THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 7 
 
 V^
 
 x.^
 
 KLONDIKE 
 
 AND THE YUKON COUNTRY 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF OUR 
 
 ALASKAN LAND OF GOLD 
 
 FROM THE I,ATEST OFFICIAI, AND SCIENTIFIC SOURCES 
 AND PERSONAI, OBSERVATION 
 
 L. A. COOLIDGE 
 
 With a Chapter by JOHN F. PRATT 
 
 CHIEF OF THE AI,ASKAN BOUNDARY EXPEDITION OF 1894 
 
 NEIV MAPS AND PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRA 7 IONS 
 J* 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS 
 1897
 
 Copyrighted by Henry Altcmus, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania, A. D. iSgy, in the One Hundred and Twenty-first Year of 
 the Independence of the United States of America. 
 
 Henry Altemus, Manufacturer, 
 philadelphia.
 
 F 
 cm, 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The object of this book is to furnish the latest 
 authentic information concerning a portion of 
 our country which until very recently has been lit- 
 tle thought of; but which is now the magnet for 
 many minds. The author wishes to acknowledge 
 his indebtedness to officers of the U. S. Coast 
 and Geodetic Survey, and the U. S. Geological 
 Survey for helpful suggestions and for recitals of 
 personal experience. He is especially under 
 obligation to Mr. John F. Pratt, of the Coast 
 and Geodetic Survey, whose service as Chief of 
 the Alaskan Boundary Expedition of 1894 gives 
 a peculiar interest and value to the chapter 
 kindly contributed by him. 
 
 ir>',
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 New Lands of Gold 7 
 
 Klondike and Yukon Diggings 22 
 
 Seeking the Pot of Gold 37 
 
 Life in Camp 63 
 
 Mining Experts and Scientists 78 
 
 Placer Mining and Hydraulics 94 
 
 Alaska no 
 
 Quartz Mining in Southeastern Alaska . . , .132 
 
 The Wonderful Yukon Country 144 
 
 The Boundary Dispute 175 
 
 Gold Production of the World 182 
 
 Our Northwestern Possessions, 185 
 
 Laws Governing the Location of Claims . . .194 
 Climate of Alaska 208
 
 KLONDIKE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NEW LANDS OF GOLD. 
 
 On Wednesday, July '14th, 1897, the little 
 steamer Excelsior arrived in the harbor of San 
 Francisco with forty miners on board, each one 
 of whom had brought with him from the ice- 
 bound interior of Alaska a fortune in gold. From 
 that day may be said to date the Klondike gold 
 craze which already rivals in extent the three 
 other great gold crazes of the century, California 
 in 1849, Australia in 1851 and South Africa in 
 1890. Already the amount known to have been 
 brought back by the returning miners exceeds 
 $1,000,000, and nearly $3,000,000 more is said to 
 be on the way. It is estimated by some experts 
 that before the full returns come in it will be
 
 8 KLONDIKE. 
 
 found the total output of the Alaskan mines has 
 been $8,000,000. California yielded $60,000,000 
 five years after Marshall's discovery, and all from 
 place diggings, as are the diggings in the Klon- 
 dike region; but the facilities for mining in Cali- 
 fornia, with its salubrious climate, its compara- 
 tive nearness to civilization, its all-year-round 
 conveniences, were infinitely superior to the fa- 
 cilities in the Yukon Basin, where winter lasts 
 for ten months in the year, and where the ther- 
 mometer drops to 72 degrees below zero in the 
 winter and climbs to 120 degrees above zero in 
 the summer, and where the nearness of the Arctic 
 circle practically divides the year into one long 
 day and one long night, each extending over a 
 period of six months. 
 
 When millions of gold can be taken out in a 
 single year under all these disadvantages of cli- 
 mate by laborers working with the most primi- 
 tive implements of mining life it is difficidt to 
 conceive of the opulence of a soil whose grudging 
 tribute to the energy of the modern argonaut is 
 so fabulous in extent. 
 
 These forty men who came down on the Ex- 
 celsior from the port of St. Michael, near the 
 mouth of the Yukon, had among them over half
 
 NEW LANDS OF GOLD. 9 
 
 a million dollars in gold dust, ranging in size 
 from a hazel nut to fine bird shot and kernels 
 of sand. All of them were penniless, or nearly 
 so, when they left the United States, some of 
 them having taken their departure within a year, 
 others having been prospecting on the fields 
 alongthe branches of the Upper Yukon for several 
 years. They brought back fortunes ranging from 
 $5000 to $90,000 and the most extraordinary tales 
 of their experience in the mining countries. Their 
 descriptions of the vast amounts of gold still re- 
 maining in the regions from which they had 
 come were so tempered with cautions and warn- 
 ings against a mad rush for the new fields that 
 tales which otherwise might have been deemed 
 improbable gained credence through their very 
 conservatism. But whatever might be thought 
 of the tales, there was no disputing the tangible 
 fact of the yellow metal which was laid down in 
 Selby's smelting works at San Francisco, and 
 when a second ship, the Portland, from St. Mi- 
 chael, arrived at Seattle, three days later, with 
 mOre miners aboard and $700,000 in bullion, it 
 was as if a spark had set afire the enthusiasm for 
 hunting gold which had been lying dormant 
 since the days of the Argonauts of 1849. There
 
 10 KLONDIKE. 
 
 have been few scenes in mining history more 
 striking than that which was enacted when the 
 men landed from the Excelsior, weather beaten, 
 roughly dressed, with scraggly beards and fur- 
 rowed cheeks, and marching straight to the 
 smelting works, proceeded to produce bags of 
 gold, dirty and worn, containing thousands of 
 dollars in the precious metal. 
 
 As fast as the bags were weighed they were 
 ripped open with a knife and the contents were 
 allowed to scatter over the counter; and then 
 some of the miners produced from bundles and 
 coat pockets gold dust in all sorts of queer re- 
 ceptacles, such as fruit jars and jelly tumblers, 
 and even writing paper, carefully secured with 
 twine. No wonder the spectotors looked on with 
 fascinated amazement. No wonder the strange 
 news spread like wildfire. The gold fever of 1897 
 had begun to burn. 
 
 These miners brought the news that the new 
 Eldorado was situated on the Klondike River, 
 nearly two thousand miles from the mouth of 
 the Yukon, just escaping the Arctic circle by a 
 bare 250 miles, and situated in Canadian terri- 
 tory, a meagre 140 miles east of the 141st degree 
 of longitude, which constitutes the boundary be- 
 tween Alaska and British America.
 
 NEW LANDS OF GOLD. 11 
 
 They told, too, of the terrible hardship 
 through which they had gone in order to reach 
 these marvelous gold fields and uncover their 
 hidden wealth. Joseph Ladue, who left Platts- 
 burg, N. Y., a few years ago, an impecunious 
 farm hand, too poor to marry the woman of his 
 choice, described how he had forced his way 
 into the new diggings, established the city of 
 Dawson, which is the metropolis of the gold re- 
 gion, and come back with thousands of dollars 
 in hand and millions in prospect. But his most 
 emphatic words were words of warning against 
 those who would rush madly to the new field 
 without considering the hardships they would 
 have to undergo. Starvation and want, he said, 
 would be the lot of those who ventured into the 
 new Eldorado without a supply of provisions 
 sufficient to last for months, and he said that 
 those who ventured to leave for the North as 
 late as August i were wasting their time, be- 
 sides subjecting themselves to needless peril, for 
 by the time tney had traversed the long stretch 
 of inhospitable country they would find winter 
 setting in with Arctic vigor and they would be 
 shut up in an ice-bound region hundreds of miles 
 from telegraph or postofifice, a prey to starva- 
 tion and cold.
 
 12 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Dawson City, which had sprung up in an Arc- 
 tic night, was situated, they said, near the junc- 
 tion of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers, had a 
 population when the miners left of 3,500, w'as 
 laid out on modern lines with sixty-foot avenues 
 and fifty-foot streets and had all the ambitious 
 scope of a bonanza town with a few score log 
 cabins and innumerable tents. 
 
 While the voyagers on the Excelsior were still 
 telling their marvelous stories in San Francisco 
 fuel was added to the fire by the arrival at Seattle 
 of the steamer Portland, also straight from St. 
 Michael, with sixty miners aboard and over 
 $700,000 in gold. The excitement aroused by 
 the arrival of the Portland surpassed even that 
 of the earlier arrival, and it had hardly touched 
 the wharf before hundreds of men in Seattle 
 were crowding over one another to get an op- 
 portunity to board her for her return trip to the 
 mouth of the Yukon. 
 
 These miners had been hunting for gold in 
 the Yukon country for years. Some of them 
 had found it in generous quantities lying in the 
 streams and in the beds of creeks flowing into 
 the Yukon just west of the spot where the river 
 crosses the boundary between Alaska and Brit-
 
 NEW LANDS OF GOLD. 13 
 
 ish America — along Forty-mile Creek, Sixty- 
 mile Creek and Birch Creek. They would have 
 continued digging along these creeks for months 
 longer content with the moderate but certain re- 
 turns of their labors had it not been for the sud- 
 den discovery on the Klondike pouring into the 
 Yukon over on the British side, of gold nug- 
 gets so large and handily found that, carried 
 away with the news, they pulled up stakes and 
 abandoned in a day the claims upon which they 
 had been toiling for months. Circle City, the 
 largest camp in the Yukon district, was desert- 
 ed over night, and Dawson City, at the junction 
 of the Klondike and the Yukon, sprang into be- 
 ing in a day. This was a year ago, at the be- 
 ginning of the short summer season. The gold 
 the returning miners brought to San Francisco 
 and Seattle was the product of that summer's 
 pickings. They worked the Klondike and the 
 banks of two creeks flowing into it, which they 
 called appropriately the Eldorado and the Bo- 
 nanza, until winter shut in on them, and for nine 
 months of the cheerless Arctic season they lay 
 huddled over their gold, until the breaking up 
 of the ice in the following June gave them their 
 first chance to escape back home with their
 
 14 KLONDIKE. 
 
 treasure. TTiey had been shut out from the 
 world for nine months as completely as if they 
 had been dead. They did not even know the 
 result of the election for President. They were 
 strangers in their own country. 
 
 The Portus B. Weare is a little steamer, own- 
 ed by a transportation company, which makes 
 the trip up and down the Yukon three or four 
 times every summer, and on this boat the miners 
 loaded their gold and left their fortune-banks 
 behind. They steamed 2000 miles down the 
 river to the diminutive port of St. Michael, on 
 the coast of Behring Sea, there to take passage 
 on steamers bound for home. 
 
 St. Michael is situated on an island ninety 
 miles north of the mouth of the Yukon. It is 
 the most important station of the coast for all 
 the Yukon region, and, in fact, the only one so 
 far as freight and supplies are concerned. On 
 June 27, at noon, the Portus B. Weare, the first 
 passenger steamer to arrive from up the river, 
 came steaming around the low headland and 
 drowned the frantic cheering of the crowds on 
 the two boats lying there with its hoarse whistle. 
 The Portland and Excelsior, drawing in excess 
 of nineteen feet of water, were obliged to lie out
 
 NEW LANDS OF GOLD. 15 
 
 a mile or more from shore, but the Weare, built 
 for river traffic and drawing only a few feet, was 
 enabled to steam up the shallow harbor and 
 touch the dock. As she steamed near, friends 
 who had not met in months or years greeted one 
 another from deck to deck, and wives and chil- 
 dren who had come to meet fathers and hus- 
 bands, frantically threw kisses and wept and 
 laughed by turns. A more exciting throng was 
 never seen. 
 
 That the Weare brought good news was evi- 
 dent. Husbands, fathers and friends held up 
 nuggets of glittering gold and bags of it before 
 the eyes of those aboard the Portland, and the 
 news was shouted across that a great strike had 
 been made. "Circle City is busted!" "Only 
 three white men left in it!" "The Klondike is 
 the richest mining region on earth to-day!" 
 "Hurrah for the new proposition!" "Circle City 
 is the silent city!" These and kindred shouts 
 rent the air. There was as great desire on the 
 Portland to hear the news from up the river as 
 there had been at St. Michael to hear from 
 the outer world. 
 
 Those who were first to board the boat soon 
 heard enough to convince them that on the El-
 
 16 KLONDIKE. 
 
 dorado and Bonanza Cheeks, branches of the 
 Klondike, the richest strike in all American min- 
 ing history, had been made. All the people knew 
 was that gold had been found in such quantities 
 that it seemed beyond belief; that all who went 
 into the streams mentioned found gold, and that 
 most of them or their partners were coming out 
 and had gold to show. The Weare brought down 
 on her first trip over $1,000,000 . Many of the 
 men would not talk, but, with grips, bags, strong 
 boxes, belts, tin tomato cans and other odd re- 
 ceptacles filled with the glittering metal, sat on 
 guard in their 4x6 staterooms. 
 
 The purser was treasurer of the smaller hold- 
 ers. For Stanley and Worden he had $20,000; 
 R. McNulty, $20,000; Henry Anderson, $20,000; 
 C. D. Myers, $6000; T. Moran, $13,000; Joe Coz- 
 lies, $17,000; N. E. Pickett, $20,000; Victor Lord, 
 $3500; C. A. Brannon, $7000; Albert Gray, 
 $6000; N. Murcer, $15,000; John R. Mofifett, 
 $9000; C. H. Loveland, $8500* J. J. Hatterman, 
 $12,500. Other men had sums far in excess of 
 these, and, while some of them had given the pur- 
 ser from $5000 to $20,000 each to keep for them, 
 retaining from $30,000 to $100,000 themselves, 
 others had retained all. Some of the following:
 
 NEW LANDS OF GOLD. 17 
 
 are among those who had treasure with the purs- 
 er: 
 
 Clarence Berry, $110,000; Henry Anderson, 
 $65,000; WilHam Stanley, $112,000; J. Clements, 
 $50,000; Frank Keelcr, $50,000; T. J. Kelly, $33,- 
 000. The following- men had from $30,000 to 
 $100,000 each: Frank Phiscater, Nat Hall, A. 
 McKenzie, B. F. Purcell, O. Finstead, Charles 
 Silverlock, Jeremiah Johnson, Pete Copeland, 
 C. E. Myers, F. Bellinger, R. H. Blake, Joe Bur- 
 goyne, William Sims, John J. MofTatt, Joe De- 
 bosher, Fred Tabler, William Sloan, C. H. Love- 
 land, N. Mercer, Charles Emcher, Harry Oleson, 
 Charles Anderson, Henry Plato, Honora Gotthier 
 and John Williamson. 
 
 Most of the sixty passengers aboard the Weare, 
 which started from winter quarters after the ice 
 started in the Yukon, had been living on beans, 
 bacon and bread or hard tack for from six 
 months to a year, some longer. The little agency 
 store at St. Michael was besieged for bottled ci- 
 der, canned pineapples, apricots, cherries, or any- 
 thing tart, and at a dollar a bottle cider went like 
 mad. They were eager for raw turnips, and even 
 for potatoes, and when a crate of onions was sent 
 2
 
 18 KLONDIKE. 
 
 over to the Weare from the Portland there was al- 
 most a riot to get at them. 
 
 The richest gold strike the world has ever 
 known was made in the Klondike region last 
 Aug-ust and September, but the news did not get 
 €ven to Circle City until December 15, when there 
 was a stampede. Circle City was deserted. But 
 three white men and several Indians and women 
 came out to greet the returning miners as they 
 came down stream. 
 
 George Carmack made the first great strike on 
 Bonanza Creek August 12, and on August 19 
 'even claims were filed in that region. Word 
 yot to Forty Mile and Circle City, but the news 
 »vas looked on as a grub-stake rumor. 
 
 December 15, however, authentic news was 
 :arried to Circle City by J. M. Wilson, of the 
 Alaska Commercial Company, and Thomas 
 3'Brien, a trader. They carried not only news, 
 but prospects, and the stampede was on. Those 
 who made the 300-mile journey the quickest 
 truck it the richest. Of all the 200 claims staked 
 3Ut of the Bonanza and Eldorado it is said not 
 one proved a blank, and it was learned as the 
 Weare left the diggings that equally rich finds 
 had been made on June 6 to 10 on Dominion
 
 NEW LANDS OF GOLD. 19 
 
 Creek. This last creek heads at Hunker Creek 
 and runs into Indian Creek, and both run into 
 the Klondike. Three hundred claims have al- 
 ready been staked out on this Indian Creek, and 
 the surface indications show that they are as rich 
 as any of the others. 
 
 The largest nugget yet found was picked out 
 by Burt Hudson on Claim Six of the Bonanza, 
 and is worth a little over $250. The next largest 
 was found by J. Clements, and was worth $231. 
 The last four pans Clements took out ran $2000, 
 or on an average of $500 each, and one of them 
 went $775. Bigger pockets have been struck in 
 the Caribou region and in California, but no 
 where else on eaith have men picked up so much 
 gold in so short a time. A young man named 
 Beecher came down a-foot and by dog sledge, 
 starting out early in March. He brought $12,000 
 to $15,000 with him. He was purser of the 
 Weare last summer, and went in after the close 
 of navigation in October or September. About 
 December 15 he got a chance to work a shift on 
 shares, and in sixty days made his stake, which 
 was about $40,000. Gold is in circulation in 
 Dawson in fabulous amounts. Saloons take in 
 $3000 to $4000 each per night. Men who have
 
 20 KLONDIKE. 
 
 been in all parts of the world where gold is mined 
 say they never saw such quantities taken in so 
 short a time. 
 
 At least $2,500,000 has been taken from the 
 ground on the British side within the past year, 
 and about $1,000,000 from the American side. 
 The diggings around Circle City and in the older 
 places are rich. 
 
 There was one woman in the throng of miners 
 who came from the Yukon on the steamer Port- 
 land. This was Mrs. J. S. Lippy, the wife of 
 Prof. Lippy, who a year or two ago was secre- 
 tary of the Y. M. C. A. at Seattle and who 
 brought back with him $85,000 in gold. Mrs. 
 Lippy was the first white woman on the creek 
 and the only one in her camp, but she was not 
 the first white woman to cross the divide. Nine 
 or ten others were at Forty-mile Creek. 
 
 Lippy went to the gold fields with hardly a 
 grub stake. He believes his claim is worth $350,- 
 000. It may be worth millions. 
 
 Joseph Ladue, formerly of Binghamton, N. 
 Y., was a farm hand before he went to Alaska. 
 He struck it rich and is the owner of the town 
 site of Dawson City. He counts himself a mil- 
 lionaire. He went to the Northwestern country
 
 NEW LANDS OF GOLD. 21 
 
 first in 1892 and has been there most of the time 
 since. He left Dawson with a population of 3500. 
 He was the first man to run a saw mill in Alaska, 
 and it was a paying investment, although it was 
 almost impossible to get anybody to run it. He 
 paid men as high as $15 a day to work for him. 
 The cheapest lumber he ever sold brought $100 
 per thousand, and w^hen planed double that 
 amount. Mr. Ladue, since his return, has said 
 that already eight hundred claims are staked 
 within a radius of twenty miles of Dawson. There 
 is jumping of claims. Three months' work each 
 year is required to hold a claim. Failing in this 
 the land reverts to the government. The laws 
 of Canada are stringent in such matters, and se- 
 vere penalties are imposed for jumping or other 
 interference with the rights of claimants. 
 
 Another successful argonaut is William Stan- 
 ley, 68 years old, who up to two years ago kept 
 a little stationery stand in Seattle. He left a 
 wife at home with several children and took one 
 son to the gold fields with him. He brought 
 back $112,000 and left his son in the diggings. 
 He is interested with his son and two New York 
 men in claims which he values at $2,000,000. 
 He went to the Yukon as a last resort, and made 
 his findings in three months.
 
 22 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Ethel Bush, of Selma, Cal., and Clarence 
 Berry, of Fresno, were married March 15, 1896. 
 They were penniless, and for a honeymoon they 
 chose a journey to the Alaskan gold fields. They 
 drove their dog team into Forty Mile camp 
 eighty-seven days later. For weeks they toiled 
 on without result. Then came the Klondike 
 find, and they moved on to Dawson City, where 
 they picked out over $100,000, and they sold 
 their claim in San Francisco for $2,000,000. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE KLONDIKE AND THE YUKON 
 DIGGINGS. 
 
 The richest yields of gold in the Yukon region 
 have come from the territory embraced by the 
 138th and 145th degrees of longitude and the 
 62d and 66th degrees of latitude, between the 
 upper ramparts on the East — steep bluffs frown- 
 ing on a picuresque bend in the river, and Fort 
 Yukon on the west. The greatest extent of gold-
 
 KLONDIKE AND YUKON DIGGINGS. 23 
 
 bearing territory thus far explored is the Ameri- 
 can side of the 141st degree of longitude, which 
 is the accepted boundary line. The most sen- 
 sational discoveries have been on the British 
 side, about 140 miles to the east of the line. 
 
 On the American side gold has been found in 
 liberal quantities along a number of creeks, 
 Birch Creek, Firty-mile Creek and Sixty-mile 
 Creek being the most promising fields in the 
 order named, and the centre for these diggings 
 has been Circle City, on the bank of the Yukon, 
 about 140 miles west of the boundary. On the 
 British side of the Klondike River and the El- 
 dorado and Bonanza Creeks, tributary to it near 
 its junction with the Yukon, have proved the 
 miners' paradise. There is a group of creeks 
 very near the boundary, chief of whicn is Miller 
 Creek, which have contributed most generously 
 to the gold supply. These are claimed both by 
 the American and the British officials, and there 
 is grave danger that they may lead to interna- 
 tional complications unless the boundary i$ 
 quickly surveyed. 
 
 Miller Creek, up to the time of the discovery 
 of Klondike, was credited with the richest dig- 
 gings along the Yukon in proportion to their
 
 24 KLONDIKE. 
 
 extent. Over $300,000 was taken out last sea- 
 son. The creek is only six miles long, but fifty- 
 four claims were staked out on it. A claim con- 
 sists of 500 feet of creek and reaching up indefi- 
 nitely on both sides of the gulch. The creek is 
 distant about sixty miles from Forty-mile Post, 
 at the junction of Forty-mile Creek with the Yu- 
 kon, and it is surrounded at short distances Dy 
 Poker, Davis, Glacier and Little Gold Creeks, 
 all bearing gold. 
 
 The Klondike River enters the Yukon from 
 the east at a bend about 300 miles east of Circle 
 City and fifty miles north of Sixty-mile Creek. 
 From Sixty-mile Creek the course of the Yukon 
 is due north to the Klondike and then it starts 
 again toward the West. The great copper belt 
 crosses the Yukon just at this point, and the In- 
 dians have had a fishing camp there for years, 
 the Klondike being a noted stream for salmon. 
 Its waters are very clear and shallow, as befits 
 its source high up in the snow-capped ranges. 
 
 "Klondike" means "reindeer." It is about as 
 near the Indian word as the miscellaneous popu- 
 lation of prospectors who have been digging 
 there for gold were able to come. At the United 
 States Coast and Geodetic Survey it is said the
 
 KLONDIKE AND YUKON DIGGINGS. 25 
 
 word ought really to be spelled "Tlondak," 
 which is Indian for "fishing grounds," and that 
 is the name given to the stream which has now 
 become synonymous with Eldorado in maps 
 which were made in 1887 by Mr. McGrath, th^ 
 Coast Survey official detailed at that time to ex- 
 plore a country which was then quite unknown. 
 McGrath very nearly starved to death on the 
 very spot whence millions of dollars in yellow 
 metal have been taken during the last twelve 
 months, and he never suspected the presence at 
 that immediate place of the precious metal. But 
 that is another story. 
 
 Miners have been taking out gold since 1894 
 from the placer diggings on the American side 
 of the line. The earliest diggings were at Forty 
 Mile Creek, about sixty miles east of the Klon- 
 dike, and then came discoveries at Sixty Mile 
 Creek, a little farther south, and at Birch Creek, 
 a good deal farther west. Of these diggings 
 those along Birch Creek have been the most 
 profitable, and the camp of Circle City, which 
 was founded in the fall of 1894, was for a time 
 a place of considerable importance. It was the 
 distributing point for the whole region and was, 
 in a measure, the metropolis of the Yukon Val-
 
 26 KLONDIKE. 
 
 ley. Now it has been eclipsed, for a time, at any 
 rate, by the new settlement at Dawson City. 
 Circle City has the great advantage, however, of 
 being on American soil, for whatever the pres- 
 ent temporary tendency, it is believed by those 
 who have studied the country most closely that 
 the American side of the 141st parallel of longi- 
 tude, which constitutes the Alaskan boundary, 
 will eventually prove the richest and most pro- 
 fitable portion of the gold-bearing territory. 
 Over 500 men wintered at Circle City last year. 
 The town, which is situated near the head waters 
 of the Yukon, about 170 miles from Forty Mile 
 Creek, is laid off in streets, with the main street 
 facing the river, and it is so near to Birch Creek 
 that a portage of six miles brings it to the banks 
 of Birch Creek, two hundred miles from the 
 mouth, and thus in a position to bring the gold 
 ores taken out of this great American gold-bear- 
 ing basin to the navigable waters of the Yukon. 
 The gold diggings on American soil which have 
 been prospected extend from the 141st to the 
 146th degree of longitude. The Klondike region 
 is just to the west of the 141st degree, Dawson 
 City being situated at the junction of the Klon- 
 dike and Yukon, about sixtv miles to the west.
 
 KLONDIKE AND YUKON DIGGINGS. 27 
 
 The experts of the Coast and Geological Sur- 
 veys who have explored the country to some ex- 
 tent estimate that the gold-yielding territory ex- 
 tends over at least five hundred miles and that 
 the richest portion of it is on American soil. The 
 Cassiar Mountain region, as far east as the 130th 
 degree of longitude on the northern border of 
 British Columbia, has been worked with a good 
 deal of success for the last eleven years, although 
 the yield now seems to be falling ofY. The gold 
 in this region comes from the same mother lode 
 as that at Klondike, at Sixty Mile Creek, at 
 Forty Mile Creek and at Birch Creek. Scientists 
 believe it is from the same mother lode as the 
 gold from the Sierras, and they even go so far 
 as to assert that the gold mines of the Ural 
 Mountains in Siberia go back to the same origin. 
 In other words, the whole country of two conti- 
 nents, from the Ural Mountains to the Rockies, is 
 impregnated with a mineral which is apparently 
 exhaustless in extent and which will suffice to 
 keep the world supplied with gold for ages to 
 come. 
 
 Nobody seems to know just when gold was 
 first discovered in the Yukon Basin, for no two 
 miners can be found to agree on the subject. It
 
 28 KLONDIKE. 
 
 seems to be certain that none was ever found 
 there before i860, although it is said that some 
 of the Hudson Bay Company's men ran on to 
 gold at about that time. But if they did the dis- 
 covery was never followed up, and they are hardly 
 entitled to the credit. It does not appear that 
 the Russians, during their ownership and occu- 
 pation of the country, ever instituted any thor- 
 ouh search for the precious metals. It is true that 
 gold was discovered by Doroshin on the Kenai 
 Peninsula in 1848, and that he afterwards, in 
 1850-51, made further explorations of the same 
 neihborhood, but it has always been charged that 
 the Russian-American Company, regarding, as it 
 did, any effort to develop the mineral resources 
 of the country as in the highest degree inimical to 
 the business in which it was wholly engaged and 
 of which it held an exclusive monopoly, induced 
 him, by the payment of a consideration, to sup- 
 press the truth in regard to what he may really 
 have discovered. There is a tradition, too, 
 among old Russian residents that a Russian en- 
 gineer sent out by the Imperial Government to 
 examine and report on the mineral resources 
 of the country, made some rich discoveries on 
 Baranoff Island, which he reported in Sitka,
 
 KLONDIKE AND YUKON DIGGINGS. 29 
 
 whereupon, being of convivial habits, he was 
 taken in charge by the governor, who was also 
 the company's manager, by whom he was wined 
 and dined and his appetite for drink ministered 
 to until he sank into a drunkard's grave, and was 
 thus prevented from making any report of his dis- 
 coveries to the Imperial Government. Doro- 
 shin did, however, report finding gold on the 
 Kaknu River, which empties into Cook's Inlet, 
 though it appears that his explorations were 
 wholly confined to an examination of the alluvial 
 sands of the streams and gulches in that neigh- 
 borhood. To the fact that the Russian-American 
 Company, like the Hudson Bay and American 
 Fur Companies, believed that its interests would 
 be jeopardized by the bringing to light of any 
 natural resources which would invite immigra- 
 tion, and thus tend to the early settlement and 
 development of the country, is no doubt due the 
 further fact that nothing was publicly known be- 
 fore the transfer of the existence in Alaska of 
 gold and silver in paying quantities. 
 
 So far as is known, the first genuine prospector 
 in the Yukon region was one George Holt, who 
 is declared to have been the first white man to 
 cross the coast range for that purpose. About
 
 30 KLONDIKE. 
 
 all that is known of Holt is that he made his 
 journey in 1878, but nobody seems to know 
 what path he followed or whether he took the 
 trail over the Chilkoot or White Pass. It is 
 known only that he descended the chain of 
 lakes above the Chilkoot Pass, which have since 
 been traversed by so many other seekers after 
 gold, that he followed the Indian trail to the 
 Hootalinqua River and that he returned the same 
 way in the fall. The Hootalinqua River region, 
 which he penetrated, is about two hundred and 
 fifty miles to the southwest of the Klondike. 
 Holt reported that he found coarse gold near 
 there, but no coarse gold has been discovered in 
 that region since, although flour gold has been 
 yielded up from the bars of the river. In any 
 event, Holt did not find encouragement enough 
 to continue his exploration. The next that is 
 known is the expedition of Edward Bean, who 
 started out from Sitka in 1880 at the head of a 
 prospecting party. There were twenty-five men 
 in the company. They crossed Chilkoot Pass to 
 Lake Lindemann, built boats and descended 
 the Lewis River as far as the Hootalinqua. Their 
 success amounted to the finding of gold in a 
 small stream fifteen miles above the canon yield-
 
 KLONDIKE AND YUKON DIGGINGS. 31 
 
 ing $2Ji5 per day. This was not a discovery cal- 
 culated to encourage further attempts, but about 
 this time many other small parties began to force 
 their way through the Chilkoot Pass farther and 
 farther up the lakes and the rivers. All of them 
 found gold in greater or less quantities. The first 
 party to discover gold in really paying quantities 
 in the Yukon Basin consisted of four miners, 
 who crossed the range in 1881 and descended the 
 Lewis River as far as the Big Salmon River, as- 
 cending that stream for over two hundred miles 
 and finding gold on all its bars. The Cassiar 
 Bar was not located until 1886, and up until a 
 comparatively recent time this was the richest 
 of all the bars ever located on the Yukon or any 
 of its tributaries. It was in the same year that 
 coarse gold was found on Forty Mile Creek on 
 American soil several hundred miles down the 
 river. This discovery drew off all the miners 
 who had been digging in the upper river country 
 on Canadian territory. The bars at Forty Mile 
 Cretk were worked for some years at a good 
 profit, but they have now been abandoned owing 
 to the discovery of coarse gold more easily ac- 
 cessible in the giilches. Forty Mile Creek, which 
 will always be of interest from the fact that it
 
 32 KLONDIKE. 
 
 ■was the scene of the first touch of gold excitement 
 in Alaska, owes its name to the fact that it en- 
 etrs the Yukon about forty miles from Old Fort 
 Reliance. It is about two hundred and fifty miles 
 long and has many tributaries, all of which carry 
 gold in paying quantities. Sixty Mile Creek en- 
 ters the Yukon River from the southwest 
 and about seventy miles above the mouth of 
 the Stewart. It has given up excellent yields of 
 gold, and about lOO miners have wintered every 
 year of late at a trading post and a saw mill 
 which have been established on one of its islands 
 Birch Creek was not prospected until 1893, and 
 then only just enough to show that the country 
 contains some gold. In the season of 1894 near- 
 ly one hundred men prospected this country and 
 staked ofif their claims. It was found that bed- 
 rock was much nearer the surface than in the 
 Forty Mile Creek district, and the claims yielded 
 very good returns. They drew many men away 
 from the Forty Mile Creek mine. 
 
