THERE ARE MORE WHERE THEY CAME FROM.
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 $2,000, or an average of $500 each, and one of them went $775. Bigger pockets have been struck in the Cariboo region and in California, but nowhere on earth have men picked up so much gold in so short a time. A young man named Beecher, came down afoot and by dog sledge, starting out early in March. He brought $12,000 to $15,000 with him. He was purser on the Weare last summer, and went in after the close of navigation in October or September. About Dec. 15 he got a chance to work a shift on shares, and in sixty days made his stake, which is about $40,000. He has purchased a claim or two. You will find more gold in circulation in Dawson than you ever saw in all your life. Saloons take in $3,000 to $4,000 each per night. Men who have been in all parts of the world where gold is mined say they never saw such quantities taken in so short a time.
The diggings around Circle City and in the older places are rich enough to satisfy any ordinary demand, but they have all, or nearly all, been temporarily left for the new fields. There are probably 250 men working in the mines outside Circle City, but there would have been 1,500 had not the new strike been made. Should the new field play out, which is a thing impossible, the older diggings would be returned to and with profit. However, the new finds are not going to play out. There is enough in sight to confirm the belief that these new diggings cannot be exhausted in ten years. Of course, comparatively little gold is being taken out now, for the streams are too high, but there is much that was drifted and piled up last winter that is not yet washed.
WILLIAM STANLEY'S GRAPHIC STORY.
The New York Journal prints this story of William Stanley: Stanley is one of the fortunate ones who returned from the Klondyke on the Portland. In addition to his present fortune he is interested with his son and two New Yorkers in claims which, he says, will yield $2,000,000. Stanley is a married man; he has a wife and several children. During his absence in the far North the family struggled to eke out an existence, foreverything that Stanley had went to pay his expenses to the gold fields. Stanley is well on in years. He was not accustomed to hardships; for years he conducted a little book store in an out-of-the-way business corner.
To-day people who used to help him by giving 10 to 15 cents cannot realize that he is wealthy. Here is his story:
"I went to the Yukon as a last resort. I was getting old and I had no money and I knew that I would never get any unless I took it out of the ground. It was a year ago last March that I left Seattle. I am free to confess that my family was at that time in destitute circumstances. I made for the Yukon. I had never before been there. I knew nothing of mining and nothing of the hardships of the country, and, in fact, was as great a "greeny" as ever set foot in the great gold country of the Northwest. My son, Samuel Stanley, went with me. He was as ignorant as his father.
"While we were on the steamship Alki, which took us to Dyea, we met two young men, Charles and George Worden. They were residents of Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., and had come West in search of gold. Their mother lives back in the old home, so they informed me. We became very intimate with the Wordens. They knew little, if anything, about the country, and one day in conservation one of us suggested that we form a company and do our work on the syndicate plan, each man to share and share alike. We wandered through the Yukon districts for several months and were getting discouraged, because there seemed to be nothing for us. We met other men who were getting rich, but we grew poorer as the days came and went. Once we had about concluded to go back.
"It was in the latter part of last September that we befriended a man who gave us a tip as to the riches of the Klondyke. We were willing to believe anything, and made for the Klondyke at once. At that time we were en route for Forty Mile Creek. We were then at Sixty Mile.
"The first thing we did when we reached the Klondyke was to spend a little time at the mouth of the stream. We were there just twenty-four hours when the little steamer Ellis arrived with 150 excited miners aboard. They had just heard the good news, and on their arrival they made a rush for the richest spots on Bonanza and Eldorado creeks.
"We went to Eldorado Creek and made locations on what were called Claims Twenty-five, Twenty-six, Fifty-three and Fifty-four. I think it was in October that we made our locations. We worked Claims Twenty-five and Twenty-six, and were very soon satisfied that we had a fine thing, and went to work to make preparations for a long winter of experiences and hardships. We got all we wanted before spring. Every man put in his time sinking prospect holes in the gulch.
"I tell the simple truth when I say that within three months we took from the two claims the sum of $112,000. A remarkable thing about our findingsis that in taking this enormous sum we drift up and down stream, nor did we cross-cut the pay streaks.
"Of course, we may be wrong, but this is the way we are figuring, and we are so certain that what we say is true that we would not sell out for a million. In our judgment, based on close figuring, there are in the two claims we worked, and Claims No. 53 and No. 54, $1,000 to the lineal foot. I say that in four claims, we have at the very least $2,000,000, which can be taken out without any great work.
