Great Falls weekly tribune., 1896-03-13
IN A LAND OF ICE AND FLOWERS
w. G. Lowden, Formerly Of Grea t
Fails, Writes EntertainingIy
from Alaska.
lie Does Not Like the Country
IL Is Not an FL Dorado
Scarcity of Food.

letter from William g. Lowden, who was
for many years resident of Great Falls,
being employed by j, I. Eaton, but is
now at OsIivie, uear Forty Mile, on the
Yukon river, Alaska.
The letter was written in the latter
part of November, but did not leave
Juneau until March =, arriving al Seattle
four days later. The letter reads:
After SO long Il time and according to
promise, | now attempt 10 give you an
account Of tins country a. best | can. |
have no news 70 write for we are entirely
Cut II fron communication with the
outside world, the latest news we have
mad being in the latter part of June. All
the news we get is through travellers
coming IN and brir glng III the mail, for
there Is no direct mail route liz the coun-
try. The Alaska Commercial company
have made arrangements with an Indlan
10 bring il mail from Juneau in March,
but YOU will not get this letter until the
latter part Of March, for it will not leave
here until about the 10th of February
and then. as it goes out with dog team,
it will not arrive IN Juneau until some
time in February, or, rather. March.
Then, as there is only mail in Juneau
every two weeks, it may lie there until
the steamboat comes in
"Well, William, to begin with, an &C
count of and description OF this country:
| will begin with saying that, in regard
to the mineral resources, | believe that
the time will come when it will prove
very rich, although, as yet, very little
has been done in the way OF developing
them. Quartz is not locked after at all,
placer being the greatest craze at pres
ent; and, no doubt, there must be some
terribly rich gulches here, for they have
worked bars that have paid $50 per day
to the rocker; but bar diggings are
thing of the past and the miners have
turned their attention to the gulches, in
search of coarse gold.
but prospecting ls an uphill business
here; there are so many difficulties to
contend with. Scarcity of supplies ie
! the greatest drawback. The only means
of transportation is by river in summer
and by handslejghs in winter-and then
pack it on your back between times.
There is a trading post about II miles
| from US, but it might as well be 1000,
| for they have not enough to eat them
relves. We nearly starved to death last
summer, depending on it for supplies.
| We would go down and they would say
that the stean boat would be in sure
next week. but next week finally got
TO be an old song, so we pulled out for
Forty Mile post, a distance of 100 miles,
and got our winters supplies and towed
them back in boats to the mouth of
Sixty-Alile creek and thence hauled
them on handseighs, distance OF Il
miles. After we got back the steam
boat got in, but, in place Of
2O-ton boat, she only carried 10 tons,
and the most OF her cargo was iron door
| locks, butcher knives and a few hun
dred pounds OF horse feed, that Was for
the post where we expected to trade,
and the rest Of the cargo for Pelley post,
ljO miles further up the river. Then all
hands had to 90 to Forty Mile post and
it came on cold and stormy and they
had ii hard time to make it back.
Il have been prospecting ever since /
came here, but, as yet, have not been
successful. There have been 80 miners
here all winter, but we have not found
gold enough to Justify us to work. The
ground IT. frozen to bedrock, which runs
from to 30 feet deep, and never thaws
out. The surface is covered with moss
from six inches to two feet deep aud
the sun never pcnetrates through it.
"Mlulug aud fur ale lie only Industries
here and the lnd'u-s are bringing in all
the fur. Timber Is very scarce and lum-
Der sells AT 5l20 per Nj, As for agrlcui-
tule and grazing, they are out Of the
question. lou can False a little. garden
stuff but nUthiag natures. Provisions
are nigh and OF a very pyor quality.
Every thiug Is second class. Flour is $40
per c"t., sometimes as low as IS; sugar,
$50 per cpt.; bacon. 31at lOc. per h.; ;
beaDs - -. per Ib.; coffee, SOC, per h.;
fruIt 3Uc per ID; rive, Doc per TO-, and
oatmeai, l1c, per To- That closes the
biz If fare for our t4ble. Vegetables are
out Of the 4uaEtlou-eXcept those that
ARE Capuc,!, and they are scarcely eat
able. After You get away from the lu-
lion river, food becomes higher On
! Mailer ana GlaZier Greeks. about Is miles
! from Forty Mile, everything costs 70
cents per pound more; so you see the
cost uf transportation is pretty large.
| "Forty y-A,iIe l. about tte largest rOwn
here about 800 people and soc do S.
! The dog i the means If trdyei in this
! country, and | NUT say Mat they are
natural boru thieves. II they
catch 20 asleep they viii eat the moe
casns If your feet
"ln regard to lhe climate, must say
! that consider II very ncaltAful and not
very severe The summer IS beautiful,
although short 1t begins with June
ard ends vita the middle Of August, but
thor' 'arcNIId flowers of every hue and de-
| -ari.'I.u ol-ryHheTe AMI an abundance
! ol N'd rrui'~, eu h rs red currants, red
ra.I ..r'l F., 8ld hjuebcrIics The win
|t.r, n l-N I..g, l. not very Sc
. I--p iI b. ...D', ,I.u yECFm meter