USA > Alaska > Alaska, its neglected past, its brilliant future > Part 20
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The Klondyke district has the following officers: Major Walsh, who is in charge of the police and is administrator; Justice McGuire and Register Aylmore are in charge of the government departments.
A mining claim in Alaska must be worked at least to the amount of one hundred dollars a year for five years, or five hundred dollars in one year, to insure the claimant's right to obtain a patent or title. (That is the American law regulation.)
The miners make their own laws for different dis- tricts.
There is a doubtful choice between an Eastern resi- dence and a Klondyke home, ice bound, with a severe winter and the thermometer oftentimes between 20
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and 60, and occasionally 70 degrees F. below zero; and its summers of intense radiating heat, with a phenomenal quantity of mosquitoes and gnats present.
A vigilance committee of twenty-five has been or- ganized at Skaguay to preserve order.
Millions will be lost as well as millions gained by this attack of Gold Fever. Stock shares on paper are very uncertain in value at any time.
The Bonanza Creek and the Hunter Creek are both turning out a considerable amount of gold.
Senator Manderson advocated from the Committee on Military Affairs a bill to authorize the Secretary of War to explore and survey the interior of the Terri- tory of Alaska. The Secretary of War then, was the Hon. Redfield Proctor. The bill passed the Senate, but failed in the House.
The explorations into Alaska have been the fol- lowing: There was an expedition that was sent out by the Western Union Telegraph Company, in 1866, that went up the river as far as Fort Yukon; in 1869, by Captain Raymond, United States Army to the same point; in 1883, by Lieutenant Schwatka, United States Army, from Lake Linderman to the Yukon's mouth; in 1885, by Lieut. Allen, United States Army, who ascended the Copper River, descended the Tanana River, crossed from the north of the Tanana River to the Koyukuk, which he explored for some distance to the north, and returned thence to its junction with the Yukon.
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These exploring parties were obliged to keep to the rivers and the journeys were in great haste. The nature of the country was only to be guessed at, and its possibilities were practically unknown1.
A notable fact to be considered in the position lately evidenced by Great Britain regarding the eastern boundary of Alaska, is that in Volume I, of the En- cyclopedia Britannica, on a map facing page 443, we find the Territory of Alaska distinctly defined by a line of demarkation. This undoubtedly is the proper curve-on the mainland-to Mt. Fairweather, thence to the top of Mt. St. Elias, and from that point continu- ing along the imaginary 14Ist parallel of latitude. As in every other case on record, the islands are not noted in the line of demarkation. This undoubtedly is the proper line; the one intended by Russia, as it was held by that Government from the time of the addition of that territory to Russian possessions, and therefore the only legal one limiting the purchased property of the United States. This public acknowledgment made by Great Britain in the books accepted as a standard, not only in Europe but in this country, should for- ever set at rest the contention begun only when the great value of the Yukon District was discovered.
Davis Creek Mines were discovered in the spring of 1888.
Miller Creek whose entire length lies in British pos- sessions, and until recently was the heaviest producer of the Forty Mile district, was discovered in 1892.
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It is said that there has been an attempt to use cen- trifugal pumps, whose huge nozzles are plunged into the river beds and draw up the valuable deposits. They have not yet been sufficiently tested to prove their success. Of course they can only be used in placer mining in the beds of the creeks and small rivers when not frozen.
There are now 549 stamps at work in stamp mills, in Alaska. 455 of that number work upon the quartz all the year. There is a prospect of the erection of two or three hundred more before another year closes.
The first gold craze in the North-West was in 1883, but there were not thousands ready to rush to the cold North as there are to-day.
The annual average of gold from Alaska previous to 1890 was about $15,000. Since then it has reached a standard of $2,000,000 or more.
In 1896 the total output of gold was $4,670,000. $1,300,000 of that amount was from the Birch Creek district on the Yukon and the place was not boomed!
Miners work under great difficulties; in the cool weather, at Klondyke they are compelled to keep themselves enveloped in cumbersome wool and fur clothing; one remarking that he kept his nose from freezing by sticking a piece of rabbit skin upon it. While in summer they can hardly endure as much as the lightest cheese cloth over the face, though the insects are extremely audacious.
