupendous in its grandeur ! 
 Find its ice-bound coast so willing 
 To receive their bright advances, 
 That they lie in sheets of silver 
 At the foot of lofty ice-peaks." 
 
 On the fourth day out from Port Townsend we steamed 
 into Gastineaii Channel, and soon arrived at Juneati, the 
 metropolis of Alaska. We had feasted on the delights of 
 the voyage, and the disagreeable portion was to come. 
 Xature has a way of evening things up, and though some- 
 times the process is so long that we do not realize it, her rigid 
 law of compensation is always in force. 
 
 We disembarked at Juneau with our precious supplies. 
 It is a queer metropolis, lying at the base of precipitous 
 mountains about three thousand feet high, and the flat plain 
 between the shore and the base of the mountain seems very 
 narrow. It is now well built up with houses, though it con- 
 tained at that time only about two thoiisand people. Its 
 streets are narrow, crooked, and muddy, and here and there 
 the tree-stumps remain unpleasantly in the way. It has a 
 court house, several hotels and lodging houses, theaters, 
 churches, schools, newspapers, a hospital, a fire brigade, and 
 a brass band, but more saloons and dance-houses than all the 
 other institutions put together. Among its more modern 
 improvements are water-works and electric light plants. 
 
 y 
 
64 
 
 THE METROPOLIS OF ALASKA 
 
 
 Adjoining on the east below the wharf is a village of Taku 
 Indians, and on the flats at the mouth of (iold Creek is a 
 village of Auk Indians, back of which we get a glimpse of 
 totem poles over the graves of the dead, and hung with offer- 
 ings to the departed spirits.- As we pass along through 
 Third and Stewart streets, in the heart of the city, we find 
 the Indians squatting about their wares, fish, vegetables, 
 berries, and curios, and in the larger stores are fine displays 
 of furs. One can get about everything he needs here, and 
 a good deal more, especially in the lines of gambling, drink- 
 ing, and dance halls. Such, in brief, is the metropolis of a 
 country larger than CJermany and Austria-Hungary to- 
 gether. 
 
 Juneau is essentially a mining town, owing its su- 
 premacy to the adjacent quartz mines which have much 
 more than paid the cost of Alaska, to say nothing of its seals 
 and valuable fisheries. Until recently the territory's repu- 
 tation as a gold country has been due to tliese mines. It was 
 about twenty years ago that a party of Indians brought 
 a bit of gold quartz to Sitka, where a merchant grub-staked 
 Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris, and sent them in search 
 of the ore. Although this was the beginning of Juneau, 
 it was three years later before the place took its nam.e. The 
 settlement was first named Harrisburg, but the mining com- 
 pany which had named the district the Harris Mining Dis- 
 trict gave the name of Juneau to the town. Miners flocked 
 to the new camp, but many came too late to find claims 
 there, and crossed over to what is now known as Douglass 
 Island, then an imtouched wilderness. After they had 
 staked out claims they sold for something less than five hun- 
 dred dollars, and a corporation, mostly of California men, 
 finally secured it. It is now the site of the famous Tread- 
 
AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SUPPLY 
 
 66 
 
 well gold mills, the largest plant of the kind in the world. 
 About a million of dollars has heen spent on the plant, at 
 which six hundred tons of ore are milled daily at a cost of 
 about one dollar and twenty-five cents a ton. The ore 
 varies in value from three dollars to seven dollars a ton. 
 The supply seems inexhaustible. The company is capi- 
 talized at five million dollars, and has paid nearly four mil- 
 lion dollars in dividends. Joseph Juneau died a poor man. 
 
 Being the center of such an industry, and also the chief 
 rendezvous of the miners going over the passes into the in- 
 terior, Juneau City will doubtless maintain its supremacy 
 as Alaska's metropolis. The news of the Yukon dis- 
 coveries has wrought a great change in the place since we 
 went in, and promises to work greater. Joe Avas perfectly 
 at home in this region, where he had worked during his 
 former sojourn in Alaska. I plaved the part of the tourist, 
 he of guide. While waiting a^ Juneau we purchased a 
 couple of sleds well adapted to Alaskan uses, and with these 
 our outfit seemed complete. 
 
 From Juneau to J3yea is one hundred and eighteen 
 miles up Lynn Canal and the Chilkoot and Taiya (Dyea) 
 Inlets. The route by Dyea and the Chilkoot Pass was the 
 old reliable one, having been used by the Indians for years, 
 and the one which most of the gold-seekers we had encoun- 
 tered were taking. There are two others, the Skagway 
 over the White Pass and the Dalton trail from the Chilkat 
 Inlet. The first was thought by some to be the easier route, 
 and was the one generally chosen by those who were ex- 
 perimenting Avith horses in this rough country. It is about 
 seventeen miles from tide water to the siimmit of the White 
 Pass, and about four miles of this is through a flat timbered 
 valley. The summit is about two thousand six hundred 
 
66 
 
 THE DALTON TRAIL 
 
 feet above tide water, and the remainder of the route until 
 it joins the (^hilkoot trail is over marshes and an undulating 
 rocky surface exceedingly difficidt for pack animals, and 
 with very little soil. In 18{>6 this trail attracted little at- 
 tention. Its prominence was to come the following year. 
 
 If the Alaskan traveler is to experiment with horses, 
 and the temptation is certainly great in view of the un- 
 reliability of the Indians, he had best try the Dalton trail, 
 which takes its name from Jack Dalton, who went to 
 Juneau many years ago, as one story goes, because he was 
 accused of stealing horses. He was innocent of the charge, 
 but he took veng'eance on the man who had accused him. 
 His trail affords a tolerably good road for two hundred miles 
 from tide water. The first forty miles from Chilkat Inlet 
 is on a river flat with an easy grade, thence to the divide, 
 which is three thousand feet above the sea level. Another 
 divide is crossed twenty miles further on at the watershed 
 of the Alsek and Chilkat rivers. The rest of the trail to the 
 Five Finger Rapids is a succession of valleys with hardly 
 perceptible divides. It is said that in summer a man with 
 a saddle horse and pack animal can make thirty miles a day 
 on this trail. Dalton ie one of the most expert of Alaskan 
 trailei 
 
 But it is the Dyea route which concerns us, and thus far 
 it has remained the most practicable one. We left Juneau 
 for Dyea on March 25th, on a fair-sized steamer, but quickly 
 encountered different conditions from those which had pre- 
 viously afforded us so much pleasure. We should have 
 reached Dyoa in twelve hours, but there seemed to be a hur- 
 ricane trying to get out of the canal, which some have called 
 the grandest fiord on the coast. There are a few indenta- 
 tions on the coasts, which are made up of abrupt palisades 
 
A SCENE OF CONFUSION 
 
 67 
 
 until 
 ilatinp 
 8, and 
 ttle at- 
 
 variod with glaciers and f'orcst.s. The water is very deep in 
 the channel, and a strong cold wind sucked down hetween 
 the cliflFs of either side, and tossed ns about in the most bois- 
 terous fashion. Drifting icebergs from tho Eagle, Auk, 
 and Davidson glaciers added to the confusion. After 
 pitching about helplessly for some time, we put up in a little 
 bay, and lay over there one day. Meanwhile most of the 
 wind seemed to have worked itself out of the channel. 
 Thus we did not arrive at Dyea till the 27th, and after pick- 
 ing up on the way a party which had been wrecked on a 
 small sailboat and had lost most of their provisions. 
 
 Dyea is an Indian word meaning " pack " or " load." 
 Certainly you would have thought it a verj' appropriate one 
 if you had seen the gold-seekers and their belongings 
 dumped on the beach, almost every man and woman with 
 provisions for a year or more, while some of the dirtiest- 
 looking Indians on the face of the earth hoveretl around 
 like evil spirit^s. There was a small improvised wharf, 
 which was of no use, as there was too little water in the chan- 
 nel to permit the steamer to come up, and her cargo was dis- 
 charged by scows and small boats. 
 
 The beach was flat and covered with small rocks which 
 the people there, who make their living by unloading car- 
 goes and packing over the trail, leave just where Xature 
 dropped them. It might hurt their business to remove 
 such obstructions to convenience and safety. Tho 
 steamer anchored about two miles from the village, it being 
 low tide. Boats were lowered and the unloading com- 
 menced, th°. contents being dumped on the rocks, anywhere 
 to get rid of them, and there was considerable confusion. 
 
 After our goods were deposited and had been sorted out, 
 the next thing was to get them up above the reach of the 
 
68 
 
 TENTING IN THE SNOW 
 
 1} ' 1 
 
 tide. We worked like beavers, an 1 so did the others. 
 With a little high-priced help from the Indians, we man- 
 aged to carry everything' back about a mile from the beach, 
 where we found a place to camp. There we set up our tent, 
 and made preparations for the season of roughing it before 
 us. About ten inches of snow covered the ground, and it 
 was quite soft in places. While we who had been used to a 
 miner's life did not mind it much, there was a noticeable 
 change in the faces of those who were less inured to hard- 
 ships. It is not pleasant to leave the steamer and to begin 
 living in a tent pitched in nearly a foot of snow. 
 
 When we had settled ourselvCvS as comfortably as we 
 could, and had taken the opportunity to observe oinr sur- 
 roundings, we were struck vnili the transformation which 
 some of the women had undergone. Generally speaking, 
 their dresses had disappeared, and they came forth in 
 bloomers, and many of them in the regulation trousers of 
 the other sex. It does not do to be '' squeamish" in Alaska. 
 There are obstacles enough to travel, without the in- 
 cumbrance of skirts. The women were of all ages under 
 fifty, and, as v;e gradually learned, the majority of them 
 were unmarried, at leaiit had no lmsl)ands with them, and 
 their destination was tiie dance halls of Circle City and 
 Forty Mile. They were not as a rule an attractive lot for 
 fastidious people to encounter socially, but out of about 
 thirty women, four or five were wives traveling with their 
 husbands, or daugiiters with their father r.nd were very 
 respectable and well-appearing people, with marks of refine- 
 ment which their life in mining camps had not obliterated. 
 
 But there is little time to observe human nature. 
 There are over thret- thousand two hundred pounds to get 
 over the trail somehow. On our two sleds we could draw a 
 
 , 
 
ENGAGING PACKERS 
 
 69 
 
 others, 
 ve man- 
 e beach, 
 mr tent, 
 t before 
 I, and it 
 iped to a 
 )ticeable 
 to hard- 
 to begin 
 
 y as wc 
 oimr snr- 
 >n wliich 
 speaking, 
 forth in 
 oitsers of 
 11 Alaska. 
 ; the in- 
 res under 
 of them 
 hem, and 
 City and 
 ve lot for 
 of about 
 vith their 
 ,vere very 
 of refine- 
 iterated. 
 11 nature, 
 ids to get 
 dd draw a 
 
 fair load over good roads, but the advisability of securing 
 Indian packers for the bulk of the provisions was naturally 
 sujigested. A few of the gold pilgrims started at once to 
 pack their goods further up the trail before camping. A 
 feverish haste will always be noticed among such pilgrims, 
 though it helps but I'ttle in the end. 
 
 In a short time a dirty one-eyed Indian came towards 
 us, and in English which just escape*:! being unintelligible 
 asked if we had packing to do. He knew well enough we 
 had. 
 
 " How mvch you give to summit? " he asked. 
 
 Accordinr, to the ethics of the trail the price for pack- 
 ing should not be bid up. If one party put up the price in 
 order to secure quick service, every other Indian on the trail 
 wouh; know it in an inconceivably short space of time, and 
 all would throw down their packs at once, contracts or no 
 contracts. They Avould refuse to carry for less than the 
 man in a hurry was willing to pay. One man who had 
 plenty of money, it was said, bid up the price, and as a result 
 received a very cold ducking in the creek. So we r^ffered 
 the Indian the prevailing price, which was seventeen cents 
 a pound, and he ]iromised to be on hand with twenty-five 
 Indians early the next morning. 
 
 " You may see that heathen in the morning, and you 
 may not," remarked Joe, as the Indian slowfv loafed away 
 towards the little village of about three hundred Chilkoots. 
 
 We cut some hemlock brush and laid it on the snow in 
 the tent, put our blankets on it, and filling our pipes sat 
 down near the opening of the tent, Joe on a box of soap, I 
 on some evaporated apricots. 
 
 " Do you see that notch up yonder? " said Joe, blowing 
 a cloud o^ smoke from his mouth, I saw it, though it was 
 
ro 
 
 THE UNRELIABLE HEATHEN 
 
 II 
 
 hardly distinguishable in the whiteness of the towering 
 mountains. 
 
 ** Well, this truck of ourn' has got to go up through 
 there." 
 
 I never slept better in my life than I did on those hem- 
 lock boughs laid over snow. We were up bright and early 
 to be ready for the Indians. There were no signs of them. 
 We finished our breakfast, and packed the sleds which wo in- 
 tended to draw ourselves. Then we tool^ down our tent, 
 but no Indians came. I grew impatient, but Joe seemed 
 not at all surprised. After a time ho went down to the 
 Indian village, but came back alone, saying t'le Indians 
 were not all up. As they showed no indications of taking 
 off their clothes when they retired for the night, I concluded 
 that getting up could not be a long process. But it was 
 over an hour before an Indian appeared, and then there 
 were less than a dozen. 
 
 " Where are the others? " I asked sternly of the one- 
 eyed Chilkoot. 
 
 " They come bimcby," he remarked indifferently. 
 
 The wretched-looking Siwashes poked aro\md among 
 the packs, hefted them critically, then jabbered away 
 among themselves, and finally informed us that they ob- 
 jected to some of the articles unless an extra price was paid. 
 The very Indians we had engaged were dickering with other 
 parties in the same way. I tried threatening one of them, 
 but it had no- more effect than if he had been an iceberg. 
 Joe laughed at me, while the Indians stood about chattering 
 in a language that is perfectly inexprox'^sible in any phonetic 
 signs we have. No one would ever take it for speech but 
 for the slight motions of their lips, and the convulsions in 
 the throat. " A confusion of gutturals Avith a plentitude of 
 
 ii 
 
GOOD SUBJECTS FOR MISSIONARY WORK 
 
 71 
 
 Dwering 
 
 through 
 
 )se hem- 
 nd early 
 )f them. 
 !h we in- 
 jur tent, 
 ; seemed 
 n to the 
 Inuians 
 )f taking 
 oncludcd 
 It it was 
 len there 
 
 the one- 
 
 tly. 
 
 d among 
 
 •ed away 
 
 they ol)- 
 was paid, 
 vith other 
 
 of them, 
 1 iceberg, 
 'hattering 
 ' plionetic 
 poech but 
 iilsions in 
 ntitude of 
 
 saliva — a moist language with a gurgle that approaches a 
 gargle," is the best description of it I have ever heard, 
 
 None of the Indians seemed to be in the least hurry to 
 start; indeed, they did not appear to care whether they 
 started or not. Once in a while the one-eyed fellow would 
 come and demand more on some flimsy pretext or other. 
 Finally my patience gave out completely. I told Joe that 
 I would rather pack our stores over a dozen Chilkoot passes 
 than fool with heathen like these. So, aft^r losing con- 
 siderable time, we concluded to do our own packing, and I 
 think some ( f those fellows went away actually relieved. 
 They are too lazy to regard the loss of work as anything but 
 a blessing. So far as I observed thom, they had one virtue, 
 and that was a remarkable regard for other people's prop- 
 erty. They will not steal, but their word is absolutely 
 worthless. They have no conception of the obligations of 
 a contract. After demanding exorbitant pay, and being 
 promised it, they will delay starting to suit their own feel- 
 ings, and will throw down their packs at the slightest provo- 
 cation. They will even trudge along with them for a long 
 distance, and then, after demanding extra pay, will drop 
 their burdens and I'eturn with no pay for what they have 
 done. No one can afford to engage them for any but short 
 distances, for the point is soon reached when they have eaten 
 up all they started with. 
 
 These people may be interesting to ethnologists, and 
 they may seem promising material for devout missionaries, 
 but for the man who is in a hurry to get to the gold regions 
 of Ala.ska they are li'ore often a liindrance than a help. 
 Where one cannot depend on horses or dogs, he will save 
 his temper by depending on himself. Tie will also save a 
 lot of money and a large percentage of his provisions. 
 
I ! 
 
 CHAPTER TY 
 
 LIFE ON THE TRAIL — STIIANGE SIGHTS AND SCENES - 
 STORM ROUND IN SHEEP CAMP — A WOMAN'S AD- 
 VEI^TURES AND EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Along the Famous Dyea Trail — Walking Twenty Miles and IVIaking 
 Four — Snow, Boulders, and Glaciers —Exhibitions of Grit — Tent- 
 ing in the Snow — A Democratic Crowd — The Yukon Stove — 
 The So-called Gridiron — Beans and Bacon — "It will be New On 
 the Yukon" — Asleep on a Bed of Boughs — What a Trail Consists 
 of — A Crack Two Milts Long — Pleasant Camp — Sheep Camp 
 and the Fairt-Hearted — A Discouraged Man and a Resolute 
 Woman — Going Over Ar.yhow — Not All so Brave — Having a 
 Good Cry — My Theory as to the Fortitude of Some Women — 
 Throwing off the Fetters of Civilization — Two Weeks of Storm — 
 Monotony and Silence — An Active Glacier Entertains Us — Nature' s 
 Untamed Moods — Sunshine at Last — Now for The ChilkootI 
 
 THE beginning of the trail over Cliilkoot Pass does 
 not give any indications of the difficulties a little 
 further on, especially under favorable conditions 
 in the latter part of March. The strcams are still frozen, 
 except in open places, and the trail along their banks is cov- 
 ered wi^li snow, which in most places has l>ecome solidly 
 packed. In the early winter the snow is apt to be soft and 
 deep, while in the summer the trails are soft and slippery, 
 and streams with treacherous bottoms must be fordetl. 
 The water is considerably colder at all times than any man- 
 ufactured ice water, and the cun'ent is swift and strong, 
 
 (72) 
 
PACKING UP THE TRAIL 
 
 73 
 
 being abundantly fed by the melting glaciers and rains 
 that never end till one has forgotten when they began. 
 
 " Does it always rain here ? " I once heard a traveler 
 ask of an Indian. 
 
 ^'' Snows sometime," replied the native, in the most mat- 
 ter-of-fact manner. Before we got through the pass we 
 found that it could do both at the same time without show- 
 ing any signs of exhaustion. 
 
 Joe superintended all the preparations. We increased 
 the loads on our sleds to 400 poimds each, and found that 
 we could pull them very comfortably for the first five miles, 
 the river being frozen and the track hardened by those who 
 had gone ahead. At the end of five miles the way became 
 more diflficult, and, coming to a spot well timbered and 
 watered, where several others had camped, we unloaded, 
 cached our goods, and returned to camp for another load. 
 We saw that we could not make the four trips nectssary 
 to bring up all our goods without working half the night, 
 and Wb were tired enough to stop when we returned from 
 the thinl load, but concluded to keep on. 
 
 The Dyea Valley is an old river bed full of huge boul- 
 ders, which make a summer trip over the trail exceedingly 
 difficult. Even in winter they are serious obstacles, as 
 tliere are places in the river which do not freeze, and unless 
 the snow is deep the sledding is very rough on the banks. 
 On either side, high up on the mountains, the tops of which 
 were hidden in the clouds most of the time, were small gla- 
 ciers cutting down through the scraggy growth of spruce 
 and hemlock. Back and forth through this desolate valley 
 we tramped, continually meeting others engaged in the 
 same work. 
 
 There is no time to stop to cultivate acquaintances. 
 

 74 
 
 GRIT OF THE GOLD PILGRIMS 
 
 itii; 
 
 (I ! 
 
 Pi 
 
 Occasionally we came uj) just in time to help a man right 
 his overturned sled, or to extricate a woman who had stepped 
 into a treacherous drift or fallen into a little crevice. 
 Here and there along the way tents were passed, as well as 
 caches of provisions, which were left unguarded without 
 incurring serious risk. But in Alaska all provisions must 
 be cached to be out of reach of the dogs. They are the 
 only thieves. 
 
 Many strange sights are witnessed even in these days, 
 when the gold fields at Forty-Mile and Birch Creek are at- 
 tracting fortune-seekers. We met a young woman who 
 was going in with her husband, slowly working her way to- 
 ward the pass. She was triidging along with packs of over 
 forty pounds on her back, and her face bore the marks of 
 refinement. The grit and nerve displayed on every side 
 were marvelous. Some men preferred to make short 
 marches and piled on their backs sixty or seventy-five 
 pounds, keeping up a brisk gait for a mile or so, then strik- 
 ing camp, and in the same way bringing up the remainder 
 of their outfits. That is the hardest way and nothing is 
 gained. 
 
 It was very late before we arrived 'svith our last load and 
 had our tent again set up in the snow. Those who have 
 not tried it can hardly imagine what it is to tramp twenty- 
 five miles, half the way pulling four hundred pounds, in 
 an intermittent snow storm, over a i*oad which, while 
 smooth for Alaska, would be deemed almost impassable in 
 New England. 
 
 Yet there was a novelty in the experience which was 
 exhilarating, so that it did not fatigue us as much as it might 
 otherwise have done. Having put up our tent and cut a 
 few scraggy hemlocks, we trimmed off the tops for a bed 
 
FLAPJACKS ON A YUKON STOVE 
 
 75 
 
 right 
 Ipped 
 tvice. 
 3llas 
 khout 
 I must 
 the 
 
 and used the stumps for a fire, not so easily started with 
 green wood in a snow storm. It was a very democratic 
 gathering. There were no formalities, no hint of conven- 
 tionalities of any kind. The picturesque element was not 
 lacking, and the ludicrous side of life was ever present. 
 Looking a few feet up the hillside through the flying snow 
 I caught a glimpse of a woman who, attired in her husband's 
 trousers, was turning flapjacks on a " Yukon stove," utterly 
 unconscious of the ridiculous appearance she presented. 
 The " Yukon stove," by the way, is a small sheet iron box 
 with an oven at the back and a telescope pipe. Novices 
 sometimes have to study a moment to decide which is the 
 oven and which is the fire-box. This simple arrangement is 
 set on a " gridiron," that is, three poles about eight feet 
 long, so that when the snow melts underneath, the poles 
 continue to form a support for it. Necessity is nowhere a 
 more fruitful mother of invention than in Alaska. 
 
 Joe and I confined ourselves to beans and bacon, a 
 staple dish in these regions; indeed, an odor of beans and 
 bacon predominates in nearly all the camps along the trail. 
 We lighted our pipes and sat close to the little stove to dry 
 our clothing. Mingled with the sighing of the wind and 
 the soft beating of the snow on the tent, came the shrill 
 voice of one of the dance-house girls singing a hackneyed 
 
 air. 
 
 " It will be new on the Yukon," observed Joe, as he 
 threw himself full length on the bed of boughs, and he was 
 asleep before I had time to follow. I went out and care- 
 fully brushed the snow oflF the roof of the tent l)efore re- 
 tiring, for I had learned the importance of such a measure 
 in roughing it in an even milder climate. If the interior of 
 the tent is heated, the snow falling on the outside will, of 
 
76 
 
 SEVEN MILES IN FOUR DAYS 
 
 ). 1^ 
 
 course, become damp, and, later, when the fire has gone 
 down or out, and the interior has become cohl, the damp 
 snow will freeze so hard that it is almost impossible to take 
 down the tent. ^lany found this out to their sorrow when 
 the next day they stai-ted to move ahead. The storm had 
 been a cold one, and it ^ ns hours before they could pack 
 their tents, and then they weiv weighted with ice and ex- 
 tremely difficult to handle. Peoj)le can cause themselves 
 a world of trouble in Alaska by neglecting a few details. 
 
 We were four days in moving our stores to Sheep Camp, 
 which is about seven miles further on. For the first two 
 miles we could haul about three hundred pounds, but 
 through the canon it was only by the greatest exertion that 
 wo could pull one Inindred and fifty. The trail was much 
 better from Pleasant Camp, on the other side of the canon, 
 to Sheep Camp, but it was up-hill all the way. It snowed 
 continuously, sometimes gently, and occasionally fiiriously. 
 
 A trail in Alaska should not be confused with the ordi- 
 nary highway of settled states. When a trail is spoken of 
 as existing between two points in Alaska it has no further 
 meaning than that a man, and possibly a beast of burden, 
 may travel that way over the natural surface of the ground. 
 There is a very strong improbability concerning the beast, 
 unless it be a dog. The path may consist of nothing more 
 than a marked or blazed way through an otherwise impen- 
 etrable wilderness, and unless it is used more or less con- 
 tinuously the traces are apt to disappear in one of Alaska's 
 seasons. Xo eager prospector stops to make it any easier 
 for someone else. A man carrying his food, his cooking 
 utensils, and working tools on his back, has no time nor dis- 
 position to cut down trees. When he comes to an unfrozen 
 stream he wades it, or if a tree has fallen across it, so much 
 
 ! 
 
 i 
 
 *■■■■«■ 
 
^one 
 iainp 
 take 
 
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 Ivcs 
 
 
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 0. w 
 
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 3- o 
 
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 ■'•■'■ ^i.iKtif^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 s 
 
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 IMK^ 
 
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 H» 
 
 
 m 
 
 m|f'»i 
 
 ■■■•Mr .■' ■ . 
 
 iP'^ 
 
 mmm^ 
 
 
 '4 
 
 
 ■** ' 
 
 -■< *!" 
 
 ^^^>?% 
 
 y \-^WW'l:^iii< .' 
 
 \^. 
 
 
 101^ 
 
 ISKBS 
 
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 ^ 
 
 
 
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 wSB^S^Erm^'^ 
 
 
 
 r-^ 
 
 ^^L^ 
 
 
 
 
 I^Ri 
 
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 m\ 
 
 \ 1 ■ 
 
 ! 
 
 V 
 
 1; 
 
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 i 
 
ALONG DYEA CA\ON 
 
 79 
 
 the better. The Cliilkoot trail possesses the advantage of 
 having been used by miners sinee 18H0, but it was hiid out 
 by Indians, who are text lazy to improve it; and, besides, 
 they make a living because it is almost imixissible for pack 
 animal-^ to go over it. The opening of Alaska may put an 
 end to all this, so far as the Dyea trail is concerned. 
 
 Dyea ('anon is a crevice in the mountains about two 
 miles long and tifty feet wide, with a raging river at the 
 bottom. The topography abruptly changes. Great boul- 
 dei*s are piled in confused heaps, and the snow-laden stumps 
 of trees and uj)turned roots stick out in fantastic shapes. 
 We kept to the ice when we could, but frequently took 
 to steeper and rougher paths. For a short distance the 
 grade is about eighteen degrees, until an elevation of five 
 hundred feet is reached, and then the trail descends slightly 
 to Plea.sant (^uup, which is not fur from the mouth of the 
 canon. It is a spot which is anything but '* pleasant," ac- 
 cording to the significance of t hat term in civilized regions. 
 It is applied here because a few trees have had the good 
 fortune to get a living there, and they afford a kind of 
 shelter and a convenient place for a camp. 
 
 The trail from Pleasant Camp to Sheep Camp was fairly 
 good, at an average elevation of five hundred feet, and with 
 but few sharp pitches. The camp itself is in a valley or 
 canon about half a mile wide, with very high, steep, and 
 rocky mountains im either side. Tlie white summit of the 
 Chilkoot towers three thousand feet above, but we caught 
 only glimpses of it in the fickle storm. Xo timlx^r grows 
 above us. It is a frowning picture and it tells on faint 
 hearts. As we slowly dragged our loads, we met more than 
 one man who had turned back, not caring to brave the pass 
 for all the gold that might be on the other side. Alaska 
 
I 
 
 ': ■ J 
 
 f 
 
 I \ 
 
 80 SHEEP CAMP AND ITS REVELATIONS OF CHARACTER 
 
 is no place for a man who, bocouiing discouraged at the first 
 serious obstacle that presents itself, leaves a camp where he 
 sees women keeping up hearts as strong as iron, and turns 
 his back. 
 
 Sheep Camp is a favorable plact; to discover the diifer- 
 ence in men and to see what some women are made of. We 
 came across one man completely disheartened and limp, 
 right at the foot of that great climb of three thousand five 
 hundred feet, pleading piteously with his wife to turn back, 
 while she, not half his size, but with wonderful nerve, 
 bustled about their snowy camj) in the bitter cold, con- 
 stantly wearing a smile and cheering up her forlorn mate 
 in every possible way. How will she get him over the sum- 
 mit? I thought. But she did. She just told him that she 
 was going over anyhow, and that if he wanted to go back he 
 could. She had a woman's shrewdness. She knew that, 
 much as he feared to go ahead with her, he would not dare 
 to go back without her. 
 
 Shortly after pitching our tent at Sheep Camp I looked 
 out and saw a slim woman swinging an axe at a small hem- 
 lock. Her tent was near by and she seemed to be alone. 
 With a spirit of gallantry, which, I am glad to say, is never 
 altogetlier lost in mining life, I walked over and offered 
 my assistance. She wanted the tree for a fire, and I soon 
 had it in front of her tent ready for a blaze. She had been 
 making trips to the summit of the pass all day, carrying 
 packs of twenty-five pounds, and was then preparing the 
 camp for lier husband, who had gone to the summit with 
 the last load. Her clothes were wet through; she was lame 
 and tired, hut she laughed good-naturedly as she told me 
 some of her experiences on the awful trail, how she had 
 slipped off a log and fallen into the river and an Indian 
 
EXHILARATING FKEEUOM 
 
 81 
 
 had pulled her out by the collar of the thick coat she 
 wore. 
 
 But it must not be thougiit that all women along the 
 trail were as brave as tliis. There were exceptions. 1 saw 
 one sitting down and having a good cry, crying for home 
 and othor women to talk to, perhaps, for cariKits, and 
 baker s bread, and the gossij) of the city, and tlie comforts 
 of civilized life. Her husband, who was pretty blue him- 
 self, was trA'ing to comfort hor. I noticed that she still 
 clung to her jx^tticoats. One could not fail to notice many 
 instances, however, in which Uie women seemed to show a 
 fortitude superior to the men. It was a revelation, almast a 
 mystery. But aft/cr a while I began io account for it as the 
 natural result of an escape from the multitude of social 
 customs and restraints which ii civilized society hedge 
 about a woman's life. Hardened minci*s enter on the 
 Alaskan trail as a sort of grim business, something a little 
 worse than they have been accustomed to, and yet much the 
 same. The stimulus received from the novelty of the situ- 
 ation is much less than in the case of a woman, especially 
 one who has not been used to roughing it. She steps out 
 of her dress into trousers in a region where nolxxly cares. 
 Tier nature suddenly becomes aware of a freedom which 
 is in a way exhilarating. She has, as it Avere, throAvn off 
 the fetters which civilized society imposes, and while re- 
 taining her womanliness she liecomes something more than 
 a mere woman. Her sensitive nature is charmed with 
 the new conditions, and her husband, who has had the 
 advantage of no such metamorphosis, sits down, tired 
 and disheartened by the obstacles in his path, and marvels 
 at his wife as she drags her heavy rubber boots through the 
 
I ! 
 
 ! Ml 
 
 82 
 
 THE TKUNDEJiUUS CKAStl OF FALLING ICE 
 
 snow and clinibs with a light heart the precipices of mighty 
 mountains. 
 
 The weather wat fairly good while we were l)ringing 
 our stores up to ^^heep Camp, but as soon as we had them 
 settled there and were ready to begin on the summit it be- 
 came ferociously cold. The mercury fell to eighteen de- 
 ^ees below zero, the snow flew at intervals, and at times 
 uke wind would swoop domn through the vaUey like an 
 danche, rolling from the great peaks above us. On one 
 of the valley is a larjse glacier. We could stand at the 
 nee of our tent, lootking' across the canon, and see it 
 plainly, r.bout two miles away. A wall of ice eighty 
 •i. ninety feet high marted its lower end, and occasionally 
 a lEPeat piece of ice Avouikl break off and come rolling down 
 lETo the valley. Tlie eartii would tremble and the roar of 
 CiH-H migiiTT crash was like ;i |)eal of distant thunder through 
 r,:' !ii< ;;: rain gorges. Twi(f> while I wa-s watching I saw 
 :. (S of ice many times larger than the great sky- 
 
 rt<-i-;!i'iu;. uiildings of Chicago break away and come tumb- 
 liimg intj'^he canon Iwdow. 
 
 The '«*enery Ava~ sublime, but the weather ,'ontinutd 
 al>omiiia i le and we were detained at this camp for two 
 weeks. Few thought of venturing over the summit under 
 such conditions. The wind mu&t be still and the sky clear. 
 Once, when the prosjiects seemed brighter, we strap])cd on 
 our packs and slarted out, but soon it began to storm again. 
 "VVe met a party of Indians and prosjx^otors who had started 
 earlier and had cached some of their goods at a jwint well 
 up on the trail and were going back to wait again. They 
 warned us that it was dangerous to attempt an ascent, but 
 as we had light iiacks and tlw wind was blowing in our 
 direction we decided to push ahci-.d. The trail grew worse, 
 
AMONG THE SILENT HILLS 
 
 83 
 
 L-hty 
 
 the wind inereaseil and sifted ilu snow across the track 
 so that we could not fail to recognize the serious dangers 
 of a misstep. And so we followed the others back to 
 camp. 
 
 It was a very dreary camp during those two weeks, 
 'inhere was no laughter thei*e. The everlasting hills and 
 the apparently everlasting storm hung over the little valley 
 like a harsh ix?nalty. Difficult as it is to follow the ti'ails, 
 there is nothing so hard as to keep still in these regions, 
 especially when the mercury is far below zero. We got 
 along very comfortably, however, as our t<'nt was n good 
 one and we had plenty of blankets. There were alxnU a 
 hundred others in the c^mp, but they kept clo«ely to their 
 tent.** most of the time. Indeed, when the wind went down 
 the stillness over that little cluni]) of white habitations 
 among the ;^ '.uited trees was almost appalling. \o hum of 
 industry or sound of sociability disturbed the silencje. Cut 
 off from the world, a man feels himself dwindling into a 
 mere itom amid these silent, everlasting hills He feels 
 almost like speaking in whispers when, suddenly, on the op- 
 jiressive stillness theire breaks a sharp rejwrt like a (daj) of 
 lliimder, and it goes on roaring, and dies away grumbling 
 and murmuring amid the mountains. Then all is still 
 again. A glacier has moved. Tbn'e is where Xature 
 is working. She is young yet, the liills have not been 
 ground down. But in her youthful, untamed moods she is 
 terrible. 
 
 The anomaly presented by the region forced itself more 
 clearly upon us when we considered that we were ])racti- 
 cally in the same latitude as St. Petersburg, wher" the bril- 
 liant court of a great empire is held. We were still eight 
 hundred miles south of the Arctic rirclc. We were liardlv 
 
84 
 
 THE CAMP ASTIR. 
 
 five hundred feet above tlie sea level, but in an inhospitable 
 region, where heroic courage and endurance are requisites; 
 a v/ilderness with the snow and ice around and above us. 
 
 At last the clouds passed away, and the sun shone out 
 for a time witli dazzling brightness. The white peaks above 
 us fairly glowed. The li';tle camp was alive. 
 
 I 
 
 r-aesem 
 
ible 
 ites; 
 
 VIS. 
 
 out 
 Dove 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE DREADED CHILKOOT PASS — HOW WE CROSSED IT 
 — SLIDING DOWN THE MOUNTAINS AT LIGHTNING 
 SPEED — "THERE COMES A WOMAN." 
 
 A Steep Trail — Climbing the Mountain Forty Times — Some of tlic 
 Difliculties — Missteps that are Dangerous — Straight up over 
 Seven Hundred Feet — An Obscure Summit — Fucilit'iting the Re 
 turn — Trousers Fortified with a Canvas Patch — A Slide in the 
 Trench — Tobogganing Outdone — A Collision — Out of Sight in 
 the Deep Snow — " There Comes a Woman " — Down Like a Flash 
 
 — Runaway Sleds — An Alaskan Sunburn — Snow-hiindness — A 
 Painful Experience — On the Summit at Last — A Grand Spectacle 
 
 — Turning Sleds Loose down the Mountain — Hounding over 
 Crater Lake — Lake Lindemi'.n — Observing the Timber — The Ir- 
 responsible Indian — Signaling by Burning Trees — Ire-sledding 
 across Lindeman — Lake Beuiett — Flapjacks and Congratulations. 
 
 FROM Shoop Caiap to tlie immit of Chilkoot Pass is 
 about four uiiles, and we determined to carry all 
 our tilings up on our backs. 'J'lie trail was so steep 
 most of the way that it would have been impossible to haul 
 more than a hundred pounds on a sled, and added to this 
 would be the weight of the sled. The latter part of the 
 way is altogether too perpendicular for comfortable sl(>d- 
 ding. It ia a steady ascent from the camp to the " Scales," 
 which is a fiat place at the foot of " the last climb." TIh' 
 grade from the camp to Stone House, so called because 
 nature seems to have arranged the rocks with more syin 
 nietry than usual, and that is saying very little, is from 
 a (85) 
 
I! ' 
 
 i I'l 
 
 \''< 
 
 I 
 
 86 
 
 FORTY TRIPS TO THE SUMMIT 
 
 twelve to eigbtccii degrees; from there to the " Scales " it 
 is about twenty-five tlegrees, and from that place to the 
 smuniit about thirty degrees, though the last ascent is 
 nearer thirty-iive. The ascent is one thousand nine Inni- 
 dred and fifty feet in the first three miles, and one thousand 
 two hundred and fifty in the next mile. 
 
 1'his does not look great on paper, and it is not; for 
 mountain climbers are every day ascending steeps as great 
 and twice as high. But they are not compelled to take 
 along all they are to have to eat, to Avear, and to use for a 
 year or more. Therein lies one of the main difficulties in 
 proceeding to the interior of Alaska. If one could dejiend 
 upon warehouses within easy reach, could buy what he 
 wanted as he journej'ed from place to place, traveling in 
 Alaska would have a few pleasures in it. At least it would 
 not be difficult. 
 
 .Toe and I were compelled to make forty trips over these 
 steep places to get our outfit to the summit, and climbing a 
 mountain forty times Avith a heavy pack on the back is dif- 
 ferent fi'om climbing it once almost empty-hamied and for 
 fun. Many took all tlu'ir goods to the Stone House at first, 
 and then by another stage carried them to the " Scales " ; 
 then by another to the summit. We adopted different tac- 
 tics. Having strap])ed our packs on, Ave continued to the 
 foot of the last ascent, and there if the weather Avas bad we 
 would leave them, otiierwise Ave continued on to the sum- 
 mit. As the Avind wos ])lowing most of the time, this re- 
 sulted in our having most of our outfit' at the foot (tf the 
 final ascent before v,e had many opportunities to view the 
 summit, or any at all to indulge in a view from n. 
 
 The trail up to the " Scales " looks smooth Avhen tlie 
 snoAV. lies deep over it, but it is, nevertheless, difficult, and 
 
 r^^ff^^f*-'^ '-'" 
 
A TREACHEROUS TRAIL 
 
 87 
 
 it 
 the 
 t is 
 
 lUll- 
 
 jand 
 
 by a single misstep the traveler may liiul himself buried to 
 the armpits. I'uderiieath are great massv,'s of rocks, mid 
 part of ihe way fallen trees, but the ti'iuber belt ends com- 
 pletely at Stone House. One of the difttculaes in the 
 ascent lay in successfully passing those who were descend- 
 ing for another load, for the way is exceedingly narrow, 
 and one must not step out of the trail except with the grcat- 
 est caution. Occasionally a man would find liimself at t!ie 
 bottom of a crevice forty feet or so below ibe tniii, and he 
 could make his way back only with the greatest ditiiculty. 
 
 The last climb of nearly seven hundred feet up a moun- 
 tain peak that seemed to rise almost straight be' >r(> us Avat> 
 the hardest of all. The trail winds in zigzag fashion in and 
 around the boulders and over the glacial streaks, but at this 
 time it was covered with snow, in some ])laces tifty feet deep. 
 In the steeper places steps were cut in the ice and snow, 
 and in taking a pack up one was compelled to lean forward 
 and use his hands on the icy steps. Occasionally a tired 
 man would make a misstep, or his foothold caved oif, and 
 down the precipice he rolled, landing in the s*t!T snow, from 
 which he had to extricate himself and again attempt tlie 
 tiresome climb. Its was drudgery in iis simplest and purest 
 form. One hundred pounds was tiie most that either of us 
 could take, and then it nvpiired an honr to cover that seven 
 hundred tVet to the sumiaji'. ^vhi(*h we generally found 
 cover_-(l with a blinding snow M^ci^Ta or bathf-d in an ice-fog. 
 
 Fortunately, ita retuniing w^ covdd make up for lost 
 finsie. 80 steep and so treachierous \\a.s the trail, and so 
 iminy were working up it, tliat the descent by the i«tepH for 
 aTK*ther load was as trying work as the aw^'ut. The grim 
 mother of invcnition again r.vme to the rescue. Xearly 
 everybody fortified the seat of his trousers liy dewinij£ on a 
 
'■I i 
 
 * 1^ 
 
 ' I 
 
 
 : / 
 
 88 
 
 LIKE RIDING AN AVALANCHE 
 
 piece of canvas, and as there was a short cut back to the bot- 
 tom of the trail, straight and smooth but too steep to climb, 
 it was brought into use for the purposes of returning, a 
 trench being tV.mied tlierebv. One would sit down in this 
 trench at the :op, and just hold his breath till he stnick the 
 bottom. He need not hold it long. It took loss time to slide 
 down than it takes to tell of it. Once started there was no 
 opportunity to stop, and no time to consider such a question. 
 I remember that at the first trial I picked myself out of the 
 snow and thought I would give up that sport. It seemed a 
 little too much like riding an avalanche bareback. I was 
 so much larger and heavier than the rest that gravity gave 
 me a greater speed. In places the ditch was as much as 
 four feet deep, but in other places it was shallow, and there 
 was danger of jumping the track. Once I ran into a little 
 man and was thrown completely out of the groove. Down 
 the mount^ain side I plowed, plunging entirely out of sight 
 in the soft snow at the bottom. I picked myself out and 
 was not in the least hurt. The little man righted himself 
 somehow, and came down the groove in good order. After 
 awhile the experience began to have the flavor of true sport, 
 and the more we tried it the better we liked it. 
 
 The women were a little timid at first, but they looked 
 as if they Avould like to try it. " I'll try it if you will," 
 they kept saying to one another. Standing at the bottom 
 and seeing men come down the seven-hundred-foot groove, 
 it looked easy, but when standing at the summit and looking 
 down was something appalling. Finally, as we were about 
 to start up with a pack, some one shouted, " There comes a 
 woman." 
 
 We could see her fidgeting a little at the top; then she 
 wrapped her coat about her, dropped into the trench, and 
 
COASTING DOWN THE HILLS 
 
 89 
 
 down she came like a flash. She p'-'ked herself up out of 
 the snow rosy and smiling. Then this metliod of descent 
 became general. They seemed to enjoy it as nmch as the 
 men, but most of those whom I saw going down were of the 
 dance-hall variety. It appeared to be a little too. much for 
 the staider matrons, even in men's clothes. 
 
 Occasionally, on our way back to Sheep Camp for a load 
 we also saved a little time by securing a ride on some one's 
 sled. There was one hill, quite steep and over a mile long. 
 By having one man to guide the sled, and another to run a 
 stout stick down through the center for a brake, a small load 
 of men could slide to the bottom in a very short time, and 
 generally without mishap. An experienced man will guide 
 these sleds with a pole about six feet long very cleverly, but 
 the inexperienced sometimes make bad work. There were 
 runaway sleds about every day, and generally some one was 
 hurt. But in such places nothing is serious, so long as a 
 man escapes with his life. 
 
 It is, howe^'er, in the milder w'nter months only that 
 the difficult ascent can be varied with such amusements as 
 these. After the snow has melted the trail becomes one of 
 confused boulders, roaring streams, and creviced glaciers. 
 To be sure, we suffered from the cold, and sometimes 
 severely, but, on the whole, going over the summit is much 
 pleasantcr at this season than in the rains of the summer 
 months, when the trails quickly become muddy and the 
 streams must be forded. 
 
 On my trip over I suffered from sunburn more rhan 
 anything else. It may sound strange to speak of r-unburn 
 when clambering over snow many feet dpep, but when in 
 Alaska the sun begins to shine, it is with a blazing fierce- 
 ness. My epidermis was well hardened before T started for 
 
90 
 
 SUNBURN AND SNOW-BLINDNESS 
 
 i 1 III 
 
 t1 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 ) 
 
 Alaska, but some of the time, wliile working over the pass, 
 my face became so swollen that I could hardly see out of my 
 eyes. It was exceedingly painful, and often kept me 
 awake nights when I A\as very tired. When the wind blew 
 and the snow flew, my face would smart as if burned by 
 steam, ^fany of us learnc. co blacken our faces with burnt 
 cork or charcoal, and this served not simply to protect the 
 skin somewhat, but to protect the eyes. We were gruesome 
 objects with our black faces and goggles. Snow-blindness 
 was another serious danger. Snow glasses are an absolute 
 necessity in Alaska, and especially when going over the 
 snowy passes in the f\dl blaze of the sun; and one must be 
 vei'v careful about taking them off. Occasionally, when 
 several of us would be trudging up the steep path together a 
 cry would be heard. Some one had suddenly become snow 
 blind, and had to be led back to camp. Such unfortunates 
 would suffer intense pain, and would not regain their sight 
 for three or four days. 
 
 But at last we haA'o reached the pummit of that snow- 
 wrapped peak towards which we have been making our way 
 for twenty-three days. Fifteen miles in twenty-three 
 days! After such a journey there should be something 
 besides the mere consolation of having at last conquered the 
 obstacles in the path. There is. It is a great temptation 
 not to throw off the snoAV-glasses, as we stand on that 
 dazzling simimit. The clouds have been blown away for a 
 time. The whole scene lies under the fierce sunlight of an 
 Alaskan April day. 
 
 And what a picture! It seems not of this world; it 
 is f ^ strange, so unique. Almost at our feet is the little 
 armlet of the Pacific which we left nearly a month ago, 
 and beyond that and this side of the great Pacific a hun- 
 
NATURE S FIERCE ARTILLERY 
 
 91 
 
 (Ired miles away, stretch tlie snow peaks and tlioir shining 
 
 glaciers. 
 
 " Silence reigns! the awful stillness 
 Like a plmntoni presence lingers 
 All unseen, but felt so plainly 
 That it seems to touch the seuces. 
 
 " Far away the mountain ranges 
 Pile in wild unclassed confusion, 
 Rugged peaks, extinct volcanoes, 
 Rounded knolls and wave-like hillocks 
 Clustering near or stretching outward 
 Far beyond our wondering vision: 
 Snow-clad all, or maybe shining 
 Underneath an icy garment. 
 Glacier, cliCf, and mountain shoulder 
 Leaning close against the other. 
 By the ice-keen chisels blended, 
 Until ice and stone are welded 
 In a firm eternal union, 
 
 ' ' Crash and boom ! the silence wakens 
 With a shock, whose mighty roaring 
 Rends the clouds with thunderous pealing! 
 Sends its ^rarying detonations 
 Rolling o'er the bay's clear surface! 
 Bounding forth o'er mountain summits 
 Where their echoes catch its thunders 
 And repeat them loudly, wildly, 
 As if Nature's fierce artillery 
 Joined its mightiest cannonading 
 In one grand, triumphant salvo! 
 In a thousand-voiced announcement 
 Of an iceberg's bold departure 
 On its evanescent journey." 
 
 Turning in the other direction we behold the hills mel^ 
 ing away into the great watershed of the miglity Yukon, 
 which mns its winding conrse to the Bering Sea three thou- 
 sand miles. At our feet lies the first of the frozen lakes.; a 
 
 ■-mimmt^MtMmmmm 
 
93 
 
 ACKOHATIC INDIANS 
 
 body of water lying in an old crater and now covered with 
 ice and snow. This is the next stage of our journey, and 
 the old adage that it is easier to fall than to climb was illus- 
 trated in Chilkoot stvle. The descent to the lake, which is 
 five hundred feet, is smooth and straight, and the Indians, 
 who were packing for parties on the trail, securely tied their 
 ])acks to sleds, mounted them as a clown would mount a 
 circus donkey, and off they went. The sleds shot down the 
 decline with terrific speed and bounded off on to the frozen 
 lake, sometimes going eight hundred yards before stopping. 
 But for the snow they would have gone much further. 
 Sometimes a sled would swerve a little or strike a slight ob- 
 stacle and the Indians would fly oif into the air and roll like 
 bundles to the lake. A perpendicular bank about six feet 
 high stretches around tho lake, and this the sleds Avould 
 clear with a long leap to the ice below, and he was a good 
 Indian who stuck. 
 
 As the sleds seemed to go equally well without Indians 
 as with, we concluded to let ours go alone. They behaved 
 nicely, and clambering down the decline after them we 
 drew them on across the lake, where they were unloaded, 
 and we then pulled them back for another load and a slide. 
 At the end of the lake we cached our ])rovisions and pushed 
 on with our tent and a few articles to Lake Lindcman. The 
 trail at this season is not difficult, as trails go in Alaska. 
 The lakes were frozen and tho only impediment on them 
 was the snow, which in places was soft and wet. The 
 lengthening days were beginning to have their effect on the 
 lower lands. Crater Lake is not more than a mile in 
 diameter, and the outlet is over a lava bed of rough boulders. 
 Long Lake lies a little lower, and is studded with glaciers. 
 The traveling becomes tedious, difficult, and slow, and the 
 
 h 
 
 iSiuaaas Wiiimu M 
 
LAKK LINDEMAN 
 
 98 
 
 greatest care imist bo used in places, the dangers of vvlileh 
 may be hidden by the weakening snow. After passing 
 Deep Lake, we foUow a dim trail, almost indiscerni[)le at 
 times, and then, from the top of a rough little hill. Lake 
 Lindeman lies below. 
 
 ]t is said to be lews than tx^n miles from the summit to 
 Lindeman. It seems twice that distance, but we nuinaged 
 to bring up our entire outfit in four trips, and were the best 
 ])art of three days in doing it. In the summer we were told 
 the natives maintained what were called ferries on this 
 chain of little lakes, but the charges were enormous and 
 many preferred to keep to the trails, trying though they 
 were. 
 
 From the Stone House to the vicinity of Lindeman not 
 enough wood can be found to start a fire. At first we came 
 to littlo clumps of short, scrubby pines or spruce, scarcely 
 three feet high and twisted into all sorts of fantastic sha])es 
 by the winter gales, but around Lindeman could be found a 
 few fair-sized trees, though few were over thirty feet high. 
 They are mainly confined to varieties of spruce, yellow 
 cedar, bemlock, and balsam fir, but spruce everywhere pre- 
 dominates, and its lumber resembles that of southern or 
 pitch pine. The hemlock is less plentifuL White spruce 
 is the staple timber, and though in some places near running 
 streams it attains the height of from fifty to one hundred 
 feet, it is most commonly found below forty, and averaging 
 about fifteen inches at the butt. It is a fairly clear white 
 wood, straight grained, and easily worked, light, and yet 
 very tough. It endures the weather well, and a log 
 house built of it is good for over twenty years. It abounds 
 in a light and delicate looking gum, and those addicted to 
 the cheAving-giim habit can always be sure of a supply. 
 
^, 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 1.1 
 
 itt lit 122 
 
 Sua "^ 
 
 1^ MS, 12.0 
 
 — u& 
 
 llliyi iJ4 lyi^ 
 
 Vi 
 
 
 y 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sdaices 
 
 Corporation 
 
 ^^<^' 
 
 23 WIST MAIN STRIIT 
 
 WltSTM.N.Y. I4SM 
 
 (71«) •72-4503 
 

 4^' 
 
94 
 
 SIGXALING BY BURNING TREE8 
 
 Good timber, however, was not plentiful at Lindeman, 
 even at this time. Much of it had been burnt off. In the 
 sunnner, we are told, when the Indians are resting on their 
 journeys and are pestered by insects, they set fire to the 
 leaves and twigs about them and then sit in the dense smoke 
 which keeps a few of the mosquitoes at a distance. After 
 his rest the native goes forward without extinguishing his 
 fire, and as the vegetation is rank and inflammable in the 
 long summer days, the fire quickly spreads to the trees and 
 to the forests. The Indian also has a way of signaling by 
 burning trees. When in a locality where he expects to find 
 his friends or family, he sets fire to a tall spruce, and then 
 calndy sits down and watches the horizon for an answering 
 column of smoke. T\w wind will fan these flames into a 
 fierce forest fire in a short time, and the Indians are too ut- 
 terly indifferent to think of putting them out. 
 
 Some gold ])ilgrims, worn out by the arduous tramp oA'er 
 the pass, pitched their camps at Lake Lindeman to await the 
 breaking up of the ice, meanwhile entering upon the con- 
 struction of a boat which they fondly hoped would diminish 
 the tediousness of the further trip. But the ice was in such 
 excellent condition here and the timber so poor that we de- 
 cided to push on. 
 
 Lake Lindeman is a narrow piece of water six miles long, 
 hemmed in with ragged hills. It is close to the bound- 
 ary line between the territory (tf the Ignited States and that 
 of (Jueen Victoria. On the cone of an immense boulder on 
 the left, as we looked down the frozen lake, fluttered the 
 Stars and Stripes, and from another staff close by waved the 
 ensign of Great Britain. Both had been tattered in the 
 gales from the great regions of the Xorth. 
 
 A stitf breeze was blowing in our direction as we started 
 
 I 
 
Lindeman, 
 if. In the 
 ig on their 
 fire to the 
 ense smoke 
 ce. After 
 uishing his 
 able in the 
 e trees and 
 gnaling by 
 ►ects to find 
 ?, and then 
 I answering 
 inios into a 
 i are too nt- 
 
 I tramp over 
 to await the 
 on the con- 
 dd diminish 
 was in such 
 that we de- 
 
 : miles long, 
 the bound- 
 tes and that 
 ' boulder on 
 luttered the 
 y waved the 
 ered in the 
 
 s we started 
 
 13 
 
 ;■=■ 
 o 
 
 ^3 
 3 
 
 I 3 
 
 O 
 > 
 
 o 
 
 >3 
 
 73 
 
 c 
 
 r; 
 
 M 
 
 O 
 
 -3 
 > 
 
 -J 
 
 \x p 
 
 IE 
 
 r=S. 
 
 S 3 
 
 7S 
 V. 
 
MMM 
 
SLEDDING ON THE ICE 
 
 97 
 
 from the head of the lake. The snow was not deep except 
 in spots; so, rigging up sails on our sleds, we fastened them 
 together, and away v.e sped with a load of one thousand two 
 hundred pounds. This was sport. Taking a position on 
 the back of the sleds we used two long poles as a rudder, 
 though it was a severe task on the arms. Occasionally we 
 woidd run into a drift of snow and the speed would slacken, 
 or we might stop altogether while the wind tore over our 
 sails in a threatening manner. Then we would jump out, 
 pull them beyond the drift, jump on, and resume our steer- 
 ing. In this way we made the length of the lake in fortj* 
 minutes. Others adopted the same tactics, and the scene 
 of these ice sleds sailing over the lake, which seemed like a 
 great canon, was indeed picturesque, and very much 
 pleasantor than the raft trips made later in the season, when 
 the wind is likely to " kick up ' a lively sea and drench the 
 l)oor gold-seeker and his goods. He has usually by this 
 time become so hardened and so accustomed to the ways of 
 the coimtry, that he does not mind such a little matter as a 
 wet skin, and a camp in the snow or on the spongy lowlands. 
 
 The ])()rtage from Lake Lindeman to I^ke Bennett is 
 along a rocky canal which plunges into a canon filled with 
 boulders. The stream cut through a wall of granite and 
 basaltic formation for three-c|uarters of a mile, and has a fall 
 of forty feet. The latter part of the portage is over a sandy 
 ridge, away from the stream and much l)etter traveling. 
 
 Here many of the gold-seekers decided to camp and 
 build their boats, but as the weather was fair and the travel- 
 ing on the ice easy, we concluded to push to the other end 
 of the lake, or further, before going into camp. Lake Ben- 
 nett, so named by Schwatka after James CJordon Bennett, 
 is thirty-four miles long, and from one to two miles in width. 
 
98 
 
 NO WORSE TRAVBLINQ THIS SIDE THE MOON 
 
 \ 
 
 HI 
 
 II' 
 
 About fourteen miles down, the southwest arm of the lake 
 joins it, and from its hills fierce winds usually blow. Thus 
 the trip over the lake is much more comfortable on the ice 
 than on the water. We made the first trip in one day. The 
 wind favored us, and we exchanged services with a man who 
 was endeavoring to take in some horses, which helped us very 
 materially. On the second trip, however, when compelled 
 to depend on ourselves, we had head winds, and we were 
 three days in making the single trip. It was hard work at 
 that. 
 
 • At Caribou Crossing, which separates Lake Bennett 
 from Tagish Lake, we learned that there was some open 
 water beyond. The crossing is a neck of sluggish river, and 
 is so named because the caribou use it in their migrations 
 south in the spring and north in the fall. The ice and snow 
 were growing very soft under the sun of the lengthening 
 days, though the air from the peaks continued cold. "VVe 
 determined to halt at Tagish Lake and build the craft upon 
 which we were to depend to take us down the upper waters 
 of the Yukon. 
 
 " T guess the worst is over for a time," said Joe that 
 evening, as we sat by the little box of a stove devouring flap- 
 jacks as fast as they could be cooked. We both were 
 hungry and kept well ahead of the stove. 
 
 " Our health has been good, anyhow," I remarked ; 
 " but I don't believe there is any worse traveling this side of 
 the moon. And there is one consolation, I'm thinking, 
 Joe, whatever society we have will at least be made up 
 of persons of grit. Anybody who gets over here has got to 
 be made of stout stuff, even though it is put together wrong. 
 If you had just sat down in 'Frisco and told me in detail 
 what this tramp would be, I think I should have looked on it 
 
 ! * -• ''T nTr-'Sf-^" -• - r.;ingB ;i r"r' ■aursum 
 , I — I — 
 
HUNGRY PILGRIMS 
 
 99 
 
 as a rather long and at times agreeable method of premedi- 
 tated suicide." 
 
 " Well, it may amount to that yet," said Joe, as he 
 turned over another flapjack, eagerly waiting for it to 
 brown. I had finished mine, and was patiently waiting for 
 my turn to brown another. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 CAMP LIFE IN ALA8KA-WE UUILD A BOAT TO CONTINUE 
 OLU JOUltNEY- ADVENTURES WITH BEAKS. 
 
 Our Camp at Lake Tagish— Building a Boat — The Sow Pit — Pre- 
 paring the Trees— Wbip-8ttwing — Its Effect ou Cliaracter — An 
 Accident — Almost a Quarrel — A Case in Which Angels Would 
 Lose their Amiability — Spoiling the First Log— "Work it Some- 
 how "—The Oish-Kug and the Dog — A Bargain — Adventure of a 
 New Yorker with a Bear and Three Cubs — An Excited Man — 
 He Empties His Oun and Nearly Kills His Dog — I Lend Him 
 My UiHe — The Bear Finally Gives It Up— Catching the Cubs — 
 Tough Hams — Our Triumphant Return — An Old Timer's Bear 
 Story — Face tc >^ •> with a W^ounded Bear — Playing Possum — 
 Just in Time— A . ow Escape— " Don't Go Off Half-Cocked." 
 
 IT was the first of May when we went into camp near 
 Tagish Lake, which is usually reckoned as about sixty 
 miles from Dyea. Although we had made much 
 better time after crossing the Chilkoot, we had averaged less 
 than two miles a day on the whole tramj), and now we were 
 destined to lie in camp for an indefinite time while building 
 our boat and waiting for the river to be safely free of ice. 
 But this, bear in mind, was before anything was known of 
 the Klondike. While some were hurrj'ing along as fast as 
 they could, and faster than was safe, the majority were 
 taking time, and really enjoying their rough fare in camp 
 after the ordeals of the pass. The location was very good 
 for camping purposes, and as four or five other parties were 
 
 (100) 
 
BOAT BUILDING AT TAOISH LAKE 
 
 101 
 
 there building their boats we iliil not laek for company. 
 We ere also aiforded a little opi)ortunity to study the 
 methods of boat-building in these i)rimitive regions. I 
 knew nothing at all about the construction of boats iind 
 .loe's exiK-rionoe had been small. Very soon I came 
 to tlie conclusion that all the knowledge about boats there 
 was in the whole camp would not have taken a man far 
 out to sea. But Joe pretended that he knew all about it, 
 aufl I had the greatest confidence in his judgment, mainly 
 because he liad been over the route l)efore. 
 
 Tlie Hrst e*=8ential in building boats a la Yukon is to 
 know what constitutes suitable trees, and the next is to find 
 them. Two logs would be sufKc.'.'nt, if they wojild cut 
 nine-inch boards, but the great majt.rlly of the trees will 
 not allow it. After roaming about for some time Joe found 
 three wliicli he thought would do, and these we cut down 
 and dragged to a place near tlie lake. 
 
 The next essential is a " saw-pit." As little l)oat-build- 
 ing had been done at this lake we could not avail ourselves 
 of what someone else had left, but had to construct a pit of 
 our own. We hunted about for four trees near the l)each, 
 standing as nearly as possible in the same relation to each 
 other as tlie corners of a rectAngular imrallelogram. These, 
 when found, we cut off about six feet from the groimd, 
 thus constituting the four legs or support of the platform. 
 The tops of these stumjis were then hollowed out so that 
 logs could be laid across each pair, that is the narrow sides 
 of the parallelogram. We fastened these cross-pieces, after 
 a fashion, with spikes, and the saw-pit was comi)lete. The 
 only difhculty about this part of the process is that it is hard 
 work, and takes time, and generally has to be done either 
 while it rains or while it snows. The man who travels in 
 
loa 
 
 THE UNHALLOWED WHIP-SAW 
 
 1 i In 
 
 
 Alaska only when the weather is gocnl will make about a 
 mile a month, on an average. And it is a country of mag- 
 nificent distances. 
 
 The pit being ready, we squared off the butt ends of 
 the logs and spotted them, that is, cut them the right length, 
 and straightened them as well as we could with an axe. 
 Skids were Uien placed against the pit and a log was rolled 
 up to tlie platform ready to be saweil; also two others to 
 serve as a sort of foot-rest for the victim destined to stand 
 above. Wo then peeled off the bark and sap-wood, and 
 with a chalk-line marked off two slabs. 
 
 " You see," said Joe, " that will give you a good place 
 on which to stand and sec the chalk-marks when we come 
 to saw off the boards." 
 
 It looked very reasonable, like very many otlier theories 
 which can be found wiUiout taking the trouble and risk 
 of going to Alaska. We put a wedge under the logs so 
 as to prevent them from rolling while sawing off the slabs, 
 and then the samng began; also the trouble. 
 
 A whip-saw is a long, coarse-toothed saw, tapering to 
 one end and with handles fixed to each end at right angles. 
 It is an invention of the tempter. It ought to be sup- 
 pressed. No character is strong enough to withstand it. 
 Two angels could not saw their first log with one of these 
 things without getting into a fight. 
 
 I learned this gradually, however. I had allowed Joe 
 to boss all proceedings, and when he said that I might stand 
 on top while sawing off the slabs, I thought, perhaps, that 
 out of the goodness of his heart he was granting me a con- 
 siderable privilege, for the man on top has only to pull up 
 the saw while the one below nulla it down and does the cut- 
 ting. So up I climbed, and, taking my end of the saw with 
 
IT PROVOKES . ROFANITY 
 
 103 
 
 a light heart, wo worked away at the butt end of a log for 
 a while, and finally got the saw started on the chalk line. 
 As a matter of fact, we both were green at this business. 
 Pretty soon I was startled at hearing Joe swear. This was 
 unusual. He was a man who swore only on great occasions. 
 
 " What's the matter ? " I asked, looking down, and see- 
 ing Joe's face distorted and his eyes blinking. 
 
 " You mind your own end of it," he answered back, 
 rather spitefully. 
 
 I kept on pulling up the saw with a feeling that I was 
 doing my duty, when Joe shouted savagely: 
 
 " Say, don't you know a chalk-line when you see it ? " 
 
 " I'm not doing the sawing," I replied, " you pull the 
 saw down, and if you don't keep on your mark I can't keep 
 on mine." 
 
 " Well, you just keep her running on your line and I'll 
 look out for the under one," he retorted. I have not 
 quoted him exactly. There are certain figures of speech 
 used by men of strong natures, when angry, that look some- 
 what harsh in print. I tried to pull the saw towards the 
 mark, and did so, but soon it got to running the other side, 
 then I steered it back, and so it went, wobbling around the 
 line, till Joe, firing another chain-shot of forceful expres- 
 sions, gave the saw a spiteful pull. The wedges slipped 
 from under the slippery log I was standing on and it shot 
 oflf the pit, saw and all, with a suddenness which would have 
 turned a firecracker green with envy. I came down on 
 my back on one of the little stumps under the pit. Joe 
 stood watching me for a moment aa I sat there rubbing sev- 
 eral of my shorter ribs. 
 
 " You're a dandy," he said, as he walked over and ex- 
 tricated the saw. 
 7 
 
104 
 
 IT ROUSES WRATH 
 
 I felt that he was to hlanic for giving tlie saw such a 
 spiteful pull, and my first inipulbc was to get up and have 
 it out with him. Wo had been good friends for a long 
 time. Wc were " pardners " in all that that word signifies 
 in a mining camp. We ha i shared all the hardships of the 
 tramp, and I would have risked my life any day to save 
 his, and I knew he would have <lone the same for me. We 
 had braved the Chil!;oot together and the severities of camj) 
 life in the snow, and here we were at od«ls over sawing a log; 
 at odds before we had sa ved five feet for the first slab. And 
 we were to saw enough boards to build a boat. 
 
 " See here, Joe," I «*aid at last. " If I am to kill anyone 
 over this business I'd rather it wouldn't be you. Suppose 
 I swap off with someone in one of the other parties, and 
 then you or I can have it out with some other fellow." 
 
 But we finally made up, rolled the log up to the pit 
 again and resinned. We managed to keep quiet for a long 
 time under the greatest temptations. No two green men 
 can follow a chalk line on their first log. One will be on 
 one side of it on top and of course the saw will nm on the 
 other side on the bottom. The first log is nearly always 
 spoiled and boards three-quarter-inch on one edge and one 
 and a quarter on the other will be the result. Such boards 
 will not do for water-tight joints. We spoiled our first log 
 and had several wordy tussles, and lost four or five days, 
 and, I am afraid, came near losing our immortal souls. But 
 finally we got down to work and towards the. end sawed out 
 as nice lumber as could be had at a sawmill. I found that 
 the man on the under side had the worst of it, after all, 
 for in pulling the saw down the saw dust spurts into his 
 eyes, and the chalk-line is a more troublesome thing to 
 contend with thpn when on top. It was more trying than 
 
 r.I '. 
 
SPECIFIC DIKECTIONS 
 
 105 
 
 the Cliilkoot Paae. Others hud aiiuilar experiences, nntl 
 Home of the boats turneil out in that eanip were fearful and 
 wonderful to behold. Some of them looked like eottin«; 
 but we di-sfovered afterwards, when wo eame to some of the 
 rapids, that looks did not eount. 
 
 After one of the days of hard wt^rk, the one in which 
 we had at last completed the 8!"'iiig of the logs, and while 
 I was washing the 8up[)er dish.j in the lake through a hole 
 in the ice, I l)egan to rcileet. Tlu* experience of whij)- 
 "^ i<awing had develoix'd elements ol danger which I had not 
 suspected in the beginning, aad I was now in the dc:rk as 
 to what new surimse might bo lurking in the building of 
 the boat, now that the lumber was ready. Joe was bitting 
 in front of the tent, enjoying a smoke and the scenery. 
 
 " Do you know how to put this lumber together ? " I 
 asked. 
 
 Joe twisted one leg over the other with the air of a man 
 who knew exactly what was to be done, and was just self- 
 sacrificing enough to impart a little of his knowledge to 
 the ignorant. 
 
 " It's easy enough," he said. " You see, in the first 
 place, we must make the frame of her. We'll take some 
 small poles and set them about two feet apart. The bottom 
 piece must be ' half -scarfed,* or ' half -checked' ; that is, 
 cut through at each end half way, at an angle at which the 
 upright pieces are to stand. Midships the ribs will be 
 nearly straight up and down, while at the bow they will 
 be much more incli». xl. The bottom and sides of the ribs 
 must be nailed firmly together, and then the boat is ready 
 to be built. A platform of saw-horses and two planks must 
 be made, and over these the ribs will be laid, bottom up. 
 for that is the way she will be built." 
 
 f 
 
106 
 
 WORKING IT SOMEHOW' 
 
 " I hope that's not the way she'll sail," I said. 
 
 " The center plank, or keel piece," continued Joe, 
 without noticing such a trivial interruption, " must be nailed 
 down to the ribs first, and each rib then put in its proper 
 place from stem to stern. Each bottom-piece must be nailed 
 on in turn and brought up close. By the way, Bill, did you 
 bring a boat-clamp ? " 
 
 " Not that I know of." 
 
 " I knew we'd forget something we would need, but 
 we can work it somehow." 
 
 I suggested no objections, having by this time learned 
 that about the only way to do things in Alaska was " to work 
 it somehow." 
 
 " When it comes to putting on the side planks," con- 
 tinued Joe, " the ribs will have to be shaped a little, so as 
 to bring the planks up close to them, so as not to have them 
 rest on sharp edges, for, you see, I am going to give her a 
 pointed nose and a square stem." 
 
 " That seems reasonable and commendable," I said, as I 
 threw the dish-rag at a dog that was sticking his nose into 
 one of the kettles, and which thereupon picked up the rag, 
 ran off a little distance, and began to eat it up. I was be- 
 ginning to learn something of the ways of the country. 
 
 "A stem-piece must be firmly attached to the keel- 
 piece," continued Joe, " and over this, to protect the bow 
 of the boat, must be fastened a strip of tough wood, about 
 three inches thick by four wide. Then comes the caulking. 
 Anybody can do that." 
 
 We had cut our lumber twenty-six feet long and eight 
 inches wide. I suggested to Jot) that the lumber did not 
 seem to me long enough for a boat to take us and all our 
 provisions. 
 
CATBRINQ FOR THE CAMP 
 
 107 
 
 con- 
 
 But Joe had been down the river before, and he quietly 
 " allowed " that he knew what sort of a boat was needed. 
 In fact, I think he rather resented my criticisms, for he 
 made the proposition that he should build the boat him- 
 self, and that I should look after the camp, do the cooking, 
 and so forth. I agreed to the bargain readily, for I knew 
 that these duties would give me much spare time, and my 
 hunting instincts had been aroused by an occasional glimpse 
 of game in the woods. So Joe kept at work on the boat, 
 and nearly every day I shouldered my rifle and disappeared 
 in the woods. Grouse and rabbit were plenty about this 
 place, and I brought in a great many, so we would have 
 lived quite like epicures had I made fewer disastrous ex- 
 periments in cooking. One day I ran across two mountain 
 sheep, and I saw a good many moose and bear tracks, but 
 they were difficult to trace, for the snow was nearly off the 
 ground by this time and everything was beginning to look 
 green. 
 
 One day I started out with two other boys in the camp, 
 one a fellow by the name of Cook, from New York. We 
 were simply after any game we could find. Coming to a 
 small hill in the timber, we separated, I to go one side. 
 Cook the other, and the third fellow was to go to the top. 
 I had gone on slowly for perhaps half a mile when I heard 
 Cook's dog barking, and then Cook began shouting for us 
 with all the strength of his lungs. I started on a brisk run, 
 imagining that he must have come across a dragon by the 
 way he was shouting. The other fellow came tearing down 
 the hill, too, and when I reached them they both were look- 
 ing up a tall spruce and the dog was dancing about in a per- 
 fect frenzy. 
 
 Hanging to the limbs near the top of the tree were four 
 
108 
 
 FIRING WIDE OF THB MARK 
 
 bears, an old one and three cubs. Cook had never seen 
 a bear before outside of a menagerie, and his excitement 
 was such that he could hardly tell one end of the gun from 
 the other. But according to the ethics of the woods the;*' 
 were his bears. His dog liad treed them, and it was his 
 privilege to do the shooting. His desire was to kill the 
 mother and catch the cubs alive. He walked off a few steps 
 and aimed, but I could see the muzzle of his gun wobbling 
 like a weather-vane. He had a good, clear chance, but he 
 did not hit her, nor anything else. But the next time he 
 fired he crippled her, and down she came with a tremendous 
 thump at the foot of the tree, where she picked herself up 
 and faced the dog, which, more brave than discreet, pitched 
 into her. She gave him a savage little cuflF, which sent him 
 rolling through the underbrush, and Cook, who was scarcely 
 thirty feet off, fired again and missed her. The dog began 
 to dance around her again, and at Cook's next shot the dog 
 ran away with a yelp. The bullet had grazed his neck. 
 
 Cook was getting more excited than ever. He emptied 
 his gun, and though the poor bear was too crippled to keep 
 her feet she was still lively. I was longing for one shot at 
 her, but I gave my gun to Cook, and after he had nearly 
 emptied that the bear gave up the ghost. 
 
 " Cook," said I, " if it takes two guns for one bear, what 
 would you do with t^vo bears and one gun ? " 
 
 " They die hard, don't they ? " 
 
 " Unless you hit 'em." 
 
 Then we turned our attention to the cubs. The other 
 fellow volunteered to go up the tree, and when he had 
 climbed as far as it would hold him, he cut off the top, and 
 down the cubs came, one of them getting his back broke. 
 AVe rushed in to catch the others, and they scratched and 
 
 ^H. 
 
LIVELY LITTLE CUBS 
 
 109 
 
 bit like demons. The one I had caught hold of was par- 
 ticularly ferocious, and I carry on one hand a scar which 
 he gave me. Cook had a tussle with his, but he was better 
 at catching them alive than shooting them, and, after skin- 
 ning the old bear and appropriating the hams, we started for 
 camp, leading the two cubs, while the dog urged them on 
 from behind. 
 
 On the way. Cook slipped in crossing a ravine, dropped 
 his cord, and in a twinkling his cub was up a tree. We 
 had to cut off the top of that one also before we had him 
 again. We found the hams too tough to eat. That night 
 one of the cubs broke his chain somehow and got away, so 
 Cook had only one cub and a bear skin to show for all his 
 shooting. 
 
 Our exploit aroused considerable interest in the little 
 camp that night, but Cook didn't enjoy it, as much sport 
 was made of his marksmanship. These brown bears will 
 sometimes fight very fiercely, and a man needs to keep a 
 cool head and to be a good shot. 
 
 " It would 'a been all day -with you," said one of the 
 old-timers who was coming in with us, " if you had shot like 
 that when meeting the brown bear I once did. I was down 
 at Cook's Inlet, washing gold from the beach sand, last year, 
 and, a cold snap coming on, we were obliged to close work. 
 I had two Indians with me, and as they were anxious to 
 make a trip up the bay for some traps, and possibly to get 
 some bear meat, they asked me for my Winchester rifle in 
 exchange for a large single-shot. I complied, like a fool, 
 and one day when I had got back to the cabin from pros- 
 pecting, and it was too early to turn in, I went out and sat 
 down not far from the beach to see if there were signs of 
 the Indians returning. Suddenly I was thrown into a 
 
110 
 
 A STARTLING ENCOUNTER 
 
 ll 
 
 flutter by seeing two big brown bears walking leisurely 
 along in my direction, not two hundred yards away. I 
 crawled along in the grass to the cabin, and got the Indian's 
 rifle, putting some extra cartridges in my pocket. I now 
 wished for my six-shooter. I crept down towards the bank, 
 and, sitting down in a cutting, tried to keep myself cool. 
 Presently the nose of one of them came into view, a short 
 distance from where I sat, and he saw me, and gave a deep 
 angry growl. I had a good shot at his head, and he fell 
 in his tracks. Then I started down the beach for the other. 
 The repoi . had alarmed him, and he was scampering away. 
 I dropped on one knee, took a slow aim, and fired. He 
 wavered a bit; evidently, the ball had struck home, but he 
 turned in around the bank before I could get a second shot 
 I tried to track him, but couldn't, and I concluded he had 
 some hidden shelter. I finally turned towards the cabin, 
 and put the hammer of the gun down. I had hardly gone 
 fifty yards, however, when, rounding the edge of some scrub 
 bushes, I came right on the wounded bear, lying in the 
 grass. He jumped to his. haunches, his mouth streaked 
 with foam, his eyes glaring defiance, and his whole air was 
 so ferocious, and I had been taken so by surprise, that I have 
 to confess I turned and ran. The bear gave instant chase. 
 Wheii I bad gone some distance I tripped and fell, and, 
 looking back, expecting to see the bear close by, I saw that 
 I had gained on him. I recovered my courage, and thought 
 that if I fired and missed I would still have time to run 
 But T waited too long. When ne came within a few 
 
 on 
 
 ^ I 
 
 feet he raised himself on his haunches, and I pulled the 
 trigger, but, to my horror, it failed to act. I had, in my 
 excitement, forgotten that I had put down the hammer. 
 Before I had time to recover myself he hit me a terrible 
 
 -3&a«« 
 
PLAYING 'possum 
 
 111 
 
 blow on mj' left side. Instinctively I turned my face down- 
 ward and played 'possum. He came up, sniifed about me, 
 clawed me once or twice, and walked off a little ways. My 
 gun had been thrown off somewhere in the grass and was 
 out of reach. I lay there for a minute, and finally the bear 
 came back and clawed me some more. I was beginning to 
 think he was going to turn me over, when I heard a shot, 
 and the big bear dropped beside me. The Indians had 
 come in just in time. When I got up I found that the blow 
 of the bear had torn clear through my clothing and made 
 an ugly wound in my side, which was bleeding freely. If 
 I hadn't played 'possum I should have been a dead man." 
 
 Every one appreciated the moral of this tale. When 
 you are gunning for bear in Alaska, or anywhere else, do not 
 go ofF " Iialf-cocked." There was very little game of this 
 sort about here, nor, indeed, is there much anywhere near 
 the gold regions. The forest fires started by the Indians 
 drive away the good game, and the pest of the mosquitoes 
 in the summer is trying to the bears. In some parts of 
 Alaska there is a variety of bear called " silver-tip," which 
 is very ferocious, and does not wait to be attacked, but 
 attacks on sight. The miners, unless traveling in groups 
 and Avell armed, give it a wide berth. Though I saw many 
 moose tracks while I was on my excureions, I never came 
 across one. It usually requires a three or four days' hunt 
 to come up with them. There are two species of caribou in 
 the country; one, the ordinary kind, much resembling the 
 reindeer, and th other called a wood caribou, which is a 
 much larger and more beautiful animal. The ordinary 
 caribou runs in herds and is easily approached, and, when 
 fired at, jumps around and is as likely to run towards one 
 as from him. At last, when several have been killed, the 
 
112 
 
 A LONG RUN 
 
 .1i 
 
 '^tOB^ 
 
 tit&m 
 
 rest will start on a continuous run, and may not stop for 
 twenty miles. The Indians kill them in large numbers 
 sometimes, even when they have meat enough. They are 
 rarely found, I was told, in two successive seasons in the 
 same place. 
 
 The mountain sheep which I found around here were 
 pure white in color, but otherwise they resemble very much 
 the gray ones found in the lower latitudes. But they have 
 finer horns, more handsomely curved. 
 
y are 
 ■in the 
 
 were 
 
 much 
 
 have 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 A DANGEROUS VOYAGE— OVERTURNING OP OUR BOAT— 
 LOSS OF AN 8800 OUTFIT — WE ESCAPE WITH OUR 
 LIVES — HUNTING FOR A CAMP THIEF. 
 
 We Name Our Boat the Tar Stater — More Handsome than Adequate 
 — Drifting amid Scenes of WiH Grandeur — Magical Vegetation — 
 Fifty Mile River— At the Mouth of the CafSon— We Conclude to 
 Pack Around — Several Boats Go Through— The Trail— An Offer 
 to Take the Tar Stater Through for |5— I Am Invited to Ride, 
 and Accept — A Quick Repentance — Discarding Gum Boots — A 
 Serious Catastrophe — At the Mercy of the Current — Clinging to 
 an Overturned Boat — Over Again — Saved — A Four-Minute Ex- 
 perience —The Milk is Spilled — Loss of an $800 Outfit — Recovering 
 Our Boat — Towards White Horse Rapids — Disappearance of the 
 Sugar Saved from the Wreck — I Am Mad — Strapping on My 
 Gun — Looking for a Camp Thief — Sympathy for Us— A Phase 
 of Yukon Life. 
 
 WHILE I was acting as chief cook and wood-cutter, 
 and was making excursions for game in the 
 country, Joe kept himself busy with the boat, 
 and I helped only when it was ready for the caulking. It 
 was finished in about ten days, and was a very good speci- 
 men, considering the tools we had to work with. I thought 
 it looked small for the purpose of carrying our large outfit 
 through very rough water, but Joe insisted that it was large 
 enough, in spite of the warnings of one of the old-timers. 
 But Joe had been over the river as well as the old-timer, 
 and he waf satisfied. I was a fair swimmer, and I knew 
 
 (118) 
 
114 
 
 A PICTURESQUE REGION 
 
 .]i 
 
 that I could get out of any place that he could, so I kept still. 
 We named her the Tar Stater, in honor of Joe's native 
 State. Every boat on the lake had a name, and one could 
 see all sorts of climisy-looking boxes carrying the names of 
 all the States in the Union and of prominent men from 
 George Washington to Grover Cleveland. 
 
 The ice continued to block the lake, being five or six feet 
 deep in places, but the weather suddenly growing wanner, it 
 broke and it seemed safe for us to embark. As we piled in 
 our eifects I saw that the boat was going to be pretty full, 
 but Joe persisted that he knew what we wanted, and so oflf 
 we started, working our way through the cakes of ice, and 
 finding no very open water till we reached the lower end of 
 the lake, which is about twenty miles long. Running out 
 from it are long arms, the most prominent of which are 
 Windy Arm and Taku Ann, reaching far up between the 
 terraced and evergreen hills. The group lies in a depression 
 between the coast range and the main range of the Rockies, 
 and altogether it is a very picturesque region, abounding in 
 striking promontories with a continuous fringe of wooded 
 landscape along the banks, and back of them the impressive 
 mountains seamed with little glaciers — gleaming like sil- 
 ver ribbons — while, breaking out here and there, little rivu- 
 lets leaped down precipitous heights and sometimes rose to 
 the dignity of torrents. Mile after mile of wildest grandeur 
 glides by like a continuous panorama. 
 
 At the mouth of Windy Lake are three small islands, 
 and beyond them tower mountains of limestone and marble, 
 and the beach abounds in marble of various colors. When 
 we come to a little clear water we find it so transparent that 
 we can peer to the bottom of the lake and see the fragments 
 of marble scattered about. From the junction of Taku 
 
 
 mm 
 
POOR STICKS 
 
 116 
 
 Arm, of which little appears to be known, to the north end 
 of the lake, the distance is about six miles, and the width 
 for the greater part of the way is over two miles. It is a 
 fine piece of water, but apparently very shallow. 
 
 At the lower end the river issues from it and flows six 
 miles to Marsh Lake. It is not more than 150 yards wide, 
 and some of the way not more than six feet deep. On its 
 bank, about one and a half miles from the lake, the Cana- 
 dian police and customs officers are stationed. On the other 
 side are the Tagish houses, or council houses of the little 
 band of Stick Indians which wander about the lake 
 country, and which, until recently, were not allowed by the 
 Tlingit tribes to come down to the coast to trade. The 
 buildings, though the only ones in the interior of Alaska 
 with any pretensions to skill in architecture, are little more 
 than rough enclosures, and the natives are exceedirsjly poor 
 specimens of humanity. They have a simple way of dis- 
 posing of their dead, and one of their burying-places can be 
 seen from the river. The departed one is laid on a pile of 
 dried logs which have been smeared with grease. A fire is 
 then started, but the remains are seldom thoroughly burned, 
 only charred, and over this they hold their funeral services, 
 which are too complex for the civilized mind. It is their 
 delight to go to a funeral, and when they are employed in 
 packing for the miners or upper Yukon travelers they will, 
 on hearing of a death, at once drop their packs and not re- 
 turn till the funeral is over. 
 
 A little distance below the Tagish houses is the entrance 
 to Lake Marsh, so named by Schwatka after Prof. O. C. 
 Marsh of Yale, but most of the miners call it Mud Lake, 
 though there is no good reason for such a name, and it is 
 possible that it was originally given to the lower part 
 
116 
 
 LAKE HARSH AND MOUNTAIN TERRACES 
 
 f^ 
 
 li 
 
 of Tagish Lake, which is shallow and in places somewhat 
 muddy. Lake Marsh is about twenty miles long and two 
 miles wide. Its shores are low, flat, and stony, and the 
 waters are shallow. The boat must be kept to the left bank. 
 When we went through, it was still full of ice, though it 
 was rjipidly disappearing under the sun, which was now ap- 
 proaching its long summer course. Along the shores the 
 vegetation was springing up as if by magic under its con- 
 tinuous warmth, while the rivulets formed by the melting 
 snow and glaciers tumbled over the rocks of the hillsides, 
 falling in glittering cascades. The surrounding region ap- 
 pears low to us after what we have passed through, but it is 
 picturesque in any season, the great terraces rising to high 
 ranges on either side and not more than ten miles away. 
 Prominent on the east stands Michie Mountain, five thou- 
 sand five hundred and forty feet in height (so named from 
 Professor Michie of West Point), and on the west Mounts 
 Lome and Lansdowne, six thousand four hundred, and six 
 thousand one hundred and forty feet high, respectively. 
 Wild fowl are plentiful along the flats, but nothing alive 
 abounds like the mosquitoes, which begin to come up in 
 swarms from the swamps. 
 
 The traveler finds the names of all the prominent 
 features of the landscape of recent origin. Nothing more 
 clearly indicates the newness of the country. Of course 
 the natives have long had their names for the prominent ob- 
 jects, but they are seldom adopted by explorers. It is easier 
 to go over the Chilkoot than to pronounce them as they pro- 
 nounce them, for there is nothing in the English language 
 sounding like their clicking syllables. 
 
 Near the foot of Marsh Lake a stream called McClintock 
 Kiver enters, and its valley is but yet little known, though it 
 
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 B s' 
 
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 Si a 
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 0.0. 
 
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 S*2. 
 
 ^ n 
 
 3o 
 
 25 
 
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 K 
 
 a 
 
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 -1 
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 "^ ^i*.' 1 
 
 +*»!*.. 
 
 ■"• ^ 
 
 r 
 
 I (•:■'" 
 
 11 , J 
 
 li ! 'i 
 
 li^ 1 
 
 1 1 " 
 
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 1 1 -'-""M 
 
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 ^^'*' ! 
 
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 Ki: 
 
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 4 
 
AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE CAfJON 
 
 119 
 
 sccnis to be large, and it evidently poure in a quantity of tlie 
 dirt that forms the shallows of the lake. The outlet of the 
 lake is called Fifty Mile River, and it is here that the descent 
 of the Yukon may be said to commence, though it is many 
 miles further before the great water course really begins. 
 Here the water flows northwesterly through the great valley 
 with a current of three miles an hour. From here on we 
 had open water, and it was a welcome relief after working 
 our way through so many obstacles. But in the springtime 
 the banks of the river are constantly caving in and dumping 
 trees into the stream, which is shallow in many places. 
 Often we had to poke the nose of the Tar Stater out of the 
 mud, for in many places the current seemed to run directly 
 over these bars. The salmon struggle up to this point, and 
 some of the largest are found here in season, but they never 
 have the strength to get back, and in the summer large num- 
 bers of the dead and dying are found here. 
 
 After a rapid run down this stream, which twists and 
 turns like a huge serpent in distress, the current becoming 
 swifter and swifter, we came out into a wide sweep of the 
 river where the water is still and gives little evidence, except 
 a dull roar, of the dangers ahead, till the two frowning 
 wails of the canon appear. The river above the canon 
 looks about five hundred feet wide, and it is eight or ten 
 feet deep. All this has to pour between two bluffs only 
 about seventy-five feet apart, and rising in perpendicular 
 grandeur for a hundred feet on either side. We found 
 many boats along the west bank, and so we landed to take a 
 look at what was before us. 
 
 Climbing to the top of the bluff, we gazed down upon 
 the mighty current rushing in a perfect mass of milk-white 
 foam with a roar intensified by the high walls of rock. The 
 
120 
 
 LIKE CHIPS IN THE CHANNEL 
 
 water was boiling through it at such terrific speed that it 
 ridged up in the center, while along the perpendicular banks 
 it whirled in huge eddies which had a very threatening look. 
 The clouds of spray gave the water level a snowy appear- 
 ance. The canon is about a mile long, anu while we stood 
 there we saw several boats go through at the speed of a race- 
 horse. But though they bobbed about like chips, they were 
 generally managed cleverly, and ran through safely. By 
 hard work they were kept in the middle of the channel, but 
 occasionally one would get to one side, and bs caught in the 
 eddies, and whirled around past all control. It was then a 
 matter of luck if they went through without a mishap, for 
 there was the greatest danger of their being dashed against 
 the steep basaltic sides and smashed. But while we looked 
 all passed safely through, though we could see that some 
 shipped considerable water in the big waves. 
 
 " Pretty stiff gallop through there, ain't it? " remarked 
 Joe as we turned to go down the bluff. 
 
 " I don't know what you think," said I, " but I know too 
 little about managing a boat to run her safely through there. 
 Besides, Joe, the Tar Stater is too heavily loaded to meet 
 those waves gracefully." 
 
 So we finally agreed to pack our goods around. The 
 portage path is ov^r the east bluff, is about a mile long, and 
 the trail is comparatively good. This does not mean that it 
 is easy. It leads over a high ridge just the length of the 
 canon, and then descends abruptly with a dizzy incline into 
 a valley, then, after continuing for some distance along the 
 cascades, it ascends a sandy hill. It is very diflicult, for 
 many trees had fallen across it so that it resembled crossing 
 a lot of hurdles. It leads much of the way through brush 
 and wooded patches, where the mosquitoes filled the air and 
 
 p- 
 
A LAMENTABLE BLUNDER 
 
 ni 
 
 
 made life miserable. One knows how to fight a big enemy, 
 but a myriad of persistent little ones completely unnerve a 
 man. On the first trip I took my clothing, bedding, and 
 gun, and Joe took a one-hundred-pound sack of sugar and 
 part of a sack of beans. This promised to be a slow process, 
 and on our way back, as we saw another boat go through 
 safely with a whole outfit in les^ time than it took us to fix 
 a single pack on our backs, J oe bpgan to get braver. 
 
 " I know the Tar Staier will ride as well as that coffia 
 did," said he. 
 
 Our boat was certainly handsomer than many that went 
 through without mishap, but I still clung to the idea that it 
 would not be well to try her till she had been lightened 
 considerably. When we reached the bank a^aln, we were 
 approached by two men who were making it a business to 
 take boats through at five dollars each. They wanted to 
 take ours. I asked if she ought not to be lightened more, 
 but after looking at her critically they said she was all right, 
 indeed, was a pretty trim-looking craft. They hi.d taken 
 seven tlirough safely that day, and seemed so confident of 
 their ability that we made the bargain with them, and, as 
 we must give them the same, loaded or empty, we foolishly 
 decided to let them take her as she was. It would take two 
 days to pack our things around the canon, and as several of 
 our camp friends had gone through we wished to keep pace 
 with them. One of the men asked me if I would like to 
 ride through, and I told them I would not mind if I should 
 not be in the way. 
 
 " Jump in," they said, while Joe strolled up to the bluff 
 to watch us. 
 
 We pushed off, and in two minutes my heart failed me, 
 and I would have given all the gold I ever expected to get in 
 
122 
 
 THE TAR-STATER UPSETS IN THE CANON 
 
 n 
 
 these regions liad I staid out. Return was impossible. As 
 we rounded the corner, and looked down through the canon, 
 I made up my mind that some fine worK would be done if the 
 Tar Stater went through those waves all right. I quickly 
 pulled off my gum boots, thinking that if I should need to 
 swim I would get along better without those, and then into 
 the yawning chasm we shot, drawn by a force nothing could 
 resist. 
 
 There is a popular summer amusement called " Shooting 
 the Chutes," very exciting and very exhilarating, I am told. 
 A boat-load slides down an incline, and splashes into the 
 water. But just imagine a boat hurled along on a ridge of 
 water running a mile in three minutes, and twenty times as 
 long as your amusing chutes. 
 
 The two men started in to manage the boat cleverly 
 enough. Not far from the entrance the boat seemed to 
 tpke a fall of several feet, while all the waters in creation 
 seemed to have fallen into a space seventy-five feet wide. 
 The moment we struck the first high wave we shipped some 
 water, at the second we shipped more, at the third it poured 
 in around the whole outfit, and at the next we were full, and 
 over we went into the ice-cold water with the worst part of 
 the canon before us. The boat turned toward the side I 
 was occupying, and I sprang out so as to avoid being covered 
 up. The moment I struck the water all fear was gone. It 
 was easy swimming, for the current took one along whether 
 he would or not. 
 
 When the boat came up she was about ten feet from me, 
 and it was not easy to reach her, for struggling against the 
 current was another matter. Finally I caught hold of the 
 stern and climbed up. As I ws swept by one of the other 
 fellows, I got hold of him and pulled him in so that he could 
 
 r- I 
 
AT THE MERCY OP ANGRY WATERS 
 
 123 
 
 r- I 
 
 climb up, and a little afterwards the other man was able to 
 reach us. There the three of us were riding on the bottom 
 of the boat, which was whirling about in the wildest manner. 
 As straight as a crow flies runs the canon for an eighth of a 
 mile. The roar was like a cannonade. On the top of the 
 bluffs which fled by lis grew dense forests of spruce which 
 shut out the sun, and a weird darkness pervaded the deep 
 and angry channel. The boat shot forward with lightning 
 speed, leaping like a racer or bucking like a mustang, now 
 buried out of sight in the foam, and now plunged beneath 
 a terrific wave. We clung desperately to the bottom as 
 helpless as flies. 
 
 A moment later we came to the worst place in the cur- 
 rent, where there are three heavy jwells, and where those 
 who are steering boats through incline a little to the left to 
 avoid the roughest part. But the current was steering us, 
 and into the swells we dived. The waters swept us from the 
 slippery keel as if we had been so many leaves. Again we 
 struggled in the current, and again we caught on to the 
 whirling boat, for after the swells the water became 
 smoother, and in a twinkling we shot out of the canon like 
 a rocket, amid the reefs of boulders and bars thickly 
 studded with drifts of timber. Two men were waiting at 
 the foot of the bluffs in a boat, and when they saw us come 
 out they rowed after us and took us in. Thus we left the 
 Tar Stater. 
 
 I had looked at my watch, which fortunately I carried 
 in a rubber sack in my pocket, when I got into the 
 boat at the upper end, and I looked again as we climbed into 
 the boat which had come to our rescue, and saw tliat we had 
 had a little over four minutes of experience. Some of the 
 boats go through in three minutes. 
 
124 
 
 BANKRUPT IN FOUR MINUTES 
 
 Wet and shivering, I sat down on a rock on the bank and 
 felt very blue. Ten minutes before we had boasted the best 
 outfit that any two men we had seen were bringing in; 
 everything we would need for the next eighteen months. 
 It v/as worth over $800, according to the way things sold in 
 Alaska, and we had lost very many things which could not 
 be bought on the Yukon. All we had left was the sack of 
 sugar and a few beans; nothing to cook them in. We had 
 no tent to sleep in, and we were two hundred and fifty mile 
 from Juneau and five hundred miles from the nearest trad- 
 ing post down the river. 
 
 As I sat there Joe came down with a grim expression on 
 his face. He had stood on the bluff and had seen us go 
 under. He knew now that we had been too heavily loaded. 
 
 " The Tar Stater is down yonder somewhere," I said, 
 with a despondent gesture towards the rushing river. I 
 thought I would not be rough on the poor fellow. 
 
 " Well, the milk is spilled," he said, giving the forlorn 
 bag of beans a kick. 
 
 " And this region doesn't flow with milk and honey," I 
 added. 
 
 We walked along down the river, and about a mile and a 
 half below we found the Tar Stater, bottom up, and her 
 nose tucked into a crack in the rocks by the bank in such a 
 manner as to be held fast. She was somewhat strained, and 
 needed recaulking. We dragged her up to the rocks, and 
 Joe looked at her mournfully. I could not withstand the 
 tenjptation. , 
 
 " The Tar Stater is a dandy in rough water," I said, 
 and I could see that Joe was badly hurt. Then I was sorry, 
 and tried to make amends by saying that she would have 
 gone through with flying colors had we only taken the pre- 
 
THE WORST PIECE OF WATER ON THE YUKON 125 
 
 caution to carry part of the load around the canon. " She 
 is too trim for heavy work," I added. 
 
 On the next day a boat was overturned in running 
 through, and two men were drowned. It was a sad ending 
 to the hard voyage of two gold-seekers, but all along the 
 river are the little marks which tell of similar cases. There 
 were several parties camped at the lower end of the canon, 
 including some of the friends we had made at Lake Tagish. 
 They were very kind to us, so that we managed very com- 
 fortably while we were getting our boat ready. This did 
 not take much time, and, having secured a set of oars, we 
 loaded in all that remained of our costly outfit and pro- 
 ceeded down the river. 
 
