Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-04
ROAD TO KLONDIKE
How the Gold Hunters Will Make
Their Way to the Goleonda.
SAILING over SEAS OF SNOW
Aland Where Horses Are Unknown
and Dogs Are Worth $500.
THE CHILK DOT PA IS S

Copyright 1897 by the Bachelor Synlicate)
Written for The Eve ing Star
The late F.. J. Glave, who first used pack
horses in Alaska so recently as $780, would
be conside, ably astonished If he could see
the development his bright idea has led up
to In sever years Every vessel which has
gone to Juneau with supplies for the great
Klondike mining region has carried pack
horses for use on the famous Chiikoot pass
Probably there are now rot less than two
or three hundred pack animals on the pass,
where in 1890 the appearance of these I'M
known equine big dogs filled the native
breast with apprehension. Other feelings
than apprehension now fill the breast of
the noble red man at sight of the horses.
In the old days. supplies went on Indians
backs in summer. Abou. eighty or ninety
pounds made a load and the carrier him
self ate three or four pounds of food per
day. Obviously, under such conditions time
up in about thirty Gays at the most.
or. if the Chilkoot were passed and the
Indians sent back, the stock of food was
considerably diminished and the cost OF
the remainder almost prohibitive. for the
Indians demanded 81 day and upward
for their services.
been used to pack dry groceries over the
pass, while sheep and oxen have been
driven over. to be slaughtered on the other
side. after the point of cmbarkation down
the Yukon was reached. The difference be-
tween Indian, who eats the food he
carries. and a sheep. which lives on the
grass of the short arctic summer while
Surefootedly scaling the rocks, and after
ward becomes meat itself. is considerable
in favor of the sheep. Dry groceries, but
not live animals. owing to the prohibitive
freights. can also be taken into interior
Alaska by way of the Yukon river, but
this route is slow and uncertain. After
the middle of July, when the rush for the
Klondike began, it was useless to go to
the Yukon'S mouth and then, too late in the
season. begin the weary 1,SJ0 miles of up
current navigation in shallow water. In
deed those who attempted 1t will probably
get only as far as st. Michaels in the lower
river this fall and must complete the jour
ney in early Spring-early, that Is, for
Alaska: say along in May and June. II
the ice forms in the Yukon late this year
and the journey of those who set out is
completed, it will occupy So or 40 days or
probably mere.
In the Spring.
The best time to go into the interior Of
Alaska by the Juneau route is early spring,
before the ice has left the river and lakes,
or the snow has melted from the pass,
and after the worst OF the winter is over.
But the gold hunters who are now stream
ing over the pass have 10 notion of wait
ing until spring. The summer method Of
bdNtl dlleF passing SHllhcOt Will lHe
aid of the pack horses. is to build or buy
clumsy fiat-bottomed batteau at the
saw mill on the upper LouS river and row
down the stream upon it. fighting off the
fierce SwarmS of mosquitoes and avoiding
constant danger from rough water on the
inland lakes. where stiff breeze can blow
up white caps at ten minutes notice. Lake
Lindermann. Lake Bennett, Tagish and
Mud lakes. and particularly Lake Labarge.
are noted for rough water. During the
last half OF the journey the banks of river
and lakes are low and monotonous, and
knee deep in mud during the short summer.
Altogether. the trip by beat is eXhausting
and disagreeable, not the least of it's dis
advantages being that it lands the gold
seeker at last. after floating down the river
from Port Selkirk to the mouth of the
klondike- in camp just at the beginning
of the ten months winter.
The Wild Chilkoot Pass.
Chilkoot pass is mighty onsartin'' after
September 10 There may be snowstorms
al almost any time so fierce and wild as
to interrupt passage Still later in the sea-
it will be foolhardy for greenhorns to
attempt the trip at all. But the greed of
geld is powerful incentive. and it is ce--
tain that travel inland will be continued
this fall long after the usual quitting
time. and will be attempted in good wealth
er in winter And those who partici-
pate in it Will be in many cases men I'M
used to danger and exposure, il is difficult
TO how loss of life is to be avoided
After the first heavy snow falls. sledges
car be used to transport goods over the
pass. and dogs employed to drag them. in
cold which would soon render pack
ponies useless. When the ice has suf-
fciently frozen the lakes and rivers ma
tIre has prepared perfectly smooth road
for the sledgeS, and many miles day may
be made with the utmost ease
On a running stream, new ice is treach-
erous. and an involuntary bath in the Oc-
tober or November waters of the upper
: NOT a inc to hee IL
But men VINO are used to it travel all win
ter long in the neighborhood of the arctic
circle Circle City and other points above
enjoy mail once a month. The runners
who take out and bring. in letters are men
Injured to exposure and thoroughly ac-
quainted With the road
SIedging.
'Sledging in is a pleasanter process in
the spring than at any other time. Then,
with thermometer never very many de-
grees below zero. the heavy snow has filled
up the rough places on the rocky pass and
has become sufficiently hard to bear the
sledges well. Fresh falls of snow are
rather less likely than in the autumn, the
days are longer and the wind generally
blows from the south. At such time the
yoyageur can often extemporize sail out
of "three-point blanket slung to
crotched stake. pile his quarreling biting
away 10 the north. twenty or thirty miles
at a time at a spanking. satisfactory rate.
There's many a bad tip-over in this kind
OF progress. but It's easy and it's quick,
and these are reasons that appeal power
fully to a man in a hurry for gold.
Dogs are worth from $500 to $500 in the
neighborhood of Dawson. the new city.
Tbs supply of dogs that will stand the
climate is limited. and the price mounted
sharply upon news of the big gold strike.
Many a dog bought at such prices will be
killed and eaten this coming winter on the
Klondike. AS by that time the poor dog
will be reduced to skin and bone and will
not weigh much, his meat may represent
SO to so pound. But Klondike will be
lucky II meat doesn't run even higher be-
fore spring brings new supply.
The boundary.
The new places are Individually on Brit
ish soil: but as the road thither, whether
by the Yukon or by Chilkoot pass, leads
through United States territory, there
should be settlement Of the long yexed
Alaska boundary question. The line
crosses the Yukon in the heart of the
gold region Here there is no dispute The
1i11t uaralipl nj Ind 10 tb