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It should be specified positively that until good roads are constructed, or railroads built, the travel in the heart of the glacier district of Alaska is only pos- sible three, or at most, four, months in the year.
There is no use trying to reach the gold regions of the Yukon without faithful and experienced guides or carriers, unless you group in with a company or band of miners, bound for the same destination. Such an association of gold miners expect strict integrity for they act as judge, jury and executioner otherwise.
Never go alone on a prospecting trip in the wilds of the Alaskan Mountains. Be sure to select carefully your companions.
One of the best arrangements to make is that offered by the North American Transportation Company, which gives passage on safe vessels, and outside of steamer accommodations, guarantees to keep one fur- nished with food for one year for $400.00.
A slight drawback to the ambition to become a Klondyke miner is the announcement that reliable companies yet refuse to insure the lives of men who wish to go, facts being so difficult to obtain in case of death.
The men who are belated and not able to go on to Klondyke should prospect for the Alaskan gold or coal mines and sink oil wells in the petroleum region. There will be a great demand for both of the latter in a few years.
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Mount Rainer, formerly called Mount Tacoma, is boldly seen and for a long time in view with its broad white crest, if the route is by the way of the Cascade range of Mountains direct to Tacoma.
Mount Hood's cone-shaped head to the south in Oregon and Mt. Adams to the north in Washington nearby, are the tall peaks of the Cascade range that greet the eye on the Columbia river going to Port- land, Oregon.
Direct lines of steamers ply between San Francisco and Victoria and Port Townsend at all favorable sea- sons. Other lines run from San Francisco to all ports down the coast to San Diego. While still others run to South American ports; other lines from San Fran- cisco run to Yokohama, near Tokio, Japan, to China ports and other Oriental countries.
If you do not get all the way to Klondyke, there are equally as hospitable stopping places on the way. And if you have not plenty of money, clothing and provisions stop in Dyea or Juneau, or even at Wran- gel until the spring opens; then join a company well stocked with provisions.
The hope is expressed that there will be sufficient traffic to require daily steamers between Seattle and Juneau in a few months.
There has been an agreement made with Canada by which Dyea is made a sub-port, vessels fitted out to British Columbia Provinces being allowed to pass
ALASKAN BLOCK HOUSE.
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Juneau and proceed to Dyea, unloading there and passing over that narrow part of country between the port and British Columbia, without restriction.
This is not a prerogative, but a courtesy extended to one nation by another and should be reciprocated. On the other hand American miners and traders should not enforce any exactions from our neighbors, either in undue values or trade duties.
John Treadwell became possessed of the mines on Douglas Island, which now bear his name, for the sum of $450.00, and at first he thought his money ill-spent.
The Treadwell Gold Mines are said to yield from $600,000 to $700,000 per month. Money, energy and perseverance makes them. The company is increasing its plant of quartz-stamps in its large mills from two hundred and forty, its present capacity, to over three hundred, making the largest stamp mill in the world. Seven millions of tons of ore are said to be in sight, sufficient to run five hundred stamps for eleven years. It will soon produce $125,000 per month, at a cost of $I per ton. The small water supply is the greatest drawback to the increase of stamps.
In South Africa there is a stamp mill of two hun- dred and eighty stamps.
Silver Bow Basin Mines could run a thousand- stamp mill were it not for the small amount of water supply, which must be ample for each crusher.
The diamond prospecting drill is used to drive
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through veins and stringers, to ascertain the value of the same.
When speaking of the timber of Alaska it must be remembered that in upper Bering Sea, and in a large belt of the Arctic region, there is not a trace to be seen, only rank grass and moss in summer; but there are thousands of tons of the kind of moss that the reindeer feeds upon.
The Klondyke has an advantage over other mining districts in the abundance of wood with which to make fires to thaw out the frozen ground, a first preparation in the mining of the placers after uncovering the gold bearing strata.
The greatest need in the mining districts of the Yukon is a plan for quickly softening the frozen earth in winter in order to reach the ground in which the gold is found. The Philadelphia down draft fire ma- chine for heating and repairing asphalt pavements will do it. It would require vast forests to supply the requisite amount of wood, to burn, as the miners are doing at the Klondyke now. They build fires over certain areas, that must burn for hours to gain a few inches into the solidly frozen soil.