"I want to say that I believe there is gold in every creek in Alaska. Certainly on the Klondyke the claims are not spotted. One seems to be as good as another. It's gold, gold, gold all over. It's yards wide and yards deep. I say so, because I have been there and have the gold to show for it. All you have to do is to run a hole down, and there you find plenty of gold dust. I would say that our pans on the Eldorado claims will average $3, some go as high as $150, and, believe me, when I say that, in five pans, I have taken out as high as $750 and sometimes more. I did not pick the pans, but simply put them against my breast and scooped the dirt off the bed rock.
"Of course, the majority of those on the Klondyke have done much figuring as to the amount of gold the Klondyke will yield. Many times we fellows figured on the prospects of the Eldorado. I would not hesitate much about guaranteeing $21,000,000, and should not be surprised a bit if $25,000,000, or even $30,000,000, was taken out.
"Some people will tell you that the Klondyke is a marvel, and there will never be a discovery in Alaska which will compare with it. I don't believe it. I think that there will be a number of new creeks discovered that will make wonderful yields. Why, Bear Gulch is just like Eldorado. Bear Gulch has a double bed rock. Many do not know it, but it's a fact, and miners who are acquainted with it will tell you the same thing.
"The bed rocks are three feet apart. In the lower bed the gold is as black as a black cat, and in the upper bed, the gold is as bright as any you ever saw. We own No. 10 claim, below Discovery, on Bear Gulch, and also Nos. 20 and 21 on Last Chance Gulch, above Discovery. We prospected for three miles on Last Chance Gulch, and could not tell the best place to locate the Discovery claim. The man making a discovery of the creek is entitled by law to stake a claim and take an adjoining one, or, in other words, two claims; so you see he wants to get in a good location on the creek or gulch. Hunker Gulch is highly looked to. I think it will prove another great district, and some good strikes have also been made on Dominion Creek. Indian Creek is also becoming famous.
"What are we doing with all the money we take out?
"Well, we paid $45,000 spot cash for a half interest in Claim 32, Eldorado.We also loaned $5,000 each to four parties on Eldorado Creek, taking mortgages on their claims, so you see we are well secured.
"No, I do not want any better security for my money than Eldorado claims, thank you. I only wish I had a mortgage on the whole creek.
"We had a great deal of trouble in securing labor in prospecting our properties. Old miners would not work for any price. We could occasionally rope in a greenhorn and get him to work for a few days at $15 a day. Six or eight miners worked on shares for us about six weeks, and we settled. It developed that they had earned in that length of time $5,300 each. That was pretty good pay, wasn't it? We paid one old miner $12 for three hours' work and offered to continue him at that rate, but he would not have it, and he went out to hunt a claim of his own. My son, Samuel, and Charles Worden are in charge of our interests in Alaska. George Worden and I came out, and we will go back in March and relieve them. Then they will come out for a spell. George goes from here to his home in New York State to make his mother comfortable.
"I am an American by birth, but of Irish parents. I formerly lived in Western Kansas, but my claim there was not quite as good as the one I staked out on the Eldorado Creek."
CHOICE OF TWO ROUTES.
There are two routes either of which can be taken to the Klondyke. The best but the most expensive is by steamer from Seattle to St. Michael's, and then by river boat up the Yukon 1,700 miles to Dawson City. By this route it takes thirty-five to forty days, and the fare is $180. The steamers permit only 150 pounds of baggage for each passenger. Two steamers that will leave before the river is closed by ice cannot carry more than 150 passengers each. The other route is by land by way of Juneau. The passenger goes from Seattle to Juneau. There at this season all packs must be carried on the back or on mules. When snow falls sledges can be used and the trip can be made much more easily. The distance is 650 miles. This trip is thus described:
"Leaving Juneau you go to Dyea by way of Lime Canal, and from there to Lake Lindermann, thirty miles on foot, or portage, as we call it. The lakegives you a ride of five or six miles, and then follows another long journey overland to the headwaters of Lake Bennett, which is twenty-eight miles long. On foot you go again for several miles, and then the caribou crossing of the river furnishes transportation for four miles to Tagish Lake, where another twenty-one-mile boat ride may be had.
