their boats and everything they had, and there are rumors of men having
been drowned. Shortly after leaving Lake Laborge we came upon a party
who had just rescued two young fellows from rocks in the middle of the
rapids. They could not save their outfit or their demolished boat, and
all they had went down the river with the rushing flood. One of the
young men had everything but his shirt stripped from him by the swirl.
We took him in charge and landed him at Klondyke.
"The big canyon between Mud Lake and Lake Laborge is a grand and
impressive place. The river above is a quarter of a mile wide, but in
the canyon it narrows to fifty feet. The walls rise on either side,
sheer and smooth, full seventy-five feet. Down rushes the water with a
frightful roar, rolling the waves at least ten feet high. Like everybody
else, we went down ahead to take a look before shooting these rapids.
From the cliff view the task seems impossible, but there is no other
way, and shoot you must. So, with Wilson at the oars to hold her
straight, I took the steering paddle, and we made for the mouth of the
gorge.
"It was all over in about thirty seconds. We were through in safety, but
it was the most hair-raising thirty seconds I ever experienced. There
was quite enough thrill in it for a lifetime. Over the terrifying roar
of the water we could faintly hear the cheer put up by the undecided
hundred or more men who lined the cliffs above us. Up came the ice-cold
water against us in tubfuls. We were wet through. So was everything else
in the boat, and the boat itself half full of water. But we were soon
bailed and dried--and safe.
"Then we went on to the White House Rapids, and here we let our boat
through with long ropes. Two days later we shot the Five Finger Rapids
and the Rink Rapids without any trouble. The last four days of the trip
we fixed up our stove in the boat, and only went ashore twice for wood.
The mosquitoes on the shore are numbered by the million and are fierce
as bull terriers, but in the middle of the river they troubled us but
little.
"The sun sinks out of sight now about 10.30 p. m., and comes up again
about 3 a. m. About midnight, however, it is almost as light as noonday.
There is no night. At Dawson there is a little sawmill and rough houses
going up in all directions, but for the most part it is a city of tents.
On the shore of the river are hundreds of boats, and others are getting
in every day.
"The Klondyke has not been one particle overrated. I have seen gold
measured by the bucketful. Just think of a man taking $800 out of one
pan of dirt. Mrs. Wilson panned out $154 out of one pan in one of the
mines I am to take charge of. This, without doubt, is the richest gold
strike the world has ever known.
"Of course all the claims in the Klondyke district are taken up now, and
there are hundreds of men who own claims valued from $50,000 to
$1,000,000. But with all these men in the country many miles of new
ground will be prospected, and from the lay of the country I think other
gold fields are certain to be located."
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT'S ATTITUDE.
AN INTERNATIONAL QUESTION AS TO MINER'S RIGHTS.
The fact that the Klondyke placer diggings, as thus far prospected and
developed, are well east of the 141st meridian, which forms the boundary
line between Alaska and the Dominion of Canada has attracted no little
attention among our northern neighbors, and many contradictory reports
as to what attitude the Ottawa Government will assume as to the rights
of miners who are not British subjects, have come to us. That the
Canadian Government has the right to prohibit all but British subjects
from working these diggings cannot be questioned. But, as the New York
Sun puts it, it would be preposterous to suppose that the Dominion would
really attempt to exercise its right of exclusion. Gold fields all over
the world are open to miners without regard to nationality. Canadians
to-day are free to work in the Yukon diggings on our side of the
boundary. The Dominion will do well enough in collecting its revenues
and customs duties on the new industry, and on the collateral industries
certain to spring up among the population that will flock there. Already
it has a customs officer for the district.
American miners have rushed in large numbers from Forty-mile Creek and
other points to the new Klondyke, Bonanza Creek, Eldorado Creek, or
other regions, and they have staked out their claims. The Dominion would
have its hands full in dispossessing these men, and there would be
plenty of reason for retaliation on our part. We do, it is true, exclude
Chinese immigration, but it would be dangerous for the Dominion to put
Mongolians and Americans on the same footing in an exclusion policy.
