The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1897-08-25
THE RUSH TO DAWSON.
Ladue's Story of Profits In Saving sluice
Boxes.

Ladue's Story Of Profits In Saving Sluice
Boxes.
I made another trip out the next
winter. l left there, Jan. 26, with the
thermometer so degrees below zero. I
got out with dogs and sled and had a
mighty hard time. had to sled about
$50 miles and connected with the
steamer Rustler at Dyea 1 arrived i'll
Frisco along aboIt March l, the trip
having taken some two months. did
not come east.
My trip to San Francisco was to
purchase machinery for new saw mill.
I had-it shipped north by the A. G. T.
company to St. Michsel's, on the Ber-
ing sea, 80 miles north of the Yukon
river and then from St. Michael's up
the Yukon to Dawson City by the
steamer Alice This was in the spring
of 1896
I,ras again in 1896 and went
to So. ancisco for practically the
same purpose and under the same con-
ditions. l left San Francisco about
March 10 and went back home after
purchasing this mill.
Nothing Grows There.
1 had no commission to buy supplies
for any one but myself, but had to take
everything wanted. Nothing grows
there-no provisions. l took in scme
blankets, tea and trading stuff, freight
ing over 1000 pounds of supplies.
1 reached my mill on Sixty Mile
creek on June 24, / think. Nothing had
occurred nor were any new big discov-
cries made until Aug "a.
Upon the discovery of Bonanza
creek, which is the Klondike, people
came from all directions, travelling
night and day, some with dogs towing
their boats and others coming across
the country afoot with packs on their
backs, until about 400 claims were To-
Gated. Many of the people should not
have come.
Following the discovery Of Bonanza
creek, Mccormack panned out with the
help Of his two Indians something like
S24 or $25 to the pan. EIe took this
gold and went down to Forty Mile and
reported. Then tie people began to
come there like wildfre. There was 20
stopping them. The mouth Of the Bo-
nanza is ~ miles from Dawson City.
I got down from Sixty Mile creek
the day Mccormack came down to For
ty Mile to report aud get supplies. 10
Gated the town site cf Dawson and went
back and got raft of lunber to put up
a cabin. D. A. Robinson, s. S. Ayres.
John Whitney and 1 put up house in
four days. 1t was the first house i'll
Dawson City, a leg cabin, IL BY II,
with one room. cnly ore fccr, door
and two windows. The house faced the
river, which was on the west.
We left after we got that done and
went rp to the sawmill. That consisted
of 125 horsepower engine and one 4S
inch circular saw and one 50 inch, car
riage, planer and hatcher, which is
sawnill complete. Six days from the
day we got down with tie sawmill we
had her running.
The first job turned ont there by
me was saving lumber for siuice boxes
for Bonanza creek. Robert Lowrie go5
the first one / charged him $3.50 per
1000 feet. This was for a II BY IA
box, 42 feet Of lumber to the box. We
got ont several sets of sluice boxes of
the same size, fer which I charged the
same-S130 per 1000 feet The same
boxes in Arizona or New Mexico would
probably cost s1.50. The lumber came
from logs off the Thron Diuck river.
1t is really not the Klordike district,
but the Bonanza and the Gold Bottom
mining districts where the gold IS
Not Called KIond;ke There.
The popular name here, however,
seems to be Klondike, which is not gen
orally known up there. At Dawson City
we knew the places as Gcid Bottom and
Bonanza districts. When we turned out
this lumber, there were hardly any
people in tee town, because the people
rushed up there ct first with only four
or five days supplies, and after running
around getting their outfits and getting
them placed they were obliged to go
back for more supplies and tools. Some
of them were in bad shape. You can't
get anything up there except what you
take.
The first dwelling house in Dawson
was erected for myself by me. The sec
ond was that Of Dan Robinson. The
third belonged to Robert Lowrie. the
fourth to Theodore Anderson, the fifth
to John Mofitt, the sixth to Charles
Kimball, the seventh to a. j. Ferguson,
the eighth to Charles Olsen.
THE NEW CITY.