[Illustration: SLEDDING UP THE CHILKAT VALLEY]
GOLD-SEEKING
ON THE DALTON TRAIL
_BEING THE ADVENTURES OF TWO
NEW ENGLAND BOYS IN ALASKA
AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY_
BY
ARTHUR R. THOMPSON
Illustrated
BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1900
_Copyright, 1900_,
BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
_All rights reserved_
UNIVERSITY PRESS · JOHN WILSON AND SON · CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
TO
My Comrade of Many Camp-Fires
DEXTER WADLEIGH LEWIS
PREFACE
Among my first passions was that for exploration. The Unknown--that
region of mysteries lying upon the outskirts of commonplace
environment--drew me with a mighty attraction. My earliest
recollections are of wanderings into the domains of the neighbors, and
of excursions--not infrequently in direct contravention to parental
warnings--over fences, stone-walls, and roofs, and into cobwebbed
attics, fragrant hay-lofts, and swaying tree-tops. Of my favorite tree,
a sugar maple, I remember that, so thoroughly did I come to know every
one of its branches, I could climb up or down unhesitatingly with eyes
shut. At that advanced stage of acquaintance, however, it followed
naturally that the mysteriousness, and hence the subtle attractiveness,
of my friend the maple was considerably lessened.
By degrees the boundary line of the unknown was pushed back into
surrounding fields. Wonderful caves were hollowed in sandy banks.
Small pools, to the imaginative eyes of the six-year-old, became
lakes abounding with delightful adventures. The wintry alternations
of freezing and thawing were processes to be observed with closest
attention and never-failing interest. Nature displayed some new charm
with every mood.
There came a day when I looked beyond the fields, when even the river,
sluggish and muddy in summer, a broad, clear torrent in spring, was
known from end to end. Then it was that the range of low mountains--to
me sublime in loftiness--at the western horizon held my fascinated
gaze. To journey thither on foot became ambition's end and aim. This
feat, at first regarded as undoubtedly beyond the powers of man unaided
by horse and carry-all (the thing had once been done in that manner on
the occasion of a picnic), was at length proved possible.
What next? Like Alexander, I sought new worlds. Nothing less than real
camping out could satisfy that hitherto unappeasable longing. This
dream was realized in due season among the mountains of New Hampshire;
but the craving, far from losing its keenness, was whetted. Of late it
has been fed, but never satiated, by wider rovings on land and sea.
Perhaps it is in the blood and can never be eliminated.
Believing that this restlessness, accompanied by the love of
adventure and out-of-door life, is natural to every boy, I have
had in mind particularly in the writing of this narrative those
thousands of boys in our cities who are bound within a restricted,
and it may be unromantic, sphere of activity. To them I have wished
to give a glimpse of trail life, not with a view to increasing their
restlessness,--for I have not veiled discomforts and discouragements in
relating enjoyments,--but to enlarge their horizon,--to give them, in
imagination at least, mountain air and appetites, journeys by lake and
river, and an acquaintance with men and conditions as they now exist
in the great Northwest.
The Dalton trail, last year but little known, may soon become a much
travelled highway. With a United States garrison at Pyramid, and the
village of Klukwan a bone of contention between the governments of this
country and Canada, the region which it traverses is coming more and
more into notice. I would only add that natural features, scenery, and
people, have been described faithfully, however inadequately, and the
story throughout is based upon real happenings. Should any of my young
readers pass over the trail to-day in the footsteps of David and Roly,
they would find, save for possible vandalism of Indians or whites, the
cabins on the North Alsek and in the Kah Sha gorge just as they are
pictured, and they could be sure of a welcome from Lucky, Long Peter,
and Coffee Jack.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. A LETTER FROM ALASKA 1
