The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-12-07
SOME LONG NIGHTS
In Alaska, at Times, Just the Edgs .
the Sun Is Seen.
AGAIN IT'S OUT AT MIDNIGHT
A. w. Watson Writes to q Friend
From There-He Tells of Ola
oiers, Cold Snaps and
Gold, Hard to Get.

in this city, havdnB peen ior q iohs
time employed in the postofice at
South Butte, left for Alaska about two
wears ago. and In a letter to Charles
e. Sherve of South Butte. tells OF his
life there. He writes as follows:
MILLER Creek, Birch Creek District,
Alaska:
"Friend Sherve-I spent last summer
at Forty Mile creek and made about
$500 but that was only enough to keep
me for a year in this country. The
creeks mere were struck last summer
and there were good reports. came
down here last fall. I spent the win
ter at Circle City. the new town that
snrunr IN after the Birch creek
strikes. 1t is situated almost on the
Arctic circle and gets ats name from
that. There were about ESQ men there
and I passed a pleasant winter. There
were some pretty high old times there
last winter. Still 1t was peaceable I
camp. We had squaw dances every |
few nights There were no stores In
| sown At all About four or five saloons /
were the only business houses. IL gets |
| pretty cold here in the winter. butrlast
| winter was mild, so the old timers teil
me 1t was often 40 or so below zero
for a week at time. About ~ peiow
| was the coolest it got, and that was on
| Christmas eve. When 1T as tna& colo; a
man has no business out OF the capan'
| We can Just see the edge OF the sun
for a few minutes on the shortest uays,
| Al Forty Mile It gets out of sight for 20
days. 1t does here at the MINES, tpo'
| but at Circle City there are no hlgn
mountains to hide 1t. There are about /
four hours of daylight on the shortest
| davs The Yukon froZe over ABOUT une
2Oth Of October and did not break until
the 18th of May.
II left Circle City for the mines cile
last of February. 1t Is 60 miles from
circle city here. There is one team
| Of horses in town but most of the pro-
| visions are hauled here with dog teams
in the winter. Everything mas 10 pe
| hacked that is brought here In the
/ summer. There are some very sood
creeks here Mastodon and Deadwooa
are turning out to be the best. l dlo
not have any claim of my own put I'm
working one on shares this season. II
] would have paid at least szo per Gay,
but we did not get water enough IN Tue
spring to sluice off the top dirt, SO we
| have to strip three feet or dead err,
l which knocks the profits. / am making
! | ahout Sl2 per day, but will only ger IN
4 about so days, so will not make very
e big stake this year. Wages, We're l0aly
I $40 per day here this year. III Z ~
. |
h There are large glaciers on nearly
|. every creek here Mastodon had two
: one of them was a mile long ana y
d feet deep in the spring. There are tWs
d claims on Mastodon now tnat mas ~
r faet of ice on. This creek had one
/, nearly a mile long, but II was not 81
> deep. and is all gone now, though VI
If had ice here on the last of july vi
h the Fourth of July walked oyer
IS cake of ice on Mastodon 1000 feet long
lie 200 feet wide and 16 feet thick. Inc
Or had a narrow channel Through II an
5. were mining with walls of ice l63 Zee
d high on each side. A nice cool place, I
70 spend the Fourth, wasn't At! Inc ga
a cier ground was proved to be the pes
E. for mining.
he "Mastodon has some very goo
ne claims The Discovery claim has
We men at work and q think they will tax
I'd out anyway $4,000 this season. nav
er a claim on Mastodon but IL IL up nee
IL the head of the creek. Ii mas not pee
a prospected yet so / don't know an,
as thing about It. l do not nave nut i',
he faith in It, still there are some GOO
Irt claims near IL. II there is anytnln
d. There IL will have to be drifted In, ,tf
mt winter. 1t Is too deep TO work from u
or top. - a.,
here I'M the summer. From the 10Th
lime to the 18th of July the sun do
a not go out of sight. 1t can be seen
ar midnight as well as at noon. II DO
nst not get dark here from May until q
Is last of August.
ce. "Thls is "a great game country, Som
OF times YOU don't see any game at I
da FOR a month or two. but when Ii com
ex- Al comes thick. Caribou come here
sal hands. There are bands OF 5000 pa
ter mere in the fall. so the old|timerss {
me. They are easy to get generals
Privtsions are pretty high at the nin
IRA | In the summer. They have TO be lac
ed m here from Circle City, and ire q
on them Is 40 cents a pound. got
wis pounds of potatoes two weeks ~
They were packed in by Indians q
sold at 81 a pound. had to pay u
-, a mound for nails last spring and so'
wanted s. per pound.
THE Americans are talking or
forcing United States laws here .
icie make every man that Is not citiz
lay. become one or give up his claim. II .
8. stirred up some of the foreigners
great shape. They had the major
TENT here up TO the last few years and
ans things. I hope they 40 emory j,
laws. I would like to see some or IN
Aired and am ready to help when
ST received your letter that you W.T.
June IS. 1894, on Jan. q. 1895. '
8 In SITTING IN the cabin readlng ABOUT -
from down town and handed me y
letter. / was much surprised to gel
Ley but you bet II was welcome " ~
nest so old. 1t was orougnt from
Mile creek by an Indian. 4 heard
the big explosion at Butte. but can
plain no particulars at all. There we1e
hen pers sent 20 me with the account o.
hut / did not get them. 1 WISH
Ssou,d send me a full account of l
25c. the spring. SO get a paper contain
o-bit a list OF the killed and cut II out
nut n IN an envelope and send II
must know a good many of the ki
aixed ThIs Is a poor country 10 get any n
road an Ny opinion IS that this Is gotn
be a good country to make money
In a few years. There Is gold fe
ering here IN every stream. They have
fgna ! 49,, 20 lool< for II away from