Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-08-21
Klondike,a aa,es c,oaad.


among the Klondikers this winter.
Capt. Annex, who was the pilot Of the
steamer Islander, which returned yes.
terday. says that things are in very bad
shape. Afaifs could not be mEch
worse. Two thousand people are camp
ed along the rocky shore, with but few
pack horses or animals at hand. and
they have practically no chance Of get
ting over the pass. One of the United
States commissioners, by using his
official influence and paying s400 in
coin, managed to get the Indians to pack
his outfit over the Chilkoot pass to the
lakes. Of the others who went from
Puget sound without horses not one in
fifty will get across the mountains this
winter. Seysn Seattle men who went
up in the Islander returned on her 10
Victoria, utterly disgusted with the
prospect, and will remain at home till
spring, when they expect to make an
other start. Those who have horses
and boats stand a fairly good chance of
getting through, but the start must be
made before winter comes on. Grim
winter, with its terrific storms, has al.
ready seized Alaska and the Northwest
territory in its grip. and the gold seek
ers trying to reach FL Dorado Of the
Yukon by the Overland route have seen
their hopes Of fortune swept away in
the maelstrom that has obliterated the
trails oyer the mountains and turned
the lakes into tempestuous and impass-
able seas. Unprotected from the ex-
treme hardships of an artic storm, the
amateur miners have been exposed to
fearful blasts and chilling rains in pass
that will now mean death for many of
them. Food supplies have been de-
stroyed. trails have been swept away
by the heavy rains, and the way to the
field of gold is closed to the fortune
hunters until the spring. Those who
have been trapped in the sksguny pass
by the storm will be condemned to live
many months on the rough face Of the
mountain. unless they give up the race
for wealth and fight their way over
terrible obstacles back to Dyea. Their
horses have died like sheep. The way
Is cut off before aud behind. The trail
back to Dyea and juneau will have to
be cut in the face of severe storms and
terrible winds. Details of the suffer
ings of the gold seekers who have taken
the overland route are narrowing At
the foot of the Dyea and Skaguay pass
es tons of food supplies have been
blocked for lack of horses and Indians
to carry them TO the lakes which lead
to the Klondike. Some of the miners
have sold their outfits and are returning
to civilization and warmth before the
artic winter sets in. How many have
already lost their lives ia not known.
The overland route to the Klondiks
will be strewn with corpses, according
TO the old miners who have already
tried the rigors of the Alaskan climate.
Even those who have been able to get
through the passes to the lakes cannot
proceed farther. The lakes have been
swollen to such an extent and the rapids
have been rendered so dangerous that
it has been found impossible to push
forward.
A. j. McNabb, Of Salmon, Idaho,
whose search for gold in the Rocky
mountains has extended over period
of thirty-fiye years, was passenger on
the " sxico for the north. leaving here
July 25. McNabb was bent on moying
to the Klondike. Ordinary hardship
was new thing to him. This is what
he says of the possibilities Of getting
into the land of gold this winter: "Au-
gust 3rd there we're nearly 1000 men
at Dyea and Skaguay bay, waiting to
cross the divide. No one has yet pene-
trated White pass, and the only way TO
get over was through the Chilkat pass.
1t is impossible to get horses across the
summit Of Chilkat. There were 800 tons
Of freight at Dyea, and similar amount
at Skaguay. To the 1000 men already
there were added the day we left 400 by
the steamer Lauder, and nearly every
day there has been some kind ofcrafl
with more. The facilities for getting
over tho mountains were utterly made
quate. so much so that there is now q
complete blockade. At Chilkat pass
there were only forty Indians and
eighteen horses to handle 800 tons OF
freight up the steep mountain slopes
At Skaguay there were 800 tons and
perhaps thirty horses, and the trail wal
not open beyond the summit. In
the face of these conditions i cami
back"
c. w. Young, OF juneau, whose ex-
pericnces in Ala ka cover nearly twenty
years and who was delegate to the
st. Louis convention last summer
came down from Dyea on the
Topeka. He says: There will be many
disappointed and much suffering at the
mountain passes. Many who are now
there and many who are to follow will
never get into the Yukon this winter,
had not heard Of anyone going through
the White pass. and it is impossible to
pack provisions over the Chilkat except
by Indians. The latter charge 20 cents
per ponnd for packing twenty-eighi
miles to Lake Linderman for an aver.
age outfit Of 100 pounds. The cost in
most cases is prohibitory. The result
will be that many will be forced to win
ter on the cost, and when they get into
the country beyond they will be short
Of provisions. Those who did not eel
oyer the pass will have to start down
the Yukon river by September Is, and
they viii never get through TO Dawson
When the Yukon freezes and snow
falls travel with any quantity of proyi
sions il out Of the question"
| Forest Fires.
4 For tho information OF ell concerned