American miners who have written to the Department of State asking
protection for their Klondyke claims have no reason to worry; and, in
fact, it maybe surmised that their anxieties, rather than any
indications given by the Ottawa Government, are the source of the absurd
rumor of exclusion.
DAWSON NOT A TOUGH TOWN.
THE CIVILIZATION OF A MINING CAMP.
Ladue, who is a veteran prospector, and has seen all the tough mining
camps on the Pacific coast, gives this interesting description of the
new city of Dawson, which promises to have 30,000 inhabitants before
Spring:
"It may be said with absolute truth that Dawson City is one of the most
moral towns of its kind in the world. There is little or no quarreling
and no brawls of any kind, though there is considerable drinking and
gambling. Every man carries a pistol if he wishes to, yet it is a rare
occurrence when one is displayed. 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 $50 to draw a card. A game with $2,000 as
stakes is an ordinary event. But with all of that there has not been
decided trouble. If a man is fussy and quarrelsome he is quietly told to
get out of the game, and that is the end of it.
"Many people have an idea that Dawson City is completely isolated and
can communicate with the outside world only once in every twelve months.
That is a big mistake, however. Circle City, only a few miles away, has
a mail once each month, and there we have our mail addressed. It is
true the cost is pretty high, $1 a letter and two for a paper; yet by
that expenditure of money we are able to keep in direct communication
with our friends on the outside.
"In the way of public institutions our camp is at present without any,
but by next season we will have a church, a music hall, a schoolhouse
and a hospital. The last institution will be under direct 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 I left, so I
donated a lot and $100 for a school. No one can buy anything on credit
in Dawson. It is spot cash for every one, and payment is always gold
dust. Very few have any regular money."
All experts estimate that the minimum supply of provisions which a man
should take to Klondyke is 1,000 pounds, though several say they
wouldn't venture in without at least one ton, as the season over the
Juneau route closes up by September 15. The rush promises to be
unprecedented, and a large number of prospectors, after being landed at
Juneau, will find it impossible to get their supplies transported. Like
all other great mining rushes, this promises to be full of
disappointments.
A new route to the Klondyke 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 crosses the divide over Chilkat Pass, which is lower and more
easily crossed than the Chilkoot Pass. No lakes or rivers are on the
route, but the trail runs over a high level prairie. Old Pioneer Dalton,
after whom the trail is named, is now driving a band of sheep on the
trail to Dawson City, where he expects to arrive in August, with fresh
meat for the miners. This Dalton trail is well adapted for driving
stock, but for men the tramp is too long.
"Dawson is not like most of the mining camps. It is not a 'tough' town.
Murders are almost unknown.
"The miners are a quiet and peaceable kind of men, who have gone there
to work, and are willing that everybody else shall have an equal chance
with themselves. A great deal of gambling is done in the town, but
serious quarrels are an exception. As a gambling town I think it is
equal to any that I have ever seen; and this, by the way, is always the
test of a mining camp's prosperity. Stud poker is the usual game. They
play $100 and oftentimes $200 or $500 on the third card."
L. B. Roads said: "I am located on claim 21, above the discovery on
Bonanza Creek. I did exceedingly well up there. I was among the
fortunate ones, as I cleared about $40,000, but brought only $5,000 with
me. I was the first man to get to bed rock gravel and to discover that
it was lined with gold dust and nuggets. The rock was seamed and cut in
V-shaped streaks, caused, it is supposed by glacial action. In those
seams I found a clay that was exceedingly rich. In fact, there was a
stratum of pay gravel four feet thick upon the rock, which was lined
with gold, particularly in these channels or streaks. The rock was about
sixteen feet from the surface. The discovery made the camp. It was made
on October 23, 1896, and as soon as the news spread everybody rushed to
the diggings from Circle City, Forty-Mile, and from every other camp in
the district.
"Some of the saloons here take in $300 per day in dust and nuggets. Beer
is fifty cents per drink. I have quit drinking. Logs are worth $30 per
1,000, and lumber $150 per 1,000. Most people live in tents, but cabins
are being put up rapidly.