 The mining of these regions is still in its in- 
 fancy, although it has been going on in more or 
 less desultory fashion for the last fifteen years, 
 and only a few of the most accessible streams 
 have ever been prospected. All the larger rivers
 
 KLONDIKE AND YUKON DIGGINGS. 33 
 
 of the Upper country furnish flour gold which 
 increases in coarseness as the rivers are ascend- 
 ed, and from this it is argued that the surround- 
 ing gulches in many places must furnish ex- 
 ceedingly rich diggings. The territory cut by 
 these streams has never been explored even su- 
 perficially except as it may have been explored 
 in the last year by miners hunting for gold, and 
 yet it is almost unlimited in extent. A hundred 
 thousand men could be hunting gold in the Yu- 
 kon Basin at the same time without ever cross- 
 ing one another's tracks and each would be lost 
 to the world. 
 
 The honor of discovering the richest placer 
 mines in the world belongs to an Illinois man 
 named George Carmack. A party of miners, 
 drifting by the mouth of the Klondike on July 
 9, 1896, found Carmack camped in a lonely spot 
 there with his family. His wife was a native 
 woman of the Stick tribe, and he had two dark- 
 skinned children following him about. 
 
 He had been in the country eight years, and 
 much of the time had been spent with the Sticks 
 at Tagish House, on the chain of lakes that form 
 the source of the coastward arm of the Yukon, 
 on the trail from Juneau to the gold fields. When 
 3
 
 34 KLONDIKE. 
 
 found Carmack was making quite extensive 
 preparations for curing salmon, the annual run 
 of which was expected to begin any day. He 
 had erected a birch-covered shed for the better 
 protection of his catch from the weather, and 
 he already had his nets at the mouth of the Klon- 
 dike, a half-mile farther down. Carmack expect- 
 ed tO' sell his crop the following winter, prin- 
 cipally for dog feed, although in times of food 
 famine, as really occurred last winter, dried sal- 
 mon became a staple article of diet for white 
 men. 
 
 Carmack told his visitors of his intention to 
 prospect the Klondike as soon as the salmon 
 season was over. Four weeks later he took two 
 Indians and started up the stream. After a few 
 miles of laborious poling against a rapid cur- 
 rent they turned into the first considerable tribu- 
 tary that came in from the right. Here condi- 
 tions were favorable for prospecting, the water 
 being shallow, and they found gold in encourag- 
 ing quantities on the bars of the creek. They 
 followed the windings of this stream for twenty 
 or twenty-five miles before they made locations 
 and went to v/ork. 
 
 The results were almost enough to turn the
 
 KLONDIKE AND YUKON DIGGINGS. 35 
 
 brain of a prospector who had searched ior many 
 years in the hope of finding gravel that would 
 yield a few grains' weight of gold to the pan. 
 Here at a depth of three feet in the low bars by 
 the creek they found dirt that carried a dollar to 
 the pound in coarse, ragged bits of gold. Others 
 have since found diggings ten-fold richer. 
 
 As remote as their discovery was they were 
 not long to remain in sole possession of it. With 
 the exhaustion of their few days' provisions, the 
 two Indians were sent back to the village for 
 supplies. 
 
 About the middle of August, when the P. B. 
 Weare, on one of its occasional trips, arrived at 
 the Indian village, which is about half way be- 
 tween Forty Mile and Sixty Mile Creeks, the 
 Indians were waiting there to lay in their sup- 
 plies. There were also several other prospectors 
 who happened along, and the discovery was 
 now common talk. The stories of fortune prov- 
 ed a little too much for the crew of the Weare 
 to withstand. They deserted in a body and joined 
 the rush to the new gold fields. The captain, 
 after being delayed three or four days, got an 
 Indian crew sufficiently trained to handle the 
 boat. When he arrived at Forty Mile on his re-
 
 36 KLONDIKE. 
 
 turn the reports were alluring enough to Impel 
 a hundred or more men to start at once for the 
 new find. 
 
 The Klondike had been known for several 
 years to drain a gold country, and the first five 
 miles of it had been indifferently prospected, but 
 the gold hunters were generally run out by bears. 
 
 If the miners had made any encouraging finds 
 at the outset it would have been different, but 
 all other things being equal, in their estimation, 
 they concluded to try streams where the bears 
 were not so aggressive. And it happened that 
 there was a reason for the bears being so bad in 
 that particular place. It is possibly the best 
 stream for salmon of all the tributaries of the 
 great river. 
 
 The mountains along that section of the Yu- 
 kon, and in fact, from Circle City up stream fur 
 several hundred miles, are extremely wild and 
 rugged. The great copper belt, which cresses 
 the Yukon at the Klondike, is a succession of 
 miassive quartz ledges, with that metal predomi- 
 nating. The veins are known to carry gold, but 
 in what proportion is yet to be determined. 
 
 Here also is the pioneer quartz mine of the 
 Yukon. Captain Healy, the manager of the
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 37 
 
 transportation company, located a claim on the 
 side of a precipice opposite the mouth of tlie 
 Klondike over two years ago. Vein mining- had 
 never been thought of as a present undertaking. 
 Labor was worth $15 a day and supplies of all 
 kinds were proportionately high, but he put up 
 his location. 
 
 Last year he did some development work on 
 it and had samples assayed, showing it to be rich 
 in gold. But the latest reports from the Klon- 
 dike put such extravagant prices on labor that 
 quartz will not be considered for some time yet. 
 
 Still it is in the veins that will be found the 
 real wealth of this wonderful country. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 
 
 The first requirement for one seeking the gold 
 fields is a hardy constitution; the second is capi- 
 tal. For the Yukon is not, as some other gold 
 countries have been, a poor man's paradise. 
 Gold is there in Aladdin-like profusion, but it is 
 not to be had for the asking. It comes only as
 
 38 KLONDIKE. 
 
 the fruit of wearisome and perilous travel, of des- 
 perate combat with the rigors of an Arctic cli- 
 mate, of deadly waiting for Arctic winters to 
 unloose their icy hands. For the privilege of a 
 few months of toil the prospecting miner must 
 endure many months of unremunerative delay, 
 during which he must pay extortionately for the 
 mere privilege of living. For the season of pla- 
 cer mining lasts only during June, July and Au- 
 gust. 
 
 Before beginning even to hunt for gold the 
 aspiring miner must prepare himself for the long 
 and tedious trip to the fields, and this is a task 
 that will tax the endurance and nerve of the most 
 hardy. It means, according to one who has 
 made the trip, "packing provisions over pathless 
 mountains, towing a heavy boat against a five 
 to an eight-mile current, over battered boulders, 
 digging in the bottomless frost, sleeping where 
 night overtakes, fighting gnats and mosquitoes 
 by the millioias, shooting seething canyons and 
 rapids and enduring for seven long months a 
 relentless cold which never rises above zero and 
 frequently falls to 80 belovv^." 
 
 Any man who is physically able to endure all 
 this,*who will go to the gold fields for a few
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 39 
 
 years, can, by strict attention to business, make 
 a good strike, with the possibihties of a fortune. 
 
 But he must have money to start with. All 
 who have been to the gold fields agree in saying 
 that no man should undertake the journey with 
 less than $400 in capital. And he had better have 
 $1000. The expense of reaching the mines is 
 considerable. One hundred and fifty dollars is 
 a modest figure for the journey from Seattle, and 
 when once in the gold region the expense of liv- 
 ing is enormous. The prices of even the most 
 ordinary provisions are fabulous, and the com- 
 panies doing business there refuse to give credit, 
 as they can sell all their goods and more for 
 ready cash. Provisions are almost unobtainable 
 at any price. An officer of the U. S. Geological 
 Survey, who has traveled through this country, 
 has assured the author of this book that if he 
 were looking for certain profit and had the ne- 
 cessary capital he would never think of hunting 
 for gold, but would invest ever}^thing in provi- 
 sions and groceries, which would yield enormous 
 profits should they be got into the Yukon region. 
 
 If the traveler contemplates the overland trip 
 his outfit should be Dought in Juneau, the me- 
 tropolis of Southeastern Alaska, the last out-
 
 40 KLONDIKE. 
 
 post of civilization in the path of the voyager for 
 gold. The needs of the traveler can be gauged 
 there better than anywhere else, nearer the centre 
 of population and wealth. Experienced men 
 have found that the provisions a man ought to 
 lav by before starting on the overland journey 
 from Juneau make a formidable list. The arti- 
 cles required for one man for one month are 
 somewhat as follows: 
 
 Twenty pounds of flour, with baking powder. 
 
 12 pounds of bacon. 
 
 6 pounds of beans. 
 
 5 pounds of dried fruits. 
 
 3 pounds of dessicated vegetables. 
 
 4 pounds of butter. 
 
 5 pounds of sugar. 
 4 cans of milk. 
 
 1 pound of tea. 
 
 3 pounds of coffee. 
 
 2 pounds of salt. 
 
 ' Five pounds of corn meal. 
 Pepper. 
 Matches. 
 Mustard. 
 
 Cooking utensils and dishes. 
 Frying pan.
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 41 
 
 Water kettle. 
 
 Tent. 
 
 Yukon stove. 
 
 Two pairs good blankets. 
 
 One rubber blanket. 
 
 Bean pot. 
 
 Two plates. 
 
 Drinking cup. 
 
 Tea pot. 
 
 Knife and fork. 
 
 Large cooking pan. 
 
 Small cooking pan. 
 
 These are simply for sustenance. In addi- 
 tion the traveler will find it necessary to build his 
 own boat with which to thread the chain of lakes 
 and rivers leading to the gold basin. He will 
 need the following tools: 
 
 Jack plane. 
 
 Whip saw. 
 
 Hand saw. 
 
 Rip saw. 
 
 Draw knife. 
 
 Ax 
 
 Hatchet. 
 
 Pocket rule. 
 
 Six pounds -of assorted nails.
 
 42 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Three pounds of oakum. 
 
 Five pounds of pitch. 
 
 Five pounds of five-eighths rope. 
 
 He will also find that he must have some pro- 
 tection against the deadly assaults of gnats and 
 mosquitos, which fill the air throughout Alaska; 
 that he will have to be provided for mountain 
 climbing and for protection against snow blind- 
 ness, whch is one of the most demoralizing af- 
 flictions that can befall the traveler over the snow- 
 covered passes. So he will need: 
 
 Mosquito netting. 
 
 One pair crag-proof hip boots. 
 
 Snow glasses. 
 
 Medicmes. 
 
 These are the provisions necessary for a miner 
 for a single month, and whether he will need 
 more for his journey depends somewhat upon 
 the manner in which he travels. In the first 
 place nobody should undertake to travel alone. 
 The trip should be made in parties of two or 
 more, which will conduce to safety and also 
 lightness of the individual's load. It is possible 
 for parties to attend to their own transportation 
 over the divide between Juneau and the lakes. 
 In that case they should start before the first of
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 43 
 
 April so as to catch the snows and ice. They can 
 use sleighs over the summit of Chilkoot Pass 
 and along the lakes down to the place of junc- 
 tion with the river. By the time the river is 
 reached the ice will have begun to break away 
 and the rest of the journey can be managed by 
 boat. By this arrangement the gold fields can 
 be reached four weeks earlier than by waiting 
 for the opening of the summer season before 
 starting from Juneau. Should the start be de- 
 ferred till after April 30, Indians will have to be 
 employed to do the packing across the pass. The 
 Indians charge $14 per hundred for this ser- 
 vice, and each is accustomed to carry about a 
 hundred weight. 
 
 Before making a start the wise traveler will 
 consider the cost of living in the diggings and 
 provide himself accordingly. Following are a 
 few of the average prices of provisions and ar- 
 ticles of common use: 
 
 Cost of shirts $5-00 
 
 Boots, per pair 10.00 
 
 Rubber boots, per pair 25.00 
 
 Caribou hams, each 40.00 
 
 Flour, per fifty pounds 20.00 
 
 Beef, per pound (fresh) 50'
 
 44 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Bacon, per pound 75 
 
 Coffee, per povmd i.oo 
 
 Sugar, per pound 50 
 
 1 Eggs, per dozen 2.00 
 
 Condensed milk, per can i.oo 
 
 Live dogs, per pound 2.00 
 
 Picks, each i5-00 
 
 Shovels, each 15.00 
 
 Wages, per day 1 5.00 
 
 Lumber, per 1000 feet 1 50.00 
 
 When the miners left Dawson City the follow- 
 ing prices were in vogue: 
 
 Flour, per 100 lbs $12.00 
 
 Moose ham, per lb i.oo 
 
 Caribou meat, per lb 65 
 
 Beans, per lb 10 
 
 Rice, per lb 25 
 
 Sugar, per lb 25 
 
 Bacon, per lb 40 
 
 Butter, per roll 1.50 
 
 Eggs, per dozen 1.50 
 
 Better eggs, per dozen 2.00 
 
 Salmon, each .$1 to 1.50 
 
 Potatoes, per lb 25 
 
 Turnips, per lb 15 
 
 Tea, per lb i.oo
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 45 
 
 Coffee, per lb 50 
 
 Dried fruits, per lb 35 
 
 Canned fruits 50 
 
 Canned meats 75 
 
 Lemons, each 20 
 
 Oranges, each 50 
 
 Tobacco, per lb 1.50 
 
 Liquors, per drink 50 
 
 Shovels 2.50 
 
 Picks 5.00 
 
 Coal oil, per gallon i.oo 
 
 Overalls 1.50 
 
 Undenvear, per suit $5 to 7.50 
 
 Shoes 5.00 
 
 Rubber boots $10 to 15.00 
 
 The tourist from the Atlantic seaboard will 
 find in the following table information concern- 
 ing the expenses of travel according to his means 
 and inclination: 
 
 Fare from New York to Seattle via Northern 
 Pacific, $81.50. 
 
 Fee for Pullman sleeper, $20.50. 
 Fee for tourist sleeper, run only west of St. 
 Paulu, $5. 
 
 Meals served in dining car for entire trip, $16. 
 Meals are served at stations along the route a 
 la carte.
 
 46 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Distance from New York to Seattle, 3290 
 miles. 
 
 Days required to make the journey, about six. 
 
 Fare for steamer from Seattle to Juneau, in- 
 cluding cabin and meals, $32 cabin; $17 steerage. 
 
 Days, Seattle to Juneau, about five. 
 
 Number of miles from Seattle to Juneau, 725. 
 
 Cost of living in Juneau, about $3 a day. 
 
 Distance up Lynn Canal to Dyea, steamboat, 
 75 miles. 
 
 Number of days New York to Dyea, twelve. 
 
 Cost of complete outfit for overland journey, 
 about $150. 
 
 Cost provisions for one year, $200. 
 
 Cost of dogs, sled and outfit, about $150. 
 
 Steamer leaves Seattle once a week. 
 
 Best time to start is early in the spring. 
 
 Total cost of trip New York to Klondike, about 
 $667. 
 
 Number of days required for journey. New 
 York to Klondike, thirty-six to forty. 
 
 Total distance, Juneau to the mines at Klon- 
 dike, 650 miles. 
 
 Having settled the question of expense, the 
 next thing is to select a route. The routes that 
 go into Klondike are two. The most expensive
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 4; 
 
 is by Steamer from Seattle to St. Michael, a 
 distance of 2500 miles, and then by river boat up 
 the Yukon, 1700 miles to Dawson City. By tliis 
 route it takes thirty-five or forty days, and the 
 fare is $180. The steamers permit only 15,0 
 pounds of baggage for each passenger. The two 
 steamers that leave before the river is closed 
 by ice this fall cannot carry more than 150 pas- 
 sengers each. This route is the more expensive^ 
 and some think the more comfortable. 
 
 The second route is overland from Juneau, 
 and is the most perilous, the most subject 10 
 'hardships and -consequently the most fascinating 
 fortune-hunting journey that could be imagined. 
 Steamers run from Seattle to Juneau, which 
 is the metropolis of Alaska, and thence a small 
 steamer transports the seeker after gold up Lynn 
 Canal and Chilkoot Inlet to Dyea, sometimes 
 called Taiya, which has just been made a port of 
 entry by Secretary Gage for the benefit of the 
 incoming horde of miners. The distance is 650 
 miles. Dyea is just at the head of the northern- 
 most branch of Chilkoot Inlet, which is itself a 
 branch of Lynn Canal, the extreme northern 
 limit of navigation, and is one hundred miles 
 due north of Juneau. At Dyea the overland jour-
 
 48 KLONDIKE. 
 
 ney begins. The outfit, which for the long period 
 of isolation in the interior is no small affair, is 
 packed on sleds and hauled for twenty-seven 
 miles over the mountains and over the deadly 
 Chilkoot Pass to Lake Lindeman, the first of 
 the series of lakes reaching up into the interior. 
 This passage of twenty-seven miles is the most 
 difficult part of the whole journey. It would be 
 bad enough if it were made without baggage. A 
 good traveler, in prime condition, unhampered 
 by an elaborate outfit, can make the summit of 
 Chilkoot Pass from Dyea in twelve hours. Mr. 
 Pratt, of the United States Coast Survey, who 
 was in Alaska on the boundary commission sev- 
 eral years ago, left Dyea with a companion at 9 
 o'clock one morning and reached the summit of 
 Chilkoot Pass at 9 o'clock the same night. But 
 that was a case of moving light infantry. Ordi- 
 narily it will take a miner at least two days to 
 make the difficult ascent with a portion of his 
 outfit, and sometimes it is necessary for him to go 
 back to the starting point for the rest of his out- 
 fit, for it is to be borne in mind that transporta- 
 tion companies have not yet secured a charter to 
 do business in Chilkoot Pass. ,Thus it is that at 
 least six days might be used up in getting over
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 49 
 
 the short distance from salt water to fresh. Some- 
 times it takes even longer than that. The only 
 assistance that can be obtained is that of the In- 
 dians, who can be hired to carry outfits over the 
 divide at an expense of $14 for every hundred 
 pounds. This is done in the absence of snow, 
 which precludes sledding. With the present rush 
 to the gold fields the natives will receive large 
 profits. The overland trip involves a climb of 
 3500 feet to the summit of Chilkoot Pass, and it 
 is one of the most impressively picturesque jour- 
 neys that can be imagined. The landscape is 
 resplendent with glaciers, the ice sparkles like 
 jewels in the Alaskan sun, the mountains rise in 
 the distance on every side, and it is all impressive 
 beyond the power of description. Beyond this 
 the trip is exhausting, though necessarily not so 
 dangerous as in the pass, for there are times when 
 sudden snows come to fill in the pass without 
 warning, and there are few who have survived 
 such an encounter with the elements as this. But 
 with Lake Lindeman a new feature of the jour- 
 ney presents itself. Those who make the journey 
 in summer will find the ice out of the lakes, but if 
 an early start were to be made they would be able 
 to cross Lake Lindman and the other lakes of the 
 4
 
 50 KLONDIKE. 
 
 chain on foot or else by means of ice boats tem- 
 porarily constructed. The ice breaks up in the 
 lake about the first of May, and then it becomes 
 necessary for the travelers to stop and build 
 boats. Until the last year it was necessary for 
 every miner to carry a whip saw with him with 
 which to cut the timber for his craft, and whip- 
 sawing Avas one of the picturesque, although not 
 especially inviting, incidents of the trip. But a 
 saw mill has recently been constructed. The only 
 timber used in the construction of boats on the 
 lakes is spruce or Norway pine. In the first 
 place, the timber has to be located, and this is not 
 the easiest thing in the world, because the timber 
 around the lake is nearly all burned ofif, and there 
 is none suitable for boat building. After the tim- 
 ber has been located comes the construction of a 
 saw pit. To construct a saw pit it is necessary to 
 find trees so arranged as to support cross-pieces, 
 the stumps being cut at a proper distance from 
 • the ground so as to take the notched cross-pieces 
 in. This requires four trees about equi-distant 
 from one another, and the cross-pieces have to 
 be fixed very firmly in place so as not to slip, as 
 the log which is to be sawed is likely otherwise 
 to be the cause of an accident. Often a good
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 51 
 
 woodsman will be able to fell the tree which is to 
 be sawed in such a way that it will fall into the 
 pit, which saves the time and trouble of skidding- 
 the log up and rolling it in place after felling, 
 which is frequently a very difficult task. From 
 the slabs and boards thus roughly made the flat- 
 boats are constructed, upon which the miners 
 craverse the chain of lakes extending north from 
 Chilkoot Pass. Lake Lindman is about six miles 
 long, with an average width of one mile, and is 
 cleared to navigation usually after ^lay 15th, al- 
 though sometimes not before June loth. Con- 
 necting with it is Lake Bennett, which is twenty- 
 six miles long, with an average breadth of one 
 mile; and then comes Tagish Lake. Lake Ben- 
 nett is surrounded by high mountains, which rise 
 abruptly on either side, making it exceedingly 
 difficult to find a landing place. It is rather per- 
 ilous for rafts and boats on account of the strong: 
 winds which sweep up from the south through 
 Chilkoot Pass, Lake Bennett acting as a funnel 
 for that norrow passage. The v/inds are always 
 in the south and are caused by the hot air of the 
 inland valleys, supplemented by the cooler air 
 of the coast, rushing inland over the low passes 
 and down the lakes. As Lake Bennett is only
 
 52 KLONDIKE. 
 
 five miles wide at its broadest place, and at many 
 points is much less than a mile, the air is forced 
 over it between the high ridges of mountains 
 at a tremendous rate. Some of the mountains 
 reach a height of 8000 feet. The climate is dry, 
 and what little rain falls consists of an occasional 
 thunder shower. The air is cool and bracing 
 from the snow-capped peaks, which temper the 
 warmth of a down-pouring sun. 
 
 Lake Bennett is connected with Lake Tagish 
 by a very crooked and shallow channel with a 
 slight current known as Caribou Crossing, from 
 the fact that it was used by the bands of barren 
 land caribou in their migrations in the fall and 
 spring. Tagish Lake is an irregular body of 
 water with two arms, known as Windy Arm and 
 Taku Arm, stretching ofif to the south and south- 
 east. Taku Arm is really a larger body of water 
 than that particular portion known as Tagish 
 Lake, but Tagish Lake acquires its importance 
 from being directly in line of travel between Lake 
 Lindeman and Lake Bennett on the south and 
 Lake Marsh on the north. Tagish Lake is con- 
 nected with Lake Marsh by a broad river with 
 slow current, lined with wooded slopes and plen- 
 ty of Cottonwood and white spruce. The river is
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 53 
 
 about five miles long, and on it is situated the 
 Tagish House, where yearly festivals and councils 
 of war are held by the natives, the buildings being 
 the only permanent structures in hundreds of 
 miles above where the Pelly and Lewis Rivers 
 join to make the Yukon. 
 
 Lake Marsh, which is next entered, stretches 
 along at a width of two miles for a distance of 
 twent}', the most notable feature of all these lakes 
 being their narrowness as compared with their 
 length. Lake Marsh is in the middle of a broad 
 valley, from which high ranges of mountains 
 stand out prominently at a considerable distance. 
 Its banks, like the banks of the other lakes, are 
 well wooded. From Lake Marsh the seeker for 
 gold finds his way into Lewis River, which he 
 follows for a distance of more than a hundred 
 miles to the northwest until he reaches the gold 
 fields around the Klondike Basin. 1 his journey 
 along Lewis River, with its canons and rapids, is 
 one of the most picturesque and interesting that 
 can possibly be imagined. One of the features 
 of the trip is the high cut banks which stretch 
 along for mile after mile and which are complete- 
 ly honeycombed by martins, which resort there to 
 rear their young. Lake Marsh is the limit for
 
 64 KLONDIKE. 
 
 the migration of the salmon, which arrive there 
 in small numbers, although those who do brave 
 the journey are said to be the finest to be found 
 anywhere in the world, averaging forty pounds 
 in weight. The swift waters of the Grand Canon 
 are too powerful ever for the salmon whose har- 
 dihood brings them as far up the river as this. 
 
 The Grand Canon is a wonderfully beautiful 
 bit of scenery. It is cut through a horizontal 
 basalt bed, and the vv^alls range in height from 
 fifty to one hundred and twenty feet, being worn 
 into all sorts of fantastic shapes. The average 
 width of the canon is about one hundred feet, 
 and as the average width of the river above it 
 is over seven hundred feet, the force with v/hich 
 this great volum.e of water cuts through the 
 steep ledges of rock may be imagined. Mr. Wil- 
 son, who made this trip in 1894 and who has 
 described it at length in his "Guide to the Yukon 
 Gold Field," says that he shot through the can- 
 on for a distance of three-quarters of a mile in 
 two minutes and twenty seconds, and when his 
 boat emerged from the chasm it was leaking bad- 
 ly and nearly ever\' nail was started. Tv/o miles 
 beyond come the White Horse Rapids, which 
 form a perilous passage even for the best of
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 55 
 
 boats, and farther down comes Lake Labarge, at 
 a distance of about fifty miles from Lake Marsh. 
 Lake Labarge is thirty-one miles long, with an 
 average width of five miles, and is very windy. 
 It is the last of the remarkable series of lakes be- 
 ginning with Lake Lindeman in the south. And 
 here attention should be drawn to the singular 
 conformation of the country which makes the 
 springs no farther distant than thirty miles from 
 tidewater on the south find their outlet in the 
 great system of rivers which pour their waters 
 through the Yukon into Bering Sea thousands 
 of miles away. 
 
 The Hootalinqua River enters the Lewis 
 twenty-eiglit miles below Lake Labarge and has 
 acquired an interest apart from its size owing to 
 the fact that it was the limit of the journey of 
 the earliest prospector for gold in this region. 
 Thirty-one miles farther down is the Big Salmon, 
 and thirty-live miles still farther comes the Little 
 Salmon, both of which are great streams for 
 fishing, m.any Indians spending the summer 
 months on the larger river preparing their win- 
 ter salmon. After proceeding eighty miles far- 
 ther the argonauts come to old Fort Selkirk, at 
 the junction of the PeDv and Lev/is Rivers,
 
 66 KLONDIKE. 
 
 where there is a trading post. This is the far- 
 thest point to which the shallow boats which ply 
 the Yukon reach, and the P. B. Weare, which 
 will be a familiar name no doubt to those miners 
 hereafter who endeavor to reach the gold fields 
 by the water route, has been accustomed to win- 
 ter. Ninety-six miles farther down the White 
 River, which is described as the most wonderful 
 of all the great system, enters the Yukon from 
 the west. The volume of water is vast; it is mud- 
 dy in color, and the current flows at the rate of 
 eight or ten miles an hour. It discharges itself 
 into the Yukon with such force that the roar can 
 be heard for a long distance, and it muddies the 
 larger river until the waters of the two can hard- 
 ly be distinguished. The White River comes 
 from a glacier region and is supposed to flow 
 over volcanic deposits, but the meagreness of 
 the information which exists in regard to this 
 whole interior country appears in the fact that 
 little more than has been said is known about 
 one of the largest and most remarkable streams 
 in the territory of the United States. Ten miles 
 farther down the Yukon receives the waters of 
 the Stewart River, along which rich finds of gold 
 have recently been made. It is a quartz forma-
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 57 
 
 tion and the rock assays $300. Seventy miles 
 farther Sixty Mile Creek joins the swelling 
 stream and fifty miles beyond Sixty Mile Creek 
 the Klondike River enters from the east. The 
 Yukon between the Klondike River on the east, 
 and where Sixty Mile Creek enters it on the west, 
 runs almost directly north and south. The gold 
 discoveries on Sixty Mile Creek have been far 
 to the west on the American side of the boun- 
 dary, while the discoveries on the Klondike 
 River have been to the east and altogether on 
 Canadian soil. Continuing down the river from 
 Koldnike the traveler would come to Forty Mile 
 Creek, which a year ago was the centre of such 
 gold mining excitement as there was, but for the 
 present at any rate no seeker after wealth will 
 venture a step beyond the Klondike region. The 
 reports of miners coming from the gold fields 
 all agree that the placer diggings along Forty 
 Mile Creek, Sixty Mile Creek and Birch Creek 
 have been abandoned for the more spectacular, 
 sensational findings on the Klondike River. 
 That Circle City is occupied by only a stray min- 
 er or tow, and that Forty Mile Post, which in 1895 
 boasted ten saloons, two restaurants, three bil- 
 liard halls, two dance houses, an opera house, a
 
 68 KLONDIKE. 
 
 cigar factory, a barber shop, two bakeries, sev- 
 eral breweries and distilleries and a store, is now 
 a deserted camp. 
 
 This desertion of Forty Mile Post and of Cir- 
 cle City, which is one hundred and seventy-live 
 miles farther down the river, is believed by min- 
 ing experts to be temporary, for the fields which 
 feed them are practically exhaustless, although 
 they have been abandoned now for diggings 
 which will yield speedier returns. 
 
 But for the present the traveler may be safely 
 left at Klondike, which was his original destina- 
 tion, having spent seven weeks in traversing the 
 650 miles between Lynn Canal and Dawson ('ity, 
 with dangerous and exciting experience, through 
 swift and treacherous currents, log jams, iloat- 
 ing ice and debris, whirl pools and rapids and 
 dark canons full of unknown difificulties. Tlic 
 quickest time which can be made under existing 
 conditions between Juneau and Dawson City is 
 about a month. 
 
 Those who wish to take the route by way of 
 St. Michael can board the steamer at San l^ran- 
 cisco or Seattle, travel twenty-five hundred miles 
 to St. Michael, which is the Alaskan seaport near 
 the mouth of the Yukon River, then travel on
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 59 
 
 the little river steamer 1895 miles clear across 
 American territory and well into British Colum- 
 bia. This trip takes about thirty days and the 
 traveler is subject to tedious delays caused by 
 ice jams and sand bars, so that by the time he 
 reaches the gold field he is hardly in condition ' 
 to take advantage of his opportunities. The 
 period during which the Yukon River is navi- 
 gable is so short that some think it hardly pays 
 to attempt the journey in this way, al< hough 
 hundreds have essayed the trip in the first ilusli 
 of the gold excitement. The ice does not break 
 up at the mouth of the river earlier than the first 
 of June and by the time the traveler reaches the 
 fields and locates his claim winter is almost ready 
 to set in and he is obliged to exist as best he can 
 through the bitter cold of Arctic days. So it is 
 that the majority of prospectors will continue to 
 avail themselves of the overland trip from Ju- 
 neau which has been described in detail. 
 
 A new route to the Klondike will be opened 
 next spring. It is overland from Juneau to Fort 
 Selkirk, on the Yukon, and is entirely by land. 
 Captain Goodall, of the Pacific Coast Steamship 
 Company, inspected it this summer and reported 
 it practicable. It is about 700 miles long, and it
 
 60 KLONDIKE. 
 
 crosses the divide over Chillkoot Pass, v^hich is 
 about fifty-five miles to the east of Chilkoot 
 Pass. No lakes or rivers are on the route, but 
 the trail runs over a high, level prairie. Old pio- 
 neer Dalton, after whom the trail is named, is 
 now driving a band of sheep on the trail to Daw- 
 son City, where he expects to arrive in August 
 witn fresh meat for the miners. This Dalton 
 trail is well dapted for driving stock, but for 
 men to tramp it is believed to be too long. 
 
 One who is now at the Klondike diggings 
 writes from there of his journey overland as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "We arrived here from Dyea after seventy 
 days of the hardest travel I ever experienced. 
 We had all our provisions in cachet at Chilkoot 
 Pass. We loaded everything on three sleds and 
 turned them loose down the three-mile declivity. 
 They landed all safe at the bottom on the Yukon 
 side. 
 
 "Then we followed, winging and tumbling 
 after. We crossed Lake Lindeman on the ice all 
 right at the foot of ihe mountams and got safely 
 to the head of Lake Bennett. By this time the 
 weather was getting warmer and the snow melt- 
 ing. The snow crust on the lake would support
 
 SEEKING THE POT OF GOLD. 6l 
 
 the sleds, but we broke through at every step, 
 and there was about a foot of slush under tne 
 crust. After wading- this way for two days and 
 having traversed but four miles we went into 
 camp to wait for a cold snap or more of a thaw 
 to break up the ice. We lay in camp for three 
 days, and then came a cold spell, the wind blow- 
 ing a gale. 
 