 Below the canon there is a stretch of somewhat milder 
 rapids, or cascades, for nearly three miles, and then after a 
 little smooth water we arrived at the White Horse Rapids, 
 which are justly considered more dangerous than the caiion, 
 but it is less on account of the swift current than of the 
 formation of the passage, it being full of sunken rocks. It 
 is, on the whole, the worst piece of water on the Yukon, and 
 no one should ever attempt to take their outfit through. Of 
 course, we were no longer hampered in this way. 
 
 In coming up to these rapids one must land on the west 
 bank, which is formed of steep rocks, and the place is very 
 difficult either for managing a boat, or for getting a burden 
 up to the portage. Many drag their boats over the trail, 
 but it is difficult work and requires several men to pull a 
 loaded boat around in a day. To get the boats up over the 
 rocks the miners had constructed a crude windlass. But 
 most of those on the way with us determined to carry their 
 goods around, and then shoot the rapids in empty boats. 
 
 We lined the Tar Stater down the side, and then went 
 
126 
 
 THEFT A CARDINAL SIN 
 
 up to watch proceedings and to help one of the other boys 
 down with his boat. We were gone some little time, and 
 when we returned to our boat the sack of sugar was missing. 
 I was mad. Some villain had stolen the most valuable part 
 of the provisions we had saved from the wreck; that was 
 about all we had left of that eight-hundred-dollar outfit. 
 I strapped on my six-shooter and went hunting for that 
 sugar with a vengeance. Theft is one of the worst crimes 
 a man can commit in this country, and it is not common. 
 Only tenderfeet who have not outgrown the privileges of 
 life in civilized regions will dare commit it. Generally, 
 anything can be left with perfect safety on the trails, provid- 
 ing it is out of the reach of dogs. There are no storehouses, 
 and traveling necessitates leaving articles of value all along 
 the route. Traveling would be impossible but for a rigid 
 regard for other people's property. It is the unwritten law 
 of the land, and it comes as naturally to the Indians as to 
 any one. Morose, superstitious, utterly ungrateful, and 
 never to be believed, these Indians rarely touch a thing that 
 belongs to any one else. They will leave their own belong- 
 ings all along the trail, and they will be often passed, but 
 no one thinks of touching them. They know they will be 
 there when they return. 
 
 I knew it was some white man who had taken the sugar, 
 and I went through the boats with fire in my eye. It would 
 have been easy to find it had it been there, but it was not. 
 On the other hand, everybody was in perfect sympathy Avith 
 my attempt to find the thief, and if he had been found they 
 would have given him, then and there, what, in the parlance 
 of the Yukon, is ealled a " jig-in-air " at the end of a rope. 
 It was lucky, perhaps, that I did not find him, for I was in a 
 dangerous mood. I could have shot him dead and no one 
 
 < 
 
 ■m 
 
 ->s 
 
A CROWD OF SYMPATHIZERS 
 
 127 
 
 would have said a word against it. I should have been criti- 
 cised if I had failed to. 
 
 Two or three boats had gone on through the rapids, and 
 the thief had evidently taken the sack just as he was putting 
 off, in the expectation of escaping safely. It would not 
 have been so serious had he taken something from a party 
 that was well-stocked with provisions, but taking it from 
 us who had lost nearly everything but that, was sufficient 
 to raise the indignation of the whole camp to the boiling 
 point. The fellows offered us all we wanted. We suf- 
 fered for nothing. We could make ourselves at home in 
 any tent there. 
 
 There are some rare qualities in the rough breasts of the 
 pilgrims of the Yukon, a consideration for the condition of 
 others which is not always found in a softer climate and in 
 an easier life. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SOME THRILLING EXPERIENCES — DISCOVERY OP THE 
 THIEF— HIS SUMMARY PUNISHMENT— PICTURES BY 
 THE WAY. 
 
 Through the White Horse Rapids in an Empty Boat — Close Shave for 
 the Tar Stater — Rough to Experience but Interesting to Watch — 
 Overtaliing Three Boats — I find the Sacli of Sugar and the Thief 
 — Swift Preparations for a Lynching Bee — " Say the Word and Up 
 He Goes "—I Refuse—" Nothing Less Than Fifty Lashes, Then "— 
 I Administer Them on the Tliief 's Bare Back — The Victim Becomes 
 a Good Citizen — Lalie Lebarge and Tagish Indians — Eggs for a 
 Change — In the Twilight of the Midnight — Nature in Her Great 
 Work — Cutting Down Hills and Valleys — Where Eagles Nest — 
 Twisting and Turning — Five Fingers— Rink Rapids — Arrival at 
 Fort Selkirk — A Touch of Civilization — The Route Marked with 
 Graves of the Fallen — Reflections on the Journey. 
 
 1 I 
 
 THERE were, as I remember, six boats with ours at 
 the entrance of White Horse xlapids, and we all 
 went through in safety, but it was a thrilling ex- 
 perience. We were swept along over the raging torrent, 
 which here and there throws white spray into the air, a 
 fact from which the rapids take their name. The foaming 
 waves seem to come from every direction. Ragged rocks 
 hang over the passage, the current sucking in under them, 
 and at times we could have reached up and touched the 
 rocks with our hands had we cared to. We had too much 
 to do for amusement of that kind. The rapids extend 
 straight away for nearly a quarter of a mile, and then take 
 
 (128) 
 
 
SHOOTING WHITE HORSE RAPIDS 
 
 129 
 
 an abrupt turn to the riglit. It is after passing the turn 
 that the most dangerous part is encountered. 
 
 With a stream that is two hundred yards wide, full of 
 ugly boulders, coupled with a fall of two hundred feet in 
 five-eighths of a mile, it is no wonder that this stretch of river 
 has become the terror of Alaskan gold-hunters. If tlie cur- 
 rent in the canon appeared to speed along with the swiftness 
 of an arrow, that in the rapids seemed to equal the flight of 
 a swift bird. The last hundred yards of the journey was 
 particularly dangerous. At the spot called the " White 
 Horse " the waters tumbled and tossed in most fantastic 
 fashion, piling up the spray in long white columns ten or 
 twelve feet high. There is a sheer fall of nine feet at that 
 point. 
 
 " Joe, we're goners sure," I shouted, holding on in terror. 
 But the Tar Stater took the plunge in a way that gladdened 
 our hearts. True, it seemed that we would never come 
 up; and, when we did, it looked as though we would 
 never come down. Into the air the bow went, and when 
 the boat again struck the water flew over us in a torrent. 
 We thought that the next moment would see the Tar 
 Stater sink, but she did not. I think it was the swiftness of 
 the current that kept her afloat. At any rate, we reacheii 
 shore safely, but wet through to the skin. If anybody 
 imagines that shooting the White Horse Rapids is easy or 
 pleasant he is very much mistaken. 
 
 There may be some pleasure in boasting of having shot 
 these fearful waters, but it is the height of folly to run the 
 risk. Many go through safely in empty boats, but they are 
 at the mercy of as angry a bit of water as there is in Alaska, 
 and there are a great many such places. The summer before 
 we went through, it was said that thirteen persons lost their 
 
130 
 
 SUGGESTIONS OP GLACIAL DAYS 
 
 f ! 
 
 lives there, and all because they preferred to take the risk 
 than to drag tlie boat around. It requires but a minute or 
 so to shoot through, but days to get an outfit around. 
 
 Terrible as is the experience, there are few places more 
 sublime to the view. Standing on the bank in safety, the 
 eye is charmed by the waters that leap and foam around 
 the highly-colored rocks. You may watch it for hours 
 and turn away with, regret, and if the eye wanders off it 
 rests on the somber stretches of trees, in their varying colors, 
 the luxuriant grass, and the tundra, while standing like 
 ghostly sentinels over all are the snowy peaks in the dis- 
 tance. Everything is on a grand scale, and one acquires a 
 faint realization of what this planet must have been in those 
 untrimmed, uncut, glacial times when the earth was dotted 
 with raging waters like these, and mammoths stalked or 
 crawled about the gloomy hillsides. 
 
 Below the rapids the river flows swiftly on for several 
 miles, much of the time between gravel banks, but the 
 water is smooth, the banks one hundred and fifty yards 
 apart, and no obstacles except bars appear; so we made good 
 progress. The current becomes less and less as the river 
 turns northward through the same wide valley. The bluffs 
 along the bank are of white silt, which gives a cloudy yellow 
 tint to the waters. About thirteen miles down we come to 
 the mouth of the Tahkheena River, a muddy stream about 
 seventy-five yards wide, flowing in from the west. Its 
 sources are near the Chilkat Pass, and its waters flow through 
 a large body of water named Arkell Lake, not far from the 
 Dalton trail. It is said to have been formerly used by the 
 Chilkat Indians in reaching the interior, but now it is 
 seldom used, though its waters are said to be navigable from 
 the head of the lake down. 
 
"HANG THE MAN WHO STEALS ANYTHING!" 131 
 
 Our little party of six or seven boats kept close together 
 as we drifted down the rapid stream, and, towards evening, 
 as we were looking along the banks for a good place to camp, 
 we came upon thrce boats and a little camp back from the 
 bank. I had not forgotten the sugar; neither had the 
 others. We disembarked with assumed indifference, but 
 I immediately raised some consternation by going through 
 the boats. In one of them I found a sack of sugar. 
 
 Ih less that a minute that boat and the man claiming 
 it were covered with a dozen guns, but I was somewhat 
 surprised to see my friends put a rope around his neck and 
 lead him struggling towards a tree. The day before, when 
 I was boiling with rage, I might not have said a word. I 
 knew how heinous the crime of theft was considered in 
 Alaska. But now I was somewhat taken aback by the 
 swiftness with which my friends proposed to mete out jus- 
 tice. The man could say nothing. He was badly fright- 
 ened, and those who had been with him on the bank made 
 no protest; and, if they had, we were too many for them. 
 
 The rope was thrown over the limb of a neighboring 
 tree, and a half a dozen men caught hold of it ready to pull. 
 
 " Hold on a minute, boys," I said. " It strikes me it's 
 pretty tough to hang a man for stealing a sack of sugar." 
 
 " Hang the man who steals anything! " said one of the 
 old timers. 
 
 " But I don't want to be too cruel on the fellow," I re- 
 plied. " He may know better next time." 
 
 The poor fellow was trembling like a leaf. His face 
 was ghastly pale, and he looked at me with beseeching eyes. 
 
 " Wal, it's your sugar," said one of the men, " and all 
 you've got to do is to say the word and up he goes." 
 
 " I won't do it," said I. " Settle it some other way." 
 
132 
 
 EFFICACY OF THE LASH 
 
 1 
 
 I ' 
 
 " He's got to be punished somehow," said the old-timer, 
 in a determined tone, " and, if you don't want to have hira 
 pulled up, you'll have to give him the lash. We sometimes 
 does that." 
 
 " All right," I said, knowing that some form of punish- 
 ment would certainly have to be administered. 
 
 So they made him take otf his clothes down to his bare 
 back, tied his hands together, and swung him up so that his 
 toes barely touched the ground. 
 
 " Nothin' less than fifty lashes," said the old-timer, 
 handing me a piece of rope. So I began to lay it on, and 
 the more I did so, the more I lx>gan to think he deserved it. 
 He stood it remarkably well, but finally began to cry with 
 pain, and I stopped. 
 
 " Xothin' less than fifty," shouted the old-timer. 
 
 So I kept on till the numl)er was reached. It was a 
 pretty tough-looking back he had when I finished, and he 
 drew his shirt on svllli iie greatest c^re. 
 
 I came to know t'l^.t man very well later on. Strange 
 as it may appear, we grew to be friends, and he made n good 
 citizen of Alaska. I never knew of his again taking a thing 
 belonging to another. These primitive methods of punish- 
 ment are quite effectual, after all. There would be fewer 
 burglars and sneak thieves in the States if the lash were 
 used publicly, instead of the so-called enlightened method 
 of retiring them to a rather agreeable life in a prison, to 
 which they take their own evil natures, and where they 
 exchange les?ons in criminality with their prison associates. 
 
 Proceeding a few miles further, we arrived at Lake Le- 
 barge, which lies nearly north and south, surrounded by 
 mountains, those on the southeast presenting very abrupt 
 and castellated forms, with summits of white limestone. It 
 
LAKE LEBARQB 
 
 188 
 
 is tliirty-ono miles long with an average breadth of nearly 
 live miles. Its southern half is somewhat wi<ler, but then 
 it narrows down to about two miles for a distance of about 
 seven miles, and at the north end expands to about four 
 miles again. The western shore is indented with shallow 
 little bays. Just before reaching the place where it nar- 
 rows there is a large island, the southern end flat, with gravel 
 banks, and the other end rocky. The rjcks are a l>right 
 red, and makes a very pretty picture against the other colors 
 along the shore. 
 
 The lake is about two thousand feet above the sea-level, 
 and we found it rough sailing most of the time, though the 
 wind held in our direction. Its rough water is usually 
 dreaded by miners, who sometimes are forced to camp on its 
 banks for several days, till the wind goes down. The whole 
 valley seems to be a great trough, sucking inland the south- 
 erly winds, which are apt to prevail in the summer months. 
 
 It is a favorite spot for the Tagisli Indians, exceedingly 
 filtliy and degraded creatures, who will bargain almost any- 
 thing they have for a little whisky, for which they have 
 acquired a taste through the expanding trade of onr Chris- 
 tianized countries. The missionaries came at the same time, 
 but their efforts have little effect on them. To them, the 
 greatest importation of civilization is "fire-water," 
 
 We made good progress on Lake Lebarge, in spite of its 
 roughness. Other names have been given this body of 
 water, and the Indians have one of their own. Its common 
 name is derived from one Mike Lebarge, who not many 
 years ago wa.s engaged by the Western Union Telegraph 
 Company, exploring the river and adjacent country for the 
 purpose of connecting Europe and America by a telegraph 
 line overland, except for the short distance at Bering Strait. 
 
134 
 
 IN THE BLAZE OP THE ARCTIC SUN 
 
 The days had become so long by this time that we could 
 travel nearly all the time, stopping only now and then for 
 a square meal. It will be difficult for anyone who has not 
 been in the Arctic regions to form a good idea of the pictur- 
 esque features of a sail along one of these lakes at this time 
 of year. The shore of the large lake is fringed with a line 
 of treeb, which stretch back over the low hills, but over the 
 tops of these trees towers the white line of mountains miles 
 away. And above these mountains is the canopy of heaven. 
 Around this circles the blazing sun, hour after hour. One 
 does nr>t realize what a relief the darkness is till he comes to 
 a region like this, at a time when there is no darkness. 
 
 On we drifted, over the ruffled waters, taking a cold 
 lunch when hungry, but without any adequate realization 
 of the time of day, unless we looked at our watches. Finally 
 the sun set, and Venus was the only star which became 
 dimly visible in the twilight of midnight. 
 
 About half way down the lake is a large bare rock, 
 where flocks of gulls make their home. Eggs are a great 
 luxury in Alaska, and we laid in as good a supply as we 
 could and feasted en them for several days. One can 
 scarcely appreciate the amount of pleasure there is in in- 
 stituting a little variety in Alaskan diet, for the appetite 
 knows no bounds, and the staple food is extremely limited 
 in variety. Besides, since the loss of mir outfit we had been 
 obliged to use our money to buy what stores the others could 
 spare, though they were very kind, and would have given 
 us food at any time had we asked it, I kept my eyes on the 
 ^.hore most of the time, in the hopes of peeing game, and 
 although I found enough to provide us with many good 
 meals, I could not fail to notice that it was becoming more 
 and more scarce. 
 
GREAT TRIBUTARIES OP THE YUKON 
 
 135 
 
 The Lewis river, as it flows out of the lake, is about two 
 hundred yards wide, and for about five miles preserves this 
 width, and a swift current of from four to six miles an hour. 
 It then makes a sharp turn about a low gravel point, and 
 flows for a mile in a direction opposite to its general course, 
 when again it sharply resumes its way northward. Twenty- 
 seven miles down we come to a great tributary from the 
 southeast^ the Teslin Rivcf, as it is now called, as it drains 
 the great Teslin Lake; but the miners call it by its Indian 
 name, the Hootalinkwa. Schwatka called it the Newberry, 
 and Br. Dawson had given it the name of Teslintoo; from 
 which it appears that names in Alaska are sometimes uncer- 
 tain, and time alone will tell which name will prevail. We 
 were told by the Indians that gold could be found on this 
 stream, but few explorations of it appeared to have been 
 made. 
 
 The water of the Teslin is of dark brown color. In- 
 deed, one cannot fail to notice, at least in the spring of the 
 year, the amctmt of dirt these streams are carrying down. 
 It is another feature of a fact that strikes a traveler at every 
 point, the immense amount of .vork that Nature is doing 
 in these regions. Tlie country in the sex;tion wc have re- 
 cently passed is extremely mountainous, with torrents plung- 
 ing down through the rough valleys from the eternal snows. 
 The water in tlio lakes ap]iears to be remarkably clear, but 
 as soon as we touch any of the connecting streams we notice 
 that they are po full of sediment that one cannot see an 
 inch below tlie surface. 
 
 If a basinful is taken out and allowed to stand until it 
 clears, a thick deposit of mud is fo-ind at the bottom. The 
 current boils and flows very rapidly, and as the boat glided 
 along a sound was heard almost like thai of frying fat. It 
 
136 
 
 nature's forces in action 
 
 
 11 
 
 d 
 
 was only the constant friction on the boat of the immense 
 amount of large particles of earth whieli the water was carry- 
 ing in suspension. This is noticeable all along the river, and 
 is an indication of the wearing-down process that is 'di- 
 stantly going on in this great country. It furniiJ' ■ ;: 
 reason for the shifting bars which exist on the lower i ukoii, 
 and for the difficulties that prevail at its mouth. When time 
 has done its work, the shor*»s of Alaska, about the mouth 
 of its great river, will be pushed out much further into the 
 Pacific. 
 
 As we proceeded down the river we easily saw whence 
 comes all this material. Along the silt and sand bluffs, 
 loose material is constantly falling into the stream. These 
 little landslides, occurring all the time, except in the months 
 when everything is frozen, result in an immense amount of 
 dirt being dumped into the river. We should be surprised 
 if it were measured. 1 had read how Nature worked 
 through countless ages, but I never realized the extent, the 
 capability of the mighty forces, till T took that first trip down 
 the upper Yukon region. But while we see Xature work- 
 ing in an earlier process than that to which we are accus- 
 tomed, one is appalled to think bow long she lias been work- 
 ing even here. For all those mighty canons which we have 
 Feen, and through some of which we have barely escaped 
 with our livrs, have been wovii out by the torrents. These 
 great rocks and boulders, which fill the stream ai ' aroun<l 
 which the swift current ])lnys. have been rolled /n from 
 the mountains by the receding glaciers. 
 
 We found these huge boulders ;i p:roat obstacle all the 
 way down this part of the rivii. '^ otM'tiind? it was all we 
 both could do to handle the boat. Tlie cnrr ii; would carrv 
 us against them before we could stop it, but we managed 
 
 I 
 
A WINDING RIVEE 
 
 137 
 
 immense 
 was carry- 
 river, and 
 at is .'oii- 
 
 3r i uko'i, 
 '^hen time 
 le mouth 
 r into tiie 
 
 iw whence 
 nd bluffs, 
 n. These 
 he months 
 amount of 
 
 surprised 
 re worked 
 extent, the 
 t trip down 
 ture work- 
 are accus- 
 becn work- 
 ih we have 
 ly escape<l 
 ts. Tliese 
 1 ^ arounn 
 
 ,/n froHi 
 
 de all the 
 was all we 
 'ould oarrv 
 5 managed 
 
 niuch better than some of our friends Avith loaded boats. 
 Many of them bumped into the rocks, ana one man lost 
 nearly half his outfit. 
 
 About thirty-three miles below the mouth of the Teslin 
 River the Big Salmon pours into the Lewis. Thirty-four 
 miles more and we come to the Little Salmon, which is sixty 
 yards wide at its mouth, and is shallow. Here the valley 
 becomes so broad that no mo ui? tains are in sight, only low 
 hills, at a distance from the bank. The Lewis makes a 
 turn to the southwest, and after nmning six miles it turns 
 again to the northwest; then, at the end of seven miles, to 
 the southwest again, around a low, sandy point. Thus we 
 proceeded for twenty miles or more, without gaining more 
 than five in our northern course. The first turn is around 
 Eagle's Nest Rock, which stands up on the slope of the 
 eastern bank, and in it is a huge cavern, where it is said gray 
 eagles rear their young. It is composed of light gray stone 
 and rises fully five hundred feet above the river. 
 
 About thirty miles further on, another river, the Nor- 
 denskiold, draining a chain of lakes far to the westward, 
 empties into the Lewis, which continues its course with a 
 width of from tvo hundred to three hundred yards, occa- 
 sionally expanding as it flows around little islands. Its 
 course is very crookod, and near the mouth of the Nordens- 
 kiold it winds under a hill, and away from it several times, 
 once for a distance of eight miles, and after making all 
 these turns it has gained but a mile. From this the river 
 flows on in a straight course to the Five Finger Rapids. 
 
 We did not stop to look at this place, but ran right in, 
 
 and soon were bobbing about like a chip on the whirling 
 
 current. It is a cataract of ferocious mien, but not at all 
 
 dangerous, as a boat can be easily kept away from the haz- 
 9 
 
138 
 
 FIVE-FINGER AND RINK RAPIDS 
 
 ardoiis points. As in the Grand canon, the water rolls away 
 :; 'e sides and is ridged in the center. Just before 
 
 ent' ■,>; the rapids there is a whirlpool, which is studiously 
 avoided, though it is not dangerous. If a boat gets caught 
 in it she is liable to be whirled about in it for some time be- 
 fore being released. 
 
 The current continues very rapid for six miles below 
 Five Fingers, so-named because of the five large rocks 
 standing in mid-channel, and then we began to hear the 
 roar of the Rink Rapids. They iiiake a great deal of noise, 
 but are not dangerous, as the only obstruction is on the west 
 side, where the water pours over the rocks. On the east 
 side the current is smooth and the water deep, and a boat 
 can run through without the slightest difficulty. 
 
 For fifty-eight miles, the distance between the Five- 
 Finger Rapids and the place where the Pelly River unites 
 with the Lewis and forms the great Yukon, no streams of 
 any importance appear. The river continues through a 
 pleasant landscape for the whole distance without the slight- 
 est indication of civilization. About a mile below the rapids 
 the stream spreads out, and many little islands appear. We 
 passed in and out among these islands for about three miles, 
 when the river contracted to its usual width, but islands 
 and bars were common all the way, and the current is about 
 five miles an hour. 
 
 After passing a long bank called Hoochecoo Bluff, the 
 river again spreads out into a very archipelago. For three 
 or four miles it is nearly a mile from bank to bank, but so 
 close and numerous are the little islands that it is often diffi- 
 cult to tell where the shores of the river are. 
 
 At the confluence of the Pelly and the Lewis the 
 country is low, with extensive terraced flats, running back 
 
LAYING IN NEW SUPPLIES 
 
 139 
 
 oils away 
 ist before 
 tudiously 
 its caught 
 8 time be- 
 
 les below 
 rge rocks 
 hear the 
 il of noise, 
 n the west 
 n the east 
 ind a boat 
 
 the Five- 
 iver unites 
 streams of 
 through a 
 
 the slight- 
 ■ the rapids 
 )pear. We 
 hree miles, 
 3ut islands 
 nt is about 
 
 Bluff, the 
 
 For three 
 
 mk, but so 
 
 often diffi- 
 
 Lewis the 
 ining back 
 
 to rounded hills and ridges. The Pelly is about two 
 hundred yards wide at its mouth, and from here these great 
 waters flow swiftly on in an uninterrupted course one 
 thousand six hundred and fifty miles to the Bering Sea. 
 
 The Yukon, below the junction, averages about a quar- 
 ter of a mile wide, with a current which carries everything 
 swiftly along. It is dotted by many little islands, and we 
 quickly came to the ruins of old Fort Selkirk, a trading post 
 Avhich was established by the Hudson Bay Company in 
 1848. Indians pillaged and set fire to it in 1853, leaving 
 nothing but the remains of two chimneys, which are still 
 standing. The place has been put to some later uses, how- 
 ever, an English church mission and an Indian village being 
 established there, and for some time Arthur Harper, whom 
 we have already mentioned as a pioneer in these regions, 
 maintained a trading post there. 
 
 Here we were enabled to use some of the money we 
 had brought along in case of emergency, and which we had 
 saved by packing our goods, in the purchase of new sup- 
 plies, but it did not enable us to put in all we could wish, 
 for goods are high after they have been brought up the long 
 Yukon. But we were glad to have a tent again, and some 
 articles which are a prime necessity in such a country. We 
 felt as if we had again come in touch with civilization. 
 
 We had made good time from the lakes and were in good 
 health, but it had been a loi.g, hard voyage, and it alwa^-^ 
 will be, in any time of the year, till modem methods of 
 communication have overcome some of the terrible ob- 
 stacles. All along the route we had noted the graves < f 
 those who have been lost in previous years on this route. 
 Both Indians and white men have fallen in the struggle 
 to press into the great valley of the Yukon by the Dyea 
 
140 
 
 A SENSE OF GRATITUDE 
 
 trail. And we heard of others, besides the two drowned 
 in the canon, who lost their lives that same spring in which 
 we came in. One man was killed in the Five Finger rapids, 
 but Joe and I were safe at last on the waters of the mighty 
 river, and he who will never stop to think of an overruling 
 Providence in the feverish rush of life in the busy centers 
 of the United States, must in these immense regions, where 
 he feels so small, where he finds so little to measure him- 
 self by, feel a sense of gratitude filling his whole being as 
 he stands strong and unhurt at the end of such a voyage. 
 
drowned 
 n which 
 r rapids, 
 mighty 
 erruling 
 J centers 
 s, where 
 lire him- 
 being as 
 )yage. 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 LIFE ON A YUKON POST— OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE 
 KLONDIKE — HOW MINERS ADMINISTER JUSTICE IN 
 ALASKA — THE PLAGUE OP MOSQUITOES. 
 
 The Latest News — The Swift Yukon and Its Branches — The Upper 
 Ramparts — White River and Its Probable Sources— Stewart River 
 and the Tales of Indians — Reports of Prospectors — Sixty Mile 
 Creek — Passing the Mouth of the Troan-Dik or Klondike — Its 
 Various Names and How They Were Obtained — A Peep at the 
 Moose Pasture — Moose Skin Mountain — Old Fort Reliance — Forty 
 Mile and Its Institutions — Justice as Administered at Miners' 
 Meetings— A Little German's Trouble — French Joe's Experience 
 
 — A Tailor and His Bill — The Canadian Police — A Plague of 
 Mosquitoes — How They Operate and How Their Bites Work — 
 Old Pharaoh's Troubles Not a Circumstance — What Miners Suffer 
 
 — No Preventive Sufficient — Tough Miners Sit and Cry — More 
 Indian Tales — Bears and Dogs in a Frenzy — Frost Comes as a 
 Blessing. 
 
 THERE were many inquiries at the trading post as to 
 the news of the day. Not having been burdened 
 with a heavy outfit after leaving the canon, we 
 were among the first to put in an appearance at the post that 
 spring. In the winter months the posts along the Yukon 
 are practically cut off from civilization, and they can only 
 imagine what is happening as the world moves rapidly on. 
 No hermit is so secluded. But naturally we had little of 
 recent date to tell. Nearly three months had elapsed since 
 we had set out from San Francisco. Joe, who took more in- 
 terest in political affairs than I did, in reply to many ques- 
 
 (141) " 
 
 I 
 
142 
 
 ALONG THE HURRYING RIVBB 
 
 tions narrated to eager listeners events on the Pacific coast 
 which had then receded into the forgotten past. An old 
 newspaper which we had brought in, wrapped about some 
 of my clothing, was read with all the eagerness ^vith which 
 a starving man would eat. This serves to show how remote 
 Alaska is from the world most of the year. 
 
 We were still about three himdred and eighty miles from 
 Circle City, to which we were destined, and which was then 
 the center of the mining interest in this great territory. So 
 with our new supplies and a few tools needed by the pros- 
 pector, we resumed our way. Below the fort and for a dis- 
 tance of ninetv-six miles to the mouth of the White River, 
 the Yukon maintains its width of from four to six hundred 
 yards, and its course is a little north of west. The current 
 continues swift, over four miles an hour on the surface, and 
 so numerous are the little islands that there is no part of the 
 river where one or more cannot be seen. Gravel bars 
 abound, but cause no trouble. It is a broad, majestic, 
 hurrying river, displaying some of the grandest views eyes 
 ever beheld. 
 
 We drifted on with but few stops, and those were brief. 
 It made no diiference whether it was night or day — it was 
 nearly all daylight then. The circling sun would dip be- 
 hind the hills or the bluifs along the river for a little while, 
 and a sort of twilight would fall on the majestic scene, the 
 heat would suddenly disappear, and for a couple of hours 
 the frost in the ground would fill the air with a cold moist- 
 ure. Then the sun would come up again, and for twenty 
 hours pour its blazing heat on the broad valley. Under its 
 influence the grass rises to phenomenal height, and so bright 
 a green is seldom seen. All day long, and night, too, birds 
 with unfamil'ar voices were singing about us, seeming to 
 
 T I 
 
A LONG AND HARD JOURNEY OVRR THE SKAGWAY TRAHv. 
 
 Entrance tii the caflon. Two Klonilikcrs with heavy packs making their 
 way on foot through the deep snow. 
 
sMMMiMMlM 
 
PICTURESQUE PLACES 
 
 145 
 
 mock the trials of mankind and their greedy rush for gold, 
 and occasionally we caught sight of a bit of game — a 
 moose too far away for us to reach, or a duck, too hard a shot 
 for me witlx a rifle. Had we possessed the proper weapon 
 we could have feasted on ducks and geese. They are very 
 plentiful, and every Yukon man should have a shotgun. 
 We stopped upon the banks but little, never except for a 
 substantial meal, for the mosquitoes make camp life an ex- 
 cruciating experience. Joe slept while I managed the 
 boat; and then he took his turn at the oar, and I would catch 
 a nap. 
 
 Upper Ramparts is one of the most picturesque places 
 in Alaska. Steep basaltic bluffs tower like monster c ,the- 
 drals along the banks. The lights and shadows work unique 
 effects among their rocks, standing out like minarets from 
 the walls. 
 
 About thirty miles below the fort a little stream called 
 Selwyn River enters the Yukon from the south. Good tim- 
 ber abounds in its valley, and we saw men getting out the 
 logs ready to float down the river to places where they are 
 needed for houses. White River comes in from i ie west 
 about seventy miles further on, and after the Yukon has re- 
 sumed its northerly course. It is a powerful river, about 
 two hundred yards wide at its mouth, and it plunges down 
 loaded with silt over ever-shifting bars, the main channel 
 being not more than a hundred yards in width. The current 
 is not less than ten miles an hour, and its name is derived 
 from the milky appearance of its waters. With numerous 
 other creeks so much easier to ascend, this river has been 
 neglected by prospectors, and its source is somewhat prob- 
 lematical, though the Indians say that it rises far inland 
 near an active volcano. For aught that may be known, the 
 
140 
 
 GOLD AND GAME 
 
 riclicat gold fields in the world may lie near the sources of 
 this grert watercourse so turbid and rapid at its mouth. 
 
 Between White and Stewart rivers, ten miles, the 
 Yukon spreads out to a mile in width, and is a maze of 
 islands and bars between wonderful banks. 
 
 The Stewart Kiver enters from the east through the 
 middle of a wide valley; the current is slow and the water 
 dark colored. While camping liere for a brief space we 
 encountered a small party of miners who had been pros- 
 pecting on the river above. They had found considf e 
 gold on the bars, and were returning for provision 
 they told us that it would depend upon how other points on 
 the river turned out whether they returned to the Stewart. 
 They had done most of their digging in the bars along the 
 river, and had not explored the creeks running into it. 
 
 The current above, they told us, is swift, and it is neces- 
 sary to pole boats up the stream. The banks for some dis- 
 tance from the mouth are steep and uninviting. Further 
 up they found bars and the river bottom covered with grass. 
 They had been compelled to go into camp about forty miles 
 up, because of high water, and, while there had found 
 plenty of game, including moose and bear. The fish were 
 also good. They said that on some of the upper bars they 
 had found gold which yielded over twenty debars per day, 
 but they found the digging was irregular because of the 
 high water at times. From what informat'on they had 
 acquired from the Indians, who declined to asctid the river, 
 there exists a very savage tribe of Indians, holding the coun- 
 try around its sources. They are at war with the other 
 Indians lower down, occupying a stronghold in a moun- 
 tainous wilderness, and they will not permit any white man 
 or other Indian to enter their territory. They make their 
 
 J 
 
IN THE MINING REGION 
 
 147 
 
 living by hunting, occasionally bringing their furs down to 
 the trading points, getting guns and such ether things as 
 they desire in return. These Indians, it is said, are met 
 about two hundred miles up the river. But there are few 
 things more unreliable than In lian stories. White pros- 
 pectors liave not met these Indians in their explorations. 
 At some time they may have existed there, thus giving 
 ground for the tradition. The prospectors had no informa- 
 tion which could tempt us to turn ;i4de, and we concluded 
 to waste no time on the river. 
 
 About twenty-threo miles below the Stewart a small 
 stream enters from the west, called Sixty-Mile Creek. We 
 are now in the region of the miners. This stream has been 
 prospected all the way to its sources, and gold had been 
 found nearly everywhere, but not in rich quantities except 
 on two creeks. A few miners were working there. For 
 some time after the discovery of Miller and (Srlacier creeks 
 the diggings there were considered the richest in the region, 
 but the more recent discoveries on Birch Creek had drawn 
 the miners in that direction, and the year before a rich spot 
 called Mosquito Creek, an appropriate name for any creek 
 in the river, had been discovered running into Forty Mile 
 River. At the time we came into the regions this creek 
 was making the sensation. 
 
 So we pushed on, passing Indian River, a stream 
 destined 'o gain great notoriety, but then considered of no 
 particular account. A little further on we passed another 
 stream about forty yards wide at its mouth, which emptied 
 into the Yukon from the east. The Indians called it Troan- 
 Dik, or Thron-Diuck. As to how the Indian appellation of 
 this stream should be spelled, and what it means, there is 
 considerable uncertainty, which, however, is not strange 
 
148 
 
 EVOLUTION OP THE WORD * KLONDIKE" 
 
 considering the difficult/v' of putting into English characters 
 anything which an Indian pronounces, and the furiher dif- 
 ficulty of securing from an Indian of these parts an intel- 
 ligible idea of what he means by anything he says in his own 
 language. According to some, the name of this river means 
 " water full of fish." According to others, it takes its name 
 from t^"^ facL that, the stream being swift, the Indians have 
 to set their salmon traps or nets by driving in stakes with a 
 hammer, and so they gave it the name Troan-Dik or Ham- 
 mer Creek. The sure thing about it is that it seems to have 
 something to do with fish. The miners, probably in an 
 effort to cast into phonetic English the Indian pronuncia- 
 tion, had in 1896 fallen in the habit of calling it Clunedyke. 
 It should be remembered that when one of the natives of 
 this region pronounces one of his words he does it as ii he 
 were doing his best to strangle himself with it, and the effect 
 is as if he just barely escaped doing it. 
 
 In 1883, when Schwatka rafted down the Yukon, he 
 camped at the mouth of this stream, and according to his re- 
 ports he found that the traders called it Deer Creek " from 
 the large number of caribou or woodland reindeer seen in 
 its valley at certain time? of their migrations." The valley 
 looked as though it might abound in moose and caribou, and 
 for years it had been a favorite fishing ground for the In- 
 dians who were waiting for the salmon to nm up. 
 
 We floated by in blissfid ignorance of what lay under 
 the tundva of its creeks, and no one would have suspected 
 that in a few weeks there would be a lively city on 
 the swamp near its mouth, and tliat a pushing civilization 
 would have transformed the Indian's Troan-Dik and the 
 miner's Clunedyke into Klondike, a word which philologic- 
 ally means absolutely nothing except that your practical 
 
 'n\ 
 
AN INVITING STREAM 
 
 149 
 
 he 
 
 civilization does about as it pleases in naming things, and 
 that when it does it that ends the matter. 
 
 The Indian name for one of the landmarks near the 
 mouth of the stream is, when translated to the hest of human 
 ability, Moose-Skin Mountain, a name that is likely to ad- 
 here to it, unless at some time some one finds something 
 there except the mountain, and practical civilization takes 
 liberties with the native appellation. 
 
 I could not fail to notice as we floated past this region, 
 the river being quite narrow here, its inviting aspect for 
 hunters and fishermen, and but for the fact that we were 
 now anxious to arrive at the center of the gold diggings we 
 might have stopped a day to see what we could bag in this 
 moose pasture. 
 
 Proceeding on, we passed eld Fort Reliance, an old 
 private trading post of no great present importance, the 
 stream flowing in from the east called by Schwatka the 
 Chandindu, and a little over thiily miles further we come 
 to Forty Mile, which for years had been considered one of 
 the richest sections in the territory, and had been one of the 
 chief attractiors to those who had braved the diflicult trails 
 from the coast. 
 
 Joe and I landed here, and for the '"^Tst time entered into 
 the vortex of white civilization on th;' Y^ukon, Forty Mile 
 contained nearly a hundred log buildings, and such are the 
 most palatial residences in Alaska. Some of them had cost 
 over ten thousand dollars, for even logs are dear here, 
 though they are so abundant. The town is situated on the 
 south side of Forty Mile River at its junction with thf: 
 Yukon, and the Alaska Commercial Company has a station 
 here which was located by McQuesten shortly after gold 
 had been found on the creeks above. It is in the British 
 
 \\\ 
 
150 
 
 FAMOUS FORTY MILE 
 
 Territory, and a few of the mounted police were at hand, 
 but tlie diggings are mostly located across the border line, 
 which crosses the stream about twelve miles from its mouth. 
 The best mines are sixty miles up stream, but Forty Mile is 
 the headquarters. At this time it was the second place in 
 size on the river, contained a sawmill, several blacksmith 
 shops, restaurants, billiard halls, saloons and dance halls, of 
 course, and a few bakeries. It also contained an opera 
 house, and here, a little later, we found some of the women 
 who had come over the pass with us singing the same old 
 songs we had hef»rd at San Francisco, and had heard once 
 in awhile during the journey. They had had a hard time 
 of it, but they received "big money " for the display of 
 their talents. It is one of the peculiarities of mining 
 regions that much of the gold goes t« those who do not 
 dig it. 
 
 At the time we were at Forty Mile, miners' meetings 
 as a means of settling disputes were being brought into dis- 
 repute. For a long time they had answered very well, as 
 the miners in the district were few and acquainted with each 
 other. But as the influx of all elements be.o'an with the re- 
 ports of discoveries on Forty Mile River, and saloons in- 
 creased in number, disputes became more frequent, and 
 miners' meetings became a mere burlesque. We heard of 
 several cases which had been thus tried. In one instance, a 
 poor little German was passing quietly along the street one 
 day, and a big ruffian, who rather prided himself on his 
 capabilities as a bully, drew out and struck the little man a 
 blow that paralyzed him. He was powerless to help him- 
 self; he could not match his strength against that of his as- 
 sailant; and so he consulted a German friend of his as to 
 what he should do in the matter. The friend suggested a 
 
A CURIOUS VERDICT 
 
 151 
 
 miners' meeting, wliich was called at once. Now what do 
 you think the miners' meeting did. They fined the plaintiff 
 twenty dollars for calling the meeting, and the fine was ex- 
 pended for drinks on che sjiot, the meeting being held in the 
 saloon, and the chairman being the proprietor of the place. 
 
 Another instance reported was that of four miners who 
 were partners in four claims. These did not return more 
 than expenses, and they decided to sell. One of the part- 
 ners was going to Forty Mile for something or other, and the 
 others instructed him, if he could, to sell out for the whole 
 lot. He asked them what was the lowest they would be 
 willing to take for their interests, so that he might have 
 something to go on. After consultation they decided that 
 five hundred dollars was the least tln^y would be willing to 
 take, but at the same time instru* ^'ini to get all that he 
 could. At Forty Mile he sold the four claims for two thou- 
 sand eight hundred dollars — seven hundred i''.>llar8 apiece. 
 He handed the three partners five hundred dollar nacli, and 
 put the one thousand three hundred in his own pocket. 
 Soon after they discovered this fact, and called a minors' 
 meeting to make him divide even. The meeting by reso- 
 lutions decided that: 
 
 " As long as they got their five hundred dollars apiece, 
 it was none of their business what he got." 
 
 Again, a miner, commonly known as French Joi * 
 French Canadian, was going down *' the creek," as it is 
 termed, to Forty Mile. While passing the cabin of a cer- 
 tain miner he was asked where he was going. 
 
 "To Forty Mile," he said. 
 
 " Well, you're going by Dick Robinson's; will you take 
 down these two ounces and give it to him? " 
 
 " Oui — certainment, M'sr," 
 
 :Jl 
 
153 
 
 FRENCH joe's EXPERIENCE 
 
 e 1 
 
 The two ounces were weighed out and handed over to 
 Joe, who carried them down and faithfully presented them 
 to Robinson as directed, with the explanation that they had 
 been received from the miner. 
 
 " But," said Robim-on, " he owes me three ounces." 
 
 Joe was pained and surprised and a little indignant at 
 his reception. 
 
 " I don't know for dat. He gif me two bounce — der 
 she was. Dat's all I know for." 
 
 " But he owes me three," said the persistent Robinson. 
 
 " Veil, dat may be. She maybe he owe you tousan'. 
 He giv me two bounce — dere she is. You got two 
 bounce ? " 
 
 " Yes; there's two ounces here." 
 
 " Veil, dat's all he gif me." 
 
 " But I want my other ounce." 
 
 " Veil, sacr-r-r-e " — the Frenchman was becoming 
 warm — " perhaps next time you see him you ask him about 
 her. I give you two bounce — dat's all I got." 
 
 Robinson called a miners' meeting to decide whether or 
 not Joe should pay him the extra ounce. Eighty-two 
 miners attended, a^d after much discussion, in which Rob- 
 inson admitted having received the two ounces from Joe, 
 six voted that the Frenchman should pay the extra ounce 
 and five that he should not. The rest, as Joe expkined, 
 " didn't giv dam no how — one vay or de other." 
 
 So the Frenchman was compelled to pay the extra ounce, 
 with the costs of the meeting added, amounting to nearly 
 one hundred and fifty dollars. Joe remarked afterward, in 
 telling the tale of his misfortune : 
 
 " By Gar, dat satisfy me with miners* meeting. I 
 don't vant any more dem things." 
 
DEFYING THE COURT 
 
 153 
 
 What first brought the miners' meetings into disrepute 
 was the result of one held at Forty Mile in June, 1896, or 
 shortly before our arrival. A tailor there had demanded 
 payment of a bill of four dollars and fifty cents from a bar- 
 ber. The barber put in a counter bill which fully paid the 
 tailor's bill. The tailor called a meeting to decide between 
 them. 
 
 The meeting gave the tailor one dollar and fifty cents, 
 and one of its members then gravely proposed that he be 
 fined twenty dollars for calling the meeting. This was just 
 about to pass unanimously, as things sometimes do at miners' 
 meetings, it being suflicient only to have a mover and a 
 seconder, when another member stood up and protested 
 against this action, urging that if they fined a man for call- 
 ing a meeting the poor man would have no way at all to 
 get justice. They had awarded the man one dollar and 
 fifty cents, and the imposition of a fine would be manifestly 
 unfair. The meeting saw the force of this and let him go. 
 
 The barber then rose, and slowly, deliberately, and with 
 a picturesque profusion of profanity and an eloquence of 
 metaphor that did credit to his originality, requested all 
 present to go — not to any more frigid clime. He would 
 go down the river on the underside of a log, he observed, if 
 the worst came to the worst — but as for that dollar and a 
 half, they could — ! ! 
 
 A committee was forthwith appointed to try and collect 
 the amount adjudged due. They could, however, find no 
 one who owed the birber anything, or, if he did, was will- 
 ing to pay it over to them. It was well known that if they 
 tried to enforce paymf nt from the barber he would apply to 
 the mounted police for protection, and of course their action 
 in so doing would be punishable. The absurdity of the 
 
154 
 
 DEFYING THE COURT 
 
 V 
 
 situation dawned on the parties to the affair, and miners' 
 meetings fell below par. 
 
 This and similar cases brought the miners' meetings 
 into such contempt that all in the country were quite ready 
 to join in their obsequies when the Canadian police insti- 
 tuted a different condition of things. All seem to be 
 heartily glad that they had been abolished. They 
 seem to be particularly pleased with the fact that a man's 
 just rights do not depend upon his personal popularity, that 
 his title to his claim is not based on the number of times he 
 treats when near the saloon, nor yet upon the quantity of 
 whisky he drinks, or any kindred merit, but simply and 
 p.urely on his just and legal rights, whether or not all in the 
 country are his friends or all his enemies. In the first stages 
 of settlement, however, these miners' meetings and the laws 
 they made answered the purpose better than anything else 
 could. There is a sense of justice among the miners which 
 is not always found in society, and it would not become per- 
 verted except for the introduction of elements depending 
 less on their hands and muscles than on their wits. 
 
 The general course of Forty Mile Eiver as far as the 
 boundary line, a distance of twenty-three miles, is south- 
 west, but after this it runs nearly south. The miners work 
 their way up in small boats. It is about one hundred arid 
 twenty-five yards wide at its mouth, and all the way the 
 current is strong with many rapids. Eight miles from its 
 mouth is a placed called the Canon, though it is simply a 
 crooked contraction of the river with high and steep banks 
 for a distance of about a mile. At the north side there is 
 plenty of room for a trail along the beach. 
 
 The rumors of the rich finds at Mosquito Creek had 
 been one of the incentives in our coming to Alaska, Joe, 
 
 !--r 
 
THORNS IN THE FLESH 
 
 155 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ers 
 
 ney 
 
 who had followed reports closely, had never ceased to urgo 
 upon me the possibilities of this creek whenever I had shown 
 an inclination to turn aside and travel into regions un- 
 known. Here was where he expected to make his fortune, 
 but when we had worked our way to the object of all our 
 exertions we found that gold was being washed out plenti- 
 fully, but the creek was completely occupied, and, of course, 
 we had no money to go into a speculative business. The 
 law allows a claim of one thousand three hundred and 
 twenty feet measured in the general direction of the stream, 
 and the few who had been in the country at the time of the 
 strike had taken all the claims, although the rule up to that 
 time had been claims of five hundred feet onlv. Such was 
 the condition of things at Mosquito Creek. 
 
 But we found mosquitoes. They are no more abundant 
 there than anywhere else, so far as I have seen in Alaska in 
 the summer months, but they had a better chance to prey 
 upon us. We had had our trials with this pest on our voy- 
 age down ever since the ice had melted, but it was not till 
 we were camped around the headwaters of Forty Mile River 
 that we began to realize their capabilities as thorns in the 
 flesh and destroyers of the soul. For he is a pretty good 
 uissionary in Alaska who will not swear once in a while in 
 the mosquito season. 
 
 These insects, which are apparently no larger than the 
 ordinary mosquito of lower latitudes, are several times as 
 venomous. They begin operations about the first of June, 
 and close them about the first of September, and during that 
 brief season they make up for any lost time that the latitude 
 imposes. They seem to thrive on any ordinary smoke. 
 They revel in fire imless it consumes a whole forest. One 
 may hurl a blanket through a cloud of them, but ranks are 
 10 
 
 U 
 
156 
 
 THE MADDENING MOSQUITO 
 
 > fi 
 
 closed up and the cloud is again intact before the blanket has 
 hit the ground. All day long, and of course in July that 
 means for about twenty-four hours, they are on the alert, 
 always after anything that has blood in its veins. Any one 
 who reads the Bible in this region in the summer must won- 
 der at the weak nature of Pharaoh. There surely never 
 could be a plague like this. 
 
 They rise in vast clouds from the peculiar moss along 
 the banks and creeks, and their rapaciousness knows no 
 limits. They have been known to drive men to suicide, 
 and the sting of a few dozen will make a man miserable for 
 days. I have seen tough miners sit and cry, and it is a com- 
 mon sight to see them so worn out and nervous that they 
 can not sleep even after they are protected from them. My 
 wrists have sometimes been so bitten that for days they were 
 too lame for me to work to any advantage. 
 
 It is absolutely essential to wear cheese cloth or mosquito 
 netting of some kind for a protection, but in the summer 
 time, when there is scarcely a breath stirring, this of itself 
 becomes almost unbearable. They pile themselves upon 
 any netting worn over the face so thickly that it is dif- 
 ficult to breathe, and they will make so much noise that it is 
 sometimes difficult to converse unless one almost shouts in 
 his neighbor's ear. 
 
 The tent door must be covered with netting, there must 
 be netting over the bed, netting must be worn while at 
 work, gloves must be worn on the hands, everything must 
 be done to prevent these insects from devouring the body 
 and wearing out the nerves. Like everything else in 
 Alaska, the mosquitoes are on a large scale. I do not wish 
 to make it out any worse than it is, for the reality is bad 
 enough. Any one who g'^s to Alaska will at times be im- 
 
SUBDUED BY FROST 
 
 167 
 
 |t has 
 
 that 
 ilert, 
 
 one 
 |won- 
 lever 
 
 long 
 s no 
 icide, 
 !e for 
 com- 
 they 
 
 My 
 
 pressed with the paucity of the English language as a 
 medium of expression. I wish those scientists who write 
 so learnedly upon the benefit of the mosquito as an antidote 
 for malaria would take a trip to the Yukon regions in sum- 
 mer. They have something to learn. 
 
 The Indians say — and it is more readily believed than 
 most Indian stories — that they have known bears and dogs 
 to rush madly off cliffs when frenzied with a swarm of 
 mosquitoes, and that native horses will break harness and 
 run madly away, and that dead bears have been found in the 
 woods swollen by the bites of these insects. But one thing 
 is certain, the miners in their work along the creek suffer 
 agonies from them, no matter how well protected. A 
 strong wind is always welcome, and a frost seems like the 
 soft, comforting touch of Nature, although it may be the 
 forerunner of a long winter and a season of deprivation. 
 
 !; 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 ARRIVAL AT CIRCLE CITY — DANCE HALLS AND OTHER 
 PLACES OF AMUSEMENT — THE YUKON SLED — 
 ALASKAN DOGS AND THEIR PECULIARITIES. 
 
 Pushing on to Circle City — Some of the Yukon Creeks — Old Man 
 Rock and Old Woman Rock — A Flight of Native Fancy— The 
 Poor Man and His Scolding Wife — His Last Resort and its 
 Petrifying Results — Prospecting American Creek — Our Lumber 
 Venture — A Thunder Storm and a Wreck — Escaping on the 
 Tar Stater — Arriving at Circle City — Our Reception — Some of 
 the City's Institutions— Convenience of the Saloons — No money 
 but Gold Dust— How Purchases Are Made — The Dance Halls — 
 The Relaxation of Faro — Dogs Invade Our Boat — Their Thieving 
 Propensities — Faithful Workers — Their Enormous and Indiscrim- 
 inating Appetite — Eating Their Harness — An Arctic Turnout — 
 The Dog Whip and Its Uses— The Yukon Sled—" Ouk," "Arrah," 
 and "Holt." 
 
 FINDING no promising opportunity for suddenly be- 
 coming rich on the creeks of Forty Mile, as all the 
 best locations appeared to be occupied, we concluded 
 to return to the town and to push on towards Circle City, 
 which was reported to be flourishing in the most magical 
 manner, and where wages were high, whether the mines 
 proved profitable or not. We each located a claim, how- 
 ever, on one of the Forty Mile creeks least prospected. 
 There could be no doubt that there was gold enough in 
 that section, if the mines could be properly worked. One 
 man we saw had cleaned up $50,000 as a result of three 
 
 (158) 
 
 f ' 
 
AN ALASKAN LEGEND 
 
 159 
 
 rHER 
 3D — 
 
 months' work on his claim, but much dead work waa 
 necessary and heavy expenses were to come out of this. 
 
 Circle City is about two hundred and twenty miles 
 further down the Yukon, which continues in its same gen- 
 eral character much of the way. A large number of 
 streams flow into it, all called creeks, although they are 
 of considerable size. Small steamers could make their way 
 up them but for the bars at points. 
 
 Where the river cuts the boundary line it flows between 
 two large rooks, one Called Old Man Rock, on the west side, 
 and the other. Old Woman Rock, on the east. These 
 respectful appellations are the translations from Indian 
 names, which, as we aftenvards learned, are derived from 
 a legend, indicating that even in the dull intellect of the 
 natives there are occasional flights of the imagination, such 
 as among other more promisi ig aborigines have been woven 
 into graceful song and stirring epics. This legend, as it ha.^ 
 been culled from natives by traders who are not experts in 
 legendary lore, and which therefore may be somewhat 
 misty in spots, runs something like this : 
 
 In remote ages there lived here a powerful tshauman, 
 which is the equivalent in the speech of these interior In- 
 dians to the word " shaman," — medicine man — used by 
 the tribes of the south coast. These medicine men are the 
 magi, or wise men, of the Alaskans, and by their absurd 
 manoeuvers exercise a wonderful influence over the super- 
 stitious natives. In this powerful tshauman's locality there 
 lived a poor man who, like Socrates, had an inveterate scold 
 for a wife. He bore his troubles for a long time without 
 murmuring, in the hopes that she would relent, but time 
 only served to increase the infliction. At length, bis pa- 
 tience weakening under the unceasing torment, he com- 
 
h h 
 
 1) ;, 
 
 160 
 
 A WARNING TO SCOLDS 
 
 plained to the tdhauman, who, of course, went through some 
 of the motions common to all powerful wise men in his 
 position, and then sent the poor man home, telling him that 
 in a short time all would be well. 
 
 Soon after this the poor man went out to hunt, and 
 remained away for many days, endeavoring to secure some 
 provisions for home use, but without avail. He returned, 
 weary and hungry, only to be met by his wife with a more 
 than usually violent outburst of scolding. This so pro- 
 voked him that he gathered all his strength for one grand 
 effort, and gave her a kick that sent her clear across the 
 river, which is here about half a mile wide. On landing, 
 she was converted into a mass of stone, which remains to 
 this day as a monument to her viciousness, and a warning 
 to all female scolds. Of course, it was the tshauman who 
 eflFected the metamorphosis, and there is some doubt as to 
 whether it was he or the enraged husband who did the kick- 
 ing, but it makes little difference, as the husband could 
 not have done it had not the tshauman rendered some mirac- 
 ulous assistance. 
 
 Like a great many other ancient legends, important 
 feature, j are left unexplained, as, for instance, how it was 
 that the husband, after kicking his spouse across the river, 
 was himself turned into a mass of rock. The Indian intel- 
 lect, having gone thus far in its flight of poetic fancy, doubt- 
 less become quite exhausted, and was unable to proceed. 
 Perhaps the old man was petrifiod with astonishment at the 
 remarkable effect of his kick. From an artistic standpoint, 
 it will be seen that it lacks some of those rare qualities of 
 those northern legends which the genius of Wagner has set 
 to soul-stirring strains. But it is a remarkably sublime 
 fancy for a Yukon Indian. 
 
THE WRECK OP THE RAFT 
 
 161 
 
 9ome 
 
 his 
 
 that 
 
 Going on a few inilea, we ^ame to American Creek, and 
 Joe's disposition to prospect got tlie best of him for a while. 
 It looked promising, so wo entered and spent a few days 
 there. We found gold, but none of our diggings averaged 
 more than five dollars a day, and it would be better to work 
 for wages, which were reported to be at least ten dollars a 
 day at Circle City, than to bother with dirt of that kind. 
 
 Having learned that good logs wore in great demand 
 at Circle City for building purposes, we stopped on our way 
 down the river at a place where the timber was particularly 
 good, and constructed a raft of fine spruce timber. But 
 we had proceeded but a little way with this down the swift 
 current when we were caught in a thunder storm, which 
 came up suddenly, and, like everything else in this great 
 country, operated on a large scale. In these silent solitudes 
 a clap of thunder caroms through the hills in mighty rever- 
 berations, and the claps follow on each other's heels so 
 rapidly, and their reverberations become so confused, that 
 they seem to be tearing each other and the hills into frag- 
 ments. 
 
 The roar was deafening, the rain was blinding, the wind 
 was like the blast from a mighty air pump, driving the 
 murky waters of the river into a frenzy. The Tar Stater, 
 which was tied by her nose to the raft, danced about, while 
 the water swept over the raft, nearly taking us from our 
 feet. Desperately we poled along, trying to keep in the 
 stream, but, in spite of all efforts, the raft ran with fearful 
 force (1 a bar, and instantly began to break to pieces. We 
 had barely time to jump into the boat and cut the rope be- 
 fore being thrown into the river. With great difficulty 
 we worked toward a partly sheltered bank, and there 
 awaited the passing of the furious storm. That ended our 
 

 1, 
 
 I 
 
 1. 
 
 li 
 
 162 
 
 A COSMOPOLITAN CITY 
 
 lumber A^enture, and towards evening we (continued our 
 way down in the boat. 
 
 After rowing- about one hundred and sixty miles from 
 the boundary line, we drifted into the Yukon flats and the 
 center of a great minin'j' district, that of Birch Creek and 
 the upper Xanana. Circle City, the metropolis of this great 
 region, and then claimed to be the largest log city in the 
 world, makes a brave front on its bluff, overlooking the 
 river. At the time we reached it it was the booming town 
 of Alaska, and had nearly a thousand inhal)ita]nts. It had 
 more during the winter, but at this season man^, of the 
 miners had gone over to the creek, which is reached by a 
 six-mile portage, to work their claims. 
 
 It was early in July when we arrived in sight of this 
 place, and during the twilight hour, that brief space of time 
 during the summer months when the sun dips below the 
 horizon, spreading the whole sky above Avith a wondrous 
 mellow light. We amchoretl our boat out from the shore 
 in a sort of slough, amd went up to see the city. 
 
 The places of businesn face the river, and were going at 
 full blast. There v.as u theater, four large warehouses, 
 three stores, and three blacksmith shops. We counted 
 twenty-eight saloons and eight dance halls. Back of these 
 were log houses, interspersed with tents, laid out in fair 
 order, and altogether presenting a very comfortable a]i- 
 pearance for these reirions. Our appi'oach h>u\ been noted 
 from the shore, and there was a general gatliering to wel- 
 come us, for the appearance of a boat on the river, no matter 
 how small, is an ovcm. in this far-away center of civilization. 
 It was a cosmopolitan r rowd of men and women from every- 
 where in "XMrtli America, a sprinkling of dirty Indians, and 
 a crowd of iiowling dogs. 
 
THE PRECIOUS DUST 
 
 163 
 
 lour 
 
 rom 
 the 
 and 
 reat 
 the 
 the 
 [own 
 had 
 tlie 
 ly a 
 
 The stores and saloons are the only places to go to. If 
 seeking information, it is found there. If looking for a 
 friend or acquaintance, the chances are that he will not be 
 at his cabin, but in the saloons or one of the stores. Nearly 
 all the men congregate in the saloons, tell yarns, play cards, 
 and occasionally drink too much, though a man without 
 gold dust is not in danger of it, for prices are high. The 
 tenderfoot will doubtless expect to see men going about 
 with a gun and knives stuck in their belts, but, rough as 
 humanity h here, it generally has an orderly appearance. 
 
 There Is no specie except such as newcomers manage 
 to bring m over the passes or up the river. Everything 
 is transacted in gold dust. Every man and woman carries 
 a huckskin sack, and when they enter a store to make pur- 
 chases they throw out their sack of diist, and the amount 
 of the purchase is weighed out in front of the j)nrchaser. 
 The seller never cheats himself, but makes sufficient allow- 
 ance for poor dust. For instance, a man who puts twenty 
 dollars' worth of dust in his sack, and goes from place to 
 place making purchases, will find that he gets but about 
 eighteen dollars' worth of goods for his twenty dollars. 
 Sometimes in the stores the dust on five hundred dollars' 
 worth of sales ^\all weigh up to five hundre<l and twenty-five 
 doIlai"s, but, of course, it works both ways in the long run. 
 Tt seems to be more the custom of the place than a trick of 
 dishonesty. But the dust and the scales are always in evi- 
 dence, even if it is notliing but a s]k>o1 of thread that is 
 desired. (5o into a saloon and buy a cigar, and fifty cents 
 worth of your dust is weighed out; if a man drinks, fifty 
 cents' worth of dust goes out of his sack for one of the worst 
 mixiures that over was labeled whisky. 
 
 A dance hall nt Circle Citv at this time was not such n 
 
 ;l ^ 
 
1G4 
 
 THE BNLIVENMENT OF A ^EEL 
 
 r I 
 
 den of wickedness as is generally supposed by those who read 
 newspaper accounts of life in these far-otf mining camps. In 
 1896 the Alaska places had not become sufficiently attract- 
 ive to draw thither in large numbers the professional rough 
 element. It is rather one of the institutions of society as 
 it must exist here, among hard-working miners, like the 
 blacksmith shop, or the schoolhouse which sets back among 
 the cabins. It is a community of men, roi-gh in aspect,* 
 but not wholly vicious. After long seasons of hard work 
 in the mines up the creek, or after tiresome journeys over 
 steep and dangerous trails, in the solitudes of the ..^at for- 
 ests, or among the mountains, even the rasping music of a 
 dance hall sounds sweet. The rough miner delights in a 
 bit of a square dance, or the enlivenment of a reel, or, pos- 
 sibly, if his early education has not been neglected, of a 
 waltz or polka. He knows that he is in a society which 
 cares nothing about the cut of his clothes, and Is not critical 
 about the grace of his step. A touch of feminine life, even 
 if not all that the fastidious or the strictly moral might 
 desire, comes like a warm breath from the southern lati- 
 tude over the frozen hills, a reminder of the city life in 
 the States. 
 
 Of course, the miners have to pay well for it, as for 
 everything else. Before he leads " one of the channing 
 young ladies " into a set on the floor he must dig a dollar's 
 worth of dust out of his sack. The young lady gets a quar- 
 ter of it, and the house, which takes the rest, furnishes the 
 pair a drink if they call for it. The miner need not pull off 
 his big boots and put on pumps, or even take his hat off, 
 and he can swing his partner with all the gusto of which 
 he is capable. Every set he dances in costs liini a dollar, 
 and a round dance the same. The man who plays tlie violin 
 
DREAMS OF EQUALITY REALIZED 
 
 166 
 
 in 
 
 on the roughly-impro^^sed platform receives anywhere 
 from twenty-live dollars to forty dollars a night. He does 
 not need to suffer the hardships of working a claim, but 
 the chances are that he has one, and that someone is work- 
 ing it for him. 
 
 If the miner does not take to dancing he can seek relax- 
 ation at the faro table. If he loses, as he probably does, 
 there is more dust in the hole on his claim up the creek; if 
 he wins, so much the better. Under such conditions, and 
 leading i life which for many days in the year is full of 
 hardships, he seeks amusement when the chance offers, and 
 is satisfied that he is getting his money's worth, no matter 
 what it costs. Every one is on a perfect equality. The col- 
 lege man, if he happens to be here, is no better than anyone 
 else; a man with thousands of gold dust tied up in his belt 
 exhibits no haughtiness; indeed, in the busy season, he may 
 not be able to buy a lodging, and may pay for the privilege 
 of sleeping on the dance-house floor " after the ball is over." 
 Here the socialist might see the realization of some of his 
 dreams of equality, but there are precious few, I imagine, 
 who would have the fortitude to brave the dangers of a 
 miner's life imder the midnight sun, to enjoy the realization 
 of the dream. 
 
 Aft^r observing something of the town, and making 
 some arrangements for a temporary alwde, Joe and I went 
 back to our boat, where we learned other facta concerning 
 the ways and possibilities of the vX)untry. While we were 
 away the dogs had swam out to our boat, chewed off the 
 rope by which it was held, and dragged it ashore. There 
 they tore open every sack of provisions we had, and, when 
 we approached, wore having a regular feast. Thov had even 
 chewed up some of the floar sacks and the dishrag, the 
 
166 
 
 DOGS AND THEIR DOINGS 
 
 IJ! 
 
 i| 
 
 flavor of wl.ich was undoubtedly agreeable to them. Every- 
 thing in the Loat was wet, and the damage we tigured up to 
 amount to fony dollars. Everyone who jrets ylong well 
 in Alaska must hav'e a proper understflnding of dogs, and 
 a few facts concerning thein may he established at this point, 
 though the pioneer may not acquire a complete knowledge 
 of them uii'il he has been some time in the country. 
 
 Dogs are fed here but once a day, unless they find an 
 opportunity to feed themselves, and they rarely let an 
 available opportunity slip, even if they have to bite through 
 a tin can or climb a pole. They are fed dried fish, whenever 
 it can be obtained; if unobtainable, bacon and flour. All 
 provisions must be set up on a cache, and that should be 
 as high as possible, or they will climb up to it when there 
 's no one at hand to disturb them. They will lie down in- 
 nocently enough near a tent, watching and waiting for hours 
 for the owner to leave and give them a chance to ransack it. 
 I have known them to come into my tent, go up to a boiling 
 pot of beans on the stove, push off the cover, take out the 
 piece of bacon, and walk off with their tails curled up over 
 their backs in the most nonchalant manner. 
 
 But they are too precious to shoot. They are a prime 
 necessity in Alaska, and are sometimes worth almost their 
 weight in gold. They do nearly all the packing in the 
 summer, and they will carry from forty to fifty pounds, 
 keeping up with a man. In the wintor they do all the 
 freighting, haul nil the wood, and carry the mails. Har- 
 nessed tandem to sleds — and I have seen twenty in a single 
 string — t^iey will go anywhere, ninety miles from Circle 
 City to the mines, or a thousand to Juneau, and If a man 
 wishes to take out for a rlrive one of the few young ladies 
 of the city who conforms to his ideas of respectability, and 
 
A YOUNG liADY'S DIVERSION 
 
 167 
 
 whose acquaiutance is, therefore, of considerable value, he 
 rigs up a couple of dog teams, for Yukon sleds hold but 
 one, and oflF they go. But there is very little driving for 
 pleasure over the Arctic snows, though the experience is 
 not without its delights, go unique are all the conditions. 
 
 I met one young lady who had become enthusiastic over 
 dog-sled rides for pleasure. Her fadier owned a fine 
 team of native dogs and she had a good Yukon sled. The 
 winter before, when the weather was clear, and often when 
 the thermometer was hovering far below zero, she used to 
 bundle up in her fur parka and moccasins, slip the dogs 
 into their harness, and streak off across the frozen flats, going 
 many miles before she returned. Squeezed down into the 
 little box of a sled, wrapped in furs so that she could hardly 
 move, and so that little but her eyes could be seen, she flew 
 along after the scampering dogs, up and down, over the 
 deep snow. 
 
 " Tip over ? Oh, yes, many times," she said, laugh- 
 ingly, '■ but that's a part of the fun. And sometimes I 
 would have to get out and run along with the dogs. Those 
 rides did me more good than any sleighride I ever had over 
 your smooth, monotonous roads after a big horse. These 
 dog turnouts are positively delightful." 
 
 Two good dogs will haul from five to six hundred pounds 
 on a good trail, and run twenty-five miles in six hours, and 
 they will haul a man from forty to fifty miles a day and 
 show little sign of weariness. A native Yukon dog is much 
 more valuable than any importation because they endure 
 the climate so much better. The natives are of all colors, 
 and most of them ha\e very long hair, as fine as wool. They 
 look like wolves, but they rarely liite or bark at persons. 
 They simply howl. They are faithful to the last degree 
 
S i 
 
 168 
 
 AN INSATIATE APPETITE 
 
 h I 
 
 fc V 
 
 in their work, and have iha; single failing — they are born 
 thieves. 
 
 Buckskin moccasins are provided by many owners to 
 keep the feet of the faithful little animals from becoming 
 raw and sore on the ice and snow. They are made like a 
 child's stocking, about nine inches long. Sometimes pack- 
 saddles are used, whereby a dog can carry from ten to 
 twenty pounds, besides drawing a sled. A dog harness 
 commonly weighs a little over two pounds. The collar, 
 which is usually made of leather, faced with sheepskin, and 
 stuffed with deer hair, slips over the dog's head — fumbling 
 with buckles would be severe on the fingers in Arctic 
 weather — and on each collar are rings, to which the traces 
 are attached. These traces iire usually made of heavy web 
 material, otherwise the dogs woidd eat them up. They 
 have an insatiable appetite for leather, and will devour their 
 collars if they are allowed a chance. They have to be kept 
 separate when harnessed, or they will eat each other's col- 
 lars, and when the web traces become oily they will eat 
 them. They are so adroit that, sooner or later, even with 
 the most careful master, they will devoiir their trappings. 
 An Arctic appetite is something enormous in a man, but it 
 is completely distanced by that of a dog. 
 
 An old prospector in Alaska told me that once when he 
 was driving a pair of native dogs one of them slipped his 
 collar while he was camping for the night near Fort Yukon, 
 ard ate up a pair of large gauntlet gloA'^es, all the leather off 
 a snow-shoe, a whip, and a part of the handle, a long leather 
 strap on a gun case, and the leather binding on the canvas 
 case, and badly chewed a part of the harness. Wlien the 
 man got up in the morning the dog was asleep, and never 
 showed any siffus of the night's dissipation. But these dogs 
 will do a good day's work on four pounds of dried fish. 
 
Si 
 
 a 
 
 Vi 
 
 o 
 5' 
 
 EP 
 
 a 
 
 at 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 e 
 
 > 
 C 
 
 X 
 
 r 
 > 
 r. 
 
 c 
 
 E 
 
 W 
 
 P 
 
 
m 
 
 ■ 
 
WHIPS THAT MAKE THE FUR FLY 
 
 171 
 
 They do not drive themselves. A good leader is gen- 
 erally placed ahead, but dogs will often lie down in the 
 trail unless kept going. They are driven with a dog\vhip, 
 a device which is a miracle in the hands of an expert, but 
 a dangerous thing in the hands of a novice. It has a handle 
 about nine inches long, and a lash about thirty feet long, 
 and weighs four pounds. The lash is made of folded and 
 plaited seal-hide, and for five feet from the handle averages 
 about one and a half inches in diameter; then, for fourteen 
 feet, it gradually tapers off, ending in a single thong half 
 an inch thick and eleven feet long. When traveling the 
 lash drags along at full length behind, and, when the driver 
 wishes to make use of it, he gives a skillful jerk and tAvist 
 of the wrist which cause the lash to fly forward, the thick 
 part first, the tapering end continuing the motion till it snape 
 at full length ahead. Sometimes it is merely snapped over 
 the heads of the dogs as a reminder or warning, but a skill- 
 ful driver can pick out any dog in a team and touch almost 
 any spot on a dog's back, and, if hit just right, the fur will 
 fly. But till the driver is used to the management of this 
 weapon, he is liable to receive most of the injury himself, 
 for when awkwardly thrown the lash may wind about him 
 like a snake and inflict painful injuries on his own face. 
 
 The standard sled for an Arctic traveler consists of a 
 narrow box four feet long, the front half being cove-">d or 
 boxed in, mounted on a board eight feet long, resting on 
 runners. In this box the passenger sits, wrapped in skins 
 90 that he can hardly move, with only his head and shoulders 
 projecting. In front and behind and on top of the box is 
 placed all the luggage, covered with canvas, and securely 
 lashed, to withstand all the jolting and possible upsets, and 
 the snow-shoes are kept within easy reach. 
 
i 
 
 172 
 
 HOW THE DOGS ARE GUIDED 
 
 The dogs artf harnossed to the front of the sled, some- 
 times each by a separate trace. Tlie nearest dog is about 
 fifteen feet from the sled and the leader, with bells on his 
 neck, as far off as the number of dog's in the team. They 
 are guided by the voice, using husky Esquimaux words, 
 " owk " — go to the right; " arrah " — to the left; and 
 " holt " — straight on. If the driver nms ahead on snow- 
 shoes, as is frequently required, the dogs will follow him. 
 
chaptp:r XI 
 
 GUAIiDING AGAINST EVIL-DOEIRS-LIPE IN A GOLD-SEEK- 
 EH'S CABIN -HOW IT IS BUILT AND FLUNISIIED. 
 
 Society in Circle City — Cabin Doors Open — Tlie Punishment of Evil- 
 doers — Miners' Meetings — Methods of Procedure — Judge and 
 Jury — No Pistols — Our Money Runs Low — Joe Hurries to tlie 
 Mines — Great Demand for Log Buildings — High ' ice of Lots — 
 Process of Building a Cabin — Two Things to Remember — How 
 the Moss Comes into Play — Doors and Windows — The Interior 
 of Cabins — Rude Furniture — Unique Beds — Something More 
 Substantial — The Yukon Palace — Access to the Second Story — 
 How Storm Sheds are Made — Tents Good Enough for People 
 with No Gold Dust — A Man With an Axe a Skilled Workman — 
 A Bustling Scene — Logs and Chips Everywhere — An Ounce a 
 Day for Some Workmen — Dreaming of a Coming Metropolis on 
 the Yukon. 
 
 WE found society at Circle City not at all bad for a 
 mining town. Being on the American side, no 
 authority existed there except miners' law, but 
 under that one must walk straight as far as honesty goes. 
 With all the idleness, drinking, and gambling, there was 
 less crime there than would be found in most cities of its 
 size in the United States. Cabin doors were nearly always 
 left unlocked, and in them bags of gold and other valuables 
 were left when the owners were away. The Miners' As- 
 sociation was more feared by evil-doers than any courts or 
 police would have bo?n. To be sent down the river in a 
 
 small boat was to delinquents a worse punishment than im- 
 11 (173) 
 
174 
 
 AN EFFICIENT COURT 
 
 prisonmcnt, niul it might linppcn tluit no boats were avail- 
 able and the evil-doer would depart on a log. Depart he 
 must. To be turned out to shift for one's self in Alaska is 
 no laughing matter. 
 
 In minor cases simply involving disputes over money or 
 claims, the miners' meetings appeared to afford satisfactory 
 justice, and they had not become liable to some of the 
 abuses noted elsewhere. When such a meeting is called 
 all the miners at hand assemble, a chairman and secretary 
 are appointed, and the plaintiff is called upon to state his 
 case. Then the defendant is heard, and any other testi- 
 mony introduced. The assembled miners act as the judge 
 and jury together, can ask all the questions they desire, and 
 make any motion they please. Any motion that is carried 
 for the disposal of the case settles it, and a committee is ap- 
 pointed to see that the judgment is carried out. So long 
 as the majority of the miners are actuated by a sense of see- 
 ing fair play for every man, no court could be more efficient 
 or just. The element of danger comes when a little frontier 
 politics works its way into the system and justice is defeated 
 by some man of influence, Avho more than likely may be a 
 saloon-keeper. But so far as I witnessed the operation of 
 justice in Circle City at this time, it was adequate and fair. 
 There being no police force at hand, as over the Canadian 
 border, and the authority of the United States being too far 
 off to be effective, the miners fully realized ':he importance 
 of not abusing their own aiithority, and yf being fair and 
 just to all concerned. The judgments rendered would 
 sometimes appear curious to an outsider, but when all the 
 conditions of life in these regions were taken into account, 
 their rationality would become apparent. 
 
 It was a miners' law that no pistol should be carried in 
 
A TWO-YEAR OLD TOWN 
 
 176 
 
 the city, and it was obeyed. A spirit (»t' good feeling and 
 good coniradcdhip prevailed. There was a sort of fe«'ling 
 that the dangers of existence here were too many and too 
 real to have them aggravated by any nnnecessary outbreaks 
 of the evil side of liuman nature. Questionable as some of 
 the characters were in this booming town, there were many 
 respectable families there, the education of the children 
 was provided for, a good hospital was among the institutions, 
 and it was as complete a town as one could expect on the 
 Yukon, founded as it was but two years before, and rising so 
 suddenly to importance in 189G. 
 
 Joe, with the restlessness of an old ]irospector, was in- 
 clined to make for the mines at once, but as wages were 
 averaging about twelve dollars a day in the city, and as our 
 supply of money had run low because of our misfortunes on 
 the trip, I was disposed to Avoik awhile in the city, and 
 acquire some shelter and provisions for the winter. So we 
 concluded to separate for a time. I v/as handy with car- 
 penters' tools, and with the axe, and quickly secured a job 
 putting up log cabins, for which there was a great demand 
 at this time. One could fairly see the city spread out and 
 grow. Lots in good locations were selling for five thousand 
 dollars and over. 
 
 Log houses may be made pretentious or otherwise, de- 
 pending upon the uses to which they are to be put. An 
 ordinary dwelling for the accommo<lation of two or three 
 people need not be large — fourteen feet by sixteen feet in 
 the clear, that is to say, built of sixteen feet and eighteen 
 feet logs. To a lumberman or carpenter the building of 
 such a cabin is an easy matter, and a green hand who is 
 handy can learn very quickly how to put it up. There are 
 two things to remember. The cabin must be built to keep 
 
176 
 
 BUILDING A LOG CABIN 
 
 n 
 
 the cold out in the winter, and to keep the mosquitoes out 
 iu the summer. For this the cabin must be equally tight, 
 for wherever a draft can get in a mos(iuito will find its way, 
 too. 
 
 'No foundations aire needed. The only preparation is 
 leveling off the frozen ice and " muck," as it is called. The 
 lop;s must either be cut and floated down the river, or can be 
 MBtight as they lie in the water ready cut in proper lengths, 
 mhe average size of these logs is seven inches in diameter, 
 
 the length vari(>s considerably. The cal)ii\ should be 
 feet high to the roof line, and so wid require at least 
 fiB»«F*ight logs — that h- twelve a side for the walls. 
 S'Tsiiiiler logs are used for the gable ends and the roof, and 
 «wiie pieces of ctit luminer will be needed for the tables, 
 -««tMjH. and bunks. It corts not le,ss than five hundred dol- 
 las^ to build a log c.abim complete, as prices run on the 
 T^-ivon. 
 
 Tlie lETst thing to do is ro " spot " the logs. By this a 
 lumitermam means U) strip off the unevenness and skin them 
 OB the tnr and bottom sides about three inches wide, so as to 
 iiBHU! ti-'iv lying cl^ose together when placed one upon the 
 <!rtiher. All the logs must then be " notched " at the end, 
 half-way Through, l>eginning five inches from the end. 
 Each nonn^ will have to be about seven inches wide and cut 
 half-way through the log, so that when a similar notch is 
 cut in another log the two can be fitted together and be level 
 top and bottom. 
 
 Several sacks of moss must be gathered in readiness, and 
 then the miner is in shape to commence building his home. 
 The two side beams are laid in place and the two end beams 
 are put across, the notches of the side beams fitting into 
 those of the end beams so that a solid rectangular frame is 
 
 m 
 
PACKING WITH MOSQUITO-PROOF MOSS 
 
 1 i^A 
 1 ( t 
 
 
 formed. Moss must now be spread all along the top of tliis 
 frame of logs. It should be \a'.<.\ evenly, about three inches 
 thick, and in such manner that when the next frame of logs 
 is in place the joints of the notches will be held about half 
 an inch apart. The reason for this is that, as the log house 
 is built u]) higher and higher, the weight of the upper logs 
 will gradually squeeze do\VTi the lower ones until the notches 
 are a close fit, and in so doing must squeeze the moss between 
 the logs, making it airtight and mosquito-proof. This looks 
 like a very trifling matter, but it is one of those little things 
 upon which the comfort of the whole cabin will depend. 
 There are many little matters like this which are of the 
 greatest importance to him who winters on the Yukon. 
 
 The walls are bnilt up solid like a box to the proper 
 height, and the windows and dooi-s are put in aftenvavds. 
 When the projKT height for the window is reached, v('rtical 
 saw-cuts fhould be made in the log the width apart of the 
 window-pane. These cuts are merely a convenience, so 
 that when the cabin is finished it will be an easy matter to 
 insert the saw and cut down ihrough the logs on each side 
 the square spaces into which the window and door are to fit. 
 The same saw-cuts must bo made at the height of the t-op 
 of the door for the same reason. 
 
 The logs are laid up by means of skids and block and 
 tackle. When th.e walls have been raised to the height of 
 six feet, the roof logs are laid, those at the ends being 
 siiortened to correspond with the pitch desired to be given 
 to the gable. This is a part of the work which needs a 
 fairly good craftsman. To the fop of the roof, that is to the 
 ridge-pole, the cabin is usually eleven feet high — in other 
 words, the gable or slant of the roof is four feet high, meas- 
 ured perpendicularly. The logs for these gable-ends miij^t 
 
178 
 
 A TIGHT ROOF OVERHEAD 
 
 I 
 
 be cut in the proper lengtlis. The first one will be about 
 twelve feet and the top only a few inches long; the others 
 between will be graded in size. In order to hold these logs 
 in plac« one over the other, wooden pegs or dowels must be 
 made and driven in tight. The dowels in each lower log 
 sliould fit !-nuglj into tiic upper ones, and be made long 
 enough to allow for the moss between the logs, and to let 
 the upper logs press the lower ones together. When the 
 logs are all in place for the gable ends, they must be 
 " sniped " off; that is to say, all the ends of these logs must 
 be cut off on the proper slant. 
 
 When the roof logs have been laitl and a ridge pole is in 
 place, a rough roof of split poles is laid, the poles extending 
 from the I'idge to o«e or two feet over the side walls, form 
 ing eaves. The poles are secured in place by logs laid 
 acros's them transversely, through which pegs may be driven 
 into the poles of the roof and logs of the supei*structure. 
 When this has been done, the poles are covered with earth 
 and moss to the depth of a foot or more, thus fonning a sub- 
 stantial, tight roof that excludes both wet and cold, in 
 making the roof care is taken to leave a vent at the top in 
 addition to the hole for a stove-pipe. 
 
 A cabin built in this fashion, whether at the claim in the 
 mines, or in the city, usually serves only as a temporary 
 shelter, and when circiunstances warrant it a more imposing 
 and pennanent stnicture may be built. Should the claim 
 prove profitable, such a cabin will serve later on as a store- 
 house, or sliould a better abiding place be desired in the 
 town, it may serve as an ell to the larger building. 
 
 Rude bunks are made in such a cabin, and a dmir made of 
 whip-sawed lund)er is fitted to the opening. A fire is built 
 in the center to wann the interior, smoke making its escape 
 
 1 
 
CABIN FURNITURE 
 
 It 
 
 79 
 
 through the central vent in the roof. The stove is com- 
 monly used in camp huts for cooking only, and is not suf- 
 ficient for warmth in severe winter weather. Such a cabin, 
 while not inviting, is not an unhealthful shelter. Having 
 been built of green logs, its walls will be ice-coated through- 
 out the winter whenever the fire is out, as the moistiu'e is 
 drawn from them when the fire is burning. 
 
 The interior of the cabins is pretty much the same every- 
 whare. The beds or bunks are always opposite the door, 
 across the far end of the cabin, the table is always under the 
 window, and the stove oi the far side from the window. 
 Three or four-legged stools and a few boxes complete the 
 furnishing. All the furniture is to be made by the miner, 
 and having built his cabin this (;abinet work will not be dif- 
 ficult. For the table, two horizontal props driven into the 
 side of the cabin and supported by slanting struts are all 
 that will be necessary. Ou the horizontal props the tal)l('- 
 top of planks must be nailed. The tables are usually large 
 enough for four people, one at each end and two at the free 
 side. 
 
 The bed is a shelf across Mie back end of the cabin, is 
 usually divided in the center, and so wide that two men can 
 sleep on each side of the partition. It is made in the 
 simplest way by placing a pole horizontally across the end 
 of the ca])in, say four feet from the back wall, and joining 
 the ends between the chinks of the logs in the side walls. 
 The partition in the center can be made to afford adtlitional 
 support. Some people put the slats for the bed across — 
 that is to say, width-wise — but there Is more spring, more 
 ease and comfort if they are placed lengthwise. The mat- 
 tress is notliing but moss and straw well bedded down. 
 
 In building a new, substantial, and better arranged log 
 
180 
 
 A MANSION ON THE YUKON 
 
 \ 
 
 house, the first business is to carefully select the logs. Drift 
 logs are preferable, being dried and seasoned. In the ab- 
 sence of such the bark is peeled from green logs, and they 
 are cut to the desired length and hewn square with adze and 
 broad axe. When the foot logs have been laid — prefer- 
 ably the largest and sour.dest obtainable — joists fashioned 
 from whip-sawed lumber are laid in mortises made in the 
 foot logs, and secured thereto with wooden pegs driven 
 through holes which have been bored therein. At the cor- 
 ners the logs are mortised so that their round or square sides 
 fit closely upon one another. But when laid up a coating of 
 moss or mud is used to fill up all the interstices. Openings 
 are left in the sides and ends for such doors and windows 
 as may be desired. When the side walls have reached a 
 height of six or eight feet in the clear above the floor joists, 
 a second series of joists ior a ceiling and the floor of an attic 
 may be laid if desired. 
 
 Having raised the walls to the required height the roof 
 construction is begun. Two fornib are in use in such build- 
 ings — one of the kind already described in the temporary 
 cabin, the other biiilt of whip-sawed timbers covered with 
 s])lit shakes laid like shingles. In this form of construc- 
 tion the gabled ends of the building are built either of 
 squared logs laid one upon the other and pegged tngother, 
 and with ends sawed at an angle corresponding to the angle 
 of the roof, or ars built of a frame work of whip-sawed lum- 
 ber, and th(! space between the joists and siding stuffed with 
 moss. 
 
 When duly enclosed the spaces between the joists are 
 filled with earth and moss, and the floors Inid. Tiie roof 
 is fitted with a pilvanized cliimney, and when the coiling 
 has been finished the hoi^se is ready for habitation. In sucli 
 
THE LUXURY OF A DWELLING 
 
 181 
 
 a house access to the garret is had either by a Liclder nailed 
 against the wall, or a narrow stairway, according to the 
 fancy of the builder. Glazed sashes are fitt<^d to the win- 
 dows so as to make them double, and battened doors are 
 hung with strap hinges. IMost of the Yukon houses are but 
 one story in height, but some arc tv/o. In nearly all the 
 roof projects from three to five feet over the front entrance, 
 and a storm shed is erected by standing poles npriglu from 
 the ground to the roof as close together as pos>^ible. By 
 having the openiiig into this storm shed at one si(W. tke en- 
 trance to the dwelling is protected from the wind and drift- 
 ing snow. Such a dwelling as this is a palace on the Yukon. 
 
 Tlie poor resident in town or the new pr( pector af the 
 mines is fortunate to have a tent over his head. While lum- 
 ber is plenty, cabins are expensive when lal>or is iwelve dol- 
 lars 9 day and over, and when logs sometimes liave to be 
 hauled some distance by dogs. One must have begun to 
 take out gold diist in good paying (luautities before afford- 
 ing the luxury of a good log dwelling. 
 
 At the time we reached Circle City the demand for 
 capable workmen for building purpow-s w«- altogether out 
 of proportion to the supply. The trading companies had 
 large buildings contemplated, and any one who could swing 
 an axe handily was a skilled workman and commanded large 
 pay. The very lowest tliat was pai<l was ten dollars a day, 
 and few could lip had to work at that Hcrurp. To those who 
 wirre skillfiil in fitting A\nncir')iflr=, doors, -helves, and th(> like, 
 as high as an ounce a day was paid — seventeen dollars 
 being the recognized value of an ounce of gold on the 
 Yukon. 
 
 It was indeed a ImstUnc scene wliidi Circle T'lty pre- 
 sented in the earlv summer dav;^ of 18&G. The banks of the 
 
182 
 
 BOOM TIMES AT CIRCLE CITY 
 
 I! 
 
 river and the streets of the town were covered with logs. 
 Cliips were scattered everywhere, and the sound of the axe 
 and the saw mingled with that of the sqneak of the violins 
 in the dance lialk and the liowl of the dogs. The Birch 
 Creek minec Aw-^re rich and gold dust was plenty. There 
 was no such thing as an idle man if he had any disposition 
 to work. Pe*>ple talked glibly of the coming metropolis of 
 the Yukon. No one could have imagined a livelier place of 
 its size. Neither could any one in the busy place anticipate 
 that within a year it would be as dead as a door post — almost 
 a silent city. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 WORK AND WAGEf^ IN ALASKA — AGRICULTURAL POiSSI- 
 IJlLiriES IN THE ICY NOIITII — COST OF LIVING. 
 
 Miileading Rate of Wages — Cost of Bringing Provisions to the Yukon 
 Valley — A Sami)le Price-List at a Circle City Store — Value of Fresli 
 Meat — A lioast of Beef — A Woman Who Baked Bread at a Dollar 
 a Loaf — Fjurteea Loaves a Day on a Yukon Stove — Monotony of 
 Diet — Ordinary Laws of Agriculture Upside Down — Ditticuiiiea 
 of Raising Garden Stuff — Plenty of Berries in the Summer — A 
 Dream of Agricultural Possibilities — Deceptive Flatlands — Nig- 
 gerheads and How They Grow — Grass That Makes Poor Fodder — 
 A Question of Transportation — Has Not Been Regarded as a Poor 
 Man's Country — Competition in the Stores — Jack McQuesten — 
 A Great Night at Circle City — Order of Yukon Pioneers — An 
 Indication of the Hardships of Alaskan Life. 
 
 IT may seem to many hard-worked individualn earning 
 no more than two dollars a day in the thriving cities of 
 the United States that the mining centers of Alaska 
 must afford a man a fine opportunity, when labor is so scarce 
 that it commands from ten dollars a day upwards. But 
 scarcity does not figure in this amount hardly as much as 
 the cost of living. Circle City was more or less regularly 
 reached by the Yukon steamers from St. Michael, and the 
 trading com]i.iuies have stores there, and, moreover, in the 
 summer of 1 896 there had been no great rush for the gold 
 fields and the town was not faced by any pvospects of 
 scarcity of provisions. There was every promise of abun- 
 dant stores at Circle City then, iiut to appreciate the high 
 
 (183) 
 
184 
 
 PKEVAILING PRICES 
 
 ' 
 
 cost of provisions, even when they are plenty, it must be 
 renienihered that almost everything, except gold, must come 
 from the J*acifie })orts of the United States by the way of 
 St. JMichael or Juneau, and that the freight charge on the 
 river route is about one hundred and twenty-five dollars per 
 ton, while no one could bring over the pass more than the 
 main things he needed, and s. iietimes, as in our case, failed 
 to do that. 
 
 AVhile I was at Circle City, in July of 189G, the follow- 
 ing prices were prevailing: 
 
 Flour, $8 per hundred weight. 
 Biu'on, 40 cents per pound. 
 Ham, 40 cents per pound. 
 Beans, l.T cents per pound. 
 Oatmeal, l.*) cents per pound. 
 Rice, 15 cents per pound 
 Sugar, 2.j cents per pound. 
 Crackers, 35 cents per pound. 
 Butter, $1 per pound. 
 Soda, |l per pound. 
 Coffee, $1 per pound. 
 Tea, $1.50 per pound. 
 Condensed Milk, 50 cents per can. 
 Vinegar, S3 per gallon. 
 Corned beef, 50 cents per can. 
 Baking powder, $1 per pound. 
 
 Dried fruit, 30 to 50 cents per pound. 
 Potatoes, 25 cents per pound. 
 Coudeiused potatoes, 30 cents per 
 
 pound. 
 Eggs, ^2.50 per dozen. 
 Lemons, $3 per dozen. 
 Sulphur, saltpeter, alum, $1 per 
 
 ounce. 
 Cathartic pills, $2.00 per box. 
 Overalls, $2.50 per pair. 
 Hat, $.5 and up to $15. 
 Shoes, $6 to $10. 
 Cheese Cloth, 25 cents per yard. 
 Common white cotton cloth, 25 
 
 cents per yard. 
 
 Xo cloth could be obtained for less than twenty-five 
 cents per yard. The price of better qualities ranged ac- 
 cordingly. Anything like a comfortable outfit for tlie 
 winter cost at least five hundred dollars at these prices, and 
 it must not be supposed that work was possible every work- 
 ing day in the year. The expenses of living while working 
 must, of course, take away much of the extra money earned, 
 thougl one confine himself to the simple necessities of life 
 in such a climate. 
 
 1 
 
 pit 
 
A WOMAN S ENTERPRISE 
 
 185 
 
 One must kill or buy of the Indians all the fresh meat 
 he enjoys. The awakening from a dream of a jiucy beef- 
 steak is very painful. The only fresh beef that I ever heard 
 of in Circle City was brought over the summit and killed 
 at Forty Mile, and a piece weighing ten and a half pounds 
 was brought down and raffled off for the benefit of the Circle 
 City Hospital. In this way the piece sold at the rate of 
 nineteen dollars and twenty-seven cents per pound. 
 
 Moose, bear, caribou, and mountain sheep furnish the 
 only fresh meat to be obtained, and as a rule they must bo 
 hunted. Everyone was too busy for sport then, so at 
 times such meat was very scarce. It readily brought twenty- 
 five cents per pound by the quarter, and sometimes the price 
 was much higher. Up near the mines, if one were a good 
 shot, he could secure a good supply of game and caribou 
 meat. As I am fond of hunting and claim to be handy 
 with a rifle, I went in search of game quite often between 
 working hours when I was at Circle City. It was daylight 
 all the time. I had very good luck in running on to bears, 
 but as their hide is of no value except when they first come 
 out of their holes, and as they are generally pretty lean, and 
 always tough, they are hardly worth the powder and ball. 
 One day when I was out hunting for caribou I came across 
 a black bear and shot him, but he was useless. 
 
 As an indication of the cost of living at Circle City, at 
 this time, I may cite the enterprise of a Avoman with whom 
 T became acquainted, and who was one of the pioneer female 
 gold-hunters in this section. Mrs. "Wills had lived in all 
 portions of the "West, from l^ew Mexico to "\A"^ashington, and 
 had followed various occupations. But the collapse of one 
 of her enterprises in Tacoma had necessitated a new move, 
 and she fixed her eyes on Alaska. 
 
186 
 
 THE CIRCLE CITY BAKERY 
 
 She went first to St. Michael, and obtained employment 
 as a cook. She earned good wages, and, being an excellent 
 cook, soon became a favorite. Hearing so many stories of 
 life on the Yukon, she soon concluded that the Simon- 
 pure pioneer life of Alaska was to be found only upon that 
 river. Much to the regret of the boarders, Mrs. Wills re- 
 signed her position as head of the culinary department in the 
 boarding-house at St. Michael, and took passage on the 
 river boat to Circle City. Slie took with her the regulation 
 camp outfit, and soon pitched her tent at Circle City. What 
 to do was the next question. After a few days of investiga- 
 tion she concluded that she would set up in business for her- 
 self. The very next morning the Circle City bakery took 
 rank among the flourishing institutions of what was then the 
 chief city of the land of the midnight sun. 
 
 In her camp outfit she had a sheet-iron camp stove and 
 two baking pans. The two pans were all that the oven 
 would hold, and for that reason her " bakings " were limited 
 to two loaves at a " batch." But a ready market was found 
 for her bread at fifty cents a loaf. The miners soon learned 
 that Mrs. Wills could " double discount " them when it 
 came to a matter of baking bread, and before the week was 
 over the demand for Wills's loaves was such that the price 
 went up to seventy-five cents, and a few days later to one 
 dollar, and there it remained for the season. 
 
 By working fourteen hours a day she could turn out 
 twenty-four loaves, and in the meantime, while the oven 
 was doing its share of the work, Mrs. Wills filled in the time 
 washing, ironing, and mending. Buttons were sewed on at 
 two bits a button, and double that price was charged for 
 patches. The day's baking was always sold out a day or two 
 in advance, and customers had to wait their turn. On more 
 
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MONOTONY OP ALASKAN DIET 
 
 189 
 
 than one occasion men fought for the right to the next loaf, 
 and, to obviate further difficulties, Mrs. Wills each after- 
 noon sold twenty-four slips of paper, numbered from one 
 to twenty-four. The first slip sold was No. 1, and so 
 on in rotation, until the last fellow had to take No. 24. 
 Each slip was redeemable next day in bread, and No. 1 
 called for the first loaf out of the oven, and so on down the 
 line to the end ; and when No. 24 was out the bakery closed 
 for the night. 
 
 When side issues, such as washing and mending, did not 
 encroach too much on spare time, Mrs. Wills would bake a 
 pan of biscuits and a batch or two of cake. The biscuits 
 went lively, and the cake sold at one dollar and fifty cents 
 a pound. Six uince pies, made of moose meat, sold at 
 Christmas time lor five dollars each. But Mrs. Wills was 
 too busy with plain baking to give much attention to the 
 fancy end of the art. Her laundry business was lees flour- 
 ishing, for the requirements of the miners in this direction 
 are not large. Starched shirts were almost as scarce as palm 
 trees. 
 
 The monotony of the ordinary Alaskan diet is something 
 which requires a strong stomach and the patience of Job. I 
 did not appreciate this till afterwards, when wintering in 
 the Klondike, for a tenderfoot will gaze in wonder at the way 
 vegetation grows here in summer, and he is apt to be de- 
 ceived by visions of fresh vegetables of marvelous size and 
 delicious flavor. But all the ordinary laws of agriculture 
 are turned upside down. With the sun shining throughout 
 the twenty-four hours, the plants, never resting at night, 
 hurry on with a feverish haste to maturity, but few have 
 time to ripen. The summer lasts no more than eighty days, 
 on an average, and though measured in sunlight, it is equal 
 
100 
 
 RAPID VEGETABLE GROWTH 
 
 to one hundred and twenty days of the growing capabilities 
 of the Middle States, the rapid growth of plants gives them 
 such a weak vitality that the first breath of frost lays them 
 low; and a frost may occur at any time during the summer. 
 A snow storm in August is not unusual. 
 