"We have the most orderly mining community in the world. There is no
thief, no claim jumping, no cheating or swindling in the many gambling
houses. The greenhorn gets an honest game and every man's hand is
above-board. If any funny work is attempted we run the offender out."
FEARS OF STARVATION.
If twenty or thirty thousand go to the mining camp, as now seems
probable, starvation will result, as it will be absolutely impossible to
feed more than ten thousand people with the supplies that are now on the
way. In another season boats can be built and arrangements made for
laying down an unlimited supply of food, but now the Alaska Commercial
Company has only three vessels, while the other two lines only run to
Juneau. Yukon river steamers are sent up in small sections and put
together on the river. They draw only three or four feet of water, but
with even this light draught they often become stranded on the sand bars
in the upper waters of the Yukon. By the Juneau waters it is impossible
to carry in any large quantity of provisions, as every pound of supplies
must be carried on Indian's backs over Chilkoot Pass and by frequent
portages that separate the lakes and streams on this overland route.
After Sept. 15 this Juneau route is impassible to all except Indians,
because of fierce storms which only Indians and experienced travellers
can face.
The Alaska Commercial Company is very fearful that starvation will occur
in the new camp this winter. President Louis Sloss said to-day that his
company would do the best it could to feed those who rushed into the
Klondyke, but he said that probably it would be impossible to get in
more than 3,200 tons of food before ice closed the Yukon River. The
company has 500 tons on the way to St. Michael's, but the river usually
freezes over about the middle of September. They have only three boats,
as one of the best boats was wrecked last spring. The supply will not
suffice for more than the number of people already at the mining camp;
so, if 20,000 or 30,000 should rush in, carrying only a small supply of
food, the stores will be compelled to limit sales to each purchaser, and
those not able to find work will starve.
Joe Ladue, who owns the town site of Dawson City, emphasized Mr. Sloss's
warning. He said no one had any idea of the amount of food required by
hearty men doing hard manual work in extreme cold weather. He said the
suffering was keen last winter because the men could not secure a
variety of food, which their systems craved. The transportation
companies sent large amounts of whiskey, which found no great sale. Then
they rushed in stoves, picks, shovels and other hardware, but the last
thing they seemed to think of delivering was food, which was needed more
than anything else. Especially the men needed such things as evaporated
potatoes, which relieve the solid diet of bacon and beans; but it will
be hopeless to try to land any of these luxuries, or even dried fruits,
which are indispensable.
A returned New Yorker said:
"'The only thing I fear is a famine the coming winter. The united
efforts of the Alaska Commercial Company and the North American
Transportation and Trading Company cannot transport over 4,500 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. There was great suffering last winter, and, though no
one starved, food rates and rates for everything in the supply line were
beyond belief. 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 per pound.
Ordinary shovels for digging brought $17 and $18 apiece, and other stuff
of that kind could not be obtained.
"'Wages, however, were proportional; $2 per hour was common wages, and
even now in these long days a man can command $1.50 per hour up here, or
from $15 to $20 per day. The river steamers cannot keep crews this
summer, for all run away to the mines as soon as they get in that
region. Indians are all the help that can be kept, and even they are
doing something in the line of locating claims.
"'The man who goes in this winter over the Chilkat and Chilkoot Passes,
or the man who goes in this summer by this steamboat route, should take
in two years' grub. I understand that steamboat companies will not
carry grub or merchandise for any man, and that they are making a flat
passenger rate of $150 for any port from Seattle to Dawson. This means
that they will get several thousand people in there this season, and if
they do not get enough grub in, grub will be high. Not less than 1,000
newcomers came over this spring and how many will come by boat we can
only conjecture.'"
COST OF LIVING IN DAWSON.
THE ONLY CHEAP THING IS ICE AND FRESH AIR.
Laborers, it is asserted, are paid as high as $15 a day, but the advice
is given that no man can afford to go to the new camp without from $500
to $1,000 with which to support himself and insure the possibility of
returning in case of adversity.
Living, of course, comes high. The region produces little or no fruit or
vegetables. The meat of the caribou and the moose is sometimes scarce,
and there are seasons when no salmon can be obtained.
