[Transcriber's Note: Bold text is surrounded by =equal signs= and italic
text by _underscores_.]
=North American Transportation and Trading Company=
[Illustration]
_DIRECTORS..._
_JOHN J. HEALY, Dawson, Klondike Gold Fields_
_ELY E. WEARE, Fort Cudahy, N. W. T._
_CHARLES A. WEARE, Chicago, Ill._
_JOHN CUDAHY, Chicago, Ill._
_PORTUS B. WEARE, Chicago, Ill._
_MICHAEL CUDAHY, Chicago, Ill._
ALASKA and NORTHWEST TERRITORY MERCHANTS and CARRIERS
STEAMERS:
Portus B. Weare
John Cudahy
C. H. Hamilton
J. J. Healy
T. C. Power
J. C. Barr
Klondike
TRADING POSTS:
Fort Get There
Weare
Healy
Circle City
Fort Cudahy
Dawson
Operates Steamships
between Seattle and Ft. Get There, St. Michael's
Island, and steamboats from Ft. Get There, St.
Michael's Island to all points on the Yukon River. The
only established line running from Seattle to
Klondike. Also operates large, well-stocked stores at
all of the principal mining points in the interior of
Alaska and Northwest Territory on the Yukon River. For
rates and full information of this wonderful mining
country call on or address any of the Company's
offices.
Steamers leave September 10, 1897, first steamer in
1898, June 1st, and every two weeks thereafter.
=CHICAGO OFFICE ... R. 290 Old Colony Building=
=SEATTLE, WASH., OFFICE ... No. 618 First Avenue=
=SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE ... No. 8 California Street=
"THE GREATEST GOLD DISTRICT ON EARTH."
The Yukon-Cariboo British Columbia Gold Mining Development Company
[Illustration]
CAPITAL
$5,000,000
Shares ...
$1.00 each. Full Paid--Non Assessable.
J. EDWARD ADDICKS, PRESIDENT, CLAYMONT, DELAWARE.
SYLVESTER T. EVERETT, 1ST VICE-PRESIDENT, CLEVELAND.
BENJAMIN BUTTERWORTH, 2D VICE-PRESIDENT, WASHINGTON.
E. F. J. GAYNOR, TREASURER, _Auditor Manhattan R. R., New York City_.
CHARLES H. KITTINGER, SECRETARY,
_66 Broadway, New York City, Harrison Building, Philadelphia_.
DIRECTORS.
HON. JOHN H. McGRAW, Ex-Governor, State of Washington. Vice-President
First National Bank, Seattle.
CAMILLE WEIDENFELD, Banker, 45 Wall Street, New York.
CHARLES E. JUDSON, President Economic Gas Company, Chicago.
HON. BENJAMIN BUTTERWORTH, Com'sioner of Patents, Washington.
HON. JAMES G. SHAW, Manufacturer, New Castle, Delaware.
SYLVESTER T. EVERETT, V-Pres't Cleveland Terminal & Valley R. R.,
Cleveland.
CHARLES H. KITTINGER, 66 Broadway, New York, Harrison Building,
Philadelphia.
HON. JOHN LAUGHLIN, Ex-State Senator, New York, Laughlin, Ewell &
Haupt, Attorneys-at-Law, Buffalo.
JULIUS CHAMBERS, Journalist, New York.
GEN. E. M. CARR, of Preston, Carr & Gilman, Attorneys-at-Law, Seattle.
THOMAS W. LAWSON, Banker, 33 State Street, Boston.
GEORGE B. KITTINGER, Mining Engineer, Seattle, Wash.
E. F. J. GAYNOR, Auditor Manhattan Railway Co., New York.
PHILO D. BEARD, Treasurer Queen City Gas Co., Buffalo.
J. M. BUXTON, M. E., Vancouver, British Columbia.
GEORGE A. KELLY, 66 Broadway, New York.
J. EDWARD ADDICKS, Delaware.
... THIS COMPANY is formed to explore and develop the GOLD FIELDS of
British Columbia, including the Cariboo District and the Klondike
District at the headwaters of the Yukon River. Shares of its Capital
Stock are offered to the public at par--=$1.00 per share=. The Company
has placed exploring parties in the Gold Regions, and now has its own
Agents in this marvelously rich field. Each party is in charge of mining
engineers, fully equipped for successful discovery and development.
Prospectus and additional information furnished, and subscriptions to
stock received at office of
J. EDWARD ADDICKS, Harrison Building,
1500 Market St., Philadelphia.
[Illustration: JUNEAU CITY.]
GOLDEN ALASKA
A COMPLETE ACCOUNT TO DATE
OF THE
YUKON VALLEY
_ITS HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, MINERAL AND OTHER
RESOURCES, OPPORTUNITIES AND
MEANS OF ACCESS_
BY
ERNEST INGERSOLL,
(_Formerly with the Hayden Survey in the West_)
AUTHOR OF
"KNOCKING 'ROUND THE ROCKIES," "THE CREST OF THE CONTINENT,"
ETC., AND GENERAL EDITOR OF RAND, MCNALLY &
CO.'S "GUIDE BOOKS."
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK:
RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY.
1897.
ALASKA.
Bullion Safe Gold Mining Company
CAPITAL ... $1,000,000
Shares ... $1.00 each
Full Paid
Non-Assessable
Mines on the Yukon.
Mines on the Blue River.
This Company owns =160 acres= of Gold-bearing gravel
from five to forty feet thick containing many millions
of value.
A limited amount of the full paid, non-assessable
shares will be sold at =one dollar= each.
For prospectus and particulars, address,
_W. L. BOYD & CO., 6 WALL STREET,
NEW YORK._
Copyright, 1897, by Rand, McNally & Co.
INTRODUCTION.