Cape Flattery is the northwestern point of coast of Washington, where vessels round to come into the straits of Juan de Fuca.
Port Townsend, where the Alaska steamers fre- quently touch, is at the northern end of Washington,
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where the straits of Juan de Fuca merge into Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia. Alaska passengers coming down, change here or at Victoria, if they so desire, to the steamers down the coast to San Fran- cisco.
Victoria is at the southern end of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia. Vancouver, the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, is on an inlet near the mouth of the Frazer River, where it enters the Straits of Georgia. Pacific Ocean commerce enters through the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The water ways of the Straits of Georgia and Queen Charlotte Sound are bordered by British Columbia Territory.
Nanaimo is a Canadian town on the east side of Vancouver Island and on the west side of the Straits of Georgia, which is quite wide at this point. It is almost due west from the town of Vancouver, which is on the mainland to the east. Inland steamers often put into Nanaimo for freight and passengers but the through summer excursion vessels do not always stop there, as they invariably do at Victoria and at Port Townsend, especially if they are chartered for a through trip to Dyea, Juneau, Taku Inlet, or other special destinations.
If accounts received be accurate, Eldorado and Bo- nanza Creeks have authorized their names hand- somely. Bonanza being indeed a great centre of the Klondyke gold region.
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" Discovery " was the first claim located on Bonanza Creek and recognized by miners as the centre of the field, many others being numbered cach way from it. In the fifteen miles first taken there are sixty claims above and ninety below it. Now all the creek is occu- pied.
DOG SLEDGES, REINDEER, HORSES.
Horses are not possessed of the endurance of either dogs or burros, therefore it is unwise to invest in d horse if you can procure a tough burro, donkey or a few good sledge dogs. In time, reindeer will be available, which will be even better for mountain and winter work and long distances.
A team of dogs and a strong sled costs about five or six hundred dollars, but the outlay will be better than risking all your possessions on the back of a horse to which the hardships will be very trying, while he may fail you in the Chilcoot Mountain Pass, un- less a good road is built.
Time is a most important item in the journey to the Klondyke, but speed is liable to be disastrous, therefore start in time, wait until next season, or until a good winter roadway is opened.
Reckoning the price of a good Alaskan dog at $50 or $75, which is the minimum for a good one, and it takes from seven to eleven to make a team, one might think twice before risking his cash in so much canine flesh, but sleding transport requires them.
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All dogs are not of the same disposition. It re- quires experience to manage a team of them.
Although the reindeer, which are being imported into Alaska, are not at present used as burden-bearers, they are expected to be a great help to miners travel- ing to the gold fields next summer.
There is a thought of starting a reindeer express along the line of towns from Bering Strait to Kodiak Island.
The trained reindeer cover two or three times the distance that a dog team does in a day.
As the sled-dogs are so valuable to their owners, the first thought is to provide sufficient food for them, which consists mainly of fish. An ordinary dog eats about two pounds of dried salmon a day, which is the same as seven pounds of fresh fish.
Dog boarding houses have been opened along the Yukon, the charge being from $6 to $15 a month.
ADVANTAGES OF THE GOLD CRAZE.
While men at the North-West in all kinds of em- ployment are leaving everything to go prospecting for gold, at the new placer fields, the hundreds of men who have been without work for so long can well push forward and fill their places and make new homes and a good living in southeastern Alaska.
If the gold craze continues there will be a premium on ordinary work out in Alaska. Those who need it
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should watch for the opportunity that will come. So let men and women go West and take up the business that others have laid down in the great rush to the Klondyke region.
Real rich mining often begins where placer mining ceases, the grains and nuggets being the wash from lodes or mineral streaks in the veins, loosened higher up the gorge or mountain by glacial action.
There are no claims unstaked at the Klondyke now.
The land about the Klondyke was pretty well staked before the Eastern press announced the finding of large quantities of gold that created the present gold fever. Where one immense fortune will be made in the Klondyke, there will be a score or more of dis- couraged seekers after wealth.
