River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-08-01
LIFE II FAR OFF ALASKA.
A Vivid Description of a Journey TO
Alaska. and Csmp-Life on the =
Arctic Circle.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
OF Fred Currier Across 500 Miles of
Frozen Country.
Wonderful Display of Natures Forces
in Region where the Day is All
Sunshine. or All Darkness.
CIRCLE CITY, Yukon River,

CIRCLE CITY, Yukon River.
Alaska Ter, Jan. %, 1895.
EDITOR JOURNAL:-When / left
River Falls in April. 1894, you asked
me To write you from this far of
northern land. little thought thai
nearly a year would elapse before
could comply with your request, but
in this out-Of-the-way corner of the
world Uncle Sam has not provided al
the means of communication tC
which we have been accustomed, and
although We generally get yearly
mail, even this is uncertain and some
times fails altogether. / will, how.
ever. give you short account Of my
trip into this country and some Of the
points Of interest connected with my
stay In the interior.
Vict ria, ON Vancouver Island, is a
quaint Old-fashiOned English city of
10000 inhabitants. The beautiful
lawns and yards fille1 with bright
flowers and blossomirs shrubs, and
carpeted with the greenest of grasses,
are rigidly hidden from the public eye
by ugly tight board fences, nouldy
and moss covered, only occasionally
varied by a clOse-shaven impenetrable
hedge. 1t was all the same,-exclusive
everywhere. To our American eyes it
seemed most grotesque and selfish TO
hide the beauties nature had layished
50 freely, but the English custom is
The town has remained
unchanged for fifty years
and is likely TO so remain for fifty
more.
This point is port-Of-call of the
Pacific Steamship Co.'S line of boats
that ply semi-mOnthly between San
Francisco and Sitka. From Victoria
the boats follow what is known as the
Inner Channel. The chain of islands
from Vancouver north
westward over Thousand miles. fol-
lowing the contour of the coast and in
close proximity to it, ferns natural
breakwater, leaving a steamboat chan
mel unsurpassed in the world for the
beauty of its natural scenery and
freedom from the Inconvenience
passage exposed to the
unlimited fury of the ocean. The
islands are thousands in number.
varying from mere rocky islets scarce
ly large enough to hold a house, to
those several hundred miles in length.
All OF them are covered with a dense
growth of timber to the waters edge.
The ground and rocks are carpeted
with moss and tangled vines and
spangled with bright cOlored flowers
wherever ray of sunlight is allowed
to penetrate. The islands are only
inhabited by few Indians who get
their living mainly by fishing. The
steamboat calls occasionally at a few
of their more important villages
where salmon canneries are located,
but the stops are short and far
between, not half dozen being made
between Victoria and Juneau. Day
after day We glide through the same
beautiful but ever changing scenes.
Island after island is approached,
passed and left behind. Sometimes
the boat is threading a narrow,
tOrtuous channel so close TO the bank
that a ball could be thrown ashore.
and we catch glimpse of the deer
which gaze upon us with startled eyes
for a second, to disappear in the
impenetrable interior. Again we
enter a wide bay or sound and here
we are amused by the gambols OF
porpoises that follow us mile after
mile never seeming to hurry but
lazily sporting themselves, now in,
now out of the water, maintaining
the same speed as the vessel. We also
passed few whales spouting or blow
ing. as the sailors say. Toward the
end OF the trip we began TO meet
icebergs and then came into the
neighborhoOd of those vast glaciers
for which this coast is so noted, great
rivers of ice, miles in width and
length, pouring their frozen contents
into the sea, where great masses
break off TO float away as icebergs,
until melted by the warm waters OF
the Pacific.
On the sixth day from Victoria we
arrived at Juneau, the Outfitting
point of the Yukon miners. Leaving
the steamboat we here spent few
days preparing an outfit suitable fol-
the interior. Juneau itself is an ex
creScence on the face Of nature. IL
is frontier town and trading post OF
rough buildings thrown together in d
haphaZard manner without streets OF
sidewalks and tucked in on the steel
base of a mountain that tower:
above it for thousands of feet, seeming
IN ready to fall down aud crush it out
OF existence at any moment. Traders
Indians. and miners make up tn,
bulk OF its inhabitants. 1t i
technically known as tough" place
and for once the town has not ex
aggerated in its description of itself.
Ii is customary for the miners q
form small parties of four or five, TO
mutual help and companionshiI
before starting for the interior.
had been so fortunate as TO make IN
acquaintance of two old, experience
miners, George NcCue and Georg
Kinney, one of whom, McCue, ha
made the trip twice before. W
Joined our forces at Juneau. AID thei
advice was very useful to me in tn
selection of an outfit. Perhaps som
of my friends may be curious to kno'
| the character OF such an outfit so
will briefly describe it: AS quite
portion Of the trip must be made o.
foot and over snow, a sled must b
obtained. The kind best suited fO
the purpose is made in Juneau.
low Sled six inches high, sixteen inche
wide and seven feet long, with rope
10 lash on the loads, can be obtaine
for ten dollars. 4 tent, sheet-iro
stove, cooking utensils, ETC.. for th
marty. blankets, strong wooden clotf
ing and rubber boots are of cours
| Microscopy A boat will have to b