Here is a list of prices that prevailed in Dawson City when the miners
started away:
Flour, per 100 lbs $12.00
Moose ham, per lb 1.00
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 doz 1.50
Better eggs, per doz 2.00
Salmon, each $1.00 to 1.50
Potatoes, per lb 25
Turnips, per lb 15
Tea, per lb 1.00
Coffee, per lb 50
Dried fruits, per lb 35
Canned fruits 50
Lemons, each 20
Oranges, each 50
Tobacco, per lb 1.50
Liquors, per drink 50
Shovels 2.50
Picks 5.00
Coal oil, per gal 1.00
Overalls 1.50
Underwear, per suit $5.00 to 7.50
Shoes 5.00
Rubber boots $10 to 15.00
Based on supply and demand the above quoted prices may vary several
hundred per cent. on some articles at any time.
THE CLIMATE AND THE MOSQUITOES.
SHORT SUMMER--HEAT AND COLD CONTRASTS.
There is a short, hot Summer of less than four months, with practically
no Spring or Autumn. The ice begins to break up in the rivers about May
25, and navigation commences on the Yukon about the first week in June.
It begins to get very cool by the latter part of September, and is
almost Winter weather by the 1st of October. The winter is very cold and
dry, with not more than three feet of snow. There is only about three
inches of rainfall during the winter and not more than a foot or ten
inches the whole year around.
It is a country in which it is very hard to find food, as there is
practically no game. Before the whites went into the region there were
not more than 300 natives. They had hard work to support themselves on
account of the scarcity of game.
The thermometer sometimes goes down to 68 degrees below zero in January
and February. The cold, however, is not so intense as may be imagined,
and 68 degrees there could not be compared with the same here. The dress
is mostly of furs in the Winter, that used by the natives, and unless
there is a sharp wind blowing one may keep fairly comfortable.
After this there is scarcely a let up before the middle of the
following March. Just before reaching Lake Linderman the famous Chilcoot
Pass is encountered, and woe to the traveller who is caught in one of
the snow storms, which spring up with the suddenness of an April shower
and rage for days. They are frozen simoons. Nature has provided at the
pass a protection against these terrific outbreaks in the shape of an
immense overhanging rock. At the top of the pass it was the custom in
former years for the Indians to corral the wild sheep and goats, which
were to be found in large numbers in all the surrounding mountains. The
species now is practically extinct.
This route, by the way of Juneau, is a fine trip of 1,000 miles or so.
For an individual it is more costly, but for a party it is cheaper.
At the head of Lake Linderman is a saw mill, where prospectors are
permitted to prepare the lumber for the boats necessary to complete the
journey to the camp.
This work generally consumes five or six days, but if the prospector is
in a hurry he can purchase a boat, the average price being $80. Then he
floats on and on for hundreds of miles and finally reaches the gold and
the miners and the Arctic circle.
CAPITAL REQUIRED BY MINERS.
SOME THINGS INDISPENSABLE IN AN OUTFIT.
Mr. William Van Stooten, the mining engineer and metallurgist, gives his
views in the New York Herald as to the necessary outfit required by
miners contemplating a trip to the Klondyke diggings. He says:
"I should place the minimum amount at $600. It would not be safe to
start out with less. But you had better make it a thousand if possible,
for with the present rush it is likely that prices will be trebled or
even quadrupled. Even the Indians will charge more for their assistance.
Still, if a man is stranded on the way he will probably find it easy to
make a living almost anywhere in the gold bearing portion of the Yukon
basin. He can earn $10 or $15 a day digging the ground for men with good
claims. And with the rise in prices these wages may also go up. Bear in
mind, however, that the price of living must increase in proportion."
"What would you consider the proper outfit for a miner in starting out?"
"Well, the matter of clothing must be left to individual taste, needs
and means. But the miners usually adopt the native costume. The boots,
usually made by the Coast Indians, are of several varieties. The water
boot is of seal and walrus skin, while the dry weather or winter boot is
of all varieties of styles and material. The more expensive have fur
trimmed legs, elaborately designed. They cost from $2 to $5 a pair.