 "When we struck Marsh Lake the weather 
 had become warm again, and it took us three 
 days to make seven miles through eight inches 
 of slush, so we waded into a good patch of tim- 
 ber and remained there fourteen davs building a 
 boat. It took us six days to fell the trees and 
 saw the boards out. 
 
 "When we got to the great Yukon we launch- 
 ed our little craft and tried her in the swift cur- 
 rent of the mighty river (a river as large as the 
 Mississippi) and found she would answer our 
 purpose very well. The next day we came to a 
 canon called 'Miller's Canon,' the most danger- 
 ous place on the river, where many a party have 
 lost all they had, and their lives, too. It is a 
 steep cut through the mountain range. The wa- 
 ter rushes through with frightful speed. There 
 is a long, devious way around the canon by land
 
 62 KLCKEIKE. 
 
 which requires four days' hard work to get over, 
 while to shoot the canon only takes two and 
 one-half minutes. 
 
 "As soon as the boat entered the canon she 
 seemed to shiver and then plunged head fore- 
 most into the first waves, and about a half bar- 
 rel of water came over the bow. Then she 
 straightened out and rode through the rapids 
 without shipping a drop more water. We con- 
 tinued down the river to Lake Labarge, thirty- 
 live miles. There our boat riding ended for the 
 present, the lake being still frozen solid. It is 
 thirty miles long. The ice was smooth as glass, 
 so we rigged up two sails on the boat (which 
 we had deposited on two sleds). 
 
 "Two days later we once more launched into 
 the friendly Yukon and floated calmly down the 
 river to Klondike, a distance of four hundred 
 miles from the last lake, in eight days." 
 
 There is talk already of building a railroad in- 
 to the gold diggings, and the Canadian Govern- 
 ment has been asked to help. An appropriation 
 of $5000 was passed by the present Parliament 
 to send surveyors into the field. 
 
 Two routes are suggested — one from a point 
 on the Canadian Pacific, the other from Dyea.
 
 
 5, "%'m^,\. 
 
 
 
 f^::
 
 LIFE IN CAMP. 63 
 
 It is said that neither offers serious difficulties 
 from an engineering point of view. From Dyea 
 only eighty miles of road would have to be built, 
 the rest of the route being to the mines by means 
 of the lakes and rivers. This road would abolish 
 the peril of the Chilkoot Pass. The other route 
 is 500 miles long and entirely within the juris- 
 diction of the Dominion of Canada, while the 
 Dyea route would have its terminus in the soil 
 of the United States. The day may not be far 
 distant when the Alaskan country will be tra- 
 versed by rail from the Canadian Pacific to Be- 
 ring Straits. American enterprise may run a 
 road all alone: the coast from Seattle to Asia. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LIFE IN CAMP. 
 
 A mining camp is always a spot of intense hu- 
 man interest. It is the breaking of the frontier 
 — the first contact of civilization with the v/ilder- 
 ness — and it brings into play all the rough ele- 
 mental qualities of the human animal. The Yu- 
 kon minmg camps have been little worlds by
 
 64 KLONDIKE. 
 
 themselves, isolated and ice-bound, and they have 
 been rich in incident, tho-wgh from all accounts 
 they seem to have lacked the easy indifference 
 to the sanctity of human life which characterized 
 the earlier mining camps of California and Col- 
 orado. Forty Mile Post, for example, has been 
 described as a characteristic gold town in every 
 way but one. It boasts the company stores, an 
 opera house, a barber shop, two bakeries, two 
 restaurants, three billiard parlors, two terpsi- 
 chorean resorts, several distilleries and ten sa- 
 loons. Its exceptional feature is the utter ab- 
 sence of that lawlessness and disorder always 
 looked for in frontier places. This same peaceful 
 state of affairs obtains throughout the country. 
 Law there is none, except miner's law, that stern, 
 Draconian code, which decrees the extreme pen- 
 alty for the least offense. The fact that there has 
 never been a lynching or shooting affray there is 
 testimony of the efficiency of self-government, 
 where the consent of the governed has been se- 
 cured. 
 
 It is not unlikely that some part of the general 
 obedience is due to the liberality with which the 
 moral obligation is construed. The Yukon Deca- 
 logue contains rather less than ten command-
 
 LIFE IN CAMP. 65 
 
 ments. Thou shalt not avoid thy just debts: 
 thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shait 
 not covet thy neighbor's claim, nor his sluice- 
 boxes, nor his cabin, nor his mission squaw, nor 
 anything that is his, make up the prohibited list. 
 
 One can hang a sack of gold dust outside of 
 his cabin and it is perfectly safe. One saloon- 
 keeper has $160,000 in gold in a little shack and 
 he never locks his door. 
 
 A returning traveler says the only reminder of 
 law and vested authority that he saw on the en- 
 tire journey down the Yukon was at Forty Mile, 
 or, to speak more precisely, at Fort Cudahy, 
 whcih is across the bend of the river a mile or 
 two away from the former place. There was a 
 low stockade and a flagpole with the union jack 
 
 flying- 
 There is a detachment of twenty-iive Canadian 
 mounted police stationed here and a magistrate, 
 ind the whole machinery of the law as applied to 
 territories is in operation. They have very little 
 to do in maintining order, and the police may 
 be pardoned for assuming a little commission on 
 the side, as it were, in going over the line into 
 American territory to put Messres. Van Wagenen 
 5
 
 66 KLONDIKE. 
 
 and Hestvvood in possession of their mine, which 
 was held by indignant miners. 
 
 The police are a well-equiped and well-drilled 
 body of men, armed with Lee-Metford rifles. As 
 cavalry or mounted police they are out of their 
 element, as it is impracticable to use horses here. 
 
 It is now proposed by the United States Gov- 
 ernment to establish an army post in the neigh- 
 borhood of the diggings, with headquarters prob- 
 ably at Circle City. The troops will act as po- 
 lice. 
 
 There is a marked diflference between the atti- 
 tude of the two governments toward their pion- 
 eers. Four-fifths of the men in the interior are 
 Americans, and more than two-thirds of the whole 
 number have been in American territory. On the 
 British side, with one-fourth the interest at stake, 
 the Canadians have a picked and athletic body of 
 men ready to respond in any emergency. Should 
 disaster befall any man or body of men within 
 the Dominion's jurisdiction, these police would 
 hasten to the rescue as rapidly as it is within hu- 
 man power to do, and without any question as to 
 whether or not the unfortunates were citizens. 
 
 Over the line, in Alaska, is a stretch of coun- 
 try where two or three New Englands m.ight be
 
 LIFE IN CAMP. 67 
 
 thrown in at random without touching, the dig- 
 nity of the United States is upheld by one man, 
 a customs officer, whose duties partake of those 
 of a tax collector and a detective combined. The 
 only solicitude expressed is in the way of col- 
 lecting taxes. Recently a United States postmas- 
 ter has been added to the official life, but nat-urally 
 he has nothing to do except handle mail. A 
 United States commissioner is the latest prom- 
 ised acquisition, although he has not yet put in a 
 form.al appearance. 
 
 The most prevalent trouble is scurvy, which 
 results from scarcity of vegetables and fresh 
 meats. A diet of beans, salt pork and bad ba- 
 con brings trouble. Fresh meat is always scarce. 
 Moose and caribou have been killed off and the 
 chase would not supply a fraction of the popula- 
 tion. There are graylings and other fish in the 
 Yukon and they can be hooked through the ice, 
 but few will stand out in the middle of a river 
 at 60 degrees below zero and with time worth 
 $15 a day. Last winter a quarter of beef was 
 sledded into Circle City with dogs. It was view- 
 ed with wonder at the store for a while and then 
 raffled ofif for $400 for the benefit of a projected 
 miners' hospital. This spring an enterprising
 
 68 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Juneau man drove forty head of cattle in from 
 the coast — 800 miles — and beef went at 50 and 
 then at 70 cents a pound. If anybody gets sick 
 there are patent medicines in the stores, and four 
 or five doctors who diagnose a patient's claim 
 before presenting the bill. 
 
 Winter in the Yukon Basin is not altogether 
 an unbearable season. The thermometer often 
 falls to 70 and even 80 degrees below zero, but 
 there is neither wind nor moisture, and the ex- 
 treme cold is not then realized. When working 
 out of doors a miner wears a thermometer as he 
 wears a watch. He consults it every now and 
 then for prudence's sake, and when the mercury 
 freezes he knows that it is time to go in. 
 
 Most miners adopt the native dress of skin 
 trousers and parka. The best of these shirt-like 
 garments are brought over from Siberia, and 
 find ready sale at $25. 
 
 There are two kinds of boots, the water boot, 
 made of seal and walrus skins, and the dry wea- 
 ther or winter boot, made in all sorts of fashions, 
 some with picturesque fur trimming. The boots 
 as a rule are the handiwork of the coast Indians. 
 They range in price from $2 to $5 a pair. Trou- 
 sers are made of Siberian fawn skin and the skin
 
 LIFE IN CAMP. 69 
 
 of the marmot or ground squirrel. The parka 
 or upper garment is usually made of marmot 
 skins and trimmed with wolverine around the 
 hood and lower edge. These parkas are some- 
 times very elaborate, with hair six inches in 
 length hanging from the hood to protect the 
 face, or made of fawn skins and trimmed with 
 the fur of the white wolf. These elaborate par- 
 kas are usually worn by the women and differ 
 in shape somewhat from those worn by the men. 
 They are sometimes beautifully embroidered 
 with colored skins and ornamented with otter's 
 fur and dyed feather'?, and iliey have been known 
 to cost as high as $ioo apiece. Flannels are 
 worn underneath and the dress is described by 
 those wdio have worn it as weighing less than 
 the ordinary clothes of a country where the ther- 
 mometer only falls to zero. 
 
 Women who have drifted in from the coast 
 received an odd rebuke from Captain Constan- 
 tine, of the Territorial police. The women nat- 
 urally put on bloomers in coming over the 
 mountains, and when they got on the other side 
 they continued to wear bloomers altogether. 
 Bloomers were more than Captain Constantine 
 would stand, and he gave orders that if the bloo- 
 mers did not go the wearers would.
 
 70 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Help is scarce. Indians wlio cannot speak 
 either English or Chinook receive $60 per 
 month and all the tobacco they can use. These 
 are willing to help, but with the judgment of 
 children. Every white man that will act as boss 
 of a gang is pressed into service. 
 
 Gold dust and nuggets take the place of cur- 
 rency in the new diggings and throughout the 
 Yukon Basin. There is little money in circula- 
 tion. Every man carries a pair of gold scales, 
 and people learn to make change as quickly as 
 with coin. A hair cut costs 75 cents in gold dust, 
 a glass of whisky 50 cents, and during the winter 
 season, when the thermometer ranges between 
 zero and 70 degrees below, whisky is sometimes 
 sold in solid blocks. The established value of 
 gold dust is $17 an ounce. Nuggets of one and 
 two ounces are by no means uncommon. 
 
 The principal sport with mining men is found 
 around the gambling table. There they gather 
 after nightfall and play until the late hours in 
 the morning. They have some big games, too. 
 It sometimes costs as much as fifty dollars to 
 draw a card. A game with $2000 as stakes is 
 an ordinary event. But with all that there has 
 not been any decided trouble. If a man is fussy
 
 LIFE IN CAMP. 71 
 
 and quarrelsome, he is quietly told to get out of 
 the game, and that is the end of it. 
 
 Drinks are 50 cents, and returned miners say 
 that when they left some of the saloons were tak- 
 ing in $1000 to $2000 a day. 
 
 Whisky will be plentiful hereafter, even if food 
 is not. One trader has secured a permit to send 
 in 2000 gallons of liquor. 
 
 The Alaska Commercial Company and the 
 Northwestern Transportation and Trading Com- 
 pany have each received permission to ship across 
 the border 5000 gallons. 
 
 Many people have an idea that Dawson City 
 is completely isolated and can communicate with 
 the outside world only once in twelve months. 
 That is a mistake. Circle City, only a few miles 
 away, has a mail once each month, and there the 
 Dawson City men have their mail addressed. It 
 is true the cost is pretty high, one dollar a letter 
 and two dollars for a paper; yet by that expendi- 
 ture of money they are able to keep in direct com- 
 munication with their friends on the outside. 
 
 The camp is at present without any public in- 
 stitutions, but by next season they will have a 
 church, a music hall, a school house and a hos- 
 pital. This last institution will be under the di-
 
 72 KLONDIKE. 
 
 rect control of the Sisters of Mercy, who have 
 already been stationed for a long- time at Circle 
 City and Forty Mile Camp. Nearly a score of 
 children were in Dawson City when the last party 
 left, and Joseph Ladue, who owns the town site, 
 donated a lot and one hundred dollars for a 
 school. No one can buy anything on credit in 
 Dawson. It is spot cash for every one, and pay- 
 ment is always gold dust. Very few have any 
 regular money. 
 
 The rqosquito is an almost intolerable pest. 
 In the Yukon region he is so small that the finest 
 netting cannot keep him out, but his voracity is 
 seemingly boundless. 
 
 During the summer this pest gives the popula- 
 tion no rest. The deepest canon and the loftiest 
 mountain top, the open ground or the thickest 
 forest being equally infested. The only relief, if 
 it can be called relief, is when the winds blow 
 the insects to less windy altitudes; but it is not 
 an every day occurrence for the wind to blow. 
 Lieutenant Schwatka, in his account of his trip 
 to Alaska, says that bears under stress of hunger 
 sometimes come down to the river in mosquito 
 season and are attacked by swarms of insects, 
 which sting them about the eyes so that they go 
 blind and die of starvation.
 
 LIFE IN CAMP. 73 
 
 There is one side of the Klondike picture 
 which has been kept in the background, bat 
 about which whispers are beginning to be heard. 
 It is a picture of suffering and starvation. One 
 of the returned fortune makers is quoted as say- 
 ing: 
 
 "You would find it easier to believe the most 
 wonderful yarns I could tell you of the wealth 
 of the country than some of the hardships I have 
 known many men to undergo. Men can suffer 
 a great deal and almost forget it if they eventual- 
 ly become rich, but for every man who has re- 
 turned with a sack of dust there are now one 
 hundred poor devils stranded and starving in 
 that country. 
 
 "When I say starving I mean it literally. It 
 seems incredible that a man would see another 
 — his neighbor, at that — slowly dying by inches 
 for want of food and deliberately refuse him a 
 pound of bacon or pint of beans, yet that thing 
 is happening every day, and God only knows 
 how many frozen corpses will make food for 
 wolves on Klondike this winter. When I left 
 there was not enough food in the country to sup- 
 ply those already there, and as boats cannot take 
 in much more before the river freezes, how are
 
 74 KLONDIKE. 
 
 hundreds now on their way there to exist? It 
 is not that men are selfish or avaricious, but few 
 of the old miners have more than enough to keep 
 them through the winter, and it is only a ques- 
 tion of preserving their own lives or those of 
 others." 
 
 It is likely to be as bad next winter. The 
 united efforts of the Alaska Commercial Com- 
 pany and the North American Transportation 
 and Trading Company cannot transport over 
 4500 tons of freight up the river this season, and 
 not until next February can stuff be freighted 
 over from Dyea, Juneau and other points down 
 along the southern coast. Prices for food and 
 other supplies were almost beyond belief last 
 winter. Flour was $120 a hundred weight at 
 one time, and beef from $1 to $2 a pound. Moose 
 hams sold for about $30, or $2 a pound. Ordi- 
 nary shovels for digging brought $17 and .$18 
 apiece. A few crates of eggs were brought in 
 about March i by pack horses, and these sold 
 readily for $3 to $5 a dozen, Tliey were not 
 fresh by any means. 
 
 Wages, however, Avere proportional; $2 per 
 hour were common wages and even in the sum- 
 mer a man can command $1.50 per hour, or 
 from $15 to $20 a day.
 
 LIFE IN CAMP. 75 
 
 A new arrival at Dawson City, writing to his 
 brother, says: 
 
 "This is a great camp, and a conservative es- 
 timate of its richness sounds Hke exaggeration. 
 I have been here now twelve days and cannot 
 get a hold of anything. I cannot even buy a 
 foot of ground in the town, not to mention the 
 diggings, values are so extremely high. Every 
 foot of ground in this district is claimed, and 
 there are hundreds of prospectors in the adjacent 
 country looking for other rich ground. The 
 gravel must be very rich in gold or nobody 
 wants it. From the amount of gold dust and 
 nuggets I have seen in Klondike, and the mad 
 hunt for it, the district must be all they claim 
 for it." 
 
 The mines of the Yukon are of a class by 
 themselves, and it is necessary to follow new 
 methods for getting the gold. To begin with, 
 the ground is frozen. From the roots of the 
 moss, which is often a foot thick, to the greatest 
 depth that ever has been reached the ground is 
 as hard as a bone. The gold is found in a cer- 
 tain drift of gravel, which lies at varying depths, 
 often as far down as twenty feet. Only that por- 
 tion of the gravel just above hard pan — by which
 
 76 KLONDIKE. 
 
 is usually meant clay — carries gold in any quan- 
 tity, and in favored localities this particular 
 gravel is extraordinarily rich. 
 
 As in nearly all placer mines, the low pla:?s 
 of what has formerly been the bed of the creek 
 are the richest, the deposits decreasing toward 
 the outer edges. 
 
 The size of a claim is fixed by agreement 
 among the miners of any particular locality. Tt 
 is a section of the creek of a certain length — 
 sometimes 200 feet, sometimes 500 — and it ex- 
 tends from rim to rim in width. The reason of 
 this variableness in the size of the claims on the 
 different creeks is that on some a greater length 
 is required to make them worth a man's while to 
 work them. The paying deposits may be scat- 
 tered so a man could make wages only by work- 
 ing here and there over a large territory. Of 
 course, the conditions surrounding the first dis- 
 covery made on a creek are the basis for fixing 
 the size of a claim on that stream. The discov- 
 erer of a new field is allowed two claims, while 
 all others are permitted to take but one at a time. 
 However, when a locater has worked out his as- 
 sessment of a few days' work he is at liberty to 
 take another. When a sufficient number of men
 
 LIFE IN CAMP. 77 
 
 arrive on a new creek to make it impracticable 
 to work together in harmony without organiza- 
 tion, they hold a meeting and elect one of their 
 number as a register or clerk, and thereafter a 
 record is made of all locations and all transfers, 
 for which a small fee is charged. 
 
 In prospecting the usual method is followed, 
 i, e., sinking holes to bed rock across the stream 
 and testing the dirt until the pay streak is found. 
 
 Having located his claim, the miner scrapes 
 ofif as much moss as he can, and, turning a 
 stream of water on to the frozen ground, grad- 
 ually thaws, scrapes and digs his ditch. The 
 gold lies at bed rock, fifteen to twenty feet below 
 the surface. A drainage ditch must then be dug, 
 a dam built and sluice boxes placed. 
 
 Winter mining has been experimented with 
 to some extent. Work cannot be started until 
 the cold weather is settled beyond the possibility 
 of a surface thaw, nor can it be continued beyond 
 the first promise of spring. A fire is built and 
 kept burning until the ground beneath is thawed 
 to bed rock, after which the drift is removed, 
 leaving a hole several feet wide. By banking 
 the fires against the side of the hole every night 
 and removing the soft earth next morning, a
 
 78 KLONDIKE. 
 
 tunnel is formed. A foot and a half a day is as 
 much as the greatest industry can accomplish, 
 but that amounts to 150 feet in the season. The 
 pay dirt is piled up and is not washed until the 
 following spring. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MINING EXPERTS AND SCIENTISTS. 
 
 Professor N. S. Shaler, who is perhaps the 
 best living American authority on geology, has 
 been telling his classes at Harvard for the last 
 twenty years that the coming great discoveries 
 of gold on this continent would be in Alaska. 
 The possibilities for bonanza finds among the 
 Sierras, he explained, had been narrowed to a 
 point where there was little opportunity except 
 to develop known veins, but in the great exten- 
 sion of the Rocky Mountain system to the North 
 there doubtless lay the mother vein, which soon- 
 er or later would come to light. 
 
 Professor Shaler's prophecy, based on scien- 
 tific deductions, has come true, and other scien-
 
 MINING EXPERTS AND SCIENTISTS. 79 
 
 tists now agree with him that the Alaskan coun- 
 try contains hmitless possibiHties for the discov- 
 ery of gold. 
 
 And not the scientists alone. So hard-headed 
 a pioneer as John W. Mackay, the last and great- 
 est of the bonanza kings, who went into the Cal- 
 ifornia gold fields and dug out a fabulous for- 
 tune, which has been growing ever since, ex- 
 presses his belief in the reports of the marvelous 
 richness of the newly-discovered fields. 
 
 "I have no reason to doubt them," he says. 
 "I have had great confidence in the mining pos- 
 sibilities in British Columbia and Alaska — have 
 always believed that those frozen, almost inac- 
 cessible regions contain heavy deposits of pre- 
 cious metals. Some enormous 'finds' of gold 
 have undoubtedly been made there, and yet we 
 know little or nothing of the possibilities of the 
 country. Think of Williams' Creek, for instance, 
 in the Caribou region in British Columbia. As 
 long ago as i860 something like fifty millions of 
 gold were taken out. It was placer mining there, 
 just the same as the Klondike." 
 
 Mr. Mackay believes that in time modern min- 
 ing methods will be carried up into the Yukon 
 country, and that all parts of the country will be
 
 80 KLONDIKE. 
 
 opened. "Capital," he says, "will always go 
 where there is a chance for legitimate investment, 
 and transportation facilities will increase as rap- 
 idly as the travelers." 
 
 Mr. Mackay thinks the excitement over the 
 discoveries may increase. "I see in it," he says, 
 "something like the excitement of the early fifties 
 over the gold discoveries of the Pacific coast re- 
 gion. The reports of rich individual finds are 
 likely to continue, and the arrival of every ship 
 loaded with fortunate gold hunters will stimu- 
 late the imagination, hopes and desires of the 
 would-be gold hunters. We hear nothing of the 
 failures. One man who is lucky is more talked 
 about than a thousand who fail." 
 
 Mr. Mackay says that his experience in Cali- 
 fornia was that about one man in ten used to get 
 on, and by "getting on" he means not becoming 
 a millionaire, but making a living and a little 
 more. 
 
 R. E. Preston, the Director of the United 
 States Mint, has become convinced of the great 
 possibilities in the Klondike region. While he 
 thinks it is as yet too early to hail the Klondike 
 as a new Eldorado, he says the history of gold 
 production in Alaska hitherto would prepare
 
 MINING EXPERTS AND SCIENTISTS. 81 
 
 the mind for the acceptance of a behef in the 
 HkeHhood of further gold discoveries in that re- 
 gion or its proximity. 
 
 "The gold product of Alaska thus far," he says, 
 "has been remarkable rather for its regularity 
 than its amount, and is therefore more favorable 
 to the permanency of development of the mineral 
 resources than if it were subject to violent fluc- 
 tuation. 
 
 "Nature seems to have sprinkled Alaska and 
 all Asiatic Russia with gold. The latter region 
 sends annually over $25,000,000 to the mint at 
 St. Petersburg. The production of gold there is 
 such that the annual output of the Russian Em- 
 pire would, it is claimed, exceed $50,000,000 
 were it not for the obstacles put in the way of 
 human industry by an inclement climate and an 
 inhospitable soil." 
 
 Dr. W. H. Dall, of the Smithsonian Institu- 
 tion at Washington, who has for years been re- 
 garded as the highest authority on the Alaskan 
 country and who is a geologist of note, says he 
 has no doubt of the truth of the stories told of 
 the richness of the Yukon soil. 
 
 "The gold-bearing belt of Northwestern 
 America," he says, "contains all the gold fields 
 6
 
 82 KLONDIKE. 
 
 extending into British Columbia and what is 
 known as the Northwest Territories and Alaska. 
 The Yukon really runs along in that belt for 500 
 or 600 miles. The bed of the main river is in 
 the valley. The yellow metal is not found in 
 paying quantities in the main river, but in the 
 small streams which cut through the mountains 
 on either side. Mud and mineral matter are car- 
 ried into the main river, while the gold is left on 
 the rough bottom of these side streams. In most 
 cases the gold lies at the bottom of thick gravel 
 deposits. The gold is covered with frozen gravel 
 in the winter. During the summer until the 
 snow is all melted, the surface is covered with 
 muddy torrents. When summer is over and the 
 springs begin to freeze, the streams dry up. At 
 the approach of winter, in order to get at the 
 gold the miners find it necessary to dig into the 
 gravel formation." 
 
 George Frederick Wright, professor of geol- 
 ogy at Oberlin College, thinks that the "mother 
 lode" may be looked for successfully in Alaska. 
 In his opinion it exists somewhere up the 
 streams on which the placer mines are found. 
 The source of the Klondike gold, he says, is 
 from the south, and the gold was doubtless
 
 MINING EXPERTS AND SCIENTISTS. 83 
 
 transported by glacier action. The Klondike re- 
 gion is on the north side of the St. Elias Alps, 
 and the glaciers flowed both north and south 
 from these summits. 
 
 "Placer mines," says Professor Wright, "orig- 
 inate in the disintegration of gold-bearing quartz 
 veins, or mass like that at Juneau. Under sub- 
 aerial agencies these become dissolved. Then 
 the glaciers transport the material as far as they 
 go, when the floods of water carry it on still fur- 
 ther. Gold, being heavier than the other ma- 
 terials associated with it, lodges in the crevices 
 or in the rough places at the bottom of the 
 streams. So to speak, nature has stamped and 
 'panned' the gravel first and prepared the way 
 for man to finish the work. The amount of gold 
 found in the placer mines is evidence not so 
 much, perhaps, of a very rich vein as of the dis- 
 integration of a very large vein." 
 
 "What the prospectors have found points to 
 more. The unexplored region is immense. The 
 mountains to the south are young, havmg been 
 elevated very much since the climax of the gla- 
 cial period. With these discoveries and the suc- 
 cess in introducing reindeer, Alaska bids fair to 
 support a population eventually of several mil- 
 lions."
 
 84 KLONDIKE. 
 
 William Van Slooten, an eminent mining en- 
 gineer and metallurgist, sees in the reports from 
 the Klondike indications of a more extraordi- 
 nary deposit of gold than that of California. He 
 says: 
 
 "No such specifically large amounts of gold 
 v ere taken out by individuals during any similar 
 period of California gold hunting. Two months 
 of work in the water has realized more than any 
 six months heretofore known in the history of 
 gold mining. 
 
 "We had long been aware that there was gold 
 in tne Yukon basin, but the total output for the 
 last ten years before the Klondike developments 
 amounted to not more than a million dollars' 
 worth at the utmost. Now, within two months, 
 five millions have been taken out of the Klon- 
 dike regions. It took the first eight months of 
 work in California to pan out that amount under 
 infinitely more favorable conditions of climate 
 and weather. That is a straw worth noting." 
 
 The latest and therefore the most important 
 official investigation of the gold fields is that 
 conducted under the auspices of the United 
 States Geological Survey in i8q6 by J. Edward 
 Spurr, accompanied by two geologic assistants.
 
 MINING EXPERTS AND SCIENTISTS. 86 
 
 The expedition was sent out in accordance with 
 an appropriation by Congress of $5000 for the 
 investigation of the coal and gold resources of 
 Alaska. A like appropriation for the year be- 
 fore resulted in the expedition headed by Dr. 
 George F. Becker, which investigated the gold 
 fields of Southern Alaska. Mr. Spurr's party 
 crossed the Chilkoot Pass about the middle of 
 June and passed down the Yukon in a small, 
 roughly-built boat to the crossing of Forty-Mile 
 Creek. A summary of his report was submitted 
 to Congress by the director of the Geological 
 Survey through the Secretary of the Interior 
 February 2, 1897. Mr. Spurr's party and Dr. 
 Becker's both took numerous photographs along 
 the routes they traversed. It appears from Mr. 
 Spurr's report that the gold belt is likely to be 
 found running in a direction a little west of north- 
 west. 
 
 Running in a direction a little west of north- 
 west through the territory examined is a broad, 
 continuous belt of highly altered rocks. To the 
 east this belt is known to be continuous for 100 
 miles or more in British territory. The rocks 
 constituting this belt are mostly crystalline 
 schists associated with marbles and sheared
 
 86 KLONDIKE. 
 
 quartzites, indicating a sedimentary origin for a 
 large part of the series. In the upper part a few 
 plant remains were found, which suggest that 
 this portion is probably of Devonian age. These 
 altered sedimentary rocks have been shattered by 
 volcanic action, and they are pierced by many 
 dikes of eruptive rock. Besides the minor vol- 
 canic disturbances, there have been others on a 
 large scale, which have resulted in the formation 
 of continuous ridges or mountain ranges. In 
 this process of mountain building the sedimen- 
 tary rocks have been subjected to such pressure 
 and to such alteration from attendant forces that 
 they have been squeezed into the condition of 
 schist, and often partly or wholly crystallized, so 
 that their original character has in some cases 
 entirely disappeared. In summarizing, it may be 
 said that the rocks of the gold belt of Alaska con- 
 sist largely of sedimentary beds older than the 
 Carboniferous period; that these beds have un- 
 dergone extensive alteration, and have been ele- 
 vated into mountain ranges and cut through by 
 a variety of igneous rocks. 
 
 Throughout these altered rocks there are 
 found veins of quartz often carrying pyrite and 
 gold. It appears that these quartz veins were
 
 MINING EXPERTS AND SCIENTISTS. 87 
 
 formed during the disturbance attending the up- 
 lift and alteration of the beds. Many of the veins 
 have been cut, sheared and torn into fragments 
 by the force that has transformed the sedimen- 
 tary rocks into crystalline schist; but there are 
 others, containing gold, silver and copper, that 
 have not been very much disturbed or broken. 
 These more continuous ore-bearing zones have 
 not the character of ordinary quartz veins, al- 
 though they contain much silica. Instead of the 
 usual white quartz veins, the ore occurs in a 
 sheared and altered zone of rock and gradually 
 runs out on both sides. So far as yet known, 
 these continuous zones of ore are of relatively 
 low grade. Concerning the veins of white quartz 
 first mentioned, it is certain that most of them 
 which contain gold carry it only in small quan- 
 tity, and yet some few are known to be very rich 
 in places, and it is extremely probable that there 
 are many in which the whole of the ore is of 
 comparatively high grade. 
 
 No quartz or vein mining of any kind has yet 
 been attempted in the Yukon district, mainly on 
 account of the difBculty with which supplies, 
 machinery and labor can be obtained; yet it is 
 certain that there is a vast quantity of gold in
 
 88 KLONDIKE. 
 
 these rocks, much of which could be profitably 
 extracted under favorable conditions. The gen- 
 eral character of the rocks and of the ore depos- 
 its is extremely like that of the gold-bearing for- 
 mations along the southern coast of Alaska, in 
 which the Treadwell and other mines are situ- 
 ated, and it is probable that the richness of the 
 Yukon ocks is approximately equal to that of 
 the coast belt. It may be added that the re- 
 sources of the coast belt have been only partially 
 explored. 
 
 Besides the gold foimd in the rocks of the Yu- 
 kon district there is reason to expect paying 
 quantities of other minerals. Deposits of silver- 
 bearing lead have been found in a number of lo- 
 calities, and copper is also a constituent of many 
 of the ores. 
 
 Since the formation of the veins and other de- 
 posits of the rocks of the gold belt an enormous 
 length of time has elapsed. During that time the 
 forces of erosion have stripped off the overlying 
 rocks and exposed the metalliferous veins at the 
 surface for long periods, and the rocks of the 
 gold belt, with the veins which they include, 
 have crumbled and been carried away by the 
 streams, to be deposited in widely different places
 
 MINING EXPERTS AND SCIENTISTS. 89 
 
 as gravels, or sands, or muds. As gold is the 
 heaviest of all materials found in rock, it is con- 
 centrated in detritus which has been worked over 
 by stream action; and the richness of the placers 
 depends upon the available gold supply, the 
 amount of available detritus, and the character 
 of the streams which caryy this detritus away. 
 In Alaska the streams have been carrying away 
 the gold from the metalliferous belt for a very 
 long period, so that particles of the precious 
 metal are found in nearly all parts of the Terri- 
 tory. It is only in the immediate vicinity of the 
 gold-bearing belt, however, that the particles of 
 gold are large and plentiful enough to repay 
 working, under present conditions. Where a 
 stream heads in the gold belt, the richest dig- 
 gings are likely to be near its extreme upper 
 part. 
 
