W A S H IN G T O N
COUNTY
nATCHET.
THE WAZlRia.
A W ild and W a r lik e Tr lbe 0
t a b I n d i a n Frontier. **
i» A laska
H E United Staten
G o v e r n meat in
18G7 paid Kussla
* 7 , 2 0 0,0 0 0 for
Alaska. The terri
tory has paid hack
her purchase mon
ey in «old four
times, having pro
duced during the
time it has been a
part of the United
States about $30,-
000,000 of the pre
cious yellow metal.
To-day the eyes
of the
world
are
turned
toward
our frozen acquisition in the north,
for within its borders has been dis
covered an Eldorado. The word Klon-
d.vke, literally translated meaning Deer
Hiver, is on every tongue and is known as
the designation for a gold-bearing district
greater in area and richer in character
than any the world has ever known, with
the possible exception of California.
Klondyae is the uew open sesame to
Aladdin's cave; it supplants “ Pike's Peuk
or bust" iu the gold-seeker's vernacular.
“The days of '97" may become as cele
brated a phrase ns "the days of '49,” for
the same fever that seized upon the people
IKH(l dotted the Western prairies with em
igrant trains bound for the Pacific coast
is claiming victims by the thousands, all
eager to brave the perils of the arctic cir
cle and wrest a fortune from the frozen
zone.
'Ihe ie|silled gold discoveries of the
Present day iu Alaska and the reported
gold discoveries of ’49 in California afford
many parallels. To the average man the
treasures or the coast State were seem
ingly ns inuiceaailde as are the riches of
the Yukon and its tributaries. One was
more thun 2,000 miles ucrosa a trackless
desert and over snow-bound mountain
passes, beset by savages, whose deadly
attacks marked the trail with bleaching
bones across the Western States; the
other is nearly 7.000 miles by water,
through n rigorous climate, or almost
4,000 miles by land and water, with moun
tain passes in scale as dangerous as those
of ihe Swiss Alps.
'■'he Alaska and California gold fields
are alike nbo in being pin er mines. Placer
ininiug is commonly called "poor man's
mining," for the reason that it is done
without machinery, while the implements
required in the work are few and of small
cost. A placer miner can get along very
well will) a pick, shovel and gold pan.
I f the dirt is nut rich lie can accomplish
PLACEE
M IN E E S
P A N IN O
of “tenderfeet,” who, aguinst the adviee
of the old-timers in the district, wuudered
"over yonder in the Klondyke’’ and struck
it rich. From Klondyke conies much of
the gold and front Klondyke seems to
come all the excitement. A few "tender-
feet,” going it blind, have stirred up the
nation. Out of the region of their dis
covery has cone, it is estimated. $2,000,-
(SKI worth of gold during the present sum
mer. Nearly all of that gold has found
its way into the United States.
It is hard to tell where the Alaska gold
fields are located except that in a general
way the la st of them nre along the Yukon.
There are ii few "lode” mines near Ju-
neau and along the southeast const of the
territory (the most accessible part of itt,
hut the one is of low grade and mining is
made profitable only by the most careful
management.
In all the immense country over which
the placer mining extends it is estimated
that lip to last year there were 2JNHI min
ers. The districts iu which most of them
worked were in a broad belt of gold pro
ducing toc.k, through which quartz veins
carrying gold occur frequently. Through
the gold-hearing rocks the streams have
cut deep gullies and canyons, and in their
beds the gold which was contained in the
rock is comentruted. The mining of this
country miisists, therefore, in washing
out the gravel of these hods.
T o Reach th e H o ld F ield*.
• riM)«PKCTlXt» IX AI.A SKV.
better resulta hy ruuuing it Ihrough a
sluicc box, bul wdiere tbe vichi Is in nug-
gets liisieail of tille gold he prefers to
“pan” it.
The grent Klondyke strike was mude
lnst year, lint nothing was known of it in
the United States tiutil June lo of the
preseut year, when a Vessel called the
Excelsior a ir i ved in San Francisco luden
with milicrs from tile Klondyke. w lio in
turn were luden with gold. The.v tnld
slniost incredihle tales of the richness of
the ncwdy discovered ilistrict, where for
tunes liad liecn accumulnted íu n fcw
tuonths. Experieuced miners and "ten
dorfect” si ciued to lis ve sha red good for
tune nlike, and with sume justice. too,
for the «-redil of the dtseoverv of the new
gold fields is due to the luezperlenced men.
