The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-09-08
IT NAY TAKE A YEAR.
jim GREENE sQUARELY rf AGAINST
THE sKA6uAY TRAIL
Ne Chance 60 Get Through, But No
sign of Backlog ouf-Asn With
Money Enough Can Make It-RaiI-
road Expert Says the ChfIkoof
Pass In the Only Available Route

i'm Greene. ex-deputy coroner and one
81 the best-knovn men In Seattle Is UP
against It." That r. what they say DOWN
In Gan Francisco when q man runs
against a tough proposition. ana As
Greene is a. skagsisy. the same thing sp-
plies to him. II mis- own words count Tor
ANYTHING Greene Il q close observer ana
knows what he talks about 50 his words
given 10 the following letter 10 DIS wire
under date Of August 2, are worth read
ing and remembering:
I'VE are here and determined 10 re-
main. II is an impossIbilify. for US 70
reach Lake Bennett this fan. TIE pest
We could do Is 70 make the sLBfnis OF
the Meadows and Il woale be Impossible
to winter AZ either place. A grave qnes-
ton Is agitafing the people OF TITS camp
Il Ia just a case Of Eg~neaaed 1oos-
ias-' vii 20 through or attempt II. II
their corpees are found OF the tfaII. n
great many Of as have talked the mater
over. ard consider those few as men wno
are ATTEMPTING an absolute fmyosgiblhty.
We also think they are showing poor
judgment In attempting TO 20 over some
OF course, will make IL. those VINO nave
small outfits and plenty Of money. Such
car hire packers and replace horses as
fast as they are killed or worn out. TX y
estimated that man may get through
On si.oo or sl.a9 person who y not
here and receives but . little lnGoFmation
y not II a position 20 Judge OF our eonai-
ton or actions. / might say mat TAR
Gonna rfsou tg that our chances CT getting
~ the lake with our OUTFIT and three
horses with no more money, would be
about the same as your taxing your Aneet
End attempting to ride 10 Tacoma tn
.s65nr horses arrived last Sunday in fair
condition We brought them 20 the foot
Of the hIil and let them rest until We6nes-
day. when Morris and ! took the three
and put 100 pounds on each ana made
trip 10 the first bridge. about ten miles
from town and sin miles from our camp.
We started at s.i5 o'clock IN the morning
ard got back at $50 IN the evening as
muddy, wet and tired a pair as You ever
barse slips and goes over II VIII IAN sew
oral hundred feet; IN other places the
mud Is np 10 their bellies. The hardest
part OF the trail for me was the rocky
passes. They are something terrible. by
left ankle sort of gave way. and was
pretty lame before we get home. Bey9n,a
that day and was closed THURSDAY, and
has not been open since. IL VIII DC open
sa fqln0ffow 20 s9o or can gasr cansee,,iye
days for repairs. Three tons OF dynamite
came from Juneau 70 blast out the bad
places The worst place, are known q, az
hilis and Hell hill The last Is appropri-
ately named. being the worst OF aIi. Then
comes the summit. which Is bad; Prom
distance. when one comes % the bog
meadows. which, on account OF the recent
heavy rains. are almost imp s snd,sros OF
cd nearly their entire length, and there Is
no timber near at hand.
ION our trip back last wednesday !
picked up a few wild flowers. which |
will enclose In this letter. Since Thurs
day we have been making ARRANGEMENTS
10 put our stun away: Jack Bethel pur.
Is going 70 buy up enough horses 10 rush
him through. The day we We're out three
horses were killed IN the first six miles
OF the trail. The day before seven Of the
poor animals met the same fate between
here and Porcupine hill. Neal Boyle has
given up. as has also Mr. Griswoid. They
ing fine and not particularly disappoint-
cd, when the condition Of affairs Is taken
into consideration, although IL was our
ambition 10 make IL this fail
There are wagons here galore. and
only four miles OF wagon road. Many
wagons are along the roadside. not even
friends We received Mr.. Bonney's mes
sage 70 push ahead, but It's all uphill
work here
only Chiikoof Pass II Open.
An examination OF the Dyea and skag-
uay trails has been made for the Great
Northern by John A. Miller. travelling
agent. who went north some weeks ago on
the chilkoot and White passes. Mr.. Miller
has made an Official statement. under date
az August -. TO r. c. Stevens. general
Western passenger agent OF the road. as
follows:
II got away from skaguay about
o'clock yesterday morning for Dyea. tive
miles distant. When we arrived there the
wind was blowing quite fresh from The
south. and with a strong ebb tide II made
n surf that caused no considerable trouble
In landing The beach runs cut for about
Two miles. almost level Ny boatmau Was
an od-tlmer here and managed 10 get me
ashore without any mishap. although Il
scared me out Of several years growth l
ciambered over the side into water nearly
10 my knees and made for the dry land
After walking about half mile /
came 10 a branch o. the pyea river that
had 90 be forded before could reach town.
As IL was more than knee deep and run
Ming very rapidly, l found myself IN =
serious predicsment. but a good-natured
freshman on the other side came 20 my
rescue and carried me across on his back
From there on the sand WAS as hard as a
wooden floor. Over a mile from where |
landed was a huge scow loaded with
freight from the George w. Elder. which
had been fioated in there AZ high tide This
had 20 bc unioaded az low water and rack
"a az least half mile before the tide
came IN again.
after getting above htSh-wa,er mark
] struck the road along tho banks OF the
Dyea river and went up 20 Healy & VII
sons store. about three miles from where I
landed. This Il an old trading post and
near by Is a large Indian village. There
arc about leo Indians engaged IN packing
on this trail and mono on the SkaEuav. I
asked one OF the Indians why thar was So.
and he said
I" Skaguhy no good. XIII 'um Indian
quick. Indian set rich pyea.
coed Road and Little Mad.
AT the store l met :. j. Herring ana
James MeCahe. After a short rest push
"a on uuul l had covered about IKE miles
OF this trail The whole distance I found
an excellent road much better than tha
average country read tn Washington
There Is 20 mud. the roaa is wide ana
hard Sand made travelling a pleasure.
found bur few people on tAls trail. and
those were from the Eldeg All the others
who arrived Before had gone GA.
This good road extends Tor eight nst1ea.
then u gets muddy. hut rot very hsa
Pack trains 81 horses make tia round srtp
20 Sheep camp. fouFleen miles. Is, a aav
carrying 70 pounds From there 70 ths
feot % the htll the road is not as good
and here Is where the seekers Tor xois ar,
DELAYED en- this trail For about two ,,,tfe.
the difficulties 20 hc overcome are equally
As bad as On tho Sk5saay trait bat hav.
irg once getten over The summit the tran
g. comparatively easy.
Indians Neye charging s seats a pound
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