To make "a book about the Klondike" so shortly after that word first
burst upon the ears of a surprised world, would be the height of
literary impudence, considering how remote and incommunicado that region
is, were it not the public is intensely curious to know whatever can be
said authentically in regard to it. "The Klondike," it must be
remembered, is, in reality, a very limited district--only one small
river valley in a gold-bearing territory twice as large as New England;
and it came into prominence so recently that there is really little to
tell in respect to it because nothing has had time to happen and be
communicated to the outside world. But in its neighborhood, and far
north and south of it, are other auriferous rivers, creeks and bars, and
mountains filled with untried quartz-ledges, in respect to which
information has been accumulating for some years, and where at any
moment "strikes" may be made that shall equal or eclipse the wealth of
the Klondike placers. It is possible, then, to give here much valuable
information in regard to the Yukon District generally, and this the
writer has attempted to do. The best authority for early exploration and
geography is the monumental work of Capt. W. H. Dall, "Alaska and its
Resources," whose companion, Frederick Whymper, also wrote a narrative
of their adventures. The reports of the United States Coast Survey in
that region, of the exploration of the Upper Yukon by Schwatka and Hayes
of the United States Geological Survey, of Nelson, Turner and others
attached to the Weather Service, of the Governor of the Territory, of
Raymond, Abercrombie, Allen and other army and naval officers who have
explored the coast country and reported to various departments of the
government, and of several individual explorers, especially the late E.
J. Glave, also contain facts of importance for the present compilation.
The most satisfactory sources of information as to the geography, routes
of travel, geology and mineralogy and mining development, are contained
in the investigations conducted some ten years ago by the Canadian
Geological Survey, under the leadership of Dr. G. M. Dawson and of
William Ogilvie. Of these I have made free use, and wish to make an
equally free acknowledgement.
It will thus be found that the contents of this pamphlet justified even
the hasty publication which the public demands, and which precludes
much attention to literary form; but an additional claim to attention is
the information it seeks to give intending travelers to that far-away
and very new and as yet unfurnished region, how to go and what to take,
and what are the conditions and emergencies which they must prepare to
meet. Undoubtedly the pioneers to the Yukon pictured the difficulties of
the route and the hardships of their life in the highest colors, both to
add to their self-glory and to reduce competition. Moreover, every day
mitigates the hardships and makes easier the travel. Nevertheless,
enough difficulties, dangers and chances of failure remain to make the
going to Alaska a matter for very careful forethought on the part of
every man. To help him weigh the odds and choose wisely, is the purpose
of this little book.
[Illustration: MAP OF ALASKA.]
ALASKA.
Districts, Capes and Points, Islands, Lakes, Mountains, Rivers, and
Towns.
Districts.
Pop.
First, or Southeastern district 8,038
Second, or Kadiak district 6,112
Third, or Unalaska district 2,361
Fourth, or Nushagak district 2,726
Fifth, or Kuskokwim district 5,424
Sixth, or Yukon district 3,914
Seventh, or Arctic district 3,222
Total 31,795
Capes and Points.
Addington, C-9.
Alitak, C-5.
Anchor, C-5.
Anxiety, A-6.
Banks, C-5.
Barnabas, C-5.
Barrow, A-4.
Bartolome, C-9.
Becher, A-6.
Beechey, A-6.
Belcher, A-3.
Black, C-5.
Blossom, A-8.
Campbell, B-6.
Chiniak, C-5.
Chitnak, B-1.
Christy, A-4.
Cleare, C-6.
Collie, A-3.
Constantine, C-4.
Cross, C-8.
Current, C-5.
Dall, B-2.
Danby, B-3.
Denbigh, B-3.
Douglas, B-2.
Douglas, C-5.
Dyer, A-2.
Dyer, B-2.
Edward, C-8.
Elizabeth, C-5.
Eroline, C-4.
Espenberg, A-3.
Etolin, B-2.
Fairweather, C-8.
Foggy, C-4.
Franklin, A-3.
Glasenap, C-3.
Grenville, C-5.
Griffin, A-7.
Gulross, B-6.
Halkett, A-5.
Harbor, C-9.
Hinchinbrook, C-6.
Hope, A-2.
Icy, A-3.
Icy, C-8.
Igvak, C-4.
Ikti, C-4.
Ikolik, C-5.
Kahurnoi, C-5.
Kanarak, C-4.
Karluk, C-5.
Kayakliut, C-4.
Khituk, D-8.
Krusenstern, A-3.
Kupreanof, C-4.
Lapin, D-3.
Lay, A-3.
Lazareff, D-3.
Leontovich, C-8.
Lewis, A-2.
Lisburne, A-2.
Low, C-5.
Lowenstern, A-2.
Lutke, D-3.
Manby, C-7.
Manning, A-7.
Martin, A-7.
Martin, C-6.
Menchikof, C-4.
Muzon, D-9.
Narrow, C-5.
Newenham, C-8.
Nome, B-2.
Ocean, C-7.
Ommaney, C-8.
Pankoff, D-3.
Peirce, C-3.
Pellew, B-6.
Pillar, C-5.
Pitt, A-5.
Prince of Wales, A-2.
Providence, C-4.
Puget, C-6.
Resurrection, C-6.
Rodknoff, C-3.
Rodney, B-2.
Romanof, B-3.
Romanzof, B-2.
Saritchey, D-2.
Seniavin, C-3.
Seppings, A-2.
Sitkagi, C-7.
Smith, B-2.
Spencer, A-2.
Spencer, C-8.
St. Augustine, D-9.
St. Elias, C-7.
St. Hermogenes, C-5.
Steep, C-5.
Strogonof, C-4.
Suckling, C-7.
Tangent, A-5.
Thompson, A-2.
Toistoi, B-3.
Tonki, C-5.
Trinity, C-5.
Two Headed, C-5.
Ugat, C-5.
Unalishagvak, C-4.
Uyak, C-5.
Vancouver, B-2.
West, B-1.
Yaktag, C-7.
Islands.
Adakh, A-10.
Admiralty, C-9.
Afognar, C-5.
Agattu, A-8.
Aghiyuk, C-4.
Akun, D-2.
Akutan, D-2.
Aleutian, A-8.
Amak, C-3.
Amaoa, D-3.
Amatiguak, A-9.
Amatuli, C-5.
Amchitka, A-9.
Amlia, A-10.
Amukta, A-10.
Andreanof, A-10.
Andronica, C-4.
Annete, D-9.
Anowik, C-4.
Atka, A-10.
Atkulik, C-4.
Attu, A-8.
Augustine, C-5.
Avantanak, D-2.