Anothcr vessel brought to Seattle a sec-
The best way to reach the Klondyke
district'/ One goes from Seattle by ocean
steamer west and a little north, and pass
es through Dutch Harbor, at tin* ex
treme «ml of the Southwest Alaskan pe
ninsula.
From there the steamer turns
north and continues on to St. Michael's
Island, a little above the mouth of the
Yukon, iu Behriug Sea. At that point
passengers ale transferred to the river
steamers to begin the long journey up the
Yukon, which winds northward anil east
ward, and finally brings the traveler to
Dawson City, now the principal town in
the district, although sixty-five miles from
the Klondye tielils.
The tost of the trip from Chicago this
way, ns prospecting miners usually travel,
in $251 .no.
It is divided as follows:
From Chicago to Seattle (second class),
$51.50; from Seattle to Dawson City,
$2tK>. In time the trip o«»sts thirty days—
four from Chicago to Seattle, sixteen from
Seattle to St. Slichnel'a Island, ami ten
up the Yukon to Dawson City by the fast
OUT”
NUGGETS
IN
THE
I
AT
THE
FO O T
OF
C H 1 LK O O T
PASS.
oi«J party of successful prospectors ami a boat. The distance in general Hgnrea is
ton ami n half of gold. These men had 2.250 miles front Chicago to Seattle,
endured peril and undergone great hard
2.500 miles to St. Michael's Island and
ahips gn s o inniilatliig tbe fortunes they l,gg0 miles up the Y'nkon to Dawoon, a
brought, nmt they told a atory that had a total of about 6,000 miles.
dark aa well aa a bright aide. To follow
Anothcr way. tbe “mountain route," la
tbeir example means a riak of wealth, shorter in miles, but equally long in the
health t.nd even life, but for those who time It requires and a great deal more
are willing to take the cham'rs the proa- difficult. By this route the traveler aaila
pect they bold out la alluring.
more directly north to Juneau, which la
T k t K lo n d y k e D istrict.
HOP miles from Beattie, and then goes hy
The rieheat of the mines n the Alaaka lake and river and over the mountains
region seem to be In tbe Klondyke, a few 1,000 miles to the new mining territory.
i over the British border. They were The cost of the trip this wny cannot be
as has been aald, by • party defleitel) stated beyond Juneau, because
Cl
HOUSE
D IS T E lt T.
sometimes even a little bit hot. but not
for long. In that time, too, there is al
most continual day. for that end of the
earth (if it may be so called) is the one
that is isiinted directly at the sun.
But as the summer brings warmth and
daylight it also brings mosquitoes. And
such mosquitoes! Creatures that buzz
and bite iu such a way us to make the
dreaded Jersey variety seem by compari
son like the silvery, angelic, sweetly, hum
ming fancies of a peaceful dream. 1 lie
travelers v. ho return from the Yukon re
gion tell stories of how brave and strong
men, courageous enough to undertake the
perils u journey to that country involves,
actually bleak down and sob in utter des
peration and despair under the torments
of these terrible pests. The ice and the
“magnificent distances"of the country are
not the only drawbacks to its explora
tion or to journeying to the gold tielils; the
mosquitoes must ever he remembered.
Of course, in the southern part of Alas
ka, where Juneau and Sitka are situated,
the winters are not so rigorous.
there
the weather is comparatively mild, and in
summer is said to la* delightful.
But
r r r T f f l l K H A N , A T Y P I C A L WAtm
Juneau and Sitka are infinitesimal us com
pared with the whole country, ami they have in form er years received
are not an index to what is furnished far
than one exem plary lesson for thel
ther up and farther inland.
provement o f their manners. In |
In d u s tr ie * of A la sk a.