 T have seen lettuc* raised in excellent condition along 
 the Yukon, but as the seeds will not ripen and few importa- 
 tions are made, such a luxury is scarce. Cabbages will 
 thrive mightily, producing enormous leaves, but, alas, they 
 never form heads. Russian turnips, however, seem to be 
 just suited to the short and vigorous summer season. They 
 will grow to average five pounds in weight. Radishes will 
 flourish to a certain degree, but potatoes are about as un- 
 suited to the soil and climate as Florida oranges are to 
 the Northern States. The tubers attain such small size 
 that it takes many to make a moal, and even then much 
 work must be expended in protecting the vines from the 
 early frosts. 
 
 Evenings when the sky was clear and frost was threat- 
 ened, T have seen those who were trying to raise a " little 
 garden stuflF " go out and carefully suspend blankets or 
 heavy ticking over the vines and plants. It would protect 
 them somewhat, but would never save them entirely. Even 
 success to this degree is possible only along the river bot- 
 toms; nothing can be done back in the hills, where the in- 
 dustrious miners must spend their time. And when a 
 woman can get a dollar a loaf for her bread, and a miner 
 can get ten dollars or more a day in the hills, there will be 
 little fooling away of the summer season in nursing garden 
 StuflF. 
 
 But Alaska has some products of her own which may 
 vary the epicure's diet in the summer. Every third bush 
 
I i 
 
 DELICIOUS BERRIES 
 
 191 
 
 .! 
 
 is a berry bush, which produces white and purple flowers, 
 and tlicn berries, of the richest hues. The berries ripen 
 in two months after the iirst leaves appear. Cranl>erries 
 from Alaska have been considered desirable delicacies in 
 the San Francisco markets for many years; they are bi'onght 
 down Ly the steamers in crates and boxes at a season of the 
 year ^\hen cranberries are not in market on the Pacific 
 Coast. They are small, wild berries, not much larger than 
 peas; but they are deliciously flavored and highly prized in 
 their native country. The Indians and new settlers eat 
 them freely in summer, and make jellies and preserves for 
 winter use. Blackberrictj and huckleberries are as abun- 
 dant in a large part of the country as on Long Island or the 
 mountains of Georgia and Carolina. Nearly all of our 
 common berries ai*o found in parts of Alaska — red and 
 black currants, wild strawberries, ra'^pberries, gooseberries, 
 and dewberries, and many others that are indigenous only 
 to Alaska, such as the roseberries, mossberries, bearberries, 
 and salmonberries. All of these are eaten fresh by the na- 
 tives, and preserved by crushing and drying them. On 
 the coast of the mainland and on the islands the inevitable 
 oil of Arctic regions is utilized even in preparing the berries 
 for eating. It is not uncommon to find the natives greedily 
 eating a dish of crushed strawberries or blueberries, mixed 
 with sugar and seal-oil — a combination that is sufficient to 
 nauseate most Americans. 
 
 The agricultural possibilities of this region of long 
 winters and short summers have recently been painted in 
 hu&s which my observation there inclines me to think are 
 much too rosy. The Secretary of Agriculture has made 
 a prediction that before many years Alaska's grain and 
 food products will more than equal in value all the gold 
 18 
 
 
\( 
 
 loa 
 
 AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES 
 
 which is now supprscd to be hidden beneath the Burface. 
 lie says: 
 
 " The soil of Southern Alaska, along the coast, is rich 
 and best suited for barley and oats. Fish will be an im- 
 portant feature of the Alaskan's diet, and thus the race 
 will become a seafaring one, well suited for the United 
 States navy. If we send to the people now living thore 
 commissioners who oan teach them in a practical man- 
 ner how to raise these and other foods profitably, I believe 
 the country will develop rapidly. Grass is abundant, and 
 oan be easily cultivated further, and by a special process 
 we can teach the Alaskans how to make hay even in the 
 worst kind of Alaskan climate, where it rains a little every 
 day. We would introduce whatever vegetables could be 
 successfully cultivated, and make the best of the soil, now 
 so rich already. 
 
 " The winters need not be especially hard, for food will 
 be abundant in the summer, and can be easily stored away 
 for winter consumption. In barley alone a tremendous 
 traffic could be built. More than enough barley to feed a 
 greater population than is probable in a number of years 
 to come can be successfully raised, and that is grain for 
 which there is a constant market. I repeat, Alaska's agri- 
 cultural possibilities will yield her more money than will 
 ever be taken out of her gold mines." 
 
 The realization of a dream like this would be a great 
 thing for Alaska, but it is largely a region of icy mountains. 
 Comparatively speaking, the flats near the rivers are of ex- 
 ceedingly limited area, and many of these are less attractive 
 than they look. There are great stretches of tundra cov- 
 ered with clumps of grass which have sprung up sometimes 
 on fields of solid ice. White people here call these grassy 
 inventions of human torture " niggerheads," but the term 
 
 
NIQGERHEAD" SWAMPS 
 
 108 
 
 is weak. It is not. half bad enough. Call them the vilest 
 thing you can think of. Why is it necessary for Madam 
 Nature to utilize every wretched sjwt of the earth's surface ? 
 Here, for instance, was once a \wnd of water, and that be- 
 came frozen; then a root of some kind crawled from the 
 margin out on to the ioe, and the wind carried dust from 
 the hills and bits of decaying moss from the trees, and small 
 leaves to this venturesome root. The little rootlet thrives 
 under this covering, and soon a little mound is begun, and 
 some seeds are blown along, and lodge in this little mound, 
 and they sprout and grow a little the first year; the dead 
 shoots catch more decayed or decaying stuff, and the mound 
 grows higher and more seeds are lodged upon it, and more 
 grass grows, and perhaps a weed, and thus each year adds 
 to the height of the mound. And it widens only so far. 
 When it has attained about a foot of breadth the heat of 
 the sun can no longer penetrate to the center of the mound 
 and it ceases its lateral growth, but grows higher, and the 
 grass grows stronger because the sun's heat can warm all 
 sides of the cylindrical mound. 
 
 From all along the margin these mounds have started 
 and grown, and from these other mounds have started and 
 grown, but the ice foundation is always there, and in time 
 the pond is covered with these mounds a foot or less in diam- 
 eter and usually more than a foot in height, and the long 
 grass stands up in summer, looking like a meadow. Tt has 
 a distinctly agricultural look from a distance. One might 
 think that a thousand cattle could be fattened on this level 
 meadow in a summer. 
 
 In winter this grass falls and tangles one's feet, and 
 when you want to walk through one of these flats yon must 
 step over these mounds and place your foot between them, 
 
194 
 
 SCARCITY OP TIMBER 
 
 and you sink in the ooze that has eolleeted there, until your 
 foot touches the ice, and if you have far to go you become 
 very tired, and if a foot slips or you stagger from any cause, 
 down you go. Sometimes you think you can walk on the 
 tops of these mounds, but you cannot. They sway under 
 you and down you go on your knees in the mud between 
 them. In time you (piit trying to do so, and stick to the 
 trail, if there be one, no matter how deep the water and 
 ooze may be. 
 
 The result is that the miners and other residents of that 
 eoimtry keep as far away from a niggerhead swamp as they 
 conveniently can, avoiding it as they would the plague. 
 
 For the rest of the country, the surface is covered by 
 from one foot to two of moss, and, underneath, the ever- 
 lasting frost. On this a scrubby growth of trees is found, 
 extending up the m^ ^^tain side to an altitude of from one 
 thousand to one thous. five hundred feet above the river. 
 It is this which appears to those passing down the river in 
 boats to be a continuation of the good timber seen along the 
 banks. Timber that is fit for anything is scarce. 
 
 Some of the islands of the Yukon have a very rich soil, 
 but tlieyare locked in ice usually from October to June, and. 
 owinc to the swiftness of the current, Yukon ice ia not apt 
 to make good skating. T once heard a woman describe it as 
 an ice house blown up by dynamite. There may be through- 
 out all Alaska room for a thousand farms, but the Indians 
 would be altogether too lazy to work them — they Avould 
 die first — and a white man who would begin fanning there 
 when gold could be shaken out of the sand-bars all along the 
 river woidd be set down as a man of unsound mind. 
 
 The Alaska Tommercial Company has had a couple of 
 acres in a favorable spot near Forty Mile in cultivation for 
 
GRASSES OF THE YUKON VALLEY 
 
 190 
 
 several years. The have sown oats, but they say they have 
 nevir ripened. They made fair fodder, (lood fodder for 
 cattle c^uld be had in this way by importing barley and oats, 
 but the seed woidd have to be brought in every season, as 
 there is no kernel in the pod or shell. Those contemplating 
 taking horses or cattle into the country for other purposes 
 than slaughter should go in a couple of years in advance, get 
 ii favorable piece of land, clear it, and prepare for the cidti- 
 vation of such fodder as this. Otherwise, they will have 
 to import all their fodder. 
 
 Horses have been in use at Forty Mile for several years, 
 but the owners depend largely on the trading companies 
 for tho food for their subsistence. ^\r. Harper has had 
 a few horses at Selkirk for several years, the fodder for 
 which he cuts from ponds in the vicinity. On this they pull 
 through the winter, but they are not in a condition to do 
 any work. 
 
 Throughout the Yukon valley, wherever the soil is rich 
 and fertile, a great variety of grasses grow, and cover the 
 land with heavy mattings of vegetation. They constitute 
 the coarse varieties, but many of the finest grazing grasses 
 are seen, such as the blue joint, which reaches a height of 
 four or five feet, and the blue grasses. One would think 
 that no better forage for cattle could be desired than what 
 ia furnished by these grasses in the Yukon Valley and 
 along the coast, and that, so far as food is concerned, pigs, 
 rattle, sheep, and goats could live and grow fat in the 
 valleys. 
 
 But grasses of such rank growth do not seem to aflFord 
 the proper nourishment for our domestic animals, even if 
 secured in good condition, and that is diflficult, in view of 
 the frequent rains. Of course, for the greater part of the 
 
196 
 
 MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION NKEDKD 
 
 year these fields are buried under tons of frozen snow, and 
 the animals must he housed. To care for them is not easy 
 or inexpensive in such a climate. 
 
 Much more can be done for the opening up of Alaska 
 by improving the means of transportation so that the regions 
 of the Yukon may bo accessible, instead of inaccessible, for a 
 greater part of the year. With the Yukon open only long 
 enough to enable a steamer to make two round trips from 
 its mouth to the upper trading posts, and with the old Indian 
 trails, fit only for Indians and dogs, and with a population 
 which must import the greater part of what it consumes, 
 the problem resolves itself to the simple proposition of trans- 
 portation. Alaska cannot be successfully developed so long 
 as tough moose hams will fetch forty dollars apiece in the 
 winter. 
 
 While, therefore, the high rate of wages prevailing at 
 Circle City might make Alaska seem to those who have 
 never been in it like a great country for a poor man, it had 
 always been a poor country up to the summer of 1896. 
 There were plenty of oUl miners about there who had been 
 on the Yukon for years and liad barely made more than 
 their " grub." When one is making money rapidly the 
 temptation always is to spend it with a lavish hand. But 
 even if one lives economically, he needs to strike a rich vein 
 of gold in order to acquire wealth. I could see that if Joe 
 and I were so fortunate as to get together two thousand 
 dollars by working at high wages during the short summer, 
 it would bo scarcely enough to pay for taking a winter's 
 outfit to the mines and putting up a poor shelter there, for 
 provisions become several times more valuable by the time 
 they are hauled over the ronerh trails to the mines. 
 
 The list of prices already quoted in this chapter were 
 
THE FATHER OK THE COUNTRY 
 
 197 
 
 reasonable enough for Circle City at that time, and their 
 apparently high cost was not duo to scarcity, but to the value 
 of articles after they have been carried over iowv thousand 
 miles, a third of the way a^'ainst a swift river current. 
 There was a fair competition among the stores, and at the 
 head of one of them was Jack McQuestcn, an old pioneer 
 in the country, lie has been in Alaska for over a quarter of 
 a century, and was really " the father o:' the country." lie 
 had come in contact with nearly all the men who had risked 
 their lives in the search for gold in its frozen soil, and had 
 ever been their friend. It has been said that he has out- 
 fitted, supported, and grub-staked more men, and kept them 
 through the long winters when they were down on their 
 luck, than any other person on the Yukon. Hundreds of 
 men now on the river owe all the success they have to his 
 help, and they know it and appreciate it. 
 
 It was a great night at Circle City when he was pre- 
 sented with a gold watch and chain, bearing the insignia of 
 the Order of Yukon Pioneers. It was said that the watch 
 cost five hundred dollars, but McQuesten's bill for enter- 
 tainment was probably much more than that, for there was 
 no half-way business about his generosity, and the boys 
 needed no gold dust when they stepped up to the bar. 
 
 The Order of Yukon Pioneers was started in 1890, and 
 was composed only of the men who had been in the country 
 since 1887. It had a very limited membership, therefore, 
 till the rules were changed so as to make men eligible who 
 had been in the country before 1893. They have a lodge 
 at Circle City and hold meetings every Tuesday night. It 
 levies on its members for the care of the sick, for the relief 
 of widows, and the sending out of the country of those who 
 had been broken down by hard work and privations. It is 
 
w 
 
 I 
 
 108 
 
 A HELPFUL INFLUENCE 
 
 un influence for good, and is uUo an indication of .vhat sort 
 of a life these pioneers were conjiielled to lead in a country 
 which is sui)})osed to be lined witl gold. 
 
CIIAPTEU XVI 
 
 WE REACH THE GOLD DIGOINGS— LOOATINO A CLAIM- 
 HOW GOLD 18 MINED-THB MIN UUb TAN, UOCKKU, 
 AND SLUICE BOXES. 
 
 The Trail up Birch Creek — Some of the Gulches — Grcut Cost if Wood 
 
 — Tlie Process of Placer Mining — lluw the Prospector Worlts — 
 Testing tlie Dirt — The Miner's Pan — Tlio Tricli of Sliaking Out 
 Gold — All the Fascination of Gambling — Nature Holds the Cards 
 
 — Placer Mining Conditioned by the Climate — The Old Process of 
 Bun-Thawing- Soil That Itesists Picks, Dynamite, and Hydraulics 
 
 — Where Fire Burning is Necessary — Burning at Night — A Long 
 Process — Sinking through the Muck — Rockers — Sluices and 
 How They are Constructed — Nature Caught in the Act — Claims 
 Regulated by the Miners Themselves- The Birch Creek Yield of 
 Gold. 
 
 GOLD-seekers were continually going back and forth 
 from Circle City to the diggings on the upper 
 waters of Birch Creek, and in this way I occasion- 
 ally heard from my partner, who was working most of the 
 time on other claims for wages, for the season was not propi- 
 tious for prospecting. This is easier done after the freezing 
 weather comes on. As T had managed to locate a very good 
 cabin in town for otir needs while there, and had earned a 
 fair sum during the early part of t'le building rush, I de- 
 termined to carry over a light store of provisions to Joe, as 
 he wished to remain on the creek during the winter and 
 prospect as opportunities offered. 
 
 Birch Creek empties into the Yukon more than a hun- 
 
 (199) 
 
200 
 
 TRIALS OF THE TRAIL 
 
 (Ired miles below Circle City, but in its tortuous course its 
 upper waters flow but six miles from the town, though the 
 headwaters are back in the mountains from sixty to one 
 hundred miles away. The short portage across the neck 
 of land to the creek is not difficult, though low and wet in 
 places in the summer, and a hotbed of mosquitoes. They 
 were almost unendurable unless a wind was blowing. I 
 have seen strong men on the trail through these swamps 
 driven to the verge of hysterics by the swarming pests. 
 The trail up the creek leads through a wild country, and 
 by the time a winter's supplies have been dragged over it 
 to the camps they are worth something. If taken in a boat 
 they must be pulled against a swift current and sometimes 
 up rapids. By carrying only a pack I made fair time over 
 the rough trail. 
 
 In an earlier chapter I have alluded to the discovery of 
 gold in this region, an Episcopal missionary having picked 
 up a nugget in returning from the Tanana River district. 
 This was in 1891. By 1894 the district had been pretty 
 thoroughly explored and had yielded large results. The 
 gold consisted of coarse flakes and nuggets; forty dollars a 
 day was made by some men, and all did well. The drift 
 is not as deep here as in some other streams, and water can 
 be applied to greater advantage. I found Joe on one of 
 the farthest of the most remote creeks, nearly a hun- 
 dred miles from Circle City. On some of the nearer creeks 
 I passed they were taking out gold in good quantities, par- 
 ticularly at Deadwood Gulch, a little stream ten miles long. 
 Mastodon is a rich tributary, but the very rich claims are 
 rare. It was asserted on one claim there that they had 
 taken out gold enough to clear one thousand dollars a day 
 for seven weeks. On Miller Creek there were claims to be 
 
THB BIRCH CREEK DISTRICT 
 
 201 
 
 had where a man could easily pan out from six dollars to ten 
 dollars a day, but they were not worth owning in such a 
 region, for more can be made in wages on the richer claims. 
 
 The district was in its most flourishing condition in the 
 summer of 1896. Most of the gulches were then running, 
 miners were working on double shifts, night and day, which 
 at this season in this latitude are very much alike, and large 
 profiia were reported. On Mastodon Creek, which seemed 
 to be the best producer and which was thoroughly staked, 
 o'^er three hundred miners were at work. There was every 
 evidence that the creeks would continue to pay well for five 
 years, and after that were the untold possibilities of 
 hydraulic mining, which might without difficulty except 
 that of expense be introduced by tapping some of the creeks 
 near their head. 
 
 If some of these claims which are discarded as prac- 
 tically worthless could be set down in a place nearer trans- 
 portation facilities, and in a kinder climate, so that they 
 could be worked continuously, they would yield fortunes. 
 Joe had proceeded to a creek where the ground was un- 
 doubtedly rich, but it was an expensive job to work it. By 
 the time wood had been cut by men receiving twelve dollars 
 a day, and hauled a distance of six or seven miles by dogs, 
 it was worth about sixty-five dollars a cord. It is clear, 
 therefore, that a claim must be very rich in order to pay the 
 large expenses of working it. If a miner is paying the ex- 
 [fcnse of having his provisions brought out from Circle 
 City, it costs sixty cents a pound in summer and fifteen 
 cents in winter, the trail being so much easier in the latter 
 season. 
 
 In o.der to well understand the recent progress of min- 
 ing in Alaska, a few facts as to placer mining in general, 
 
202 
 
 PLACER MINING 
 
 and as to the processes in the frozen nortli in partimilar, is 
 necessaay. The process in Alaska is peculiar, and the 
 novice should give it some study before he starts in to make 
 his fortune. It is the desire of the expert prospector to 
 locate over river gravel, and he has a theory that the short 
 side of the b^nds in the river will prove the richest. Free 
 or native gold, such as is found in placer mines, is suppo3ed 
 to be brought down in the course of ages from, a " mother 
 lode " by the action of running water or glaciers. The 
 sands and rocks of river beds, dry creeks, and gulches, there- 
 fore, are the places which secure the attention of the ex- 
 perienced prospector. lie observes the characteristics of 
 the loose rocks in ravines and gulches, or in any place where 
 matter is left after freshets have subsided. The natural 
 presumption is that, if the bed of a river flowing through an 
 open country yields fine gold dust, larger grains will be 
 found in the nearby hills and mountains from which it 
 flowed. The heavier particles are, of course, looked for near 
 the probable source. Sometimes gold is in dust too fine to be 
 readily distinguished by the naked eye, or the dirt is so 
 combined with it as to make it deceptive, and the prospector 
 must proceed with the greatest care and skill 
 
 Having seciired a place which may give the desired 
 promising indications, because of surface conditions, which 
 are apt to be deceptive in Alaska, the next thing is to begin 
 sinking a shaft to get down to bed-rock * so that the value of 
 the diggings may l>e detcrmine<l. In a climate where the 
 temperature runs down to sixty degrees or more below zero 
 in a winter lasting for nine months of the year, Avater in 
 large quantities is scarce except in the short summer. Snow 
 
 * Bed-rock. Solid rock lyinj; uuder loose detrital raasses, such as sand 
 and gravel. Detrital matter consists of particles broken or worn away from 
 the land, and carried along by the streams to be deposited elsewhere. 
 
THE FASCINATION OF PANNING 
 
 203 
 
 may be melted for testing, and there have been instances 
 in very rich claims in Alaska mines where a miner could 
 wash out in his cabin enough to pay his help for taking out 
 the frozen dirt. 
 
 Both in prospecting and in sinking his shaft the miner 
 makes frequent use of his pan, which is broad and shallow 
 and an inseparable companion. After clearing oflF the 
 coarse gravel and stone from a patch of ground, he secures 
 a little of the finer gravel or sand in his pan, fills it with 
 water and gives it a few rapid whirls and shakes, which 
 brings the gold to the bottom of tlie pan on account of its 
 greater specific gravity. Many miners prefer to sink the 
 pan of dirt under water and shake it there, in such a dex- 
 terous manner as gradually to throw the lighter dirt off into 
 the stream, but this cannot be practiced to a great extent in 
 Alaska unless a large tub of water is used in the cabin. 
 Many old miners believe that under-water panning is so 
 much better that tliev use such tubs in winter. An old and 
 skilled miner will sometimes shake out more gold in a day 
 than a beginner can in a week from the same quantity of 
 dirt. There is a trick about it that comes only by ex- 
 perience, and out of the same gravel a greenhorn may not 
 get fifty cents' worth of gold where an exi)erienced man 
 would get a dollar. A good man can pan a ton of gravel 
 a daj% but it is hard, back-breaking work. There is the 
 fascination, however, of cxcx watching the yellow color as 
 the dirt washes away, and it will keep a man at work till he 
 finds himself exhausted. It is the same fascination that 
 is felt by the confirmed gambler, for every pan of dirt is a 
 gamble. Dame IsTature is dealing the cards. Will the 
 player make a big stake, or will he lose ? Having won it 
 f'-om Nature by hard work, he will very likely lose some of 
 
204 
 
 ROASTING THE AMALGAM 
 
 his winnings in an ordinary gambling game. He lives in 
 an atmosphere of chance. What comes easy, goes easy. 
 
 After the pan is shaken and held in such a way as to 
 gradually wash out the sand and gravel, care being taken 
 near the end of the process to avoid letting out the finer and 
 heavier particles which have settled to the bottom, all that 
 will be left in the pan is whatever gold there may have been 
 in the dirt, mixed with black sand, which is nothing but 
 pulverized magnc tic iron ore. Should the gold thus found 
 be fine, the contents may be thrown into a tub of water con- 
 taining a pound or so of mercury. The gold coming in 
 contact with this forms an amalgam. When enough of 
 this has been formed it may be fired or roasted. First it is 
 squeezed through a buckskin bag to work out all the mer- 
 cury possible, and what comes out is put back in the tub, 
 while the contents of the bag is put in a retort, or, what is 
 more probable in a mining camp, is put on a shovel and 
 heated till the mercury has evaporated. The gold will re- 
 main in a lump, though with more or less mercury com- 
 bined with it. This washing process must be continued 
 after the layer of best paying dirt is reached, for in no other 
 way can the pay-streak be followed. 
 
 While this is a process characteristic of all placer min- 
 ing in Alaska, it is conditioned, like everything else, by the 
 climate and the soil. When gold was first discovered in the 
 Yukon valley the great drawback in successAilly operating 
 the rich placer mines was found to exist in the auriferous 
 gravel being frozen into a solid, compact, adamantine mass, 
 which the rays of the summer's sun could never melt, and 
 with which the methods usually employed in washing out 
 gold were totally ineffective. There seemed to be no end 
 of the depth to which the frost penetrated the earth's sur- 
 
SUN-THAWING 
 
 205 
 
 face, as the deepest shaft or prospect hole has yet to reach 
 unfrozen gravel except in certain localities, and in such 
 places no one has been able to account for the strange 
 phenomenon. Various ways were tried by the miners of 
 ten years ago to expedite the slow work of the sun in thaw- 
 ing out the congealed mass. Picks were found to be of no 
 avail, as the heaviest blows would produce but little more 
 impression than it would have done on a solid block of 
 granite. Dynamite was experimented with, but a heavy 
 shot resulted in blowing out only a " pot hole," and had no 
 effect whatever in loosening the surrounding gravel. 
 Hydraulics were proven equally futile, the stream from the 
 giants serving only to bore a hole in the bank against which 
 it was directed. In fact, the only manner by which the 
 shallow or summer diggings could be worked at all was to 
 strip or burn off the heavy coating of moss covering the 
 earth, thus allowing the sun to reach the gravel beneath. 
 This in a day would thaw to a depth of three or four inches, 
 and after the frozen muck under the moss had been thawed 
 out and thrown aside, the sun could then work on the gravel. 
 As fast as it thawed it could be shoveled into the sluices, and 
 another like amount would be workable the day following. 
 But it was an unusual summer season that would permit of 
 more than ninety days' work at the sluices, and claims that 
 would not pay an ounce to the shovel were abandoned. 
 
 Then came the disco^'^ery of the Birch Creek mines, and 
 the problem of profitably operating the mines in the winter 
 time solved itself as a simple matter of necessity. With the 
 pay-streak located from fifteen to twenty-five feet beneath 
 the surface, it would have been impracticable and almost 
 impossible to remove the barren earth lying above it. 
 Prospecting had to be done by burning holes in the gravel. 
 
20fi 
 
 BURNING DOWN TO THE PAY-STKEAK 
 
 A huge pile of logs would be fired on the spot wlierc it was 
 proposed to sink and allowed to burn over night. In the 
 moniing a foot in depth, possibly, would be found to have 
 been thawed out, and this was shoveled aside and a fresh fire 
 kindled. By continuing this operation a number of days, 
 the shaft would finally reach the pay-streak, and then it be- 
 came a comparatively easy matter to ascertain the probable 
 worth of the claim. If the gravel panned an ounce or two 
 a day, more fires were built at the bottom of the shaft, and 
 " drifting " was begun with the pay-streak, the latter being 
 followe'' the same as in a quartz lode. The night is the 
 time employed to " burn," the fires being heaped up with 
 logs just before the day's work is finished. These last all 
 night, and by morning, if the amount of fuel has been 
 properly gauged, nothing remains but the dying embers 
 and hot ashes; the smoke and gases have all escaped, and 
 the work of shoveling the loosened gvavel begins without 
 delay. As the shaft sinks a windlass is erected over the 
 opening, and as fast as the bucket is filled the contents are 
 hauled to the surface and dumped in a convenient place for 
 washing the following season. 
 
 When the drift has reached a short distance under- 
 ground the bitterly cold weather of the winter has no terrors 
 for the placer miner, and he prosecutes his work in com- 
 parative ease and comfort. As distance from the shaft is 
 gained, a wooden track is laid on the floor of the tunnel, and 
 a car pushed '>y hand is employed to convey the gold-bearing 
 gravel from the ever-receding breast of the drift to the 
 primitive hoisting works. 
 
 Who it was who first conceived the idea of drifting 
 under the muck bank? and thawing the frozen gravel by 
 means of log fires would be difficult to determine, but who- 
 
 
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 JO 
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 3' 
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"1^^.. 
 
A FORTUNE IN THE DUMP 
 
 209 
 
 ever he may be, he deserves a monument as a perpetuation of 
 his memory. The ability to mine in tlie winter has length- 
 ened the mining season from three to eight or nine months. 
 As soon in the fall as it becomes cold enough to freeze the 
 water and prevent the shaft from filling uj), then the winter 
 miner begins his labors only to cease in the spring when the 
 water begins running again. During the cold weather he 
 has hoisted the muck to the surface, and there lies on his 
 dump many tons of gravel wherein may be a small-sized 
 fortune as a compensation for his work of the winter. Ex- 
 posed to the sun, the gravel quickly thaws, for it has frozen 
 again after being cast upon the dump, and then it is shoveled 
 into the sluices, and the glittering yellow grains of gold are 
 caught by the riffles, finally finding a resting-place in the 
 buckskin sack of him who has toiled so unremittingly to 
 wrest them from their gravelly bed. Placer mining in such 
 a country, therefore, is a long process, involving much hard 
 work under very uncomfortable conditions, and a great 
 consumption of fire wood, which in most places is very ex- 
 pensive. This was particularly the case on Birch Creek. 
 
 Six, eight, ten, and twelve feet of the surface is decayed 
 vegetable matter and alluvial deposit of sand in the clay, 
 termed by the miners " muck." As soon as gravel ia struck, 
 prospecting is commenced; that is, a pan or two of the dirt is 
 washed to determine whether it is worth " keeping " or not, 
 as the refuse is thrown on one side of the hole and the pay- 
 dirt on the other. Near to and (m bed-rock the " pay " is 
 found, which is generally not more than two or three feet 
 thick. 
 
 All the way through the so-called muck which lies on 
 the surface are found trees lying in every direction, and 
 they appear to be similar to those growing on the hills to- 
 13 
 
210 
 
 FURTHER DIFFICULTIES 
 
 day, but these logs and roots have evidently been deposited 
 there a long time. While bones of animals now common in 
 Alaska are found in it, there have been found at the same 
 depth bone'? of other animals belonging to much lower lati- 
 tudes to-day. Well preserved horns of buffaloes have been 
 found. Occasionally, in a part of frozen pay-streak nearly 
 twenty feet under the surface, bits of bones will be found 
 with parts of the flesh still clinging, but they quickly 
 crumble when exposed to the air. 
 
 It must not be thought, however, that the difficulties of 
 the Alaskan gold-seeker are all overcome by simply sinking 
 a hole through several feet of frozen earth by the process 
 above indicated. The time it takes to sink a hole is meas- 
 ured by its depth, as fires thaw on an average about a foot 
 a day. But should a hole be sunk in a claim without find- 
 ing a good pay-streak, the process must be repeated in an- 
 other locality. One claim-holder may locate at the very 
 first hole, while another, on perhaps as good a claim, may 
 have to sink a dozen or more, bearing in mind that his liv- 
 ing expenses are all this time enormous, and, if he is hiring 
 men at twelve dollars or more a day, his profits are by no 
 means measured by the amount of gold he takes out in a 
 season. 
 
 After the pay-streak, which is seldom more than three 
 feet in thickness, is struck, the fire must be continued on the 
 side of the shaft showing the best indications. This is also 
 a slow process, only a few inches being thawed out in a day. 
 This process is continued in the direction of the best pay, a 
 distance which is governed by the thickness of the crust on 
 top. If this is twenty feet, you may drift thirty feet with 
 safety, when a new hole or shaft has to be sunk and the drift- 
 ing continued. In this way the pay-streak is taken from 
 underneath the surface in the winter until the water begins 
 
THE ROCKEK 
 
 211 
 
 ninning in the spring, finds its way into the shafts, and 
 hinders operations to such an extent tliat tliey are closed. 
 Preparations for the erection of dams are then made and 
 sluice boxes procured. 
 
 The washing process was in full operation at the Birch 
 Creek mines in the early summer of 181)0, when 1 made 
 my trip through them, and the miners were hoarding their 
 dust in anticipation of having a good time at Circle City in 
 the winter. So in the case I have mentioned, where gold 
 was taken out at the rate of one thousand dollars a day for 
 seven weeks, it must be remembered that these miners had 
 done a great deal of hard work before they had taken out 
 any. They were simply cleaning up the dirt they had so 
 laboriously and expensively accumulated. After taking out 
 their heavy expenses and what they squandered at the sa- 
 loons and gaming tables of Circle City, it will not appear 
 strange that many old miners had been operating in this re- 
 gion for several years, when gold was everywhere, and still 
 remained comparatively poor men. 
 
 In placer diggings where sluicing may not be possible, 
 what are called " rockers " are used for cleaning up. A 
 rocker is simply a box about three feet long and two feet 
 wide, the interior fitted with a sheet-iron division punched 
 full of quarter-inch holes, so placed as to make the first 
 division very shallow. The lower part is fitted with an in- 
 clined shelf about eight inches lower at one end than at 
 the other. Over this is laid a heavy woolen blanket. The 
 whole is placed on two rockers much resembling the rockers 
 on an old-fashioned cradle. This arrangement is set up on 
 two lengths of wood convenient to the water supply. Hav- 
 ing put some pay-dirt in, with one hand the miner rocks the 
 cradle, and with the other he pours in water. The finer 
 
819 
 
 THE SLUICE BOX 
 
 II 
 
 4 
 
 matter with gold falls through to the blanket, which holds 
 the fine particles of gold, while the coarser particles of dirt 
 are washed on and out of the box, which usually has some 
 mercury on the thin slats over which the refuse runs to 
 catch any gold that may have escaped the blanket. Of 
 course, any large nuggets will be held on the i' i division. 
 At intervals the blanket is taken out and wash( in a barrel 
 of water containing mercury. 
 
 Sluicing is always employed wherever possible, as it is 
 much more rapid, andj when well arranged, more 
 economical. It requires a good supply of water, which can 
 usually be obtained on most of the Yukon creeks during 
 the summer season from the little rivulets running from 
 the melting snows and ice above. But the construction of 
 sluices is generally an expensive operation, as if mill-sawed 
 lumber is used it must be brought from a great distance, and 
 if whip-sawed lumber, it requires much labor. In either 
 case the cost is considerable. 
 
 A sluice box is about ten inches in width and twelve 
 feet in length, the boxes so made that they fit into each other 
 like the joints of a telescope. In these are placed what are 
 called riffle bars, which are strips of wood about one inch 
 square and eight or ten feet long, nailed together at their 
 ends so as to be parallel with each other, and about one-half 
 to three-quarters of an inch apart. These are placed longi- 
 tudinally in the sluice boxes, which are set up so as to have 
 an incline of two or three inches fall per foot of their length. 
 A common method of arrangement is to place the slats cross- 
 wise at suitable intervals, or to bore shallow holes in such 
 order as to catch heavy particles. Into this system of boxes 
 a stream of water is directed, which must be of sufficient 
 volume to carry with it the gravel and dirt that are in the 
 dump. 
 
 Ill 
 
GLACIERS STILL AT WORK 
 
 213 
 
 As soon as the sun has attained sufficient force to thaw 
 out the surface of the dump, it is shoveled into these sluice 
 boxes. The water carries down with it to the tailings, as it 
 is termed, the refuse — that is, the gravel, sam., and other 
 matter which is not wanted. The gold and the black sand, 
 or pulverized magnetic ore, owing to their much greater 
 weight, fall between the riffle bars and are held there. 
 
 As soon as the riffle bars are filled, so that there is danger 
 of the gold passing over and downward to the tailings, the 
 flow of water is stopped, and what is called the clean-up is 
 made; that is, the riffle bars are lifted out and the contents 
 of the sluice boxes gathered and the black sand and other 
 refuse separated. 
 
 To one who has made a study of the gold leads of the 
 mountains of the Pacific coast, the conditions of the placers 
 of Alaska make an interesting study. Gold leads have been 
 associated with glacial action, and in Alaska the frozen 
 placers are in close proximity to the active glaciers grinding 
 down the quartz-ribbed mountains and depositing the 
 heavier substances in the furrows carved out at their feet. 
 No matter how ancient, therefore, the gold deposits in 
 Alaska, they are recent as compared with those which till 
 lately attracted the attention of the world. The frost has 
 not had time to leave the ground yet. The glaciers are still 
 at work. The Yukon miners have, as it were, caught Nature 
 in the act. 
 
 Little or no attention had been paid to the rocks about 
 Birch Creek, all the work being devoted to the gravel 
 washed down from the sides of the gul«;hes. Miners' laws 
 governed the district. In each gulch prospectors were at 
 liberty to stake out claims not already taken, the size of the 
 claims being decided by a vote of the miners in each gulch 
 
214 
 
 BIRCH CREEK MINES 
 
 according to the richness of the gravel. When a prospector 
 had staked out his claim, it was recorded by one of the 
 miners elected by those at that gulch, and that was suf- 
 ficient to secure him a title. Securing a claim was much 
 the easiest part of it, for the district is a large one, and 
 traces of gold could be found almost anywhere, but the dif- 
 ficulty was to secure one that would pay for working when 
 owners on the rich claims ah'eady worked to some extent 
 were offering twelve dollars a day for laborers and furnish- 
 ing the timber. 
 
 These Birch Creek mines are on American territory, and 
 only need economical working to make them as profitable as 
 any mines in Uncle Sam's domains. Cheaper and better 
 transportation facilities are required, so that the cost of pro- 
 visions and of fuel shall be much less, and so that wages may 
 come down. As it was, in the summer in which I spent a 
 short time there, the yield was put down as five hundred 
 thousand dollars, which was large considering the number 
 of claims that were really worked and the number of men 
 employed. Most of this sum came from a half dozen mines. 
 Many, under the existing conditions, could not be thor- 
 oughly worked, and many more, of course, will not pay 
 when the cost of everything is so high. But in two years 
 these mines had built up Circle City into a lively town, the 
 second place in population in the whole territory of Alaska. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 MY VOYAGE DOWN THE MIGHTY YUKON— INCIDENT8 
 AND EXPERIENCES DURING THE TRIP — IN THE 
 SHADOW OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE. 
 
 Down the Yukon River — Yukon Steamers — Flat-Bottoms and Stern- 
 Wheels — Carrying Machine Shops Along— A Perfect Labyrinth of 
 Water — Going Wherever Its Varying Moods Take It — Barren Islands 
 — Fort Yukon — Lazy and Filthy Natives — Trading for Curios with 
 Yukon Indians— Birch and Beaver Creeks — A Sudden Change — 
 Out of the Flatlands into the Ramparts — Some Good-Looking 
 Creeks — The Munook — The Great Tanana River — Wooding Up 
 — Indi8,ui Settlements — The Women and Children — Dogs Galore 
 — The Inevitable Ca9he — Nowikakat — Short Cut Portages to the 
 Coast — Thrilling Journey of a Party of Miners — Almost Ex- 
 hausted and Starved — Perils of Traveling in Alaska. 
 
 AS little could be done to advantage in mining till win- 
 ter set in, and as, when I had returned to Circle 
 City, a favorable opportunity was offered me to go 
 down the river on one of the returning steamers, I rented 
 my cabin, for which there was demand enough, and set out, 
 pleased with the chance thus afforded of studying the 
 mighty stream and the possibilities of its tributaries. Such 
 steamers as plied on the river previous to the summer of 
 1897 looked fairly well from a distance; the greater the 
 distance the better they looked. They were of the stem- 
 wheel, flat-bottom variety, and but for a somewhat pre- 
 tentious smoke-stack would have looked like small barns 
 built on scows. The rush of people as a result of the gold 
 
 (815) 
 
niHT' 
 
 I 
 
 ,1i 
 
 216 
 
 STEAMERS ON THE YUKON 
 
 discoveries on Birch Creek had brought two larger and 
 somewhat improved vessels up the river, but they were still 
 of the stern-wheel variety, and indeed nothing else seems to 
 suit the conditions. The old steamers on which the 
 pioneers had to depend were usually without staterooms, 
 except for the use of the officers and einployes, and tempo- 
 rary quarters were fitted up on accompanying barges when 
 there was a rush of travel. At such times apartments were 
 partitioned off with canvas on the barges and fitted up with 
 rude bunks, supplied with bedding by the passenger himself. 
 These scows were sometimes harnessed and trussed to the 
 front of the steamer and pushed ahead in a clumsy fashion. 
 Two years ago half a dozen dirty little " wheelbarrows " 
 plied up and down the murky stream, making semi-oc- 
 cflpional trips to Circle City, sometimes apparently at- 
 tempting to go overland in the effort to shorten the journey. 
 They were good boats, as boats were known to Yukoners, 
 and the pioneers of that country were thankful when the 
 Circle City excitement induced the building of one or two 
 additional steamers of increased power and capacity. 
 
 The machine-shop is a necessity to every Yukon River 
 steamer, for there are ro repair shops along the stream, nor 
 at either end. If a rudder post is bent or a shaft broken, 
 the repairs must be made on board the vessel, and such re- 
 pairs are made in surprisingly short time. The passenger 
 soon learns that there is no use in being in a hurry. 
 
 It was on such craft as these that the Yukon pioneer 
 was compelled to travel up and down the river, but he was 
 duly thankful for the opportunity, without reference to the 
 possibility of going in comfort. Inured to the hardship of 
 travel on foot over ice and snow, any means of locomotion 
 other than his own legs was a welcome relief, and he could 
 
 i 
 
AN ERRATIC RIVER 
 
 217 
 
 wrap his blankets about him and lie down on the floor, on 
 the table, anywhere, and really enjoy life. 
 
 Below Circle City the river spreads out into what are 
 known as the Yukon flats, and it has the appearance of flow- 
 ing all over the country. When once well into this maze 
 of narrow channels and bars, one has little idea of what part 
 of the river he is in or where the banks are. There is noth- 
 ing permanent about the banks. A new channel is liable 
 to eat its way almost anywhere, and the current is quite as 
 fickle, though it rushes along everywliere between the flat 
 islands, which stretch as far as the eye can see in any direc- 
 tion. One has a feeling tliat he must be nearing the mouth 
 of the Yukon. It is a perfect labyrinth of water. Some 
 say the river here is ten miles wide, and others say fifty, and 
 others guess anywhere between those figures. No one 
 seems to know, and it would be difficult to imagine any one 
 making the effort to find out. There is a suspicion that the 
 river has no defined main banks, but just goes wherever its 
 varying moods take it. It has all the appearance of having 
 given up trying to be a river at all. 
 
 Many of these islands are merely wide stretches of sand 
 and gravel, some of them covered with desolate-looking 
 ridges of drift-wood. On others tall grass flourishes, but 
 they are nothing but swampy lands. At high water the 
 little steamers could pick their way through these channels 
 with no difficulty with an Indian pilot at the wheel, but in 
 low water the task is much more difficult, and one of the 
 amusements of a trip is an occasional struggle of the little 
 boat to pull her nose out of sand and try again, only to 
 ground it somewhere else. 
 
 But the current nowhere abates its swiftness, and it is 
 less than a day's ride to Fort Yukon, which lies just above 
 
I :, 
 
 i; i 
 i ! 
 
 218 
 
 FORLORN FORT YUKON 
 
 the Arctic Circle. It is a curious geographical fact that the 
 river here, after having pursued a steady course towards the 
 northwest for some seven hundred miles, turns abruptly 
 to the southwest, just as if it had suddenly changed its mind, 
 a thing that it seems quite capable of doing at any point 
 along the flats for three hundred miles. It is here that it is 
 joined by the Porcupine, which comes in from the north- 
 east, and the new turn the river takes is evidently a joint ar- 
 rangement of the two currents, the Porcupine having the 
 best of it. 
 
 There is a class of Indians about Fort Yukon trading in 
 curios and the like, and its individuals will do almost any- 
 thing but work. While I stopped there, one of the trading 
 companies was endeavoring to put up some log warehouses. 
 It was a convenient place for wintering provisions, for often, 
 late in the season, as was afterwards more fully developed, 
 the steamers find it impossible to cross the bars above the 
 fort, and are compelled to leave their cargo in log caches 
 here. The overseer of the company which was putting up 
 these buildings had orders to hire all the Indians needed for 
 help, but he could not induce them to work, though he 
 offered them five dollars a day. All they had to eat was 
 fish, but they subsisted on this and took it easy. They take 
 no thought for the morrow. One white man, his wife, and 
 two children, were the only white people there at that time. 
 It is the most forlorn of places, close on to the Arctic Circle, 
 and oil the bank of a river which, spotted with dreary 
 islands, stretches away as far as the eye can see in nearly 
 every direction. 
 
 For something over a hundred miles after joined by the 
 Porcupine, the Yukon flows a little south to westward, main- 
 taining its character for uncertainty. The boats keep to the 
 
THE SCENE OF A STAMPEDE 
 
 219 
 
 channel along the south bank, but where the north main 
 bank is keeping itself is purely problematical. Channels 
 separate and appear to start off like other rivers bound for a 
 sea in some other parts of the world, while others are com- 
 ing in at various places. The islands gradually become 
 larger and make a somewhat better appearance. 
 
 Birch Creek, the upper waters of which flow within a 
 short distance of Circle City, empties into the Yukon about 
 forty miles below the fort, and, according to the maps, the 
 Tadrandike empties on the opposite bank from the flat lands 
 of the north, but one would have to go out of the river's 
 course to find the mouth of this stream. About sixty miles 
 further on Beaver Creek flows in from the south. A little 
 time before this had been the scene of a great stampede of 
 miners from the upper Yukon. Gold had been picked up 
 there and many flocked in, but the excitement had proved 
 to be without cause, and the disappointed gold-seekers 
 gradually scattered back to the old diggings. 
 
 Soon after Fort TIamlin is passed, the maze of islands is 
 left behind. The mighty river " gets itself together " 
 again; the banks become higher and the mountains begin to 
 appear. It is a great relief after steaming for nearly four 
 hundred miles through a bewildering maze of water and flat 
 islands. The change is so great as to almost impress 
 one with awe. These miles of dreary flat lands are sud- 
 denly succeeded by what are called the Lower Ramparts, 
 and the Yukon Rapids sweep between bluffs and hills, which 
 rise about fifteen hundred feet. The river is not more than 
 half a mile wide, and seems almost as much underground 
 as one of the upper canons. The bed is of granite, and the 
 current has worn it away on both sides so that there are two 
 good channels. 
 
220 
 
 A RIVER OF ORBAT POSSIBILITIBS 
 
 
 Some promising looking streams enter the river along 
 this stretch of mountainous banks, but they are so common 
 as to attract little attention from those on the river boats. 
 One of them, however, was soon to spring into importance, 
 for at this very time an Indian half breed named Munook 
 was stumbling on his way to a rich discovery on one of its 
 upper tributaries, and in another year, on one of the high 
 and more beautiful spots on the south bank of the river, was 
 to spring up a lively mining town called Bampart City. 
 
 The Xanana River, which flows in from the picturesque 
 country to the south, is the largest tributary of the Yukon, 
 and at its mouth seems the larger river. But it is from this 
 point over one thousand three hundred miles to the head- 
 waters of the mighty Yukon, and in its course it has flowed 
 clear aroimd the Xanana, which heads up directly to the 
 territory of the gold diggings of Forty Mile and of Circle 
 City. Xhe Xanana brings down a vast flood of water from 
 the mountainous regions of the interior, and yet it is only 
 recently that a white man dipped his paddles in it. Xhe 
 late explorations have shown that it is a river of remarkable 
 power and possibly of unnumbered treasures. It is navi- 
 gable for steamers for nearly two hundred miles, for which 
 distance the current is quite slack. Xhen it becomes swift 
 — swifter than that of the Yukon, it is said. All the way 
 on the left hand are rugged mountains and the most sub- 
 lime scenery, while on the right hand, or to the south, the 
 mountains stand at a distance. Colors of gold have been 
 found in all of the many creeks which empty from glacial 
 sources into the river, but no one has yet sunk a hole to bed- 
 rock. Nearly all of the prospecting that has been done has 
 been by those who have crossed over the mountains from 
 Forty Mile or Circle City. 
 
IMPROVING THE NATIVES 
 
 221 
 
 In 1896 the junction of the Yukon and Tanana showed 
 signs of becoming the important trading point it now is. 
 There has long been a trading station there of the Alaska 
 Commercial Company, and now the settlement of Weare 
 holds an important point at the very junction. Geographic- 
 ally, this is about the center of the great territory, though it 
 is over eight hundred miles in a straight line from the old 
 capital of Sitka. A short distance below, St. James Mis- 
 sion, attached to the Episcopal Church, has for some years 
 been successfully maintained, and the changes which have 
 been wrought upon some of the native children are certainly 
 noticeable. As a general thing the Indians which are en- 
 countered along the Yukon River are no improvement over 
 those farther up. Though they are classed under different 
 tribes they appear quite similar until we reach the point 
 where the true Eskimo makes his appearance. They have 
 some good qualities and are exceedingly useful in the trade 
 of the lower Yukon. 
 
 Along the banks of the various places are wooding sta- 
 tions, where the Indians cut up timber for firewood for the 
 steamers, which, however, are compelled to stop much more 
 frequently in facing the swift current up than on the down- 
 ward passage. The appearance of a Yukon steamer is a 
 great event at' these remote settlements, and the whole 
 population within reach of the sound of the whistle flock 
 down to the banks. If wood is needed, a line of Indians, 
 carrying the sticks in the primitive way, file over the gang- 
 plank and scamper out again, and for such services they are 
 paid fair wages, but their disposition is to trade. They take 
 various articles, and many prefer to take it out in something 
 to drink. One thing they never take is soap, and yet that is 
 what they most appear to need. 
 
A' 
 
 223 
 
 THE INDISPENSABLE CACHE 
 
 These settlements are for the most part all alike. They 
 are thickest about places where the companies keep their 
 stores, and these become the trading centers. The natives 
 live in huts and tents, and there is the inevitable crowd of 
 dogs, which, upon the advent of a steamer, line the bank 
 and howl. It is the most dismal din imaginable. Along 
 the banks also will be seen in season big salmon hanging 
 from long poles drying in the sun. The children are not 
 quite as thick as the dogs (nothing is in Alaska, except the 
 mosquitoes), but they toddle about in their dirty garments 
 as if life were something of a delight. The women come 
 down the bank carrying queer baskets of trinkets, mostly of 
 their handiwork, which gives evidence of an enormous 
 amount of patience and skill in the use of crude materials — 
 baskets of unique shape woven very fine from some of the 
 long grass of the valley, and dyed in the most striking colors, 
 moccasins of rare quality, and so on. 
 
 Wherever there are settlements, and where there are 
 none, for that matter, the cache appears. These curious 
 log boxes on stilts are sprinkled all over * laska, for dogs 
 are everywhere and the cache is an absolute necessity. 
 They must be made to hold whatever is fit to eat, and a 
 good deal that is unfit, for the dog will eat both. The cache 
 is the lock and key of Alaska. And the only thief is this 
 little animal, which will in harness haul his master for miles 
 over the Arctic country, and then go to sleep in a snow 
 bank. 
 
 One of the. important stations which we come to in pass- 
 ing down this part of the river is Nowikakat, about seventy 
 miles below the mouth of the Tanana. It is situated on the 
 north bank and upon a fine bay, which is connected by a nar- 
 row entrance with the Yukon. In passing it is easy to 
 
ATTRACTIVE TO PROSPECTORS 
 
 223 
 
 judge of the nature of the soil from the crumbling banks. 
 Laj'ers of sand show the deposits of annual inundations. In 
 many places where the bank has been undennined these 
 layers may be counted by the hundred, and all the way great 
 masses of dirt from the banks are hurried off by the swift 
 current to the sea. 
 
 When the river has flowed on in its westward course to 
 within about eighty miles of the sea, it takes another sudden 
 turn and proceeds southward, for two hundred miles, 
 parallel with the coast. This turn is made where the 
 Koyukuk enters from the north, and, as above at the junc- 
 tion of the Porcupine, the river dodges off in another direc- 
 tion like one billiard ball hit by another. The Koyukuk has 
 been well explored, but not very thoroughly prospected. 
 Gold has been found in large quantities on it, and as much 
 as a hundred dollars a flay has been made on some of its bars 
 by the use of a rocker. But little or nothing has been done 
 on its important creeks, though the presence of coarse gold 
 in the bars would imply unusual richness somewhei'e 
 further up. The river at its mouth is shallow, and for some 
 distance up has many of the characteristics of the Yukon 
 and Tanana. About a hundred miles from the mouth the 
 mountains begin to hem in the banks, but it can be navi- 
 gated for nearly five hundred miles. This accessibility 
 should make it attractive to prospectors, for the headwaters 
 lie in the same belt of mountains that hold the gold-l)earing 
 creeks of the upper Yukon. The worst thing against it is 
 that so much of it lies above the Arctic circle. 
 
 The Yukon, after its union with the Koyukuk, flows 
 with a still swifter current along stretches of uninviting 
 country, among marshy islands and sloughs, and at one place 
 is only about fifty miles fFom the sea. Two trails or port- 
 
h i 
 
 S34 
 
 A HAZARDOUS TRIP 
 
 ages from the river to St. Michael or Unalaklik have been in 
 use for some time by the Indians and missionaries, but 
 either is a hard road to travel, espetjially in the summer, 
 and dangerous after the winter sets in. Winter, however, 
 is the time when it becomes useful as a short cut from the in- 
 terior after the river has frozen at its mouth, A party 
 of miners once tried to reach St. Michael over this route and 
 had an exceedingly hazardous trip. It teaches the lesson 
 that traveling in Alaska is perilous unless amply provided 
 for. They had only a few blankets and barely enough pro- 
 visions for the trip. They walked over the frozen sloughs 
 with the ice cracking under them at every step. Sometimes 
 they had to lie flat on their stomachs and creep along, push- 
 ing their blankets ahead of them, in order to keep the ice 
 from giving way under their weight. They knew that if 
 any one went through that would be the end of him. There 
 would be no possibility of getting him out. One of them 
 gave out the first day, and they divided his load among the 
 others and helped him along as best they could. 
 
 The first night they slept in an abandoned Eskimo win- 
 ter house that was full of mice and vermin. That is, they 
 stayed in it, but slept little, because the moment they 
 dropped off the mice began nibbling at their noses and run- 
 ning down their necks. The next night they stayed in one 
 of the inhabited Eskimo houses, and it was a million times 
 worse than the other. There were seventeen of them 
 crowded with ten Eskimos into an underground hut, without 
 a breath of fresh air, and with all the bad smells imaginable 
 reeking off the filthy Indians. They gagged and stifled and 
 suffocated all night long, and the next night they took to 
 the open. It was storming, and bitter, bitter cold. Five 
 of them had only four blankets between them, and they 
 
 1 
 
 J:.xaii2Xir.,^Mt!^: 
 
PRIVATION AND SUFFERINa 
 
 as5 
 
 were so near freezing that they were afraid to sleep. They 
 stumbled and crept along, uncertain whether or not they 
 were even going in the right direction. On the second day 
 after the first night they slept out another man broke 
 down. He was a man of fine courage, but so utterly spent 
 and ill that they could scarcely get him along. He would 
 stumble and fall in his tracks, and before they could reach 
 him he would be asleep from exhaustion. Much of the 
 time that day they had to carry him in their arms. Nearly 
 all day there was an awful storm of howling wind and snow 
 and rain, and all were wet to the skin. But the^ kept right 
 on as rapidly as they could make their way across the tundra, 
 and when night came crawled into the shelter of a lake bank 
 and made a fire. They had run out of provisions and had 
 left only a flapjack and a sliver of bacon for each. They 
 put the sickest man into the middle of the group and all 
 huddled around him, trying to keep him warm through the 
 night. 
 
 It was a sorry-looking crowd that left that camp the 
 next morning. They knew not where they were, or if they 
 were going in the right direction, or how soon they might 
 have to lie down and die of exhaustion and starvation. But 
 they drew up their belts, set their teeth, took the sick man 
 on their shoulders, and started on. The weather was not 
 quite so cold as it had been. It was warm enough to rain, 
 and the water was just pouring out of the sky. At last they 
 reached the top of the first hill and saw St. Michael below 
 them. They were six days traveling that one hundred and 
 ten miles. 
 
 The portage from Nulato leads to ITnalaklik and is the 
 least difficulty, but neither of these trails offers any advan- 
 tages except as a short cut to the base of supplies. At this 
 14 
 

 i 
 
 • 
 
 -, 
 
 226 
 
 A HARD COUNTRY TO LEAVE 
 
 point the river flows within about fifty miles from the sea 
 and not much further than that from St. Michael, but it is 
 about six hundred miles to that port by way of the river. 
 
 Alaska is a difficult country to get into, and equally dif- 
 ficult to get out of. The erratic Yukon has all the appear- 
 ances of having met the latter difficulty. During its long 
 course it runs towards every point in the compass, and in 
 some places seems to be running in all directions at once. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 STILL JOURNEYING ALONG THE DREARY RIVER -SIGHTS 
 AND SCENES ON THE WAY — HABITS AND PECULIAR- 
 ITIES OP THE INDIANS. 
 
 Holy Cross Mission — Soap at Last Has Legal-Tender Value- Some 
 Domestic Scenes— Close Race with the Climate — The Sisters of 
 St. Anne — Mass in a Log Church — The Untutored Innuits— 
 Their Unpleasant Environment — Queer Heirlooms — Geese and 
 Ducks Find a Favorable Abode — The Trip to the Coast — St. 
 Michael — Why Ocean Steamers have to Anchor a Mile and a Half 
 Out — Alaska Commercial Company — Fort Get-There — A Lone 
 Government Oflicial — The Question of Transferring Cargoes — 
 Characteristics of the Natives — Watching a Chance to Reach the 
 Yukon's Mouth — Difl9culties of Getting in with a Load — Breast- 
 ing the Swift Current — A Hard Nut to Crack— Returning up 
 the River. 
 
 AS we proceeded down the river towards Anvik, the 
 high ground ceased to come down to the water's 
 edge, and the flat lands began to reappear, though 
 the horizon is met by low hills some distance away. At 
 some points rise lofty clay cliffs, made up of various colors. 
 Spruce and fir trees, poplars and willows, are sprinkled 
 along, but they do not extend back far into the country, 
 which rapidly becomes more and more marshy and dreary. 
 While stopping at Anvik, our attention was divided be- 
 tween the strange old trading station, with its storehouses 
 on stilts, and the ancient Russian mission, with its silver 
 
 candelabra, luminous wall paintings, and sacred relics. 
 
 (227) 
 
 iimifimiimim* 
 
 iyt^fitMr^C^^x^^^-i- 
 
338 
 
 WOMEN AND FLOWERS 
 
 Much more progress seems to have been made with the 
 natives at the Holy Cross Mission, a short distance further 
 down, though I think they must be a better class naturally. 
 Here a cake of soap seems to have considerable legal-tender 
 value, and some of the children are attractively clad in the 
 garments of civilization, and wear clean faces, as well as 
 the inevitable Innuit smile. The buildings of the Holy 
 Cross Mission are well constructed, and include a church, 
 two schools — one for boys, another for girls; a convent, 
 and the necessary outbuildings for a well-ordered farm. 
 I^arge cultivated fields adjoin the establishment, and in 
 them vegetables of prodigious size are grown, as well as 
 strawberries. But it is a close race with the climate. Upon 
 the hillsides, in well-kept terraces, the more delicate plants 
 are grown, and in the dooryard sweet mignonette, phlox, 
 pansies, violets, nasturtiums, marguerites, dahlias, and other 
 homelike flowers flourish in the summer months, nurtured 
 by the slender hands and tender solicitude of the Sisters of 
 St. Anne. These heroic women have immured themselves 
 in this inhospitable regio.i, and have undertaken to subdue 
 nature and nature's children by gentle persistency, and 
 their efforts are telling in the manifold results to be ob- 
 served about them. 
 
 But being unfitted for Innuit life by these civilizing in- 
 fluences, the wonder is what is to become of them and their 
 acquirements in such a country. 
 
 The school has its press, and has issued several volumes 
 in the native tongue. 
 
 There is the great log bam, with its well-filled hay-loft, 
 and even a cow; the hayst-nck outside, and various other 
 evidences of rural domesticity and comfort. There are the 
 wofully homely but peachy-cheeked native girls, neatly 
 
A PLEASANT DIVERSION 
 
 '^29 
 
 clad in their uniform ginghams, with a delicious French ac- 
 cent in their very precise English, the source of which be- 
 comes apparent in conversation with these sisters of St. 
 Anne. And all these wonders compensate the traveler for 
 the delay of several hours usually made there for the pur- 
 pose of obtaining wood, cleaning boilers, and giving the 
 passengers a pleasant diversi< u. It has grown t<o be the 
 custom of the mission to hold special ser^uces whenever 
 a vessel is in port, and tlie chorus of fresh young Indian 
 voices in the mass rings from the organ loft in the church 
 of logs with much impressiveness, set in these unique sur- 
 roundings in a desolate country. 
 
 These Innuit people are a queer lot, the untutored 
 housed in their squatty mounds of earth, the entrances to 
 which are holes under ground, and subsisting on mixtures 
 the flavor of which nearly kills a white man. They are, 
 however, as a whole, much superior to the Indians of the 
 interior, being a t ifle less lazy. They are used by the com- 
 panies to man their steamers, but if one can shirk work he 
 will. They soem to look on the industry of the white man 
 as a great exhibition of foolishness. They live in a country 
 which in summer is a great flat swale full of bog holes, slimy 
 and decaying peat, innumerable sloughs, shallow and stag- 
 nant, and from which swarms of mosquitoes rise to i-'airly 
 destroy any animal life. The insects come out of their 
 watery pupse with the earliest growth of spring vegetation, 
 early in May, and remain in clouds till destroyed by the 
 frosts of September. The nativps seldom go into the woods 
 at this summer season, and their dcgs, Hiough protected by 
 their long hair, sometimes die from bites about their eyes 
 and paws. Close-haired beasts, like horses jnd cattle, could 
 not live a month, unless protected by man. 
 
 ' f' - 
 
 mumrnm 
 
i:i 
 
 230 
 
 A LABYRINTH OP CHANNELS 
 
 
 ii 
 
 ■ii 
 
 In the winter and early spring fierce gales of wind at 
 zero temperature sweep over these flats of Alaska in constant 
 succession, and, although it is in this season that land travel 
 is easiest, it is full of dangers to any but the natives, who are 
 muffled in their skin parkas. Their undergarments con- 
 sist mostly of a skin shirt, which is handed down from one 
 generation to another, but it is difiicult for an inexperienced 
 white man to tell whether the odor of one of these garments 
 belongs to the present owner or to one of his more or less re- 
 mote ancestors. 
 
 The bluffs which here and there come down to the river 
 are desolate enough, with their barren slopes, but they give 
 the only indication that the country is not all under water. 
 The channel zigzags from side to side in a way common to 
 such swift bodies of water, which are constantly washing 
 out and building up bars and islets, and sweeping down in 
 its resistless flood an immense aggregate of soil and timber. 
 The banks, where they rise above this surging current, 
 which runs at an average of eight miles an hour, are con- 
 tinually caving down, and so sudden and precipitate are 
 these landslides sometimes that any craft in their way is 
 liable to be destroyed. 
 
 When the Yukon has in its tx>rtuou8 career again turned 
 towards the coast, it manages somehcv in the course of 
 over one hundred miles to empty itself. It makes a very 
 bad job of it. It breaks up into a labyrinth of blind, ml 
 leading channels, slough and swamps, which extend over 
 an immense territory with a most mournful and dlstrcpsing 
 prospect. The country itself is scarcely above tho lecel 
 of the tides, and is covered with a monot. nous cir i of 
 scrubby willows and rank sedges. It is in summer water, 
 water — here, there, and everywhere, — a vast inland sea, 
 
 
ST. MICHAEL HARBOB 
 
 231 
 
 filled with thousands and thousands of swale islets scarcely 
 peeping above the surface. 
 
 Myriads of geese, ducks, and wading water fowl resort 
 to this desolation, where in the countless pools and the thick 
 covers of tall grass and sedge they are provided with food 
 • and pre eotion from their enemies. With good luck and a 
 good pilot, the ste^-iner fiiiilly works its way out by the 
 northern channel, and reaches the sea ?.t Kutlik, which is a 
 meagre settlement where the steamers take on drift wood. 
 The rest of the trip is along the coast. A voyage in one of 
 these small, flat-bottom boats of the Yukon, is a good deal 
 like knocking about the Atlantic on a plank, unless the 
 weather is very favorable. In this region it has few such 
 agreeable moods. 
 
 A cursory glance at St. Michael harbor tells why the 
 question of getting supplies up the Yukon is a serious one 
 to overcome, even were the other conditions partially favor- 
 able. The harbor is but little more than a crescent on the 
 hores of Norton Sound. It is neither deep nor well-pro- 
 tected. The port itself is on an island, about five by 
 eighteen miles, shape d something like an ink spot, and sep- 
 arated from the mainland by a narrow slough. The hills 
 of the mainland are some four or five miles back from the 
 shore to the south. At the other points tundra is broken 
 only by rolling hills, which arc hardly more than large 
 mounds. 
 
 Ocean steamers have to make a wide detour away from 
 the mouth of the Yukon on account of the dirt it has been 
 pouring into the sea, and St. Michael is the only place where 
 they can get within a hundred miles of it, but steamers 
 drawing over twenty feet anchor about a mile and a half, 
 even, from St. Michael, and none of the vessels lie in nearer 
 
 li 
 
U i 
 
 '1 
 
 11 
 
 f 1 
 
 hi 
 
 In' 
 
 ; ( 
 
 tfi 
 
 il 
 
 232 
 
 FORT GET-THERE 
 
 than haK p mile from the Alaeka Commercial Company's 
 wharf. ] -i; is a clustering village of some thirty or 
 mare small i ^s, and is nearly wholly given over to the 
 intCx-ests of the Alaska Commercial Company. Scattered 
 huts and Eskimo dwellings make up the rest of its entirety. 
 Half a mile further on is now Fort Get-There, headquarters 
 for the North American Transportation and Trading Com- 
 pany. The island is undoubtedly of volcanic origin, it be- 
 ing nothing more than volcanic rock and tundra, entirely 
 treeless, and, even at this season, dreary-iooking. The 
 tundra is nothing but the moss and peat covering rock. 
 Soil there is none. The tundra may vary up to two feet 
 in depth, but below this it is frozen solid at all times of the 
 year. Imagine agriculture where the plow would turn 
 up ice and frozen moss at from eight inches down beneath 
 the surface. In spite of this the grass is almost knee-deep, 
 and bright-^colored wild flowers are luxurious in their growth 
 and profusion. Innumerable small ponds break the sur- 
 face, filled with water which seeps through the moss, and 
 which is neither palatable nor good. It appears to be im- 
 pregnated with alkali. All the water used by the Com- 
 mercial Company's post is brought from the mainland by 
 boat. That at Fort Get-There is said to be filtered from 
 the ponds. 
 
 The first settlement here was made by the Russians in 
 1836. At the time of the purchase of Alaska this fort and 
 post were a part of the transfer, about one hundred thousand 
 dollars being paid for the buildings and fortifications. The 
 Fnited States must have let thoir interest go by default, as 
 now all that is left is a small blockhouse and half a dozen 
 small cannon, and even these are a part and parcel of the 
 Commercial Company's post. Our lone government offi- 
 

 A WONDERFUL DELTA 
 
 233 
 
 y's 
 
 3ty. 
 ;ers 
 
 cial, deputy collector of customs, has his office in a dwell- 
 ing rented fronf the Alaska Commercial Company. 
 
 St. Michael is eighty miles, at least, north of the pass 
 by which the steamers enter the river, and the river proper 
 is over a hundred miles further on, as we have seen, the 
 extent of its delta being second to none in the world. After 
 an ocean steamship reaches St. Michael the question of get- 
 ting its cargo ashore and up the river commences in real 
 earnest. Everything has to be lightered from the boat to 
 the warehouses, which, with the present improved facilities, 
 is tedious and exasperating. A small launch and two scows 
 have constituted the outfit. Lighterage is also subject to 
 the conditions of the weather, for the wind frequently blows 
 here at a tennfic rate. When the river steamers are in they 
 take in cargo alongside the ship, which greatly expedites 
 niatters. Having been loaded, the river steamer must 
 watch its chance to cross Norton Sound to the Aphoon 
 Mouth, and thence over a hundred miles to the main river. 
 This must all be done between June 15th and October 1st. 
 Sometimes the river starts freezing by the middle of Sep- 
 tember, and St. Michael's Bay has never been opened before 
 June 18th. The sound freezes over early in winter, and 
 seldom is opened before June 20th. One of the inhabitants 
 very tersely puts the situation thus: 
 
 " For nine months it means from thirty to sixty degrees 
 l)elow, and everything frozen over. For two months it's 
 mosquitoes, and for the other one month, it depends on the 
 weather whether it is fog or sunshine." In spite of this, 
 the people here do not seem to 1^ particularly discontented. 
 For ages the natives have lived in these ice-bound regions 
 of the north, and have met and overcome the most inhos- 
 pitable conditions that could confront human beings. Phys- 
 
 
 li 
 
 ■■■Ml 
 
n 
 
 ii 
 
 ! 
 
 \l 
 
 h 
 
 234 
 
 INVENTIVE AND RESOURCEFUL NATIVES 
 
 ically they are good specimens of manhood. Mentally 
 they are far superior to most savage tribes. In their do- 
 mestic pursuits they are skilled to a degree that challenges 
 admiration. They are inventive, and out of the slender re- 
 sources of their native land they have gathered much that 
 would be accounted wealth if the arts of civilization had 
 not intruded. They have learned to tan the hides of the 
 seal LXid walrus into leather that is waterproof and resists 
 wear like iron. With it they construct their kyaks and 
 canoes and their summer dwellings. Out of the walrus 
 tusks they fashion implements of the chase, and ornament 
 them with faithful likenesses of the animals, birds, and fish 
 with which they are familiar. Ivory-carving is an art with 
 them. The women sew, and make the fur garments, and 
 boots and shoes that are worn by all. They are a merry 
 race, giving themselves up to pleasure completely when the 
 season for labor has passed. Honest and truthful to a de- 
 gree, they are trustful of the stranger, and hospitable, too, 
 though to the newcomer their hospitality is sometimes op- 
 j)re6sive. 
 
 The journey from St. Michael to the mouths of the 
 Yukon, and thence up its swift current, pushing a barge, 
 is a much longer and more serious task. We were fortunate 
 in connections, and the little stern-wheeler and barge were 
 soon loaded, ready to make the spurt across the sound. The 
 weather was caught in a favorable mood, and we were 
 quickly in the safer waters, where narrow banks like dikes 
 rise out of the sea and extend oceanward for miles, inclosing 
 the channel. 
 
 These narrow strips of land resemble great wharves or 
 breakwaters when seen from the ocean side. The practical 
 navigator anchors his craft in the lee of these banks to wait 
 
i 
 
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 2.3 
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 »..i H& i ff^5 »iM^Btoa»*;uam>it w nin h rj awu^-a'^ 
 
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 <!. 
 
BREASTING THE CURRENT 
 
 887 
 
 I !l 
 
 a favoring tide, and when it rises pushes his vessel forward 
 with all possible speed to cross the shallows at the entrance, 
 nor stops until the first station of the journey up the river 
 is reached at Kutlik. 
 
 Only at high tide, or when the river is very high, is it 
 safe to push loaded boats over these bars, for once caught 
 on them it may be a matter of weeks before the boat can 
 be got off and the journey resumed. There is more or less 
 of this all the way up the river. As one traveler expressed 
 it, " it is touch and go, or touch and not go," much of the 
 way. There can be no time-table. 
 
 The river proper is not generally entered until the 
 second day out from St. Michael. During all this time the 
 steamer has been winding in and out, seeming never to 
 directly approach the range of distant hills that marks the 
 beginning of the mainland, yet ever coming nearer through 
 the sinuous channel. Suddenly the steamer emerges from 
 the narrow and shallow way into a broad, swift-moving 
 current confined between something like banks, and point- 
 ing a long, straight, dreary course toward the mountains. 
 The pulse of the engines quicken, there is a straining of 
 timbers, and with quick leaps forward the steamer breasts 
 the mighty current, and backward from her bow the white 
 foam ourls as she rushes onward. 
 
 But it is up-hill work. Occasionally the strong ma- 
 chinery, which takes up most of the room in the boat, will 
 break down, and the machine shop, which has to be a fea- 
 ture of Yukon craft, is kept busy. Or perhaps the wood 
 gives out before a station is reached, and the crew, and, pos- 
 sibly, the passengers, are brought into service to cut a fresh 
 supply from the banks. As the little steamer puffs along 
 the incidents observed in coming down the river are re- 
 
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 nil 
 
 n 
 
 \l 
 
 INI 
 
 ! ; 
 
238 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OP THE RIVER ROUTE 
 
 \b 
 
 peated. The natives throng to ilie landings, and when vil- 
 lages are passed, the Indiana and dogs line the banks, in 
 picturesque confusion. There is a sort of delight in riding 
 swiftly down the current while these scenes are passing in 
 panorama, but in struggling up, day after day, the monot- 
 ony is tedious, though everyone tries to make the best of it. 
 
 There can be no question that the river route to the gold 
 regions of the upper Yukon, with all its drawbacks, and the 
 length of time it consumes, is the least dangerous, the easiest 
 and the most agreeable. It must in the future be made to 
 play a great part in the development of Alaska, and yet, 
 for commercial purposes, it is a hard nut to crack. It is a 
 strange river in a strange country. 
 
 If Alaska still belonged to Russia, and development had 
 to come from Kamschatka and Siberia, its position would 
 be right enough, but it is wrong end to for the United States. 
 Access to it involves the crossing of two turbulent seas, the 
 North Pacific and Bering Sea, three thousand miles to a far 
 northern point, then in a horseshoe route up and south 
 again, over a rapid current and shallow and shifting bed 
 that at the best has but little more than four months per 
 year of ticklish navigation. 
 
 Even with improved facilities it must always be expen- 
 sive business to carry freight so long a distance. All eflForts 
 to improve the channel must be wasted, because of the swift 
 nature of the river, which is continually pouring down silt 
 and constructing its own shallow channels. In some places 
 the navigable way is hero to-day and gone somewhere else 
 to-morrow. It is almost impossible to mark a channel at the 
 mouth, for the movement of the ice in Bering Sea is con- 
 tinually changing the depths at this point, so that what 
 might be the channel one season would not be the next. 
 
PLANS FOR THE WINTER 
 
 239 
 
 From this cause, and high winds making it too rough for 
 river steamers to cross the intervening eighty miles from St. 
 Michael to the mouth, there is much delay here, and it would 
 be impossible to fix regular dates of sailing. To deepen 
 one of the channels sufficiently to allow ocean vessels to 
 enter the mouth of the river would be very expensive, and 
 even when done could hardly be expected, under the con- 
 ditions, to be permanent. 
 
 In spite of all the difficulties, the transportation com- 
 panies have struggled nobly to provide for the necessities 
 of the increasing population at the mines, and it remains 
 the only way by which provisions can be carried in in large 
 quantities. To the people there these little river steamers 
 mean life, if winter is to be spent in the interior, and unless 
 winters are spent in the interior there can be no develop- 
 ment of the mines. It is then that the digging must be 
 done. 
 
 Meeting with generally favorable conditions on oiir 
 way up the river, we arrived at Circle City in good time. 
 Joe was down from the mines for another load of .supplies, 
 and he informed me that so far as he had worked the ground 
 where our claims were the prospects were good, and hr pro- 
 posed to stock up with provisions and continue thi' >> ,rk 
 through the winter. It seemed best for me to continue on 
 the steamer up to Forty Mile and seek to make some arrange- 
 ments, if possible, for the working of our claims there be- 
 fore returning to Circle City for the winter. So up the 
 river I went, little dreaming of the events which had thrown 
 the miners of the upper Yukon into a fever of excitement. 
 
1^ 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ll 
 
 fl 
 
 i 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ARRIVAL AT FORTY MILE — WONDERFUL STORIES OF 
 NEW DIGGINGS — HO! FOR THE KLONDIKE 1 — MAD 
 RUSH OF EXCITED GOLD-SEEEERS. 
 
 Something Has Happened — Forty Mile Almost Deserted — A Genuine 
 Stampede — The Discovery on the Thron-diuck or Klondilie — 
 Henderson's Find on Gold Bottom — He Returns for Provisions— 
 Meeting Cormack's F'shing Party — He Tells of His Discovery — 
 Cormack Concludes to Find Gold Bottom — Over the Trail — Re- 
 turns to His Fishing Cami.> — Prospects a Little on His Way — 
 Stumbles on a Good Pan on Bonanza Creek — Claims for Himself, 
 Tagish Charlie, and Tagish Jim — Siwash George's Reputation for 
 Truth and Veracity — Where Did He Get the Gold ? — Tremendous 
 Excitement — Forty Mile Deserted — Old Miners Lack Faith — 
 Skim Diggings — Highly-Colored Tales — I Conclude to Qr and 
 See for Myself — Poling Up Stream— Returning Prospectors Shoot 
 By Us— "It's a Big Thing, Boys " — Never Mind the Blisters — 
 Tired and Footsore -A Lively Camp — Trying to Sleep — Ten 
 Dollars to the Pan. 
 
 WHEN we reached Forty Mile it was at once appa- 
 rent that something had happened to that Uvely 
 little settlement with which we had become ac- 
 quainted a few weeks before on our swift trip down the 
 river. A great change had come over it, and we Wv.re not 
 long in discovering the reason. The greater part of the 
 place had vanished, moved bag and baggage to the " Thron- 
 diuck," the moose valley forty miles above. It was here 
 that we heard the story of the " Klondike " discovery. 
 
 There is some dissimilarity in the accounts of how the 
 
 (240) 
 
 I 
 
 y \ 
 
THE DAUNTLESS THREE 
 
 241 
 
 discovery waa made, but the most reliable seems to show 
 that the credit for it in the first instance should be given to 
 three men, Robert Henderson, a Canadian, a native of 
 Prince Edward Island, Frank Swanson, a Norwegian, and 
 another man named Munson, who, in ^uly, 1896, were pros- 
 pecting on Indian Creek, which, as will be observed by the 
 map, empties into the Yukon some twenty-five miles above 
 the Klondike. 
 
 They pioceeded up the creek withom finding sufficient 
 to satisfy them until they reached Dominion Creek, and 
 after prospecting there they crossed over the divide and 
 found Gold Bottom, Avhere they got good prospects and 
 went to work. Gold Bottom is a little creek whose head- 
 waters are very close to Dominion Creek. It flows north- 
 ward, emptying into another creek, which, in turn, empties 
 into the Klondike about twelve miles from its mouth. It is 
 said that the attention of these prospectors was first directed 
 to Gold Bottom by the stories told by Indian fishermen. 
 But these stories had often been told, and little confidence 
 was placed in the acuteness of the Indians of this region in 
 noticing traces of the yellow metal. 
 
 The prospectors kept at work for some days with results 
 that seemed promising, but, provisions running short, Hen- 
 derson retraced his steps to the mouth of Indian Creek, 
 leaving the other two at work. From the mouth of Indian 
 Creek he went up to Sixty Mile, but failing to obtain a sup- 
 ply there he had to make for Forty Mile. On 1 he way down 
 he passed an old mining comrade named George W. Cor- 
 mack, a native of California, who had associated with him 
 two Indians, Tagish Jim and Tagish Charlie, natives of the 
 upper waters of the Yukon. Cormack was what is known 
 as a " squaw man," having, like many other pioneers in the 
 
 li 
 
243 
 
 THE CAMP OF "SIWASH GEORGE 
 
 *: 
 
 country, married an Indian woman, and thus having be- 
 come more closely associated with the "Stick'* Indian ways. 
 He was commonly called '' Siwash George." With his In- 
 dian associates he had been fishing near the mouth of the 
 Klondike for some days, but without much success, as the 
 salmon did not run up well in the summer of 1896. He 
 had heard r*-oriea uf the Indians as to traces of gold on the 
 creeks emptying into the Klondike, but like most of the old- 
 timers had paid little attention to them, and in his Indian 
 life had looked upon the salmon season as a time when the 
 energies must be expended in laying up a store of fish for the 
 winter. 
 
 The scene as Henderson came drifting down the rapid- 
 flowing Yukon towards the little camp near the mouth of 
 the Klondike, where Cormack and his associates were con- 
 ducting their unsuccessful fishing operations, may'be easily 
 imagined. Here with majestic swiftness the great river rolls 
 between its steep banks, on which plants and flowers flourish 
 in the colors and exuberance characteristic of a Yukon 
 simimer. To the voyager it was a weird, picturesque scene, 
 as the sun cast a flood of light on the sweeping river and the 
 steep mountains, fringed with green and tipped with streaks 
 of white, and fell brightly on the camp of Cormack, his In- 
 dians, and his dogs. An opportunity for a brief companion- 
 ship in these solitudes is seldom missed, and Henderson 
 steered to the camp, where items of news were exchanged. 
 
 It is one of the articles of the miners code that he shall 
 proclaim all discoveries made by him as soon as possible, 
 and Henderson, who had alr(>ady dropped the word to a few 
 at Sixty Mile, to which place he had first gone for pro- 
 visions, biit withoiit success, at once advised Cormack of the 
 discovery on Gold Bottom, and advised him to try there. 
 
 *'»*j*»*.«i"^. 
 
FINDING A BONANZA 
 
 343 
 
 Making inquiries of the local Indians as to the situation of 
 Gold Bottom, Cormack learned the route to it, and, along 
 with the two Indians mentioned, started, climbing over the 
 ridge which div^ides the valley of the Yukon from the valley 
 of the creek now called Bonanza, down into that creek and 
 up it to the rich stream now known as Eldorado. It was a 
 rough, agonizing journey, but Cormack and his Indians 
 were hardened to such conditions. They went up it about 
 three miles and then followed the ridge dividing its waters 
 from those of Bonanza until they struck the watershed 
 between Indian Creek and Klondike, along which they trav- 
 eled until they reached the head of the creek that they as- 
 sumed to be the Gold Bottom. They went down, found 
 Swanson and Munson at work, but Cormack was not sat- 
 isfied with the pro=|)ects therf>. They were faiF, but not 
 sufficient to justify the conclusion that placers of exceeding 
 richness laj'^ in streaks under the frozen soil. Often had 
 prospectors been tempted into these hills only to work their 
 way out in disg'ast to seek provisions. Cormack determined 
 to return to his fishing, prospecting the creek from its head 
 downwards, as it lay In the direction of his camp. 
 
 He found nothing of note until he came down about 
 midway, where from a little nook in a bend of the creek ho 
 panned out a good prospect. This enco>. raged him to try 
 again. He did so, and in a few moments panned out twelve 
 dollars and seventy-five cents, which he put in an old cart- 
 ridge shell and corked with a piece of stick. This Avas on 
 August 10, 1896. Tlie next day he staked discovery claim 
 and 'No. 1 below for himself, No, 2 for Tagish Charlie, and 
 No. 1 above for Tagish Jim. He then made his way down 
 the creek as fast as possible and went down the river for a 
 
 supply of provisions. 
 15 
 
244 
 
 THE STAMPEDE FROM FORTY MILE 
 
 On the way he met several miners and informed them of 
 his discovery. At first they Vvould not believe him, as his 
 reputation for truth was not above par. These miners said 
 they could not tell when he was telling the truth, if he ever 
 was. Yet there was no question about the man having 
 the twelve dollars and seventy -five cents in gold. The only 
 question, then, was. Where did he get it? He had not been 
 up the Sixt}' Mile, nor yet the Forty Mile, and he must have 
 got it somewhere near where he was engaged in fishing, and 
 that was right at the mouth of the Klondike. There must 
 be gold there somewhere. 
 
 Then followed the excitement. It takes very little to 
 start a stampede of miners. Boatload after boatload of men 
 went up from Forty Mile. They went up any how and 
 any way, starting at all times of the day and night. Men 
 who had been drunk for weeks and weeks, in fact, were 
 tumbled into the boats and taken up without any knowledge 
 that they were travelers. One man, it was related, was so 
 drunk that he did not realize that ne had left Forty Mile 
 imtil he was more than two-thirds of the way to the Klon- 
 dike. Yet this same man is settled on one of the best of 
 claims. 
 
 In less than three days every boat had gone from Fort 
 Cudahy and the town of Forty Mile, and only enough 
 people were left to watch the business houses and the police 
 barracks, while a few who could not obtain boats were act- 
 ing in the most distracted manner. l^To one knew anything 
 about the richness of the new discoveries; they only knew 
 that a man had been there and had come away with a few 
 gold nuggets. 
 
 I knew enough of miners' stampedes not to be greatly 
 interested in the new development at Forty Mile. I was 
 
 
BIG PANS 
 
 245 
 
 aware that there had been at that place a lot of miners who 
 had been having poor luck, and leading a very unsatisfac- 
 tory existence. They were the bluest of the blue, for they 
 had been tramping over the rough trails in the country 
 back from the Yukon in the hopes of making a strike, had 
 failed, and were, as the winter season approached, com- 
 pletely disgusted with the country. Those who had been 
 working for wages in some of the paying mines were better 
 off, but the moment the Klondike news came they threw up 
 their jobs, and some owners of the mines on Forty .Mile 
 either stopped work or sold out their claims, and departed 
 with the rest. A large number of them rushed off ^vithout 
 provisions or the means to obtain them. 
 
 Very soon Pome of these came dowTi the river, having 
 located claims, and then it was learned there was really 
 
 something on the Klondike worth traveliiig after. ' It's a 
 big thing," they said. "Everybody is finding ' ^ pans," 
 They were speaking comparatively, for none of the . eally 
 big finds had been made as yet. The surface pan? were 
 large as compared with those that the miners had been ac- 
 customed to in the region. It was easy enough to find gold, 
 but the thing was to find it fast enough to pay. A " grub- 
 stake " strike, by which one might succeed in obtaining a 
 winter's outfit, was something. All the returned miners 
 could say was that the surface was good, and " if it went 
 down it would be the biggest thing on earth." There was 
 a belief among those remaining at Forty Mile that they were 
 only what are called " skim diggings." This impression 
 was intensified by a few old miners who had come back 
 either in disgust or highly skeptical. They said the 
 valley was too wide, that the willows did not lean the right 
 way, and that the waters did not taste right. It was simply 
 
 
i;!, 
 
 I 
 
 846 
 
 STARTING FOR THE KLONDIKE 
 
 another crazy stampede. Some of them did not even wait 
 to stake out a claim, while others staked them and sold them 
 for what they could get, thinking themselves in luck to do 
 that. The creek had been staked principally by " chee- 
 chacoes," as the Indians call them, or tenderf eet. So little 
 faith was shown at Forty Mile that some of the claim- 
 holders could not obtain " grub " at the stores in exchange 
 for tlieir prospects. 
 
 But more and more highly colored tales began to come 
 down, though no one, so far as we could hear, had reached 
 bed-rock as yet, and I determined that I would put out and 
 see for myself. I knew it would be an impossibility for one 
 man to work a boat up the rapid Yukon, so I picked out a 
 helper, with whom I was well acquainted, from among the 
 feverish throng that were waiting for a chance to go up. 
 We threw a tent, a stove, and a month's provisions into a 
 boat, and started off, but before we had got far we overtook 
 two men who insisted that their happiness in this world, 
 and, perhaps, in the next, depended upon our taking them 
 along with us. They would pull the boat, do anything, if 
 we would only let them come in. So we did. 
 
 Working up stream with a loaded boat is a laborious 
 undertaking. The current is too swift to permit of rowing 
 or paddling except for occasional short stretches, and so we 
 had to pole most of the way, and when that failed we had 
 to tow or " trick " the boat along. These two men would- 
 grasp the tow line and pull with all their strength, for they 
 were anxious to make the best time possible, but neither of 
 them were experts in handling a boat in the peculiar 
 methods required on the Yukon. My brief summer's ex- 
 perience, however, had been of value to me, and we worked 
 along in fair order, but most of the time in a drizzling rain. 
 
NO WILD GOOSE CHASE 
 
 247 
 
 It was very dismal. We camped wherever the lengthening 
 nights overtook us, and generally on a gravelly bank, for 
 the heavy moss on the top of the banks overlooking the river 
 is full of water. We ate hurriedly, slept little, and hour 
 after hour dragged the tow line over rough places on the 
 shore, the boat all the time pulling a dead weight against us. 
 
 Long before we reached the Klondike many boats passed 
 us loaded with men who had been to the new diggings and 
 were returning for provisions. They shot by us gaily in a 
 five-mile current in strange contrast to the men on the tow 
 line, who, with blistered feet, were slipping and sprawling 
 along the rocks on the bank. 
 
 " Hurry up, boys. It's a great thing! " they shouted 
 as they shot past, as if we could hurry any faster against that 
 current. 
 
 " Five dollars to the pan, boys," shouted another, " but 
 take it easy, for there's lots of good claims there," and we 
 pulled away on the tow line harder than ever. 
 
 " Hello, Bill, is that you? " came a voice from another 
 boat later on, and I recognized a man with whom I had be- 
 come acquainted on the trip in, and who had stopped at 
 Forty Mile. " It looks good," he shouted. " Yes, I've 
 staked. Will sell for one hundred dollars, for there are 
 more claims there. Take some grub over the mountains 
 and look arouud a little. I'll be back shortly." 
 
 I made up my mind that it was no wild goose chase. I 
 could take that man's word, for he was an old miner, and 
 not easi'.y deceived. " It must be a big thing." I said to 
 my companions, a id they pulled and poled with renewed 
 energy. How cxaspcratin^f a five-mile current can be 
 when it is against one, and there is gold at the other end! 
 Never niind the blisters on the feet and the sore hands! 
 
 i 
 
us 
 
 GOLD SEEKERS ON THE BEACH 
 
 Never mind stopping to eat I We munched crackers and 
 kept on pulling and poling. 
 
 On the third evening we reached the little native village 
 at the mouth of the Klondike. When Joe and I had gone 
 past there in the early summer there had been but two white 
 men in the village. Now they were camped all about the 
 banks. We were too tired and footsore to attempt to go 
 over the mountains that night, so we put up the tent and 
 dragged our boat up on the beach. Some of the men who 
 were camped there had been over the trail, and had come 
 down for more provisions which they had left in caches, or 
 in the native huts, Avhile some were bound down the river to 
 Forty Mile, like those we had passed on the way. Others 
 had just arrived and, like ourselves, were waiting to go 
 over the trail. We had a bite, a little hot coffee, and then 
 a pipe, then sat and listened to the stories of those who had 
 been in. These stories, however, did not agree. Some said 
 they were not coming back, that the Klondike couldn't 
 " hold a candle " to Forty Mile Creek, others spoke of big 
 strikes, but we were shown little gold. They had just 
 staked out their claims and were going back for supplies. 
 
 All night the boats kept arriving and pulling up on the 
 gravelly beach. They came from Sixty Mile, Stewart 
 River — from everywhere in this part of the Yukon valley, 
 and when we wondered how they came to hear of it we 
 found that they had beon sent for by their friends on the 
 stream. The natives had been used as messengers. 
 
 Then we were startled by a wild whoop like a Comanche 
 yell from the brow of the first rise of the mountain over 
 which the trail comes from Bonanza. Then came a volley of 
 yells, and a stranger would have thought that a whole band 
 of savages were pouring down the hill after us. We looked 
 
 !.T?T''^> 
 
 .I JW i«i.. «i ^ .^ 
 
EXCITING NEWS 
 
 249 
 
 up through the bushes to see the rocks tumbling and rolling 
 down with them. The veils increased; and rocks and men 
 came dowTi favSter and faster till they reached the bottom a 
 few yards away. Of course we knew what was up. They 
 had just come iu from the creek. We were up and shout- 
 ing, too. 
 
 " How is it? •' everybody asked as the men came nearer. 
 
 " Ten dollars to the pan, right in the bank of the creek 
 on No. 11." 
 
 " Above or below? " 
 
 " Oh, below, of course. Nobody has done any panning 
 above." 
 
 It is, of course, understood that when a discovery is made 
 on a creek that claim is called " Discovery Claim," the next 
 above is calle " '' No. 1, above," the next one down tztrcam 
 " No. 1, below," and so on as far as claims are made either 
 up or down. 
 
 The little camp of scattered tents was at once alive with 
 eager men. The returning miners were seized and button- 
 holed, to use a polite expression which is sometimes out of 
 place in Alaska for want of buttons. More wood was 
 thrown on the fire, the coffee-pot was put where it would boil 
 quickly, and the frying pan was soon doing its duty, while 
 the visitors squatted around and were pumped for informa- 
 tion. 
 
 We were told that three men on Bonanza Creek worked 
 out seventy-five dollars in four hours, and that a twelve- 
 dollar nugget had bee^; found. Nothing had yet been done 
 except to pan, though two men with two lengths of sluice 
 boxes had taken out four thousand dollars. The gold is 
 coarse. That was enough to set the miners wild. 
 
 It was evident, from the ferocity with which the men 
 
 l( 
 
260 
 
 PILGRIMS OP THE NIGHT 
 
 attacked the solid food, and poured down the boiling-hot 
 black coffee, that the trip to the creek was not exactly a 
 picnic, though they say it is ** fair." We knew enough to 
 know that in Alaska that word applies to any place where a 
 man can go without breaking his neck. 
 
 In a little while I saw a few men slipping away from the 
 small crowd clustered about the fire, and in a few minutes 
 the sound of stones and rocks rolling down the mountain 
 side was heard again. But there were no yells. No one 
 was returning. Here and there a man had slipped away 
 and strapped on his pack, and was climbing upward, cling- 
 ing to the small bushes, working slowly, but going on per- 
 sistently. They could not wait a moment after hearing the 
 stories of those wonderful pans. 
 
 I knew we were too tired and footsore to attempt to 
 make the climb till morning. If we had attempted it we 
 should probably have had to stop somewhere on the moun- 
 tains without water. Still, we regretted that we could not 
 push on. My companions showed no signs of being sleepy, 
 although I knew they needed rest like myself. Finally we 
 got into the tent, rolled ourselves in our blankets, and tried 
 to sleep, but every once in a while another boat would scrape 
 on the gravelly beach, and more men would come up and 
 cook a meal, or hurriedly shoulder their packs and scramble 
 on up the steep trail. 
 
 While I lay there, almost ready to drop off and forget 
 about the wonderful pans, I heard a noise in the tent. Some 
 one was moving about. But I recogn: «ed the sound. I 
 have already related a few facts concerning the Alaskan 
 dog, and there is no mistaking that peculiar, gentle sound of 
 a pan being licked by a " huskie." I picked up a hatchet 
 and threw it at the dark object, but it did not hit him. 
 
 P 
 
 irin^c^^ski^iBu. 
 
MISSING THE MARK 
 
 251 
 
 Nothing but a rifle ball would hit one of these dogs. The 
 hatchet made a big hole in the tent, but time was too 
 precious to waste in sewing it up. 
 
 Finally, I fell asleep, only to be awakened by more boats 
 grinding on the gravel, more Comanche yells, more men 
 clambering up the mountain, more stones rolling down to 
 the beach. 
 
 ^' i 
 
 s& 
 
CHAPTEK XVII 
 
 MY FIRST TRAMP IN THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS — 
 WHAT A PLACE FOR GOLD! — A PEEP INTO THE 
 SLUICE BOXES -I STAKE A CLAIM. 
 
 Preparations for a Start — Over the Mountain into the Swamps — A 
 Hard Tramp — Cranberries to Quench Thirst — A Mysterious Pup 
 — The Klondilie Valley from the Summit — Glimpse of the Arctic 
 Rockies— "All the Goold in the Worruld"— An Old Story — 
 Hurrying On — On Bonanza Creek at Last — Calculating the Dis- 
 tance — Blowing a Little — Looking for Henry Ward Beecher — A 
 Disgusted Irishman — Too Tired to Keep On — A Look at the 
 Gravelly Bar — I form a Poor Opinion — Ready to Change My 
 Mind — Too Tired to Care — Forgetting One's Name — Chilled 
 Through — Nuggets Fished Out with a Shovel — Washing Out 
 the Gold — Objects of Suspicion — Pushing on for a Claim — Indi- 
 cations Do Not Count — I Stake My Claim — Starting Back in the 
 Rain — Over the Trail Again — Our Turn to Yell. 
 
 BY the time daylight had found its way into the valley 
 our breakfast was disposed of, and the dishes set 
 away out of the reach of the dogs. We cached 
 most of our provisions, and fixed in small packs what we 
 deemed necessary for the next few days. Then we set out 
 over the trail, taking our turn at tearing up the little bushes, 
 and making the stones rattle down the mountain side. I 
 had become accustomed to climbs of this character during 
 the summer, and, difficult as it was, I could by this time re- 
 gard it as quite the usual thing. My companions also had 
 good muscles and lungs, and made no complaint. Besides, 
 
 (252) 
 
A YUKON BERRY PASTURE 
 
 968 
 
 there were those stories about those wonderful pans of gold, 
 and there was no time to lose — at least, that was the way 
 we all felt about it 
 
 After going half a mile or so the trail became less pre- 
 cipitous, and undulated through a patch of wind-swept 
 spruce and cottonwood. The ground was covered with 
 moss of that large variety which lies all over the Yukon 
 valley and hills, while everywhere were clumps of cran- 
 berry bushes, the berries being just in their prime. Huckle- 
 berry bushes also abounded. In a little while we came 
 to a swamp with a wealth of hummocks. The water in 
 the trail was over ankle-deep, but there was no use trying 
 to walk outside of it, so we splashed along, and soon came 
 to comparatively dry ground again. Some of my com- 
 panions grew very thirsty and looked about for water, but 
 none was to be seen. That in the swamp was not fit to 
 drink. On we went, picking a few cranberries by the way 
 to relieve thirst, and causing the grouse to fliitter from 
 among the bushes, for berry time is their feasting season. 
 
 We met a returning party, and were told that we should 
 find a spring just before we reached the summit, but we 
 forgot our thirst a moment while they told more tales of 
 the great strikes of gold on the creek. We pushed on, 
 finding no spring; others came down the trail, and some 
 overtook us. We saw a down-trail man take an up-trail 
 man to one side and evidently whisper some advice. Once 
 I heard the word " pup " mentioned. In Yukon parlance 
 that meaps " gulch." Every creek has its pups, and if any 
 of them become of considerable importance they may have 
 pups also. The natural conclusion was that some of the 
 prospectors had struck it rich on one of the pups of the 
 Bonanza. Of course, I was then in utter ignorance of the 
 
!■ 
 
 254 
 
 THE GATEWAY OP THE KLONDIKE 
 
 ) 
 
 
 ■^ ■ 
 
 nature and locality of that particular pup. The world waa 
 to learn about it later on. 
 
