Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-11-04
LETTER FROr1 KLONDIKE.
The Dunaven Party Failed to Find
Gold up Stewart River.

After a hasty start up the Stewart
| river and a fruitless search where re-
port had led hopes to build nice castles,
our Alaskan gold hunters, including l.
E. and r. A. Dunaven, Milton Miller,
Fred Jorgensen, Fred Kyes, Frank
Houston, Rube Lyon, Walter Gardner
and Henry Painter, have turned in at
the city of Dawson. They expect to
quarter for the winter there. R. A.
Dunaven has written letter to his wife
which we are permitted to publish. 1t
is as follows:
DAWSON CITY, ALASKA, Sept. 5, 1897.
This is the first chance l have had for
a long time to see any show to get mail
out of here, and l don't know as this
will reach you, but trust it will. Don't
send any more mail via Victoria, as we
don't get it. Send via Juneau by U. S.
mail. We are all we'll. Saw Mahoney.
He is well; is cutting wood, gets $50 per
cord. Kells and Gray are up on Hun
ker creek on one Of Albert Gray's
claims. Mcdonald asks two million
dollars for the claim he bought of Gray
& Chapel.
Irve and Keyes left day before yes
terday morning on a stampede but all
were fooled. Irve, keyes, Miller and
Jorgensen left again last night about 10
o'clock in our pole boat for Montana
creek. Am looking for them back every
minute; hope they will find it 0. X.
This is the first month for good pros
pecting and some good showing holes
have been sunk. All think there will
be lots of very large strikes made this
winter, We have been up Stewart
river. 1t don't turn out at all, but
everybody thinks it will sometime.
Our party earned S15 one morning
helping load raft. We all Lyons
party and u.s. brought down from the
Stewart two rafts Of logs. Our crowd
of five got l63 ounces of gold, or $27525
for our share in the log sale land we
shall use all that money for grub as
soen as the stores open again. Wages
here are $40 per day but plenty Of
| laborers to do the work as the mines
are not using men yet. They claim
they will need from 5000 to $4,000 men
this winter. Would send some small
| nuggets home if / thought there was
the least show of your getting them
| Charles Wilkie has gone out; claims to
| have made at least $11 900 since spring.
Kells copied his diary yesterday, SO
you will get our trip pretty complete
There are good many respectable
| women here (more that are not) and
several small children. Everybody
gets fat here. We will probably take a
| lay (get one-half) if we do not locate
| ourselves. Logs are worth $50 per
thousand but their scale is a terror
Logs y #. long, u in. in diameter,
scale 5S it.; - #. long, IA in in diameter,
scale Sc ft. II #. long, 16ln in diameter,
scale 12l ft. There are some very large
warehouses here. Healy and the A. C.
Co. are building a custom house now
Barracks for police are also large, have
| about fifty officers. Two saw mills, five
| or six doctors, two gin shops, three
shoemakers, one matchmaker, one
brewery, two ferrys across the Klon-
| dixie, saloons and sporting houses 1900
! or moreno limit to them, eight hun
| dred tents and many cabins already
done. Must stop. Here comes a man
who is going out and who is only too
glad to give geechoker (new comer)
lift. Keep up good courage. Looks
now as though we could come out on
the August boat. Hope so, or else pole
out later in the fall. Only thirty days to
Dyea. One boat and two RATS with
miners who went up on the stampede
last night just came down; report nc
gold anywhere, rim rock, bed rock
creek bottom or on hill side.
Our boat lays just above Louse-town,
which is about one and one-half miles
from Main-town. The country is all
mountains and gulches. Wish you all
could see the country; it is grand in
scenery. Wild game is not as plentiful
as one hears it is. One might say was
very scarce and wild.
4p. m. Irve and boys back. Think
they have struck fair claim and perhaps
better, will 60 up tomorrow and try tc
get to bed rock; can tell then what
there is In it. Jos. Boucher left here
in July with $4,000, Jos. Juneau was
just telling me. Quite little rain here
now. Boat was stolen and the boys had
to walk back. Found it down town all
0. K. r. A. DUNEvAN.