Sir Neville Cham berlain w a s _
When travelers were asked as late as
two or three years ago what were the punish them, and passed almost i
It was in ]
principal pursuits in Alaska they replied, through Wa/.iristan.
that they again became troub.„
of course, that fishing and hunting fur
nished otenpation for the greater part of and this led to General Kennedy 1
the population. What else was to be ex sent among them with a retrlbL,
pected from a population made up in the force. Sir W illiam Lockhart hat|
nuiiii of Eskimos and Indiuns'/ In the
be sent to W azlrlstan only three j
Sitka ilistrict there are magnificent for
ests and lumbering is an industry, but in ago with an expedition, and at thel
the barteti, icy north the occupation of Me made arrangem ents that were]
the Indian was to shoot and trap the perted to preserve law and order ini
bear, the fox, the otter and the other ani locality. From these previous etpf
mals whose fur would bring ti price in ences it seems likely that these nzti
the markets of the world, to catch the will probably receive a severe punl
seals u’ld spear the whale and catch the
ment for their most recent outb
other fish or game that could be turned
into money. Salmon canning is the great
T W I N A S H TREES.
industry of the Kadiak district, and has
been ¡’or yiars.
They Joined T o geth er Fifteen
O f late, however, the other industries of
A b o v e tt e Ground.
Alaska have sunk almost out of sight be
A rem arkable tw in tree gro*
cause of the new gold flurry. Mining, of
course, is the industry of the white man. shown in the accompanying cut t
Virgin gold might have lain in plain sight ditceil from the Scientific An
The original photograph was taken|
I ’rof. W illiam W erthner, of the ]
ton high school. The tree stands t
W aynesville, O. It is a very sytnm
ileal coalescence o f two blue asbt
five feet apart at the ground andatj
teen feet above joining to form a j
feet trunk that extends to a hel*btj
some seventy feet. Each tree Is I
much more than that of a ward division
in Chicago.
FACTS ABOUT ALASKA.
In acquiring the Alaskan territory,
though tin- United States moved its cen
j n t f H A S K I ) In 1807 from Rus
ter, Hguied iu geographical mines, not ill
sia for $7,200,000; purchase negoti
ated by W illiam H. Seward.
area or population, as far west as San
Area 1.« square miles. M l. 4011.
Francisco. The country now extends
Population (census o f 18001. 30.320.
from about the 415th degree of longitude
of whom but 4,41« were whites. 8,400
up at the far east corner of Maine to the
Esquimaux and 13,7:« Indians.
Estimated present population, 40,
122d degree up at the far northwest tip
Onn.
of the A-uakan mainland. This is taking
Principal cities. Sitka (the capital).
no account of the little island of Attn,
Juneau. W rangel. Circle City.
Principal rivers, the Yukon (more
l.tXKJ miles out in the Pacific, beyond the
than 2.000 miles long!, tile Kuskok-
Hawaiian group, which, since the pur
wlm, the Colville and the Copper.
chase of Alaska, has really been our west
Principal mountains. Mount Logan,
altitude 19,500 feet: Mount St. Ellas.
ern land limit. The United States, there
18,100: Mount Wrangel, 17.500 feet.
fore, may almost say with England that
Governor o f the territory, James I>.
the ami never sets on its possessions.
Brady; residence at Sitka.
Principal productsbesldesgold, furs,
The G reat Yukon River.
fish and lumber.
The principal river iu Alaska, the Yu
Principal occupations o f the people,
hunting and fishing.
kon. tip which prospectors have to work
Gold first discovered In 1879.
their weary way to reach the gold fields,
Estimated product o f gold to date.
was culled by Schwatka, the Alaskan
*30.000,000.
Product o f gold In I NISI. *4,070.000.
Nile. It rises a little more than 200 miles
Klondyke In English Is Deer River.
above Sitka, in the southern part of
The river is so designated on the
Alaska, and then strikes northward, fol
maps.
Klondyke gold Helds partly In Am er
lowing
broad circle to the west before
ican and partly Iu British territory,
it empties into Behring Sea through an
and the prodm-t is disposed of in the
extensive delta.
Six hundred miles in
l'nlted States.
from the coast it is more than a mile
Scene of the present excitement Is
along the I'p p er Yukou and Its tribu
wide and the volume of its water is so
taries.
great as to freshen the ocean ten miles
Distance from Chicago to the Klon-
out from land.
dyke gold Helds, via the Yukon. Is
about 0.500 miles; via Chllkoot Pass,
Ihe principal cities of Alaska are Ju
about 4.000 miles.