 We finally reached the longed-for spring, and indulged 
 in a little rest, for we greatly needed it. People never 
 know what work is till they have followed an Indian trail 
 in Alaska for half a day. As we hurried on again to the 
 summit we encountered returning men about every half 
 mile, and they told of rich prospects being found in different 
 places along the creek. Some of them thought they existed 
 only in spots and on the rim-rock,* others were sure the creek 
 was good from source to mouth. Now and then one assured 
 us that it was all a fraud, and that the men who claimed to 
 have got big pans never got them. These pessimistic pros- 
 pectors always looked weary and fagged out, and I knew 
 they had had no breakfast, and perhaps had no supper the 
 night before, and probably did not sleep much. In the 
 first place, doubtless, they had met poor luck in panning the 
 surface dirt, and, being without provisions, they had 
 naturally taken a very gloomy view of the whole subject. 
 
 On the summit we dropped down exhausted and took 
 another rest. As we toiled upward the trees had become 
 fewer, more scrubby and wind-swept, and at the top they 
 permitted a view of what lay about us. The Klondike 
 Valley made a beautiful picture in the foreground. We 
 looked up the valley and could see the windings of the 
 silvery thread of water for fifty miles, and where it came 
 out of a gateway in the mountains fully one j^housand feet 
 in depth, with the two sides so exactly alike and so evenly 
 inclined that one could hardly help believing this to be an 
 engineering feat of the Titans. Beyond this, and one 
 
 • Rim-rock, 
 of former ay^es. 
 lated. 
 
 The edges of the channels worn away in the rocks by streams 
 Within these channels the auriferous detritus was accumn- 
 
 ^^ 
 
THE SNOWY GRANDEUR OF THE ROCKIES 
 
 265 
 
 hundred miles on either side of the round-top|)ed moun- 
 tains wliich form the foothills cf the Rockies now, but did 
 not once, as they are evidently a more recent fonnation and 
 upheaval, lay the Rockies, peaked and pinnacled and jagged 
 beyond description. Every ravine visible could be traced 
 by its string-like glacier, and as you followed one upward 
 with your eye you could see the side ravines coming in like 
 branches of a tree. In some cases these branches are suf- 
 ficiently numerous to give the appearance of an outline 
 drawing in chalk of a leafless tree. 
 
 I suppose if one should live constantly where such views 
 were ever before his eyes, they would become commonplace 
 enough. When at home in Vermont I used to hear of 
 people who seemed to be overcome by the majesty of the 
 White Mountains, and who, sitting on a rock on Mt. Wash- 
 ington,would break out with one of David's majestic psalms. 
 What would they do in the Arctic Rockies ? They are 
 wonderful, when one stops to look and to think, but these 
 men who were passing up and down over the trail seldom 
 did such a thing as that. Big pans of gold ! That is the 
 vision before them, and one who lies tired, bruised, and 
 footsore at the summit, looking off on the wonderful scene, 
 cannot help but wish that the Creator had put all the gold 
 away down deep in the bowels of the earth, where man Avould 
 never have known of it. Doubtless it was a foolish thought, 
 for that yellow metal will work wonders on the mind which 
 may be unaffected by a view of these snowy billows of the 
 Arctic Rockies. The Indians have been going over such 
 trails all their days, and yet they are the dullest, dirtiest, 
 most unemotional creatures under the sun. 
 
 But we must move on ! T^ever mind the mountains ! 
 It was to seek the golden creek and its pups that we were 
 
 i,Tii»>*||'' 
 
256 
 
 A GOLDEN LEGEND 
 
 t\ 
 
 '•limbing over these rocks, and we forced our tired muscles 
 into action and again struck into the trail. 
 
 After winding along on the summit for about a mile, 
 we began the descent, which is gradual for a half mile and 
 thea becomes steep, then steeper, and, further on, most 
 stee^.. Again we were clinging to the bushes and rattling 
 down the rocks. As we descended the rain Degan to fall 
 — one of those Alaskan drizzles, in which water takes the 
 place of the atmosphere. jSTature does nothing by halves 
 here. The trail became very wet, soft and slippery, and we 
 slid and rolled along till someone declared that he must 
 rest. All were willing, and we crawled under the limbs 
 of the largest spruce we could find and tried to keep out of 
 the range of the drops from its branches. 
 
 Presently we heard someone struggling up the trail. 
 Soon a rough and jovial fellow of Hibernian mould came 
 into view. 
 
 " Are ye there, b'yes, and have ye ary a match f^ 
 
 We had. 
 
 " And which way might ye's T^e goin' ? " he asked, as he 
 drew at a pipe of over-moist tobacco. 
 
 We pointed down the moimtain. 
 
 "To Bonanza, is it? Begorry, ye'r right. I'm after 
 thinking all the goold in the worruld is down there, but it's 
 a domned rough rounthry." 
 
 Oh, yes; he had a claim, but he had not worked it. He 
 took one as near to the discovery as he could, set up his 
 stakes, and ran for provisions, like most of the otherc7. He 
 had no idea what tliere was in the dirt he had stakeil off, 
 and he would not have for Avwks. even if he worked, but — 
 " all the gold in the world was there." T had heard of such 
 places before. He told us to hurry, as there were many 
 
 'i. 
 
 
 mw«*i!EMK55«S5BiE..^ 
 
UNPROMISING BONANZA CREEK 
 
 257 
 
 ahead of ns, and then he puffed along up the trail, and wc 
 straightened up and slid and tumbled along down. It did 
 not matter if the rocks were a little hard and sharp when 
 a slip was made and one of us came down with undue haste. 
 We were going to a place where there was all the gold in the 
 the world. An old story. 
 
 Finally we reached the bottom, our necks still unbroken. 
 We were not at Bonanza yet. It was only one of her pups 
 which crossed the trail, something as yet of no consequence. 
 We brewed a little tea and ate some bread, that is, we called— 
 it bread. '* Anything goes," as the gold hunters say, in 
 Alaska, 
 
 Soon we pushed on towards the creek, the trail being 
 ankle-deep, and more, with slush and mud. It was one of 
 thope tandra bottoms, which at a distance have such a fine 
 agricjltural aspect, a tract of " niggerheads," and to walk 
 across such a place is one of the most fatiguing exercises 
 a man can take. Finally, after a mile or so of it, we arrived 
 at Bonanza Creek. It looked very little like a gold-bearing 
 stream. ;V little washed gravel could be seen, but few 
 glimpses of quartz were to be had, and there was nothing 
 at a)i that an old miner would call an indication. It was 
 no wonder that prospectors had waded and tumbled over 
 these places and left them in disgust to the Indian hunters 
 and fishermen. We said to ourselves that if anyone had 
 got ten dollars to the pan out of this stuff, ther^ ought to be 
 a million tons of gold within twenty miles of such a place. 
 
 Wo ^ot out of the trail — if there was ouo — and had 
 to wade the creek and walk the banks; then wade again, 
 and so on very slowly, watching the location notices. At 
 last we found one, !N"o. 64, which told us the distance to 
 "Discovery Claim, for ten and a half claims make a mile. 
 
258 
 
 A DISCOURAGED TENDERFOOT 
 
 iV 
 
 That means about six miles, on paper, but several times 
 that on foot. 
 
 We plodded on, climbed over rocks, slid down rocks, 
 tumbled up against rocks, and met two men. 
 
 " Rovj far is it staked ? " I asked, in a weary and dis- 
 gusted way. 
 
 " Why, my number is 45 ; several men ahead of you ; just 
 stop at Discovery and look in the sluice box; two Si washes 
 packing dirt in buckets; George shoveling tailings." 
 
 George Cormack, as I have said, was the di-K">verer of 
 gold on Bonanza Creek. We thought we would stop and 
 look in the boxes, if we ever got there. 
 
 The men passed on, and we toiled ahead over a I'ng 
 tundra bottom. A man ought to find " all the gold in the 
 world " to compensate him for such a tramp. The moun- 
 tain trail was a positive delight to this. 
 
 " Say, let's blow a little," exclaimed one of our com- 
 pany. 
 
 Certainly I was willing to " blow " a whole lot - - in- 
 definitely. 
 
 A venerable Irishman, apparently a tenderfoot, came 
 plodding along, falling over hummocks and sinking knee- 
 deep in the mud beneath the weight of a heavy pack. Alto- 
 gether he presented a most discouraged and disconsolate ap- 
 p arance. 
 
 " 'Av ye's seen onything of thot man Beecher ? " he 
 asked, as he came up. 
 
 " What Beecher ? " 
 
 " Hinry Wa-r-r-d Beecher." 
 
 " No. What do you want of him ? " 
 
 " I'd loike to shpake wid 'im wan minnit. They do be 
 tellin' me he wunst said there was no hell," and he dropptnl 
 
 • «»« « a « wwg M B f r»r:^IW8fc' — Tnfyaw^Wf- ■'-n—'P— ^'^^Wm'^^HIM»I^H^T-~*" 
 
WAY-WORN PILGRIMS. 
 
 259 
 
 his heavy pack and wiped the dripping perspiration from his 
 flushed face. 
 
 " Is it gold ye's do be afther here ? " he then a^ked. 
 
 " Yes," I replied, with as little enthusiasm as i)ossible. 
 
 " All the saints help ye ! " and he shouldered his pack 
 again with a sigh and groan. 
 
 The last number noticed was somewhere in the twenties; 
 two miles and more from George's. One of the men said 
 he could go no further that night. I looked at him and 
 thought so too. lie insisted that we should go on and leave 
 him, but right down in my heart I felt like doing nothing 
 of the kind. I was tired enough myself. He looked 
 thoroughly exhausted, and I doubted if he would have had 
 the strength to make a fire if we left him. It was almost 
 dark. 
 
 I could have crawled under a rock, under anything, and 
 gone to sleep at once, but his condition required a warm 
 fire and a hot drink. So we got wood, not particularly dry, 
 made a roaring fire on a sandy spot, and browed a pot of 
 tea. Then we shoved our feet to the fire and meditated. 
 
 I thought after a while that I was rested a little, but 
 when I tried to get up I could hardly stand. I wanted to 
 take a look at a gravelly bar a few yards away before it 
 became too dark, so I hobbled down to it, and found nothing 
 but comminuted micaceous schist, with some glassy quartz, 
 such as is always associated with these stratified schists in 
 sheets and inten^ening layers. The mica was muscovite. 
 and T thought the whole arrangement must Iwlong to the 
 Silurian age; that is, I thought so when I was too tired to 
 think clearly about anything. T might change my mind 
 when I could see the rocks adjoining these schists. But 
 it was a matter of indifference to me whether I changed my 
 1« 
 
 itm i^.VK. ^ 
 
iw 
 
 ! » 
 
 1 
 
 h 
 
 m \ 
 
 260 
 
 DESPONDENCY OF WEARINESS 
 
 mind or not. If I did, all I felt like asking was that I could 
 do it lying do^^^l. I began to believe that I wouldn't stand 
 up for anything — not even for my native land. What a 
 place for gold ! 
 
 When I startet^ out, I regretted that Joe was not with 
 me to share in the fortunes of the great strik«^^ but it would 
 have taken many days to reach him and to return. Besides, 
 I knew that as soon as these stories reached Circle City there 
 would be another rn?h. My best lay was to push in and get 
 a claim, and let Joe keep on working his. But now I Avas 
 glad Joe was on Birch Creek. Any one who had seen the 
 diggings on Forty Mile, and on the tributaries of Birch 
 Creek, Avould think all these fellows running up this Klon- 
 dike waste had been driven out of their wits by the mos- 
 quitoes. I could dig a hole two feet deep in this stuff with 
 my hands, and the quicksand would run right in and fill it 
 up. Who would think that su3h loose stuff was full of 
 gold ', I thought to myself that I would not wash a pan of 
 it if the owner would give it to me ; but I was ignorant as to 
 who the owner was, and too tired to care. I hobbled back 
 to the fire and thought some more. We were all thinking 
 or trying not to think. No one said a word. 
 
 I spoke to one of them twice before he answered. He 
 remarked that he guessed he had forgotten his own name. I 
 was not surprised. lie was t«o tired to remember such a 
 trifle. One by one they rolled themselves up to sleep 
 almost anywhei'e. I looked around for a soft spot, threw 
 my blankets down, and myself upon them. As I dozed off 
 the words of the Irishman we had met on the mountain, 
 " All the goold in the worruld is there," ran through my 
 brain and gradually faded into indistinctness as sleep over- 
 came me. 
 
A POCKETFUL OF NUGGETS 
 
 261 
 
 We awoke just as the daylight was beginning to work 
 its way into the valley, and fomd that we were chilled 
 through. A white frost spread over everything, but after 
 f). cup of hot tea and a little bread we felt better. Sleep had 
 done us some good and we moved on up the trail, making 
 very good speed — as speed goes on an Alaskan trail. About 
 a mile from George's we met more men, and one of them 
 pointed to a spot where he had washed a dollar from a pan 
 of the loose stuff he called gravel. It did not appear to 
 have a washed pebble in it. But they had washed it out, 
 and, like so many others, were rushing back after pro- 
 visions. 
 
 At last we reached Discovery claim, where George was 
 at work. We took a look in the sluice boxes, and there was 
 certainly plenty of gold there. Some one asked him why 
 he was shoveling the tailings up on to the hillside, and he re- 
 plied that there was five dollars to the pan where the tailings 
 dropped, the tailings, be it understood, being the refuse dirt 
 falling at the end of the sluice. He put his hand in one of 
 his poekf^ts and drew out three nuggets worth about twenty- 
 five dollars. 
 
 " Fished 'em out of the bottom of the creek with a 
 shovel," he said. 
 
 " Jimminy-crickets," observed one of my companions. 
 
 1 thought so, too. 
 
 " Well, I'll be hanged," said another newcomer. He 
 looked like a fit subject for the operation. Still, we all did, 
 for that matter. After one has traveled a little in the 
 moose tracks of such a region as this, he cannot step out into 
 a civilized community in the same clothes without being an 
 object of suspicion. 
 
 We picked up our blankets and what little we had left 
 
 a>! wt* < M i wrafR ' r>^ , r:i,"i er„. 
 
I 
 
 262 
 
 INSPIRITING REPORTS 
 
 
 to eat, for we had shared with those who passed us on the 
 trail, with hardly enough to keep them alive, a good deal of 
 what we started with. They were in a hurry and had al- 
 ready staked out their claims. We walked back a ways to 
 cache the remnant, far enough, one would suppose, to be 
 oat of the reach of the dogs at Discovery claim, but if we 
 had stopped to think, we were aware that the dogs would get 
 at it, no matter how far we went, unless it was put up high 
 enough. Still one always has a natural disposition to avoid 
 building a cache right over a dog's nose. This done, we 
 started on and found it very much easier without our packs. 
 The creek bottom gradually became wider and the hills on 
 either side lower, and it was plainly to be seen that the 
 greater part of the rush into the region had been along 
 there. It was fair to presume, therefore, that the best pay- 
 dirt would be found there, but I thought to myself that 
 there is no telling in such a field as this. Indications do 
 not indicate, in the Klondike. The only thing to do is to 
 stake anywhere. 
 
 After a while we met more men, who said that the creek 
 was at least staked up above 60. One man informed us 
 that he obtained twenty-five cents to the pan on 60. The 
 trail wound along over acres of tundra flats, and I thought 
 what a fine moose pasture it was, and expected to see a 
 moose, but they had evidently been frightened away by all 
 these people rushing in here and digging in the dirt. There 
 were plenty of moose tracks. 
 
 As we passed along I noticed a pu^j which seemed to 
 have a more inviting look for a gold-seeker. It certainly 
 appeared more like a gold stream, but, of course, like all the 
 rest at first, we rushed with the herd. Before we got to the 
 fork we met more men and learned that it was staked up 
 
TAKING THE CHANCES 
 
 263 
 
 into the seventies. The trail did not reach above the forks. 
 Even the moose had deemed it wise to go somewhere else. 
 
 At last we came to the end of the claims and added ours, 
 blazing trees, and putting up our notices. Then we rested 
 a little, and looked around. We had no pans, and, in fact, 
 did not think of washing out any gold. It was all a chance. 
 Gold might be there and it might not. It certainly looked 
 little like it. Then we started back and reached our caches 
 at dusk in a rainstorm, built a fire, cooked what we thought 
 would appease our appetites, rigged up a blanket tent, and 
 went to sleep. "We had seen the place where there is " all 
 the goold in the worruld." 
 
 We felt much better — tolerably well in the morning. 
 We were all foot-sore, but a little breakfast — all that we 
 had left — with some strong coffee, straightened us up, and 
 we were ready for the weary tramp back to the river over 
 the trail. As we traveled along we met plenty of gold- 
 seekers, all of whom asked about the same questions. 
 
 " Oh, yes," we told them, " it is a big thing." 
 
 We had no gold to show, but we told them about the 
 five-dollar tailings, and the nuggets fished out with a shovel. 
 We noticed a few men on their claims, but they were cut- 
 ting logs for houses and were not prospecting. Some were 
 working along with big packs, having been over before, and 
 were now getting provisions in for the winter. 
 
 Back we climbed over the summit, and I stopped to look 
 again at the picture. The sun was shining, the day was 
 quite warm, and the ground was dryer than when we went 
 over. We could lie on the ground, pick hemes, and eat our 
 fill. When at last we arrived in sight of the camp on the 
 river near the Indian village, we, in our turn, yelled like 
 Comanches and jumped and tumbled down the hills with 
 
 mmm 
 
 wtm 
 
264 
 
 ONE DETAIL OF THE PICTURE 
 
 the rattling rocks. There was an ever-accumulating crowd 
 there, and we were quizzed and " pumped." We told what 
 we knew, which, after all, was very little, and, as when we 
 went over, we noticed that here and there a man slipped 
 away, and soon we heard them toiling up the bluff and the 
 rocks came rolling back down to the bottom. We slept 
 soundly that night, and I would not have had energy enough 
 to throw a hatchet at a dog if one had tried to eat up the 
 tent. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF ELDORADO— THE FOUNDING OP 
 DAWSON — CONFUSION AND QUEER COMPLICA- 
 TIONS OVER CLAIMS -"THREE INCH WHITE." 
 
 Resting a Little— Carrying in Provisions — Promising Striljes of one 
 of tlie Pups — Eldorado— Joining Another Stampede — A New 
 Metropolis— Joseph Ladiie and His Career— Mining in the Black 
 Hills — Attracted to Alaska — Sinking Holes without Success — 
 Faith in the Country — Grub-staking Henderson— How Ladue 
 Secured the Site for Dawson — His Sawmill — The Mines in 
 October — High Price of Lumber— Rapid Growth of Dawson — 
 Much Confusion as to Claims— Miners Appointed to Measure— 
 Fractional Claims — How They Came About — The Mystery of 
 the Rope — Hibernian Bluff— Jim White and His Attempt to 
 Secure a Fractional Claim — The Canadian Surveyor Arrives — 
 "Three Inch White"— How Claims are Staked — The Fees and 
 the Requirements. 
 
 WE took life as easy as circumstances allowed for 
 the next two or three days; indeed, we made 
 ourselves think we were actually deriving some 
 pleasure out of it, for, while an ever-increasing number of 
 feverish men were landing on the gravel beach and huvry- 
 ing on to the new region, and an ever-increasing number 
 were returning over the mountain trail, we were in the de- 
 lightful position of having staked our claims and of hav- 
 ing about a month's provisions at the foot of the trail. We 
 could feed the newcomers with interesting stories of what 
 we had seen, and hear the latest news from those who were 
 
 (265) 
 
 aaas 
 

 2G6 
 
 ANY PACKING IS CHEAP' 
 
 coming out. We ate as much as we thought we could afford 
 to, and nursed our feet a little. The tow on the river and 
 the tramp on the trail had been a severe ordeal for them. 
 As the time was fast approaching when the Yukon would 
 freeze over, and running ice had already increased the dif- 
 ficulties of navigation, many participating in the rush de- 
 termined to wait for the ice so they could sled their pro- 
 visions up the creek. In fact, quite a village of tents was 
 springing up not far from the mouth of the Klondike. 
 
 But dragging loads over the rough ice of these rapid 
 streams is, on the whole, not much of an improvement upon 
 packing over a moimtain and swamp trail, so at the end of 
 four days we strapped on packs three times as heavy as those 
 we had first carried, and started out. It makes a great dif- 
 ference in carrying a pack on a trail whether a person is in a 
 hurry or not. Having our claim, we could afford to pro- 
 ceed leisurely and rest when we felt like it, without being 
 harrassed by the feeling that we might be too late. We 
 even stopped occasionally to break up a rock to see what it 
 was made of, and I admired the scenery to my heart's con- 
 tent. We chatted with those whom we met, and still made 
 about as good headway as when we first went over, and we 
 camped at the same places. 
 
 Once, while we were resting, a party of Indians carrying 
 heavy packs overtook us. Following them came the owner, 
 looking very weary under an extremely light burden. He 
 said he had hired the Indians to pack his supplies over; 
 " and," he added, " I got it done cheap, too." 
 
 " How much a pound? " I inquired. 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 " Then how do you know it's cheap? " 
 
 " Oh, any packing is cheap over a trail like this." 
 
AN AMAZING PANFUL 
 
 967 
 
 When we approached the creek again we learned that 
 big strikes liad been made on the '' pup " that had looked so 
 promising to me on onr previous trip, and that I had been 
 tempted to ascend and test. It seems that a party which 
 had rushed in when the news of tlie Bonanza was noised 
 around iiad worked up the creek till their provisions had run 
 out. They were about to turn back and go to the nearest 
 trading post for i)rovisi<)n8, when they met and joined an- 
 other party having more provisions than they needed. 
 While they were cooking their supper near tlie mouth of 
 the pup, one of them suggested that they walk i the bed 
 about a mile and wash a pan of the gravel. Thev did so, 
 and were amazed when one of the pans yielded over six dol- 
 lars. They at once staked out claims, and, returning, told 
 others. This had been the significance of the whispered 
 communications we had noticed l>etween the parties we en- 
 countered on the trail when we first came over. 
 
 We resolved to go up the creek and see for ourselves. 
 So, in the morning we pushed on and camped at its mouth. 
 It had been named Whipple Creek, after the discoverer, 
 and no longer bore the obscure name of " pup." I 
 ascended it, and found some men washing out gold 
 where the discovery was made, and I washed out a 
 pan myself. It contained about a dollar. The others 
 seemed to get about the same. Going on up the creek, 
 I found it staked for much more than half its length, 
 and I concluded that I would rather hold the claim I had 
 than exchange for one here. Bonanza and this new creek 
 were in the same district, and no one was entitled to stake 
 more than one claim in a district. Not long afterward, 
 parties buying some claims on the new creek named El- 
 dorado. 
 
 1 
 
 ! 1 
 
268 
 
 A NEW METROPOLIS 
 
 Tlie next day we heard of another rush for creeks in an- 
 other section. We joined in this, too, and tramped up the 
 Bonanza to the forks and thence over the mountain to Gold 
 Bottom, where the earlier discoveries of Henderson wore 
 made, and thence down to Hunker Creek, to which the new 
 rush was directed. Hunker empties into the Klondike 
 about twelve miles from its mouth. By the time we 
 reached there the creeks were well staked, and so we went 
 over to the Indian River district and prospected along there 
 for a day or two without remarkable results. The snow 
 began to fly, and we finally made our way back to the 
 Yukon to await developments. During tliis tramp we met 
 the same obstacles and had similar experiences to those re- 
 counted in the previous chapter. 
 
 In the meantime we found that a new metropolis had 
 sprung up on a low stretch of ground on the banks of the 
 Yukon, just below the mouth of the Klondike. A clever 
 man could see that this flat was about the only place avail- 
 able for a city in that rugged region, and there was a clever 
 man there who saw it. In fact, the honors of the discovery 
 of gold in this district must be divided between Joseph 
 Ladue, who had fitted out Henderson, of whom we have 
 spoken, and Cormack, to whom Henderson told of his find- 
 ings on Gold Bottom Creek. At the very time Cormack 
 was washing his first pans of gold in Bonanza Creek, 
 Ladue, who had not yet heard of Cormack's find^ was com- 
 ing down the Yukon to locate a town site at the mouth of 
 the Klondike. He had heard from Henderson. 
 
 Joseph Ladue is, as his name shows, of French extrac- 
 tion, and was born in Plattsburg, N. Y., about forty-four 
 years ago. His grandfather was a French Huguenot, who, 
 driven from home in the early persecution of his church, 
 
THE YOUTH OF JOSEPH LADUE 
 
 269 
 
 settled with many others of that sterling faith in Canada, 
 lie removed across the line into the United States and 
 located at Schuyler Falls, about ten miles southeast of Platts- 
 burg, where Joseph Ladue was bom. His mother died when 
 he was seven years old, and his father, a stone-mason, mar- 
 ried the second time. Young Joseph Ladue was strong and 
 active for his years, and a neighboring family, the head of 
 which was James H. Lobdell, took a liking to the lad, who 
 had found some things not altogether to his liking at homo, 
 and who was ready, at the age of nine years, to accept the 
 adoption of his neighbor. Joseph was therefore brought 
 up under the influence of Mr. Lobdell and his wife — good, 
 old-fashioned Methodists — who sent the young man to 
 school and gave him work on their farm until he grew to an 
 age when he was ready to look oi ', for himself. Upon the 
 death of his father in Iowa, in 1874, Joseph decided to go 
 West and look after the small estate of his parent. 
 
 The affairs of his father's estate having been adminis- 
 tered, and his attention being at the time attracted to new 
 discoveries in the Rockies, he started for the Black Hills 
 with a fixed purpose of becoming a miner of gold. He ar- 
 rived at Deadwood in 1876 with about one hundred dollars 
 in his pocket, full of grit, industry, honesty, and determina- 
 tion. The town was enjoying a boom, and the young man 
 at once started in for himself by securing little jobs as a con- 
 tractor for moving houses and doing other public work. 
 Meanwhile he was constantly on the watch for better em- 
 ployment, his ambition being to secure a place in a quartz- 
 mine. The only place he could find came in about a month 
 in the shape of a job as engineer in the mine at four dollars 
 per day. The young man had never run a steam-engine, 
 and was utterly unfamiliar with mechanics, but his natural 
 
370 
 
 GAINING EXPERIENCE 
 
 aptitude stood him in j^jood stead, and iie accepted the place 
 and for eigliteen months held it successfully. 
 
 In 1878 he was advanced to the position of foreman or 
 superintendent of the *' night shift " of miners in the 
 famous Hidden Treasure mine, which was a most profitable 
 producer of gold. His pay was now five dollars per day, 
 and Ite spent all his leisure time in studying the secrets of 
 gold-mining. Mr. Ladue so thoroughly familiarized him- 
 s^ with gold-mining tliat he was fully competent for al- 
 ramt miy task that might l>e offered him, and he was soon 
 off'" ind accepte<l, the place of superintendent of a sixty- 
 staiiii _ id-mill at the wages of ten dollars per day. After 
 a yt a:- _u this employment he dtecid'cd to strike out to make 
 a fo-'-'-^iie. and for some years followed the adventurous life 
 of -pector in Arizona and New Mexico. He there 
 
 J»«m -^vpral promising prospects, and for one of these, in 
 'M-*- ;ieo. which subseque-itlv failed to meet his expecta- 
 
 ^T : - irtunately for himself, refused an offer of 
 
 twenty-nve Uj^usand dollars. 
 
 A&er twf' Tears of this hard, but practical, experience, 
 he deraided to -srike for tlie newly-discovered mining coun- 
 try in the Brinish North-west Territory adjoining Alaska. 
 He made the mg and tedious journey to Juneau, and was 
 one of the firsr prospectors in that new country. He then 
 passed over into the interior, and it is a significant fact that 
 he was hunting for gold as early as 1882 within six miles 
 of the present rich mines of the Klondike, if he found 
 little gold then, he acquired a great faith in the richness of 
 the country and in its future. He did not fully explore the 
 valley of the Klondike, because it was his belief as an ex- 
 perienced miner that it was not of the right sort. 
 
 When Schwatka made his famous voyage on a raft down 
 
PUSH AND PLUCK 
 
 271 
 
 the Yukon in 1883, he ran aero,'" Ladue at Charley's N'il- 
 lage. With a partner lie was prospecting the streams in 
 that vicinity, which is about fifty miles above where Circle 
 City was founded later. Ladue was familiarly known 
 among the Indians as " Joe," and he was in great favor 
 among them. 
 
 For fourteen years, with a determination that never 
 faltered, and a confidence in his ultimate siiccess that was 
 never diminished, Ladue lived in the dreary wilds of the 
 Northwest. Up to five or six years ago his hca(l<iuarters 
 were at old Fort Reliance. Every year he added to his capi- 
 tal by prospecting and trading, imtil at last a business open- 
 ing presented itself in the purchase of a profitable sawmill 
 at Fort Ogilvie, forty-five miles up the Yukon from Fort 
 Reliance. 
 
 Here the enterprising young man remained for five 
 years, earninj:- money and carefully saving it, but his faith 
 in the golden resources of Alaska never abated. lie met a 
 young Xova Sootian prospector named Robert Henderson, 
 in 1803. Henderson was about the same age as Ladue, 
 and in the solitary wilderness of the frozen I^orth thpy es- 
 tablished a wann and lasting friendship. For three years 
 the thrifty Ladue furnished the necessary implements, tools, 
 and provisions of a prospector to Henderson — " grub- 
 staked " him, in the mining vernacular. Indications of gold 
 were found in many places, but nothing of great value imtil 
 one day Henderson came into Ladue's sawmill camp radiant 
 with smiles and carrying a small bottle. He held it up to 
 Ladue, filled with bits of yellow metal. It was the gold he 
 had panned out of Cold Bottom Creek, one of the tributaries 
 of the Klondike. This was on the twenty-fourth day of 
 August, 1896. Ou his way to Ladue, Henderson had told 
 
273 THE RISE OF DAWSON 
 
 C'oniiiick, as already related, aiul Conuack, on tlio twentv- 
 sixtli, as rlie story goes, made his strike on lionanza Creek. 
 
 Laduo, who knew only of Henderson's find, saw that his 
 time had come. His keen eye for business was wide o]>en 
 now. He did not rush into the gold-diggings, for he fore- 
 saw the enormous value of the town site at the place where 
 he knew that a i)rosperous ",ity must be located. He sent 
 Henderson with four horses and four men back across the 
 country eighty miles, to the new gold-fields. He himself 
 took a raft headed with lumber and went down the Yukon 
 by the quickest route, landing August 28th, and located the 
 town site of Dawson City, on the only site in that rugged 
 country tliat had been left open for it. He built a store and 
 hastened to Fort Cudahy, forty-five miles distant, to make 
 the official entry in the British Land Office. Having 
 secured this great prize, he looked over the gold country and 
 carefully selected and quickly purchased some of the richest 
 claims that could be found. He built a sawmill, which was 
 .<oon running day and night, and earning a little fortime 
 every twenty-four hours, in a region where the timber limit 
 extended fifteen miles. 
 
 Thus was Dawson started. When the gold strikes were 
 made, in the latter part of August, there were not half a 
 dozen white jx^ople in the Klondike Valley. Tn a month 
 there were a thousand. The lumber mill did a big business, 
 and Ladue made thousands of dollars by selling cheap pine 
 lumber to the miners at one hundred and forty dollars the 
 thousand feet. The increasing cold made no difference to 
 the crazy miners at Dawson City and in the cabins along 
 Eldorado and Bonanza Creeks. By October about six 
 hundred claims had been staked out up and down both sides 
 of the creeks. The Canadian mining laws made five 
 

 
w 
 
 
 
 
 Rk'' * 
 
HUSTLING TIMES 
 
 376 
 
 hundred feet along the n-eek or river bank a single claim, 
 and one man was allowed to locate but one claim in each 
 district. 
 
 Putting up a cabin in Dawson was expensive business. 
 Logs, Avhich in that region means poles from four to six 
 inches in diameter, sold generally from four dollars to eight 
 dollars apiece. A man really needed almost as much nitniey 
 as he would to put up a browustone residence in New York 
 in order to secure a building which would have any of the 
 comforts of a home. The timber had to be hauled al)out 
 twenty miles, and the so-called hot-els, which were soon 
 open, were little more than moderate-sized log liouses, *d- 
 raitting of a few box-stalls. People who arrived iato had at 
 once to set about finding a way to protect themselves from 
 the winter blasts. 
 
 What a hustling there was for lumber to build shanties 
 and cabins ! It was growing colder every day, and many 
 men paid over two hundred dollars the one thousand feet for 
 lumber. Laborers that got a few dollars a day in August 
 now were snapped up at fifteen and eighteen <(iiollars a day. 
 The native Indians sold fur garments for on*' hundred and 
 fifty dollars each, or for some gewgaws that were more 
 Ijrecious there than diamonds are here. Lots were soon 
 selling in Dawson from two hundred and fifty dollars up 
 to ten thousand dollara. The Alaska Commercial Oom- 
 par irnl the Tsorth American Transpovtatiofi and Trading 
 Company quickly prepared to f-f»ncentrate their forces and 
 ■"'^plies there. Mor>8e meat was sixty cents a pound, and 
 isW canned goods seventy-five cents per can. The com- 
 pauies adopted a cash system, and carried as large a stofk as 
 could be brought up. The gnvernntent consisted of a gold 
 e^mmisioner and tl^ chief otf the mounted police, l^ew 
 
276 
 
 MEASURING CLAIMS 
 
 enterprises sprang up every day, and, of course, the saloon 
 predominated. 
 
 IS'aturally, in such a rush of business and fever of spec- 
 ulation, there existeii much confusion. Men who had been 
 in a chronic state of ^drunkenness for weeks had been pitched 
 into boats as ballast and taken up to stake themselves a 
 claim, and claims were staked by men for their friends who 
 were not in the country at the time. All this gave rise to 
 much conviction and confusion, there being no one to take 
 charge of matters. The land agent not being able to go 
 up and attend to the thing, and the Canadian surve^^or not 
 knowing what to do, the miners held a meeting and ap- 
 pointed one of themselves to measure off and stake the 
 claims, and record the owners' names, for which he got a fee 
 of two dollars, it being, of course, understood that each 
 claindiolder would have to record his claim with the Do- 
 minion agent, and pay his fee of fifteen dollars. 
 
 Just how it happened no one seems to know, but it was 
 said that the men who were selected to measure the claims, 
 somehow slid in a forty, instead of a fifty, foot rope, thus 
 making the claims considerably short. Others have an 
 idea, which is not entirely without reason, that when the 
 claims were first staked off, the excited miners, being 
 anxious to secure all the room possible, woidd, in their 
 measurements, which were sometimes made at night, stretch 
 the line a little. The one taking the next claim would be- 
 gin where his predecesvsor left off, and stretch his line more 
 or less, according to his sense of morality. 
 
 However it happened there was considerable uncer- 
 tainty, and the miners finally petitioned the Dominion land 
 surveyor to come ud to Bonanza Creek at once and settle 
 the complications that were arising. One of the late 
 
A GREEDY PROSPECTOR 
 
 277 
 
 ' 
 
 arrivals was an Irishman, who, when he found he could 
 not secure a claim, went up and d . vn the creek, trying to 
 bully the owners into selling, boasting that he had a " pull " 
 at Ottawa and threatening to have the claims cut down 
 from five hundred to iwo hundred and fifty feet. He camo 
 along one day and offered to wager two thousand dollars 
 that within a year they would be reduced to two hundred 
 and fifty feet. One of the men to whom he had made this 
 offer went to the Dominion surveyor and asked about it. 
 
 " Do you gamble ? " asked the surveyor. 
 
 " A little," was the reply. 
 
 Then the surveyor told him that he was never surer 
 of two thousand dollars than he would have been if he had 
 taken that bet. 
 
 This ran to such an extent that the surveyor put up 
 notices to the effect that the length of the claims was regu- 
 lated bv act of the Parliament of Canada, and that no 
 change could be made except by that Parliament, and tell- 
 ing the miners to take no notice of the threats that had been 
 made. 
 
 A fellow known as Jim White located, a fraction be- 
 tween Xos. 36 and 37, thinking that by getting in between 
 he could force the owners to come to his terms, forgetting 
 that the law of this country does not allow any man to take 
 more than he has a right to. For three or four days this 
 state of things kept the men in an uproar. The surveyor 
 wavS making his suiwcy, and getting towards Xos. 36 and 37: 
 when he approached them he delayed operations and wrnt 
 up to No. 36, finding there woidd be no fraction, or, at least, 
 an insignificant one of inches. 
 
 He worked along slowly, and in the meantime the oAvnev 
 
 of !N'o. 36 became very uneasy, and Wliite also, The 
 17 
 

 8' I 
 
 278 FIVE INCHES FOR FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS 
 
 officer set in a stake down in the hollow until he saw how 
 much of a fraction there was. It was only a few inches. 
 He was purposely very deliberate with this portion of the 
 work, and the man who was with him seemed to have quite 
 a difficulty in fixing the stake. Then the officer went down, 
 with the remark that he would do that himself. He had 
 made it a rule never to tell r ^one Avliether there was a 
 fraction until it was marked on the post. 
 
 While he was standing by the post Jim White came up 
 to him. He had a long way to go down tlie creek, he said 
 — and he did not want to wait any longer than was neces- 
 sary. 
 
 " Well," said the surveyor, " I can't tell you just yet 
 exactly how much of a fraction it will be — but something 
 about three inches." 
 
 Thi« is why Jim came to be known as " Three Inch 
 White." 
 
 He resurveyed the whole group of claims, and the result 
 was a lot of fractional claims, which were open to entry. 
 This occurred at about the time some of the later arrivals 
 of the early winter were looking for places, and they 
 . grabbed these fractional claims on the rich creeks as fast as 
 they were declared open. These fractions varied all the 
 way from three inches to forty feet, and were vaUied accord- 
 ingly. Of course, no one could work the narrower ones, 
 but they Avere desirable property to the adjacent owners, 
 who either bought them outright or formed a partnership 
 with their owners. In one case it was reported that a frac- 
 tional claim of five inches sold for five hundred dollars, after 
 the richness of the adjacent claim had been determined. 
 
 In locating a claim on Canadian creeks, a man is sup- 
 posed to measure five hundred feet the way the valley lies, 
 
LOCATING A CLAIM 
 
 279 
 
 and then run across from base to base of the foot-hills, or 
 from rim-rock to rim-rock. It must be marked by four 
 legal posts at the comers. Posts must be at least four inches 
 square. One post must be marked " initial post," and on 
 that post a written notice must be placed, stating number, 
 length, and general direction of claim, the date of notice, 
 and name of locator. All placer claims must be recorder' 
 in the mining recorder's office of the mining divisi< ^x in 
 which such claims are situated within three days after loca- 
 tion thereof, if within ten miles of the mining recorder's 
 office; but one additional day is allowed for each addi- 
 tional ten miles. The recorder must be furnished with 
 the following particulars in writing: N^ame of claim, 
 name of locator, number of free miner's certificate, local- 
 ity of claim, length in feet, period for which record is 
 required, date of location. Placer claim.s may be re- 
 corded for one or more years on payment of fees — two 
 dollars and fifty cents for each year. After the miner 
 has located and recorded his claim, he, or some one on his 
 behalf, must work it continuously during working hours; 
 and, if unworked on working days for a period of seventy- 
 two houi*s, except during sickness or for some other reason- 
 able cause, the claim will be considered abandoned and for- 
 feited. Leave of absence for one year may, however, be ob- 
 tained by any free miner, upon his proving to the gold com- 
 missioner an expenditure equal to one thousand dollars in 
 cash, labor, or machinery on a claim, witihout any return of 
 gold or other minerals in reasonable quantities. 
 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 RICHNESS OF THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS— THE GREAT 
 WINTER EXODUS FROM CIRCLE CITY — FIRST RE- 
 SULTS FROM TESTING PANS -MINERS WILD WITH 
 EXCITEMENT. 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 Realization of the Richness of tlie Klondike Claims — Why old Miners 
 were Skeptical — How Tenderfeet Suddenly Became Rich — Selling 
 Claims at Low Figures — Cutting Logs to Get Provisions — El- 
 dorado All Staked — Great Stroke for Some Men — Circle City 
 Skeptical — The First Big Pans — Excitement at Circle City — A 
 Mad Stampede — Scarcity of Dogs — Dogs at $2.50 Per Pound — 
 Some Big Strikes — Grumbling Canadians — Bed-Rock on El- 
 dorado — Lippy's Bargain — Nothing Like It in the History of the 
 World — Pans of Dirt Worth Five Hundred Dollars — The Miners 
 Simply Staggered — Mrs. Berry Picks up $50 in Nuggets While 
 Calling Her Husband to Supper — Scarcity of Labor — Hunting up 
 Claims— Gold Everywhere— Opening Up New Territory. 
 
 IT was many weeks before anyone had a proper realiza- 
 tion of the richness of the newly-discovered placers, 
 and for a long time all the excitement was confined to 
 Bonanza Creek and its tributary, Eldorado. Those who 
 staked claims were, of course, met with the same conditions 
 imposed upon all placer mining in Alaska. There were 
 several feet of frozen muck and gravel to be worked out 
 of the way by the slow process of burning before anyone 
 could say what lay at bed-rock, and many old miners who 
 had been over the ground laughed at the idea of rich placers 
 in such a locality, and did not even take the trouble to join 
 
 (380) 
 
 I 
 
GOLD ALMOST EVERYWHERE 
 
 981 
 
 in the rush, while others who did looked nhout in a know- 
 ing way and dej)arted without staking any claims. 
 
 Stami)ede8 had occurred so often, and had so generally 
 proved unprotitable, that the old miners had become weary 
 of them. They had, in their more tenderfooted days, 
 rushed from Forty Mile to Sixty Mile, to Beaver Creek, to 
 Birch Creek, and a lot of other creeks, in which the Yukon 
 Valley abounds. The fact was that there was some gold 
 almost everywhere, and when anyone stumbled on a s{)ot 
 containing a particularly rich deposit near the surface, there 
 was the natural temi)tation to believe that the whole creek 
 was made up of such material. The miners had become 
 so tired of this unsettled state of things, the fatiguing jour- 
 neys, and loss of time, that they weix? disposed to regard with 
 discredit any reports of rich finds, and when they heard 
 that " Siwash George " had struck gold on the " Tliron- 
 diiick," it was enough to make the soberest of them laugh. 
 Even had Cormack's reputation for truth and veracity been 
 first-class they would have doubted the value of his dis- 
 coveries on the creeks of a river which they had so often 
 prospected without success. They just lay back and 
 allowed tlie tenderfeet to rush in and stake to their heart's 
 content up and down this moose pasture, and that is the 
 reason why so many old miners were " left," and why so 
 many ncAV-comers suddenly became rich. 
 
 But there were, as I have said, a great many miners 
 about Forty ^File and adjacent diggings Avho had l)een work- 
 ing in poor luck and were sick and discouraged of the whole 
 country. These constituted the greater part of those who 
 first rushed into the Klondike. It was to them a last chance, 
 merely, and a mighty ix)or-looking one at that. They had 
 nothing better to do, and so rushed in. 
 
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 CLAIMS BOUGHT AT BARQAIM SALES 
 
 Yet the way they sold their claims in the first weeks 
 succeeding the stampede is evidence of their lack of faith in 
 them. They had no money, or very little. Two-thirds of 
 all the claims could have been bought in September by 
 those who would have provided " grub " for the claimants 
 for the winter. As some of the poorer ones were unable 
 to raise on their claims sufficient provisions to enable them 
 to go to work, they sold out cheap to anyone who came 
 along with a little dust. Claims which were afterwards 
 worth thousands could have been picked up by the dozen in 
 Septeml)er and October for a hundred or two dollars. Many 
 were sold, and old miners who had clambered over the trail 
 and staked considered thomselves exceedingly fortunate in 
 receiving that small amoimt, and congratulated themselves 
 that by their rush they had at least made enough to provide 
 themselves with a small supply of winter provisions. They 
 knew that to hold their claims, build a cabin, and convey 
 their tools and supplies over the rough trails to the new 
 creeks would cost them several hundred dollars, and that 
 the claims must yield something over ton dollars a day to 
 pay at all for working them. They had not a particle of 
 belief that the creeks would yield such a return. They 
 looked with pitving eyes on the tenderfeet who were greed- 
 ily acquiring claims in the new district, and were confident 
 that in the course of the winter they would discover the 
 difliculties of working placers in Alaska, and in the spring 
 would somehow work their way out into other districts with 
 no money and little to eat, sudder and wiser men. 
 
 Only a few men remained on the creek after staking. 
 Most of them came back to Dawson, where affairs were 
 already becoming lively, and oither sold out or went to work 
 for what they could gel. Even the discoverer, Siwash 
 
TAKING A BEB LINE 
 
 283 
 
 •George, had been compelled to cut logs for the new mill 
 before he could get a few pounds of provisions to enable 
 him to begin work on his claim. The fishing having totally 
 failed him, he got together as many provisions as he could, 
 and in the first part of September, with his wife, his Indian 
 brother-in-law, and another Indian, he set out for his dig- 
 gings. He was short of appliances, and managed to put to- 
 gether only three lengths of sluice-boxes, a very defective 
 apparatus, t-o wash what gravel he could before the ground 
 froze up completely. The gravel itself he had to carry in 
 a box on his back for a hundred feet. Notwithstanding all 
 this, it was soon reported that he had washed out one 
 thousa id four hundred dollars by the first of October, and 
 it was known that he had as yet come nowhere near bed- 
 rock. 
 
 Up to this time the rush had not been so great as to take 
 up all the available claims on the creek, but the news was 
 reaching both down and up the river, and boat loads of men 
 contintied to arrive. Once landed they made a bee-line 
 over the mountain. One of the greatest rushes was soon 
 after I returned from the creek, and soon after the discovery 
 of Eldorado. The little steamer Ellis landed with about 
 one hundred and fifty excited men, who poured over the 
 trail. Eldorado was staked in a jiffy, and many of these 
 turned out to be the lucky ones. They set about making 
 preparations for the winter, such as building cabins and 
 getting ready to sink holes on their claims. The pans 
 averaged about three dollars, with prospect of improvement. 
 
 What a stroke this was for some of the men may l^e 
 seen from a single instance. One of the men on the boat 
 had come from a little village in Oayuga County, New 
 York. He was a cash boy in a Buffalo dry goods house 
 
"r 
 
 284 
 
 A FORTUNE AT LAST 
 
 
 ten years ago, and went West as a tramp, riding on freight 
 cars. He learned something about mining in the gold dis- 
 trict of California, and more in a spirit of recklessness and 
 adventure than anything else, he joined the Yukon mining 
 rush in 1894. He had a terrible experience with cold and 
 hunger for two years, and suffered more in that time than 
 many men do in a lifetime of hardships. He was too poor 
 to go back to the United States, and so he stayed on the 
 Yukon. He tried gold mining in fifty different spots, and 
 lived on half raw salmon for days at a time. He said he 
 was about to commit suicide in September, when he realized 
 that another long and dreadful winter was beginning. A 
 friend told him to go up to Klondike and make one more 
 trial anyhow, for tJiere were rumors at Fort Yukon, where 
 he was at the time, that the diggings were good on the Klon- 
 dike. He sold his rifle for passage on the last boat on the 
 river before navigation closed. In two weeks he had made 
 his claim to five himdred feet along Bonanza Creek and was 
 working in the cold and ice to get out the golden nuggets. 
 When, the following spring, he went back to the United 
 States, he had with him about thirty-five thousand dollars, 
 and he had worked but thirty feet of his claim. 
 
 Although news of the finding of gold on the Klondike 
 and of the rush there had made its way down to Circle City, 
 it at first created little attention. A few miners who were 
 in straits came up on the boat, but the majority remained, 
 and Circle City began the winter as lively a town as ever. 
 On November 23d a man by the name of Rhodes, located at 
 No. 21, above the Discovery, on Bonanza, obtained as 
 high as sixty-five dollars and thirty cents to the pan. 
 This was the first large pan of any importance, and Dawson 
 was thrown into a blaze of excitement. The news spread 
 
AN EXODUS FROM CIRCLE CITY 
 
 285 
 
 up and down the river like wild-fire, and more men hastened 
 in. Some of the old miners who had gone away without 
 staking began to come back. In a little time the news 
 reached Circle City, but nobody would believe it. Yet 
 this claim on Bonanza was the one which really proved the 
 value of the district. The owner was in the habit of clean- 
 ing up a few tubfuls of dirt every night in his cabin and 
 getting enough to pay his workmen at the rate of one dollar 
 and fifty cents an hour. In that way he discovered the 
 richness of the dirt. Melting water enough to pan out gold 
 under cover was a slow process, but he found that the soil 
 paid him to do it. Others began to adopt similar methods. 
 
 Claim No. 5, Eldorado, next produced a pan of fifty- 
 seven dollars. This was succeeded by one of upwarij 
 of eighty dollars. Then came one of one hundred and 
 twelve dollars. Soon after, claim No. 10 showed up 
 a pan of two hundred and twelve dollars, and this it was 
 that caused the intense e.Kcitement in that country. The 
 news went down to Circle City early in December, and it 
 at once emptied itself and came up to Dawson. The scenes 
 of the Forty Mile rush were repeated. The miners came 
 up any way they could, at all hours of the day and night, 
 with provisions and empty-handed. 
 
 It was a great day in Circle City, so they said, when 
 the news of the Klondike richness came with such force and 
 authenticity that even the skeptical old miners began to 
 believe it and quietly made their plans to go up the river. It 
 was carried down by J. M. Wilson, of the Alaska Commer- 
 cial Company, and Thomas O'Brian, a trader, and they 
 also had with them some of the Klondike gold. When it 
 was seen thct a few were starting, of course, nothing more 
 was needed. It at once grew into a stampede. The price 
 
 ■Ma 
 
886 
 
 DOaS SOLD BT THE POUND 
 
 of dogs jumped almost out of sight In a few days they 
 were so valuable that they began to be sold by the pound, 
 first at one dollar and fifty cents a pound, and the n as high 
 as two dollars and fifty cents. One man told me that he 
 saw one dog sold for twenty ounces of gold dust, and, as in 
 trade an ounce is worth seventeen dollars, the dog sold for 
 three hundred and forty dollars. The purchaser was de- 
 termined to go, and he had the money. He was bound to 
 have dogs no matter what they cost. It was a melancholy 
 time for the Circle City saloon-keepers, who saw the signs 
 of prosperity vanish, but many of them joined in the rush 
 for the new diggings. It was a melancholy time, also, for 
 those who liad failed to go up when the river was open, and 
 now had not the means to buy the fancy-priced dogs, for they 
 were too wise to think of setting out without at least four 
 months' provisions, and it required dogs to drag that quan- 
 tity over the rough ice of tlie Yukon in the face of the biting 
 blasts of the dead of winter. Yet it was the greatest ex- 
 odus that was ever known on the Yukon. As many as four 
 hundred men and women worked their way up, and none 
 of them lost their lives, though several had their faces and 
 toes frozen. 
 
 Dawson fairly leaped into importance. By the time 
 the Circle City contingent arrived greater discoveries had 
 been made, and the value of the diggings surpassed all the 
 dreams of the most sanguine. But locations on the Bonanza 
 and Eldorado had been staked weeks before. A good many 
 Canadians and others who, at Circle City, had out-Ameri- 
 caned the natural, native-born Americans in their protesta- 
 tions and professions of Americanism, came up to Dav ^>n, 
 which is in Canadian territory, in this rush with certain ex- 
 pectations in realizing something in the new finds by reason 
 
SURPASSING RICHNESS 
 
 287 
 
 of their nationality, and made loud professions of loyalty, 
 cursed their luck, and declared it strange indeed that a Cana- 
 dian or a Briton could not get a foot of ground in his own 
 country. 
 
 In December bed-rock was reached on No. 14, El- 
 dorado, and dirt of surpassing richness was found. Other 
 holes began to go down in a hurry — that is, as fast as the 
 slow process of l)urning them out would admit. Pans were 
 taken out occasionally and tested, reaching from five to a 
 hundred dollars, and yet the workers could scarcely believe 
 it. They had an idea that they must have struck an un- 
 usually fine piece of dirt. In a hole eighteen feet deep, 
 on Eldorado Creek, two men struck a pay-streak that went 
 five dollars to the pan on the average of the testing they gave 
 it, and, without knowing it, they went on shoveling out 
 into the dump dirt which was rich in gold. 
 
 Many of those going in early of course, had endeavored 
 to secure claims on Bonanza, but they could not be had, so 
 they rushed up the Eldorado. When Professor Lippy, one 
 of the fortunate ones, arrived there, this creek was staked 
 up to No. 36, and he took that But a man who had staked 
 No. 16 wished to go further up the stream, and they ex- 
 changed. When Lippy first struck the rich pay-dirt on his 
 claim, the man he had traded with was " joshed " by the 
 boys without mercy. He looked rather sober, but he, too, 
 could laugh after all, for his claim turned out to be very 
 valuable. 
 
 It was difficult for anyone to realize the richnees of the 
 dirt, and even late in the wir.ter claims were sold for a price 
 ridiculously low, considering Avhat was in them. The 
 miners were continually expecting to meet a limit to the 
 richness. Finally, pans as rich as five hundred- were dis- 
 
288 
 
 TUB NEW GOLDEN RULE 
 
 I 
 
 covered, and nuggets containing gold worth as high as two 
 hundred and thirty-five dollars v/ere brought to light. 
 Claims jumped up enormously in price, but still many sold 
 out for a small fraction of the value of dirt that lay in the 
 frozen dumps which they had so laboriously dug out of the 
 earth. Nothing in the history of the world had ever been 
 found to equal, or, in fact, to anywhere near approach the 
 yields taken from pans gathered indiscriminately. In an 
 early day in California the best claims ever discovered had 
 run but thirty-five to forty cents a pan, and these were con- 
 sidered marvels of richness. Alder Gulch, in Montana, 
 had been thought for years to have contained the richest 
 gravel ever dumped into a sluice-box, but even that was in- 
 significant when compared with not only one but many of 
 the claims on these two tributaries of the Klondike, which 
 was worked in a haphazard fashion. 
 
 But w'\ was thought to be a profitable season in those 
 days could s>v jely equal a few days' work in the new El- 
 dorado. Think of a pay-streak nine feet thick, one hundred 
 and fifty feet wide, and five hundred feet long, every pan of 
 which, so far as could be ascertained by sinking prospect 
 holes to bed-rock in various parts of the claim, would contain 
 over one dollar in gold, some of them as high as two hundred 
 and fifty dollars. Nor was this the exception, but the rule. 
 On one of the Bonanza claims a doubting Thomas was asked 
 to go down the shaft, pick a pan of dirt at random, and then 
 test it himself. He did so, and with a pan and small pros- 
 pector's pick he dug out a piece of gravel on the very upper 
 edge of the pay-streak, then another small amount a foot 
 lower down, then more was taken still lower down from 
 the opposite wall of the shaft, and so on until the pan was 
 filled by tJie time bed-rock was reached. Ascending to the 
 
 Li". I 
 
BEYOND THE DREAMS OF AVARICE' 
 
 2m 
 
 surface, ice was melted until sufficient water was secured to 
 wash the gravel, and with his own hands the contents were 
 panned out. The task was of but few momenta' duration, 
 and his doubts were entirely removed, as at the bottom of 
 the pan was found enough gold to more than cover a ten 
 cent piece, and it weighed two dollars and twenty-seven 
 cents. 
 
 When it is remembered that dirt that averages ten cents 
 to the pan is considered very rich, what must it be when 
 it runs four and five dollars to the pan? On No. 6, El- 
 dorado, all the men that could be had were given employ- 
 ment during the winter at one dollar and twenty-five cents 
 an hour, and some fifteen or twenty prospect holes were 
 sunk to bed-rock, and the pay-streak located for a width of 
 one hundred and fifty feet, and averaging three feet in 
 thickness the full length of the claim. Pay-dirt was en- 
 countered immediately under the muck, which in that local- 
 ity is about nine feet thick, running from eight to twenty- 
 five cents to the pan, but the pay-streak was not considered 
 to have been struck until seventy-five cent dirt was reached. 
 Pans taken from the bed-rock on this claim simply staggered 
 the miners, as they not unfrequently ran as high as one 
 hundred and fifty and two hundred dollars. 
 
 The owner of this claim, Clarence Berry, worked his 
 claim more extensively than most proprietors, and his ex- 
 penses ran as high as one hundred and fifty dollars a day. 
 He settled with his employes every evening after working 
 hours, using only a pan and some water secured by melting 
 ice to wash out the amount necessary to pay his labor. One 
 evening when Mrs. Berry came down from the cabin to call 
 her husband to supper, while waiting for him to come up the 
 shaft, she picked up over fifty dollars in coarse gold and 
 
290 
 
 ONE DIFFICULTY IN WORKING CLAIMS 
 
 nuggets tliat were lying loose in the gravel just as it came 
 from bed-rock, not five minutes' time being occupied in 
 doing it. 
 
 Tho effect of such results as this in the camps along the 
 creeks was to make it practically impossible for an owner 
 of a claim to secure men to help in working them. 
 Some old miners would not work for any price. Sometimes 
 it was possible to rope in a newcomer and get him to work 
 for a few days for fifteen dollars, and a few old miners 
 worked on shares for a time and made good money, but 
 they soon dropped this to hunt up claims of their own. It 
 ia impossible to work these Yukon placers successfully 
 without help. 
 
 The result was, that while many of the claim-owners 
 were lying idle waiting for someone to work their ground, 
 the men who were competent to do it, because they under- 
 stood the process and had the necessary provisions, were 
 prospecting among the creeks to see what they could find. 
 In the end, perhaps, nothing was lost by it, for it served to 
 open up a much larger district than anyone had supposed 
 possible, and other creeks came forward to share the honors 
 with Bonanza and Eldorado. 
 
 ll! \ 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 WINTER IN THE KLONDIKE — CAMP LIFE AND WORK — 
 A MINER'S DOMESTIC DUTIES — CHRISTMAS IN A 
 GOLD-SEEKBR'S CAMP. 
 
 Dreariness of Camp Life — Proparatlons for Winter — Cut Off from 
 the World — Even Labels Make Interesting Reading flatter— The 
 Only Library in the Camp — A Few Old Newspapers — Nuggets 
 for the Benefactor— Joe Arrives from Circle City — Gold, Gold 
 the one Topic of Interest — Forgetting the Day of the Month — 
 Domestic Duties— How We Kept House — Things That Must Not 
 Be Neglected — A Remedy that Kills or Cures— My Bread and 
 Biscuit — A New Recipe — Exorbitant Prices for Necessaries of 
 Life — Some of the Other Expenses — A Trip to Dawson — A Bit 
 of RecreatioD — Christmas in Camp — Story of a Christmas at Fort 
 Cudahy — No Turkey or Plum Pudding — A Klondike Christmas 
 — Presents for the Half-Breeds — How Toys were Obtained — A 
 Scene of Merriment — A Yukon Santa Claus— First Christmas 
 Party on the Klondike. 
 
 THERE is but one thing more dreary than camp lile 
 and work in the gold-bearing placers of the regions 
 of the Arctic, and that is camp life and work in the 
 same regions when the placers bear no gold. There is lees 
 diflFerence than one might suppose. It is undoubtedly a 
 great relief to feel all the time that, as a result of hard 
 drudgery, rich dirt is being heaped up, and that in the 
 spring, after the long winter night is over, shining gold 
 dust and nuggets will buy some consolation in a milder 
 region where life is worth living. If there were no use for 
 gold except to spend it in Alaska, none of it would be dug 
 
 (891) 
 

 293 
 
 IN THE HU8Y 80LITUDE 
 
 there. It is a splendid country to '.eave whetlier one has 
 gold dust or not. 
 
 When tlu! middle of October came we were nearly cut 
 off from the rest of (he world. Of course we heard from 
 Circle CMty and Forty iMile occasionally, through those who 
 came into the Klondike during the winter. Immodiately 
 after the discovery and my short stay at the mouth of the 
 creek, I had taken an opportunity to send word to Joe, ad- 
 vising him to coHiC up, as I thought the prospects looked 
 promising, and meanwhile I set to work to construct a place 
 in which we could niake life endurable for the winter on my 
 claim. It was Jiothing more than a hut backed up into a 
 crevice in the side hill, but I had neither the time nor 
 the means to put together anything more substantial. 
 By a liberal use of moss, which is the cheapest article in 
 Alaskan regions, I flattered myself that I was at least pro- 
 viding for myself a wann place, even though the logs were 
 green and the ground of the cabin frozen. 
 
 As the nights lengthened, loneliness settled down like a 
 pall over the desolate gulch. The snow fell nearly every 
 day, mantling the great frowning hills. It was a scene of 
 solitude, and a time of deep silence broken only by the wail- 
 ing of the wind through the little spruce trees scattered 
 about on the hillsides. Miners, muffled up in their thick 
 winter clothing, passed up and down, and I had some neigh- 
 bors on the creek, but there was little time for sociability. 
 Nearly every one was busy working to bed-rock, setting 
 their cabins to rights, or getting their provisions up. When 
 the few rich strikes had been made, all who could redoubled 
 their efforts at their own shafts. When digging for gold 
 vnth a feverish rush and attending to household duties be- 
 sides, there is little time for sociability, and we were too busy 
 
ouo 
 
 has 
 
 early cut 
 artl from 
 hoso who 
 nocliately 
 th of the 
 ) Joe, ad- 
 its looked 
 ct a place 
 ter on my 
 up into a 
 time nor 
 ibstantial. 
 article in 
 least pro- 
 logs were 
 
 )wn like a 
 irly every 
 a scene of 
 r the wail- 
 scattei'ed 
 heir thick 
 me neigh- 
 lociability. 
 ;k, setting 
 ). When 
 redoubled 
 ; for gold 
 duties be- 
 ■c too busy 
 
THE CONTRIBUTION BOX 
 
 295 
 
 to think of the outside world. It would have done us littlo 
 good if we had, for there were no mails that we knew of. 
 According to the ',r3t««blished regulations, mails were sup- 
 posed to be brought in from Juneau every six weeks, but 
 time-tables are of no value in these regions any more than 
 they are for the Yukon boats. No one wrote letters, and 
 there was hardly a bit of reading matter in the whole camp 
 except the labels on some of the boxes in which provisions 
 came. If one wishes to realize how interesting they can be, 
 let him camp in a gulch somewhere in latitude sixty-four. 
 North America. A trademark on a pick handle becomes 
 fairly eloquent in that solitude. Two fellows named Dick 
 Butler and Charley Myers had been prospecting in the coun- 
 try for seme time, and a friend of theirs in Seattle one day 
 had the forethought to wrap up a few newspapers and send 
 them in by one of the slow mails. These boys had about 
 the only library in the diggings in those old Seattle papers, 
 and the miners congregated from all the creeks and read 
 them, advertisements and all. One day when a crowd was 
 in the cabin Butler said : 
 
 " Boys, I don't mind your reading the papers, but I 
 think you ought to remember the fellow who sent them to 
 me. I'm going to put up a little contribution box," and he 
 left a bottle near the papers. They did not forget it, and 
 dropped in their nuggets. When in the spring the bottle 
 was sent to the Seattle friend it contained nearly four hun- 
 dred dollars' worth of the shining nuggets. 
 
 After Joe arrived with a part of the Circle City con- 
 tingent, life became a trifle pleasanter for me, for it was 
 easier getting along and we could talk, though he was 
 naturally uncommunicative. But when men who never 
 had more than a few hundred dollars all their lives are faced 
 18 
 
296 
 
 THE ONE TOPIC OP INTEREST 
 
 with the prospect of making a few hundred every day, they 
 are too restless to converse, or to think of letters or reading 
 matter. Gold, gold was the one topic of interest in that 
 gulch. There were fires to build from the pitch p'iie, and 
 then when tlie ground had been thawed and loosened, the 
 alluvial was dug out and put in piles, either in a warm cabin 
 or left out to freeze. Then the fires would be started again, 
 and more digging would follow. Then on alternate days 
 ice was melted, and the water used for panning the gold. 
 Sometimes a half ton of gravel would be worked over in a 
 day by those anxious to get out the rich metal. It grew 
 dark at two o'clock in the afternoon, and lamps and candles 
 were liglitcd. Then there was water to be made by melting 
 ice and snow for washing and drinking purposes, besides a 
 round of domestic duties in our cabins. 
 
 It was hard A\'ork day after day. We never knew when 
 Sunday came, and there were constant disputes as to the day 
 of the month. We had no time for games or for mel- 
 ancholy, for we were all so weary from, hard work when 
 night came that sleep at once overcame us. In December 
 and January there was scarcely any light, and very little 
 work was done. Some miners built their cabins over their 
 claims, and by building a hot fire in the cabin kept the 
 ground more or less thawed all the time. They would go 
 doAvn through the floors of their habitations to dig gold 
 from the ground some fifteen feet or more below. How 
 tired every one got of canned food and salt meats ! Many a 
 time that winter I would often have gladly given one hun- 
 dred dollars in nuggets for a slice of beefsteak. It did seem 
 at times as if all the riches we were taking out were not to be 
 compared with even the lowliest home in civilization. 
 
 Domestic duties were by no means light for two hungry 
 
ACTIVITY OP THE ALASK\N APPETITE 
 
 297 
 
 :y day, they 
 3 or reading 
 rest in that 
 !h p'ne, and 
 )osened, the 
 warm cabin 
 ;arted again, 
 ternate days 
 ig the gold, 
 ed over in a 
 il. It grew 
 and candles 
 B by melting 
 es, besides a 
 
 • knew when 
 
 as to the day 
 
 or for mel- 
 
 work when 
 n December 
 d very little 
 ns over their 
 ^in kept the 
 ey would go 
 
 to dig gold 
 lelow. How 
 ts! Many a 
 ven one hun- 
 
 It did seem 
 I'ere not to be 
 nation. 
 r two hungry 
 
 men during that dark winter, when the thermometer reg- 
 istered far below zero, hour after hour, and day after day. 
 It was easy enough to make beds in Alaskan diggings — 
 your sleeping bag can be chucked anywhere except out 
 doors — but making a fire or making bread is a different 
 matter. Some of the most trivial precautions are neglected 
 at one's peril. In their eager pursuit of the golden dirt, too 
 many of the tenderfeet that winter neglected to perform 
 those little duties which were necessary for comfort, and 
 which unperformed migkt lead them to within an inch of 
 losing their lives. Every day, as regularly as it came 
 around, I shaved splinters from the wood that we had cut, 
 to be dried on the Yukon stove for starting the fires the 
 next day. Without these dried splinters it was next to im- 
 possible to start a fire when everything was covered with 
 snow. 
 
 It was a question whether the gold dust or some of the 
 bread made in that camp had the greater specific gravity. 
 It is fortunate that in such a climate the digestive organs 
 are equal to almost anything. They will seize with avidity 
 the coarsest and hardest material, and clamor for more. 
 There is no possibility of getting the appetite into a less 
 active state, so that food will stay by a little longer. It is 
 like a roaring lion seeking what it may devour. A winter 
 in the Arctics, devoted to digging dirt out of a frozen hole, 
 is the only complete dyspepsia cure I ever saw. It will 
 either kill or cure : indeed, it can do both. 
 
 I became quite an expert in making bread, which in 
 Alaska always means baking-powder bread or biscuit. 
 Some miners brought in a little yeast and tried to raise 
 bread in that way, but it was soon discarded for baking- 
 powder. My method was simple. I ^vould take a quart 
 
■-^.-Jj- 
 
 i! 
 
 1 
 
 COOKING SCHOOL METHODS IGNORED 
 
 of flour, throw in a couple of tablespoonfuls of baking- 
 powder and about a half a teaspoonful of salt, and mix till 
 quite stiff with water, which had to be previously obtained 
 by melting snow or a fragment of a glacier. Then I would 
 grease the tin with the best grease that was obtainable, and 
 which usually was very poor; but little things like that are 
 not worth a passing thought in an Alaskan camp. Having 
 a red-hot fire in the little Yukon stove, I would push the tin 
 into the oven, and in half an hour take out a loaf of bread 
 which, in the ravenous condition of our appetites, would 
 ma\e our eyes water. The only difficulty was that a loaf 
 would disappear at every msal, so that as long as our supply 
 of flour continued abundant I was compelled to bake two or 
 three times a day. 
 
 At evening, and that meant whenever we decK i to 
 quit work, for it was night nearly all the time, I would often 
 make a few biscuit, though sometimes we were so tired that 
 we would eat something cold and immediately go to sleep. 
 My biscuit were concocted by nearly the same formula as 
 my bread. Having put a quart of flour, two tablespoon- 
 fuls of baking-powder, and a half teaspoonful of salt to- 
 gether, I would mix it while dry with lard, if I had any, bu' 
 more commonly with bacon fat. This I stirred in with 
 water, aud rolled out the stiff dough on the smooth side of a 
 slab. The rolling pin I h"d manufactured from a section of 
 a spruce pole. Then I would cut the dough into circles 
 with the top of a baking-powder tin, and bake about fifteen 
 minutes. 
 
 But while we could eat enough of these to make a meal 
 in any ordinary climate, they were used only to piece out, as 
 it were. They had to be accompanied with some such staple 
 article of diet as flapjacks, or bacon, and beans or oat meal. 
 
UNVARIED BUT COSTLY DIET 
 
 299 
 
 No game came within sight during that long winter, and 
 we were too busy to look for it till our provisions began to 
 run out and it was difficult to obtain any more. 
 
 The prices we had to pay for some of the mere neces- 
 saries of life would drive the ordinary housewife into 
 nervous prostration. I have spoken of my biscuits and 
 bread as a great success, and so they were for the country, 
 but they were always hampered by the quality of the flour. 
 For this stale commodity we paid sixty dollars for a hundred- 
 pound sack. Codfish cost us forty dollars per hundred 
 pounds, pork sixty cents a pound, bacon eighty cents. 
 Sugar was sold only in twenty-five-pound lots for eighteen 
 dollars. There were a few potatoes to be had for sixty-five 
 dollars a hundred pounds, and we had very few of them. 
 Dried fruits ranged from seventy cents to a dollar a pound. 
 Now, when you consider that a man could barely keep his 
 appetite easy on four pounds of provisions a day, you will 
 appreciate the fact that high living is not always indicated 
 by the size of the bill. 
 
 Of this monotonous diet of stale and canned stuff two 
 men disposed to be economical would require about five 
 dollars' worth a day to be even tolerably comfortable. 
 Think what a variety of dainties in the way of food they 
 could revel in " back in the States." The miners of the 
 Yukon, by the way, always refer to the United States as 
 " back in the States" ; and that word " back " is significant. 
 It indicates the feeling which is unconsciously uppermost 
 in the hearts o^ the majority, the purpose to get " back." 
 They are only waiting for the gold, and the old fellows who 
 have been in these regions so long have stayed because they 
 failed to find enough gold to make them a comfortable 
 fortune over and above what it cost them to winter. And a 
 
300 
 
 TRAMPING DOWN TO DAWSON 
 
 * 
 
 good many have stayed because they could not find gold 
 enough to enable them to get out. 
 
 The prices which provisions commanded were far from 
 being the only expense. Common flannel shirts were 
 eagerly bought at sixteen dollars each, while rubber boots, 
 that are absolutely necessary for placer mining, sold for 
 forty dollars a pair. Moreover, it required something like 
 thirty cords of wood for each man to work his claim during 
 the season, and, if this were not cut from the claims by the 
 men themselves, it had to be hauled from Dawson. On 
 many claims the wood was exceedingly scarce; in fact, on 
 most of them there was none at all. 
 
 Slabs from the Dawson City sawmill were used for fires 
 in most of the mines, and immense numbers were bought at 
 fifty cents each, while sawdust brought twenty-five cents a 
 sack. All buying was done with gold. We became as 
 used to handling gold dust at Klondike before the winter 
 was over as a miller does to handling meal. 
 
 Occasionally, when the we?.ther made working in the 
 mines uncomfortable or impossible, we would get com- 
 pletely worn out with the tedioiisness of life and tramp 
 down to Dawson to see what was going on and to get a bit 
 of recreation — anything to break the monotony. With 
 little to caiTy, and thoroughly prepared for the weather, 
 we could work our way along comfortably, observing what 
 others were doing farther down on the creek, and then 
 pursue our way down the frozen river. One of these trips 
 we took about Christmas time, but no one would have 
 known it at Dawson, which was then a city of a few log 
 calkins and a host of tents. Hundreds of people were too 
 busy keeping themselves warm to celebrate, but a good 
 many miners were down, and there were many who were 
 
CHRISTMAS GAITIES AT FORT CUDAHY 
 
 SOI 
 
 staying there working in the sawmill, or clerking in the 
 stores, or in the various saloons and restaurants and dance 
 halls. These institutions were active, but no more so than 
 at any time. When the old miners came to town they cele- 
 brated anyhow, irrespective of the day of the month or of 
 the week. 
 
 Still, Christmas was not entirely forgotten in this region, 
 and there is a feature of the life on the Yukon which should 
 be mentioned. It is all the more noteworthy because it is 
 so rare. The little mission stations along the Yukon make 
 slow headway among the natives, but they still afford a 
 flickering gleam of a higher religious enlightenment. I 
 heard of a Christmas celebration down the river which 
 afforded a glimpse of the life of those who face the severe 
 climate for something besides gold. The story was told by 
 the wife of a man connected with the post in that locality. 
 
 The first Christmas she spent in the Yukon district had 
 been two years before, when, with her husband, she lived in 
 a log house at Fort Cudahy, about fifty miles below the 
 mouth of the Klondike. There was but one other white 
 woman there, but it was a comfortable little community, 
 and the gold fever had not become epidemic. Two of her 
 husband's bachelor friends were invited to spend Christmas 
 Day, and she made extensive preparations for a feast that 
 would be a real Christmas treat. Turkey? They do not 
 wander around the Klondike waiting to be shot for Christ- 
 mas tables. Mince pie and plum pudding? Not on the 
 Yukon. The dinner consisted of a huge haunch of roasted 
 bear meat cut from the carcass of an animal that had been 
 killed hundreds of miles away, and they were glad enough 
 to get even such meat. Bear meat is very much like roast 
 pork, and, if tender, is quite a dainty dish when properly 
 
jr 
 
 802 
 
 A HOMELIKE FIRESIDE 
 
 prepared. They sat and talked all day with the wood 
 blocks heaped up on the blazing heai*th, and the rough log 
 walls of the house reflecting cheerfully the light from the 
 flames that danced and sparkled around the chimney corner. 
 Outside it was a very cold, cold world. Christmas weather 
 in the Klondike is not comfortable. The wind howled 
 around the log house and the snow fell, steadily accumulat- 
 ing until it made a thick white covering that effpctually kept 
 any drafts from finding their way in. The thermometer 
 outside registered fifty degrees below zero. But inside they 
 Avere as cosy and warm as any eastern home heated by 
 modern appliances could be, and in their quiet way, though 
 many thousand miles from what they really called home, 
 they enjoyed themselves and were happy. The men were 
 certainly grateful for some homelike fireside to gather 
 around on that Christmas day in the Yukon. 
 
 Her Christmas day of the winter when we were there 
 was diflFerent from the previous one, and approached some- 
 what nearer to the ideal Christmas of the East. They 
 actually got up a party at the post, and had a Christmas tree, 
 and games, and a real old-fashioned time, indicating that 
 the Klondike region had advanced some in civilization. It 
 all came about through the efforts of the Rev. James Naylor, 
 an Episcopal minister who had buried himself in the Klon- 
 dike, and had devoted his life to work among the Indians 
 and half-breeds there. He had gathered at the post a 
 numerous contingent of little half-breed children, who had 
 been Christianized and partly civilized and made permanent 
 attaches of the station. 
 
 Having taught them the meaning of Christmas, Mr. 
 Naylor decided to show them that it was a time to be joyful 
 by giving a party in which Santa Claus was to make his 
 
SANTA GLAUS VISITS THE KLONDIKE 
 
 ;j03 
 
 initial bow to a mixed audience of whites and half-breeds, 
 and go through his customary performance of distributing 
 toys and other gifts. The weather was all that Santa Claus 
 could have desired. 
 
 But where could they get toys in that region, where 
 every one was only too thankful to procure sufficient to eat 
 and wood enough to cook it when procured? It happened 
 in a strange way, but it is perhaps not so strange when one 
 observes how many seemingly useless things gold-seekers 
 bring into this country. One man with a trading instinct 
 had come into the Klondike region late in the fall, and had 
 stuffed into his pack several toys and other nicknacks where 
 ho ought to have put food. But it came out all right. 
 Every white mother in the country around was willing to 
 pay its weight in gold for any pitiful looking toy that bore 
 the trademark of a city store. The man sold his toys and 
 candy at his own prices, and was not such a freak after all. 
 In this way Santa Claus was enabled to keep his contract 
 with the little folks in the Klondike that year. 
 
 When the day came and the people around drove over 
 to the mission where the party was to be given, the ther- 
 mometer was at its Klondike lowest, and frost-bites threat- 
 ened any nose that showed itself beyond the fur. Teams 
 consisting of half a dozen dogs were rigged up, and women 
 and children enveloped in furs to their eyebrows climbed in, 
 and off they went over the hills and the frozen river with the 
 dogs trotting along at their best pace to the door where Mr. 
 Naylor awaited them. Inside all was merriment and laugh- 
 ter. The members of the little half-breed colony, about a 
 score of children, were in such a state of gleeful expectation 
 that they were ready to stand on their heads at the slightest 
 provocation, and they did this at every fresh arrival. They 
 
i i 
 
 •iO'k 
 
 A MERRY CHRISTMAS 
 
 
 . 
 
 [ 
 
 r 
 
 r 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 ff 
 
 
 were all gotten .up in their Sunday best, but some of the 
 white children who had come in had to waddle about in their 
 fur boots. 
 
 Nothing like that Christmas tree was ever seen in the 
 Klondike before. There were real dolls gaily attired, and 
 with real eyes and noses instead of the featureless baseball 
 heads with which the Klondike children had been forced to 
 satisfy themselves. There were horses and wagons, dancing 
 figures, and tiny drums, and other contrivances which bring 
 joy to the juvenile heart, no matter in what latitude it beats. 
 The toys were packed in bags made from mosquito netting, 
 which was the only material available. Then Santa Claus 
 came down and distributed them. How the little eyes of 
 the half-breeds stuck out! They thought he was the 
 genuine article. He was gotten up for Yukon weather in 
 a great furry " parka," with the hood turned up around his 
 face. In lieu of a genuine white beard he had powdered 
 his own beard with flour, and no one of the children knew 
 who he was, so effectually was he disguised. He distributed 
 the toys to the great delight of the little half-breeds, who, 
 after a time, could scarcely express their feelings, even by 
 standing on their heads. 
 
 After that they went in for a series of old-fashioned 
 games, of which blind-man's-buff proved the favorite. The 
 mission house was built of rough untrimmed logs, like all 
 the best houses, but some attempt had been made to decorate 
 the interior, and with light and warmth and the merriment 
 of happy children, it needed no very great stretch of the 
 imagination to forget the white and frozen earth outside, 
 and fancy ourselves at home again. The party broke up 
 about midnight — the first genuine Christmas party, so far 
 as I have heard, in the country of the Klondike. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 ALASKAN WEATHER -ON THE VERGE OP STARVATION- 
 HOW WE PULLED THROUGH— DANGERS OF WINTER 
 TRAVELING — PAINFUL EXPERIENCES. 
 
 The Paradox of Alaskan Weather — A Difference In Humidity — 
 Miners' Thermometers — Time to Take Care of One's self — Seventy- 
 two Degrees below Zero — Sunset and Sunrise — Dangers on the 
 Trail — We Discard the Hut and Take to the Tent — Building 
 Fires in the Morning — Hearing One's Breath Strike the Air— An 
 Involuntary Bath — Painful Experiences — Eyelids Freeze To- 
 gether — Protection against the Bitter Cold — The Parka and Its 
 Uses — An Alaskan Opera Cloak — As a Frost Protector — Care of the 
 Feet — Snow Shoes— Shortage in the Food Supply — How it Seems 
 to be without Salt — Sold for Its Weight in Gold— The Pulling- 
 Through Process — Northern Lights as a Compensation for a Win- 
 ter in Alaska — Their Brilliancy. 
 
 THE weather in the Alaskan latitudes is, like many 
 other features of the country, not readily appreci- 
 ated and understood by those who have never been 
 there, but have simply read about it. I have suffered more 
 from the cold in Colorado than I have in the Klondike; and 
 more from the heat on the Yukon than I have in Colorado. 
 In Alaska in the winter of 1896 snow did not thaw a particle, 
 except a little while during four mild days in February, 
 from the time in November when everything froze up till 
 the middle of April. Most of the time during what we 
 call the winter months the merctiry was far below zero, and 
 the lowest that I saw recorded was seventy-two degrees. 
 
 (305) 
 
306 
 
 THE PARADOX OF THE WEATHER 
 
 In a general way, this paradox of the weather may be 
 explained m simply a diiferenoo in humidity. In Arizona, 
 for example, the hot weather is dry, and the cold weather 
 k apt to be damp. In Alaska the hot weather is damp, and 
 the cold weather dry. When the thermometer registered 
 eighty-five degrees one summer day on the Yukon, the air 
 was filled with a hot moisture; not a breath wbm stirring, 
 and the sun shone on with no interruption from clouds for 
 twenty-two hours. A person cou' hardly breathe, and I 
 saw men quit work who would not , hink of doing so were 
 the mercury thirty degrees below zero. The cold weather 
 of the Klondike does not seem cold in a still day, and yet 
 there are many days when a man can step out of his cabin 
 and freeze his nost before he can count sixty. O.^e who 
 takes thoroughly good care of himself nee '1 not suffer seri- 
 ously from the cold in Alaska. Otherwise, he is sure to 
 suffer. Indeed, he may freeze to death by overlooking a 
 few essentials. 
 
 There were not half a dozen regular thermometers in 
 the camp that winter, but the specific degree of coldness 
 did not worry the old miners, unless their mercury bottles 
 froze up. Then they knew it was time to take care of them- 
 selves. These mercury bottles are the miners' thermome- 
 ters. They have need of quicksilver in separating their 
 fine gold, and so they always have it at hand. They take 
 a little bottle of it with them when they are traveling, and 
 when the mercury freezes they generally, unless in a great 
 hurry, or in a tight place with no provisions, go into camp 
 and wait for the weather to moderate, for it indicates a tem- 
 perature of at least forty degrees below zero. 
 
 The winter of 1896-97 was said by the old-timers to have 
 been a remarkably mild one. It was true that it b^an so. 
 
DARK DAYS OF WINTER 
 
 307 
 
 aud the average temperature <lid not fall penuaiieiitly below 
 i^cro till in iMovember. But it luade up for this delay in 
 March. The coldest day, according to uiy observations, 
 was on the 15 th, when the mercury stood seventy-two de- 
 grees below at eight o'clock in the morning. From the 
 4th of March till the 23d it was never above fifty degrees 
 below. It was quite cold some days in January and there 
 were many days below fifty degrees. 
 
 It may be imagined that weather of this character is not 
 exactly propitious for gold mining, and very little was done. 
 Of course, the man down in the hole could stand it very well, 
 shoveling up the embers of a night's burning, but the man 
 at a windlass at the top was in a less agreeable position. But 
 he was, on the whole, muoh better off than the man in the 
 shaft, who, when work was over, frequently came up hot 
 and perspiring, and the cruel blasts chilled him through in 
 an instant. 
 
 In the Klondike region in midwinter the sun rises froTn 
 9:30 to 10 A. M., and sets from 2 to 3 P. M., the total 
 length of daylight being about four hours, but the sun 
 never rises but a fe^ degrees above the horizon, and many 
 are the days when it is wholly obscured. The wind blows 
 almost constantlv, and while the snow seldom falls more 
 than three feet on the level, it is always present from early 
 October to April. When the reader couples a condition 
 like this with the fact that day after day mercury will re- 
 main frozen if left outdoors, he may begin to imagine the 
 desolation of a life amid the lonely gulches of the north, far 
 from all that civilized people are used to. 
 
 The changes of temperature from winter to summer are 
 rapid, owing to the great incrcE'e in the length of the days. 
 By May the sun is rising at about 3 A. M., and setting about 
 
308 
 
 nature's changeful moods 
 
 9 p. M., and by June it is rising at 1 :30 in the morning and 
 setting about 10:30 P. M. Either in summer or winter the 
 resident of the Yukon must be prepared for the greatest 
 changes. When the sun shines the atmosphere is remark- 
 ably clear, the scenic effects are magnificent, all nature 
 seems to be in holiday attire. But the scene may change 
 very quickly; the sky becomes overcast, the winds increase 
 in force, rain begins to fall, the evergreens sigh ominously, 
 and utter desolation and loneliness prevail. These treach- 
 erous condition? will lure many a brave fellow to death upon 
 the lonely trails. The soft autumnal languor of that lonely 
 land may change within an hour to the darkness of the 
 swirling storm. When Nature thus changes her smiling 
 mood for the tempest's frown, the mountain trail becomes 
 charged with terrible dangers. 
 
 In the winter this danger is increased. A storm may 
 break from the clouds, and for many long hours the frigid 
 blasts, filled with swirling snow which cuts like a knife, will 
 overwhelm the brave traveler unless he is prepared. The 
 native Indians will stick a couple of poles in the snow and 
 hang their blankets up against the wind, and let the snow 
 drift over them. Usually they will come out all right, but 
 they are accustomed to the climate and its hardships, and 
 no i.3wcomer should be caught in such a predicament. It 
 means death nine times out of ten. 
 
 Joe and I managed to endure the winter very comfort- 
 ably, though we quickly discarded as a habitation the little 
 hut I had constructed out of green logs. We set up the 
 tent in front to live in and used the hut as a sort of store 
 room for tools and the like. It was too small for comfort, 
 and the air became too intolerable for two persons in the 
 long nights when vents had to be closed to keep out the 
 
LIVING IN A SNOW-BANKED TENT 
 
 309 
 
 cold. We moved the stove into the tent and enjoyed life 
 much better. Little by little the snow banked around it and 
 over it, so that after a time it was quite warm, though, of 
 course, much cold air came in at the entrance, no matter how 
 well closed. After the fire went out at night it cooled off 
 very quickly, and it was as cold as out of doors, but the tent 
 kept off the wind. One cmld hardly get under blankets 
 enough to keep warm, but wiih a pair of blankets and a good 
 robe I was more comfortable than those who were using 
 sleeping bags. During the summer when I went down the 
 Yukon, I traded with some Indians and secured several fine 
 lynx skins. I had them made into a robe at Dawson, and the 
 whole thing cost me about seventy-five dollars. It was 
 eight feet long and seven feet wide, and lined with a heavy 
 woolen blanket. Before I had lived through half that 
 winter I had made up my mind that I would rather throw 
 away my gold mine than that robe. It was worth more 
 than twenty blankets for comfort, and some of the miners 
 in the camp offered me twice what I paid for it. 
 
 But in spite of all the precautions we took, and the care 
 we exercised in small details, we could not fail to suffer 
 some. It was rather oold getting up and building a fire 
 when the thermometer was fifty degrees or more below 
 zero. It was all the more trying because I had slept as 
 warm as toast in the robe. Mornings when it was so very 
 cold, and no wind was stirring, it was as still as death, and 
 I could actually hear my breath strike the air. There was 
 a sort of a crackle when the warm breath met the cold atmos- 
 phere, and it was at first painful to draw such cold air into 
 the lungs. But, strange to say, I was never troubled with 
 a cough, and never folt the slightest touch of a cold until 
 late in the season, aftex the ice had begun to break up. One 
 
Il 
 
 310 
 
 A COLD WALK 
 
 B 
 
 \ . 
 
 day, when coming up to camp from Dawson, I slipped and 
 fell in the river, and neglected to change my clothes. I 
 worked several hours after reaching camp, and, after drying 
 a little before the fire, rolled up in my blanket and went to 
 bed. Instead of killing me, it only gave me a slight cold 
 for a week. 
 
 I had a much more painful experience in January, when 
 I started out from Dawson to pull a sled load of provisions 
 up to the camp. When I had gone a few miles I became so 
 cold that I could not pull the sled. It was too far to go on, 
 so I left the sled there and walked back to Dawson. In that 
 way I could keep tolerably warm, for one can keep warm if 
 he moves fast enough, but if he stands still he will freeze. 
 My eyelids kept freezing together, but I had to be very 
 careful about pulling oif my gloves to thaw them apart. I 
 did it as quickly as I could, but several times my hands 
 nearly froze before I could get them back into the big mit- 
 tens. When I reached Dawson City the thermometers 
 registered fifty-eight degrees below. 
 
 One need not fear these uncomfortable experiences if 
 he be properly dressed and prepared for them. A common 
 winter dress of the mines is a garment that the native 
 Alaskans sell. It is a blouse of heavy skins, with trousers 
 of seal. These are fastened close about the body, which 
 is enveloped in two or more suits of heavy imderolothing. 
 For footwear, low boots of tough walrus hide or rubber boots 
 are worn. Mittens and hoods of bear or dog skin pre es- 
 sential. 
 
 But the great institution in Alaska, so far as wearing 
 apparel is concerned, is the " parka." Whenever the coat 
 of arms of the territory come to be designed, there are four 
 objects which should be worked in somehow; these are a 
 
THE INDISPENSABLE PARKA 
 
 311 
 
 these are a 
 
 cache, a dog, a mosquito, and a parka. If that is not enough 
 the artist might put a glacier in the background. The 
 parka is of Indian origin. No matter what part of the great 
 territory the Indians come from, or to what tribe they be- 
 long, they wear this garment. It is made like a big shirt, 
 coming down to the knees, and with no opening front or 
 back. It is just slipped on over the head, and attached to it is 
 a hood, trimmed around the face with fur. The Indian par- 
 kas are usually made entirely of fur, the fur being inside, and 
 the sleeves, especially of the parkas of the lower Yukon In- 
 dians, are made so large that if they wish to pull their arms 
 inside they can do so with no trouble. They can snuggle 
 down in these garments until completely out of sight. 
 
 The Yukon miner and trader has adapted the Indian 
 style to his own uses, and the usual parka is made of blue 
 denim or overall cloth, with a bit of fur around the opening 
 of the hood. When the temperature is fifty or sixty de- 
 grees below zero, however, the all-fur parkas are better and 
 are common. These garments are useful not only to keep 
 out the cold, but to keep the frost off. For when one goes 
 out in severe weather the breath congeals in a white mantle 
 all over the parka. Going indoors, it of course thaws, and 
 if one stays long he throws it off. Going out again, it 
 freezes stiff. But it keeps the clothing underneath in good 
 condition. It is a sort of " opera cloak." If one leaves 
 his tent to go down into the city of an evening, he slips on 
 his parka. If working, the under coat may be dispensed 
 with ; not so the parka. As a frost protector it is as valuable 
 then as it is when going to the theater or the other places of 
 amusement. 
 
 In severe weath<?r — that is, when the mercury is frozen 
 — the hands, face, and feet must be watched closely. 
 
li 
 
 313 
 
 A GLACIER ON THE CHIN 
 
 ' 1 
 
 "I 
 
 I 
 
 Othorwiso tliey will have a tendency to freeze before you 
 are aware that they are cold. I used to wear a heavy pair of 
 woolen stockings which came up to my knees, over them a 
 pair of fur socks, and then moccasins. One will make a 
 track in the snow as big as that of an elephant, but none too 
 big to enable one to get along comfortably. Indeed, snow- 
 shoes are generally needed, for the snow never packs solid 
 except in the trail, and a person will drop clear to the bottom 
 of almost the deepest snows if he steps out of the road, 
 unless ho has on snowshoes. 
 
 There was some difference of opinion in the camp as to 
 the advisability of wearing whiskers during an Arctic win- 
 ter, and there certainly are two sides to the question. Shav- 
 ing oneself is not an easy process when living in a tent, and 
 when the air is apt to be chilled by the blasts which find 
 their way in. Moreover, whiskers are of some protection 
 to the face and throat when facing such blasts outside. 
 But, on the other hand, this very protection becomes a 
 nuisance of the most exasperating character. I have . 
 spoken of the way in which the frost congeals upon the 
 clothing. But that is not a circumstance to the freaks it 
 will play with a heavy beard. It will settle in and through 
 it till it becomes a solid mass of ice, and cannot be thrown oft' 
 like a parka when entering a warm room. The only thing 
 to do is to sit over the fire and let the glacier on your chin 
 melt. In view of this inconvenience, the majority of 
 miners keep their w^hiskers trimmed very short in winter, 
 and allow them to grow in the simimer as a protection 
 against mosquitoes. Then they are a real blessing, and 
 many times a man will wish himself as hairy as a baboon. 
 
 Towards the end of winter the food supply in camp and 
 at Dawson ran very low, — a common spring complaint 
 
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e before you 
 heavy pair of 
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 will make a 
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 e camp as to 
 I Arctic win- 
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 1 becomes a 
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 and through 
 36 thrown off 
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 majority of 
 rt in winter, 
 a protection 
 )lessing, and 
 a baboon, 
 in camp and 
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 ii 
 
ON THE VERGE OP STARVATION 
 
 315 
 
 in the upper Yukon region. Although the trading com- 
 panies had concentrated what supplies they could at Daw- 
 son, the discovery of gold had taken place so late in the 
 summer, and had been followed so quickly by ice, that by 
 March there was much difficulty in getting anything. A 
 few supplies were brought up from Circle City, and a little 
 flour was dragged up from Forty Mile, It was also possible 
 to buy a little caribou or bear meat occasionally, but by 
 the time the snow began to melt there was practically 
 nothing in the camp but beans, and fully two hundred men 
 lived on these for several weeks. We nearly starved, or, at 
 least, we thought we did. It would not have been much 
 of a job to get together a million of dollars' worth of gold 
 dust along the creek, but such a thing as a good square meal 
 was not to be had. It is fully as unpleasant to be without 
 salt as it is without flour, yet salt was so scarce that it could 
 be obtained only in the most insignificant quantities and at 
 the most exorbitant price. It was actually worth its weight 
 in gold to some of the miners. A party on the creek ran 
 completely out of this article, though they had a fair amount 
 of Other provisions. They said they really felt as if they 
 should die did they not obtain salt somehow. 
 
 J^ear them was another party having salt, but they re- 
 fused to part with any of it. It was insisted that it ought 
 to be shared, and that the party having it must sell at a fair 
 price. It was ascertained that the party owning the salt 
 had very little gold dust, and those without salt had an 
 abimdaiice. So it was finally arranged that the owners 
 of the salt should part with a portion of it, and that it should 
 be weighed against the precious dust. Thus was salt act- 
 ually sold for its weight in gold. 
 
 When matters reached this pass the provisions became 
 
'mmm 
 
 I i 
 
 lb 
 
 ii 
 
 316 
 
 ONE OF ALASKA'S WONDERS 
 
 to a certain extent common property. No one was allowed 
 to starve so long as anything was left in the camp. Mean- 
 while the cold remained intense, and our appetites knew 
 no hounds. But we never quite reached the starving point. 
 That has always been the way on the Yukon. Every yeai* 
 the ijeople there come near to starvation, but they pull 
 through somehow. This " pulling through " process can- 
 not be appreciated by simply reading about it. It must 
 be experienced. 
 
 There is one spectacle which compensates one for these 
 long, cold winter twilights and contingent hardships; one 
 thing which is worth the spending of a winter in the Klon- 
 dike, or any part of northern Alaska, the nearer the ArcMc 
 Circle the better. It is not the gold. The more I reflect 
 on this life and the hereafter, the more I am in doubt as 
 to whether the gold in the frozen placers of Alaska is in 
 itself worth going after. But the aurora of Alaska is worth 
 seeing, even if you have to live on short rations of bacon 
 and beans for three months and find no gold. Some people 
 seem to care very little about it, and to old miners the spec- 
 tacle undoubtedly becomes commonplace, as it has to the 
 natives. Perhaps I was boi- a little sentimental as to the 
 wonders of Nature, and the celestial wonders in particular. 
 
 Some clear, still, cold nights, when the indications 
 favored a brilliant display of northern lights, I have put 
 on my snowshoes and climbed back on the hillside " just to 
 drink them in." It may be vain to attempt to describe such 
 a scene, for one must see it for himself; must stand on one 
 of those hills in a country mantled with snow, among the 
 trees which bend under their spotless burden, every twig 
 a cluster of feathery whiteness. It is night, and yet not 
 darkness, only a soft, subduing absence of the sun's rays. 
 
 \ ' 
 
THE GRANDEUR OP AN ARCTIC AURORA 
 
 317 
 
 Over the hills and valleys silence broods in all its cold per- 
 fection. Overhead the stars glitter as they do only in these 
 still, cold nights in the far north. 
 
 Then one becomes aware of a sort of weird and formless 
 presence in the sky, and the stars seem to be dancing on 
 silvery billows. A queer electric crackle breaks upon the 
 stillness, and in an instant the sky is painted with quivering 
 bands of yellow, changing into every color of the rainbow, 
 darting with the rapidity of lightning, and changing every 
 
 second. 
 
 " Glowing wide and briglit, then narrow. 
 
 And then flasliing broad and golden, 
 
 Sending long bright crimson fingers 
 
 Far across the cloudless ether. 
 
 Rosy lights grow clear and vivid, 
 
 Pale to tints of faintest blushes, 
 
 Then burst out in glorious shading 
 
 Close beside the soft, blue azure 
 
 Where the sharp, clear edges mingle 
 
 In the softest shades of purple. 
 " Pale-green shafts shoot out and quiver 
 
 In the glorious brightness ! 
 
 Flaming pencils touch the hilltops, 
 
 Sending slender rainbow arches 
 
 Down their glinting shimmering mantles. 
 
 Bushes, trees, and shining grass blades 
 
 Catch the gleam of gold and crimson, 
 
 And throw out swift, starry flashes 
 
 Toward the gay, auroral brightness. 
 
 " In the north a glorious archway 
 Casts its glancing rays and shafting, 
 And uplifts a glittering halo 
 Far across the dark-blue zenith. 
 Downward flings its mingled shading — 
 Gold and blue, and green and crimson, 
 Yellow, tender pink, and purple, 
 Shrinking from the icy contact. 
 And then sweeping through the cloud paths." 
 