Ban, C-5.
Baranof, C-9.
Barren, C-5.
Barter, A-7.
Besboro, B-3.
Big Diomede, A-2.
Big Koniushi, C-4.
Bim, D-3.
Biorha, A-11.
Buldir, A-9.
Chankilut, C-4.
Chernabura, D-3.
Chernobour, D-3.
Chiachi, C-4.
Chichagoi, C-8.
Chirikof, C-4.
Chiswell, C-6.
Chowiet, C-4.
Chugatz, C-5.
Chuginadak, A-10.
Chugul, A-10.
Coronation, C-9.
Dall, D-9.
Deer, D-3.
Dolgoi, C-3.
Douglas, C-9.
Duke, D-9.
Dundas, D-9.
Egg, B-3.
Etolin, C-9.
Flaxman, A-6.
Forrester, D-9.
Gareloi, A-9.
Geese, C-5.
Great Sitkin, A-10.
Green, B-6.
Hagemeister, C-3.
Hall, I-1.
Hassler, C-9.
Hawkin, B-6.
Hazy, C-8.
Hinchinbrook, B-6.
Igitkin, A-10.
Jacob, C-4.
Kadiak, C-5.
Kagalaska, A-10.
Kagamil, A-11.
Kalgin, B-5.
Kanaga, A-9.
Kateekhuk, C-4.
Kavalga, A-9.
Kayak, C-7.
Khoudiakoff, C-3.
Khoudoubine, C-3.
Kigalgin, A-11.
King, B-2.
Kiska, A-9.
Kiukdauk, C-5.
Knights, B-6.
Korovin, C-4.
Kuiu, C-9.
Kupreanof, C-9.
Little Diomede, A-2.
Little Koniushi, C-4.
Little Sitkin, A-9.
Marmot, C-5.
Middleton, C-6.
Mitkof, C-9.
Mitrofania, C-4.
Montagu, C-6.
Nagai, C-4.
Nakchamik, C-4.
Near, A-8.
Nelson, B-3.
North, D-9.
Nunivak, B-2.
Okolnoi, C-3.
Otter, C-2.
Paul, C-4.
Pinnacle, B-1.
Pribilof, C-2.
Prince of Wales, C-9.
Punuk, B-2.
Pye, C-5.
Rat, A-9.
Revillagigedo, C-9.
Sand, B-2.
Sannak, D-3.
Seal, C-4.
Seguam, A-10.
Semichi, A-8.
Semidi, C-4.
Semisopochnoi, A-9.
Shumagin, C-4.
Shuyak, C-5.
Simeonof, D-4.
Sitkalidak, C-5.
Sitkinak, C-5.
Sledge, B-2.
South, C-4.
Spruce, C-5.
St. George, C-2.
St. Lawrence, B-2.
St. Matthew, B-1.
St. Michael, B-3.
St. Paul, C-2.
Stephens, D-9.
Stuart, B-3.
Sutwik, C-4.
Tagalakh, A-10.
Tanaga, A-9.
Tigalda, D-3.
Trinity Is., C-5.
Tugidak, C-5.
Ugamok, D-2.
Ulak, A-9.
Uliaga, A-11.
Umga, D-3.
Umnak, A-11.
Unalaska, D-2.
Unavikshak, C-4.
Unga, C-3.
Unimak, D-3.
Ushugat, C-5.
Walros, C-2.
Wooded Is., C-6.
Wossnessenski, C-3.
Wrangell, C-9.
Wrigham, C-7.
Yakobi, C-8.
Yunaska, A-10.
Zaiembo, C-9.
Zayas, D-9.
Lakes.
Aleknagik, C-3.
Becharof, C-4.
Iliamna, C-5.
Imuruk, B-2.
Mentasta, B-7.
Naknek, C-4.
Nushagak, B-4.
Rat, A-7.
Selawik, A-3.
Skillokh, B-6.
Tasekpuk, A-5.
Tustumena, B-5.
Walker, A-5.
Mountains.
Aghileen Pinnacle, C-3.
Alaskan, B-5.
Asses Ears, A-3.
Black Peak, C-4.
Boundary, A-7.
British, A-7.
Cathul, A-7.
Deviation Peak, A-3.
Devils, A-3.
Four Peaked, C-5.
Franklin, A-6.
Gold, A-5.
Iliamna Peak, B-5.
Jade, A-4.
Kayuh, B-4.
Lionshead, C-9.
Lower Ramparts, A-6.
Makushin, D-2.
Miles Glacier, B-7.
Mt. Becharof, C-4.
Mt. Bendeleben, A-3.
Mt. Blackburn, B-7.
Mt. Chiginagar, C-4.
Mt. Crillon, C-8.
Mt. Drum, B-6.
Mt. Edgecumbe, C-8.
Mt. Fairweather, C-8.
Mt. Greenough, A-7.
Mt. Hononita, B-4.
Mt. Kelly, A-3.
Mt. Kimball, B-7.
Mt. Lituya, C-8.
Mt. Olai, C-4.
Mt. Sanford, B-7.
Mt. Tillman, B-7.
Mt. Wrangel, B-7.
Mulgrave Hills, A-3.
Palisades, A-5.
Pavloff Volcano, C-3.
Progromnia Volcano, D-2.
Rampart, A-5.
Ratzel, A-7.
Red, A-5.
Redoubt Volcano, B-5.
Shishaldin Volcano, C-3.
Snow, A-5.
Spirit, B-7.
Tanana Hills, A-6.
Vsevidoff Volcano, A-11.
Yukon Hills, A-4.
Rivers.
Allenkakat, A-5.
Ambler, A-4.
Anvik, B-3.
Azoon, B-3.
Baczakakat, A-5.
Big Black, A-7.
Black, B-3.
Bradley, B-6.
Bremner, B-6.
Buckland, A-3.
Cantwell, B-6.
Chilkat.
Chisana, B-7.
Chitslechina, B-6.
Chittyna, B-7.
Chittystone, B-7.
Chulitna, B-4.
Colville, A-5.
Copper, B-6.
Cutler, A-4.
Daklikakat, A-4.
Dall, A-5.
Delta, B-6.
Doggetlooscat, A-4.
