The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-08-23
ACROSS WHITES PASS.
Duke Prfgmore of Whatcom Gives
an Accurate Account of the
Trail From skaEuny.

Duke Prfgmor~. of Whatcon1, came
Down on the steamer Geo. e Starr Sat-
grday morning from skasuay trail. he
brings the most authentic account OF
the terrors Of the slippery. boggy pass
that has been printed. The Starr saiied
Sunday evening al O'Clock. Prigmore
got up that morning at dawn and.
mounting a horse. rode over the tr2fl TO
see for himself just how bad II was.
TITS simply villainous." was Pgigmore's
way OF describing the alleged trail In
an interview with q Post-fntelhgencer
representative last night. and fortified
With map Of the traii made by himself.
T9riEmore described his trip 10 q point
about eight miles from the lakes. He
said:
When you FIRST land az skaguay. you
get the scow owners 20 take your stuff
ashore. for which they charge from s.
70 T. per ton. For horses they charge
& each TO swim them TO land
''The FIRST three miles Of the tran. leav-
Ing the camp. IL a wagon road TO the
Ekaguay river. which Is shallow but
very swift. You can get but one horse
at a time across an improyised bridge
which the miners erected. From the
bridge a wagon can be used three miles
further
Then you tackle Devils hni. Here
the trouble commences. The trail IS not
over two feet wide at this point. At the
top OF the bin horses are compelled 10
make n jump OF two feet high and then
light on slippery rock. AT one place
there IS a path up steep incline, on
which have been laid logs. forming
sort OF ladder.
Passing the first hfl, there IS hal. a
ssiie OF fair travelling. Then you strike
the big hill. The path over this hill. or.
rather around Il. should not be diguiied
~ The name Of tran. II Is less than two
feet wide az many places. and the walk
Isg. especially for horses. is the worst
imaginable. The formation on the surface
II soft. slippery siate rock The path
winds It's crooked way around the mount
ain. while Delow you it drops of sheer 800
feet 10 The river. This is the place where
so many horses and packs have been lost.
One pack train Of seventeen horses lost
eight OF them down this slide on the first
rip over. The footing Is ali that clear
headed. strong -nerved man would care TO
encounter. and 1t is practically impossible
for horses to pack any considerable
amount OF supplies around this bluff.
after several miles of this sort of thing
the tran leads 10 the big marsh. OF which
a great deal has already been said but OF
which ~ adequate description has been
printed. This marsh, or bog, is a terror
for packers. horse founders and rolls in
the mud until he either gives up from ex-
hausfion or else tears his pack loose or
breaks a leg Many Of the miners are
camped on this bog. which Is a mile and
half long, waiting until the first freeze OF
winter covers the ground so that they can
get across t.
Il hired siwash 20 lead my horse across
tire marsh and picked my way over some
logs. The ground was soft and springy,
and very muddy. The Indian went TO his
knsea IN mud. while the horse wallowed 10
his belly. After getting across the marsh
the tratl Is much like that in the earlier
stages of the Journey. sp and down. over a
continuous chain Of hills and mount ains
l got 10 within eight miles OF the lakes and
then turned hack
There was one party Just ahead OF the
marsh. They told nne that very few had
passed them. They were making only a
few miles a day. From what | learned on
the trait. l DO not believe that ten parties
have crossed the summit by way OF Skag-
Gay this summer"