Il 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 PREPARING FOR SLUICING — THE SPRING "CLEAN-UP"— 
 ASTONISHING RESULTS WHEN DIRT WAS WASHED 
 OUT — SOME LUCKY STRIKES -THE ROMANCE OP 
 FORTUNE. 
 
 Joe and I Have Poor Luck — Trying to Locate the Pay -Streak— Big 
 Pans in March and April — Pay-Dirt — How the Value of the Dirt 
 is Reckoned — Old Miners Begin to Speculate — Expense of Getting 
 Sluice Boxes — Some of the Fortunes — Berry and His Wonderful 
 Strike — Very Blue when He Heard of the Klondike — Takes Out 
 $130,000- A Bird in the Hand ta. a Bird in the Bush — A Wiscon- 
 sin Schoolmaster's Experience — Worth a Million — Better than 
 Trading — Sudden Rise in the Value of Claims — Computing the 
 Value of a Bonanza Claim — Wonderful Results — The Aggregate 
 Amount of the Spring Work — Some of the Lucky Ones on El- 
 dorado Creek — Fortunes on the Bonanza — Lucky Days — " What 
 Will I Do With All That Money ?" 
 
 1 <l 
 
 \ 
 
 HARDLY more than a score of the claims on Bonanza 
 and Eldorado creeks were thoroughly worked dur- 
 ing that long winter of 1896-97. As already men- 
 tioned, labor was scarce, and the newcomers who had ac- 
 quired the rich territory were imable to do much except in 
 a small way. Joe and I had poor luck in finding the pay- 
 streak, and it was well towards spring before our pans began 
 to make any unusual yields. Those who had secured help 
 and worked their property more extensively were generally 
 unaware of what would develop in the spring clean-up, 
 though the richness of some of the better known claims was 
 
 (318) 
 
A PAN OF EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS 
 
 319 
 
 fairly well known, for at times the gold fairly stuck out of 
 the dirt. The tests that had heen made had given an aston- 
 ishingly high average, and as bed-rock was reached the re- 
 sults were simply staggering. About the middle of March 
 two boys, one from Juneau and another from Stuck Valley, 
 Wash., began to take out wonderful pans from the bottom 
 of their shaft. They were not quite sure of the evidence of 
 their own eyes, and invited another man to go down and 
 pick out a pan of dirt in the pay-streak. He did so, and was 
 surprised to find two hundred and eighty-two dollars and 
 fifty cents in it. In fourteen pans of dirt from the bottom 
 of the shaft they took out one thousand five hundred and 
 sixty-five dollars. March 20th, Clarence Berry took out over 
 three hundred dollars to the pan, James MacLanie over two 
 hundred dollars, and Frank Phiscater over one hundred and 
 thirty dollars. There were four men working one claim 
 which began to yield about one hundred and twenty-five dol- 
 lars to the pan. Then we began to hear of big pans from 
 the shafts which had reached bed-rock all along the creeks, 
 and one-hundred and two-hundred-dollar pans became com- 
 mon in April. On April 13th Berry took out a pan of thirty- 
 nine ounces — four hundred and ninety-five dollars — and 
 in two days took out one thousand two hundred dollars by 
 his tests. On the 20th it was reported that some miners 
 working a lay on No. 30 Eldorado had found a pan contain- 
 ing eight hundred dollars. 
 
 When some of these men reckoned up the value of the 
 dirt they had been dumping out, they had bright dreams of 
 wealth. The method of computing the value of a dump is 
 very simple. The miners' assays consist of panning out a 
 number of pans of gravel at stated intervals during his shift. 
 An average of the whole is easily arrived at : the bucket in 
 
T 
 
 ^ 
 i 
 
 .i 
 
 !!■ i 
 
 
 320 
 
 THE BEWILDERMENT OF SUDDEN WEALTH 
 
 his shaft contains so many pans, and the worth of a bucket 
 becomes a simple matter of calculation. Each shift keeps 
 tally of the number of buckets thrown upon the dump, and 
 the daily average value, and after one, two, or even six 
 months' work at drifting an apparently accurate conclusion 
 of the amount of gold in sight can be reached. 
 
 Of course, pans varied in such placers, and the lucky 
 owners scarcely dared to reckon into the average yielded by 
 the large pans which they washed for testing, but the value 
 of claims jumped immensely and speculation was rife. Old 
 miners who had turned up their noses at the Klondike at 
 first, and had afterwards come back and spent the winter in 
 looking for more creeks, saw at once the value of the new 
 claims and calculated what they could pay for them. They 
 offered large sums for some of the claims after seeing the 
 tests and inspecting the dumps, and a number of the tender- 
 feet, dazed by the sight of such sudden riches thrust in their 
 faces, sold out. They thought a bird in hand was worth 
 two in the bu, h, but they did not understand so well as the 
 old miners v.iiat was in the bush. When a mine was 
 bought, th( season's work, that is, the dumps, went with it, 
 and the old miner calculated that he could clean out of the 
 sluice boxes, when they could be started, enough to pay 
 the large sums they had offered. Of course, they had to run 
 in debt heavily for a time, and it was something of a gamble, 
 for the dumps might not pan out as well as anticipated, and 
 the rate of interest was high — generally five per cent, a 
 month. 
 
 It was not an easy or inexpensive matter to arrange the 
 sluice boxes for the spring work. The sawmill at Dawson 
 had been kept busy beyond its capacity in providing for the 
 growth of the place, and many could not secure the neces- 
 
 
ONE OF THE REMARKABLE CASES 
 
 881 
 
 sary lumber for the construction of their sluice boxes with* 
 out paying an enormous sum, while if they whip-sawed it on 
 claims it would cost about three hundred dollars a thousand, 
 figuring in the cost of labor and the logs. 13ut when 
 sluicing once began people who had debts (juickly paid them 
 off, and those who had lived from hand to mouth all their 
 live' huddenly had all their old baking-powder cans and old 
 jars and kettles in their camp full of gold dust. 
 
 There were plenty of cases borderi ig on the romantic 
 in that lonely valley then. One of the most conspicuous 
 was that of Clarence J. Berry. Not very successful as the 
 owner of a fruit farm in Fresno, Cal., he determined to try 
 his luck on the Yukon. He reached Juneau with only 
 sixty dollars in his pocket, but made his way undaunted 
 over the Chilkoot Pass, and finally down to Circle City, 
 where all the excitement then was. He lived along as best 
 he could, and looked about for a location, but without much 
 success. In the fall of 1895 he returned to California al- 
 most as poor as he had started. But he had faith in the 
 richness of the country. In February he married Miss 
 Ethel Bush of Sclma, Cal., it being understood that they 
 were to make a venture into the Great Northwest to carve 
 out their fortunes. They had the usual run of hardships in 
 making their way to the Yukon. Stopping at Forty Mile, 
 Berry found absolutely nothing to do for a long time, but 
 finally secured a chance on a claim and made a little gold, 
 but scarcely enough to keep him going. When the news 
 of the strike on Bonanza Creek reached Forty Mile, Berry 
 was one of the bluest of the blue, and had scarcely enough 
 ambition left to go with the rush. But his wife prevailed 
 upon him to go, and he struck it rich within a short time. 
 He was soon able to build a comfortable home for his wife at 
 
1 
 
 WASHING OUT WAGES 
 
 Dawson, but she remained mucli of the time at the mines, 
 where she poked around the dumps, and, during the time she 
 was there, picked up about ten thousand dollars' worth of 
 nuggets. 
 
 In a few months Berry took out one hundred and thirty 
 thousand dollars, from which he paid twenty-two thousand 
 dollars to miners. He paid the experienced men fifteen 
 dollars a day and settled with them every evening by wash- 
 ing out a few panfuls of dirt with melted snow. Three 
 men, named Flack, Sloan, and Wilkinson, worked a claim 
 on Eldorado, and when they had sunk a shaft eighteen feet 
 Sloan and Wilkinson sold out their interests for fifty thou- 
 sand dollars each, but Flack refused to sell. He preferred 
 to take his chances with the bird in the bush. The three 
 owners when they came to clean up the dump obtained over 
 fifty thousand dollars each out of the dirt thrown out before 
 the pay-streak was reached. A miner by the name of Alex. 
 MacDonald took out ninety-four thousand dollars from a 
 forty-foot patch of ground only two feet thick. He em- 
 ployed four men to do the work and consumed but twenty- 
 eight davs. His claim was No. 30 Eldorado. 
 
 Thera was one man who a year before had been a coun- 
 try schoolteacher in Wisconsin. In the spring of 1 896 he 
 started on a pleasure trip to Juneau. His funds gave out 
 and he was compelled to go to work, but later on he joined 
 a party of Tenderfeet and started up the Stikine Iliver for 
 Lake Teslin. Before the lake was reached eleven of the 
 party gave tip in disgust, and the schoolmaster and one 
 other were left alone with less than a year's provisions. 
 They pushed on to the Inke, built a raft, and started down 
 the river. Along in October they came floating down to 
 the mouth of the Tilondike, as green a pair as ever found 
 
 ■\ .-.• 
 
SOME OF THE FORTUNATE ONES 
 
 323 
 
 their way into the country. They heard about the dis- 
 covery, but found all the good claims staked. Finally, they 
 secured a chance to work a claim on shares, which gave 
 them each one-fourth interest in the claim. They took ouV: 
 eighty thousand dollars in thirty' days from one claim on El- 
 dorado, and twenty-two thousand dollars in twenty days 
 from another, and by the time they washed out their dumps 
 they were interested in a half dozen other claims of value. 
 The schoolmaster calculated that he was worth at least three 
 hundred thousand dollars, and that his chances were good 
 for a million by the time his interests were worked out. 
 
 Something like a realization of the force and complete- 
 ness of the awakening may be had from a simple observa- 
 tion of the experience of a Seattle boy who had arrived at 
 the Klondike too late to stake ii claim, but still while the 
 majority had little faith in the permanent value of the 
 new discovery. He found a fellow who was willing to sell 
 his Eldorado claim for eighty-five dollars, and he pur- 
 chased it, but was imable to work it. In April, or in less 
 than fovir months after his purchase, not having put a pick 
 into the dirt of the claim, he sold it for thirty-one thousand 
 dollars in Canadian mone_) , which in dust at seventeen dol- 
 lars an ounce would be equivalent to about thirty-five thou- 
 sand dollars. There were many similar cases where claims 
 were sold in November for as many dollars as they were 
 valued in thousands in the spring. 
 
 Sometime in the winter a French Canadian, while in- 
 toxicated, sold his claim on Eldorado for five hvmdred dol- 
 lars. When he became sober he regretted exceedingly 
 what he had done. Some of his friends told him that a 
 contract made with a man wh.ni intoxicated vroulu not hold, 
 and he threatened proceedings to have it declared void. 
 
 ! 
 
 I I 
 
in 
 
 . 
 
 324 
 
 THERB ARE LOTS MORE' 
 
 !' t 
 
 i 
 
 [ 
 
 ; 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 j; 
 
 ' 
 
 ; 
 
 ( ' 
 
 
 i 
 
 , 1 
 
 The fact was that all the parties were more or lesf, intoxi- 
 cated when the sale was made. It was one of tbofse saloon 
 incidents quite common when the tired and lonesomv? miners 
 meet at Dawson to break the hard monotony cf their 
 lives. Rather than hazard a lawsuit, the ; u''Ci'""n of the 
 claim offered to the French Canadian wht*t ..;*, h effect, 
 about one-tenth of the original claim, to surreiidc .' aU right 
 and title, real or imaginary, that he might have. It was 
 about the middle cf March when he accepted this settle- 
 ment, and in April he sold his interest in this small part of 
 the claim for fifteen thousand dollars, and went home to 
 spend it. 
 
 Frank Dinsmore, a poor prospector, in 1896 took out of 
 a claim on Bonanza Creek ninety pounds of gold in a single 
 day, netting him twenty-four thousand four hundred and 
 eighty dollars. A man working on Alec McDonald's El- 
 dorado claim shoveled in twenty thousand dollars in twel\ '; 
 hours. McDonald is a great big, raw-boned, rough, p"^ d- 
 hearted working man. One day he paid over to the A isVi 
 Trading and Transportation Company at Dawson one hur. 
 dred and fifty thousand dollars in one paympnt. Among 
 the mass of gold was twelve thousand dollars in miggets in 
 a granite bowl. They weighed about forty-five pounds. 
 Alice Henderson, a newspaper correspondent, happened to 
 be present at the time the payment was made. Alec turned 
 to her and said, in an oft -hand way : 
 
 " Help yourself to the nuggeta. Ta' some .)' the 
 bigger ones." 
 
 She hesitated, and he said: " Oli, they are nothint-: to' 
 me. Take as many as you please. There are lots more." 
 
 She finally took a nagov * \if}iich i presented about two 
 hundred dollars in gold. F'-ank Pliis :du,r was another pros- 
 
THE SCRATCHING OF THE PAY-STREAK 
 
 326 
 
 sonM> ."! the 
 
 pector from Michigan. In the fall of 1896 he was a pauper 
 prospector. In the spring of 1897 he was a millionaire. 
 
 One June day, when the dumps had been pretty well 
 washed out, the Canadian surveyor went up to Eldorado 
 Creek to gain an idea of the output of the twenty-four 
 claims that had been at all worked there. He calculated 
 that at the rate of seventeen dollars an ounce it aggregated 
 about eight hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars, and 
 this was the result of little irmre than a scratching of the 
 pay-streak of the claims. One claim on the creek had been 
 sold in April for forty-five thousand dollars, and five thou- 
 sand dollars had been paid down. The other provisions of 
 the sale were that fifteen thousand dollars should be paid on 
 May 15th, or about a month after the sale, the purchaser, if 
 failing to make the payment, forfeiting the claim, and the 
 balance to be paid by July 1st, failing which the claim 
 and all money paid should be forfeited. This was con- 
 sidered by some a very hazardous deal. It required im- 
 mense faith in the dirt; but the purchaser seemed to know 
 Ills business, and when the papers were compleited he said 
 he never felt surer of a homestake in his life, although he 
 had been milling for over twenty years. After the pur- 
 chase, as sluicing could not yet be done, he set to work 
 with two rockers, and made his payment on May lltli, or 
 four days before it was due, and the balance was ready about 
 the 20th of Jimo. The claim had been sold for an amount 
 which was practically equivalent to but two months' work- 
 ing of a space about twenty-four feet square, and with a 
 rocker at that. 
 
 If Bonanza Creek did not develop such remarkable re- 
 sults at first it was still rich past the comprehension of the 
 owners. About the middle of April, George Connack, 
 
 * ii 
 
 ]'■ 
 
fTJ=- 
 
 > '' 
 
 I 
 
 326 
 
 THE STARTLING QUOTIENT 
 
 acting for Tagish Charlie^ his associate, sold one-half of 
 Claim No. 2 below for five thousand dollars, five hundred 
 oUars down, and the balance to be paid by July 1, or 
 .rfeit the money and the claim. On July 1, while pass- 
 mg the claim, the Canadian surveyor witnessed the pay- 
 ment of the four thousand five hundred dollars by the pur- 
 chaser, and when the business was completed he asked him 
 how he had 8ucc^«<led. 
 
 " Oh;* he said, '' pretty well." 
 
 " Have you any objectiouf to telling me what you have 
 done? " 
 
 " No," he replied. " I drifted about twenty-four feet 
 long by fourteen feet wide, and cleaned up eight thousand 
 dollars." 
 
 " I know the area of your claim," said the surveyor, 
 " and assuming that your claim is all equally rich, we will 
 see how much you will take out of ft." 
 
 Some of these miners were not good at figures, and 
 more of them had been too busy and excited taking out the 
 gold to drop into mathemati,''al calculations. But it was a 
 simple problem. Given the length and width of the claim, 
 the product gave the area in square feet. Dividing this by 
 the result of multiplying 24 by 14, and multiplying the 
 quotient by eight thousand dollars, would give the value of 
 the dirt in the whole claim. The surveyor went through 
 the process. 
 
 " It's two million four hundred thousand dollars," he 
 said. 
 
 " My God ! " said the man, " what will I do with all that 
 money? " 
 
 " Oh, T wouldn't worry," said the surveyor, " for you 
 are not likely to be troubled to that extent. It is hardly 
 
 "^l»«t»S!W W II HW I > ' ' 
 
ENOUGH TO KILL YOU 
 
 327 
 
 3ne-half of 
 ve hundred 
 July 1, or 
 while pass- 
 sd the pay- 
 by the pur- 
 ! asked him 
 
 possible that your claim will average anything like that in 
 richness. But assuming that it will average one-quarter as 
 rich, you will ^till have six hundred thousand dollars. Or, 
 assuming that there is a narrow strip in your claim only 
 fourteen feet wide which you have just happened to strike 
 on, and that it continues through the length of your claim, 
 which is two hundred and fifty feet, you will still have 
 eighty-three thousand dollars, which is enough to kill you." 
 
 at you have 
 
 ty-four feet 
 tit thousand 
 
 le surveyor, 
 ich, we will 
 
 igures, and 
 cing out the 
 But it was a 
 >f the claim, 
 ding this by 
 tiplying the 
 the value of 
 ent through 
 
 dollars," he 
 
 with all that 
 
 ir, " for you 
 It is hardly 
 
 .TtM 
 
 ' •^••HSWmfWWlKWBWS- ' 
 
"B < ;, 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 STORIES OF GREAT HARDSHIPS AND SCANTY REWARDS 
 —A ROMANCE OF THE KLONDIKE — CLAIM JUMPERS — 
 AN OLD SLAVE'S LUCKY STRIKE. 
 
 Gold by the Ton — The Unfortunate Ones — Alaska Mining a Lottery 
 — Deceptive Placers — Weary Men Who Show No Nuggets — Ex- 
 perience of an Old Scotchman — Mining for Forty-Two Years — 
 A "Homestake" at Last — Poor Luck Still Followed Him — 
 Others Less Fortunate — Feeling ot the Old Miners When They 
 Saw the Tenderfeet Taking Out Gold — A Little too Much — 
 Hardships of a Miner — His First Good Luck — Neal McArthur 
 and His Narrow Escapes — Scarcely Making a Living — Catching 
 at a Straw — Hard Conditions of a Prospector's Life — Troubles 
 after Gold is Found — The Massachusetts Man and His "Boy" — 
 Threatened by Claiin-Jumpers — The Old Man Shot — The Boy 
 Handles the Gun and Turns Out to Be a Pretty Girl — A Heroic 
 Act — Queer People — An Old Slave from down in Georgia— His 
 Lucky Strike. 
 
 IT is impossible to adequately describe the effect upon 
 Dawson of these revelations of the rich character of 
 the mines which came when the sluices were cleaned 
 up in the months of May and June. Gold was brought 
 in from the creeks by the ton, and, as one man expressed it, 
 was " stacked up by the cord " with the trading companies 
 for safe keeping. Men who had stumbled over the rough 
 trail in September, poor and disheartened, disgusted with 
 their condition and sick of the country, came down in the 
 spring as millionaires and threw their gold dust about like 
 so much grass seed. But it must not be thought be- 
 
 (828) 
 
GOLD MINING A LOTTERY 
 
 329 
 
 cause so much gold dust was in evidence that every one 
 was rich. The fortunate ones always become famous, but 
 little is heard oiihose who work as hard and gain but little. 
 
 These Alaskan and Northwest Territory gold fields con- 
 stitute as odd a prize drawing proposition as ever was con- 
 ceived of. I. can be likened to nothing that admits of a 
 better comparison than a lottery. Old miners have looked 
 along the creeks for years, and their practiced eyes have 
 detected colors in many places. Selecting spots, they have 
 worked, sometimes half frozen, oftener half starved. The 
 season has closed, the water has run, and it has been found, 
 time and time again, that expenses have barely been paid. 
 Only a little distance away men rushed in, staked off any 
 part of a creek's bed they could get, and took sacks of gold 
 from the most uninviting bit of earth any one ever saw. 
 The lucky one did not strike the pocket because of his 
 ability as a miner. Chance favored him, that was all. In 
 nineteen cases out of twenty the miners had missed it and 
 waited another year for a new trial. Finally came the 
 Klondike. • 
 
 The placers are the most deceiving I have ever seen. 
 Imagine a man working on good " color " and finding the 
 ground worth only a few dollars per day, and then turning 
 to a waste of mud and moss with no surface indications and 
 unearthing a bonanza ! This seems to be the situation all 
 over Alaska. The man who goes there to mine does so at 
 the expense of health and happiness, and it is with him a 
 question of making a fortune quickly, or taking chances 
 with death. 
 
 About Dawson were scores of men who could weigh 
 
 their gold by the bucketful and who valued their claims at 
 
 millions. Four hundred valuable diggings were stretched 
 20 
 
 M 
 
 !! 
 
 , i 
 
 >^*'%tm^ 
 
 ^- Jj ll»^«»«W « " HMfn,^ 
 
MM! 
 
 ■I s ^. 
 lli 
 
 11 
 
 330 
 
 THE HOMESTAKE 
 
 along the creeks, and every digj^ing was a fabulous mine of 
 gold. Yet there were weary laen who had come to Daw- 
 son after searching the country throughout, and never a 
 nugget could they show for their toil and their long tramp 
 over broken ground into a country whose natural disad- 
 vantages are exceeded by those of no other place on fearth. 
 
 One old miner there was, a Glasgow Scotchman, noted 
 for his steady, upright, moral life. He was sixty-four years 
 old. 
 
 " How long have you been mining? " he was asked, one 
 day. 
 
 " Forty-two years," he replied. 
 
 " Where? " 
 
 " Everywhere in North America where mining has been 
 done." 
 
 " And you never made a homestake? " 
 
 " I never made more than a living, and very often a 
 scant one at that," he replied, somewhat mournfully. 
 
 The miners of the Yukon speak of a " homestake," 
 meaning the accumulation of enough gold to enable them 
 to return to " God's country,'' as they call the United 
 States, and live the rest of their days comfortably. This 
 old Scotchman had been searching through the Yukon val- 
 ley for ten years and had at last come to look forward to the 
 possibility of dying and being buried there. He had 
 thought — and it must have be«n a bitter thought, too — 
 that in his last days he might have to be assisted by his 
 friends as he had often helped others. 
 
 But he was at last fortunate enough to locate a good 
 claim in the Klondike district with another old Scotchman 
 who had had a similar experience. They could not afford 
 to work it much, but when March came and the prices of 
 
 5,' I' 
 
fortune's tardy favors 
 
 331 
 
 mines rose to such fabuloiis figures, they sold out for twenty 
 thousand dollars — ten thousand dollars each, after over 
 forty years of hardships, much of the ame cut off from all 
 associations, and deprived of home and family life, and the 
 pleasures of existence amid civilized surroundings. 
 
 But even this tardy favor from fortune carried with it 
 an element of that poor luck which had followed them for so 
 many years. Had they waited twenty days longer they 
 could have sold their claim for forty thousand dollars just as 
 easily as they had sold it for half that sum. Still, they were 
 glad to acquire even their little fortune, and they embraced 
 the first opportunity to leave the country and return to a 
 civilized land to end their days. They had at last made 
 their liomestake. 
 
 Others were far from being as fortunate as that. There 
 were men who had been knocking around the mountains 
 for years, and who came too late to secure claims, working 
 about Dawson for anything they could get, and though they 
 make good wages in such a booming place, it was little more 
 than enough to keep soul and body together at the prices 
 they were compelled to pay for the stalest kind of pro- 
 visions. 
 
 Scores of practiced miners came into the camps that first 
 winter who could not even secure a lay on any of the rich 
 placers. They were glad to have the opportunity to work 
 for some of the lucky tenderfeet who had stumbled into the 
 golden valley. Their feelings during that long winter, as, 
 exposed to the fierce blasts of Arctic weather, they toiled in 
 the frozen shafts or turned the crude windlasses, and knew 
 that the lucky fellow whose claim they were working was 
 enabled to pay them by washing out every evening a 
 few buckets of the rich earth they were thawing, may be 
 
 ^f 
 
 (vi 
 
 i-c 
 
 1? 
 
 «».~»v,*^- 
 
332 
 
 THE HAKDFST EXPERIENCE OF HIS LIFE 
 
 imagined. They iiad searched, some of them for years, 
 along the Yukon for such places as this, and when it was 
 found they could get only fifteen dollars a day while a lucky 
 tenderfoot was taking out thousands. 
 
 But they did not grumble at fate. None knew so well 
 as they that mining is a gamble anyway, and those who had 
 had the good fortune to find the prize were entitled to it. It 
 was a little too much for their hardened resignation to this 
 blind fate, however, when they were asked to work for less 
 than fifteen dollars a day in the new placers. To be sure, 
 they had often worked in diggings where they had earned 
 more than their employers, but when these tenderfeet, who 
 needed the exi>erienced men to work their rich properties, 
 asked them to labor for less than fifteen dollars in dirt that 
 frequently ran over a hundred dollars tu the pan, it was a 
 little too much. The difficulty was finally adjusted so that 
 the experienced miners received the high rate of wages 
 while the inexperienced received about ten dollars a day. 
 
 I knew one young man who had been a sailor and had 
 roughed it in about every way possible, finally bringing up 
 on the Yukon, where, he said, he had the hardest experience 
 he had ever met in his life. 
 
 " I've known what it is to go hungry for a month at a 
 time," he said, as he was taking the steamboat to go home 
 for a visit, having made a little money for the first time 
 since he came into the valley. " I know what the chance 
 for getting rich in this country is," he continued, " and 
 although I have got enough at last to enable me to go home 
 for a little visit after all these years, I wouldn't again go 
 through what I have endured here for the best mine in the 
 Klondike. Two years ago I landed at Forty Mile with my 
 partner, and we worked hard and often went terribly 
 
 ''^^ttM^mmmmni, 
 
A QENBROUS PIONEER 
 
 33a 
 
 ^ i 
 
 hungry. When we heard of the strike on Bonanza, I 
 wanted to go, but in the eight months we had been working 
 we had taken out not more than thirty dollars of clean 
 money. Ill luck seemed to follow us wherever we weut. 
 Finally we got up to Dawson and were fortunate enough to 
 secure a lay on an Eldorado claim. After working «; 
 while my partner became disgusted and left, for none of the 
 big strikes had been made then. It was the hardest mining 
 we had ever struck. After a time we found some good in- 
 dications, and by the end of the season we were able to take 
 out enough so that I had six thousand dollars for my share. 
 That is the first piece of good luck I have had in my two 
 years in Alaska, and it does not begin to pay me for what I 
 have suffered." 
 
 Jack McQuesten, who is called the " father of the coun- 
 try," has comparatively very little to show for his long life 
 and many hardships on the Yukon. He has done fairly 
 well as a trader, and by his generosity has helped many of 
 the old miners of the country in their desperate straits. 
 McQuesten went to Dawson, but not till the choice ground 
 had been taken up. His claim panned out sn well, how- 
 ever, that for the first time in twenty-six years hi. ^ aid a visit 
 to the states, carrying with him about ten thousand dollars. 
 Neal McArthur was one of the old miners in the country. 
 In recounting his experiences to a party of friends, he said : 
 
 " I have been mining for more than thirty years, but 
 not until I struck Alaska over nine years ago did I begin to 
 know what suffering was. It would be impossible for me 
 to tell all I have gone through and the many times that 
 death has l>een near me. I recall one instance that may 
 serve to illustrate what the people are to expect if they rush 
 unprepared into the Yukon country. It was in the fall of 
 
 - M 
 
 t] 
 
 M*X^-'%l« 
 
 Jf!3sX^VSSaSj^i:iJMfi-^ 
 
884 
 
 A TERRIBLB JOURNEY 
 
 j 
 
 II 
 
 . 
 
 1881. Winter had come on earlier than usual, and, in con- 
 sequence, only a few boats were able to reach the points 
 along the river. In the dead of winter our provisions gave 
 out, and it seemed as though we must all die. Finally it was 
 agreed that we must go to St. Michael, one thousand seven 
 hundred miles away, if we hoped to escape with our lives. 
 1 cannot begin to recount the horrors of that journey. It 
 was bitter cold, and to make matters worse we did ot have 
 the proper clothing. We were weeks in ret i; our 
 destination, and we were more dead than alive ,.».en we 
 got there I have worked all through the diggings of 
 Alaska, but I hardly made a living. Some seasons we took 
 out next to nothing, and then next year we would strike a 
 pocket carrying enough gold to keep us going for a time. 
 Last fall, when the news reached us of the strike on the 
 Klondike, all who could packed up their effects and hastened 
 to the new fields. It was like a drowning '^aan catching at a 
 straw. We were ready to do anything that promised a re- 
 turn. X was fortunate enough to locate a good claim and 
 came away with enough to last me the res'; my days. 
 
 " There are men in this country who are poor, and who 
 will remain so. It has not been their * Inck,' as they call it, 
 to strike it rich, but I may say that the country offers to 
 men of great fortitude, steadiness, and some intelligence an 
 opportunity to make more money in a g-.ven time than the; 
 could possibly make anywhere else. You have, of course, 
 a good deal to contend with; your patience will be sorely 
 tried, for the conditions are so unique that they have sur- 
 prised many who have gone in hopefully and have left in 
 disgust. There are many obstacles and disagreeable con- 
 ditions in prospecting." 
 
 Troubles are not certain to cease when gold in rich quan- 
 
 I 
 
UNSCRUPULOUS CLAIM JUMPERS 
 
 880 
 
 titles 18 found and all that remains is to get it out. In 
 Alaska and the Northwest Territory now, as has generally 
 been the case in valuable gold regions, there are men who 
 are desperate and unscrupv'ous, and who, under some pro- 
 text, may seek to deprive a weak man of his rights. In the 
 rush and excitement attending the development of the 
 Klondike district such cases were too commonly overlooked, 
 even by the justice-loving mine is who were too hard at work 
 and too busy to mind the troubles of others. There was 
 some genuine heroism displayed in defending claims. 
 
 Along in April there came into one of the camps an 
 elderly man accompanied by a boy, as wo thought, about 
 fifteen years old. "VVe thought him one of the nicest boys 
 we ever saw. He and his father staked out a claim on one 
 of the new streams. The old man said he came from Mas- 
 sachusetts. He Avas a quiet, peaceable man, minded his own 
 business and paid no attention to anybody. But a few days 
 after he commenced work on his claim it got around that he 
 had struck three-dollar dirt. 
 
 Some of the mean characters knocking about the place 
 thought they might run the old fellow off his claim. So 
 one night two or three of them went to the tent, shoved their 
 guns in the faces of the man and his boy, and told them if 
 they didn't get off that claim within twenty-four hours they 
 would be shot. The old man said nothing to them, so one of 
 them ov/ned up afterward, but just lay there, and the boy 
 kept quiet, too. 
 
 The old man, whose name was Henry Williams, talked 
 it over with his boy, and between them they agreed that they 
 would stick it out. So they took turns lying awake and 
 watching for the claim-jumpers. Three or four nights 
 afterwards the jumpers came. The boy was asleep and the 
 
 II 
 
 I i 
 
 -s; 
 
 (^•ili'l 
 
 ^- 
 
 1 
 
 
 .W^l 
 
336 
 
 A girl's heroism 
 
 old man was on watch. Before the old man knew what had 
 happened they had shot him in the shoulder. The boy 
 heard the shot, and out he jumped with a gun in each hand, 
 dropped two of the fellows, and wounded another. The 
 fourth man ran away without firing a shot. Then the boy 
 L.ved the old man up a iittle and came down into the town 
 and told what had happened. 
 
 The men assembled right away and went out to the old 
 man's camp and brought him back to town, fixed him up 
 the best they could, and found that he was not very badly 
 hurt. After they had found this out and told the boy that 
 his father was all right, he dropped to the floor as if he was 
 shot. They picked him up and laid him in a bunk. 
 
 And then they found out that he wasn't a boy at all, but 
 a girl, and a pretty girl, too. 
 
 As I heard the story, the man had been very unfortunate 
 in the East, and determined to go to Alaska. His wife was 
 dead, and he had only one child, this girl, and did not know 
 what to do with her. But she was determined to come with 
 him as a boy, and she made her father agree to it. Thei-e 
 was nothing in Dawson too good for them after that, and 
 that girl could have married any unmarried man in town 
 had she chosen to, and there was some talk of her doing so. 
 There are plenty of opportunities for such romances in the 
 Klondike. 
 
 And many queer people were to be found. It seemed 
 as if nearly every nation of the earth was represented and 
 everybody was as good as everybody else. It made no dif- 
 ference as to color, or previous condition. There was one 
 old fellow who had once been a slave, and his wool was as 
 gray as a sheep's pelt. He had come into the Yukon valley 
 with a freighting outfit and had no idea of trying for gold. 
 
 u, 
 
A QUEER OLD DARKEY 
 
 337 
 
 Put when he reached the neighborhood of Dawson, old as 
 he wus, he contracted the fever and staked out a claim. 
 
 " You know that old black fellow down the creek," said 
 Joe one day when he had returned from witnessing some of 
 the spring sluicing. 
 
 "Yes," I said. " What about him?" 
 
 *' Well, you may believe it or not, but the old rascal has 
 cleaned up thirty thousand dollars in gold dust. You ought 
 to hear him talk about what he is going to do with it. His 
 name, he says, is St. John Atherton, and he comes from 
 down in Georgia, ' just a piece out of Atlanta.' The daugh- 
 ter of the man who owned him during the war is living there 
 yet, he says, on the old plantation, but very poor. The old 
 fellov/ sf.ys he is going back to buy that plantation, and then 
 he M going to have that woman do nothing but li^o like a 
 lady all the rest of her e^ays, I believe he means just what 
 he says. He'r- a queer old darky, but he seems to have a 
 good heart." 
 
 hi 
 
 ji 
 
 ' ' '1 
 
 I 
 
 ■ 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 INCIDENTS OF THE TRAIL — DEATH AND BURIAL OF A 
 BABY — A WOMAN'S THRILLING EXPERIENCES. 
 
 News of the Outside World — When the Ice Goes Out of the River — 
 It "Marks Time" — Au Unpleasant Siglit for a Hungry Man — 
 Grub at J ast — Happy Incident of a Yukon Honeymoon — Mrs. 
 McKay's Story — Death of a Baby — Tlic Little Casket and the 
 Grave by Lake Lindeman — Misfortunes of John Matthews — His 
 Troubles Over — Impression of the Trail — Strong Men Dismayed 
 at the Outlook — Trying to Look Cheerful — Learning of the 
 Klondike Discoveries — Taken for a Man — Over the Summit — 
 Ravenous Appetites of the Men — Through the Cafion and the 
 Rapids — A Woman's Experience — Clinging to the Boat in Terror 
 — In the Presence of Death — Quick Decisions of Gold-Seekers — 
 Many Unfit for Work i'' Alaska — The Situation Facing the Ten- 
 derfoot — Where Shall He Find Gold?— "Did You Take This 
 for a Picnic ? " 
 
 ONE of the blessings of the influx of people during 
 the summer and fall of 1897 lay in the opportu- 
 nity it afforded us of learning what was transpir- 
 ing in the outside world. Up to the first of July we knew 
 just as much about current events in the United States as 
 the people of the United States knew about the Klondike. 
 There were a few stories which leaked through, nobody 
 knew how. One does not need to go far away from the 
 river to acquire a full measure of that bliss which comes 
 from ignorance. I have heard of a cultivated German, a 
 scientific hermit who has kng lived among a colony of In- 
 
 (888) 
 
WHEN THE ICE MOVES OUT 
 
 339 
 
 dians in the northern part of Alaska, who did not hear of 
 the Fianco-Prussian war until three years ago. It is not 
 strange. It is the best country in the world for a hermit 
 to whom seclusion is the principal thing in life. 
 
 It is a great event on the Yukon when the ice really be- 
 gins to go out. It means that in a few days a little steamer 
 will come puffing up the river. The old '* Yukoner," as a 
 usual thing, does not await this event with any impatience 
 for the news of the outside world, but with an eagerness for 
 something to eat. By the first of June he has ceased to look 
 forward with delight to the day when he shall roll in wealth, 
 and has begun to anticipate with mingled emotions the time 
 when he can get a square menl. Having secured that he 
 can afford to be social to n ^rivals. 
 
 But the ice in the Yukon generally has an exasperating 
 way of moving out. As the river ri>- s some six Inmdrcd 
 miles south of the Arctic Circle and flov ^ northwe^ till it 
 meets that frigid geographical device, and as the montli of 
 the river usually remains frozen till the first of ,Tun(> r 
 later, the ice in the upper part does little for a montli but 
 " mark time." This it does by breaking into cakes which, 
 on account of the dam of solid ice below, slide one over the 
 other, and the force of the swift current and \oo .>ove 
 finally results in such pressure that the cakes ht; . up al- 
 most perpendicularly, sometimes ten feet high. The great 
 mass will move along gradually, like people coming out of a 
 crowded theater, and like them will finally get out — all 
 except a few straggling cakes which for some reason were 
 belated. This glacial aspect of the river makee a very 
 pretty sight, but it would be pleasanter to watch when less 
 hungry. The people on the river generally rush to the 
 banks when they hear that the ice has ceased marking time 
 
 |;:f 
 1 J 
 
 
 i| 
 

 340 
 
 BRIDAL CONGRATULATIONS 
 
 j 
 
 
 |1 
 
 and is really going, and they will stand for hours and watch 
 it, though I know in my case the thought uppermost in mind 
 was son^ething more than that of the piece of moose ham 
 which tasted as if it might have been cured during the late 
 War of the Rebellion. 
 
 " Grub " came at last. We rarely spoke of edibles or 
 provisions on the Yukon. It was grub. Being an essential 
 of which we often stand in dire need, a short, crisp, forceful 
 word was required — something which could be pronounced 
 quickly even if the thing itself came slowly and in small 
 lots. Dawson gave itself up to square meals for a time, 
 though the gold excitement was at its height, and soon it 
 began to be visited by new arrivals from over the pass. 
 There were some old acquaintances, of course. Some of ihj 
 first were those who had been on the Yukon, but had gone 
 out for the winter, and there were some peculiar and in- 
 teresting incidents, of course, following such a rich season. 
 
 James McNamee and Charles M. Lamb had been part- 
 ners in Alaskan prospecting operations. They had ex- 
 plored several creeks in the far north, but fortune had not 
 smiled upon them, and in the summer of 1 896 Lamb decided 
 to return to California and get married. He did so, return- 
 ing with his wife the next June. When he and his bride 
 stepped from their little boat at Dawson, he was greeted by 
 his partner: 
 
 " Lamb, you're worth a fortune. Up in the cabin is 
 thirty seven thousand dollars, ^\hich represents your in- 
 terest in the amount of money that we have taken out of tVe 
 claims since you went after a wife." 
 
 It was a very happy incident of a honeymoon in the 
 Yukon. 
 
 Of course there were always interesting stories of ex- 
 
A LITTLE GRAVE BY THE WAYSIDE 
 
 341 
 
 periences on the trail to be told by the newcomers. Among 
 those who arrived about the first of J uly was Mr. McKay, 
 one of Alaska's pioneer traders, and his wife. She said it 
 was the grandest trip she had ever made in her life. Still it 
 had its sad incidents. One morning about the first of June, 
 while she was at Lake Lindeman, a Mr. Card, who, with his 
 wife and child, was making the trip in, and camping at that 
 place, came to her tent and said that their boy was dead. 
 They were young people and this was their first child, a 
 baby of seven months. 
 
 " We all showed our sympathy," said Mrs. McKay, " by 
 helping all we could in their distress. We made a little 
 casket of rough wood, padded it with a soft blanket, and 
 covered it with some black cloth, lining it with white muslin. 
 I laid the baby in it, and then went to one of my trunks, and 
 from my best hat took some French violets, which I ar- 
 ranged about the baby, putting some in his little clasped 
 hand. We put up a small tent near the bereaved parents, 
 and there the body lay till the next day, when we buried it. 
 The little grave was made by tender hands, and a wooden 
 tablet at the head tells the traveler who lies there. We also 
 built a little picket fence to protect the resting-place, and 
 every one who goes over the trail will see it marking the 
 clo^e of a brief career." 
 
 This gives a little glimpse of the incidents of that hard 
 trail amid the most wonderful scenery in America, and is a 
 suggestion of what may happen — of what disheartening 
 events did happen when the great rush of two months later 
 was inaugurated. 
 
 On June ]3ch, at Lake Bennett, there was another sad 
 occurrence. A man named John Matthews, who, with his 
 father, had packed his outfit over the mountain passes, ex- 
 
 ,» ?■ 
 
 TtSl 
 
 I 13 
 
343 
 
 A TRAGEDY OP THE TRAIL 
 
 periencing all the slavish drudgery of the task, had at last 
 reached the lakes. He could see the watery way to the goal 
 stretched out before him. The sun was shining. It 
 seemed that all the hardships had been endured, and that 
 the latter part of the journey would be easy, floating down 
 the river, turbulent in places, of course, but the water was 
 to be his servant. He built his boat, loaded it with his out- 
 fit, and started. All went well till the boat struck the whirl 
 of the rapids and was swamped. His oiitfit was at the bot- 
 tom of the river as ours had been. Where the accident oc- 
 cured, however, the water was shallow and they managed to 
 recover most of the goods, though nearly all of them were 
 spoiled. Matthews and his father went into their tent and 
 were cleaning up their guns. While the latter's back was 
 turned a shot was heard. Blue smoke came curling from 
 the tent flaps, and the distressed father saw his son lying on 
 the ground, his head torn by the accidental discharge of his 
 gun. His troubles were over. A meeting was called and 
 the poor boy was buried there amid the silent and dreary 
 hills. 
 
 A woman who arrived early in the summer with her 
 husband and her son told an interesting story of her ex- 
 periences and impressions, and it gives a true picture of 
 some of the trials of the trail, even before the great rush. 
 
 " Our troubles began," she said, " when we reached 
 Dyea. The air rang with noise and confusion. There was 
 no wharf there. The steamship lay at anchor two miles 
 from shore — that is, from low-water mark. Beyond this 
 point up to dry land there was a sea of mud — a dismal 
 stretch of mud flats wide away. Everything had to be 
 taken ashore in small boats and landed in the mud or on the 
 rocks. They had to take out freight as fast as it was landed 
 
 .■>^-irH M>utuW.S!aiaw 
 
hmi; 
 
 • 
 
 li 
 
 1 
 
 
 4 
 
I 
 
 ■ i 
 
A DEPRESSING OUTLOOK 
 
 345 
 
 from the boats and carry it alwve high tide. Seventy-five 
 or one hundred men were ashore engaged in this kind of 
 work. There were a lot of lazy fellows among them, men 
 who wouldn't work, who were born tired, and what on earth 
 they ever came up there for, where there is nothing but the 
 hardest kind of work to do, I can't imagine. I don't know 
 how they ever expect to reach the Yukon, or what they ex- 
 pect to do when they get here. The horses and cows had to 
 swim ashore. It seemed cruel to plunge them into the icy 
 water and compel them to swim such a distance. 
 
 " How dismal appeared the outlook! Our surround- 
 ings seemed to mirror our feelings. The wild coast scenery 
 presented no trace of beauty. The dreary ocean, the awful 
 mountains piled on mountains, the rock-ribbed shores with 
 their mantle of snow and ice, and the dismal mud flats, all 
 conspired to make us feel blue. If I had been faint- 
 hearted, I should have felt like giving up then and there. 
 Strong men were dismayed at the outlook. Many gave up, 
 sold their outfits, and went back. One steerage passenger 
 offered his outfit for his passage back. Such pigeon-hearted 
 men — men who haven't the courage to say boo to a goose 
 — are not cut out for miners. But I just thought to my- 
 self, * I will never say die.' 
 
 '' Such a time as we had unloading our goods! A part 
 were put on the tide flats, and the rest on the rocks, nearly 
 five miles from shore. Some of our packages were washed 
 off the rocks. Some people lost a lot of things. One man 
 had two thousand gallons of whisky aboard the ship. He 
 found many of the kegs floating on the water, also a lot of 
 cigars. We had to go on shore before they were through 
 unloading. The goods were not checked off, as they should 
 have been, but were thrown out of the boats into the mud 
 
 I U 
 
 ^i 
 
 ( • •■'• 
 
 a 
 
346 
 
 TRYING TO BB CHEERFUL 
 
 M \ 
 
 ii\ 
 
 and on the rocks in utter confusion. The men had to work 
 two nights and two days to segregate their freight and to 
 save it from being washed away by the tide. We lost a 
 sack of hardware, three sacks of feed for the horses, and 
 several bales of hay. We also lost one hundred pounds of 
 bacon. However, we fared better than we expected. 
 
 " I felt pretty blue, though I tried to look cheerful. I 
 could never have imagined a country to be so desolate, 
 cheerless, and dismal. Nature, sad, melancholy, and wof ul, 
 seemed even to have stamped her seal upon the Indians and 
 their dogs, which latter, as an accompaniment to the death 
 song of the winds, were incessantly howling. And such 
 lugubrious howls I never heard before. But it just made 
 my heart ache to see how cruelly they were treated. Men 
 seemed to become heartless up there. The environment, 
 perhaps, makes them so. 
 
 " Well, we started out in a snow storm, but under foot it 
 was nothing but slush and water and bare ground. We did 
 not arrive a day too soon. We were afraid the summit 
 would be bad, although on account of the elevation the snow 
 might be harder. I felt quite at home in our cosy little 
 tent, and baked bread and cookies in our little sheet-iron 
 * Yukon stove ' for the first time. It was a perfect little 
 jewel. I kept a pot of baked pork and beans on hand all the 
 time, but for the first two days ashore all we had was tea, 
 bacon, and biscuits. We would not have had even that 
 limited fare had I not taken it from home. 
 
 " ' Homesick any yet ? ' asked my husband one eveniug. 
 
 " ' Not I,' I replied, but I had a hard struggle. 
 
 " We had not gone far before we met some people com- 
 ing out and received the first news of the Klondike. Then 
 we were elated beyond measure over the prospect. Every 
 
AN EMBARRASSED PILGRIM 
 
 347 
 
 burden seemed lighter now; every hardship less severe. 
 Hope lightened up the gloom of our surroundings and 
 thrilled every nerve with joy. Nothing fatigued us, noth- 
 ing tired us then. I really felt very glad we had come, and 
 the tent even became quite pleasant. 
 
 "There were fi\'e women on the trail going over to the 
 Y"ukon, including myself. We all wore men's suits. You 
 ought to have seen us. One day I was working at the stove 
 when two men came to the entrance of the tent. One man 
 said, * Mister, can you ,^ive me a drink of water? ' I said, 
 * Yes, sir,' and handed him a dipper of water. While I was 
 getting the water the other man made a remark to him not 
 audible to me. W^hen he took the water he seemed so dis- 
 concerted that I could not refrain from laughing, and he 
 said, * Excuse me. Madam, I thought you were a man.' I 
 wore a man's mackinaw suit and cap. We had a lot of fun. 
 They all told me that I looked fine in my man's suit. I 
 felt like a fish out of water when I first put it on, but soon I 
 grew accustomed to it and I liked it better than our regular 
 costume. It seemed so funny when I went down hill or 
 through wet places, I would instinctively reach around to 
 hold up my skirts. Then how they laughed. 
 
 " I got along very nicely, and was all the time very busy, 
 and industry, you know, always begets happiness. So I 
 was both busy and happy. One day I lined the horse 
 blankets, and every day and every hour and every minute 
 there was a plenty to do, and how the time flew ! 
 
 " When we started to move through the canon I made 
 up my mind to walk, and did for a short distance, but my 
 husband insisted on my riding, so they fixed a place for me 
 on top of several bales of hay on the sled my son v.'as draw- 
 ing. I did not want to ride on his sled as he was always 
 91 
 
 I 
 
 . 
 
348 
 
 INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS 
 
 letting it tip over, but my husband said he would be more 
 careful if he had me for a passenger. We had two other 
 sleds heavily loaded, and my 1 usband had to stay behind and 
 watch to keep them from capsizing. We had proceeded 
 about four miles when over went the sled, but I jumped off 
 in time, and was not even frightened. Afterward several 
 bales more of hay were added to the load, and we started off 
 with myself perched on top. Presently over it went. My 
 son was admiring the grand mountain scenery at the mo- 
 ment and paying little attention to his sled. I uttered a 
 scream and tumbled over backward, turning a complete 
 somersault. I was so frightened that I had a terrible head- 
 ache the rest of the day. 
 
 *' We worked along and finally pitched our tent at Camp 
 Pleasant, with tall cliffs on either side of us lifting their 
 awful forms skyward until they reached the ver^' clouds. 
 The awful, solemn grandeur of that mighty mountain fast- 
 ness beggars description. The trail to the summit led up 
 the canon directly in front of our tent. The snow had be- 
 come so soft that we could not use the horses beyond this 
 point, and we had to haul our goods by hand. We had five 
 men helping us. Until then the horses had been of great 
 assistance. There were tents in every direction about us 
 and no conventionality. Anybody was as good as anybody 
 else. Everybody spoke to everybody and got acquainted. 
 
 " At last we got over that terrible summit, but it was 
 not half so bad as I expected to find it. It took me about an 
 hour to climb to the top. I had two staffs to assist me in 
 climbing. The day was so beautiful and the scenery so 
 sublimely grand that I really enjoyed the adventure much. 
 The weather was good all the time, in fact. Then we went 
 into camp to build our boat. I was so glad to take up my 
 
IN A CHRONIC STATE OF HUNOBR 
 
 349 
 
 abode at one place, if only for a little while. This thing of 
 packing up and moving every few days was something ter- 
 rible. I was sick for nearly two weeks, but managed to do 
 the cooking for the men. 
 
 " Cook? I had to cook all the time. I never saw men 
 eat so. They would come in wet through and as hungry as 
 bears. They would want something to eat every time they 
 came into the tent. The night we camped I promised the 
 boys some pancakes for supper, and they ate so many it kept 
 me frying for a long time. I made some syrup of sugar. I 
 don't make them often. I cooked some evaporated onions, 
 and they were very nice. We had very good soup also. I 
 made it from beef extract and put in some evaporated vege- 
 tables and a little bread. 
 
 " The day we came over from Lindeman, I walked from 
 the mouth of the caiion. They call it nine miles. My ! I 
 was tired, and I was very lame for several days. It was the 
 first time I had walked so far. They always insisted on my 
 riding; but we had sold the horses and I had to walk. I did 
 not want to sell the horses to the man who bought them. 
 This man had worked one span of horses to death. I told 
 him he could not have our poor horses to kill by overwork. 
 He just laughed. While he was at the tent he heard me 
 say I wished that we had some tomatoes, and, notwithstand- 
 ing the fact that I had talked so harshly to him, he sent me 
 two cans. 
 
 " Oh ! yes, those turbulent waters terrified and appalled 
 ne. I rode through all those awful torrents that the men 
 did, and we went through all the rapids excepting White 
 Horse. Everybody made a portage there. My husband 
 said these rapids were much worse than last year, and he 
 deemed it unsafe to go through. The day we crossed Lake 
 
 4 
 
 -'ti 
 
350 
 
 PERILS OP THE CANON 
 
 Bennett the wind blew very hard, and the lake was exceed- 
 ingly rough. How the great waves rolled and tossed our 
 boat about like a feather, though it contained six tons of 
 freight besides ourselves! You can imagine how terrified I 
 was. From Lake Bennett we entered Three Mile River. 
 We had no sooner entered it than our boat got stuck on a 
 sand bar. The men had to get into the cold, icy water, 
 waist deep, to get the boat oif. "We got stuck on sand bars 
 several times after that. One time we were delayed for 
 three hours. 
 
 " Lake Lebarge was terribly rough, and ■'^'e ' were ex- 
 ceeding tossed mth a tempest ' for fifteen long miles. I 
 cried nearly all the way. Finally we reached the caiion — 
 that terrible, awful, appalling canon, a roaring, seething 
 mass of water rushing from both sides and forming a cone 
 in the center. Xearly every one landed above it and looked 
 it over, but we went right through. We got about half way 
 through when a 'lig pwell stmck the boat, causing the right 
 oarsman to fall just as my husband called for a stroke on 
 that side. The result was that tlie boat struck the rocks, 
 turned around, -^nd went backward. In trying to turn the 
 boat my husband's oar broke like a pipe stem, and they had 
 to jerk one of the oars out and give it to him. When the 
 boat swimg around I surely thought my time had come. I 
 did not scream nor utter an audible sound. They say I 
 clasped my hands together and did braAJ^elv. For the mo- 
 ment T was overcome ^vith terror and palmed with fright. T 
 hope I may never experience such feelings of horror acain. 
 I felt ae if I wew in the presence of death, and my thoughts 
 tvaveh'd fast. There were dozens of people up on the cliff 
 lookinir down on us, but no one could have saved us had the 
 boat swamped. We were Jiist three minutes going through. 
 
 ti Vt 
 
'HERE FOR THE DUST' 
 
 351 
 
 The distance is thi ee-quarters of a mile. It seemed an age 
 to me. One corner of the boat struck against the wall of 
 rock and was smashed in. The boat was soon repaired and 
 we proceeded on our journey. 
 
 " The next bad place was Five-Finger Rapids. We 
 went through to the right, through a passage among the 
 rocks, not much wider than our boat. This is another roar- 
 ing, seething torrent of water. I was again terribly fright- 
 ened. Just below Five Fingers is the Rink Rapids. Here 
 we had to keep to the. right shore, a wall of rock, just as close 
 as we could to avoid the great boulders over which the water 
 madly plunges in a white, seething foam. The men had to 
 bend to the oars, and they had all they could do to keep our 
 craft oif the rocks. Oh, how the water roared! Do you 
 wonder that I was frightened? Thank heaven, it is all 
 over! I would not take the trip again for all the gold in 
 Alaska. But now we're here I'm going to make some gold 
 dust, if I have to run a bakery." 
 
 Two things strongly impressed the observer of those 
 who flocked in during the summer rush. First the sudden- 
 ness with which the decisions to seek fortunes in the gold 
 fields had been made. Hardly a man had decided to come 
 a week before he started, and a number decided, made their 
 preparations, and left all, inside of twenty-four hours, to 
 come to a country where a man must carry with him what 
 he wants for a year. Second, the exceedingly small num- 
 ber of miners there were among them. There were a few, 
 but they could be counted on the fingers, and the rest of 
 them had never even seen a gold pan, much less wielded 
 a pick in tlie diggings. It was a green crowd, but then, in 
 the Klondike, the tenderfoot flourishes and often makes the 
 strike the practical miner misses. All, to a man, were hope- 
 
353 
 
 CONFRONTED BY DIFFICULTIES 
 
 
 fill, and not one seemed to regret the step, tho\igh as the 
 situation gradually dawned upon them, their pensive faces 
 began to tell of the subduing character of their thoughts. 
 
 Many were unfit for the work of mining as it has been 
 conducted in Alaska, and a still larger number had no idea 
 of what was required. 
 
 The tenderfoot found himself in a city of log houses 
 and tents, facing a situation something like this: He could 
 live at a tavern for about twelve dolk.'"s per day or build 
 himself a log house. As, perhaps, he never drove a nail in 
 his life, he had to hire carpenters at fifteen dollars a day, 
 and, as they were not in the country for thel health, they 
 made a long job of it unless others are waiting. Finally, 
 with pockets sadly depleted, he moved in. 
 
 When this innocent gold-hunter looked about him he 
 found that the only way to get a claim on the Klondike was 
 to buy it, and by that time the cheapest one cost perhaps 
 fifty thousand dollars. He might h'^ve five hundred dol- 
 lars left, perhaps but one hundred dollars, possibly little or 
 nothing. The plentiful gold he had been hearing about, 
 if above ground at all, belonged to some one else and was 
 guarded. If he wanted nuggets he must find them for him- 
 self. Where? The old settler would point vaguely to the 
 frozen hills and say : 
 
 " Go along and find a creek. Everything is taken up 
 for fifty miles around, but you may get something further 
 away. ' What shall you do when you find it? ' First, pay 
 the governmejit location tax. Then jvist move a hundred 
 tons of ice to one side. Below that you will find some- 
 thing like twenty feet of frozen mud. Just thaw it and toss 
 it out. Xear bed-rock you will see gravel. Perhaps there 
 will be gold in it, and perhaps not. That's a chance you 
 
 < 
 
mmmm 
 
 SOME OF THE FROZEN FACTS 
 
 353 
 
 take. Just pile the gravel iip and in the spring you can 
 wash it out. You can't do so before, because all the water 
 will be ice. ' What if there is no gold in it, or not enough 
 to pay? ' Oh, then you won't be any worse off than hun- 
 dreds of others. You can hire out to other people, perhaps, 
 and work around till another freeze comes, which won't be 
 very long. What's that? You say your provisions won't 
 outlast another winter? Why, man! why didn't you bring 
 more, then? Did you take this for a picnic? These are 
 tJje frozen facts, young man, about gold-hunting here. If 
 ti-ey are not sufficiently frozen, you will be if you disregard 
 them when the merciiry gets well on the downward path to 
 sixty degrees below." 
 
 It is easy to see what a deplorable condition a man is in 
 when he faces the necessity of work like this with an in- 
 sufficient supply of provisions. A mine-ow^ner, no matter 
 how rich he may be in gold, has no food except such as he 
 has laid aside for himself, if he has had the foresight or the 
 fortune to do so, and only those men can be of use to him 
 who have the provisions. To endure work of this kind suc- 
 cessfully, one needs plenty of substantial food. 
 
 ,1 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 1/ 
 
 THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MONEY-MAKING IN ALASKA — 
 THE COSTLY EXPERIENCE OF TWO TENDERFEET — 
 APPALLING PRICE OF A SUPPER — A HORSE MISSING 
 WITH $49,000 IN GOLD. 
 
 A City Laid out on a Bog — Natural Floral Displays — Lousetown — 
 A Cold Place in Winter — Fabulous Rise in the Price of Building 
 Lots — Expense of Log Cabins — Making Money Quickly — Expe- 
 rience of a Cigar Drummer — Clearing $20,000 in Twenty Days in 
 Real Estate Optiou.-> — Better than Mining — Spring Water at Twen- 
 ty-five cents a Pail — Money Brought in by New Comers — Bonanza 
 Kings anu Millionaires — Alec McDonald and His Investments — 
 "Satin Bags," the Italian Bonanza King — Indulging in a Square 
 Meal at a Dawson Restaurant — " Your Bill is $52 " — How it was 
 Itemized — Pack Horses with Gold Dust — One of the Horses 
 Missing — An Exciting Mystery — A Vision of Highway Robbers — 
 The Lost Horse Returns Safely — Just Stopjied to Graze — Found 
 Dead with $30,000 — The Strain of Too Hard Work. 
 
 i 
 
 DAWSO^f^ is laid out with the most approved mathe- 
 matical precision on a bog. It is rectangular in 
 shape, the streets are sixty-five feet wide, and^ in 
 summer, about a foot deep in mud. At the bottom is the 
 everlasting frost, hard as adamant. As people who have 
 become accustomed to the country are used to wading, little 
 thouglit is given to this inconvenience, and the summer sea- 
 son, if unpleasant underfoot, has some delights, at least, 
 overhead and about the hils. The flowers carpet the hill- 
 sides, run riot in the valleys, and everywhere clothe the 
 country in glowing beauty. The soft purple haze a? seen 
 
 (854) 
 
DAWSON AND ITS SUBURBS 
 
 856 
 
 from Dawson on the neighboring hills seems almost like a 
 mist, but it is only an embankment of wild heliotrope. 
 Wild roses, beautiful and fragrant, wild poppies, and scores 
 of delicate small blossoms vary the color. In winter the 
 streets are more agreeable in their mantle of snow, which 
 covers everything. But the hills are dreary then, very 
 dreary. 
 
 Dawson is situated on the northeast side of the Yukon, 
 forty miles in a direct line from the Alaska boundary, and 
 twice that distance from where the river crosses the line. 
 The. Klondike lliver comes down on the east side and cuts 
 the town site in two. That portion of the town on the 
 south side of where the Klondike joins the Yukon is called 
 " Lousetown," and, in fact, was the original site used in 
 years past as an available camping point, and occasionally 
 roving bands of Indians stopped there. At present, a ptore 
 and two or three saloons comprise the business portion of 
 the place. Some forty or fifty tents house two hundred or 
 three hundred people, and the mountain trail to the mines 
 leads past this place. The ground is much higher and dryer 
 than on the north side, but owing to the proximity of the 
 mountain the site is not large enough for much of a town. 
 
 On the north side of Dawson proper the mountains open 
 out and curve around a low marshy piece of land of about 
 one hundred acres. There is hardly a spot on the town site 
 where the moss and earth cannot be cleared away to a depth 
 of twelve or fifteen inches and a cake of frozen ground or ice 
 be found. There would seem to be no question as to the 
 locality being unhealthy f.nd subject to malarial ailments. 
 In other than warm months a strong wind usually blows up 
 the Yukon from the north, except when the weather is 
 colder than fifty degrees below zero, and then a dead calm 
 
 ./ 
 
 i i 
 
 f 
 
356 
 
 MONOPOLY OP THE WATER SUPPLY 
 
 usually prevails. Dawson is situated on a bend of the river 
 so as to receive the full benefit of the chilling blasts. Back 
 on the gulches where the mines are located, the weather is 
 considerably more moderate and there is less wind. The 
 Yukon in front of Dawson is one-third of a mile wide and 
 the addition of the Klondike waters forms a large eddy 
 directly in front of the town, and into it the drainage and 
 sewage of the city empties. Consequently, the water is im- 
 pregnated with foreign elements and has occasioned much 
 sickness to those using it. At the lower end of the town 
 near the foot of the mountain is a fine spring of good water 
 which an enterprising man has monopolized, and water- 
 carriers earn as high as Torty dollars a day in carrying water. 
 A charge of twenty-five cents a bucket is generally exacted. 
 
 As the demand for building lots grew and the evidences 
 of the imsanitary condition of the soil became more appa- 
 rent, people began to pitch their tents and to build cabins 
 on the hillside. Such locations are some distance away 
 from the business center, but none too far for such as desire 
 to live quietly. The view from these hill residences, over- 
 looking Dawson and the river, is fine and in time it will be- 
 come, doubtless, a coveted residential quarter. 
 
 September 1, 1896, Dawson City consisted of two log 
 cabins, one small warehouse, a sawmill, and a few tents, with 
 a population of about twenty-five men and one woman. 
 Joe Ladue, the founder, was then selling his best lots at from 
 five dollars to twenty dollars each, and the prices were con- 
 sidered none too low. These same lots in July, 1897, were 
 selling at from eight hundred dollars to eight thousand dol- 
 lars each, and with every prospect of going still higher. 
 
 In July, Dawson's population had grown tr five thousand, 
 and every day people were pouring in. Log cabins, sixteen 
 
A BORN BUSINESS MAN 
 
 867 
 
 by eighteen feet, were renting from forty dollars to seventy- 
 five dollars per month, and few were to be had at these 
 prices. On every hand cabins and tents were being set up. 
 It cost a small fortune to build cabins at Dawson. One of 
 average size costs in the neighborhood of one thousand dol- 
 lars. Building timber is scarce in tlie neighborhood of the 
 town, logs being brought down the Yukon from ten to 
 fifteen miles. 
 
 Never before, I believe, was there such a place to make 
 money quickly as in Dawson in 1897; those who took for- 
 tune at its tide saw the money fairly roll up in their hands. 
 Naturally, there were the usual number who seemed to fail 
 to seize the right opportunity, and so worked along making 
 but little. But the opportunities were there for those who 
 had the business shrewdness to see them. A single example 
 will illustrate. Early in the spring a cigar agent or drum- 
 mer from Harrisburg, Pa., found himself at Dyea when the 
 first news of the Klondike came over the passes. He quit 
 his job, sent word to his firm that he was going to the Klon- 
 dike, took what cigars he had, and set out; arrived before 
 the great influx began, and quickly sold his ten-cent cigars 
 for one dollar and fifty cents each. He was only twenty- 
 two years of age, but a born business man ; he was all busi- 
 ness. He paid no attention to the mines ; indeed, he said he 
 didn't care whether he ever saw one or not. There was 
 money to be made easier right in Dawson. The speculation 
 in town lots was daily becoming livelier, and he knew that 
 it would be livelier still when the people began to arrive, so 
 he took written sixty-day options on a dozen lots, paid five 
 hundred dollars down, and in less than twenty days sold out 
 and made twenty thousand dollars cash. 
 
 " That's better than thawing out frozen muck for gold," 
 
 i 
 
358 
 
 ENTERPRISE AND FORESIGHT 
 
 he said. " These mines in Dawson can be worked winter 
 and summer." 
 
 Then he took options on more lots at greatly advanced 
 prices, for by that time we had heard at Dawson of the ex- 
 citement in the States over the new discovery, and we knew 
 that soon an army of gold-seekers would be pouring in. 
 When the people came, he made several thousands more. 
 But his business activity was by no means confined to this 
 form of speculation. Observing the poor quality and taste 
 of the water from the Yukon, he preempted the springs 
 back on the hill for a comparatively small sum, and soon 
 had a lot of Indians peddling this at twenty-five cents a pail. 
 He hired a few women and went into the bread business. 
 
 Money, that is, gold dust, was flying about in all direc- 
 tions, and he just put his business instincts to work to catch 
 what he could of it. By the end of the year he had two 
 hundred pounds of gold ready for shipment to the States 
 when the river opened, and altogether he was probably 
 worth one hundred thousand dollars, all made in six months 
 without going near a gold mine. He had every prospect of 
 doubling it in the next six months, for in the summer season 
 there will be no limit to the demand far his spring water at 
 twenty-five cents a pail. He had a fund of Irish wit and 
 was very popular. The last I heard he was proposing to 
 open a bank, and the chances were that he would in two 
 years have more gold than two-thirds of those toiling in the 
 rich pockets far away on the creeks. 
 
 Enterprising men who started business ventures of this 
 kind naturally stood in the way to secure not simply some of 
 the gold that came out of the mines, but much of the money 
 which was brought in by newcomers. The latter fund was 
 greater than one might suppose. While some came in with 
 
SOME BONANZA KINGS 
 
 369 
 
 little money, the majority had realized the advantages of 
 bringing all they could, and it seems safe to say that at least 
 two millions were brought in during 1897. Much of this 
 went for town lots and cabins. Those who brought in large 
 supplies of provisions were tempted by the fancy prices they 
 commanded to sell out all they could afford to, sometimes 
 making enough to enable them to secure valuable claims or 
 interests. 
 
 Naturally, the wonderful riches developed in the 
 spring's clean-up resulted in a sudden creation of bonanza 
 kings and millionaires who threw their dust around with 
 lavish hands. Alex. McDonald was conceded to be the 
 richest, at least in claims. Before the summer was over he 
 owned interests in twenty-eight claims, and he kept buying 
 as fast as he could take the money out of the ground to pay 
 for them ; indeed, faster. 
 
 " I have invested my whole fortune," he said, " and 
 have run in debt one hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
 besides, but I can dig out the one hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand dollars any time I need it." 
 
 From his general appearance and demeanor one would 
 not suppose that he had owned mines which had made him 
 rich beyond the dreams of avarice, and all in a single year. 
 He is a quiet, unassuming man, and takes his good fortune 
 philosophically. He walks about in his rough miner's 
 clothes, and is cordial, in his way, to everybody, for no one 
 is better than anybody else in Dawson. Lippy and Berry 
 were reckoned as second and third in riches, but when 
 strikes were being made every day there was always an un- 
 certainty as to who could really count up the most wealth. 
 An Italian named Antonia, owning some claims on El- 
 dorado, gave many evidences of being one of the most con- 
 
 ;ij 
 
360 
 
 AN EXPENSIVE SUPPER 
 
 spicuoiis bonanza kings. It was said that he had given a 
 written agreement to pay his lionsekeeper five hundred dol- 
 lars a week, and he actually ** cleaned the town " out of silks 
 and satins, s'l that he obtained the local soubriquet of ** Satin 
 Bags." But he could evidently aflFord to indulge his tastes, 
 for all he had to do was to dig up the gold when he wanted it. 
 
 Tastes were, however, a very expensive thing to in- 
 dulge in Dawson, and some of the newcomers were slow 
 in appreciating it. The little experience of two young men 
 from the Pacific coast will illustrate the difficulty which 
 some had in accommodating themselves at once to the con- 
 dition of affairs. They arrived one evening after a rather 
 quick and fortunate voyage down the river. Congratu- 
 lating themselves on their good luck and having tired of 
 camp cooking, one proposed going to the restaurant and 
 having a good supper. The proposition was accepted, and, 
 entering the first restaurant which had white tablecloths 
 and napkins, they ordered a full course and a small bottle 
 of wine. The menu consisted of eastern oysters, roast duck, 
 moose steaks, and the usual assortment of side dishes. 
 There is no doubt but that they greatly enjoyed the sup- 
 per, particularly after having lived on bacon, flapjacks, and 
 black coffee for a month. Arising and going to the coun- 
 ter, one of them threw down a twenty -dollar gold piece, and 
 taking a toothpick, said : 
 
 " Take out for two." 
 
 " You'll have to come again," said the proprietor. 
 
 "Oh, isn't that enough; well, here's another twenty; 
 you will have to excuse me, as we've just arrived and are 
 not yet familiar with frontier prices." 
 
 " That's not enough yet, my friend. Your bill is fifty- 
 two dollars." 
 
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THE MENU 363 
 
 " W-h-a-t, you don't mean to say you're going to diurge 
 us f-i-f-t-y-t-w-o cl-o-l-l-a-r-8 for our supper^ Why, in Ta- 
 coma it wouldn't cost over seven or eight dollars." 
 
 "Yes, but you're not in Tacoma, and besides, fifty-two 
 dollars is what it'd cost you in any other restaurant in Daw- 
 son." 
 
 " Will you please make out a statement of the expense?" 
 meekly asked the young gold-hunter, as he and his partner 
 emptied their piirsea and between them could only pro- 
 duce forty-eight dollars and sixty-five cents. The restau- 
 rant-keeper made out a slip, which read : 
 
 1 can Eastern oysters for two 115.00 
 
 1 roast duck for two, 4.00 
 
 2 porterbouse moose steaks, 8.00 
 
 1 pint bottle of champagne . . 80.00 
 
 Total, 152.00 
 
 Observing the depressed condition of their finances, and 
 tenderly appreciating their embarrassed condition in the 
 presence of a dozen miners who were amused at the predica- 
 ment of the newcomers, the restaurant-keeper said: 
 
 " Oh, never mind, boys, that's near enough. Here, 
 keep this odd change; we've no use for it up here," and he 
 handed them back one dollar and fifteen cents in dimes and 
 nickels. 
 
 The next morning they were observed in their tent as 
 they were getting ready for breakfast. The meal consisted 
 of fried bacon, beans, pancakes, and coffee. Their coun- 
 tenances bore a serious expression, and after a few pre- 
 liminary remarks incidental to the character of the coimtry 
 and chilly condition of the weather, a visitor remarked that 
 most of the new arrivals preferred to board a few days at the 
 restaurants after having been subjected to a bacon and black 
 coifee diet for a month. 
 
 !■ 
 
364 
 
 A VALUABLdE HORSE MiSSING 
 
 " It's different with us," said one, witii a sickly attempt 
 to smile and a sly glance at his comrade. '' We took sup- 
 per at a restaurant last night and the bill was over tifty dol- 
 lars, and it broke the two of us to pay it." 
 
 The sight of gold dust had become an old story to the 
 people who had wintered at Dawson, but it was a revelation 
 which nearly drove the newcomers frantic with impatience 
 to acquire some of their own. Nearly every day a little 
 train of pack iioraes woidd come in from the mines having 
 on their back? tho«^ precious bags which were more of a 
 load than they seeiBied. 
 
 One day in the early part of September a party with 
 seven pack horses loaded with gold came into town from El- 
 dorado. Tlie gold was in sacks of one hundred and fifty 
 to tAvo hundred pifwnds, and, of course, the arrival was one 
 of the events of the day in a far-away shut-oif town where 
 ewerything of that ciiaracter is an object of interest. When 
 ti» party broiigiit in their horses ready to have the gold 
 wnghed, the leaders of the train were struck with surprise 
 
 consternation. 
 
 One of the horses was missing! 
 
 They had started with eight, and upon investigation 
 found that one loaded witli one hundred and eighty 
 pounds of gold, valued at about forty-nine thousand dollars, 
 was not with the othei's. It was a mystery which no one 
 could explain. No one had seen the animal when it dropped 
 out. They had worked their way over the rough trail, and 
 supposed that the horses were keeping in line all the wfly. 
 The minutes of consteniation grew into hours, and then into 
 days. 
 
 No time was lost in getting back over the trail, making 
 inquiries all filong the ronte if a stray horse with one hun- 
 
RETURN OF THE WANDMRER 
 
 366 
 
 dred and eighty pound; of gold on bis back had been seen. 
 The hunt lasted all night, and the next day, and the night 
 following, and no trace of the animal could be found. 
 
 The matter ceased to be humorous and assumed a serious 
 aspect. A vision of highway roblxrs began to haunt the 
 honest miners who were sending in their gold. The police 
 were called into requisition, but not the faintest clue could 
 they get as to the whereabouts of either the iinlmal or the 
 gold, though the most diligent search was made in all direc- 
 tions. 
 
 The news spread from camp to camp, and tlie m'ners 
 began to be of the opinion that a bold highway robbery had 
 been committed somehow. The searchers were puzzled be- 
 cause the animal wore a clear-toned bell which could be 
 heard for some distance, and, thougli they strained liieir 
 em to catch the faintest suggestion of the tinkling of that 
 he'll through the wild country of that trail, not a tinkle could 
 they hear. Horse, bell, and forty-nine thousand dollars of 
 gold belonging to the Berry brothers seemed to have 
 dropped completely out of existence. 
 
 Towards the end of the second day, when the affair was 
 assuming an alarming aspect, the lost horse came jogging 
 along over the top of the mountain and down into town, 
 jingling the bell as though nothing had happened, and with 
 the sack of gold still securely strapped on his back! 
 
 The liorse had strayed from the train during the dark- 
 ness and had wandered off into a meadow to graze. This 
 he had done while carrying about his precious burden, and 
 when content he had slowly made his way towards the 
 town. 
 
 The prevailing ideas as to distance in Alaska and the dif 
 Acuities of moving small distances sometimes are very in- 
 
 ff 
 
866 
 
 A NEW CITY 
 
 adcK^uate. For example, some seem to think that a man can 
 step out of a dance hall or saloon and in a few moments be 
 on his claim ; or if he is on his claim and wishes to drop into 
 a store, he can throw down his pick and step over. But 
 these mines extend for a hundred miles around Dawson in 
 a region almost inaccessible in places. It costs twenty-iive 
 cents a pound to hove things packed from Dawson up tr> 
 some of the mines. This makes a sack of Hour that cc 
 twelve dollars at Dawson worth nearer thirty-five dollars at 
 camps up the stream. 
 
 About the first thing the new arrivals of the summer 
 and fall did was to start for " the gulch," a t^'^mi which was 
 used to designate the digging's on Bonanza and Eldorado 
 creeks and their tributaries. Whether they were ex- 
 perienced miners or not they generally had their eyes 
 opened to the resources of the creeks and to the curious 
 mode of mining. By that time the gulch was almost a city 
 in itself, there being more people there than in Dawson, and 
 the cx3nter of the population and the meeting-place was at 
 the junction of Eldorado and Bonanza. Here, gradually, 
 a new city, with all its accessories, was springing up, which 
 threatened to rival Dawson itself. Tt was the center of in- 
 dustrial activity, and it tended to keep the miners away 
 from Dawson. The miners gave it the name of Eldorado 
 City. 
 
 Both Protestants and Catholics early established mission 
 churches at Dawson and did good work under the greatest 
 difficulties. Rev. V. C. Gambell and wife started the first 
 church, the Presbyterian mission, but they had many dis- 
 couragements. They rented the first floor of a log cabin 
 and held Sunday services there which were fairly well at- 
 tended, though some of your city ministers would have 
 
 It^ 
 
msmmmm 
 
 ,..>«g^,.w^...^,-,-..^..a.. 
 
 SICKNESS AND DEATH 
 
 3C7 
 
 mnced «t the surroundings. The to]i floor of the building 
 was used as a lodging house, and the missionaries had hardly 
 become settled when a drunken lodger upstairs overturned 
 a candle and the building was burned to the ground. 
 Nothing was saved, and the outfits of ten men were de- 
 3troyed. Fire from a similar cause broke out on Thanks- 
 giving evening and destroyed the opera house and two 
 saloons. Only the snow on the roofs saved the rest of the 
 buildings on the street. 
 
 The sanitary condition of the place was better than could 
 have been expected from its situation. Many of Hie in- 
 stances of sickness and death were more or less traceable to 
 carelessness, neglect, overwork, and excitement, the re 
 laxation of the mental and physical strain being too much 
 for some to endure. Some men had lived on barely noth- 
 ing, and that half -cooked. The excitement of washing and 
 accumulating the gold was so great that many men devoted 
 their entire time io it when they should have devoted some 
 to cooking, cleanliness, and rest. One man. aft«r he had 
 washed out thirty tlu sand dollars of gold, began to have 
 the idea that he was going to be robbed. The mental strain 
 was too great for him, for he was found one morning dead 
 in his tent with his thirty thousand doll irs under his head. 
 
 In the early fall symptoms of ty])hoid began to manifest 
 themselves and there were several cases in the hospital. 
 There had been a continual dread of this disease on account 
 of the filthy condition of the streets of the town, but during 
 the summer the general health appeared to be good. It 
 takes a little time, however, for the germs to work in the 
 system, and in the fall months those who had . ooome en- 
 feebled by hardships or improper food began to show the 
 effects. 
 
 ' J ' 
 
 ^1 r 
 
3G8 
 
 THE GROWTH OP DAWSON 
 
 i 
 
 Two brothers, Rol)crt and Charles Carlson, rich owners 
 of claims on Bonanza Creek, succumbed to the disease in 
 July. They had just sold their claims for fifty thousand 
 dollars and were preparing to leave the country for the v/in- 
 ter, when they were stricken down. They had been among 
 the fortunate ones who arrived early when Bonanza was dis- 
 covered. They worked hard during the winter to prepare 
 for the spring sluicing. Success attended their efforts, but, 
 weakened by them, they fell an easy prey. 
 
 DaM'son has been growing right along during the past 
 winter. An occasional dip of the mercury to forty-five 
 degrees or fifty degrees below zei'o has had no effect on the 
 building operations there. All winter long Front straet — 
 practically the only one in Dawson — has resounded 
 with the sound of chopping and hammeinng on new houses 
 and stores. S^me of the more recent building improve- 
 ments of the town comprise about one hundred and fifteen 
 log cabins, three log churches — Catliolic, Episcopal, and 
 Methodist — and six hundred tents, that had been boarded 
 up about the bottom to make them more agreeable to the 
 occupants. The business part of the town consists of log 
 and rough pine board buildings arranged in a straight line 
 and close beside one another. In these structures arc fifteen 
 saloons, two barber shops, several butcher sho]is, and half a 
 dozen restaurants, two real estate offices, and one hardware 
 store. 
 
 The largest buildings in that region are two substantial 
 storehouses built by the Alaska Commercial Company and 
 the North American Transportation Company. Each is 
 two stories high, and covers about eight tliousand square 
 feet. To show how it costs to build up there, I have only 
 to say that one of these storehouses, with a good concrete 
 
HIGH PRICES 
 
 369 
 
 foundation, cost exactly ninety-three thousand five hundred 
 dollars in September, 1897. The same structure could be 
 built in the Middle States for about four thousand dollars, 
 and on the Pacific coast for four thousand five hundred dol- 
 lars. Log cabins twenty by twenty -four feet now cost from 
 three thousand dollars to four thousand five hundred dol- 
 lars. The logs are hewn on three sides and tlie chinks are 
 plugged with mud and moss. The roofs are constructed of 
 three layers of pine boards, upon wliich moss and earth are 
 packed to the depth of a foot. 
 
 Some of the recent quotations at Dawson ^sill give a fair 
 idea of the ratio of demand to supplv . Pine logs, two dol- 
 lars and fifty cents and three dollars each; window glass, 
 fifty cents a pound; tenpenny nails, sixty cents a jioimd; 
 meat, seventy-five cents a pound. Car|)enters who can do 
 fairly good work get eighteen to twenty dollars a day; com- 
 mon laborers get three-(|uarters of an oimce of gold a day — 
 about twelve dollars. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 DAWSON AND ITS INIQUITIES — GAMBLING PLACES. 
 THEIR DEVICES AND THEIR WAYS — NIGHT SCENES 
 IN THE DANCE HALLS —REAL LIFE IN NEW MINING 
 CAMPS. 
 
 Saloons and Gambling the Natural Products of New Mining Camps — 
 Strange Sights antl Sounds — Gold Dust as Free as Water — Sa 
 loons and Their Brace Games" — Who Pay the Fiddlers — Ex- 
 pensive Society — ' ' Stud-Horso Poker " and High Stakes — Meth- 
 ods at the Faro Table — Gold Bags in Pigeon Holes — Settling Up — 
 "Shorty's" Fatal Forgetfulness — Few Instances of Shooting 
 Now — Ruling Prices in Saloons — Tho "Rake Off"- When 
 "Swiftwater Bill" Breaks Loose — Losing $7,500 in an Hour — 
 Appearance of Gambling Places — The Dance Halls and the 
 Women — Gallant Partners in Spiked Boots — An Occasional Free 
 Fight — Tobacco-Laden Atmosphere — Tired and Dishevelled 
 Women — More Orderly than Mining Camps in the Rockies — 
 Not a Hard, Reckless, Wide-Open Town — Harvard, Yale, and 
 Vassar Graduates. 
 
 IN the matter of iniquity, such as prevails in mushroom 
 towns in mining districts, Dawson was not slow in 
 eclipsing all rivals on the Yukon. Never before had 
 such a crowd of people poured into the Yukon valley, and a 
 rough floating element, which had quickly perceived the 
 possibilities of operation in a place over which everybody on 
 the Pacific coast was going wild, were soon plying their oc- 
 cupations in the city. Still, there were no f^cenes of dis- 
 order, or what are reckoned as Huch in a place like this. 
 Saloons and gambling were the natural products of such 
 
 (370) 
 
A LIVELY TOWN 
 
 371 
 
 a population in a far '■; ^ay mining camp, and no mining 
 camp was ever so far away as these on the Yukon. Circle 
 City had emptied itself, and so had Forty Mile. In those 
 onoe thriving places the saloons were deserted and the dance 
 halls silent. 
 
 Early in the first season, or soon after the discovery, 
 one of the Circle City dance hall proprietors had come up 
 the river, got together enough logs for the sides and ends of 
 a house, put a tent roof over it, and then on one of the boats 
 came the first piano in Dawson and a lot of girls. A dance 
 house was in immediate operation. Others followed 
 quickly, and in the summer of 1897 it was the liveliest town 
 imaginable, a city of many strange sights and sounds. 
 "With the sound of the hammer and the axe mingled the 
 howling of the dogs, the squeaking of the violin, the jingling 
 notes of the piano, and the harsh voice of the prompter — 
 " balance all," " ladies' change," " swing yer pards." Dur- 
 ing the summer, when it was light all the time, the public 
 resorts were wide open e\ ery hour in the day. The saloons 
 never closed, and gambling went on- without cessation. 
 
 Many queer incidents occurred, showing how cheaply 
 the gold dust was esteemed by some of the miners. One 
 boy, who had been working hard all day on his claim, said, 
 when he had finished : 
 
 " Now, I'll just pan out one pan for the boys." 
 
 As a result he came to town, entered one of the saloons, 
 treated everybody there several times, lost thirteen dollars 
 at faro, and still had thirty dollars left. 
 
 Every saloon was, of course, provided with a number v)f 
 gambling devices, and it v,-as |ii;rt'ectly natural to suppose 
 that they were of that character called " brace games," that 
 is, so arranged as to make it extremely difficult for an out- 
 
373 
 
 THE gambler's HARVEST 
 
 i\ 
 
 aider to win a dollar. Even faro boxes and cases worked 
 double, and the dealer generally knew what to do when it 
 was necessary to make a certain card win. He who sat 
 dov n to a promiscuous poller table was either reckless or 
 ignorant. Of course, thesvc things were intended to catch 
 the tenderfoot, or t' old miner who had come in from a 
 season of hardship and had consoled himself with about the 
 worst stuff that ever went by the name of whisky. The pro- 
 fessional gamblers reaped the harvest, and the tenderfeet 
 and the hardworking miners paid the fiddlers. But gold 
 was cheap. Miners did not hesitate a minute to drop it for 
 a little fun. And they seldom grumbled at the cost. 
 
 It was difficult for an economical man to get around " in 
 society " for less than fifty dollars a day. I heard of people 
 who spent five hundred dollars a day just in killing time 
 while waiting for the steamer to go out with their gold. 
 The games were exceedingly stiff, and it was not an uncom- 
 mon thing to see a miner throw down his sack and bet from 
 a hundred up on the highest card. '* Stud-horse poker " 
 was the popular gr.me, and it would often cost from fifty 
 dollars up to draw a card. 
 
 A gambler, winning or losing from five hundred dollars 
 to three thousand dollars at a single sitting, was not worthy 
 of passing comment. In fact, games involving five thou- 
 sand dollars or ten thousand dollars were running night and 
 day. Professional dealers of " banking games " received 
 twenty dollars a day. 
 
 The manner of hazarding money is unique even in a 
 mining camp. The player takes his seat at a faro table, 
 passes over his sack of gold dust to the dealer, who drops it 
 into a small pigeon-hole. The chance of " overplaying his 
 sack " devolves upon the player's honor. He is given full 
 
 
A TRAGEDY OF THE GAMBLING DEN 
 
 873 
 
 .credit and can call for as many chips from the check rack 
 as he desires. As the cheeks are passed out a tab is dropped 
 on his sack. At the conclusion of the play the chips on 
 hand are credited to the account of the sack. The dealer 
 hands the player a slip of papev showing the condition of the 
 account, and the latter takes it and his sack of gold to the 
 bar. If he has lost he weighs out his gold dust, or, in the 
 event of winning, the barkeeper does the paying. At first 
 glance it would seem that such a system would afford con- 
 siderable temptation for dishonest men to walk out with 
 their sack of gold without settling their accounts. Only 
 one or two instances of the kind have occurred and the con- 
 demnation of the community has inflicted such punishment 
 as to warrant the non-repetition of the offence. 
 
 About four o'clock one morning a miner known as 
 " Shorty " left his seat at the table where he had been play- 
 ing all night, saying that he had gone broke. The dealer 
 handed him his bag of dust and his slips, the latter cor- 
 responding almost to a grain with the value of the '^^aU 
 " Shorty " walked over to the bar and invited a coui)Ie of 
 other minei's to have a drink. Then he was seized with a 
 fatal fit of f orgetfulness. 
 
 He edged toward the door and Avas about to push it o])cn 
 when the bartender called to him: " Say, Shorty, haven't 
 you forgot something? " 
 
 The door swung out. When it rebounded it stopped 
 half way, and a draught of icy air came in. There had 
 been a sudden flash of flame, a ringing report in that low- 
 ceiled, smoke-darkened room, and the door as it swung in- 
 ward was obstructed by the body of a dying man. 
 " Shorty " was buried the next day. But this was in the 
 early days of Dawson. It was not long before it became an 
 
 ,h 
 
374 
 
 SETTLING ACCOUNTS WITH GOLD DUST 
 
 offense to carry iirearms about and a better order was en- 
 forced. Dawson, for such a lively and mixed settlement, 
 has afforded few instances of *' shooting." 
 
 Saloons, of course, were " wide open " and did not pay a 
 license. As a nile they sold a fair class of beverages. 
 Drinks and cigars retailed, as at Circle City, at fifty cents, 
 and the two breweries that are located near by could not 
 supply the demand for beer at one hundred and twenty-five 
 dollars a keg. A poor quality of champagne was retailed at 
 thirty dollars a pint, and a better quality at ten dollars 
 higher. As at Circle City, in liquidating indebtedness at 
 the bar, the individual doing the honors passed his sack 
 over to the barkeeper, who poured out enough gold dust to 
 settle the account. It is imnecessary to add that the bar- 
 keepers wore never charged with neglecting to take enough 
 dust, and particularly when the patrons are somewhat under 
 the influence of copious libations. Saloon men admitted 
 privately that the " rake-off," as they term overweighing, 
 amounts to about thirty or forty cents on each two dollars 
 and fifty cents spent over the bar. The receipts for sixty 
 days last summer in one saloon amounted to one hundred 
 and twenty-four thousand five hundred dollars, and the day 
 the successful miners were taking their departure on the first 
 steamer of the season the receipts amounted to six thousand 
 five hundred dollars. Hardly a saloon in town was re- 
 ceiving less than three hundred dollare a day, besides win- 
 ning large sums of money at the gambling games. Bar- 
 keepers were paid from twelve dollars and fifty cents to 
 twenty dollars a day, and even the porters, where such 
 luxuries were deemed necessary, were paid from seven dol- 
 lars and fifty cents to ten dollars. 
 
 " Swiftwater Bill " owned some of the richest claims on 
 
 I ', 
 
OAMBLINQ SALOONS AMD DANCE HALLS 
 
 376 
 
 Eldorado Creek, and when he broke kxKse the dust was 
 sure to fly. Bill took a seat at the faro table one nigiit, and 
 in ju8t one hour he had lost seven thousand live hundred dol- 
 lars in gold nuggets. 
 
 " Things don't seem to be coming my way to-night," he 
 remarked as he rose from his seat and stretched himself. 
 " Let the house have a drink at my expense." 
 
 There was a rush for the bar, and waiters carried drinks 
 to the various tables where games were in progress. That 
 round cost Bill one hundred and twelve dollars. Then he 
 lighted a dollar and a half cigar and strolled out. 
 
 The gambling saloons, in external appearance, are very 
 much like all the other buildings in Dawson, except that 
 they are larger. They are built of logs hewn on three sides 
 and solidly chinked with heavy moss. The roofs are made 
 of poles, on which a layer of moss fully ten inches thick is 
 laid, and then a layer of dirt about twelve inches deep serves 
 to keep out the cold. Heavy embankments of earth piled 
 up against the huts on the outside serve as additional pro- 
 tection against the chilling blasts of the Arctic winter gales. 
 A few saloons are built of lumber, with double walls, 
 between which sawdust and moss are tightly packed, but old 
 Yukoners are of the opinion that buildings so constructed 
 are inadequate against the severe cold weather. 
 
 Dance halls are constructed in the same manner and are 
 generally the largest buildings in town, except the store- 
 houses. They are opened at about seven or eight o'clock in 
 the evening, and the band plays on till late in the morning. 
 The amusement continues night after night. The halls are 
 crowded with gallant beaux, the most of them having heavy 
 spiked-bottom shoes, broad-brimmed hats, costumed in the 
 regulation mining suits, and, with cigars between their 
 
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 376 
 
 SASHAY all!" 
 
 teeth, they present an odd appearance. They sit around 
 the hall on the benches, smoking and talking and immensely 
 enjoying the relaxation from the hard monotony of the 
 mines. Each dance costs one dollar, and I have heard of 
 one man in three nights spending seven ounces of gold, or 
 one hundred and nineteen dollars, for the luxury. In some 
 of the halls a free fight sometimes concludes the festivities 
 along toward morning. Occasionally, men will come to 
 blows in attempting to win the hand of some woman for the 
 succeeding dance. " Fair play " is the watx;hword, and the 
 best skilled pugilistic gladiator goes to the head of the set 
 and his rival goes home. 
 
 Even if one is not a dancer and has rather strict ideas of 
 what proper female society should be, he will miss a good 
 deal of fun if, when he goes to town from his dreary camp, 
 he does not look in and watch the miners enjoying a little 
 relaxation. One scene is much like another. You enter a 
 large building with a smooth floor sometimes overlaid with 
 heavy drill. You could almost ^ut the tobacco-laden atmos- 
 phere with a knife. Through the blue haze the figures of a 
 couple of musicians can be faintly distinguished, fiddling 
 away for dear life, and calling out, " Sashay all ! " " Ladies' 
 through ! " as the occasion demands. They receive twenty 
 dollars a night or more for doing this, and they earn every 
 penny of it. 
 
 At one side, extending the entire length of the room, 
 is the bar, and the three dispensers of drinks are kept quite 
 as busy as the fiddlers. Beer, whisky, and cigars are retailed 
 at fifty cents. A poor quality of champagne sells for thirty 
 dollars a pint, and a somewhat Letter brand brought forty 
 dollars. 
 
 Of course, the men greatly outnumber the women. 
 
■ 
 
 MUCH AMBITION AND LOVE OF ORDER 
 
 377 
 
 There are probably a dozen of the latter, some of thorn 
 young and quite pretty. They have little or no time to rest 
 between the dances, and when the morning sun peeps over 
 the eastern mountains he finds them a tired and somewhat 
 dishevelled lot. But some of the belles of the " dancing 
 set " have been known to make as much as a hundred dollars 
 a night tripping the light fantastic toe for the delight of 
 miners at once lavish and well-stocked with dust. 
 
 But while the money that is spent in saloons and dance 
 halls, and the money that is lost continually over the various 
 gambling devices, may seem to be enormous, it must be re- 
 membered that these hardworking miners in their dreary 
 camps become at times fairly desperate for a little relaxation 
 from the severe hardships of their existence. If they arc 
 lucky, gold dust becomes to them a cheap commodity. It 
 means very little to them when at any time they can dig out 
 all they want. Making all allowances for men of bad char- 
 acter, certain to drift into such places, my observations con- 
 vince me that Dawson is now a less vicious and more orderly 
 place than the new mining camps of the Ilockies were. 
 The severity of life on the Yukon has kept out many desper- 
 ate characters, and the Klondike has now been largely filled 
 up with people who. while they may not have been experts 
 in mining, have a taste for an orderly life, and are too solici- 
 tous to make their fortunes and leave the country to squan- 
 der money recklessly. 
 
 The population of Dawson and the camps that line 
 the creeks that twist away south, east, and southeast from 
 the Klondike and Yukon is as intelligent as any I have ever 
 known in any mining camp in the West. Indeed, it is the 
 most moral and ambitious mining population I have ever 
 seen. A number of old professional miners are up there, 
 
] 
 
 V ^ 
 
 378 
 
 NOT THE RESORT OF THE HARD-UP 
 
 who have 8c?en the gilded gambling palaces of Virginia City, 
 and have lived in the hot days of Bodie, Tombstone, Ana- 
 conda, and Creede, and they have remarked many times 
 that the miners of the Klondike are another race of men 
 from those they used to know in the States. To be sure, 
 there is gambling and liWal drinking of the hardest of 
 hard whisky, but they say the scenes are never comparable 
 with what they used to witness every night when the 
 Bonanzas were pouring out their golden wealth and Tomb- 
 stone was making a dozen new millionaires. 
 
 The present Klondike miners are not the typical, pic- 
 turesque miners the world has been hearing about for half a 
 century. It is my private opinion that the awful hardships 
 one endures to get rich up there, the dangers that must be 
 braved, and the privations suffered in getting to the new 
 gold fields by any route, make men there sober and provi- 
 dent. Where men have these characteristics they take 
 fewer chances in gambling. Then, too, the expense of get- 
 ting to Klondike and the necessary expenditure of several 
 hundred dollars for an outfit keep out of the Alaskan min- 
 ing region a horoo of hard-up, desperate characters similar 
 to chose that have made all the western mining camps so 
 notoriously bad. I doubt if Dawson ever will be a hard, 
 reckless, wide-open to^vn in the sense that Virginia City 
 and Cripple Creek have been. It has had during the win- 
 ter of 1897-08 a population of about two thou^iand men and 
 one hundred and twenty women, with about four thousand 
 five hundred more miners in the cabins along the creeks, 
 and there have been few more orderly and earnest com- 
 munities any^vhere in the T^nion. I never knew so many 
 well-educatf»d, thoughtful, and promising men in any camp 
 as there are at Dawson to-day. Some are Harvard and 
 
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 Vii 
 
 
A DAWSON M.D. 
 
 881 
 
 Yale graduates. Two young women, wives of ambitious 
 young miners, are from Vassar College, and a physician, 
 who lives there in a log cabin, plastered with mud, was edu- 
 cated at Columbia College and at the University of Paris. 
 I think he is contented. Anyhow, he ought to be for a 
 year or two. He gets half an ounce of gold for each visit, 
 and for simple surgical work his bill nms into ounces of 
 gold very quickly. It seems to me that he ought to clear up 
 two or three pounds of gold every week in the year. 
 
 The wealth is earned by such hard work and exposure 
 that the better class of miners do not like to throw their 
 earnings over the bar with the recklessness that charac- 
 terized the miners in the flash mining days of the West. 
 •Moreover, one may readily see that a climate where the wind 
 blows and moans twenty hours out of every twenty-four, 
 and where the mercury fluctuates between two degrees 
 above zero and forty below for live months in the year, is 
 not conducive to conviviality and hilarity as the warm, 
 balmy climate of Tombstone and Virginia City were. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIl 
 
 ^ 
 
 A REFUGE FOR CRIMINALS— THE MINES MORE PROFITA- 
 BLE THAN SPOUTING DEVICES — PURSUING A FUGI- 
 TIVE—A CHASE OF 25,000 MILES FOR AN ESCAPED 
 MURDERER. 
 