"This is followed by a weary stretch of mountainous country, and then Marsh or Mud Lake is reached. You get another boat ride of twenty-four miles, and then go down the creek for twenty-seven miles to Miles Canon and to White Horse Rapids.
"This is one of the most dangerous places on the entire route, and should be avoided by all strangers. The stream is full of sunken rocks and runs with the speed of a mile race. Passing White Horse Rapids the journey is down the river for thirty miles to Lake Labarge, where thirty-one miles of navigable water is found. Another short portage and Lous River is reached, where you have a 200-mile journey, which brings you to Fort Selkirk.
"At this point Polly and Lous rivers come together, forming the Yukon. From that point on is practically smooth sailing, though the stranger must be exceedingly careful."
For some time past a number of local and English companies have been studying the lay of the land between Chilkat and Circle City with a view to establishing a quicker, and more practicable way of transportation to the gold fields along the Yukon. Goodall, Perkins & Co., of New York have made a thorough investigation of the matter, and Capt. Chas. M. Goodall of that firm says:
"The rich find in the Klondyke district will probably result in some better means of transportation, though the roughness of the country and the limited open season will not justify anybody in building a railroad for any distance. Recently we sent several hundred sheep and cattle to Juneau, and from there to the head of navigation by the steamer Alki. Mr. Dalton, who discovered the trail across the country from the Chilkat River to Fort Selkirk, is taking live stock to the mines. His route lies from the head of navigation through Chilkoot Pass and along the trail, which is over prairie several hundred miles, to the Yukon River, near Fort Selkirk. At this time of year the prairie is clear and bunch grass grows on it in abundance.
"I believe this will ultimately be the popular route. People could go over it in wagons, as the prairie is level. Stations could be established, as was done on our plains in '49. It would be easy to go down the Yukon in boats from where Dalton's trail strikes it to Dawson City and other mining camps.
"The plan to build a traction road over Chilkoot Pass from Dyea, the head of navigation after leaving Juneau, to Lake Linderman, is not a good business proposition. It has been talked of, and the rest of the plan is to havesteamers to ply from Lake Linderman through the other lakes to the Yukon. But to do this two portages would have to be made on account of the falls in the river, and these would be enormously expensive.
"A British company has had in contemplation for some time the construction of a railroad from the head of navigation on Taku Inlet, near Juneau, to Teslin, or Aklene Lake, and thence down some small rivers to the Yukon and the mines. Even by this route there would be need of portages. The natural way to take in freight, unless the hurry be great, is by St. Michael and up the Yukon. To establish even a wagon road over Dalton's Trail on the prairie, a railroad over the divide from Dyea to Lake Linderman, or a railroad as planned by the English company, concessions would have to be secured from the British Government."
OCEAN ROUTE.
OVERLAND ROUTE.
ENCOUNTERS WITH THE ICE AND SNOW IN THE PASSES TO THE UPPER YUKON.
A letter, written to the San Francisco Examiner by Edgar A. Mizner, gives a graphic picture of life in the Klondyke region and the hardships and perils that the miner may expect to meet and undergo. He is at present the agent of the Alaska Commercial Company there. He set out from Seattle for the Yukon in March last. He had had mining experience before, having been frozen in one Winter on the Pend d'Oreille. Mizner Mountain, over against the Kootenai country, is named for him, his prospecting pick being the first to find pay ore there.
From a camp on the ice of Lake Bennett he wrote on May 6:
"It is nearly two months since I left you, and if I have not forgotten you altogether it's not the fault of the trip, for surely it's the devil's own. The man who wants the Yukon gold should know what he is going to tackle before he starts. If there is an easy part of the trip I haven't struck it yet.
"Eight of us made the trip from Juneau to Dyea, 100 miles, on the little steam launch Alert. The steamer Mexico reached Dyea the same morning with 423 men. As she drew so much water she had to stay about three miles off shore and land her passengers and freight as best she might in more or less inaccessible places on the rocky shores.
"Then up came the twenty-two-foot tide and many poor fellows saw their entire outfits swept into the sea. The tide runs there like the Fundy race. At Dyea there were but two houses, a store and, of course, a saloon. So when we landed on the beach and got out on the snow and ice we had to "rustle" for ourselves. We have kept on "rustling" for ourselves from that on.