 In this upper part the current is so swift that 
 the lighter material and the finer gold are car- 
 ried away, leaving in many places a rich deposit 
 of coarse gold overlain by coarse gravel, the peb- 
 bles being so large as to hinder rapid transporta- 
 tion by water. It is under such conditions that 
 the diggings which are now being worked are 
 found, with some unimportant exceptions. The
 
 90 KLONDIKE. 
 
 rich gulches of the Forty Mile district and of the 
 Birch Creek district, as well as other fields of less 
 importance, all head in the gold-bearing forma- 
 tion. 
 
 A short distance below the heads of these 
 gulches the stream valley broadens and the grav- 
 els contain finer gold more widely distributed. 
 Along certain parts of the stream this finer gold 
 is concentrated by favorable currents and is of- 
 ten profitably washed, this kind of, deposit com- 
 ing under the head of "bar diggings." The gold 
 in these more extensive gravels is often present 
 in sufficient quantity to encourage the hope of 
 successful extraction at some future time, when 
 the work can be done more cheaply and with 
 suitable machinery. The extent of these gravels 
 which are of possible value is very great. As the 
 field of observation is extended farther and far- 
 ther from the gold-bearing belt, the gold occurs 
 in finer and finer condition, until it is found only 
 in extremely small flakes, so light that they can 
 be carried long distances by the current. 
 
 It may be stated, therefore, as a general rule, 
 that the profitable gravels are found in the vi- 
 cinity of the gold bearing rock. 
 
 The gold-bearing belt forms a range of low
 
 MINING EXPERTS AND SCIENTISTS. 91 
 
 mountains, and on the flanks of these mountains, 
 to the northeast and to the southwest, lie various 
 younger rocks which range in age from Carbon- 
 iferous to very recent Tertiary, and are made up 
 mostly of conglomerates, sandstones and shales, 
 with some volcanic material. These rocks were 
 formed subsequent to the ore deposition, and 
 therefore do not contain metalliferous veins. 
 They have been partly derived, however, from 
 detritus worn from the gold-bearing belt during 
 the long period that it has been exposed to ero- 
 sion, and some of them contain gold derived from 
 the more ancient rocks and concentrated in the 
 same way as is the gold in the present river grav- 
 els. In one or two places it is certain that these 
 conglomerates are really fossil placers, and this 
 source of supply may eventually turn out to the 
 very important. 
 
 In the younger rocks which overlie the gold- 
 bearing series there are beds of black, hard, glos- 
 sy, very pure lignitic coal. An area of these 
 coal-bearing strata lies very close to the gold- 
 bearing district, in the northern part of the region 
 examined, and as the beds of coal are often of 
 considerable thickness and the coal in some of 
 them leaves very little ash and contains volatile
 
 92 KLONDIKE. 
 
 constituents in considerable amount, it is prob- 
 able that the coal deposits will become an im- 
 portant factor in the development of the country. 
 
 There were probably 2000 miners in the Yu- 
 kon district during the past season, the larger 
 number of whom were actually engaged in wash- 
 ing gold. Probably 1500 of them were working 
 in American territory, although the migration 
 from one district to another is so rapid that one 
 year the larger part of the population may be in 
 American territory and the next year in British. 
 As a rule, however, the miners prefer the Amer- 
 ican side, on account of the difference in mining 
 laws. These miners, with few exceptions, were 
 engaged in gulch digging. The high price of 
 provisions and other necessaries raises the price 
 of ordinary labor in the mines to $10 per day, 
 and therefore no mine which pays less than this 
 to each man working can be even temporarily 
 bandied. Yet in spite of these difficulties there 
 v/ere probably taken out of the Yukon district 
 the past season, mostly from American territory, 
 approximately $i,ooo.oco worth of gold. 
 
 An overland route should be surveyed and 
 constructed to the interior of Alaska. All the 
 best routes which can be suggested pass through
 
 MINING EXPERTS AND SCIENTISTS. 93 
 
 British territory, and the co-operation of the two 
 governments would be mutually beneficial, since 
 the gold belt lies partly in American and partly 
 in British possessions. At the present time Mr. 
 Spurr thinks that the best route lies from Juneau 
 by way of the Chilkat Pass overland to the Yu- 
 kon at the junction with the Pelly. This trail 
 is the Dalton trail which has already been de- 
 scribed, and it is said to open up a good 
 grazing country and no great obstacles to over- 
 come. The Chilkat Pass is considerably lower 
 than the Chilkoot, over which the Geological 
 Survey party of 1896 passed. If a wagon road, 
 or even a good horse trail, could be built as in- 
 dicated, the cost of provisions and other supplies 
 would be greatly reduced, many gravels now 
 useless could be profitably v/orked, and> employ- 
 ment would be afiforded for many men. With 
 the greater development of placer diggings would 
 come the development of mines in the bed rock. 
 Besides the coal which has been alluded to 
 there is abundant timber throughout the whole 
 of the interior of Alaska, along the valleys of 
 the Yukon. For four or five months in the sum- 
 mer the climate is hardly to be distinguished 
 from that of the northern United States — Min-
 
 94 KLONDIKE. 
 
 nesota or Montana, for example, and although 
 the winters are very severe, the snowfall is not 
 heavy. Work could be carried on underground 
 throughout the whole of the year quite as well as 
 in the higher mountains of Colorado. 
 
 The area hastily examined during the past 
 season is but a portion of the great interior of 
 Alaska. That gold occurs over a large extent 
 of country has been determined, but the richness 
 of the various veins and lodes remains to be as- 
 certained by actual mining operations. Gold is 
 known to occur in the great unexplored regions 
 south of the Yukon, because of its presence in 
 the wash of the streams, and it is quite probable 
 that the Yukon gold belt extends to the north 
 and west; but this can be determined only by 
 further exploration. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PL.A.CER MINING AND HYDRAULICS. 
 
 There are four stages in the development of 
 newly-discovered gold fields, such as those which 
 have been brought to light in the Yukon Basin. 
 
 First come the men with crude outfits and few
 
 PLACER MINING AND HYDRAULICS. 96 
 
 resources, who, with pan and pick, gather the 
 gold that Hes near the surface, washing out the 
 grosser earths and leaving the precious metal 
 by itself. This is placer mining in its simple 
 form. 
 
 After the p-old lying on the surface and most 
 readily at hand has been exhausted a little more 
 complicated process is called into play. This is 
 conducted by groups or associations of miners 
 who use "long Toms" and cradles. 
 
 Hydraulic mining is the third stage. In hy- 
 draulics water is brought from a long distance 
 and applied to the pay dirt at great pressure in 
 order to separate the gold from the dross. 
 
 Last of all comes quartz mining, or tearing 
 the gold by main force out of its beds in the rock 
 beneath and separating it by means of stamps 
 and pestles. 
 
 In the Yukon region the process has not yet 
 passed the first stage, and so rich are the finds 
 there and so difficult the importation of machin- 
 ery and supplies that it may be years before the 
 last stages will become available, although the 
 never-satiated thirst for gold, combined with 
 modern enterprise and ingenuity, is likely to 
 make even the frozen rocks of Alaska amenable 
 to modern appliances.
 
 96 KLbNDIKE. 
 
 The history of placer mining is full of ro- 
 mance. It is as old as the world itself, if any 
 reliance can be placed upon the traditions that 
 have come down to us from prehistoric times. 
 Gold dust and nuggets came in exchange to the 
 Greeks from the barbarians of the north centuries 
 before the birth of Christ, and it has been sur- 
 mised that the precious metal was taken out of 
 the mines in Siberia and in the Ural Mountains, 
 which still yield so generously. The first placer 
 mining of which there is any record was carried 
 on by digging the sand or gravel, mixing it 
 thoroughly with water, and then pouring it over 
 floating platforms covered with skins, in which 
 the gold settled, while the lighter sand flowed off 
 with the water. To this practice we doubtless 
 owe the mythological story of the journey of 
 Jason with his Argonauts in search of the Golden 
 Fleece. The Golden Fleece, it has been sur- 
 mised, was simply the skin of the sheep which 
 was used to catch these golden products of the 
 placer miners. And it is significant that the voy- 
 age of the Argonauts was up the Black Sea or 
 the Euxine into the very region of the Ural 
 Mountain gold fields which have already been 
 mentioned.
 
 PLACER MINING AND HYDRAULICS. 97 
 
 In ancient times all gold was obtained by 
 washing, and it has been only within recent 
 years that the more difficult process of digging 
 and smelting gold-bearing quartz has been re- 
 sorted to. The wealth of the Indies consisted 
 in golden sand, which their rivers washed down 
 from the gold-bearing mountains. So it was 
 with Russia, Africa, Australia and California. 
 All the earlier mining, of which the records are 
 so many and so fascinating, was done by placers 
 in the old primitive manner. This was true espe- 
 cially of California. Mr. Preston, the Director 
 of the United States Mint, estimates that 75 per 
 cent .of the gold production of the United States 
 between 1849 ^^^ 1865 was the result of placer 
 mining. This would make a total of nearly $700,- 
 000,000 for the United States alone, to say noth- 
 ing of the placers who are still at work in ever- 
 diminishing numbers as the ore becomes more 
 difficult to find. Ore is still being washed out in 
 almost all the gold districts. California, Russia 
 and Alaska are examples in point. There is 
 even a little placer mining in Colorado, which 
 has been distinctively the home of quartz mining 
 from the beginning. Mr. Preston estimates that 
 between fifteen and twenty per cent, of the Cali- 
 7
 
 98 KLONDIKE. 
 
 fornian product is still the result of placer mining, 
 and gives other percentages as follows: 
 
 Oregon, Washington, Montana and Idaho, 12 
 per cent; Utah, 8 per cent.; New Mexico, 6 per 
 cent; Colorado, i per cent. 
 
 The South African mines are almost entirely 
 quartz deposits. 
 
 The beginning of placer mining in America 
 may be said to date from the discovery by James 
 W. Marshall of pieces of gold v^'hile digging a 
 race for a saw mill at Coloma, California, Janu- 
 ary 19, 1848. The announcement of his discov- 
 ery was the signal for an influx or argonauts, 
 and those who first landed in California had for 
 implements only the pick, shovel, rocker and 
 wheelban'ow. This is about the outfit of a miner 
 in the Klondike region to-day. It was only a 
 few months, however, before the necessities of 
 the case compelled the introduction of what is 
 known as the "Long Tom." This is a rough 
 trough ten or twelve feet in length, narrow at 
 the top and wide at the lower end, set on an in- 
 cline, with an iron plate on the bottom perforated 
 so that the gold will drop through as it is wash- 
 ed along. The "Long Tom" is really a develop- 
 ment of the rocker or cradle. The rocker is
 
 PLACER MINING AND HYDRAULICS. 99 
 
 what its name implies. It has a hopper at one 
 end, with a perforated bottom, and this stands 
 over an incHned canvas stretcher. The gravel is 
 thrown into the hopper, water is poured over it 
 and the cradle is rocked. In this way the fine 
 sand and the gold fall through the holes on to the 
 canvas; the gold sticks fast and the sand rolls 
 away. The most primitive of all placer mining is 
 the use of the pan, which consists simply in filling 
 an ordinary pan with pay dirt, stirring it about 
 very slowly and carefully, pouring water over the 
 gravel at the same time, so as to wash away the 
 lighter dirt and let the heavier gold sink to the 
 bottom. The process is exceedingly slow, but 
 in a region like the Klondike it is so full of strik- 
 ing possibilities as to be fascinating. One of 
 those who have just returned from the Yukon 
 describes how he found no less than a thousand 
 dollars in gold dust at the bottom of one of these 
 pans after washing away the dirt. 
 
 Placer mining, which depends so greatly upon 
 the effect of v/ater, would seem to be carried on 
 under difficulties in the Yukon River Basin, 
 where water is frozen solid during nearly ten 
 months of the year, but the invention and indus- 
 try of the Americans now on the field may be
 
 100 KLONDIKE. 
 
 depended upon to bring even these hard condi- 
 tions under their control, and it may be even 
 that the miners there will be using hydraulic 
 methods before very long. 
 
 Hydraulic mining is essentially the result of 
 American inventive genius. It is the perfect de- 
 velopment of the early form of placer mining as 
 illustrated in the cradle and the rocker, for it 
 may be said that the rocker, which is the rudest 
 and simplest of all machines employed in the 
 separation of gold from gravel, embodies all the 
 essential features of the elaborate m.achinery used 
 in hydraulic mining. For instance, the cradle is 
 an oblong box, about four feet in length, mount- 
 ed on a pair of transverse rockers and furnished 
 with a set of graded sieves laid in tiers, "riffles/^ 
 amalgamated plates and blankets, for the sepa- 
 ration and arrest of the gold in its descent from 
 the hopper into which the gold-bearing gravel 
 is placed, to the outlet at the lower end. These 
 devices are all present in hydraulic mining, but 
 they are so enlarged as to be hardly recogniza- 
 ble. Hydraulic mining may be said to have had 
 its origin in the invention of the flume by a Con- 
 necticut Yankee named Mattison in California 
 three years after the discovery of gold. The
 
 PLACER MINING AND HYDRAULICS. 101 
 
 flume was a very simple thing, consisting of a 
 trough to bring water down the hillside from a 
 ditch over where the mine was opened. The 
 first flume gave the water a head of about forty 
 feet, discharging it into a barrel, from the bot- 
 tom of which depended a hose about six inches 
 in diameter, made of common cowhide and end- 
 ing in a tin tube about four feet long, which ta- 
 pered to a point about an inch in diameter. With 
 the head of water thus obtained, a stream turned 
 dirt, washed of? the lighter earth and gravel, 
 while the coarser gravel was washed more care- 
 fully and thrown out with a sluice fork, the name 
 of the stick used for that purpose. This flume 
 was called a sluice. Later came the "ground 
 sluice," which consisted in making the bed rock 
 on which the pay dirt rested perform the duty of 
 sluices, while a stream of v/ater, used for wash- 
 ing away the dirt, was constantly trained against 
 the bank. This water had about the same effect 
 as water in any stream rubbing constantly and 
 ceaselessly against its own banks where they of- 
 fer resistance to the current. 
 
 It can be easily seen how modern hydraulic 
 mining grew out of these comparatively simple 
 contrivances. For the cowhide hose, canvas and
 
 102 KLONDIKE. 
 
 then iron were substituted, and improvements 
 have been constantly going on, until now it is 
 estimated that $100,000,000 is invested in ditches, 
 dams and tunnels in California alone. Water 
 has been carried from almost incredible distances 
 around apparently insurmountable obstacles so 
 as to be brought into play for the washing of 
 gold out of the gravel of arid diggings. In some 
 instances from 250 to 300 miles of ditches and 
 canals have been built at a cost of millions of 
 dollars before water could be brought to play 
 upon the gold-bearing dirt. Indeed it is an ax- 
 iom among miners that the richness of the gravel 
 is not so important as the abundance of water, 
 for with water in sufficient quantities gravel con- 
 taining even insignificant percentages of gold 
 can be made to pay, and through the application 
 of American inventiveness it has been found pos- 
 sible to wash out the deep gravel deposits on the 
 liigh banks of the canons of streams where gold 
 has been found. The beginning of this complete 
 method of hydraulic mining is usually given as 
 1856. It was not until more than ten years after 
 this that hydraulic mining was revolutionized by 
 the introduction of the "monitor" in place of the 
 discharge pipe of earlier days. After iron began
 
 PLACER MINING AND HYDRAULICS. lOa 
 
 to be employed for the flumes the pipes were 
 gradually enlarged and strengthened, until thi^ 
 measure now from fifteen to thirty inches in di- 
 ameter, terminating in monitors, which discharge 
 the streams of water against the rocks with such 
 tremendous force as to toss about like pebbles 
 rocks which are tons in weight. The hydraulic 
 monitor in action resembles very much a piece of 
 military or naval ordnance. It is united to the 
 supply pipe at the breech with a water-tight 
 socket joint, which enables the miner to direct 
 the nozzle toward any point. In spite of the tre- 
 mendous force which the hydraulic monitor rep- 
 resents it can be managed almost by a child 
 through a simple and effective arrangement call- 
 ed the "deflector." The deflector consists of a 
 sleeve of sheet iron working on an elbow joint 
 over the nozzle. To this sleeve is riveted an iron 
 handle four or five feet long, by means of which 
 the deflector can be moved so that the lip shall 
 impinge on a column of water emerging from 
 the nozzle of the monitor. An almost impercep- 
 tible angle is thus formed in a column of water 
 which slowly moves the monitor in the opposite 
 direction, relieves the friction and straightens 
 the line of discharge. With all this tremendous
 
 104 KLONDIKE. 
 
 force at work it is remarkable that modern hy- 
 draulic mining should have been carried to such 
 a point of perfection that the amount of gold lost 
 in washing is hardly worth taking account of, 
 although in the old methods of placer mining it 
 was estimated that from one-third to one-half of 
 the fine gold was carried away in the debris. To 
 illustrate the tremendous force of the water 
 brought to bear upon the gold deposits through 
 the hydraulic engines a correspondence, which 
 was begun some years ago by Mr. Justice Field, 
 of the Supreme Court, is of great interest. Jus- 
 tice Field's letter follows: 
 
 Washington, D. C, January 2.^^, 1891. 
 Hon. James G. Fair: 
 
 Dear Sir: — Last evening I dined at General 
 Schofield's and met the President (Harrison). 
 There were a number of distinguished people 
 present besides the President, among whom were 
 the Chief Justice, the Speaker of the House of 
 Representatives (Mr. Reed), Senators Sherman, 
 Stanford and McMillan, Secretary of the Treasury 
 Windom and Mr. McKinley and Mr. Wheeler of 
 the House. During the evening the conversa- 
 tion turned upon California and her wonderful 
 products and mining operations. I took occasion
 
 PLACER MINING AND HYDRAULICS. 105 
 
 to speak of hydraulic mining and the wonderful 
 manner in which the hills were torn down by hy- 
 draulic machinery. I stated that I had under- 
 stood you to say that such was the force of the 
 v/ater thrown through a hose when it came from 
 one hundred to two hundred feet in height that 
 boulders weighing half a ton could be moved by 
 streams playing upon them and that the force 
 was sometimes so great that it would be impossi- 
 ble to cut the stream. At this statement much 
 surprise was manifested, and I thought that a 
 smile of incredulity passed over the features of 
 the guests. Seeing this, I said that I would prove 
 the facts stated in a communication to them. 
 
 Now I write to you for the information de- 
 sired. Please send me some carefully prepared 
 statistics as to hydraulic mining, particularly as 
 to the power exerted of a column of water thrown 
 by such machinery, and as to how large boulders 
 can be moved by the force of the stream and on 
 the point whether it is true that the force of the 
 stream is sometimes so great that it cannot be 
 cut. I would be much obliged if you could give 
 me full particulars in regard to these matters in 
 a communication that I can use if necessary. I 
 propose to send a letter to each one of the guests,
 
 106 KLONDIKE. 
 
 stating the facts, and thus remove the increduhty 
 which they evinced when the statement was made 
 by me. I want to show that it was only the re- 
 sult of want of experience in hydraulic mining, 
 their situation being somewhat like that of the 
 King of Siam, who was offended when an Eng- 
 lish visitor told him that in his country water be- 
 came so hard that he could walk on it. 
 
 Please let me hear from it at your earliest 
 convenience and believe me to be 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 STEPHEN J. FIELD. 
 
 In his reply to this petition ex-Senator Fair in- 
 closed the following statements. The first is from 
 Louis Glass: 
 
 "At the Spring Valley Hydraulic Gold Mine in 
 Cherokee, Butte county, California, our largest 
 stream was through an 8-inch diameter nozzle 
 under 311 verticle feet verticle pressure, delivered 
 by about a half a mile of two and a half feet diam- 
 eter iron pipe; and I have seen one of these 
 streams at, say, twenty feet from nozzle, move a 
 boulder weighing about two tons, in a sluggish 
 way, and throw a rock of five hundred pounds as 
 a man would a twenty-pound weight. No man 
 that ever lived could strike a bar through one of
 
 PLACER MINING AND HYDRAULICS. 107 
 
 these streams within twenty feet of discharge, 
 and a human being being struck by such a stream 
 would be instantly killed, pounded into a shape- 
 less mass, 
 
 "To verify this here is an estimate of power de- 
 veloped under similar circumstances: 
 
 "Say 8-inch diameter nozzle 300 feet head, de- 
 livered through iron pipe large enough to elimi- 
 nate friction ; 300 feet head by 433 pounds by 50 
 (square of 8-inch diameter) equals 182,000 
 pounds aggregate pressure, or 91 tons; but by 
 want of cohesion in the column of water after 
 leaving the nozzle this great force is rapidly dis- 
 sipated and at about 240 feet the momentum is 
 lost." 
 
 The second statement is by Aug. J. Bowie: 
 
 "The water which in large hydraulic mines is 
 used under a pressure varying from 200 to 500 
 feet, is discharged through machines styled 
 'giants' or 'monitors,' with nozzles from 4 to 9 
 inches in diameter. Leading up to these nozzles 
 the supply pipe tapers and is lifted to keep the 
 stream from twisting; hence the water as it issues 
 is practically solid. 
 
 "A 6-inch nozzle under a 200 feet pressure will 
 discharge 14 cubic feet of water a second, equal
 
 108 KLONDIKE. 
 
 to 326 horse-power. The same size nozzle under 
 450 feet pressure will deliver 21 cubic feet of wa- 
 ter per second, which would be equal to a blow of 
 508,735 foot pounds per second, equivalent to 
 1070 horse-power. It is absolutely impossible to 
 cut such a stream with an ax or to make any 
 impression' on it with any other implement. 
 
 "The velocity of the water as it issues from the 
 nozzles would in the cases mentioned vary from 
 70 to 105 feet per second. The greater the dis- 
 tance from the discharge nozzle the less effective 
 wcrtild be the blow; but were a man to be struck 
 by the stream as it comes from the pipe his body 
 would have to resist a continuous force of from 
 261,000 to 953,000 foot pounds per second, with 
 the result that it would be cut into fragments. 
 There never has been such an accident, but at 
 distances of from 150 to 200 feet men have been 
 killed by very much smaller streams." 
 
 It only remains to explain that this tremendous 
 stream tearing away the banks of gravel forces 
 tons of gold bearing dirt tlirough the water-tight 
 open drains known as sluice boxes, which are 
 made of heavy boards covered on the bottom with 
 "riffles" or blocks of stone or wood, with space 
 between them for the gold to settle in.
 
 PLACER MINING AND HYDRAULICS. 109 
 
 As the water rushes through, the heavy gold 
 settles in these little spaces over which quick- 
 silver has been sprinkled, and uniting with the 
 quicksilver forms an amalgam. At length the 
 water is turned off with the exception of a gentle 
 stream, the riffle blocks are taken up, the amal- 
 gam is scooped out in buckets, and the residue is 
 washed down to the next riffle and so on through 
 the line of sluice boxes. When the water is turn- 
 ed off the workmen take silver spoons to the nail 
 holes or cracks and gather up any gold or amal- 
 gam that may 'have been caught therein. Then 
 come the various processes of breaking up the 
 amalgam, rubbing it and washing it, straining it 
 through canvas or chamois skin, cleaning it by a 
 hot bath in water and sulphuric acid and packing 
 it tiglitly in the retort, by means of which the 
 quicksilver is all driven off and the pure gold 
 made ready for the assay office. 
 
 It may be imagined that the construction of 
 reservoirs to supply water for these great hy- 
 draulic monitors is something of an enterprise. 
 As a matter of fact, it involves vast labor and 
 expense. Suitable valleys are selected near the 
 summit of a high range of mountains, huge dams 
 of solid masonary are built across the gorges at
 
 110 KLONDIKE. 
 
 the mouths of the valleys, and the melting snows 
 on the surrounding- watersheds supply such a 
 reservoir with water, thus storing it until the nat- 
 ural streams have dried up or run so low that 
 they can no longer be of any service. The SieiTas 
 with their numerous valleys almost within the 
 line of perpetual snow are especially adapted to 
 this kind of engineering. 
 
 The obstacles to be surmounted before process- 
 es like this can be made to apply in a country like 
 the Yukon region where the thermometer goes 
 to 65 degrees below zero in the winter and where 
 the ice is broken up for only two months in the 
 year may be imagined. But it is safe to say that 
 where gold is to be found American genius will 
 devise some means of bringing it out within the 
 reach of civilization. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ALASKA. 
 
 It is no unexpected revelation that the soil of 
 Alaska is found to be impregnated with gold. 
 Seward suspected something of the kind when he 
 negotiated the purchase of the territory from the
 
 ALASKA. Ill 
 
 Russian Government away back in 1867. He was 
 la-ughed at then for what was termed Seward's 
 folly, and it became quite the fashion for the 
 newspapers of the day to twit the Secretary of 
 State about spending millions of dollars on a 
 stretch of ice and rocks. But Seward never let 
 himself be troubled by the clamor, and he is on 
 record in more than one utterance as declaring 
 that the Alaskan purchase would eventually be 
 found to be the richest portion of the territory 
 of the United States. His phop'hecy seems about 
 to be fulfilled. Indeed, it has been in the process 
 of fulfillment for many years, and the money 
 which the United States invested in the purchase 
 has already been repaid several times over. The 
 value of the furs alone in the Alaskan territories 
 exceeds by millions of dollars the price paid by 
 Seward for everything. It has been known, too, 
 for many years that the soil was rich in minerals 
 of many kinds. The coal fields are as extensive 
 as any in the world. Copper is known to lie 
 there in vast quantities, and gold has for years 
 been waiting only for the undaunted band of 
 pioneers who were willing to brave the hardships 
 of cold, starvation and travel in their search for 
 the philosopher's stone. Gold has been taken
 
 1]2 KLONDIKE. 
 
 from Alaska before this. The Treadwell Mines, 
 on Douglas Island, have been worked since 
 1885, and it is now regarded as the most perfect- 
 ly equipped quartz mining establishment in the 
 world. In 1895 the Director of the Mint report- 
 ed that gold to the amount of $i,833>733 had 
 been taken from the Alaskan mine and deposited 
 at the United States mints. But quartz mining is 
 not placer mining. It is not the sort of thing 
 that attracts the argonauts, for it requires a great 
 amount of capital and is devoid of the element of 
 romance which renders the gold beds of the Klon- 
 dike as fascinating to the fortune-seeker as the 
 Californian gold beds were to the fortune-seek- 
 er of 1849. A quartz mine is a huge manufactur- 
 ing establishment with all that is contained in 
 that term, and the profits go to the head of the 
 concern. Placer mining is the field for individual 
 effort, where every man has at least a chance of 
 making a fabulous fortune on his own account. 
 In placer mining one may pick out the gold with 
 his fingers. There is something about that pro- 
 cess which appeals to the imagination. And so it 
 happens that while millions of dollars have al- 
 ready been taken out of the Alaskan territory, it 
 remained for the splendid discoveries at Klondike
 
 ALASKA. 113 
 
 to open the eyes of the world to the surpassing 
 richness of the Alaskan field. 
 
 \'er}' few people in the United States, even 
 among the more intelligent and educated class- 
 es, fully appreciate the immensity of the territory 
 which was added to the public domain by the 
 purchase of Alaska. The total area of the United 
 States proper, including the fully organized ter- 
 ritories, is 2,970,000 square miles. Alaska proper 
 in the mainland contains an area of 580,107 
 square miles; the islands of Alexander Archipel- 
 ago, ofif the southeastern coast, contain 31,205 
 square miles, and the Aleutian Islands, 6391 
 square miles. In other words Alaska with its ad- 
 jacent islands embraces more square miles of ter- 
 ritory than twenty-one States of the Union east 
 of the Mississippi River; that is all the New Eng- 
 land States, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Mary- 
 land, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New 
 York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South 
 Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia 
 — State that are represented in Congress by forty- 
 -two Senators and two hundred Representatives. 
 The numerous islands, creeks and inlets of Alas- 
 ka lengthen out its coast line to 7860 miles, an 
 extent greater than that of the eastern coast line
 
 114 KLONDIKE. 
 
 of the United States. Beginning at the southeast 
 the chief creeks and bays are Cook's Inlet, Bris- 
 tol Bay, Norton Sound and Kotzebue Sound; 
 while, following the same order, fhe principal 
 headlands, in addition to the extremity of the pe- 
 ninsula, are Cape Newenham and Cape Roman- 
 zoff in the Pacific, Cape Prince of Wales in Be- 
 ring Strait, and Cape Lisbourne, Icy Cape and 
 Point Barrow in the Arctic Ocean. Point Bar- 
 row is in 71.23 north latitude, and is the ex- 
 treme northern point of the country. The terri- 
 tory has an extent of over one thousand miles 
 from north to south, and the Island of Attou, the 
 last of the Aleutian group, is two thousand miles 
 west of Sitka. The longitude of Attou is as many 
 degrees west of San Francisco as Eastport, 
 Maine, is derees east. It is through the posses- 
 sion of Alaska that the American citizen is able 
 to boast that the sun never goes down upon the 
 dominions of the United States. The Governor 
 of Alaska, sitting in his office in Sitka, is very lit- 
 tle farther, measuring in a straight line, from 
 Eastport, Maine, than he is from the extremiC 
 western limit of his own jurisdiction, which ex- 
 tends beyond the most easterly point of Asia, a 
 distance of nearly one thousand miles, to the one
 
 ALASKA. 115 
 
 hundred and ninety-third deree of west longi- 
 tude, embracing an area very nearly equal to one- 
 fifth of all the States and organized Territories of 
 the Union With its navigable rivers, inter- 
 minable forests, and lofty mountain ranges, it 
 would be strange, indeed, were it not possessed 
 of natural resources, the development of which 
 is the only condition precedent to the growth of 
 a rich and prosperous State. That these re- 
 sources are even now comparatively unknown is 
 not to be wondered at in view of the long ne- 
 glect of the territory by the national government. 
 The extent to which this neglect has been carried 
 is shown by the fact that only since the recent 
 startling reports of the development of the gold 
 region in the interior has the United States seen 
 fit to make any provision for the administration 
 of the law in that part of the territory. It is hard- 
 ly a fortnig'ht since the office of United States 
 Commissioner for Western Alaska was created 
 by the President, and Charles H. Isham was ap- 
 pointed to the place. Mr. Isham will be stationed 
 at Circle City, but whether he will find any city 
 there upon hjs arrival is something of a question. 
 He will be authorized to appoint deputy mar- 
 shals to aid him in enforcing the laws of the
 
 116 KLONDIKE. 
 
 United States. Governor Ryan, the first Assist- 
 ant Secretary of the Interior, admits that tlhe force 
 employed in the civil government in Alaska is en- 
 tirely inadequate if there is any appreciable in- 
 crease at points remote from the towns where 
 government officials are now located. 
 
 The gold fields are away up in the Yukon, at 
 the edge of the Arctic circle, hundreds of miles 
 distant from Sitka and other coast towns, where 
 are located the United States Marshals, United 
 States Commissioners, Deputy Marshals and 
 Deputy Commissioners. The active force in chc 
 territory that lias to carry on a civil government 
 is small. The police force, as it may be termed, 
 consists of a United Statts Marshal and eight 
 Deputy Marshals, eight United States Commis- 
 sioners and eight Deputy Commissioners. Of 
 course, in case of trouble, the Marshal could ex- 
 ercise the power of a 'high sheriff and summon 
 the posse comitatus. The United States laws are 
 rigidly enforced in southeastern Alaska along 
 the coast and the citizens of the territory are ful- 
 ly protected in the settlement, but the miners who 
 push several hundred miles beyond civilization 
 will have to be a law unto themselves until other 
 arrangements are made for increasing the civil
 
 ALASKA. 117 
 
 force of the territory. The general land office has 
 recommended the establishment of two land dis- 
 tricts in western Alaska and one of the officers 
 will be located at .Circle City. There has been the 
 greatest confusion among the prospectors owing 
 to the absence of facilities for proving up claims, 
 and it is feared that there will be a great number 
 of contentions over mineral land locations in vari- 
 ous sections where the gold discoveries have been 
 made. Some of the prospectors who have arrived 
 in San Francisco and Seattle have endeavored to 
 secure government recognition for their claims, 
 only to find that the processes they had gone 
 through with were valueless and that they would 
 be compelled to make the whole wearisome jour- 
 ney over again with witnesses who could testify 
 to their occupation of the land. 
 