Dugan, B-6.
Fickett, A-5.
Fish, A-3.
Forty-mile, B-7.
Gakona, B-6.
Gersde, B-6.
Goodpaster, B-6.
Hokuchatna, A-4.
Husstiakatna, A-4.
Ikpikpung, A-5.
Inglixalik, A-4.
Innoko, B-4.
Ippewik, A-3.
Johnson, B-6.
Kaknu, B-5.
Kalucna, B-7.
Kandik, A-7.
Karluk, C-5.
Kashunik, B-3.
Kassilof, B-5.
Kaviavazak, A-3.
Kayuh, B-4.
Kevwleek, A-3.
Kinak, B-3.
Klanarchargat, A-6.
Klatena, B-6.
Klatsutakakat, B-5.
Klawasina, B-6.
Knik, B-6.
Koo, A-4.
Kookpuk, A-3.
Kowak, A-4.
Koyuk, A-3.
Koyukuk, A-5.
Kuahroo, A-4.
Kuguklik, C-3.
Kukpowruk, A-3.
Kulichavak, B-3.
Kuskokwim, B-3.
Kvichak, C-4.
Liebigitag's, B-6.
Little Black, A-7.
Lovene, B-5.
Marokinak, B-3.
Meade, A-4.
Melozikakat, A-5.
Naknek, C-4.
Noatak, A-3.
Nushagak, C-4.
Pitmegea, A-3.
Porcupine, A-7.
Ray, A-5.
Robertson, B-6.
Salmon, A-7.
Selawik, A-4.
Slana, B-6.
Soonkakat, B-4.
Stikine, C-9.
Sucker, A-7.
Sushitna, B-6.
Taclat, B-5.
Tahkandik, A-7.
Tanana, B-6.
Tasnioio, B-6.
Tatotlindu, B-7.
Tazlina, B-6.
Teikhell, B-6.
Traodee, A-7.
Tokai, B-7.
Tovikakat, A-5.
Ugaguk, C-4.
Ugashik, C-4.
Unalaklik, B-4.
Volkmar, B-6.
White, B-7.
Whymper, A-6.
Woliek, A-3.
Yukon, B-3.
Towns.
Pop.
Afognak, C-5 409
Alaganik, B-6 48
Anagnak, C-4
Anvik, B-3 191
Attanak, A-4
Attenmut, A-4
Belkoffski, D-3 185
Belle Isle, B-8
Cape Sabine, A-2
Chilkat, C-8 153
Douglas, C-9 40
Dyea[B]
Egowik, B-3
Fort Alexander, C-4
Fort Andreafski, B-3 10
Fort Cudahy, B-8
Fort Get There, B-3
Fort Healy, B-5
Fort Kenai, B-5
Fort St. Michaels, B-3 101
Fort Weare, A-7
Fort Wrangel, C-9[A] 316
Igagik, C-4 60
Ikogmut Mission, B-4 140
Initkilly, A-2
Jackson, D-9 105
Juneau, C-9[A] 1253
Kaguyak, C-5 112
Kaltig, B-4
Karluk, C-5 1123
Katniai, C-4
Ketchikan, C-9
Killisnoo, C-9 79
Kipmak, B-3
Klawock, C-9 287
Kodiak, C-5[A] 495
Koggiung, C-4 133
Kutlik, B-3 31
Leather Village, B-4
Loring, C-9 200
Mary Island, D-9
Metlakahtla[B]
Mitchell, A-8 238
Morzhovoi, D-3 68
Nig-a-lek, A-6
Nikolski, A-11
Nulato, B-4 118
Nushagak, C-4 268
Old Morzhovoi, C-3
Orca, B-6
Ounalaska, A-11
Pastolik, B-3 113
Redoubt Kolmakoff, B-4
Sandpoint, C-3
Seward, C-5
Shageluk, B-3
Shakan, C-9
Shaktolik, B-3
Sitka, C-8[A] 1190
St. Orlovsk, C-5
Sutkum, C-4
Suworof, C-4
Taku, C-9
Tikchik, B-4
Ukak, C-4
Unalaklik, B-3 175
Unalaska, D-2 317
Unga, C-3 159
Village, C-4
Wrangel, C-9
Yakitat, C-8
Addenda.
Pop.
Weare, B 5
Circle City, B 7
Dawson, B 7
Klondyke River, B 8
Klondyke District, B 8
Dyea, C 8
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote A: Money Order Offices.]
[Footnote B: Post Offices not located on Map.]
[Illustration: [Drawn from a rough sketch made on June 18 by G. W. F.
Johnson at Dawson City.]]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF SITKA--FROM BARANOFF CASTLE.]
GOLDEN ALASKA.
ROUTES TO THE YUKON GOLD-FIELDS.
The gold-fields of the Yukon Valley, at and near Klondike River, are
near the eastern boundary of Alaska, from twelve to fifteen hundred
miles up from the mouth of the river, and from five to eight hundred
miles inland by the route across the country from the southern Alaskan
coast. In each case an ocean voyage must be taken as the first step; and
steamers may be taken from San Francisco, Portland, Ore., Seattle,
Wash., or from Victoria, B. C.
The overland routes to these cities require a word.
1. To San Francisco. This city is reached directly by half a dozen
routes across the plains and Rocky Mountains, of which the Southern
Pacific, by way of New Orleans and El Paso; the Atchison & Santa Fé and
Atlantic & Pacific by way of Kansas City, and across northern New Mexico
and Arizona; the Burlington, Denver & Rio Grande, by way of Denver and
Salt Lake City; and the Union and Central Pacific, by way of Omaha,
Ogden and Sacramento, are the principal ones.
2. To Portland, Oregon. This is reached directly by the Union Pacific
and Oregon Short Line, via Omaha and Ogden; and by the Northern Pacific,
via St. Paul and Helena, Montana.
3. To Seattle, Wash. This city, Tacoma, Port Townsend and other ports on
Puget Sound, are the termini of the Northern Pacific Railroad and also
of the Great Northern Railroad from St. Paul along the northern boundary
of the United States. The Canadian Pacific will also take passengers
there expeditiously by rail or boat from Vancouver, B. C.
