The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-08-14

aocateo gold mine on the northeast fork
Of the river. -
On July % Mr.. Pratt sent his two com.
panions up the north fork of the river with
Two packs, and followed the other PACK
coming IN from the west. Two camps of
.ne THIRSTY party were found by Messrs.
thompson and Crawford, and next day
MT Pratt Joined them and found nj one az
the camps indications that the explorers
mao Killed an elk there and deyoured II in
the eagerness of semi-starvation. There
ESQ tney found cache in which were $50
" % winchester cartridges and a pair Of
snowshoes. The next morning. the Goth
sne party arrived at the forks at Ii O'Clock
ana panned some dirt, but found no color
oI gold. They travelled with heavy packs
On pad trails, mostly on the sides OF the
mountains, which rose high on all sides.
iney Travelled about Eve miles and made
camp. longing for fresh meat but without
any signs of finding any.
The party started early on the 3lst. and
crossed on log to the west side. Two
miles from camp two streams came in from
the west. The canyon was grand in the
extreme, being almost . tunnel, 100 feet
vice, 900 feet high and the walls almost
meeting at the top. so that a man could
stand with one foot on each side. One
waterfall succeeded another, the height
ranging from six to ten feet. The Christv
camp was reached at 10 o'clock and camp
was made at new fork coming from the
east and very nearly the size of the north
iork The pan was tried and about twenty
colors of gold were found.
On August 1 the party turned up the
north fork and followed an elk trail and
came TO another camp OF Chr;sty's expedi-
non, where. judging by the appearances of
the stumps, the snow must have been six
ieet deep. Snow still lay on the ground in
the gulches. They climbed high mount
Ain and camped, all wet and weary, rain
having fallen all day. The tramp up the
Elk trail was continued next morning and
the summit reached a. 10 O'Clock. Several
VIDE openings were passed, covered with
grass knee high. while high peaks rose both
north and south. After hurried lunch
Messrs. Pratt and Thompson assembled a
peak 70 the southeast OF camp, about 6. 600
ieet nign, which was named Kelley's peak.
IN honor OF Mr.. Norman r. Kelley. There
they got their bearings and had q wide
view IN all directions. They could see the
ocean TO the west. the straits to the north
and the Sound to the east, while ten miles
west-northwest lowered Mount Olympus.
The west fork of the Elwha river runs
northeasterly for about five miles. then
swings TO the north. The Quiniault runs
from the pass westerly to the forks. about
SIX miles distant. then swings to the south
20 the main fork, thence q very little south
OF west In the pass were two lakes of
about 100 acres each, about 200 yards apart
camp OF the Christy party was found
and It appeared that they came up the
east fork OF the Elwha. They found quartz
mixed all through the mountains In small
seams.
On August the homeward journey be-
gan, the party tramping down the Elwha
on good elk trail, and making a descent
OF about 1900 feet. They passed through
tine bottom lands and vast stretches of
splendid timber, clear of brush. At night
the mosquitoes again swarmed and caused
much profanity. On the 4th the march
was continued down stream for about three
miles, until very deep canyon was
reached, which 1t was hard to get around.
An idea of the depth Of the canyon can be
formed when 1t Is stated that a stone
dropped from tho top took eight seconds
to reach the water. About two miles below
this canyon large stream flows into the
river from the east. Camp was made at
point where the river splits and forms a
large island. There number of trout
were caught, some of them weighing as
much as four pounds. No gold or quartz
was seen on this day, nothing but slate
rock being found. The whole days march
was through an unbroken forest OF splendid
timber. On the 9th the journey was con-
tinued down the elk trial until a canyon
was reached, to avoid which the party took
to the hills. Then another canyon was
reached. at the foot Of which. where another
fork of the river flows in from the east, an
old camp was found and a cache of
Christy's party, where were signs of bear
having been killed. There camp was made,
the cache opened and some tea taken out.
All the contents of the cache were found to
be safe and unchanged.
On August 6 Christy's trail was struck
and followed all day. The travelling was
bad, the main canyon Of the Ewha, which
is l,500 feet deep. being passed. Six of
Christy's camps were passed on this days
march, and the party camped where Jack
Crumback had staked claim and put up
the foundations Of house.
The next days march was up mount
aims. down canyons, through thickets,
brush and briers the whole time. An old
"burn" was traversed, the worst place for
travelling ever saw. AT o'clock Christy's
trail was again struck, and an hour later
his last camp was reached. The party ar
rived at Port Angeles at o clock on the
evening OF August s.
Mr.. Pratt says he found that several Sc
rious errors had been made by Christy's
party in regard to the topography OF the
country. He says that Christy passed
southwark on the east side of Mount
Olympus instead of the west, and that the
head of the Elwha is about eight miles
northwest of Mount olympus. instead of
on the east side, as represented in Captain
Barnes map. He also says that the Quin-
iault heads on the northwest side of Mount
Olympus, . quarter of mile from the
head of the Elwha. Mr.. Pratt went to the
land office on his return to have the map
corrected in these particulars.
According to Mr.. Pratt, this region
abounds in almost every mineral except
gold. He found five-foot vein of CHINA
bar on the Wynootchee and silver on the
main Quinault A claim OF carbona,es OF
silver was located on the west fork OF the
ouiniauIt. On the Satsop an ex-
tensiye vein of brown hemstite iron
ore eight feet thick was found
and a claim located. On the
Wvnoetchie. a seven-foot vein of grey
conner. running right through the noun
tain and probably assaying about 80 per
cent. conner. was found. A large deposit
of tin was also found on the Satsop
quarry of splendid grindstone was struck
on the ouiniauit, piece large enough for
a rocket milestone having been Clipped