The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1897-08-28
THE rENDERFoor MINERS.

THE TENDERFOOT MINERS.
II is no picnic to go to Kloudike on
a prospecting expedition. In fact it is
the very opposite, and is fraught with
more trials and hardships than the
average tenderfool imagines. The
San Francisco Chronicle in leading
editorial gives pretty correct idea OF
what the gold hunter must endure. 1t
says:
"To obtain a chance on the Kloudike.
a man, who very likely never saw a
gold field in. bis life, starts for Dawson
City now. Arriving at Dyea he faces
a savage mountain trail, upon which
snow has already begun to fall. He
has ton of provisions and utensils.
The Indian guides refuse to pack it
even over Chilcoot pass for less than
% cents pound. sum which prac-
tically doubles its cost.
HE starts on foot through drifts.
If the snow is soft he wades through
1t; If hard he is expected to adapt him
self to snowshoes. If any rivers are
open he must build raft or boat to
navigate them, taking the chance of
losing his stores in the rapids. What
does he know about building RATS or
boats? AS freezing weather has begun
the chances are, however, that he will
have to walk. Fifteen miles q day
through snowdrifts is excellent time,
and the space to be traversed Is from
$50 to 1000 miles. Accounts differ as
to the distance.
sour tenderfoot, after incredible
hardships, crosses the Chilcoot and
braves the long trail. There are no
inns for him to rest in. At night the
guides get a sheltered place behind
rock or in a ravine, and If they can,
build fire. This bonfire process is
not easy in the Arctic. which is one
reason why seasoned explorers cook
with alcohol and Esquimaux with
whale oil.
"But we will presume that the tender
foot gets through to the Canadian line.
He is stopped by the customs officials
and taxed from 25 to go per cent on
everything he brings into the country.
His beans and bacon, costing market
rates at San Francisco, haYe paid
ocean freight to Dyea and Indian
freight over the divide; and now are
made to yield revenue to the Canadian
'sThe tenderfoot finds himself in a
log city. He can live at a tavern for
BIZ per day or build himself a log
house. AS he never drove O nail in
his life he has to hire carpenters at S15
a day. Finally, with pockets depleted
he moves in.
"When the innocent goldhunter
looks about him he finds that the only
way to get claim on>the Klondike is
to buy it and the cheapest one costs
$50. 700. He may have $500 left; per-
haps but 800; possibly less. The
plentiful gold he had been hearing
about, If above ground at all, is packed
away with an armed man guarding 1t.
If he wants any nuggets he must find
them for himself. Where? The old
settler points vaguely to the frozen
hills and says: Go along and find a
creek. Everything is taken up for
fifty miles around but you may get
farther away. What shall
you do when you find it? First pay the
location tax. Then just |
move q hundred tons of ice to one side.
Below that you will find twenty feet |
Of frozen mud. Merely thaw it and
toss it out. Near bedrock you will see
gravel. Perhaps there is gold in it
and perhaps not. That's chance you
take. just pile the gravel up and in
the spring you can wash it out. You
can't do so before because all the water |
will be ice. What if there is no gold |
in it, or not enough to pay? On, then
you won't>be any worse off than hun
ireds of others. You can hire uut to
other people if the alien labor law will |
ct you, and workaround until another
freeze comes. What's that? You say
your provisions won't outlast another
winter? Why, man, why didn't you
bring more, then? Did you take this
or picnicp'
''These are the frozen facts about win
;er gold-huntingi In the Northwest Ter
'itory. If they are not sufficiently
rozen, they will be. along with the
who disregards them, when
he mercury at Klondike gets we'll on
he downward path to 60 degrees
Fahrenheit"