4. To Vancouver and Victoria, B. C. Any of the routes heretofore
mentioned reach Victoria by adding a steamboat journey; but the direct
route, and one of the pleasantest of all the transcontinental routes, is
by the Canadian Pacific Railway from Montreal or Chicago, via Winnipeg,
Manitoba, to the coast at Vancouver, whence a ferry crosses to Victoria.
Regular routes of transportation to Alaska are supplied by the Pacific
Coast Steamship Company, which has been dispatching mail-steamships once
a fortnight the year round from Tacoma to Sitka, which touch at Juneau
and all other ports of call. They also maintain a service of steamers
between San Francisco and Portland and Puget Sound ports. These are
fitted with every accommodation and luxury for tourist-travel; and an
extra steamer, the Queen, has been making semi-monthly trips during
June, July and August. These steamers would carry 250 passengers
comfortably and the tourist fare for the round trip has been $100.
The Canadian Pacific Navigation Company has been sending semi-monthly
steamers direct from Victoria to Port Simpson and way stations the year
round. They are fine boats, but smaller than the others and are
permitted to land only at Sitka and Dyea.
Such are the means of regular communication with Alaskan ports. There
has been no public conveyance north of Sitka, except twice or thrice a
year in summer, in the supply-steamers of the Alaskan commercial
companies, which sailed from San Francisco to St. Michael and there
transferred to small boats up the Yukon.
Whether any changes will be made in these schedules for the season of
1898 remains to be seen.
Special steamers.--As the regular accommodations were found totally
inadequate to the demand for passage to Alaska which immediately
followed the report of rich discoveries on Klondike Creek, extra
steamers were hastily provided by the old companies, others are fitted
up and sent out by speculative owners, and some have been privately
chartered. A score or more steamships, loaded with passengers, horses,
mules and burros (donkeys) to an uncomfortable degree, were thus
despatched from San Francisco, Puget Sound and Victoria between the
middle of July and the middle of August. An example of the way the
feverish demand for transportation is found in the case of the
Willamette, a collier, which was cleaned out in a few hours and turned
into an extemporized passenger-boat. The whole 'tween decks space was
filled with rough bunks, wonderfully close together, for "first-class"
passengers; while away down in the hold second-class arrangements were
made which the mind shudders to contemplate. Yet this slave-ship sort of
a chance was eagerly taken, and such space as was left was crowded with
animals and goods. Many persons and parties bought or chartered private
steamers, until the supply of these was exhausted by the end of August.
Two routes may be chosen to the gold-fields.
1. By way of the Yukon River. This is all the way by water, and means
nearly 4,500 miles of voyaging.
2. By way of the seaports of Dyea or Shkagway, over mountain passes,
afoot or a-horseback, and down the upper Yukon River and down the lakes
and rivers by raft, skiff and steamboat.
[Illustration: GLACIER BAY. STEAMSHIP QUEEN.]
To describe these routes is the next task--first, that by the way of St.
Michael, and second--up the Yukon River.
Route, via St. Michael and the Yukon River.--This begins by a
sea-voyage, which may be direct, or along the coast. The special
steamers (and future voyages, no doubt) usually take a direct course
across the North Pacific and through the Aleutian Islands to St.
Michael, in Norton Sound, a bight of Bering Sea. The distance from San
Francisco is given as 2,850 miles; from Victoria or Seattle, about 2,200
miles. The inside course would be somewhat longer, would follow the
route next to be described as far as Juneau and Sitka, then strike
northwest along the coast to St. Michael.
This town, on an island near shore in Norton Sound, was established in
1835 by Lieut. Michael Tébenkoff, of the Russian navy, who named it
after his patron saint. Though some distance to the mouth of the Yukon
entrance, St. Michael has always been the controlling center and base of
supplies for the great valley. The North American Trading and
Transportation Company and the Alaska Commercial Company have their
large warehouses here, and provide the miners with tools, clothing and
provisions. Recently the wharf and warehouse accommodations have been
extended, and the population has increased, but if, as is probable, any
considerable number of men are stopped there this fall by the freezing
of the river, and compelled to pass the winter on the island, they will
find it a dreary, if not dangerous experience.
The vessels supplying this depot can seldom approach the anchorage of
St. Michael before the end of June on account of large bodies of
drifting ice that beset the waters of Norton Sound and the straits
between St. Lawrence and the Yukon Delta.
A temporary landing-place is built out into water deep enough for loaded
boats drawing five feet to come up at high tide, this is removed when
winter approaches, as otherwise it would be destroyed by ice. The shore
is sandy and affords a moderately sloping beach, on which boats may be
drawn up. A few feet only from high water mark are perpendicular banks
from six to ten feet high, composed of decayed pumice and ashes, covered
with a layer about four feet thick of clay and vegetable matter
resembling peat. This forms a nearly even meadow with numerous pools of
water, which gradually ascends for a mile or so to a low hill, of
volcanic origin, known as the Shaman Mountain.
Between the point on which St. Michael is built and the mainland, a
small arm of the sea makes in, in which three fathoms may be carried
until the flagstaff of the fort bears west by north, this is the
best-protected anchorage, and has as much water and as good bottom as
can be found much farther out.
The excitement of the summer of 1897 caused an enlargement of facilities
and the erection of additional buildings, forming a nucleus of traffic
called Fort Get There. Here will be put together in the autumn or winter
at least three, and perhaps more, new river steamboats, of which only
two or three have been running on the lower river during the last two or
three years. These are taken up, in pieces, by ships and fitted together
at this point. All are flat-bottomed, stern-wheeled, powerfully engined
craft, the largest able to carry perhaps 250 tons, such as run on the
upper Missouri, and they will burn wood, the cutting and stacking of
which on the river bank will furnish work to many men during the coming
winter. To such steamers, or smaller boats, all the persons and cargoes
must be transferred at St. Michael.
