The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-09-21

not scientific explorations, and it was the
49, OF Ogiivis 70 make the maps - &C
curats o possible Of oil the regions be-
twsen which he travelled. He ascertainsd
ne attitudes OF rivers and mountains,
uaced the directions of the hills
ana mountain ranges, o6-shoots Of
the Rockies. and made some dis
c0yeries that have never appesred on
any map He found, for instance. pass
leading from tidewater in Chiikoot inlet to
the nsvigable portion Of the Lewes- Yukon
river, along which II will be comparatively
eesy to build wagon road or q railway.
mus connecting the upper waters OF the
great Yukon directly with the sea. On his
journey to the Mackenzie river be discov.
cred great stream, not marked on any
map, over 200 miles long, which has been
Over 1000 feet in distance Of $50 miles.
and the result 10 that the river IL full OF
canyons, falls and rapids, and cannot be
used for navigation. II IL said that logs
entering parts OF the channel emerge below
almost shivered into spIinters BY their con-
hict with the rocks and raging torrents.
One OF the most interesting features Of
place where the Yukon river crosses the
international boundary. On one side of
the river he blazed the letter .'An on trees.
and on the trees OF the other side the letter
&c" to denote that they we're respectively
Ia the territories of Alaska and Canada.
There II reason to bAieve that this boun.
dairy line Is practically accurate, but it will
ton. which Is now surveying the boundary,
will find that it crosses the
river at the place where Ogilvie
blaxed the trees. This discovery
Of Ogilvie places the boundary some
distance further west than it appears on
any map. The result is that he declares
the gold mining territory along the Yukon
TO Be on British soil, which was a great
surprise to the miners, IS they supposed
they were in American territory They
knew all about the mining laws of the
United States. but nothing of the regula-
tons controlling mining in the Dominion,
and they were therefore very anxious to
learn from the explorer something about
the Canadian mining laws.
The fact that this boundary has never
before been determined has led to q num-
Der Of inte1esting biunders, amoug which
may be mentioned Fort Yukon, the post
which the Hudson Bay Company estab-
lished on what they supposed to he Cam
adian soil. But when the United States
government discovered in 1869 that the
company was occupying our own territory.
the British trading enterprise was promptly
invited to evacuate the post.
The most of Ogilvies explorations were
carried out in two Eastwood canoes, built
extra strong, and weighing about 40
pounds each 20 that two men could carry
them without much difficulty. They car
ried OgIlvie and his heavy outfit over z, 800
miles. going through some terrible rapids,
which more than once threatened their de-
struction. Each canoe could hold two men
and l 800 pounds Of goods. When the ex-
plorer left them at Fort Chipewyan they
were still in very good condition, and, with
little painting. he says, they could have
made the same journey over again.
This speaks well for the value of bass.
wood In canoe building. for among the
dangers the party encountered were ice
jams during the journeys of early spring,
which several times nearly crushed the
boats.
Some OF the whites and the Indians
whom the explorer met were not inclined
was very difficult to get even approximately
exact statements from the miners along
the Yukon. Many of them Ogilvie found
to be inveterate jokers, who took great de-
light in hoaxing every body. and they some
times spent hours in giving him informa-
ton that Was wholly contradicted by the
next party he met They were disposed to
look upon every government agent like
Ogilvie - spy who had been sent into
the country to see what they were doing.
and If he found the country desirable for
mining and other purposes they fully ex-
pected that he would make q report that
would cause IN undesirable influx of ad-
venturers. Many Of them were particu-
larry averse TO telling him anything about
their mining operations. They thought
they had . very good thing and they
wanted to keep il to themselves. So Ogilvie
Ind to SIT the real facts ahout mining and