The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-09-19
THE STUART RIVER.
STORIES OF RICH FINDS ON THIS
STREAM NOT WELL FOUNDED.

of Railroad to the Treasure Fields
Route VIII Connect stickeen Waters
With Those of the Yukon.
A former officer of the United States
coast and geodetic survey, who spent
several seasons in Alaska and is familiar
with the Yukon country near Forty
Mile creek and Circle City, wrote recent
~ very interesting letter to friend
III Washington.
Il have read with great deal of in
terest, " he writes, the many articles
that have appeared from time to time
on Alaska, but am moved to utter a
warning word just now on account of a
statement that I have seen several times.
This was to the effect that wonderful
developments were to be looked for on
Stuart river and that the Canadian gov
eminent had secret information about
the river that would prove startling.
Stuart river is not an untried
stream. 1t was worked by hundreds of
miners before the riches of Forty Mile
creek We're known, and the gold cannot
RAC4ANNt
not awaiting the touch Of the first COM
ers. McQuestin, Harper and Mayo had
store there and did not leave until the
stream was practically abandoned by
miners. In my conversations with these
traders and men who had been ON the
river | never heard of any one making
more than fair wages on it. The stream
was followed far to it's head, particular
ly by two men, an old American trap
per and miner named Joe Gee and
Canadian Scotchman named Mcdonald.
The latter was very patriotic and would
not desert British soil, and this, they
say is why he remained i'll Stuart and
refused to go to Forty Mile creek when
the rest stampeded to the new diggings.
AS this man must have spent at least
eight years prospecting the stream, and
so many men had been in it before, no
virgin field is to be found there with all
the richness of Ell Dorado
Near the headwaters of the Stuart
is a hunting ground Of tribe of Indians
that you usually hear called the Ma
honys. The Yukon Indians fear them
worse than death. They are reported to
be merciless. 1t is claimed they kidnap
children, carry off women and Stay all
the men that fall in their hands The
mere suspicion that they have come
near the country of the Yukon river In
dams will drive the latter from the in
vaded section for years. The traders
seem to fear them, too, and stories of
their cruelty and fierceness kept many
man back from the headwaters of the
Stuart. But Gee and Mcdonald were
not deferred. 1 never met man who
had seen one of the Mahonys in the Yu-
kon valley, but l have heard that when
bands Of them came to the Hudson Bay
company's post the stockades were shut
up and all business was done by both
parties with every open precaution
against surprise and treachery If you
look up Ogilvie's account of his trip
down the Yukon in 1888, I think you
will find references to what had been
done on the Stuart and of information
he got from Mcdonald.
''There will be stories enough and to
spare about Alaska, and 1 think it is
only right that when some individuals
try to stampede the country with wild
stories of the unlimited wealth to be
found anywhere, anything known about
that section should be made public
Many poor devil will rue this winter
the readiness with which he accepted
the stories of the wealth awaiting every
one on the Klondike. -
So much for epistolary information
concerning the great northwest. There
are other tidings from that region that
are not so discouraging Late advices
state that there is to be an all British
Vancouver, Stickeen, Teslin lake and
Yukon river route to the goldfields. The
Canadian Pacific decided upon proceed
ing at the earliest possible period with
the construction of standard gauge
line of railway from a point at or near
Glenora on the Stickeen river to the
head of navigable waters of the Yukon
The decision was arrived at recently
by the executive Of that company. In
structions were at once wired from Mont
real to General superintendent Marpole
in Vancouver, B. c., to select the most
competent men to proceed to the local
ity and to make survey of the coun-
try, picking out the most feasible route
or line Of railway connecting the
waters of the Stickeen with those of
Teslin lake and the Yukon.
Shortly afterward there arrived in
Vancouver from Kootenai Mr.. E. j.
DuChesney, who is superintendent of
the Kootenai division as we'll as an ex-
perienced engineer and railway locator, !
who is charged with the work Of max
ing the preliminary surveys for the pro-
posed line. That gentleman, with Mr..
Marpole and Mr.. Gamble chief engineer
for the Central Pacific Railroad COM
pany, went Immediately to Victoria to
consult with Mr.. Turner, premier of
British Columbia, and inspect the maps
relating to the Stickeen river and the
northern section of this province in the
land and works department.
This done and other information col
lected, Mr. DuChesney and his party
arranged to proceed north to the line Of
his observations, where considerable
work is being done by the provincial