For the last few years there has been no trader here but the agent of
the Alaska Commercial Company, and a story is told of the building of a
riverboat there in 1892, which illustrates what life on the Yukon used
to be. In that year a Chicago man, P. B. Weare, resolved to enter the
Alaskan field as a trader. He chartered a schooner, and placed upon it a
steamboat, built in sections and needing only to be put together and
have its machinery set up, and for this purpose he took with him a force
of carpenters and machinists. On reaching St. Michael Weare was refused
permission to land his boat sections on the land of the Commercial
Company's post, and was compelled to make a troublesome landing on the
open beach, where he began operations. Suddenly his ship carpenters
stopped work. They had been offered, it was said, double pay by the
rival concern if they would desist from all work. Weare turned to the
Indians, but with the same ill-success. The Indians were looking out for
their winter grub. Here was the Chicago man 2,500 miles from San
Francisco and only two weeks left to him in which to put his boat
together and then hope for a chance to ascend the river before winter
came on. There was no time in which to get additional men from San
Francisco. In the midst of his trouble Weare one day espied the revenue
cutter Bear steaming into the roadstead. On board of her was Captain
Michael A. Healy. That officer, on going ashore and discovering the
condition of affairs, threatened to hang every carpenter and mechanic
Weare had brought up if they failed to immediately commence work. The
men went to work, and with them went a gang of men from the Bear. The
little steamer was put together in a few days, and the Bear only went to
sea after seeing the P. B. Weare steaming into the mouth of the Yukon.
[Illustration: STEAMER PORTUS B. WEARE.]
The Weare was enabled that summer to land her stores along the Yukon,
and was the only vessel available for the early crowds of miners going
to Klondike.
The mouth of the Yukon is a great delta, surrounded by marsh of
timber--a soaking prairie in summer, a plain of snow and ice in winter.
The shifting bars and shallows face out from this delta far into Bering
Sea, and no channel has yet been discovered whereby an ocean steamer
could enter any of the mouths. Fortunately the northernmost mouth,
nearest St. Michael and 65 miles from it, is navigable for the light
river steamers, and this one, called Aphoon, and marked by its unusual
growth of willows and bushes is well known to the local Russian and
Indian pilots. It is narrow and intricate, and the general course up
stream is south-southeast. Streams and passages enter it, and it has
troublesome tidal currents. The whole space between the mouth is a
net-work, indeed, of narrow channels, through the marshes.
Kutluck, at the outlet of the Aphoon, on Pastol Bay, is an Indian
village, long celebrated for its manufacture of skin boats (bidars), and
there the old-time voyagers were accustomed to get the only night's
sleep ashore that navigation permits between St. Michael and Andraefski.
On the south bank of the main stream, at the head of the delta, is the
Roman Catholic mission of Kuslivuk; and a few miles higher, just above
the mouth of the Andraefski River, is the abandoned Russian trading
post, Andraefski, above which the river winds past Icogmute, where there
is a Greek Catholic mission. The banks of the river are much wooded, and
the current even as far down as Koserefski averages over three knots an
hour. Above Koserefski (the Catholic Mission station), the course is
along stretches of uninviting country, among marsh islands and
"sloughs," the current growing more and more swift on the long reach
from Auvik, where the Episcopal mission is situated, to Nulato.
The river here has a nearly north and south course, parallel with the
coast of Norton Sound and within fifty miles or so of it. Two portages
across here form cut-offs in constant use in winter by the traders,
Indians and missionaries. The first of these portages starts from the
mainland opposite the Island of St. Michael, and passes over the range
of hills that defines the shore to the headwaters of the Anvik River.
This journey may be made in winter by sledges and thence down the Auvik
to the Yukon, but it is a hard road. Mr. Nelson, the naturalist, and a
fur trader, spent two months from November 16, 1880, to January 19,
1891, in reaching the Yukon by this path.
The other portage is that between Unalaklik, a Swedish mission station
at the mouth of the Unalaklik River, some fifty miles north of St.
Michael, and a stream that enters the Yukon half way between Auvik and
Nulato. In going from St. Michael to Unalatlik there are few points at
which a boat can land even in the smoothest weather; in rough weather
only Major's Cove and Kegiktowenk before rounding Tolstoi Point to
Topánika, where there is a trading post. Topánika is some ten miles from
Unalaklik, with a high shelving beach, behind which rise high walls of
sandstone in perpendicular bluffs from twenty to one hundred feet in
height. This beach continues all the way to the Unalaklik River, the
bluff gradually decreasing into a marshy plain at the river's mouth,
which is obstructed by a bar over which at low tide there are only a few
feet of water except in a narrow and tortuous channel, constantly
changing as the river deposits fresh detritus. Inside this bar there are
two or three fathoms for a few miles, but the channel has only a few
feet, most of the summer, from the mouth of the river to Ulukuk.
Trees commence along the Unalaklik River as soon as the distance from
the coast winds and salt air permit them to grow; willow, poplar, birch
and spruce being those most frequently found.
The Unalaklik River is followed upward to Ulukuk, where begins a
sledging portage over the marshes to the Ulukuk Hills, where there is a
native village known as Vesolia Sopka, or Cheerful Peak, at an altitude
of eight hundred feet above the surrounding plain. This is a well-known
trapping ground, the fox and marten being very plentiful. From Sopka
Vesolia (Cheerful Peak) it is about one day's journey to Beaver Lake,
which is only a marshy tundra in winter, but is flooded in the spring
and summer months. From the high hills beyond the lake one may catch a
first glimpse of the great Yukon sweeping between its splendid banks.
[Illustration: OLD RUSSIAN BLOCK HOUSE AT SITKA.]
The natives call Nulato emphatically a "hungry" place, and it was once
the scene of an atrocious massacre. Capt. Dall, from whose book much of
the information regarding this part of Alaska is derived, describes the
Indians here as a very great nuisance. "They had," he explains, "a
great habit of coming in and sitting down, doing and saying nothing, but
watching everything. At meal times they seemed to count and weigh every
morsel we ate, and were never backward in assisting to dispose of the
remains of the meal. Occasionally we would get desperate and clean them
all out, but they would drop in again and we could do nothing but resign
ourselves."
The soil on the banks of the Yukon and that of the islands probably
never thaws far below the surface. It is certain that no living roots
are found at a greater depth than three feet. The soil, in layers that
seems to mark annual inundations, consists of a stratum of sand overlaid
by mud and covered with vegetable matter, the layers being from a half
inch to three inches in thickness. In many places where the bank has
been undermined these layers may be counted by the hundred. Low bluffs
of blue sandstone, with here and there a high gravel bank, characterize
the shores as far as Point Sakataloutan, and some distance above this
point begin the quartzose rocks.