 Too Many Sports for the Demand — The Arrest of Frank Novak, the 
 Murderer — History of His Crime — Enticing an Irish Farmer to 
 His Death — Searching for Novak — The Wrong Man Arrested — 
 Anotlicr Clue — It Takes the Detective to Vancouver — Searching 
 Resorts on the Coast — Every Ship's Crew Questioned — Requisi- 
 tion on the Governor of Alaska — Gone to the Klondike — Extradi- 
 tion Papers from Washington — Taken to Ottawa — Over the 
 Chilkoot in Pursuit — Passing the Fugitive without Suspecting 
 Him — Thel'ursued Follows the Pursuer — Arrival at Dawson — 
 Searching the Camps — Giving it Up — Arrest of the Murderer — 
 Returning by the Yukon — A Chase of 25,000 Miles. 
 
 II as natural, and to be expected, that the Klondike 
 should prove a tempting refuge for those who had 
 some penalty to escape in the States. It is in the 
 Northwest Territory, and so criminals escaping from the 
 officers of the law in the United States must be extradited. 
 Moreover, it is so far removed that it seems impossible for 
 the law to reach them after they arrive at Dawson, where 
 there is no thought given to the antecedents of the in- 
 habitants or of those who enter too rapidly to be observed. 
 Besides all this, Dawson and the mines offer opportimities 
 for making money which have attracted thousands who had 
 nothing to run from, ^fany sporting men and gamblers 
 hastened to the new field, but the supply of gambling de- 
 
 (882) 
 
INCENTIVES TO INDUSTRY 
 
 383 
 
 vices rather exceeded the demand, and in time these men 
 found more commendable means of earning a livelihood. 
 
 The truth is that the richness of the mines has attracted 
 even men of a sporting turn into paths of industry. Several 
 well-known Pacific coast sporting men have to a certain ex- 
 tent abandoned the green cloth and taken up the profession 
 of mining. Nearly all those who cling to the gambling 
 profession have acquired claims and have been hiring men 
 to work them. Frank P. Slavin as a mining man is real- 
 izing more dollars than he ever did in the prize-ring. He 
 is one of the beat workers in the country, and by hard rust- 
 ling has acquired interests in twelve or fifteen placer claims 
 and one quartz lode. A Portland, Ore., sport, who has the 
 reputation of " never having turned a crooked card," has 
 retired from the green cloth, donned a miner's suit, and 
 with pick and shovel is digging gold out of claim 62 
 below on Hunker Creek. Another Seattle sport is now the 
 owner of four promising claims which are being worked this 
 winter. There is hardly a sporting man in the Klondike 
 who does not own valuable mines. Late in the autumn of 
 1897, between forty and sixty sports arrived without pro- 
 visions, and they were compelled to pass on down the river 
 to Fort Yukon to spend the winter. 
 
 Those who came to Dawson to escape the penalty of 
 crime foimd that they were not entirely safe. One of the 
 most notable cases occurring in the summer of 1897 was 
 that of the arrest of Frank Novak, after a chase which reads 
 like a romance, full enough of adventure, danger, and hard- 
 ship to satisfy the most morbid novel reader. 
 
 Frank Alfred Novak, familiarly known as Frank Novak 
 among his acquaintances, was, in 1896, conducting a mer- 
 cantile and banking business at the little town of Walford, 
 
 I 
 
384 
 
 CRIMES OF A SPECULATOR 
 
 in Benton county, la. lie had for his partners in business 
 a widowed sister and a brother-in-law, and to the outside 
 worhi was apparently doing a prosperous mercantile busi- 
 ness, I)esides a sort of accommodation and loan business in 
 the way of a private bank, where the farmers and residents 
 of the town did their banking transactions. The apparent 
 prosperity of the firm was, however, purely superficial, as 
 Novak had contracted a gambling mania and was quietly 
 but surely robbing the firm of its assets by playing the grain 
 market in Chicago. In three or four years he had squan- 
 dered his own substance, and robbed his immediate relatives 
 and friends of more than twenty thousand dollars, which 
 had been entrusted to him as business manager in the store 
 and banker for the village. The day of reckoning was fast 
 approaching, and Novak, realizing that the denouement 
 would blast the confident hopes of those about him, pro- 
 ceeded to take out thirty thousand dollars of life and acci- 
 dent insurance, and then deliberately set about to procure a 
 victim to be used in his own stead as a cremated corpse upon 
 which his beneficiaries could draw the insurance. He also 
 had the stock of goods and the store building in which he 
 was doing business insured for about their full value, and 
 took into his confidence a near relative, who was designed to 
 collect the insurance after the disappearance of Frank 
 Novak. 
 
 A pretext of danger to the stock of goods through ex- 
 pected burglars or incendiaries was invented, and Novak 
 began sleeping in his store, ostensibly to guard against such 
 calamity. He also began assiduously plying his ac- 
 quaintances, who chanced to be about the same age, build, 
 and weight as himself, with invitations to sleep with him in 
 the store. These invitations, fortxmately, were declined 
 
THE PLOT FAILS 
 
 385 
 
 by each person approached, until the night of February 2, 
 18U7, when a reputable young Irish farmer by the name of 
 Edward Murray acceded to Novak's solicitations and re- 
 mained with him in the store up to the hour of retiring. 
 They were seen together at 11 :30 P. AI., and at 1 :30 A. M. 
 of February 3d the building was discovered on fire, and was 
 soon a mass ci ruins, with the conviction forced upon every 
 spectator that Novak and Murray had been consumed in the 
 conflagration. Upon searching the cooling embers, how- 
 ever, it was found that only one partly charred corpse was 
 in the remains of the building, and, while a number of in- 
 effectual attempts were made by interested parties to estab- 
 lish the identity of this corpse as that of Frank Novak, the 
 anatomical differences were so great and the dental dis- 
 tinctions so peculiar that a coroner's jury found no great 
 difficulty on considering the evidence laid before them in ar- 
 riving at a verdict that the remains were those of Edward 
 Murray, and that no trace of Frank Novak was left in the 
 building. 
 
 Steps were at once taken by the authorities of the State 
 of Iowa and the county of Benton to search out and ap- 
 prehend Frank Novak, and other persons took a hand in the 
 matter, securing Thiol's detective service to prosecute the 
 search for the murderer. Detective C. C. Porrin was de- 
 tailed to handle the case. He was peculiarly fitted for it. 
 Tall, of medium weight, he has the figure and muscles of an 
 athlete. His square-cut chin and mouth show the grit and 
 force that finally brought Novak to bay. 
 
 A trail was struck, and, although the offense was several 
 weeks old when the detective started upon the case, Novak 
 was followed across the country on foot over several coun- 
 ties in Iowa, and then by conveyance an equal distance, 
 
386 
 
 FOLLOWING THE WRONG CLUE 
 
 n 
 
 being landed in Iowa City, which was believed to be a 
 happy rendezvous for hiui, as he was known to have friends 
 living at that place. Some time elapsed before any further 
 clue was obtained to the movements of the murderer, and 
 he was believed to be in hiding in that city or vicinity until 
 the description of a n«m tallying with that of Novak was 
 picked up from the appearance of a passenger on a train 
 bound for an eastern port, and, in following up this clue, it 
 developed ithat this man was a Bohemian, and as Novak 
 was a Bohemian-American, he was believed to be the same 
 person. 
 
 The trail was followed to Baltimore, Md., where ship- 
 ping agents and others recognized the photograph and de- 
 scription of Novak as answering to that of a man who had 
 arrived at that port and shipped for Bohemia on the 18th of 
 February. A cablegram was immediately sent to Mr. 
 Keenan, American consul in Germany, who had the pas- 
 senger described apprehended on the arrival of the steamer 
 Halle at Bremen on March 1st, and after several days* 
 cabling and comparisons of descriptions it was decided that a 
 case of mistaken identity had led to the arrest of the wrong 
 man, and this clue had to be dropped. 
 
 The detective again returned to Iowa City, and, after a 
 prolonged search in and about this place, a clue was finally 
 struck on the 11th day of March in the shape of a descrip- 
 tion of a passenger who bought a ticket at midnight on Feb- 
 ruary 3d to Omaha, Neb., over the Chicago, Rock Island & 
 Pacific Railroad. By a diligent inquiry among railway and 
 sleeping-car employes who had been in charge of the cars 
 and train on the date named, the representative of Thiel's 
 service was satisfied that he was on the right track, and im- 
 mediately went to Omaha, where an active search was taken 
 
TUB SEARCH AT PORTLAND 
 
 387 
 
 up, and by the aid of the local police department in the 
 course of a couple of days the tleeing man's identity was 
 once more established by description and photograph in the 
 person of a passenger who bought a ticket over the Union 
 Pacific system from Omaha to Vancouver, B. C. 
 
 The detective was iuim' five weeks behind the fleeing 
 murderer, but, nothing: launted, took the next train for 
 Portland, Ore., wlu , • a 8^op was made and search instituted 
 to see if the ticket iiad benn ufK d through to Vancouver, or 
 if the passenger had 8to])jK d off at Portland, as is frequently 
 done by persons seeking to get a cut ra^*^- to the Pacific coast. 
 The detective's knowledge of this phase oi railroad travel 
 proved most fortunate, for, after a quint inquiry at Portland, 
 running over a couple of days, it was discovered that Novak, 
 using the name of Frank Alfred on his ticket, had stopped 
 at Portland and cashed the portion reading to Vancouver 
 with a broker at the former place. 
 
 Being at sea once more as to the probable course taken 
 by the fugitive, still five weeks ahead of the detective, the 
 latter began a quiet search of all the hotels, lodging houses, 
 mercantile establishments, employment agencies, steamship 
 and railroad ticket offices, and other points where informa- 
 tion might be obtained touching a transient stranger, and 
 for a while it looked as though every trace of Novak had 
 vanished. 
 
 Portland and its suburbs were submitted to this exhaus- 
 tive kind of inquiry for a number of days, without dis- 
 covering any trace whatever of Novak's presence or move- 
 ments, a. d inquiry was finally extended to San Francisco 
 and other seaport towns on the Pacific coast with a view to 
 picking up a clue at some remote point, on the belief that 
 Novak had eluded notice in passing through Portland. All 
 
 I t 
 
388 
 
 THE FUGITIVE IDENTIFIED 
 
 
 ^U 
 
 returning steamers from ocean voyages as they landed at 
 Pacific coast points were met on their arrival, and the several 
 crews and any returning passengers who had been on the 
 outgoing trips were carefully questioned touching any one 
 answering Novak's description having gotten aboard at any 
 other coast point on any of the recent trips of the steamers 
 since February 7th, which was the known date of his arrival 
 at Portland. 
 
 On March 31st, at the end of a couple of weeks' search 
 of this character, the steamer Al-Ki, returning from Sitka, 
 was met at Seattle, and upon being interrogated all of the 
 officers and crew and one returning passenger at once recog- 
 nized Novak's photograph, and were capable of giving an 
 accurate description of him in the person of a passenger who 
 embarked on the Al-Ki at Port Townsend February 23d, 
 ticketed for Jimeau. They also added the information that 
 he had been seen in Juneau a week or ten days previous, as- 
 sociating with a prospector who was going with other gold- 
 hunters into the mining district up the Yukon. This in- 
 formation was promptly wired to headquarters of the Thiel 
 detective service, where steps were at once taken to procure 
 requisition papers for Novak. By the prompt action of the 
 State officers, the requisition was at once obtained on the 
 governor of Alaska for Novak, though, as it transpired, 
 Novak had not been indicted in Benton County, la., on the 
 date previously reported, as the grand jury had been so 
 pressed with business that it could not take up this case. 
 
 While these proceedings were being had in Iowa, Per- 
 rin, who was following Novak, embarked on the first 
 steamer for Alaska, which proved to be the Al-Ki, leaving 
 Seattle April 4th, and the requisition papers were forwarded 
 to him at Juneau by mail from Des Moines, la., on April 
 
ON THE RIGHT TRACK 
 
 389 
 
 7th, to reach him by the next steamer sailing for the gold 
 country. 
 
 After the requisition papers on the governor of Alaska 
 had been procured, it was ascertained that Novak had left 
 Juneaii for the gold fields of the Yukon River in Canada, 
 when it became necessary to procure extradition papers on 
 the governor of Canada. A detective went to Iowa to 
 secure the necessary papers; from thence he went to Wash- 
 ington, D. C, to secure the signature of the President and 
 Secretary of State to same. Tie then went to Ottawa, all 
 of the officials concerned giving the matter the utmost ex- 
 pedition, so that he was enabled to reach the Pacific coast 
 on May 20th, three months and a half behind the fugitive 
 Novak, sailing from Victoria on the steamer Mexico May 
 34th for Juneau. Here he outfitted for the trip into the 
 Yukon country, going in by way of the Chilkoot Pass at 
 Dyea. Another detective was sent to St. Michael, about 
 three thousand miles away, to watch all steamers arriving 
 there from the Yukon gold fields, to see that Novak did not 
 escape on some of the sailing vessels leaving that port for 
 different parts of the world. 
 
 June 8th Perrin left Juneau with a year's outfit for 
 Dyea, going over the Chilkoot Pass to Lake Lindeman, 
 where he biiilt a boat. 
 
 At the same time Novak and his party were completing 
 a boat on Lake Bennett, but a few miles further on. They 
 had taken in a big lot of supplies, and in getting them over 
 the pass and in making ready for the trip down the river had 
 consumed over a month of time. 
 
 One morning Perrin and his Indian guides set sail in 
 their boat on their journey. At the same time Novak's 
 party started on Lake Bennett in a rude scow. Early in 
 
390 
 
 EXCHANGING SALUTATIONS 
 
 ; ! 
 
 ii 
 
 ■4 
 
 the afternoon Perrin saw the scow ahead of him on Lake 
 Bennett, and rapidly overhauled it in his light sailboat. He 
 went within a hundred feet of the boat and exchanged good- 
 natured, joking salutations with its occupants as he swept 
 past, never dreaming that one of the number was the man 
 he sought 
 
 " That scow wasn't built for a racer, was she? " shouted 
 the detective. 
 
 " She's slow, but sure," was the reply. 
 
 " Well, good-bye," said the detective as his boat drew 
 ahead. 
 
 " So long," returned Novak. " Save a little of the gold 
 for us." 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 From there on down the river for a thousand miles into 
 the diggings the pursuer was followed by the pursued. Per- 
 rin reached Dawson ten days ahead of his man, and at once 
 began a sharp search for hiui, quickly coming to the con- 
 clusion that he was not in Dawson. No one remembered 
 having seen a man answering the description. Then the 
 detective went over the trails to the camp and searched in 
 vain along the creeks. He returned to Dawson very much 
 puzzled. Finally, he concluded that Novak must have gone 
 up the Stewart River, without coming to Dawson. There 
 were reports of several miners prospecting on that stream 
 with good results, and many tenderfeet were making prepa- 
 rations to go up there. The detective concluded that he 
 would go, too, and this meant that he would have to winter 
 there. He was about ready to start when the scow which 
 he had passed on the way in was pushed up to the beach at 
 Dawson. Perrin walked over towards the men to exchange 
 greetings. 
 
RECOGNITION AND ARREST 
 
 391 
 
 " Jingo! " he exclaimc:! under his breath as he came 
 closer to the scow. He remembered his photograph and 
 was pretty sure he had his man, but he talked good- 
 naturedly with Novak, and then laid the matter before 
 Captain C. Constantine of the Canadian mounted police. 
 In a few hours Novak was arrested by Captain Constantine 
 and turned over to Perrin. 
 
 Perrin placed his prisoner in a boat and that night 
 started do\vn the river during a heavy storm for Fort 
 Cudahy, where three days later, he took the steamer P. J. 
 Healey for St. Michael. The two thousand miles down the 
 river were made in eleven days, and then came a two-weeks 
 wait for the Portland. From St. Michael to Seattle, and 
 at all times during the entire trip, a continuous watch was 
 kept over Novak by Pen-in and two assistants. Then he 
 started east with his man, and when he delivered him 
 safe in the Iowa jail he had been over six months constantly 
 on the go, during which time he had traveled nearly twenty- 
 five thousand miles and endured many of the hardships of 
 the Yukon. 
 
 e 
 
) 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 WOMEN IN THE KLONDIKE— SOME ROM ANTIC STORIES — 
 EXPERIENCE OF A WOMAN ON THE TRAIL — HOW 
 WOMEN HAVE MADE FORTUNES. 
 
 A Little Home Life— Two White Women in Camp tlie First Wintet — 
 Mrs. Lippy tlie Pioneer — Mrs. Berry's Story of Her Journey — Be- 
 ginning to Despair — Starting for tlie Klondike — A Cabin Unfit to 
 Live In — Picking Up Nuggets of Gold — Wading in Mud Waist 
 Deep — Housekeeping No Joke — Arrival of a Plucky Little 
 Wife — Makes Her Home on a Scow — On Terra Firma at Lost — 
 An Eye to Business — One Hundred Dollars a Month for Caring 
 for Two Children — In Doubt as to the Day of the We k — Dogs 
 and Mosquitoes, ' ' but the Gold 's all Right " — Roman ' llareer of 
 a Woman — Joins the Stampede from Circle City- Cooking 
 for 115 a Day — Facing Claim-Jumpers — Making $12,000 in a Few 
 Weeks — Opportunities to Marry Rich Husbands — Oallantry of 
 the Men — What a Woman Should Wear — A Queer Trousseau. 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 4 
 
 THERE is a better side to the life in Dawson City and 
 in the camps along the creeks, such a thing as home 
 life amid the rough surroundings, and there arp 
 brave women there, women who have shared with their hus- 
 bands or fathers the hardships of the journey and who pre- 
 side over their cabins in the town or at the mines with 
 touches of that womanly grace and skill all the more notice- 
 able under such harsh conditions. At first women of this 
 variety were rare, but after the rush from outside was fairly 
 under way there was a marked enlargement in home life, 
 while many respectable women became engaged in self- 
 
 (892) 
 
ONE WOMAN IN THE CAHP 
 
 393 
 
 supporting pursuits, greatly increasing the comforts of the 
 settlement. During the first winter in the camps along 
 the creeks there were but two white women, and their ex- 
 periences were certainly romantic. 
 
 When Mrs. Lippy arrived at the camp on Eldorado 
 Creek, there were no other women there except a few 
 squaws, and these Yukon Indians, male or female, are not 
 worth counting. Her husband put up the first log cabin 
 on the creek, and while it was being erected they lived in a 
 tent. All the furniture they had was made out of boxes 
 and slabs by Mr. Lippy, and all the food they had at first 
 was canned. Mrs. Lippy did no mining herself, but at- 
 tended to the domestic duties, which are certainly arduous 
 enough in such a place, and she made her husband so com- 
 fortable and enabled him to rest so thoroughly that he was 
 enabled to accomplish more than most of the miners during 
 the cold weather. 
 
 After a time Mrs. Berry came into the camp, and Mrs. 
 Lippy had some association with her own sex. Mrs. Berry's 
 advent into the Klondike regions Avas quite romantic, as it 
 was in the nature of a bridal trip, Mr. Berry having mar- 
 ried her, as already related, in the spring of 1896, before 
 setting out for the gold country. 
 
 " The journey over the ice and snow is one that T am not 
 likely to forget," said Mrs. Berry, in telling the story of her 
 experiences. " The accommodations for a woman were 
 very poor, the transportation was slow, the dog teams we had 
 were not accustomed to the climate, and altogether we ap- 
 peared to be in a bad fix much of the time. We carried with 
 us oui stove and tent, and the latter we pitched every night 
 on some spot where the snow was hard. Our beds were 
 made of boughs. My husband was careful to provide every 
 
 I M 
 
1^^ 
 
 
 »(■■ ? 
 
 ii 
 
 ■t 
 
 894 
 
 MRS. berry's adventures 
 
 comfort possible. Just before leaving Juneau I was given a 
 large bear-skin robe, which greatly added to my comfort. 1 
 rode nearly all the way. During the journey I was strapped 
 to the sled or boat, as the case might be, and while it was 
 considerably better than walking, there was always an un- 
 certainty about my position which made it very uncom- 
 fortable. At first it was very, very cold, but after that I 
 became used to it. I want to say just here, that the trip 
 over the Juneau route, when the lakes and rivers are broken 
 up and filled with floating ice, is particularly hazardous to 
 women. They are not nearly so well able as men to stand 
 the hardships and dangers incident to such a jouruuv. I do 
 not think I would be willing to make the same trip again, 
 though if my husband goes back next spring I shall prob- 
 ably accompany him. 
 
 " When we arrived at Forty Mile we found that there 
 was absolutely nothing to do. My husband struck a claim 
 and made some money in that way, but it was hardly enough 
 to keep us going. In anticipation of just such luck, how- 
 ever, we had brought ample supplies with us, and also some 
 money, and so did not suff'ir. Just as we were beginning to 
 despair there came the news of the wonderful find on the 
 Klondike. I told my husband the best thing we could do 
 would be to go to that section immediately. He objected 
 at first, but finally yielded to my persuasion and started for 
 the diggings. I was left behind, by my own request, to fix 
 up the camp and to take all the provisions we had to the new 
 discovery. I cannot begin to tell you of the hardships I 
 encountered. The river was already beginning to show 
 signs of floating ice, and I knew it would be only a short time 
 before it would be completely frozen over. Finally, how- 
 ever, I got everything in order and started on the Arctic, 
 
 r. 
 
PICKING UP NUGGETS 
 
 395 
 
 for the new Eldorado. About half way up I came across 
 my husband and his party, and they joined me on the 
 Arctic. 
 
 " The roughest experience I had dfiring my entire stay 
 in Alaska was at the mining camp fifteen miles from Daw- 
 son City. When, having waded and stumbled over the 
 trail, I reached the house where I was to spend tlie winter, 
 I found it utterly unfit for any woman to live in. There 
 was neither floor nor windows, and Mr. Berry had to cut a 
 hole in the wall in order to get the stove in. Finally all 
 of these difficulties were overcome, and I was fairly com- 
 fortable. It was December 6th when we struck the first 
 gold, and it was a happy day for me as well as for my hus- 
 band, who had worked so hard to gain an independence. 
 Of course, at the time we did not know just what we were 
 making, but it was not long before the truth dawned upon 
 us that we were in a fair way to win a fortune. All last 
 winter I visited the mines, and, as the great chunks of frozen 
 earth were dumped on the ground, I busied myself in pick- 
 ing out the nuggets. 
 
 " I think that during the season I picked up something 
 like ten thousand dollars. I used to turn the clods over, and 
 then, with a sharp stick, dig into them as far as I could until 
 I came across something that looked like gold. The largest 
 nugget I found was worth two hundred and thirty-one dol- 
 lars, and it turned out to be one of the best individual prizes 
 foimd in the diggings. I enjoyed good health in spite of the 
 hardships, and actually gained twenty-two pounds while in 
 Alaska. I attribute this to my taking good care of myself, 
 never unnecessarily exposing myself to the weather, though 
 I was nearly always around the camp. I liked to be there 
 because it was lonegojne at the cabin, and then again there 
 
 ( i 
 
FT 
 
 896 
 
 A HOME ON A SCOW 
 
 i' / 
 
 
 -4 
 
 was always the possibility of finding that which we had come 
 80 far to secure. 
 
 " I did not mind the hardships very much. Mr. Berry's 
 claim was nineteen miles from Dawson, and I walked all the 
 way over the ice. It took us two days to get there, and I 
 was nearly dead when we arrived. When we came out it 
 was spring, and the mud was so deep that I frequently went 
 in to my waist, and over my knees at every step. I wore 
 rubber boots and short skirts all the time I was there. In 
 the winter I wore short skirts, bloomers, fur-lined moc- 
 casins to the knee, a fur coat, hood, and mittens. I kept 
 house, and I tell you it's no joke." 
 
 After a housewife has gone over the Chilkoot Pass and 
 has shot the rapids, it ma^' be declared a certainty that she 
 is made of sterling material, and it was indeed interesting to 
 watch the women who were among the new arrivals and to 
 hear them tell of their experiences. One July day a man 
 and his wife came drifting down the river in a scow and 
 landed at Dawson. She was a small body, but there was a 
 fire in her black eyes that showed grit and determination, 
 and it was pleasing to notice how quickly she accommodated 
 herself to circumstances. Lots were then selling at enor- 
 mous prices back in the swamp on which Dawson is located, 
 and she told her husband they couldn't a£Ford to pay those 
 prices yet for such ground. 
 
 Their scow was a large one, and in no time she had their 
 goods piled up on one end and the tent set up on the other. 
 
 " None of your fancy prices for that house and lot," she 
 said as she began to make things comfortable for living. It 
 certainly was quite as pleasant as living on one of the swamp 
 lost in the summer. Tliey lived there on the bank of the 
 river some little time till the husband finally found a loca- 
 
^^Wt 1 
 
 AN EYE TO BUSINESS 
 
 397 
 
 tion and started to erect a cabin. In about a month she 
 was bustling around in her new home putting things to 
 rights. 
 
 " Yes, sir, I can tell you I am pretty glad to get on terra 
 firma again," she said, " that is, if you can call this sort of 
 ground terra firma. It's an improvement, however. I've 
 been living on a boat ever since last March, nearly five 
 months. To tell the truth, I'm a little tired of gypsy life, 
 though I've stood it* pretty well. Yes, our house is larger 
 than most of them here — twenty-three feet by sixteen. 
 But we have two stoves, and I think we will be able to keep 
 it warm next winter. As to furnishing — well, I don't 
 know. This is a queer town, isn't it? But the gold's all 
 right." 
 
 She had an eye to business, and it had been her inten- 
 tion to secure a lot near the center or business portion and 
 start a bakery. " Just think of it," sh .• said to her husband, 
 " bread is worth fifty cents a loaf, one-pound pies one dollar 
 each, just such as I used to make at home. They say I 
 could sell a scowload every day. I talked with one woman 
 who bakes, and she said the men came in and threw down 
 their sacks of gold, and when she took out what she thought 
 about the right amount and weighed it, if it went over the 
 requisite weight, they would say, * Never mind, madam, let 
 it go.' Many times she gets from seventy-five cents to one 
 dollar for a loaf of bread. A sack of flour costs six dollars 
 here, and it makes forty-five loaves of bread." 
 
 They paid two hundred and fifty dollars for their lot, 
 which was some distance back near the banks of the Klon- 
 dike. Before they had owned it many days tiiey sold one- 
 quarter of it, off the rear, for seventy-five dollars, and then 
 one-half of the front for one hundred and seventy-five dol- 
 
w 
 
 398 
 
 HER INTERESTINQ CHARGES 
 
 B> t 
 
 R I. 
 
 
 lars. As she was too far from the center to make a bakery 
 profitable, she thought she would turn her attention to other 
 matters, and finally secured a chance to take care of a couple 
 of children. In telling about them she said : 
 
 " One of them is ten years old and the other is six. 
 They are regular little terrors. I wash them both six times 
 a day, and bathe them all over in a tub of water twice a 
 week, and then they are always smutty. They are girls 
 and as ugly as sin. Their mother is a \^oman from Juneau. 
 Robert says, ' Why don't you whale them? ' He says I am 
 altogether too easy with them. I have not whipped them 
 yet, and I won't. I don't expect to have them long. There 
 is a Catholic church, a school, and a hospital building just 
 below where we are living, and when they are completed I 
 expect the little ones will stay with the Sisters. The Sisters 
 are expected here on the next boat from St. Michael, which, 
 if there is water enough for it to get up the river, will be 
 here in about a month. The girls say they don't want to 
 live with the Sisters; that they want to live with me and to 
 go to school from here. They lived with the Sisters in 
 Juneau, and they say the Sisters are not so good to them as 
 I am; that they make them work, and that they whip them. 
 The little ones appear to like me very much. I get one 
 hundred dollars a month for taking care of the little terrors, 
 and I guess I earn every cent of it, but their mother fur- 
 nishes the bedding and a tent for them to sleep in." 
 
 I had found out that this woman made wonderfully fine 
 bread, and had purchased some occasionally. A little real 
 bread is a great delicacy on the Yukon, and while I had 
 looked upon myself as quite an expert I could recognize the 
 superiority of her light loaves. One day when I went to the 
 cabin she had just finished baking. 
 
NEIGHBORLY ATTBNTiOMS 
 
 399 
 
 " I've baked seven loaves of bread, four pies, and a batch 
 of ginger-snaps to-day," she said. " By tlie way, what day 
 is it?" 
 
 " Saturday, I believe, but I'm not sure." 
 
 " I can never tell in this region without looking it up. 
 This perpetual daylight, when there is so much to do, gets 
 one all mixed up. Never saw such a place to live in in all 
 my life. Still, we get along nicely. There are some ad- 
 vantages in the country besides the gold. We have been 
 having a lot of the most delicious fish — king salmon. 
 There are two fishermen who live on the river bank just 
 below here, and I guess they must have taken a fancy to me, 
 as they send us fish every day. They sell their fish for fifty 
 cents a pound, but they don't charge me anything for them. 
 Yesterday they gave me ten or twelve pounds, five or six 
 dollars' worth, and to-day they gave me another large piece. 
 I give them a loaf of bread and a pie once in a while. To- 
 day I took them a loaf of bread, a pie, and a lot of ginger- 
 snaps. My, but they appear so grateful! I love to 
 give to them, for they appear so grateful for such trifles. 
 There are two of them — a father and a son. They have a 
 lot of dogs, eight large ones and seven small ones. There 
 are more dogs to the square yard here, I guess, than in any 
 place on earth. We have dog concerts every night. Such 
 lugubrious howls as these native dogs give utterance to; 
 and the exotics soon strike the key and become initiated. It 
 is something fearful. I am starving for vegetables and 
 fruit. And the mosquitoes — oh ! they are terrible. They 
 make life a burden. But the gold's all right." 
 
 One of the most remarkable cases of fortune-making 
 
 by a woman was that of Mrs. Wills, whom I had met at 
 
 Circle City in 1896, where she was baking bread on a 
 24 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
400 
 
 MRS. WILLS HAS THE GOLD FKVER 
 
 II 
 
 Yukon stove, with the results toUl m a previous chapter. 
 As tlie Circle City miners congregated at Airs. WIUs's 
 bakery tor their daily bread, it became one of the news 
 centers of the place, and to this is duo the fact that she was 
 among the first to hear of the rich strike on the Klondike. 
 Although she was making money at the rate of twenty-tivc 
 dollars a day, it only whetted her ai)petite for gold, and she 
 no sooner heard of the Klondike than she was ready to start. 
 
 It was three hundred long, dreary miles over snow and 
 ice to Dawson. Securing a r te for her dog, she closed 
 her bakery, and started aloui Two days later she was 
 joined by a party of cattlemen, who had heard the wonder- 
 ful stories of Klondike gold, and they, too, had caught the 
 gold fever. Mrs. Wills would be relieved of the burden of 
 her sleds and her dogs cared for if she would ac ns cook for 
 the party. This was a bargain, and it is said that she stood 
 the hardships of the journey ** like a man." 
 
 She made her location on the Klondike, and filed 
 thereon, and at once set a man at work, while she returned 
 to Dawson and accepted a position with the Alaska Com- 
 mercial Company as head cook at fifteen dollars a day. She 
 paid the same amount to the men who worked her claim. 
 Thus she was able to work the claim and yet employ herself 
 in the more congenial occupation. Later she secured a 
 stove, this time one with an oven that held four bakepans, 
 and again went into the bakery business, and inside of two 
 weeks had customers enough at one dollar a loaf to keep the 
 oven going twelve hours a day. 
 
 As soon as all the good claims were taken up near Daw- 
 son City, then the claim-jumpers began to get in their work. 
 Several attempts were made to get possession of Mrs. Wills's 
 claim, which promised to pan out exceedingly rich, but she 
 
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ENTERPRISING AND PROSPEROUS 
 
 403 
 
 f ought the case and held down her claim against all comers. 
 Finding that she could not be scared off it, offers to purchase 
 were tendered, but Mrs. Wills was mining for what she 
 could make, and the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars did not swerve her from her purpose. She expects 
 that her claim will pan out twice that amount. Meantime 
 she is making a net profit of more than fifty dollars a day in 
 her bakery and lamdry, notwithstanding the high price of 
 flour and tl.e fact that starch costs two hundred and fifty 
 dollars a box. She pays an Indian squaw who works for 
 her four dollars a day, and for the little log cabin in which 
 the work was done she has to pay thirty-five dollars a month. 
 Her fuel costs her over five hundred dollars a year, but she 
 made money rapidly at this, while those she hired to work 
 her mines found the gold rapidly. She made twelve thou- 
 sand dollars from them in a few weeks, and she struck the 
 richest gravel of any in May, and was making more money 
 than ever. She is a brave, enterprising woman, who has 
 battled with poverty all her life, and we were glad she was 
 so fortunate at last. People in a mining camp like this are 
 not generally so envious of each other's prosperity as they 
 sometimes are in ordinary society. 
 
 It has been said that the Klondike oiTers a great oppor- 
 tunity for respectable unmarried women, and it is doubtless 
 true. A good woman is at a high premium in that region, 
 and so long as mines are rich, and millionaires are turned 
 out every season, women who have the courage to brave 
 such hardships as a journey to Alaska entails, and are not 
 too particular about the culture of the eligible men, may 
 marry a fortune. The fact is, however, that most good 
 women are particular about the men they marry. But 
 there are in the Klondike some as true specimens of man- 
 
404 
 
 A GOOD PLACE FOR COOKfe 
 
 I 
 
 hood as can be found anywhere. They may not appear so 
 in their rough surroundings, but there is value in their 
 rugged natures. A respectable woman has nothing to fear 
 in the way of insult in these raining regions. It may seem 
 at times on the trail that all spirit of gallantry has been left 
 behind. Men, as a matter of course, have too much serious 
 work on hand in such ordeals to waste much time in 
 helping women over boulders and asking if they may have 
 the honor of carrying their packages just over the next hill, 
 but they never take any mean advantage of their weaker fel- 
 low-workers, and they allow full value for the work women 
 nre better fitted to do than men. The field for cooking alone 
 is one of immense opportunity for women, and they are not 
 slow to see it. Even though a man is willing to get his 
 own meals after a day's hard work, few of them understand 
 how to prepare food in a wholesome, palatable way. Good 
 nourishing food is what they must have. 
 
 Aside from this there are lodging houses, and the actual 
 prospecting and mining, and washing and mending clothes, 
 and nureing, and undoubtedly women stand a goou chance 
 for success. 
 
 There will be plenty of miners who will see that a 
 woman is protected. An illustration of this, one of the 
 thousands of dramatic incidents of Klondike life, stands 
 out significant of the real character of American men, as a 
 race. Dissension arose in a party of men and women, after 
 which a division occurred, and some of them decided to re- 
 turn to their homes. A man and his wife who could not 
 agree upon this point parted, and the wife suddenly found 
 herself the only woman in a camp with four hundred men, 
 without provisions of any sort, and no money. Some one 
 suggested that she cook for them, so she started bravely in, 
 
A CHANCE FOR DRESSMAKERS 
 
 400 
 
 and those men, recognizing this as an isolated case where 
 they could go out of their way a little, made her feel their 
 care and protection. Its just as natural for men to want to 
 be helpful to a woman as it is to breathe, but during the first 
 weeks of the Klondike excitement men felt hindered very 
 often trying to help women along. They have all they can 
 manage to look out for themselves, and when they found 
 women going up there to work independently, and that they 
 did not want men to help them, the situation presented 
 itself in its true light. 
 
 As the number of women in the city increased, several 
 began to turn their attention to dressmaking, which was 
 quite a profitable business. Five dollars was charged for 
 making a common calico wrapper such as could be put to- 
 gether in about three hours. The price for making a plain 
 woolen dress was thirty dollars, and the dressmakers had 
 to pay nothing for fashion-plates. Anything that looked 
 well passed muster. 
 
 Wading is an essential part of a trip in the Klordike, 
 especially in the vicinity of the mines, and women should, 
 for their own comfort, provide accordingly. The head- 
 wear affected by women there consists of close-fitting hats 
 or caps, made necessary by the high winds. All clothing is 
 worn loosely to facilitate moving about. No corsets are 
 worn; instead, a canvas waist has come into general use. 
 To this waist are buttoned the skirts (if worn) and the under- 
 garments. In winter women generally wear fur hoods and 
 parkas. On the feet are worn " muck lucks," a sort of boot 
 the foot of which is made of hair seal-skin. 
 
 A woman who had some experience in the Klondike 
 says that the venture means " an extra and heroic effort for a 
 big prize, and the harvest depends, as all harvests do, on the 
 
Wa 
 
 406 
 
 REQUISITES OF A WOMAN'S WARDROBE 
 
 amount of strength and energy put into it. Therefore, if 
 she has the courage to make the great plunge with a possible 
 fortune at the end, in preference to smaller returns over a 
 greater space of time without extreme demands upon her 
 health, she will undoubtedly want to equip herself intel- 
 ligently. 
 
 " First, then, the clothing is to be considered. Starting 
 in the early spring, the following articles will be absolutely 
 indispensable : 
 
 " Four combination suits, heaviest quality; three pairs 
 bloomers; three thick sweaters; three she t skirts (water- 
 proof cloth); one fur-lined jacket; two pair wristlets; four 
 pair woolen gloves; four pairs heaviest woolen blankets; six 
 pair woolen stockings ; two pairs rubber boots, one pair snow 
 shoes; several yards netting (against the impertinent mos- 
 quito later on) ; two Avoolen night dresses, and don't forget 
 dark-blue glasses, vaseline, and glycerine, for exposure to 
 the cold winds and all the roughness of outdoor life will 
 play such havoc with hands and faces that much suffering 
 can be avoided by applying the last two when retiring into 
 blankets. There won't be any downy pillows, because 
 weary heads soon learn to sleep on bundles. 
 
 " It is much better to carry wearing-apparel in water- 
 proof bags, as they are easier to handle, and boxes are 
 heavier and lake up too much space. You won't have a 
 bit good time — but if all your belongings are not capsized 
 — and you are not drowned or otherwise killed, and you get 
 to any real where — my ! won't you feel it has paid for the 
 attempt — that is, if you're a genuine new woman and not a 
 mere new lady." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 A SEASON OP WILD STAMPEDES — THE CURIOUS CON- 
 DITIONS ON SKOOKUM GULCH — NEW WONDERS IN 
 ALA»i£A DISTRICT — MY NARROW ESCAPE FROM 
 DEATH. 
 
 Spreading Out Over the Wild Country — Stampedes a Daily Occur- 
 rence — How they were Started — Enterprise of an Exhausted 
 Party — Returning from One Rush Only to Fall in with Another — 
 The Astounding Results on Hunker Creek — Sudden Rise of Skoo- 
 kum Gulch — How it was Discovered — Kicking Over Boulders 
 and Finding Gold — Bench Claims — Strike on Dominion Creek — 
 An Old German's Good Luck on Sulphur Creek — Endeavoring to 
 Keep it Quiet — The News Leaks Out — Another Great Stampede — 
 Joe and I Conclude to See for Ourselves — A Misstep and a Drench- 
 ing in Ice Water — Injured and Exhausted — A Blinding Storm — 
 "Oh, for a Little Meat" — Joe Starts to Hunt for a Moose— Re- 
 turns and Finds Me Helpless — "I Guess I'm Done For" — A 
 Long Night and Day — Walking in a Circle — I Revive on Moose 
 Broth — Staking a Claim Anywhere — My Last Prospecting Trip. 
 
 WHEN summer came there were nearly three thou- 
 sand people in and about Dawson, the great 
 majority of whom had come in during the win- 
 ter and spring, and who were eagerly waiting to make a 
 fortune. The class was increased when work became slack 
 in the mines, owing to the running water, and also began to 
 be increased by those from adjoining settlements who had 
 been unable to reach the district the season before, and by 
 the vanguard of that great crowd which was soon to pour 
 
 in over the passes. It is a fact significant of the remote- 
 
 (407) 
 
408 
 
 IN A STATE OF STAMPEDE 
 
 ri 
 
 fii 
 
 ness of the country and scarcity of facilities for communica- 
 tion and transportation, that while all these scenes of newly- 
 discovered millions were being enacted at Dawson, the out- 
 side world was pursuing its peaceful way in utter innocence 
 of Dawson and its mines. A few letters had found their 
 way out, and there were rumors along the Pacific coast of 
 the new discoveries, but they were treated in the papers as 
 highly-colored tales, and stuck into inconspicuous places in 
 mining intelligence. Juneau miners had heard a good deal, 
 however, and were soon on their way down the river. 
 
 But, of course, the two creeks that were known had long 
 been completely staked. The floating population, im- 
 patiently waiting to grasp a fortune, was therefore in a 
 state of stampede all summer. The old miners, observing 
 the lay of the land and seeing that the Bonanza had other 
 " pups " which, while not very inviting to the gold-pros- 
 pector, looked fully as much so as the Eldorado had ap- 
 peared at first, and seeing also that the Klondike and the In- 
 dian River just above had numerous small tributaries, whose 
 headwaters seemed to center curiously around a ridge of 
 hills, in the center of which was a peak called the Dome, 
 had early begun to spread out over the country and to probe 
 the ground under the tundra of the banks. When they 
 found something that looked promising, they returned to 
 Dawson and applied for a discovery claim. This was hap- 
 pening all summer. No one knew the value of the dis- 
 covery, for it was impossible to fully know till the winter 
 had again frozen up the streams, but it made no difference 
 to the ever-increasing crowd of feverish fortune-hunters. 
 Stampedes were of daily occurrence, and the bulk of the 
 population was therefore kept in a state bordering on 
 physical exhaustion. 
 
HOW STAMPEDES ABE STARTED 
 
 409 
 
 Generally, a stampede would start about in tins way: 
 A man looking in the recorder's book would see that a claim 
 had been filed on some new and unheard-of creek. He 
 would give the tip to a friend and they would start oflF, but 
 the friend would first whisper it to another friend, and in a 
 few hours the whole town would know something was hap- 
 pening. A crowd would be quickly clambering over rocks 
 and struggling through places where there was not even a 
 trail. 
 
 Or, perhaps, some fellow would drift into a saloon with 
 a sack of gold, and in the garrulousness of intoxication would 
 confide to some one that he had found it on such a creek or 
 pup, and away the men would rush. There were many 
 curious experiences. One day a party left to go sixty miles 
 up the river, but after going about fifty miles they became 
 exhausted and turned back. On the way back they killed 
 a couple of moose, and each man's share of the proceeds 
 was sixty-one dollars and fifty cents. While they were 
 gone another stampede took place at about ten o'clock at 
 night. Several went up the river and staked claims, know- 
 ing nothing as to their value, and came back with no gold, 
 only to fall in with the next rush. 
 
 But the result of all these stampedes was to open up a 
 much larger gold-bearing territory, which will be heard from 
 in the future. One of the first and most promising of these 
 discoveries was made by a man by the name of Hunker, 
 who gave his name to the creek which flows into the Klon- 
 dike about ten miles above the mouth of the Bonanza, and 
 the principal tributaries of which are Gold Bottom and 
 Last Chance creeks. Hunker made his discovery late in 
 the spring, and on account of the abundance of water and 
 the marshy character of the soil little could be done at once 
 
410 
 
 MARVELOUS PAY-STREAKS 
 
 li 
 
 ■' fS 
 
 in drifting, but the rich results simply astounded those who 
 had become used to that sort of thin~. The pay-streak was 
 measured and found to be two hundred feet wide. Many 
 believed that the creek would surpass Eldorado. A half 
 interest in one claim was sold for thirty thousand dollars. 
 On Gold Bottom and Last Chance, pans of from twenty-five 
 cents to twenty dollars were reported near the surface. 
 Bear Creek, which flows into the Klondike between Hunker 
 and Bonanza creeks, was also early prospected and staked 
 out, yielding some fine returns near the surface. Nuggets 
 the size of peas were brought down to Dawson from its 
 banks and served to increase the excitement of the new- 
 comers. 
 
 The sudden rise of Skookum Gulch was one of the queer 
 incidents of the unfolding of this marvelous territory. It 
 enters Bonanza near Cormack's discovery claim, but in the 
 first rush it was passed by as worthy of no attention. A 
 man who had for several years been working a claim on 
 American Creek started for the Klondike as soon as the 
 news reached him, traveling on the ice with a dog team, the 
 thermometer ranging about sixty below. Bonanza and El- 
 dorado were all staked then, and in March, after bringing 
 up his outfit, he formed a partnership and secured a lay on 
 Cormack's claim. While working there they located 
 claims Kos. 1 and 2 on Skookum Gulch, near by, and at odd 
 times worked the ground. About the middle of April they 
 struck a pay-streak at a depth of about four feet, and gave 
 up their lay at Cormack's, where they had cleaned up about 
 seven thousand dollars, and went to work on their Skookum 
 claims. After drifting four days they washed out two thou- 
 sand eight hundred dollars of some of the coarsest gold that 
 had been found anywhere in the district. Of course, there 
 
VALUABLE BENCH CLAIMS 
 
 411 
 
 was another stampede. The two discoverers worked away 
 till July, cleaning up about forty thousand dollars in the 
 four months. Then they sold out for a big figure and went 
 home. 
 
 But there were creek claims, that is, claims staked along 
 the creek from rim-rock to rim-rock. The creek was all 
 located by July, and some of the claims had been deserted, 
 as the surface indications were not extra, and because of the 
 constant rush for other new creeks, particularly on other 
 Klondike streams. No one had thought of bench claims, 
 that is, claims up on the side of the hills. 
 
 Conditions in Alaska and the Northwest Territory are 
 so very different from those prevailing in the placer mining 
 regions of California and other countries, that the ex- 
 perience and knowledge of the average old minor, gained 
 after years of toil and hardship, sometimes only mislead 
 him. 
 
 This was illustrated in the discovery of bench claims on 
 Skookum Gulch, when a tenderfoot kicked over a boulder 
 and found gold nuggets sticking up under the sod. The 
 wildest excitement prevailed. 
 
 It was found that while many of the old prospectors had 
 searched long and faithfully for the nuggets in the creek 
 bed and near the center of the stream, they had entirely 
 overlooked the bench claims, which were found to be very 
 rich. Some of the claims on the creek bed w'ere carefxilly 
 gone over, but did not prove very good. Miners sunk shafts 
 to bed-rock and toiled night and day for the yellow metal, 
 which lay so plentifully a few rods further up the hill away 
 from the stream. But the saying that gold is where you 
 find it was again exemplified. Thousands of people in the 
 last year had walked over the location and never thoiight of 
 
412 
 
 NUOQETS BENBATH THE MOSS 
 
 /iV 
 
 looking for gold there. Experienced miners would have 
 laughed at a man as a fool for thinking that gold might be 
 there. Yet in a few weeks about four hundred bench 
 claims were staked out. 
 
 Boulders were turned over, and there, lying exposed 
 on the gravel, was coarse gold. The moss was about twelve 
 inches thick, and bjneath it in one day two men picked up 
 eight hundred dollars in nuggets. It was difficult to offer 
 a theory of how the gold got there. It was worn but little, 
 and just below in the gulch some rich specimens of float were 
 found. Some good miners thought it might be only the 
 edge of a wonderful pay-streak of quartz, as some quartz 
 was found adhering to the gold. When one old miner saw 
 what was being picked up under the moss, he said : 
 
 " Who'd ever thought of finding gold on the surface of 
 such a looking mountain as that. If science went for any- 
 thing, there wouldn't be an ounce of gold in the whole 
 moimtain. Xo, sir, I'm ready to confess that I don't know 
 anything about placer mining, and I've been at it, off and on, 
 for years. These discoveries have been too much for me." 
 
 The excitement was intense. Hundreds of ounces were 
 taken out of the rockers by the dazed miners. In half a 
 day two men picked out with a rocker five hundred and 
 eighty-five dollars in coarse gold. 
 
 Attention was early directed to the creeks of the Indian 
 River district whose headwaters lay in the same range of 
 hills in which the rich streams of the Klondike took their 
 Various stampedes to Sulphur, Dominion, and Quartz 
 
 nse. 
 
 creeks took place, and by September there was not a claim 
 to be had, except at large prices, on any of these streams. 
 The strike on Dominion Creek was made on June 10th by a 
 man who had been on the Yukon for years, and the result 
 
THE STAMPEDE TO SULPHUR CREEK 
 
 413 
 
 was one of the wildest stampedes of the year. The miners 
 brought back many favorable reports and some gold >' >bl. 
 Pans running as high as two dollars and fifty cents were 
 found long before bed-rock was reached. The discovery 
 claim was located about three miles from the head of the 
 creek, which was soon staked for its entire length of twenty 
 miles. 
 
 Some of those who arrived too late to secure claims here 
 started to return to Dawson, and instead of returning by the 
 Indian Kiver went over the hills towards the Yukon. On 
 the 20th one of the party came to what is now known as 
 Sulphur Creek, at a point about seven miles from the hill 
 that separates it from Hunker Creek, which flows into the 
 Klondike. They found good prospects, and, going into a 
 partnership arrangement, simk a shaft. They worked 
 quietly without letting any one know, but had not pro- 
 ceeded far before they found pans running as high as five 
 dollars. Then they staked out clainis for themselves and 
 went to Dawson to record them. '• 'endeavored to keep 
 it quiet, but in August it leaked ou there was another 
 
 stampede, over five hundred men crossmg the rough moun- 
 tain between Eldorado and Dominion creeks. 
 
 They had not been working long before pans nmning 
 over thirty dollars were found not far below the surface. 
 Two men took out three hundred dollars one day in simply 
 prospecting their claims. The formation seemed to be 
 much like that of Eldorado Creek, which bears the same 
 relation to Bonanza that Sulphur does to Dominion, and 
 the process which brought gold into one must have brought 
 it into the other. As these streams flowed into the Indian 
 River they were in another mining district, and so those 
 having claims on the Klondike streams were at liberty to 
 
414 
 
 EXCITED AND IMPROVIDENT MINERS 
 
 stake on Dominion and Sulphur. The excit/cnieut was in- 
 tense and continued for some time, as new strikes were con- 
 stantly reported. The old German who located the dis- 
 covery took out thirty dollars to the pan, and in most places 
 the water on the creek was not deep, so that the claims could 
 be worked easier than those on the Klondike. 
 
 But many of the locators either did not have t aergy to 
 sink their prospect holes, or were too restless on account of 
 the daily stampedes to other creeks to remain, and so it 
 began to be rumored about that Sulphur Creek was of no 
 value. A few of the first locators, however, staid by it, and 
 they were richly rewarded. When the large pans began to 
 be taken out, another stampede occurred. Claims that had 
 been abandoned were staked by other parties and soon could 
 hardly be bought at any price. 
 
 About forty men rushed out on this forty-mile tramp, 
 and many of the newcomers were so excited and in such 
 haste to find a hole from which they could take gold that 
 they rushed off without taking their blankets or enough to 
 eat. Ij:deed, this was a feature of all these stampedes, and 
 numy cante near losing their lives, and, doubtless, would 
 havf^ X>ne so but for the kindness of more provident pros- 
 pectors. 
 
 Indeed, the dangers incurred in these wild scrambles 
 over the mountains could not be altogether avoided by those 
 who were careful enough to make ample provisions for their 
 trip. Joe and I had a rather narrow escape ourselves dur- 
 ing the fall excitement over the tributaries of Dominion 
 Creek. We had not, as a rule, indulged in the stampedes, 
 for we were well aware of their dangers and uncertainties, 
 and aware also that claims were being staked constantly by 
 those who immediately rushed off to another locality, so that 
 
WE START OUT PROSPECTING 
 
 415 
 
 if at any time actual prospects should reveal any surpassing 
 richness in the new discoveries it would be time enoujih to 
 rush in and secure some of the deserted claims. But when 
 the fall excitement over Sulphur (.'rwk occurred we con- 
 cluded to go over the hills and prospect a little thereabout 
 for ourselves. We were at the camp at that tinu>, and dur- 
 ing the rush men had dropped their picks and riui from 
 windlasses to hurry over to the Indian River district. Joe 
 and I took our time and put in our packs a good supply of 
 beans and blankets. 
 
 I had not been feeling well for several days, hanng 
 been weak and sometimes a little feverish. I had at- 
 tributed it to drinking poor water and to the everlasting 
 monotony of diet at the camp, but I felt better when wo 
 started, and thought little of it while we plodded along over 
 the rough hillsides through the snow. All this country is 
 so rugged that the eye is startled at surveying it from some 
 commanding peak. Hill crowding hill, mountain jostling 
 mountain, on and on they sweep to the uttermost reach of 
 the vision. 
 
 Reaching what we took to be the upper part of Sulphur 
 Creek, we prospected through that region and then started 
 to work our way up a gulch which looked as promising as 
 anything could in that locality. I was struggling along 
 over a high bluff of rocks along by the bed of the stream, 
 when I made a misstep and rolled, pack and all, over the 
 edge of the rocks, striking on a bit of thin ice at the bottom. 
 It gave way and let me into the ice-cold water. Joe was 
 ahead and did not miss me till I shouted. But before he 
 could make his way to the bed of the stream I had pulled 
 myself out, dripping and shivering. My ankle was slightly 
 sprained, but I minded that less than the cold. We finally 
 
 ' I! 
 
416 
 
 A SICK man's fancies 
 
 worked our way up to a little clump of spruces, where I 
 dropped down exhausted and half frozen. 
 
 Joe had a fire going in a short time and made me a cup 
 of strong tea, but it did little good, and I grew worse and 
 worse. I was terribly weak, but abhorred the sight of beans, 
 which Joe placed over the fire in the hopes of reviving my 
 strength. Oh, for a little meat! I thought. 
 
 The day before we had seen several moose tracks and 
 had even caught a glimpse of two or three too far away on 
 the hills to shoot, and, encumbered as we were, we did not 
 take the trouble to follow them. As I lay there on a blanket 
 on the snow I felt as if I would give all the Klondike soil I 
 possessed for a bit of moose steak. 
 
 " Joe," I said, ** I will watch the beans. Take the rifle 
 and see if you cannot find a moose. I am dying for meav." 
 
 He left me, working his way off up the gulch, and I lay 
 there v/atching the fire play about the kettle of beans. The 
 wind shifted and blew the smoke straight towards me, but I 
 was too weak to move or to mind such a trifle. Then it grew 
 dark and began to snow, and I rapidly grew weaker and 
 sicker. The fire began to work into fantastic shapes and 
 seemed to dance about in the snow, then grow dim^ then 
 blaze up in flaming fierceness, — then all was dark. 
 
 The next I knew I felt a queer sensation in one of my 
 hands ; then I recognized Joe's voice. He was slapping my 
 right hand and shouting in my ears, b ii.ally I opened my 
 eyes. It was dark. The fire wad out. The beans were 
 burnt up. It was snowing frightfully and the wind was 
 sweeping through the gulch with a dreadful roar, which fcil 
 on my benumbed ears like a wail of despair. 
 
 " Come, come, tlns'll never do," I heard Joe say. " We 
 must get out of this." 
 
A NIGHT IN THE SNOW 
 
 417 
 
 The 
 
 I tried to raise myself, but fell back helpless. My ankle 
 began to pain me terribly, and Cixeu everything began 1 d 
 swim before my dull eyes again. 
 
 " No use, Joe," I said, feebly, " I guess I'm done for." 
 
 Having started another fire, he soon brought me a big 
 cup of hot strong tea and held it while I drank it slowly off. 
 I fell back and thought I felt better. Then he arranged 
 some boughs over my head and threw a blanket over them 
 to protect me from the wind. Dragging more poles down 
 the hill, •'o heaped them on the fire, which roared and hissed 
 almost at my feet. The snow was flying so thick that it 
 was impossible to see but a little way before us. 
 
 " I must find a sled somewhere," said Joe, when he h^d 
 made these preparations, and soon I saw him disappear again 
 in the blinding snow. Then I fell into a sort of stupor. 
 
 How like a dreadful panorama my short career passed 
 before me as I lay there during those long dark hours. 
 Was this the end? There was a comfortable little fortune 
 stacked away in our tent over in the camp, and here I was 
 dying, as I thought, just because of a little misstep. On 
 and on dragged thf^ hours, pud Joe did not return. The 
 daylight broke, and still he did not come. I had become 
 very faint and was almost too weak to move a muscle. The 
 fire was dying into embers, and it grew very cold, though it 
 had ceased to snow with so much fury. 
 
 After a long time, how long I could not tell, I heard 
 shouting, and, making a great effort, raised my head out of 
 the snow and feebly reisponded. In a few minutes I saw a 
 dark form coming through the snow, and then I recognized 
 Joe running rapidly towai'ds me and pulling a sled. 
 
 " Xow you'll bo all right, my boy," he said. " I'm 
 mighty glad to 5ud you aliv^e." 
 35 
 
418 
 
 MOOSE BROTH AS A IONIC 
 
 [ 
 
 Then he told me the story of his search. It seems he 
 had started out in the storm for the purpose cf making his 
 way down to Sulphur Creek far enough to find some miners 
 with a sled. He set off, as he thought, in the right direc- 
 tion and had a hard tramp over the hills in the dark and in 
 the face of the blinding storm. After walkiag till about 
 three o'clock in the morning he saw \ li« ' *■ ind hastened 
 forward in the hope of finding a car;; o oi to i ers. What 
 was his surprise upon coming up to the fiio to find it the 
 same one he had built a few hours before! I was uncon- 
 scious. 
 
 He threw some more wood on and started out again. 
 At last he came to a sled track, and, after following it for 
 nearly six miles, came upon two men who had half a moose 
 on a sled. In my extremity Joe had forgotten to eat any- 
 thing and was nearly famished when he came upon the 
 miners. They hurriedly cooked him some meat, and he 
 told them of my danger. They told him to take the sk-d, 
 and, cutting off a piece of moose meat, strapped it ■;, ,.ui 
 .Toe started back for me, running much of the way V-: 
 experienced a little difficulty in finding me, and a ou i: 
 me up for dead, when he heard my feeble response <^ n, 
 his cries. 
 
 He told me this while he hurriedly built another fire, 
 and put the moose in a kettle for a stew. That stew braced 
 me up at once. !N'othing will ever taste so good again as 
 did that steaming moose broth. During the day I began 
 to regain my strength, and we started down the or-'ek to find 
 the two benefactors. At first Joe ir ed up -. . >;•" riding, 
 and he tugged away like a hero o'ff ,ne rough v • , Iv-.t 
 I began to feel bettor, and the last part of the way iiobbled 
 along fairly well, restinjt occssimally. 
 
 n 
 of 
 
It seems he 
 
 oi making his 
 
 id some miners 
 
 he right direc- 
 
 he dark and in 
 
 kiag till about 
 
 ind hastened 
 
 > ers. What 
 
 I to find it the 
 
 I. was uncon- 
 
 ted out again, 
 allowing it for 
 d half a moose 
 ten to eat any- 
 ame upon the 
 meat, and he 
 take the sled, 
 tped it .';, .'.iil 
 waj F^ '...;(! 
 adai-oii: ^,j.v.^n 
 ponsfi^^' n. -> of 
 
 It another fire, 
 lat stew braced 
 good again as 
 e day I began 
 ic cr:^ek to find 
 son iiiT- riding, 
 igh v.. ■■'•?, hit 
 e way i lobbied 
 
 OUR LAST TRIP IN THE KLONDIKE 
 
 419 
 
 " We ought to stake a claim somewhere after going 
 through all this," I said to Joe while we were taking our first 
 rest near the mouth of the gulch, which had not yet been 
 staked. We had built a €re and were about to take a little 
 
 lunch. 
 
 " Well, we might as well stake here as anywhere," he re- 
 plied. " 'Never mind the indications. They don't count 
 in this country. The only thing to do is to stake anywhere 
 and trust to luck. It certainly looks better here than on 
 Bonan7n-" 
 
 But we finally worked our way down the creek and took 
 the first available claim, and after a few days went back to 
 our camp. That was the last prospecting trip we made in 
 the Klondike. 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 STAMPEDERS WHO NEGLECTED TO RECORD CLAIMS — 
 CREEKS TOO NUMEROUS TO REMEMBER — POSSI- 
 BILITIES OF OTHER DISTRICTS — NEW GOLD FIELDS. 
 
 Midnight Rush to Montana Creek— Staking by Torchlight — A Pugil- 
 ist on Hand — Locators Rested after Their Journey — Their Stakes 
 Stealthily Removed an'l Others Substituted — The First to Record 
 Takes the Claim — (ireat Stampede to All Gold Creek — The 
 Rush for Bryant Creek — Intended to be Named for William J. Bryan 
 — Result of the Slip of the Pen — Neglecting to Record for Fear 
 Something Better Would be Found — Tenderfeet Frozen Out — 
 Waiting Three Days to Reach the Gold Commissioner — The 
 Country Staked for a Hundred Miles Around — Frauds Perpe- 
 trated — Impossibility for the Officers to Measure Claims during 
 the Wild Stampedes — Wild Race down the Frozen Yukon to 
 Buy r Claim — Old Miners' Belief in Stewart River — Gold Found 
 Everywhere — Difficulties of Prospecting on the Stewart — Some 
 of the Gold-Bearing Creeks Which May Be Heard From — In the 
 Same Belt as the Klondike. 
 
 NO sooner had the exhausted gold-seekers returned 
 to Dawson from the rush to Sulphur Creek than 
 another took place to Montana Creek, a little 
 stream eighteen miles long entering the Yukon on the east 
 side about eight miles south of Dawson and heading up 
 towards Eldorado. It was a dark and stormy night, the 
 air was filled with a light snow, but there was the greatest 
 excitement, especially among the new arrivals. About two 
 hundred and fifty men joined in the rush, many of them 
 
 (420) 
 
A HEADLONG BUSH 
 
 431 
 
 3LAIMS — 
 
 -P08SI- 
 
 ) FIELDS. 
 
 — APugil- 
 heir Stakes 
 t to Record 
 reek — The 
 im J. Bryan 
 ■d for Fear 
 •zen Out — 
 oner — The 
 uds Perpe- 
 [ms during 
 Yukon to 
 }old Found 
 art — Some 
 m — In the 
 
 returned 
 €ek than 
 
 a little 
 1 the east 
 iding up 
 ight, the 
 I greatest 
 bout two 
 
 of them 
 
 going at two o'clock in. the morning. Some tumbled into 
 boats and poled up the river against the strong current, and 
 others clambered over the mountain and gulches. Those 
 first on the creek built fires, and by torchlight measured off 
 their claims and planted their stakes. A pugilist from the 
 Pacific coast was the second man to locate. By midnight 
 seven claims were staked off, and then the rush kept pouring 
 in till the whole creek was staked and some were left with- 
 out places to stake. When the men had finished their sprint 
 over the trail or their difficult trip up the river, they were 
 cold and hungry, and so they camped as well as they could 
 somewhere on the creek before taking their way back. 
 Some of the late arrivals, noticing this delay, stealthily re- 
 moved stakes and p\it up their own. Then they rushed 
 back to the recording office in Dawson, and, of course, were 
 there long before the original claimants. When the latter 
 arrived there was naturally considerable loud talk and some 
 threats. There was nothing to do, however, but to accept 
 the situation, for the first man who records takes the ground, 
 unless there is a long litigation, which might bring no satis- 
 faction. It is as important to be the first to reach the re- 
 corder's office as it is to be the first to locate a claim. 
 
 The rush to All Gold Creek was the largest of the sea- 
 son. At least five hundred men participated in that and 
 endured the greatest hardships. The stampede to Bryant 
 Creek, which is about nine miles up the Yukon from Daw- 
 son, took place early in September. The stream is about 
 twenty-five miles in length, and rises within a few rods of one 
 of the gulches which opens into Eldoraflo, ,/hose waters 
 flow in a different direction. Many oi: the claims were 
 located at midnight. J. H. Howell o' Seattle was the 
 original discoverer of gold on this creek, and, desiring to 
 
422 
 
 THE SHIFTING TIDE OF FORTUNE 
 
 honor an old schoolmate and friend, William J. Bryan, the 
 late Democratic candidate for President, he named it Bryan 
 Creek, but the Canadian recording officer, having apparently 
 never heard of the Nebraska orator, with an upward stroke 
 of the pen added the letter " t " to the word, and thus Mr. 
 Bryan was deprived of another honor. 
 
 There were many instances of the shifting tide of fortune 
 in the Klondike creeks. All Gold Creek had been located 
 early in the summer, and there was the lisual stampede 
 and failure on the part of the indolent or restless to find the 
 gold. Later, it was more thoroughly prospected, and gave 
 evidences of being as rich as some of the more famous 
 streams. 
 
 Late in October news was brought to Dawson that a 
 prospecting party had made a rich strike on a little creek 
 flowing into the Yukon about two miles above. It was 
 named Dion Creek, from one of the leaders of the party, 
 and many of the late newcomers managed to secure claims 
 on it. The gold was found about two and a half miles up, 
 and it was reported that the pay-streak was about five feet 
 thick on top of bed-rock. Being close to Dawson, and on 
 the Yukon, it was especially attractive, as it could be worked 
 cheaper. Very little prospecting was done on it, however, 
 as most of those who staked left to attend to other matters, 
 so that it was an impossibility to judge of its richness with 
 any degree of accuracy. Single pans of dirt worth as high 
 as fifteen dollars were found, and the creek was soon staked 
 for its whole length. 
 
 In the latter part of December great excitement was 
 again aroused by new strikes on Dominion Creek. Those 
 who were at work there were slowly thawing out the ground, 
 and it was reported that on 'No. 19 below Discovery the 
 
GETTING LEFT 
 
 423 
 
 ryan, the 
 it Bryan 
 Dparently 
 rd stroke 
 thus Mr. 
 
 f fortune 
 n located 
 stampede 
 ) find the 
 and gave 
 } famous 
 
 m that a 
 tie creek 
 It vas 
 he party, 
 re claims 
 miles up, 
 five feet 
 1, and on 
 le worked 
 however, 
 ' matters, 
 ness with 
 h as high 
 3n staked 
 
 nent was 
 . Those 
 3 ground, 
 ►very the 
 
 owners had sampled gravel at a depth of six feet, or ahout 
 two feet from bed-rock, and had taken out pans averaging 
 five dollars each. As this was better than had been found 
 on Bonanza and Eldorado at that depth, the claims of t^ <> 
 Dominion Creek district at once jumped to an enormouii 
 price. It was said that seventeen thousand dollars was re- 
 xused for one claim on Sulphur creek, where, two months 
 before, claims could have been bought for two thousand five 
 hundred dollars. The gold was of good quality, even bet- 
 ter than that of Bonanza and Eldorado. 
 
 Calder Creek, which heads up just across the divide 
 from Eldorado, and runs into Quartz Creek in the Indian 
 River district, was discovered in the latter part of October, 
 and promised well. In November not less than fifteen 
 claims were being worked on it, the miners having sledded 
 across from Eldorado. 
 
 During these stampedes some very queer cases hap- 
 pened. Some miners would participate in every rush and 
 stake out claims on the new creeks, but they delayed in 
 recording them because they could have but one in the dis- 
 trict, and every one was living in the constant expectation 
 that something even better would turn up. In this way 
 some had staked a dozen different locations without record- 
 ing any of them. The result was that often a prospector 
 came along one of the creeks mth enterprise to sink a hole, 
 and would find good pay-dirt. He would at once record the 
 claim, and the original staker would be " left." 
 
 During the last week in August a mad rush was made 
 to Moosehide Creek, about eight miles north of Dawson, 
 where a prospect of seventy-five cents to the pan was re- 
 ported. A number of tenderfeet were fortunate enough to 
 secure good locations, but they forgot, after staking iheir 
 
424 
 
 UNCBRTAINITIES OP PROSPECTING 
 
 t' /> 
 
 \ 
 
 claims, to have them recorded. Their neglect soon became 
 known in Dawson, and another rush took place, resulting in 
 the freezing out of the original tenderfeet. 
 
 The difficulty in determining the richness of any new dis- 
 trict lies in the fact that it is impossible to go to bed-rock in 
 the summer. The banks along the creeks are marshy, and 
 in many places it seems necessary to sink the shaft in the 
 very bed of the creek, so that no prospecting for real values 
 can be done till winter sets in. 
 
 Some idea of the uncertain character of prospecting may 
 be gained from the fact that Victoria Creek, a tributary of 
 the Bonanza, located in the fall of 1896 when the first rush 
 was made, and practically deserted, was again prospected, 
 and in June came reports of big strikes on it. In a short 
 time claims were selling at good figures, but no one seemed 
 to know whether they were as rich as reported. The danger 
 that those who had claims on creeks which did not promise 
 well would organize stampedes so as to sell off their claims to 
 hungry newcomers, of course, always existed. 
 
 As a natural result of all these stampedes and strikes, 
 the office of the gold commissioner was besieged con- 
 tinually by men wishing to file claims. At some of the 
 busiest times men were compelled to keep their places in 
 line for three days before they could get to the commis- 
 sioner's desk. Sometimes the thermometer stood forty 
 below. 
 
 When the people began to pour into Dawson in the 
 spring of 1897 the furtherest claim staked was not more 
 than twenty miles away. But by the end of the year the 
 country was staked for a hundred miles about, and pros- 
 pectors were wandering in the mountains further away 
 than that. The tenderfeet kept on locating dozens of creeks 
 
FRAUDS OF THE STAMPEDERS 
 
 425 
 
 further and further away, till finally we gave up trying to 
 keep track of them, or even to remember their names. The 
 gold commissioner has had a difficult undertaking with so 
 many new men, for there seemed to be a lot who came for 
 the purpose of locating ah the claims they could, and after 
 winter set in again they carried out their purpose, though 
 with many hardships and privations. 
 
 The distance to these new creeks was always great, the 
 weather intensely cold, and the stampeders in nearly 
 every case were forced to break trail through two feet of 
 snow. Under these conditions it was impossible for the 
 gold commissioner to prevent stampeders from staking an 
 unlimited number of claims for friends and acquaintances, 
 who afterwards recorded them in Dawson, after first swear- 
 ing that they personally staked the claims and found gold 
 prospects upon them. On Rosebud Creek, the scene of one 
 of the winter excitements, two men staked twenty claims 
 each. A man was arrested for staking two claims on 
 Hunker Creek, and a jeweler in Dawson forfeited his min- 
 ing rights, together with the titles to four claims, for record- 
 ing a claim that had been staked for him by a stampeder. 
 
 The gold commissioner received information that many 
 stampeders had staked and recorded more than one claim in 
 each district. Under the existing laws, each individual 
 can record but one claim in a district. Owing to the 
 pressure of business at the commissioner's ofiice it was im- 
 possible to thoroughly identify each applicant for a mining 
 claim, and this made frauds possible. 
 
 Early in December there started from Dawson an ex- 
 citing race for a fortune, perhaps the longest and most 
 unique that was ever recorded in the history of any mining 
 camp in the world. Two dog teams hurriedly left Dawson 
 
 -i i 
 
' 
 
 w 
 
 \ 
 
 426 
 
 A RACE FOR A FORTUNE 
 
 and went flying down the river over an unbroken trail of ice 
 to Cyircle ^ity, a distance of over three hundred miles to the 
 rim of the Arctic Circle. 
 
 Fred Trump owned a half interest in claim No. 46 below 
 discovery on Hunker Creek. Like many others, when pro- 
 visions were scarce, he was compelled to leave for Fort 
 Yukon, but he got only as far as Circle City. There was 
 practically no grub to be had, and he was without funds, and 
 repeatedly tried to sell the property for two thousand dollars. 
 Shortly after his departure from Dawson, pay-gravel run- 
 ning five dollars to the pan was struck on the claim in which 
 he was interested. An offer of fifty thousand dollars for 
 the claim Avas declined, and other properties adjoining be- 
 came almost equally valuable. 
 
 Captain Guiger came up from Circle City on December 
 4th and said that Trump was vainly trying to sell his half 
 interest in the claim for two thousand dollars. That night 
 at ten o'clock a well-equipped dog team started out over the 
 ribbon of broken ice to Circle City with orders and gold 
 dust to purchase the claim at any price under twenty-five 
 thousand dollars. At four o'clock the next morning a 
 second team followed in hot pursuit, and Dawson was left 
 to wonder what the result of the race would be. When the 
 ice goes out the world may know. 
 
 It was the opinion of many old miners late in 1897 that 
 in a few years the headquarters of the gold-mining on the 
 upper Yukon would be on the Stewart River. During the 
 latter part of the season many had worked their way up the 
 river and its tributaries, and from time to time came re- 
 ports of wonderfully rich finds. It was, of course, too far 
 away to be verified, and too great a distance for a large 
 stampede, but several small parties left Dawson for the 
 
 I 
 
A NEW FIELD ON THE STEWART 
 
 427 
 
 •ail of ice 
 
 les to the 
 
 46 below 
 i^hen pro- 
 for Fort 
 here was 
 jnds, and 
 d dollars, 
 avel run- 
 in which 
 )llars for 
 ining be- 
 
 )ecembcr 
 I his half 
 nat night 
 
 over the 
 and gold 
 enty-five 
 orning a 
 
 was left 
 V^hen the 
 
 897 that 
 g on the 
 iring the 
 y up the 
 2ame re- 
 , too far 
 a large 
 for the 
 
 river, and as they did not return disgusted, as the stara- 
 peders so often did, the fact was generally regarded as con- 
 clusive that they were finding gold in large quantities. It 
 was calculated that as many as two hundred and fifty were 
 wintering on the streams and its creeks, and there is cer- 
 tainly room there for many thousand. 
 
 Although the bars of the Stewart Rive- had been suc- 
 cessfully worked for ten years, there had been no real pros- 
 pecting done on the many important triba+ur es till last 
 year. Everywhere that the explorers and scattering pros- 
 pectors have gone on the Stewart and its branches gold has 
 been found. On many creeks the prospects were extra 
 good. Several things have conspired to leave this field 
 practically untouched. The question of getting supplies 
 in is a very serious one. At the same time, the few hundred 
 men who have been on the Yukon for several years have 
 found sufiiciently attractive diggings nearer to the older 
 district and closer to the supply bases. The Indians also 
 have a fear of the natives of the headwaters, and cannot be 
 prevailed to go up the river a great distance. From 
 the mouth of Stewart River to Mount Jesus on the north 
 fork the distance is estimated at four hundred and fifty 
 miles, and to the head of this fork in the vicinity of five hun- 
 dred miles in all. The south foil; 'S practically unexplored, 
 only one or two parties having been on it, and then not for 
 a sufiicient distance to determine its character or length. 
 The prospectors and those who have been on the river say 
 that it carries a larger body of water than Pelly River, and 
 is beyond doubt the second largest feeder of the Yukon. 
 
 The first gold discoveries there were made in 1885 on 
 bars within about one hundred miles from the mouth. 
 These were rich. During the fall, in less than fifty days 
 
'wm 
 
 428 
 
 OTHER GOLD-BEARING STREAMS 
 
 time, as high as six thousand dollars to the man was rocked 
 out. In 1886 fully a hundred men were working on the 
 river bars with good success. Some went up the north fork 
 nearly to its head. Each succeeding season the bars have 
 been worked until they failed to pay the high wages. 
 
 The Stewart empties into the Yukon about seventy 
 miles above the mouth of the Klondike. From its mouth to 
 the forks is about two hundred and seventy miles, and the 
 north fork extends some two hundred and fifty miles further 
 on. A trifle over two hundred miles from its mouth the 
 Frazer Falls make an insurmountable to possible steam- 
 boat navigation. They make a fall .rty feet in a dis- 
 tance of one hundred and fifty feet, and are not over 
 seventy-five feet in width. Here a portage of about half a 
 mile must be made. From there on rapids are encountered 
 for about six miles. But these can be poled and lined over 
 without great difficulty. 
 
 Among the tributaries upon which gold has now been 
 found is Rosebud Creek, about forty miles up on the south 
 bank, x^o prospecting has been done to any extent. Lake 
 Creek, about sixty-five miles up, has shown gold on its bars, 
 but no work has been done. McQuesten River is much 
 larger than any of these creeks, and several good bars have 
 been worked on it, some of th«^m paying as high as fifty dol- 
 lars per day with rockers. Some work has been done on the 
 side creeks emptying into the "vIcQuesten. The McQuesten 
 is supposed to head close t(< Beaver River, which is the 
 largest branch of the north fork of the Stewart. Forty 
 miles further up on the south side is Crooked Creek, upon 
 which gold has been found in small quantities, but only sur- 
 face work has been done on it. Mayo Creek comes in on 
 the northern bank about forty miles above Crooked Creek. 
 
 ■ 
 
I 
 
 ALASKA A QUEER COUNTRY 
 
 4-^9 
 
 as rocked 
 g on the 
 orth fork 
 jars have 
 s. 
 
 seventy 
 mouth to 
 , and the 
 !8 further 
 outh the 
 le steam- 
 in a dis- 
 not over 
 ut half a 
 ountered 
 ined over 
 
 low been 
 the soutli 
 t. Lake 
 I its bars, 
 is much 
 )ars liave 
 fifty dol- 
 le on the 
 jQuesten 
 ih is the 
 Forty 
 ek, upon 
 only sur- 
 les in on 
 d Creek. 
 
 About six miles up there is a canon which rxtends for six 
 miles, and through which it is impossible to take a boat. 
 Two boats were carried around it in 1894, and the stream 
 was traversed for about seventy-five miles. More or less 
 gold was found on the bars all along. In the canon coarse 
 gold was found 'a several places. As high as ten cents a 
 pan was found on the surface. 
 
 Much of the Stewart River lies in the same belt as the 
 gold-bearing regions of the Klondike, and that there is gold 
 there cannot be doui)ted. The difficulty is in getting to it. 
 It is necessary to take a full year's outfit to prospect on the 
 upper waters. Owing to the distance prospectors have had 
 to spend the best part of their time in bringing up their out- 
 fits. By the time a man has poled from Forty Mile or 
 Dawson up to the mouth of the river, and from there a hun- 
 dred miles to the McQuesten, the summer season is past, 
 and he must have winter provisions or hurry back. Miners 
 .have not felt that they could afford to do this so long as 
 there were good paying mines near Forty Mile on the Klon- 
 dike, and the recent prospects on the stream come from 
 those who have been led by the wonderful Klondike placers 
 to look more carefully into all this region. To the old 
 miner, acquainted with the general rules of indications of 
 gold, the Stewart would look much more promising than 
 the Klondike, but it is unsafe to apply to Alaska any rules 
 that hold elsewhere in the world. It is a queer country, 
 and when the thousands who have now rushed in have 
 poked around in the hills for a time we shall know a great 
 many new things — that is, if the people who are doing the 
 poking do not die in the attempt. 
 
 These gold fields can be developed but slowly. Ten 
 thousand men can come here and be lost in the great ter- 
 
il 
 
 i 
 
 430 
 
 WEALTH PAST COMPREHENSION 
 
 ritory when they scatter to prospect. A few of them will 
 strike a mine and become rich. When they do strike pay- 
 dirt their fortunes will be made. In years to come, after 
 an awful sacrifice of human life and energy, when the treas- 
 ures of this great land are located, its wealth will be some- 
 thing beyond our present comprehension. 
 
 r 
 
 '§■ 
 
 » 
 
OILiPTER XXXI 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KLONDIKE — CHARACTER- 
 ISTICS OF THE CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE — 
 CANADIAN REGULATIONS-^ THE MAILS THROWN 
 AWAY ON THE TRAIL — A QUESTION OF LIFE OR 
 DEATH. 
 
 Attention Paid the Yukon District by Canadiau Government after 
 Gold Discoveries — Concerned Over Loss of Revenue — Detacli- 
 mcnt of Police Sent In — When the Organization was Formed — 
 Its Principal Features — Officers and Constables — The Yukon 
 Territory — Powers of the Gold Commissioner — His Word Final 
 in All Cases as co Claims — Experience of a Seattle Man — How a 
 Double Sale was Quickly Untangled — Government Rights over 
 the Yukon Region — The Proposed Royalty — Indignation of the 
 Miners — A Meeting and a Protest — Possibilities of Trouble — 
 Uncertainty of the Mails — DilHculties of a Carrier — Mail Matter 
 Taken by Returning Miners and Thrown Away on the Trail — A 
 Matter of Life or Death. 
 
 THE Klondike region, being in the Northwest Ter- 
 ritory, is subject to the laws of Canada, but it was 
 not till after pioneers from the United States began 
 to find gold about tl e boundary line that the Ottawa govern- 
 ment paid much attention to the country. The hardy 
 miners who first prospected up and down the streams, suf- 
 fering great hardships, had secured their sui^plies from trad- 
 ing companies navigating the Yukon, and when, by 1894, 
 it began to appear that considerable gold was being found, 
 and that much merchandise was being taken into the North- 
 
 (481) 
 
432 
 
 MOUNTED POLICE SUPERVISION 
 
 west Territory free of duty, the Ottawa government thought 
 " that the time had arrived to make more efficient provision 
 for tho maintenance of order, the enforcement of the laws, 
 and the administration of justice in the Yukon country, 
 especially in that section of it in which placer-mining for 
 gold is being prosecuted upon such an extensive scale." 
 
 It was evident that the Dominion government viewed 
 with considerable concern the loss of revenue or duty upon 
 the provisions which were taken to the pioneers with so 
 much difficulty and expense. Accordingly, a detachment 
 of twenty members of the mounted police force was detailed 
 for service along the upper Yukon. The officer in com- 
 mand, Inspector Constantino, in addition to the magisterial 
 duties which he was required to perform, was authorized 
 to represent, when necessary, all the departments of the 
 Canadian government having interests in that region. His 
 instructions particularly authorized him to perform the 
 duties of Dominion land agent, collector of customs, and 
 collector of inland revenue. Later, Mr. Thomas Fawoett 
 was appointed gold commissioner, surveyor, and general 
 agent of the ^Minister of the Interior for the district. It 
 was thus, after Americans in the course of their difficult 
 and generally imremunerative prospecting throughout the 
 region had foimd gold, that the Canadian officials awoke 
 to the necessity of sending in the machinery of the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Whatever may have been the motive of the Canadian 
 government in sending in agents to the new district, it must 
 be said to her credit that she has sent good ones, and that 
 the supervision of the mounted police has given the people 
 of the Klondike a sense of security which is not usually en- 
 joyed in new mining camps, t^specially when so far removed 
 
THE MOUNTED POLICE 
 
 433 
 
 and 
 
 from the centers of civilization. Their scarlet uniform is 
 the symbol of law and order in the Northwest. 
 
 The force was organized when Alexander Mackenzie 
 was Premier, -vid was one of Sir John Macdonald's inspira- 
 tions. After his return to power in 1878 it always re- 
 mained under his own eye. The nucleus of the force was 
 got together at Manitoba in 1873. It originally numbered 
 only three hundred, but by its coolness and pluck at critical 
 periods it accomplished much by reducing the Indians and 
 lawless whisky traders to a state of order. The police built 
 posts and protected white settlers, and the surveyors who 
 had already began parcelling out the country and exploring 
 the route of the Canadian Pacific Railwav. In 1877 
 nearly the whole of the little force was concentrated on the 
 southwestern frontier to watch and rlieck the six thousand 
 Sioux who sough fugo in Canada after their defeat and 
 massacre of Custtr :i>l 1iis cninuiand on the Littlf Big 
 Horn. 
 
 It was through the efifoiia of the mounted police that 
 the Sioux were finally induced to surrender peacefully to 
 the United States authorities in 1880 to 1881. After the 
 outbreak of the half-breeds under Loui- Kiel in 1885, the 
 force was increased to one thousand non, their present 
 number. 
 
 Like the Royal Irish Constabulary, on "Inch it was 
 modelled, the mounted police is, in th' of the law, a 
 
 purely civil body. Its officers are magistrates, the men are 
 constables. But so far as circumstances will allow, its or- 
 ganization, internal economy, and drill are those of a cavalry 
 regiment, and when on active service in a military capacity 
 the officers have army rank. The affairs of the force are 
 managed by a distinct department of the Canadian govern- 
 26 
 
 IpBW^^ 
 
 ■ismmr^ 
 
 -mim 
 
EM 
 
 r 
 
 M 
 
 i 
 
 434 
 
 ITS OFFICERS AND RECRUITS 
 
 ment, under the supervision of a cabinet minister. The 
 executive command is held by an officer styled the commis- 
 sioner and ranking as lieutenant-colonel. The assistant 
 commissioner ranks as a major, and, after three years ser- 
 vice, as a lieutenant-colonel. Ten superintendents with 
 captain's rank command the divisions, with about thirty-five 
 inspectors as subalterns who correspond to lieutenants. 
 The medical staflF consists of a surgeon, five assistant sur- 
 geons, and two veterinary surgeons. The non-commis- 
 sioned officers are as in our 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 and 
 forty-five years old, of good character, able to read and to 
 write English or French, active, well built, and of sound 
 constitution. Their physique is very fine, the average of 
 the whole thousand being five feet nine and a half inches in 
 height, and thirty-eight and a half inches around the chest. 
 
 There has always been an unusual proportion of men of 
 good family and of education in the service. Lots of young 
 Englishmen who came out to try their hand at farming in 
 the far west have drifted into the police, as have also Avell- 
 connected Canadians. Waifs and strays from everywhere, 
 and of every calling, are to be found in the ranks. The roll- 
 call would show defaulters if no man answered to any name 
 but his own. There is at least one lord in the force, and 
 many university graduates. As a rule they are men who 
 get along well with the miners. They experience much 
 thie same hardships ia winter, and they like to see fair play, 
 but they are stem in carrying out the law of the land. 
 
 The Yukon Territory, so designated by Canada for the 
 purpose of government, is about one-half as large as Alaska, 
 
0-2 
 
 |3 
 
 §3o 
 
 «§§ 
 
 en 5 
 
 ' a3 
 
 rti crc 
 
 re lA r» 
 
 1 3-2 
 
 <\ d o 
 o » s 
 
 t era- 
 
 2.5:3 
 
 y o 
 
 S3 
 
 O <* 
 10 
 
 o » 
 
 as 
 a- I 
 
In 
 
 I 
 
 ■/ 
 
 !( 
 
 
GOVERNMENT OF THE YUKON TERRITORY 
 
 437 
 
 and extends from British Columbia on the south to the 
 Arctic Ocean on the north, and from the one hundred and 
 sixty-first meridian on the west to the mountains eastward 
 separating the watershed of the Mackenzie from that of the 
 Yukon. The chief official is known as the Commissioner 
 of the Territory, and all the officials, with the exception of 
 the judge of the court, may be suspended by him for cause. 
 The police is under his orders, and he is given ample author- 
 ity to meet any emergency that may arise without waiting 
 to hear from Ottawa. The judge is sent to administer the 
 ordinary laws of the territory. Besides the gold commis- 
 sioner there is a registrar of the land district, a lawyer, 
 whose duties combine the clerkship of the court and the 
 registration of titles, four land surveyors acting under the 
 gold commissioner, and a nuriber of custom officers sta- 
 tioned at various points along ^he line of entry into the 
 district. The mounted police force on the Yukon was but 
 a hundred at first, but has been increased to two hundred 
 and fifty, stationed along the trails and at Yukon centers. 
 
 But a small part of the machinery of government was 
 on hand during the first year of the Klondike excitement. 
 Some of the higher officials did not start until late in 1897, 
 and during the winter were tied up at the mouth o^^ the Big 
 Salmon River, unable to proceed to Dawson. Meanwhile 
 authority was vested in the inspector of police and the gold 
 commissioner. The power of the latter to settle all dis- 
 putes as to claims is absolute. He listens to cases involving 
 ownership to gold claims, and renders his decisions 
 'j<romptly. If there has not been some mistake in reports, 
 his decision is final. And the adjustment ti:it h>> an- 
 nounces becomes the law by which all interested parties 
 must abide. 
 
 I i 
 
 )| 
 
 vf.yiwB WPi iO . - 
 
■ T 
 
 438 
 
 THE WAY A SNARL WAS UNTANGLED 
 
 A single case will illustrate. Michael Kelly, a well- 
 known pioneer, went to the Klondike with his son. Father 
 and son located several claims on different creeks with the 
 understanding that they would share the proceeds equally. 
 The elder Kelly decided to return to Seattle early in 1897, 
 and left his son on the claim last located. At that time the 
 Klondike was not known to be a bed of glittering gold. 
 
 Kelly was anxious to return to the gold fields, but de- 
 sired to raise money in order to leave his family in comfort- 
 able circumstances. He met a man by the name of Craw- 
 ford and proposed to sell him a half interest in his claim for 
 one thousand dollars. Crawford mortgaged his property, 
 disposed of his jewelry, and, by taking some friends in with 
 him, secuied enough money to pay Kelly the one thousand 
 dollars. Crawford went to the Klondike in the spring, and, 
 to his dismay, found that young Kelly, not knowing what 
 his father had done, had sold the Bonanza claim to an Eng- 
 lish syndicate for ten thousand dollars. 
 
 When the elder Kelly learned what had taken place, he 
 said that Crawford had made his purchase in good fai^^h and 
 that his rights must be protected. The affair was referred 
 to the gold commissioner, who decided that Crawford and 
 his associates were to have half of the claim, but that they 
 must pay to the English syndicate one thousand five hun- 
 dred dollars out of the first clean-up, while the Kellys 
 should return to the English syndicate five thousand dol- 
 lars, or half the original purchase price. 
 
 This decision was accepted by all parties without a 
 murmur, and a tangle was settled in a day that in the 
 United States would have been a source of endless litigation. 
 Miners said that Crawford's claim was worth between one 
 hundred thousand and three hundred thousand dollars. 
 
A ROYALTY PROPOSED 
 
 439 
 
 It should be understood that all the territory in these re- 
 gions constitute what are known as crown lands, the govern- 
 ment having the right to reserve it ail from pre-emption for 
 any purpose. The reservation of gold-bearing lands is 
 simply a partial exercise of the right of the crown to ex- 
 clusive domain, and the British government has always 
 claimed that gold and silver were royal metals, and has 
 claimed the right to draw royalty from such metals. As 
 soon, therefore, as the government heard of the rich dis- 
 coveries on the Klondike, steps were taken to reduce the 
 length of the claims to one hundred feet, and to exact a 
 heavy royalty. At first it was proposed to make this royalty 
 twenty per cent, and to reserve every alternate claim for the 
 government to dispose of in any way it saw fit. It would 
 have the right to work them for the crown if it chose, and 
 the government would be in a position thus to draw rich 
 revenue as a result of the long searches and many hardships 
 of the pioneers of the country. 
 
 When the intention of the Dominion government be- 
 came known in Dawson, there was great indignation among 
 the miners, Canadians as well as Americans. A meeting 
 was held on the street, and it was evident that any attempt 
 to enforce such a law would either amount to nothing or 
 else the development of the mines would stop. 
 
 " What inducement is there for us," said one mmer, 
 " to endure all the hardships and expense of mining in this 
 country, if, after we have found gold, the government steps 
 up and takes a fifth of what we dig, and, above that, takes 
 one-half of the claims? Many of us have been enduring 
 hardships here for years, and until now have scarcely made 
 more than enough to provide ourselves with provisions. 
 Now, when we have found something worth developing in 
 
n 
 
 440 
 
 FORCEFUL WORDS 
 
 :/ 
 
 
 this frozen region, Canada talks of keeping the best half for 
 herself while we do the work. I guess not." 
 
 The Canadian officials on the spot seemed to sympathize 
 with the sentiments of the miners, but they said they should 
 strictly enforce whatever became the law. A protest was 
 drawn up and a committee appointed to proceed to Ottawa 
 and present the case of the miners. In their protest, which 
 was a long document worded with skill and force, they 
 claimed that the value of the placers had been exaggerated, 
 and many claims would not be profitable if such a tax were 
 imposed, the rate of wages and the cost of provisions being 
 so necessarily high. 
 
 " This," they said, " is a land of tremendous solitudes 
 and marvelous wildness. It appears to be a land of im- 
 mense promise to the prospector, but the appearance may 
 be deceptive. It is outside the range of language to picture 
 the trials that encompass the explorer who goes forth here 
 with pick, shovel, and gold-pan to search for gold. Only 
 strong men are equal to the task, and only men of great 
 courage and perseverance can press far. If the government 
 place a heavy hand on the prospectors, already almost fren- 
 zied with toil and privation, prospecting in this district will 
 be abandoned by the majority, and prospectors will turn 
 toward other gold fields. This is not a threat; it is a con- 
 dition." 
 
 It was pointed out that if the government reserved every 
 alternate claim of one hundred feet it would be impossible 
 to co-operate along the creeks for building dams for sluicing 
 without trespassing on government claims, and if the 
 government should sell its claims it would simply mean that 
 the old miners who had found the mines and suffered all 
 manner of privations would be crowded out by capital, 
 
EXPENSIVE RESTRICTIONS 
 
 441 
 
 which would reap the profit without having been forced to 
 undergo the hardshii>H. 
 
 liut the temptation to reap a large revenue was too great 
 for the Ottawa government. Besides, it was a source of no 
 little chagrin to many Canadians to see the gold worked out 
 of British soil by Americana to be carried down the coast 
 and into tlie mints of the United States instead of those of 
 Canada. This was natural. Doubtless the people of the 
 United States would have felt in much the same way had 
 the conditions been reversed, although no restrictions what- 
 ever had ever been placed on Canadians mining on Birch 
 Creek and in other portions of Alaska. The Canadian 
 government did not wish to impose so heavy a tax as to put 
 an end to the development of the country, but it evidently 
 intended to impose all that seemed possible of endurance. 
 So during the early part of 1898 the laws were modified to 
 some extent. The length of claims to be thereafter al- 
 lowed was ' o be two hundred and fifty feet, a royalty of ten 
 per cent, s lould be levied and collected on the gross output 
 of each claim, and every alternate ten claims should be re- 
 served for the Canadian government. These are the main 
 features of the restrictions which the government propose 
 to begin enforcing Avith the spring of 1898. How success- 
 ful it will be remains to be seen. 
 
 It will be observed that these regulations add greatly to 
 the expense of mining on Canadian territory. In the first 
 place, in order to prospect at all, a man must secure a free 
 miner's certificate, Avhich costs him ten dollars a year, and 
 if for any reason he fails to renew it promptly he shall for- 
 feit all rights to whatever claims he has. When he stakes 
 off a claim of two hundred and fifty feet along a creek he 
 must at once have it recorded, and that costs him fifteen flol- 
 
J. I! 
 
 / 
 
 H 
 
 1 
 
 'I 
 
 442 
 
 THE NATURAL RESULT 
 
 lars. To work it during the winter he must pay something 
 like a thousand dollars for provisions by the time they have 
 reached the camp. His fuel will cost him at least five hun- 
 dred dollars, and timber and appliances for sluicing as much 
 more. To work his claim successfully he must pii} at least 
 ten dollars a day for all help. If he hires two men his ex- 
 penses under this head are not likely to be less than four 
 thousand dollars. Supposing in the spring he is so for- 
 tunate as to clean up ten thousand dollars. The Canadian 
 government takes a thousand of it, and his expenses have 
 used up at least six thousand. He might, therefore, be so 
 fortunate as to save three thousand for himself, a suhi which 
 would not much more than provide for his nectosi ics for 
 another year. It is evident, therefore, that placers must 
 be very rich, and must be w^orked on a large and economical 
 scale to meet such restrictions and expenditures. 
 
 The natural result will be to stimulate the search for 
 gold placers on American soil, and if any at all comparable 
 with those in the Klondike are found, the Klondike will 
 be deserted in a twinkling, by Canadians as well as Ameri- 
 cans. If paying mines are not found elsewhere, and the 
 Klondike region continues to disclose new riches, the re- 
 strictions which Canada has imposed may lead to difficul- 
 ties. Of one thing we may be sure ; the laws, whatever they 
 are, will be enforced. If a royalty is demanded it will have 
 to be paid, and whatever customs duties are levied upon sup- 
 plies brought into the country will have to be paid. The 
 police will see that the law is carried out, even though they 
 consider it unjust. 
 
 One might think that a handful of police could do very 
 little with the thousands of miners who within a year will 
 be scattered all through the hills about Dawson, and that 
 
UNCERTAINTIES OP THE MAIL SERVICE 
 
 443 
 
 be so 
 
 if these people took it into their heads to regulate mining 
 there to suit themselves, Canada could do little to prevent it. 
 But while there may be dangers in such a possibility, they 
 are not great. The country is of such a nature that a few 
 police can hold all the points at which gold must pass in 
 going out of the country. But what is of more importance, 
 the people who are there recognize the advantages of police 
 protection in maintaining their rights against each other. 
 
 If any one is .looking for a strong illustration of the un- 
 certainties of existence in this world, he can find nothing 
 better than the mail service on the Yukon. Some realiza- 
 tion of its efficiency can be derived from the fact that gold 
 was discovered on the Klondike creeks in August, 1896, and 
 that it was not till the middle of July, 1897, that the world 
 knew about it. It did not learn of it then through the mails, 
 but because a dozen or more men who had meanwhile be- 
 come millionaires, or something approaching millionaires, 
 walked off a ship just in from St. Michael with several hun- 
 dred pounds of gold dust. Yet there was supposed to have 
 been a mail service. 
 
 In 1896 the United States made a contract for carrying 
 the mails between Juneau and Circle City, and in writing 
 to the postmaster-general in the fall of that year concerning 
 his first round trip, one contractor said that he had started 
 from Juneau on June 10th. He took along lumber for 
 building a boat, but after the Indians had packed it to the 
 foot of the summit and taken nearly seventy dollars for it, 
 they refused to carry it further, and so he had to leave it 
 there and build a raft at Lake Lindeman. Reaching Lake 
 Bennett, he built a boat, and finally reached Circle City. 
 But he found he could not undoi-take to pole up the river 
 alone on a return trip, and so he came out by the way of St. 
 
444r 
 
 LETTERS SACBIPICED IN AN EMERGENCY 
 
 At 
 
 / ' • 
 
 Micliael, It cost something like six hundred dollars to 
 make the trip, and some of the contractors threw up their 
 contracts. 
 
