The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-21
Left Home Year Ago POverty-Strick-
Taken in Three Months.
EVERY CREEK A GOLD MINE
THOSE WHO CAN ENDURE THF,
HARDSHIP WILL FIND A FORTUNE.
Plenty of Untouched Territory Yet to
Be Explored and Thousands Pre-
pairing to Enter the EIdOradO.

| SEATTLE, Wash, July 20.-"When we had
| taken out the last of the $4,000 | threw
down my pick, and, turning my eyes heav-
enward, said: Goodbye old friend; I will
never pick you up again. and 1 spoke the
| truth. l love god and [ have it. Many
| times in my life the wolf has been close to
my door, Now 1 have riches, and will
never work again, but in March L will go
back and manage our properties"
These were the words which William
| Stanley used to-oay in closing an interview
| Stanley is one of the fortunate ones who
| returned from the Klondyke on the steam
| er Portland. In addition to his present for
! tune he is interested with his son and two
New Workers in claims which he says will
! yield $2,O00,000 Stanley lives in an humble
| little place in the southern part of the city
and has wife and seven children. During
! his absence in the far north his family
| struggled to exc out an existence, for
everything that Stanley had went to pay
his expenses to the gold fields Stanley is
well on in years. His hair is gray. and
when he left this city he looked as though
few more years would find him sleeping
| beneath the sod. He was not accustomed
| " ilet4 CSIl4pS. ne was a man OF SeuentarV
| habits, and for years had conducted a lit-
lie book store in an out-of-the-way busi-
ness corner. To-day people who used to
help him out by giving him 10 or Is cents
cannot realize that he is wealthy. Here
is his story:
II went to the Yukon as a last resort. I
was getting old and I had no money, and
knew that I would never get any unless
| 7 took ont Of tba
ago last March that 1 left Seattle. 1 am
free to confess that my family was at that
time in destitute circumstances. L made
! for the Yukon. I had never before
been there. I knew nothing of mining and
nothing Of the hardships of the country
and, in fact, was as great q 'greeny' as
ever set foot cn the great gold country of
the Northwest. My son, Samuel Stanley
went with me- He was as ignorant as his
! father.
while we were on the steamer Alki.
which took us to Dyes, we met two young
men. Charles and George Worden They
were residents of Sacketts Harbor, N Y.
and had come West in search of gold Their
mother lives back in the old home, so they
informed me- We became very intimate
with the Wordens. They knew little if
anything, about the country and one day.
in conv ersation with one of us, sugges ted
that we form company, and do our work
on the syndicate plan, each man to share
and share alike. We wandered through
| the Yukon districts for several months and
were getting discouraged because there
seemed to be nothing for us. We met other
men who were getting rich, but we grew
poorer as the days came and went. Once
we had about concluded to go back
GOT A FRIENDLY TIP.
ut was the latter part of last September
that we befriended a man who gave us a
tip as to the riches of the Klondyke We
were willing to believe anything and made
for the Klondyke at once. At that time we
were en- route for Forty mile creek. We
were then at Sixty-mile. The first thing
we did when we reached the Klondyke was
to spend little time at the mouth of the
stream. We were there just twenty-four
hours when the little steamer Ellis arrived
with $50 excited miners aboard They had
Just heard the good news, and on their ar
rival they made a rush for the richest
spots on Bonanza and Eldorado creeks.
we went to Eldorado creek and made
location on what were called claims Twen-
ty-hve, Twenty-siX, Fifty-three and Fifty
four. / think it was in October that we
Twenty-Five and Twenty-six and were soon
satisfied that we had fine thing, and went
W WOIk 10 make preparations Tor q long
winter of experiences and hardships. Every
man put in his time sinking prospect holes
in the gulch.
II tell the simple truth when say that
within three months we took from the two
claims the sum of $112, 900. A remarka BILE
thing about our findings was that in taking
this enormous sum did not drift up and
down stream, nor did we cross-cut the pay
streaks. OF course, we may be wrong, but
this is the way we are figuring, and we are
so certain that what we say is true that
we would not sell out for a million. In our
judgment, based on close figuring, there are
in the two claims we worked and claims
Nos. 30 and 81 000 to the lineal foot.
say that in four claims we have at the very
least $2,000,0o0 which can be taken out
without any great work.
Il want to say that 1 believe there is gold
in every creek in Alaska. Certainly on the
Klondyke the claims are not spotted. One
seems to be as good as another. It's gold,
gold, gold all over. It's yards wide and
yards deep. [ say so. because I have been
there and have the gold to show for it. All
you have to do is to run a hole down and
there you find plenty of gold dust l would
say that our pans on the Elodrado claims
will average IS, some go as high as $l50
and, believe me- when L say that in five
pans l have taken out as high $3.50 and
sometimes more I did not pick the pans,
but simply put them against my breast
and scooped the dirt off the bed rock.
"Of course, the majority of those on the
Klondyke have done much figuring as TO
the amount of gold the KIondyke will yield.
Many times we figured on the prospects of
the Eldorado. / would not hesitate much
ABOUT SudIdul6tliIS @@iyVOO'V0O, anu SilOulu
not be surprised a bit if $4,000, Co., or even
$50, 900 900 was ~aken out
OTHER CREEKS AS RICH.
Some people will tell you that the Klon-
dyke is a marvel and there will never be
a discovery in Alaska which viii compare
with it. l don't believe it. l think that
there will be a number of new creeks dis
covered that will have wonderful yields.
why, Bear gulch is just like Eldorado.
Bear guch has a double rock bed. Many
do not know it, but it is a fact, and miners
who are acquainted with it will tell you
the same thing. The bed rocks are three
feet apart In the lower bed the gold is as
black as a pack cat. and in the upper bed
the gold is as bright as any you ever saw
We own No. 10 claim, below Discovery
on Bear gulch and also Nos. 20 and y on
Last Chance gulch, and could not tell the
best place to locate the Discovery claim
The man making a discovery of the creek
is entitled by law to stake claim and
take an adjoining one, or. in other words
two claims. as you see he wants TO get in
a good location in the creek or gulch
Hunker gulch is highly looked to. / think
il will prove another great district and
some good strikes have also been made on
Dominion creek. Indian creak is also be-
coming famous"
What are we doing with all the money
we take out? Well, paid $4,000 spot cash
for q. half interest in Claim 32 EldOrado
We also loaned 5000 each to four parties
on Eldorado creek, taking mortgages on