 The population of Alaska is largely a matter 
 of estimate. According to the latest reports it 
 amounted to about 35,000, Of these about 10,000 
 might be described as civilized and this number 
 includes not only the whites but the Creoles and 
 the Aleutians. Most of these are settled in the 
 southeastern coast country, where the seat of 
 government has been. The people called Creoles 
 are descendants three or four generations re-
 
 118 KLONDIKE. 
 
 mote, of a mixed parentage (Russian fathers and 
 native mothers), but it will puzzle even the most 
 learned ethnologist to find anything in their feat- 
 ures or complexions by which to distinguish them 
 from the race to which their fathers belonged. 
 They are, to all intents and purposes, white peo- 
 ple, fully as intelligent and well informed as 
 would almost any other class of people have been, 
 if subjected to the same wrongs and disadvan- 
 tages. They, as well as the Aleuts, are civilized 
 people, in the sense that the first were never in a 
 condition of barbarism, while the last, if indeed 
 not fully enlightened, have most certainly been re- 
 claimed from their original savage state. Under 
 the rule of the Russian-American Company the 
 Creoles were given the same opportunities for 
 acquiring an education as were afforded to pure 
 blood Russian children, up to a certain age, when 
 they were compelled to enter the employ of the 
 company for a long term of years. The bright- 
 est among the Creoles and Aleutian boys were 
 carefully trained in navigation, ship building and 
 the mechanical arts, while the girls were taught 
 housekeeping, and thus fitted to become wives of 
 the company's employes, and there are said to be 
 now in the Russian army and navy officers of
 
 ALASKA. 119 
 
 very considerable rank, and a good many who 
 hold high positions in the civil service of the 
 Empire, who are the progeny of these mixed mar- 
 riages. The Aleuts are a keen, bright and natur- 
 ally intelligent people, industrious and provident, 
 the larger portion being educated to a greater or 
 less extent in the Russian language, and that they 
 are well advanced in civilization is evidenced by 
 the fact that they live in comfortable houses, are 
 given to finery in their dress, and are, with scarce- 
 ly an exception, devout members of one of the 
 Christian churches. 
 
 The native Alaskans are a very superior race 
 intellectually, as compared with the people gen- 
 erally known as North American Indians, and 
 are as a rule industrious and provident and whol- 
 ly self-sustaining. That they yield readily to civ- 
 ilizing influences is evidenced by the fact that 
 wherever the Christian missionaries have gain- 
 ed a foothold, they will be found living in neat 
 comfortable homes of their own construction, and 
 many of them earnestly intent upon bettering 
 their condition, intellectually and morally. They 
 are shrewd and natural-born traders, some are 
 passably good carpenters, and others still are 
 skillful workers in woods and metals. As fast as
 
 120 KLONDIKE. 
 
 they can obtain employment from the white men 
 at reasonable wages (and the most ignorant 
 among them know the value of their labor) they 
 abandon the chase and the fishing grounds, and 
 serve their employers faithfully so long as they 
 are well treated. At least a hundred are employed 
 at the great mine and mill on Douglas Island, and 
 as laborers and miners are far superior to the 
 Chinese. 
 
 Of course, with the influx of miners to the new 
 placer diggings the population of whites will be 
 greatly increased, and it is certainly not a rash 
 estimate that the total population of the territory 
 will be more than doubled in the next twelve 
 months. So far as is known there are about 
 three thousand white men now scattered over the 
 gold fields, and most of these have been concen- 
 trated about the Klondike region. Five thou- 
 sand more are on the way, and with the opening 
 up of spring they will begin to pour in upon the 
 unexplored country by the thousands. With 
 the rapid increase of population and the direction 
 of attention to the new Eldorado there it will 
 only be a short time before transportation facil- 
 ities are afiforded between Juneau and the gold 
 fields and the way paved for establishing the be- 
 ginnings of a great Commonwealth.
 
 ALASKA. 121 
 
 It appears now that Juneau, situated as it is at 
 the head of tidewater and at the gateway to the 
 gold country, will be the most important city of 
 Alaska. Indeed, it is already the metropolis of 
 the Territory, although Sitka still remains the 
 capital, and, owing to its age and its situation, 
 will continue to be an important point. The 
 population of Sitka, in the latest reports, was 
 about I200. Juneau is destined to be the outfit- 
 ting point for all miners on their way to the Yu- 
 kon gold fields. It has a population of nearly 
 fifteen hundred, which is bound to rapidly in- 
 crease. It is more nearly than other Alaskan 
 city on a par with the cities farther south. It is 
 the headquarters of several steamboat Imes, has 
 a city hall and court house, substantial walls, 
 water works, electric lights, hotels and a large 
 number of fine buildings. It is a picturesque 
 city, situated at the foot of the mountains, which 
 are snow-capped throughout the year and down 
 which avalanches are constantly tearing. One 
 or more avalanche rushes down the mountain 
 side every day, and these incidents lend to life 
 there an interest peculiarly its own. 
 
 It is a singular circumstance that glaciers ap-
 
 122 KLONDIKE. 
 
 proach nearer to the ocean here at Juneau than 
 at any other place in the world. Indeed it is the 
 only place so far as known where glaciers come 
 near to the ocean at all, but here the approach 
 is so close and the motion oceanward is so steady 
 that the waters around the city are filled with 
 floating icebergs, somewhat to the peril of sea- 
 faring men. 
 
 Juneau was founded in the winter of 1880 and 
 six months after the discovery of gold (August 
 15, 1880) by Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris. 
 It went under the name of Harrisburg at first and 
 afterwards was called Rockwell, but the miners 
 at a meeting about a year after its foundation de- 
 cided to rechristen it in honor of the discoverer 
 of gold. Within a year it has become a flourish- 
 ing mining town, and now it is the commercial 
 centre of Alaska. It supports three weekly news- 
 papers. 
 
 The exploration of the northern coast was 
 chiefly the work of the British navigators, Cook, 
 Beechy and Franklin, and of the officers of the 
 Hudson Bay Company. The principal river of 
 Alaska is the Yukon, which rises in British 
 America, and, receiving the Porcupine River at 
 Fort Yukon, flows west\vard across the territory
 
 ALASKA. 123 
 
 and falls into the Pacific Ocean to the south of 
 Norton Sound. At a distance of 600 miles from 
 the sea this magnificent river has a width of more 
 than a mile. Its tributaries would in Europe be 
 reckoned large rivers, and its volume is so great 
 than ten miles out from its principal mouth the 
 v^rater is fresh. Among the other rivers of Alas- 
 ka are the Copper River, the Suschitna, the Nus- 
 chagak and the Kuskokwim, falling into the Pa- 
 cific, and the Colville, flowing northward into the 
 Arctic Ocean. A great mountain range extends 
 from British Columbia, in a northwest direction, 
 along the coast of Alaska, the summit being cov- 
 ired with snow and glaciers. Mount St. Elias, an 
 active volcano, in 60.18 north latitude and 140.30 
 west longitude, rises to the height of 14,970 feet 
 above the sea. The mountain chain runs along 
 the peninsula, which has given its name to the 
 country, and at the w^estern extremity there are 
 several volcanic cones of great elevation, while 
 in the Island of Uminak, separated from the 
 mainland by only a narrow strait, there are enor- 
 mous volcanoes, one rising to more than 8000 
 feet in height. In the interior and to the north 
 the country is also mountainous, with great in- 
 tervening plains.
 
 124 KLONDIKE. 
 
 The northwest coast of this part of America 
 was discovered and explored by a Russian expe- 
 dition under Behring in 1741, and at subsequent 
 periods settlements were made by the Russians 
 at various places, chiefly by the prosecution of 
 the fur trade. In 1799 the territory was granted 
 to a Russo-American fur company by the Em- 
 peror Paul VIII, and in 1839 ^^^^ charter of the 
 company was renewed. New Archangel, in the 
 Island of Sitka, was the principal settlement, but 
 the company had about forty stations. They ex- 
 ported annually 25,000 skins of the seal, sea- 
 otter, beaver, etc., besides about 20,oco sea-horse 
 teeth. The privilege of the company expired in 
 1863, and in 1867 the whole Russian possessions 
 in America were ceded to the United States for a 
 money payment of $7,200,000. The treaty was 
 signed March 30 and ratified on June 20, 1867, 
 and on October 9 following the possession of the 
 country was formerly made over to a military 
 force of the United States at New Archangel 
 (now Sitka). Portions of Alaska were explored 
 in 1859 by the employes of the Russo-American 
 Telegraph Company in surveying a route for a 
 line of telegraph which was destined to cross from 
 America to Asia near Behring Strait — a project
 
 ALASKA. 125 
 
 which was abandoned, after an expenditure of 
 $3,000,000, on communication with Europe being 
 secured by the Atlantic cable. 
 
 The government of Alaska lies in a Governor, 
 who is appointed by the President. It has not 
 yet a full territorial form of government. 
 
 The climate of the Alaskan coast regions is 
 much milder, even in the higher latitudes, than 
 it is in the interior, or in corresponding latitudes 
 on the Atlantic coast. This is easily explained 
 and understood when the natural forces produc- 
 live of this milder temperature are contemplated. 
 
 The most important among them is a thermal 
 current resembling tht Gulf Stream in the Atlan- 
 tic. This current, known as the Japanese or 
 Kuro Siwo, has its origin under the ecjuator near 
 the Molucca and Philippine Islands, passing 
 northward along the coast of Japan, and crosses 
 the Pacific to the southward of the Aleutian Is- 
 lands, after throwing a branch through Bering 
 Sea, in the direction of Bering Strait. The main 
 current strikes the coast of British Columbia, 
 where it divides again, one branch turning north- 
 ward toward Sitka, and thence westward to the 
 Kadiak and Shumagim Islands.
 
 126 KLONDIKE. 
 
 The comparatively warm waters of these cur- 
 rents affect the temperatures of the superjacent 
 atmosphere, which, absorbing the latent heat, 
 carries it to the coast with all its mollifying ef- 
 fect. Thus the oceanic and atmospheric cur- 
 rents combine in mitigating the coast climate of 
 Alaska, and this process is greatly aided by the 
 configuration of the extreme northwestern shores 
 of the Pacific, backed as they are with an almost 
 impenetrable barrier of lofty mountains, which 
 holds back from the interior the warm, moist 
 atmospheric currents coming in from the ocean, 
 deflecting at the same time the ice-laden northern 
 gale from the coast to the interior. 
 
 To Hon. A. P. Swineford, who was Governor 
 of Alaska in 1886, belongs the distinction of hav- 
 ing first emphatically called the attention of the 
 United States Government to the splendid possi- 
 bilities of Alaskan development. In the very first 
 report which he made to the Secretary of the In- 
 terior in October, 1885, he declared that the n.it- 
 ural resources of Alaska, as yet in the infancy of 
 their development, were such as might be made, 
 in the near future, a most important addition to 
 the aggregate wealth of the nation.
 
 ALASKA. 127 
 
 "I have seen enough to convince me," he said, 
 "that no other Territory of the Union, at so early 
 a period in its civil history, presented nearly so 
 many or as great possibilities for the future. 
 That Alaska was not supplied with local civil 
 government a dozen years ago is to be deplored; 
 that so-called scientists in the pay of the General 
 Government have heretofore 'damned with faint 
 praise,' if they did not openly condemn the coun- 
 try as utterly worthless, save for its valuable fur 
 trade — basing their statements on what they 
 were able to see, looking at its rugged coast 
 from their favorite standpoint of the Prybilov Is- 
 lands — is still more to be regretted, for the rea- 
 son that the tardy and at last only partially per- 
 formed act of justice on the one hand was but 
 the result of either the ignorant or willful mis- 
 statements of those to whom Congress looked 
 for information upon which to base any and all 
 legislation affecting the rights, privileges and in- 
 terests of Alaska and its people. 
 
 "Nowhere in my home travels, from Lake Su- 
 perior to the Gulf of Mexico, from Washington 
 to Sitka, have I seen a more luxuriant vegetation 
 than in Southeastern Alaska. I find the hardier
 
 128 KLONDIKE. 
 
 vegetables all growing to maturity and enormous 
 size; white turnips weighing ten pounds, cab- 
 bages twenty-seven pounds, and as fine potatoes 
 as can be found in any of the Eastern markets I 
 found growing at Wrangell, Juneau and in Sitka. 
 Wild timothy and red-top grow to a height ol 
 from five to seven feet, and in the vicinity of Sit- 
 ka all the hay was cured during the past summer 
 that will be required during the winter, and I am 
 satisfied, from personal observation, that hun- 
 dreds of tons more could have been harvested. 
 The few cattle I have seen are sleek and in the 
 best possible condition, and I unhesitatingly give 
 it as my opinion that the country is well enough 
 adapted to grazing purposes to render wholly 
 unnecessary the importation of beef, even when 
 the population of the Territory shall have grown 
 far beyond the number requisite to its admission 
 as a State." 
 
 As an indication of the difficulty Alaska has 
 had in receiving recognition according to its true 
 worth executive document No. 36 of the House 
 of Representatives, second session. Forty-first 
 Congress, may well be quoted here. It contains 
 the report of a special agent of the Treasury De-
 
 ALASKA. 129- 
 
 partment on the subject of Alaska. From it the 
 following passages are taken: 
 
 "The price paid for the Territory, $7,200,000, 
 is but a small item of its cost to the United 
 States. Provided the public debt be paid within 
 twenty-five years, annual interest on the purchase 
 money at the rate of six per cent, would in that 
 period amount to $23,701,792.14, which, added 
 to the principal, would make the total cost of the 
 Territory $30,901,792.14. To this sum there 
 must be added the expense of the military and 
 naval establishments, say $500,000 per annum, or 
 $12,500,000 in twenty-five years, which is a much 
 smaller estimate than can be predicted on the ex- 
 penditure of the last two years, resulting in a 
 grand total cost on the above basis of $43,401,- 
 792.14. 
 
 "In return for this expenditure we may hope 
 to derive from the seal fisheries, if properly con- 
 ducted, from $75,000 to $100,000, and from cus- 
 toms $5000 to $10,000 per annum, a sum insuffi- 
 cient to support the revenue department, includ- 
 ing the present expensive cutter service attached 
 to the district; nor can we look for any material 
 increase of revenue for many years, except in the 
 9
 
 130 KLONDIKE. 
 
 event of extraordinary circumstances, such as the 
 discovery of so large deposits of minerals as 
 would produce an influx of population. 
 
 "As a financial measure it might not be the 
 worst policy to abandon the Territory for the 
 present, until some possible change for the bet- 
 ter shall have taken place, but for political rea- 
 sons this course may not be advisable." 
 
 Notwithstanding the above calculations and 
 predictions the managoment of the Seal Islands 
 alone paid into the United States Treasury be- 
 tween $6,000,000 and $7,000,000 in rental and 
 royalties within twenty years, independent of the 
 ''extraordinary circumstances" referred to by 
 this special agent. It is safe to assert that, since 
 the system of leasing the Prybilov Island was in- 
 augurated within a few weeks of the date of the 
 report quoted here and up to the expiration of 
 the first term of twenty years, the revenue cov- 
 ered into our Treasury from Alaska has always 
 exceeded the expenditures, while as a factor in 
 the internal commerce of the United States, and 
 especially of our Pacific coast. Alaska has as- 
 sumed a position of considerable importance. 
 
 A better understanding of the advantages de-
 
 ■«««l^'
 
 ALASKA. 131 
 
 rived by the country at larg^e by the purchase of 
 Alaska can l)c obtained by perusing the sub- 
 joined statement of products of the Territory 
 since it came into our possession. The state- 
 ment embraces only the principal articles of ex- 
 port, and can be relied upon as being conserva- 
 tive anil within actual limits of Alaska's prod- 
 ucts: 
 
 VALUE OF PRODUCTS OF ALASKA 
 FROM 1868 TO 1890. 
 
 Furs $48,518,929 
 
 Canned salmon 9,008.497 
 
 Salted salmon 603,548 
 
 Codfish 1,246,650 
 
 Ivory 147.047 
 
 Gold and silver 4.63 1 .840 
 
 Total $64,156,511 
 
 Products of the whaling industry: 
 
 Whale oil $2,853,351 
 
 \Vhaleb<me 8.204,067 
 
 Total 11,057,418 
 
 Aggregate $75»2i3.9-'.
 
 182 KLONDIKE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 QUARTZ MINING IN SOUTHEASTERN 
 ALASKA. 
 
 This handbook would not approach completion 
 if it refrained from a description of the wonderful- 
 ly productive gold mines which have been work- 
 ed in southeastern Alaska for the past twelve 
 years, and which in 1895 contributed nearly $2,- 
 000,000 to the gold supply of the world. These 
 quartz mines are the most perfectly developed in 
 the world, and are increasing in productiveness 
 every year. The gold yield of Alaska in 1894 was 
 $1,288,334. In 1895 it increased to $2,328,419. 
 
 For 1895 the yield of the quartz mines en 
 Douglas and Unga Islands alone equaled the en- 
 tire product of the territory the years before, 
 without counting the other mining fields which 
 have been more fully developed. 
 
 During" the year 1895, 300 stamps were drop- 
 ping on Douglas Island and during the summer 
 125 stamps were dropping on the mainland. 
 
 Other outlying districts are also coming into 
 prominence, mainly on Admiralty Island, upon 
 which a new ten-stamp mill is now ready for run-
 
 QUARTZ MINING IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. 133 
 
 ning, being operated by the Alaska-Willoughby 
 Gold Mining Company. On Unga Island some 
 very extensive and productive quartz operations 
 are being carried on. 
 
 In southeastern Alaska, so far, all the placer 
 mining has been done in gravel deposits, which 
 were made auriferous by the wash from quartz 
 veins. 
 
 The distinction of the first discovery of gold in 
 that extensive and important mining region of 
 which the town of Juneau is the centre, is shared 
 by two pioneer prospectors, Richard Harris and 
 Joseph Juneau. In the summer of 1880 these 
 men started in a canoe from the quaint old town 
 of Sitka to prospect the mainland coast, and 
 about August 15 discovered gold in a stream 
 which they aptly named Gold Creek. Their stock 
 of provisions being nearly exhausted, they did 
 not ascend the stream to its source and soon re- 
 turned to Sitka, taking with them 150 pounds oi 
 gold quartz and 13 grains of "dust." Having se- 
 cured another outfit, they hurried back to Gold 
 Creek, and soon found its source in a little round 
 valley inclosed by steep, glacier-capped moun- 
 tains. This spot they named Silver Bow basin, af- 
 ter a place of that name in Montana. On the
 
 134 KLONDIKE. 
 
 mountain slopes, encircling the basin, gravel was 
 found worth from 15 to 30 cents a pan, and quartz 
 that seemed to have been splashed with gold. 
 October 4 Juneau and Harris, with the aid of 
 three natives, located their choice of the placer 
 ground, and within a month located 18 quartz 
 claims, organized Harris mining district, adopt- 
 ed local rules for the new district, and staked off 
 a town site near the mouth of Gold Creek, which 
 they named Harrisburg. They then returned to 
 Sitka with 960 pounds of gold ore, worth $14,000. 
 This golden cargo crazed the quiet town, and a 
 number of adventurous fellows, procuring boats, 
 canoes, or steam launches, rushed off to the new 
 diggings with Juneau and Harris. The season 
 was too far advanced for prospecting in the basin, 
 so log cabins v;ere built on the site staked olY by 
 the founders of the camp. During the winter of 
 1 880-1881 the town of Harrisburg flourished; five 
 general merchandise stores were established and 
 saloons appeared so quickly as to seem sponta- 
 neous; miners and frontiersmen generally flock- 
 ed in fromWrangell and British Columbia, add all 
 waited impatiently for spring. At a miners' meet- 
 ing in February, 1881, the town name was 
 -changed to Rockwell, in honor of Lieutenant
 
 QUARTZ MINING IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. 135 
 
 Rockwell, United States Navy, and the following 
 November, at another meeting, the place was rc- 
 christened Juneau, in honor of Joseph Juneau. 
 On the 27th of January John Pryor, Antonc 
 Marx, Frank Berry, James Rosewald and Wil- 
 liam Alehan discovered placer and quartz on the 
 beach of Douglas Island, four miles from the 
 town. They began working the placers early in 
 March, washing out 2^ ounces of gold in the first 
 three days' work. 
 
 The first shipment of gold from the new camp 
 was taken from this claim and amounted to 84 
 ounces. The claim, still known as Ready Bullion, 
 yielded about $12,000 in 1881, $3000 in 1882 and 
 in 1884 was sold to John Treadwell. These are 
 the beginnings of the famous Treadwell mines, 
 from which enough ore has been taken out in the 
 last ten years to pay the purchase of Alaska and 
 more. 
 
 An expedition of great value in the exploration 
 of the gold resources of southern Alaska was un- 
 dertaken under the auspices of the United States 
 Geological Survey in 1895, under the direction <.f 
 Dr. George F. Becker. Dr. Becker was assisted by 
 Mr. C. W. Purington, who devoted himself espe- 
 cially to the examination of the gold deposits.
 
 136 KLONDIKE. 
 
 and associated with him was Dr. W, H. Dall, the 
 Alaskan authority, who had immediate charge 
 of an examination of the coal resources. 
 
 The instructions to the party were to examine 
 the gold and coal deposits in the vicinity of the 
 shore line and islands along the coast of the ter- 
 ritory, and not to attempt to penetrate into the 
 interior. 
 
 Dr. Becker and Mr. Purington examined the 
 Treadwell mine, on Douglas Island, and found 
 that the mine was in slates of sedimentary origin, 
 probably of Triassic age, and that it had been 
 penetrated by a heavy dike of diorite or tonalite 
 and by two other intrusive masses. The last of 
 these is a rock of basaltic character, and its erup- 
 tion seems to have occurred at the same time as 
 the mineralization. Both the diorite and the slate 
 were ruptured along a zone which is at some 
 points several hundred feet in width, and the in- 
 terstitial spaces have been filled with ore. In the 
 diorite the masses were in great part reduced to 
 fragments, and these have been decomposed and 
 impregnated. In the slate the fractures mostly 
 followed the cleavage, and the deposit there as- 
 sumes the form of a "stringer lead." The claims 
 to the southward of the Treadwell are controlled
 
 QUARTZ MINING IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. 137 
 
 by the same company, and are profitable, but the 
 next claim to the northward is said to be too poor 
 to pay. The ore of Treadwell averages only $2.50 
 to $3 per ton, but, owing- to the enormous scale 
 of the workings, there is a large prfit in working 
 it. 
 
 The Silver Bow basin lies about three miles 
 north of east of Juneay. A considerable number 
 of small veins of rather rich ore occur in the 
 southern side of the basin. The basin was for- 
 merly occupied by a large glacier. After the re- 
 treat of the glacier the basin was occupied by a 
 lake, and the lake beds are successfully worked 
 for gold by the hydraulic process. 
 
 Sheep Creek basin is separated from Silver 
 Bow basin by a divide, and the same series of 
 quartz veins extend into it. About 55 miles to 
 the southeast of Juneau, at Sumdum, there is a 
 very promising vein which is yielding good bul- 
 lion, although the property is only just being de- 
 veloped. At Seward City, near Berners Bay, 
 about 50 m.iles north of Juneau, there are also 
 veins which are extremely rich at some points 
 and are yielding gold. On Admiralty Island, 
 about 30 miles from Juneau, there are promising 
 veins, on which it is expected that mining will
 
 138 KLONDIKE. 
 
 be commenced during the summer of 1896. Near 
 Sitka, especially along Silver Bay and in the 
 country to the southeast of it, there are numer- 
 ous veins, some of which have yielded a little 
 gold. The conditions do not warrant an opinion 
 as to their future. 
 
 At Yakutat Bay, just to the eastward of Mount 
 St. Elias, there has been some beach mining, as 
 there has also been along the west shore of Ka- 
 diak Island. The ease of working and the unlim- 
 ited supply of sand make beach mining on the 
 western coast of North America ver\- attractive, 
 but the capriciousness of the distribution of pay 
 streaks and the difiiculty of saving the gold com- 
 monly rob such undertakings of success. The 
 amount of gold which occurs in this manner in 
 the sand is enormous, but as yet there are few if 
 any reliable records of large profits having been 
 made from beach mines, either in Alaska or to the 
 southward. 
 
 On Kadiak Island, in Uyak Bay. there are sev- 
 eral promising-looking gold-quartz veins, 2 feet 
 or so in thickness, upon which prospecting is now 
 going on. Stream gravels are also being worked 
 on Turn-again Arm, at the head of Cook Inlet. 
 The only successful working was on Bear Creek,
 
 QUARTZ MINING IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. 139 
 
 but the capriciousness of the distribution of pay 
 Becker could obtain the average results were not 
 more than $5 per day per man . A later report, 
 received after Dr. Becker's visit, is that richer 
 gravel has been discovered near the head of Turn- 
 again Arm. 
 
 The island of Unga is in the Shumagin Archi- 
 pelago, about a thousand miles south of west 
 from Sitka. Near Delarofif Bay, on this island, 
 is the Apollo Consolidated mine, which is now 
 yielding at the rates of over $300,000 a year. The 
 ore occurs in interstitial spaces in a crushed zone 
 of andesite. It averages between $8 and $9 per 
 ton, much of the gold being free, though heavy 
 bunches of sulphurets are of frequent occurrence 
 in it. 
 
 Although auriferous quartz has been found on 
 the island of Unalaska, nothing like a mine has 
 yet been discovered. 
 
 Speaking of the gold mines of Southeastern 
 Alaska as early as 1886 Governor Swineford 
 said: 
 
 "The extensive reduction works on Douglas 
 Island, opposite Juneau, are, perhaps, the most 
 complete of any to be found on the Pacific slope.
 
 140 KLONDIKE. 
 
 They are supplied with twenty-four batteries of 
 five stamps each, with all the necessary machin- 
 ery and appliances for the extraction of the free 
 gold, and chlorination works for the treatment 
 of the sulphurets. During July and August the 
 mill, running to not much more than half its full 
 capacity, turned out $115,000 in gold bullion, 
 while the accumulated sulphurets (concentrates) 
 awaiting treatment were shown by frequent as- 
 says to be worth not less than $100,000 more. 
 
 "Since the middle of September the mill has 
 been running to its full capacity, and a personal 
 examination of the mine from which it is sup- 
 plied with ore leads me to confidently expect 
 very much better results from this time forward. 
 The mine itself is located in what appears to be 
 simply a great mountain of gold-bearing quartz. 
 Into this immense repository of the precious 
 metal a tunnel has ben driven to a length of near- 
 ly, if not quite, 500 feet, as nearly as I could 
 judge, at right angles with the trend of the ledge, 
 and on a level at least 250 feet below the outcrop 
 on which the miners were at w^ork breaking and 
 milling the rock down through a winze to the 
 tram-cars in the tunnel. A careful examination
 
 QUARTZ MINING IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. 141 
 
 of the tunnel reveals well defined foot and hang- 
 ing walls, very nearly 400 feet apart, between 
 which nothing but the same kind of rock as that 
 being milled at the time of my visit can be seen 
 on either side. The rock is what is called 'low 
 grade milling," carrying free gold and sulphu- 
 rets, and yields an average, I am told, of about 
 $8 per ton. No selection of the rock is neces- 
 sary, everything from between the walls going 
 to the stamps. It is truly a phenomenal deposit 
 and the mine one that promises to figure more 
 largely in the mining history of the world than 
 any other of which we have any record. 
 
 "In the rear of Juneau two or three miles, on 
 the mainland, is Silver Bow Basin, where some 
 rich placer mines are being worked, but thus far 
 I have not been afforded an opportunity to visit 
 or examine them. The value of the product of 
 these mines, however, has been estimated by well- 
 posted persons at not less than $150,000 in 1884, 
 and the opinion prevails that the shipment of 
 "dust" will be much larger the present year. I 
 noticed while in Juneau that most of the traders 
 were buying gold dust, and was told that many 
 of the miners in the basin were doing well, and 
 some of them amassing comfortable fortunes.
 
 142 KLONDIKE. 
 
 "In the absence of other discoveries it would 
 yet be hardly probable that the gold-bearing- 
 ledges and basins of the Territory should be con- 
 fined to this one particular locality. Fortunately 
 there is abundant evidence going to show that 
 the developments at Juneau are but the precur- 
 sors of others yet in abeyance, and which await 
 only the application of similar efifort in the way 
 of the expenditure of labor and capital to make 
 them profitably productive. In the near vicinity 
 of Sitka there are promising ledges, one of which 
 has been wrought for years in a desultory way 
 by a single prospector, who, doing only the as- 
 sessment work required by the mining law, has 
 yet been able to support himself and family from 
 the proceeds extracted from his incipient mine 
 by the most primitive appliances — principally an 
 ordinary hand pestle, mortar and pan. While 
 there can be little doubt of the existence of gold 
 along the coast range of mountains, and on many 
 of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago, the 
 geological formation and general characteristics 
 of which appear to be identical wath those of the 
 mainland, the work of development will neces- 
 sarily proceed slowly as compared to the prog-
 
 QUARTZ MINING IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. 143 
 
 ress made in the other mining districts of the 
 United States, owing to the difficulties which be- 
 set the path of the prospector, unless, indeed, con- 
 venient access to tidewater may wholly or in 
 part be found to counterbalance the disadvan- 
 tages of high and precipitous mountains, cov- 
 ered with a dense growth of timber, underbrush 
 and fallen trees, with two or three feet of inter- 
 twining, closely woven vines and moss covering 
 the ground itself, and which will obstruct and 
 render more than usually difficult the work of 
 exploration, though not necessarily an obstruc- 
 tion in the way of subsequent mining operations. 
 The difficulties mentioned will, however, be par- 
 tially obviated by the first discovery in any par- 
 ticular locality, which will serve as a starting 
 point from which to prosecute explorations w'th 
 a better knowledge of the formation, and, con- 
 sequently, with much less labor and expense. In 
 addition to the compensating advantage of con- 
 tiguity to navigable waters there is unlimited 
 water power for the operation of mining and 
 milling machinery and an abundance of timber 
 for all purposes."
 
 144 KLONDIKE. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 
 
 Although the eyes of the world are only just be- 
 ginning to be opened to the surpassing interest 
 of the immense area of country watered by the 
 Yukon River, there are men living to whom the 
 marvelous features of that great stretch of country 
 are no new thing. The highest authority on all 
 questions pertaining to the Yukon is Dr. W. H. 
 Dall, of the Smithonian Institution, in Washing- 
 ton, who more than a generation ago went up in- 
 to that country v^th the Western Union expedi- 
 tion sent out to survey for the proposed Russian- 
 American telegraph line and who has made sever- 
 al journeys to the same region since. Dr. Dall 
 embodied the observations of his early visits in 
 a book published in 1870, entitled, "Alaska and 
 its Resources," which is easily the most compre- 
 hensive work issued on the general subject of our 
 Alaskan possessions. No subsequent explorers 
 have succeeded in fully replacing it, although the 
 latest census reports are very complete, consid- 
 ering the difficulties of exploration.
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 145 
 
 What the Amazon is to South America, the 
 Mississippi to the central portion of the United 
 States, the Yukon is to Alaska. It is a great in- 
 land highway, which will make it possible for the 
 explorer to penetrate the mysterious fastness of 
 that still unknown region. The Yukon has its 
 source in the Rocky Mountains of British Colum- 
 bia, and the Coast Range Mountains of southeast- 
 ern Alaska, about 125 miles from the city of Ju- 
 neau, which is the present metropolis of Alaska. 
 But it is only known as the Yukon River at the 
 point where the Pelly River, the branch that 
 heads in British Columbia, meets with the 
 Lewis River, which heads in southeastern 
 Alaska. This point of confluence is at 
 Fort Selkirk, in the Northwest Territory, 
 about 125 miles southeast of the Klondike. 
 The Yukon proper is 2044 miles in length From 
 Fort Selkirk it flows northwest 400 miles just 
 touching the Arctic circle; thence southward for a 
 distance of 1600 miles, where it empties into Be- 
 ring Sea. It drains more than 600,000 miles square 
 of territory, and discharges one-third more water 
 into Bering Sea than does the Mississippi into 
 the Gulf of Mexico. At its mouth it is sixty miles 
 wide. About 1500 miles inland it widens out 
 10
 
 146 KLONDIKE. 
 
 from one to ten miles. A thousand islands send 
 the channel in as many different directions. Only 
 natives who are thoronghly familiar with the river 
 are trusted with the piloting of boats up the 
 ' stream during the season of low water. 
 