INDIAN RIVER.
neau and Sitka. They are both thriving
Tim e to make the trip by either
towns, and probably they will thrive
route, thirty days.
from now on. for a time at least, as the.v in the rocks to a limitless extent and in
Cost o f the trip, about *300,
•
have never thriven before. Alaska is ruled all probability the Indians and the Es
T ravel poaslble only In June. July
and August.
by a territorial governor, who now is J. kimos would never huve touched it. Food
Climate in winter severe In the e x
G. Brady, recently appointed by President and furs arc the standard of value with
treme, winter beginning In Septem
McKinley to succeed James A. Sheakley. them. Gold fills no Eskimo stomachs and
ber.
The Governor's residence is in Sitka.
keeps no Eskimo body warm.
During June and July continuous
Among the things Alaska has done for
daylight; during December suit Janu
W orkin g Placer Mine*.
ary continuous night.
this country aside from stirring up the
The Klondyke mines are placers— the
present gold excitement one of the most most easily worked mines of any, and
forward was to involve it in disputes with requiring the least expenditure.
The
after that point it dependn somewhat on England on the boundary question and
methods of washing out placer gold are
the bargain made with th«‘ Chilkoot In the seal fisheries business. Both of these
known as "sluicing” and "panning.” The
dians, who pack supplies through the pass, disputes threatened war. hut white-wing
former is employed where the yield is of
and the length of time the overland part ed pence settled over the situation in each
ordinary value, while all old-timer* pre
of the journey r«‘quires: hut the Indiana case and brought the suggestion of that
fer the latter in rich ground.
who act as guides and pack Hupplica do newly invented Engliah-Ameriean institu
In sluicing the dirt is shoveled into the
not work without big pay.
tion arbitration. However, the boundary sluice box, through which water is rapid
question is not settled yet.
D aw son CttT.
ly running. The box is of varying length.
Dawson City, the center of tbe new
mining region, although sixty-Hre miles
distant trom the Klondyke. is said to lie a
typical mining town—minus the guns.
The British Government enforces its laws
in Dawson, anil those laws prohibit the
use of firearms, so few men carry guns.
The laws of the camp are enforced hy
mounted police, whose «-aptain is a civil
officer. Though there are said to be 3.000
pimple in Dawson, few houses have been
built, for the principal reason that lumber
is $100 per 1,000 feet. The general fear
is, of course, that there will be great suf
fering there this winter, and it will be in
creased, It is expected, by the rush of
miprepuied prospectors who sailed for the
new Helds immediately on learning what
luck had befallen those who have but
recently returned.
To give an accurate Idea of the cost of
living in Dawson City, the price list of a
general store there is herewith given:
Flour, per 100 lbs.............................*12 on
00
Moose him. per lb............................ i 1 no
Csrtbou meat, per lb................
tt*
B onus , per lb............................
10
Rice, per lb..............................
2*
Soger, per lb...........................
25
Bacon, per lb...........................
40
Rutter, per roll........................
i »
Eggs, per doseu...............................
i 1 50
Better eggs, per tlosen....................... 2 2 00
00
Salmon, each..............................*1 to > 1 50
M A P S H O W IN G T HE A L A S K A GOLD
Potatoes, per lb........................
25
FIELDS.
Turnips, per lb.........................
15
The
census
enumeration
of 1S90,
Ten. per lb...............................
t oo
and
has
holes
bored
in
t h e le ñ t ^ T T w
the
population of the terri
51» gave
Coffee, per tb............................
Dried fruits, per lb.................
Ä5 tory as 30.329. of whom 4.41« were whites, hole, are hlled with q u ic k s ilv e r -V dirt
50
gravel and « a l l bowlders are w a f f i
Canned fruits .........................
20 N2 blacks, 1.508 half-breed Indians and
Lemons, each ..........................
Oranges, each .........................
5i»
Tobacco, per lb........................
1 5«) diansl, 2.125 Uhinese and 8.4(84 Eskimos.
times every
sometimes
, P' a wdp
* ° me'
51»
Liquors, per drink...................
a
. night, w
w u in e s once
L-
The number of whites has probably been ♦k
Shovels....................................
2 50
the water is turned off and the s lu ic l^ *
more
than
doubled
since
then,
however,
5 <8»
Picks .............. . .......................
holes are cleaned out.
Ul^
Cost oil, per gallon...................
1 00 ss the Alaskan gold fe T e r set in in mild
In Iwmiing, the dirt i. put into „
Overalls ...................................