II. BUYING AN OUTFIT 7
III. FROM SEATTLE TO PYRAMID HARBOR 18
IV. THE FIRST CAMP 28
V. THE GREAT NUGGET, AND HOW UNCLE WILL HEARD OF IT 38
VI. ROLY IS HURT 47
VII. CAMP AT THE CAVE 54
VIII. SLEDDING 60
IX. KLUKWAN AND THE FORDS 69
X. A PORCUPINE-HUNT AT PLEASANT CAMP 77
XI. THE MYSTERIOUS THIRTY-SIX 88
XII. THE SUMMIT OF CHILKAT PASS 101
XIII. DALTON'S POST 112
XIV. FROM THE STIK VILLAGE TO LAKE DASAR-DEE-ASH 120
XV. STAKING CLAIMS 127
XVI. A CONFLAGRATION 135
XVII. THROUGH THE ICE 142
XVIII. BUILDING THE CABIN 149
XIX. THE FIRST PROSPECT-HOLE 157
XX. ROLY GOES DUCK-HUNTING 166
XXI. LAST DAYS AT PENNOCK'S POST 175
XXII. A HARD JOURNEY 182
XXIII. THE LAKE AFFORDS TWO MEALS AND A PERILOUS CROSSING 192
XXIV. DAVID GETS HIS BEAR-SKIN 201
XXV. MORAN'S CAMP 210
XXVI. HOW THE GREAT NUGGET NEARLY COST THE BRADFORDS DEAR 216
XXVII. AN INDIAN CREMATION 223
XXVIII. THE PLAGUE OF MOSQUITOES 231
XXIX. LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS 238
XXX. WASHING OUT THE GOLD 248
XXXI. DAVID MAKES A BOAT-JOURNEY 256
XXXII. CHAMPLAIN'S LANDING 264
XXXIII. ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS 272
XXXIV. RAIDED BY A WOLF 279
XXXV. A LONG MARCH, WITH A SURPRISE AT THE END OF IT 289
XXXVI. HOW DAVID MET THE OFFENDER AND WAS PREVENTED FROM
SPEAKING HIS MIND 297
XXXVII. HOMEWARD BOUND 306
XXXVIII. A CARIBOU, AND HOW IT WAS KILLED 314
XXXIX. DANGERS OF THE SUMMER FORDS 321
XL. SUNDAY IN KLUKWAN 331
XLI. THE ROBBERS AT LAST 339
XLII. PYRAMID, SKAGWAY, AND DYEA.--CONCLUSION 348
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
SLEDDING UP THE CHILKAT VALLEY _Frontispiece_
PYRAMID HARBOR, PYRAMID MOUNTAIN IN THE DISTANCE 26
MAP OF THE DALTON TRAIL 28
A CURIOUS PHENOMENON BESIDE THE TRAIL 89
THE CAMP OF THE MYSTERIOUS THIRTY-SIX 93
"PRESENTLY SOME LITTLE YELLOW SPECKS WERE UNCOVERED" 131
CHILDREN OF THE WILDERNESS 192
RAFTING DOWN THE NORTH ALSEK 265
A HERD OF CATTLE.--YUKON DIVIDE IN THE DISTANCE 267
FORDING THE KLAHEENA 325
"SALMON BY THE THOUSAND" 349
GOLD-SEEKING
ON
THE DALTON TRAIL
CHAPTER I
A LETTER FROM ALASKA
In a large, old-fashioned dwelling which overlooked from its hillside
perch a beautiful city of Connecticut, the Bradford family was
assembled for the evening meal. It was early in February, and the wind,
which now and then whirled the snowflakes against the window-panes,
made the pretty dining-room seem doubly cozy. But Mrs. Bradford
shivered as she poured the tea.
"Just think of poor Will," she said, "away off in that frozen
wilderness! Oh, if we could only know that he is safe and well!" and
the gentle lady's brown eyes sought her husband's face as if for
reassurance.
Mr. Bradford was a tall, strongly built man of forty-five, with
light-brown hair and mustache, and features that betrayed much care
and responsibility. Upon him as treasurer had fallen a great share
of the burden of bringing a large manufacturing establishment through
two years of financial depression, and his admirable constitution had
weakened under the strain. But now a twinkle came into his gray eyes as
he said, "My dear, I hardly think Will is suffering. At least he wasn't
a month ago."
"Why, how do you know?" asked Mrs. Bradford. "Has he written at last?"
For answer Mr. Bradford drew from the depths of an inside pocket a
number of letters, from which he selected one whose envelope was torn
and travel-stained. It bore a Canadian and an American postage stamp,
as if the sender had been uncertain in which country it would be
mailed, and wished to prepare it against either contingency.
At sight of the foreign stamp Ralph,--or "Roly," as he had been known
ever since a certain playmate had called him "Roly-poly" because of his
plumpness,--aged fifteen, was awake in an instant. Up to that moment
his energies had been entirely absorbed in the laudable business of
dulling a very keen appetite, but it quickly became evident that his
instincts as a stamp collector were even keener. He had paused in the
act of raising a bit of bread to his mouth, and made such a comical
figure with his lips expectantly wide apart that his younger sister
Helen, a little maid of nine, was betrayed into a sudden and violent
fit of laughter, in which, in spite of the superior dignity of eighteen
years, their brother David was compelled to join.