 Even at the season of high water it is still so 
 shallow as not to be navigable anywhere by sea- 
 going vessels, but only by flat-bottomed boats 
 with a carrying capacity of four to five hundred 
 tons. 
 
 The Yukon River is absolutely closed to trav- 
 el save during the summer months. In the win- 
 ter all approaches are locked with impenetrable 
 ice and the summer lasts only from ten to twelve 
 weeks, from about the middle of June to the early 
 part of September. Then an unending panorama 
 of extraordinary picturesqueness is unfolded to 
 the voyager. The banks are fringed with flowers 
 carpeted with the all pervading moss or tundra. 
 Birds, countless in numbers and of infinite va- 
 riety of plumage, sing out a welcome from every 
 tree top. Pitch your tent where you will be m 
 midsummer, a bed of roses, a clump of poppies 
 and a bunch of blue bells will adorn your camp- 
 ing. But high above this paradise of almost trop- 
 ical exuberance, giant glaciers sleep in the sum-
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 147 
 
 mit of the mountain wall, which rises up from a 
 bed of roses, has disappeared before icy breath of 
 the Winter King, which sends the thermometer 
 down to eighty degrees below the freezing point. 
 
 The Lewis River is the best known of the trib- 
 utaries to the Yukon, having been used for the 
 past twelve years as the highway from South- 
 eastern Alaska to the gold diggings on the Yu- 
 kon. Its length from Lake Lindeman, one of 
 its chief sources, to the junction with the Pelly 
 is about 375 miles, and it lies entirely in British 
 territory, with the exception of a few miles of the 
 lake at its head. 
 
 The Pelly River takes its rise about Dease 
 Lake, near the headwaters of the Stkine River, 
 with a length of some 500 miles before joining 
 the Lewis to form the Yukon River. The union 
 of these two streams forms a river var}'ing from 
 three-quarters of a mile to a mile in width. For 
 many miles on the northern bank is a solid wall 
 of lava, compelling a swift current to follow a 
 westerly course in search of an outlet to the 
 north. The southern bank is comparatively low, 
 formed of sandy, alluvial soil. A few miles above 
 the White River the stream takes a northerly 
 course through a rugged, mountainous country,
 
 148 KLONDIKE. 
 
 receiving the addition of the waters of the White 
 River on the south, so called from the milk}' color 
 of its water, and a few miles farther on the waters 
 of the Stewart on the north. The current is ex- 
 ceedingly swift here, especially at a high stage 
 of water, being at least six or seven miles an hour. 
 From Stewart River to Fort Reliance both banks 
 are closed in by high mountains, formed chiefly 
 of basalt rock and slaty shale. Many of the bluffs 
 are cut and worn into most picturesque shapes 
 by glacial action. At Fort Reliance, an aban- 
 doned trading post, the general course of the 
 stream changes to northwest, continuing thus 
 for a distance of about 500 miles, or as far as the 
 confluence with the Porcupine River, which 
 flows from the north. 
 
 Some forty miles from Fort Reliance the 
 mouth of Forty Mile Creek is passed, where is 
 located the miners' trading post and where for 
 some time were found the chief gold diggmgs. 
 Some thirty-eight miles from there the river 
 crosses the eastern boundary of Alaska. For a 
 hundred miles after crossing the boundary the 
 river runs in one broad stream, confined on ei- 
 ther side by high banks and a mountainous 
 country, known as the "Upper Rampart." It
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY 149 
 
 then widens out, and for a distance of 150 miles 
 is a network of channels and small islands. At 
 Old Fort Yukon, an abandoned Hudson Bay- 
 post, it attains its high northern latitude, being 
 just within the Arctic circle. From main bank 
 to bank the distance has been found to be ex- 
 actly seven miles at a point just above the site 
 of Fort Yukon. This place is probably the only 
 serious obstacle to navigation that is met with 
 from the mouth of the river to Fort Selkirk, a 
 distance of over one thousand six hundred miles, 
 the channel here shifting from year to year, and 
 at certain stages of water it is difficult to find. 
 From Fort Yukon to the mouth the river has 
 been frequently traveled and well described. 
 
 According to Dr. Dall the character of the 
 country in the vicinity of the Yukon River va- 
 ries from low, rolling and somewhat rocky hills, 
 usually easy of ascent, to broad and rather marshy 
 plains, extending for miles on either side of the 
 river, especially near the mouth. There are no 
 roads, except an occasional trail, hardly notice- 
 able except by a voyageur. The Yukon and its 
 tributaries form the great highways of the coun- 
 try. 
 
 The soil is usually frozen at a depth of three
 
 150 KLONDIKE. 
 
 or four feet in ordinary situations. In colder ones 
 it remains icy to within eighteen inches of the 
 surface. This layer of frozen soil is six or eight 
 feet thick. Below that depth the soil is usually 
 destitute of ice. 
 
 This phenomenon appears to be directly trace- 
 able to want of drainage, combined with non- 
 conductive covering of moss, which prevents the 
 scorching sun of the boreal midsummer from 
 thawing and warming the soil. 
 
 A singular phenomenon on the shores of Es- 
 choltz Bay, Kotzebue Sound, was first observed 
 and described in the voyage of the Rurik by 
 Kotzebue and Chamisso, and afterwards in the 
 appendix to the voyage of the Herald by Buck- 
 land and Forbes. 
 
 It consists of blufifs or banks (thirty to sixty 
 feet high) of apparently solid ice, fronting the 
 water, which washes on a small beach formed by 
 detritus, at the foot of the benk. These contin- 
 uous banks of ice, strange to say, are covered 
 wdth a layer of soil and vegetable matter, v\'hcre, 
 to use the words of the renowned botanist, Dr. 
 Seemann, "herbs and shrubs are flourishing wiih 
 a luxuriance only equaled in more favored 
 climes."
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 151 
 
 The climate of the Yukon Territory in the in- 
 terior (as is the case throughout Alaska) differs 
 from that of the sea coast, even in localities com- 
 paratively adjacent. That of the coast is tem- 
 pered by the vast body of water contained in 
 Bering- Sea, and many southern currents bring- 
 ing warmer water from the Pacific, making the 
 winter climate of the coast much milder than that 
 of the country, even thirty miles into the interior; 
 this, too, without any high range of mountaiiis 
 acting as a bar to the progress of warm winds. 
 The sum.mers, on the other hand, from the quan- 
 tity of rain and cloudy weather, are cooler and 
 less pleasant than those of the interior. The 
 months of May and June, however, and part of 
 July, are delightful — sunny, warm and clear. To 
 quote Seemann again, on the northern coast, 
 "the grov^th of plants is rapid in the extreme. 
 The snow has hardly disappeared before a mass 
 of herbage has sprung up, and the spots which 
 a few days before presented nothing but a white 
 sheet are teeming with active vegetation, pro- 
 ducing leaves, flowers and fruits in rapid succes- 
 sion." Even during the long Arctic day the 
 plants have their period of sleep, short, though 
 plainly marked, as in the tropics, and Indicated
 
 152 KLONDIKE. 
 
 by the same drooping of the leaves and other 
 signs, which we observe in milder climates. The 
 following table shows the mean temperature of 
 the seasons at St. Michael's, on the coast of Nor- 
 ton Sound, in latitude 63 degrees 28 minutes; at 
 the Mission, on the Yukon River, one hundred 
 and fifty miles from its mouth, in latitude 61 de- 
 grees 47 minutes; at Nulato, four hundred and 
 fifty miles farther up the river, in latitude 64 de- 
 grees 40 minutes (approximate), and at Fori Yu- 
 kon, twelve hundred miles from the mouth of 
 the river and about latitude 66 degrees 34 min- 
 utes : 
 Means for St.Mich's. Mission. Nulato. Ft.Y'n. 
 
 Spring 29.3 19.62 29.3 14.22 
 
 Summer 53.0. 59.32 60.0 59.67 
 
 Autumn 26.3 36.05 36.0 17.37 
 
 Winter 8.6 0.95 14.0 23.80 
 
 Year 29.3 26.48 27.8 16.92 
 
 The mean annual temperature of the Yukon 
 Territory, as a whole, may be roughly estimated 
 at about 25 degrees. Open water may be found 
 on all the rivers in tlie coldest weather and nnny 
 springs are not frozen up throughout the year. 
 
 At Fort Yukon Dr. Dall says he has seen the 
 thermometer at noon, not in the direct rays of the
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 153 
 
 sun, Standing at 112 degrees, and he was in- 
 formed by the commander of the post that sev- 
 eral spirit thermometers graduated up to 120 
 degrees had burst under the scorching sun of 
 the Arctic midsummer, which can only be thor 
 oughly appreciated by one who has endured it. 
 In midsummer on the Upper Yukon the only 
 relief from the intense heat, under which the 
 vegetation attains an almost tropical luxuriance, 
 is the brief space during w^hich the sun hovers 
 over the northern horizon. 
 
 The rain fall is much greater in summer on 
 the coast than in the interior. The months of 
 May, June and part of July bring sunny, delight- 
 ful weather; but the remainder of the season, four 
 days in a v»'eek at least, will be rainy at St. Mich- 
 ael's. October brings a change. The winds, us- 
 ually from the southwest from July to the latter 
 part of September, in October are mostly from 
 the north, and, though cold, bring fine weather. 
 They are interrupted occasionally by gales, the 
 most violent of the season, from the southwest; 
 piling the driftwood upon the shores, where it 
 lies until the succeeding fall, unless carried off by 
 the natives for fuel. 
 
 The valley of the Lower Yukon is somewhat
 
 154 KLONDIKE. 
 
 foggy in the latter part of the summer; but as 
 the river is ascended the climate improves and the 
 short summer at Fort Yukon is dry, hot and 
 pleasant, only varied by an occasional shower. 
 
 The first requisite for habitation or even ex- 
 ploration in any country is timber. With it al- 
 most all parts of the Yukon territory are well sup- 
 plied. The treeless coasts even of the Arctic 
 Ocean can hardly be said to be an exception, as 
 they are bountifully supplied with driftwood from 
 the immense supplies brought down by the Yu- 
 kon, Kuskoquim and other rivers, and distributed 
 by the waves and ocean currents. 
 
 The largest and most valuable tree found in this 
 district is the white spruce, which is found over 
 the whole country a short distance inland, but 
 largest and most vigorous in the vicinity of run- 
 ning water. It attains not unfrequently the 
 height of fifty to one hundred feet, with a diame- 
 ter of over three feet near the butt; but the most 
 common size is thirty or forty feet and twelve to 
 eighteen mches at the butt. It is quite durable. 
 Many houses, twenty years old, built of this tim- 
 ber, contained a majority of sound logs, but when 
 used green, without proper seasoning, it will not 
 last over fifteen vears. These trees decrease in
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 155 
 
 size, and grow more sparingly near Fort Yukon, 
 but are still large enough for most purposes. 
 
 The tree of next importance in the economy 
 of the inhabitants is the birch. This tree rarely 
 grows over eighteen inches in diameter and forty ' 
 feet high. i 
 
 Several species of poplar abound, the former 
 along the water side and the latter on drier up- 
 lands. The first mentioned species grows to a 
 very large size, frequently two or three feet in 
 diameter and forty to sixty feet high. The tim- 
 ber, however, is of little value, but the extreme 
 softness of the wood, is often taken advantage of 
 by the natives with their rude iron or stone axes, 
 to make small boards or other articles for use in 
 their lodges. They also rub up with charcoal the 
 down from the seed-vessels for tinder. 
 
 Willows and alders are the most abundant of 
 trees and all sizes of the former may be found. 
 
 The treeless coasts of the territory, as well as 
 the lowlands of the Yukon, are covered in spring 
 with a most luxuriant growth of grass and flow- 
 ers. Among the more valuable of these grasses 
 is the Kentucky blue grass, which grows as far 
 north as Kotzbue Sound, and on the coast of Nor- 
 ton Sound with a truly surprising luxuriance. It
 
 156 KLONDIKE. 
 
 reaches in very favorable situations four or even 
 five feet in height and averages at least three feet. 
 
 Grain has never been sown to any extent in 
 the Yukon territory. Barley was once or twice 
 tried at Fort Yukon in small patches and succeed- 
 ed in maturing the grain, though the straw was 
 very short. Attempts were also made at 40-Mile 
 Post in 1890. 
 
 Turnips and radishes ahvays flourished ex- 
 tremely well at St. Michael's and the same is said 
 of Nulato and Fort Yukon. Potatoes succeeded 
 at the latter place, though the tubers were small 
 They were regularly planted for several years, un- 
 til the seed was lost by freezing during the winter. 
 At St. Michael's they did not do well. 
 
 Salad was successful, but cabbage would not 
 head. The white round turnips, grown at St. 
 Michael's, from European seed, were very large, 
 some weighing five or six pounds. 
 
 The inhabitants of the upper Yukon, from the 
 Rampart house to the boundary, formed part of 
 the nation known to the English missionaries of 
 the Hudson Bay side as the Tukudh Indians, 
 tribes of which extend over the country enclosed 
 by the Porcupine River, the Peel River to the 
 MacKenzie, the Upper Yukon to the neighbor-
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 157 
 
 hood of the Stick Indians in the south and to the 
 southeast in the McMillan River country. They 
 speak of themselves, however, as Yukon Indians. 
 Their language has been put into print by the 
 venerable Robert McDonald, archdeacon, Bibles 
 and hymn books being universally read by all 
 from Nuklukayet up. They are of average size, 
 lithe and active, many of them being quite grace- 
 ful in their carriage. In appearance they ap- 
 proach the typical North American Indians; 
 sharp features, aquiline nose, and high cheek 
 bones, with very small feet and hands. They are 
 nomadic in their ways of life, living in temporary 
 camps both winter and summer, either in the 
 mountains or on the river banks, according to the 
 habits of the gam.e they are hunting. 
 
 Some few in the neighborhood of the mining 
 camp are perceptibly changing their mode of life. 
 Around the trading post at Forty Mile Creek 
 there are a number of log cabins built and inhabi- 
 ted by them the year around, and they fully ap- 
 precite the advantages of stoves and clothing 
 from the States. The younger men are said to be 
 more fastidious in their dress than the average 
 white man. They are industrious and fairly en- 
 terprising, many of them working successfully at
 
 168 KLONDIKE. 
 
 mining for wages paid by the whites, and some 
 are mining on their own account. They make 
 excellent boatmen, poling a boat with skill, boats 
 built of sawed lumber being preferred for river 
 navigation to their own birch canoes. Docile 
 and peaceable both among themselves and with 
 the miners, they are strongly imbued with the 
 teachings of the English missionaries, with whom 
 they had more or less intercourse for many years 
 previous to occupation of the country by the 
 United States. Formerly their chief subsistence 
 was cariboo and moose meat, and fish they only 
 knew during the summer and fall, but since the 
 arrival of the miners they depend each year more 
 and more on white men's provisions. Obtaining 
 pay for work, they also avoid the necessity of 
 hunting for f^ur to buy provisions with, as used 
 to be the case in former years ; hence the falling 
 ofif of the supply of furs from that section. 
 
 The population is very sparse. At certain 
 times during the year a traveler might pass down 
 the Yukon from Forty Mile Creek to Nuklukayet 
 and hardly see a score of natives in a distance of 
 800 miles. The different villages or communities 
 seem to be under the guidance of chiefs and sub- 
 chiefs, though there does not appear to be much 
 authority exerted by them.
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 159 
 
 Their mode of transportation in summer time 
 is by rafts, boats and birch canoes, and is entire- 
 ly confined to the streams and water courses; in 
 the winter time sleds are used, drawn by dogs, 
 men or women. Their language is known to the 
 missionaries as a dialect of Tukudh (Tukuth), but 
 they converse with the traders in a jargon called 
 "Slavey," a mixture of Canadian French and hy- 
 brid words of English, something in the nature of 
 the ''Chinook" of southeastern Alaska. 
 
 At Nuklukayet and down to the vicinity of 
 Nulato changes are to be observed in the na- 
 tives; though very similar in general appearance, 
 they seem to be a mixture of tribes from the 
 Koyukuk and Tanana Rivers and of Ingalik, 
 from lower down the Yukon. 
 
 Their language is different, though many can 
 converse in a dialect that is understood by the 
 Upper Yukon people. They are not so nomadic 
 in their way of life, living in villages, building 
 log cabins and huts of earth and logs. They de- 
 pend most largely on the supply of fish and not 
 so much on game. They are mostly addicted to 
 paganism, being more superstitious and depend- 
 ing on instructions from the shaman, or medi- 
 cine man. They also are becoming yearly more
 
 160 KLONDIKE. 
 
 dependent on provisions from the States, but 
 have to procure them by trapping fur-bearing an- 
 imals to a far larger extent than those of the up- 
 per river. They are shrewd traders, taking, ad- 
 vantage of every point. They do not so readily 
 adapt themselves to the ways of the white man. 
 They are more pugnacious, quick-tempered, re- 
 senting a fancied injury or insult very quickly 
 with force. Many years ago some of them killed 
 a white woman, the wife of a trader at a post a 
 few miles up the Tanana River, at the instigation 
 of a shaman. Four years ago at Nuklukayet, on 
 account of a disagreement with a trader, they 
 broke open the store, scattered the goods about 
 recklessly and would have shed blood if they 
 had not met with adequate resistance. Relig- 
 ious teaching does not seem to have the same ef- 
 fect upon them as on the natives on the upper 
 river. They have had visits from Russian priests 
 and resident English missionaries in past years, 
 without much notable e^^ect upon their lives or 
 morals. Their villages are only found on the 
 main river, hunting parties only going into the 
 back country temporarily, at which time all the 
 members of the families take part in the expedi- 
 tion. The population found on this part of the
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 161 
 
 river is much larger than that of the Upper Yu- 
 kon. There is no time of the year when more or 
 less people are not to be found in the villages, 
 and we find among them a larger proportion of 
 females than on the Upper Yukon. Some time 
 ago the lack of females was most noticeable 
 among the Indians of the upper river, attributa- 
 ble to hard usage and the work they were com- 
 pelled to do, as well as to the lack of care of 
 female children. Of late, however, female chil- 
 dren have been better taken care of, and proba- 
 bly in course of time there will be more mar- 
 riageable women among them. Most of the mar- 
 ried women to be seen there at present come 
 from the Koyukuk or the Lower Yukon River. 
 The Nuklukayet and Nowikaket people claim 
 to have their origin from the tribe on the Koyu- 
 kuk River in the north. The Tanana River and 
 Upper Yukon Indians speak an entirely dififerent 
 language, though there is a dialect by which 
 they can communicate with the various tribes. 
 
 The fur trade has undergone considerable 
 change of late years, the catch of furs being con- 
 siderable less than formerly, partly owing to tlie 
 decrease of fur-bearing animals, and also to their 
 being more white men in the country-, indepen- 
 11
 
 1G2 KLONDIKE. 
 
 dent of the fur traders, causing the circulation of 
 more money among the natives, with which they 
 buy instead of trading furs. The average catch 
 of land furs for the whole year ranges from i6,- 
 Goo to 20,000 pelts, usually with a large propor- 
 tion of mink skins, the lowest -priced fur on the 
 market. 
 
 There are six trading posts at points on the 
 river in Alaska. The traders, to reach the back 
 country, usually fit out trusty natives with small 
 stock of goods to travel among the distant tribes. 
 Since the discontinuance of opposition the white 
 traders do not travel in the winter. The prices 
 paid are regulated by the standard price of red 
 fox or martin, called one skin, about $1.25. A 
 prime beaver would be two skins, black bear 
 four skins, lynx one skin, land otter two or three 
 skins and so on. Five yards of drilling or one 
 pound of tea or one pound of powder or half a 
 pound of powder with one box of caps and one 
 pound of shot are given for one skin, fifty pounds 
 of f^our for four skins, five pounds of sugar for 
 one skin. These are sample prices obtained by 
 the natives, with little variation, until the mining 
 district is reached, where the prices are higher, 
 to conform with the prices charp;ed to miners. 
 
 The merchandise is carried on the river by
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 163 
 
 means of stern-wheel steamers, the two principle 
 ones belonging to the Alaska Commercial Com- 
 pany, one of 200 tons, the other of thirty tons 
 capacity, carrying freight and passengers. On 
 the larger boat there is a white man for captain 
 and another for engineer, but both captain and 
 engineer are unlicensed and without papers; the 
 rest of the crew are Indians. There are three 
 other small steamers, two belonging to the Rus- 
 sian and Catholic missionaries respectively and 
 one to the traders at Fort Selkirk. All supplies 
 are received at St. Michael on Norton Sound, 
 ninety miles north of the mouth of the Yukon, 
 the furs and gold obtained being turned over to 
 the Alaska Commercial Company's agent there 
 and shipped to San Francisco. Once a year, in 
 June, the missionaries and traders assemble at 
 St. Michael's and for a few days that place is do- 
 ing a rushing business. It has become a regular 
 fair for the natives, who gather in numbers from 
 various points on the coast and river, getting a 
 few days' work from the company and having the 
 satisfaction of seeing the new stock of merchan- 
 dise. 
 
 The influx of miners to the country has pro- 
 duced marked changes among the natives, and
 
 164 KLONDIKE. 
 
 not to their benefit morally. The illicit manu- 
 facture and use of liquor, both by the traders of 
 the company and miners, is demoralizing the na- 
 tives to a great extent. It is openly carried on 
 both the upper and lower rivers. At Andreafriky, 
 on the lower river, it is a common sight to see 
 intoxicated natives, more especially in the win- 
 ter, and the natives have now learned the pro- 
 cess of making liquor themselves, more partica- 
 larly on the coast and the Lower Yukon. 
 
 On the coast the temperature varies from 70 
 degrees Fahrenheit in summer to 40 degrees and 
 45 degrees below zero in the winter. The late 
 summer and fall is usually stormy and wet, the 
 snow fall in winter being from three to five feet 
 on a level. Navigation is closed to the outside 
 for seven months in the year by heavy ice on the 
 sea. The Yukon River is closed by ice from No- 
 vember to the end of May. In the interior the 
 climate is dryer and warmer in summer, but many 
 degrees colder in winter, the thermometer going 
 as low as 60 degrees below zero. The snow fall 
 is excessive, but less wind prevails here in winter 
 than on the coast. 
 
 For many miles on the lower river the banks 
 are devoid of timber other than a stumpage
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 166 
 
 growth of willow brush, alder and cottonwood. 
 The first spruce timber is seen some fifty miles 
 below the Russian mission, at Ikomiut, and from 
 there up to its head the river is more or less 
 belted with timber, spruce, fir, hemlock, birch, 
 alder and cottonwood being the varieties most 
 predominant. 
 
 On the low islands and flats the spruce at- 
 tain;-: a considerable size, but as lumber it is not 
 adapted for any purpose beyond the needs of the 
 miners and others in the country, being checked 
 by frost and full of knots. The growth of tim- 
 ber seems to be entirely confined to the margins 
 of the streams and rivers in many instances being 
 merely a fringe on the banks. 
 
 There is a great variety of berries to be found 
 all through the country; high and low bush cran- 
 berries, blueberries, salmon berries, red currants, 
 and raspberries. The salmon or dewberries abound 
 on the swampy lands of the Lower Yukon, and 
 are gathered by the natives in quantities, who 
 preserve them by burying them in the ground, 
 using them as a delicacy in the winter, mixed 
 with seal oil or deer fat and snow. 
 
 Game is said to be scarce, considering the im-
 
 166 KLONDIKE. 
 
 mense stretches of uninhabited country. Numer- 
 ous signs are to be seen on the banks of the main 
 river, but so far few white men have proved suc- 
 cessful hunters, owing to the difhcuUies of travel. 
 An Indian traveling with no impediments can 
 scour over the country, and, being acquainted 
 with every game sign, can obtain some reward 
 for his exertion, where a white man would starve. 
 
 Though some distance to the north of the en- 
 trance of the Yukon River, St. Michael has al- 
 w^ays been a controlling centre and basis of sup- 
 plies for the great river of the far northwest. 
 From here the hardy Muscovite pioneers pushed 
 their advance slowly and laboriously with clumsy 
 boats in skin-covered "bidars," and trudging over 
 the frozen snow plains with their dog teams until 
 the met the forerunners of the Hudson Bay Com- 
 pany on their way down the river, which English 
 geographers of that time pictured as emptying 
 into the Arctic. 
 
 As long as the Russians were in possession of 
 this region all furs secured in the Kuskokwim 
 Valley were transported over the Yukon portage 
 to St. Michael, and thence shipped to Sitka, to- 
 gether with those obtained by barter from the 
 natives of the shores and islands of Bering
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 167 
 
 Strait. The first American traders to engage 
 in the Yukon trade were members of the Western 
 Union Telegraph expedition, and foremost 
 among these pioneers were Ketchum and Clark. 
 Later came Mercier, a brother of the Canadian 
 ex-minister, and a host of other French Canadi- 
 ans, together with three prospectors, McQueston, 
 Mayo (Americans), and Harper (an Englishman), 
 who still control the trade and much of the min- 
 ing industry of the Upper Yukon and its trib- 
 utaries from Fort Selkirk westward. 
 
 The basis of supplies for the whole district 
 was early taken by the Alaska Commercial Com- 
 pany, who at first utilized a small stern-wheel 
 steamer placed upon the river by the telegraph 
 company, and later built other vessels for the pur- 
 pose of towing loaded barges up the river. Later 
 the firms who entered into competition with the 
 company in other districts made a lodgment near 
 St. Michael, and another steamer was placed upon 
 the river. 
 
 In the year 1883 this opposition collapsed, but 
 shortly after the bar diggings of Forty Mile 
 Creek and other parts of the Upper Yukon were 
 discovered, which caused a sudden revival of 
 trade, chiefly in miners' supplies, and induced the
 
 168 KLONDIKE. 
 
 traders mentioned above to acquire small steam- 
 boats of their own. 
 
 The flourishing missionary establishments of 
 the Roman Catholic and the Episcopalian 
 Churches also serve to increase traffic upon the 
 great river during the brief season of navigation. 
 Both the Roman Catholic and the Russian Ortho- 
 dox missions now possess steamers for carrying 
 their freight up from St. Michael and to trans- 
 port their missionaries over their extensive field 
 of labor. 
 
 The post of St. Michael, though insignificant 
 in dimensions and most desolate surroundings, 
 springs into life and activity once a year. With 
 the first breath of spring, at the end of May, 
 the up-river people shake off their winter's leth- 
 argy and prepare for their annual meeting with 
 their fellows from the outside world. The steam- 
 ers, which had been hauled up at various points 
 on the river bank in the autumn, are prepared 
 and launched once more upon the muddy waters 
 as soon as the ice has ceased to float down the 
 rapid current, crashing and grinding cake against 
 cake, or pressing against the forest border of the 
 channel, cutting and barking the trees, and 
 down in the treeless waste of the lower river, un-
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 169 
 
 dermining the soft clay banks and changing the 
 face of the landscape. 
 
 Traders, missionaries, miners and nai:ives 
 crowd every craft and enjoy the hospitality freely 
 Oiifered them on their seaward progress at posts 
 and missions. 
 
 By the end of June all these Yukon pilgrims 
 have reached their goal, St. Michael, and, while 
 they are waiting for the arrival of the ocean 
 steamer, accounts are regulated and engagements 
 entered into for the transactions for the coming 
 season. The natives assembled here on these 
 occasions represent all the tribes of the Yukon 
 and many of those of the Arctic and the Bering 
 Sea coast. Most of these bring trade with furs 
 or ivory and whalebone, and, though all strive to 
 hold their wares from the white man until the 
 steamer arrives with the new stock of goods, 
 quite an exchange of commodities goes on in the 
 meantime among themselves. 
 
 With the arrival of the steamer, which is some- 
 times delayed weeks, causing much inconveni- 
 ence to the commissary department of so large 
 an assemblage, business activity rises at once to 
 fever heat. Miners in ragged garments, showing 
 the wear and tear of sub-arctic travel, Indians of
 
 170 KLONDIKE. 
 
 the interior in beaded suits of tanned moose skin, 
 and Eskimo in furs, all lend a hand and labor 
 cheerfully, getting the cargo ashore and reload- 
 ing it on the river boats. The black-robed mis- 
 sionary relaxes from his habitual dignity, and can 
 be seen trundling barrels and bales and trucking 
 boxes and miscellaneous packages over the 
 planked walls of the crowded station. The light 
 of day lasts all through the brief arctic summer 
 night, and the turmoil is kept up almost without 
 cessation until at last the steamer's whistle warns 
 those who do not wish to spend another winter in 
 these desolate regions that they must depart. The 
 lucky individuals, who have bags of gold dust 
 in the purser's safe, seek their comfortable state- 
 rooms, while the rank and file of prospectors 
 cheerfully accept such accommodations as steer- 
 age or deck afiford, brining out of the country no 
 more, and' probably much less, than they brought 
 into it over the toilsome road from Chilkoot to 
 the Yukon diggings. 
 
 The trade of the Upper Yukon is of great vol- 
 ume, but it is carried on under peculiar condi- 
 tions. The supplies are purchased in the United 
 States, chiefly in California, and carried thence 
 to St. Michael. From, here the river steamers,
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 171 
 
 carrying the Stars and Stripes, ascend the river, 
 dropping freight at intermediate stations, but the 
 principal business is transacted at the point of 
 junction between the Yukon River and Forty 
 Mile Creek, some thiry miles beyond our bound- 
 ary. The purchasers here are miners who toil in 
 the upper ravines of Forty Mile Creek, which lie 
 within the limits of Alaska. Prices are necessar- 
 ily high, for during every winter the trader is 
 called upon to feed numbers of unsuccessful min- 
 ers and assist them in leaving the country in the 
 spring. 
 
 The Alpine coast region, rising abruptly from 
 the shores of the North Pacific Ocean between 
 Cape Spencer on the east and Mount St. Elias on 
 the west, has been the objective point of several 
 exploring expeditions. Lieutenant Frederick 
 Schwatka, formerly of the United States Army; 
 Professor Libby and Lieutenant Selton-Karr, of 
 the British Army, were among the first to at- 
 tempt the exploration and partial ascent of Mt. 
 St. Elias, a giant among the mountain peaks of 
 North America.. They were followed later by 
 well-organized parties under the auspices of the 
 National Geographic Society and the United 
 States Geological Survey. Under the leadership of
 
 172 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Professor I. C. Russell these parties have attained 
 in two successive seasons a large amount of the 
 most valuable information concerning this moun- 
 tain, w^hich is claimed by Americans and English 
 alike as lying within their boundaries. 
 
 In the course of his second exploration Profes- 
 sor Russell, after reaching a height of 14,000 
 feet, succeeded in making measurements of Mt. 
 St. Elias from a base line on the sea shore, from 
 which the height of the mountain was computed, 
 at 18,100 feet. On the return journey the low 
 coast region lying at the foot of the observations 
 was made in Disecnhantment Bay, at the head of 
 Yakutat Bay, furnishing material for the compila- 
 tion of a reliable map of the estuary, exhibiting 
 a remarkable deviation from the outlines here- 
 tofore accepted on the authority of Tebenkof and 
 others, who did not personally explore the inner- 
 most recesses of this great bay. 
 
