The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-11-06
ALASKA SEASONS.
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Nuatoes Doaaow.
Ordinary woolen clothing for the
body and leather boots for the feet are.
Of course, utterly unsuitable, and can
be worn only at serious risk when trav-
cling. Indian snowshoes are essential:
the Norwegian variety proved worth
less.
Az the season advances the snow set
Ties, and ut night . firm crust forms.
The most favorable months for travel
ing are March and April. The mid
winter days are short, with sunlight in
some ATTITUDES from ten in the morning
20 three in the afternoon. When nee
.ssary. one can travel fairly well By
starlight and moonlight over the snowy
tundra, but not in the woods. In May
the snow il wet and heavy and travel
difficult. Pools of water and the.frs
mosquitoes then begin to appear. BY
May 20 the river bursts its bonds Of ice
and floods the lowlands; ice. debris and
broken timber pouring, with . grinding
noise, headlong toward the sea. Fer
at least week navigation 10 impossible.
Summer, swift-footed, trips upon the
heels Of winter. The sun pours down
with . violence not soon forgotten.
though in the shade it IL always cool.
The cry Of the brant, northward bound
il continually heard, and myriads Of
smaller water fowl appear on every
hand. All the minor forms Of life.
native to the region or migrants from
the south, with startling suddennesa
people the copses and pervade the air.
Vegetation springs into leaf and flower
At bound, and. With hardly . hint of
spring, summer II upon W.
Mosquitoes, the pest Of ths north,
appear in clouds. Except in midstream,
or where brisk breeze II blowing, Life
without q net and leather gloves II
misery. The Indians amear their faces
with mixture Of grease and charcoal,
and paddle with . smudge on q square Of
turf in the bows of their birch canoes.
The caribou, moose and bear, driven
from the thickets, plunge into the river
for temporary respite Curiously
enough, during three summers, black
flies and midges. 30 plentiful to the
eastward, were encountered only once
on the Yukon; possibly, near its head
waters, our luck would have been worse.
The records show that the lower Yu-
kon valley has q summer temperature
much in excess of that normal to the
latitude. AS the days are long. the
traveller viii prudently sleep ut noon
and utilize for his work the cooler
hours when the sun sweeps low along
the northern horizon and the mos
quitoes are less active.
Frosts appear In mid-September.
Early in October the Yukon begins to
be covered with ice; though it il not
fully ice-bound until late In November.
So the round is completed.
One serious danger menaces the large
population now pouring into the dis
trict. Tho upper Yukon is country
where subsistence has always been DIFF
fcult. The first party which ever
reached it-that under Robert Camp
bell, of the Hudson Bay company, who
named the Pelly river-though COM
posed Of seasoned voyagers, was, it ira
dition be reliable, forced to support life
by cannibalism before it could reach
help. In 1855 not moro than 800 In
dams were able to find subsistence be-
tween Fort Yukon and Fort Selkirk.
The abundant fish and game Of the low
er Yukon are absent. The river steam
ers available for transportation cannot.
during the remainder of the present
season, carry up to Dawson City much
more food than will supply its present
population. It seems improbable that
any large proportion Of the people now
hurrying over the Chikat portage can
transport-if indeed they possess-food
enough to carry them over the winter
and up to the arrival of summer sup
plies from the lower Yukon.
Serious hardships. and even probable
starvation. therefore, confront the
rash and foolhardy who push forward
without proper supplies into region
whose limitations they do not realize.
Fortunately, it is likely that many Of
those least prepared for the undertak.
ing will never get over the divide, and
win be obliged to remain in southeast'
er Alaska, where the rush to Klondike
will have left open many opportunities
for employment. Were it otherwise,
the coming winter and spring would
nrohablv furnish material for tragedy