The age-herald., 1897-11-14

Bennett. From Lake Bennett, 1T one IS a slxillful boatman, 1t is not necessary to
 get out of the boat untl one reach
 Dawson City, although some dangerous rapids have to be passed. The great ma
 jority portage around these rapids, but a
 good boatman can get through
 They say that from Dyea to Linde-
 man is twlentythree miles and a. fraction,
 but my impression is that it is a good
 deal further. I think the twenry-shree
 miles is the distance up to the summit.
 I believe fb is thfrty-five miles from
 Dyea to Idndenan. l know I had been told that from Dyea to Sheep Camp was
 fifteen miles, and when got there was
 under the impression that Lindeman was
 only eight miles away, but it took us
 from clock in the morning until dark
 to get to the foot of Deep Lake, Nh.ch is still two and a half miles from Liilde-
 man. I do not consider it at all a hard
 trip to make If you have nothing to pack.
 Of course, it not easy walking, and you
 have to make your distances. But deer
 hunters do deal harder climbing and
 think it is Spcrt
 q thought myself particularly fitted
 to judge of this, as l had never done
 hard climbing and had had nothing to
 do with manual work. do not suppose
 in ala the time l have bsen in Juneau I
 have walked mile at one stretch, SD
 I thought if I could get over all right 9
 woman couyi do it, too. Just after we
 le1h Pleasant Camp we met a woman formerly from Junsa She was not a very large woman, but she had been
 paekfns over the mountains: She said
 she conid caIr'y eighty pounds, and she
 thought nothing Of going from P easant Camp to Dyla fer provisions.
 Tt was at Pleasant Camp that we
 had our most curious experience With Indian packers. The bridge had been washed away, ard we couldn't get
 across. Some Indians hai waded acrozs with their packs. and we asked them to carry us for the uzual price ,f fer
 rlage, 50 cerAts. We had low sho s and couldn't wade. But they warted s3 apisce so we went along up the yer nd
 found a log and got across.
 Most eff the tradl Is very dssclate. The first sight eff timber that we got was jurt before we got to Lake Liniem1n, ar,i1 that N1aS QlIly misc able little s rub
 evergreens Over tn: summit the m ners have to pack stuff to build their fires to cook over. Around L,ndeman anl from
 Deep Lake on the timber' ts fins 8. little
 way back from tn: shore. Moss be ries
 and bluebeTries are found in the sea1 n in Lfndeman in gl~at asG;nsarc>. At Lindeman we saw some men cutting up an OK which had probably done duty packing along tine trail They were using am axe and a carpenters saw. The carcass was still stean,'ng. arIi the | kcart was sticking on some shruhbely near by. They were goirg to sell tn .
 meat for 75 cents a pound. They satd the meat was so tough that it was worth that
 "We got to Lindeman just in time to settle a dispute bstw en a couple Of gan
 flenen from Cttl1sgo who had just got over the trail and the packers win had brought their stuff through from Dyea in relation to the contract which had been made at Dysa. The Irdiars said that their arrangement was a U the rate of 38 cSnts a round and there were over 5000 pounSs. The Chicago men Ge- clar:d tlTet they had contrac cted to have the whole outfit carried over for $500 which was, of course, over $500 less than | the Indians denand-d. We persu d 5d them to compromise, and it was all fixed up.
 "On the whola the trsil was in much better condition and was much less dM- ficult than I had believed it to bs. We saw a good many men who had reeclled middle life sn1 who had done l9oth,ng but office work, and who wer+ totally. up@ fit fer the hard labor they were per- forming arif fer the great change in thein manner of living. But a man ac- custom'ii to hard labor would mot find it at aDl difficult. great many over work themselv=s at the start trying to do too nruclh, and do not hook after their personal comfort sufficiently in prepar-
 ing their focd and selecting a place for their shelter"