 When Dawson was established there was no way to re- 
 ceive or send mail except by those who happened to be 
 going in or out. Whoever wished to send a letter would 
 pay from one to two dollars to one starting out over the 
 passes, but who gave no guarantee that the letters would 
 be deli\'ered or mailed in the United States. Indeed, it was 
 always understood that if emergency came, the letters would 
 ha\'e to be thrown away. Any one who goes over the trail 
 will find in many places bits of paper, evidently the frag- 
 ments of letters which had been sent out in the hands of some 
 one who could carry them no further, and so tore them up. 
 
 Of course, there are many miners around Dawson who 
 never expect to hear from home, and these men will never 
 know whether their friends or relatives ever received letters 
 sent them. Tlie missives are started in good faith, and the 
 man going out agrees to pur them in the post-office, bat 
 when he is struggling on the trail nearly dead from ex- 
 posure and fatigue, hurt by accident, or anything like that, 
 the situation resolves itself into a question of life or death 
 for many a traveler. In an emergency he goes into his 
 pack and throws away everything he can possibly throw 
 away — probably leaving nothing bixt a few provisions and 
 his outfit, (loing over the passes and lakes, with their at- 
 tendant perils find difficulties, is too much for eighty out t.f 
 one hundred. They simply give up. It is a crucial test of 
 strength and grit. The fe> that pull through know what 
 it means. 
 
 Couriers have left Dawson with great packages of 
 letters, fully intending to carry them through. On the 
 
 
A DANGEROUS POSITION 
 
 445 
 
 fice, but 
 
 way they ga\ e it up in despair, and so, to prevent the letters 
 being fou.. J and read, they are torn up or burned. 
 
 The oxperience of two partners who started to make the 
 trip out shows clearly why a little mail matter may be a 
 serious addition to the burden. They had dogs and sleds. 
 One of the men fell into a crack in the ice, and went in over 
 his head. By a miracle his head came up at the right place, 
 and his partner pulled him out of a very dangerous position. 
 By the time he wan on the ice again his clothes were frozen 
 stiff and he was nearly done for. As the sled had remained 
 on the ice, his partner quickly lighted a fire in the stove — 
 materials for a fire always being " laid " beforehand — 
 and cut and tore off the wet garments on the spot. The fel- 
 low was nearly stripped in an air where the thermometer 
 registered about twenty-five degrees below zero. Part of 
 their outfit was lost. If the stove had gone in, it would 
 have been a serious matter. After that they lightened 
 their packs. 
 
 The destruction of letters was not unusual. In fact, 
 that possibility was understood by all parties. The guides 
 who agreed to try to carry a package of letters accepted 
 the money for the service, but said that if it came to a pinch 
 they would throw them away. On this basis of chance did 
 the Yukoners conduct their correspondence with the outside 
 world. Recently the mounted police have undertnkcn to 
 forward the mails fn»m station to station along the trail 
 between the coast and Dawson. 
 
'' I 
 
 l 
 
 il^ 
 
 :i 
 
 if 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 THE SUDDEN RISE AND MAGICAL EXPANSION OP SKAG- 
 WAY — CIJKIOUS SIGNS FOR THRIVING ENTER. 
 PRISEB — THE DEBATING SOCIETY IN MRS. 
 MALONEY'S BOARDING TENT — 0?TE HUNDRED 
 DAYS' GROWTH. 
 
 Seeking an Easier Pass than the Chilkoot — Why Gold-Seekers Began 
 to Stop at Skagway — A ^'oaceful Scene in July — The Original 
 Promoters Quickly Overwhelmed — A Thousand Tents and a 
 Thousand Pack Aninin.ls — Organizing the Town — Marvelous 
 Real Estate Business — How a Hotel Keeper Announced His 
 Facilities — A More Modest Anr uncement — "Any Old Thing 
 Bought and Sold " — Tons of Pro\ isions Scattered on the Beach — . 
 Saloons and Dance Hails — An Opening Night — The Symbol of 
 Law and Order — Herds of Gambling Men — " An Easy Graft " — 
 Greenliorns at Packing — Runaway Animals — Many Ludicroui 
 Scenes — The Serious Side — A Clergyman's Observations — Tha 
 Part the Women Played — Widow Maloney's Debating Society — . 
 Respect for the Chair — Debating the Merits of Armies of tha 
 World — Some Race Feeling ~ Mrs. Maloney Does Not Permit 
 Abuse of " Ou)d Ireland" — A Hundred Days of Growth — 
 " Biggest " Town in Alaska. 
 
 PEKIIAPS no feature of the rush for the Klondike in 
 1897 is more significant of the conditions affecting 
 travel in these northern lands than the stories of the 
 efforts to enter by the Skagway trail, as told by the few who 
 managed to work their way through and reach Dawson 
 early in the winter. It is an instructive chapter, not simply 
 in the story of the Klondike, but in the annals of human 
 nature. It is doubtful if there is anything in history to 
 compare with the sudden rise of the city of Skagway, and 
 
 (446) 
 
 
A CITY OP MUSHROOM GROWTH 
 
 U7 
 
 the trials of the thousands of people who endeavored to 
 make their way from it over the White Pass to the head- 
 waters of the Yukon. 
 
 Parties from the Pacific coast had for some time been 
 seeking an easier way to pass into the Northwest Terri- 
 tory than that afforded by the Chilkoot heights, and one 
 Captain William Moore, who had been a pioneer in that 
 region, and had acquired much experience in steamboating, 
 persuaded these parties to take hold of the White Pass. 
 Moore's son had meanwhile located a himdrod and sixty 
 acres where the Skagway harbor would necessarily be, and 
 work was begun to put the pass in shape. 
 
 The company proceeded to build a sawmill and a wharf, 
 and was intending to open a trail when the first news of 
 the richness of the Klondike awakened the people of the 
 west coast. One day, when one of the earlier steamers 
 heavily laden with the first of the gold-seekers was steaming 
 up Taiya Inlet, the captain of the steamer remarked: '' I 
 understand that there is a good trail over the mountains 
 here, and a better pass than the Chilkoot. It is easier to 
 land cargoes, too. Suppose I put yoa all ashore here." 
 
 The gold-seekers consulted, and the result was that they 
 were put ashore. This was on the 26th of Tuly, and at that 
 time Skagway presented as peaceful a scene as any one could 
 wish. There was one log building and a tent. In less than 
 a month, and long before the forerunners had made their 
 Avay over the pass, Skagway was a place of two thousand 
 people, while twice as many more were scattered along on 
 the trail. It had become a place of a thousand tents and 
 buildings, mostly the former, and a thousand pack animals, 
 oaloons and dance halls had sprung up like magic buildings, 
 and were in full blast, and many of those who had arrived 
 
 "T^ 
 
^ H 
 
 448 
 
 A TOWN MEETING 
 
 1 
 
 P 
 
 )n 
 
 with the intention of going over quickly settled down, either 
 in despair of getting over at all, or simply to fleece those who 
 bravely persisted and those who were constantly arriving. 
 
 The sudden inpouring of people completely over- 
 whelmed the original promoters of the ente."prise ; they had 
 been dreaming of rich repxiits from the monopoly control 
 of this trail after being put in shape, but they soon found 
 that they had nothing to say, not even concerning the site 
 of the town and harbor to which they supposed they were 
 entitled. 
 
 On August 12 th the people held a meeting and organ- 
 ized a town government by electing A. J. McKinney mayor, 
 and a committee was chosen to lay out the town in regular 
 form with streets sixty feet wide and lots fifty by one hun- 
 dred feet. A law was passed forbidding any man to hold 
 more than one lot, and he must do fifty dollars' worth of 
 work on it within thirty days. Within a few days real 
 estate business was flourishing; lots were being transferred 
 for from one hundred dollars to two hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars for such rights as the squatter had. Lots in what ap- 
 peared to be the business portion were held at high figures, 
 and few were sold, while more squatters settled back in the 
 woods, and even down on the tide flats, in ignorance of the 
 tides that sometimes run up. Some of the business enter- 
 prises which sprung up in those few days were indeed pic- 
 turesque. There were restaurants in tents, of course, but 
 some of the signs were very pretentious. 
 
 A Seattle man, who started for the gold fields in August, 
 and who was, like so many othei-s, caught at Skagway, de- 
 voted his energies to running an improvised hotel, the an- 
 nouncement of which was conspicuously posted as follows on 
 the " outer gai^s " : 
 
SIGNS PRETENTIOUS AND UNPRETENTIOUS 
 
 449 
 
 organ- 
 
 Holley House, HoUeywood. 
 
 Skagway, Alaska. 
 
 Hotel and cottages, The Most Delightful Health Resort on the 
 Coast of North America. 
 
 Cusine and .Accommodations First-Class. 
 
 Six Cottages in Connection With the Hotel. 
 
 Barber, Billiards, Bath, Private Supper Booms, Music in the palm 
 garden adjoining the dining room. 
 
 Charges from $2 up according to the location of the rooms. 
 
 Meals a la carte. Private Suites. Extra charges for meals served 
 in rooms. 
 
 Note — Anybody kicKing about looking-glasses or pillows will be 
 " trun." 
 
 Some were more modest, however, as, for instance, one 
 
 man who had pitched his tent in a rough spot in the midst of 
 
 trees. On a line stretched from his tent to one of the trees 
 
 hung a pair of old light-colored trousers, and painted on them 
 
 in large letters was the word : 
 
 " MEALS." 
 
 On a large sign on the outside of one tent was a legend 
 announcing to the passers-by that they could there buy or 
 sell " boats, horses, provisions, outfits, or any old thing." 
 Horse-shoeing was a great industry, and there were too few 
 who understood it. In one shop four men were kept busy, 
 so busy that they had no time to straighten up their aching 
 backs. But they received large prices, five dollars for put- 
 ting on an old shoe. All prices for services were " up in the 
 air." Men charged two dollars and fifty cents for swim- 
 ming a horse ashore, two dollars for landing a boat, four 
 dollars a ton for lightering freight. Camping sites were 
 ruling at ten dollars a week. 
 
 In less than two months more than one thousand one 
 hundred locations were being made, and the town of tents 
 began to give way to the town of frame houses. The trail 
 
 1 
 
450 
 
 A SIGNIFICANT SYMBOL 
 
 i* I i 
 
 was not open, and not even the correct distance was known, 
 before the eager throng was crowding with horses, goats, 
 oxen, and mnles hitched to carts, wagons, and drags, and 
 carrying pack saddles loaded with flour, bacon, beans, dried 
 apples, and hay. Already the saloons and dance halls were 
 np and ready for pati'ons. Tons of stuff were scattered over 
 the beach, and shiploads strung along the trail. Lumber 
 was in great demand, and lots selling as high as one thousand 
 five hundred dollars. 
 
 The first dance hall was opened a few hours after the ar- 
 rival of one of the steamers laden with people bound for 
 Klondike, about the middle of August. A Juneau man 
 had put a piano aboard, and, having secured quarters, he 
 had a great opening, taking in o.ie hundred and thirty-four 
 dollars the first hour from drinks alone. On the outside of 
 the dance house was a tree to which was hung several sig- 
 nificant notices, and from one of the limbs dangled a one- 
 inch rope with a noose, put there as a warning or symbol of 
 law and order by the Vigilance Committee, and it was quite 
 effective against high crime. Three of the notices read : 
 
 " Free Dance To-night." 
 
 " Packers Wanted on the Trail. Apply to Mack & 
 Company." 
 
 " Saddle Horses Wanted — ISTo Cheap Hatracks." 
 
 Of course herds of gambling men hurried from the 
 Pacific coast to set up at Skagway, and, for a time, every 
 kind of a game was running in the most open manner. As 
 one of them expressed it, it was the " easiest graft " on 
 earth. But as the place gi-ew the citizens regulated these 
 enterprises and order was fairly well maintained. 
 
 " SkagAvay," said one man, " reminded me a good deal 
 of a circus town, there were so many tenta. It looked a 
 
I'as known, 
 •ses, goats, 
 drags, and 
 cans, dried 
 halls were 
 ttered over 
 Lumber 
 e thousand 
 
 fter the ar- 
 bound for 
 neau man 
 larters, he 
 thirty-four 
 outside of 
 everal sig- 
 ^led a one- 
 symbol of 
 t was quite 
 es read : 
 
 ) Mack & 
 
 3ks." 
 
 from the 
 me, every 
 nner. As 
 [iraft " on 
 ated these 
 
 good deal 
 ; looked a 
 
 p) 
 
 > 
 
 E. H 
 
 to 
 
 ' > 
 
 Vi ^* 
 
 5 "^ 
 
 S' 
 
 •V 
 
 2 
 S 
 
 o 
 
 P3 
 > 
 
 o 
 
 3 
 
 n 
 
 3 
 
 •s 
 
 -9 
 PC 
 
 M: 
 
 ,,!«B«»-««^w?qa!.- JsanMIPMnpp^'' 
 
! 
 I 
 
 ■1 
 
 t 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 - 
 
 ■I 
 
 ■'flPrl 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 
 
 flf'l 
 
 
 ^^^B*!' ' 'iBjV 
 
 
 Jl)pi 
 
 ) 
 
 it..:vi,r.i3iii 
 
NEW TROUBLES AND ANNOYANCES 
 
 453 
 
 good deal as Cheyenne did in the early days. Eating 
 booths were scattered all about. The saloons were made of 
 boards loosely thrown together. You could almost throw a 
 cat through the cracks. There are some very curious and 
 interesting signs painted on boards and stuck up outside the 
 tents to announce the business of the occupants. One that 
 particularly attracted ray attention read: ' Hot bread and 
 stamps for sale.' 
 
 " On arriving, people made reconnoitering trijw over a 
 portion of the pass, returning full of exuberance at the easy 
 time they would have in getting over. They were right in 
 this at that time, but they reckoned without their host. 
 They did not know of the trouble in store for them in get^ 
 ting their stores and belongings off the boat. It took nearly 
 a we6k to get things sorted, and then there was the greatest 
 jumbled-up mess one ever looked at. Many of the goods 
 were damaged much by water. It would have taken a 
 Philadelphia lawyer to straighten things. When the in- 
 dividual outfits were finally distributed, new troubles hap- 
 pened, caused chiefly by the inexperience of the people 
 themselves. Men attempted to pack horses who had never 
 before in their lives seen a pack ; the horses were new to the 
 business, and more than once I have witnessed sights that 
 convulsed me with laughter, and at the same time caused a 
 feeling of sadness for the poor chaps whose troubles would 
 almost drive them to desperation. A. greenhorn (we were 
 nearly all greenhorns) would pack his horse down with 
 flour, beans, and other things too numerous to mention, 
 and tie them on any way, when all of a sudden there 
 ^vould be a kick, a buck, and the next instant a maddened 
 horse would be running over tents and through the little 
 27 
 
 SPflsSWS^sf^?*,. 
 
454 
 
 AN ENERGETIC YOUNG WOMAN 
 
 i» 1 
 
 city, scattering beans and flour in all directions. Some- 
 times it would take a whole day to capture the horse. It 
 was such things as these that caused niftny a fellow to sell 
 his outfit for anything he could get and return to civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
 " This, though, was the ludicrous side, many things 
 occurring on the trail, when the mud in the meadows was 
 knee-deep, that would drive the stoutest-hearted man to 
 despair." 
 
 A clergyman who came in over the trail said that 
 when the history of the present excitement should be writ- 
 ten up, woman's part in it would form a chapter of special 
 interest. " Along the Skagway trail," he said, " I was at- 
 tracted by the sound of an axe in the wood, and, going in its 
 direction, I found there, all alone, a slim woman about 
 twenty years old, felling trees and building a cabin. I took 
 a snap-shot picture of her before she knew of n;}' presence. 
 She told me that she and her husband started for the Klon- 
 dike, but, not being able to proceed, her husband opened a 
 saloon till spring, and wished her to serve in it. This she 
 positively refused to do, but, being willing to take her part 
 in the struggle, she determined to build a log cabin and 
 sell it when the rush was on. I gave her a lift with a few 
 logs she had ready for the wall, and left, feeling that she was 
 a noble woman and a true wife. 
 
 " There were hundreds of idle men, grudging every day 
 the food they ate, and impatient to reach the diggings. 
 Many of them were quarrelsome and given terribly to pro- 
 fanity. Therefore, I suggested that we might get together 
 and form a debating society. It would at least take our 
 minds off our monotonous surroundings and help pass away 
 the idle hours. This was agreed to, and Widow Maloney's 
 
 ij 
 
 
THE SKAGWAY DEBATING CLUB 
 
 485 
 
 l>ii«. Some- 
 horse. It 
 'How to sell 
 to civiliza- 
 
 any tilings 
 eadows was 
 ed man to 
 
 I said that 
 lid be writ- 
 r of special 
 '' I was at- 
 ?oing in its 
 man about 
 in. I took 
 r presence. 
 • the Klon- 
 d opened a 
 This she 
 ^e her part 
 cabin and 
 vith a few 
 at she was 
 
 every day 
 diggings. 
 
 'ij to pro- 
 
 t together 
 take our 
 
 pass away 
 
 baloney's 
 
 n 
 
 restaurant was selected, being the largest tent in the camps. 
 The time for discussion uiis to be anywlicre from 4 to 10 
 P. M. The chairman was to take his seat when the bDardcrs 
 got through supper, abi iit an hour after sundown, and j)rc- 
 serve order as the disputants came and went at pleasure. 
 The audience, too, was free to come and go as the spirit 
 moved, and no objections were to be raised by tiie chairman 
 if in the heat of passion any one went a-scattering lead from 
 his revolver, for it was conceded by all that the only two 
 governments which in any event could interfere were those 
 of the United States and ( "anada, and as these bodies them- 
 selves did nut know which 1 1 jurisdiction over Lindeman, 
 it was evident that moral sua.si<jn alone could be appealed to. 
 The (juestion then came up, AVho had enough of this com- 
 modity on hand to preside over the turbulent crowd? Sev- 
 eral were suggested, but they were objectionable, because 
 on the least provocation they might open a blazing battery 
 from the seat of authority. Finally, I was made supreme 
 spokesman in Mrs. Maloney's restaurant, presumably be- 
 cause of a meek and lowly appearance. On taking my seat, 
 however, at the first meeting, I presented a rope, and, hold- 
 ing it before the astonished audience, assured them that 
 while I might be living in a place without political rule, I 
 would hang by the neck, on the pine tree outside, every 
 mother's son of them who did not respect the chair. This 
 had a soothing eifect, and the lion, the lamb, the kid, and 
 the calf huddled together for a while in sweetest harmony. 
 
 " One evening the subject of debate was, 'Is Prosperity 
 Coming or Going in the United States? ' The discussion 
 at times was very animated, as all the political parties of the 
 country were represented, and each claimed that his, and his 
 alone, could give the people the horn of plenty. The cut- 
 
 s^sw^w^^ 
 
456 
 
 A WAR CLOUD THREATENS 
 
 \ M 
 
 'il 
 
 down in the New England factories was freely talked over, 
 and it was generally agreed that cotton operatives in the 
 States are only befooled by the politicians when they 
 promise them anything. Their only hope lies in them- 
 selves. When they agree, North and South, to work only 
 for living wages and unifonn hours of labor, they may think 
 as little of politics as they do in other countries. Not 
 pauper labor in Europe, nor political parties in America, arc 
 at the root of the present troubles. 
 
 " Another evening was given up to the discussion of the 
 merits and demerits of the several armies of the world. 
 This was the liveliest night of all. Men from all nations 
 were present, and, of course, each reckoned his own best and 
 bravest. The Englishmen thought there was nothing on 
 earth that could stand up before the redcoats, and the Irish- 
 men present declared that that was so because there were 
 no Saxons inside. The Celtic race alone made the British 
 army respected. An Englishman pertinently asked ' If 
 Irishmen were such fools as to fight for the greatness 
 and glory of old England?' 'They have to, or starve,' 
 cried a dozen voices. Paddy Sheehan, however, got into 
 hot water when he attempted to prove that it was the 
 Irish that fought and conquered in the late War of the Ke- 
 bellion. 
 
 " A Rhode Islander present was so cruel as to charge 
 against poor Paddy's race in reply, that the only time it dis- 
 tinguished itself was at the first battle of Bull Run, whfn 
 they made the quickest time on record to the other side of 
 the Potomac. This led to pulling of revolvers, and for a 
 time there was a threatening war-cloud over the head- 
 waters of the Yukon. It capped the climax, however, when 
 a Canadian boastingly declared that there was a fragrant 
 
II Iked over, 
 v('8 in the 
 vlicn they 
 
 i in tliem- 
 work only 
 may think 
 
 rics. Not 
 
 inerica, are 
 
 sion of the 
 the world, 
 all nations 
 :n best and 
 lothing on 
 1 the Irish- 
 there were 
 he British 
 asked ' If 
 greatness 
 or starve,' 
 p, got into 
 t was the 
 of the Re- 
 
 to charge 
 ime it dis- 
 lun, when 
 ler side of 
 and for a 
 the head- 
 ver, when 
 I fragrant 
 
 AN IRISHWOMAN IN THE MOON 
 
 467 
 
 smell to the English rose and a piercing sting to the Scotch 
 thistle; but nothing but a buttertly would either love or fear 
 the shamrock. 
 
 " Up to this point Widow Malonev took no part in the 
 discussion; but to sit still and hear a ' iiatheii furn'r ' 
 speak disparagingly of the emblem of her dear land was 
 more than she could stand, and, taking up a stick that lay by 
 the stove, she made for him, shouting, * An' is it ould Ire- 
 land ye're abusin', ye blackguard? ' 
 
 ** To pull his gun on a woman would have been sure 
 death to the Canadian, and he knew it. lie also knew that 
 to stand up or sit down was dangerous, and therefore he put 
 himself outside of Widow Maloney's tent quicker than I 
 can tell. Everyone who had said anything slightingly of 
 the Irish race, or of Ireland, was now profuse in his apologies 
 to Mrs. Mali .icy. But Jack Rogers, from Chicago, went 
 beyond all others in exalting Ireland, in that he declaved 
 there was a woman in the moon, and that he believed her 
 to be an Irish maiden, for she had a shamrock on her breast. 
 The idea of a woman being seen in the moon was such a 
 novelty that the meeting adjourned to see her. Every one 
 who witnessed the new and strange sight that night will 
 never forget it, and, as for Mrs. Maloney, her anger was 
 charmed away by the thought that perhaps in the moon 
 there were Irish maidens who bore the shamrock, and her 
 wounded feelings Avere healed by the assurance of all present 
 that the woman in the moon was not either Canadian or 
 British, and most likely was a daughter of one of the kings 
 who reigned of old in Tara's halls." 
 
 It will be difficult for people of staid eastern towns of 
 slow growth, or no growth at all, to realize the extent of 
 the mushroom expansion of Skagway. As I have «ald, in 
 
 wgfmmmmim<f^^ 
 
458 
 
 A HUNDRED DAYS QPOWTH 
 
 i 
 
 the last wnek in July, it was a qiiiet nook in the dreary hills 
 with a log nut and a tent near the flat beach. 
 
 In one Imndred days there was a substantial town of five 
 hundred frame and one hundred log buildings, besides tcnta 
 scattered all through the woods. Many of the buildings 
 were of two stories and some of them of three. Among the 
 enterprises which were flourishing werf>: 
 
 A wide-awake six-page weekly newspaper — the tikag- 
 waif Neirs. 
 
 A church and schoolhouse combined, seating capacity 
 three hundred persons, bnllt by contributions from all de- 
 nominations. 
 
 A private pogt-office. 
 
 Three wharves for heavy-draft vessels, costing twenty 
 th-ousand dollars each. 
 
 An electric light system was being introduced, and a 
 city water system, consisting of a simple board flume, 
 brouirht an ample supply of good water from a lake on the 
 mountain side. 
 
 A jail was biiilt, and sundry United States government 
 oflieials, including a United States commissioner, with a 
 number of doctors, lawyers, etc., were among the citizens. 
 
 Skagway could accommodate one thousand eight hun- 
 dred people at the hotels and lodging-houses. A three- 
 story hotel, fifty by one hundred feet, was in course of con- 
 struction, capable of accommodating four hundred people. 
 
 In three monthr^ it had become the " biggest " town in 
 Alaska. 
 
Ircary liills 
 
 s 
 
 own of five 
 
 sides tents 
 
 buiklings 
 
 Vinong the 
 
 the Ifikag- 
 
 g capacity 
 orn all de- 
 
 iig twenty 
 
 !ed, and a 
 rd flume, 
 ike on the 
 
 )vemment 
 
 'r, with a 
 
 iitizens. 
 
 ight hun- 
 A three- 
 
 se of con- 
 people. 
 
 ' town in 
 
 CIIAPTEK XXXIII 
 
 DIFFICULTIES AND HORRORS OF THE SKAGWAY TRAIL 
 — PRECIPICES OVER WHICH HORSES TUMBLED — 
 A LIFE FOR A SACK OF FLOUR AND A LITTLE 
 BACON. 
 
 An Impassable Trail — The Blockade — Stories Brnuixht to Dawson — 
 Principal Features of tlie White Pass Route — Slippery Places for 
 Horses — Over Precipices into the River — Porcupine Hill — 
 Where Most of the Horses Were Lost — The Sigl-tof a Life Time — 
 Death on Summit Lake — Efforts to Oj)en the Trail - All Kinds 
 of Pack Animals — Scarcity of F'xlder — Selling Hay and Throw- 
 ing in tlie Horses — The Big Marsii — Floundering in the MikI — 
 Tliieving on the Trail — Looking for Pierre, tlie Frenchman — 
 Discovered with Stolen Gwxls — Appealing to Hearts of Stone — 
 Six Shots Sounding as One — The Limp Form of a Thiif Hanging 
 by the Wayside — A Heap of Stones Cast on the Body — Chances 
 to Make Money on the Trail. 
 
 TIIK ininiediate cause for the rise of Skniiway was the 
 :il>])arently reasonable assertion that the White Pass 
 was much easier to go over than the Chilkoot Pass, 
 the latter being about a thousand feet higher than tlie 
 former. But the secondary and main cause for the growth 
 of Skagway was the fact that, from the first, the White Pass 
 route was well-nigh impassable. In the first place, the 
 people had rushed in before the trail was ready. Several 
 thousand people set out to take X^ature as they found her in 
 Alaska, and then discovered that she was utterly unmanage- 
 able. The pass might have afforded a comfortable route for 
 
 (459) 
 
400 
 
 A GRIM JOKE 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
 .p ' 
 
 1 
 
 
 m 
 
 the few who were acquainted with the conditions of trails, 
 and familiar with the requirenienis of packing, but when 
 several thousand people endeavored to pass over in midsum- 
 mer, with all sorts of rigs, with horses, mules, and oxen, they 
 found it an impossibility. The result was a blockade. 
 Only a snuUI number of those who started reached even the 
 summit of White Pass. The great majority simply settled 
 back, and made Skagway a booming town for no better 
 reason than that its inhabitant.s could not g^ '*■ of it. I do 
 not believe that history can show a grimirioi u tce than that 
 town. It had not the slightest reason for existence in that 
 desolate region, except as a gat^nvay to an entrance which 
 could not be forced. 
 
 The stories which were brought into Dawson of suffer- 
 ings on the trail were vivid and stirring, though, to tell the 
 truth, we liad very little sympathy for the eager crowd that 
 was endeavoring to come in. Most of us had been in Alaska 
 long enough to know that it is verv difficult to secure a suf- 
 ficiency of food when only a few are in the country, and we 
 realized that, if the crowd at Skagway got throi:gh, there 
 would be an enormous number of mouths to fill with com- 
 paratively few provisions in sight for the purpose. By the 
 time we began to hear the stories cf the Skagway trail it had 
 become sufficiently evident that the only salvation of Daw- 
 son for the winter was in the White Pass proving impass- 
 able. We regarded the stories of the difficulties of that 
 trail, therefore, with a sort of selfish satisfaction. 
 
 Unlike the Cliilkoot Pass route, which is a constant 
 ascent, ending with a steep climb to the summit, the W^hite 
 Pass route is a succession of hills, so that a great deal of 
 waste climbing is done, ]irobably enough to make up for the 
 difference in altitude, which, apparently, is in favor of the 
 
ns of trails, 
 ;■, but when 
 
 in iiiidsuni- 
 d oxen, they 
 a blockade, 
 
 ed even the 
 nply settled 
 ir no bettor 
 
 of it. I do 
 
 than that 
 pnce in that 
 ance which 
 
 )n of suffor- 
 I, to tell the 
 crowd that 
 n in Alaska 
 lecure a suf- 
 itry, and we 
 onf>h, +^here 
 1 with com- 
 ie. By the 
 ' trail it had 
 on of [)aw- 
 ivig impass- 
 :ies of that 
 1. 
 
 a constunt 
 
 the AVhite 
 
 eat (leal of 
 
 ' lip for the 
 
 Eivor of the 
 
 > 
 
 b 
 n 
 r. 
 > 
 
 r. 
 > 
 
 > 
 
 X 
 
 > 
 
 
1 , \' r ' 
 
 Ik 
 
 ' ! 
 
 \w 
 
 l\ 
 
 \ ^l' 
 
DIFFICULTIES OF THE WHITE PASS 
 
 463 
 
 White Pass, The trail was constructed somcthiup; on the 
 principle of a huge trap. For the first three or four miles 
 it looked very easy and attractive. For this distance there 
 was a wagon road over whicli horses and wagoni= would meet 
 with little difficulty. Then the Skag\vay, which is a shal- 
 low stream, though very swift, had to be crossed. Some of 
 the first pilgrims had constructed a rude bridge of logs over 
 which but one horse could pass at a time. Wagons liad to 
 be unloaded, horses led carefully over, tlien the wagons 
 drawn over and reloaded. Fr*>ni thi.^ bridge wnjions could 
 be used three miles further, when what was q lit^ api'/o- 
 priately dubbed Devil's Hill was encountered. Here the 
 trouble began. The trail was not over two feec wide, and 
 at the top of the hill horse^ were compelled to make a jmnp 
 of two feet high and alight on a slippery rock. At one 
 place there was a path up a steep incline on which logs liad 
 been laid, forming a sort of ladder. 
 
 " When you get to the top of it you are five hundred 
 feet above sea level," stiid one of the few who came through 
 safely. " The hill is very rocky, b\it T was careful to make 
 notes of its condition, and there is no reason why a moun- 
 tain climber s}ioul«i mm put his horse over there with com- 
 parative ease. Notwithstanding that fact, I found a dead 
 horse on the pass. I examined it and fouiid that it had 
 broken one of its legs. The owner had no move use for it 
 and killed it. .Vfter leaving the first hill you descend, 
 enterintr a eafiou, when another hill is encoiuitered with a 
 rise of ♦-isciir hundred feet. 
 
 " The path over it, or, rather, aroimd it,' should not be 
 dignified by the name of traiL It is less than two feet wide 
 at many plae*»s, and the walking, especially for hoTves, is 
 the wor-^t inir^s'inable The formation on the surf- I'e is a 
 
 
404 
 
 ON PORCUPINE HILL 
 
 t'^l 1 
 
 soft, slippery, slate rook. The path winds its crooked way 
 around the mountain, while below it drops off sheer five hun- 
 dred feet to the river. Tiiis is the place where so many 
 horses and packs have been lost. 
 
 '* One pack train of seventeen hoi'ses lost eight of them 
 down this slide on the first trip over. The footinc,' is all that 
 a clear-minded, strong-nerved man woidd care to encounter, 
 and it is practically impossible for such horses as are there 
 to pack any considerable amount of supplies around this 
 bluff. 
 
 '' On the farther side of Porcupine Hill is a place where 
 one must be very cautious. Bouldei's from foiir to ten feet 
 square are met with. One must work around the comers of 
 these boulders to get down in safety. It took me about one 
 hour and a half, 1 went slowly, picking my way, as one ac- 
 customed to mountain climbing will do, and had no difficTilty 
 in reaching the foot of the hill. I was cai'eful to note the 
 dangers that a liorse would encounter, and I say that a horse 
 can go over Porcupine Hill all right if the person handling 
 the animal knows his business. Intjuiry satisfied me that 
 the death of many horses was due solely to the inexperience 
 of those in charge. The packs are put on the backs of the 
 horses with gross carelessness, and what is the result? It 
 is up hill and down hill, and around boulders, and before 
 the journey is accomplished the packs begin to slide, and 
 the li(/rse's burden is thus increased threefold. A slip is 
 made, the pack gives way, and the animal goes down to its 
 death, or breaks a leg and is killed by the owner, who curses 
 his luck and starts back for another hoi*se. 
 
 " Following this place is what is known as First Bridge 
 Hill, which covers a distance of three miles. Then comes 
 the hill called Summit Hill, four miles of as tough climbing 
 
'ookod way 
 er five huu- 
 ■e so many 
 
 :ht of tlicm 
 g is all that 
 encounter, 
 s are there 
 round this 
 
 »lace where 
 to ten feet 
 comers of 
 about one 
 , as one ae- 
 o difficulty 
 :o note the 
 hat a horse 
 II handling 
 ?d me tliat 
 experience 
 icks of the 
 •esult? It 
 ind before 
 slide, and 
 A slip is 
 own to its 
 vho curses 
 
 rst Bridge 
 
 len comes 
 
 climbing 
 
 A HOPELESS TANGLE 
 
 465 
 
 as one ever saw. It was on this hill that the great loss of 
 horses occurred. The trail runs along the side of a rocky 
 mountain, wh -"e a misstep will send an animal from five 
 hundred to one thousand feet below. On the side of nearly 
 all thes3 hills the liquid mud was two feet deep, and in some 
 places it ran like a stream. There were sharp rocks and 
 round rocks, and great slabs of granite down which the 
 horses slid into mud holes. 
 
 " Half the people are greenhorns and don't know how 
 to pack a horse. They pile on the load, and when the horse 
 gets to a bad place, the pack hits against the rocks, and, of 
 course, makes the horse step out to keep his balance. Down 
 go his feet, and over goes the horse. I saw one mule turn 
 three complete somersaults, and the owner never went after 
 either the mule or the packs. You can see dead horses and 
 lost packs all along down the procipico, and all mixed up to- 
 gethei'. 'Why don't they go after them?' Well, it 
 would take them a week to go down there and bring up a 
 pack. It's two thousand feet down there in some places. 
 Some men, after packing heavy outfits over seventeen miles 
 of this trail, scM out for enough to pay their fare back to the 
 United States. 
 
 " It was a sight such as one would not care to see more 
 than once in a lifetime. Horses, tents, feed, supplies, 
 and men were piled together is an apparently hopeless 
 tangle. A drizzling rain was falling most of the time. 
 Stubborn fires were smouldering and sputtering, and men 
 were standing or wandering about as though they were 
 dazed by the obstacles ahead. T couldn't help noticing the 
 tired, haggard look on almost every face that I saw, as 
 thougli the load of anxiety and care was more than they 
 could endure." 
 
 I^ 
 
 I 
 
«R 
 
 T 
 
 '■1 
 
 fl 
 
 1 1 
 
 466 
 
 BRAVE STRUGGLES ALONG THE TRAIL 
 
 Summit Lake is about a mile wide and six miles long, 
 and near the middle is a tall, rocky inlet which, in rough 
 weather, is noted for the breakers which dash upon its 
 shores. One foggy moniing, shortly after a party had 
 started on its journey, a squall sprang up, and not being 
 able to make out their bearings in the fog, their little boat 
 was driven straight upon the rocks. She capsized and 
 threw \o. three men into the icy water. One of them im- 
 mediately sank and was never seen again. The other two 
 strnek out for the shore and finally reached it, though one 
 was so exhausted that he had to be dragged out of the water. 
 
 There were any number struggling along the trail who 
 would have turned back had it not been for their pride. 
 All those poor fellows'worked as they had never worked be- 
 fore, and when they finished were wet through with per- 
 spiration or rain, or both. When night came, they lay 
 down on the damp ground. By morning they were too stiff 
 to move at first, but, when they got around to it, another 
 hard day's work followed. All along was strung a line of 
 struggling horses and cursing men, picking their way over 
 and around rocks, logs, and dead animals. 
 
 Completely balked by this impassable mountain barrier, 
 with the prospect of spending a long Alaskan winter on an 
 inhospitable sea coast, where blizzards and storms have free 
 play for over four months of the year, the six thousand or 
 more gold-seekers at Skagway finally combined to close the 
 trail and assail it with dynamite which had been brought 
 up from Juneau. So an army of about two himdred men 
 stfirted in to open it for all. Notices were posted all along 
 the trail warning miners to get out of the way under penalty 
 of punishment. TTp to this time but five parties had suc- 
 ceeded in getting over the summit, and the other thousands 
 
 I 
 
THE FEW WHO SUCCEEDED 
 
 467 
 
 miles long, 
 in rough 
 upon its 
 party had 
 not being 
 little boat 
 psized and 
 them im- 
 other two 
 hough one 
 the water. 
 B trail who 
 heir pride, 
 worked be- 
 ^ with per- 
 , they lay 
 ^re too stiff 
 it, another 
 g a line of 
 r way over 
 
 lin barrier, 
 nter on an 
 I have free 
 lousand or 
 5 clase the 
 n brought 
 idred men 
 I r.ll along 
 er penalty 
 5 had suc- 
 thousands 
 
 
 were strung all the way along from the coast for fourteen 
 miles into the mountains of the interior. From time to 
 time steamers arrived loaded down with other gold-seekers. 
 When in a few days the trail was reopened it soon became 
 as bad as ever. 
 
 After a time the stench from dead horses became so 
 offensive in Skagway that a mass-meeting was held to [)lan 
 for the abatement of the nuisance. As a result a great num- 
 ber of bodies were gathered together and cremated. 
 
 One passenger said that up to October not more than 
 twenty complete outfits had reached the lakes over the Skag- 
 way trail. " A majority of those who got through," he 
 said, " had not more than two himdred or five hundred 
 pounds of outfit. I knew one man with only one hundred 
 and seventy-five pounds. On the summit snow is now fully 
 six feet deep and the fall continues quite heavy. There are 
 some of the miners who will make an attempt to get in with 
 sleds and dog trains, when snows have covered the trails, 
 and the lakes are frozen. No one has been getting in of 
 late, and, in fact, very few have attempted to do so, for 
 the trail is in such a bad condition that it is absurd to think 
 of doing so." 
 
 Every description of pack animals could be seen on the 
 trail, from the family driving horse and the trick mule, 
 down to the smallest Mexican burro. It was impossible to 
 hire any packing done, and only an option on a horse after 
 the owner was through with him could be obtained, and 
 these sold for ten times as much as the animals were worth 
 anywhere else. Two people who had an option on four 
 little cayuses for four hundred dollars, to be delivered in 
 one week, dend or alive, were shortlv afterwards offered six 
 hundred dollars for them. 
 
 4 
 

 )' ' 
 
 fl 
 
 408 
 
 FLOUNDERING IN THE MARSH 
 
 ^^'ll('n this sort of thing had been going on for a little 
 time, horse feed became scarce and horses were at a dis- 
 count. Early in September a man could pick up a good 
 horse for ten dollars. A party which, during the season of 
 hiah prices had rushed back to the United States aiid secured 
 a few horses, foimd, when they returned, that they could 
 not be sold. So they loaded their horses with fodder, which 
 was at a great premium, and started for the summit. Reach- 
 ing there they sold the feed for eighteen dollars a sack and 
 threw the horses in, so they got out of the dilemma very well. 
 But by the time the hay was brought up to the hungry 
 animals waiting for it, the other animals met on the trail, 
 by each taking a passing nip, had reduced the (]uantity by 
 about fifty per cent. The horses are fond of birch leaves, 
 but they soon contracted mud fever, and, as they were in- 
 sufficiently fed and not sheltered at all, they soon became 
 worthless. They really died from lack of care. Ilorse-i 
 were a good deal better on the Skagway trail than burros, 
 although the best thing of all was an ox, which was very 
 good for muddy traveling, and could carry a big load. The 
 burros taken up were almost a failure. They were good 
 over rocks, but no good at all in the swamp, which forms 
 about two-thirds of the entire distance. 
 
 Those who succeeded in wo^'king their way past these 
 obstacles found themselves finally at the big mai*sh. Of 
 this no adequate description is possible. It is a terror for 
 packers. A horse flounders and rolls in the mud, until he 
 either gives up from exhaiistion, or else tears his pack loose, 
 or breaks a leg. !Many of the miners were camped on this 
 bog, which is a mile and a half long, waiting till the freeze 
 of winter covers the ground so that they could get across. 
 The ground was soft and springy, and very muddy even be- 
 
1 for a littlo 
 >re at a dis- 
 < up a jfood 
 lie season of 
 and secured 
 ; they could 
 •dder, which 
 lit. Keacli- 
 5 a sack and 
 la very well, 
 the hungry 
 )n the trail, 
 ijuantity by 
 irch leaves, 
 ey were in- 
 oon became 
 I'e. Ilorses 
 han burros, 
 h was very 
 load. The 
 were good 
 hich forms 
 
 past these 
 nai-sh. Of 
 1 terror for 
 d, until he 
 pack loose, 
 ped on this 
 
 the freeze 
 get. across, 
 ly even be- 
 
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 73 
 
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 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
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 as WIST MAIN STMIT 
 
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 s.- S..i«^i*ivi^.t;ii ii. 
 
LUMBER THROWN AWAY 
 
 471 
 
 fore it was trampled up. A man went to his knees in the 
 mud, and a horse wallowed to his belly. After crossing the 
 marsh the trail is much the same as in the earlier stages, up 
 and down over a continuous chain of hills and mountains. 
 
 At times the gold-seekers were encouraged to believe 
 that thv re was a betterment, owing to the men's efforts to 
 corduro;^ the bad places, and the occasional glimpse of sun, 
 but a n'.ght's rain would undo it all, and the morning would 
 show it worse than ever. The horses floundered over the 
 boulders and through the mud, which is nothing more than 
 decomposed vegetation, and broke their legs. Then they 
 were shot or knocked on the head. Lack of animals, and 
 particularly the fact that it 's impossible to move supplies, 
 led many to split up their outfits and hurry on with barely 
 enough to last th sm until they reached the river camps. 
 
 People who had flattered themselves that they had suf- 
 ficient foresight to take in lumber to be put together for 
 boats after creasing the pass, found that the proper thing to 
 do with it at Skagway was to throw it away. One man built 
 his house entirely out of lumber which had been intended 
 for lake boats, and which had cost nearly three hundred dol- 
 lars in the United States. This Skagway man picked up all 
 he wanted of it for eighteen dollars a thousand, and much 
 of it cost him nothing. Owners were glad to give it away to 
 get it off their hands. 
 
 Towards the end of the season, when thousands of men 
 and animals and tons of freight v/ere scattered along the 
 trail, thieving began. Some who had sold their outfits at 
 Skagway, and pushed on light-handed so as to get through, 
 began to appropriate new outfits on the other side. 
 
 A party of prospectors had, after great hardships, packed 
 their goods over the worst part of the Skagway trail, had 
 
 ! ;> 
 
' 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 ;/ 
 
 \l 
 
 ! :I 
 
 472 
 
 A THIBF DETECTED 
 
 cached them, and were moving them by relays to the lakes. 
 Some of the goods it had cost thirty dollars a hundred to get 
 over. One day, about the middle of August, they missed 
 from their cache a sack of flour and one hundred pounds of 
 bacon. They had taken no precaution against theft, be- 
 lieving that under such conditions as exist in Alaska a man's 
 property would be held sacred. 
 
 Immediately upon discovering their loss they notified 
 the other miners in the vicinity. A meeting was called 
 at once. Each gold-seeker felt that his sack of flour might 
 be the next to go, and it was agreed that a food thief was as 
 dreadful an enemy as a murderer. Food to these men was 
 life. A (lommittee of six vigilantes was chosen by lot to 
 search out the criminal and punish him, the penalty to be 
 death. 
 
 In a tent near the summit lived a Frenchman known 
 only as " Pierre." He was low-browed, dark-visaged, and 
 surly. He had no friends and seemed to desire none, while 
 his doubtful manners and appearance made him an object of 
 suspicion and dislike. At dusk of the day on which the 
 loss was made known the vigilantes climbed to the summit. 
 They went silently and paused when near the tent for a 
 whispered consultation. Approaching still nearer, they 
 saw that a dim light was burning within, and upon the 
 canvas was cast the grotesque shadow of the Frenchman. 
 He was stooping close to the ground. 
 
 " He's burj'ing the grub," whispered one of the vigi- 
 lantes. 
 
 Leaving two men outside, four entered the tent. One 
 was the prospector who had been robbed. Pierre started 
 up at the appearance of his visitors. His movement for a 
 gun was arrested by a sharp word of warning, and he stood 
 
 I 
 
1 
 
 THE PUNISHMENT OP PIERRE 
 
 473 
 
 to the lakes, 
 ndred to get 
 they missed 
 id pounds of 
 st theft, be- 
 aska a man's 
 
 hey notified 
 was called 
 flour might 
 thief was as 
 cse men was 
 en by lot to 
 enalty to be 
 
 man known 
 visaged, and 
 none, while 
 an object of 
 1 which the 
 the summit. 
 3 teiit for a 
 learer, they 
 d upon the 
 Frenchman. 
 
 of the vigi- 
 
 tent. One 
 erre started 
 ?ment for a 
 nd he stood 
 
 as though petrified, his eyes riveted on the muzzles of four 
 revolvers. 
 
 There was no need of searching further. In a rude hole 
 dug in the hard earth in tie center of the tent lay the sack 
 of flour and the bacon. The owner recognized the marks 
 and identified them as his property. Without a word the 
 Frenchman was seized, and with stout ropes, brought along 
 for the purpose, was tied hand and foot. He begged 
 piteously for mercy, and his black whiskers stood out on a 
 face pale as that of a corpse. He appealed to hearts of 
 stone. There was no softening light in the eyes of his cap- 
 tors. 
 
 They carried him out, and to a pole before his fragile 
 habitation they lashed him fast. All six withdrew a short 
 distance, and, at a wor'l, six shots rang out, sounding as one. 
 Then the vigilantes left. 
 
 A life for a sack of flour and one hundred pounds of 
 bacon! 
 
 The limp form, bleeding from six wounds, Inmg there 
 all night, and the next day it was there, and the next. Over 
 the trail, a short distance away, passed many men. When 
 they looked toward the lonely tent and saw its sentinel tliey 
 averted their faces and hurried by. Even the horses shied, 
 seeming to feel a nameless horror in the atmosphere. Late 
 on the afternoon of the third day two men stayed in their 
 journey to finish the work of the vigilantes. They un- 
 bound the body and dragged it further up the hill. Thoy 
 could not wait to dig a grave, but they piled stones high 
 above the body and left it there. The lonely cairn is a 
 warning to others who, like Pierre, hope to reach the Yukon 
 with no other outfit than light fingers. 
 
 While this terrible struggle was taking place on the 
 88 
 

 ^1 
 
 !'i 
 
 474 
 
 A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY 
 
 Skagway trail, the route by the Chilkoot Pass remained 
 open, and hundreds went over. But the prices for packing 
 were enormous. The Indians • and professional packers 
 quickly raised the price to thirty and even forty cents a 
 pound, and many threw their outfits away rather than pay 
 such rates. Others who had money were willing to pay 
 almost anything, so great was their haste to get through, 
 while many who had the sense to proceed more moderately 
 took advantage of every opportunity for making money. 
 
 A man named Johnson had early in the season managed 
 to get himself rnd family over the Chilkoot Pass, together 
 with a small knockdown boat. When he reached Crater 
 Lake he determined to cut off part of the distance around it 
 by putting his boat together and ferrying his supplies. 
 While loading his boat a man came along and offered him 
 ten dollars for a lift over the lake. Johnson said he was not 
 in the ferrying business, but, if he had room when his own 
 goods had been loaded, he would do so. He found that he 
 had room, and while loading in the stranger's effects an- 
 other came along and offered ten dollars for a lift over the 
 lake. The result was that Johnson made forty dollars that 
 afternoon after two o'clock. 
 
 Now, when an old Yukon miner strikes a placer capable 
 of yielding about one hundred dollars a day by hard work, 
 he regards himself as one of the lucky men of the earth. 
 The early pioneers had wintered with the blizzards and 
 summered with the mosquitoes, and up to the discovery of 
 the Bonanza had barely made enough to pay for their sup- 
 plies. And here Johnson with his knockdown boat had a 
 Klondike shoved by Fate right under his noae. He had 
 sense enough to see it, and to take advantage of this golden 
 opportunity. Many were so anxious to get to Dawson and 
 
 I 
 
A HUNDRED DOLLARS A DAT 
 
 475 
 
 ass remained 
 ■s for packing 
 onal packers 
 forty cents a 
 her than pay 
 illing to pay 
 get through, 
 e moderately 
 ng money, 
 son managed 
 *a8s, together 
 ached Crater 
 tice around it 
 his supplies. 
 I offered him 
 id he was not 
 i'hen his own 
 ound that he 
 's effects an- 
 lift over the 
 J dollars that 
 
 lacer capable 
 ^ hard work, 
 >f the earth, 
 lizzards and 
 discovery of 
 >r their sup- 
 1 boat had a 
 e. He had 
 this golden 
 Dawson and 
 
 pick gold off the bushes that they wouldn't have seen a 
 chance twice as big. 
 
 Johnson just set up his tent and established his family, 
 and announced that he was the only ferryman on Crater 
 Lake. In thirty-one days he made three thousand dollars, 
 and meanwhile his wife had broken open some of their sup- 
 plies and was making pies that sold like hot cakes for a dol- 
 lar each. Later in tlie season Johnson sold his little Ixmt 
 for three hundred dollars, and bouglit a larger one tud a 
 new stock of supplies from those who were anxious to drop 
 a part of theirs, and made his way to the Yukon, where he 
 was in plenty of time to get a good claim in one of the pay- 
 ing districts. Some of those who had nished by him had 
 spent a lot of money, more than they would earn in a long 
 time working at fifteen dollars a day, and working hard, 
 and they had allowed their provisions to be reduced. Then, 
 caught in the ever-shifting eddies of the stampedes, they 
 rushed here and there staking claims, son^e of them doubt- 
 less securing good ones, but it was as yet unknown, and their 
 claims were no better because they had hurried. Those 
 vho came later had the same opportunities, and meanwhile 
 had been picking up the money which the others had 
 dropped. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 THREATENED FAMINE - STORES OF THE TRADING COM- 
 PANIES CLOSED -STEAMBOATS STUCK ON THE 
 YUKON FLATS— THE PERILOUS SITUATION REAL- 
 IZED. 
 
 Miners Hasten to Secure Provisions — Companies Fear Speculation in 
 Food — Eggs at $4 a Dozen — Good Mining Claims Traded for 
 Provisions — Candlns at a Dollar Apiece — Waiting Three Hours to 
 File an Order — The Trading Companies Confer— Doling Out 
 Provisions— Ttie Steamboats near Fort Yukon — Fruitless Efforts 
 to Get over the Bar — Captain Hansen's Efforts — Returning to 
 Dawson — Watching the River for the Steamboats— The Situation 
 Realized— Plenty of Whisky, but Little to Eat— Police without 
 Supplies — The Warehouses Threattined — Police Contemplate the 
 Necessity of Seiz'' <r Provisions— Fancy Prices for Dogs — Mine 
 Owners Threaten Failure to Pay Drl;ts. 
 
 AS soon as the old miners became aware of the great 
 rush from the States which was threatened, they 
 hastened to the storehouses of the different com- 
 panies to secure their supplies for the next winter. This 
 began as soon as the first proviyions arrived, and the result 
 was that the greater part of the cargoes were sold as fast 
 as the boats came to Dawson. A little later the companies, 
 instead of turning over the provisions, took orders and the 
 gold dust for them and kept tabs on the buyers, something 
 as rations are distributed in army camps. Prices were not 
 raised by the companies, but it was evident that the threat- 
 ened scarcity would greatly enhance the price of such pro- 
 
 (476) 
 
 ll- 
 
 ^H 
 
PRBVAILINO PRICES 
 
 477 
 
 DING COM- 
 ON THE 
 ION REAL- 
 
 ipeculation in 
 18 Traded for 
 hree Hours to 
 -Doling Out 
 Jitless Efforts 
 Returning to 
 The Situation 
 olice without 
 iitemplatn the 
 Dogs— Mine 
 
 f the great 
 tened, they 
 erent com- 
 iter. This 
 I the result 
 lold as fast 
 companies, 
 )rs and the 
 something 
 « were not 
 the threat- 
 ' such pro- 
 J) 
 
 visions as found their way into the hands of the people, and 
 there were evidences that many who had plenty of money 
 were calculating to buy from the companies all they could 
 and hold for speculation. It was largely to shut off specula- 
 tion of this kind that the companies adopted the system of 
 doling out provisions in small lots, carefully noting how 
 each man was taking. 
 
 Curious instances of the value of food came to light 
 every day. Two men arriving early in June brought in four 
 hundred dozen eggs, which they had collected on the way. 
 Within eight hours they sold nearly all of them at four dol- 
 lars a dozen in gold dust, and they had a fair working capital 
 right away. Bacon was then selling at sixty-five cents per 
 pound, but flour held at twelve dollars per hundred; indeed, 
 flour seemed to be the cheapest article, except gold, on the 
 market. 
 
 When the question of supplies began to assume a very 
 serious character many bright men who had brought in large 
 outfits saw a chance to dispose of a part of them for interest 
 in claims. Old miners who could not secure provisions 
 enough for the winter, and who realized that it would bo 
 cheaper and better for them to dispose of a part of their 
 rights for food rather than leave their claims and endure 
 the dangers of a journey up or down the river, made such 
 arrangements, and it was a very fortimate thing for some of 
 the newcomers. 
 
 Some of those who had thrown away their provisions 
 on the passes, or had disposed of them earlier on the trail 
 in order to get through, then saw men who had arrived 
 somewhat later pick up choice claims that their money 
 would not have bought. One fellow had six boxes of 
 candles, which were verv scarce. He sold off a lot of them 
 
478 
 
 LINING UP TO BUY PROVISIONS 
 
 V 
 
 at a dollar each, ami obtained In'sides some good interests in 
 claims on Quartz and Hunker creeks. 
 
 Too many on their arrival at Dawson made no prepara- 
 tions for the winter, and it was difficult to make them realize 
 the kind of weather that was before them. There was 
 plenty of work, and money in abundance, so everything 
 looked rosy to many who were so constituted that they 
 would have difficulty in taking car© of themselves any- 
 where. 
 
 When the stampede " for gnib " really began it had 
 about the same cflFect on the stores which a run has on a 
 bank. They closed their doors, and but one was open for 
 sales in small quantities. AVhen the last two steamers up 
 arrived from St. ^lichael bringing about a thousand tons of 
 provisions, extra offices were opened to receive winte? 
 orders, and the rush to get them in resembled the opening 
 of a box-office sale for some great theatrical attraction. 
 Hundreds stood in the long lines. One man told me he 
 waited for three hours before he could get his order in, and 
 then he did not receive the gootls, though he had to pay cash 
 in advance. The orders, however, were guaranteed. All 
 this time men were coming in <laily, many of whom, in the 
 rush and the difficulty of getting over the passes, had thrown 
 away their provisions or sold them at Dyea or Skagway, ex- 
 pecting to stock up at Dawson. 
 
 The day before the steamer left Dawson, the North 
 American Transportation and Trading Company closed its 
 doors. A notice was posted announcing that nothing would 
 pass over its counters imtil the arrival of another steamer 
 with supplies. 
 
 But the days passed and no steamer came. The people 
 eagerly watched the river, hoping to hear the familiar 
 
 I 
 
8TEAMERS GROUNDED ON THE BAR 
 
 479 
 
 interests in 
 
 no prepara- 
 hem realize 
 There was 
 everything 
 that they 
 selves any- 
 
 'gan it had 
 m has on a 
 as open for 
 teainers up 
 and tons of 
 (ive winter 
 he opening 
 attraction, 
 told me he 
 •der in, and 
 to pay cash 
 iteed. All 
 lom, in the 
 !iad thrown 
 agway, ex- 
 
 the North 
 ' closed its 
 ling would 
 ?r steamer 
 
 ^he people 
 i familiar 
 
 sound of the wliistle announcing one of the little steamers, 
 and to see it come around the bend of the stream, but tliey 
 waited in vain. 
 
 About the middle of August the two companies lin<l a 
 conference and thev estimated that there were nbout five 
 thousand five hundred people then in the Klondike district, 
 a largo nun:ber of whom were wholly without outfits and 
 unprepared for the winter. The North American Com- 
 pany had four hundred paid orders unfilled, and no pro- 
 visions there with which to fill them. The Commercial 
 Company had about five hundred paid orders, one-third of 
 which had been filled, and there was enough on hand to fill 
 al>out fifty more. Plenty of provisions, they said, were 
 down the river, but the water was very low. They did not 
 know then that the boats were stuck below Fort Yukon, and 
 could not possibly get up. At the Alaska Conunerclal 
 Company's office a crowd sometimes numbering fifty was 
 daily line<l up in front of the doors, begging for an op])or- 
 tunity to purchase sustinence for themselves and their part- 
 ners at the mines. As fast as one man was waited on, the 
 doors were unlocked and another admitted. Then the click 
 of the locks would be heard, bolts would slide to place to 
 prevent a raid from the desperate men, and a sack of flour 
 with a few pounds of bacon would be doled out. No one 
 could secure much more than enough to sustain life for a 
 few weeks. To those who were preparing to leave, food 
 enough was given to last them over the trail to salt water, 
 if everything went well. Everything possible was being 
 done to get people to leave. 
 
 During the first two weeks in September several at- 
 tempts were made by no less than four steamers to cross the 
 bars above Fort Yukon. They failed simply because it is 
 
/ ! 
 
 II 
 
 I' 
 
 K^ 
 
 480 
 
 CAPTAIN Hanson's fruitless errand 
 
 impossible to get a throe-foot steamer over a twenty-two-inch 
 bur, that being the depth as measured. Even had thoy 
 gotten over the bar the situation would not have been 
 greatly improved, for they were carrying in men who would 
 need most of the provisions they had aboard. 
 
 Captain Hanson went dow.i from Dawson on a steam 
 barge expecting to pick up the barge of another steamer, 
 and on his arrival at Fort Yukon he loaded his own 
 barge with a cargo. He made the most persistent at- 
 tempts to get over the bar so as to return, but failed. 
 Half the cargo was removed for a second attempt, but that 
 failed. Then he started with no load at all, but that time 
 also fi'iled, so uncertain nro these bars in the bed of the 
 Yukon. His steamer drew but twenty -four inches. 
 
 Having thus failed to return with an empty boat, the 
 captain deemed it his duty to return to Dawson and inform 
 the people of the situation. He left the fort in a patched 
 bark canoo, and the next night was obliged to send Indians 
 back with the following message: 
 
 " The bottom dropped out of canoe and only my shoul- 
 ders are dry. I am at the cache twenty-eight miles above 
 Fort Yukon. Get another squaw canoe and send it up as 
 soon as you can." 
 
 There was no other canoe to be had, so an arrangement 
 was made with two fellows who were going up the Yukon 
 to pick Hanson up. 
 
 Day after day the people at Dawson watched the river 
 for the steamers which they thought must surely come. 
 The toot of a steamboat whistle would have brought the 
 whole population to the river bank, eager to welcome the 
 arrival of the much-needed supplies. The river, which had 
 frozen over a little once, opened again, and many wondered 
 what was the trouble. 
 
 \ 
 
NO 
 
 LITTI.E FOOD, BUT PLENTY OK WHISKY 
 
 481 
 
 ity-two-inch 
 
 » lind they 
 
 have been 
 
 who would 
 
 on a steam 
 ler steamer, 
 'd his own 
 'rsistent at- 
 
 hut failed. 
 Pt, but that 
 It that time 
 hed of the 
 ches. 
 
 y boat, the 
 and inform 
 p a patched 
 nd Indians 
 
 my shoul- 
 liles above 
 id it up as 
 
 rangement 
 he Yukon 
 
 I the river 
 ely come. 
 Jught the 
 leome the 
 vhioh had 
 kvondered 
 
 On September 20th (.'uptain Hanson arrived in bin In- 
 dian canoe, and told the people that it would !><> an ini|»(>8- 
 Hibility for the boats to get up before the river closed for 
 good. Then the situation dawned upon them in all its ap- 
 palling reality. 
 
 Men who had been exulting in their : u -ceas, and were 
 counting u|)on returning in the spring with sacks of gold, 
 suddenly realized that to remain till fl n tin v must riiu the 
 "isk of starvation. In the saloons, which wen ihe public 
 resorts, men congregated and talked over the situation. 
 There was whisky enough. I^rge a? was the consumption, 
 there was the fact that a full winter's supply of lifpior had 
 been brought in somehow, but not half enough food. 
 
 Among the more industrious miners who wished to stay 
 and work their claims the disadvantage of having so many 
 non-producers in the place was very apparent, and there 
 was a feeling that such should go, if any. Three or four 
 hundred gamblers and sporting men had come in during the 
 summer, and some advocated driving them out and dividing 
 the provisions equally among the workers. The thirty 
 mounted police at Dawson, who were practically without 
 food for the winter, were said to be openly in favor of such 
 a step. 
 
 Up to tlie first of September the new arrivals had aver- 
 aged from three to twenty per day, and there seemed to be 
 every prospect that this rate woidd be continued far into the 
 winter. The old miners, and those used to the Yukon win- 
 ters, began to appreciate the dangers of the coming situa- 
 tion. When the river rose a little, winter was settling 
 down, and doubts were entertained as to the possibility of 
 more boats reaching Dawson. There were nt least three 
 hundre<l men working in the gulches, and in the hills were 
 
 < 
 
 I 
 
i I 
 
 \ i 
 i 
 1 
 
 
 iy\ 
 
 ; I 
 
 'l 
 
 I!! I 
 
 482 
 
 THE RIVBR TO BLAME 
 
 several prospectors who knew nothing of the situation, and 
 would not till they came in for provisions. They were de- 
 pending on the company stores for supplies. 
 
 The situation became the great subject of discussion in 
 the city of cabins and tents. It was evident that a large 
 number, even a thousand, could winter safely at Circle City, 
 four hundred miles below, for to that place they could draw 
 their supplies from I ort Yukon by dog teams. There were 
 at least five hundred people who intended going down the 
 river to St. Michael, and from there home, but when that 
 avenue was closed earlier than expected by the freezing of 
 the river, some other steps had to be taken, for some of these 
 had already sold off their stock of provisions and could not 
 buy them back. 
 
 There Avas considerable complaint that the trading com- 
 panies had allowed whisky to take too large a place in the 
 cargoes of their Yukon boats, and there was no doubt as to 
 the large quantity brought in, but there would have been 
 serious complaints in various quarters had this failed to ar- 
 rive. Had the river permitted the boats to come up there 
 would have been provisions enough for the people tv"* have 
 worked through the winter somehow. 
 
 It was estimated that during the summer there had been 
 brought to Dawson about eighteen hundred tons of food, 
 clothing, and other merchandise. Meanwhile, nearly every 
 one on Circle City, Forty Mile, and Fort Ciidahy had come 
 to Dawson. It was estimaterl that there were something like 
 six thousand people in the city and about the adjacent coun- 
 try who expected to depend upon Dawson for supplies. 
 Boats were arriving at the rate of five a day, and each aver- 
 aged about three passengers. Not more than one in ten of 
 these parties carried provisions enough to keep them through 
 the winter. 
 
 
 i 
 
THE SITUATION BECOMES ALARMING 
 
 483 
 
 lation, and 
 y were de- 
 
 icussion in 
 lat a lar^e 
 ircle City, 
 !ould draw 
 ^here were 
 down the 
 when that 
 reezing of 
 le of these 
 could not 
 
 iding com- 
 aee in the 
 oubt as to 
 have been 
 tiled to ar- 
 i lip there 
 le iv^ have 
 
 > had been 
 3 of food, 
 irly every 
 had come 
 thing like 
 ent coun- 
 supplies. 
 ach aver- 
 in ten of 
 1 through 
 
 At Fort Yukon, abort three hundred and twenty-five 
 miles from Dawson, there was about six hundred tons of 
 provisions. The question was a very simple one. As 
 " grub " could not be broujfht to Dawson for everybody, 
 some of us must go down to Fort Yukon for it, or go out by 
 the coast and winter in the United States. 
 
 Captain Hanson gathered the miners together and made 
 a short speech to the effect that it would be vain to hope for 
 the arrival of the river vessels, and that his company had 
 done the best it could to supply the increased number of 
 mine-owr.crs, but that there were still more than two hun- 
 dred and fifty unfilled orders on their books. All he could 
 do w-ig to advise people to go to Fort Yukon, where there was 
 plenty of food, and live through the winter. He told them 
 they could find employment there cutting cord wood for the 
 use of the steamers next year. He had, he said, done all he 
 could to relieve the situation, and had it not been for the 
 thousand people who had rushed in without sufficient sup- 
 plies all would have been well. 
 
 The situation as regards the other company was as bad, 
 or worse. Indeed, the company, in anticipation of the ar- 
 rival of the boats, had taken a lot of orders, and with them 
 the miners' money, and when the time came they could not 
 be filled. There was much grumbling. Some spread the 
 idea that the company had a good stock of provisions, but 
 wero holding off for speculation, and the warehouse was 
 tlnvatened for a time. Only the fear of the Canadian 
 police prevented an attack upon it. But it became evident 
 that the companies had no stores to speak of. The only 
 thing that could possibly be Iwught was sugar, baking- 
 powder, spices, and a little dried fruit. 
 
 Major Davis, in command of the police, said: "In- 
 
 II 
 
 y 
 
484 
 
 VALUABLE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY 
 
 4 1) 
 
 stances have occurred in this territory before when supplies 
 ran short, and it was necessary to form police and civic com- 
 munities to seize all provisions in camp and issue weekly 
 rations. It was done at Forty Mile post two years ago. 
 The necessity for similar action is beginning to be apparent 
 in this case, and I would not be surprised to see an uprising, 
 and the non-producers ordered to leave the camp and go 
 down the river to Fort Yukon, where there is plenty of grub, 
 and the provisions in this camp seized and distributed. My 
 force is destitute of winter supplies." 
 
 Apparently, it would have required only an uprising of 
 this sort to have secured the co-operation of the police. An- 
 other unpleasant phase of the situation consisted in the lack 
 of dogs, and provisions for them. Any one would have 
 said, t)o have seen the swarms of dogs whicli were always a 
 feature of Dawson, that there were altogether too many for 
 a camp facing starvation, but these dogt, were kept busy 
 most of the time going to and from the mines, dragging 
 slabs for the fires to thaw the frozen ground, and logs to 
 build miners' cabins. And when it became evident that 
 there would have to be an exodus on account of the food 
 situation, dogs were worth their weight in gold. 
 
 To add to the complications, a good many of the mine- 
 owners were deeply in debt for claims they had purchased, 
 the obligations, which bore an enormous rate of interest, 
 falling due the next May or June. They had leased some 
 of their claims on lays, and they were quietly falling back 
 and waiting for the lessees to dig the gold out to liquidate 
 their indebtedness by the time it became due. The me.n 
 on lays, unless they had been so fortunate as to provide a 
 sufficient stock of provisions, were in time compelled to 
 throw up their profitable contracts and run with others for 
 
 y- 
 
 C 
 
 •*.' 
 
JNITY 
 
 i^hen supplies 
 ad civic corn- 
 issue weekly 
 
 years ago. 
 > be apparent 
 
 an uprising, 
 !amp and go 
 enty of grub, 
 ibuted. My 
 
 1 uprising of 
 police. An- 
 d in the lack 
 
 would have 
 ere always a 
 oo many for 
 e kept busy 
 es, dragging 
 and logs to 
 evident that 
 of the food 
 
 IN A POSITION TO DICTATE 
 
 485 
 
 food. This left some mine-owners in a very threatening 
 position, for they might have to turn the property back to 
 
 the mortgagees. 
 
 September 13th a large number of the owners held a 
 secret meeting at the junction of Eldorado and Bonanza 
 creeks, and promulgated a notice to the effect that after 
 October 1st, and to June Ist, the wages for miners would be 
 one dollar an hour, instead of one dollar and fifty cents. 
 But in less than twenty-four hours the situation changed, 
 for the men who had food could almost dictate their wages 
 and the owners were glad to get them at fifteen dollars a 
 day. There was the possibility that they might have to 
 pay more. 
 
 jf the mine- 
 1 purchased, 
 of interest, 
 leased some 
 falling back 
 to liquidate 
 The me.n 
 o provide a 
 >mpelled to 
 li others for 
 
I ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 THE GREAT EXODUS PROM DAWSON— DOWN THE RIVER 
 TO CIRCLE CITY AND FORT YUKON— SAD FATE OF 
 80SIE OF THE EXILES— A BURIAL UNDER THE 
 ARCTIC SKY. 
 
 A Great Day in Dawson— Drawing Lots to Determine Who Should 
 Go— The Restaurants All Closed— Effort to Go Up the River 
 Thirty -five Miles in Seven Days— The Party Finally Returns — 
 People Pouring in While Others Were Pouring out — Arriving 
 With Worthless Outfits or None at All— Swept By Dawson in the 
 Running Ice — Petty Larceny Becomes Frequent — Food Scarce at 
 Circle City — Men Arrive from Circle City Badly Frozen — Suffer- 
 ing on the River— Exiles Badly Frozen— Sad Fate of Young 
 Anderson — Wounded, His Friends Dragged Him on a Rude 
 Sled — Dying within Sight of Circle City — Thawing an Arctic 
 Grave — The Funeral — Extracts from His Diary — Strong Miners 
 Weep — The Scarcity of Supplies — A Restaurant Price List — A 
 Fresh Supply of Caribou Meat — Curtailing the Work on the 
 Mines— Those Left Pull Through. 
 
 THAT was a great day at Dawson when the miners 
 fully realized the situation and immediately began 
 to make their calculations for the Avinter. After 
 the government officials had posted their bulletin warning 
 the miners to get out of the country if they valued their 
 lives, many of the men pooled what provisions they had and 
 drew lots to decide who were to remain for the winter and 
 who were to attempt the trip to Fort Yukon or the coast. 
 
 It was a question which were taking the greatest risks, 
 those who remained prepared to spend several months on 
 
 (486) 
 
 
THINNING OUT THE POPULATION 
 
 487 
 
 THE RIVER 
 A.D FATE OF 
 JNDER THE 
 
 le Who Should 
 Up the River 
 ally Returns— 
 out — Arriving 
 Dawson in the 
 Food Scarce at 
 rozen — Suflfer- 
 rateof Young 
 1 on a Rude 
 "ng an Arctic 
 Strong Miners 
 Price List— A 
 Work on the 
 
 the miners 
 ately began 
 ter. After 
 in warning 
 alued their 
 ey had and 
 winter and 
 he coast, 
 atest risks, 
 months on 
 6) 
 
 short rations, or those who faced the hard thirty-days trip 
 with just enough provisions to last them if not delayed, for 
 those to whose lot it fell to leave the country were grub- 
 staked for the trip. In this way the population was thinned 
 out. Some who had to go started for Fort Yukon, and 
 others for the coast. Later, others started out for Fort 
 Yukon, hoping to get back to Dawson with supplies. 
 
 The exodus was stimulated by two facts, the first being 
 that there might be a famine if all stayed, and the second, 
 that those who had provisions, and at the same time had 
 claims, could sell their provisions at greatly advanced pricos 
 to those who wished to stay and work. Thus they were in- 
 sured a profit on what they could bring in on their return, 
 .and a profit from the working of their claims while they 
 were out. 
 
 The restaurants all closed in the fall, though one ran on 
 for several days on a supply of beefsteak which sold at two 
 dollars and fifty cents a meal, and the meals were not large. 
 A man with a truck load of potatoes, flour, and bacon could 
 have bought a good interest in any of the rich claims of the 
 richest streams. A little steamer named K'nikid', which 
 was to run up to the Pelly River where the Dalfon trail 
 begins, was called into service by men who offered as high 
 as two hundred and fifty dollars to be taken aboard for her 
 journey of one hundred and seventy-five miles. She was 
 as crazy a craft as there was on the Yukon, about fifty feet 
 long, and of thirty horse-power only. She was old, rickety, 
 and pretty much broken down. She had just before made 
 two trips up to the Pelly, taking over eight days at each trip. 
 Ordinarily, one would not have cared to make a short trip 
 on her in smooth water, yet there were several men who 
 actually wanted to pay a big price for her to take her down 
 
488 
 
 A YUKON "greyhound' 
 
 {!m 
 
 i^! i 
 
 I 
 
 the Yukon to St. Michael. They were persuaded from this 
 foolixaidy undertaking, and so they obtained her for the trip 
 up the river to Selkirk, expecting to take the trail there. 
 
 She left with about fifteen passengers, and in a few days 
 back they came to Dawson. They had spent seven days on 
 the steamer and had gone only thirty-five miles. Her 
 machinery broke down from one to three times a day, and 
 she had a faculty, strong in any Yukon steamer, for con- 
 stantly running aground. 
 
 On one occasion, but apparently through mismanage- 
 ment, she was driven head-on to a rocky shore where her 
 bow was violently torn away and her frame severely shaken. 
 But for the double protection in her bows she surely would 
 have sunk. At the end of the seventh day, surrounded by 
 an ice pack, the trip was given up and they returned. The 
 only thing left was to drift down the river, or, if wanting to 
 get out of the country entirely, to pole up the stream with 
 its freezing waters and floating ice. Many who had had ex- 
 perience on the stream, and had a few provisions, preferred 
 to wait and make the trip after the river was thoroughly 
 frozen and the snow, which now was failing, had grown 
 hard. 
 
 It would have been an amusing scene, had it not savored 
 so much of the pathetic, to watch the people who were pour- 
 ing into Dawson from the trail, while others were pour- 
 ing out the same way. These people had suffered all man- 
 ner of hprdships on the journey, and many of them, in their 
 haste to get over, had disposed of their outfits. Their im- 
 pression seemed to be that so long as wages were fifteen dol- 
 lars a day, they could not want for anything. It was some 
 time before they could be made to understand the peculiar 
 '^'ifficulties of the situation, They could not get over the 
 
AN APPALLING PROSPECT 
 
 489 
 
 (1 from this 
 for the trip 
 there, 
 a few days 
 'cn days on 
 liles. Her 
 a day, and 
 Ir. for con- 
 
 tiismanage- 
 where her 
 !ly shaken, 
 rely would 
 ounded by 
 ned. The 
 wanting to 
 ream with 
 lad had ex- 
 , preferred 
 horoiighly 
 lad grown 
 
 ot savored 
 vere pour- 
 ^ere pour- 
 3 all man- 
 n, in their 
 Their im- 
 fteen dol- 
 was some 
 ! pecnliar 
 over the 
 
 impression that where there was so much gold there must 
 be enough to eat. 
 
 It is a pitiable situation when men are huddled together 
 in a little place in the Arctic regions, in need of food, oflFer- 
 ing any amount of money for it, and unable to get it because 
 there is no chance for any to come into the country for six 
 or eight months. 
 
 Few of those who came in had packed their outfits cor- 
 rectly. Each month's supplies should be put up separately 
 and labeled, and then if one loses a part of his supplies the 
 variety is not sacrified. Many lost their flour and saved 
 their baking-powder, or vice versa. Provisions should be 
 put in water-tight sacks of not over fifty pounds each. The 
 covering should be made of good ducking, capable of being 
 handled roughly, of standing out in the rain, if necessary, 
 and of not being torn by limbs, snags, and the like. Many 
 a man reached the river only to find his beans damp, flour a 
 pasty mass, and his dried fruit fit only to give to the all- 
 devouring dogs. 
 
 Many boats, containing men who had been workii.c; for 
 many days and enduring great hardships, came floating 
 down the river in the ice and were unable to make a landing. 
 Once eight boats loaded with provisions, but with no pas- 
 sengers, went floating by. The owners had doubtless left 
 them to go ashore and camp for the night, and meanwhile 
 the ice had broken and taken the boats down the river. It 
 was useless to try to reach the boats at that time. 
 
 Matters assumed a very serious aspect by the middle of 
 October. There were over a thousand people, including 
 women and children, living in tents in Dawson, and they 
 were arriving at the rate of seventy-five a day. ^fany of 
 them ^^d provisions enough to last them only a part of the 
 
^f 
 
 490 
 
 A FROST-BITTEN POET 
 
 winter. A heavy snow was falling, and beans, flour, bacon, 
 and other provisions were selling from one dollar and 
 twenty-five cents to one dollar and fifty cents a pound. 
 The few head of cattle which Dalton had brought in over his 
 trail only temporarily relieved the situation. 
 
 Petty larceny began to be frequent in a place where but 
 a littleTiefore a man could leave anything lying about with 
 safety. But no one stole gold. People Avere stumbling 
 over that and never thinking about it. They began to steal 
 from caches. One man was detected in stealing from a 
 cache and shot through the leg, but he was not a thief 
 naturally. The food situation had made him desperate. 
 
 Altogether about nine hundred people had left Dawson 
 by the first of December, and as nine-tenths of these had 
 hardly more than three months' provisions, the situation at 
 Dawson was considerably relieved. So many went down to 
 Circle City or Fort Yukon that many began to fear that 
 they would need all the provisions at the latter point, and 
 that the spring supply for Dawson would therefore be late 
 in coming up. When the heavy detachment reached Circle 
 City the stock there at once became so short that most of 
 them had to procure sleds and continue their journey, the 
 river being frozen. The hundred or so people at Circle 
 City were calculating to send to Fort Yukon for provisions. 
 
 Joaquin Miller, the poet of the Sierras, who had been 
 among the summer arrivals, reached Dawson from Circle 
 City on December 4th, very badly frozen, having lost a part 
 of the great toe of his left foot, his left ear sloughing off, 
 and both cheeks frozen. He had left Circle City with a 
 party thirty-five days before without dogs, as there were 
 none left there. They worked along all right till they 
 reached Forty Mile, where they encountered a blizzard. 
 
9our, bacon, 
 
 dollar and 
 
 :s a pound. 
 
 t in over his 
 
 e where but 
 : about with 
 i stumbling 
 !gan to steal 
 ing from a 
 not a thief 
 lesperate. 
 eft Dawson 
 f these had 
 situation at 
 ent down to 
 ;o fear that 
 • point, and 
 fore be late 
 ched Circle 
 lat most of 
 3urney, the 
 e at Circle 
 provisions. 
 3 had been 
 rom Circle 
 ; lost a part 
 Jghing off, 
 ity with a 
 :here were 
 t till they 
 I blizzard. 
 
 '■( 
 
Il 
 
 i . 
 
SUFFBRINQ AND FORTITUDE 
 
 493 
 
 From that place they endured all maimer of hardships. 
 Circle City was not a bed of roses for the miners there. 
 
 Reports, he said, had reached Circle City of miners 
 being frozen in between Dawsoi and that place. One 
 miner was brought in so badly frozen that he had to have 
 his feet amputated. Such was the fate of Home of those 
 who had left Dawson just before the winter's fury set in. 
 
 Among those who had started down the river in boats 
 was a young man named Anderson, who belonged in Brook- 
 lyn, N. Y. On the way down, and when seventy miles 
 from the nearest habitation, he accidentally shot himself in 
 the abdomen. He pushed on with grim determination, 
 though suffering great agony, but when thirty miles from 
 Circle City a cold snap came on and froze the river. The 
 party with him saw that it was necessary to abandon the 
 boat, and so they rigged up a rough sled and started to pull 
 the wounded man over the ice. It was terribly cold. 
 
 Day by day his strength failed, and dreary were the 
 camps they made on the frozen shores of the river. His 
 two companions toiled bravely on, but he kept sinking 
 lower and lower, and when almost within sight of their 
 destination he passed away. Two hours later they drew 
 the body into Circle City on the rude sled. 
 
 Out in the little cemetery was piled a heap of wood, 
 and soon it was blazing fiercely in the Arctic winds; for 
 graves must be dug here — if they are dug at all — as gold 
 is mined, by thawing the ground. As night settled down 
 the glowing coals shone out brightly in the darkness. More 
 wood was heaped on, and little by little the grave was sunk 
 in the icy soil. 
 
 Then came the burial. There was no minister, no choir, 
 no melodious anthem, no words that told of the Christian's 
 
 it 
 
494 
 
 THE DIARY READ BESIDE THE GRAVE 
 
 Lope in a glorious resurrection. Bough miners carried the 
 body to its last resting place, and as they stood there rev- 
 erently some extracts from the young man's diary were 
 read. He had kept it almost to the labt moment, and there 
 were many references to his mother, to his home, and his 
 hardships, and between the lines could be read a record 
 of the indomitable courage and the filial love of the man 
 who had sought his fortune on the Yukon. 
 
 Strong miners, muffled in their heavy winter coats, stood 
 with tears in their eyes while the words wen^ a 1, and then 
 the frozen clods were shoveled into the icy avc There 
 are other graves on the Yukon — many others. And there 
 are dead without graves. 
 
 There was a party of two or three hundred between 
 Forty Mile and Circle City when the river suddenly froze, 
 and they were compelled to abandon their boats and push 
 on, almost wholly unprepared for the hardships of such a 
 journey. Some of them suffered severely. Ten or a dozen 
 women were subjected to the ordeal of losing their boats 
 and taking the long, wearisome tramp to Circle City in the 
 biting cold. 
 
 The prices of all supplies continued to rise till they were 
 hardly within the reach of those who had not rich gold 
 mines to depend upon. Flour was worth from seventy-five 
 dollars to one hundred dollars for fifty-pound sacks; beans, 
 one dollar and fifty cents a pound ; candles, one dollar and 
 fifty cents each, and very few of them at that; fresh fish, 
 one dollar and twenty-five cents a pound, and very scarce. 
 Cooking utensils, too, were none too plentiful, men satisfy- 
 ing themselves with pieces of tin for frying pans and old tin 
 cans were in demand as coffee pots and for other cooking 
 purposes. 
 
rs 
 
 WORK IN THE MINES DELAYED 
 
 49ff 
 
 carried the 
 there rev- 
 diary were 
 and there 
 no, and his 
 id a record 
 of the man 
 
 coats, stood 
 
 1, and then 
 
 vc There 
 
 And there 
 
 d between 
 enly froze, 
 8 and push 
 s of such a 
 I or a dozen 
 their boats 
 City in the 
 
 I they were 
 rich gold 
 9venty-five 
 jks; beans, 
 dollar and 
 fresh fish, 
 3ry scarce, 
 en satisfy- 
 md old tin 
 V cooking 
 
 Ham and Eggs, . ff.OO 
 
 Porterhouse steak, 5.00 
 Cove oysters fried, and ham 
 
 and eggs, . . . 9.00 
 
 This was the sign hanging over the counter of one of the 
 
 Dawson restaurants early in December: 
 
 Mculs $3.50 
 
 Coffee, tea, or chocolate, . .50 
 
 Uandwiches 75 
 
 Boston baked beans, . 1.00 
 
 Pie and cake, . . 1.00 
 
 In the latter part of November a large bt nd of caribou 
 crossed the Yukon a few miles below Dawsor in the migra- 
 tion from the headwaters of the White and Copper rivers, 
 and Dawson hunters went out and killed, about fifty head. 
 This supply of meat was a great relief, ind it sold at good 
 figures. Of course meat can be kept in prime condition all 
 winter in such a climate. Though game waa scarce it could 
 be found in small quantities if htmted for, and men who 
 were hungry would take their guns and start on hunting 
 expeditions, seldom, however, going far from camp. 
 
 The inevitable result of the scarcity of food and the 
 exodus of people was to delay work in the mines. It was 
 useless for owners to attempt to work their shafts unless 
 they oould secure provisions, and there were many cases 
 where men who had begun to take out of their shafts many 
 hundred dollars a day, on coming down to Dawson and find- 
 ing that their bags of gold could not buy the ordinary neces- 
 sities f life, at once departed either for the coast or for 
 points down the river. The newcomers who had reached 
 the city with barely enough provisions to feed a canary bird 
 were, of course, of no use in the mines. But the exodus 
 was so great that those remaining were left with a fair 
 chance of pulling through, which is about all any one can 
 expect to do on the Yukon during the winter. From time 
 to time some little additions in the way of meat were made to 
 the supply. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 DISCOVERY OF GOLD ON MUNOOK CREEK -THE SITD- 
 DEN RISE OF RAMPART CITY— THRILLING EXPERI- 
 ENCE AND LOSS OF LIFE ON THE MOUNTAIN TRAIL. 
 
 V 
 
 A Rival to Dawson and the Klondike — American Territory Preferable 
 — Old Munook and Little Munook — Taking a Fortune from a 
 Small Hole — Stream Prospected Before— The First Excitement — 
 Stampedes from the Arriving Steamboats — Beginnings of Ram- 
 part City — Arrival of the Hamilton — Crew Stampedes and Takes 
 the Knives and Forks — A Literary Woman's Rush for a Claim — 
 Settling in the New Camp — High Prices for Claims — Taking 
 out $1,500 in Five Days — The Fever of Speculation — Wealth of 
 a Man with a House and Lot — High Price of Timber — The 
 Rough Trails — Fatal Experience of Two Yale Graduates — 
 Spending the First Night on Hoosier Creek — Taking Food for 
 Only One Day— A Terrible Night— Tucker Falls Exhausted — 
 Running for Help — Secured at Last — Returning to Find His 
 Companion Dead — Buried in the Wild Gulch— Situation of 
 Munook — High Value of Its Gold. 
 
 ONE important result of the inability of the river 
 steamboats to reach Dawson, and the consequent 
 shortage of provisions there, was to turn the at- 
 tention of gold-seekers to Munook Creek, on the lower 
 Yukon. Those who could not reach Dawson from St. 
 Michael, and those who, having reached it from the coast, 
 could not stay but went down the river, were naturally at- 
 tracted to the new region. Now that public attention has 
 been turned towards the Yukon valley, the sudden rise of 
 new mining camps and new cities may be expected, for the 
 
 (496) 
 
 '' *t 
 
OLD MUNOOK'S find 
 
 497 
 
 -THE SUD- 
 
 G EXPERI- 
 
 AIN TRAIL. 
 
 )ry Preferable 
 'rtune from a 
 Excitement — 
 ings of Ram- 
 ies and Takes 
 or a Claim — 
 ims — Taking 
 — Wealth of 
 'imber — The 
 I Graduates — 
 ing Pood for 
 Exhausted -~ 
 to Find His 
 Situation of 
 
 ? the river 
 Bonsequeut 
 im the at- 
 the lower 
 
 from St. 
 
 the coast, 
 turally at- 
 ention has 
 len rise of 
 id, for the 
 
 
 country has a wealth of gold-bearing streams which have 
 never been properly prospected, and many promising ones 
 have never even been explored. While the sudden rise of 
 Dawson was phenomenal, it soon had a dangerous rival, and 
 that on American territory. 
 
 It is needless to say that experienced miners will prefer 
 gold-bearing streams on American territory if they can be 
 found of a richness to compare with the Klondike. If the 
 Dominion government insists on tlie restrictions she has 
 ordained, mines on American territory, which are consider- 
 ably less rich than those in the Klondike, will prove more 
 attractive, for they will yield larger net returns. In view 
 of these facts, the rise of Rampart City in the vicinity of 
 the Lower Ramparts of the Yukon in the fall of 1897 can 
 occasion no surprise, and it would not be strange if the pre- 
 dictions made as to its rivaling Dawson should be quickly 
 verified. 
 
 An old Indian by the name of Munook, a Russian half- 
 breed, i'ound large quantities of gold on the creek which 
 now bears his name some time in August, 1896. Accord- 
 ing to the story on the river, some Indians had informed 
 Munook that they had seen gold on a branch of the creek, 
 and with his son he started in. In a short time he had taken 
 oitt three thousand dollars' worth of gold from a hole eight 
 feet square and fifteen feet deep. The stream had been 
 prospected in a superfcial way for years, and while gold 
 was always found, it had not been in sufficient quantities, 
 for the conditions were the same here as in other Alaskan 
 fields. A layer of muck covers the gravel from a few 
 inches to two or three feet in thickness; in winter it is like 
 adamant, and in the summer like axle grease that has been 
 exposed to the sun. 
 
 Bgg g ig ! g."y '* ", ! ! 
 
498 
 
 BOLTING FOR THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 mr-' M) 
 
 -liiM 
 
 It 
 
 I tf 
 
 Old Munook and his son worked on quietly, taking out 
 considerable gold, but nothing was known about it by ex- 
 perienced miners till the boats began to run on the river in 
 the spring of 1897. The evident advantages of the situa- 
 tion lay in its nearness to the base of supplies, and several 
 miners made their way up the creeks and at once struck 
 good pay-dirt on Little Munook and another tributary which 
 was called Hunter Creek. 
 
 The first excitement was when a steamboat loaded with 
 people bound for Dawson reached the mouth of Munook 
 Creek. Miners there were looking for supplies, and when 
 they told what they had found, the excitement was so great 
 that many of the passengers bolted for the mountains at 
 once, also many of the crew. The principal creeks were 
 staked for some distance, for the law which the miners had 
 instituted allowed claims of one thousand feet in length, 
 and from five hundred to a thousand feet in width, accord- 
 ing to the nature of the valley. 
 
 Observing that as many as a hundred men would winter 
 there, the Alaska Commercial Company made preparations 
 to supply them with food. But when the next steamboat 
 came up there was another stampede, some fresh discoveries 
 having been made, and so many of the crew left the boat, 
 carrying away the knives and forks, that the passengers left 
 were compelled to resort to their fingers in eating. On 
 bed-rock two and fonr dollars to the pan had been dis- 
 covered, and nuggets worth ten and twelve dollars had been 
 taken out. The miners were at work clearing up a sightly 
 place high up from the river for a town site, and in hardly 
 any time there was a town of tents there. The Commercial 
 Company began building its log warehouse, and everything 
 promised to thrive. "When the steamer Hamilton, after 
 
 '■*i' 
 
THE RISE OF RAMPART CITY 
 
 499 
 
 taking out 
 It it by ex- 
 the river in 
 f the situa- 
 and several 
 >nce struck 
 itary which 
 
 oaded with 
 of Munook 
 , and when 
 i^as so great 
 )untains at 
 reeks were 
 miners had 
 in length, 
 th, accord- 
 mid winter 
 reparations 
 steamboat 
 discoveries 
 t the boat, 
 sngers left 
 ting. On 
 been dis- 
 I had been 
 • a sightly 
 in hardly 
 'mmercial 
 t^erything 
 on, after 
 
 continuing on her way up the river, went aground a short 
 distance from the new city, many more of the men came 
 down decided to settle in the new camp. Many claims were 
 staked off quite near the city, but little could be done except 
 at bai diggings before winter came. 
 
 By the first of September the discovery claim on Little 
 Munook had sold for five thousand dollars, and Rampart 
 City was a cluster of tents on the hillsides, but the Com- 
 mercial Company were finishing up their building and the 
 newcomers were busy putting up log cabins. The popula- 
 tion was then three hundred and increasing with every boat 
 that came up the river. Ten days later all figures and 
 values had quadrupled. . One claim on Little Munook was 
 held at fifty thousand dollars, for the owner of the adjacent 
 claim had taken out one thousand five hundred dollars in 
 five days, and had not reached bed-rock. The news spread, 
 and in a little time the recorder had taken in over two hun- 
 dred dollars in registering claims, and people were clamber- 
 ing over the hills in every direction. A literary woman 
 from the Pacific coast who had started for the Klondike 
 was infected by the excitement, jumped off the boat when it 
 reached Rampart City, and rushed for a claim, taking the 
 trail like a man, and sleeping on the ground with her 
 blankets wrapped about her. 
 
 Gradually the population approached a thousand, and 
 the fever of speculation was rife. Real estate oflScea were 
 opened and the scenes enacted at Dawson a little earlier were 
 repeated. Had there been no Klondike, which had become 
 a sort of shibboleth on every one's lips, the discoveries on 
 Munook would have been enough to have created a rush 
 from the States, for the creeks and gulches are unmistak- 
 ably rich. On one claim two thousand dollars were taken 
 
 »n. 
 
 H I i » > I f 
 
600 
 
 A BOOM IN REAL ESTATE 
 
 \v \ 
 
 out while sinking to bed-rock. On another, two men took 
 out six hundred dollars in six days, and the top gravel 
 seemed to be full as rich as that in the Klondike district, ac- 
 cording to reports of men who had had some experience in 
 both places. 
 
 None of those who left the United States later than the 
 first of August to go by the water route arrived at Dawson 
 City, but they were frozen in all along the river. Those 
 who reached Munook Creek, however, were fortunate. By 
 the last of Septembe:-, a man who owned a house and lot in 
 Rampart City counted himself worth two thousand dollars. 
 Every fresh boatload rushed up the creeks to stake out 
 claims, and many large transactions took place. By Octo- 
 ber the liftw town had a population of over one thousand 
 souls, including several women. Lots were selling for as 
 high as one thousand two hundred dollars, and any kind of 
 a cabin for eight hundred dollars. The Indians were paid 
 nine dollars a day and board for building cabins, while the 
 wages of men in the mines ruled at fifteen dollars a day. 
 The real estate boom rather outstripped that of the previous 
 year at Dawson. The value of lots and buildings sometimes 
 increased tenfold in a very few hours. The reason for the 
 excessive price for building is that there is no wood to speak 
 of nearer than eighty miles. 
 
 The trails over the mountains to the creeks were no ex- 
 ception to such routes in other mining regions. Indeed, if 
 anything, they were a little worse, for the country had not 
 been so traversed by Indians. A mile seemed as long as 
 five miles in any ordinary country. It was a wild and pre- 
 cipitous region, and in going from one creek to another it 
 was necessary to cross great divides, tearing through the 
 brush or stumbling over niggerheads. Unfortunately, as 
 
A TERRIBLE UNDERTAKING 
 
 601 
 
 men took 
 top gravel 
 district, ac- 
 perience in 
 
 3r than the 
 at Dawson 
 er. Those 
 mate. By 
 I and lot in 
 nd dollars, 
 stake out 
 By Octo- 
 thousand 
 ling for as 
 ny kind of 
 were paid 
 while the 
 ars a day. 
 e previous 
 sometimes 
 on for the 
 d to speak 
 
 ere no ex- 
 fndeed, if 
 Y had not 
 s long as 
 and pre- 
 nother it 
 )ugh the 
 ately, as 
 
 at other places of mining excitement, people rushed in with- 
 out any adequate idea of what they were to encounter, and 
 without sufficiently providing for such a j'^umey. Only a 
 dozen miles or so over the hills seemed easy. 
 
 One September morning three young men started for 
 Hoosier Creek, about twenty miles away, to locate claims. 
 Their names were H. B. Tucker of Troy, N. Y., J. P. Powell 
 of New York city, and George M. Reed of Boston. It was 
 raining when they set out and growing colder, and the trails 
 were getting worse every hour. After traveling about 
 seven miles Reed sprained his leg, and, finding that ho would 
 be unable to continue the trip, he left the party and made 
 his way back to town. 
 
 Tucker and Powell proceeded on their way and reached 
 a cabin at the mouth of Hoosier Creek, and spent the night 
 there. They were wet through, and as there was no stove in 
 the cabin they dried themselves as best they could before 
 an open fire at the door of the cabin. Friday morning they 
 started for the head of the creek. They left their blankets 
 and all their food, except barely enough for one day, hav- 
 ing been told that they could make the trip and get back to 
 the cabin by evening. The cold rain continued all day. 
 The creek became very much swollen, and traveling up the 
 gulch, wading through icy waters, and wandering through 
 the swamps and brush was a terrible undertaking, especially 
 for men Avithout experience in the cx>untry and without 
 knowledge of the conditions. The two finally made their 
 way to the headwaters of the creek and staked their claims, 
 but by that time it was night and they knew it would be ut- 
 terly impossible to make their way back through the dark- 
 ness. 
 
 When they had started in the morning Tucker had put 
 
 1 
 
503 
 
 ANOTHER TRAGEDY 
 
 l< V 
 
 W 
 
 r ?!• 
 
 the day's provisions in his handkerchief, and he lost them 
 while wading the creek. All they had left was four hard- 
 tacks and a piece of chocolate to divide between them. 
 Most of this they had eaten during the day. 
 
 These two exhausted men had a terrible night to face in 
 that wild gulch with the cold rain pouring steadily down on 
 them, without food, without shelter, without blankets or 
 covering of any kind except their soaked and half-frozen 
 clothes. About two o'clock in the morning the rain turned 
 to snow, and by dawn the ground was white. Tucker slept 
 a little through pure exhaustion, but Powell was awake all 
 night. As soon as light came, the latter urged Tucker to 
 start down the creek before the snow became so deep as to 
 make walking impossible. Tucker made a heroic effort to 
 respond to Powell's appeal, but after proceeding a little way 
 his knees gave out and he fell. Powell put him on his feet 
 and they started once more, but Tucker's strength was all 
 gone and he fell again and again, and finally could go no 
 further. He grew delirious and at last became unconscious. 
 
 Powell, after doing everything in his power to get 
 Tucker down the creek to shelter, found that it was im- 
 possible, and at about seven o'clock, seeing that the only 
 chance to save Tucker's life was to get assistance, he placed 
 him in as comfortable a position as possible and started down 
 the creek shouting for help and firing his revolver to attract 
 attention. His hope was to find a party of friends who had 
 talked of coming up Hoosier Creek that day. He was 
 finally successful in his quest, but not till some hours had 
 passed, and one of the party immediately started back with 
 Powell to find Tucker, carrying food with them. They 
 reached him about one o'clock, but they were too late. The 
 poor fellow was dead. 
 
