Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1892-04-21

| river navigation nearer the Pacific
than could the former, which is impeded
ty an impossible rapid not far above
the confluence Of the two. Something
over an hours drifting brought us to a
miners camp. Swindler and Harvey
had here taken up a placer bar, but at
that time SO submerged by the freshet
1t could not DO worked. Swindler had
had an evcntful prospecting tour the
year before, extending across the whole
face Of Alaska down the Kouslsoquim
river just in time to reach Juneau and
outfit for work here. His narrative
was interesting. although recall but
few salient points, the most conspicuous,
in u sensational way being the fact Tor
theory that the notorious Chicago
murderer, Tascott, was living
among a band of savages on the
kouskoqum. The Identification GER
tainly seemed to be reasonably accurate
but t. o long to detail here. When the
season is over these miners of the Up
per Yukon ascend the river by polling
their whip-sawed boat along shore,
abandon it at the foot of the monn-
tains, and with but two or three days
short and light supplies, make forced
marches over the range, arriving often
times on the coast with but single
blanket and their buckskin purses more
or less full of gold dust, according to
their luck and work. Our late lunch
| that evening was on moose's nose,
toasted over the Goals of n campfire
1t is of the consistency of gristle with
u nut-like flavor, not bad to average
palate. And this brings it
wildly to my mind that I have eaten
everything from beavcr-tail to moose's
| nose, from warmed-over walrus- hide to
a ragout of rattlesnake. and that even
ing. for the hundreth time at least, was
asked II l had ever encountered n gas
tronomic ilnpossiblity. have. A Min
neconjon Sioux friend Of mine once in
vited me TO n dog feast at the old
Spotted Tail Agency the fall OF 1877.
Now can eat dog until my Sims bark,
but Touch-thc-Cloudsh had sacrificed an
old Mcsozoic mongrcl, boiled it for a
day or two in weak nolasses water
and then sprinkled it with sugar to
! serve as desert. ate all the agency
rations served and stuck fiat-footcd on
the last.
About 10 o'clock saw MS drifting rast
the Upper Cassiar bar. Here, in 1886 six
| men. in eighteen days, took out $500
apiece; fair summers work for two
men apiece on the average bar. Despite
this brilliant record it was deserted at
the time Of our visit. Camps were now
numerous, but all the men. eight in
number, ut four bars, were waiting for
the water to fall. About noon we
drifted by the mouth of the big DAB
badie, which named in 1883 after the
great French explorer, the local Indian
name translated being tie Salmon"
while miners call it "Big salmon"
That afternoon the mooSe'S nose came
to nn end, as we ate it for late lunch.
Like all acknowledgements, nutty
meats it is, ! think, much better cold
than warm. but agree with one miner
who said II don't want too much tree
topper snout in mine;" and
the expression "tree-topper" showed
that he was from Montana.
About the middle of the afternoon of
next day June 26) became somewhat
anxious regarding the Rink Rapids |
knew to be ahead short distance, for
the high stage Of water might make it
somewhat dangerous to shoot them
in light canvas boats. As usual
thing rapids flowing over distractions
are improved in navigability by high
water while those flowing through
them IRE rendered worse. The Rink
Rapids are of the latter class, number
OF huge rock pinnaclcs projecting from
the very bed OF the river, and looking
like the piers of great stone
i bridge whose spans had tumbled
in. l think there are five of
these, at least some miners speal,
OF it as The Five Fingers" About
o'clock We reached them. When l
shot these on raft in 1888, at the re-
quest OF my Indian guide. beached our
craft and made an inspection, choosing
the extreme right (east) channel, tho
usual one taken by miners and Indians.
The excitement then was just pleasantly
exhilaratine. An inspection of the