The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-11-13
Butte Department.

and a few mountain goats and sheep
| i saw another party kill three goats
| at the head of Lake Bennett. Aside
from the above named game alive we
saw an abundance of fresh bear signs
Now and then we would find bear
tracks as large as a good sized slsluch
hat. We never hunted for them. some
/ of which are very savage, especially
the grizzly. The Indians will not hunt
in some localities on account of them
and VI Is said they will actually make
the Siwashes cry when they meet We
killed few ducks and grouse. but
never had as much as we wanted at
one time. The birds OF that country
nearly all inhabh the lower Yukon,
| their breeding grounds being the many
| islands. Only a few stray up the river
as far as the mining country. Although
| we had plenty of guns and ammuni-
TSon we suffered from want of fresh
meat. Very abundant in game Is
phrase used by those who have never
been there. The commercial companies
| get many skins. etc.. but look at the
vast territory and the large number OF
Indians to draw from. per capita 1t
would appear differently.
I'VE found only one creek, Crooked
creek, where we could catch as many
fish as we wanted for our own use.
These were what the Alaskans call
greyling. or Arctic trout. They are
very nice fish and much like the
Wyoming trout in quality, appearance
and size. but are not very gamey.
Most of the fish we ate along the Yu-
kon we had to buy of the Indians who
caught them with gill nets. Some
times there would be three OF four
consecutive days during which they
could not catch any with their nets.
a.
dent on a hook and line. Salmon are
the chief variety in the Yukon. The
king salmon grow very large and the
meat is a fine quality. 1t Is said that
some weigh as much as 100 pounds.
saw a few that would weigh about 40
pounds each. Silver salmon are not as
large nor as good as the king salmon.
Dog salmon seem to be quite aboun-
dant but they are n. &. There are
also some white fish and a few other
varieties of which 1 can't give the
name. / was informed that some years
the king salmon come up the river in
great schools. However that may be,
II is a fact that this summer the peo-
pie there experienced there what one
might appropriately term fish Famine.
Don't go there ito live on fish.
Everywhere in the Yukon country
there is an abundance of wood and
water. No one need want for fuel.
After reaching Lake Bennett one can
easily find timber large enough for
building boats, sluice boxes, cabins,
ETC., most anywhere along the main
river as well as its tributaries. The
timber in the Upper Yukon valley is
mostly pine, fir and spruce; in the
lower portion of the valley there is
less pine and an abundance of birch,
from which fact Birch creek got its
name.
There is no other than gold mining
carried on in that country. Up to date
no quartz veins of value have been
| found. We found some good coal indi-
| cations in several different places and
| a few veins of coal have been opened
] but there is no market for it, The
mines are exclusively placer, and gold
Is the principal metal found, although
some platinum occurs with the gold in
a few locations. There are only two
mining districts that are worthy of
attention at personal---very. Mile and
Birch Creek. The former has been so
| nearly worked out that ii is conceded
| that the latter Is the richer. The prin-
| cipal gulches in the Birch Creek dis
| trict are Mastodon, independence and
| Deadwood, or Hogem. They all enter
| Birch creek. 1t is thought by most of
the miners that Hogem is the richest.
| perhaps 1t would be more appropriate
| to say less poor than the others. This
is the gulch in which p. ]. Jewell is
/ mining Mr.. Jewell was very much
discouraged and would have come out
| with me had he had the dough- The
| long and severe winters and the very
| short summers make mining almost
impossible except at loss. That coun-
| try is practically an immense glacier,
covered with dense growth of moss
| which Is impervious to the rays of the
sun and which holds the frost in the
| ground for the same season that saw
dust will preserve ice in a warm eli
mate. Hence 1t is absolutely necessary
| to spend the first year in clearing the
| ground so that the sun can do its work.
| The second season will then bring
| about 40 days for actual mining. but
even then the pick and the shovel fol-
low the frost as the sun melts 1t.
THE imports consist chiefly of gen.
eral merchandise shipped into the coun-
try via the Yukon for the Indians and
| miners by the Alaska Commercial
company and the Northwestern Trad
ing & Transportation companies, which
own their own steamers. The only
other imports are 500 or 500 white men
with their grub stakes, who go in each
year. The commercial companies are
sure of the Indian trade and by the
proper kind Of advertising they can get
in about so many prospectors each
This money is left at the stores for
provisions. They make a leader on
-four at IS per hundred pounds. Other
things are higher. 1t costs $40 a hum
dred to transport II to the so-called
mines. Bacon is rs cents a pound.
THE exports are the furs bought
from the Indians and the money and
gold dust OF the miners. The most
that any one has yet taken out of that
country now refer to the miners
is $4,000 in three years. so far as
could learn from the most reliable
sources. This was done by working q
large gang OF men when the ground
was In condition. Out of about 27C
who wintered in Circle City last win.
ter. only three or four will make more
than their expenses. One or two OF
them will probably have a few thou
sand this winter. Some of them will
| be hard un and may want The hes