Many of the new arrivals were inadequantely prepared and had not brought enough supplies with them to last through the spring. In a few days the river will be closed, and the move must be made now, if at all. It is absolutely hazardous to build hopes upon the arrival of other boats. It is almost beyond a possibility that any more food will come into this district. For those who have not laid in a winter's supply to remain here longer is to court death from starvation, or at least a certainty of sickness from scurvy and other troubles.
Starvation now stares every one in the face who is hoping and waiting for outside relief. . . .
C. Constantine, Inspector Northwestern Mounted Police. By the end of October, a couple of hundred people had heeded the warnings and left for Fort Yukon, Alaska. What the Mounties did not know was that the conditions at Fort Yukon were not much better than at Dawson and in the end, it was fortunate that more people did not take advantage of the Mounties' offer. Dawson City, Canada Photograph courtesy of Special Collections Division, University of Washington Libraries Carrier using reindeer to pull his mail sled. Photograph courtesy of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Word that Americans were starving in Dawson set a truly wacky idea into motion.