PROVISIONS IN ALASKA.
Prospects are bright now for Alaska as the Gov- ernment has undertaken to investigate its require- ments and resources. The establishment of a Land Office, and the providing of an Agricultural Depart- ment for the development of that line of Alaskan re- sources has also been determined upon. This is an important matter as both vegetables and domestic animals can easily be raised there in some localities for the benefit of the inhabitants and new comers.
It is next thing to criminal for any one to at- tempt to face the rigors of the Yukon climate without
PLACER MINING SLUICE.
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every precaution and ample provision. No one has any right to start with the hope that there will be suffi- cient for all in the bleak, frost-bound winter of that part of the country.
The feasibility of transporting live cattle to the min- ing camps has been tested, and the beef sold readily for fifty cents a pound. Sheep can also be driven there in the summer.
Cattle and sheep might be taken across the moun- tains to the lakes when winter comes, as they can be slaughtered there and their flesh frozen, by which means it would keep indefinitely for transportation to the gold fields.
A surprising amount of nutritious food in condensed or dry form can be carried in the numerous food-tab- lets, bottles and cans, but great care should be taken in their selection, as to quality and freshness.
Wisely catered, a man may carry sufficient nutri- ment upon his back to last him for months, with an abundance of good drinking water at command, but the factors of heat and light in winter, must like- wise be considered.
The cost of provisions in the gold country to-day is enormous, the demand is great, but phenomenal fortunes may provide the money to pay the fortunate miner. The greater trouble must be for a time, to get sufficient food and clothing into the camps, where winter mining is to be done.
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A step in the right direction is made in building boats, forming new and reliable supply companies and filling store houses in anticipation of the spring exodus to the new gold regions.
Let American citizens always bear in mind that the Klondyke is recognized at present to be in British Columbia, and aliens are subject to taxation, and that mining and other Canadian laws differ from ours.
Many seekers after gold have been obliged to turn back, owing to the lack of additional capital required to carry the provisions, necessary for a winter in the Klondyke Section, over the Chilkoot Pass, the packers having formed a union and charging as high as 25 or 30 cents per pound. The former rate was 15 cents per pound.
There is wealth in the oil wells of Alaska if the tales of oil discovery be even partially true. It will serve the people for fuel as well as light.
The X-ray for use in prospecting for gold is be- ing boomed in the papers and may be of some value in the future, but drilling through the veins or earth is the most certain method.
If reports be true, about two miles from the ocean, surrounded by hills rich in coal and asphalt, a lake of almost pure petroleum has been discovered. It is of unknown depth, several miles wide, and five to six miles in length.
A company has been formed in Seattle, and it is
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its intention as soon as the water ways will permit, to introduce it into the mines in Alaska for lighting and heating.
DAWSON CITY.
Dawson City the centre to which the great crowd is trending, is owned by one man named Joseph La- due, who patented the site in 1896. It is located 75 miles from the boundary line on the Canadian side; and has suddenly grown to be a city of great impor- tance in that region. The population at present is about four thousand.
Since last September there have been at least 800 or more new claims staked within a distance of twenty miles of Dawson City.
There is no established town on the Alaskan side in close proximity to that place, except Forty Mile and Circle City. Mining camps are forming, how- ever, at the mines for winter work.
Joseph Ladue, who has a saw mill at Dawson City, says lumber sells there at $130 per thousand feet.
Men thinking of going to the Klondyke country should know that its climate is like that of southern Greenland, and prepare for it accordingly. To in- sure success as an Alaskan, you must dress as one. There is not much use for fashion plates at the Klon- dyke, but there is of flannels and warm furs in winter.
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SEAL INDUSTRY.
The seal industry alone has more than paid with interest the price of Alaska. The other fisheries have produced a satisfactory revenue, therefore the thirty millions of dollars in gold that the territory has al- ready yielded may be called clear profit on the invest- ment.
One great cause for the heavy mortality among the seal pups last year was said to be due to a parasitic worm, which infested the sandy, rocky areas of the breeding grounds.
Last year there was a shrinkage of 15 per cent. on the breeding grounds and 33 per cent. on the hunt- ing grounds. The seal conference showed greater loss this year.