The next station on the river is the village of Nowikakat, on the left
bank. Here may be obtained stores of dried meat and fat from the
Indians. The village is situated upon a beautiful bay or Nowikakat
Harbor, which is connected by a narrow entrance with the Yukon. "Through
this a beautiful view is obtained across the river, through the numerous
islands of the opposite shore, and of the Yukon Mountains in the
distance. The feathery willows and light poplars bend over and are
reflected in the dark water, unmixed as yet with Yukon mud; every island
and hillside is clothed in the delicate green of spring, and luxuriates
in a density of foliage remarkable in such a latitude."
Nowikakat is specially noted for the excellence of its canoes, of which
the harbor is so full that a boat makes its landing with difficulty
among them. It is the only safe place on the lower Yukon for wintering a
steamer, as it is sheltered from the freshets which bring down great
crushes of ice in the spring.
At Nuklukahyet there is a mission of the Episcopal church and a trading
store, but there may or may not be supplies of civilized goods, not to
speak of moose meat and fat. This is the neutral ground where all the
tribes meet in the spring to trade. The Tananah, which flows into the
Yukon at this point, is much broader here than the Yukon, and it is here
that Captain Dall exclaims in his diary: "And yet into this noble river
no white man has dipped his paddle." Recently, however, the Tananah has
been more or less explored by prospectors with favorable results
towards the head of the river, which is more easily reached overland
from Circle City and the Birch Creek camps.
Leaving Nuklukahyet, the "Ramparts" are soon sighted, and the Yukon
rapids sweep between bluffs and hills which rise about fifteen hundred
feet above the river, which is not more than half a mile wide and seems
almost as much underground as a river bed in a canyon. The rocks are
metaphoric quartzites, and the river-bed is crossed by a belt of
granite. The rapid current has worn the granite away at either side,
making two good channels, but in the center lies an island of granite
over which the water plunges at high water, the fall being about twelve
feet in half a mile.
Beyond the mouth of the Tananah the Yukon begins to widen, and it is
filled with small islands. The mountains disappear, and just beyond them
the Totokakat, or Dall River of Ketchum, enters the Yukon from the
north. Beyond this point the river, ever broadening, passes the "Small
Houses," deserted along the bank at the time, years ago, when the
scarlet fever, brought by a trading vessel to the mouth of the Chilkat,
spread to the Upper Yukon and depopulated the station. This place is
noted for the abundance of its game and fish.
The banks of the river above this point become very low and flat, the
plain stretching almost unbroken to the Arctic Ocean.
The next stream which empties into the Yukon is Beaver Creek, and
farther on the prospector bound for Circle City may make his way some
two hundred miles up Birch Creek, along which much gold has already been
discovered, to a portage of six miles, which will carry him within six
miles of Circle City on the west.
Meanwhile the Yukon passes Porcupine River and Fort Yukon, the old
trading-post founded in 1846-7, about a mile farther up the river than
the present fort is situated. The situation was changed in 1864, owing
to the undermining of the Yukon, which yearly washed away a portion of
the steep bank until the foundation timbers of the old Redoubt over-hung
the flood.
Many small islands encumber the river from Fort Yukon to Circle City,
and the river flows along the rich lowland to the towns and mining
centers of the new El Dorado, an account of which belongs to a future
chapter.
This voyage can be made only between the middle of June and the middle
of September, and requires about forty days, at best, from San Francisco
to Circle City or Forty Mile.
[Illustration: INDIAN TOTEM POLE, FORT SIMPSON.]
Route via Juneau, the Passes and down the Upper Yukon River. The
second and more usual, because shorter and quicker course, is that to
the head of Lynn Canal (Taiya Inlet) and overland. This coast voyage may
be said to begin at Victoria, B. C. (since all coast steamers gather and
stop there), where a large number of persons prefer to buy their
outfits, since by so doing, and obtaining a certificate of the fact,
they avoid the custom duties exacted at the boundary line on all goods
and equipments brought from the United States. Victoria is well supplied
with stores, and is, besides, one of the most interesting towns on the
Pacific coast. The loveliest place in the whole neighborhood is Beacon
Hill Park, and is well worth a visit by those who find an hour or two on
their hands before the departure of the steamer. It forms a
half-natural, half-cultivated area of the shore of the Straits of Fuca,
where coppices of the beautiful live oak, and many strange trees and
shrubs mingled with the all-pervading evergreens.
Within three miles of the city, and reached by street cars, is the
principal station in the North Pacific of the British navy, at
Esquimault Bay. This is one of the most picturesque harbors in the
world, and a beginning is made of fortifications upon a very large scale
and of the most modern character. This station, in many respects, is the
most interesting place on the Pacific coast of Canada.
Leaving Victoria, the steamer makes its way cautiously through the
sinuous channels of the harbor into the waters of Fuca Strait, but this
is soon left behind and the steamer turns this way, and that, at the
entrance to the Gulf of Georgia, among those islands through which runs
the international boundary line, and for the possession of which England
and the United States nearly went to war in 1862. The water at first is
pale and somewhat opaque, for it is the current of the great Fraser
gliding far out upon the surface, and the steamer passes on beyond it
into the darker, clearer, salter waters of the gulf. Then the prow is
headed to Vancouver, where the mails, freight and new railway passengers
are received.
From Vancouver the steamer crosses to Nanaimo, a large settlement on
Vancouver Island, where coal mines of great importance exist. A railway
now connects this point with Victoria, and a wagon road crosses the
interior of the island to Alberni Canal and the seaport at its entrance
on Barclay Sound. This is the farthest northern telegraph point. The
mines at Nanaimo were exhausted some time ago, after which deep
excavations were made on Newcastle Island, just opposite the town. But
after a tremendous fire these also were abandoned, and all the workings
are now on the shores of Departure Bay, where a colliery village named
Wellington has been built up. A steam ferry connects Nanaimo with
Wellington; and while the steamer takes in its coal, the passengers
disperse in one or the other village, go trout fishing, shooting or
botanizing in the neighboring woods, or trade and chaffer with the
Indians. Nanaimo has anything but the appearance of a mining town. The
houses do not stretch out in the squalid, soot-covered rows familiar to
Pennsylvania, but are scattered picturesquely, and surrounded by
gardens.