 Another important exploration, resulting in the 
 collection of much information concerning the 
 interior geography and topography in Alaska and 
 adjoining territory in the British possessions was 
 made by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, accom- 
 panied by Lieutenant Hayes, of the United States 
 Geological Survey. This expedition set out in
 
 THE WONDERFUL YUKON COUNTRY. 173 
 
 an easterly direction from Taku Inlet along Taku 
 river; then crossing- the coast range, they emerged 
 upon the banks of Lake Aklene, which is prob- 
 ably the true head of the Yukon River. Follow- 
 ing the northern outlet of this lake, the party 
 passed the mouth of the tributary heretofore ac- 
 cepted as the Yukon's head, a few miles above 
 Lake Labarge. Thence to Fort Selkirk their 
 course was over a well-known course, but on 
 leaving that point an entirely new route was fol- 
 lowed, leading towards the mountains forming 
 the divide between the Yukon Basin, the upper 
 course of White River, and the easternmost tribu- 
 tary of Copper River. After discovering a pass 
 but little over 5000 feet in height the party 
 struck the Chityna River, about midway between 
 its headwaters and its junction with the Copper. 
 The latter river was then followed to the coast. 
 
 Valuable additions have also been made to our 
 knowledge of Alaskan geography by the mem- 
 bers of an exploring expedition organized in 1890 
 under the auspices of Frank Leslie's Illustrated 
 Weekly. The leaders of the party, Messrs. A. 
 J. Wells, E. J. Glave and A. B. Schanz, entered 
 the interior by way of the Chilkoot River, and, 
 after crossing the coast range, came upon a large
 
 174 KLONDIKE. 
 
 lake, the head of the Tahkina tributary of the 
 Yukon, which was named Lake Arkell. It is 
 probable that this is the same lake which the 
 German explorer, Krause, visited in 1879 and 
 named Western Kussoa, in contra-distinction 
 from the Eastern Kussoa which he found beyond 
 the Chilkoot Pass. Here Mr. Glave left the 
 party, and, striking across the coast range south- 
 ward, discovered the headwaters of the Alsekh 
 River; following down its channel to the coast 
 at Dry Bay, Messrs. Wells and Schanz proceeded 
 to the Upper Yukon by the usual route. At 
 Forty Mile Creek Mr. Wells and another white 
 man turned off, and, with the assistance of a 
 miner who was engaged as guide, crossed over 
 into the basin of the Tanana River and explored 
 an unknown tributary of that stream. Mr. Schanz 
 traveled down the Yukon to St. Michael, and 
 thence back to the Kuskokwim Portage and 
 down that river to the sea coast, reaching Bristol 
 Bay in October. Here he was joined a month 
 loter by Mr. Wells and his party, who had fol- 
 lowed the same route from the mouth of the 
 Tanana River. During the months of January 
 and February Mr. Schanz, in company with Mr. 
 J. W. Clark, accomplished a dog sledge journey
 
 THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE. 175 
 
 of discovery, resulting in the definite location and 
 exploration of a large lake to the northward of 
 Lake Lliamna. This important sheet of water, 
 some seventy-five miles long, was named Lake 
 Clark, The Noghelin River, broken about mid- 
 way by a magnificent fall, connects it with Lake 
 Lliamna, of which it is the principal feeder. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE. 
 
 There is every probability that the new dis- 
 coveries of gold will bring the long pending 
 boundary dispute between the United States and 
 Great Britain to a head, for the most profitable 
 diggings are situated near the 141st meridian, 
 which is the boundary fixed by treaty in the 
 Northwestern territory. Unfortunately this 
 country has never been adequately surveyed, 
 and there is great uncertainty as to whether 
 some of the richest creeks are situated on Alas- 
 kan or British soil. The Canadian authorities 
 have lost no time in assuming that the boundary' 
 line should be so drawn as to bring all the finest
 
 176 KLONDIKE. 
 
 deposits to the East There is no doubt that 
 Klondike River is in Canadian territory, but the 
 Canadian newspapers claim persistently that Mil- 
 ler's Creek and the other gold yielding creeks 
 near by are east of the line. 
 
 It appears from the report of General W. W. 
 Duffield, Chief of the United States Coast and 
 Geodetic Survey, that in spite of Klondike, the 
 United States has the lion's share of the gold 
 fields. 
 
 "In the Yukon region," he says, "the surveys 
 of the -epresentatives of the United States and 
 those of Great Britain are very nearly identical, 
 with one or two exceptions, and are remarkable 
 when all things are considered. Her Majesty's 
 surveyor, Ogilvie, was appointed by Mr. King, 
 and went up there in 1890. The coast survey 
 tested the work of Ogilvie and the Canadians on 
 Forty-Mile Creek and on the Yukon. They 
 found at Forty-Mile Creek a pine tree marked 
 by Ogilvie, which lacked only fifteen-one-hun- 
 dredths of a second of being identical with the 
 determination of the Coast Survey. In that lat- 
 itude this makes a difference of six feet and seven 
 inches. On the Yukon, Ogilvie marked a wil- 
 low tree on the south or left bank and a pine on
 
 THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE. 177 
 
 the right or north bank. When these were 
 tested they were found to be fourteen seconds 
 and 22-iooths out. This in that latitude is a dis- 
 tance of 6i8 feet. One of these marks — that at 
 Forty-Mile Creek — is too far west, so that the 
 United States loses six feet and seven inches. On 
 the Yukon the point is too far east, so that the 
 United States gains and Canada loses 6i8 feet. 
 The Coast Survey has marked the crossing of the 
 141st meridian at Porcupine Creek, but the Ca- 
 nadians have never tested it. Considering the 
 fact that Ogilvie was traveling light on snow 
 shoes, and that almost all of his determinations 
 were made with the sextant, his work is excel- 
 lent. 
 
 'Tn substance, these determinations throw the 
 diggings at the mouth of Forty-Mile Creek with- 
 in the territory of the United States. The whole 
 valley of Birch Creek, another most valuable 
 gold producing part of the country, is also in the 
 territory of the United States. Most of the gold 
 is to the west of the crossing of the 141st mer- 
 idian at Forty-Mile Creek. 
 
 "If we produce the 141st meridian on a chart, 
 the mouth of Miller's Creek, a tributary of Sixty- 
 Mile Creek, and a valuable gold region, is five 
 12
 
 178 KLONDIKE. 
 
 tniles west in an air line, or seven miles accord- 
 ing to the windings of the stream — all within the 
 territory of the United States. In substance, the 
 only places in the Yukon region where gold in 
 quantities has been found, are, therefore, all to 
 the west of the boundary line between Canada 
 and the United States." 
 
 In spite of this the very latest Canadian map 
 claims Miller's Creek and Glacier Creek. 
 
 This is not all. For the last twelve years the 
 British Government has been trying by con- 
 tinually increasing claims to shake the hold of 
 the United States upon the strip of mainland in 
 Southeastern Alaska, and upon some of the gold 
 bearing islands. 
 
 Up to 1884 both countries were practically at 
 one as to the boundary line from Mt. St. Elias to 
 the southeast. According to the terms of the 
 treaty between Russia and Great Britain, the 
 United States, in purchasing Alaska in 1867, ac- 
 quired all of Russia's rights. In describing the 
 southeastern boundary the Anglo-Russian treaty 
 reads: 
 
 "The line of demarkation between the possess- 
 ions of the high contracting parties upon the 
 coast of the continent and the islands of America
 

 
 THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE. 179 
 
 to the northwest shall be drawn in the following 
 manner: Commencing from the southernmost 
 point of the island called Prince of Wales Island, 
 which point lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 40 
 minutes north latitude, and between the 131st 
 degree and the 133d degree of west longitude, 
 the same line shall ascend to the north along the 
 channel called Portland Channel, as far as the 
 point of the continent where it strikes the 56th 
 degree of north latitude; from this last-mentioned 
 point the line of demarkation shall follow the 
 summit of the mountains situated parallel to the 
 coast as far as the point of intersection of the 
 141st degree of w^est longitude (of the same 
 meridian), and finally, from the said point of in- 
 tersection, the said meridian line of the 141st de- 
 gree, in its prolongation as far as the frozen 
 ocean, shall form the limit between the Russian 
 and British possessions on the continent of 
 America to the northwest. 
 
 "Whenever the summit of the mountains 
 which extend in a direction parallel to the coast 
 from the 56th degree of north latitude to the 
 point of intersection of the 141st degree of west 
 longitude, shall prove to be at the distance of 
 more than ten marine leagues from the ocean,
 
 180 KLONDIKE. 
 
 the limit between the British possessions and the 
 line of coast which is to belong to Russia, as 
 above mentioned (that is to say, the limit to the 
 possessions ceded by this convention), shall be 
 formed by a line parallel to the winding of the 
 coast, and which shall never exceed the distance 
 of ten marine leagues therefrom." 
 
 On all maps from 1825 down to 1884 the boun- 
 dary line, it was declared, had been shown as, in 
 general terms, parallel to the winding of the 
 coast, and thirty-five miles from it. In 1884, 
 however, an official Canadian map showed a 
 marked deflection in this line at its south end. 
 Instead of passing up Portland Canal this Cana- 
 dian map showed the boundary as passing up 
 Behm Canal, an arm of the sea some sixty or 
 seventy miles west of Portland Canal, this 
 change having been made on the bare assertion 
 that the words Portland Canal as inserted were 
 an error. By this change the line and an area 
 of American territory about equal in size to the 
 State of Connecticut was transferred to British 
 territory. There are several facts which militate 
 against this claim. In the first place, the British 
 Admirality, when surveying the northern limit 
 of British Columbian possession, in 1868, one
 
 THE BOUNDARY DISPUTE. 181 
 
 year after the cession of Alaska, surveyed Port- 
 land Canal, and not Behm Canal, thus by impli- 
 cation admitting this canal as the boundary line. 
 The region now claimed by British Colum- 
 bia was at that time occupied by a military post 
 of the United States without objection or protest 
 on the part of British Columbia. Annette 
 Island, in this region, was, by an act of Congress, 
 four years ago, set apart as a reservation for the 
 use of the Metlakatla Indians. Within a year 
 the United States Engineers, by authorization of 
 Congress, have made an official survey of the 
 west bank of Portland Canal, building stone 
 houses at various places, and thus exercising an 
 undoubted act of sovereignty. 
 
 Another grab was made at Lynn Canal, the 
 northernmost extension of the Alexander Archi- 
 pelago, which runs north of Juneau, and is the 
 land outlet for the Yukon trade. The official 
 Canadian map of 1884 carried the boundary line 
 around the head of this canal; another Canadian 
 canal map three years later carried the line 
 across the head of the canal in such manner as 
 to throw its head-waters into British territory; 
 still later, Canadian maps carry the line not 
 across the head of the canal, but cross near its
 
 182 KLONDIKE. 
 
 mouth, some sixty or seventy miles south of the 
 former Hne, in such a way as to practically take 
 in Juneau, or, at least, all the land immediately 
 back of it. And the very latest official map, just 
 published at Ottawa, while it runs no line south- 
 east of Alaska, prints the legend "British Colum- 
 bia" over portions of the Lynn Canal that are 
 now administered by the United States. The 
 post of Dyea, marked Ty-a or Tyea, on Cana- 
 dian maps, which is at the head of navigation on 
 Lynn Canal, and where the trail starts into the 
 interior for the Yukon, which was made a sub- 
 port of entry the other day by Secretary Gage, 
 is claimed by the Canadians. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 GOLD PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD. 
 
 The United States is the chief gold producing 
 country in the world. We have held the lead 
 ever since the discovery of gold in California, 
 with the exception of 1894, when we fell to third 
 place, surrendering first place to Australia and
 
 '^iA
 
 GOLD PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD. 183 
 
 the second to Africa. The United States regained 
 in 1895 t-'^^ place lost in 1894, its output of gold 
 in the former year having exceeded that of 1894 
 by $7,110,000. In 1895 ^^^ gold yield of the 
 United States was 2,254,760 ounces fine, valued 
 at $46,610,000, while the yield of Australasia was 
 2,167,1 17 ounces, valued at $43,893,300. The lat- 
 est reported findings, as it happens, will not prop- 
 erly be credited to the United States, but with the 
 development of the fields actually situated on the 
 Alaskan side of the boundary, there is almost 
 sure to be such an addition to the product of the 
 United States mines as to place them easily and 
 permanently at the head of the gold-producing 
 countries of the world. The largest production of 
 gold in the United States for any single year was 
 $65,cxx),ooo, in 1853. The next most productive 
 years were 1852 and 1854, when the returns were 
 $60,000,000 for each year. The least productive 
 year since the gold discoveries in California was 
 1883, when only $30,000,000 was mined. Since 
 then the advance has been steady. 
 
 The gold output of the world from the time 
 of the discovery of America to the close of the 
 fiscal year 1S95 has been estimated at $8,781,858,- 
 700. The California gold field since their discov-
 
 184 KLONDIKE. 
 
 ery in 1849 have alone yielded $2,035,416,000. 
 The total output of the Australian mines, which 
 were first worked in 1851, has been $1,655,713,- 
 000, and gold has been taken out of the mines of 
 South Africa since 1890 to the amount of $211,- 
 632,990. The total production of the world in the 
 last three years has been as follows : 
 
 1893— $157,494,800. 
 1894— $181,567,800. 
 1895— $200,215,700. 
 
 Of these amounts considerably more than 50 
 per cent, has come from the United States, 
 Australasia, Russia and South Africa, as follows: 
 
 1893. 1894. 1895. 
 
 Dollars. Dollars. Dollars. 
 United States. .35,955,000 39,500,000 46,610,000 
 Australasia . ..35,688,600 41,760,800 44,798,300 
 
 Russia 27,808,200 24,133,400 28,894,400 
 
 Dominion of 
 
 Canada .... 927,200 1,042,100 1,910,900 
 Africa 28,943,500 40,271,000 44,554,900
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR NORTH- 
 WESTERN POSSESSIONS. 
 By JOHN F. PRATT. 
 
 To those who are famiHar with the story of the 
 northwestern country the rich discoveries of gold 
 in the Yukon Valley are no surprise. They form 
 a chapter in the gold findings of that region 
 which has been writing for many years. Just be- 
 fore the war there was widespread excitement 
 over the discovery of gold in the Caribou dis- 
 trict of British Columbia, and the diggings there 
 for a time were very rich. The craze resulted in 
 much hardship and many deaths. Later, subse- 
 quent to the purchase of Alaska, gold was found 
 in ccnsiderable quantities in the Cassiar district, 
 farther to the northwest in British America. 
 
 The Cassiar Mountains are situated between 
 the 6oth and 65th degrees of north latitude, at 
 the headwaters of the Pelly River. They are 
 reached by way of the Stikine River, the outlet of 
 which is near Fort Wrangell. These diggings 
 185
 
 186 KLONDIKE. 
 
 are still carried on, and they have yielded much 
 gold. There are several quartz lodes in the Cas- 
 siar district which are rich, but hardly rich 
 enough to mine profitably with the present inade- 
 quate facilities for reaching them and for trans- 
 porting machinery. During high water steam- 
 boats can run well up the river, leaving a dis- 
 tance of forty miles between Telegraph Creek 
 and Aloose Lake to be traveled by pack trains. 
 The Cassiar diggings are far less accessible than 
 the new gold fields. 
 
 Now, in this same trend or general direction, 
 as if in continuation of the line running north- 
 Vv^est from Caribou through the Cassiar range, 
 come the diggings near the place where the Yu- 
 kon River crosses the boundary between Alaska 
 and British North America, and we are bound to 
 suppose that the lode runs still farther along to- 
 ward the northwest into the country which is not 
 yet prospected at all. 
 
 Although the Klondike is on the Canadian side 
 of the boundary, there is reason to believe that 
 the great bulk of the gold territory is west of the 
 boundary on the American side. This is to be 
 deduced from the peculiar locations of the 
 streams from along which gold has thus far been
 
 OUR NORTHWESTERN POSSESSIONS. 187 
 
 taken. Sixty Mile Creek and Forty Mile Creek 
 lie largely in United States territory. Both flow 
 into the Yukon toward the east. Birch Creek 
 flows into the Yukon toward the north and the 
 Tenanah River toward the northwest. The Su- 
 shitna flows toward the south into Cook's Inlet, 
 on the southern coast, where gold has been found. 
 The headwaters of all these gold-bearing- streams 
 flowing in different directions are thus seen to be 
 in the same country, about lOO miles west of the 
 boundary and south of the Yukon. This seems to 
 indicate that the great mother lode is probably 
 within the United States and that the more per- 
 manent diggings will be found in United States 
 territory centering about a spot not iioo miles 
 west of the boundary. 
 
 The diggings around Klondike, therefore, are 
 not in the middle of the richest gold territory, 
 but are rather on the northeast edge. Gold has 
 been found as far west as Cook's Inlet on the 
 southern coast, between the 150th and I52d de- 
 grees west longit'ude, and it has been found as far 
 east as the 128th degree. There is a gold-bear- 
 ing area of between forty thousand and fifty thou- 
 sand square miles, and the best part of it is on 
 the United States side of the boundary.
 
 188 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Of course, our actual information is exceeding- 
 ly limited. Perhaps we know less about the 
 Alaskan Territory than about any other territory 
 of equal size on the continent. The Yukon River 
 has been explored from its mouth to the region 
 of the gold diggings, and the trail of the miners 
 from Chilkoot Pass to the diggings has given 
 us a knowledge of that region; we know the 
 mouths of the streams as they flow into the Yu- 
 kon; but aside from these we have learned very 
 little. Travelers and prospectors have found out 
 more or less by interviewing the Indians, who 
 have a general idea of direction and distance, 
 but this knowledge is not exact. Even our most 
 elaborate maps of Alaska depend upon miners' 
 plottings and not upon official surveys for the lo- 
 cation of the creeks and rivers in the gold region. 
 What other information we have of the interior 
 has been acquired largely from prospectors and 
 on the British side of the boundary from Can- 
 adian explorers. We know something about the 
 streams and the outlets, but we have not discov- 
 ered their sources. The hill country is practically 
 unknown, and there may be large streams con- 
 cerning which we have no information. There is 
 an immense stretch of territory of perhaps 250,-
 
 OUR NORTHWESTERN POSSESSIONS. 189 
 
 cxx) square miles of which we are practically ig- 
 norant. 
 
 We are about as badly off with regard to the 
 coast line. The southern coast we know fairly 
 well in a general way, but there has never been 
 an official survey beyond Sitka. Even the maps 
 of the Aleutian Islands are inherited from Russia, 
 and there has never been anything like a survey 
 of the mouth of the Yukon River. It would be 
 of great value, now, if we knew whether there 
 was a channel through which the Yukon could be 
 reached from Bering Sea by deep water ships. 
 We are aware now that shoals extend out for 
 twenty-five miles, apparently stretching all the 
 way across the mouth of the Yukon, but there 
 has never been any survey to discover whether 
 there might not be a passage through. All ships 
 now, owing to lack of knowledge concerning 
 these shoals, are compelled to avoid them alto- 
 gether by going to St. Michael, thirty miles north 
 of the mouth of the river, there to meet the river 
 boats which are obliged, on that account, to make 
 the dangerous trip outside on the ocean. If sea- 
 going ships could be brought into the mouth of 
 the Yukon they might proceed up the river at 
 least to as great a distance as that between New
 
 190 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Orleans and the mouth of the Mississippi and 
 possibly they ccAild continue the journey for sev- 
 eral hundred miles. There should be an early 
 appropriation for a survey of the mouth of the 
 Yukon. There should also be a survey to dis- 
 cover whether some of the portages between the 
 Yukon at different points and Bering Sea might 
 not be available for general trafnc. At one place 
 not far from St. Michael Island the Yukon in its 
 windings approaches W'ithin a few miles of the 
 coast. 
 
 It is peculiar that the two entrances to the 
 gold country should be, one through the head of 
 the Yukon River, the other through the mouth. 
 It is 2000 miles from Sitka to the mouth of the 
 Yukon, and from the mouth of the Yukon to the 
 Klondike is about the same distance, for the 
 river is very winding throughout its course. The 
 route by sea, which takes the traveler through 
 Unimak Pass, separating two of the Aleutian Is- 
 lands, to St. Michael, and thence by river boat to 
 his destination, will be used largely for getting 
 supplies into the gold country; but it is a long 
 journey, and steamers going up the Yukon have 
 to wait until the ice leaves the river. 
 
 For miners the trails leading up from the head-
 
 OUR NORTHWESTERN POSSESSIONS. 191 
 
 waters of Lynn Canal will be more convenient. 
 There are four entrances into the gold country 
 from the coast in this direction, one by the Taku 
 River, just below Juneau, the others by the 
 White Pass, the Chilkoot Pass and the Chilkat 
 Pass. Of these only two, the Chilkoot Pass and 
 the White Pass, are really feasible, and the Chil- 
 koot Pass is so much the better of the two that 
 it is the route almost exclusively used. It is su- 
 perior to the others because it has a shorter dis- 
 tance to travel and is not so rugged. White 
 Pass is rugged throughout its entire length, and 
 over a great part of it travelers would be com- 
 pelled to go on their hands and knees. The 
 route by the Taku River is very rough and re- 
 quires many miles of packing. The Chilkat 
 route is what is known as Jack Dalton's trail. 
 Dalton is well known in all that country. He was 
 a scout for Glaves, who was the first white man 
 to explore the region, and for the last few sum- 
 mers he has been engaged in carrying whisky 
 and various supplies up into the mining camps. 
 He fits out at Juneau, with his nine horses, a 
 white man and two Indians, crosses to the Chil- 
 kat Inlet, and then strikes off into the wilderness 
 toward the headwaters of the White River. No-
 
 192 KLONDIKE. 
 
 body else knows exactly what route he takes, and 
 he will not tell. 
 
 Lynn Canal, as it approaches its head, divides 
 into two branches, Chilkat Inlet on the west and 
 Chilkoot Inlet on the east. Chilkoot Inlet in 
 turn has a branch known as Dyea Inlet, and at 
 the head of Dyea Inlet is a small Indian village 
 and a store known as Healey's store. In 1894 
 Healey's store was the only house in the place. 
 It acquires its importance because it is the head 
 of navigation and the last base of supplies for 
 miners before striking ofif into the trail for the 
 gold country. 
 
 If a railroad is ever constructed into the gold 
 fields it will probably be through Chilkoot Pass. 
 
 The natives of the gold country in the interior 
 are known as Stick Indians. "Stick" is the Chi- 
 nook expression for wood, and the Stick Indian 
 consequently is the Indian of the interior or for- 
 est. He is quite distinct from the Chilkat Indian 
 on the coast. He is short of stature, but stout, 
 his diminutiveness being due to the hardships 
 and privations which he has been compelled to 
 suffer always. But physically he is very strong. 
 He can carry on his back all day a pack which 
 many men would find it uncomfortable to lift.
 
 OUR NORTHWESTERN POSSESSIONS. 193 
 
 There are marked differences between the 
 Chilkats and the Sticks. The Chilkats spend 
 most of their time on the streams and use canoes 
 almost exclusively. They do very little tramp- 
 ing. They are a fine race, hardy and well 
 formed. The Sticks never use canoes. Some of 
 them have little dug-outs in the streams in their 
 own country, but when they come down to the 
 coast, as they come occasionally now, they are 
 quite lost. 
 
 The Stick Indians are centered around the 
 streams of Alaska, and have to keep pretty near 
 to the main stream in order to get their food. 
 Until very recently they have never dared to 
 come down below the Chilkat Pass, so complete- 
 ly were they terrorized by the Chilkat Indians. 
 The Chilkats have had absolute control of the 
 country along the coast, so much so that they 
 were able to collect toll from the miners who 
 first went through the Cliilkoot Pass. When the 
 Russians were in possession of Cliilkoot the 
 Chilkats were a kind of middlemen between the 
 Russian traders and the Indians of the interior. 
 Indeed, these peculiar relations seem to have had 
 a great deal to do with the drawing of the boun- 
 dary line between British America and Russian 
 13
 
 194 KLONDIKE. 
 
 America. The idea of Russia was to continue 
 the line of demarkation between the trading set- 
 tlements of the coast and the Indian settlements 
 of the interior, so that this line is really not a 
 geographical line, but is intended rather to mark 
 the extent of the control of the Indians of the 
 coast; that is, to the summit of the mountain 
 ranges extending from Portland Canal north to 
 Mount St. Elias, beyond which the Sticks never 
 dared to come. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LAWS GOVERNING THE LOCATION 
 
 OF CLAIMS. 
 
 It is important to know something about the 
 laws of the United States and of Canada which 
 govern the patenting of mineral lands and which 
 must be observed in locating claims. The pub- 
 lic land laws of the United States do not apply 
 to Alaska, and neither do the coal land regula- 
 tions, which are distinct from the mineral regu- 
 lations. The Territory of Alaska is expressly ex-
 
 LAWS GOVERNING LOCATION OF CLAIMS. 195 
 
 eluded from the operations of the public land 
 and coal land laws by provisions of the laws 
 themselves. Mineral lands have been patented 
 in Alaska since 1884. Hon. Binger Hermann, 
 Commissioner of the United States General 
 Land Office, has authorized the statement that 
 the following laws are applicable to the Terri- 
 tory • 
 
 First — The mineral land laws of the United 
 States. 
 
 Second — Town-site laws, which provide for the 
 incorporation of town sites and acquirement of 
 title thereto from the United States Government 
 by the town-site trustees. 
 
 Third — The laws providing for trade and man- 
 ufact'Ures, giving each qualified person 160 acres 
 of land in a square and compact form. 
 
 The act approved May 17, 1884, providing a 
 civil government for Alaska, has this language 
 as to mines and mining privileges: 
 
 "The laws of the United States relating to 
 mining claims and rights incidental thereto shall, 
 on and after the passage of this act, be in full 
 force and effect in said district of Alaska, sub- 
 ject to such regulations as may be made by the 
 Secretary of the Interior and approved by the 
 President."
 
 196 KLONDIKE. 
 
 "Parties who have located mines or mining 
 privileges therein, under the United States laws 
 applicable to the public domain, or have occupied 
 or improved or exercised acts of ownership over 
 such claims, shall not Be disturbed therein, but 
 shall bo allowed to perfect title by payment so 
 pro\ided for." 
 
 There is still more general authority. Without 
 the special authority, the act of July 4, 1866, 
 says: "All valuable mineral deposits in lands be- 
 longing to the United States, both surveyed and 
 unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and 
 open to exploration and purchase, and lands in 
 which these are found to occupation and pur- 
 chase by citizens of the United States and by 
 those who have declared an intention to become 
 such, under the rules prescribed by law and- ac- 
 cording to local customs or rules of miners in the 
 several mining districts, so far as the same are 
 applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of 
 the United States." 
 
 Under United States laws only those who are 
 citizens or who have declared intention to be- 
 come citizens may locate or buy claims. There 
 are no "free miners." The government cannot 
 give the right to mine except in public lands.
 
 LAWS GOVERNING LOCATION OF CLAIMS. 197 
 
 and these must contain valuable mineral depos- 
 its. A claim may not exceed beyond 1500 feet 
 along a vein or 300 feet on each side of the mid- 
 dle of the vein. A person may locate a claim 
 through an agent; $100 worth of work must be 
 done each year. Local government prevails in 
 the various mining districts of the United States, 
 each district being free to manage its own affairs 
 so long as it does not do anything inconsistent 
 with the national laws. 
 
 Mining operations on the Klondike on the 
 British side of the boundary are subject, not to 
 the regulations of the Province of British Col- 
 umbia, but to the general mining laws of the 
 Dominion of Canada. 
 
 As soon as the mounted police force has been 
 raised to 100 men from the 20 men now keeping 
 order in the country, it will be considered safe to 
 promulgate the new regulations for placer gold 
 mining. These provide that every alternate 
 claim is to be reserved by the crown for the pub- 
 lic benefit, and that the royalty to the crown is to 
 be 10 per cent, on the yield up to $500 a month 
 and 20 per cent over $500 a month. 
 
 A difficulty with respect to the alternate 
 claims is that the placer territory is already
 
 198 KLONDIKE. 
 
 staked solid by prospectors, so far as they have 
 gone. Turning out the prospectors on every 
 ahernate claim is not likely to prove a pleasant 
 proceeding. Many have staked without regis- 
 tering and those only who have registered are 
 safe. The registering has been raised from $5 
 to $15 in each case, with an annual tax of $100. 
 
 The miners' tax applies to all alike, and will 
 not be levied so as to discriminate against Amer- 
 icans. It will be almost impossible to collect 
 more than a small proportion. As regards its 
 effects on the Canadian miners, it will undoubt- 
 edly drive the majority of them, as soon as they 
 have made their pile, to take it to the United 
 States to evade full assessment. How much of 
 the royalties will ever find their way to Canada 
 is a question. 
 
 A digest of the Dominion mining laws is given 
 below: 
 
 PLACER MINING. 
 
 Nature and Size of Claims — For "Bar Dig- 
 gings:" A strip of land 100 feet wide at high- 
 water mark and thence extending into the river 
 at its lowest water level. 
 
 For "Dry Diggings:" One hundred feet 
 square.
 
 LAWS GOVERNING LOCATION OF CLAIMS. 199 
 
 For "Creek and River Claims:" Five hundred 
 feet along the direction of the stream, extend- 
 ing in width from base to base of the hill or 
 bench on either side. The width of such claims, 
 however, is limited to 600 feet when the benches 
 are a greater distance apart than that. In such 
 a case claims are laid out in areas of ten acres 
 with boundaries running north and south, east 
 and west. 
 
 For "Bench Claims:" One hundred feet 
 square. 
 
 Size of claims to discoverers or parties of dis- 
 coverers : 
 
 To one discoverer, 300 feet in length; to a 
 party of two, 600 feet in length; to a party of 
 three 800 feet in length; to a party of four, 1000 
 feet in length; to a party of more than four, or- 
 dinary sized claim only. 
 
 New strata of auriferous gravel in a locality 
 where claims are abandoned, or dry diggings 
 discovered in the vicinity of bar diggings, or vice 
 versa, shall be deemed new mines. 
 
 Plights and Duties of Miners — Entries of 
 grants for placer mining must be renewed and 
 entry fee be paid every year. 
 
 No miner shall receive more than one claim
 
 200 KLONDIKE. 
 
 in the same locality, but may hold any number 
 oi claims by purchase, and any number of miners 
 may unite to work their claims in common, pro- 
 vided an agreement be duly registered and a 
 registration fee of $5 be duly paid therefor. 
 
 Claims may be mortgaged or disposed of pro- 
 vided such disposal be registered and a registra- 
 tion fee of $2 be paid therefor. 
 
 Although miners shall have exclusive right of 
 entry upon their claims for the "miner-like" 
 working of them, holders of adjacent claims 
 shall b<. granted such right of entry thereon as 
 may seem reasonable to the superintendent of 
 mines. 
 
 Each miner shall be entitled to so much of the 
 water not previously appropriated flowing 
 through or past his claim as the superintendent 
 of mnies shall deem necessar}^ to work it, and 
 shall be entitled to drain his own claim free of 
 charge. 
 
 Claims remaining unworked on working days 
 for seventy-two hours are deemed abandoned, 
 unless sickness or other reasonable cause is 
 shown or unless the grantee is absent on leave. 
 
 For the convenience of miners on back claims, 
 on benches or slopes, permission may be granted
 
 LAWS GOVERNING LOCATION OF CLAIMS. 201 
 
 by the superintendent of mines to tunnel through 
 claims fronting on water courses. 
 
 In case of death of a miner the provisions of 
 abandonment do not apply during his last ill- 
 ness after his decease. 
 
 Acquisition of Mining Locations — Marking 
 of Locations: Wooden posts, four inches square, 
 driven eighteen inches into the ground and pro- 
 jecting eighteen inches above, must mark the 
 four corners of a location. In rocky ground, 
 stone mounds three feet in diameter may be piled 
 about the post. In timbered land well-blazed 
 lines must join the posts. In rolling or uneven 
 localities, flattened posts must be placed at in- 
 tervals along the lines to mark them, so that 
 subsequent explorers shall have no trouble in 
 tracing such lines. 
 
 When locations are bounded by lines running 
 north and south, east and west, the stake at the 
 northeast corner shall be marked by a cutting in- 
 strument or by colored chalk, "M. L., No. i" 
 (mining location, stake No. i.) Likewise the 
 southeasterly stake shall be marked "M. L., No. 
 2," the southwesterly "M. L., No. 3," and the 
 northwesterly "M. L., No. 4." Where the 
 boundary lines do not run north and south, east
 
 202 KLONDIKE. 
 
 and west, the northerly stake shall be marked 
 I, the easterly 2, the southerly 3 and the westerly 
 4. On each post shall be marked also the claim- 
 ant's initials and the distance to the next post. 
 