The seals are considered to have a very keen ap- petite, and when tamed, sing for their meals. They are very particular from whom they take their meals, and become very much attached to the keeper in charge.
DISEASE.
Scurvy is a disease to be carefully guarded against in the distant mining camps. None but the very best salt meats should be used and that not too bounti- fully. Canned vegetable foods can now be had and the disease averted.
Rheumatism, pulmonary and malarial diseases are likely to prevail in the damp weather of summer.
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ASSAY OFFICE AT SEATTLE.
The people of the gold regions are asking for an Assay Office, and one is to be established at Seattle. No doubt one will have to be established in the North- West, but it would be better in Alaska. Assayers will do well at the new gold fields.
CIRCLE CITY.
Circle City, a settlement on the Yukon in Alaska, formerly boasted of a mail once every month. Though letters are rated at one dollar and newspapers at two dollars, they found a hearty welcome in the little city. Increased postal facilities bi-monthly have been estab- lished by the Government and the service improved.
TELEGRAPH.
A Russian-American telegraph line was once pro- jected across Bering Sea, but the successful laying of the great Atlantic cables caused its abandonment. There are whispers of another attempt in that direc- tion in the future. A line will soon be run to the Upper Yukon region.
The Canadian Government has under construction a telegraph line to the Yukon gold mining district, from Lynn Canal to Fort Selkirk and Klondyke, and will erect suitable places for shelter along the line about forty or fifty miles apart, and keep the route open during the winter by dog teams.
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FORT GET THERE.
There is a genuine United States Fort situated on St. Michaels Island near the mouth of the Yukon. It was so named because of the difficulties that had to be surmounted by the party that reached there. They have established a ship yard at this place where a ship to be named the John Cudahy is to be built for the Yukon trade. It is to carry 800 tons, and to be fitted out with all modern appliances, and yet with light enough draft for the shallow river, which is only four or five feet deep at places. Two or three Alaskan naval stations are needed, one at the Yukon, one at Juneau or Taku Inlet, and one at Sitka.
WEARE.
Mr. P. B. Weare, Vice President of the North American Transportation and Trading Company, who authenticates the statement, says that they are con- structing several 200 ton barges, and a light draft steamer to be called the "Klondyke" and they have bought a tug of great strength for the purpose of tow- ing the laden barges up the great river between Fort Get There, St. Michaels, and Weare, a town 500 miles up the stream.
It is the intention to winter all of the vessels 400 miles from the mouth of the Yukon, so as to begin operations in the spring up in the inner country while waiting for the removal of the annual stoppage at the
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opening of the usual channel into Bering Sea, by the unlocking of the icy barriers.
Gambling, that curse of the mining camp, is in full sweep, but lawlessness has not yet asserted itself. Thus far a miner caught cheating is quietly invited to decamp-and he does. Thieves are usually hung or shot without great ceremony.
Murder and drunkenness are almost unknown, possibly because whiskey is not very plentiful at fifty cents a drink and the mounted Canadian police are an effective agency in maintaining order.
The penalties for crime are severe, being banish- ment from the country, in some cases. Whipping is the punishment for stealing and threatening with weapons. Hanging is the punishment for murder, though there has been none as yet.
The only way into and out of the Klondyke in win- ter has been by way of the Chilkoot Pass and Dyea Inlet. A new winter route out lays more to the south.
The only way to live there is to imitate the Indians in dress and habit.
It is useless to wear leather or gum boots. Good moccasins are absolutely necessary.
The colder it is the better the traveling.
When it is very cold there is no wind, and the wind storm is too severe to withstand.
In the summer the sun rises early and sets late, and
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there are only a few hours when it is not shining di- rectly on northern Alaska.
The weather is warm and tent life is comfortable, in the valleys.
The Chilkoot Railroad and Transportation Com- pany is building a road from tide-water to the top of the Pass and thence an aerial tramway to Crater Lake.
Stock can be kept by using care in providing it abundantly with food by ensilage or curing natural grass hay and by housing the cattle in the winter.
The Alaskans, who are numerous, look much like Chinese or Japanese. They are peaceable, industrious and self-supporting.
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