The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-14
$4,000 IN TWO WEEKS.
ProspectOr HendersOn's Tale OF
Wealth in the KIOndiLxe

NEW YORK, Aug discrimination of
stories of the vast wealth of the KIondike
district in Alaska comes from a prospector
now in this city who has made two trips to
the new Eldorado. He is Henry Henderson,
thlrty-eight years of age, a native of Pictou
county, Nova Scotia who took out his nat
uraliZation papers in this country ten years
ago. To him the credit of the discovery of
the wonderful deposits of gold in the klon-
dixie is to a large extent due. He told his
brother Robert, who was d miner in Col
orado, of the wealth of the district and
gave him 500 to pay for his outfit to the
Alaskan fields. Robert established a claim
on Gold Bottom creek, which yielded $40 900
in coarse gold in two weeks, and started a
gold fever that is already sending thou
sands Of fortune seekers to the land Of
promise.
On Oct. l a little steamer will leave Pa
cific coast port for Dyea inlet with one
hundred prospectors, mining engineers ard
experts, with Henry Henderson in charge.
With him will be also his niece Miss Maud
Henderson, of Nova Scotia. She is a pretty
and rugged enough to stand the severity
Of the weather and the hardships of the
trip she Will preside over her uncle'S
household in the gold region.
Mr.. henderson is six feet four inches
hlSh' with frame as sturdy as that of an
OK. He has been miner tor fifteen years.
The climate of Alaska has terror for
him. 1of he made what he called the dead
winter" outward trip from the klondike
and crossed the Chilkat pass with the Their
momGter 65 degrees below zero. He has es-
tablished a claim of five hundred feet near
t tndl OF ms prother on Gold Bottom creek
but mas not worked it yet as he was
obliged to return TO Nova Scotia. He has
, great prospects of the value of the claim
and company has been Incorporated to
work the two claims ON Gold Bottom creek
as we'll as another, of Robert Henderson's
on bunker creek, tributary of the Kloa-
dixie river.
Mr.. Hendersons advice to inexperienced
men who are thinking of starting out now
believes the stories of hardships have been
exaggerated, he says the land is in no con-
dition to be worked until the frost has left,
and the journey over the Chilcat pass is
fraught with danger in the SnoWdrifts In
the late spring and summer, he says, the
trip over the pass has no more periis than
a walk on Broadway Mr. Henderson made
his first journey to the Yukon river in the
spring of 1893, covering seven hundred
miles in f1fty-four days. He says he could
now make the journey in thirty days. He
loft the district the day after Christmas of
tho same year, with two companions and
an Indian to break the trail and attend to
the nine dogs which drew the two sleigns.
After fifty-three days of cold to a degree
almost beyond human endurance snow
storms, eXhaustionS and hunger, the little
band reached Dyea inlet At one time they
became SO benumbed that they had to
Chilkat pass, pushing on with a few pounds
of bacon and flour They found refuge a
A trading post and one of the parry put
back for the dust. For two days and three
nights the men were obliged to huddle be-
tween the sleighS with a canvas covering
over them. Mr.. Henderson returned to the
gold district in March. 1895. mining in the
vicinity of the Stewart, Lewes and Sixty
Mile rivers.
The prospector was asked how much
money and what kind of an outfit he
thought one man needed to reach the Ell
dorado and work claim there. He said he
believed one man could get along with $500
If used economically. This would be
pended follows:
Clothing-Six pairs of Logging moccaSins,
a combination coat reaching to the knees
and worn like a skirt, and double hood,
which is arranged to cover the entire face,
with the exception of eye; two pairs of
fur mitts lined with wool; two heavy WOOL
en- undershirts and two blanket shirts.
Outfit-A pick and a shovel, a gold pan,
a bottle of quicksilver to catch fine gold,
tent made of light duck, a sheet-iron
stove and a few necessary cooking utensils.
Provisions-One hundred pounds of bacon,
100 pounds of beans, 300 pounds of flour, nifty
pounds of dried fruit and fifty pounds of
sugar coffee, tea and seasoning.
The dried fruit, Mr.. Henderson said, was
found to be a necessity for its heath-pre-
serving properties Here is Mr. Hender-
sons itinerary i'm reaching the Klondike
district From Dyea inlet to the lakes
fifty miles; over the lakes, 200 miles; over
the Lewes and Pelly rivers, 200 miles; over
the Yukon river, $50 miles.