Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-11-22
ALASKA AS IT Is.
ALL is NOT GOLD THAT GILT
1ERS.
Difficulty of Ge etting 10 the Mines
cold Weather-MO OsquttOs Annoy
ing-GOld Found in Some Places,

| tng-GO1d Found In Some Rlaces
Hut Does Not Grow On Bushes
A. Lamereux, logger, who lei
Shelton for the Yukon mines i
March, of last year, and who ha
therefore been in the colorado Ion
enough to form an intelligent opinion
writes latter to his friend, Thoma
Bordeaux, which appeared in tn
Shelton Tribune, from which we tax
few extracts. He says:
al reached the mines on Mile
Creek, in the Forty-mile country, late
in June of last year. l worked 70
wages at $40 day during the summer
In September l went down to Forty
| mile Post, got a miners outfit, ant
came to Circle City, which is near tn,
Birch Greek mines. Soon after reach
ing Circle City, i went out about 4,
miles from town and staked out u claim
on Deadwood Creek, stream on
which gold had just been discovered
During the winter made three trips
out to my claim and prospected it by
burning a number of holes through
the frozen ground to bedrock. While
out prospecting, l lived in tent
Although the weather was quite cold
at the time, 35 to so degrees below
zero, l did not suffer much in the
tent.
"Last spring as soon as the weather
permitted, / came out here, and in
company with two other men, began
opening my claim. We have worked
hard on the claim all summer, but
have taken out very little gold as We
are not on the pay streak. This fall
1 expect to prospect the claim
thoroughly by running a crosscut
from rimrock to rinrock and down to
bedrock. If there is any pay streak
l will be sure to find it by this means.
Yesterday l brought out two of my
partners. Now / own one claim and
a third interest in two others, but |
cannot tell until next spring whether
or not there is anything rich in them.
"Gold is found the full length of
this creek, but not in paying quantities
on many of the claims; however,
about 80 of the claims on the upper
end OF the creek pay quite well, l4O
ounces, 81. $50, was taken out of one
claim in a single week, while several
others produce 100 ounces per week
Gold is being taken out OF several
other creeks in this vicinity.
"This is, by far, the toughest coun-
try have ever been in. In summer
it keeps man busy fighting mos
quitoes and flies, and rustling for a
grub stake and in winter he must fly
around lively to keep from freezing.
Gold does not grow on bushes here rs
many people seem to think, and q
man must be q rustler in this country
if he wishes to make a stake. The
weather gets intensely cold here in
winter. The winter OF 1891, the
temperature was down to II degrees
below zero and for two weeks it was
80 degrees below. Last winter was
very mild, Sc degrees below, being the
coolest. The warmest day this sum.
mer was 80 degrees above.
"This is a very healthful country,
but the work is very hard. The
country is very rough and broken so
that it is extremely difficult to travel
from place to place, and a man has
tough time moving his outfit where
he wants it. In summer it is neces-
sary TO pack the outfit or tow it in
boat; in winter it must be hauled on
a sled. Those who are not able to
hire it done, do their own packing
and shedding. A man must have an
iron constitution in order to do this
kind of work and endure it long.
But if man is q rustler he is pretty
ant 10 make a stake here in few
years.
"The prices OF everything here are
high. Freighters charge us 4O cents
per pound for bringing anything from
Circle City, distance about 40 miles.
Here are some prices: Flour, $4S per
hundred; rice, $50; rolled oats, SAG; !;
beans, $50; bacon, $75; dried fruit,
from $50 to SIS; onions, SIS; pota-
toes, 800"
Daniel Donovan, of Port Gamble,
writes letter published in the Seattle
News, which coroborates every state
ment made by Mr.. Lamereux. The
letter is dated from Forty-mile Post,
Sept. 18th. In it he says:
1--WE are here in latitude 46 degrees