"We camped the first night at Dyea. It is a most enjoyable thing, this making camp in the snow. First you must shovel down from three to six feet to find a solid crust. Then you must go out in the snow up to your neck to find branches with which to make a bed, and then comes the hunt for a dead tree for firewood. Dinner is cooked on a small sheetiron stove.
"Always keep an eye on the 'grub,' especially the bacon, for the dogs are like so many ravenous wolves, and it is not considered just the proper thing to be left without anything to eat in this frostbitten land. At night it is necessary to tie up the sacks of bacon in the trees or build trestles for them. But to the trip.
"The second day we went up Dyea canon. It is only three miles long, but seems fully thirty. This is true of all distances in this country. About one hundred pounds is about all a man wants to pull in this canon, as the way is steep and the ice slippery. So camps must be made short distances apart, as you have to go over the trail several times in bringing up your outfit. Remember, an ordinary outfit weighs from 500 to 800 pounds, and some of them much more.
"But the summit of Chilcoot Pass—that's the place that puts the yellow fear into many a man's heart. Some took one look at it, sold their outfits for what they would bring and turned back. This pass is over the ridge which skirts the coast. It is only about 1,200 feet from base to top, but it is almost straight up and down—a sheer steep of snow and ice. There is a blizzard blowing there most of the time, and when it is at its height, no man may cross. For days at a time the summit is impassable. An enterprising man named Burns has rigged a windlass and cable there, and with this he hoists up some freight at a cent a pound. The rest is carried over on the backs of Indians. We were detained ten days waiting our turn to have our outfits carried over and for favoring weather.
"After going about three miles up a dark canon a whirling snow storm struck us. But having risen at such an unconscionable hour we would not turn back. Our pride was near the end of us. I hope I may neverexperience such another day. The air was so filled with snow that at times it was impossible to see ten feet. It was all we could do to keep our feet against the wind which howled down the mountain. My beard became a mass of ice.
"The trail was soon obliterated and we were lost. But we stumbled on and by a rare chance we came upon the handle of a shovel which marked our cache. There was nothing to do but fight our way back to camp. The storm did not abate in the slightest. In fact, it raged for four long days. It was nearly dark when with knocking knees we got back to camp, more dead than alive.
"The next day ten men made up a party to go on the same trip back for their outfits. The day after that they were found huddled in a hole dug in a drift eating raw bacon. After another day of rest we put masts on our sleds, rigged sails and came across Lake Linderman and over Linderman Portage. We are now camped on the head of Lake Bennet."
Another letter written by Mr. Mizner from Forty Mile City, as late as June 12th, is quite as interesting. He says:
"The trip was an interesting one, but very dangerous. Many men lost 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 ourboat 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."
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 towork 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.
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 amail 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. Iwas 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."
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 thathis 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 companieswill 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.'"
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:
Based on supply and demand the above quoted prices may vary several hundred per cent. on some articles at any time.
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.
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 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.
A MINING ENGINEER'S WARNINGS AND SUGGESTIONS.
The New York Herald is authority for the statement that few persons in the mining world are more intimately acquainted with all its features than Mr. William Van Stooten, mining engineer and metallurgist. Besides being President of the South American Developing Company, which works the gold mines of Ecuador, he has relations with all the great gold mines of the world. To Mr. Van Stooten it appears that the gold discoveries in the Klondyke regions are the most important that have ever been made.
"Of course," he says, "there is a tendency to exaggeration in these matters which must always be discounted. It is well to bear in mind that the author of Munchausen was what was known in his day as a mining adventurer. Herr Rapp was a German who went over to England to develop the copper mines there. The nature of his business may have stimulated his imagination to the marvellous flights of that bit of fiction. But after making all possible allowances for exaggeration there is an obvious residuum of truth in the reports that come from the Yukon basin. And that residuum indicates something more extraordinary than anything recalled by a backward glance at the facts of 'forty-nine.'
"No such specifically large amounts of gold were 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 know that Ladue, the Alaska trader, has actually taken in fabulous wealth in the natural course of his business.
"We had long been aware that there was gold in the Yukon basin, but the total output for the last ten years before the Klondyke 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 Klondyke 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.