1 50
•
— * "on a gold
t'nderwenr. per suit................... *5 to i T 51» form three or four year* ago. One would M n - k .,,,, , k
“
;
*,x* of a
* * im
“ • **
» dishpan.
Sboea .......................................
n 01» hardly th.nk of going to Alaska for the -phi, '
filia
l
n.i
r>t•
iziw
n
f
tko
t
\
l
'
P®H
18
IllHtli1
rtf
(NiDfWis
Rubber boots......................... . *
: 15 00 •
social advantages of the place.
~ I ' ““ pa" '* ma<h' of copper. 'PL
The mine.
A la sk a and Its R rso siv e s,
Neither could
that
, reatona
reason, *k'
! L
* « a t te
e r r into
couiu it
u be
n«- said
«mu m
at a
,,, *
y “ 1’ U,P » w
In the purchase of Alaska, the United h ly constructed individual would go there . . n * ? ’ £ ? ***!_!!■ W,,h * *»otlon that
States ncqnired a territory more than for the climate. In winter the thermome- m d u *
by * * * * * * * , and
-------
sloughs out the
’ na
half a million square miles in extent, a - *'
ter • fa “ ll, -----
so ; ■—
low - «------■
in olaee*
no unp
one will [ gradually
---
—
1 ---------- that **'»
o-aroi
.
. —- w.
"*»irr,
Ater- dirt.
part of It within the arctic circle and la recount*e it; that it *nea down to 70
fTV, ¿J U'
r?iin,n* th* *>M in the pi
the region of everlasting ice ami snow, * 7 ? end low er During .1) ,hi. kin„ of ,
»«balance, it i.
«h ere, during part of the summer, there winter a;» in the lukon region little can
Is continuous day and during the winter be done b it ait about a Ore in a vain
i
- -
r— ,
continuous, dreary night. TTi« Alaskan dearor to keep warm* for dirkncs* exiar« « -f ? * ! * * * '
I ° M ar* th* only eaapn-
coast line la greater than our Atlantic sea most of the time, and the life
|,kp
lin in g. Machinery i, only
board. but tbe entire population of whiten, that of • man uncomfortably seated . « < . —T
? in P'*cer mining where larve
Eskimos and fierce Indians who are the bottom of a well.
~ * f' d «
ground that yield, only mode?
called the Apaches o f the North, is not
D u r i* « the summer season tbe day.
SS
onl-T
power tn washing down the dig*.
«*
STONE
KLONDYKE
A few weeks ago a strong }
W azlris beat back a column of
troops ami native a u x ilia ry "1
A fghan frontier o f India. ThewJ
are a tribe on the borders of th*.!
tier, and are one of the wild,,.]
most w ar like tribes on the fa,
Their character has long
Bailed for m urder and robbery '
TREES OKOWN FA8T.
fifteen to eighteen Inches in
and each trunk, as well ns the
lade, is perfectly normal, nor doe*
fork show any signs o f a
ridge or one-sided coalescence,
the union must have taken place
the trees were saplings.
Is this a ‘natural graft," or
Indian possibly use the saplings i
of his w igw am support, and tie
so tightly as to Induce a
The size of the trees (considering
slow rate o f grow th of the bine
seems to make them antedate
white settlers In Ohio.
State P a p e r * Mutilated.
In the files of the House no
urea of W ebster, C lay or Lined*
main. W h ile there should be
of letters from these
men in evidence, all have
and there is no trace of their
abonts. President
Lincoln tn
cottrse o f his official career In
ton sent hundreds of original
meuts bearing his signature to
House and Senate, but on all
original papers filed In the Ho***
signatures have been cut off.
are other Important document* I*
House files which have been
mutilated.
t o Parttcntar.
"They seem quite
»«id an attache o f the state
ment, "about having the Frêne)
guagp used by any représentatif*
the l'nlted State«.”
^
"Yes." replied Mlaa Cayenne: ^
derstand they go so fa r as to l>
putting French labels on
w ine»."—W ashington Star.
G ettin g at th * Root of *
Lea isadly)—I io n ’t know^
with that boy o f mine. He’a
years at the medical
he keepa at the foot of hie
Perrins (promptly) — Make a
diet of him.—T td -B Its.
.
Posatbly It la the mea
etart the bad “rtorlea,” K .
«copie keep then going.