 Application and Affidavit of Discoverer: With- 
 in sixty days after marking his location, the 
 clanriant shall file in the office of the Dominion 
 Land office for the district a formal declaration, 
 sworn to before the land agent, describing as 
 nearly as may be the locality and dimensions of 
 the location. With such declaration he must 
 pay the agent an entry fee of $5. 
 
 Receipt Issued to Discoverer: Upon such pay- 
 ment the agent shall grant a receipt authorizing 
 the clai:nant, or his legal representative, to enter 
 into possession, subject to renewal every year, 
 for five years, provided that in these five years 
 Sioo shall be expended on the claim in actual 
 m.ining operations. A detailed statement of such 
 expenditure must also be filed with the agent of 
 the Dominion lands, in the form of an affidavit 
 corroborated by two reliable and disinterested 
 witnesses. 
 
 Annual Renewal of Location Certificate: Upon 
 payment of the $5 fee therefor, a receipt shall be 
 issued entitling the claimant to hold the location 
 for another year.
 
 LAWS GOVERNING LOCATION OF CLAIMS. 20S 
 
 Working in Partnership: Any party of four or 
 less neighboring miners, within three months 
 after entering, may, upon being authorized by 
 the agent, make upon any one of such locations, 
 during the first and second years, but not subse- 
 quently the expenditure otherwise required on 
 each of the locations. An agreement, however, 
 accompanied by a fee of $5, must be filed with 
 the agent. Provided, however, that the expendi- 
 ture made upon any one location shall not be 
 applicable in any manner or for any purpose to 
 any other location. 
 
 Purchase of Location: At any time before the 
 expiration of five years from date of entry a 
 claimant may purchase a location upon filing 
 with the agent proof that he has expended $500 
 in actual mining operations on the claim and 
 complied with all other prescribed regulations. 
 The price of a mining location shall be $5 per 
 acre, cash. 
 
 On making an application to purchase, the 
 claimant must deposit with the agent $50, to be 
 deemed as payment to the government for the 
 survey of his location. On receipt of plans and 
 field notes and approval by the Surveyor-General, 
 a patent shall issue to the claimant.
 
 204 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Revision of Title: Failure of a claimant to 
 prove within each year the expenditure pre- 
 scribed, or failure to pay the agent the full cash 
 price, shall cause the claimant's right lo lapse 
 and the location to revert to the crown, along 
 with the improvements upon it. 
 
 Rival Claimants: When two or more persons 
 claim the same location the right to acquire it 
 shall be in him who can prove he was the first to 
 discover the mineral deposit, and to take posses- 
 sion in the prescribed manner. Priority of dis- 
 covery alone, shall not g^ve the right to acquire. 
 A subsequent discoverer, who has complied with 
 other prescribed conditions, shall take prece- 
 dence over a prior discoverer who has failed so 
 to comply. 
 
 When a claimant has, in bad faith, used the 
 prior discovery of another and has fraudulently 
 affirmed that he made independent discovery 
 and demarcation, he shall, apart from other legal 
 consequences, have no claim, forfeit his deposit 
 and be absolutely debarred from obtaining an- 
 other location. 
 
 Rival Applicants: Where there are two or 
 more applicants for a mining location, neither 
 of whom is the original discoverer, the Minister
 
 LAWS GOVERNING LOCATION OF CLAIMS. 205 
 
 of the Interior may invite competitive tenders or 
 put it up for auction, as he sees fit. 
 
 Transfer of Mining Rights — Assignment of 
 Right to Purchase: An assignment of the right 
 to purchase a location shall be indorsed on the 
 back of the receipt or certificate of assignment, 
 and execution thereof witnessed by two disinter- 
 ested whnesses. Upon the deposit of such re- 
 ceipt in the office of the land agent, accompanied 
 by a registration fee of $2, the agent shall give 
 the' assignee a certificate entitling him to all the 
 rights of the original discoverer. By comply- 
 ing with the prescribed regulations such as- 
 signee becomes entitled to purchase the loca- 
 tion. 
 
 QUARTZ MINING. 
 
 Regulations in respect to placer mining, so far 
 as they relate to entries, entry fees, assignments, 
 marking of locations, agents' receipts, etc., ex- 
 cept where otherwise provided, apply also to 
 quartz mining. 
 
 Nature and Size of Claims — A location shall 
 not exceed the following dimensions: Length. 
 1500 feet; breadth, 600 feet. The surface bound- 
 aries shall be from straight parallel lines, and its 
 boundaries beneath the surface the planes of 
 these lines.
 
 206 KLONDIKE. 
 
 Limit of Number of Locations — Not more 
 than one mining location shall be granted to any 
 one individual claimant «pon the same lode or 
 vein. 
 
 Mill Sites — Land used for milling purposes 
 may be applied for and patented, either in con- 
 nection with or separate from a mining loca- 
 tion, and may be held in addition to a mining lo- 
 cation, provided such additional land shall in no 
 case exceed five acres. 
 
 GENERAL PROVISIONS. 
 
 Decision of Disputes — The superintendent of 
 mines shall have power to hear and determine 
 all disputes in regard to mining property arising 
 within his district, subject to appeal by either 
 of the parties to the Commisisoner of Dominion 
 Lands. 
 
 Leave of Absence — Each holder of a mining 
 location shall be entitled to be absent and sus- 
 pend work on his diggings during the "close" 
 season, which "close" season shall be declared 
 by the agent in each district, under instructions 
 from the Minister of the Interior. 
 
 The agent may grant a leave of absence pend- 
 ing the decision of any dispute before him.
 
 LAWS GOVERNING LOCATION OF CLAIMS. 207 
 
 Any miner is entitled to a year's leave of ab- 
 sence upon proving expenditure of not less than 
 $200 without any reasonable return of gold. 
 
 The time occupied by a locator in going to and 
 returning from the office of the agent or of the 
 superintendent of mines shall not count against 
 him. 
 
 Additional Locations — The Minister of the In- 
 terior may grant to a person actually developing 
 a location an adjoining location equal in size, 
 provided it be shown to the Minister's satisfac- 
 tion that the vein worked will probably extend 
 beyond the boundaries of the original location. 
 Forfeiture — In event of the breach of the regula- 
 tions, a right or grant shall be absolutely for- 
 feited, and the offending party shall be incapable 
 of subsequently acquiring similar rights, except 
 by special permission of the Minister of the In- 
 terior.
 
 208 KLONDIKE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 CLIMATE OF ALASKA. 
 
 Willis L. Moore, chief of the United States 
 Weather B«reau, has prepared a valuable and 
 interesting report on the climate of Alaska. "The 
 climates of the coast and the interior," he says, 
 "are unlike in many respects, and the differences 
 are intensified in this, as perhaps in few other 
 countries, by exceptional physical conditions. 
 The natural contrast between land and sea is 
 here tremendously increased by the current of 
 warm water that impinges on the coast of British 
 Columbia, one branch flowing northward toward 
 Sitka, and thence westward to the Kadiak and 
 Shumagin Islands. 
 
 "The fringe of islands that separates the main- 
 land from the Pacific Ocean from Dixon Sound 
 northward and also a strip of the mainland for 
 possibly twenty miles back from the sea, follow- 
 ing the sweep of the coast, as it curves to the 
 northwestward to the western extremity of 
 Alaska, form a distinct climate division, which
 
 CLIMATE OF ALASKA. 209 
 
 may be termed temperate Alaska. The tempera- 
 ture rarely falls to zero; winter does not set in 
 until December i, and by the last of May the 
 snow has disappeared except on the mountains. 
 The mean winter temperature of Sitka is 32.5, 
 but little less than that of Washington, D. C. 
 While Sitka is fully exposed to the sea influence, 
 places further inland, but not over the coast 
 rang-e of mountains, as Killisnoo and Juneau, 
 have also mild temperatures throughout the 
 winter months. The temperature changes from 
 month to month in temperate Alaska are small, 
 not exceeding twenty-five degrees from midwin- 
 ter to midsummer. The average temperature 
 of July, the warmest month of summer, rarely 
 reaches 55 degrees, and the highest temperature 
 of a single day seldom reaches 75 degrees. 
 
 "The rainfall of Temperate Alaska is notori- 
 ous the world over, not only as regards the 
 quantity that falls, but also as to the manner of 
 its falling, viz., in long and incessant rains and 
 drizzles. Cloud and fog naturally abound, there 
 being on an average but sixty-six clear days in 
 the year. 
 
 ''Alaska is a land of striking contrasts, both 
 in climatp. «is well as topography. When the sun 
 U
 
 210 KLONDIKE. 
 
 shines the atmosphere is remarkably 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 deso- 
 lation and loneliness prevail. 
 
 "North of the Aleutian Islands the coast climate 
 becomes more rigorous in winter, but in summer 
 the difference is much less marked. Thus, at 
 St. Michael, a short distance north of the mouth 
 of the Yukon, the mean summer temperature is 
 50 degrees, but four degrees cooler than Sitka. 
 The mean summer temperature of Point Barrow, 
 the most northerly point in the United States, 
 is 36.8 degrees, but four-tenths of a degree less 
 than the temperature of the air flowing across the 
 summit of Pike's Peak, Col. 
 
 "The rainfall of the coast region north of the 
 Yukon delta is small, diminishing to less than ten 
 inches within the arctic circle. 
 
 "The climate of the interior, including in that 
 designation practically all of the country except 
 a narrow fringe of coastal margin and the terri- 
 tory before referred to as temperate Alaska, is 
 one of extreme rigor in winter, with a brief, but
 
 CLIMATE OF ALASKA. 211 
 
 relatively hot, summer, especially when the sky 
 is free from clouds. 
 
 "In the Klondike region in midwinter the sun 
 rises from 9.30 to 10 A. M., and sets from 2 to 3 
 P. M., the total length of daylight being about 
 four hours. Remembering that the sun rises but 
 a few degrees above the horizon, and that it is 
 wholly obscured on a great many days, the 
 character of the winter months may easily be 
 imagined. 
 
 "We are indebted to the United States Coast 
 and Geodetic Survey for a series of six months' 
 observations on the Yukon, not far from the site 
 of the present gold discoveries. The observa- 
 tions were made with standard instruments, and 
 are wholly reliable. The mean temperature of 
 the months October, 1889, to April, 1890, both 
 inclusive, are as follows: October, 33 degrees; 
 November, 8 degrees; December, 11 degrees be- 
 low zero; January, 17 degrees below zero;, Feb- 
 ruary, 15 degrees below zero; March 6 degrees 
 above zero; April 20 degrees above. The daily 
 mean temperature fell and remained below the 
 freezing point (32), from November 4, 1889, to 
 April 21, 1890, thus giving 168 days as the length 
 of the closed season of 1889-90, assuming the
 
 212 KLONDIKE. 
 
 outdoor operations are controlled by temperature 
 only. 
 
 The lowest temperature registered during the 
 winter were: 32 degrees below zero in Novem- 
 ber, 47 below in December, 59 below in January, 
 55 below in February, 45 below in March, 26 be- 
 low in April. 
 
 "The greatest continuous cold occurred in 
 February, 1890, when the daily mean for five 
 consecutive days was 47 degrees below zero. 
 The weather moderated slightly about the ist of 
 March, but the temperature still remained be- 
 low the freezing point. Generally cloudy weath- 
 er prevailed, there being but three consecutive 
 days in any month with clear weather during the 
 whole winter. Snow fell on about one-third of 
 the days in winter, and a less number in the early 
 spring and late fall months. 
 
 "Greater cold than that here noted has been 
 experienced in the United States for a very short 
 time, but never has it continued so very cold 
 for so long a time. In the interior of Alaska 
 the winter sets in as early as September, when 
 snow storms may be expected in the mountains 
 and passes. Headway during one of these 
 storms is impossible, and the traveler who is
 
 CLIMATE OF ALASKA. 213 
 
 overtaken by one of them is indeed fortunate 
 if he escapes with his Hfe. Snow storms of great 
 severity may occur in any month from Septem- 
 ber to May, inclusive. 
 
 "The changes of temperature from winter to 
 summer are rapid, owing to the great increase 
 in the length of the day. In May the sun rises 
 at about 3 A. M. and sets about 9 P. M. In June 
 it rises about 1.30 in the morning and sets at 
 10.30, giving about twenty hours of dayhght and 
 diffused twilight the remainder of the time. 
 
 "The mean summer temperature of the inte- 
 rior doubtless ranges between 60 and 70 degrees, 
 according to elevation, being highest in the mid- 
 dle and lower Yukon Valleys."
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. PA. 
 
 STEPHEN. A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS, by Florence 
 Morse Kingsiey, author of " Titus, a Comrade of the 
 Cross." " Since Ben-Hur no story has so vividly por- 
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 i2mo., 369 pages. J1.25. 
 
 PAUL. A HERALD OF THE CROSS, by Florence 
 
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 VIC. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A FOX TER- 
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 WOMAN'S WORK IN THE HOME, by Archdeacon 
 
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 THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTA- 
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 WHAT WOMEN SHOULD KNOW. A woman's book 
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 pages, 75 cents.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 
 
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 TAINE'S ENGLISH LITERATURE, translated from 
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 SHAKESPEARE'S COMPLETE "WORKS, with a bio- 
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 THE DORE BIBLE GALLERY. A complete panorama 
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 MILTON'S PARADISE LOST, with 50 full page engrav- 
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 DANTE'S INFERNO, with 75 hill page engravings by Gus- 
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 DANTE'S PURGATORY AND PARADISE, with 60 
 
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 imperial quarto (11 .\ 14^ inches), $4.50.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER, by Sam- 
 
 uel Taylor Coleridge, with 46 full page engravings by 
 Gustave Dore. Cloth, full gilt, large imperial quarto 
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 BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, with too engrav- 
 
 ings by Frederick IJarnard and others. Cloth, small 
 quarto (9 x 10 inches), ;^i.oo. 
 
 DICKENS' CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 
 
 with 75 fine engravinjis by famous artists. Cloth, 
 small quarto, boxed (g x 10 inches) , ;^i .00. 
 
 BIBLE PICTURES AND STORIES, too full page engrav- 
 ings. Cloth, small quarto (,7x9 inches), gi.oo. 
 
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 about them, by Malcolm Douglass. Numerous original 
 engravings. Cloth, small quarto (7x9), gi.oo. 
 
 PAUL AND VIRGINIA, by R.-mardin St. Pierre, with 125 
 engravings by Maurice Ltloir. Cloth, small quurto 
 (gx 10), Jt.oo. 
 
 LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRU- 
 SOE, with i_o ori:iin.il engravings by Walter Paget. 
 Cloth, octavo (754 xgji). J'-So. 
 
 ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF 
 STANDARD AUTHORS. 
 
 Cloth, Twelve Mo. Size, s^-X x 7^^ Inches. Each ;^i,oo, 
 
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE, by Charles and Mary 
 Lamb, with 15=; illustrations by famous artists. 
 
 PAUL AND VIRGINIA, by i::ernardin de St. Pierre, with 
 125 engravings by Maurice Leioir. 
 
 ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, AND 
 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND 
 WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE, by l.e-* is 
 Carroll. Complete in one volume with 92 engravings 
 by John Tenniel. 
 
 LUCILE, by Owen Meredith, with numerous illustrations by 
 George I^u Maurier. 
 
 BLACK BEAUTY, by Anna Sewell, with nearly 50 original 
 engravings. 
 
 SCARLET LETTER, by Nathaniel Hawihome, with numer- 
 ous original full-page and text illustrations. 
 
 THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, by Nathaniel 
 Hawthorne, with numerous original full-page and text 
 illustrations. 
 
 BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, 
 by Prescott Holmes, with 7'> illustrstions. 
 
 BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION, by 
 I'rescoit Holmes, with So iilus^ratlons.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLES' LIBRARY 
 
 PRICE FIFTY CENTS EACH. 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE: (Chiefly in words of one syllable). 
 His iifc iud ktrange, surprising adventures, with 70 
 beautiful illustrations by Walter Paget. 
 
 ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, with 
 
 42 iliuslrations by John Tennicl. " 1 he most delightful 
 of children's stories. Elegant and delicious nonsense." 
 —Saturday Kex'ie'jj. 
 
 THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT 
 ALICE FOUND THERE; a companion to ' Alice 
 in Wonderland," with 50 illustrations by John Tenniel. 
 
 BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, with 50 ftill page 
 and text illustrations. 
 
 A CHILD'S STORY OF THE BIBLE, with 72 full page 
 illustrations. 
 
 A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST, with 49 illustrations. 
 God has implanted in tlie iyifant heart a desire to hear 
 of Jesus, and children are early attracted and sweeily 
 riveted by the wonderful Story of the Master from the 
 Manger to the Throne. 
 
 SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, with 50 illustrations The 
 father of the family tells the tale of the vicissitudes 
 througii wliich he and his wife and children pass, the 
 wonderful discoveries made and dangers encountered. 
 The book is full of interest and instruction. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE DISCOV- 
 ERY OF AMERICA, with 7 ilhi.-ir .tions livery 
 American boy and girl should be acquainted with the 
 story of the life of the great discoverer, with its strug- 
 gles, adventures, and trials. 
 
 THE STORY OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY 
 IN AFRICA, with 80 illustrations Records the ex- 
 periences of adventures and discoveries in developing 
 the " Dark Continent," from the early d lys of Bruce 
 and Mungo fark down to Livingstone and Stanley, 
 and the heroes of our own times. No present can be 
 more acceptable than such a volume as this, where 
 courage, intrepidity, resource, and devotion are so 
 adnuiabiy mingled.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 Altemus' Young Peoples' Library— continued. 
 
 THE FABLES OF /ESOP. Compiled from the best 
 accepted sources. With 62 illustrations. The fables of 
 A^sop are among the very e..riiest compositions of this 
 kind, and probably have never been surpassed for point 
 and brevity. 
 
 GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. Adapted for young readers. 
 NVith 50 illustrations. 
 
 MOTHER GOOSE'S RHYMES, JINGLES AND 
 FAIRY TALES, with 154 illustrations. 
 
 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
 STATES, by Presrott Holmes. Wiih portraits of 
 the Presidents and alfo of the unsuccesbfiil candidates 
 for the office ; as well as the ablest of the Cabinet offi- 
 cers. It is jii;>t the book for intelligent boys, and it 
 will help to make them intelligent and p.itriotic citizens. 
 
 THE STORY OF ADVENTURE IN THE FROZEN 
 SEAS, wiih 70 illustrations. By Prescott Holmes. 
 We have here brought together the records of the 
 attempts to reach the Norih Pole. The book shows 
 how much can be accompli.ihed by steady perseverance 
 and indomitable pluck. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY, bv tbe Rev. J. 
 
 G. Wood, with G . illustrations. This autnor has done 
 more to popularize the study of natural history than 
 any other writer. The illustrations are striking and 
 lifelike. 
 
 A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, by Charles 
 Dickens, with 50 illustrations. Tired of listening' to 
 his children memorize the twaddle of old fashioned 
 English history the author covered the ground in his 
 own peculiar and happy style for his own children's 
 •jse When the work was published its success was 
 instantaneous. 
 
 BLACK BEAUTY, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A 
 HORSE, by Anna Sewell, with 50 illustr.ntions. A 
 work sure to educate boys and giris to treat with kind- 
 ness all members of the animal kingdom. Recognized 
 as the greatest story of animal life e.xtant. 
 
 THE ARABIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS, 
 
 with 130 illistrations. Contains the most favorably 
 known of the stories.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ALTEMUS' DEVOTIONAL SERIES. 
 
 Standard Religious Literature Appropriately Bound in 
 
 Handy Volume Size. Each Volume contains 
 
 Illuminated Title, Portrait of Author 
 
 and Appropriate Illustrations. 
 
 WHITE VELLUM, SILVER AND MONOTINT. 
 BOXED, EACH FIFTY CENTS. 
 
 1 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE, by Frances Ridley 
 
 Havergal. " Will perpetuate her name." 
 
 2 MV KING AND HIS SERVICE, OR DAILY 
 
 THOUGHTS FOR THE KING'S CHILDREN, 
 
 by Frances Ridley Havergal. " Simple, tender, gentle, 
 and lull of Christian love." 
 
 3 MY POINT OF VIEW. Selections from the works of 
 
 Professor Henry Drummond. 
 
 4 OF THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, by Thomas 
 
 A Rempis. " With the exception of the Kible it is 
 probably the book most read in Christian literature." 
 
 5 ADDRESSES, by Professor Henry Drummond. "Intel- 
 
 ligent sympathy with the Christian's need." 
 
 6 NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, 
 
 by Professor Henry Drummond. " A most notable 
 book which has earned for the author a wond-wide 
 reputation." 
 
 7 ADDRESSES, by the Rev. Phillips Brooks. "Has 
 
 exerted a marked influence over the rising generation." 
 
 8 ABIDE IN CHRIST. Thoughts on the Blessed Life of 
 
 Fellowship with the Son of God. By the Rev. Andrew 
 Murray. It cannot fail to stimulate and cheer, — 
 S^urg-eon. 
 
 9 LIKE CHRIST. Thoughts on the Blessed Life of Con- 
 
 formity to tiie Son of God. By the Rev. Andrew 
 Murray. A seqiifl to " Abide in Christ." "May be 
 read with comtbrt and edification by all." 
 
 10 WITH CHRIST IN THE SCHOOL OF PRAYER, 
 
 by the Rev Andrew Murray. "The best work on 
 prayer in the language."
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS' PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 II HOLY IN CHRIST. Thoughts on the Calling of God's 
 Children to be Holy as He is Holy. By the Rev. 
 Andrew Murray. " This sacred theme is treated Scrip- 
 turally and robustly without spurious sentimentaJism." 
 
 la THE MANLINESS OF CHRIST, by Thomas Hughes, 
 author of " Tom Brown's School Days," etc. "Evi- 
 dences of the sublimest courage and manliness in 
 the boyhood, ministry, and in the last acts of Christ's 
 life." 
 
 13 ADDRESSES TO YOUNG MEN, by the Rev. Henry 
 
 Ward Ueecher. Seven Addresses on common vices and 
 their results. 
 
 14 THE PATHWAY OF SAFETY, by the Rt. Rev. Ash- 
 
 ton Oxenden, D.D. Sound words of advice and encour- 
 agement on the text " What must I do to be saved?" 
 
 15 THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, by the Rt. Rev. Ashton 
 
 O.xenden, JJ. D. A beautiful delineation of an ideal life 
 from the conversion to the final reward. 
 
 16 THE THRONE OF GRACE. Before which the bur- 
 
 dened soul may cast itself on the bosom of infinite love 
 and enjoy in prayer" a peace which passeth all under- 
 standing." 
 
 17 THE PATHWAY OF PROMISE, by the author of 
 
 "The Throne of Grace." Thoughts consolatory and 
 encouraging to the Christian pilgrim as he journeys 
 onward to his heavenly home. 
 
 18 THE IMPREGNABLE ROCK OF HOLY SCRIP- 
 
 TURE, by the Rt. Hon William Kwart Gladstone, 
 M P The most masterly defence of the truths of the 
 Bible extant. The author says : The Christian Faith 
 and the Holy Scriptures arm us with the means of neu- 
 tralizing and repelling the assaults of evil in and from 
 ourselves. 
 
 19 STEPS INTO THE BLESSED LIFE, by the Rev. F. 
 
 B. Meyer, H. A. A powerful help towards sanciifica- 
 tion. 
 
 ao THE MESSAGE OF PEACE, by the Rev. Richard W. 
 Church, D. I). Eight excellent sermons on the advent 
 of the Babe of Bethlehem and his influence and effect 
 on the world. 
 
 91 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK, by the Rev. Charles 
 
 H. Spurgeon. 
 sa JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES, by the Rev. 
 
 Charles H. Spiirgtuii. 
 23 THE CHANGED CROSS; AND OTHER RE- 
 
 i.iGious ror:rA3.
 
 ALTEMUS' ETERNAL LIFE SERIES. 
 
 Selections from the writings of well-known religious 
 
 authors, beautifully printed and daintily bound 
 
 with original designs in silver and ink. 
 
 PRICE. 25 CENTS PER VOLUME. 
 
 I ETERNAL LIFE, bv Professor Henry Drummond. 
 
 3 LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY, by Rev. Andrew Murray. 
 
 3 GOD'S WORD AND GOD'S WORK, by Mania Luther. 
 
 4 FAITH, by '1 ho!ii;.s Arm. Id. 
 
 5 THE CREATION STORY, by Honorable WiUiam E. 
 
 Gladslonc. 
 
 6 THE MESSAGE OF COMFORT, by Rt. Rev. Ashton 
 
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 8 THE LORD'S PRAYER AND THE TEN COM- 
 
 MANDMENTS. by Dean Stanlev. 
 g THE MEMOIRS OF JESUS, hy Rev. Robert F. Horton. 
 
 10 HYMNS OF PRAISE AND GLADNESS, by Elisabeth 
 
 R. Scovil 
 
 11 DIFFICULTIES, by Hannah Whitall Smith. 
 
 12 GAMBLERS AND GAMBLING, by Rev. Henry Ward 
 
 Beecher. 
 
 13 HAVE FAITH IN GOD, bv Rev. Andrew Murray. 
 
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 Ward Beecher. 
 
 15 THE CHRIST IN WHOM CHRISTIANS BELIEVE, 
 
 by Rt. Rev. I'hillips Brooks. 
 
 16 IN MY NAME, >-y Rev. Andrew Murray. 
 
 17 SIX "WARNINGS, by Rev Henry Ward Beecher. 
 
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 by Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks. 
 
 19 POPULAR AMUSEMENTS, by Rev. Henry 'Ward 
 
 Beecher. 
 
 20 TRUE LIBERTY, bv Rt. Rev Phillips Brooks. 
 
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 Beecher 
 
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 Rev. Phillip- Brooks. 
 
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 T. Pirrson, D D. 
 
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 27 FOR THE QUIET HOUR, by Edith V. Bradt. 
 
 28 EVENING COMFORT, bv Elisabeth R. Scovil 
 
 29 WORDS OF HELP FOR CHRISTIAN GIRLS, by 
 
 Rev. F B. Mever. 
 
 30 HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE, by Rev. Dwight L. 
 
 Moody- 
 
 31 EXPECTATION CORNER, by E. S. Elliot. 
 
 32 JESSICA'S FIRST PRAYER, by Hesba Stratton.
 
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 original designs in silver. 
 
 PRICE, 25 CENTS PER VOLUME. 
 
 1 INDEPENDENCE DAY, by Rev. Edward E. Hale. 
 
 a THE SCHOLAR IN POLITICS, by Hon. Richard Clney. 
 
 3 THE YOUNG MAN IN BUSINESS, bv Edward W. Bok. 
 
 4 THE YOUNG MAN AND THE CHURCH, by Edward 
 
 \V. BoW. 
 
 5 THE SPOILS SYSTEM, by Hon. Carl Schurz. 
 
 6 CONVERSATION, by Thomas DeQuincey. 
 
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 8 WORK, by John Ruskin. 
 
 9 NATURE AND ART, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
 10 THE USE AND MISUSE OF BOOKS, by Frederic 
 
 Harrison. 
 
 11 THE MONROE DOCTRINE: ITS ORIGIN, MEAN- 
 
 ING AND APPLICATION, by IVof. John Bach 
 McMastcr (University of Pennsylvania). 
 
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 13 LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
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 16 THE CHOICE OF BOOKS, by Sir John Lubbock. 
 
 17 MANNERS, by Ralph WalJo Emerson. 
 
 18 CHARACTER, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
 19 THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, by Wash- 
 
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 20 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE, by Sir John Lubbock. 
 31 SELF RELIANCE, bv Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
 22 THE DUTY OF HAPPINESS, by Sir John Lubbock. 
 
 23 SPIRITUAL LAWS, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 34 OLD CHRISTMAS, by Washington Irving 
 
 25 HEALTH, WEALTH AND THE BLESSING OF 
 
 FRIENDS, by Sir John Lubbock. 
 36 INTELLECT, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
 27 WHY AMERICANS DISLIKE ENGLAND, by Prof. 
 
 Geo P. Adams ( Yalei 
 
 28 THE HIGHER EDUCATION AS A TRAINING FOR 
 
 BUSINESS, by Prof. Harry Pratt Judson (University 
 of Chicago!. 
 
 29 MISS TOOSEY'S MISSION. 
 
 30 LADDIE. 
 
 31 J. COLE, by Emma Gellibrand.
 
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 16 ESSAYS, Second Series, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
 17 REPRESENTATIVE MEN, by Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
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 36 HEROES AND HERO WORSHIP, by Thomas Car- 
 
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 31 KEPT FOR THE MASTER'S USE, by Frances 
 
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 35 MARMION, by Sir Walter Scott. 
 
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 37 CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE, by Lord 
 
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 38 IDYLLS OF THE KING, by Alfred (Lord) Tennyson. 
 
 39 EVANGELINE, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 
 
 40 VOICES OF THE NIGHT AND OTHER POEMS, 
 
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 45 THE RAVEN; AND OTHER POEMS, by Edgar 
 
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 48 THE HEROES OR GREEK FAIRY TALES, by 
 
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 49 A WONDER BOOK, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. 
 
 50 UNDINE, by de La Motte Fouque. 
 
 51 ADDRESSES, by the Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks, 
 
 52 BALZAC'S SHORTER STORIES, by Honore de 
 
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 53 TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST, by Richard 
 
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 54 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. An Autobiography. 
 
 55 THE LAST ESSAYS OF ELIA, by Charles Lamb. 
 
 56 TOM BROWN'S SCHOOL DAYS, by Thomas 
 
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 57 WEIRD TALES, by Edgar Allan Poe. 
 
 58 THE CROWN OF WILD OLIVE, by John Ruskin. 
 
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 59 NATURAL LAW IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, 
 
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 60 ABBE CONSTANTIN, by Ludovic Halevy. 
 
 61 MANON LESCAUT, by Abbe Prevost.
 
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 64 CAMILLE, by Alexander Dumas, Jr. 
 
 65 THE LIGHT OF ASIA, by Sir Edwin Arnold. 
 
 65 THE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME, by Thomas 
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 67 THE CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM- 
 
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 68 TREASURE ISLAND, by Robert L. Stevenson. 
 
 69 CARMEN, by Prosper Merimee. 
 
 70 A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY, by Laurence Sterne. 
 
 71 THE BLITHEDALE ROMANCE, by Nathaniel 
 
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 72 BAB BALLADS, AND SAVOY SONGS, by W. H. 
 
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 73 FANCHON.THE CRICKET, by George Sand. 
 
 74 POEMS, by James Russell Lowell. 
 
 75 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK, by the Rev. Charles 
 
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 76 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S PICTURES, by the Rev. 
 
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 77 THE MANLINESS OF CHRIST, by Thomas 
 
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 78 ADDRESSES TO YOUNG MEN, by the Rev. Henry 
 
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 79 THE AUTOCRAT OF THE BREAKFAST 
 
 TABLE, by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
 
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 80 MULVANEY STORIES, by Rudyard Kipling. 
 
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 82 MORNING THOUGHTS, by Frances Ridley Havergal. 
 
 83 TEN NIGHTS IN A BAR ROOM, by T. S. Arthur. 
 
 84 EVENING THOUGHTS, by Frances Ridley Havergal. 
 
 85 IN MEMORIAM, by Alfred (Lord) Tennyson. 
 
 86 COMING TO CHRIST, by Frances Ridley Havergal. 
 
 87 HOUSE OF THE WOLF, by Stanley Weyman. 
 
 AMERICAN POLITICS (non-Partisan), by Hon. Thomas 
 
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 views and records on all important questions. All political 
 platforms from the beginning to date. Great Speeches on 
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 of chronological events. A library without this work is de- 
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 style, $^ 00. 
 
 NAMES FOR CHILDREN, by Elisabeth Robinson Scovil, 
 author of "The Care of Children," "Preparation for 
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 ject. Cloth, i2mo., ;f .40. 
 
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