The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-09-07

Z II returns 20 me west u2EE- over a bridge
very similarly located 20 No. ? This Sec
ton when Travelled. soon degenerates into
bog holes. as the surface crust OF vegeta-
/ tion and rotten wood soon disintegrates
I under the myriad feet OF the cavalcade.
/ and while il is possible 20 make new trails
! through the bottom. these have no long
lease of life. Many horses have lost their
/ lives in these bog holes. bur the worst
! places have now been corduroyed. How
long the makeshift work employed viii
last remains 20 be seen. as IL was only fin
] ished about August %
/ Above this bridge the stream forks.
The tran continues up the west bank with
no specially bad spots. one mile to the
| fourth bridge. at an altitude OF about l. 100
| feet. The river here has dwindIed to about
| fifty feet in width and flows between very
/! abrupt banks and but little bottom land
Worst Place of All.
The next three or three and a half
| miles to the ford are the worst on the route
/ and test the endurance OF both men and
| horses. The trail Immediately climbs the
| ridge and, in distance Of less than a mile
| reaches an altitude of some 2io0 feet. over
| boulders. polished rocks and tree roots
| running water having in many places wash
| ed out all traces OF earth. Beyond there
are numerous bad shelving rocks and the
| route finally tales to the bed of the river
before reaching the ford These three
miles have probably killed more than their
pro rata of the dead horses.
There is nothing specially remarkable
In the rise TO the summit in the next mile
and half. The river here bends sharply
TO the east. while the crest Of the ridge.
with an altitude OF from 1850 to 200 feet,
runs nearly east and west.
when the trail was first started 1t was
the intention TO follow up the east bank OF
the river. bat after swapping out about
hoi 20. fhraa 49,. s.
rock slide was encountered. and being
without powder the attempt TO continue on
this route was abandoned Efforts are
now being made to conquer this rock slide.
which. II successful will eliminate the last
hill descended and materially shorten the
distance. Whether anything can be done
in time to be OF benefit this season is I'M
certain.
open Country beyond the Summit
Beyond the summit the country is more
open. and there is no special difficulty. ex-
cept the distance and some marshes near
Lake Bennett. which are said to have
freacherous crusts and bottomless posi-
hilities, but of these l cannot speak from
absolute knowledge.
The trail here described was originally
described tJuly) as terminating at Lake
Tagish. As a matter Of fact 1t appears
mat no one had been through TO that lake
until August 2 and at that date ii was NOT
even known whether there was nayieab,e
outlet to that lake or not From the best
information available there does not an
pear to be any such outlet either 10 Lake
1agish or Lake Tooshi. and no effort Is
now made to reach any point except Lake
Bennett on the old Dyea route.
Rad Packing Kills Horses
on the White pass. or Skaguay trail
there is no point where there Is any risk
70 human life. The loss of horses arises
chiefy from bad packing. overlooking
want OF knowledge how to handle them on
the tran, overwork or deficient feed rath-
er than from the real difficulties of the
iran. IL is not denied that there are such.
" is by no means as wide and smooth as n
might be. but the losses would have been
insignificant except for the reasons above
given. Some horses have been smothered
IN the mud holes, and few have had their
limbs broken by getting entanyIed on hidde,
roots In such holes but many NOR ba,,a
broken their legs on short sharp nitrhes
OF smooth rock. because they were not al
lowed their head and were unable 10 helm
themselves or recover their footing few
nave slipped of the smooth shelving bench
g ana cropped to inevitable death but the
mortality of from three to five ner d{a,, e
not surprising when It is remembered how
| ie" OF the men on the trail had ever been
| on tran before or had even a davis CIV
| perience with horses.
Ii Takes One Horse Month
The situation will be better understood
| when the time taken 10 transport a GIN
| gle outfit Of say 2oo pounds q 0co mounds
| provisions and POO pounds of personal ef-
ieets ana hardware to the lakes from
tioe water. with the aid of one horse. IS
| understood. \ fair average load on tho
horse Is about $50 pounds. and ~ the
| owner expects TO give his horse all the
| attention possible, he will find that his
| personal load should nor exceed TWENTY
I'VE pounds. bat II he should carr,, aft,
| pounds and thus move 200 pounds at each
| Trip he must make six trips TO transport
| the entire OUTFIT. As eighty-four miles
| must be Travelled on each trip and six,een
| is a fair days travel ii will take no, lose
| than five DAYS to make a round trim 81
| That under the very best Of circumstances
| thirty days would be consumed and both
morse and man must travel 50t miles Rr+
In addition 10 this, 10 provide twentv-fve
pounds Of feed for the horse daily will
| consume ten days more. and accidental
defentions an additional five making n
| total OF forty-five DAYS. and man and
| horse viii have Travelled GA miles, Par
| Ties with more horses in proportion NAV
possibly do a shade better and thosa v,i4h
/ less not so we'll but the above figures teIl
/ the story. Both men and horses get IN
| speakahly weary. the latter especially.
"AlI hViii~ @NHclAeH ana not tufreQuently
| sore backed and only partially shod. sue
| cumb under loads of even moderate
| weight What the loss of horse means
| under these circumstances may be easily
| understood
| One Accident Stop. Everybody
| The conditions on the trail are how
| ever. more complex than the foregoing
| Parties are camped all the way from the
| end OF the road TO the fortf-verv few he
! yond-the favorite points being at Por-
| cupine creek and bridges Nos 2 and a
| the number ar each point growing smaller
| as the distances from Skag1iay Increase
| The number In camp may he anywhere
| from 2Nn upwards. with probably 500
horses, and on a trail with few poirfs
| wider Than Is necessary for a single horse
| these hosts must pass each other in on
| posite directions daily. II horse fails
/ or must be repacked. both lines come TO
/ A halt, and may SO stand for an hour
/ or more. 80 that while we know the min
/ imum time IN which the transit can he
made, no man has get been able 10 tx
/ yhe maximum. For many people on the
/ trail IL may be underestimate az sixty
| days.
May M Well Give Tp
AS in 50 many other cases this Il one
| of those whore money tells At the end
| ~ August freight from skaguav 70 the
| lakes vas worth not less than - cents
| per pound. and those who could afford
| 20 pay such a price. as vel as those who
were early on the trail VIII probably get
| through "a their destination. but the tate
corners might Just IS we'll reconcile them
Il