"There are just two ways at present, each of which has its advantages and its disadvantages. You may go by way of the Pacific Ocean and the Yukon River. From Seattle to St. Michael's takes two weeks. In the right season it takes two weeks more to sail up the Yukon from St. Michael's to Circle City. As the waters along the way are very shallow only flat-bottom side-wheelers can accomplish the voyage. Above Circle City the waters become too shallow even for this sort of craft. It is three hundred miles from Circle City to the scene of the latest discoveries. These hundred miles can only be covered by walking. Dog sleds draw all the necessary munitions. Reindeer, as well as dogs, have been tried successfully, and probably the deer will eventually supersede the canines.
"The other route, by way of Juneau, involves a tramp of seven hundred miles to the Klondyke. But in the warm season it is possible to traverse a large part of the distance in canoes through the congeries of lakes, all connected by more or less navigable streams."
"When would you advise prospective gold diggers to start by either St. Michael's or Juneau?"
"Under all circumstances they should wait until the approach of next spring. It is too late in the season to think of going now. It is true that the distance from Juneau to the Klondyke can be made in sleds andsnowshoes. But if the voyagers arrive on the spot after the middle of September they will find it entirely impossible to do any prospecting. The creeks are frozen and covered with snow. No clew to the presence of gold can be found. Now, even if the diggers arrive in June it may take them weeks or months to locate a desirable claim. But, once located, they can continue their work even in the depth of winter. Great fires are built around the claim, which are kept continually burning. Thus the ground is thawed out for digging during the winter months and is made ready for the reappearance of the sun and the inflowing of the waters. Then the dirt can be treated in pans or long toms. Owing to these peculiar difficulties it is likely that the place will continue one for poor man's mining and will be not be monopolized by capital."
"You advise people to wait until Spring. But don't you think the cream of the claims will be skimmed next year?"
"Not at all. One hundred thousand people might disperse themselves in the Yukon gold-bearing grounds and hardly know of the presence of neighbors. There may be other diggings over this vast area quite as good as the Klondyke diggings. As in all the gold mining regions, diggings everywhere vary considerably in value. It is not improbable even that the late comers will take up the abandoned washings of the earlier men and do well with them. This frequently happened in California. As settlements grow up and the facilities for comfortable living and effective work increase, it is possible that gold may be found in places where it was never dreamed of. There is no doubt that eventually a number of valuable ledges will be found, but the bulk of the gold will come from placers. This is nature's process for concentrating gold from the quartz ledges. You know, however, what is the natural course of development in newly discovered gold fields?"
"Well, here it is. First come the men with pans to gather in the riches that lie on the surface. It is possible for an active man to wash out a cubic yard, or 100 pounds of pay dirt in a day.
"Next follow associations of miners using 'Long Toms' and cradles.
"The third stage takes the form of hydraulic mining, by means of water brought from long distances.
"Fourth, and last, comes quartz mining under ground.
"This is the sequence that has always occurred. But it may take years before the final stage is reached in the Yukon, owing to the difficulties already pointed out."
The New York Journal, in keeping with its usual liberality and enterprise, has sent out a large expedition at its own expense. The Journal says:
"To investigate the riches of the Yukon gold fields and to tell the tale of Nature and human nature in the new ophir of the far North for the Journal, a company of five distinguished writers have been sent to the gold fields. Edward H. Hamilton, chief of the Journal bureau, is admirably equipped for his task. His writings have given him a high repute and his letters will discover to the world the life at Klondyke, as well as tell the sordid tale of the gains of the diggers. Charles Gregory Yale is one of the prominent mining experts of the West. For several years he has been statistician of the Mint at San Francisco and assistant in the California State Mining Bureau. He is a facile writer, having had a long experience as editor of the "Mining and Scientific Press," of San Francisco. Edward J. Livernash is a lawyer and journalist, a careful investigator and an able descriptive writer. Joaquin Miller, the gray poet of the Sierras, will sing for the Journal a new song of the St. Elias Alps. Mrs. Norman Brough, known to readers by her pen name, "Helen Dare," will have the opportunity to write of a woman's experience digging gold in the placers and housekeeping in a sunless land, with the thermometer at 60 below zero."
DESERT THEIR SHIPS IN ALASKAN PORTS TO DIG FOR FORTUNES.
The gold fever has struck the hardy mariner at last, and desertions are numerous from ships up north.
Shippers expect soon to hear of craft being tied up in Alaskan ports just as they were in San Francisco harbor in '49, when crews deserted wholesale to dig gold in the rich placers.