Trousers are often made of Siberian fawn skin and the skin of the
marmot, or ground squirrel. The parka, or upper garment, is usually of
marmot skins, trimmed with wolverine around the hood and lower edge, the
long hair from the sides of the wolverine being used for the hood. This
hair is sometimes five or six inches in length, and is useful in
protecting the face of the wearer. Good, warm flannels can be worn under
the parka, and the whole outfit will weigh less than the ordinary
clothes worn in a country where the weather gets down to zero. The parka
is almost cold proof. But it is expensive, ranging in price from $25 to
$100. Blankets and fur robes are used for bedding. Lynx skins make the
best robes. Good ones cost $100. But cheaper robes can be made of the
skins of bear, mink, red fox and the Arctic hare. The skins of the
latter animal make warm socks to be worn with the skin boots.
Dress is only one item. Every miner must take his own food with him.
Here is a list of provisions made out by an expert as sufficient to last
a man for one month:--
Twenty pounds of flour, with baking powder; twelve pounds of bacon, six
pounds of beans, five pounds of desiccated vegetables, four pounds of
butter, five pounds of sugar, four cans of milk, one pound of tea, three
pounds of coffee, two pounds of salt, five pounds of corn meal, pepper,
mustard.
The following utensils would not be too many:--
One frying pan, one water kettle, one Yukon stove, one bean pot, two
plates, one drinking cup, one teapot, one knife and fork, one large and
one small cooking pan.
The following tools are necessary for boat building:
One jack plane, one whipsaw, one hand saw, one rip saw, one draw knife,
one axe, one hatchet, one pocket knife, six pounds assorted nails, three
pounds oakum, three pounds of pitch, fifty feet of five-eighths rope.
Other necessaries would be a tent, a rubber blanket, mosquito netting
and matches. It is also desirable to take along a small, well filled
medicine chest, a rifle, a trout line and a pair of snow glasses to
provide against snow blindness.
The entire outfit can be obtained in Juneau, where one can be sure of
getting just what is needed, without any extra weight, which is a matter
of great importance, as many hard portages are to be encountered on the
trip. Hitherto prices in Juneau have been reasonable. Of course one
cannot say what may be the result of the present rush in the way of
raising prices."
A WOMAN'S OUTFIT.
A woman who has "been there," says that in the matter of dress a woman
going to the mines should take two pairs of extra heavy all-wool
blankets, one small pillow, one fur robe, one warm shawl, one fur coat,
easy fitting; three warm woollen dresses, with comfortable bodices and
skirts knee length flannel-lined preferable; three pairs of knickers or
bloomers to match the dresses, three suits of heavy all-wool underwear,
three warm flannel night dresses, four pairs of knitted woollen
stockings, one pair of rubber boots, three gingham aprons that reach
from neck to knees, small roll of flannel for insoles, wrapping the feet
and bandages; a sewing kit, such toilet articles as are absolutely
necessary, including some skin unguent to protect the face from the icy
cold, two light blouses or shirt waists for Summer wear, one oilskin
blanket to wrap her effects in, to be secured at Juneau or St. Michaels;
one fur cape, two pairs of fur gloves, two pairs of surseal moccasins,
two pairs of muclucs--wet weather moccasins.
She wears what she pleases en route to Juneau or St. Michaels, and when
she makes her start for the diggings she lays aside every civilized
travelling garb, including shoes and stays, until she comes out. Instead
of carrying the fur robe, fur coat and rubber boots along, she can get
them on entering Alaska, but the experienced ones say take them along.
The natives make a fur coat, with hood attached, called a "parka," but
it is clumsy for a white woman to wear who has been accustomed to fitted
garments. Leggings and shoes are not so safe nor desirable as the
moccasins. A trunk is not the thing to transport baggage in. It is much
better in a pack, with the oilskin cover well tied on. The things to add
that are useful, but not absolutely necessary, are chocolate, coffee and
the smaller light luxuries.
VALUABLE EXPERT ADVICE.
A MINING ENGINEER'S WARNINGS AND SUGGESTIONS.