River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-08-01

LiHucTIudH. WE were wei, urea ant
lame, but the hardest day during tn,
whole trip was over and when caml
was made We were fain to congratu
late ourselves over an arduous tasl
completed.
An easy days pull brought us +,
Lake Bennett, long, narrow body O
water lying nestled at the base of TIVE
parallel ranges of mountains. Theil
slopes were covered with spruce anC
pine, and here We found many of the
miners who had preceded us busy al
work whip-sawing lumber and build
ing boats to be ready for use as soor
as the lakes broke up.
We were now on the head waters OF
the Yukon river, and all the remainder
of the trip could be made by boat:
after the ice had gone out. 1t wa:
now nearly the first Of May an0
scarcely a sign OF spring was yet
visible. The snow covered everything
with mantle two or three feet in
depth.
| We held council and decided &c
| follow McCue's advice to push on
across the whole chain of lakes to the
foot of the last one, Lake LeBarge,
distant one hundred and fifty miles
| from Lake Bennett. BY so doing, he
explained, that we could reach our
| destination month sooner as the
river opened earlier than the lakes.
Ii meant two weeks of hard work but
we all voted that il was better than
| TO idle away six weeks where we were.
| These beautiful lakes, lying in a
| semi-circle, are closely connected one
with the other. We usually found
| open water at the foot of each lake
and in the river connecting the two.
Here were large numbers of ducks,
geese and swans-noisy harbingers of
| spring. We also found many white
ptarmigans among the rocks lining
the shores of the lakes. Frequently
on frosty morning their peculiar
booming notes, as they called to one
another, served as guide to our
hunters and many delicious morsel
they furnished.
On some lakes we found the snow
gone and smooth icy surface before
us. Here, if the wind was favorable,
we hoisted a sail and made rapid
progress.
The weather was beautiful, frosty
nights only served to make us sleep
more comfortably, wrapped in our
warm blankets, spread on fragrant
spruce boughs. No snow or rain.
The sun was climbing higher each day
Vt had already been shining eighteen
hours, and the long twilight made the
night exceedingly short.
The foot of Lake LeBarge three
hundred miles from juneau was
| reached the 18th of May. This was
the last of the chain of lakes we had
been following. The river was open
| and the limb at the foot of the lake
not suiting McCue for boat building
we constructed a raft and floated
down to a more favorable locality.
This move nearly cost us dearly, as in
| some places the river was rapid and
INSTRUCTED with rocks. With our un-
wieldly craft we struck one OF the
latter, but fortunately escaped with
| nothing worse than ducking in the
! icy water and the loss of a small
portion of our cargo.
Fifty miles below Lake LIE Barge we
passed the mouth of the HootOlinqua,
"a noble river coming in from
the south. Here we found encamped
all the advanced guard of miners
who had preceded us. They were
waiting for the ice jam to break
in the river few miles below.
An island at this point furnishing
| timber that suited McCue's fastidious
eye, we landed and turned loose our
temporary craft, which went floating
away to mingle its logs among the
| countless thousands that the Yukon
annually carries down to Behring Sea,
where the ocean currents carry them
| away nOrthward and cast them upon
the bleak shores of the Frozen Ocean,
| furnishing building material and fuel
| to the natives of that inhospitable
coast.
A new and novel experience was
now before notwithstanding lumber.
Let me describe it: A saw pit is first
constructed. This is a frame of
small logs six feet high, four feet
wide and as long as the log to be
sawed. For our purpose log thirty
two feet long, clear of knots, and
large enough to square six inches was
needed. This was not hard TO find,
| for the island was covered with tall,
straight spruces, sixty or seventy feet
high, though none if any, would exceed
| twelve inches in diameter. The log
must first be scored so as to allow it
to be lined, then placed in position
upon the saw pit. 1t is then ready
for the sawyers. One of them mounts
the log and stands erect. The other
place is below in the saw pit. The
whip-saw is a large rip-saw about
seven feet in length with teeth an
| inch long. The work of operating
one is painful in the extreme. The
novice below with his eyes filled with
slwdust, and his neck famed fol
weeks, as he looks upward to see that
the saw is following the line, wonders
If the instigators of the Spanish
Inquisition had a means of torture
equal to this. The man above is but
little better off. The muscles of hi:
arms are strained with the unusual
demands upon them, his back aches
and the perspiration pours in streams
from his face. The saw catches anC
chokes and chugs, starts and stop:
again. The best of friends are some
times made enemies for life by The
first half days whipsawing. 1t cannot
be learned from observation, but
learned it must be by repeated trials
and failures, for the Yukon minel
has to depend wholly upon his saw Il
provide all the lumber needed in con
structing his boats, sluice boxes
rockers and cabin furniture.
A weeks work at our island CAM
i