The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-08-30
WHAT OGILVIE SAYS.
HISTORY OF MINING on THE YU-
Koy RIVER
Views on the boundary Question
Opinion of One of the Best An
therftie. on the Placer Deposits
of Alaska An Authoritative
statement

William oztIvte. the Dominion surveyor.
will be a ~ asenger on the Excelsior from
ST Mschasls 10 san Francisco. he is re-
turning from 4 two years stay on the ln-
kon. this being his second trip 10 that coun-
try
Mr. Ogllvie has been an important per-
s0nage the past two years On the Yukon.
and particularly on the klondike- His word
has been almost law. and he has straight
ened out many q controversy over claims
As surveyor he has surveyed all the claims
near Dawson and on the klondike, and
there Is no better posted man than he On
the Yukon gold fields.
was told by minis who have known Mr..
Ogilvie that Il was very doubtful If any
Interview could be secured with him, but
that II one could be obtained ii would be
the best possible authority that could be
quoted.
When visited him at ST. Michaels I
found sturdy man. upwards of IS years
Of age. weighing fully 10 pounds. and look
ing as strong and sturdy as an oak. lie
is quiet IN manner, positive in speech. and
slow TO make any statement that might
lead to misrepresentation or create false I'M
pressionz regarding the gold diggings.
mfr Ogiivie" / said. "the Post-Inteili-
geneer desires 70 secure from you an in
terview on the Klondike gold fields. their
extent, what prospectors must expect 20
endure. and. In fact an authoritative state
ment which can be given to the world from
"a person who can speak with authority"
Two days later he gave me the suojoined
interview. For four. hours | took it down
word for word as he gave 1t.
This Is the first and most complete inter-
view given by ~. Ogilvie on the Yukon,
and each and every statement is exactly
as he made it:
"A few historical remarks Of mining in
the Yukon basin will be a fitting preface
TO the general account of the mining in-
terests at the present time. The CasSiar
district, In the province OF British Column
bia- was discovered and developed in
mining sense in the early seventies Some
enterprisinE spirits who had not been ste
cessful in that region wandered north
ward IN search OF a. pre-
or two of them reaching the head Of Teslin
lake, which is drained by the Teslin river.
This is the Indian name. Schwatka in his
trip down the Yukon in 1888 named IL the
Newberry. The miners call II the Hoota-
linqua, by which name IL is generally
known on the Western coast, and. al
though II is marked on all official Canadian
maps as the Teslln. and on Schwatka's Of
fetal map as the Newberry. the Hootalin-
qua viii, In all probability, outlive both
names. The average miner now abbrsvi-
ates il to the 'Hoot' as with him. as with
others, time is money, except In the use Of
profanity when, IL time is money, The is
most lavish In his expenditure. There was
no practical outcome from these crude at
tempts TO find gold on the headwaters Of
the Yukon. and the discovery of the wealth
of the Yukon valley has to be credited
more or less directly 10 some of the pioneers
now in the country of
Arthur Harper. Leroy Napoleon MeQues-
ton. commonly known as Jack Fred
Hart, man named Wilkinson, who came
down the Mackenzie from tHe interior Il
the Northwest territory. where some bad
been engaged in mining, and others In trad
ing for several years. This occurred IN
1873. These gentlemen, in two different par
ties, crossed from the delta of the Mac
kenzie 10 the waters of the Porcupine.
made their way down the Porcupine TO
Fort Yukon, on the banks of the Yukon
river. a little above the mouth of the
former stream. In passing / would remark
that this port was established by the late
John Bell Tan officer of the Hudson Bay
Company In 1876 The company continued
10 occupy IL as a trading post until 1870.
Lieut. Raymond. of the United States corp
of engineers having the previous year roti-
fed them that IL was In Alaska At Fort
Yukon Harper and his party worked up
stream. McQuestion and others went
down stream. Harper assembled as far as
found nothing TO induce him 20 locate until
he struck the mouth OF Forty-Mile where
fair prospects were struck. He determined
10 go up this stream, but the Indians In the
vicinity assured him that it was impos-
sible, as there were imrss~srl 10
a canyon or some other hindrance which he
could not PASS. Believing them. he kept
on Up. intending to reach and prospect
White river that fan HIS object In this
was not 50 much 10 find gold as copper. a
specimen OF which he had seen with an
Indian at Fort Yukon. which he was told
had been found on White river, and that
there were immense deposits OF IL on that
stream.
McQuestion and his party reached the
river and assembled il for some miles They
made a winter camp after which they Sc
cured provisions for the winter. shooting
fourteen moose IN a few days. AS soon as
the river was frozen Harper and another
man went on foot upstream 70 find the
copper. carrying their provisions, bed and
house on their backs. They were not sue
cessful in locating the copper. although
traces were found in the drift along the
stream. and Harper now believes that the
piece he saw al Fort Yukon was obtained
from an Indian living in the vicinity of
White river who got Il from an Indian
resident II some other part OF the country.
as he had experienced several other dIsap-
pointments from Information based upon
such vague assertions Cold was found
along the main stream on the bars. but not
Ia quantities sufficient 70 detaln them. so
IN the spring they drtfted down stream and
found McQuesti0n en- the lower river. He
had taken service with the Alaska Com
nercial Company and Induced Harper TO 20
into partnership with him Returning with
their trading outfit they. In the fan OF
1876, established Fort Reliance. on the right
or easterly bank Of the Yukon. about five
miles below tle moutr
This is the Indian name for what - nov
known ali over the world IS the Klon8ike
y hieh 5 simply corruption Of the Troan-
DIX Harper and McQuestion know IL as
the Troan-d-k. -nd call Il 50. and Lieut..
Schwatka, who got the name from them.
enormously. however marked IL on rs
nap Is tbe TonGik. Here they traded for
SIX - seven years wi-
of the richest mining center On the world
TODAY. knowing that gold was there. as
t1e Indians reported lt on The bars hvt la
those days surface mining vas an tNat
was thought ~ and g trs Ir..sr,... Il
ard t's ailments. more esperlsIy R8-
uanza and Eldorado creeks. were 20 de-
peDd f9r thelv reputation uuon surface
oizsuEs- they woni1 have absolute
Is none Er tho early etr-tf-s --rsa
miners came IN over The Coast range by
the D9ea pass prospecting as thev came
down stream. uutil they reached the mouth
ct Sewer flEsr wa re fzr....l n
ha- alzE.ces wera f7gud A few hardy.
ver.-raus spirits made tht.r way sr vvtth a
years oaf8t and located aa shat stream.
Tbs ir&1ced Harper ard AscCaestlan -
tsfs trading posi- there which VAS
et7upa dHrnr i>>S and isss III 70 IRIS
ttae t1a g1it f1uHG IN the country .vas
q Hafr