Just ahead lie the splendid hills of Texada Island, whose iron mines
yield ore of extraordinary purity, which is largely shipped to the
United States to be made into steel. The steamer keeps to the left,
making its way through Bayne's Sound, passing Cape Lazaro on the left
and the upper end of Texada on the right, across the broadening water
along the Vancouver shore into Seymour Narrows. These narrows are only
about 900 yards wide, and in them there is an incessant turmoil and
bubbling of currents. This is caused by the collision of the streams
which takes place here; the flood stream from the south, through the
Strait of Fuca and up the Haro Archipelago being met by that from Queen
Charlotte Sound and Johnstone straits. These straits are about 140
miles long, and by the time their full length is passed, and the maze of
small islands on the right and Vancouver's bulwark on the left are
escaped together, the open Pacific shows itself for an hour or two in
the offing of Queen Charlotte's Sound, and the steamer rises and falls
gently upon long, lazy rollers that have swept all the way from China
and Polynesia. Otherwise the whole voyage is in sheltered waters, and
seasickness is impossible. The steamer's course now hugs the shore,
turning into Fitz Hugh Sound, among Calvert, Hunter's and Bardswell
islands, where the ship's spars sometimes brush the overhanging trees.
Here are the entrances to Burke Channel and Dean's Canal that penetrate
far amid the tremendous cliffs of the mainland mountains. Beyond these
the steamer dashes across the open bight of Milbank Sound only to enter
the long passages behind Princess Royal, Pit and Packer islands, and
coming out at last into Dixon Sound at the extremity of British
Columbia's ragged coast line.
[Illustration: STREET IN SITKA.]
The fogs which prevail here are due to the fact that this bight is
filled with the waters of the warm Japanese current and the gulf stream
of the Pacific from which the warm moisture rises to be condensed by the
cool air that descends from the neighboring mountains, into the dense
fogs and heavy rain storms to which the littoral forest owes its
extraordinary luxuriance. During the mid-summer and early autumn,
however, the temperature of air and water become so nearly equable that
fog and rain are the exception rather than the rule.
Crossing the invisible boundary into Alaska the steamer heads straight
toward Fort Tougass, on Wales Island, once a military station of the
United States, but now only a fishing place. Between this point and Fort
Wrangel another abandoned military post of the United States, two or
three fish canneries and trading stations are visited and the ship goes
on among innumerable islands and along wide reaches of sound to Taku
Inlet (which deeply indents the coast, and is likely in the near future
to become an important route to the gold fields), and a few hours later
Juneau City is reached.
Juneau City has been lately called the key to the Klondike regions, as
it is the point of departure for the numberless gold hunters who, when
the season opens again, will rush blindly over incalculably rich ledges
near the coast to that remote inland El Dorado of their dreams.
Juneau has for seventeen years been supported by the gold mines of the
neighboring coast. It is situated ten miles above the entrance of
Gastineau Channel, and lies at the base of precipitous mountains, its
court house, hotels, churches, schools, hospital and opera house forming
the nucleus for a population which in 1893 aggregated 1,500, a number
very largely increased each winter by the miners who gather in from
distant camps. The saloons, of which in 1871 there were already
twenty-two, have increased proportionately, and there are, further, at
least one weekly newspaper, one volunteer fire brigade, a militia
company and a brass band in Juneau. The curio shops on Front and Seward
streets are well worth visiting, and from the top of Seward Street a
path leads up to the Auk village, whose people claim the flats at the
mouth of Gold Creek. A curious cemetery may be seen on the high ground
across the creek, ornamented with totemic carvings and hung with
offerings to departed spirits which no white man dares disturb.
FROM JUNEAU TO THE GOLD FIELDS.
The few persons who formerly wished to go to the head of Lynn Canal did
so mainly by canoeing, or chartered launches, but now many opportunities
are offered by large steamboats. Most of the steamers that bring miners
and prospectors from below do not now discharge their freight at Juneau,
however, but go straight to the new port Dyea at the head of the canal.
Lynn Canal is the grandest fiord on the coast, which it penetrates for
seventy-five miles. It is then divided by a long peninsula called
Seduction Point, into two prongs, the western of which is called Chilkat
Inlet, and the eastern Chilkoot. "It has but few indentations, and the
abrupt palisades of the mainland shores present an unrivalled panorama
of mountains, glaciers and forests, with wonderful cloud effects. Depths
of 430 fathoms have been sounded in the canal, and the continental range
on the east and the White Mountains on the west rise to average heights
of 6,000 feet, with glaciers in every ravine and alcove." No Cameron
boundary line, which Canada would like to establish, would cut this
fiord in two, and make it useless to both countries in case of quarrel.
The magnificent fan-shaped Davidson glacier, here, is only one among
hundreds of grand ice rivers shedding their bergs into its waters. At
various points salmon canneries have long been in operation; and the
Seward City mines are only the best among several mineral locations of
promise. A glance at the map will show that this "canal" forms a
straight continuation of Chatham Strait, making a north and south
passage nearly four hundred miles in length, which is undoubtedly the
trough of a departed glacier.
Dyea, the new steamer landing and sub-port of entry, is at the head of
navigation on the Chilkoot or eastern branch of this Lynn Canal, and
takes its name, in bad modern spelling, from the long-known Taiya
Inlet, which is a prolongation inland for twenty miles of the head of
the Chilkoot Inlet. It should continue to be spelled Tiaya. This inlet
is far the better of the two for shipping, Chilkat Inlet being exposed
to the prevalent and often dangerous south wind, so that it is regarded
by navigators as one of the most dangerous points on the Alaskan coast.
A Presbyterian mission and government school were formerly sustained at
Haines, on Seduction Point, but were abandoned some years ago on account
of Indian hostility.
The Passes.--Three passes over the mountains are reached from these two
inlets,--Chilkat, Chilkoot and White.
[Illustration: HEAD WATERS, DYEA RIVER.]