The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-07-22
MEN AS BALLAST.
Drunken Men Loaded Into
Boats by Their Friends
And Taken to KlOndyke to
Stake Claims.
TIE WILD SCRAMBLE
Is Described by an Officer OF
the Dominion
Who Says the Gold Fields Are
800 Miles Long.
TIE WILD SCRAMBLE

| NOW that the dominion government
is in possession Of authentic reports
| corroborative of the first accounts sent
| out of the marvellous richness of the
| new placer diggings in the Yukon and
| klondyke regions, the organization of
| the district is being completed. Two
| years ago, the department of the inter
| ior dispatched a force of 20 northwest
| mounted policemen to Fort Cudahy
| on the Canadian side of the Alaskan
| frontier The officer in command, In
| spector Constantine, established two
| posts, one at Cudahy and the other at
| Forty Mile Creek and proceeded to ad-
| minister laws and collect revenues for
| the customs department. He collected
| about $4,000 the first year Encour-
| aged by the prospects of revenue, the
| government. in 1895, appointed D. w.
Davis, a former men1be of parliament
| for Alberta, to the position of customs
| officer for the district, and his returns,
recently arrived, swelled the total col
lectionS to about $35, 000
This work of organization was first
| suggested to the government by the
North American Trading and Trans
that the British territory should be
administered so as to guarantee the
safety of it's interests. 1t was not I'M
dertaken by the Dominion authp<ities,
however, until the surveying parties
then in the field, had more or less defin-
itely located the 141st meridian of west
between Alaska and the Canadian
northwest territory from ST. Elias to
the shores of the Arctic. When this
had been accomplished and the erec-
ton of police posts began grumb lings
from the Seattle and other American
coast newspapers reached the ears of
the government here 1t was boldly
charged that the Canadians were grab
bing territory in Alaska that did not
belong to them.
William Ogilvie, chief of the Cana
dian internal boundary survey set all
doubts at rest as regards the Canadian
posts by reporting that the observations
OF the Canadian and American parties
as to the boundary differed but a few
teet-s1X feet at Forty Mile camp and
SIX at Cudahy. Since then nothing
more has been heard of the alleged
grab- OgilVie stayed in the country all
last winter and busted himself stalking
or claims for the miners on the newly
discovered placer grounds, the latter
being we'll in Canadian territory as the
creeks or rivers flow into the Yukon
from the east, namely, Bonanza, BouId-
er, EIdorado, Carmacte, Klondyke and
stewart OF the mounted police who
formed Constantine's first detachment
not one re-enlisted upon the expiration
or their terms this spring, so that an
entirely new force had to be sent up
1t was not expected that men would
continue to work for the government
Tor 81 a day, when wages all around
them were ten to fifteen dollars Five
OF the returned policemen are reported
to have brought Szvv. 900 as the results
of mining during their spare hours
Constantine's last report, which has
building a third post at the mouth of
the Klondyke river, which flows into
the Yukon on the east side about So
miles southeast of Forty Mile He
asked for a larger force In this his
suggestion has been anticipated as well
as in the appointment of a gold COM
missioner, While a Pacific coast firm is
being negotiated with for the SUNNY
| of steam launch to ply as police boat
between klondyke, Forty Mile and
Cu3ahy. Ogllvle was ordered to return
| TO ottawa last fall
termined to remain in the country and
forward a full report to the govern
ment of his doings, from which the fol-
! lowing are extracts:
starting from here, say December
L, II would be February before I reach
e9 OttaWa ana during the 80 or 40 days
OF the time, would be exposed to much
cold and hardship and some hazard
rom storms. The journey has been
made and 1 would not hesitate to UNI
dertake it were things more reasonabIa
mere and dog food plentiful but il would
take at least $1,000 to equip us with
transport and outfit, which sum- L think
L can eXpend more in the interest of the
country by remaining here and making
a survey of the K1ondyke-a mfsnro
n nun n, of Indian word of words,
Throndak' or Duck" which means
plenty of fish, from the fact that if lie
a famous salmon stream.
1t is marked 'TOndak' on ol1r mans
IL JOINS the Yukon from the east a few
miles above the site of Fort Reliance
about so miles above here. The dis,
coVery of gold in the branches or this
stream believe, was due to the re-
ports OF Indians. A white man named
j. w. Carmach, who worked with me in
1887, was the first to take ADVANTAGES
of the rumOr and locate a claim i'm tbe
nrst oranch, which was named by the
miners Bonanza creek Carmach To-
Gated his claim late in August. but had
to cut some logs for the mill here TO
get a few pounds of provisions to en-
able him to begin work on his claim
He returned with a few weeks proVis-
ions for himself, wife and brother-in-
law Qndians) in the last of August and
Immediately set about working his
claim.
THE gravel itself he had to carry in
box on hsi back for 80 to 100 feet
Notwithstanding this, three men work
| ing very irregularly washed out 81 200
| in eight days, and Carmach asserts
with reason that if he had proper ia
| cilities it could have been done in two
| days.
"A branch of Bonanza creek named
Eldorado has proSpered magnificentlv
and another branch, named lilly creek
| has prospered we'll There are about
| 40 claims staked out in the main creek
and the branches are good for as many
more, aggregating, say $50 claims which
| will require over a thousand men "a
work properly.
"a few miles further up Bear creek
| enters klondyke and it has been pros
pected and located on. About II miles
! above the mouth of Bear creek Gold
Bottom creek joins KIondyke and on it
| a branch named Hunker creek very
| Bottom creek and branches there will
| probably be two three hundred
| claims. The Indians have reported
| another creek further up which they
| call TOO Much Gold creek on which
| the gold is so plentiful that, as the
miners say in joke, you have to mix
| gravel with it to sluice it,
up to date nothing definite has been
hog ord fTnr1 his