"Yes," said Mr. Bradford, "I received a letter from Will this
afternoon. Suppose I read it aloud." Absolute quiet being magically
restored, he proceeded as follows:--
RAINY HOLLOW, CHILKAT PASS, Jan. 9, 1898.
DEAR BROTHER CHARLES,--I am storm-bound at this place, and waiting for
an opportunity to cross the summit, so what better can I do than write
the letter so long deferred?
I have been as far west as the Cook Inlet region, and have acquired
some good coal properties. While there I heard from excellent
authorities that rich gold placers have been discovered on the Dalton
trail, which leads from Pyramid Harbor to Dawson City, at a point about
two hundred miles inland. I thought it best to investigate the truth of
this rumor, and am now on the way to the designated locality, with an
Indian guide and dog-team.
Now, as you know, I was able to take claims for you as well as for
myself in the Cook Inlet country, by the powers of attorney which you
sent me, but in the Canadian territory to which I am going the law does
not allow this, and you can only secure a claim by purchase, or by
being here in person to take it up.
I don't suppose you are in a position to buy claims; but it struck
me, Charles, that it would be a grand good thing if you could leave
that work of yours awhile and rough it in these mountains. You looked
worn out when I saw you last, and you need a change. This is a rugged
country, but a healthful one if a man takes care of himself, and
nothing would do you more good than to take my advice and come. Why not
bring the boys along? Too much schooling isn't good for growing lads,
and they will lose nothing in the long run.
Come prepared to stay six months. I will write our friend Kingsley at
Seattle in regard to your outfit, and will send him directions for
the journey. Start at once, for I think there'll be a rush in this
direction very soon.
You'll be surprised to find how comfortable you can be in your tent
on the snow, even with the mercury below zero. Trust the directions I
shall send to Kingsley, and I'll guarantee you against the suffering
you read of, most of which is the result of ignorance and carelessness.
I send this letter out by an Indian who leaves here to-morrow.
With love to you all, I am,
Your brother,
WILLIAM C. BRADFORD.
"Uncle Will's a brick!" exclaimed Roly, promptly. "Of course we shall
go." Whereupon Helen burst into tears because she was not a boy. David
managed to preserve outward calmness, but his eyes sparkled as he
thought of the wonders he might soon see. As for Mrs. Bradford, she
scarcely knew whether to be sad or glad. She was willing to believe her
enthusiastic brother-in-law would not urge his own relatives to face
unreasonable dangers. But to think of being separated from them half a
year! After all, she could do no better than leave the matter to her
husband.
"Well, Charles," she said quite calmly, "what do you propose to do?"
David and Roly trembled in their seats, while Mr. Bradford regarded
them thoughtfully.
"I am inclined," he said at last, "to think favorably of Will's
proposal, so far as it concerns myself."
At the word "favorably" both boys jumped, but when they heard the last
of the sentence they looked very wretched and crestfallen. They did not
understand the whole of Uncle Will's letter, but there was absolutely
no doubt that he had suggested their coming. David ventured to remind
his father that they were both a year in advance of most boys of their
age in their school-work.
This argument appeared to have weight with Mr. Bradford. He reflected,
too, on the many youthful adventures of his own in the Adirondack
woods, which he had often narrated in their hearing. It was but natural
that they should wish to go. He was bound to admit that they had
studied carefully and well, and had fairly earned an outing. David,
dark-haired and brown-eyed like his mother, had reached the age of
rapid growth. He was shooting up like a weed, and his face was paler
than it should be. Roly was of light complexion, and round and ruddy.
Nothing more could be desired of him in the matter of health, yet his
father knew how keenly he would feel the disappointment if his brother
were permitted to go and he were left behind.
Mr. Bradford looked inquiringly at his wife. "Can you spare them?" he
asked.
It was a hard question. Mrs. Bradford would have preferred to keep the
boys at home, but she had travelled extensively before her marriage,
and knew the value of travel. She was ambitious for her sons and
wished them to have every advantage. But it was not without a flood of
affectionate tears that she consented at last to let them go.
The matter being thus decided, at a sitting, as it were, the evening
was spent in a study of maps and guide-books; and long after they went
to bed the boys lay awake and talked over their good fortune.