The record-union., 1897-08-30
ON The TRAIL TO KLOhDIKE.
A SACRAMENTAN TELLS OF HIS
EXPERIENCE.
Letter From j. z. Deham, Who is
Now Going Down the
River.

gives q fair idea of the first few miles
of the route from Dyea to the Klon-
dixie gold fields. Mr.. Denham was one
of the first to leave Sacramento for the
far north.
The latter portion of the letter was
dated at Dyea on the 10Th of this
month, but Mr.. Denham had been to
the summit and as far as Sheep Camp
and returned to Dyea to purchase
horses. He writes:
we are now located one and one
half miles above Dyea, and have made
but very little progress since landing
one week ago to-day. Labor, the
smallest fellow of the party. turned
back that day We came TO the con-
clusion that he would not be able for
the trip, and he being somewhat afraid
of it himself, concluded to go back to
San Francisco.
We moved up here last Monday
evening, having brought some six hun
dred feet of lumber from Portland with
us, with the intention of packing it
through to the lakes to build our boats
with. We were informed that this
would be impracticable, a story Dan
iels was loath 10 believe Having been
told so often by men who had been
over the trail that we could not take it
through, I made up my mind not to
bother with it any further. as it would
be 100 expensive, altogether.
ITO satisfy ourselves, Daniels. An
derson and Doble took small packs
and started on Tuesday morning for
the summit, while Gillespie and I start
ed to move our freight by wheelbar-
row and packing. We moved 600
Wednesday two and a half miles, and
I put in the two hardest days work of
my life up to then. On Wednesday
evening the three who went to the
summit returned, reporting that the
trail over the mountains was as bad,
if not worse, than had been reported.
On the way down home from the sum-
NIT Daniels ran across a man on the
trail with five pack mules. He sug-
gested us helping his party out with
their provisions from where the mules
took it, one and one-haIf miles this
side of the summit, over TO Lake Lin
derman. The suggestion was accept
ed, and an agreement entered into be-
tween both parties to commence work
Immediately.
ION Thursday afternoon Daniels and
used on Cradle Lake, a small lake or
basin of water two miles wide and just
a mile over the summit Farther on
there IS anothed small lake called Long
Lake, separated from Cradle Lake two
miles. By having a small boat on these
two lakes it will shorten the pack
from eleven miles to about three to
Lake I.inderman. They left here with
the boat Thursday afternoon and pack
ed it up to the Scales one and a half
miles from the summit, and to our
surprise the other party backed out
and left US in the Iurch Doble and I
remained at the camp here on Thurs
day, getting the tent down, resacking
the provisions and getting all ready for
the pack horses and fixing up the stock
so that it would be secure should it
commence to rain.
"On Friday we were to start with the
bedding and provisions for our party
for twelve days while working on
the summit first on the other party's
goods. and also on ours. until our own
provisions were brought up here. Do
bic and I started Friday afternoon at
l o'clock. He went ahead, and we
missed each other at nightfall. He had
siXtyfiy pounds of blankets and
beans, and I had seventy pounds Of
groceries. / got as far as the can
yon, and struck two young Irishmen.
who had been firing on the Topeka, and
asked for accommodation for the night.
They said: Partner. we have the poor
est outfit on the road, but you can have
what we've got
Il had been to two other tents, but
could not be accommodated, so 1 took
the young Irishmen at their word I
opened my pack, took out some bacon
and coffee and hard tack and had
something to eat. The poor fellows
We're open-hearted and generous Both
were dirty and ringing wet from per-
spiration. Their legs up to their knees
Were covered with slush and mud as
they had been packing over the noun
tains from the Canyon up, and as it
rained here Wednesday night and
Thursday morning the trail was mud
knee deep from this point up They
had no tent and only three pairs
of blankets, which were soppy wet
My own clothing and overalls were
wet through with perspiration. and
after our French dinner I offered the
boys cigars, which we all enjoyed
around the fire in the little tin stove
You can imagine how I felt sleep
ing on the wet ground in wet blankets,
but I crawled in. We all got close to-
gether, and were warm and asleep
in no time. I expected to have taken
a dreadful cold and to be very sore
after my pack of ten miles of seventy
pounds. The road or trail up TO here
is up the canyon, the bed of the river,
which has to be forded three times,
with twice as many smaller creeks
running into it; some places for miles
around there were rocks and powders,
other places deep. loose sand, and 9TH
er places a fair trial, but no climbing.
when ] woke up and crawled out at
4:3 on Saturday morning into the cold,
damp atmosphere. 1 was surprised how
we'll l felt-a little sore. but no pains
4.30on Saturday morning into the cold,
first tough night. and I got through all
right. Were TO do the same thing in
Sacramento. George Clark would sure
iy get a job. Well I got on the road
by q O'Clock, after another meal like
that of the night before The boys
had 10 knives nor forks. and no plates,
and but one coffee cup, which they gen
erously gave to me.
II went up the canyon with my pack
on my back for quarter of mile,
and then started TO climb No de-
scription / can give you viii be bad
enough. for it was rocks, powders, roots
OF trees. mud and slush, first up a few
hundred feet almost perpendicularly.
then down and up again to about 100
feet Plodding along heavily and wea-
rily, almost ready to collapse at last
I reached Sheep Camp by IL o'clock in
? civ 4f