Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-08-19
FROM FRED JORGENSON.

Fred Jorgenson, member of the last
Wood county delegation into Alaska,
wrote letter to his friend J. Edward
Brazeau under date July 2lst from Lake
Linderman. We print paragraph OF
two therefrOm;
1--WE expect to start from this camp
in about two days. ave been camp
ing here over three weeks and have
our scow and boat built. 1t has been a
very hard matter TO get lumber. Most
everything close by has been cut away
by former parties and we had to 60 up
in the mountain gulches for it, some
times miles away from camp. The only
thing that grows here is balsam, and
very small at that We sawed our lum-
Der up there, packed it down to the
lake and floated it over to camp. 1t was
slow and tedious work, especially get
ting it down over the rough mountain
sides. Will tell you a little about the
trail we have come over. From where
we landed to head of canoe navigation
is six miles, The stream is too swift to
admit of polling or rowing, so we got two
fiat boats at Healy's store and tied long
ropes to the end. One man would pull
up stream while another kept the boat
from shore We could not put on large
loads this way and were compelled to
make many trips back and forth. From
there to the mouth of the canyon is
three miles, and that's where We got
our first introduction to the pack strap.
| may as well say here that packing is
about as hard work as [ ever tackled.
| carried 100 pounds from beginning to
end (more than some were able to do).
From the mouth of the canyon to the
summit, ten miles, the trail leads over
hills more or, less steep, now and then
a small stream to be forded, climb
over a lot of huge boulders to find your
self in place knee deep with mud;
every now and then stumbling over
roots and short scrubby brush, you are
on the up grade, now your breath comes
short, you feel tired, your feet are sore
and every bone in your body aches.
Your pack is heavy and you are always
on the lookout for friendly rock or
fallen timber to lean against and rest
you for few moments. Then on you
plod again, for the work must be done,
no money to pay Indians to do the work
for me. And so it went in Alaska until
at last our outfit was on the summit and
we could look down on mud lake some
5000 feet below. From this point we
travelled with assistance of sleds for
several miles, then came to mountains
once more and took to the pack. have
not seen any game yet. There are a
few fish in this lake. Crawling, allied to
the trout, but we hav'nt the right kind
of hooks for them. Tako Jack, an In
dian, killed three caribou and a noun
tain sheep four days ago. We saw the
spcor but had no time to go after them.
Might have been a long chase anyway,
not having any knowledge of the coun-
try nor the ways of hunting them. [
hope every thing will come out right.
[ am here with the intention to win and
am reasonably sure that will providing
/ keep in good health. Nothing in
shape of hardships will ever turn me
back if their is anything in sight, you
can bet on that. The boys from Cen
tralia are camped here. We are all
going to start together. We have a
great many miles to travel yet. When
get to the Klondyke shall write again
and give you my first impression of the
country.
FRED JoRGENsoN,