The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-31

I say that it is not an uncommon thing
for a man to ride a bicycle from Ash
croft to Quenelle, and that the tele-
graph trail from Quenelle northward
| would make a smoother and better bl-
cycle path than the stage road from
Quenelle southwark. L do not know
that anything further need be said
| about this particular stretch Of the poor
mans road to the I[londike. Further
more l can say, as bearing upon the
! condition of this part of the road. that
Mr. J. D. DeVereux, a young surveyor,
left Quenelle on Sept. last, and made
the trip alone TO HaZleton-365 miles
in thirteen days. He had two horses.
and he writes me that he was delayed
a good deal by fallen timber. The only
difficult part of the journey between
| Quenelle and Hazleton, then, is Mud
| river. In the early spring Mud river
is a roaring torrent, hard to get across
| just now, but it is probable that this
difficulty will be overcome by govern
| ment or individual enterprise early next
season.
After leaving Hasleton, which is Hudson
! Bay companys trading post the first stage
| of the journey northward is fifty miles to
Nasse river, which you cross by an Indian
! ferry. Then you are only 100 miles from
| Telegraph creek and the Stikeen river, with a
good trail all the way and Indian ferries for
all the streams of any size or difficulty. from
Telegraph creek there is a fine government
trail over the route surveyed for railroad
by the Canadian Pacific company, distance
of 129 miles to the head of Tes-Lin lake
Here the worst part of the journey snds, for
getting down the lake and from the lake down
the Yukon river to Dawson City is only a
matter of plain boating. 1t is not unlikely
| that a steamboat will be plying on, the Tes-
Lin by next spring, and even il that is not the
case the construction of fatboats capable Of
| carrying travellers with their horses and sup
| lyo1ip &c ciT ms all l.
| Der there is at hand for the purpose.
| From this general outline it will be seen
that there is here open perfectly safe and
! comparatively easy route to the hlondlke
| gold fields which heretofore has not been in
any of the columns of matter which have been
printed in newspapers and books since the
excitement over the gold discovery began 1T
! is not to be understood, however, that the Deo-
pie along the route-the people who 1nhaDlt
| the region between Ashcroft and Quenelle-
are not alive to the fact that at no very dis
| tant day their country is destined to be on
! the line of a much traversed route to the
north But the Canadians are nothing if not
a conservative race, and the Canadians OF
British Columbia are no exception to the rule
Had such an opening to the country Whlch
so many thousands desire to reach peen
through any part of the United States, 1t is
perfectly safe to say that steam and electric
railways as well as steamboats, for the nav1-
gable waters would have been far advanced
r. construction. The trail from Quenelle
to Hazeton and Telegraph creek has been
| traversed for years by carriers of the Hud-
son Bay company and the route from there
on to Lake Tes-Lin and the head waterE OF
the Yukon is equally familiar to hundreds of
surveyors and adventurous spirits who nave
traversed it time and again. That it is
perfectly clear open route to the kiondlke has
! been generally commented upon by the people
up there but there has been what, in the
! United States, would be considered curios
| apathy in turning the fact TO profitable ac-
| count: not however, that there are wanting
| thprp wit q lnnreciatlOn
the situation. Dr. F. S. Reynolds, publisher
of the British Columbia Mining Journal, the
only morning paper printed In British Co
| lumbia, was an early advocate OF this over
| land route, and has done much work in con-
nection with it. Senator James Reid and
! Representative Adams, of Quenelle two OF
the leading men of the province, have also
| taken much interest in the matter. But IT IS
! not to the advantage CT the Canadian Pac1hc
railroad to divert travel in that direction. for
| it is away from the region in which that COM
panys great government land grants lie.
And it is obvious that the people on the coast
are not going to exert themselves to point out
how the argonauts may give them wide
berth on the way to the gold fields.
So with this and the languid attitude OF
| the Fraser River people this excellent over
land route to the Kondike has been totally
overlooked by all who thus far have gone
or talked of going 10 the gold fields
The general plan to be followed by those
who may contemplate experimenting on this
route is very simple. They should be in Ash
puy
their supplies. A party of four or five would
probably get along best. Each person will
need two cayuses, and cayuses are tough
little Canadian horses. They are very cheaI
in Ashcroft. Two good ones may be had
for $50 One would be used, Of course, as a
! beast of burden, and the other to be ridden
| BY starting in the early spring good grass and
feed for the animals will be found all along
| the route from the starting point to the
] Yukon.
Supplies likewise can be bought to advan-
| too Acb al
| newed at Quenelle Hazleton and Telegraph
Creek. AS for the time occupied in the
journey, it may be roughly estimated, as the
| conditions now are, at about six weeks: AS
| the route becomes known and as the British
| Columbia people awaken to the situation, the
| trails and the river crossings and the steam,
] boating facilities will be so improved that
! this time limit from Ashcroft to Dawson City
will be much diminished
And right here in this connection 1t may De
said that a very important feature OF this
route lies in the fact that the travellers Will
arrive at their destination with very Valu-
able property in the horses which have car,
| ried them there, and which will be sold
I readily up where means of transportation are
in such demand for many times their orig
| inal cost.
the country all the way up will not only sup
ply the horses with fodder, but will give
| all the food in the way of game that is want
! ed for the travellers themselves. Wild fowl
and fish are in bewildering abundance all
along the route. Furthermore, plenty OF
Indians will be met with, and if they. are
properly treated thew will be found obliging
! and very useful. There are several Indian
villages between Quenelle and Telegraph
! Creek and, in fact all the way over to the
| headwaters of the Yukon.
But the most important feature Of all lies
in the fact that there is gold all the way from
Fraser river north. The route lies right along
the great gold and silver belt which extends
from Mexico to Alaska. Cinnamon manage to
make a profit by, gold washing right in the
vicinity of Quenelle. although that region was
pretty well cleaned up by the forty-niners
who followed the gold thus far up into the
| North. But very valuable finds have recently
been reported from the Skeena river, and the
Argonauts would find promising fields for
prospecting all the way on the Yukon, and
might strike their fortune even before they
reached the golden Klondke.
But even if they did push on to the Klon-
dixie they would arrive there pretty well
seasoned pilgrims and not the bewidered
labby tenderfeet who are dumped, with their
| years supplies, on the bank of the Yukon,
with no means of transportation to get to