When the steamship Pueblo arrived, Capt. Debney reported that the mates of the Al-ki and the Topeka had both left their ships in Juneau. Other steamer captains before they left recently said they would be lucky if they managed to keep enough men to work ship after they reached the northern ports.
Capt. Debney says that when the Portland reached St. Michael's on her last trip up one of the firemen, who had made friends with some of the miners aboard, handed in his resignation and asked for a ticket up the Yukon.
It was refused him on the ground that he was a deserter. He twice offered money without avail. The miners held the ship for twelve hours.
At the expiration of that time the company put up a notice that the Portland would start on her return trip at a certain hour. The miners held a meeting and appointed a committee of twelve to wait on the company's agent. The committee filed into the agent's office, where each man drew a revolver and laid it on the agent's table. They demanded that a ticket be given the fireman at once, and the agent complied. The fireman went with the party up the Yukon.
Capt. Debney reports that the Queen, which sailed from Puget Sound several days ago, passed the American port officials all right, but when the vessel reached Victoria the customs officials decided that she was overloaded and took fifteen of the miners ashore. They are now stopping at the Victoria Hotel at the expense of the Pacific Steamship Company, and will be sent north on a later vessel.
Capt. Debney has received a letter from his son, who is agent for the Alaska Commercial Company at Dawson. He reports that there are now at Dawson thirty-five saloons, one theatre, eight dance houses, three general stores, five bakeries, five restaurants, two barber shops, one candy maker and three laundries.
THE HEALTHIEST REGION IN THE WORLD IS THE KLONDYKE.
F. G. Bowker, of Dawson, says there was nobody there to die until less than a year ago, and that since then there have been but three deaths in that whole district as far as is known.
Of the three deaths one occurred just before the steamer Excelsior left Dawson. A man who had just sold his claim for $12,000 passed away in his bunk with his head resting on the sack of coin which represented the success of his search for wealth.
In the graveyard at Forty Mile, which has served for all that section forsome years past, there are only thirty or forty graves. Few die within reach of settlements without medical aid and spiritual advice.
There are missions of several Protestant denominations, as well as Russian and Roman Catholic missions, at frequent intervals throughout the country. Funerals are not as ostentatious as in the civilized world, but everything that is necessary is reverentially done by rough but kindly miners.
The tale about confiscation of dead men's effects by friends and neighbors is branded as a malicious lie.
It is one of the unwritten laws of the Yukon that these shall be turned over to the Government and disposed of according to statute laws.
REGULATIONS IMPOSED BY THE DOMINION UPON PLACER MINING.
As the Klondyke diggings, as thus far developed and staked, are upon Canadian territory it is important to bear in mind the regulations imposed by the Dominion Government on placer mining. They are as follows:
"Bar diggings" shall mean any part of a river over which the water extends when the water is in its flooded state and which is not covered at low water. "Mines on benches" shall be known as bench diggings, and shall for the purpose of defining the size of such claims be excepted from dry diggings. "Dry diggings" shall mean any mine over which a river never extends. "Miner" shall mean a male or female over the age of eighteen, but not under that age. "Claims" shall mean the personal right of property in a placer mine or diggings during the time for which the grant of such mine or diggings is made. "Legal post" shall mean a stake standing not less than four feet above the ground and squared on four sides for at least one foot from the top. "Close season" shall mean the period of the year during which placer mining is generally suspended. The period to be fixed by the gold commissioner in whose district the claim is situated. "Locality" shall mean the territory along a river (tributary of the Yukon) and its affluents. "Mineral" shall include all minerals whatsoever other than coal.
1. Bar diggings. A strip of land 100 feet wide at highwater mark and thence extending along the river to its lowest water level.
2. The sides of a claim for bar diggings shall be two parallel lines runas nearly as possible at right angles to the stream, and shall be marked by four legal posts, one at each end of the claim at or about high water mark; also one at each end of the claim at or about the edge of the water. One of the posts shall be legibly marked with the name of the miner and the date upon which the claim is staked.
3. Dry diggings shall be 100 feet square and shall have placed at each of its four corners a legal post, upon one of which shall be legibly marked the name of the miner and the date upon which the claim was staked.
