The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-01
MANY CERTAIN TO DIE
ALASKA WILL BE PAVED WITH THE
BONES OF GOLD HUNTERS.
Trail from the Sea to the I<1Ondi<e
Already Marked by Graves-Can-
ada's Guardians of the Peace.

SEATTLE, Wash, July 31.-"Men who
are urging people to start for the Klondike
this year have been guilty of a crime"
said an agent of the Alaska Commercial
Company this morning He insists that the
mountains and passes from Juneau will be
strewn with bodies of unfortunate pros
pectors. 1t will be simply impossible for
Dawson City and the other settlements to
feed the newcomers. This man fears reign
of crime and starvation which has not been
equaled since the plains between here and
the Mississippi were white with human
bones
1.-The Commercial Company has done all
II could to stop the rush of clerks, profess
sional men and raw hands, said the agent.
I'VE have tried to impress upon men and
women the utter folly of Drawing the
terrors of this country, but the hope of
fortune has taken away hundreds who will
ns&er come back They have swarmed upon
4 boats, many without the first idea Of
The location Of the fields or any knowledge
concerning their destination. They have
failed to see that the gold region is a vast
wilderness. snow bound and ice covered,
full of death even to explorers and adven-
turers who have become trained to the
rgor of a persistent fight for life.
There will be greater horrors there than
there were in the West, since here the new
Corners found climate in which they could
live, and having failed to find mine, they
were able to get work in other directions.
There is alternative in the KIondike.
The hundreds who have gone must dig in
the dirt or do nothing. If they cannot get
work as miners they will have to get out.
This would not be so bad, but there is
no way to get out after the winter starts.
The food supply is sure to run low and
this means absolute death. I look for the
most frightfuI tales of distress to come
down on the first boats that shall leave the
new fields in the spring"
Now that the fleet has left for Alaska,
the men at home are trying to figure out
how the trip from the water end of the
route is to- be made 1t is calculated that
those who have started for the head of the
Yukon will get through with comparative
ease. There will be many Indians at the
landing to pack the truck and implements
over the hills, and the trip will be ha-
raised more by the weather than by any
thing else 1t will be about IS degrees be-
low zero when they start for the interior,
but the track this way is more travelled
and better marked than the other route.
me new ones VIII pass the claims from
will press on to the heads of the creeks
which have suddenly come into prominence.
1t is from Juneau that a trail of death
is predicted will mark the inroads of the
tenderfeet. The distance is 6TS miles. The
journey begins with a beat ride of one hum
on the Lynn canal 1t is possible to go six
miles farther with canoes and then begin
the terrible climb over the Chilcat pass.
The sides of this are practically perpendic-
ular fourteen miles almost straight up and
down. 1t is not possible for the stoutest
man to carry more than fifty pounds up
this place Mining parties frequently have
to make the trip up nd down several times
in getting on with the kit of the partner
Chalcat pass is 1900 feet high, but it is
the only place where the travellers can get
about 10 600 feet The storms are sudden
and fearful, snow falling as late in the
summer as May and June. The only shelter
at such time is to crawl under the over
hanging rocks, and frequently whole par
ties have been found in such lodges, dead
In heap from cold and lack of food. 1t
takes usually one month to get past this
ing and Indian moccasins and snow shoes.
Once on top there must be absolutely fair
weather before the trip can be resumed and
tho explorers are forced 70 make~huts in
lively easy after the descent from this pass.
There is no change in temperature, but the
been With the rashers they viii be able to
float part of the way and to drag their
snow sleds over ice.
Lake Linderman comes first, a big body
of water which seems to be the source of
the rivers flowing north into the Arctic.
This is six miles long: No man can tell
find 1t, but at best it is a death trap. This
trip passed, the next thing is to take the
boat over Il mountain Tor use on the next
lake-Bennett This gives a boost of TWEEN
ty-eight miles, and then comes another
climb. over the hills. 1t runs along this
way for hundred miles more. Then
follow lakes, marshes mountains and
In many places the sides of the river are
like two stone walls. There is a place be-
tween Lake Lebarge and Lake Marsh
where the canon crowds the water into a
river at the head of the canon is fully three
hundred feet wide. 1t is suddenly thrown
into the narrow space and tears down hill
at a speed which losses the heavy log boats
about like pieces of cork. 1t is the custom
of the men who make this trip to pause
for days wondering whether it Is wiser to
try the rapids or devote weeks time to
crawling up the rocks and walking around.
It takes less than four minutes TO go
dhroTg four r1g n eysrg five that ry ks
This is only the start, and after few
days the adventures come upon Port Sell
kirk. This is the point at which the Pelly
and Louis rivers Join and make the Klon-
dixie. The sailing is fairly easy from this
place easy at least in comparison with the
tiers along the route to this point, and the
wise men who have been there are telling
that it is no fun to work along five hundred
miles and not pass a hut II takes long
weeks of time, and the air puts an edge
on the appetite which it is not wise al
1G gra a6a there are q n
be had after the grub stake is gone, and
the only thing to do Is to kill the dogs or
lie GOWN anu Ql6
Spectators are getting ready profit by
the scarcity of food in the district. All
manner of beats are being chartered One
man is planning TO ship cargo of mules
and horses to juneau and st. Michaels.
lie will try to drive them into the region,
and. failing in this, will send the frozen
carcasses to Circle City and Dawson for
use in the spring. There is no telling what
the fate of the crews which have just left
will be, but the friends who babe them
good-by on the docks took leaves which
suggested they thought the parting was
for all time
There have come down from the north
great stories of the crime of gambling at
Dawson. One man writes that the place
is a typical mining camp, where men are
too busy shooting TO stop for argument.
The mounted police of the Dominion gov
eminent has been reinforced. but there is
no telling what may happen with 10000
miners struggling for fortunes at one place
and at time.
The field is still the one topic OF talk here,
the shrewdest ones expecting to start north
ia the spring and yet beat this years con-
tingent in locating claims. They are fgur-
ing on many dismal and fatal failures and
they hope TO profit by waiting and becom-
ing posted on the country. There are sew