New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-11-19
rARuP THE YUKON RIVER.
,rrrrps FROM JOHN E. McGRATH, OF THE
GOVERNMENT SURVEY.
, AMERICANS REACH BRITISH so1L-TAklN'
A STEAMBOAT WHERE ONE WAS NEVER
SEEN BEFORE.

SEEN BEFORE.
-, ,.;s Nov. ls.-The first news in months
T' 1ost for at least year, of the GoVerhhen'
NsN .s;,for for the survey Of Alaska reacneu C'','
'f % ,..s+erdav 1t came in letter 10 l"'ii1"
."C.o,b rS father of John +. McGrath, one Oh one
80 Of the exploring party As The eApeui"OI
'nae' .,oa,nized by the United States OoVerhlnenO
49, that a reliable survey Of It's moSt hor'horn
u '.o,r -. and especially It's uneXploreu Pr's
e., ~. attained information OF the weHare anu
- tho party is Of national interest. Inc
worn ~ the division which Mr.. McGrath com
s"Ss s~"1 Lac now navgated the Yukon River further
rv steamer ever went before III WILL
.'"i' tho winter, travel through an uneXplored
~ Tho Turner party has already pierced into
i"Nu un.ynored part of the country. Mr.. McGraths
- uas written after he left st. MchaeFS. lie
writes; v..,-, g.,
.,.,,or DAYS and are now 200 miles beyond tnat
.'";n. an the river which is halfway between st.
Micbaeps and where l expect to so. we are
v0ot,ip0 on an average, five miles an hour, ana
exnect TO fall behind even this rate. lhls is o
Creat river. Near its mouth it is almost twenty
five miles wide, taking in the various chanheis
,brouoh which it reaches the sea. 1t resembles
the Mississippi Our boat is small, ana
rp are compelled to stop frequently for wood,
much of which we are comDelled to cut. Another
cause OF delay is the muddy water, which neces-
states frequent cleaning of the boiler. when we
left ST. Michaers we were given latterlng 1are-
well. with flags flying and cannon booming
aEvery fifteen or twenty miles we come upon
an Indian settlement More desolate hovels you
cannot find anywhere The of the natives is
indicated in their dress only by the length oil the'r
,ur coats. The women wear their coats long be-
hind and the mems are cut of equal length all
around. When you get close TO them inc "oine'i
have another distinguishing feature-they nave
three straight lines tattoOed on their chlns' a
man can take as many wives as he can support
and each one has TO work as hard as poSsipie'
Further up the river the state OF aIalrs Is Oil
ferent There woman may have TWO or tirec
husbands The furniture in the native nut Is
very sparse; few birch-bark baskets, some spoons
of ivory wooden dishes, arrows, spears maybe d
gun straw mats and flfrs Everything smells worse
than soap factory. The people are literally COW
cred with vermin. They are miserably poor. lhey
get very little for the game and hsh they nave
10 sell Both so plentiful that we nave ureu
of ducks, geese and salmon.
AS l am writing, there are some magnificent
mountains in sight They remind me of the first
there are lots of wild roses and the hllsides are
as green as any lawn in spring, 1t is dlfhcult 10
believe that this is an Arctic land when you OBJ
serve the luxuriant forests, the green grass, the
flowers and mark how warm the days are bul
dig down ten inches anywhere and you VIII ma
the ground frozen hard At Mulato they have
dug twenty-five feet TO get water and the ground
was frozen all the way down. In spite OF thIs
the weather is so warm that every man Is gong
around in his shirt sleeves Mosquitoes are
plpnfiful and ferOCiOuS
p We reached Fort Yukon on July 2, and our
parties separated, Turner and his party went up
the Porcupine River and / am making my way
slowly up TO the boundary. Turner is the nrst @
man to take steamer up the Porcupine Inc Inc
river is regular mountain stream, fs1ng WIZ III
every rain and falling Immediately afterward
Turner struck il at low stage ana went up lorty
miles Fort Yukon is but name now 1here +
not a stick of one of its houses left Inc Elgilsn
used 10 think it belonged to them, but survey
showed that il was twenty-five miles Wlthn oui
territory and they had to move out. A.
there was no business 10 warrant occupation, the
houses of the Hudson Bay Company were allowed
IN 60 10 ruin Moose arc plentiful and cheap. but
PEOPLE eat anything they can get up here which
will not poison them. The miners are mlSerdoIy
poor The store1ecper at Forty-Mile Creek had
$4,000 of bad debts on his books this spring,
and STILL ] am told, the man who comes into
his store without a dollar gets as good treatment
as the one who has the cash 10 pay for what ne
GETS He gets his money If the mines can make
IT, and if they don't, he loses it. These frontiers
men stand together and help each other through
-
killed by an Indian over at Koeiubuk River. He
was the first one ever touched. big band Of
miners travelled nearly 900 miles and hanged
the Indian murderer, losing a whole seasons work
by their trip"
This letter was mailed August 10, 1889 A
second letter bearing date Of August 2l, 1889,
among other things, says:
I'VE are four or five miles outside the United
States line, and now squatting on her British
Maiestys possessions. but | do not think there
will be any complaint of the trespass! Times
have been drcadfully hard with the miners this
year, and great many Of them have lost heart.
II has rained nearly tlle whole spring and summer
mountain streams have become torrents washing
out water-wheels, suices, sluice-bONes, etc. and
preventing the miners from doing anything.
Wages are high. So when You work. but they
work so little they would prefer so per month
and grub. don't expect to get any more letters
out this year nor in the spring. | have no dogs,
and therefore no way 10 send them