4. Creek and river claims shall be 500 feet long, measured in the direction of the mineral course of the stream, and shall extend in width from base to base of the hill or bench on each side, but when the hills or benches are less than 100 feet apart the claim may be 100 feet in depth. The sides of a claim shall be two parallel lines run as nearly as possible at right angles to the stream. The sides shall be marked with legal posts at or about the edge of the water and at the rear boundary of the claim. One of the legal posts at the stream shall be legibly marked with the name of the miner and the date upon which the claim was staked.
5. Bench claims shall be 100 feet square.
6. In defining the size of claims they shall be measured horizontally, irrespective of inequalities on the surface of the ground.
7. If any person or persons shall discover a new mine and such discovery shall be established to the satisfaction of the gold commissioner, a claim for the bar diggings 750 feet in length may be granted. A new stratum of auriferous earth or gravel situated in a locality where the claims are abandoned shall for this purpose be deemed a new mine, although the same locality shall have previously been worked at a different level.
8. The forms of application for a grant for placer mining and the grant of the same shall be according to those made, provided or supplied by the gold commissioner.
9. A claim shall be recorded with the gold commissioner in whose district it is situated within three days after the location thereof if it is located within ten miles of the commissioner's office. One day extra shall be allowed for making such record for every additional ten miles and fraction thereof.
10. In the event of the absence of the gold commissioner from his office for entry a claim may be granted by any person whom he may appoint to perform his duties in his absence.
11. Entry shall not be granted for a claim which has not been staked by the applicant in person in the manner specified in these resolutions. An affidavit that the claim was staked out by the applicant shall be embodied in the application.
12. An entry free of $15 shall be charged the first year and an annual fee of $100 for each of the following years:
13. After recording a claim the removal of any post by the holder thereof or any person acting in his behalf for the purpose of changing the boundaries of his claim shall act as a forfeiture of the claim.
14. The entry of every holder for a grant for placer mining must be renewed and his receipt relinquished and replaced every year, the entry fee being paid each year.
15. No miner shall receive a grant for more than one mining claim in the same locality, but the same miner may hold any number of claims by purchase and any number of miners may unite to work their claims in common on such terms as they may arrange, provided such agreement be registered with the gold commissioner and a fee of $5 paid for each registration.
16. Any miner or miners may sell, mortgage or dispose of his or their claims provided such disposal be registered with and a fee of $5 paid to the gold commissioner, who shall thereupon give the assignee a certificate of his title.
17. Every miner shall during the continuance of his grant have the exclusive right of entry upon his own claim for the miner-like working thereof and the construction of a residence thereon, and shall be entitled exclusively to all the proceeds realized therefrom, but he shall have no surface rights therein, and the gold commissioner may grant to the holders of adjacent claims such rights of entry thereon as may be absolutely necessary for the working of their claims upon such terms as may to him seem reasonable. He may also grant permits to miners to cut timber thereon for their own use upon payment of the dues prescribed by the regulations in that behalf.
18. Every miner shall be entitled to the use of so much of the water naturally flowing through or past his claim and not already lawfully appropriated, as shall in the opinion of the gold commissioner be necessary for the working thereof, and shall be entitled to drain his own claim free of charge.
19. A claim shall be deemed to be abandoned and open to occupation and entry by any person when the same shall have remained unworked on working days by the grantee thereof or by some person in his behalf for the space of seventy-two hours unless sickness or other reasonable cause may be shown to the satisfaction of the gold commissioner, or unless the grantee is absent on leave given by the commissioner, and the gold commissioner, upon obtaining evidence satisfactory to himself that this provision is not being complied with, may cancel the entry given for a claim.
20. If the land upon which a claim has been located is not the property of the Crown it will be necessary for the person who applies for entry to furnish proof that he has acquired from the owner of the land the surface right before entry can be granted.
21. If the occupier of the lands has not received a patent thereof thepurchase money of the surface rights must be paid to the Crown and a patent of the surface rights will issue to the party who acquired the mining rights. The money so collected will either be refunded to the occupier of the land when he is entitled to a patent there or will be credited to him on account of payment of land.
22. When the party obtaining the mining rights cannot make an arrangement with the owner thereof for the acquisition of the surface rights it shall be lawful for him to give notice to the owner or his agents or the occupier to appoint an arbitrator to act with another arbitrator named by him in order to award the amount of compensation to which the owner or occupier shall be entitled.