«i 
 
 A PROMISING GOLD FIELD 
 
 503 
 
 e lost them 
 four hard- 
 veen them. 
 
 it to face in 
 J down on 
 
 blankets or 
 lalf-frozen 
 
 rain turned 
 
 ucker slept 
 
 s awake all 
 Tucker to 
 
 deep as to 
 >ic effort to 
 a little way 
 
 on his feet 
 ?th was all 
 ould go no 
 Qconscious. 
 ver to get 
 it was im- 
 t the only 
 . he placed 
 irted down 
 ' to attract 
 Is who had 
 He was 
 hours had 
 back with 
 n. They 
 ite. The 
 
 
 Marking the spot, they came down the creek to the 
 cabin, where Powell rested that night, and made his way 
 back to Rampart City the next day. A party set out to the 
 place where Tucker died and he was buried there in the 
 wild and lonely gulch, as it was impossible to bring his body 
 in until the trail was in a better condition. 
 
 Tucker was a graduate of Yale in 1894, and his father is 
 editor of the Troy Press. Powell was also a Yale graduate. 
 The trouble in this case was that they miscalculatetl the dis- 
 tance that they could travel in a day, and went utterly un- 
 prepared to spend a night in the mountains. 
 
 One may realize something of the dangers of traveling 
 on Alaskan. trails from incidents like these. Considering 
 the number of people who have rushed in without any 
 proper understanding of what tramping on these trails re- 
 quires, it seems a miracle that so few have perished. Yet 
 the death roll is by no means a short one. 
 
 Munook Creek, which promises to be one of the richest 
 gold fields in Alaska, runs into the Yukon about nine hun- 
 dred miles below Dawson. It is situated below the bars 
 which obstruct vessels, and if the rich prospects already 
 found continue, its chances for development are very much 
 greater than those of Dawson. There are a number of 
 small creeks flowing into the Munook, and upon nearly all 
 of them gold has been found near the surface. Even if 
 it is lees rich than the Klondike it may pay better, and cer- 
 tainly people there will run less risk of starvation. 
 
 The Munook gold which has been assayed has been 
 found to be of much greater fineness than that of the Klon- 
 dike, which has proved something of a disappointment to 
 those who have brought large quantities of Klondike gold 
 to the mints. Munook gold fields about eighteen dollars 
 
 b 
 
604 
 
 THE DIPFKRENCB IN FAVOR OF MUNOOK 
 
 to the ounce, while Klondike gold averages about sixteen 
 dollars to the ounce. The difference on twenty-five pounds 
 would buy a man a winter's outfit in Alaska. Taking into 
 consideration the Canadian restrictions as to the size of 
 claims, as to royalty, and customs taxes, together with this 
 difference in the intrinsic value of the gold, a man in the 
 Klondike would have to take out at least thirty per cent, 
 more gold in weight than at Munook to net the same return, 
 while living expenses at Munook should be much cheaper. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 WE DECIDE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY — INCIDENTS OF 
 A HARD JOURNEY IN WINTER TO THE COAST — 
 THE DEATH OF JOE — MY ESCAPE. 
 
 Preparing for the Winter — Our Gold Dust — Returning to Dawson 
 We Realize the Food Situation — We are Unable to Secure Pro- 
 visions for the Winter — Selling Our Claims and Counting Our 
 Fortune — Down or Up the River? — We Decide to Return for 
 a Good Outfit — Dogs an Expensive Luxury — Encountering 
 Wrecks — Difficulties at Lewis River — Piclcing up Tales of 
 Hardship and Suffering — Hardships of a Man with Poor Dogs — 
 A Young Man with Frozen Feet Left to Die in a Hut — A Young 
 Woman Rescued from Death — Lashed to a Sled — We Arrive at 
 the Cation — A Cry from Joe — Into the Icy Rapids — Last of 
 Poor Joe — I Sit Down and Cry — My Awful Predicament — Pro- 
 visions, but Nothing Else — A Sad and Lonely Journey — A Tent 
 Buried in the Snow — Saved! — " Got Any Grub ? " —Kicking the 
 Dogs out of the Snow — Over the Chilkoot in a Blizzard — 
 Homeward Bound — ' ' Poor Joe ! " 
 
 DURING the summer and fall of 1897, or while the 
 events narrated in the preceding chapters were oc- 
 curing, Joe and I did what we could on our Klon- 
 dike claim, much time being spent in preparations for drift- 
 ing the coming winter. Our spring clean-up, while not 
 large, because we had been unable to work as extensively 
 as others, and because we had poor luck in finding the pay- 
 streak and were compelled to sink several holes before strik- 
 ing rich dirt, was still good enough to provide us with a 
 
 (505) 
 

 \ 
 
 f 
 
 
 l\ 
 
 f) 
 
 606 
 
 CONSIDERING OUR DEPARTURE 
 
 comfortable amount of gold dust. While only the large for- 
 tunes suddenly amassed by the few who had worked large 
 fractions of their claims attracted attention, we, neverthe- 
 less, congratulated ourselves upon our good fortune, know- 
 ing that our money was in the ground and could be taken 
 out, if we chose, in the winter. When we returned from 
 our somewhat unpleasant trip to the Indian River district, 
 we at once became aware of the situation as to the food 
 supply at Dawson, and, as we had neglected to lay in pro- 
 visions early, we realized that our hopes of a prosperous win- 
 ter might be dashed to the ground. We hurried down to 
 Dawson and found affairs as already described. It was im- 
 pos8ible4o secure a full stock of provisions for the winter, 
 but any one who would leave the country could get enough 
 for the trip. To those who insisted upon staying a little 
 was being doled out, with the understanding that when 
 enough time had elapsed for its consumption another batch 
 would be sold. The possibilities of speculating in food sup- 
 plies were carefully guarded against. 
 
 Joe and I reflected and consulted. We had experienced 
 a touch of famine the previous winter when but a few people 
 were in the Klondike, and we did not look forward with any 
 degree of satisfaction to the possibility of something worse. 
 It was necessary for us either to stay to hold down our 
 claims, or to find some one who would work them on shares. 
 It was easy enough to find among the eager newcomers men 
 who would make such an arrangement, but as they had no 
 provisions to depend upon, and knew scarcely anything 
 about mining, they would be able to do little work. 
 
 It so happened at that time that the excitement over the 
 Indian River district was at a high point, and we had a good 
 offer for Pvr claims there and also the claim on Bonanza. 
 
 ' /; 
 
WE DECIDE TO GO TO THE COAST 
 
 607 
 
 e large f or- 
 trked large 
 , nevertbe- 
 une, know- 
 d be taken 
 irned from 
 ^er district, 
 o tbe food 
 
 ay in pro- 
 jerous wiu- 
 id down to 
 
 It was im- 
 the winter, 
 get enough 
 ing a little 
 that when 
 other batch 
 n food snp- 
 
 (xperienced 
 few people 
 'd with any 
 ling worse, 
 down our 
 I on shares, 
 omers men 
 ley had no 
 ' anything 
 rk. 
 
 tit over the 
 had a good 
 I Bonanza. 
 
 Joe and I lit our pipes and thought. There were many 
 points in favor of the bird in the hand. 
 
 " But there may be millions in those mines," snid Joe. 
 
 " Possibly," I replied. ** We don't know about that, 
 but we do know that there's a lot of frozen muck and gravel 
 and hard work in them. And we know, too, that by next 
 April we might be willing to trade one of them for a hun- 
 dred of flour." 
 
 We smoked and thought a little more, and concluded to 
 take the bird in the hand. We reckoned that when we got 
 the money we should have about twenty-five thousand dol- 
 lars apiece. 
 
 "We can afford to have poor luck for a year or two," I 
 said to Joe. " And I don't feel as if we were selling our 
 birthright, for there is plenty of gold to be found in Alaska ; 
 better diggings, I'm thinking, than these British moose 
 pastures, especially if the government concludes to take a 
 large share of the profits." 
 
 The next question was whether we should go down or up 
 the river. Joe was inclined to take the former course, but 
 as his claim in the Birch Creek district was being worked, 
 and as we heard rumors that there was little food to be had at 
 Circle City unless it was sledded from Fort Yukon, we de- 
 cided that we would go out to the coast and in the spring 
 bring in a big outfit. Outfits are always profitable, and we 
 thought there was money in the scheme. 
 
 But we were in no hurry, for we wished to wait till the 
 
 ice had become solid and the trail a little packed. We got 
 
 together our stove, tent blankets, and other necessities for 
 
 the trip, and took life easy. So many small parties had 
 
 been going out that dogs were extremely scarce. The price 
 
 had started at one hundred and fifty dollars, but had soon 
 80 
 
 I 
 
 gnr 
 
508 
 
 FAREWELL TO THE KLONDIKE 
 
 .«■ ) 
 
 \)\ 
 
 I 
 
 risen to two hundred dollars, and when we began to think 
 about them they were worth about two hundred and fifty 
 dollars. We smoked and thought again. 
 
 With good dogs we figured that we could reach the coast 
 in about thirty days; without them it would take about forty 
 under good conditions. But Alaskan travel is uncertain, 
 with or without dogs. One thing, however, was certain; 
 the dogs would eat up a good part of what they would draw 
 before they reached the coast unless we made remarkably 
 good time, so we concluded to save our money, even if we 
 lost some time, and draw the sleds ourselves. 
 
 So one morning late in November we bade good-bye for 
 a time to Dawson and the Klondike, and started for the 
 coast in a blinding snow storm. The mercury bottles were 
 frozen solid. The river was rougher than the rocky road 
 to Dublin. It had frozen once, then broken up and frozen 
 again so that it was all humps and bumps, and the only way 
 to maintain a tolerably smooth course was to cross back and 
 forth where the way seemed to open out best. In spite of 
 every precaution ihe sleds were continually overturning 
 while we were slippiiig and sprawling. Parties with dogs 
 fared even worse. The dogs could go anywhere, but the 
 sleds followed theui ^^ometimes right side up, but more often 
 on one side. Many sleds were broken. Soon many of the 
 dogs had badly lacerated feet, and in some cases they were 
 frozen, so that we were rather glad we had concluded to de- 
 pend upon ourselves, though the dog teams quickly got 
 ahead of us and others overtook us. 
 
 All the way from Dawson to the mouth of the Pelly 
 River the river was so rough that dogs were hardly able to 
 haul more than enough to last them to the coast, and it was 
 hard, cold drudgery for Joe and me. In some places the 
 
MILD WEATHER 
 
 60D 
 
 an to think 
 d and fifty 
 
 ih the const 
 about forty 
 uncertain, 
 'as certain; 
 vould draw 
 remarkably 
 even if we 
 
 ood-bye for 
 «d for the 
 lottles were 
 rocky road 
 and frozen 
 e only way 
 38 back and 
 In spite of 
 iverturning 
 i with dogs 
 re, but the 
 more often 
 lany of the 
 they were 
 ided to de- 
 uickly got 
 
 the Pelly 
 ily able to 
 and it was 
 places the 
 
 ice was piled fifteen feet high. All the way along we en- 
 countered the wrecks of boats which had been abandoned 
 when the river closed, tho parties pushing on with only 
 barely enough to keep them alive on the trail. 
 
 We worked along slowly, and when we had gone a dozen 
 miles it seemed as if we bad gone a hundred. Men with 
 frozen cheeks, noses, fingers, and feet were encountered, 
 and occw'onally one in a very bad fix, but we managed to 
 get along very comfortably till we came to the Lewis River. 
 
 The current of this stream is so rapid, and the /eather up 
 to this time had been so mild, that it was only partly frozen 
 over, and in many places it was full of rushing and crushing 
 ice cakes. When I say mild weather I mean, of course, 
 mild for Alaska. As a matter of fact, the mercury had not 
 thawed for a couple of weeks. We speak of mild weather 
 up there in the winter when it averages about fifty below 
 zero. Wherever the ice jams were, the ice was piled in 
 cakes as high as six-story buildings, sloping up gradually on 
 one side and breaking off in sheer precipices on the other. 
 It made it much easier traveling coming out than going in. 
 The current setting down the river runs the ice in such a 
 way that the slope is toward Dawson. In coming out the 
 slope can be climbed first, and then the precipice can be 
 descended, but in going in these precipices are encountered 
 face to face. 
 
 The greatest hardships were endured here on this long 
 stretch of country, both by those going out and by those 
 who had bravely made the effort to reach Dawson, One 
 could hear tales of suffering every day, but every one who 
 was getting along fairly well had no time for the troubles 
 of others, although in severe cases great kindness was 
 shown. 
 
510 
 
 HARDSHIPS BY THE WAY 
 
 •in 
 
 I ^ f 
 
 There was one man who had started out earlv in a boat 
 and had been compelled to return to Dawson, where he 
 finally secured a dog team. At the foot of Lake Lebarge he 
 slipped and fell and sprained his leg. He had plenty of 
 provisions, but his team teade poor time, and he was suf- 
 fering great pain. He offered good money to those who 
 overtook him to pull him out, but they were in too great 
 a hurry tc get out of the country themselves. 
 
 Another young man had been left at Five Finger Rapids 
 with both feet frozen. His companions were unable to help 
 him along to the coast, and so left him as comfortable as 
 they could, realizing what would be his fate. He sent 
 messages to his friends in the East, and there he was left 
 in a little hut with no one to care for him, except such 
 passers-by as had their sympathy touched. He was finally 
 taken care of by a poor family. In many camps we passed 
 men were sick, and thp prospects were that they could not 
 survive the trials of a winter in such a place, sleeping on the 
 snow with the thermometer sometimes as low as seventy 
 degrees below zero. 
 
 Joe and I, who, by spending a winter on the Klondike, 
 had learned how to prepare for the cold weather and rough 
 trails, worked our w.^y along very well over the rou^h river, 
 though in places thy ice was so thin that we and others we 
 encountered had narrow escapes from being plunged into 
 the river. AVe heard of one man who, in crossin^, Vid 
 broken through and slid under the ice. Of course, that was 
 the last of him in such a swift current. At Thirty Mile 
 River it was necessary to make a portage, for the river was 
 running too swift to freeze at all. The trail along the banks 
 was a hard one, and we were constantly in danger of sliding 
 off into the river. 
 
y in a boat 
 where he 
 
 Lebarge he 
 plenty of 
 
 le was suf- 
 
 those who 
 too great 
 
 iger Rapids 
 
 ible to help 
 
 if or table as 
 
 He sent 
 
 he was left 
 
 sxcept such 
 
 was finally 
 
 8 we passed 
 
 Y could not 
 
 ping on the 
 
 as seventy 
 
 3 Klondike, 
 • and rough 
 •ough river, 
 i others wo 
 unged into 
 ossin^, I'ld 
 se, that was 
 ^hirty Mile 
 e river was 
 g the banks 
 r of sliding 
 
 A ONK-HOUSK SM:I)C.K TICAM. 
 A pair of sold-seekors on their wuy to the Gold FicMs. 
 
' : \ 
 
 n 
 
 
AN INDIAN MOTHER 
 
 513 
 
 After many trials we reached White Horse Rapids, 
 camping on a hill near by. The traveling on the lakes was 
 very good, but it was a hard climb up that hill. Much of 
 the time we had to crawl on our hands and knees while drag- 
 ging our sleds, and a careless move would have sent us down 
 into the river. 
 
 When we arrived there preparations were being made to 
 take back to Skagway a young woman who was very ill. 
 She had been rescued from almost certain death at a camp 
 near Lake Lebcirge. She bnrl been pushing toward Daw- 
 son with a party, and, early in November, when going over 
 the last hill at Miles Cafion, she slipped and wrenched her 
 right knee. A stretcher was made for her and the party 
 pushed on to Lake Lebarge, where they finally made camp, 
 but the limb, without medical attendance, grew rapidly 
 worse, and she succumbed to a low rheumatic fever. Her 
 life was despaired of. Finally, she was sent back to a camp 
 at the White Horse Rapids, where a doctor was at last found 
 who put the knee in a plaster cast. After a time she started 
 for Skagway lashed to a sled drawn by five dogs — a ride of 
 one hundred and eighty-five miles, over hills and down val- 
 leys, and through blizzards! 
 
 A little incident of the trail! A little chapter in the 
 history of gold-seeking in Alaska! 
 
 Another true story of the Dyea trail is that of the In- 
 dian mother who was found kneeling in the snow, bared al- 
 most to the skin av.n frozen stiff. But in her rigid arms, 
 wrapped in fold upon fold oi thick furs, she hold a little 
 child, warm and safe. The mother had given her life for 
 her child — only a poor Indian woman, but with as fine an 
 instinct of protective motherhood as that exemplified by any 
 of a superior race. 
 
i ' .3J. ' ^ ' ^ y . ■ ^ ' J.,;nl^l 
 
 IM 1:1 
 
 514 
 
 BACK TO THE AWFUL CASON 
 
 As we were lying on a pile of boughs in our tent that 
 night, with our wet feet shoved up near the red hot stove, 
 Joe said: 
 
 * William, a fellow's life ain't worth much till he gets 
 om < lace like this." 
 
 I g him a quick glance to see if he were looking well, 
 and saw that he was, and, as he was always sober-minded, I 
 thought nothing more about his remark. 
 
 " You know what you told me when we arranged in 
 Colorado to oome to Alaska ," I said. 
 
 " Yes, it takes grit, but we have made pretty well for a 
 two years roughing it, and I was jurt t)iinking that if I ever 
 got out of here I would not be fool enough to return. 
 Colorado is good enough for me. You too. We've got a 
 snug sum, and what we need now is to get it out with our 
 lives." 
 
 He said no more and we were soon asleep. The next 
 day we pushed on toward the caiion. All the way along 
 the rapid river there were open places from which a fine 
 mist came, which quickly settled as frost upon everything. 
 It was the most picturesque spot I ever saw. The rapids 
 were inspiring in their grandness, seething and rushing 
 along between the fantastically shaped ice that had gathered 
 along the bank?. Over this ice we made our way carefully, 
 though not without some fear that it would break with us 
 and that we should be whirled off down the boiling stream, 
 but after about three miles of it we came safely to the 
 canon. 
 
 " There's where I sailed out on the bottom of the Tar 
 Stater," I said to Joe, as we looked up between the bluffs. 
 
 "Well, things did look blue that day, didn't they? 
 But the question now is, which course shall we take here? " 
 
THE RAPIDS CLAIM A VICTIM 
 
 515 
 
 ur tent that 
 d hot stove, 
 
 till he gets 
 
 ooking well, 
 jr-minded, I 
 
 arranged in 
 
 ty well for a 
 hat if I ever 
 to return. 
 We've got a 
 out with our 
 
 I. The next 
 e way along 
 which a fine 
 I everything. 
 The rapids 
 and rushing 
 had gathered 
 ay carefully, 
 reak with us 
 tiling stream, 
 jafely to the 
 
 1 of the Tar 
 the bluffs, 
 didn't they? 
 I take here?" 
 
 There were two routes which we could take. One led 
 up a hill about a hundred feet high and almost as steep as 
 the side of a bam, and then along the top of the bluff to the 
 other end. The other was through the canon on the ice 
 which had fonned along the edge of the rocks. The first 
 meant packing on our backs most of the stuff we had, and in 
 the condition of the trail it would take all day to do it. By 
 taking the latter course we could go through in a few 
 minutes — if the ice would hold. We saw by the tracks 
 that numerous dog teams had already gone through, and 
 there seemed to be no reason why we should not at least 
 make the attempt. 
 
 So we started in. The waters were roaring with that 
 thunder tone which brought vividly back to me my four- 
 minutes trip of a few months before, and along the walls 
 was an uneven shelf of ice which the dashing spray had 
 formed. It seemed sufficiently wide and strong at first, but 
 it gradually narrowed and at times brought us very near the 
 angry water. Joe was ahead and picking his way very 
 carefully. Finally, he came to a place where the shelf of 
 ice was very slanting and he stepped to the outside edge so 
 as to push the sled along and steady it, to prevent it from 
 sliding into the water. 
 
 I was preparing to do the same thing when I heard a 
 sharp cry from Joe, and, looking up, I saw him slip, then 
 slide over the edge of the shelf into the raging rapids. His 
 hand clutched the rope of the sled, and, quick as a flash, I 
 sprang forward to catch it. But it was too late. Over 
 went the sled into the misty loam and sank at once, for it 
 was heavily loaded. 
 
 As I stood almost rigid with fright I saw Joe struggling 
 bra\'ely in the waters, but being swept rapidly down, and 
 
516 
 
 DBAGQED DOWN TO DUATH 
 
 I knew he was no swimmer. I started and ran, but just 
 then he was drawn under the ice shelf, and that was the 
 last I saw of Joe. The whole thing was over almost in an 
 instant. 
 
 Overpowered with horror and grief, I dropped down 
 upon the ice in the midst of that roaring canon and cried 
 like a child. 
 
 Poor Joe ! He was a brave, good, generous fellow, with 
 a heart strong, yet tender. How he had worked and suf- 
 fered to save my life that wild night on Indian Kiver ! And 
 now he was taken away from me so quickly that I could not 
 even throw out a helping hand. Fate had marked that 
 canon as a fatal place for Joe and me. We had for years 
 worked together, suffered together, and helped each other, 
 and always without any real disagreements. And that 
 awful canon had swallowed him almost in an instant; and I 
 could not even hope to find his poor body to raise over it in 
 that wild region some rude memorial to a noble friend. 
 
 Poor Joe ! Just as he had with strenuous effort wrested 
 a little fortune from the unfriendly soil, and was hopefully 
 looking forward to a life of happier conditions under a more 
 genial sun, he was snatched away by Death, — dragged 
 down to an icy grave where the wild waters lash themselvdfe 
 in a continual fury and their savage tumult is unceasing. 
 And the precious dust, for which he had risked and endured 
 so much — that, too, had become the prey of that awful, 
 insatiate force that has claimed many a life, and waits to 
 claim yet more. 
 
 I sat for a long time bewildered, mourning with all my 
 heart for the poor fellow, and then walked back to my sled, 
 which had kept safely to the shelf. Then for the first time 
 I realized my own serious predicament. I was left with the 
 
FORTUNATE FOR BOTH PARTIES 
 
 517 
 
 , but just 
 t was the 
 nost in an 
 
 ped down 
 and cried 
 
 llow, with 
 i and suf- 
 fer! And 
 
 could not 
 irked that 
 
 for years 
 ach other, 
 And that 
 ant; and I 
 t over it in 
 :iend. 
 »rt wrested 
 hopefully 
 ier a more 
 — dragged 
 ;hemselvd& 
 unceasing, 
 d endured 
 lat awful, 
 i waits to 
 
 ith all my 
 
 my sled, 
 
 first time 
 
 t with tlie 
 
 provisions, but with no tent, no stove, no cooking utensils, 
 and only two blankets. I was tempted to jump into the 
 rapids and follow Joe, for I knew I should freeze unless I 
 could fall in with another party who could give me shelter 
 and warmth. I decided to push on through the canon, 
 realizing that I should not be much worse off if I also made 
 a misstep and fell 'u. 
 
 That was a sad and lonely journey for me through those 
 mountain gorges. I stopped for nothing, not even lunch, 
 for I had nothing with which to build a fire, as I had no dry 
 splinters. In the afternoon a terrific snow storm came on 
 and fell so rapidly that it soon obliterated the trail. To go 
 on meant certain death; to attempt to camp in that storm 
 with but two blankets to protect me meant, probably, the 
 same thing. But the latter course offered the only chance 
 of safety. So, as I slowly waded along, I looked about for 
 a sheltered spot. Turning the edge of a mountain which 
 came down to the winding river I uttered a cry of joy. 
 There, in a nook, was a little tent half buried in snow. I 
 hurried on, and, when near, shouted loudly, but no one ap- 
 peared. Opening the tent, a breath of warm air met me. 
 Crouching close to a hot stove was a man who looked weak 
 and sick. On a pile of boughs was another man looking 
 still weaker and sicker. 
 
 " Got any grub? " said the man at the stove, in a husky 
 voice, looking up to me with eager eyes. 
 
 " Too much," I said. " I want a fire and a tent." 
 
 "Wake up, Jim! Wake up! Something to eat !" he 
 said, rousing the other man. 
 
 They had lost their provisions a long ways down the 
 river, and had been passed along from camp to camp with 
 just enough food to last them, but one of them had frozen 
 
618 
 
 SAD THOUGHTS 
 
 » ! 
 
 i AJ 
 
 t i 
 
 tlie soles of his feet and for a whole day they had been 
 camped there with nothing to eat. 
 
 *' I began to think I should have to kill one of the dogs 
 and eat him," said one of the men, after we had feasted. 
 
 "Dogs? I saw no dogs about." 
 
 " Wait a minute." 
 
 We mixed up some flour and bacon and stepped out to 
 where the snow was drifting ever deeper and deeper. Kick- 
 ing about in some little mounds in the drifted snow we found 
 three dogs, sleeping as peacefully and snugly as possible. 
 But how they ate! And then they lay down and let the 
 snow drift over them again. 
 
 The next day we pushed on rapidly, for Jim's feet were 
 better, though still painful. I knew we must make good 
 time if my provisions lasted three men and three dogs over 
 the pass. But we had fair weather till we reached the sum- 
 mit, which we crossed in the teeth of a blizzard. 
 
 While we were at Sheep Camp there was a bad accident 
 on the summit which we had just safely crossed. The 
 blizzard was still raging, and as a party of coast-bound 
 miners were coming over, an avalanche came thundering 
 down the mountain side above the narrow defile through 
 which the miners pass. It covered a large section of the 
 new tramway, and several sleds and tons of provisions were 
 a total loss. On the other side a glacier broke awav, and 
 rushed down with terrific force, burying two sleds and a part 
 of the outfit of two men. 
 
 We reached Dyea without further adventures. It was 
 a sad journey. And as I stood on the deck of the steamer, 
 looking back on those sombre shores and frowning sum- 
 mits, my thoughts were of my lost friend and his tragic 
 death. 
 
!y had been 
 
 I. 
 
 of the dog3 
 d feasted. 
 
 pped out to 
 per. Kick- 
 ow we found 
 as possible, 
 and let the 
 
 I's feet were 
 make good 
 ee dogs over 
 led the sum- 
 bad accident 
 ossed. The 
 coast-bound 
 thundering 
 file through 
 ction of the 
 visions were 
 e away, and 
 Is and a part 
 
 res. It was 
 the steamer, 
 wning sum- 
 d his tragic 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVni 
 
 fHE GREAT RUSH TO THE KLONDIKE AND ALASKA- 
 EXCITEMENT ALL OVER THE WORLD— PREPARA- 
 TION FOR A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE — 
 WHAT IT WILL MEAN IF ALL BECOME RICH. 
 
 At Seattle — The Stampede of 1898— Nothing to Compare with It — 
 The Days of '49 Eclipsed — Transportation Engaged in Advance — 
 Fitting Up Vessels to Accommodate the Trade — " Klondicitis " — 
 The Topic of Conversation Everywhere — Preparing Outfits- 
 Returning Klondikers Besieged — Women and Children Have the 
 Fever — Old Gold-Seekers Aroused — All Sorts of Men Join in 
 the Rush — Great Exodus from California — Associations of 
 Women — Gold Dust on Exhibition — The Craze Reaches Jerusa- 
 lem — A Quarter of a Million of People — How It Appeared to a 
 Returned Klondiker — All After Gold — Money Spent for Outfits — 
 What It May Mean — Doubling the Gold Production in a Single 
 Year — If All Make Fortunes Gold Will Become Cheap. 
 
 BY the time I had arrived in the harbor of Seattle I had 
 about made up my mind that I had seen all I cared 
 to of the Klondike, and that I should look about 
 for a chance to employ my capital in the States. I had 
 formed no adequate idea, even from the stories which had 
 leaked into the Yukon valley, of the extent of the excite- 
 ment over the Klondike discoveries, and my surprise upon 
 landing and learning the true situation may be imagined. 
 I do not believe there is a more remarkable incident in the 
 whole drama of human history than the great stampede of 
 1898, a term which must be given to the exodus of people 
 
 (519) 
 
 h 
 
620 
 
 MORE ARGONAUTS THAN IN '49 
 
 i ) 
 
 It j;,^f 
 
 bound to the frozen regions of the north in search of gold. 
 The stampede of Eastern people to California in 1849 and 
 1850 cannot be compared with it. That movement was 
 gradual, in a sense. It could take place at any time of the 
 year, and people had more and easier routes than Alaska 
 affords. But all the miners who poured into California in 
 the first three years did not number over one hundred 
 and twenty-five thousand, and many careful historians have 
 put the number at less than a hundred thousand. There 
 were never more than fifty thousand arrivals in the South 
 African gold fields in any one year. Not more than seventy 
 thousand people went to Australia when gold was discovered 
 there. But the number of people leaving the Pacific coast 
 alone for the Klondike or other parts of Alaska in the spring 
 of 1898 was estimated at seventy thousand, and it was cal- 
 culated that one hundred and fifty thousand more from the 
 Eastern states, Canada, Europe, Australia, and South 
 America were preparing to set out. 
 
 By the first of January, 1898, the five transcontinental 
 railroads had contracted to sell to Eastern agents tickets for 
 carrying more than forty-five thousand people going to the 
 Klondike before June, and the demands for tickets were 
 coming in every day. The two principal steam navigation 
 companies, operating between Seattle and San Francisco on 
 the south and the Yukon river on the north, had orders for 
 the transportation of over twenty thousand travelers, while 
 new companies for the trade had been formed by the score 
 and were bringing into use almost every steam craft of any 
 size on the coast. The more conservative estimate of the 
 number of people transported by the railroads to the coast 
 to take north-bound vessels was placed by passenger agents 
 at not less than two hundred and fifteen thousand. 
 
' KL0NDICITI8 ' 
 
 521 
 
 h of gold. 
 
 1849 and 
 ment was 
 me of the 
 III Alaska 
 lifomia iu 
 
 hundred 
 rians have 
 1. There 
 the South 
 m seventy 
 liseovered 
 cific coast 
 the spring 
 it was cal- 
 
 from the 
 nd South 
 
 ontinental 
 tickets for 
 ing to the 
 kets were 
 lavigation 
 ancisco on 
 orders for 
 lers, while 
 
 the score 
 aft of any 
 ate of the 
 
 the coast 
 ?er agents 
 
 At the shipping towns all winter hundreds of men were 
 employed night and day in fitting up vessels suitable for 
 carrying people and provisions up the Yukon Riv<!r from 
 the time navigation opened to September. It was said that 
 every vessel on the Pacific coast from Chili to British Co- 
 lumbia that could be bought and made serviceable for a sea 
 voyage was in preparation for the Klondike business. 
 Twenty or more sea-going craft were fitted out in Eastern 
 seaports and went around the Horn to be ready for the 
 grand rush to Alaska. Millions of dollars' worth of capital 
 was put into shipping and transportation companies, and the 
 demand for facilities seemed to have no limit. 
 
 The way the fever had taken hold of the people of the 
 coast, especially in California and Washington, was some- 
 thing appalling. The papers called it " Klondieitis." In 
 the larger centers of California the preparations for going 
 to the Klondike were as general and as earnest as they were 
 in Eastern localities for men going to war in the early 
 sixties. Wherever I went I heard little but " Klondike " 
 talked about on the cars, in the hotels, in the saloons, and 
 even on Sundays at church. Whenever you observed a 
 knot of men in the street, in a rural highway, or in any public 
 place in California, you were pretty sure to find that the 
 latest news of new strikes in the Klondike dig-ii {■ ; was 
 under discussion. All the letters that had come straggling 
 down from Dawson were passed from hand to hand and read 
 aloud until they fell into tatters. " Yes, I'm going this 
 spring," was a popular button worn. In all the large cities 
 nuggets and bottles of gold dust were on exhibition in show- 
 windows, and groups of men were always about the yellow 
 stuff which at Dawson would not have attracted half as 
 much of a crowd as a nice roast of beef. Wherever I went, 
 
 t i. 
 
622 
 
 STUDYING THE TOPOGRAPHY OF ALASKA 
 
 m :"' 
 
 '[) 
 
 railroad billboards were covered with Klondike circulars, 
 and, later, in every depot I entered as I came East were to be 
 found circulars announcing an easy route to the Pacific 
 coast and the Klondike. 
 
 The fever affected all lines of enterprise. It was a great 
 thing for business on the Pacific coast. Hundreds of firms 
 and individuals were preparing outfits of fur caps and coats, 
 rubber goods, sleds, stoves, tents, and all sorts of devices, and 
 were selling them like hot cakes. 
 
 The Klondike fever seemed to be in the air. "Wr^men 
 and children shared in the desire to get rich in the n- 
 dike, and maps of Alaska were pored over by whole f ^3 
 for evenings at a time. When I was visiting an old friend 
 of mine in Los Angeles I was besieged by all the neighbors 
 for information as to the Klondike. One evening I asked 
 his son, a bright lad of ten years, if he knew the length of 
 the sea coast of California, and he said he did not But I 
 found that he knew the exact length of the Yukon River. 
 Little schoolboys and girls knew the topography of the 
 Yukon and Klondike regions better than they did that of 
 their native hcate. The fact that several hunc'red men went 
 from the Pacific coast to the Yukon River mines in 1894, 
 1895, and 1896, all very poor, and that they came back in 
 1897 very rich — some of them millionaires and some of 
 them bringing with them sixty thousand dollars, seventy 
 thousand dollars, and eighty thousand dollars in actual gold 
 — set the communities in which these success f ul Klondikera 
 were personally known well-nigh wild with an::iety to go 
 and do likewise. 
 
 The desiro on the Pacific coast for information about 
 the possibilities in the marvelous new diggings has amounted 
 almost to hunger. The public libraries all had constant 
 
iCA 
 
 FORCED T > GO INTO HIDING 
 
 523 
 
 circulars, 
 ; were to be 
 the Pacific 
 
 was a great 
 )ds of firms 
 I and coats, 
 evices, and 
 
 Women 
 the n- 
 )le f .3 
 old friend 
 neighbors 
 ng I asked 
 e length of 
 lot. But I 
 ikon River, 
 phy of the 
 did that of 
 d men went 
 es in 1894, 
 me back in 
 ttd some of 
 irs, seventy 
 actual gold 
 Klondikers 
 :aety to go 
 
 ition about 
 s amounted 
 id constant 
 
 calls for literature relating to Alaska. All the returned 
 Klondikers were run after and appealed to by crowds of men 
 and a few women for Klondike information. The more 
 successful Klondikers were driven to exasperation by un- 
 countable questions from droves of people. William 
 Hewitt, who came back to his Vc itura country home with 
 a five-gallon oil can filled with gold dust and nuggets, had 
 more than one hundred callers and talkers every day for 
 weeks, and as many letters from everv State in the Union. 
 J. C. Miller was on the verge of m rvoua prostration and 
 had to leave his Los Angeles home when he got back from 
 the Klondike because he was visited by a swarm of gold- 
 crazy men day after day for a month. 
 
 Clarence A. Berry and his wife, who came from Daw- 
 son with more than one hundred and ten thousand dollars, 
 were followed by such throngs on the streets of San Fran- 
 cisco that they fled to their quiet ranch home at Selma, 
 where a flood of letters came in upon them with every mail. 
 Jacob Wiseman, a returned Klondiker in Walla Walla, 
 Wash., was bothered so much and so long by Klondike-wild 
 people that he quit the town secretly and went and lived 
 under an assumed name at Tacoma for a few weeks. 
 
 The men who were making ready for the Yukon River 
 and Klondike country were of all stations. Naturally, the 
 old-time miners were most mightily moved by the news of 
 the gold find in Alaska, and, possessed by the characteristic 
 restlessness of gold-seekers, many of them had gone to 
 Alaska and had been struggling all winter from Dyea and 
 Skagway over the Chilkoot Pass to Dawson. About every 
 able-bodied and ambitious man in California who had been 
 out of employment for a time was either arranging to start 
 for the Klondike or was just itching for a chance to get 
 
524 
 
 EVERY HAMLET SENDS ITS SHARE 
 
 I , 
 
 away. Hundreds of men gave notice to their employers 
 that they would quit their jobs and sail as soon as possible 
 for Alaska, The Santa Fe and Southern PaciCc railroad 
 companies each received applications from scores of men 
 for relief from duty. Every police force in tlie larger cities 
 up the Pacific coast States had vacancies caused by the resig- 
 nation of men going to the gold diggings. 
 
 Clerks, lawyers, editors, reporters, doctors, merchants, 
 butchers, cobblers, stablemen, ranchers, and especially 
 engineers and men who love adventure were getting ready 
 to start for rhe Klondike when navigation began. The men 
 who had a few thousand dollars saved, and believed they 
 could soon double their capital by lending it at exorbitant 
 interest rates, or by trading, were largely in evidence among 
 those who were soon going north. More than three-fourths 
 of the members of the graduating classes of the San Fran- 
 cisco and Los Angeles medical schools were hastening their 
 studies with a view to getting established in the practice of 
 their profession somewhere in the Klondike country. 
 
 Every community, even the most humble hamlet, had 
 some citizens who were packing and planning to live a year 
 at least in the Klondike gold region. In such towns as 
 Fresno, Stockton, Ri\Trside, Pomona, and Redlands there 
 were companies of twenty and thirty men who were going 
 to dig for Klondike gold. The great<^st rv.sh of people in 
 any Eastern city in the United States for the Klondike 
 placer mines was from Cliicago. 
 
 The number of Avomen going to the Klondike as soon 
 as navigation opens was increasing as the continuous reports 
 of richer and more abundant finds came down from the 
 frozen nortli. The allurements of the yellow metal were 
 almost as potent among the women of California as among 
 
MINING ASSOCIATIONS OF WOMEN 
 
 5i5 
 
 employers 
 as possible 
 Cc railroad 
 res of men 
 arger cities 
 y the resig- 
 
 merchants, 
 especially 
 tting ready 
 The men 
 lieved they 
 ; exorbitant 
 3nce among 
 iree-fonrths 
 ! San Fran- 
 ening their 
 practice of 
 intry. 
 
 lamlet, had 
 I live a year 
 ;h towns as 
 Hands there 
 were going 
 »f people in 
 e Klondike 
 
 like as soon 
 jous reports 
 n from the 
 metal were 
 ia as among 
 
 the men, and the exhibits of Klondike nuggets and golden 
 dust in the store and bank windows and public places, and 
 the personal knowledge of men who went to Alaska poor in 
 1895 and came back rich, all had their effect. The book- 
 sellers said they had hundreds of calls from women for 
 books and maps giving a knowledge of Alaska, and the 
 newspaper accounts of the work and success of the miners 
 on the Klondike were read by as many California women as 
 men. Every community of two thousand or three thou- 
 iband people had a few women residents making ready to go 
 to live in the Klondike region for a year or two. In Los 
 Angeles tiiere were twenty women making Klondike prepa- 
 rations. San Diego had half a dozen, San Francisco more 
 than one hundred, Portland, Ore., a score, and Seattle twice 
 as many more. But fev>' of these women were going with 
 husbands. The greater pa''t of them had no husbands, and 
 they went to the gold i*egions expecting that where men 
 may get rich either as workers in mines or owners of mining 
 claims they also may do so. 
 
 A few women went as mining prospectors. Miss Jennie 
 Hilton, who has made a small fortune in gold-mining in 
 Arizona, contrac ed with a syndicate of biisiness-like women 
 to spend two years in gold-mining in the Klondike region. 
 The profits were to go to the members oi ■ he syndicate, who 
 will pay Miss Hilton a good salary an! twenty per cent, of 
 the first year's find of gold. Several associations of women 
 were formed for mining in the Klondike region, and each 
 sent several women to seek gold for them. 
 
 Th" competition among the transcontinental railroad 
 companies for the transportation business, and among the 
 cities of San Francisco, Seattle, and Tacoma for the enor- 
 mous sums spent on the coast for Klondike outfits, was very 
 81 
 
526 
 
 TRAVELING EXHIBITS 
 
 keen. Three of the raih'oad companies had cars filled with 
 Klondike exhibits traveling from town to town in the 
 Eastern States. The cars were substantially the same. 
 Each contained glass jars of nuggets and gold dust, litera- 
 ture about Alaska and the new diggings, and a complete and 
 varied assortment of the articles necessary for living and 
 successful mining in the Arctic regions. There were 
 miners' pans, rockers, picks, hammers, shovels, quicksilver 
 contrivances for holding particles of gold, besides samples 
 of fur and wool garments worn in the Arctic regions, fur 
 hoods and muffs and walrus skin shoes. There were hun- 
 dreds of pictures showing how the gravel of the mines is 
 thawed and dug out, and how it is finally sluiced when the 
 warmer weather of midsummer comes; pictures of miners* 
 life in the Yukon cabins, and photographs of Dawson and 
 the surrounding country. 
 
 The rush of people to the Klondike during the five 
 months of navigation in 1898 was the most wonderful ever 
 known to any region — gold or otherwise. White, red, 
 brown, and black men alike ' ^ ere stirred by the discovery of 
 a new gold field, and all came over seas from the antipodes 
 and across continents to join in a grand rush northward up 
 the Pacific. 
 
 One company alone received more than twenty-five 
 thousand inquiries from ])eople saying they were making 
 ready to go to the Klondike. 
 
 The letters that the transportation companies received 
 ■^evpry day showed that the Klondike fever was by no means 
 local. It reached Russia and even staid old Jerusalem, 
 where one would believe that digging gold within the Arctic 
 circle would not have a moment's consideration. A gentle- 
 man in the Central Pacific offices showed me a letter from a 
 
rs filled with 
 town in the 
 y the same, 
 dust, litera- 
 jomplete and 
 r living and 
 There were 
 , quicksilver 
 ides samples 
 regions, fur 
 •e were hun- 
 the mines is 
 ed when the 
 !S of miners' 
 Dawson and 
 
 ing the five 
 fiderful ever 
 White, red, 
 discovery of 
 le antipodes 
 )rthward up 
 
 twenty-five 
 'ere making 
 
 ies received 
 )V no means 
 Jerusalem, 
 a the Arctic 
 A gentle- 
 Jtter from a 
 
 THIS MADNESS BEACHES ROUND THE WORLD 627 
 
 Greek in Jerusalem who said that he and a company of 
 other Greeks there are going tv Dawson with stores of 
 goods to trade. Norwegians and Swedes have been more 
 deeply interes';ed in the newl^ -found gold mines in Alaska 
 than any people on the continent of Europe. Several of 
 their countrymen were among the Klondikers who came 
 down from Alaska with fortunes. A sloop having on board 
 ninety Norwegians left Christiania in October, going 
 around the Horn and reaching San Francisco in April. 
 Hundreds of letters from Englishmen were received, and 
 there were large concerns doing a thriving business in Lon- 
 don in fitting out prospective Klondikers with Arctic 
 raiment and miners' tools. The Canadian Pacific Kailroad 
 expected to carry several thousand young Englishmen and 
 Canadians across the continent on tlioiv way to the iv Ion- 
 dike. Dozens of large expeditioi vcre forming in Eng- 
 land and Scotland for digging gold ;. the Yukon River 
 country. 
 
 The Britannia-Columbia Company sold tlioi Hands of 
 pounds' worth of stock and sent more than five hundred 
 men to mine and trade in the new gold region. An (expedi- 
 tion of three hundred Scotchmen sailed for Montreal in the 
 latter part of January on their way tc Alaska. A company 
 of young Italians was in San Francisco, impatiently await- 
 ing the sailing of the first boat for the Yukon. They were, 
 they said, the advance guard of several hundred of thii 
 countrymen who have been charmed by the news of the 
 fortunes made on the Klondike. 
 
 A fairly conservative estimate of the number of people 
 who were going into the Klondike or to other gold fields in 
 Alaska was two hundred and fifty thousand. I met them 
 all the way on my trip East. Every west-bound expresa 
 
628 
 
 A MANIFESTATION OP HUMAN NATURE 
 
 I i 
 
 
 I; 
 
 was loaded down with Klondikers. One day I saw fourteen 
 coaches on a west-bound train. Nine coaches make an 
 ordinary and a heavy train, but the rush was so great that 
 five additional coaches had been attached to the train. 
 Every day there were from three to six additional coaches 
 to each westward-bound train. The passenger list of a 
 single day's through train included about two hundred men 
 and one hundred dogs bound for the gold fields. 
 
 To one who has just returned from a two-years ex- 
 perience in the gold regions of the Yukon, who has seen 
 death and suffering as an incident of everyday life, who 
 knows what mining in Alaska or in the Klondike means, 
 who has been forced to rush back to the States to make sure 
 of enough to eat, and who has seen his dearest friend 
 swept away under the ice by a raging river which can count 
 its victims by the score, these preparations for rushing for 
 fortunes into those frozen mountains appeared like madness. 
 Yet when we come to study it, it is nothing of the kind. It 
 is human nature manifesting itself in a certain direction. 
 What had Joe and I gone into Alaska for? Gold. What 
 did the ten thousand or more people who sought to go in 
 in 1897 want but gold? And what were the two hundred 
 and fifty thousand people I found preparing to rush in after 
 but gold? It is that which society in its growth and 
 economic development has decreed as the standard of all 
 value, that which the old alchemists tried to make, which the 
 miser gloats over, that which when held in abundance gives 
 men standing in society, influence, and power. That is 
 what all are after, and the stampede would probably not be 
 more remarkable if the only way tn save the immortal soul 
 was to winter in Alaska. 
 
 But there is money to be made in the United States as 
 
iw fourteen 
 8 make an 
 ) great that 
 the train, 
 nal coaches 
 ;r list of a 
 andred men 
 
 ro-years ex- 
 bo has seen 
 y life, who 
 like means, 
 make sure 
 irest friend 
 h can count 
 rushing for 
 ke madness, 
 le kind. It 
 n direction, 
 old. What 
 ;ht to go in 
 wo hundred 
 ush in after 
 growth and 
 idard of all 
 e, which the 
 idance gives 
 r. That is 
 )ably not be 
 imortal soul 
 
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II 
 
WHAT THB AYBRAOE IS 
 
 531 
 
 well as in Alaska. One might make as much in a day on 
 the stock exchange as he can find in a year in Alaska or the 
 Klondike. But that is not the point. The impression is 
 that the gold of the Yukon can be obtained easily, that the 
 land is a poor man's country, and that in a year or so one 
 may return nch and take that place in society that wealth 
 can give. But gold does not grow upon the bushes of the 
 Yukon hills; it does not lie to any great extent on the 
 ground; in the whole great valley probably there are few 
 places where boulders can be turned over disclosing shining 
 nuggets underneath. There are acres of gold there, but to 
 secure the precious metal one must be prepared to work as 
 he would not work in the United States. He must run 
 the risk of losing his life or ruining his constitution, and 
 even then he may not find the wealth he sought. 
 
 During the winter following the gold discover, es on the 
 Yukon there were at least two thousand people at Dawson 
 and in the mines. The output was reckoned at about six 
 million dollars; that is about three thousand dollars for each 
 person. No man can go into the Klondike and live a year 
 and profitably work a mine for any such amount of money 
 as that. The trip in with a fair outfit can cost no less than 
 five hundred dolhtrs. By the time he has staked a claim, 
 ^uilt a hut, and prepared to work tha mine, he has spent 
 ntirer tv/o thousand dollars, and if he is careful and has 
 good luck he may get out of the country at the end of a year 
 on the balance. 
 
 But, it \vill be said, there were several men who went in 
 with thousands in the summer of 1897 and came out with 
 millions. They certainly came out with thousands. So 
 much the worse, then, for those who did not make thou- 
 sands, for, as I have said, the output per person was not 
 
533 
 
 A MONETARY UPHEAVAL 
 
 greater than three thousand. If a hundred or so came out 
 with thousands, how about the other one thousand nine hun- 
 dred who did not ? 
 
 It has been said that ten thousand people rushed into 
 the Klondike and to other points on the Yukon in 1897. 
 But the output can hardly be greater than twenty million, 
 that is two thousand per person. If two hundred and fifty 
 thousand people rush into the country, it is not likely that 
 they will spend less than three hundred dollars each in get- 
 ting into tlie country. That means seventy-five million 
 dollars. They will probably spend more on the average. 
 Supposing that these people spend a year in Alaska and take 
 out an averap-p of two thousand dollars each — an amount 
 that would not pay their expenses — the aggregate output 
 for 1898-99 would be five hundred million dollars, or more 
 than twice the gold production in 1897 for the entire 
 world. 
 
 It is plain, therefore, that the great rush of people 
 into the Yukon valley means one of two things; either a 
 great loss of money for those engaged in the rush, or a 
 complete upsetting of the standard on which all values are 
 based. 
 
 But they are not after the paltry two thousand dollars! 
 They woiild not rush in for that. Their hopes are to come 
 6ut as some of the lucky ones did last year with fortunes of 
 fifty thousand dollars or more apiece, perhajw a million. 
 They do not stop to think what that means. If one-half of 
 them made fortunes of only twenty-five thousand dollars 
 each and the other half made nothing, it would mean an 
 output of over four billion dollars in gold, or more than all 
 the coined gold in a world which has been coining it for 
 fifty centuries. 
 
THE FINAL RESULT 
 
 533 
 
 10 came out 
 d nine hun- 
 
 rushed into 
 m in 1897. 
 aty million, 
 ed and fifty 
 ; likely that 
 each in get- 
 five million 
 he average, 
 ika and take 
 - an amount 
 (gate output 
 ars, or more 
 • the entire 
 
 There must either be a terrible disappointment to the 
 thousands who are going into Alaska and the Klondike or 
 there must be a monetary upheaval. If all become rich in 
 gold, the metal will become cheap, too cheap to be worth the 
 hazards and privations endured by those who sought it. 
 
 ti of people 
 gs; either a 
 ; rush, or a 
 11 values are 
 
 
 sand dollars! 
 are to come 
 1 fortunes of 
 « a million, 
 f one-half of 
 isand dollars 
 lid mean an 
 nore than all 
 aining it for 
 
E ■ 
 
 CHAPTER yXXIX 
 
 ^. \ 
 
 RESOURCES OP THE YUKON VALLEY — POSSIBILITIES 
 OP QUARTZ MINING — COOK INLET, UNQA ISLAND 
 AND COPPER RIVER— THE FUTURE OP ALASKA. 
 
 Waiting for More Thorough Prospects — Comparative Smallnessof the 
 Klondike District — Room for a Million to be Lost in — The Klon- 
 dike all Located — The Government's Gold Map — Traces of Gold 
 Everywhere — Most of Alaska Unexplored — Some Comparisons 
 with Early Production in California — Diflference in Conditions — 
 Obstacles to be Overcome — Possibly a Dozen Klondikes — Induce- 
 ments for Quart7. Mining — A Belt of Rich Rock Thousands of 
 Miles Long — The Quartz Mines of Unga Island — A String of 
 Islands that May be Rich in Gold — A Test of Klondike Quartz — 
 Credit for the Pirst Discovery — Cook Inlet and Its Mines — The 
 Benefit of Waiting a Little Longer — The Copper River Country — 
 Stories of Rich Diggings — Priendly Indians with Mineral Wealth 
 —Points of Distribution — Unforeseen Results of Our Purchase of 
 Alaska— Its Puture. 
 
 WHILE it may seem that there can be but one 
 answer to the question as to whether the hopes 
 of the thousands of people who have gone to the 
 Yukon valley can be realized, it is certainly impossible for 
 any man to say what may be the results till the great country 
 has been more thoroughly explored and prospected. The 
 general conception of what is required in life in Alaska 
 or the British Northwest Territory, is quite as inadequate 
 as the usual idea. as to the size of the country, and of the 
 comparative size of the so-called Klondike district. The 
 
 (534) 
 
ROOM FOR A MILLION MORE 
 
 535 
 
 SIBILITIES 
 A ISLAND 
 LA8KA. 
 
 allness of Uie 
 -The Klon- 
 aces of Gold 
 Comparisons 
 Donditions — 
 ;es — Induce- 
 'housands of 
 A String of 
 ke Quartz — 
 Mines — The 
 r Country — 
 leral Wealth 
 Purchase of 
 
 3 but one 
 the hopes 
 one to the 
 jssible for 
 at country 
 ted. The 
 in Alaska 
 nadequate 
 nd of the 
 ict. The 
 ) 
 
 area of the whole of the Klondike and Indian River dis- 
 tricts, upon which any work of importance was done before 
 the spring of 1898, is not greater than that uf the State of 
 Rhode Island. But the area of Alaska alon(! is four hun- 
 dred and twenty times that of Rhode Island, and the British 
 Yukon district, in which the Klondike region lies, is at least 
 two hundred times the size of the State of Rhode Island. 
 In other words, almost the whole excitement over gold dis- 
 coveries in the north has centered in a little clump of moun- 
 tains forming about one six hundred and twenty-fifth part 
 of the great country whose future has become a matter of 
 such interest, and upon the development of which results 
 so largely depend. It will thus be seen that while there re- 
 mains little chance for newcomers in the Klondike, it would 
 be easy for a million people to be so placed in the whole 
 country that they might feel lonesome. Those who 
 stumbled upon the Klondike placers just happened to find 
 one of the rich pockets unc'er the moss and muck of the 
 land, and even as a result of nearly two years of excitement 
 much less of the district has been worked than has been 
 preempted. Comparatively little ground has been worked 
 yet. The claims on the various creeks forming the dis- 
 trict have all been located; wherever gold has been found 
 on the side hills above the creek beds bench claims have 
 been lo<'ated, and a few quartz claims have been recorded. 
 But even so, the Klondike district is a small one compared 
 with the area of country over which gold has been found. 
 
 As a result of the new interest in these gold fields, the 
 government of the United States has recently prepared a 
 gold map combining the results of its recent explorations 
 and the reports of those who have found traces of gold in 
 various parts of the country. Wherever such traces have 
 
 a 
 
686 
 
 ASTONISHING RESULTS POSSIBLE 
 
 V 
 
 f I 
 
 lO 
 
 been found it is indicated by yellow spots, and the most 
 striking thing about it is the extent of the country so 
 dotted. Gold is everywhere, apparently, on all the creeks 
 and rivers, and yet most of the gold that has been taken 
 out has been from a few small creeks and gulches. A large 
 part of Alaska is entirely unexplored, is a real terra in- 
 cognita. The fact that so many have had their attention 
 attracted in its direction constitutes the possibility of start- 
 ling results. 
 
 When we consider that the country in question is five 
 times as large as California, and that gold ivS found over 
 such a large area, while the placers of California were not 
 large in comparison with the whole State, and, further, that 
 placers of such richness as those of the Yukon have never 
 before been foinid, it is easy to see that the mcst astonish- 
 ing results are possible, when human energy and ingenuity 
 is once centered on the problem of securing the gold. 
 
 The gold production of the United States for the first 
 six years of the California discoveries (nearly all of it the 
 result of working the alluvial of that State) is officially 
 
 given as follows: 
 
 1848, . . 
 
 1849, . . 
 
 1850, . . 
 
 $10,000,000 
 40,000,000 
 50,000,000 
 
 1851, 
 1852, 
 1853, 
 
 165,000,000 
 60,000,000 
 65,000,000 
 
 From that point it began to decline rapidly, for the 
 placers were exhausted to a large degree. On about a 
 score of mines, which were worked in a crude way during 
 the winter of 1896-7 on two streams in the Klondike, fully 
 five million dollars in gold was produced. The evidence 
 of this fact is that more than that amount was brought 
 down ill the summer of 1897 from this region, and there 
 ^vas certainly considerable gold taken out that winter that 
 
A HUNDRED MILLIONS ANNUALLY 
 
 537 
 
 i the most 
 country so 
 the creeks 
 been taken 
 I. A large 
 I terra in- 
 V attention 
 ty of start- 
 
 kion is five 
 onnd over 
 J were not 
 rther, that 
 lave never 
 t astonish- 
 ingenuity 
 )ld. 
 
 T the first 
 1 of it the 
 I ofiicially 
 
 )0,000 
 )0,000 
 W.OOO 
 
 ^, for the 
 
 about a 
 
 ly during 
 
 ike, fully 
 
 evidence 
 
 brought 
 
 md there 
 
 nter that 
 
 was not brought down. While during the succeeding win- 
 ter more claims were worked, the scarcity of food reiidt'red 
 the labor of many who were in the district inefficient. 
 Nevertheless, the production can hardly be less than twice 
 what it was in California in 1848, and if the people rushing 
 into the country in 1898 accomplish anything like what 
 the Forty-niners did, or what the gold-seekers in 1851 in 
 Australia did, it can not be an exaggeration to say that the 
 gold production of Alaska and the upper Yukon territory 
 may reach a hundred millions annually; and while the rich 
 placers of California were quickly exhausted, those of the 
 North seem inexhaustible. 
 
 But the difference in climate and in the conditions as 
 to placer mining between California or Australia and the 
 Yukon must' be taken into consideration. In Australia 
 and California a man with pick, shovel, and pan could, in 
 the days of guloh or creek mining, prospect in all seasons, 
 was nearly always within easy reach of supplies, and could 
 prospect many miles of creek in a few weeks; for there the 
 ground was not frozen and was not covered with muck, and 
 the pay was, in most cases, found along the present streams, 
 something that is not true on the Yukon, where the gold in 
 all creek claims is mined from what is called a pay-channel, 
 or, sometimes, two pay-channels. The pay-channels do 
 not follow the lines of the present streams at all, though 
 confined by the same walls; and prospectors in endeavoring 
 to locate the pay are in no way guided by the course of the 
 present streams nor assisted by modern erosions, except 
 that in summer they may find evidence that there is a rich 
 pay-channel in the presence of gold in the bed of the stream, 
 washed from such pay-channel ; but in order to find the de- 
 posit the prospector must wait until the ground is frozen. 
 
 ♦' 
 
538 
 
 POSSIBILITIES IN QUARTZ MINING 
 
 But sucii obstacles will not baffle human ingenuity, and 
 it is safe to say that the discovery on the Klondike is but 
 the beginning of systematic mining on a large scale, for, 
 immense as the riches of the district are, they are merely 
 an object lesson of the opportunities which lie waiting 
 throughout the Yukon basin. Even the crowds who have 
 already gone will hardly make a showing in that vast area. 
 Wc have yet to hear from creeks like Sulphur, Montana, 
 and Moosehide, which are known to be rich and which were 
 largely discovered and staked by those who first rushed in 
 after the news of the Klondike. It is not extravagant to 
 say that another year may develop a dozen Klondikes, and 
 that the principal scene of operations will be in Alaska, 
 where miners are free from the extortion of royalty and 
 taxes by the Canadian government. 
 
 In many respects quartz mining offer? greater induce- 
 ments to those seeking fortunes in Alaska than the working 
 of the frozen placers, but, as yet, little is known of the pos- 
 sibilities in this direction. There is the naitural assump- 
 tion that where such rich deposits are found in the creek 
 beds and on some < f the hillsides, gold-bearing rock of 
 great value must exist. It would seem to be a fact that the 
 gold in nuggets found <m Bonanza and Eldorado bears no 
 evidence of having traveled any distance — in fact, the ma- 
 jority of the nuggets are as angular and irregular in shape 
 as though just pounded out of the mother lode. This leads 
 to the inference that that mother lode is not very distant 
 from where this gold is now found, and the only debatable 
 question is, is it in lodes of sufficient (linier'--'^r.s to pay for 
 working liv stamp mills, or is it a seines of widely-dis- 
 seminated, thin seams that the miners term '' stringers. 
 
 so 
 
enuity, and 
 dike is but 
 scale, for, 
 are merely 
 lie waiting 
 3 who have 
 t vast area. 
 , Montana, 
 which were 
 t rushed in 
 •ava^nt to 
 ndikes, and 
 in .Uaska, 
 oyalty and 
 
 ter induce- 
 le working 
 of the pos- 
 al assump- 
 
 the creek 
 ig rock of 
 ict that the 
 o bears no 
 ct, the ma- 
 |ir in shape 
 This leads 
 ?ry distant 
 
 debatable 
 to pay for 
 widely-dis- 
 ingers," so 
 
 THE GOLD-BEARING ZONE 
 
 539 
 
 iime 
 
 scattered as to render working them unprofitable? 
 alone will reveal this secret. 
 
 Gold has been found ac the head of Lake Lebarge on a 
 stream flowing into the lake from the east. Prospects, too, 
 are found on the Dalton trail, on the other side of the 
 Yukon River. A man riding across the Alsek on this trail 
 was thrown from his horse, and in clambering ashore caught 
 at a small tree, which pulled out by the roots. Where he 
 landed he saw something shining on the rock. He picked 
 it up and found that it Avas gold. He showed this gold at 
 Fort Cudahy iii July, 1896, the amount being about one 
 dollar and sixty cents. Other prospects have also been 
 found along the same trail, about midway between there 
 and Selkirk. 
 
 From these circumstances and discoveries it may be as- 
 sumed that in all this country there is gold, while in one 
 particular zone it is especially abundant. This zone lies 
 outside of a range of mountains which extends to the west- 
 ward of the Rockies and has the same general trend. It 
 consists of cretaceous rock, rising into very high peaks in 
 some places, and crosses the Yukon River just below the 
 boundary. The ore-bearing rocks crop out at intervals on 
 tl e hills, being covered up in between by thousands of feet 
 of sedimentary shales, the peculiar formation l>eing due to 
 a tremendous crumpling up of the whole region in some 
 ancient epoch. 
 
 Opposite the mouth of Klondike Cre«>k, and opposite 
 Dawson, a tunnel has been driven into a wide body of ore 
 m the rocks, which is said to assay thirty-six dollars in gold 
 and eighteen dollars in silver to the ton. On the trail from 
 Circle City to Birch Creek is a quartz vein ten feet wide 
 
 t 
 
640 
 
 MINES ON DOUGLAS ISLAND 
 
 Ns 
 
 I ■»■ 
 
 } > 
 
 that shows much free gold. On Deadwood Creek, in the 
 neighborhood of Birch Creek, is a wide vein rich in silver. 
 
 So far as any tests of importance have been made, there 
 can be little doubt of the existence of a great belt of ore, 
 and some rich specimens have been reported. The Cana- 
 dian surveyor who made a test of a specimen taken from a 
 claim on Gold Bottom Creek said of it: 
 
 " I had no sieve and had to employ a hand mortar, 
 which those who know anything of the work will under- 
 stand would not give the best results. The poorest result 
 obtained, however, was one hundred uji^ars to the ton, 
 while the richest was one thousand dollars. Of course, I 
 do not know what the extent of the v;laim is, but the man 
 who found it said that from the rock exjwsed the deposit 
 must be considerable in extent." 
 
 The credit for the first quartz discovery in the Klondike 
 seems to belong to one W. Oler. On December 15th he 
 found a well-defined ledge of gold-bearing quartz on Hunker 
 Creek, just above Last Chance. It was of pure white, re- 
 sembling the rose quartz of California, and l.he ledge aver- 
 aged seven feet wide on the croppings. Crude assays of the 
 quartz showed free gold, and a half interest in the claim 
 was purchased by Ladue for eight thousand dollars. Oler 
 was regarded as one of the best quartz experts on the 
 Yukon. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the large stamp 
 mills on Douglas Island opposite Juneau. Several other 
 mines in that vicinity are being successfully worked by 
 capital. Indeed, it requires capital, for while the ledge 
 of gold-bearing rock stretches for many miles the ore is of 
 low grade. With capital these mines in 1897 produced 
 almost as much gold as the Klondike placers. 
 
THE COOK INLET DISTRICT 
 
 541 
 
 reek, in the 
 1 in silver, 
 made, there 
 belt of ore, 
 The Cana- 
 iken from a 
 
 and mortar, 
 will under- 
 )orest result 
 to the ton, 
 )f course, I 
 )ut the man 
 the deposit 
 
 lie Klondike 
 
 ier 15th he 
 on Hunker 
 
 e white, re- 
 ledge aver- 
 ssays of the 
 
 1 the olaim 
 lars. Oler 
 rts on the 
 
 arge stamp 
 veral other 
 worked by 
 
 the ledge 
 IP ore is of 
 
 produced 
 
 Nearly all the mining in western Alaska thus far is at 
 Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, and Unga Island. At 
 Unga there are a number of quartz mines, one of wliich> the 
 Apollo Consolidated, has a development of about eight 
 hundred feet, and forty stamps at Avork. In 189G it 
 crushed about forty one thousand tons and produced over 
 three hundred thousand dollars' worth of bullion. It is 
 now shipping about thirty thousand dollars a month to San 
 Francisco. The island is but one of that great group which 
 stretches for such a distance into the Pacific, and scarcely 
 any prospecting has been done upon them, though there 
 are many indications that they are nearly all of the same 
 formatic i. For anything that may be known, all these 
 islands may be rich in gold. 
 
 Actual operations have been largely confined to the 
 districts known as Cook's Inlet and Prince William Sound, 
 into which flows the Copper Eiver. The country about 
 Cook Inlet is not developed yet, so that it is impossible to 
 say how rich it may be. So far, while no very rich placer 
 claims have been reported, many are paying well. Mills 
 Creek is reported to be the best. One company kx'ated 
 there, working twenty men, averaged one thousand dollars 
 a day for the season of 1807. The season lasts for not more 
 than four months. There were only about forty men win- 
 tering at Sunrise City, and thirty at Cook City, and they 
 had provisions for three years, so that they possessed some 
 advantages Avhich Avere Jacking in the Yukon districts. 
 
 A man who has been at Sunrise City for two years tells 
 me that the minei-s have not really commenced on the Cook 
 Inlet district yet. It requires a whole season to fully pros- 
 pect a claim. Some men work a while without getting 
 anything, and then go away pronouncing the place of no 
 
 V 
 
642 
 
 FORTUNE SMILED AT LAST 
 
 y I 
 
 f 
 
 ;' S 
 
 * Si 
 
 value. But one fellow illustrated the wisdom of staying 
 a little longer. He had five hundred dollars when he ar- 
 rived av, the Inlet, and went to work on Lynx Creek. He 
 took ou;: about one dollar and fifty cents a day to the man, 
 and was drawing on his capital to pay his help at the rate 
 of four dollars a day per man. When hi? money was 
 nearly all gone the men stopped work and pulled away, 
 saying there was no g'lld thcie and that the poor fellow 
 had lost his capital. One day, however, he came to town 
 with a "ack of one thousand dollars, which he had taken 
 out in a week, and he took one thousand a week for the re- 
 mainder of the season. 
 
 Only two streams and their tributaries have ever been 
 mined — Six Mile Kiver and Resurrection Creek. The 
 tributaries of the former which are paying are Caiion, 
 Mills, a tributary of Canon, and Gulch creeks. 
 
 Some mining is being done all along the banks of Six 
 Mile River, which is a big stream one hundred and eighty- 
 five feet wide at Sunrise City, with a rapid current. There 
 is gold in its bed, but on account of its size and the current 
 it is not an easy stream to work, so most of the miners keep 
 to the gulches. There are places where Six Mile River 
 might be turned from its course at a small expense, and the 
 exposed bed should furnish rich ground for extensive work. 
 Large companies have organized to develop this district on 
 an extensive scale. 
 
 One report states that the best paying property is on 
 Granite Gulch, a tributary of Six Mile, but no one has yet 
 seen bed-rock there. The tributaries of Resurrection 
 Creek which are pr.ying are Bear and Palmer, but the gold 
 on the former is worth only about fourteen dollars and forty 
 
 ^A. 
 
THE COPPER RIVER COUNTRY 
 
 543 
 
 of staying 
 /hen he ar- 
 ^^reek. He 
 ;o the man, 
 at the rate 
 money ">va8 
 illed away, 
 30or fellow 
 me to town 
 
 had taken 
 : for the re- 
 
 3 ever been 
 reek. The 
 are Canon, 
 
 inks of Six 
 and eighty- 
 mt. There 
 the current 
 niners keep 
 Mile River 
 ise, and the 
 nsive work. 
 ! district on 
 
 perty is on 
 one has yet 
 Resurrection 
 >ut the gold 
 rs and forty 
 
 cents per ounce, while that on the other is worth about six- 
 teen dollars. 
 
 Right across Turnagain i>.rm is Burt Creek, which was 
 the scene of a rush during the season of 1897. It is not 
 thoroughly prospected, but it is reported that a man took 
 out pans of from eighty cents to one dollar and twenty 
 cents right on the surface. 
 
 There is one good thing about +h€ Cook Inlet country 
 — it is a comparatively cheap place in which to live. It' 
 costs but about one hundred dollars to build a cabin, and 
 provisions cost very little more than at jwrts of the United 
 States. Freight rates from Seattle are only about half a 
 cent a pound, which is very diiferent from the rates to the 
 upper Yukon. 
 
 On Prince William Sound is what is commonly known 
 as the Copper River country. Some copper ore ledges of 
 great size have been found on Fidalgo Bay and Latouche 
 Island. Some of the ledges are said to be fifty feet wide 
 and to carry copper sulphides assaying from twenty to fifty 
 per cent, of copper, but little gold. 
 
 Where there is any placer gold on Copper River re- 
 mains to be seen. It is a very rough country around the 
 mouth, and the men who have been up the river far are 
 hard to find. Those who have been up a little distance 
 claim that for the first one hundred and twenty miles the 
 gold to be found is too fine to pay for getting out, but that 
 beyond there are placers which will rival the Klondike. 
 This, however, must be partly guesswork, until more pros- 
 pecting has been done. 
 
 From letters received, however, from a party which 
 
 went on a prospecting trip in the summer of 1897, very 
 
 rich gold fields are c possibility ot the upper river. One 
 82 
 
 i m 
 
 mmx^ 
 
544 
 
 MARVELOUS MINERAL RESOURCES 
 
 ' i 
 
 1 U 
 
 ' ' 
 
 '■* f 
 
 W- *l (; 
 
 member of the expedition stated that he had discovered 
 quartz which yielded -wenty dollars to the ton, and that 
 the streak was a very wide one. 
 
 In the fall of 1897 there were about two hundred pros- 
 pectors at Orca and the vicinity of the mouth of the Cop- 
 per River, awaiting a favorable opportunity to advance 
 towards the headwaters. One of the men who had been 
 to a point about fifty miles up the river heard of rich de- 
 posits of gold which had been found north of Spirit Moun- 
 tain, on a tributary of the Chittyna River, about twenty 
 miles from its confluence with the Copper. It was said 
 that one of the locators had taken out sixty thousand dol- 
 lars the season before, and that supplies had been brought 
 in to the camp by men who had kept the discovery secret. 
 There were all sorts of stories about these diggings, which, 
 it was said, would rival those of the Klondike, but time 
 only will prove the truth of these assertions. 
 
 Copper River is not a good place for a tenderfoot. 
 Forty miles up the river are the rapids. The entrance to 
 the mouth of the river is very difficult, and can be made 
 only by those who know the roundabout way of getting 
 Above the rapids the river freezes over towards the 
 
 m 
 
 last of October, and the slush and snow make it almost im- 
 passable for any but the strongest traveler. By January 
 the snow is likely to be about twenty feet deep on level 
 places, and that is the best and most practicable month for 
 traveling. 
 
 People who have made the journey up the river at this 
 propitious time have repor^^ed that the Indians are friendly 
 and that they have marvelous mineral resources, though 
 their implements are very crude. Their chief metal is 
 copper, which they have in abundance, as pure as ever came 
 
OTHER POSSIBILITIES 
 
 545 
 
 1 discovered 
 )n, and that 
 
 undred pros- 
 of the Cop- 
 to advance 
 10 had been 
 1 of rich de- 
 3pirit Moun- 
 bout twenty 
 It was said 
 hoiisand dol- 
 leen brought 
 overy secret. 
 ;ings, which, 
 ie, but time 
 
 I tenderfoot. 
 ! entrance to 
 3an be made 
 y of getting 
 towards the 
 it almost im- 
 By January 
 eep on level 
 le month for 
 
 river at this 
 
 are friendly 
 
 rcea, though 
 
 lief metal is 
 
 as ever came 
 
 from a smelter. They also have gold bracelets and finger 
 ornaments, but when asked where they got this gold they 
 are very reticent and simply point mysteriously towards the 
 northeast. 
 
 There are niimerous other places in Alaska in which 
 gold has been found, and many more where it is just as 
 likely to be found. The Kuskokwim River is one of the 
 great streams of North America, but probably not half a 
 dozen white men now living have any knowledge of it be- 
 yond the Roman Catholic mission at Oknagamut, and cer- 
 tainly no man who has been heard of is qualified to speak 
 with authority of the possibilities of the country it traverses, 
 so far as mining is concerned. All that can truthfully be 
 said is that on two or three of its bars " colors " have been 
 found. 
 
 In the coast region above the mouths of the Yukon 
 practically no prospecting has been done save on the shore 
 of Norton Sound, and not much even there. Silver has 
 been discovered on this sound, the ore y .elding one hundred 
 and forty-three ounces of the white mot^l to the ton, and a 
 ten-stamp mill is kept thundering. Gold has recently 
 been found there in the sea-sand. A few years ago Lieu- 
 tenant Stoney found a few grains of gold on bars of the 
 Burkland and Selawik rivers, and Mr. Miner Bruce, in the 
 summer of 1894, saw in the possession of an Eskimo near 
 Fort Morton an ounce of coarse gold said to have been 
 washed from gravel of the Kowak Ri^^er. Further than 
 this scarcely anything is known. This district also waits 
 the investigation of prospectors. 
 
 I have already spoken of the possibilities of the Tanana 
 and Koyukuk rivers, each having tributaries heading up 
 into the same belt of mountains from the gulches of which 
 
 «':ji^«u«!«'^$iip}<t«^'>«I«U»<tf«flr»lliM«^^ 
 
 aaHMiMM^!R*<MV«'<«l»^S4.«W^M¥ii«a^1A»iMW8M> 
 
I ) 
 
 'i 1 
 
 v^ 
 
 )/ 
 
 i r 
 
 n 
 
 ill! 
 
 ?f^ 
 
 .1 
 
 iri ! 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 V i.1^^^^1 
 
 1( 
 
 546 
 
 PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED 
 
 gold has been taken. This is the story all over the great 
 country. 
 
 So long as the wealth is there it will undoubtedly be 
 secured in time, but it will take a long time unless some- 
 thing is done for transportation. Therein lies the key to 
 the development of such a country. Whoever can suc- 
 cessfully solve the problem of cheap transportation and 
 easy communication will not simply do a great thing for 
 the country but will make millions of money. If there 
 is coal in the mountains, and it is asserted that there is, 
 others can become rich in mining and selling that great 
 article of fuel. The sale of merchandise cannot fail to be 
 profitable. Indeed, I have heard of several who, having 
 been in the Klondike regions, have said that, so long as 
 merchandise sold at such high prices on the Yukon, they 
 would be satisfied with the profits upon that business, let- 
 ting those who sought tlie gold take their chances. This 
 species of speculation will be of great advantage to the 
 country, for it will, perhaps, insure the workers in various 
 placers the supply of food needed to take them through an 
 Arctic winter. 
 
 Another requirement will be suitable points of dis- 
 tribution. For example, Dawson under the present con- 
 ditions can be used as a distributing point for only a small 
 section — that little section of mining land about the Klon- 
 dike. If those who are prospecting on the Stewart find 
 another rich region it will be necessary to have another dis- 
 tributing point further up the river. It now takes so long 
 a time to go back and forth to Dawson for provisions that 
 little time is left for work in the creeks. 
 
 When these problems have been solved there will be a 
 new era in the world. There will no longer be a com- 
 
NOT A BAD DHAL AFTER ALL 
 
 547 
 
 r the great 
 
 (ubtedly be 
 nless some- 
 the key to 
 3r can suc- 
 ptation and 
 t thing for 
 . If there 
 at there is, 
 
 that great 
 it fail to be 
 'ho, having 
 
 so long as 
 ukon, they 
 [isiness, let- 
 ices. This 
 age to the 
 ; in various 
 through an 
 
 nts of dis- 
 resent con- 
 nly a small 
 t the Klon- 
 tewart find 
 mother dis- 
 kes so long 
 asions that 
 
 plaint of the scarcity of money if gold continues the stand- 
 ard of value and the great means of exchange. The future 
 of Alaska may have a great deal to do with the future of 
 society in general. 
 
 When Russia sold that great country to the United 
 States for less than half a cent an acre, it was little dreamed 
 that in a year or two a single industry would pay the bill; 
 there was little thought that the salmon industry would pay 
 it again ; no one but a most extravagant dreamer would have 
 dared to declare that in a quarter of a century it might be 
 one of the richest mineral fields in the world. When 
 W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, negotiated the purchase 
 it was almost universally decried by the politicians and 
 other wise people considered it a bad deal. Most Ameri- 
 cans thought they were getting what Russia did not want, 
 and were paying a big price for it. The purchase was op- 
 probriously termed " Seward's Folly," " America's Polar 
 Bear Reserve," and " The Xew National Refrigerator." 
 But now Great Britain is ready to dispute every inch of that 
 small section of the boundary line about which there c^n be 
 any dispute. Seward and Sumner, who supported the pur- 
 chase, were doubtless even wiser than they knew, but it 
 shows that the foresight and sagacity of some men may be 
 vindicated long after they are dead 
 
 e will be a 
 be a com- 
 
i1 
 
 i 
 
 I i 
 
 ! i 
 
 ' \ 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ADVICE TO GOLD-SEEKERS — THE IMPORTANCE OF HAV- 
 INO A GOOD OUTFIT - POINTS TO BE REMEMBERED 
 — WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO. 
 
 Some Advantages in Not Being in a Hurry — Not a Poor Man's Country 
 
 — Good Advice from a United States Government Expert — A 
 Place for Strong Men and Those Who Can Afford to Lose — 
 Expenses Which Have to Be Met — The Cost of Cabins and Facili- 
 ties for Working Mines — One Thousand Dolhirs for Sluice Boxes 
 
 — The Advantage of Having Partners — Unwise to Take Less 
 Than a Year's Outfit — Suicide Cheaper in Lower Latitudes — It 
 Takes a Week to Dig a Grave — Times When Every Man LcKtka 
 the Picture of Distress — Sail North Only in Good Vessels — How 
 to Mark Packages — Trunks an Inconvenience — Sugar and Salt as 
 Hard as Quartz — Tobacco as Good as Money on the Yukon — As 
 to Furs — Shot Guns Better Than Revolvers — Jack Dalton's Rules 
 for the Trail — Possibilities of Losing a Toe or a Foot. 
 
 NOTWITHSTAXDIXG the richness of Alaska and 
 the belief that a great future lies before it, no bet- 
 ter advice, it seenis to me, can be offered any one 
 in search of a fortune than to stay away from Alaska, 
 and especially the upper Yukon, for the present. There 
 will be time enough to secure some of the gold in the 
 country when better and safer means of communication 
 and ways of living are provided. That may not be long 
 hence. Already steps have been taken to greatly miti- 
 gate the difficulties of the passes, but these passes are 
 only the beginning of difficulties. At present, a trip to 
 
 (548) 
 
THE PLACE FOR CAPITAL 
 
 649 
 
 Alaska with the intention of staying there n year or more 
 is a great risk for any man, and for the poor man who knows 
 nothing abont placer mining, and has a family depending 
 upon him, it wonld be almost criminal to [int a large amount 
 of money into an Arctic outfit and make the attempt. 
 Such a man would have about as good a chance to make a 
 fortune by staking all that his outfit cost him on the 
 gambling table at once. 
 
 Alaska jilacers, I have no doubt, offer better oppor- 
 tunities than most other gold-fields. But only prospectors 
 and capitalists who can lose without being badly damaged 
 should go there until more is known. I cor ially indorse 
 the advice given by Mr. Samuel C. Dunham, the expert sent 
 into the Yukon country to report for the United States De- 
 partment of Labor. He said, in Dawson, after studying 
 the Klondike : " The poor man should not be encouraged 
 to come here. No man should think of coming who cannot 
 bring with him at least a ton of food and at least one thou- 
 sand dollars in cash, and who cannot lose a year of his labor, 
 his ton of food, and his thousand of cash without wrecking 
 his family or imperiling his life scheme. Neither should 
 the weak man be encouraged to come here. Only the 
 strong, healthy man, capable of enduring the utmost hard- 
 ship and the severest toil, is atlapted to this region. For 
 the prospector who is strong, and who has the degree of in- 
 dependence I have suggested, this land affords excellent 
 opportimities; and for capital I know of no place that holds 
 out better chances." 
 
 In a previous chapter I have said that no one could 
 afford to go to Alaska or to the Klondike arid mine a year 
 for less than three thousand dollars. Yet some seem to 
 think that an outfit costing something like four hundred 
 
 iHiHM'oi»a*m«i-».W-i » « ' X 'HlW». U '' Oii) i ■lU l wwftff 
 
> 
 
 * V 
 
 550 
 
 NECESSARY EXPENSES OF MIMNO 
 
 dollars is about all that is necessary. Possibly, a little more 
 specific information as to some of the essential expenses of 
 mining would enable intending gold-seekers to advise them- 
 selves. We will assume that a man has gone to tlie Klon- 
 dike successfully on about five hundred doll... %• that is, 
 that he has taken in a year's outfit without losing it, and has 
 l^aid the necessary charges in getting it there by any of the 
 routes. We will assume also that he has located a claim in 
 some district which promises to be paying and that he has 
 paid the charges incident thereto, charges the nature of 
 which have been already explained. This is assuming that 
 he has made a pretty successful beginning, though he knows 
 nothing as j'et about the richness of his claim. He has 
 simply arrived at the point where he must endeavor to find 
 out how much he can make out of his spot of frozen earth. 
 
 The first essential is to built a cabin on his claim. The 
 cost of a rude hut about ten by fourteen feet will be about 
 six hundred dollars, and this is assuming that he will not 
 go to the extravagance of using sawed lumber. Having 
 his hut ready and his outfit cached, at the beginning of win- 
 ter he can set about working his claim. This requires both 
 labor and wood. If he reaches bed-rock on one hundred 
 dollars' worth of wood he will be doing well. If he finds 
 the pay-streak the first time he is doing very well. If he 
 hires labor to remove the dirt that is thawed out it will cost 
 him about ten dollars a foot for each shaft he sinks. 
 
 The cost of handling dirt from shaft-sinking to clean-up 
 (labor bills), winter working, averajr^es twelve dollars a 
 cubic yard. In other words, by the time he is ready to 
 think about sluicing he has spent on his outfit and his cabin, 
 and for fuel and labor, not less than two thousand five hun- 
 dred dollars. Seventy-two sets of longitudinal riffles per 
 
 k 
 
COST OP TOOLS AND LABOR 
 
 551 
 
 claim are used during the summer season, as claims are at 
 present worked in the district, and these cost on an average 
 five dollars a set. The cost of sluice-boxes, riffles not in- 
 cluded, averages twenty-five dollars a box. The cost of set- 
 ting a line of sluice-boxes and keeping the line set through 
 a summer averages two thousand dollars. 
 
 The cost of building a rough dam sufficient for the or- 
 dinary working of the average five-hundred-foot claim in 
 the Klondike division is about one thousand dollars. The 
 cost of constructing a waste-ditch on claim Xo. 30, El- 
 dorado Creek, was about one thousand two hundred dol- 
 lars. It is an average ditch. 
 
 The cost of handling the dirt (labor bills), summer work- 
 ing, from the ground-sluicing to the clean-up, averages five 
 dollars a cubic yard on the entire quantity removed. The 
 cost of pumping for drainage o ; a summer pit four hundred 
 feet long by thirty feet wide, averages seventy-two dollars 
 for twenty-four hours. 
 
 Wheelbarrows cost twenty-five dollars apiece, whether 
 bought or made; shovels, three dollars and fifty cents apiece; 
 mattocks, five dollars apiece; blacksmith's portable forges, 
 about two hundred dollars apiece; sluice-forks, six dollars 
 apiece; axes, four dollars and fifty cents apiece; hand-saws, 
 five dollai-s and fifty cents apiece ; nails, forty cents a pound ; 
 gold-scales of average capacity, fifty dollars a pair; quick- 
 silver, one dollar and twenty-five cents a pound; black 
 powder, one dollar and twenty-five cents a pound. These 
 prices are for the supplies delivered on the claims. Some 
 of these articles may have been taken in with the original 
 outfit. 
 
 These are the main items of expense to be incurred by 
 one who wishes to become the owner of a claim, who works 
 

 
 
 If 
 
 
 ■f <■ 1 
 
 f 
 
 • 
 
 mm 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 1 f' 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 n- = 
 
 iW 
 
 ^\ V 
 
 552 
 
 IMPOKTANT ADVICE 
 
 it himself with hired help, and who has taken into the coun- 
 try all he wants to eat. In ii«) other way can he expect to 
 make a fortune unless in pure speculation. He could not 
 become rich by working at days' wages, though his expenses 
 would be less. 
 
 If the dirt turns out to be rich he will be all right. If 
 it does not he will wish he had never heard of Alaska. In 
 any case, the dirt must be of exceptional richness to pay 
 him for such an outlay of money. It cost Clarence Berry 
 about twenty-two thousand dollars to take one hundred and 
 thirty thousand dollars out of some of the richest dirt that 
 was ever discovered. 
 
 With the knowledge of these facts a man who is intend- 
 ■Ig to go to the Khuidike to become rich can advise himself, 
 ftr he can understand what it means when I say that a per- 
 son who knows notluBig about mining, and has little money, 
 "Tould h".ve as good ■^ chance of making a fortune by put- 
 'ing it at once upon a 2and)ling table. 
 
 S--' 1. the gold is there, and millions will be made, and it 
 ibly useless to advise against seeking to become one 
 iiillionaires-;. The most important advice to be ira- 
 iipon those who are going to the Klondike or other 
 iiu the Yukon is have a good partner and a year's 
 Partners are a necessity in Alaskan travel, out 
 parties arger than three or four do not get along wel". to- 
 gether, and usuall\ split up. A two-years outfit is safer 
 and better than less. It is constructive suicide for one to go 
 to the Klondike with less than one yem';. supply of food. 
 If th'e men who are starting out so gaily from comfortable 
 homes could only look ahead and see what fate awaits every 
 one of them in the way of hardships and privat'ons amid 
 those frozen mountains and unspeakably depressing gorges 
 
 erf Th- 
 prss^- 
 ]x»int.- 
 outfit. 
 
A SCENE ON CHILCOOT PASS 
 
 553 
 
 o the coun- 
 e expect to 
 e could not 
 lis expenses 
 
 right. If 
 aska. In 
 less to pay 
 ence Berry 
 mid red and 
 St dirt that 
 
 is intend- 
 ise himself, 
 that a per- 
 tle money, 
 ne by put- 
 
 ade, and it 
 lecome one 
 ! to be im- 
 ce or other 
 id a year's 
 ravel, out 
 ig wel'. to- 
 fit is safer 
 r one to go 
 y of food. 
 >mfortable 
 raits every 
 ions amid 
 ng gorges 
 
 and canons, they would not leave u. thing undone to insure 
 some greater degree of coni'Ort and to protect their lives. 
 Suicide conies cheaper in low latitudes than in the frigid 
 North, and funerals cost less. Consider that it takes a week 
 to dig a grave at Dawson, and crape sells for twenty-two dol- 
 lars a yard. 
 
 If they could stand where I did not long ago, on the 
 summit of Chilkoot Pass, and look below, down through 
 the bald and frozen gorge, ujion the camp fires of several 
 hundred haggard, gold-hungry men on their way to Daw- 
 son, they would have some idea of what going to seek a 
 fortune in mining in the Arctic Circle means. Used as I 
 am to the severities and grim hardships of life, that scene 
 at Chilkoot Pass was very impressive. I saw companies of 
 men wearily working their way, in the face of a gale that 
 seemed strong enough to topj)le over the very mountain 
 peaks, up the rocky, tortuous trail to the to]> of the pass. 
 Every nin looked a picture of distress. I know that I did. 
 They .''ll slept in snowbanks, ate frozen canned food, and 
 j'isked a thousand mortal ailments from exposure. 
 
 Another point to be strongly impressed upon those start- 
 ing out is that they should sail northward only in a first-class 
 ship. Some of the best vessels have had narrow escapes 
 from shipwreck, and others have been lost. The demand 
 for sailing vessels has called into the ser\dce many on which 
 it is unsafe to risk life. There are chances enough for a 
 sudden death after Alaska is reached without incurring any 
 more than are necessary before disembarking. 
 
 AT packages should be marked clearly with distinctive 
 characters which can be easily and readily recognized in 
 addition to the name and address. This will be found very 
 serviceable when a ship's entire cargo is dumped on either 
 
554 
 
 HOW TO PUT UP SUPPLIES 
 
 the Skagway or Dyea beach without any thought of the 
 owners; and when it is essential to have them picked out and 
 phiced farther up on the beach in a short time. 
 
 Take no trunks. They are about as difficult to get over 
 the passes as six-story buildings. The Indians will not 
 touch them, and thej are apt to make a sled unmanageable. 
 No package of more than a hundred pounds should be al- 
 lowed, and tlie more that can ])e packed in bags the better. 
 Flour should be put in ufty-pound sacks and two of these 
 slipped into a strong bag. Oil-skin sacks are a good thing 
 in rainy weather and in shooting the rapids, but in cold 
 weather they often become brittle and break. It will be 
 difficult, if not impossible, to reach the Yukon without hav- 
 ing some of the goods damaged or spoiled. Flour will get 
 wet, and the best of it will, very likely, have to be dug out 
 from a surrounding layer of dough. Sugar is even more 
 difficult to handle successfully in wet weather. If a part 
 of it gets damp the whole will have a tendency to turn to 
 syrup, unless the weather is freezing, when it will become as 
 hard as quartz. Salt is likely to be affected in much the 
 same way. 
 
 Supplies which can be obtained in compressed form, 
 such as tea, are best to take, for the less bulk the better. I 
 have found canned goods always serviceable, though one 
 gets very tired of them. Bacon and beans can be easily 
 managed, and generally constitute a staple article of diet. 
 If you use tobacco, take along plenty of it. It is as good as 
 money on the Yukon, better than paper money. The In- 
 dians will take no money but coin. 
 
 As to clothing, the principal difference between Alaska 
 and a milder dime is that the former requires much heavier 
 underclothing. Too heavy outer garments only impede 
 
SOME OF THE ESSENTIALS 
 
 555 
 
 ight of the 
 ked out and 
 
 to get over 
 IS will not 
 aanageable. 
 lonld be al- 
 
 tlie better, 
 tvo of these 
 good thing 
 311 1 in cold 
 
 It will be 
 ithout hav- 
 lur will get 
 be dug out 
 even more 
 If a part 
 
 to turn to 
 i become as 
 
 much the 
 
 ssed form, 
 
 better, I 
 
 hough one 
 
 I be easily 
 
 ile of diet. 
 
 as good as 
 
 The In- 
 
 len Alaska 
 ch heavier 
 ly impede 
 
 
 the movements of the limbs and really do not keep out the 
 wind. Fur coats might seem valuable, and sonic will say 
 that they are. They arc most usually worn when people 
 are having their pictures taken to send hoiiie to their friends, 
 A good fur blanket or robe is, however, v.'elliugh indis- 
 pensable. People in Alaska, as everywhere else, have dif- 
 ferent tastes, and in these matters you will know better how 
 to suit your own after spending a winter there. 
 
 Take needles, thread, buttons, comb, brush, looking- 
 plass, and such other toilet and domestic articles as you 
 need; also a ball of twine, sail-needles, and wax. Make a 
 canvas-case with pockets to hold these things — one that 
 can be rolled \ip and tied. Take also fishing-tackle and shot- 
 guns. It is a great mistake to take anything except what is 
 absolutely necessary if the trip is made overland. The jour- 
 ney is long and arduous, and a man should not add one pound 
 of baggage to his outfit that can he dispensed with. ^Icii 
 have loaded themselves up with rifles and revolvers, wliicli is 
 entirely unnecessary. Revolvers will get you into trouble, 
 and there is no use of taking them with you, as large game 
 is rarely found on the tri[). Persons who have jirospected 
 through this region for soi . years have seen few moose. 
 You will not now see any large game wliatever on your trip 
 from Dyea to Dawson. Shot-guns are bandy for geese. 
 
 When on the trail therf are a hundred little essentials 
 which can be neglected only to the greatest discomfort and 
 possible peril. Jack Dalton, Avho is one of the most expert 
 and experienced of men in following Alaskan trails, once 
 laid down the following set of rules for a small party, and 
 they contain many useful suggestions tersely expressed: 
 
 '' Establish camp rules, especially regarding the food. 
 Allot rations^ those while idle to be less than when at work. 
 
 f*! 
 
556 
 
 JACK DALTON'S rules OF THE TRAIL 
 
 l- 
 
 and also pro rata during Leat and cold. Pitch the tent on 
 top of the snow, pushing the poles and pegs down into it. 
 While some are busily engaged in building a fire and mak- 
 ing a bed, let the best cook of the party prepare the sup- 
 per. If you have no stove, build a camp fire, either on an 
 exposed point of rock or in a hole dug in the snow; if you 
 have a stove, arrange it on a " gridiron " inside the tent, the 
 gridiron consisting of three poles some six or eight feet long, 
 and laid on the snow, on which the stove is placed. The 
 heat from the stove will soon melt a hole underneath, but 
 there will be enough firm snow under the ends of the poles 
 to hold it up. For the bed, cut hemlock brush and lay it on 
 the snow to a depth of a foot or more, and cover this with a 
 large square of canvas on which blankets and robes are put. 
 When finished it forms a natural spring bed, which will 
 offer grateful rest after hauling a sled all day. In all ex- 
 cept the most sheltered locations the tent is necessary for 
 comfort, and the stove gives better satisfaction than the 
 camp-fire, and, as it needs but little wood, is easier to cook 
 over, and does not poison the eyes with smoke. 
 
 " There are fewer cases of snow-blindness among those 
 who UPC stoves than among those who crowd around a smok- 
 ing camp-fire for cooking or warmth. Comfort in making 
 a trip of this kind will depend, in a great measure, upon the 
 convenience of camping, suitable clothing and light, warm 
 bedding. Choose your bunk as far from the tent door as 
 possible, and keep a fire hole open near your camp. If by 
 any change yen are traveling across a plain (no trail) and a 
 fog comes up, or a blinding snowstorm, either of which will 
 prevent yoiir taking your bearings, camp, and don't move 
 for any one until all is clear again. 
 
 " If it is ever necessary to cache a load of provisions 
 
TO INSURE PHYSICAL COMFORT 
 
 557 
 
 put all articles next to the ground which will be nionl af- 
 fected by heat, provi('iiig, at the same time, that dampness 
 will not affect their food properties to any great extent. 
 After piling your stuff, load it over carefully with heavy 
 rocks. Take your compass bearings and also note in your 
 pocketbook some landmarks near by, and also the direction 
 in which they lie from your cache — i. c, make your cache, 
 if possible, come between exactl}' nortli and south of two 
 given prominent marks, so that you can tlnd it. 
 
 " Keep your furs in good repair. One little slit may 
 cause you untold agony during a march in a heavy sTorni. 
 You cannot tell when such will l)e the case. If your furs 
 get wet, dry them in a mediimi temperatuiv. Dour hold 
 them near a fire. Keep your sleeping bag clean. If it 
 becomes inhabited, freeze the inhabitants out. Keep all 
 your draw-strings on clothing in gomi repair. Don't forget 
 to use your goggles when the sun is bright on snow. A fel- 
 low is often tempted to leave them off. Don't you do it. 
 A little dry grass or hay in the iiisi(U> of your mittens, next 
 your hands, will promote great heat, especially when it gets 
 damp from the moisture of your hands. After the mittens 
 are removed from the hands, remove tli*- nay and dry it. 
 Failing that, throw it away. Be sure, during the winter, to 
 Avatch yowY footgear carefully. Change wet stockings be- 
 fore they freeze or vou may lose a f(te or foot." 
 
 Remember that if intf'ii(liiig to build a boat for trnv<'l 
 down the Yukon the «tarT <liould be early enough to reacli 
 thr lower lakes when the icff" t'oes out. Usuallv the lakes 
 remains frozen until late in Afay. The Lewi* and the np- 
 per Yukon ny)en a week to a fortnight earlier. Last year 
 the ice broke on T^ke Lebarge in the lant of Max. at Daw- 
 «s<)n on the l7th of Mav, at Fort Yukon three davs after- 
 
658 
 
 KEEP ON YOUR OWN SIDE 
 
 (. 
 
 wards, three hundred miles furtlier down on the 23d of 
 May, and at the mouth somewhat later. The first steamer 
 for the season reached Dawson on June 2d, having voyaged 
 from winter quarters below Circle City. 
 
 Do not beguile yourself with the thought that working- 
 down tin- river in open water is at all easy. The Yukon 
 has as nuany moods as a woman, and presents probl'3ms which 
 few men are capable of solving in a hurry, and .fome which 
 have Iro be solved in a hurry or it may be too late. 
 
 Finally, I would advise the man on his waj to the Klon- 
 dike to go to some creek on the American side of that re- 
 gion — that is, unless he has special reasons for going to the 
 Klondike to seek golden placers. I mean that if he in- 
 tends merely to go as a tenderfoot to prospect for gold, he 
 will now stand about as good a chance of finding riches on 
 the American side of the line as on the Canadian, and he 
 will not only avoid the impost duties of Canada, but he will 
 save the rather expensive legal procedure of locating claims 
 under the Canadian mining laws. Besides, most of us who 
 have been in the Klondike region think the richest finds 
 of gold in the near future will be principally on the Ameri- 
 can side. Several hundred men in Dawson and Circle City 
 who have vainly sought gold in the Klondike for months 
 have begun vigorous prospecting on the American side. 
 Some of them are crack prospectors, and that is why we 
 need not be surprised to hear of rich finds in our own Alaska 
 before long. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 ^.\ 
 
ou tbe 23d of 
 
 [he first steamer 
 
 having voyaged 
 
 ;ht that working 
 y. The Yukon 
 ; problems which 
 and forae which 
 I late, 
 ivaj to the Klon- 
 
 side of that re- 
 
 f or going to the 
 n that if he in- 
 ject for gold, he 
 inding riches on 
 'anadian, and he 
 lada, but he will 
 f locating claims 
 , most of us who 
 the richest finds 
 [y on the Ameri- 
 L and Circle City 
 dike for months 
 
 American side. 
 
 that is why we 
 L our own Alaska