The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-09-09
In By DOG TRAIN.
Ah-Wiufer Com m unfcafion Between
Dyes and Dawsen Gfry-Finest
Animals In the Northwest Terri
tory to Garry Supplies to the
Hoanted Police

Whatever haraships may be endured By
tie soadse~xsrs now On the Yukon through
.acS OF prov Sons this winter viii Certain
" not be feat by the Canadian officials
stationed IN thar chosriess region unless
TIE calculations Of thoee IN charge OF the
eofnls1iSSaFy department are very much
asIr2y. The government proposes 10 have
q number Of pack trains OF Esuuirnau
dogs running between Dyea and Dawson
City as soon as the STOW falls TO an ex-
tent sufbcieni 70 allow sielghs to b drawn
over the ground.
j. II. Sutton. who Is az present stopping
IA this city, suggested the idea 20 the
canadian government. ard ne Is prob
ably one 90 the best informed men living
On the subject Mr.. Sutton Is a clyI en-
g.naeT by profession and first visited the
Northwest when the Canadian Pacific
rahroad was projected in the governmen,
ssTy1ee IN ls7L He spent thirteen years as
Tree trader. In opposition TO the Hud-
son BAY Company. and has explored the
Northwest eountry from the Mackenzie to
the AthabascA and Saskatchewan rivers.
he Is q Etrapping six-fooGer apparently
about 50 years OF age aud a most enter
tanning conversafIonaIist. In an inter-
v.ew at the Griffith house last night, ne
said:
The Canadian government IS making
preparations thoroughly 20 provision the
mounted police and other officials now
Stationed On the Yukon river. For some
TINE past the Hudson Bay Company has
oeen gathering It's best dogs from every
trading post in the Northwest and ship
ping them % Winnipeg. where they were
taken in charge by the government One
hundred and twenty-five have been
shipped 70 Victoria over the Canadian
Pacine railway, from which point they
viii be shipped 10 Dyea. where they will
be put 10 work drawing sleighs filed
Nith provisions fer the mounted police
and other officials over the pass and down
70 the Yukon river. and II the river Is
frozen 10 the extent that my experience
on the Mackenzie leads me to believe it
VIII be, they viii haul their loads 10
Dawson City.
These dogs are no ordinary animals.
They have been bred and trained for gen
erations for the especial purpose OF haul
ing supplies through a rough and Indictment
country. They are known IS 'huskies. or
Esquman dogs and are worth about 500
apiece They weigh on an average eighty
pounds, ard have long hair. They are
harneSsed 20 a toboggan sleigh in single
file, usually four TO team. one such team
viii draw a load OF 80 pounds over level
ground and 90 pounds over the toughest
kind 81 a trail II the conditions are Ia
vorabie they make sixty miles day.
sleigh il about eighteen feet long ana
eighteen inches wide. and the freight Is
packed on and tied down in such a manner
that II cannot possibly come OF Ins
sleighs are OF wood with steel bands and
are made piiabie 80 that they VIII behd
when crossing a hollow
1.-THE first dog Is known as leader. ara
she man I'm charEe will take It's head IN
hss hand and point it's nose 10 some place,
say about I'VE miles away and II there are
no obstacles IN the way ] Would WAGER
maj vott cnria take a surveyors transit
and measure their course. and II would not
~ I'VE feet out of the way throughout the
whole distance. Where the STOW - sQEt,
a. expect e 10 be Al Dyea, a trapper goes
abeaa on snnwshoes and the dogs Follow
Ia his tracks which. no matter how me
the Snow Il sufficient TO support their
weight THIS f. the advantage OF having
II am Confident that We can keep open
COMMUNICATION with Dawson city all the