The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-19
EN- ROUTE TO KL0NDIKE
HOW THE GOLD SEEKERS ARE
LIKELY TO FARE DURING WINTER.
Three Bad Men from OIxIahoma-The
First Gold Find at Dawson.
special 70 the rndiananolIs rournal.


ST. MICHAEL'S, Alaska, Sept. 4, via
Seattle. Wash, Sept 1S.-It would be super
fiuous by this time to warn victims of the
gold fever against attempting to penetrate
the frozen country before spring. No one
who has not already started would have
the temerity to make a beginning at this
late day. Perhaps it would be more equi-
table, therefore, to offer some encourage
ment to friends of departed argonauts who
may have been unduly alarmed by the ste
ries of suffering which have gone in volume
out of the north. There will be hardships
to endure in rude shanties and with meager
food supplies, but it is safe to predict that
no greater percentage of persons viii either
starve or freeze to death than thus sue
cumb every winter in Chicago.
There is a fellow feeling among the gold
seekers that the unsophisticated will hardly
be able to appreciate They will be shut off
practically from the entire world up here
for many weeks, and their isolation amid
so many perils of nature will band them
together closely that in the matter of
the necessaries of life when the pinch
| comes all property will be common proper
ty. The prosperous and we'll provided fam
lily in Chicago may live only block away
from another family whose members are
ASAA16 VI iuhSCA dIhd SOlN. LUZ III l{AC Null
dixie such woe would be so close to the door
of every other man that a dozen helping
hands would be outstretched Moreover,
the initial warning of the rigors of the eli
mate were so comprehensive and We're dis
seminated SO widely that comparatively
small proportion of the fortune seekers
have come poorly provided In many cases,
on the contrary, they have exercised such
extreme caution that their outfits in pro-
visions are double what will be necessary.
OF course, the elasticity of the situation
has limit. The provision supply will not
stand an indefinite series of divisions But
it is safe to assert that no one who sue
ceeds in getting to Dawson this fall will
lack for proper sustenance. There is little
to fear in this respect for any o. the tou-
rists who are making the trip by river, for
all the boats are we'll supplied and no mat
ter where they may be frozen up there is
enough on board to care for the passengers
until navigation is reopened and supply sta
tions can be reached. The fate of those
who are attempting the overland journey is
another story, for there is no telling where
they may be frozen up Oh the way nor how
remote from any source of supplies But
the inevitable tendency to flock together
at such a time will doubtless protect them
from calamities.
THE OTHER SIDE
After extending this cold comfort to anx-
ious friends at home the other side of the
picture the golden prospect itself, Is a
natural sequence. 1t is more difficult to
diagnose this situation than one would sup
pose. Statements are not conflicting as to
the existence of the gold. but they vary
immensely as to its availability. 1t seems
to be unquestioned that in the vicinity of
Dawson and at all of what might be termed
the central points in the Klondike region
there is not promising spot that has not
been already claimed" The first rush of
prospectors carried not only miners but a
host of experts who were the agents of a
multitude of others. They We're armed with
capital and powers of attorney in such
volume that they gobbled up all the good
land in sight 1t must be understood. of
course that this refers only to the country
that has been exploited. That vast area
exists that is rich in gold seems assured.
But the fact remains that all future trav-
elers to this land must come prepared to be
original explorers. There will be nothing
for them in the Klondike nor in any of the
other districts, which the public by this
time has come to recognize as being full
of gold. All this land has been claimed
and staked out, and from this time on the
gold seeker must trust to making an in
dependent find or else possess enough CAPT
tai to buy the claim of some one else. This
situation should be carefully considered, for
it is more important than 1t may appear on
the surface. Gold, gold everywhere and
not an ounce for me- about expresses it.
Each steamers arrival here shows that
the Chicago colony in the neghborhood of
the gold fields will be very extensive. N.
p. r. Hatch, attorney for the Erie Railroad,
is trotting about here gathering together
the tail ends of his outfit. G. b. Elliott,
who is with r.. A. Cummings q Co, is just
recovering from q spirited encounter of
many days with Father Neptune, and
spends most of the time now making up for
lost time at the table. r. J. Frankem, the
railroad man; William Buckingham, with
Semens, Halske a. Co. electrician, and
Harold Sturges the bond broker, are pre-
pairing to rough it in the heart of the min
ing district. Sturges IS one of the six men
who had offices in the Rookery and who are
to christen their Klondilze shanty the
"Klondike Rookery" Ernest Dunlap who
was for several years with Wood Brothers
at the stock yards, and George Randolph,
from the same environment form part of
the Chicago crowd.
The personalities of the men who are
making the trip form an interesting study.
In reaching St. Mchaels they were forced
to undergo more hardship perhaps than
some of them ever experienced before. But
they all take it good naturally and seem in
no way disheartened by what they have
endured nor by the prospects of suffering to
come.
BAD MEN FROM OKLAHOMA.
There are three men here who will be
regarded as highly interesting members of
the Klondike community. They are Frank
Canton, w w, Painter and Frank G. Kress,
all of Oklahoma. While there has been no
serious trouble of any kind thus far in the
gold fields, the rush this fail is sure to
carry with it some desperate characters,
and at the request of the North American
Trading and Transportation Company these
three men have been "deputized' by the
government as United States marshals
They will make their headquarters in Circle
City, which is on the line between Alaska
and Canada. Canton was sheriff of Buffalo
Wyo., during the rough times in that dis
trict and became famous as a runner-down
of desperadoes and the tough men, who
always gather at frontier settlements
Captain Healy, now one of the head men
of the transportation company, was ut that
time sheriff in Montana just across the line